tied, on which no man ever sat: loose him, and bring him hither. And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say to him, Because the Lord hath need of him. And they that were sent having gone, found as he had said to them. And as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, Why loose ye the colt? And they said, The Lord hath need of him. And they brought him to Jesus: and having cast their garments upon the colt, they set* Jesus on it. And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way. And as he now drew nigh, at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice, for all the mighty works that they had seen; saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said to him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said to them, I tell you, that if these should hold their peace, the stones would cry out. And when he was come near, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, and thine enemies‡ shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee a

* Zechariah ix. 8. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold thy King cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

†The presence of Christ, and the preaching of "good tidings."

Our Lord here foretells the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

stone upon a stone; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. And entering into the temple, he began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; saying to them, It is written,† My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves. And he was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes, and the chief of the people, sought to destroy him; and could not find what they might do for all the people were very attentive to hear him.

And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he was teaching the people in the temple, and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes, with the elders, came upon him, and spake unto him, saying, Tell us by what authority thou doest these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? But if we say, of men: all the people will stone us : for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. And they answered, That they knew not whence it And Jesus said unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

was.

Then began he to speak to the people this parable :§ A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far

* That is, when God visited them with the Gospel, first by the ministry of John, and then by the preaching of Christ himself.

+ Isaiah lvi. 7. My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.

him.

Were very attentive, literally hung upon him to hear

"The certain man" is God; the Jews were his vine

country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen* beating him, sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And he went on to send a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then said the Lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son :† it may be they will reverence him, when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So having cast him out of the vineyard, they killed him. What therefore will the Lord of the vineyard do to them? Het will come and destroy these husbandmen, and will give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, 'Let it not be. But he looking on them said, What is this then that is written, The stone § which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? Whosoever shall fall upon that stone

yard; by making a wine-press in it, is meant that God had provided all things necessary for the Jewish Church and nation; "the hedging round" means his providential care over it; letting it out to husbandmen, and going into a far country, intimates that God, though present, being invisible to men, had trusted the care of his Church to the priests and Levites. But now the Christian Church is God's vineyard, planted by Christ himself.

*The Jews ill-treated the prophets; Jeremiah was beaten and put into prison, Micaiah was used in the same way, and Zechariah was slain in the temple.

+ Jesus Christ.

Giving

A prophecy of the destruction of the Jews. the vineyard to others," means the extension of the blessings of the gospel to the Gentiles.

The rejected stone means Jesus Christ.

shall be bruised, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them. And they watched him, and sent forth spies, feigning themselves upright men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.* And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither respectest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God in truth. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Cæsar or not? But he perceiving their craftiness, said to them, Why tempt ye me? Show me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answering said, Cæsar's. And he said to them, Render therefore to Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's, and to God the things which are God's. And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and wondering at his answer, they held their peace.

f

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XXI.

What are the contents of this Lesson?

What was the first parable uttered by our Saviour in it › What was the object of the parable?

Who was meant by the nobleman?

Who were the ten servants?

Who were the citizens?

What message did the citizens send after their Lord? How did the nobleman act towards his own servants when he returned?

* i. e. Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor.

+ The Roman penny, or denarius, was about sevenpencehalfpenny of our money.

What are we to learn from that?

In what way were those people to be treated, who would not that the Lord should reign over them?

From what place did Jesus send the two disciples?
On what message did he send them?

In what part of the Old Testament would you find the prophecy which was fulfilled when our Saviour entered Jerusalem, as related in this chapter?

Who praised God for all the mighty works which they had seen?

Who were displeased at the disciples?

What answer did Jesus give to the Pharisees?

How was he affected when he came in sight of the city? What are we to understand by "the things which belong to our peace ?"

In what manner was this prophecy fulfilled?

What did Christ do when he went into the temple? How did our Saviour pass his time while in Jerusalem? Who sought to destroy him?

What prevented their doing so at that time?

In what words did the priests and scribes question Christ's authority?

How did he answer them?

Rehearse the parable of the vineyard?

How did the husbandmen treat their Lord's servants?
Whom did he resolve at last to send?

What did the husbandmen say when they saw the son?
What did they do to him?

What will the Lord of the vineyard do to the husband

men?

To whom will he give the vineyard?

What did the scribes say when they heard that the vineyard was to be given to others?

What is meant by the vineyard, the Lord, his servants, his son, and the husbandmen?

What is meant by those others to whom the vineyard is to be given?

What did Christ mean by the stone rejected by the builders?

What plan did the scribes follow, to take hold of Christ's words?

What question did they ask of him respecting tribute?
How did he answer them?

What effect had his answers on his adversaries?