Commentary on Matthew, Tomus XVII
Wicked tenants kill the heir; vineyard given to others§1
1On the parable of the farmers. The people’s wise ones, seeing the Son, take him for the heir and dare to kill him to own the vineyard. They cast him out and kill him; then the vineyard’s Lord arrives, raised from the dead, destroys the bad farmers badly, and hands the vineyard to other farmers — the apostles. He answers from prophecy that he was rejected by them yet is precious with God and head of the corner; the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits.
Greek · §1
Περὶ τῆς παραβολῆς τῶν γεωργῶν. Ἰδόντες οἱ σοφοὶ τοῦ λαοῦ τὸν Υἱὸν οὐ πάντη ἀναίσθητοι τῆς ἑαυτῶν ὑπεροχῆς κληρονόμον εἶναι αὐτὸν ὑπειλήφασι· τολμῶσι δὲ καὶ ἀποκτεῖναι ἵνα αὐτοὶ κύριοι τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος γένωνται. Ἐκβαλόντες αὐτὸν ἀπέκτειναν· καὶ εὐθέως ὁ τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος Κύριος ἐπιδημεῖ ἀναστὰς ἐκ νεκρῶν, καὶ κακοὺς κακῶς τοὺς γεωργοὺς ἀπόλλυσιν, ἄλλοις δὲ γεωργοῖς τοῖς ἀποστόλοις παραδίδωσι τὸν ἀμπελῶνα. Εἶτα ἀποκρίνεται ἐκ τῆς προφητείας ὅτι ὑπ’ ἐκείνων μὲν ἀπεδοκιμάσθη, παρὰ δὲ Θεῷ ἐστιν ἔντιμος καὶ κεφαλὴ γωνίας· «Ἀρθήσεται ἀφ’ ὑμῶν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ δοθήσεται ἔθνει ποιοῦντι τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτῆς.»
When God is called man, householder, or king§2
2Compare the parables where God is called a man. In the laborers he is a householder hiring at dawn; in the supper and the son’s wedding he is named a king — greater than a householder, as one who sends an army. Luke and Mark say a man planted a vineyard. In the Scriptures God is taken as ‘man’ in many ways; it matters greatly whether he is named simply man, householder, or king. Glory to Christ. Amen.
Greek · §2
Σύγκρισις τῶν παραβολῶν ἐν αἷς Θεὸς ἄνθρωπος καλεῖται. Ἐν μὲν τῇ τῶν ἐργατῶν πατὴρ οἰκογενὴς ἔξεισι μισθώσασθαι· ἐν δὲ τῇ τοῦ δείπνου καὶ τῶν γάμων τοῦ υἱοῦ βασιλεὺς ὠνόμασται — μείζων γὰρ πατρὸς οἰκογενοῦς ὡς στρατιὰν πέμπων. Παρὰ Λουκᾷ «ἄνθρωπος ἐφύτευσεν ἀμπελῶνα»· καὶ παρὰ Μάρκῳ ὁμοίως. Πολλαχῶς ἐν ταῖς Γραφαῖς ὁ Θεὸς ἄνθρωπος λαμβάνεται· πολὺ διαφέρει εἰ ἁπλῶς ἄνθρωπος ἢ οἰκοδεσπότης ἢ βασιλεὺς ὀνομάζεται. Δόξα Χριστῷ. Ἀμήν.
Caesar’s coin and cautious answers§3
3On Caesar and God. Pharisees with Herodians test him about the census. Showing the coin he says: render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. When tested by those hunting occasions, we must neither go wholly silent nor speak rashly, but answer carefully so as to cut off every handle and secure what leads to salvation.
Greek · §3
Περὶ Καίσαρος καὶ Θεοῦ. Οἱ Φαρισαῖοι μετὰ τῶν Ἡρῳδιανῶν πειράζουσιν περὶ τοῦ κήνσου. Ὁ δὲ δείξας τὸ νόμισμα φησίν· «Ἀπόδοτε τὰ Καίσαρος Καίσαρι καὶ τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῷ Θεῷ.» Ὅταν ὑπὸ τῶν ζητούντων ἀφορμὰς πειραζώμεθα, οὐ δεῖ παντελῶς σιγᾶν οὐδὲ εἰκῇ λαλεῖν, ἀλλὰ μετὰ εὐλαβείας ἀποκρίνεσθαι, ἵνα πᾶσαν ἀφορμὴν ἐκκόψωμεν καὶ τὰ πρὸς σωτηρίαν αὐτοῖς περιποιήσωμεν.
Resurrection: not marrying; God of the living§4
4On the resurrection against the Sadducees. You are wrong, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God; for in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage. Read it allegorically, as Paul does the slave woman and the free. Those who take marriage texts bodily err like those expecting bodily foods after the rising. God is not of the dead but of the living; for all live to him. Glory to Christ. Amen.
Greek · §4
Περὶ ἀναστάσεως πρὸς Σαδδουκαίους. «Πλανᾶσθε μὴ εἰδότες τὰς γραφὰς μηδὲ τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἐν γὰρ τῇ ἀναστάσει οὔτε γαμοῦσιν οὔτε γαμίζονται.» Ἀλληγορητέον ὡς παρὰ τῷ Ἀποστόλῳ περὶ παιδίσκης καὶ ἐλευθέρας· οἱ σωματικῶς τὰ περὶ γάμων ἐκλαμβάνοντες πλανῶνται ὥσπερ οἱ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν βρώματα σωματικὰ προσδοκῶντες. «Θεὸς οὐκ ἔστιν νεκρῶν ἀλλὰ ζώντων· πάντες γὰρ αὐτῷ ζῶσιν.» Δόξα Χριστῷ. Ἀμήν.