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THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN.

CCCXIV.

J HE WickED jiUSBANDMEN,

ID Jesus tell the people
any more parables? Yes;
many more. He told this

‘5; one to some of the proud

Jews at Jerusalem. A

man had a vineyard ; and he digged

it, and planted it, and made a wine-
press, and built a tower in it; and
then he let it out to some husband-
men, and went into a far country.

When the right time came, the

master of the vineyard sent his

servants to receive the fruits of it.

But the wicked husbandmen, in-

stead of attending to the message,

took the servants, and beat one, and
killed another, and threw stones at
another. Soon after, the master
sent some more servants; but the
husbandmen did the same to them.

At last the owner of the vineyard

sent his own son; for he thought,

perhaps they might reverence him.

But no; as soon as the wicked

husbandmen saw the son, they said,

“Come, let us killhim.” And they

caught him, and cast him out of the

vineyard, and slew him. And what

did the Lord do when He heard

this? Hecame, and destroyed those

wicked husbandmen, and let out the
vineyard to others.
This parable was spoken for the

 

proud unbelieving Jews. ‘They were
like the husbandmen in the parable.
God had put them in a pleasant
country, where they had many
blessings; and He wished them to
be obedient and faithful to Him, and
touse all they had in His service,
He had often sent messengers to tell
them this. He sent the prophets,
and John the Baptist; but the Jews
would not attend to these messen-
gers. Like the wicked husband-
men, they hated and killed them.
At last God sent His own Son.
Jesus Christ Himself came among
them. And what did the Jews do
to Him? We shall read very soon
that they took Him, and nailed Him
to across, and put Him to death.
This was the most wicked act they
could do; and soon after, punish-
ment came upon them. ‘Their
country and their blessings were
taken from them, and given to
others , and they were left, sad and
forsaken, scattered over the world.
This was the dreadful punishment
of the unbelieving, rebellious Jews;
and it is a warning to us, for we
have as many blessings as they had;
and if we disobey God like them,
we shall be punished as well as they.