Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 21:43
Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Verse 43. Therefore say I] Thus showing them, that to them alone the parable belonged. The kingdom of God shall be taken from you-the Gospel shall be taken from you, and given to the Gentiles, who will receive it, and bring forth fruit to the glory of God.
Bringing forth the fruits] As in Mt 21:34 an allusion is made to paying the landlord in kind, so here the Gentiles are represented as paying God thus. The returns which He expects for his grace are the fruits of grace; nothing can ever be acceptable in the sight of God that does not spring from himself.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
43. Therefore say I unto you, Thekingdom of GodGod’s visible Kingdom, or Church, upon earth,which up to this time stood in the seed of Abraham.
shall be taken from you, andgiven to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereofthat is,the great evangelical community of the faithful, which, after theextrusion of the Jewish nation, would consist chiefly of Gentiles,until “all Israel should be saved” (Rom 11:25;Rom 11:26). This vastly importantstatement is given by Matthew only.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Therefore I say unto you,…. This is the application of the parable; and the words are directed to the chief priests, elders, scribes, and people of the Jews; and are delivered as what would be in consequence of the builders, rejecting the Messiah, the foundation and corner stone of the building.
The kingdom of God shall be taken from you: by which is meant, not their political estate, their civil government, which was of God, and in a short time was to depart from them, according to ancient prophecy, and which is come to pass, as the event shows; nor their legal national church state and ordinances only, or the priesthood, and the appendages of it; all which, in a little while, were shaken and removed; but the Gospel, which had been preached among them by John the Baptist, Christ, and his apostles; so called because it treats of the kingdom of God, and things pertaining to it, and shows men both their right and meetness for it; the one as in the righteousness of Christ, and the other in the regenerating and sanctifying grace of the Spirit, which Gospel may be taken away from a people, as from the Jews, because of their contempt of it, and opposition to it, or lukewarmness and indifference about it, or unfruitfulness under it; and when God has no more souls to gather in by it in such a place, and which is a very unhappy case, whenever it is the case of any people: for when the Gospel is taken away, the riches of a people are gone; the glory of a nation is departed; the light of it is put out; the spiritual bread of a people is no more; the means of conversion and spiritual knowledge cease: all which have a melancholy aspect on posterity. Moreover, the Gospel church state, which was set up in Judea, may be here meant; which, though it continued and flourished a while, in process of time was to be removed: and which may be done elsewhere, as it has been in Judea, by God’s suffering persecution to arise, as he did against the church of Jerusalem, whereby the ministers of the Gospel are driven into corners, or scattered abroad; or by ordering his ministers to preach no more unto such a people, as the apostles were ordered to turn from the Jews to the Gentiles; or by taking away ministers and members of churches by death, and not raising up others in their room; or by withholding a blessing from the word; or by permitting the growth of errors and heresies, which, in course of time, must issue in the dissolution of the church state in such a place, and which necessarily follows upon the removing of the Gospel:
and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Though God may take away the Gospel from a people, as he did from the Jews; yet he does not, nor will he, as yet, take it out of the world: he gives it to another “nation”; to the Gentiles, to all the nations of the world, whither he sent his apostles to preach and where it must be preached before the end of the world comes, in order to gather his elect out of them: for not one particular nation is meant, unless the nation of God’s elect, among all nations, can be thought to be designed. It may be observed, that the Gospel, wherever it comes, it comes as a gift; it is “given”: to have it only in the external ministration of it, is a favour; and more especially to understand it spiritually; this is an unmerited gift; as is also ability to preach it: and it is likewise a national mercy wherever it comes; for though it comes in power only to a few in a nation, yet it is more or less a blessing to the whole: nor is it easy to say what temporal advantages a nation enjoys through the ministration of the Gospel in it: and where it is given, and comes in power, it brings forth fruit, as it did in all the world of the Gentiles; even the fruits of grace, and righteousness, and every good work; all which come from Christ, under the influence of his Spirit, and by the word and ordinances, as means, and highly become the Gospel, and the professors of it; and for want of which it is removed sometimes from one nation to another: for this cause it was taken from the Jews, and given to the Gentiles. One of the Jewish commentators d on these words, in Jer 13:17 “my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride”, has this note;
“because of your grandeur, which shall cease; because of the excellency of “the kingdom of heaven”, , “which shall be given to the profane”;”
i.e. the nations of the world.
