St Matthew Chapter XXI : Verses 33-46
Contents
- Matt. xxi. 33-46. Douay-Rheims text & Latin text (Vulgate).
- Notes on the text.
- Additional Notes: Fuller Interpretation of the Parable. The Punishment of the wicked husbandmen. Parallel Passages on the Punishment of those who reject Christ.
Matt. xxi. 33-46
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| Vineyards with their watchtower. J-J Tissot |
Aliam parabolam audite : Homo erat paterfamilias, qui plantavit vineam, et sepem circumdedit ei, et fodit in ea torcular, et ædificavit turrim, et locavit eam agricolis, et peregre profectus est.
34 And when the time of the fruits drew nigh, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive the fruits thereof.
Cum autem tempus fructuum appropinquasset, misit servos suos ad agricolas, ut acciperent fructus ejus.
35 And the husbandmen laying hands on his servants, beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
Et agricolæ, apprehensis servis ejus, alium ceciderunt, alium occiderunt, alium vero lapidaverunt.
36 Again he sent other servants more than the former; and they did to them in like manner.
Iterum misit alios servos plures prioribus, et fecerunt illis similiter.
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| They cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
Novissime autem misit ad eos filium suum, dicens : Verebuntur filium meum.
38 But the husbandmen seeing the son, said among themselves: This is the heir: come, let us kill him, and we shall have his inheritance.
Agricolæ autem videntes filium dixerunt intra se : Hic est hæres, venite, occidamus eum, et habebimus hæreditatem ejus.
39 And taking him, they cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him.
Et apprehensum eum ejecerunt extra vineam, et occiderunt.
40 When therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those husbandmen?
Cum ergo venerit dominus vineæ, quid faciet agricolis illis?
41 They say to him: He will bring those evil men to an evil end; and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen, that shall render him the fruit in due season.
Aiunt illi : Malos male perdet : et vineam suam locabit aliis agricolis, qui reddant ei fructum temporibus suis.
42 Jesus saith to them: Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? By the Lord this has been done; and it is wonderful in our eyes.
Dicit illis Jesus : Numquam legistis in Scripturis : Lapidem quem reprobaverunt ædificantes, hic factus est in caput anguli : a Domino factum est istud, et est mirabile in oculis nostris?
43 Therefore I say to you, that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof.
Ideo dico vobis, quia auferetur a vobis regnum Dei, et dabitur genti facienti fructus ejus.
44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder.
Et qui ceciderit super lapidem istum, confringetur : super quem vero ceciderit, conteret eum.
45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they knew that he spoke of them.
Et cum audissent principes sacerdotum et pharisæi parabolas ejus, cognoverunt quod de ipsis diceret.
46 And seeking to lay hands on him, they feared the multitudes: because they held him as a prophet.
Et quærentes eum tenere, timuerunt turbas : quoniam sicut prophetam eum habebant.
Notes
33. Hear ye another parable. Jesus now addressed both the deputation from the Sanhedrin and the people, as we learn from the parallel passages. This parable, which is common to the Synoptists, sets forth —
(a) The nature of the guilt of the Sanhedrin — they will kill the heir.
(b) The just retribution that awaits them, since Christ “ the Corner¬ stone’' will crush them to powder.
Interpretation
A certain man. God.The Vineyard. The Jewish Church.The Husbandmen. The Jews and their rulers.The Servants. The Prophets sent by God.The long Absence. The time between the promulgation of the Law and the Ministry of Christ (a period of 2000 years).The Son. Jesus Christ.The Killing of the Heir. The Crucifixion.The “other” Husbandmen. The Gentiles.
Note. — A fuller explanation is given in the Add. Notes on this section.
planted. Not only He possessed it, but He caused it to exist.
vineyard. The Jewish nation, with its exclusive privileges. The vine was extensively cultivated in Palestine, and wine was the national drink, as it is still. Under the Machabean dynasty the vine was on their coin as the national emblem.
a hedge, = the Law of God. The hedges were generally made of thorn bushes.
