And Jesus answered and spake unto them again Not to the multitude only, but to the chief priests, elders, Scribes, and Pharisees: for though Mark seems to intimate, that upon the delivery of the last parable of the vineyard, they left him, and went their way; yet since he does not relate the…

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king The Gospel dispensation which had now taken place, the methods of divine grace in it, and the behaviour of men under it, may be fitly illustrated by the following simile, or parable; the design of which is to express the great love of God the…

And sent forth his servants The ministers of the Gospel, who are the servants of the most high God, of his choosing and ordaining, of his calling and sending, and of his qualifying and employing, and who voluntarily and cheerfully serve him; and may intend John the Baptist, and the twelve apostles…

Again he sent forth other servants The seventy disciples, and other ministers of the Gospel, as Barnabas and Saul, and others that were joined to, and were helpers of the apostles, who were sent, and preached to the Jews, any time before the destruction of Jerusalem: saying, tell them which are…

But they made light of it The invitation. They neglected the ministry of the Gospel; they did not care for it, nor showed any regard to it: and this is the ease, when either it is not attended on, though there is an opportunity, yet having no heart to embrace it, and no value for it, neglect…

And the remnant took his servants They that went to their several worldly callings and occupations of life, troubled themselves no further about the Messiah, his doctrines and ordinances; but others of them were more spiteful and injurious: they not only slighted the message, and took no notice of…

But when the king heard thereof Of this maltreatment, and barbarous usage of his servants, their cries coming up into his ears, and their blood calling for vengeance at his hands; and he full well knowing what they did unto them, and upon what account, being the omniscient God; and observing their…

Then saith he to his servants, &c.] That were preserved from their rage and malice, and outlived their implacable enemies, and saw their utter ruin and destruction: the wedding is ready; meaning not the marriage contract, which was secretly performed in eternity; or the calling of God’s elect among…

Go ye therefore into the highways Either of the city, which were open and public, and where much people were passing to and fro; or of the fields, the high roads, where many passengers were travelling; and may design the Gentile world, and Gentile sinners, who, in respect of the Jews, were far off;…

So these servants went out into the highways Turned from the Jews, and went among the Gentiles, preaching the Gospel to them; particularly the Apostle Paul, with Barnabas, and others: and gathered together all, as many as they found, both good and bad: the Persic version reads it, “known or…

And when the king came in to see the guests Professors of religion, members of churches, whom God takes particular notice of; he is an omniscient being, and his eyes are upon all men and their actions, and especially on such as are called by his name: he takes notice how they behave in the exercise…

And he saith unto him, friend Either in an ironical way, or because he professed to be a friend of God and Christ: how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? Which way didst thou come in hither? since he did not come in by faith, in the righteousness of Christ; intimating, that he…

Then said the king to his servants By whom are meant, either the ministers of the Gospel, and pastors of churches, who by the order of Christ, and in the name of the churches, cast out all such as appear, by their bad principles and evil practices, to be without the grace of God, and righteousness…

For many are called, but few chosen. ] (See Gill on Matt. 20:16)

Then went the Pharisees After they had heard the parables of the two sons being bid to go into the vineyard, of the vineyard let out to husbandmen, and of the marriage feast; for it is clear from hence, that these stayed and heard the last of these parables, in all which they saw themselves…

And they sent out unto him their disciples Who were trained up in the same way of thinking with themselves, had imbibed the same tenets, and were strenuous defenders of them; and no doubt they selected the most crafty and artful among them; and who were the best versed in their principles and…

Tell us therefore what thinkest thou, &c:] Since, as they suggested he was a person of great understanding and sincerity, they earnestly desire that he would be pleased, according to his usual frankness and openness, to give them his opinion; in which they intimate, they should sit down satisfied…

But Jesus perceived their wickedness Luke says, “their craftiness”; and Mark says, “knowing their hypocrisy”; for there was, a mixture of malice, hypocrisy, and artfulness, in the scheme they had formed; but Christ being the omniscient God, saw the wickedness of their hearts, knew their…

Shew me the tribute money Not any money, or any sort of coin that was current among them; but that in which the tribute was usually paid, which was Roman money: and they brought unto him a penny; not as, being what was the usual sum that was paid for tribute at one time, but as a sample of what…

And he saith unto them Having the penny in one hand, and pointing to it with the other, whose is this image and superscription? or inscription? for the penny that was, brought him had an image upon it, the form of a man’s head struck on it, and round about it an inscription, or writing, showing who…

They say unto him, Caesar’s Either Augustus Caesar’s; for there was a coin of that emperor’s, as Dr. Hammond reports, from Occo, which had his image or picture on it, and in it these words written, Augustus Caesar, such a year, “after the taking of Judaea”; which if this was the coin, was a…

When they had heard these words This answer returned unto them, this advice which was given them, which they could not gainsay or deny to be good, they marvelled: were amazed and astonished, at his prudence and wisdom, in answering them, in such an unexpected and cautious manner: they left him:…

The same day came to him the Sadducees, &] Quickly after the Pharisees and Herodians had left him; and which shows, that the Herodians and Sadducees were not the same; but that the Sadducees were a distinct sect, both from the Pharisees and the Herodians.

