Reflections on the parable of the unfaithful husbandmen. 195 clii. God has given to every man some part of his vineyard to culti- SECT. vate and improve, or some advantages to know and serve him. And as for us who enjoy the Christian dispensation, we have par- Mat. ticular reason to say, the lines are fallen to us in pleasant places. xxi. 33. (Psal. xvi. 6.) What could he have done more for this part of his vineyard? How ungrateful therefore shall we be, and how miserable too, if we with-hold the fruits he so reasonably expects; if 34, 36 we slight the messengers by whom he so frequently and so pathetically demands them; yea, if by wilful impenitence and unbelief we in effect renew the slaughter of his beloved Son, after that 37, 39 amazing favour he has done us, in charging him with an embassy of peace to us, whose aggravated crimes had long since deserved that he should have sent amongst us the messengers of his vengeance. 41 Oh that we may never be condemned out of our own mouths in the censures we pass on the guilty Jews! We cannot surely think of the awful threatening of our Lord 43 without some secret terror for ourselves, when we consider how shamefully we of this nation have abused our privileges. The kingdom of God, said he, shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. God had been just had he long since executed such a judgment upon us: may he be merciful to us all in suspending and averting it! May his compassion particularly extend to those amongst us who reject Christianity; for the passage before us has a dreadful aspect upon such! Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; whether they 42 will submit, or whether they will oppose; Christ is made the Head of the corner, and God will for ever establish him as such. Wo to them who, instead of joining with him, and fixing the stress of their souls upon him, deliberately set themselves to oppose his cause and interest! On such undoubtedly will he fall like a mighty 44 rock of adamant, and miserably crush them in pieces, and grind them to powder. xx. 19. Thus did our Lord warn his enemies most wisely and most graciously; but they despised the admonition, and hated him for what was so kindly intended. They sought to lay hands on him Luke because he had spoken this parable against them. High provocation indeed, to set their danger faithfully before them, that if by any means it were possible they might be awakened to escape it! But, alas, what can save those whose spiritual distempers are exasperated by the most proper remedies prescribed for their cure. VOL. VII. Bb SECT. 196 Jesus delivers the parable of the marriage feast. SECT. cliii. Mat. SECT. CLIII. Christ farther warns the Jews of the danger which would attend their rejecting the gospel, or resting in an insincere profession of it, by the parable of the marriage-feast and the wedding-garment. Mat. XXII. 1—14. ed and spake unto is like unto a certain king, which marriage for AND ND when the priests and scribes were re- AND Jesus answertired, Jesus, being still surrounded with the them again by paramultitude, answered and spake to them again in bles, and said, XXII. 1. parables, suited to the present circumstances of 2 affairs, saying, The kingdom of heaven, or 2 The kingdom of the dispensation of the gospel, is like, and may heaven be well compared to, that which happened in made a the case of a man [that was] a king, who made his son, 3a splendid marriage-feast for his son. And And sent forth his when all was prepared, he sent his servants to call those who had been before invited, that they might come immediately to the nuptial banquet. But they were so rude and foolish, that they would not come upon the summons. servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 4 Again he sent forth other servants, saying, bidden, Behold, I have prepa ed my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. Tell them which are Again sent other of his servants, saying, Go and tell them that were invited, that I must insist upon their coming immediately; for behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my other fatted beasts are slain and dressed, and all things are just ready to be served up to the table; therefore come to the marriage-feast without 5 any farther delay. But such was the perverse- light of it, and went ness of the guests, that, notwithstanding this re- their ways, one to his peated invitation, they refused to come; and, farm, another to his not regarding [it], they went away, one of them merchandise : a The kingdom of heaven is like a king.] relate this parable here, because he had seg. b To call those who had been invited to the nuptial banquet.] The word as to 5 But they made p. 93, and Wolfius, in loc.) It was sometimes customary to send two messages, as in the case here supposed; which represented the condescension the greater, and suited the repeated invitations given to the Jews by Christ himself during his life, and by the apostles after his death. c My oren and my fatted beasts are slain.] It was agreeable to the simplicity of the ancient ages to mention these as the chief parts of a royal entertainment. Thus in Homer, and other ancient writers, we see princes of the first rank and dignity feasting each other with nothing but the flesh of oxen, sheep, and swine.-Compare Isa. xxv. 6. d And, The guests not coming, others are called from the high-ways. entreated them spitefully, and slew them. 197 SECT. cliii. Mat. to his field in the country, and another to his mer6 And the remnant chandise in the city. And the rest were so took his servants, and brutish that, laying hold on his servants who came with the message, they shamefully insulted XXII. G. them in a very outrageous manner, and even carried their ingratitude so far, that they slew some 7 But when the king of them. And when the king heard of it],7 heard thereof, he was he was greatly provoked; and, not long after, forth his armies, and having sent his armies, he destroyed those murderdestroyed those mur- ers, and even burnt their city where they dwelt", derers, and burnt up which, being disaffected to him, had joined with these wicked men in concerting this gross and intolerable affront. wroth: and he sent their city. and as many as ye marriage. 