Three-year Bible reading plan for 27 September 2001

King James Version (en)

King James Version (en)

Matthew, Chapter 21, verses 33-46

²³ Christ is brought back again into Galilee to Nazareth,

³³Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

³⁴And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.

³⁵And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.

³⁶Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.

³⁷But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.

³⁸But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

³⁹And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.

⁴⁰When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?

⁴¹They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

⁴²Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

⁴³Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

⁴⁴And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

⁴⁵And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

⁴⁶But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

Read more:Matthew, Chapter 22

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21

21:33 A certain householder planted a vineyard - God planted the Church in Canaan; and hedged it round about - First with the law, then with his peculiar providence: and digged a wine press - Perhaps it may mean Jerusalem: and built a tower - The temple:and went into a far country - That is, left the keepers of his vineyard, in some measure, to behave as they should see good. Mar 12:1; Luk 20:9.

21:34 He sent his servants - His extraordinary messengers, the prophets: to the husbandmen - The ordinary preachers or ministers of the Jews.

21:41 They say - Perhaps some of the by - standers, not the chief priests or Pharisees; who, as St. Luke relates, said, God forbid, Luk 20:16.

21:42 The builders - The scribes and priests, whose office it was to build up the Church. Is become the head of the corner - Or the chief corner stone: he is become the foundation of the Church, on which the whole building rests, and is the principal corner stone, for uniting the Gentiles to it, as the chief corner stone of a house supports and links its two sides together. Psa 118:22.

21:43 Therefore - Because ye reject this corner stone. The kingdom of God - That is, the Gospel.

21:44 Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken - Stumblers at Christ shall even then receive much hurt. He is said to fall on this stone, who hears the Gospel and does not believe. But on whomsoever it shall fall - In vengeance, it will utterly destroy him.It will fall on every unbeliever, when Christ cometh in the clouds of heaven. Luk 20:18.

NOTES

Jesus gives old words new meanings. He tells His opponents the ancient parable from the prophet Isaiah about how his (Isaiah's) friend planted a good vineyard, but thorns and wild grapes grew in it - yet the main meaning of this parable is radically changed by Him...

Continuing the discussion of words and deeds, in today's Gospel reading the Lord brings what has been said to a kind of conclusion. And His words are so frightening that the chief priests and Pharisees try to seize Him and destroy Him on the spot, just so...

Today's reading again offers us the parable of the vineyard told by Jesus. This parable, like all parables...

Today's reading again offers us the parable of the vineyard told by Jesus. This parable, like all parables of this kind, is messianic, and the vineyard here, as in the Bible in general, becomes a symbol of the messianic Kingdom.

To understand the parable it is important to keep in mind that the Pharisaic movement was a messianic movement. Its participants considered themselves to be the very remnant of which the prophets spoke. Of course, the prophets spoke of the remnant with a small part of the people in mind, one that, after passing through trials, and the Babylonian exile became such a trial for the Jewish people, would preserve the faith and meet the Messiah promised by God. But already after the exile and after the people's return to the land of their fathers, a brotherhood movement formed in the Synagogue, and its members began to consider themselves precisely the remnant. They were called "Pharisees," that is, "the separated ones," "sectarians." Perhaps at first this was a somewhat contemptuous nickname, but in Gospel times members of the brotherhood already called themselves "Pharisees" willingly, and even with a certain defiance. They considered themselves the spiritual heirs of the prophets and the guardians of the traditions of prophetic messianism.

Jesus places them in the same line with those who in ancient times persecuted and killed the prophets (vv. 34-36). From His point of view, they had in fact turned out to be heirs not of the prophets, but of their persecutors. And they completed what their predecessors had begun (vv. 37-39).

And here what actually makes the cross of Christ inevitable took place. The listeners understood Jesus perfectly. And they decided to kill Him (vv. 45-46). Quite recently the matter could have been a theological discussion (vv. 23-27); now the discussion threatened to turn into bloodshed. And no wonder: the unwillingness to answer Jesus' question (vv. 25-27) was not accidental. There was a choice here: to acknowledge the obvious and abandon their own views and concepts, or to abandon nothing, closing their eyes to God's will. Jesus' interlocutors in fact choose the second. And if in this situation Jesus, even after denouncing His listeners, had not insisted on anything, perhaps everything would have passed without conflict, and there would have appeared the possibility of coexistence among different points of view, of which there were already many in the Synagogue of Gospel times.

But Jesus says directly that the issue is not opinions, but the Kingdom, and here there can be no compromise (vv. 43-44). And His listeners understand that the matter is no longer a theological dispute, but survival: if this strange Teacher is right, they will have to leave, giving place to others. And He will not yield just like that. He puts the question bluntly and will stand His ground to the end. Then those who do not want to leave and do not want to accept have only one possibility left. For if this Man really dies, then the problem will resolve itself: it will become clear that He is no Messiah and no prophet; therefore those who did not accept Him were right and can sleep peacefully. In this way, rejection of Christ makes His cross inevitable.

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