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'THE 



FOUR GOSPELS 



WITH A 



COMMENTARY. 



'BY, 



ABIEL ABBOT LIVERMORE. 



VOLUME I. 

MATTHEW, 



NEW EDITION. 



BOSTON: 
JAMES MUNROE AND COMPANY. 

LONDON : 

JOHN CHAPMAN, 142 STRAND. 

* 1854. 




. Ln 
v,\ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1841, by 

ABIEL ABBOT LIVERMORE, 
in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts 





*^J* V." 



PREFACE. 



IN bringing this work before the public, it will be proper to 
say something respecting its origin and object, and the principles 
on which it is based. The expositions and criticisms it contains 
were substantially given, in the first instance, in the lecture- 
room, and in meetings of Sabbath-school teachers ; and only the 
repeated expression, on the part of friends, and by the public 
journals of our faith, of the pressing want of a popular commen- 
tary on the Scriptures, of a different complexion from those 
chiefly in use, has called them forth from the retirement in which 
they germinated. 

If the Author wished to deprecate criticism, it would be suf- 
ficient to say that he has performed his task amidst profession- 
al cares and labors, which, though not altogether unpropitious 
to such an enterprise, in some respects, yet break in upon that 
continuity of interest and of thought, essential to the most suc- 
cessful intellectual or spiritual efforts. He would simply ask 
that the mantle of Christian charity may be thrown over those 
minor errors in fact, style, and opinion, which are incident to 
a divided attention of the mind. Of other and graver ones, 
if such there be, he would bear the responsibility as he best 
can', grounded on the consciousness of upright motives, .and 
appealing to the common Master and final Judge, to whom we 
all stand or fall. 



IV PREFACE. 

It is. not, of course, the design of this work, prepared as it 
has been for general readers, to present the- processes and de- 
tails, so much as the results, of Biblical criticism, in a plain 
and direct manner ; to exhibit, if possible, the kernel of the 
wheat, rather than the stalks and husks in which it grew and 
ripened, though the one may have been often mistaken for the 
other. This method, however, gives an abruptness and bald- 
ness in some instances to the work, which are only excusable 
on account of the restricted limits of a popular exposition. 

The same cause has led to the blending of several distinct 
elements, which in most commentaries have been more or less 
distinguished from each other by difference of location or type, 
but which are here compounded, or, as some may think, con- 
founded together. It may be observed, in passing, that later 
expositors have generally shown an inclination to this mode. 
In accordance with it, a verbal criticism upon the text, arid 
. occasional corrections of the English translation and paraphras- 
es, details of history, biography, manners, and customs, 
accounts of ancient opinions, popular and philosophical, evi- 
dences of the genuineness and veracity of the Gospel records, 
and of the divine authority of Christianity, doctrines and 
duties inferred from the text, poetical illustrations, and 
general remarks of a practical and devotional character, inter- 
spersed as the spirit of composition dictated, are combined 
upon the same page. To have separated these component 
parts, more or less formally, and to have arranged them re- 
spectively under the heads of Paraphrase, Notes, Com- 
ments, Practical Observations, Illustrations, would have 
increased the work to a disproportionate size, and given it a 
stiff and cumbrous character, by no means desirable. The 
living frame is formed by the harmonious union of seemingly^ 
discordant substances, liquid and solid, flowing blood, and 
tremulous nerve, and rock-like bone. So to have mingled the 
needful qualities and materials of a commentary, as to secure 
unity amid variety, and spiritual life and impulse among criti- 
cisms and calculations, dates and facts, will undoubtedly prove 



PREFACE. V 

to have been rather the ideal excellence aimed at, than the 
result actually attained. The general spirit manifested, in any 
work whatever, affects us more deeply than single sentences 
or precepts. Hence practical remarks and inferences are of 
less real effect, probably, when summed up by themselves, than 
when diffused throughout the exposition ; for, coming as a 
moral at the end of a fable, they are likely to be passed over 
either with formality or neglect. We are most profited by them 
when they are 'of a suggestive rather than a preceptive na- 
ture ; when they point the way to a field where we may our- 
selves reap or glean, rather than reap or glean for us. 

The marginal references, commonly embraced in a work of 
this kind, are excluded on the simple ground that they are so 
little consulted as to be nearly useless, and also because they 
are liable, unless most judiciously selected, to foster erroneous 
associations and interpretations, and make analogies and con- 
nexions between portions of Scripture, where none really exist. 
The author has endeavored to shun this evil, but cannot hope 
to have done so entirely, for it is ingrained into a great part 
of the theology of the past. The few references which he has 
made in the body of the Notes he earnestly begs may be al- 
ways consulted without exception, for they are designed to cor- 
roborate his arguments, or illustrate and enforce his conclu- 
sions, and may often shed an unexpected light upon a dark spot. 
If a Bible is constantly at hand, passages maybe referred to 
without delay, and Scripture made to act in some degree as a 
self-interpreter. 

The Introductions, and Calendar of our Lord's Ministry, are 
inserted to aid the general reader in his Scriptural inquiries. 

The invaluable Harmony of the late lamented Dr. Lant Car- 
penter, of Bristol, England, has been mainly followed in this 
'work. According to his theory, which was the earliest one 
received by the Christian church, the period of our Lord's ac- 
tive ministry extended over one year and a few months. Be- 
sides the support of antiquity, he finds reasons for this view- 
in the facts of the case, as detailed by the evangelists, and 



VI PREFACE. 

maintains his opinion in a cogent and well-reasoned disserta- 
tion, contained in the abovementioned work. 

The doctrinal sentiments of the following commentary will 
be identified as Unitarian ; but let it be understood, that no 
church, creed, society, sect, or name, only the writer, is re- 
sponsible for them. They may agree with others or not ; they 
should be adjudged according to their own merits, or demerits, 
at the bar of truth. If erroneous, they will perish, and the 
sooner the better ; but if true, they must eventually prevail, 
however slowly they make headway against the general cur- 
rent. What is asked is, that they may not be condemned with- 
out a hearing, nor examined without candor, nor admitted with- 
out reason and discrimination. 

In the preparation of these Notes, the aid of critics and com- 
mentators has been as extensively sought as circumstances 
would allow. The words of Jesus might be applied : " Other 
men labored, and ye are entered into their labors." Some of 
the authors mentioned in the note* have been consulted, some 
read, some studied, and several quoted ; while others have 
been used incidentally, or at second hand, which are omitted. 

Lord Bacon, in his work on the Advancement of Learning, 
where he speaks of the theology of his day, remarks, "that 
if the choice and best of those observations upon texts of Scrip- 
tures, which have been made dispersedly in sermons, within 

* The Versions and Editions of Luther, Griesbach, Bloomfield, Tyndale by . 
Dabney, Beza, Sacy, Wakefield, Campbell, Thomson, Cappe, Palfrey, Brad- 
ford, and the Improved Version ; the Commentaries of Poole, Fratres Poloni, 
Pearce, Hammond, Le Clerc, Lightfoot, Henry, Whitby, Goadby, Paulus, 
Rosemnaller, Kuinoel, Olshausen. Doddridge, Scott, Priestley, Cappe, Clarke, 
Kenrick, Dabney, Townsend, Trollope, Barnes, and Ripley ; MS. Notes of 
the excellent Lectures of Norton and Palfrey ; Calmet's Dictionary ; the Pic- 
torial Bible; Robinson's Lexicon; the,Sepluagint; Josephus, Eusebius ; the 
Works of Haynes, Gerard, Symonds, Knapp, Winer, Hug, Home, Bishop 
Hall, Watson, West, Newcome, Burder, Hannah Adams, Abbott, Greenwood, 
Ware, Furness, Cellerier, Bulfinch, Allen, W. J. Fox, Schleiermacher, Ballou, 
Farmer, Milman, T. B. Fox, Robinson, Spear; the Trial of Jesus, by Dupin; 
the Scriptural Interpreter, and other, valuable periodicals. 



PREFACE. Vll 

this your Majesty's island of Britain, by the space of these 
forty years and more, leaving out the largeness of exhortations 
and applications thereupon, had been set down in a continu- 
ance, it had been the best book in divinity which had been writ- 
ten since the Apostles' times." Agreeably to this suggestion, 
it has been the object of the following work to draw remarks 
from other sources than set commentators ; to resort for this 
purpose to sermons, essays, poems, and stories. Books not 
specially intended for expositions often contain most valuable 
hints ; in particular, the periodicals of the day embody some 
incomparable dissertations and comments on the sacred writ- 
ings ; in proof of which, among many instances, we need but 
refer to an article in the (English) "Christian Teacher" for 
January, 1841, on Matt, xi., John's message to Jesus ; which 
was copied into the " Christian Register" of February 13, 
1841. The remarks of Dr. Channiug on this point are worthy 
of attention. " Commentators have their use, but not the 
highest use. They explain the letter of Christianity, give the 
meaning of words, remove obscurities from the sense, and so 
far they do great good ; but the life, the power, the spirit of 
Christianity, they do not unfold. They do not lay open to us 
the heart of Christ. I remember that a short time ao-o I was 

O 

reading "a book, not intended to be a religious one, in which 
some remarks were offered on the conduct of Jesus, as, just 
before his death, he descended from the Mount of Olives, and 
amidst a crowd of shouting disciples looked on Jerusalem, the 
city of his murderers, which in a few hours was to be stained 
with his innocent blood. The conscious greatness with which 
he announced the ruin of that proud metropolis and its vene- 
rated temple, and his deep sympathy with its approaching woes, 
bursting forth in tears, and making him forget for a moment 
his own near agonies and .the shouts of the surrounding mul- 
titude, were brought to my mind more distinctly than ever 
before; and I .felt that this more vivid apprehension of Jesus 
was worth more than much of the learning in which commen- 
tators abound,. "~ . 



V1J1 PREFACE. 

The Text used in this work is the Received Text, printed in 
paragraphs, according to the arrangement of Griesbach, and 
chiefly with his punctuation. 

The occasional repetition of the same explanations and re- 
marks is partly attributable to the interrupted method of com- 
position unavoidable in a case where many authorities are con- 
sulted, and partly to the advantage of repeating what has been 
before said, rather than of occupying quite as large a space 
in making a reference to a previous passage. 

Touching the general 'difficulties of forming a true and earn- 
est commentary on the sacred writings, the author has become 
fully apprized in the progress of his labors. If, as some have 
contended, the interpretation of the Bible were a matter to be 
decided simply by the rules of philology, by the grammar and 
lexicon, the liabilities to error would be very much diminished. 
But it is far otherwise. All our philosophical and theological 
views, all our habits, principles, and sentiments, our constitu- 
tional and acquired peculiarities, have a bearing upon our ap- 
prehension and explanation of each sentence. Biblical criti- 
cism puts under levy the whole existing amount of our knowl- 
edge and experience. Our views of the nature of God, his 
Providence, his Son Jesus Christ, of Man, of Life, of Futuri- 
ty, will tinge with their own . hues every verse. Our theories 
and practices sway us hither and thither, like grass in the 
wind, however determined cur resolution to forget ourselves 
and yield with unprejudiced hearts to the pure impressions of 
Truth. Hence it is questionable whether creeds do not often 
exert more influence to dispose men to certain interpretations 
of the Bible, than does the Bible to modify creeds. Petrifac- 
tions are wont to gather around the fount of life, and to shape 
and impede the free jet and course of the waters, and there- 
fore do the storms and overflowings of reformations come to 
break down and wash away these incrustations, that the streams 
run in their native channels, pure, refreshing, and fertil- 



izing. 

