22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

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 things? and who gave thee this authority?

24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.

25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven: he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?

26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.

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27 And they answered Jesus, and said, We not tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.

29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.

30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and

went not.

31 Whether of them twain did the will of his

father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

32 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 had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

33 ¶ Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

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priests and elders.

the fig tree, but even if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea, it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

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 things? and who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one 1question, which if ye tell me, I likewise will tell you by what 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 say unto us, Why then did ye not believe 26 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

31

think ye? A man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, 2 Son, go work 29 to-day in the vineyard. And he answered and said, I will not: but afterward he 30 repented himself, and went. And he 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 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.

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1 Gr. word. 2 Gr. Child.

22. All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. The hinge-word here is "believing." It implies a perfect confidence in God, a union by faith with him, the action of a participation ia the divine nature (2 Pet. 1: 4). There can be no experimenting or display in such action.

23. The chief priests and the elders are from this time the active plotters for Jesus' death. The people, when they are found clamoring against him, are simply the obedient followers of these officials (see chap. 27: 20). By what authority, etc. They demand the character of his authority, as to its extent, and as to its source. If Jesus should claim divine authority, they would at once bring an accusation against him for blasphemy. If he should claim only the authority of a zealous Jew, they would accuse him of going beyond his rights in assuming leadership, and power to subvert customs. Jesus avoids the dilemma by refusing to answer, but skilfully bases his refusal on their refusal to answer an important question he puts to them. 25. The baptism of John, whence was it? Jesus, in argument, had a right to ask this question before answering theirs; because the question of his authority was directly connected with the question of John's authority, John being his forerunner and witness (John 5: 32, 33). Their failure to answer showed their hypocrisy; for they pretended to hold John as a prophet, through fear of the people, while they resisted him as an impostor. To such double-faced, untrue men, a man is not obligated to answer a question put. He can thus defend himself against insincere men, who only desire to entrap him.

28. Two sons. We see from verse 31, that the first son represents the publicans and harlots; that is, the commonly considered outcasts from all truth: and the second son represents the chief priests and elders. The life of the hariot or publican had been an "I will not" to God; but many a one of this sort had repented at the preaching of John. On the other hand, the profession of the chief priest or elder was, "I go;" but, when the truth was proclaimed to them by John, they rejected it (see verse 32).

33. Which planted a vineyard. This parable is built on that of Isalah (chap. 5: 1-7). The vineyard is the Jewish state. The hedge is the separating influences of the ceremonial law, as well as the local isolation of the country where the people dwelt. The wine-press is the means afforded in the divine polity for the development of godly character. The tower is the ceremonial, in which the chosen watchmen of Israel guarded the spiritual interests