The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1914-08-14

Tuesday morning Of this his last
week MARK ll:20l the Disciples saw
the fig tree withered away from the
roots, Passing on they enter the
temple where Christ's authority 10
challenged, Following his ~disconcert-
ing reply t2l;23.27) Jesus taught
three PARALLELS OF warning of which
this lesson Is the second.
l., The parable, w, $3.50. II is n
story Of Gods long suffering goodness
and Luke t20, 81 tells us that ii was
addressed 10 the people. We need to
keep In mind the previous parable OF
the two CONS wv, 2S.32) In order to
understand perfectly the method he
employed In answering the chief
priests. In the first he states a case
and appeals to them for a verdict,
Without hesitation they replied and by
so doing condemned themselves. IN
this parable he states n case and asks
for a reply, v, 40, This they gave and
In 80 doing declared u righteous judg"
ment which must tatl upon their mo"
tiyes, In both parallels Jesus EN-.
ploys the figure of n vineyard In
the Old Testament this stands for
Israel, ps. S0:S.11. Isa. 81.
Kingdom Committed to Us.
In this case II stands for the King
dom Of God which la no longer identi.
fled with Israel but taken away from
It and given to the Gentilea ". 49,.
The Lord was dealing with the re-
sponsible rulers Of Israel, those ia.
miliar with the prophetic writings.
His reference to the digging and care
suggests that for his vineyard he had
done all that could have been done,
lisa. ga. Being fully equipped, he
places II first Of oil In the care OF
Israel, verse AZ. To-day II Is IN charge
Of believers. ! Peter 4.10. The hus-
bandman did not own the vineyard. It
was only entrusted to his care. SO
In a sense, God has committed the
kingdom to rs, does his work through
US, and OF a right expects an account"
ing by us, see Matt, 2b.14, IS; Mark
1894; Luke 1912. Presently we read
that these rulers knew that Jesus was
speaking OF them and there can be-
no question but that they connected
his teaching with lsaiah's great song
Of the vineyard, Moreover there 10
close connection here In the inslstence
upon the Importance Of fruitfulness,
with the symbolic miracle OF the hg
tree. The whole activity OF Jesus ut
this time was that Of judgment.
In these parallels We can trace the
whole hiatory of Israel according 20
Isalah. The fruits be looked for from
the vineyard "let out to the husband
man" were those OF judgment and OF
righteousness, Their response had
aver been that OF prosecuting the
prophets, Ill treatment fof those that
we're sent, and a selfish appropriation
Of the blessings he had given. These
servants sent 10 get an accounting
we're God.commiasioned and God-in.
spired, hence II is small wonder that
such people would accord a like treat
mant Of the king when he am
This Ia still the way the world uses
cody men, III Tim. ara. II reyeals
the worlds natural hatred to God.
John 1918, 10; Rom. 81. All OF these
prophets were only "bond-eervants,
whereas Jesus wal the On, the only
son, Mark 1875 X, Y This makes
their wickedness seem inconceivAble.
v. 81, see Jer. a0:s; zeph. 81. We
do not mean to imply that thtse
rulers recognized In Jesus the Messiah
and deliberately set about to kill him,
yet there was a sufficiently clear idea
and q full determination NOT to accept
his claims lest they lose their place OF
pre-eminence and power, John 11:47,
As. The threat Of verse 80 was ac-
tuaily carried TO It's execution and II
we continue in our sins we must logic
ally 20 on to the same end for 1t was
sin that nailed Christ to the tree.
The casting forth without the gate
". 800 was fulfilled In the cruciixion
Of Jesus without the gates Of Jerusa
lem. Heb. 1912, Is.
Appeal TO Hearers.
n. The application, w. 4o46. Jesus
then appeals to his hearers ~ to
what should be done to the husband
man, v. 40. They declared. he will
miserably destroy those mir srable
men and will let out the vineyard to
other husbandmen, which shall render
him the fruits In their seasons" At
this Jesus reminds them OF their
Scriptures and what they taught con-
corning the fact Of the stone rejected
by the builders becoming the head Of
the corner.
The masters question ". 40) sug-
gests the one found in Heb. 1928.
20. Historically, God did "miserably
destroy these miserable men" That
happened at the destruction OF Jerusa'
lem, one Of the most appalling sieges
recorded in military history, II was
then that the doom pronounced by
Jesus was executed when he said,
1.-THE Kingdom Of God shall be taken
I away from you, and shall be given to
a nation bringing forth the fruits
thereof" see Acts 1854; Pet. 80;
Rev. 30. In these words Jesus for
mally and auth~oritatively passed SEN
tence upon the nation and rejected u
from a place Of service. II II signin-
cant to observe the alternative OF fall
Ing upon the stone and being broken
Or Of having the stone fall upon and
crushing all to dust. 10 the erection