d Jarchi in Jer. xiii. 17.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Shall be taken away from you ( ‘ ). Future passive indicative of . It was the death-knell of the Jewish nation with their hopes of political and religious world leadership.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
43. Therefore I say to you. Hitherto Christ directed his discourse to rulers and governors, but in presence of the people. Now, however, he addresses in the same manner the people themselves, and not without reason, for they had been the companions and assistants of the priests and scribes in hindering the grace of God. It was from the priests, no doubt, that the evil arose, but the people had already deserved, on account of their sins, to have such corrupt and degenerate pastors. Besides, the whole body was infected, as it were, by a similar malice to resist God. This is the reason why Christ denounces against all indiscriminately the dreadful vengeance of God; for as the priests were inflated with the desire of holding the highest power, so the rest of the people gloried on the ground of having been adopted. Christ now declares that God was not bound to them, and, therefore, that he will convey to another the honor of which they rendered themselves unworthy. And this, no doubt, was once spoken to them, but was written for the sake of all of us, that, if God choose us to be His people, we may not grow wanton through a vain and wicked confidence in the flesh, but may endeavor, on our part, to perform the duties which he enjoins on his children;
for if he spared not the natural branches, (Rom 11:21,)
what will he do with those which were engrafted? The Jews thought that the kingdom of God dwelt among them by hereditary right, and therefore they adhered obstinately to their vices. We have unexpectedly come into their room contrary to nature, and therefore much less is the kingdom of God bound to us, if it be not rooted in true godliness.
Now as our minds ought to be struck with terror by the threatening of Christ, that those who have profaned the kingdom of God will be deprived of it, so the perpetuity of that kingdom, which is here described, may afford comfort to all the godly. For by these words Christ assures us that, though the ungodly destroyed the worship of God among themselves, they would never cause the name of Christ to be abolished, or true religion to perish; for God, in whose hand are all the ends of the earth, will find elsewhere a dwelling and habitation for his kingdom. We ought also to learn from this passage, that the Gospel is not preached in order that it may lie barren and inoperative, but that it may yield fruit.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
43. From you And by this emphatic you he directly implies that they are, in solemn verity, the condemned husbandmen of the parable, and will be subjected to the terrible sentence they have themselves pronounced. Given to a nation A race of people. Our Lord here predicts again the rejection of the Jews and the call of the Gentiles.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Therefore I say to you, The Kingly Rule of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation (people) bringing forth its fruits.”
That is why He can categorically declare to them that the Kingly Rule of God is to be taken away from them (they will no longer have it on offer and be seen as potential sons of the Kingly Rule as Jews (Mat 8:12)), and that they will be replaced by the true sons of the Kingly Rule (Mat 13:38), so that it will be given to ‘a nation’ or ‘people’ that will bring forth its fruits. Once again He is emphasising the beginning of the new age which is gradually coming in. It had in a sense begun with John (Mat 21:31-32), it had continued to be built up by Jesus Himself (Mat 12:28; Mat 13:19 with 23, 37-38), and it would shortly come to its full fruition through His resurrection and enthronement and what would follow (Mat 28:18-20; Act 1:3; Act 8:12; Act 19:8; Act 20:25; Act 28:23; Act 28:31; Rom 14:17).
It is true that the prime reference of ‘the builders’ was to the Jewish religious leadership, but they continued to be followed by the majority of Jews, who thus aligned themselves with them. They too rejected the corner stone. They too therefore lost the potential of being sons of the Kingly Rule.
All this ties in with Mat 8:11-12 where unbelieving Jews will be excluded from the future Kingly Rule while believing Gentiles will be a part of it, along with believing Jews (Abraham, etc). It fits in with the idea that one of the feedings of the crowds was of Jewish believers, while the other incorporated Gentile believers, so that they were seen as one together as disciples of Jesus in the new congregation. It also parallels the idea in the above parable that the vineyard will be ‘given to others’. For the idea of the church as the new nation replacing the old compare 1Pe 2:9 with Exo 19:6, and see Joh 15:1-6; Rom 11:11-28; Gal 3:28-29; Gal 6:10; Eph 2:11-22; 1Pe 2:9; Jas 1:1.