The expositor is in constant danger of marring the high and 



PREFACE. IX 

holy beauty of the Ancient Thought by the intrusion of his mod- 
ern factitious associations ; of separating the pure light into the 
more striking but less natural colors of which it is combined ; 
of making the short long, and the long short, on his Procrus- 
tean bed ; of spreading his own parti-colored mosaic over the 
simple corner-stone of Christ, or "daubing it with untempered 
mortar." It seems to be the object of some commentators to 
put as much into a text, or get as much out of it, as they can. 
They infer all the doctrines and duties of Christianity from a 
verse in the Pentateuch, or a parallelism in Proverbs, and jus- 
tify their whole creed, however irrational, by an obscure phrase 
in the book of Revelation. Hence a learned divine of the last 
century, in a Latin epigram, written in a Bible, said, that it 
was a book, " where every one sought his own opinions, and 
where every one found them." The sarcasm is not without 
point. One denomination of Christians has been accused of 
using a Bible of its own, different from that of others. The 
charge was untrue in its common acceptation, and unsupport- 
ed by facts. But in reality, not one, but all sects have Bibles 
of their, own, because all have their own interpretations of the 
volume. In this sense the Baptists have their Scriptures, and 
the Presbyterians theirs, and the Trinitarians, and Unitarians, 
and Swedenborgians, theirs. As Cecil said, "Men labor to 
make the Bible their Bible." And they succeed ; for the Bible 
is to each one the sense, the thoughts, the doctrines, which he 
draws from it, and attaches to it. So that when we enumer- 
ate the varieties of Christian belief, we begin to think that the 
old Talmudists were not so much out of the way, who assigned 
to each text of Holy Writ seventy-two faces. 

The origin of these diversities may be illustrated in the fol- 
lowing way. When we look at the heavenly bodies we look 
through two atmospheres, both of which will affect the vision ; 
first, that of the earth, and secondly, that of the distant sun 
or star. So in studying the word of God, we are obliged to 
view it through our atmosphere, and its atmosphere ; our at- 
mosphere of prejudice, interest, and passion ; and its atmos- 



X PREFACE. 

phere of dead languages, ancient manners and customs, and 
obsolete opinions, which envelopes the great ideas of prophet 
and evangelist. Now the power of the commentator is restrict- 
ed chiefly to clearing away, as far as may be done now after 
the lapse of centuries, the latter haze. He must seek to in- 
terpret his text in the spirit in which it was spoken or written. 
He must see with the eyes, and hear with the ears, and under- 
stand with the hearts of the men of old,- place himself in their 
situation, and live over again their victories and defeats, their 
joys and agonies. He must enter the house of Joseph, and 
see him make himself known to his brethren, and shed tear for 
tear with him. He must mix with the furious multitude that 
rushes forth upon Mount Calvary, and catch a distant glimpse 
of the meek and undaunted Sufferer, and listen to his clear 
and sweet tones of love and pity, which are poured out like oil 
upon the sea of rage and scorn that dashed around him. The 
interpreter must become for the time the actor whose deeds he 
would explain, the speaker whose words he would illustrate 
and enjoin. But to revert to the former comparison, the at- 
mosphere of our own minds cannot be much affected by the 
commentator ; that must be clarified by self-culture, and the 
purifying influence of virtue. If we would find the truth, the 
condition is, to love and seek the truth. 

It is the fashion with some to despise Biblical learning, and 
to assert that the Scriptures shine best in their own light. No 
doubt they do, if we are assured that it is their own light, and 
not some false meteoric ray. No doubt we may put up too 
many critical glasses to our eye, and obscure, rather than 
brighten or magnify into their true and immense size, the eter- 
nal principles of religion. Still, the naked eye is often mate- 
rially aided in bringing them near, in all their sublime magni- 
tude and unearthly glory, by the telescope of sacred criticism ; 
though they may twinkle with sufficient brightness, even to the 
most unassisted .sight, to designate the great moral points of 
compass, and to guide the voyager home over the waters to his 
haven of rest. There are obscure allusions, ancient customs, 



PREFACE. XI 

peculiar idioms, unusual figures, the venerable drapery of 
Truth, which may often be so explained as to increase our 
interest in and our knowledge of the word of God. And sure- 
ly it is not the part of wisdom to reject even those inferior in- 
struments by which the principles of the Gospel are placed in 
their clear, bold relief, and due perspective. 

But, with this difference of estimation attached to scriptural 
learning, there can be no difference of opinion as to the great 
end to which all biblical studies and criticisms should ultimate- 
ly reach, the quickening of man in the spiritual life. His dim 
and broken conceptions of truth are to be brought nearer into 
harmony with the Divine Archetype. His low and weak char- 
acter is to be exalted and invigorated, so that he shall live the 
life of God in his soul, so that Jesus Christ shall be formed 
within him. The same desire for man's salvation, that caused 
the glad tidings of the Gospel to be originally sent abroad over 
the earth, should still inspire the heart of the philologist and 
critic, and sanctify all his labors. May it not be added, with 
all due deference to his most profound attainments in sacred 
learning, that this desire of human good is the most important 
qualification for his office ? It has been thought, with justice, 
that the increased knowledge of ancient languages, arts, man- 
ners, and opinions, enjoyed in our day, has illuminated the sa- 
cred page with a new light. But have not the moral and spirit- 
ual movements of the present age, the great principles of Free- 
dom, Toleration, Peace, Union, Temperance, that begin to 
stir in the hearts of men, and to shake the kingdoms of the 
world, done as much or more ? From the struggle for his 
rights, from the sacrifices of philanthropy, from the efforts of 
reform, has not man gone to the volume of Truth, with a newly 
couched eye, to see the length and breadth and depth of its 
immortal principles ? In other words, can the Scriptures be 
understood or explained truly, except in the same enlarged 
spirit of love to God and man in which they were composed ? 
Then must the interpreter be imbued with the spirit of benevo- 



xii PREFACE. 

lence and piety, as well as conversant with Hebrew and Greek, 
to discharge his office. 

It was the far-reaching observation of Robinson, the Puritan 
Pastor, at that eventful crisis in human affairs, when he dismiss- 
ed, with religious, solemnities, from the shores of the Old World, 
the pioneers of liberty and religion to the New, that "the Lord 
had more truth and light yet to break forth out of his holy 
Word," and he besought them to remember it as an article of 
their church covenant, that they should be ready "to receive 
whatsoever light or truth should be made known to them from 
the written Word of God." Since he bade farewell to that im- 
mortal company, freighted with the seeds of a new empire and 
a new world, and with noble forecast directed them to act worth- 
ily as the founders of a new church, it is believed that more 
light has broken forth from God's word as well as from his 
works. It is believed that the red rays of the morning, the 
early beams, shooting aslant a cloudy horizon, and betokening 
wrath and vengeance, and filling men's hearts with the chills 
of fear more than the fervors of love, have been succeeded by 
the white light of broad day, the warm and cheering radiance 
of an unclouded Gospel. , 

Every religion retains for a time the characteristics, and 
breathes the spirit, of that which preceded it. Thus Judaism 
slowly emerged from idolatry, until the One God was at last 
worshipped without rival. Thus has Christianity risen out of 
the bosom of Judaism, and has long retained the family like- 
ness. 

Even now, notions, essentially Jewish, or Heathen, predom- 
inate in the Christian body. To what source, but to Jerusa- 
lem or to Rome, shall we assign the doctrine of Sacrifice, as 
spiritually atoning for human sins ; the overweening importance 
attached to forms, and meetings ; the belief that men could sin 
before they were born (John ix. 2) ; the greater estimation 
given to inferred, than to declared doctrines ; and the exclusive 
spirit which says, " Stand by thyself, come not near to me ; for 
I am holier than thou " ? 



PREFACE. X ii 

But the gilded pomp of Pagan and of Papal worship, the su- 
perstitions and fears of brahmin and monk, are slowly vanishing 

" One spell upon the minds of men 
Breaks, never to unite again." 

The contracted Hebrew age of Christianity is also passing away. 
The sceptre is departing from Judah. But let the sheet-anchor 
of that elder dispensation, the inviolable Unity of God, in which 
the Jews were disciplined for fifteen hundred years to trust, still 
hold us from drifting away into mists and mysticism. With 
.that central principle, the additional disclosures of the Gospel, 
the fatherly character of the Almighty, mildly reflected in his 
Son, beaming with mercy towards the penitent sinner, invit- 
ing his children to glory and immortality, and the brotherhood 
of man with man everywhere, beautifully harmonize. These 
truths are great, and they will prevail. Not more surely does 
the mighty sun mount the steep of heaven in his strength, burn- 
ing up the vapors of night, blazing with his awful glories, and 
quickening all things, into life, than will these everlasting prin- 
ciples rise above all sectarian enclosures, enlighten in due time 
the whole moral world, and vivify all souls with the spirit of the 
living God. 

If the following pages should become instrumental, in the 
remotest degree, in hastening this consummation, the labor be- 
stowed upon them will not have been in vain. If they should, 
by the favor of. God, pi-ove useful to the Sabbath-school teacher 
in his disinterested efforts ; to his pupils in their faithful studies ; 
to the parent in the religious education of his family ; and to 
the inquirer after truth and duty, of whatever age or office ; if, 
in the quaint, but expressive language of an old writer, they 
should be found to contain " the slip for use, and part of the 
root for growth," the most fervent desire of the author will be 
satisfied ; but if it should be otherwise, none will greet more 
cordially than he a better work to supersede his own. 

To those friends who have cheered and aided him in his task, 
and favored him with the loan of necessary books, he would 

VOL. i. 2 



XIV PREFACE. 

take this opportunity of rendering his most grateful acknowl- 
edgments. 

If life and health are spared, a second volume, containing an 
exposition of Mark, Luke, and John, will be published early in 
the next spring. 

KEENE, N. H., May, 1841. 



GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 



THE New Testament is the received collection of books written by the 
Apostles and Evangelists of Jesus Christ. The more appropriate title 
would be, the Neio Covenant, as it contains the covenant or compact made 
with mankind by God through his Son, and designed to supersede the 
preliminary and partial covenant with the Jews. These books are also 
called canonical, from canon, a rule, because they are believed to contain 
the authoritative rule of faith and practice. At what time, or by whose 
authority, they were first collected together, cannot now be determined. 
Probably no formal step was taken to effect it ; but gradually those works 
that found, most favor among the early Christians, because they were 
known to have been written by inspired apostles and disciples of Christ, 
were admitted into the Canon by common consent. Those that were 
rejected fell into a class called Apocryphal, which bears the same relation 
to the New Testament that the books of Esdras, Maccabees, and others, 
do to the Old. 

The writings of the New Testament all date back to the first century, 
between A. D. 40 and 98, or even narrower limits. They were composed 
in the Greek language, which was then generally spoken in the East. 
One or two books, however, have been conjectured by many critics to 
have been written in a dialect of the Hebrew tongue ; but if so, they 
were very early translated, and no copies in the original now remain. 
Catalogues of the Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Revelation, with their 
present titles and authors mainly, are given by. the Christian Fathers of 
the second and third centuries. Numerous quotations are also found in 
their writings, by which the text may often be corrected or verified. 
The Scriptures were generally read in the churches, diffused through 
different countries, and translated into foreign languages ; by which 
means their authority was more fully substantiated, and their tmcorrupted 
preservation insured. 



XVI GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 

But for fifteen centuries, copies were only multiplied by the long and 
laborious process of writing. A very high degree of accuracy, however 
as well as elegance, was in general attained by the ancient copyists, as is 
evinced by the manuscripts extant in our day. The monks of the first 
and middle ages were not without their use in preserving and extending 
amid violence and darkness, the lights of classic antiquity, and the im- 
mortal records of the Gospel. But the people were so sunk in ignorance, 
and the price of manuscripts was so high, that comparatively few owned 
the Scriptures. In the fourteenth century, a copy of Wickliffe's New 
Testament cost about eighty dollars. 

When the art of printing was invented in the fifteenth century, one 
of the first publications was the Bible. Its extensive diffusion by this 
means powerfully accelerated the Reformation of Luther, and placed in 
his hands an engine by which he was more than a match for all the 
wealth and terrors of Home. The ignorance of the times was so gross, 
however, that he was accused, in his active exertions with his fellow- 
reformers to circulate the Scriptures, of being the author of a pernicious 
work, entitled the New Testament. 

The Sacred Books were not originally divided into chapters and verses, 
and agreeably to the ancient mode of writing, were destitute of any marks 
of punctuation. Cardinal Hugo, in the thirteenth century, arranged the 
Latin Vulgate in chapters, which have been essentially retained in our 
English Bibles. The division into verses was made by Robert Stephens 
of France, in an edition of the New Testament issued in 1551. He 
performed the operation at leisure moments, . while on a journey from 
Lyons to Paris, and therefore under circumstances precluding much 
reflection or accuracy. Yet his arrangement has been always adhered 
to, and the sense of Scripture has been not a little marred by its being 
printed, as if crumbled up into independent fragments, or consisting of 
unconnected propositions and maxims, instead of a continuous composi- 
tion. In the present work, as in -the Common Version conformed to the 
Standard Text of Griesbach by Dr. Palfrey, and as in the Bibles of 
Nourse and Coit, this evil has-been shunned by throwing the verses into 
the side margin, and printing the page in a solid column, with paragraphs, 
divided according to the sense. 

Early translations were made into the Saxon and English, as well as 
other languages. About A. D. 706, the Psalms were translated into Saxon 
by a bishop called Adelm. Bede, " the venerable," who flourished in the 
beginning of the eighth century, made a Saxon version of the whole 
Bible. One of the earliest efforts at an English translation was commen- 
ced in the latter part of the ninth century, by King Alfred the Great, the 
patron of learning and religion among his rude people, but he died in the 



GENERAL INTRODUCTION. XV11 

midst of the work. Others entered the same field ; but the most success- 
ful step was taken by Wickliffe, who rendered the whole Bible into 
English, about 1380.* He was called, on account of his commanding 
influence at that benighted period, the Apostle of England, and the 
Morning Star of the Reformation. The opposition against him rose, how- 
ever, to such a pitch, because he labored to enlighten the great mass of 
the people, that he was obliged to flee into foreign parts. But he finally 
returned and died in peace. Forty years after, the old papal hatred broke 
out afresh ; his bones were dug up and burnt, and the ashes thrown into 
the nearest brook. The people were forbidden to read the Bible in Eng- 
lish, and many were persecuted, and some were put to death, because they 
were guilty of doing it. 

The translation of William Tyndale, the first New Testament in 
English ever printed, came out in 1525.f This possesses great merits. 
The author was martyred by the Romish power, near Brussels, in Sep- 
tember, 1536. A fine, accurate edition of this work, enriched with 
" the essential variations of Coverdale's, Thomas Matthews' (supposed to 
be a fictitious name for John Rogers, the Smithfield Martyr), Cranmer's, 
the Genevan, and the Bishops' Bibles, as marginal readings," has been 
issued in this country, by Mr. Dabney. In general, the versions just 
mentioned, which came out after Tyndale's, were of a high order, and 
contained some of the fruits of the best learning of their day. 

In the commencement of the seventeenth century, James the First, 
king of England, committed the work of a new translation to fifty-four 
learned men of his kingdom, seven of whom died, or declined the labor. 
The result of their studies was published in London, in 1611, and consti- 
tutes our present received version of the Holy Scriptures. They fol- 
lowed, in many cases, their predecessors, above mentioned, and where 
they varied from them, they did not always vary for the better. Criticisms 
upon, and amendments of, their renderings have been made not unfre- 
quently in the subsequent Notes. For, since the work was executed, the 

*A specimen of Wickliffe's Version. Matt. v. 1-5. " And Jhesus seynge the 
people, went up into an hil ; and whanne he was sett, his disciplis camen to him. 
And he openyde his mouthe, and taughte hem j and seide, Blessid be pore men in 
spirit ; for the kyngdom of hevenes is hereun. Blessid ben mylde men ; for thei 
schulenweelde the erthe. Blessid ben thei that mournen j for thei schal be com- 
fortid." 

t A specimen of Tyndale's Version. Matt. v. 1-5. " When he sawe the people, 
he went vp into a mountayne, and when he was set, his disciples cam vnto hym, and 
he openned his mought, and taught them saynge : Blessed are the povre in sprete ; 
for theirs is the kyngdome off heven. Blessed are they that morne : for they shalbe 
comforted. Blessed are the meke ; for they shall inhere t the erth." 

2* 



GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 

English tongue has undergone some changes, and words then current are 
now obsolete. The ancient languages and sacred antiquities have been 
more profoundly investigated, and the light of new researches and discov- 
eries has since their day heen shed upon the pages of inspiration. Strong- 
ly bound as they were to a peculiar, and, as is believed, now waning 
system of theology, they occasionally let their doctrinal biases appear in 
the work. There is also a want of uniformity in the phraseology of 
different portions, attributable to the employment of many translators. 
But, consecrated as this version has been by the antiquity of its use, its 
acknowledged excellence on the whole, and the unanimity of its adoption 
by all sects of Christians, it has commanded a respect but little short of 
that paid to infallibility and inspiration. Its rhetorical merits are undoubt- 
edly great, and no book has been a richer or purer repository of the 
sound old Saxon virtues of our tongue. But the imperfect Greek text on 
which it was grounded, together with the reasons above stated, obviously 
suggests the need of its revision, or of a totally new translation in its 
stead, if we would possess the Word of God in its greatest uncorruptness 
and simplicity. 

For, since King James' day, besides the invaluable results of philology, 
sacred antiquities, and history, as explanatory of the Scriptures, the 
most fruitful and important critical researches, have been carried on by 
Mill, Bengel, "Wetstein, Matthai, Alter, Birch, and especially by the 
celebrated Griesbach. But while their patient collation of manuscripts, 
versions, and fathers, has yielded many thousands of various readings of 
the Greek original, yet, as almost all of them are of minor consequence, 
they have materially strengthened the pillars of our faith in the Christian 
Scriptures. They have demonstrated that the sacred records have been 
preserved with an uncommon freedom from gross corruptions, more so 
than the classic works of antiquity, and in a purity, indicating that the 
providence of God, through the instrumentality of man, has watched over 
their preservation under the most disastrous circumstances, and brought 
out of dark and distant ages this great light of truth, to shine with 
undimmed splendor, and to spread over all coming generations. 



CALENDAR OF OUR LORD'S MINISTRY. 

BY LANT CARPENTER, LL. D. 



[The precise dates are of course conjectural, but the general outlines 
of the table are based upon historical facts. N. B. The Jewish Sabbaths 
are marked .] 

A. D. 29. 

Jan. 20. BAPTISM OF JESUS : after this, he retires to the Desert, for forty 

days. 

Feb. 28. The Priests and Levites come to John from the Sanhedrim. 
Mar. 1. Christ returns to the Baptist, and receives his testimony. 
2. John, Andrew, and Peter follow Jesus. 

3. Philip and Nathanael become disciples of Jesus. 

7. FIRST MIRACLE, at Cana. 

8. Our Lord goes to Capernaum, which was thenceforward his 

r ordinary residence. 

'-2 19. The FIRST PASSOVER begins : during the festival, our Lord 
drives the traders from the Temple, and converses with Nico- 
demus. 

27. Christ exercises Ms ministry in the country of Judea. 

Apr. 22. Conference with the Samaritan woman at Sychar. 

27. Jesus, while at Cana, heals the youth lying ill at Capernaum. 

May 8. The PENTECOST begins. 

14. The cure of the infirm man at Bethesda. 

15. Christ departs for Galilee, where he remains till the FEAST OF 

TABERNACLES. 

21. The walk through the cornfields. 

28. Christ rejected at Nazareth. 

June. During these months, our Lord appears to have been occu- 

pied in preparatory instruction hi the synagogues of Galilee ; 

July. occasionally employing his miraculous powers ; but awaiting 

the fit season, and the signal given by the imprisonment of 

August. John, to commence the public announcement, and the series 
of wonderful works, which immediately afterwards ensued. 



XX CALENDAR OF OUR LORD'S MINISTRY. 

Sep. 13. The FEAST OF TABERNACLES begins. A little before this, prob- 
ably, the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod Antipas. 

16. Our Lord reaches Jerusalem. 

19. " The last day, the great day of the feast." 

20. Our Lord gives sight to the blind man. He then g-oes to Galilee 

23. CHRIST BEGINS HIS PUBLIC PREACHING. Call of Peter, &c. 

24. Cure of the demoniac in the synagogue at Capernaum. 

25. FIRST PROGRESS through Galilee. 

Oct. 16. Our Lord delivers the Sermon on the Mount, heals the leaper , 
&c. 

17. The widow's son at Nain raised from the dead. 

20. The tempest stilled, in crossing the Lake, and the demoniacs 

restored to sanity, on the eastern shore, in the district of 
Gadara. 