Saying, master Rabbi, or doctor, as he was usually called; Moses said, in if a man die having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother; which, though not expressed in the self same words, yet is the sense of the passage referred to, and was a practice in use…

Now there were with us seven brethren That is, there was in the city, town or neighbourhood, where these Sadducees dwelt, probably at Jerusalem, a family, in which were seven sons, all brethren by the father’s side; for brethren by the mother’s side were not counted brethren, nor obliged by this…

Likewise the second also The eldest of the surviving brethren, having married his brother’s wife, after sometime died also without children, and left her to his next brother to marry her; and the third brother accordingly did marry her, and in process of time died likewise, leaving no issue behind…

And last of all the woman died also.] A widow and childless, having never married another person but these seven brethren; and the case with them being alike, no one having any child by her, upon which any peculiar claim to her could be formed, the following question is put.

Therefore in the resurrection As asserted by the Pharisees and by Christ, supposing that there will be such a thing, though not granting it; for these men denied it, wherefore the Ethiopic version reads it hypothetically, “if therefore the dead will be raised”; upon such a supposition, whose wife…

Jesus answered and said unto them The Sadducees: as idle and impertinent as the case they put may seem to be and really was, our Lord thought fit to return an answer to them, thereby to expose their ignorance, and put them to silence and confusion: ye do err; not only in that they denied the…

For in the resurrection At the time of the resurrection, and in that state; when the bodies and souls of men shall be reunited, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; neither the men marry wives, nor are the women given in marriage to men, which is done by their parents here, generally…

But as touching the resurrection of the dead In proof of that doctrine, and which will greatly serve to confirm and establish it, and that it may appear that the dead are, or will be raised, and to put it out of all doubt, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, as Mark adds, “in…

I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob The Sadducees expressly denied, that the resurrection could be proved out of the law. “Says R. Eliezer, with R.

And when the multitude heard this This wise and full answer of Christ to the posing question of the Sadducees, with which perhaps they had puzzled many, and never had met with their match before: they were astonished at his doctrine; concerning the pure, perfect, and angelic state of the righteous…

But when the Pharisees had heard Either with their own ears, they being some of them present: or rather from the relation of others, from the Scribes, who expressed their approbation of Christ’s answer to the Sadducees; for the Pharisees, with the Herodians, in a body, had left him, and were gone…

Then one of them, which was a lawyer Or that was “learned”, or “skilful in the law”, as the Syriac and Persic versions, and Munster’s Hebrew Gospel read.

Master, which is the great commandment in the law?] He calls him “master, Rabbi, or doctor”, as the Sadducees had in either because he was usually so called by his disciples, and by the generality of the people; or merely in complaisance to engage his attention to him, and his question: and might…

Jesus said unto him Directly, without taking time to think of it; and though he knew with what design it was put to him, yet, as an answer to it might be useful and instructive to the people, as well as silence and confound his adversaries, he thought fit to give one; and is as follows, being what…

This is the first and great commandment. ] Whether the object of it is considered, who is the first and chief good; or the manner in which it is to be observed, which requires and engrosses the whole heart, soul, and mind, and all the strength and power of man; or its being the principle from…

And the second is like unto it For there is but a second, not a third: this is suggested in opposition to the numerous commandments in the law, according to the opinion of the Jews, who reckon them in all to be “six hundred and thirteen”: of which there are “three hundred and sixty five” negative…

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. ] Not that all that is contained in the five books of Moses, and in the books of the prophets, and other writings of the Old Testament, is comprehended in, and is reducible to these two precepts; for there are many things delivered by way…

While the Pharisees were gathered together Or rather, “when” they were gathered together, and while they continued so, before they left him: for this is to be understood not of their gathering together, to consult privately about him; this is expressed before in but of their gathering together…

Saying, what think ye of Christ Or the Messiah; he does not ask them whether there was, or would be such a person in the world. He knew, that he was so plainly spoken of in the writings of the Old Testament, which they had in their hands, that they could not be ignorant, that such a person was…

He saith unto them Not denying it to be a truth they affirmed; but rather granting and allowing it: he argues upon it, though he tacitly refuses their sense and meaning of the phrase, thus, how then doth David in spirit call him Lord? that is, if he is a mere man, if he is only the son of David,…

The Lord said unto my Lord By the Lord that said, is meant “Jehovah” the Father, who said the following words at the time of Christ’s ascension, and entrance into heaven, after he had finished the great work of man’s salvation; prophetically delivered by the Psalmist, under the inspiration of the…

If David then call him Lord That is, the Messiah, which is taken for granted, nor could the Pharisees deny it, how is he his son? The question is to be answered upon true and just notions of the Messiah, but unanswerable upon the principles of the Pharisees; who expected the Messiah only as a mere…

And no man was able to answer him a word They saw the dilemma they were reduced to, either to acknowledge the deity of the Messiah, or confess their ignorance; and neither of them they cared to do, and therefore judged it to be the wisest part to be silent.