There are three main interpretations of this verse, which partly depend on the total viwepoint of the interpreter:
1) That the idea is that the present Israel will in the near future be replaced by a new Israel made up of believers from among the Jews (not including the Gentiles) forming the Jewish church. This is then often linked with the idea that in future there will be revival among the unbelieving Jews who will thus become linked with this Jewish church forming ‘all Israel’ (Rom 11:26).
2) That the idea is that an Israel will arise in the more distant future which is descended from the Jews and made up of converted Jews who will have been purified and will have come to believe. These will be the Old Israel renewed in the end days. These are seen as referred to as ‘all Israel’ in Rom 11:26.
3) That the idea is that there will be a new ‘nation’ (compare 1Pe 2:9) which will originally be made up of Jewish believers, but will then expand to include all Gentile converts who are circumcised in Christ into the new Israel (Joh 15:1-6; Rom 11:11-28; Gal 3:28-29; Gal 6:10; Eph 2:11-22; Col 2:10-11; 1Pe 2:9; Jas 1:1. These again can be seen as referred to by Paul as ‘all Israel’ in Rom 11:26, thus in this case including both those who were already in (Jesus’ wider group of disciples and their resulting early Jewish converts), and those who have been ‘grafted in’ (Rom 11:17).
The first position is usually held by Christian Jews who are so proud of their Jewish heritage that they see themselves as distinct from their ‘Gentile’ brethren, even though having full fellowship with them. In our view they misrepresent such Scriptures as Joh 15:1-6; Rom 11:11-28; Gal 3:28-29; Gal 6:10; Eph 2:11-22; 1Pe 2:9; Jas 1:1 which clearly teach that all are one in Christ Jesus with no distinction, and thereby maintain unscriptural distinctions, mainly because of national pride.
The second position is often held by those who believe that Israel has a separate future apart from the true body of Christ. In our view they fail to see that Scripture constantly maintains that the true Israel is made up of all believers who are incorporated into Christ (see Scriptures above), whatever their previous background, in the same way as in Old Testament days all who were incorporated in the covenant, whether Jew or Gentile, were seen as part of Israel regardless of descent or race.
The third position is held by those who hold that there is one body in Christ and that salvation can only be found in that one body, and that that is true in all ages. Thus any who would be saved must become partakers of Christ and thereby become members of the true Vine and therefore of the new Israel founded on His Messiahship. This is the true Israel that Jesus came to found, the new ‘congregation’. They believe that while there may be a large-scale turning to Christ among the Jews in the end days, nevertheless by so turning such Jews become members of the true congregation of Jesus Christ along with their non-Jewish Christian brethren, with the distinction between Jew and Gentile in the sight of God removed. They will become all one in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:28). See our article on ‘Is the Church Israel?’ in the Introduction.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 21:43-44. Therefore I say unto you, &c. “For the reason that God has expressly foretold this judgement shall happen to you, and because it is a most righteous and equitable judgement, I assure you it will fall upon you, however you may despise or disbelieve it. The theocracy,the outward oeconomy of religion, which you have long enjoyed very unprofitably, shall be taken from you, and given to the Gentiles; who, whatever you may think of them, will improve it far better than you have done.” These words seem to confirm the first method of solving the difficulties mentioned in the last note: for had the priests spoken seriously, our Lord need not have been at the pains to produce texts of Scripture to prove what they had so fully acknowledged. “Who ever shall fall on this stone, continues our Lord, which the builders have rejected, but which God will make the head of the corner, shall be broken. See Rom 9:33. Whosoever ignorantly opposes the Messiah, shall thereby receive great harm to himself,in allusion to one’s stumbling at a stone thrown aside as useless; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” Our Saviour seems to have had in view Dan 2:34 where the destruction of all the opposers of the Messiah’s kingdom is described thus: “Thou sawest, till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet, that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces; Mat 21:35. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” Our Lord’s meaning is, that all the opposers of the Messiah’s kingdom, called Mat 21:43 the kingdom of God, and by Daniel the kingdom of the God of heaven, Dan 2:44 shall be utterly destroyed, according to Daniel’s vision of the image. The first clause whosoever shall fall, &c. seems to describe the sin and punishment ofthe great men, who being chief in the rebellion led the way to the rest, and had an active hand in resisting the authority of the Messiah. See Macknight. Dr. Doddridge explains it, “Whosoever shall stumble at me and my doctrine, while I am here on earth in this humble form, he shall be broken and damaged by it: but whosoever shall oppose me after my exaltation to glory, and the pouring out of my Spirit for the full revelation of my Gospel, and proof of my mission; he will bring upon himself aggravated guilt, and unavoidable destruction.” See Wetstein.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 21:43 . ] therefore , because, according to the psalm just quoted, the rejected stone is destined to become the corner-stone. What is contained in the following announcement is the necessary consequence of the inversion of the order of things just referred to. The , however, like the below, implies the obvious intermediate thought: “for it is you who reject this corner-stone.”