21. Cure of the paralytic at Capernaum, and call of Matthew. 

23. The day of Matthew's feast. (The 22d was a Sabbath.) 

24. Christ selects the Twelve, and begins his SECOND PROGRESS 
through Galilee. 

Nov. 20. MISSION OF THE TWELVE into Galilee. 

21. The disciples of John come to Jesus. The visit to Simon the 

Pharisee. 

22. MISSION OF THE SEVENTY into the Peraea. 

25. The visit to Martha and Mary at Bethany. 

26. Conference with the Jews near the close of the FEAST OF 

DEDICATION, 

27. Jesus withdraws to Bethabara, east of the Jordan. 

Dec. Jesus exercises his ministry in the Peraea ; and there prob- 

ably many of the Seventy rejoin him, as also some of the 

Jan. Twelve. 

A. D. 30. 

Jan. 20. The RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS, at Bethany. 

22. The Sanhedrim resolve to kill Jesus, and he withdraws, to 

Ephraim, in Samaria, till the death of the Baptist. 

Feb. 15. Jesus leaves Ephraim, to return to Galilee, on the death of John 

18. Cure of the man with the withered hand. 

19. Cure of the dumb demoniac. The Day of Parables. 

Feb. 25. Last visit at Nazareth, after which our Lord teaches in the. 
neighboring villages, and the rest of the apostles collect to- 
gether to him. 

Mar. 4. The infirm woman healed in the synagogue, on the Sabbath, 

5. MIRACLE OF THE FIVE THOUSAND, near Bethsaida Philippi. 

6. Discourse, the day following, in the synagogue at Capernaum. 



CALENDAR OF ObR LORD'S MINISTRY 

Mar. 7. Departure for the region of Tyre and Sidon. 

9. Cure of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter. 

11. Our Lord again near Bethsaida in Philip's dominions. 

-14. Miracle of the Four Thousand. 

15. Cure of the blind man at Bethsaida of Galilee. 

17. Avowal of Peter near Caesarea Philippi. 

25. The TRANSFIGURATION, in the northern part of Galilee. 

37. The Temple tribute paid at Capernaum. 

29. Having been refused reception by the Samaritans, Christ enters 

the Peraea. 
31. Crosses the Jordan in the afternoon, and passes the Sabbath 

near Jericho. 
Apr. 1 . Jesus visits Zaccheus at Jericho. 

2. Sunday. Our Lord arrives at Bethany : the supper at the house 

of Simon. 

3. Monday. Public entry into Jertitalem : Voice in the Temple. 

4. Tuesday.. Miracle on the barren fig-tree : the Temple cleared. 

5. Wednesday. The last day in the Temple : prophecy on the 

Mount of Olives. 

6. Thursday. Christ at Bethany : in the evening he goes to Jeru- 

salem. (The Paschal Supper.) 

r 7. Friday. The CRUCIFIXION. 

, 8. Saturday. The (Jewish) Sabbath. The sepulchre sealed, and 

a guard set. 

9. Sunday. Before sunrise our Saviour left the tomb ; and, not 

long after, was seen by Mary Magdalene. 

18. Second visit to the apostles, Thomas being present. 

May. Christ appears to the apostles, and perhaps at the same time to 

the Five Hundred Brethren, on a mountain in Galilee. 

18. The ASCENSION OP CHRIST, near Bethany. 

27. The PENTECOST. The communication of the Holy Spirit to 

the apostles. 



TABLES. 

[CHIEFLY TAKEN FROM ALLEN'S QUESTIONS, PART I] 



Money mentioned in the New Testament reduced to Federal Currency. 



A Mite, (Leptum, Mark xii. 42, Luke xii. 59) . . . . 

A Farthing-, (.Quadrans, Matt. v. 26, Mark xii. 42) . . 
A Farthing, (Assarium, Matt. x. 29, Luke xii. 6) . . . 
A Penny, (Denarius, Matt. xx. 2, Mark xiv. 5) ... 
A Piece of Silver, (Drachm, Luke xv. 8) ...... 

Tribute Money, (I)idrachm, or half-shekel, Matt. xvii. 24) 
A Piece of Silver, (Stater, or shekel, Matt. xxvi. 15) . , 

A Pound, (Roman Mina, Luke xix. 13) 

A Talent of Silver, (Matt. xxv. 15) about . . . . , 
A Talent of Gold, about 



dolls, c. m 
2 
4 
5 

140 
140 



1,500 
24,000 



28 
56 



13888 



000 

oo'o 



Measures of Length mentioned in the New Testament. 



miles, rds. ft. i. 



A Cubit, (John xxi. 8) about 

A Fathom, (Acts xxvii. 28) about . . . . 
A Furlong, (Luke xxiv. 13, John xi. 18) about 
A Jewish Mile, (Matt. v. 41) about . . . , 
A Sabbath Day's Journey, (Acts i. 12) about 
A Day's Journey, (Luke ii. 44) . . . . , 



44 
392 
000 
20 to 30 000 



74 



15 







000 

oo!o 



Measures of Capacity mentioned in the New Testament. 

A Firldn, (Metretes, John ii. 6) probably about 7 gallons, though some 

say 9 gallons. . 

A Measure, (Saturn, Matt. xiii. 33) 1 peck, 4 quarts. 
A Roman Bushel, (Modius, Matt. v. 15) 1 peck. 
A Cor, ( Corns, or homer, Luke xvi. 7) about 14 bushels. 
A Pot, (Sextarius, Mark vii. 4) about 1 pint. 
A Bath, (Batus, Luke xvi. 6) 7 gallons. 
A Measure, ( Chcenix, Rev, vi. 6) about one quart. 



Seasons of the Year in Palestine. 

1. Seed Time, corresponding to our October and November. 

2. Winter, " " " December and January. 
~ " February and March. 

" April and May. 
" June and July. 

August and September. 



3. Cold Season, 

4. Harvest, 

5. Summer, 

6. Hot Season, 



cc c 



INTRODUCTION 

TO THE 

GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW- 



MATTHEW, or Levi, the son of Alpheus, was probably a native of Gal- 
ilee. Little is recorded of him in the New Testament. He was called 
by our Lord to be one of his twelve apostles, as he sat at the receipt of 
custom in Capernaum, in the discharge of his duties as a publican, or tax- 
gatherer. He immediately left all, and followed the Messiah. Those 
who collected the Roman revenues in Palestine were held in great odium 
and ignominy by the Jews, and loaded with every opprobrious name. But 

Jesus hesitated not to mingle with this ahhoired class, and even to choose 
one as his apostle, as if the better to demonstrate his reliance upon a power 
more than human, which could employ the foolish things of the world to 
confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the 

things which are mighty. 

The period of Matthew's discipleship and remaining life appears to 
have passed without note. Uncertain traditions existed in early limes 
that he preached the Gospel in Parthia and Ethiopia, and fell as a martyr 
at. Naddaber, in the latter country. But the single illustrious monument 
that remains of him is the following work. This towers simple and ma- 
jestic over the .ruins of tune, and bears the name of the once despised 
publican down to the latest posterity. 

His character, as we gather it from the brief data of history, and the 
style, structure, and spirit of his Gospel, was marked by decision, sterling 
honesty, and straight-forwardness. He showed his meekness in recording 
himself as one of a hated and ignominious calling ; and his modesty in 
forbearing to state that the feast, which took place after he was called by 
Jesus, was due to his hospitality. The marks of his unswerving truth 
and honest independence are traceable throughout his work. 

He is generally supposed to have written his Gospel before the others, 
and hence it has always been placed first. At what exact period it was 
composed is unknown. Some critics assign it to A. D. 38 or 41, while 
others, with more probability, conjecture it to have been written as late as 
A. D. 61 or 64. The great authority of Lardner is in favor of the last date. 
.. Matthew is believed to have used the Hebrew language in the original 
composition of his Gospel ; or rather a mixed dialect termed Aramean, or 
Syro-Chaldaic, made up of Hebrew, Chaldaie, and Syriac, our Saviour's 
vernacular tongue. According to Eusebius, it is stated by Papias, who 
lived about A. D. 100, that " Matthew composed his history in the He- 
brew dialect, and every one translated it as he could ; " and by Irenaeus, 
A. D. 190, that "Matthew, then among the Hebrews, published a Gospel 
in their own language ; whilst Peter and Paul were preaching the Gospel, 



xxiv INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW. 

and founding- a church at Rome." Eusebius himself says, that " Matthew 
having first proclaimed the Gospel in Hebrew, when on the point of going 
to other nations, committed it to writing in his native tongue, and thus 
supplied the want of his presence to them by his writings." No copy of 
this Gospel, however, is now extant in the Aramean, or Syro-Chaldaic 
language. All existing manuscripts are in Greek. The translator of the 
work from the original into Greek is unknown. 

The Gospel of Matthew was written and circulated particularly in' 
Palestine, and was designed by its author to exhibit Jesus to the Jews as 
their Messiah, who had been so long predicted, and so eagerly expected. 
Hence he often quotes from their sacred books in the way of illustration, 
and to show the fulfilment of ancient prophecies, thus enlisting in the 
cause of the Gospel their national feelings and religious associations. As 
he wrote for the Jews, he takes less pains than Mark, who wrote for the 
Latin Christians, to explain the manners, customs, opinions, ceremonies, 
and geography of the country. 

" The Gospel of Matthew," says Dr. Carpenter, " from, the Temptation 
to the Last Journey to Jerusalem, is essentially Galilean. During that 
interval, he gives no intimation of occurrences in any part of. Palestine, 
but Galilee and its borders." 

" Great brevity in the relation of facts, and detail in the record of dis- 
courses, are two of the characteristics of St. Matthew's Gospel. His 
manner is calmly earnest throughout; and it lias the impress of deep 
conviction and certain knowledge. He gives a clear, but compressed 
summary of the transactions which he relates ; entering but little into the 
circumstances of each ; yet tracing the main fact distinctly and forcibly. 
For this style of composition, his official duties had, it is probable, pecu- 
liarly qualified him ; that it is his style is not to be disputed." 

The writer above quoted considers Matthew's order of events, in respect 
to chronological arrangement, as preferable to that of the other evange 
lists, though there are exceptions in some places. The devotion of thirty 
years, with more or less application, to the study of the Four Gospels, 
entitles his opinions to a candid attention. s 

The first two chapters of Matthew, the passage contained in chap 
xxvii. verses 3 10 inclusive, and the latter clause of verse 52 and the 
whole of verse 53, in the same chapter, are deemed by some critics, 
chiefly out of respect to the internal evidence as weighed in their judg- 
ments, to be interpolations. But the external evidence from manuscripts, 
versions, and the early fathers, was not of such a nature as to lead Gries- 
bach to reject either of the passages from the text, or to place- it under a 
mark of inferior authority. And his decisions, so far as that kind of 
testimony is concerned, have been admitted with grat unanimity by 
almost all critics of every denomination. 



THE 



GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



CHAPTER I. 

