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LESSON IV.—SABBATH, OCTOBER 28, 1899

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · Oct 11, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 41.

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LESSON IV.—SABBATH, OCTOBER 28, 1899.

THE QUESTION OF AUTHORITY.

In the Temple at Jerusalem, A.D. 31.

23 "And when He was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto Him as He was teaching, and said, By what authority doest Thou these 24 things? and who gave Thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one question, which if ye tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what 25 authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven or from men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; He will 26 say unto us, Why then did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, From men; we fear the multitude; for all hold John 27 as a prophet. And they answered Jesus, and said, We know not. He also said unto them, Neither tell I you by what 28 authority I do these things. But what think ye? A man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work 29 to-day in the vineyard. And he answered and said, I will 30 not; but afterward he repented himself, and went. And he 31 came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir; and went not. Whether of the twain did the will of his father? They say, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots 32 go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and the harlots believed him; and ye, when ye saw it, did not even repent yourselves afterward, that ye might believe him.
33 "Hear another parable: There was a man that was a householder, which planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it 34 out to husbandmen, and went into another country. And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, to receive his fruits. And the husband-35 men took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and 36 stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they did unto them in like manner. But afterward 37 he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my 38 son. But the husbandmen, when they saw the son, said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and 39 take his inheritance. And they took him, and cast him forth 40 out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto those hus-41 bandmen? They say unto Him, He will miserably destroy 42 those miserable men, and will let out the vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner; This was from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes? 43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken 44 away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth 45 the fruits thereof. And he that falleth on this stone shall be 46 broken in pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust. And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He spake of them. And when they sought to lay hold on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet."
17 "But He looked upon them, and said, What then is this that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner?"
NOTE.—The texts inclosed in marks of parentheses, while not essential to the lesson study, will be found to throw much light upon the lesson, and are suggested for those who wish to study further.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

  1. When Jesus arrived at the temple, and began to teach, what question was asked Him by the priests, scribes, and elders? Matt. 21:23. Note 1. (John 2:18; 3:1, 2.)
  2. What reply did Jesus make to the question? Verses 24, 25. (John 1:19-27.)
  3. How did they reason with themselves? Verses 25, 26. (Matt. 14:5; Luke 7:29; 20:5, 6.)
  4. What did they finally say in reply? Verse 27. Note 2.
  5. Knowing their craftiness, what reply did Jesus make? Verse 27, last part.
  6. Having brought His adversaries to confusion by His wise answer, how did Jesus begin to put them in their true light before the people? Verses 28-30. (2 Sam. 12:1-7.)
  7. When the priests were asked which of the two sons did right, and they had rendered their verdict, what application of the parable did Jesus make? Verse 31. (Luke 7:37-39, 47-50.)
  8. On what ground was this judgment rendered? Verse 32. Note 3. (Matt. 3:1-6; Luke 3:12, 13.)
  9. What was the nature of the next parable Jesus laid before them? Verse 33. (Isa. 5:1-7.)
  10. In this parable, how did the husbandmen treat the agents of the owner of the vineyard? Verses 34-36. (2 Chron. 36:14-16.)
  11. Last of all who was sent to these wicked men? Verse 37.
  12. What did the husbandmen say and do when the son appeared? Verses 38, 39. (Ps. 2:2, 3.)
  13. What question did Jesus then ask? What answer was returned? Verses 40, 41. Note 4.
  14. What reply did the Lord make to the exclamation of the priests? Verse 42. (Luke 20:17.) Note 5.
  15. What judgment was then pronounced on the people? Matt. 21:43. (Dan. 9:24, 26; Eze. 21:25-27.)
  16. What two alternatives were then set before all the people? Verse 44. (1 Peter 2:6-8.)
  17. When the priests saw that this parable was spoken against them, what prevented them from laying hold on Christ? Verses 45, 46.
Side Lights.—"Desire of Ages," chapters 65, 66; "Spirit of Prophecy," vol. 3, chapters 2 and 3.

NOTES.

1. Chief priests, etc.—Of these three classes the highest council of the Jews was composed. They were constituted the keepers of the temple, the only public building left by the Romans entirely under Jewish control. They believed their rights to have been invaded by One who was neither priest nor Levite, scribe nor elder, and who had taken possession of the temple as tho it were His own. During the absence of Jesus since the evening before, there had evidently been a council of the Sanhedrin (Mark 11:18), and their plans had been definitely marked out, but, as will be seen, they failed to execute them.
2. We can not tell.—While the authorities had never acknowledged John's mission, they had never openly condemned him; indeed, they did not need to, because they saw from John's course that Herod would put him out of the way. So they were willing to have it understood that they participated in the popular sentiment. Had they acknowledged John's mission as heaven-born, they would have had no excuse for rejecting Christ, whose forerunner he was. They could, on the present occasion, have told what they believed about John, but dared not do so before the throng of people listening to the controversy. Christ's answer to their question was wholly unexpected by them, and they were completely discomfited.
3. The publicans.—This was to compare them most unfavorably with the lowest people of that day,—those whom the Jews themselves affected to despise. It was tearing aside their vail of hypocrisy in the presence of those whose leaders they were, and whose good opinion they coveted. But the Saviour was not yet done with them; He would yet reveal what they, in their hearts, purposed to do to Him.
4. They say.—By reference to Luke 20:9, it will be seen that this parable was directed to the people, in order that they might render judgment against the priests, whom they would see had been leading them astray. It must have been they, therefore, who gave the decision as recorded by Matthew; for Luke goes on to say (20:16) that when the decision was spoken, those who heard it said, "God forbid." This exclamation of the priests was probably uttered because they thought that the parable was spoken against them, and they could not consent to the conclusion reached.
5. The stone.—This was a quotation from Psalms 118, which was familiar to the Jews, as referring to the Messiah. It was also a part of the "great Hallel," which had been shouted by the people two days before while waving the palm branches, also that which the children had sung in the temple immediately after its cleansing.