{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/ecf/106/1060167.htm","path":"chr/ecf/106/1060167.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/106/1060167.htm","text":"Chapter LXX.\u2014Of the Two Sons Who Were Commanded by Their Father to Go into His Vineyard, and of the Vineyard Which Was Let Out to Other Husbandmen; Of the Question Concerning the Consistency of Matthew\u2019s Version of These Passages with Those Given by the Other Two Evangelists, with Whom He Retains the Same Order; As Also, in Particular, Concerning the Harmony of His Version of the Parable, Which is Recorded by All the Three, Regarding the Vineyard that Was Let Out; And in p. 162 Reference Specially to the Reply Made by the Persons to Whom that Parable Was Spoken, in Relating Which Matthew Seems to Differ Somewhat from the Others.\n133. Matthew goes on thus: \u201cBut what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to-day in my vineyard. But he answered and said, I will not; but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir; and went not;\u201d and so on, down to the words, \u201cAnd whosoever shall fall upon this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.\u201d 1150 Mark and Luke do not mention the parable of the two sons to whom the order was given to go and labour in the vineyard. But what is narrated by Matthew subsequently to that,\u2014namely, the parable of the vineyard which was let out to the husbandmen, who persecuted the servants that were sent to them, and afterwards put to death the beloved son, and thrust him out of the vineyard,\u2014is not left unrecorded also by those two. And in detailing it they likewise both retain the same order, that is to say, they bring it in after that declaration of their inability to tell which was made by the Jews when interrogated regarding the baptism of John, and after the reply which He returned to them in these words: \u201cNeither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.\u201d 1151\n134. Now no question implying any contradiction between these accounts rises here, unless it be raised by the circumstance that Matthew, after telling us how the Lord addressed to the Jews this interrogation, \u201cWhen the lord, therefore, of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?\u201d adds, that they answered and said, \u201cHe will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.\u201d For Mark does not record these last words as if they constituted the reply returned by the men; but he introduces them as if they were really spoken by the Lord immediately after the question which was put by Him, so that in a certain way He answered Himself. For [in this Gospel] He speaks thus: \u201cWhat shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.\u201d But it is quite easy for us to suppose, either that the men\u2019s words are subjoined herewithout the insertion of the explanatory clause \u201cthey said,\u201d or \u201cthey replied,\u201d that being left to be understood; or else that the said response is ascribed to the Lord Himself rather than to these men, because when they answered with such truth, He also, who is Himself the Truth, really gave the same reply in reference to the persons in question.\n135. More serious difficulty, however, may be created by the fact that Luke not only does not speak of them as the parties who made that answer (for he, as well as Mark, attributes these words to the Lord), but even represents them to have given a contrary reply, and to have said, \u201cGod forbid.\u201d For his narrative proceeds in these terms: \u201cWhat therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid. And He beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?\u201d 1152 How then is it that, according to Matthew\u2019s version, the men to whom He spake these words said, \u201cHe will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out this vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons;\u201d whereas, according to Luke, they gave a reply inconsistent with any terms like these, when they said, \u201cGod forbid\u201d? And, in truth, what the Lord proceeds immediately to say regarding the stone which was rejected by the builders, and yet was made the head of the corner, is introduced in a manner implying that by this testimony those were confuted who were gainsaying the real meaning of the parable. For Matthew, no less than Luke, records that passage as if it were intended to meet the gainsayers, when he says, \u201cDid ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?\u201d For what is implied by this question, \u201cDid ye never read,\u201d but that the answer which they had given was opposed to the real intention [of the parable]? This is also indicated by Mark, who gives these same words in the following manner: \u201cAnd have ye not read this scripture, The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner?\u201d This sentence, therefore, appears to occupy in Luke, rather than the others, the place which is properly assignable to it as originally uttered. For it is brought in by him directly after the contradiction expressed by those men when they said, \u201cGod forbid.\u201d And the form in which it is cast by him,\u2014namely, \u201cWhat is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?\u201d\u2014is equivalent in sense to the other modes of statement. For the real meaning of the sentence is indicated equally well, whichever of the three phrases is used, p. 163 \u201cDid ye never read?\u201d or, \u201cAnd have ye not read?\u201d or, \u201cWhat is this, then, that is written?\u201d\n136. It remains, therefore, for us to understand that among the people who were listening on that occasion, there were some who replied in the terms related by Matthew, when he writes thus: \u201cThey say unto Him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen;\u201d and that there were also some who answered in the way indicated by Luke, that is to say, with the words, \u201cGod forbid.\u201d Accordingly, those persons who had replied to the Lord to the former effect, were replied to by these other individuals in the crowd with the explanation, \u201cGod forbid.\u201d But the answer which was really given by the first of these two parties, to whom the second said in return, \u201cGod forbid,\u201d has been ascribed both by Mark and by Luke to the Lord Himself, on the ground that, as I have already intimated, the Truth Himself spake by these men, whether as by persons who knew not that they were wicked, in the same way that He spake also by Caiaphas, who when he was high priest prophesied without realizing what he said, 1153 or as by persons who did understand, and who had come by this time both to knowledge and to belief. For there was also present on this occasion that multitude of people at whose hand the prophecy had already received a fulfilment, when they met Him in a mighty concourse on His approach, and hailed Him with the acclaim, \u201cBlessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.