“ Enclosures of loose stones, like the walls of fields in Derbyshire or Westmoreland, everywhere catch the eye on the bare slopes of Hebron, of Bethlehem, and of Olivet ; and at the corner of each may be seen a square grey tower” (Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 421).
dug in it a press. The whole apparatus was called a wine-press. It consisted of two parts : the press (gath), or upper trough in which the grapes were trodden, and a smaller trough which received the expressed juice through a spout or a hole bored in the upper press. Sometimes, in order to keep the wine cool, the lower trough was dug in the earth or lined with cement. The lower one was the “wine-vat.” “Vat” comes from an obsolete word meaning “ vessel.” The wine-vat represents the Altar of Sacrifice, or the Temple.
a tower, = the Jewish priesthood, or God’s protection. Either a stone building or a wooden structure erected on a high platform.
Such buildings were used by the watchmen who guarded the vineyard. From these elevations they could command a full view of the vineyard, and they were accustomed to use their slings against wild animals and marauders. Some towers were large enough to atford a permanent home for the vine-dressers and watchers, and served to store the fruit. Feasts were also held in the tower at the time of vintage.
let it out to husbandmen. Evidently on the metayer system, by which arrangement the owner of the land received as rent a certain proportion of the vintage. This system existed in England in the fourteenth century, and still exists in parts of Europe. “ At the time of our Lord’s ministry it was customary for the Romans to restore conquered lands, on condition of receiving one-half of the produce.” The word let shews that God reserved the possession of the. Jewish nation. His vineyard, while He gave it into the charge of the husbandmen, i.e. of its spiritual rulers, to cultivate.
went into a strange country. As applied to God, this means that He withdrew the visible signs of His presence and action when the Israelites were established in the Holy Land. St Luke adds for a long time, and St Mark says the owner went into afar country. The owner of the vineyard would not expect fruit for at least five years, for the vintage of the first three years was considered impure, the fourth year the fruits were for the Lord, so that the proprietor received nothing until the fifth year.
34. the time of the fruits. The time for gathering the fruit. God waited patiently for His people to bring forth fruits of virtue.
his servants. St Mark and St Luke both give “ a servant,” and they record that a servant was sent on three separate occasions.
the fruits thereof. The share due by contract to the owner.
35. laying hands on his servants. The husbandmen increase in audacity. Comparing the three accounts we note that —
1. The first servant they laid hands on him, beat, and sent away empty.
2. The second they stoned, wounded in the head, and used reproachfully.
3. The third they killed.
Lastly, many others, of whom some they beat, others they killed.
Thus the Jews had treated the prophets.
stoned another. They cast stones at him so that he was wounded in the head (St Mark). This man was not stoned to death as a culprit who had been legally condemned. He was assaulted by the husbandmen, who injured but did not kill him.
36. other servants more than the former. This may mean of higher rank, or more in number, or both.
37. They will reverence my son. In St Luke these words are found : Then the lord of the vineyard said : What shall I do? I will send my beloved son : It may be when they see him they will reverence him. God cannot be perplexed or uncertain as to the issue of a given line of action, but He is represented as acting just as the owner of the vineyard, who could not foresee the result, would act. This explains the “ perhaps ” (ἲσως), and the language of doubt and deliberation here used. What shall I do ? It may be when they see him they will reverence him (St Luke XX. 13). This, of course, does not imply that God did not foresee the ill-treatment that His prophets and His Son would alike receive ; but as God is understood here by the owner, the latter is represented as acting like a wise, prudent man, and not as God. “ They may be merely an ornamental part of the parable, or rather they convey the excessive love of God for man, when, desirous of leaving nothing undone for their reparation. He thinks of the last expedient, viz. of sending His Son ” (MacEvilly).