8 Then saith he to In the mean time then, upon the king's re-8 his servants, The wed- ceiving intelligence of their insolent behaviour, ding is ready, but they which were bidden he says to his servants, The marriage-feast is prewere not worthy. pared; but they who were first invited were not worthy of any part in it, or indeed of any invi9 Go ye therefore tation to it: Yet let not the provisions I have 9 into the high-ways, made be lost: go ye therefore to the most public shall find, bid to the ways, and particularly to the places where several streets and roads meet, and invite as many as you 10 So those ser- find there to the wedding-banquet. And accord- 10 vants went out into the high-ways, and ingly those servants went out, as their lord had gathered together all, commanded them, into the streets and other as many as they found, [public] ways, and assembled all that they met both bad and good: with, whether bad or good, without any regard to their characters or circumstances: and the feast was abundantly supplied with guests. 11 And when the But that, whatever habits they had on before, 11 king came in to see the they might appear worthy to sit at such a table, the king had ordered clean white garments to be a wedding-garment; delivered to each of them, and appointed servants whose province it was to see that they were decently dressed; after which, coming in to view the guests, he saw a man there who, though such habits were provided, yet was not clothed with a wedding-garment; but either in contempt of and the wedding was furnished with guests. guests, he saw there a man which had not on the And, not long after, having sent his duodus ruv oduv, signifies the ways which armies, &c.] This clause must be supposed were most frequented; which must be such to come in by way of prolepsis or anticipa- as are mentioned in the paraphrase. (Sec tion, for it is plain there could not be time, Boisius, Compur. in loc.) This intimates before the feast already prepared was served that the Gentiles had as little reason to exup, to attempt an execution of this kind.-pect the call of the gospel as common pasThis circumstance seems to point at the sengers and travellers to expect an invitaslaughter of the Jews, and the burning Je- tion to a royal banquet. rusalem and the other chief cities of their country by the Romans; who are here considered as the armies of their affronted prince, whose ambassadors they had indeed most cruelly and ungratefully murdered. f Who, though such habits were provided, yet was not clothed with a weddinggarment.] That persons making an enter tainment sometimes furnished the habits in which the guests should appear, is evident from what Homer says of Ulysses being thus Bb 2 furnished The most public ways, &c.] The phrase 198 The king orders him without a wedding-garment to be cast out. Mat. 12 And he saith un SECT. the feast, or presuming his own habit might do cliii. as well as that which was offered him, had refused to accept it. And he said to him, Friend, XXII.12 how camest thou in hither, not having on a wed- to him, Friend, how ding garment suited to the occasion? Was it not not having a weddingoffered to thee? or hadst thou so little sense of garment? And he was decency and gratitude as to refuse to accept it speechless. camest thou in hither, 13 Then said the Bind him hand and in compliance with the order of my feast? And he was presently struck speechless, being confounded with the majesty of the royal presence, and conscious of his own insolence and folly. 13 Then the king, being justly incensed at so great an affront, resolved to punish it by a severe im- king to the servants, prisonment; and therefore said to [his] servants, foot, and take him Bind his hands and feet, and take him away hence, away, and cast him from all the joy and splendor of the guest-cham- into outer darkness: ber, and cast him out into the darkness which is ing and guashing of withouth; and there, instead of the mirth and teeth. delight of my banquet, there shall be nothing but weeping and gnashing of the teeth for anguish. and despair. (Compare Mat. viii. 12. Vol. VI. p. 295.) 14 Nor imagine, said our Lord in the conclusion and improvement of the parable, that this will be the case of one alone; for though it be a dreadful truth, yet I must say, that even the furnished by the Phracians (Odyss. lib. greatest there shall be weep 14 For many are called, Holy Spirit ; and therefore may justly resent and punish our neglect of so great a favour. g He was struck speechless.] I render it [struck speechless,] because the word county is in the passive form, and is very expressive. It is applied to the muzzling of cattle, 1 Cor. ix. 9. Compare 1 Tim. v. 18. and 1 Pet. ii. 15. h Cast him out into the darkness which is without.] The mention of this circumstance in this connection would incline one to think, either that the word apisov (in ver. 4) may signify supper as well as dinner (which some critics have thought), or that the king is represented as visiting the guests in the evening. But not to insist on this, which is of little moment, it is well known that banquets of this kind were generally celebrated in rooms that were finely illu minated and richly adorned: (see notes, on Mat. viii. 12. Vol. VI. p. 295.) And, considering how splendid and magnificent the entertainments of the eastern princes were, it cannot be thought an unnatural circumstance that such an affront as this offered to the king, his son, his bride, and the rest of the company, should be pu nished with such bonds, and thrown into a dungeon. Reflections on our being called to the gospel-feast. 199 called, but few are greatest part of those to whom the gospel is of SECT. fered will either openly reject or secretly disobey chosen. cliii. it; and while many indeed are called to the gos- Mat. Thus did he strongly intimate to the Jews, IMPROVEMENT. xxii. 2 How rich are the provisions of the gospel! a feast indeed be- Mat. coming the bounty and majesty of the King of heaven; and proportionable even to the love which he bears to his own Son, in honour of whom it is made! How wonderful is the grace which calls us to the participation 9, 10 of these provisions; us, who were originally sinners of the Gentiles, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise! (Eph. ii. 12.) Yet has he graciously sent his messengers to us, and invited us to his house, yea, to his table, with the additional hope of yet nobler entertainments in reserve. May none of us reject so condescending a call, lest we turn his goodness 4-6 into righteous indignation, and treasure up to ourselves wrath against the day of wrath! (Rom. ii. 5.) Let us also remember, that it is not every one who professes to accept the entertainment, not every one who talks of gospel-bless |