\u201d 1154\n137. Neither should we stumble at the circumstance that the same Matthew has stated that the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the Lord, and asked Him by what authority He did these things, and who gave Him this authority, on the occasion when He too, in turn, interrogated them concerning the baptism of John, inquiring whence it was, whether from heaven or of men; to whom also, on their replying that they did not know, He said, \u201cNeither do I tell you by what authority I do those things.\u201d For he has followed up this with the words introduced in the immediate context, \u201cBut what think ye? A certain man had two sons,\u201d and so forth. Thus this discourse is brought into a connection which is continued, uninterrupted by the interposition either of any thing or of any person, down to what is related regarding the vineyard which was let out to the husbandmen. It may, indeed, be supposed that He spake all these words to the chief priests and the elders of the people, by whom He had been interrogated with regard to His authority. But then, if these persons had indeed questioned Him with a view to tempt Him, and with a hostile intention, they could not be taken for men who had believed, and who cited the remarkable testimony in favour of the Lord which was taken from a prophet; and surely it is only if they had the character of those who believed, and not of those who were ignorant, that they could have given a reply like this: \u201cHe will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen.\u201d This peculiarity [of Matthew\u2019s account], however, should not by any means so perplex us as to lead us to imagine that there were none who believed among the multitudes who listened at this time to the Lord\u2019s parables. For it is only for the sake of brevity that the same Matthew has passed over in silence what Luke does not fail to mention,\u2014namely, the fact that the said parable was not spoken only to the parties who had interrogated Him on the subject of His authority, but to the people. For the latter evangelist puts it thus: \u201cThen began He to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard,\u201d and so on. Accordingly, we may well understand that among the people then assembled there might also have been persons who could listen to Him as those did who before this had said, \u201cBlessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord;\u201d and that either these, or some of them, were the individuals who replied in the words, \u201cHe will miserably destroy these wicked men, and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen.\u201d The answer actually returned by these men, moreover, has been attributed to the Lord Himself by Mark and Luke, not only because their words were really His words, inasmuch 1155 as He is the Truth that ofttimes speaks even by the wicked and the ignorant, moving the mind of man by a certain hidden instinct, not in the merit of man\u2019s holiness, but by the right of His own proper power; but also because the men may have been of a character admitting of their being reckoned, not without reason, as already members in the true body of Christ, so that what was said by them might quite warrantably be ascribed to Him whose members they were. For by this time He had baptized more than John, 1156 and had multitudes of disciples, as the same evangelists repeatedly testify; and from among these followers He also drew those five hundred brethren, to whom the Apostle Paul tells us that He showed Himself after His resurrection. 1157 And this explanation of the matter is supported by the fact that the phrase which occurs in the version by this same Matthew,\u2014namely, \u201cThey say unto Him, 1158 He will miserably destroy those wicked men,\u201d\u2014is not put in a form necessitating us to take the pronoun illi in the plural number, as p. 164 if it was intended to mark out the words expressly as the reply made by the persons who had craftily questioned Him on the subject of His authority; but the clause, \u201cThey say unto Him,\u201d 1159 is so expressed that the term illi should be taken for the singular pronoun, and not the plural, and should be held to signify \u201cunto Him,\u201d that is to say, unto the Lord Himself, as is made clear in the Greek codices, 1160 without a single atom of ambiguity.\n138. There is a certain discourse of the Lord which is given by the evangelist John, and which may help us more readily to understand the statement I thus make. It is to this effect: \u201cThen said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in my word, then ye shall be my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. And they answered Him, We be Abraham\u2019s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be free? 1161 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever; but the Son abideth for ever. If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham\u2019s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.\u201d 1162 Now surely it is not to be supposed that He spake these words, \u201cYe seek to kill me\u201d to those persons who had already believed on Him, and to whom He had said, \u201cIf ye abide in my word, then shall ye be my disciples indeed.\u201d But inasmuch as He had spoken in these latter terms to the men who had already believed on Him, and as, moreover, there was present on that occasion a multitude of people, among whom there were many who were hostile to Him, even although the evangelist does not tell us explicitly who those parties were who made the reply referred to, the very nature of the answer which they gave, and the tenor of the words which thereupon were rightly directed to them by Him, make it sufficiently clear what specific persons were then addressed, and what words were spoken to them in particular. Precisely, therefore, as in the multitude thus alluded to by John there were some who had already believed on Jesus, and also some who sought to kill Him, in that other concourse which we are discussing at present there were some who had craftily questioned the Lord on the subject of the authority by which He did these things; and there were also others who had hailed Him, not in deceit, but in faith, with the acclaim, \u201cBlessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.\u201d And thus, too, there were persons present who could say, \u201cHe will destroy those men, and will give his vineyard to others.\u201d This saying, furthermore, may be rightly understood to have been the voice of the Lord Himself, either in virtue of that Truth which in His own Person He is Himself, or on the ground of the unity which subsists between the members of His body and the head. There were also certain individuals present who, when these other parties gave that kind of answer, said to them, \u201cGod forbid,\u201d because they understood the parable to be directed against themselves.\nKeeping quia veritas est, for which the reading qui veritas est = \u201cwho is the truth,\u201d also occurs.\n163:1156 163:1157 163:1158 164:1159 164:1160\nThat is to say, the aiunt illi is the rendering for \u03bb\u03ad\u03b3\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1ff7. [This reading of the Greek text is abundantly attested.\u2014R.]\n164:1161 164:1162","title":"Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VI: The Harmony of t...","type":"page"}