] for they, along with the whole represented by them, were by natural right the owners of the approaching Messianic kingdom, its theocratic heirs; comp. Mat 13:38 .
, . . .] Jesus is not here referring to the Gentiles , as, since Eusebius’ time, many, and in particular Schenkel, Hilgenfeld, Keim, Volkmar, have supposed, but, as the use of the singular already plainly indicates, to the whole of the future subjects of the kingdom of the Messiah, conceived of as one people , which will therefore consist of Jews and Gentiles, that new Messianic people of God, which is to constitute the body politic in the kingdom that is about to be established, 1Pe 2:9 . The fruits of the Messiah’s kingdom are those fruits which must be produced as the condition of admission (Mat 5:3 ff., Mat 13:8 ). Hence, likewise, the use of the present ; for Jesus regards the future subjects of the kingdom as already anticipating its establishment by producing its fruits . The metaphor is to be regarded as an echo of the parable of the vineyard. The fruits themselves are identical with those mentioned in Eph 5:9 ; Gal 5:22 ; Rom 6:22 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Ver. 43. The kingdom of God shall be taken from you ] A heavy sentence. We had better, saith one, be without meat, drink, light, air, earth, all the elements, yea, life itself, than that one sweet saying of our Saviour, “Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will refresh you.” a The gospel is that inheritance we received from our godly forefathers, the martyrs; and it must be our care to transmit the same to our posterity, earnestly contending for the faith which was once delivered, Jdg 1:3 , once for all; for if lost, or any way corrupted, it will hardly be ever given again. Look to it, therefore, unfruitfulness forfeits all, as the merchant’s nonpayment of the custom forfeits all his goods. It is to be feared, saith one, lest Mr Herbert be a true prophet, and the gospel be, in its solar motion, travelling for the West, for the American parts, and quitting its present place of residence, and unworthy professors and possessors; and then farewell England.
a Mallemus carere coelo, terra, omnibus elementis, &c. Sel. Paedag. Christ.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
43. ] Our Lord here returns to the parable , and more plainly than ever before announces to them their rejection by God. The is now . . . The here spoken of is not the Gentiles in general, but the Church of the truly faithful , the , of 1Pe 2:9 ; see Act 15:14 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 21:43 . , introducing the application of the oracle, and implying that the persons addressed are the builders = therefore. . .: the doom is forfeiture of privilege, the kingdom taken from them and given to others. , to a nation; previously, as Paul calls it, a no nation ( , Rom 10:19 ), the reference being, plainly, to the heathen world. . . .: cf. Mat 3:8 ; Mat 3:10 ; Mat 7:17 , bringing forth the fruits of it (the kingdom). The hope that the new nation will bring forth the fruit is the ground of the transference. God elects with a view to usefulness; a useless elect people has no prescriptive rights.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
given to a nation. The new Israel, as prophesied in Isa 66:7-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
43.] Our Lord here returns to the parable, and more plainly than ever before announces to them their rejection by God. The is now . . . The here spoken of is not the Gentiles in general, but the Church of the truly faithful,-the , of 1Pe 2:9; see Act 15:14.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 21:43. , thereof) sc. the kingdom.[949]
[949] Even though thou mayest be a good tree, yet thy fruit is not thine own, but that of the vineyard. Rom 11:17-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
kingdom of God
Note that Matthew here as in Mat 21:31 uses the larger word, kingdom of God: (Cf) (See Scofield “Mat 6:33”).
