And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
All Commentaries on Matthew 21:39 Go To Matthew 21
John Chrysostom
AD 407
And where do they wish to kill him? “Outside the vineyard.” Do you see how he prophesies even the place where he was to be slain? Well, they did cast him out, and they killed him. And Luke indeed says, “He declared what they must suffer.” When they heard this, they said, “God forbid!” He then asks them to remember the testimony of Scripture: “He looked at them and said, ‘What then is this that is written: The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.’ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces.” Matthew’s account does not contradict Luke’s. They passed the sentence against themselves, as Matthew says, and again, when they perceived what they had said, they added, “God forbid.” By the words of the prophet against them, he sought to persuade them that this certainly would come to pass. He signified only in a hidden way that he would “give the vineyard to others,” not mentioning the Gentiles and not affording his opponents a handle to use to attack him. It was for this reason that he spoke in parables, that they themselves might pass the sentence. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily
