other,Go and work in my Vineyard,chat is, do my Will, Do the Work I command you to dos The Phy jyces, fs By porrires and F. -# malitts,
Chap. XXSt
them,* Verily I ſay unto you, that the publicans aud * £uk 7
| 32 For * John came unto you in the way of * Luk. 3. righteouſneſs, and ye believed him not : * but the 12, 13:
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Cha Pp. XXL
* Cant. 8. FS 12.
* Pjal.2. 7. Heb. 1. 2:
St M AT
maliſts, by their ovrivard Pretence , and Profeſſion ſay ; Sir, I £1, but vt go wt, all their Retigion 15 a van Shew, a meer Out- tide Appearance. Others, by their Lives declare, That they wif mt 22>. Bur yer upon ſecond Thoughts, having their Hearts touched by the Finzer of God, they do God's Work. { Which ef them did the Will of his Father £ They ſay to him, tie fi 8. \ This is plain, for what was the Will of the Hzther, bur that they Mould do the Work he fer them ro do ? This the lartcr did not 3 tie Fathcr's Will was not only that the Son thould give him a C:p. and a Knee, and Complement him, bur char he thould go to Wark in the Vineyard. It is the leaſt part of Gcd's Will thar Men thould give him good Words, be a httle Complemental,and Ceremnnir us roward him, bur that they ſhould Repenr and Believe, and Obey his Gafpel. This, fome Publicans and H.rlots did , the e-nerality of the Phariſces refuted. It 15 an hard thing to convince 2. oral, Righteous, Civil Man, that he lacks any thing to Salva- tion; and hence it is, that Prof.;me Perlons many t1Mmes repent, beheve and are ſaved ; when orchers periſh in their Impenitency and Unbelief , -becauſe they think they have no need of Re- pontance , or any further Righteouſneys, than they are poſlefied of.
22 * Hear another parable. There was a certain houſholder which planted a vineyard, and hedg-d it round about, and digged a wine-preſs in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen , and went into 4 far country. a
Mark hath this Parable, chap. 12. 1. Luke hath it, c.:þ.20. 9. \Who is here mended under the Norion of an Hoyſholder, or a Mm, we arc td by the Prophet Jaiah, chap. 5. 1,2. It 5 the End of Hills , the God of Tſrael; the Houle of I\rael, and the Men of Fudah are his Vineyard, his ple1/.nt Plant, Ver. 7. he hedzed this Feople by his Providence ; God otren compareth his Church to a Vineyard, Deut. 32. 32. P/al. 80. & Fer. 2,21. the other Expretſions of making in it a Wine-Pre/s, or a Wine-Fat, fiznifie no more than thar God had provided tor the 7ews all things neceflary for Uſe or Ornament; his Letting of 7t out "to Fehavdmen , and going into a far Country ; 1ignifies that being himſelf, as to his Glorious Reſidence, in Heaven, he had be- truſted the Church of the Jews with an #igh Pricff, and other Prieſts and Levites. ;
24 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he ſent his ſervants to the husbandmen, * that they might receive the fruits thereof. =
25 And the husbandmen took his ſervants, and
2at one. and killed another, and ſtoned another.
26 Again, he ſent other ſervants more than the
Erit : and they did unto them likewiſe.
Mark agrees in the ſubſtance, bur mentions three ſingle Ser- yants ſent, and then many others. The firſt he faith, zhey caught, and heat, and ſent away empty. Ar the ſecond he ſaith, they cas? Stones, wounded him in the Head, and ſent him away ſhamefully h.mdled. The third he faith they killed, and tor others, they did beat ſome, and kill ſome. Luke ſpeaks ro the ſame Senſe : I ob- ſerved before ,- that we muſt not look ro fir every particular Phraſe in a Parable 1n the Explication. By the Servants here ſent to the Hirsbandmen are doubtlefs to be underſtood thoſe extraor- din.y Prophets, whom in the corrupt State of the Fewiſh Church God ſent to reprove rhe Prieſts, and to admoniſh the Prieſts as well as the People, of the Duty which they owed unto God, in Obedience to his Law, And the various Phraſes here uſed, to exprets the Indignities offered to the Servants, do bur ſignifie the various Abuſes offered to many of theſe Prophets; of which are Inſtances in 1 King. 19. 10, 2 Chron.35.16, Neh. 9. 26. er. 44. 4, 5, 6. 7eremiah was beaten and impritoned, fo was Micaiah, Za- chariah lin in the Temple, SC.
27 Burlaſt of all he ſent unto them his ſon, ſay- ing, They will reverence my ſon. Marl faith, He had but one Son, his well beloved, chap. 12. 6. Luke faith, 20.13. Then ſaid the Lord of the Vineyard, What ſhall Ido? Twill ſend my belred Son, it inay be they will reverence him, when they ſee him, God 15 here brought in afting atrer the man- ner of Men, ufing all probable means ro ger their Rent, we muſt nor tancy, thar God did not know what Men would do. God after 21} his Prophets , ſent his only $91 to the Zews and to their Prieſts, his well beloved Sm; he ſaid, | Perhaps they will reverence my Sn; ) Theſe Words muſt be underſtood, not as Expreſſing what they would do, or what appeared to God pro- bable char rhey would do, bur as expretlive of what they ought to do, and whart-God might reaſonably expe& from them.
28 But when the husbandmen ſaw the ſon, they ſaid amongſt themſelves, * This is the heir, * come. It us kill him, and let us ſeize on his inheri- tUnce.
29 And they caught h:m, and caſt him out of the vincvard. and flew 7.
Art and Lube have the ſame with no conſiderable Altcra- tion. Our Lerd here Prophefieth his own Death , by the means of rhefe wicked Prizſls, and fo both lers them know, tar he Was nor ignorant of what was in their Hearts, and they had been already (as we heard before ) raking Counſel abour, by which chey might again have concluded, rhat he was the Son of God , and one who knew rheir Hearts z and he alſo let them know, char they ſhoald not ſurprize him, and that he was nor afraid of them. { But when the Hughandmen ſaw the Sm , they ſid, Tris it the Heir. | Thee Words ler the Phariſees (to whom ro2ctiuce with che People, he ar thar rime ſpake) know, that ricmtelves knew he was the Son of God, and were Con- tiled in their own Conſciences , that he was the true Lord of the Church, Th this was not true cf all that had an hand in Cruci- [yins Chritt, For Pl ſaith of lome of them, that if ;hey had!
T HEM