The Genealogy and Birth of Jesus Christ. 

THE book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of 
2 David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac ; and 



1. The look of the generation. 
The table of the genealogy, or the 
catalogue of the ancestors. This is 
probably not the title of the whole 
Gospel, but the heading of the first 
chapter, or, more likely, of the first 
seventeen verses. See Gen. v. 1, 
xi. 10; Ruth iv. 18. The Jews 
were very careful to preserve their 
genealogies. Copies of them were 
kept at Jerusalem, and handed down 
hundreds of years. This was done, 
in addition to the desire common to 
all men of knowing their ancestry, 
hi order to distinguish the tribes 
and families from each other, to 
secure the fulfilment of the laws 
respecting marriage, and the rights 
of succession to offices and estates, 
and to afford the means of ascer- 
taining in what tribe the Messiah 
was born. Priests who had not 
kept their lineage accurately were 
degraded from their office. Ezra 
ii. 62 ; Neh. vii. 64. Eusebius, 
the earliest ecclesiastical historian, 
mentions, on the authority of Afri- 
canus, a tradition that Herod the 
Great committed the Hebrew gene- 
alogies kept in the public archives 
to the flames, that he might con- 
ceal his ignoble extraction, but that 
they were restored either by recol- 
lection, or by private copies. The 
public documents were utterly de- 
stroyed in the sack of Jerusalem 
and the dispersion of the nation by 
the Romans, A. D. 70. Other na- 
tions have prided themselves upon 
their genealogies. The Welsh pre- 
tend to carry theirs back to Adam. 
Jesus. Saviour ; the same as 

VOL. j. 3 



Joshua. Jesus is the Greek, and 
Joshua is the Hebrew form of the 
word. Joshua is called Jesus in 
Acts vii. 45; Heb. iv. 8. Christ. 
Anointed. The same in Greek as 
Messiah in Hebrew. Dan. is. 25. 
Priests, Prophets, and Kings were 
anointed as a sign of induction into 
their respective offices. Exodus xi. 
15 ; 1 Kings xix. 16. It was usu- 
al among the Orientals to give sig- 
nificant names to their children. Our 
Lord was a Saviour to the world, 
as he came to rescue and preserve 
men from sin, and a Messiah, or 
Christ, an Anointed one, to the 
Jews, as succeeding in some sense 
to their Kings, Priests, and Proph- 
ets, combining their offices hi his 
commission, and fulfilling the old 
prophecies. Son of David, 6fc. 
Descendant of David and Abraham. 
It was essential that the Messiah 
should be able to trace his ancestry 
to' these distinguished persons, so 
venerable to the Jewish mind. Mat- 
thew was writing to Jewish co*i- 
verts, and he writes in accordance 
with their feelings. It is generally 
supposed that he gives the descent 
of Joseph, the reputed father of 
Jesus. Whilst Luke, writing for 
Gentiles, traces the pedigree of Je- 
sus from Mary through her father 
Heli, through Nathan, David, and 
Abraham, back to Adam, the an- 
cestor of both Jews and Gentiles 
Luke iii. 23-38. Their lists are 
different, but not contradictory. 
They drew them no doubt from the 
same archives at Jerusalem. If 
then ths genealogies are inaccurate. 



26 THE GOSPEL ' [CHAP. 

Isaac begat Jacob ; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren. 
And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar. And Phares 3 
begat Esrora ; and Esrom begat Aram ; and Aram begat 4 
Aminadab ; and Aminadab begat Naasson ; and Naasson begat 
Salmon ; and Salmon begat Booz of Rachab. And Booz be- 5 
gat Obed of Ruth. And Obed begat Jesse ; and Jesse begat 6 
David the king. And David the king begat Solomon of her 
that had been the wife of Urias. And Solomon begat Roboam ; 7 
and Roboam begat Abia ^ and Abia begat Asa ; and Asa be- 8 
gat Josaphat ; and Josaphat begat Joram ; and Joram begat 
Ozias ; and Ozias begat Joatham ; and Joath^im begat Achaz ; 9 
and Achaz begat Ezekias ; and Ezekias begat Manasses ; and 10 
Manasses begat Amon ; and Amon begat Josias ; and Josias 11 
begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were 
carried away to Babylon. And after they were brought to 12 
Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel ; and Salathiel begat Zoro- 
babel ; and Zorobabel begat Abiud ; and Abiud begat Elia- ]3 
kim ; and Eliakim begat Azor ; and Azor begat Sadoc ; and 14 
Sadoc begat Achim ; and Achim begat Eliud ; and Eliud be- 15 
gat Eleazar ; and Eleazar begat Matthan ; and Matthan begat 
Jacob ; and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of 16 

which is improbable, for they were omitted, perhaps to make the num- 
never impugned in early times, the ber between David and the Baby- 
error is chargeable upon the origi- lonish captivity just fourteen, and 
nal records, not upon the Evange- thus render the list more convenient 
lists who copied them. to remember, or because there was 

2. Judas and his brethren. His a curse denounced against the house 
brethren are mentioned because of Ahab, to which these princes 
they with Judah were the heads' of belonged ; Ozias, therefore, was the 
the twelve tribes. In this genealo- great-grandson of Joram. 

gy some names are altered from the 11. Between Josias and Jeehg- 

Hebrew to the Greek orthography, nias came Jehoiakim. 1 Chron. iii. 

as Judah to Judas, Hesron to Es- 15. 

rom, Azariah to Ozias. 13. Zorobabel. Here terminates 

3. Phares and Zara. The latter the line as recorded in the Old Tes- 
introduced because he was a twin, tament. The rest was drawn fro;n 
Genesis xxxviii. 27. The names later tables, or tradition. 

of several women are mentioned on 16. Of whom. This pronoun is 

account of remarkable events in in the feminine gender in Greek, re- 

their lives, by which their posterity ferring then not to Joseph, but to 

are identified. Mary. Jesus was the actual son of 

8. Joram begat Ozias. Three Mary, but only the reputed, or legal 

names, Ahaziah, Joash, and Ama- son of Joseph, and in that way the 

ziah, 1 Chron. iii. 11, 12, are here descendant of Joseph's ancestry. 



I.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 27 

17 whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.- So all the 

generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations ; 
and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are four- 
teen generations ; and from the carrying away into Babylon 
unto Christ are fourteen generations. 

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise : when as his 
mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came to- 

19 gether, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then 
Joseph her'husband, being a just man, and not willing to make 



Called Christ. This was added in 
the public record to distinguish him 
from others of the same name. 
Col. iv. 11. 

. 17. Abraham, David, Car- 
rying away into Babylon. These 
were three prominent points in the 
Jewish history, and by attaching 
just fourteen names to each division, 
the memory was aided in retaining 
the genealogies. To make this 
number good, David and Josias have 
to be counted twice, once at the be- 
ginning, and once at the end of the 
periods in which they are respec- 
tively mentioned. These genera- 
tions were on an average a little 
more than forty years in length. 
The usual period assigned now is 
thirty years. A generation is lon- 
ger as we go back farther into an- 
tiquity. Carrying away into Baby- 
lon. The original signifies migra- 
tion, change of abode ; a milder 
word, used in accommodation to 
Jewish feelings, instead of transpor- 
tation, exjle. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 
This took place in the reign of 
ZedeWah, B. C. 605. Babylon, 
the splendid seat of the Assyrian 
and Chaldean empires, was situated 
in a large fertile plain on both sides 
of the river Euphrates, somewhat 
more than 600 miles, nearly east, 
from Jerusalem. Its stupendous 
walls, 87 feet thick and 350 feet 
high, were 60 miles in circumfer- 
ence, and entered by 100 gates of 
solid brass. Its temples, -palaces, 



bridges, and hanging gardens, were 
the wonder of the world. But 
hardly a vestige of it now remains. 
Nebuchadnezzar then sat upon the 
throne. The children of Israel 
were held captive seventy years; 
but returned to Judea in the reign 
of Cyrus, Ezra i. 1,2; and rebuilt 
their temple in the reign of Darius 
Hystaspes. Ezra vi. 15. 

18. Birth. Nativity. Having 
traced his descent, the Evangelist 
goes on to relate the circumstances 
of his birth. Luke i. ii. On this 
wise. Old English for in the follow- 
ing way. When as. Whenas, at 
the time when ; now obsolete. 
Espoused. Betrothed, engaged. 
Even young children were some- 
tunes espoused to each, other by 
their parents. Among the Jews, 
unfaitliftdness during an engage- 
ment was deemed as heinous as af- 
ter marriage. Deut. xxii. 23, 24. 
Of the Holy Ghost. Of is fre- 
quently used for by in our version 
of the Scriptures, and in old Eng- 
lish writers. The Holy Ghost is 
not a distinct person, as is implied 
by printing it in" capitals, but the 
holy breath, spirit, influence of God. 
The simple idea is that it took place 
by divine power, according to the 
divine counsel. For other instances 
of miraculous creation, or concep- 
tion, see Genesis ii. 7, 22, xxi. 2 ; 
Luke i. 57. 

19. A just man. Conscientious. 
Thew^ord just implies rectitude of 



28 



THE GOSPEL 



[ClIAP. 



her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. 
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the 20 
Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying : Joseph, thou son 
of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife ; for that 
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall 21 
bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS ; for he 
shall save his people from their sins. (Now all this was done, 22 

feeling in this place, rather than 
rectitude of principle. Not wil- 
Zing, <5fc. Such was his rectitude, 
or propriety of feeling, upon this 
trying occasion, that he was. not 
only unwilling to cause her to be 
punished hy the rigor of the law, 
hut even to subject her to public ig- 
nominy. He was reluctant to ex- 
pose one whom he loved, even in 
her supposed guilt, and injury to 
himself, to death, or to shame. 
Was minded. A private divorce, 
according to the laws of the Jews, 
could be made in the presence of 
two witnesses, without reasons be- 
ing assigned for it, or disgrace being 
incurred. A divorce was as neces- 
sary in a case where the parties 
were only espoused, as where they 
were actually married ; and they 
were as much called husband and 
wife before marriage as after. See 
verses 16, 20. Joseph's affection 
prompted him to put her away with- 
out publicly stating the cause, or 
exposing- her to the severity of the 
law. Deut. xxiv. 1. Cases occur 
where it is the part of justice not 
to push the laws of justice to ex- 
tremity. 