38. This is the heir. As the “ Son of man,” God has appointed Him heir of all things (Heb. i. 2). And Christ is as the son in his own house, which house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and glory of hope unto the end (Heb. iii. 6). As the Son of God, all things were necessarily His. Possibly some of the Sanhedrin recognized Jesus as the Messias, since they confessed this man doth many miracles (St John xi. 47) ; but as they saw it would ruin all their ambitious designs and earthly prospects to accept His doctrines, they deliberately chose to reject Him, and to keep the vineyard for themselves.
let us kill him. This prophecy was fulfilled when the Pharisees plotted against Christ and devised to put him to death (St John xi. 53).
we shall have his inheritance. Not legally, but by usurpation. The application of the parable cannot be pressed here, since men cannot ultimately defeat God, though for a time He may allow their crimes to go unpunished.
39. taking him they cast him forth, etc. In St Mark we read : And laying hold on him they killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard (xii. 8). These words refer to our Lord’s excommunication by the Sanhedrin, and His crucifixion.
40. what will he do, etc. ? Christ asks the question which His hearers are asking mentally.
41. He will bring those evil men, etc. Lit. He will miserably destroy those miserable men (Κακοὺς κακῶς ἀπολέσει αὐτούς). St Matthew puts these words on the lips of Christ’s listeners, either the Pharisees or the crowd that stood around.
This prophecy was partly fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed, and will be fully accomplished at the last day. The Jews here, either consciously or unconsciously, pronounce their own condemnation.
and will let out his vineyard, etc. The kingdom of God was to pass from the Jews to the Gentiles, of whom it is here prophesied, that shall render him the fruit in due season. St Luke adds : Which they hearing, said to him : God forbid. These words shew that at least some of the people had grasped the meaning of the parable.
42. Jesus saith to them. After looking earnestly at them. Cf. But he looking on them said, etc. (St Luke). The original word
(ἐμβλέφας) denotes a fixed, penetrating regard.
The stone, etc. Jesus here drops the parable of the vineyard, and takes up the simile of a builder. The quotation is from Ps. cxvii. 22, which was sung at the Feast of Tabernacles, and was “probably composed for the first celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles after the completion of the second Temple.” (See 2 Esdras viii. 13-17.)
Some verses, if not all of it, were sung by the multitude on Palm Sunday, when Christ entered Jerusalem in triumph. It was regarded as a Messianic psalm in its secondary signification, though its primary application was to Israel, the, corner-stone, having been rejected by God during the Captivity, and afterwards restored by Him, when the Israelites were freed and returned to Jerusalem.
which the builders rejected. The figure is taken from a stone quarried and cut by order of the architect for a corner-stone of the second Temple. This stone the builders, ignoring the architect’s design, had rejected.
the head of the corner. The cornice stone, binding the two walls and supporting the roof. This stone is a type of Christ and of His Church, and those who resist Him and His Church shall he bruised and ultimately will be ground to powder when He comes to judge mankind (St Luke XX. 18).
43. Therefore I say to you, etc. Our Lord Himself interprets the parable in one short sentence of denunciation.
44. shall fall. Better, “hath fallen” (πεσὼν). The allusion here is to those who are scandalized by our Lord’s humble life of toil and His death of shame.
shall he broken. Lit. “shall be shattered to pieces” (συνθλασθήσεται·).
on whomsoever it shall fall. Those who actively oppose the Gospel. “Christ in His humiliation is the Stone against which men fall, Christ in His glory and exaltation, is the Stone which falls on them.”
grind him to powder. The original Greek verb signifies to scatter chaff from the wheat by winnowing (λικμήσει αὐτόν).
45. they knew that he spoke of them. All the Synoptists note this fact.
46. seeking to lay hands, etc. They sought to take Him the same hour, but deterred by fear of the multitude, leaving him, they then went their way (St Mark).
as a prophet. As they had held St John the Baptist. . At least the people recognized that our Lord had a divine mission, even if they did not accept Him as the Messias.
Note the effects produced by this parable : —
(а) They were more eager than ever to seize Him. :(b) They knew that He spoke this parable of them.(c) They left Him and went their way.
