The Washington herald., 1914-08-15
THE WICKED HUsBANDMEN

ms erssts't LiVPE Ennssls'-
THE WICKED HUsBANDMEN.
- LEssoN-Astthsu xxiSSs.
GOLDEN TExr-Aatthew mia
''JsSs aid unto then. psdsys netsr rad m the
Ths stons Vhioh the builder REJECTED.
Ths sane va made the head q the corner;
This was from the Lord.
And II Is Marvellous In our eyesi"
(ss) Hear another parable: There
was q man that was q Householder,
which planted q vineyard. and set
hedge about It, and digged a winepress
in II, and built tower, and let IL out
10 husbandfhen. ard went into another
country. (s4) And when the season
of the fruits drew near. he sent his
servants to the husbandmen. to receive
his fruits. (35) And the husbandmen
took his servants. and beat one, and
killed another and stoned another.
(s6) Again he sent other servants
more than the first; and they did unto
them in like manner. (37) But after
ward he sent unto them his son, say
ing, They viii reverence my son. (SD
But the husbandmen. when they saw
the son, said among themselves, This
is the heir; come, let US kill him, and
take his Inheritance. (ss) And they
took him, and cast him forth out OF
the vineyard. and killed him. (4o)
When therefore the lord OF the vine
yard shall come, what will he do to
, those husbandmen? (I1) They say
unto him, He viii miserably destroy
those miserable men, and will let out
the vineyard unto other husbandinen,
which shall render him the fruits In
their seasons. (I2) Jesus saith unto
them. Did ye never read in the scrip
lures,
The stone which the builders rejected. .
The same was mne the head Of the corner:
This vas from the Lord.
And II 10 marvellous in our eyesl
(43) Therefore say unto you, The
kingdom OF God shall be taken away
from you, and shall be given to a ma
ton bringing forth the fruits thereof.
go And he that falleth on this stone
shall be broken TO pieces; but on
whomsoever II shall fall, II will scat
ter him as dust. (45) And when the
parallels, they perceived that he spake
Of them. Ct6) And when they sought
to lay hold on him, they feared the
multitudes, because they took him for
q prophet.
The Narrative.
After declining to give an answer
as TO His authority to men whose atti-
tude Of dishonesty in the matter of
Johns ministry proved them unwor-
thy, the Lord proceeded to give them
two parallels in quick succession. Only
one OF these is given in our lesson. 1t
Is necessary. however. that We have
the two in mind, in order perfectly TO
understand the value Of the parallels
In the method adopted with the rul-
ers. In the first. that of the two sons,
He stated a case, and appealed to
them for q verdict. without any hesi-
tation they found the verdict, and
by so doing uttered the condemnation
OF their own methods. In the second,
that OF the husbandmen, He again
stated a case, and asked them to pass
sentence. This they did, and in so
doing declared the righteous judgment
which must fail upon their motives.
It is most interesting to observe
that in both these parallels the figure
was that OF the vineyard. The Lord
was dealing with the men who were
the responsible rulers Of the Hebrew
people. and with them therefore who
were, 90 far as the letter was con-
cerned, certainly familiar with the
prophetic writings. The hgure of the
vineyard would inevitably suggest to
them Isaiah's great song of the vine
yard. Presently we read that they
knew that He was speaking to them.
and there can be no question that they
connected His parable with the teach
ing Of that song. Moreover this idea
Of the vineyard, with its insistence
upon the importance off fruitfulness.
was in harmony With the symbolic
destroyed for fruitlessness; and in
deed, with His whole activity Of judg-
ment at this time.
In the parable which we are now
considering. the whole movement OF
the history OF these people was traced
The activity of God in the creation of
the nation was stated under exactly
the same figure of speech as that of
Isaiah. He had planted the vineyard
and hedged II about. The response
bility of the rulers throughout all the
history Of the people was indicated
in the declaration that He let IL out
to husbandmen." His righteous eXpec-
tation was indicated in the declaration
that He sent His servants 10 the bus
bandmen to receive His fruits. Ac-
cording to Isaiah the fruits He had
looked for were those of judgment
and of Righteousness. The response
persecution of the prophets, the i'll
treatment OF those who were thust
sent.
Then the parable proceeded to refer |
to His own mission, as Ne declared
that the proprietor Of the vineyard
sent his son. Knowing what was in
their hearts toward Him, and what the |
outcome of it would be, He declared
that these husbandmen would success |
fully conspire to kill the son in order |
to possess his Inheritance.
The Lord then appealed TO them as
to what should be done to the hus- |
bandmen, and we have the sentence |
as they uttered II, and then as He ut |
tered IT They declared He will mis- |
erably destroy those miserable men, |
and will let out the vineyard unto |
other husbandmen. which shall render /
him the fruits in their seasons" To !
this the Lord replied by reminding |
them OF what their own Scriptures
taught concerning the fact that the
stone rejected by the builders should |
be the head of the corner. thus indi-
eating that under the government Of
God, the rejection of the Son would |
not issue in His dIsinheriting.
Then He solemnly, in His own words,
pronounced upon them the sentence
which they had declared should be
upon the husbandmen.
The Kingdom Of God shall be taken |
away from you, and shall be given to |
. nation, bringing forth the fruits |
thereof" In these words he formally |
and authoritatively passed sentence
upon the nation, and rejected, IL from |
ifs place of service. II Is to be care /
fully observed. however, that even in |