20. While he thought on these 
things. This argued a commend- 
able deliberation. Supposing him- 
self to be grievously wronged, yet 
he did not act rashly, but exercising 
the beautiful wisdom of patience, 
he met with its rich reward. Time 
and docility will clear up the dark- 
est perplexities. Behold. Lo. A 
word used in the Classics and the 
Scriptures to denote the approach 



of something extraordinary, and to 
awaken attention. Angel. A mes- 
senger. An angel is any instru- 
ment or form of the divine commu- 
nication. This title is given to men, 
to beings of other spheres, to fire, 
storms, winds, plagues, and other 
modes by which God either pub- 
lishes or executes his will. Gen. 
xxviii. 12 ; Exod. iii. 2, with Acts 
vii. 30 ; Psalms Ixxviii. 49 ; Acts 
xii. 23 ; Psalms civ. 4 ; Rev. i. 20. 
Angel is often the name of an of- 
fice, not of a distinct person, or 
conscious intelligence. A dream. 
A frequent mode of 'divine com- 
munication in the elder ages, but it 
can be called little short of super- 
stition to suppose that this sort of 
miracles is continued to the present 
day, and to. put reliance upon the 
unchecked and grotesque wander- 
ings of the imagination in sleep, as 
necessarily descriptive either of our 
duty or fortunes. For that which 
is conceived. This was the reason 
why he should not hesitate to marry 
her. She had committed no crime, 
the conception was miraculous. . 

21. For he shall save^tyc. ' That 
entitles him -to be called Saviour. 
He saves men in a twofold man- 
ner, as affording a preventive and 
a remedy ; as rescuing them from 
sins already committed, and re- 
straining them from committing 
more. But he saves none against 
their will, none without their ef- 
forts ; saves none in their sins, but 
only from their sins. His people.- 
All men who believe in him and be- 
come his disciples. He came to 



I.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the 

23 prophet, saying : "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and 
shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanu- 

24 el ;" which, being interpreted, is, God with us.) Then Joseph, 
being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bid- 

23 den him ; and took unto him his wife, and knew her not till 



put all mankind in the way of sal- 
vation, for so the word signifies, to 
lay the foundation of a kingdom of 
virtue and holiness as extensive as 
the race, as lasting as the earth. 
This aim he most diligently pursu- 
ed in all his discourses, during his 
whole life, and by his exemplary 
death. To the last painful breath 
on the cross, to the last word at his 
ascension, he never wandered from 
the furtherance of this great plan. 
This is the key of his life and death, 
that he came to save men from 
their sins ; not the consequences 
merely, but from sin itself. 

22. That'it might be fulfilled, <$-c. 
T/iat is not to be taken in the sense 
of cause, or intention, but of the 
event. The birth of Jesus did not 
take place in order that the words 
of Isaiah might be verified, but so 
that they were verified. The thing 
was done for its own sake, not for 
the sake of fulfilling Isaiah's words, 
though, as it was, it did fulfil them. 
Again, we have an instance here 
of what is called Accommodation. 
The words of Isaiah did not relate 
to the birth of Christ, but to some- 
thing which happened in the reign 
of Ahaz. The prediction had long 
before been fulfilled. But Matthew 
quotes it in. the way of an illustra- 
tion, as if he had said, " the ancient 
saying was made good, or verified ; 
the passage in Isaiah well describes 
these events." Is. vii. 14. 

23.' This and the preceding verse 

are parenthetical. They are the 

comment which Matthew makes 

upon the angel's message. Behold 

3* 



a virgin, 6fC. This prediction was 
originally made by the prophet 
Isaiah, and was accomplished in the 
days of Ahaz, one of the longs of 
Israel. Emmanuel. Composed of 
two Hebrew words, meaning God, 
and with us, i. e. God helpeth us. 
This signifies divine interposition in 
favor of Ahaz against his foes, an 
appropriate title for Jesus, but one 
which is not applied to him any- 
where else in the Bible. The Jews 
were accustomed to form and apply 
appellations indicative of God's 
goodness, and compounded of his 
name. Thus, Bethel, house of 
God, Elijah, God the Lord. If the 
application of the word Emmanuel, 
God. with us, to Jesus Christ, proves 
that he is God, as some hold, it 
might be argued just as strongly 
that the application, for instance, of 
the word Elijah, which means God 
the Lord, to John the Baptist, prov- 
ed him to be God likewise. Matt, 
xi. 14. God is with us in nature, 
reason, conscience, and the multi- 
tude of his blessings and mercies. 
He was with the Jews especially 
in Moses and the Prophets. But 
he is eminently 'with the whole 
world in Jesus Christ, reconciling it 
to himself; for he gave him Ma 
spirit without measure. John iii. 
34. He sent him as the brightest 
manifestation of his glory, as the 
true image and likeness of himself 
for men to look upon and copy. 
Loving Christ, the linage, we shall 
love God, the Original. 

24. Joseph is not disobedient un- 
to the heavenly vision. His con- 



30 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



she had brought forth her first-born son ; and he called his 
name Jesus. 

CHAPTER II. 

The Visit of the Wise Men and the Flight into Egypt. 

JN OW when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the 
days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the 



duct shows that he was not only a 
just man towards others, but also 
submissive to the will of God. v 

25. Her first-born son. Accord- 
ing to the Jewish custom and law, 
the first-born son was entitled to 
peculiar privileges. Whether Ma- 
ry had other children afterwards is 
unknown, and unimportant. Be- 
tween the birth and the naming and 
circumcision of the child, Luke re- 
cords some interesting- particulars. 
Chap. ii. 8-20. " The wisdom of 
God ordained, that he, who was to 
be the great Exemplar of human 
duty and of human destination, 
should be brought into the world 
and pass through it, in the lowest 
and most trying circumstances, 
erecting thereby an everlasting 
monument to this great and impor- 
tant truth : that neither riches, high 
station, or worldly honor are any 
proof of the merit of their posses-; 
sors, or any mark of the divine fa- 
vor." 

CHAPTER H. 

1. For events not mentioned by 
Matthew, occurring between the 
end of the last "chapter and the 
beginning of this, see Luke ii. 8 - 
38. Now when, <$-c. i. e. about 
the time Jesus was born. It is 
supposed that Jesus was born from 
four to six years before the com- 
mon era. According to the Jewish 
law, an interval of forty days must 
elapse before the mother could en- 
ter the temple and make the appro- 
priate offerings. Levit. xii. 2-4. 
Probably the presentation of Jesus 
in the temple, and the benedictions 



of Simeon and Anna, took place 
before the coming of the wise men. 
Bethlehem of Judea. So called 
to distinguish it from another town 
of the same name in Galilee. Beth- 
lehem signifies house of tread, refer- 
ring perhaps to the fertility of the 
country. It was also called Ephrata. 
It was a small village six miles in a 
southerly direction from Jerusalem, 
lying in the midst of fertile hills 
and vales, and commanding a dis- 
tant view of the Dead Sea and the 
valley leading to it ; so that any 
phenomenon over the place, as the 
brilliant spectacle witnessed by the 
shepherds, Luke ii. 9, would be 
seen far beyond the Dead Sea in 
the east country. This village was 
the birthplace and home of David, 
in earlier times, and from it he went 
forth to the army of Saul, and his 
royal destiny. The place is now 
inhabited by Christians and Ma- 
hometans, and contains about two 
hundred houses. The localities of 
the sacred history are pointed out 
to travellers with great exactness. 
A monastery stands over the place 
of Jesus' birth. Still little reliance 
can be placed on some of these tra- 
ditions. In tfie days. In the tune 
or reign, a Hebraism. Herod, the 
king. This was Herod, miscalled 
the Great. The Romans were the 
virtual lords of the country, and he 
held the royal office under their au- 
thority. Wise men. Sages, Ma- 
gi, or Magians. Their name is of 
Persian origin. They were found 
throughout the east, but especially 
in Persia, and comprehended priests, 



IL] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



31 



2 east to Jerusalem, saying : Where is he that is born King of 
the Jews ? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come 



philosophers, and men of letters. 
They were much devoted to medi- 
cine, astrology, and religion, and 
were highly esteemed by kings as 
counsellors in civil and military af- 
fairs, as they professed to predict 
future events. Their doctrines were 
ascribed to Abraham as their au- 
thor, or reformer ; and afterwards 
becoming corrupted, were purified by 
Zoroaster, who. is said to have been 
a descendant of the prophet Daniel. 
They are asserted to have worship- 
ped God in spirit, without the use 
of images. As they were imbued 
with many Jewish notions, it was 
not unnatural that they should have 
participated to some extent in the 
Jewish expectation of a Messiah. 
Indeed Bishop Pearee believes them 
to have been Jews, residing in. the 
colleges of the Magi. Rabmag, 
Jer. vTTvi-g- 3, 13, means the chief 
of the wise men. Daniel referred 
to them v. 11, and at one time pre- 
sided over them. From the east. 
This is a general name of Arabia, 
Media, Persia, and Chaldea. It 
cannot now be determined from 
which country these visitors came, 
but their gifts were famous pro- 
ductions of Arabia, though that 
country lies rather south than east 
of .Tudea. To Jerusalem. They 
naturally resort to the capital to see 
the supposed new-born king of the 
nation. 

2. King of the Jews. As the re- 
gal office was the highest hi human 
estimation, Jesus is often spoken of 
as a king, and his "religion as a 
kingdom. A general expectation 
was abroad throughout the whole, 
eastern world, that some extraordi- 
nary personage would appear at 
this period. . Mankind anxiously 
awaited his coming. The Jews, re- 
lying on their prophecies, thirsted 
tp behold their great Restorer. Jp- 



sephus, their historian, says that the 
principal cause which stimulated 
them to make war against the Ro- 
mans " was an ambiguous oracle, 
found also in our sacred writings, 
that about this time some one from 
Judea should obtain the empire of 
the world." Suetonius, a Roman 
historian, writing about the same 
period, mentions " that there had 
been for a long tune all over the 
east a notion firmly believed, that it 
was hi the books of the fates, that 
some one from Judea was destined, 
about that tune, to obtain the em- 
pire of the world. ' ' Tacitus, anoth- 
er Roman author, of great credit 
and veracity, speaking of the Jew- 
ish calamities when their city was 
destroyed by Titus, says " that the 
mass of the people entertained a 
strong persuasion that it was men- 
tioned in the ancient writings of 
the priests, that at that very tune 
the east should prevail, and some 
one from Judea obtain the empire 
of the world. ' ' Other writers might 
be cited to the same effect. His 
star. It was believed by the an- 
cients that new stars appeared be- 
fore great events, and at the birth 
or death of illustrious men, and had 
some mysterious connexion with 
their lives. Pliny says, that a new 
star or comet was seen on the acces- 
sion of Augustus to the Roman 
empire, which he called his natal 
star. As the wise men were skilled 
in astrology, they readily detected 
uncommon appearances in the heav- 
ens. Whether the star or meteor 
they saw had any connexion with 
the bright light which accompanied 
the descent of the Angels to the 
shepherds, mentioned by Luke, ii. 
9, is not stated. Probably the star 
was a brilliant meteor, supernatural- 
ly conducting them to the object of 
their search. " No man," says 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP 



to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, 3 
he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him ; and when he 4 
had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people 
together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 



Bishop Hall, " is so qualified to see 
the star of Christ as a diligent pro- 
ficient in philosophy." In the 
east. While they were in the east 
country, they saw the star in the 
west, and accordingly directed their 
steps thither. To worship Jiim. 
Not in the sense of religious hom- 
age, but simply of obeisance or 
high respect. Marks of great rev- 
'erence were shown to kings, espe- 
cially in the east. Prostration of 
the body upon the ground before 
sovereigns, and the giving of the 
most costly presents, were common 
signs of homage. The wise men, 
regarding the young child as a can- 
didate for the Jewish throne, and 
heir to some remarkable destiny, 
followed the usual custom. The 
word icorsliip was formerly appli- 
ed to the respect paid to man, as 
well as the homage given to God, 
see 1 Chron. xxix. 20. 