Additional Notes
Note. — This parable fits in admirably after the request of the Sanhedrin, ‘‘ By what authority dost thou these things ? ” It answers their question and shews that Jesus was the Son of God, and therefore invested with divine authority. At the same time, Christ pointed out their contempt of authority whenever it opposed their interests, by comparing them to the wicked husbandmen, who had rejected first the servants and then the son of the owner, though they knew well that both had been lawfully sent. Jesus had refused to answer their captious question directly, but He replied to it indirectly.
Fuller Interpretation of the Parable.
A certain man. God.
The planting. The establishment of the Jewish Theocracy in Palestine under Josue and the Judges. “Thou hast brought a vineyard out of Egypt. Thou hast cast out the Gentiles and planted it ” (Ps. lxxix.
The vineyard. (1) The Jewish Church.
(2) The Christian Church.
The hedge. (Various interpretations are found.)
(1) The law of God, which was “ tlie middle wall of partition” between Jew and Gentile.(2) The special protection of God (r/. Is. V. 5).(3) The political or geographical isolation of the Jews.
The wine. (1) The altar of holocausts.
(2) The inspired prophets.
The tower. (1) Jerusalem with its Temple.
(2) The protection of God, our “ Tower of Strength.”(3) The Jewish rulers, especially the priests.
The purpose of
retaining the vineyard. The Jews’ determination to keep their exclusive privileges and to kill Christ, lest the Romans should take away their “ place and nation.”
The murder of the heir. The Crucifixion of Christ.
The return of the owner
and the destruction of
the husbandmen. (1) The destruction of Jerusalem.
(2) The day of judgment.
The “other” husbandmen. (1) The Gentiles in general.
(2) The Apostles, who were to be the foundation of the Catholic Church.
The fruit in due season. The virtues of those who should profess Christianity.
Note. — It is not necessary in a parable to see a meaning for each detail ; some cannot be pressed too far. The broad lines here are sufficiently clear, and the minor points come in to coinjdete the narrative. Thus the hedge, wine-vat, and tower have been variously interpreted ; while the owner, vineyard, messengers, and heir point clearly to God, the Jewish nation, the rulers, the prophets, and Christ. Therefore, in the foregoing interpretation of the parable, where several meanings are given, the most important or direct is given first.
Note 1. — Our Lord almost quotes the words of Isaias, as will be seen by comparing the two parables :
“ My beloved bad a vineyard on a hill in a fruitful place. And be fenced it in, and picked the stones out of it, and planted it with the choicest vines, and built a tower in the midst thereof, and set up a wine-press therein ; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. . . . And now I will shew you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted : I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. And I will make it desolate : it shall not be pruned, and it shall not be digged ; but briars and thorns shall come up : and I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel : and the man of Juda, his pleasant plant: and I looked that he should do judgment, and behold iniquity : and do justice, and behold a cry” (7s. v. 1, 2, 5-7).
38. This is the heir ; come, let us kill him. It may be asked how we are to reconcile these words, by which the husbandmen clearly recognize the son of the owner of the vineyard, with the words of St Peter and of St Paul : “ But the author of life you killed, whom God hath raised from the dead. I know that you did it through ignorance, as did also your rulers” (Acts iii. 15-17).
“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery .... which God ordained before the world, unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew ; for if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. ii. 7-8).
