Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

by extracting from their own mouths a confession that they deserve to be destroyed for keeping the people from him,-the very purpose with which they had just entered the temple. To my understanding, the Lord speaks to this effect: "My Father established the culture of mankind for Himself; he circumscribed its operation to this people; he delegated his judicial authority for the work; he established a sure defence, and committed all to you rulers, who were to have held this people under him and for him; and then waited, in his long-suffering, to see what should come of it: and by and bye, when he looked for fruit, and that you should present the hearts of this people to him, and acknowledge that you held them for him, he sent unto you prophets, to receive them at your hands a God-trusting and creature-distrusting people. But ye variously despised and illtreated those prophets, and kept the people back from giving heed to them. Again he sent others, prophet upon prophet, more abundantly unto you; but ye did unto them likewise, and kept the people, and the deluded affections of the people, ever to yourselves. Last of all hath my Father sent to you me, his only Son, if perhaps you will reverence me; but on seeing me ye say, and perceive within yourselves, that I am the rightful Lord of this people and lest I should dispossess you it is that ye go about to kill me; and, having laid hands on me at last, ye will deliver me over to the Gentiles (extra vineam), and slay me. When, therefore, my Father himself shall come to reckon with you for all this, what will He do unto you, ye rulers of men, but not for the glory of God?" They answer him, as a matter of course, apparently not yet seeing the drift of his parable, "He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and let out his vineyard to other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons." Thus, out of their own mouth convicted, Jesus saith unto them (possibly pointing to the temple's structure while he spoke), “ 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? Therefore I say unto you (expounding this text), The kingdom of God-the dominion over men for God-shall be taken from you rulers, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." And it is worth our while, and not foreign to our purpose, to examine how it is that the text justifies our Lord's application of it, and what is the real meaning of that application. Thus much is evident to the slightest attention: that these Jewish rulers, against whom the preceding parable was spoken, were meant by the builders; and that their own corrupt order was implied by the building, whence they rejected God's appointed Head-stone; and that by that Stone was meant Christ. Therefore, builders who would not exalt their Master's

[blocks in formation]

Head-stone, and a building whose proportions or materials were not constituted to receive it, must be rejected: therefore, rulers who would not acknowledge, nor were fitted to be under, God's appointed Head Ruler, must have the rule taken from them and given to others. Thus far is clear: but why the kingdom of God taken from those rulers was to be given to a nation, and to what nation it was to be given, is not so obvious. This I find from a consideration of the context of the passage in Ps. cxviii., compared with the known destinies of Israel, manifested throughout Scripture: for, observe, the nation spoken of by our Lord was to be a righteous nation; and the marvel (at the kingdom of God given to it) was to be in Jewish eyes—“ in our eyes." Now I think it is clear, in Ps. cxviii., that the parties who "marvel" (ver. 23), and "rejoice and are glad" (ver. 24), are the same as "the righteous ones who shall enter" (ver. 20); and these are the same of whom Isaiah saith, "Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation, which keepeth thy truths, may enter in" (xxvi. 2); and again, "Ye shall be called the priests of the Lord, and men shall call you the ministers of our God" (lxi. 6); which, I need hardly add, shall be in the day when God brings forth his "Head-stone with shoutings of Grace, Grace unto it" (Zech. iv. 7), to the marvel of Israel's eyes, who have seen nothing of the kind to marvel at yet. So, Israel, restored righteous Israel, is the nation that shall bring forth the fruits; and for them was the kingdom of God to be taken from those wicked rulers; and for them is it kept to this day; there having appeared as yet no righteous nation, headed by Christ, to their eyes, nor to any eye but that of faith-which sees, indeed, a "righteous nation," but not one having as yet received a kingdom. But some will say, 'Is not the church of Christ intended by this nation? For Peter saith of us, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation," &c.' What then? we must, like the well-instructed scribe (Matt. xiii. 52), bring forth new as well as old things, to solve the matter; and perceive to be contained in it, not only the old purpose of God to his ancient people, but his new act of glorifying a church for his First-born out of the Gentiles. Still, however, in both aspects the text is as yet unfulfilled; for the church hath as yet no kingdom, and Israel's eyes have as yet not marvelled: but, both in the letter and in the spirit, the accomplishment awaits the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who of course appears not as the Head-stone of the church's building till she be fully built up to receive him, which as yet she is not.--So much for our Lord's declaration to those chief priests and elders, "that the dominion over men in God's stead should be taken from them, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits of righteousness:" to which he adds a twofold denunciation respecting the stone in question.