3. It does not appear that Herod 
had as yet seen the wise men. By 
common report he heard of their 
coming and object. Afterwards, 
ver. 7, he sent to have an interview 
with them. He ivas troubled. Was 
agitated. His fear was natural. 
He had laid the foundation of his 
throne in blood and crime, and 
killed several of his own family. 
His outraged conscience made him 
uneasy, jealous, and fearful. Wick- 
edness converts men into cowards, 
" but the righteous are bold as a 
lion." Though far advanced in 
years, his insatiate ambition also 
led him to be anxious about the 
continuance of the government in 
his hands, and those of his succes- 
sor ; for the Pharisees, according to 
Josephus, had predicted the over- 
throw of Herod's reign, probably 



in sanguine expectation of the com- 
ing of their Messiah. If a . legiti- 
mate heir to the throne was now 
born, he feared the kingdom would 
be taken out of his hands, for he 
was a foreigner and a usurper. 
All Jerusalem with Mm i. e. The 
city generally was agitated. The 
friends and adherents of Herod 
would participate in his fear and 
suspicion ; while his enemies might 
justly apprehend, what afterwards 
took place, ver. 16, that the tyrant 
would find on this occasion a pre- 
text, however groundless, for some 
unheard-of atrocity. Or they might 
rejoice at the prospect of his down- 
fall, and exult in the hope of the 
speedy coming of the Messiah. 

4. We may infer the extent of 
his consternation from the active 
steps he took to calm it. Chief 
priests and scribes of the people. 
Probably a circumlocution for the 
Sanhedrim, or Jewish Senate, con- 
sisting of seventy persons. Its 
members were chiefly priests and 
Levites, including the high-priest, 
the ex-high-priests, and the chiefs 
of the twenty-four classes, into 
which David had divided the sa- 
cerdotal order. 1 Chron. xxiii. 6. 
Its jurisdiction was both civil and 
ecclesiastical. The scribes, else- 
where called lawyers and doctors 
of the law, were men of learning, 
versed in the laws of Moses, and 
the commentaries upon them. They 
kept the public records and regis- 
ters, drew up law documents for 
the people, transcribed the sacred 
books, and acted as religious teach- 
ers and interpreters. He demand- 
ed, <%c. As they understood the 
sacred books and made it their busi- 
ness to expound them, he naturally 



n.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



33 



5 And they said unto him : In Bethlehem of Judea ; for thus it 

6 is written by the prophet : "And thou Bethlehem, in the land 
of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda ; for 
out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people 

7 Israel." Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise 
men, inquired of them diligently what tune the star appeared, 

8 and he sent them to Bethlehem, and said : Go and search dili- 
gently for the young child ; and when ye have found him, 
bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 

9 When they had heard the king, they departed. And, lo, the 
star, which they .saw in the east, went before them, till it came 

10 and stood over where the young child was. When they saw 

11 the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy ; and when 
they were come into the house, they saw the young child with 
Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him ; and 



referred to them for information re- 
specting the birthplace of the Mes- 
siah. Where. This was the im- 
portant point with Herod. He 
wished to know the exact place, 
that he might find the child and 
put it to death. Observe, too, that 
the question indicates how strong 
the expectation of the coming of 
the Messi ih was ; though the hy- 
pocritical king thought to falsify the 
sure word of prophecy, and, fighting 
against God, to destroy the infant 
Jesus. Christ. Rather the Christ, 
or the Messiah. 

5. It was a current opinion, origi- 
nated by the prophecies, that the 
Messiah would be born at Bethle- 
hem. John vii. 42. The prophet. 
Micah v. 2. The language is not 
verbatim, but the essential ideas are 
conveyed. The Evangelist might 
have quoted from memory. 

6. Matthew only states that the 
passage was adduced by the priests 
and scribes as a proof that the Mes- 
siah would be bom at Bethlehem. 
Rule. - The original is, feed and 
tend as a shepherd. Kings were an- 
ciently called the shepherds of their 
people. 



7. Privily called. Jealousy loves 
to move in the dark. Inquired dil- 
igently. Or, procured -from them 
exact information. He probably 
wished to ascertain the precise age 
of the child. 

8. Worship him also. Also should 
be placed before may come, thus, 
" that I also may come," &c. He 
veiled his purpose under the mask 
of hypocrisy. His conduct on this 
occasion was in accordance with his 
whole character, as drawn by Jose- 
phus and other ancient writers. 

9. Which they saw in the east. A 
different arrangement would be bet- 
ter; "which they, in the east, 
saw." It was the custom of the 
old painters to represent Christ with, 
luminous rays encircling his head ; 
derived perhaps from the circum- 
stance of the star, standing over the 
place where the young child was, 
or the glory which surrounded him 
at the Baptism, or on the Mount of 
Transfiguration. 

10. Their joy at finding their ob- 
ject indicates the value they attached 
to it. 

11. Fell down and toorshipped. 
Prostrated themselves and did obei- 



34 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP 



when they had opened their treasures, they presented 'unto 
him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And' being 12 
warned of God in a dream that they should not return to 
Herod, they departed into their own country another way. 

And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord ]3 
appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying : Arise, and take the 
young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou 
there until I bring thee word ; for Herod will seek the young 
child to destroy birn. When he arose, he took the young child 14 
and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt ; and was 15 
there until the death of Herod ; that it might be fulfilled which 
was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying : <c Out of 



sance, as they would to any royal 
personage. There was no religious 
homage paid in the act. Presented. 
An oriental custom, still observed. 
Those who would pay honor to 
kings, magistrates, and persons of 
high dignity, carry to them costly 
gifts. 2 Chron. ix. 1 ; Is. Ix. 6. 
Gold and frankincense and myrrh. 
2 Chron. ix. 14. These were pro- 
ductions of Arabia and other orien- 
tal countries. They were timely 
aids to the not rich Joseph, for his 
succeeding journey into a foreign 
land. Frankincense. A valuable 
aromatic gum, used in perfumes, 
sacrifices, and medicines. It ex- 
udes from incisions made in a tree 
during the summer. Myrrh. A 
vegetable production of the gum or 
resin kind, of a bitter taste, employ- 
ed in anointing, perfuming, and in 
embalming the dead. John xix. 39. 
It is noticeable that the same sub- 
stance which was giver, as a birth- 
present to Jesus was also prepared 
for his burial. 

12. Should not return to Herod. 
Else the life of Jesus would have 
been taken, unless some other inter- 
position had been made. The will 
of God could be communicated in a 
dream as well as in any other way. 

13. Egypt. During their troubles 
at home, the Jews had flocked in 



great numbers to that country, 
where they enjoyed toleration. 
Thus, by a strange vicissitude in 
human affairs, the land of their fa- 
thers' bondage became their asylum 
of liberty, and the refuge of their 
endangered Messiah. Several cir- 
cumstances combined to recommend 
this country for the purpose for 
which Joseph fled to it. It was free 
from Herod's jurisdiction. Its bor- 
der w t as near, only about sixty miles 
southwest from Bethlehem. Joseph 
and his family would find sympa- 
thy among their countrymen. By 
the gifts of the wise men, they had 
been furnished with the means of 
subsistence and comfort while away 
from home and their customary oc- 
cupations. Herod icill seek. This 
prediction was afterwards fulfilled. 
Joseph seems not to have been aware 
of any hostility to the child on Her- 
od's part, until he was divinely ac- 
quainted with it. 

14. By night. To conceal his de- 
parture, and escape from danger as 
soon as possible. There is no trust- 
worthy history or tradition of the 
events that befel them during tkeir 
sojourn in Egypt. 

15. Death of Herod. Probably 
their residence there was short, as 
Herod is supposed to have died in 
the second year after Christ's birth. 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



35 



16 Egypt have I called my Son." Then Herod, when he saw 
that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth ; 
and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, 
and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, 
according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the 

17 wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jere- 

18 my the prophet, saying : "In Rama was there a voice heard, 
lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning ; Rachel weep- 



See ver. 16. Prophet. Hos. xi. 1. 
Hosea clearly refers here to the past 
history of the Israelites. He utters 
no prediction. Matthew quotes his 
words by way of allusion or accom- 
modation, not as the accomplishment 
of a prophecy, for there was none. 
He says there was a striking coinci- 
dence between God's calling the 
children of Israel, and his son Jesus 
Christ, out of Egypt. 

16. Mocked. Was trifled with, 
or deceived. Exceeding wroth. An- 
gry beyond measure. Josephus de- 
scribes him as a man of most ungov- 
ernable passions. Slew all the chil- 
dren, <Sfc. If this had been related 
of any other .man, it would have 
seemed incredible, but it accorded 
with Herod's character. For he 
had put to death a brother-in-law, 
one of his wives, and three of his 
children, besides great numbers of 
the Jews at different times and un- 
der different pretexts. The slaugh- 
ter of the Innocents harmonized 
therefore with the diabolical charac- 
ter of this man of blood. It is like- 
ly that only a small number suffered. 
The masculine, gender of the noun 
in the original, and the circumstan- 
ces of the case indicate that none 
but male infants were killed. Beth- 
lehem was not a large village, and 
it has been conjectured that the 
number of victims was somewhere 
between ten and fifty. Coasts. 
Borders, adjacent places. Tiao 
years old and under. Herod thought 
in this way to insure the destruction 



of the helpless babe that had stirred 
up his fear and wrath. According 
to the time, <5fC. Not that he had 
been making inquiries for two years 
of the Magians, or had thus long 
awaited their return, but such as 
had entered upon the second year 
suffered together with those under 
that age, which would accord with 
the information he had derived from 
the wise men, and insure, as he 
thought, the death of the distin- 
guished child. 

17. The grief of the mothers of 
Bethlehem, bereft of their infants, 
reminds Matthew of a parallel poet- 
ical scene in Jeremiah xxxi. 15. The 
description of the old prophet was 
fulfilled, or verified, or made good. 
In this manner the New Testament 
writers not unfrequently quote from 
the Old. 