The kingdom of heaven; (See Scofield “Mat 3:2”). See Scofield “1Co 15:24” will yet be set up. Meantime the kingdom of God and his righteousness is taken from Israel nationally and given to the Gentiles. Rom 9:30-33.
you
i.e. national Israel, the barren vine. Mat 21:33-41 Isa 5:1-7.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
The kingdom: Mat 21:41, Mat 8:11, Mat 8:12, Mat 12:28, Isa 28:2, Luk 17:20, Luk 17:21, Joh 3:3, Joh 3:5
a nation: Exo 19:6, Isa 26:2, 1Co 13:2, 1Pe 2:9
Reciprocal: Jdg 6:39 – dry Isa 29:17 – Lebanon Isa 35:7 – the parched Zec 11:3 – for their Zec 11:9 – I will Zec 13:8 – two Mat 10:7 – The Mat 13:12 – from Mar 12:9 – and will Luk 3:8 – of these Luk 9:11 – the kingdom Luk 14:23 – Go Luk 14:24 – General Luk 19:26 – and from Act 1:3 – speaking Act 13:46 – seeing Act 18:6 – from Rom 11:17 – some Rom 11:28 – are enemies Heb 4:6 – some
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1:43
The Lord made a literal application of the parable to the Jewish nation of which his hearers were members. The nation that was to be given the kingdom was the Gentiles. This does not mean that the Jews would be barred from the kingdom of heaven, but they no longer would be the sole workers in the Master’s vineyard.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 21:43. Therefore. The parable is taken up again. Because this word of God applies to you, this interpretation also applies to you.
The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you. The vineyard means the kingdom of God in all ages, not exclusively the Jewish people.
To a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Not to the Gentiles as such, but to the spiritual Israel (comp. 1Co 10:18; Gal 4:29), to be constituted mainly from the Gentiles. Strikingly fulfilled in the first century, but secondary fulfilments are constantly taking place. Privilege abused ever leads to this result.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the {a} fruits thereof.
(a) They bring forth the fruits of the kingdom of God, who bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, and not of the flesh, Gal 5:16-26 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
This verse continues to explain the parable of the wicked tenant farmers. Because Israel’s leaders had failed to produce the fruit God desired and had slain His Son, He would remove responsibility and privilege from them and give that to another "nation" or "people" (Gr. ethnei). What God did was transfer responsibility for preparing for the kingdom from Israel and give it to a different group, namely, the church (cf. Act 13:46; Act 18:5-6; Rom 10:19; 1Pe 2:9). David Turner argued that those who received the responsibility were the faithful Jewish remnant represented by Jesus’ apostles. [Note: David L. Turner, "Mat 21:43 and the Future of Israel," Bibliotheca Sacra 159:633 (January-March 2002):46-61.] This is a very similar view since Jesus’ apostles became the core of the church.
"Mat 21:43 could be the key verse in the entire argument of Matthew." [Note: Bailey, in The New . . ., p. 45.]
The unusual term "kingdom of God" rather than Matthew’s customary "kingdom of heaven" probably stresses the fact that the kingdom belongs to God, not the leaders of Israel.
Jesus did not mean that God would remove the kingdom from Israel forever (cf. Rom 11:26-27). When Jesus returns to the earth and establishes His kingdom, Israel will have the most prominent place in it (Genesis 12; Genesis 15; 2 Samuel 7; Jeremiah 31).
"For the first time the King speaks openly and clearly to someone outside of the circle of the disciples about a new age. This is full proof that the kingdom was no longer near at hand." [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 252. See also idem, "The Contingency . . ., pp. 234-35; and idem and Quine, p. 140.]