But when the tenants saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize his inheritance.
Read Chapter 21
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Heir. From this text, it appears that the princes of the Jews knew Jesus to be the Messias, and that it was only through envy and malice they were so blinded as not to acknowledge him for the Son of God. When, therefore, the apostle says, (1 Corinthians ii. 8,) If they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; this, it is probable, must be understood of the common people, since we can hardly believe that the princes of the people were ignorant of it, as Christ had so repeatedly inculcated this truth, that he even says himself they had no excuse, and were only actuated by hatred against him and his Father. (St. John xv. 22.) (Tirinus)
Inheritance It appears from St. John xi. that one of the motives why the Jews killed our Saviour was, lest if they let him live, all men should believe, and the Romans should come and destroy their nation. But the very means they took to secure their kingdom to themselves, hastened their downfall, and eventually caused their ruin; since ...
What then do these? When they ought to have run unto Him, when they ought to have asked pardon for their offenses, they even persist more strongly in their former sins, they proceed to add unto their pollutions, forever throwing into the shade their former offenses by their later; as also He Himself declared when He said, Fill ye up the measure of your fathers. Matthew 23:32 For from the first the prophets used to charge them with these things, saying, Your hands are full of blood; Isaiah 1:15 and, They mingle blood with blood; Hosea 4:2 and, They build up Sion with blood. Micah 3:10
But they did not learn self-restraint, albeit they received this commandment first, You shall not kill; and had been commanded to abstain from countless other things because of this, and by many and various means urged to the keeping of this commandment.
Yet, for all that, they put not away that evil custom; but what say they, when they saw Him? Come, let us kill Him. With what motive, and for what r...
What then do they do? While they had time to ask for pardon for their offenses and whereas they ought to have run to him to do so, they persist even more strongly in their former sins. They proceed to add even more to their previous pollutions. They always surpass their former offenses by their later ones. This is what he himself declared when he said, “Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.” For from the first the prophets used to charge them with these things, saying, “Your hands are full of blood,” and “They mingle blood with blood,” and “They build up Zion with blood.” But they failed to learn selfcontrol. They had already received the commandment: “You shall not murder.” They had already had been commanded to abstain from countless other offenses. They had already been urged by many and various means to keep these commandments.Yet, for all that, they did not put aside their evil ways. What did they say when they saw him? “Come, let us kill him.” With what motive and for what ...
