But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
But when the farmers saw the son, they said among themselves - compare Genesis 37:18-20; John 11:47-53,
This is the heir. Sublime expression this of the great truth, that God's inheritance was destined for, and in due time is to come into the possession of, His own Son in our nature (Hebrews 1:2). Come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance - that so, from mere servants, we may become lords. This is the deep aim of the depraved heart; this is emphatically "the root of all evil."