That Stone (our blessed Lord) was then on the earth beneath, at men's feet, overlooked and neglected by the wicked to their own hurt; but He was ere long to be exalted by God into heaven above, over men's heads, to come down upon the wicked to their destruction therefore he adds the two-fold warning, "And whosoever shall fall on (i. e. stumble over) this Stone, shall be broken (i. e. severely injured); but on whomsoever it shall fall (from on high), it shall grind him to powder (i.e. utterly destroy)." Of which denunciation the two parts are the ground of a similar division in the parable to which we are coming, which, indeed, is a sort of commentary on this saying: but first comes the effect of the Lord's sayings on his hearers. The chief priests and Pharisees, whom he had silenced at the first (ver. 27), and then provoked by preferring the dregs of the people before them (ver. 31), and then denounced for keeping the people back from him, and then sentenced to destruction for rejecting him as their appointed Head, were angered to the uttermost, perceiving that he spake of them, and they sought to lay hands on him. Meanwhile, the people must have been all along correspondingly pleased throughout; and not the less for supposing, as I cannot but think they did till further instructed, that themselves were intended by that righteous nation in whose behalf their rulers should be deprived of the kingdom of God (ver. 43). They were well pleased, and took the Lord for a prophet; and the fear of them overawed their rulers from the violence they would have committed, as it is written at verse 46.

Now to these impressions of his hearers and their effects—namely, on the one hand, to the anger of the rulers and their seeking to lay hands on him; and on the other hand, to the complacency and favour of the people, and their overawing their rulers-Jesus answered (xxii. 1) and spake the parable of which we are about to offer an interpretation. Its prominent purport will be seen to be very apt for the occasion which elicited it-namely, to teach, First, the people, who had hitherto heard not a word against themselves, but much that was calculated to elate them at the expense of their rulers, that they needed not glory, nor expect a better fate for themselves; but that, stumbling also, they likewise should fall and be broken on that Stone, being in no wise the righteous nation intended at verse 43 of the preceding chapter: Secondly, to teach what should ensue on their fall, and, in indicating the judgment of a future party, to exhibit to the present hearers a picture of their own judicial infatuation; to point also, in so doing, to the place where the Stone should at length fall: and Lastly, like all prophecies of harm to Israel, to leave room, at least by the judgment of those who have supplanted Jacob, for that restoration which shall constitute Israel, after all, the nation bringing forth the fruits of righteousness. These things I think

I perceive in the parable for the occasion, independently of our

concern in its contents.

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come ye unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandize: and the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth; and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burnt up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all, as many as they found, both bad and good and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment; and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? and he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen" (Matt. xxii. 114).

This is the parable; of which the first half was spoken concerning the Jewish people, the remainder concerning the Gentiles. To avoid mistaking the nature of the discourse, or the mode of applying its terms, I shall take nearly the centre verse, as affording an indisputable specimen of both; for there is no disagreement about the meaning of this verse. "But when the king heard thereof he was wroth; and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burnt up their city" (ver. 7): which means, 'But when the cry of the wickedness of the Jews came up before God, his anger was kindled against them; and he caused the Roman armies to go forth and put them to the sword, and give Jerusalem to the flames.' Hence I infer two things: First, The whole parable is prophetic, in like kind with this verse, and none of it of the nature of a moral or doctrinal illustration merely, addressed to individual man in the abstract. Secondly, That the terms of it are of distinct and definite application to matters definite and distinct in fact; so as that the parable is from beginning to end a real narrative, only told in allegorical terms.

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which

made a marriage for his son" (ver. 1). Men, in their rejection of Christ, the King of heaven, did, as far as lay in them, reject also his kingdom. By this their rejection of it, the kingdom, though in no wise frustrated in God's purpose, is nevertheless for a time obscured, masked, and, so to speak, altered in its appearance; being made to appear very different from what it should have been, and is, and shall be in the day of its shining forth. If the reader, carrying this in his mind, will translate poon "is made like," instead of " is like," he will have simply suggested to his mind the real meaning of this mode of opening so many of the parables, and will need but one meaning for the expression "kingdom of heaven," wherever occurring. What is implied here is, that the kingdom of heaven (essentially sui similis) is, by the adaptation of God's purposes to the alternative of men's wickedness, made to be like the allegory which follows, by being made to have subsistence in the facts which the allegory signifies. To determine what these facts are, it is needful above all things, in the first place, to submit our attention reverently and carefully to the allegory itself, as to a plain narrative, observing what it definitely states and inevitably implies, to the exclusion of all anachronism, confusion, and inconsistency, which must be equally excluded from our interpretation.

"A certain king made a marriage for his son" (i. e. appointed nuptial festivities in honour of his son's intended marriage); "and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding [feast], and they would not come" (vers. 2, 3).-By the King, is meant God: by his Son, Christ: by the guests are intended the generation of the Jews, some of whom heard the parable: by the marriage feast is signified something which that generation should have partaken of, but for their unworthiness did not partake of, and of which no one hath yet partaken. For of this marriage feast, if the narrative be viewed in its simplicity apart from preconceived interpretation, the same must be implied as of every other such feast-namely, that it be partaken of by all the guests together assembled, and in the presence of him in whose honour it is given. But a little attention to our narrative will shew, that not until the completion of a process, signified at ver. 10, is this feast furnished with guests; and that thereafter, though the King enters in to judge if these be fit for his Son's table, the whole narrative evidently falls short of the arrival of the Son, in whose honour the feast is given, and so, by consequence, of the tasting of the feast by a single guest. Hence I infer that this marriage feast means not "the grace of the Gospel dispensation," which some have understood by it: but what it does mean, I trust to determine as follows. In Rev. xix. at verses 7, 9, it is written, "The marriage of the Lamb is come!

« AnteriorContinuar »