It may be said in a sense that they knew Him, since the prophecies, the testimony of St John the Baptist, and the miracles of Christ were sufficient proofs to convince them that He was the promised Messias, but they were too proud to accept Him in His lowliness, so they wilfully shut their eyes to the truth. They preferred subjecting to death. Him who preached the truth, rather than embrace the truth which He preached. The celebrated passage from the Book of Wisdom (ii. 12-21) throws great light on this subject:
“Let us therefore lie in wait for the just, because he is not for our turn, and he is contrary to our doings, and upbraideth us with transgressions of the law, and divulgeth against us the sins of our way of life. He boasteth that he hath the knowledge of God, and calleth himself the Son of God. He is become a censurer of our thoughts. He is grievous unto us, even to behold: for his life is not like other men’s, and his ways are very different. We are esteemed by him as triflers, and he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness, and he preferreth the latter end of the just, and glorieth that he hath God for his Father. Let us see then if his words be true, and let us prove what shall happen to him, and we shall know what his end shall be. For if he be the true Son of God, he will defend him, and will deliver him from the hands of his enemies. Let us examine him by outrages and tortures, that we may know his meekness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a most shameful death, for there shall be respect had unto him by his words. These things they thought, and were deceived, for their own malice blinded them.”
42. Have you never read, etc. ? In this verse Jesus passes from the comparison of a vineyard to that of a building, and this because the parable of the vineyard could not express the punishment of the wicked husbandmen by the heir, since he was slain, and in the natural order of events could not punish his murderers ; therefore the owner is represented as taking away the vineyard and giving it to “ others.” In the second similitude the punishment of those who rejected Christ is clearly prophesied.
The Punishment of the wicked husbandmen.
(1) The kingdom of God is to be taken from them and to pass to a nation yielding fruit in due season.
(2) Those who fall on “the Stone,” that is, those who are scandalized at Christ’s lowliness and reject Him, shall he “bruised” and “ broken.”
(3) The divine vengeance shall overtake those who thus reject “ the Corner Stone, for it shall fall on them and grind them to powder.” This was partially realized when Titus dispersed the Jews and burnt Jerusalem, and its final realization will take place at the general judgment.
Parallel Passages on the Punishment of those who reject Christ.
“ Whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall be broken : but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to pow¬ der ” (St Matt. xxi. 44).
“ Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself : and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be a sanctification to you. But for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence to the two houses of Israel, for a snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And very many of them shall stumble and fall, and shall be broken in pieces, and shall be snared and taken ” (Is. viii. 13-15).
“ As it is written : Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling - stone and a rock of scan¬dal : and whosoever believeth in him shall not be confounded” (Rom. ix. 33).
“ To you therefore that believe is hon¬ our : but to them that believe not, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of scandal, to them who stumble at the word, neither do believe, whereunto also they are set” (1 St Pet. ii. 7,8).
From these passages we see clearly that Christ, in prophesying the final punishment of the Jews, was but quoting a former prophecy and applying it to them. Further, from the words of St Peter, we see that they also apply to those for whom the Catholic Church is “ a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal.” By their incredulity they injure themselves, and if they continue wilfully to reject the truth, they will be ground to powder, or, according to the Greek text, “shall be scattered like chaff”; where we have a clear allusion to the separation of the wheat from the chaff, when He shall come “whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse' his floor : and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire ” (St Matt. iii. 12). The same thought is expressed in the vision of Nabuchodonosor where the stone “cut out of a mountain without hands ; and it struck the statue upon the feet thereof that were of iron and of clay,” and the whole image was “ broken to pieces together and became like the chaff of a summer’s thrashing floor ... . but the stone that struck the statue, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth” (Dan. ii. 34, 35).
42. The head of the corner. “ Christ is ‘ the rock.’ St Peter, because he is Christ’s Vicar, is also the rock against which neither waves, nor winds, nor all the powers of hell can prevail. All St Peter’s strength and stability come from our Lord. Anyone who assails Him shall be broken and dashed to pieces, and when, in the end, the anger of our meek and patient Lord must come down on the reprobate, it will indeed grind them to powder ” (Gallwey, S.J.).
By the Lord this has been done. “ Requiring His omnipotent power. ‘ This ’ does not refer to ‘ corner ’ or to ‘ the head of the corner,’ but to the whole preceding event, since it must be so understood in the Hebrew text of the psalm. To men, indeed, it seems strange, ‘ wonderful in our eyes,’ that when the long-expected Messias finally came. He was rejected and maltreated by those very persons whom He came to save and exalt ” (Maas, S.J.).
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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