Vers. 6—8.—Having ‘yet therefore one gon, his well-beloved. There is strong evidence in favour of @ different reading here, namely (&r: éva cixev, viby ayanntdy), he had yet one, @ beloved son. There is something very touching in this form of ex- pression. Many messages had been sent ; many means had been tried. But one other resource remained. “ There ia one, a beloved Son. I will send him; they will surely reverence him (évtpamfoovra: Toy vidy pov). They will reflect, and reflection will bring shame and submission and reverence.” This was the last effort of Divine mercy—the sending of the Incarnate God, whom the Jews put to death without the city. St. Mark’s words seem rather to imply that they killed him within the vineyard, and cast out the dead body, But it is possible that in his narrative he mentions the climax firsat—they killed him, and then returns to a detail of the dreadful tragedy; they cast him out of the vineyard, and there slew him. (See Matt. xxi. 39.)
Ver. 9.—What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? In St. Matthew’s narra- tive the scribes answer this question. St. Luke, as St. Mark here, assigns the answer to our Lord. It would seem probable that the scribes first answered him, and that then he bimself repeated their answer, and eonfirmed it by his looks and gesture; so that from thence, as well as from what followed, they might sufficiently understand that he spake these things of them. Then, according to St. Luke (xx. 16), they sub- joined the words, “ God forbid!” an expres- sion wrung from their consciences, which aceused them and told them that the parable applied to them. Here, then, we have a distinct prediction of the rejection of the Jews and the call of the Gentiles.
Vers. 10, 11.—This quotation is from Ps. oxviii. 22, where David prophesies of Christ. The meaning is plainly this, that the chief priests and scribes, as the builders of the Jewish Church, rejected Christ from the building as a useless stone; yea, more—they condemned and crucified him, They re- jected him (amedoxluacov). The verb in the Greck implies that the stone was first examined and then deliberately refused. But this stone, thus disallowed and set at nought by the builders, was made the head of the corner. The image here is different from that used in the Evistles, where Christ
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK.
ee
[ou. xin. 1—44.
is spoken of as the chief Corner-stone in the foundation. Here he is represented as the Corner-stone in the cornice. In real truth he is both. He is the tried Foundation-stone, But he is also the Head of the corner. In the great spiritual building he is “all and in all,” uniting and binding together all in one. This was the Lord’s doing (axapa Kuplov éyévero airy); literally, this was from the Lord. The feminine (ain) refers apparently tO kepadh. This lifting up of the despised and rejected stone to be the Corner-stone of the cornice was God’s work; and was & fitting object for wonder and praise.
Ver. 12.—The scribes and Pharisees knew, partly from the words of this psalm, and partly from the looks of Christ, that they were spoken against them. So they sought in their rage and malice to lay hold on him; but they feared the people, with whom he was still popular. Thus, however, by his rebuke of the scribes and Plisrisees, he prepared the way for that death which, within three days, they brought upon him, And the counsel of God was fulfilled for the redemption of men by the blood of Christ.
Vers. 13, 14.—St. Matthew (xxii. 15) tells us that “the Pharisees took counsel how they might ensnare him (8rws aitoy mayi- devoworv) in his talk;” namely, by pro- posing to him captious and insidious ques- tions, which, in whatever way he might answer them, might expose him to danger. On this occasion they enlisted the Herodians to join them in their attack upon him. These Herodians were a sect of the Jews who supported the house of Herod, and were in favour of giving tribute to the Roman Cesar. They were so called at first from Herod the Great, who was @ great supporter of Cesar. Tertullian, St. Jerome, and others say that these Herodians thought that Herod was the promised Messiah, because they saw that in him the sceptre had departed from Judah (Gen. xlix. 10), Herod encouraged these flatterers, and so put to death the infants at Bethlehem, that he might thus get rid of Christ, lest any other than him- self might be regarded as Christ. They said that it was on this account that he rebuilt the temple with so much magnifi- cence. The Pharisees took, of course, altogether the other side, and stood forward as the supporters of the Law of Moses and of their national freedom. So, in order that they might ensnare him, they sent to him their disciples with the Herodians, and in the most artful manner proposed to him, apparently in good faith, a question which answer it how he might, would, as they hoped, throw him upon the horns of a dilemma. If he said that tribute ought to be given to Cesar, he would expose him-
OH. xl. 1—44.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK.
self to the malice of the Jewish people, who prided themselves upon their freedom. [f, on the other hand, he said that tribute ought not to be given to Cesar, he would incur the wrath of Cesar and of the Roman power.
Vers. 15, 16.—St. Matthew (xxii. 18) says, “But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?” You pretend that you are approaching me with a good conscience, sincerely desirous to know how you ought to act in this matter; when at the same time you are enemies alike of me and of God, and are thirsting for my blood, and are doing all in your power to torment me, and to en- tangle me by fraud. “The first virtue,” says St. Jerome, “of the respondent is to know the mind of the questioner, and to adapt his answer accordingly.” These Pharisees and Herodians flatter Christ that they may destroy him; but he rebukes them, that, if possible, he might save them. Bring me a penny, that I may see it. The Roman denarius was equal to about eight- pence halfpenny. This was the coin in which the tribute money was to be paid. It had stamped upon it the image of Tibe- rius Cesar, the then reigning Roman em- peror, The cognomen of Caesar was first given to Julius Casar, from whom it was devolved to his successors. The current coin of the country proved the subjection of the country to him whose image was upon it. Maimonides, quoted by Dr. John Lightfoot (vol. ii. p. 230), says, ““ Wheresoever the money of any king is current, there thie inhabitants acknowledge that king for their lord.”