be seen by the following quotations from standard wri

ters:

1. GILPIN. How almost impossible is it, said Jesus, turning to his disciples, for a rich man to become a sincere christian. The disciples expressing their surprise at what he said, he explained himself by adding, that the difficulty arose, not so properly from their having riches, as from their trusting in them-from their being so attached to them, as this person was; who, when called on by his religion, could not give them up. It was impossible, he said, for any person, under the influence of such a disposition, to be a member of his kingdom.' Expos. in Mark x. 24, 25.

Jesus, on this, observed the very great difficulty of a rich man's being properly disposed to receive the gospel; and when his disciples expressed their concern at what he said, he added, that he spoke only of man unassisted by divine grace. By God's grace, said he, all the bad dispositions of our hearts, and all the temptations of the world, may be conquered.' Expos. in Luke xviii. 24, 25.

2. PEARCE. A rich man, i. e., as Mark expresses it, a man who trusteth in his riches. Shall hardly; i. e., not without great difficulty. Enter into the kingdom of heaven; i. e., become one of my disciples.' Com. in loc.

3. ELSLEY. 'It may be read "will" hardly enter; meaning, that, in the approaching time of persecution, a rich man will hardly be persuaded to be a disciple of Christ; which is here called entering into the kingdom. of heaven. Wall's Critical Notes.' Annot. in loc.

KENRICK. 'The kingdom of heaven here means, as in several other parts of the evangelists, the body of Christians. To come into this kingdom, therefore, is to become the disciple of Christ. Christ says that the rich are unwilling to do this; riches generally corrupted the manners, and made men averse to the pure precepts of the gospel, as a yoke which they were unable to bear. This aversion was further strengthened by the losses to which men in those times were exposed, by assuming the name of Christians. Two instances are mentioned in the gospel, of rich men becoming the disciples of Christ;

the one is Joseph of Arimathea, and the other Nicodemus; but the difficulty which they felt in doing it, is evident in both cases: for the former was a disciple of Christ secretly, for fear of the Jews; and the other, no doubt from the same motive, came to him by night: but the young ruler, of whom we have here an account, had not resolution to do either the one thing nor the other.' Erpos. in loc.

5. ROSENMULLER. To enter into the kingdom of heaven, is to join the company of Jesus, and become his follower. The rich, says Jesus, cannot become my followers without difficulty. Riches are frequently an excitement to evil, and certainly an impediment to virtue. The reason is this:—the rich, generally, are accustomed to trust in their riches, and account them the chief good, as Mark indicates, x. 24. And this difficulty was the greater, in those days, on account of the dangers to which they who professed the name of Jesus were exposed; for those who acknowledged Jesus to be the Messiah, were excommunicated, and deprived of their possessions. John ix. 22, 34, xii. 42.' Scholia in loc.

From the preceding quotations, it is seen that, in the opinion of these commentators, Jesus had reference, not to the difficulty with which rich men should obtain final salvation, but to the difficulty they experienced in becoming his disciples-his professed followers. course the passage affords no proof that any portion of the human race will endure endless misery; inasmuch as the words have respect to the affairs of the present

existence alone.

Of

SECTION XXXIII.

< Hear another parable; There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a wine-press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants more than the first and they did unto him likewise. But last of all, he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus said unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone, will be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.'-MATT. xxi. 33-44.

THE parallel places are Mark xii. 1-11, and Luke xx. 9-18. Some have attempted to show that this passage relates to punishment in the future life. But Jesus appears to have had no such intention. In consequence of their extreme wickedness, he assures the Jews their peculiar privileges as the people of God, here termed the kingdom of God,' should be taken from them and bestowed on others. So much of the

passage has manifest relation to the affairs of the present life. And I see no necessity that the remainder should have a different application. The writers quoted below give a similar view of this parable.

1. DUTCH ANNOTATIONS. In this parable or similitude, God the Father is compared to the father of a family, the church of the Jews to a vineyard, the priests and scribes to husbandmen, the prophets and faithful teachers to servants, Christ to the son of the father of the family, and faith and obedience to fruits; which seeing they did not bring forth, therefore their ruin by

the Romans is threatened, and the calling of the Gentiles in their room foretold. See the like similitude, Psalm lxxx. 9, Isa. vi. 1, Jer. xii. 10.' Annot. in loc.

2. LARDNER. 6 The calling and acceptance of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jewish people, and even their overthrow, are plainly declared in the parable of the vineyard, let out to husbandmen, and the discourse which follows, Matt. xxi. 33—46. The same things are intimated in the parable of the king that made a wedding feast for his son, which is at the beginning of the next chapter, xxii. 1-14.' Hist. Apos. and Evang. chap. v.

The call of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews, as a people, are intimated in Mark xii. 1-12, in the parable there recorded of the householder, who planted a vineyard,' &c. Hist. Apos. and Evang. chap. vii. 3. GILPIN. Jesus, having thus silenced the chief priests, continued the subject, by setting before them, in the audience of the people, their hardened, impenitent, and dangerous state, the ungrateful returns which the Jews had made to God, for all his calls of mercy, and, finally, God's intention of casting them off, and adopting the Gentiles in their room.' Expos. in Mark xii. 1—11.

'He then showed them, in a very severe parable, that God would certainly punish them in the end, for rejecting all his calls of mercy, and would adopt the Gentiles in their room.' Expos. in Luke xx. 9--18.

4. ROSENMUller. • The kingdom of God, in this place, signifies the rights and privileges of those who are under his government. The Jews had hitherto enjoyed much greater benefits and privileges than other nations; they were a people beloved of the Lord. Jesus declared that these rights should be taken from them. The sense,

therefore, is this: the Jewish nation should no longer be the people of God, but another nation, more worthy the name, should be taken for his people. Nation, in this place, signifies, not only the Gentiles, but the whole number of those who were collected from among the Jews and the Gentiles-all sincere professors of the christian doctrine.' Scholia in loc.

5. CLARKE. Ver. 41, He will miserably destroy those wicked men. So, according to this evangelist, our Lord

caused them to pass that sentence upon themselves, which was literally executed about forty years after.'

Ver. 44, 'He, whether Jew or Gentile, who shall not believe in the Son of God, shall suffer grievously in consequence; but on whomsoever the stone (Jesus Christ) falls in the way of judgment, he shall be ground to powder; it shall make him so small, as to render him capable of being dispersed as chaff by the wind. This seems to allude, not only to the dreadful crushing of the Jewish state by the Romans, but also to that general dispersion of the Jews through all the nations of the world, which continues to the present day.' Com. in loc.

6. THEOPHYLACT. This very ancient writer concludes his notes on this passage thus :-The kingdom, therefore, was taken from the Jews, that is, the privileges which constituted them the peculiar people of God-and given to them who believed. Those who fall upon the stone, and offend against Jesus Christ, shall be broken indeed at his second coming; yea, even ground to powder by him; that is, shall be scattered abroad through the earth: such we now see to be the situation of the miserable Jews.' Annot. in loc.

SECTION XXXIV.

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good and the wedding was furnished with guests, And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And