Luca 20:13 Commento

In this chapter we have, I. Christ's answer to the chief priests' question concerning his authority (Luk 20:1-8). II. The parable of the vineyard let out to the unjust and rebellious husbandmen (Luk 20:9-19). III. Christ's answer to the question proposed to him concerning the lawfulness of paying tribute to Caesar (Luk 20:20-26). IV. His vindication of that great fundamental doctrine of the Jewish and Christian institutes - the resurrection of the dead and the future state, from the foolish cavils of the Sadducees (Luk 20:27-38). V. His puzzling the scribes with a question concerning the Messiah's being the Son of David (Luk 20:39-44). VI. The caution he gave his disciples to take heed of the scribes (Luk 20:45-47). All which passages we had before in Matthew and Mark, and therefore need not enlarge upon them here, unless on those particulars which we had not there.

And it came to pass, that on one of those days,.... According to the account of the Evangelist Mark, it must be the second day, or two days after his public entrance into Jerusalem; for on the evening of the day he made his entry, he went out to Bethany with his disciples; the next morning, as he returned from thence, he cursed the barren fig tree; and when he came to the temple cast out the buyers and sellers; at evening he went out again, either to Bethany, or the Mount of Olives; and the next morning, as he and his disciples returned, the fig tree was observed to be dried up; and when they were come to Jerusalem, as he was walking in the temple, he was attacked by the sanhedrim, and had the following discourse with them: as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the Gospel; for he taught them by preaching that, and which he did most clearly, faithfully, and publicly, being abundantly anointed and qualified for it, and sent to do it. The chief priests, and the Scribes, came upon him, with the elders. The whole sanhedrim being purposely convened together, came upon him in a body; and it may be suddenly, and at an unawares, and came open mouthed against him, and attacked him with great warmth and vehemency.

So they cast him out of the vineyard,.... Rejected him as the Messiah, even denied that he was of the Jewish nation; said he was a Samaritan, and delivered him to the Gentiles that were without, and were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; and at last had him without their city, and put him to death, as follows: and killed him; the Prince of life, the Lord of glory, and heir of all things; see Act 2:23 what therefore shall the Lord of the vineyard do unto them? the husbandmen, the chief priests, elders, Scribes, and Pharisees; at whose solicitations the life of his Son, and heir, was taken away; by which he must be greatly provoked and incensed.

He proposed another parable. “A certain man, a householder, planted his vineyard.” This is like what the psalmist said, “You brought a vine out of Egypt, you drove out the nations and planted it.” He protected it with a hedge, the law, and prepared a pit in it for the winepresses, the altar, and built a tower there, the temple, and sent his servants to bring him its fruit. The first, the next and the last were not received. Then he sent his Son. He was not the last, for although he appeared at the end, he already existed. John witnessed, “A man will come after me, who is before me.” He did not do this because he was unaware that the ancestors were incapable of receiving the produce but to remove the detractions of these stubborn ones from their midst. They were saying that he was not able to direct and prepare everything that he wanted to by the law, so therefore he sent his Son to impose silence on them. When they saw his Son coming, they said, “Here is the heir of the vineyard. Come! Let us kill him, and the inheritance of the vineyard will be ours.” They killed him, but their inheritance was taken away from them and given to the Gentiles. It happened just as he had said, “For to him who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Now it was not accidentally but part of the purpose of the divine dispensation that Christ came after the prophets. For God does not pursue all things at once, but accommodates Himself to mankind through His great mercy; for if they despised His Son coming after His servants, much less would they have heard Him before. For they who listened not to the inferior commands, how would they have heard the greater?

The lord of the vineyard thinks to himself saying, "What shall I do?" We must carefully examine in what sense he says this. Does the householder use these words because he had no more servants? He certainly did not lack other ministers of his holy will. When a physician may say of a sick man, "What shall I do?" we should understand him to mean that every resource of medical skill had been tried without success. We affirm that the lord of the vineyard, having practiced all gentleness and care with his farm but without benefiting it in any way, says, "What shall I do?" What is the result? He advances to still greater purposes. "I will send," he says, "my son, the beloved one. Perhaps they will reverence him." Observe in this, that after the servants, he sends the Son as One not numbered among the servants but as a true Son and therefore the Lord. Although he put on the form of a servant for the dispensation's sake, he was God, very Son of God the Father who possessed natural dominion. Did they honor him who was sent as Son and Lord and as One who possesses by inheritance whatever belongs to God the Father? No, they murdered him outside the vineyard, having plotted among themselves a foolish and ignorant plan full of all wickedness. They say, "Let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours."

