THEOPHYLACT . Or else, He said this not as though He were ignorant of what was to happen, but to shew what it was right and fitting that they should do. But those husbandmen said amongst themselves, This is the heir, come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.
BEDE . (ubi sup.) The Lord proves most clearly that the chiefs of the Jews did not crucify the Son of God through ignorance, but through envy; for they understood that this was He to whom it was said, I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. (Ps. 2:8) But these evil husbandmen strove to seize upon it by slaying Him, when the Jews crucifying Him tried to extinguish the faith which is by Him, and rather to bring forward their own righteousness which is by the Law, and to thrust it on the nations, and to imbue them with it. There follows: And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
THEOPHYLACT . That is, without Jerusalem, for the Lord was crucified out of the city.
PSEUDO-JEROME . Or else, they cast Him out of the vineyard, that is, out of the people, saying Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil. (John 8:48) 1Or, as far as in them lay, they cast Him out of their own borders, and gave Him up to the Gentiles that they might receive Him. There follows, What then will the Lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy those husbandmen, and give the vineyard unto other.
AUGUSTINE . (de Con. Evan. ii. 70) Matthew indeed subjoins that they answered and said, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, (Matt. 21:41) which Mark here says was not their answer, but that the Lord after putting the question, as it were answered Himself. But we may easily understand either that their answer was subjoined without the insertion of, they answered, or they said, which at the same time was implied; or else, that their answer, being the truth, was attributed to the Lord, since He also Himself gave this answer concerning them, being the Truth.
THEOPHYLACT . The Lord of the vineyard then is the Father of the Son who was slain, and the Son Himself is He who was slain, who will destroy those husbandmen, by giving them up to the Romans, and who will give the people to other husbandmen, that is, to the Apostles. Read the Acts of the Apostles, and you will find three thousand, and five thousand on a sudden believing and bearing fruit to God.
PSEUDO-JEROME . Or else, the vineyard is given to others, that is, to those who come from the east, and from the west, and from the south, and from the north, and who sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
BEDE . (ubi sup.) But that this was done by Divine interposition he affirms, by immediately afterwards adding, And have ye not read this Scripture, The stone which the builders refused is become the head-stone in the corner? As if he had said, how is this prophecy to be fulfilled, save in that Christ, being rejected and slain by you, is to be preached to the Gentiles, who will believe on Him? Thus then as a corner stone, He will found the two people on Himself, and of the two people will build for Himself a city of the faithful, one temple. For the masters of the synagogue, whom He had just called husbandmen, He now calls builders, because the same persons, who seemed to cultivate His people, that they might bear the fruits of life, like a vineyard, were also commanded to construct and adorn this people, to be, as it were, a house worthy to have God for its inhabitant.
THEOPHYLACT . The stone then which the builders refused, the same has become the head-stone of the corner, that is, of the Church. For the Church is, as it were, the corner, joining together Jews and Gentiles; and this corner has been made by the Lord, and is wonderful in our eyes, that is, in the eyes of the faithful; for miracles meet with detraction from the faithless. The Church indeed is wonderful, as it were resting on wonders, for the Lord worked with the Apostles, and confirmed the word with signs. And this is what is meant, when it is said, This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.
PSEUDO-JEROME . This rejected stone, which is borne by that corner where the lamb and the bread met in the supper, ending the Old and beginning the New Testament, does things marvellous in our eyes as the topaz. (Ps. 118, Ps. 127. Vulg.)
BEDE . (ubi sup.) But the Chief Priests shewed that those things which the Lord had spoken were true; which is proved from what follows: And they sought to lay hold on him; for He Himself is the heir, whose unjust death He said was to be revenged by the Father. Again, in a moral sense, each of the faithful, when the Sacrament of Baptism is intrusted to him, receives on hire a vineyard, which he is to cultivate. But the servant sent to him is evil intreated, beaten, and cast out, when the word is heard by him and despised, or, what is worse, even blasphemed; further, he kills, as far as in him lies, the heir, who has trampled under foot the Son of God. The evil husbandman is destroyed, and the vineyard given to another, when the humble shall be enriched with that gift of grace, which the proud man has scorned. And it happens daily in the Church, that the Chief Priests wishing to lay hands on Jesus, are held back by the multitude, when some one, who is a brother only in name, either blushes or fears to attack the unity of the faith of the Church, and of its peace, though he loves it not, on account of the number of good brethren who dwell together within it.
12:13–17
13. And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.
14. And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man; for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, or not?
15. Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it.
16. And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Cæsar’s.
17. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him.
BEDE . (ubi sup.) The Chief Priests though they sought to take Him, feared the multitude, and therefore they endeavoured to effect what they could not do of themselves, by means of earthly powers, that they might themselves appear to be guiltless of His death; and therefore it is said, And they send, unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.
THEOPHYLACT . We have said elsewhere of the Herodians, that they were a certain new heresy, who said that Herod was the Christ, because the succession of the kingdom of Judah had failed. Others however say that the Herodians were the soldiers of Herod, whom the Pharisees brought as witnesses of the words of Christ, that they might take Him, and lead Him away. But observe how in their wickedness they wished to deceive Christ by flattery; for it goes on: Master, we know that thou art true.
PSEUDO-JEROME . For they questioned Him with honied words, and they surrounded Him as bees, who carry honey in their mouth, but a sting in their tail.
BEDE . (ubi sup.) But this bland and crafty question was intended to induce Him in His answer rather to fear God than Cæsar, and to say that tribute should not be paid, so that the Herodians immediately on hearing it might hold Him to be an author of sedition against the Romans; and therefore they add, And carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of any.
THEOPHYLACT . So that thou wilt not honour Cæsar, that is, against the truth; therefore they add, But teachest the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? For their whole plot was one which had a precipice on both sides, so that if He said that it was lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, they might provoke the people against Him, as though He wished to reduce the nation itself to slavery; but if He said, that it was not lawful, they might accuse Him, as though He was stirring up the people against Cæsar; but the Fountain of wisdom escaped their snares. Wherefore there follows: But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it.
BEDE . (ubi sup.) A denarius was a piece of money, accounted equal to ten smaller coins, and bearing the image of Cæsar; wherefore there follows: And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Cæsar’s. Let those who think that our Saviour asked the question through ignorance and not by an economy, learn from this that He might have known whose image it was; but He puts the question, in order to return them a fitting answer; wherefore there follows: And Jesus answering said unto them, Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.
THEOPHYLACT . As if He had said, Give what bears an image to him whose image it bears, that is, the penny to Cæsar; for we can both pay Cæsar his tribute, and offer to God what is His own.
BEDE . (ubi sup.) That is, tithes, first-fruits, oblations, and victims. In the same way as He gave tribute both for Himself and Peter, He also gave to God the things that are God’s, doing the will of His Father.