Matthew 21:40-42 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

When the Lord therefore—cometh— According to St. Mark and St. Luke, Jesus answered this question himself; which, according to St. Matthew, the priests answered: this apparent inconsistency may be reconciled by supposing, that after they had said to him, God forbid! as St. Luke tells us, they repeated his words ironically,—he will miserably destroy those wicked men, &c. speaking with a tone of voice expressive of the disposition of their mind, and then added contemptuously, "which will render him the fruits in their seasons, which will behave better, no doubt, than we have done:" for they understood his parables, and designed to affront him by ridiculing what he said. Besides, unless we suppose that the priests spoke these words ironically, the answer which St. Matthew tells us Jesus returned to them, will lose much of its force, because it implies that the priests had denied that the vine-yard was to be taken from them, and given to others. Jesus saith, Matthew 21:42 did ye never read, &c. "If the vine-yard is not to be taken away from you, and given to others, what is the meaning of Psalms 118:22.? Doth not that passage of Scripture foretel, that the Messiah shall be rejected by the Jewish great men, and that though they crucify him, He shall become the head of the corner, or of the church? Now what else is this, but that he shall bebelieved on by the Gentiles, and unite them to the church of God, as a head cornerstone unites the two sides of a building?" Accordingly St. Luke expresses the connection of our Lord's answer with their denial more clearly, Luke 20:17. See the note on Psalms 118:21-22. Jeffery's Review, p. 119 and Macknight. Dr. Campbell reads, Matthew 21:42. "A stone which the builders rejected, is made the head of the corner. This the Lord hath effected, and we behold it with admiration."