The Lord of the vineyard also ponders what He should do, not that He is in need of ministers, but that having thoroughly tried every device of human aid, yet His people being in no wise healed, He may add something greater; as He goes on to say, I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him.

But the Lord of the vineyard said: What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps when they see him, they will respect him. Though the Lord of the vineyard is said to speak doubtfully and not with deliberation, this does not come from ignorance. For what could the Lord of the vineyard, who is understood here to be God the Father, not know? But God is always said to waver so that free will may be reserved for man. When the tenants saw him, they discussed among themselves, saying: This is the heir, let us kill him so that the inheritance may become ours. The Lord most clearly demonstrates that the leaders of the Jews did not crucify the Son of God out of ignorance but out of envy. For they understood that he was the one to whom it was said: Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance (Psalm II). And therefore, as if consulting among themselves, they were saying: Behold, the whole world is following him, and if we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him (John XII). Therefore, the inheritance of the son is the Church given to him from all the nations, which the Father did not leave to him by dying, but he miraculously acquired by his own death, because he possessed it by rising again. But the wicked tenants were attempting to seize this, having killed him, when the Jews, crucifying him, tried to extinguish the faith which is through him, and rather to promote their own righteousness, which is from the law, and sought to implant it in the gentiles to be instructed.

(in Marc. 12.) Or understanding it morally; to every one of the faithful is let out a vineyard to cultivate, in that the mystery of baptism is entrusted to him to work out. One servant is sent, a second and a third, when the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets are read. But the servant who is sent is said to be treated despitefully or beaten, when the word heard is despised or blasphemed. The heir who is sent that man kills as far as he can, who by sin tramples under foot the Son of God. (Heb. 6:6.) The wicked husbandman being destroyed, the vineyard is given to another, when with the gift of grace, which the proud man spurned, the humble are enriched.

After the prophets had endured such terrible evil, the Son is sent. "Perhaps," He says, "they will be ashamed" before My Son. He says "they will be ashamed" not because He does not know the future — namely, that they will treat Him far worse than the prophets — but because this is how it should have been: they should have been ashamed before Him. But if they were so shameless that they even killed Him, this serves as a greater accusation against them, because even after God declared that it would have been good to be ashamed before the Son, they rendered the opposite verdict. This manner of speaking is found in many places of Scripture, for example: "Perhaps... they will listen" (Jer. 26:3); "whether they will listen" (Ezek. 2:5, 3:11). In these places God speaks this way not out of ignorance of the future, but He uses such a manner of expression so that no one would say that God's foreknowledge was the necessary cause of their disobedience.

After the prophets then had suffered all these things, the Son is delegated; for it follows, Then said the Lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? That the Lord of the vineyard speaks doubtingly, arises not from ignorance, for what is there that the Lord knows not? but He is said to hesitate, that the free will of man may be preserved. Now He said this, not as ignorant that they would treat Him worse than they did the prophets, but because the Son ought to be reverenced by them. But if they should still be rebellious and slay Him, this would crown their iniquity. Lest therefore any should say that the Divine Presence has necessarily been the cause of their disobedience, He uses purposely this doubtful mode of speech.

The question concerning the authority of Christ, and the baptism of John, Luk 20:1-8. The parable of the vine-yard let out to wicked husbandmen, Luk 20:9-18. The chief priests and scribes are offended, and lay snares for him, Luk 20:19, Luk 20:20. The question about tribute, Luk 20:21-26. The question about the resurrection of the dead, and our Lord's answer, Luk 20:27-40. How Christ is the son of David, Luk 20:41-44. He warns his disciples against the hypocrisy of the scribes, whose condemnation he points out, Luk 20:45-47.

THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS QUESTIONED, AND HIS REPLY--PARABLE OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. (Luke 20:1-19) these things--particularly the clearing of the temple.

my beloved son--Mark (Mar 12:6) still more affectingly, "Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved"; our Lord thus severing Himself from all merely human messengers, and claiming Sonship in its loftiest sense. (Compare Heb 3:3-6.) it may be--"surely"; implying the almost unimaginable guilt of not doing so.