18." Rama. This was a city in the 
tribe of Benjamin, not far from 
Bethlehem in'Judah. As Rachel 
was the mother of Benjamin, sh'e is 
introduced as most nearly concerned 
in the calamities of her posterity. 
It is only by way of accommodation, 
that this passage, originally relating 
to what transpired in the tribe of 
Benjamin, when the Israelites were 
canied into captivity, is used to de- 
scribe what took place in Judah in 
the days of Herod. There was 
great force and beauty in the intro- 
duction of this poetical figure, and it 
chimed exquisitely with the feelings 
and associations of the Jews, for 
whose special edification Mattfew 



36 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



ing for her children, and would not be comforted, because they 
are not." But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of 19 
the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying : 23 
Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into 
the land of Israel ; for they are. dead which sought the young 
child's life. And he arose, and took the young child and his 21 
mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard 22 
that Archelaus did reign in Judea, in the room of his father 
Herod, he was afraid to go thither ; notwithstanding, being 
warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of 
Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth ; 23 



was writing. Lamentation, and 
loeeping, and great mourning. As 
if to express the abjectness of grief 
by adding word to word. Rachel 
weeping for Tier children. The tears 
of the living were not enough to be- 
wail their disasters. Jeremiah calls 
to his assistance those of the de- 
parted, and particularly of Rachel, 
whose tomb was in the route along 
which they were led captive to 
Babylon, and who is represented " 
rising from the dead to bewail the 
fate of her posterity. "What Jewish 
heart would not be thrilled by this 
allusion and quotation from Jeremi- 
ah by the Evangelist ! Because 
they are not. Because they are no 
more, are dead. This is one among 
many instances of the touching sim- 
plicity characteristic of the Scrip- 
tures. 

19. Herod was dead. The tyrant, 
after a reign of forty years, died of 
a horrible, loathsome disease. It 
seemed as if the pains of all he had 
killed were concentrated in his own 
person. Yet the ruling passion was 
strong even in death ; and a few 
days before he expired he ordered 
his son Antipater to be executed, 
and imprisoned the chiefs of the 
Jewish nation, with the command, 
which happily was not executed, 
that they should all be destroyed, in 
order that sincere grief might be felt 



at his funeral. His kingdom was 
partitioned among his sons ; Arche- 
laus obtaining Judea, Samaria, and 
Idumea ; Antipas, Galilee and Pe- 
raea ; and Philip, Trachonitis, Gau- 
lonitis, and Batanea. 

20. They are dead. Either the 
plural is here used, as is sometimes 
the case, for the singular number, 
which is the opinion of Winer, and 
the idea is that Herod was dead, 
the chief foe of Jesus ; or that both 
Herod and his son Antipater, who 
was heir apparent to the throne, 
were dead. 

21. Young child. The residence 
in Egypt did not extend probably 
beyond a few months. The land of 
Israel. This comprised not only the 
dominions of Archelaus, but also 
Galilee and other provinces. 

22. Archelaus. He succeeded to 
the throne by his father's will, and 
received the confirmation of his 
power from the Roman emperor, 
Augustus. He proved such a ty- 
rant, that, being accused by the 
Jews to the emperor, he was ban- 
ished, after a reign of seven years, 
to Vienna in Gaul, where he died. 
He turned aside : to Galilee ; 
which was under the jurisdiction of 
Herod Antipas. 

23. Nasareth. A small town in 
lower Galilee, situated in a hilly re- 
gion : down one of the precipices 



in.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



37 



that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets : 
He shall be called a Nazarene. 

CHAPTER III. 

Ministry of John the Baptist. 

IN those days came John the.Baptist, preaching in the wilder- 



of which, its inhabitants endeavored 
to throw their townsman, Jesus 
Christ. Luke iv. 29. It is now a 
large village of three thousand in- 
habitants, and contains a convent 
and two churches. The prophets. 
There is no place in the prophets 
still extant, where this precise say- 
ing occurs. The prophets, how- 
ever, represented the coming One as 
a suffering and despised, as well as 
a triumphant Messiah. Is. liii. To 
be a Nazarene was to bear an un- 
honored name. The guileless Na- 
thanael could ask, " Can there any 
good thing come out of Nazareth 1 " 
The reputation of the place was bad. 
The idea then is, that, according to 
the tenor of those predictions usual- 
ly supposed to refer to Christ, he 
became an inhabitant of a prover- 
bially meanjplace, dwelt in humble 
life, and \vks despised and rejected 
by men. 

" It was undoubtedly a part of the 
plan of Providence to draw the Sa- 
viour from humble human circum- 
stances, in order to render his divine 
authority the more conspicuous" and 
unquestionable. It was thus made 
to appear that his words of wisdom 
could not have been learned from 
man, and that he must have been 
from God. He probably received 
little or no education during his ear- 
ly years ; for the Jews asked, ' How 
knoweth this man letters, having 
never learned?' Schools and in- 
struction were not then universal as 
they are now, and Joseph was prob- 
ably too poor to afford to his chil- 
dren a privilege which could be pur- 
chased only by the rich." 

VOL. i. 4 



CHAP. HI. 

1 - 12. For .the parallel passages 
in the other Gospels see Mark i. 
1-8; Lukeiii. 1-18. 

1. After the lapse of twenty-five 
or thirty years from the events re- 
corded in the last chapter, the cur- 
tain is again drawn aside, and we 
behold a new scene. Jesus grown 
to manhood, and John, a new char- 
acter, whose parentage and remark- 
able birth are related by Luke, now 
appear upon the stage of action ; 
the Messiah and his Forerunner. 
In those days. A common introduc- 
tion to Scriptural narration, used 
with considerable latitude of mean- 
ing. " At this period," or " about 
this time," not immediately after 
the events of the last chapter, but 
while Jesus lived at Nazareth. 
John the Baptist. Or, the Baptizer. 
So called, because it was peculiarly 
his office to baptize ; and in order to 
distinguish him from the Evange- 
list and Apostle of the same name. 
John's missio.n was to prepare men 
for the ministry of Jesus, to call 
public attention to him as the Christ, 
and to furnish evidence of the jus- 
tice of his claims by the fulfilment 
of prophecy. For an account of the 
origin of John, see Luke, chap. i. 
Matthew was writing to those who 
were already acquainted with the 
events of the age. Hence he leaves 
much to be explained by a reference 
to other sources. Preaching. Or, 
proclaiming, or crying or announ : 
cing as a herald, for so the word 
implies in the original. It suggests 
the idea that he delivered his mes- 
sage with great publicity, earnest- 



38 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



ness of Judea, and saying : Repent ye, for the kingdom- of 2 
heaven is at hand. For this is he that Avas spoken of by the 3 
prophet EsaiaSj saying : <c The voice of one crying in the 



ness, and authority. The substance 
of the proclamation is recorded in 
the following verses. The icilder- 
ness of Judea. A. tract lying on the 
river Jordan and the Dead Sea, east 
of Jerusalem. The words "wil- 
derness " and "desert" are not to 
be taken in the Bible as always 
meaning regions totally without cul- 
tivation or inhabitants, but those 
thinly peopled, and comparatively 
barren ; generally devoted to graz- 
ing. In Josh. xv. 61, 62, a wilder- 
ness is represented as having "six 
cities with their villages." Judea 
was the southern portion of Palestine. 
2. The following words are to be 
understood as containing the burden 
of his preaching, the general outline 
of Ms addresses, which were adapt- 
ed to different times, places, and per- 
sons. Luke iii. 11 18. Repent 
ye. Rather, Reform yourselves. 
The exhortation involved in itself 
more than mere sorrow for sin. It 
implied not only regret for the past, 
but amendment for the future : not 
only that the wound was to be 
probed, but healed. The reason 
why John seized upon this theme 
was, that the Jews had unfitted 
themselves by their worldliness and 
vices for the reception of the great 
corning Teacher. The professed be- 
lievers in religion needed first to be 
renewed in holiness. Judgment 
must begin at the house of God. 
The Jewish people had suffered the 
fire of heaven to go out upon the 
altars of their hearts, and were cold, 
skeptical, and corrupt. Hence the 
key note of the Baptist's desert cry, 
ihe first blast of his trumpet echoing 
over the moral wilderness of Judea, 
was, REFORMATION. Jesus prolong- 
ed the note which John had struck. 
It has continued to resound to this 



day, and must for ever, in a sinful 
world. It is the great theme for 
men and nations. For the kingdom 
of heaven is at hand. Or, better, 
the reign of God draws near. This 
is Ihe persuasive for immediate re- 
pentance and reformation, that the 
Messiah was now coming. The 
kingdom of heaven, of God, of 
Christ, phrases suggested, perhaps, 
by Dan. ii. 44, vii. 13, 14, all refer 
to the same thing, the reign of the 
Messiah, or, in more modern phrase- 
ology, the Christian Religion, which 
came to rule over the hearts and lives 
of men, and bring them to an obedi- 
ence to the moral Governor of the 
world, and thus establish a moral 
kingdom. For this spiritual reign 
Reformation was requisite ; a far dif- 
ferent preparation from that which the 
Jews contemplated; whose hearts, 
at the approach of the long expect- 
ed Deliverer, savored more of ambi- 
tion, revenge, and avarice, than of 
sentiments of good-will to man or 
piety to God, expecting, as they did, 
a temporal Ring, and not the Prince 
of Peace. So now the Gospel de- 
mands penitent hearts, and reformed 
lives, for its subjects. As an old 
writer says, " Thus must the way 
be made for .Christ into every heart. 
Never will he enter that soul where 
the herald of repentance hath not 
been before him." 

3. Prophet Esaias, i. e. Isaiah xl. 
3. The Evangelist quotes from the 
Septuagint version of the Old Tes- 
tament ; hence there is a slight va- 
riation from our translation, which 
was made from the Hebrew. Isaiah 
undoubtedly spoke with reference to 
the return from the Babylonish cap- 
tivity. Matthew applies the pas- 
sage- to the Forerunner of the Mes- 
siah. The voice, cj-c. The oflice 



in.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths 

4 straight." And the same John had his raiment of camel's 

hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins ; and his meat was 



of John was to act as a voice for the 
coining Word, a herald of the great 
Teacher. The succeeding- imagery 
is .drawn from oriental customs, a 
knowledge of which is often re- 
quired to understand the Scrip- 
tures. When monarchs journeyed, 
or marched on military expeditions, 
they despatched pioneers forward 
to level eminences, fill up. valleys, 
and make a straight road. The 
Jews were called upon to prepare 
for the Messiah's advent, clearing 
their hearts of those prejudices and 
sins, which would impede his pro- 
gress and success as a moral con- 
queror. As the greatest blessings 
were expected under the Redeem- 
er's reign, John bids the Jews make 
ready for his coming by repenting 
of and forsaking those sins, which 
would prove the \vorst stumbling- 
blocks in his way, the most serious 
impediments to the cordial reception 
of a pure religion. -7- The Lord, i. e. 
Jehovah. No argument in support 
of Jesus being identical with Jeho- 
vah can be drawn from this passage. 
For the original application of the 
prophet's words was only to an ex- 
hibition, of God's power in the res- 
"toration of the Jews, not to an ac- 
tual personal appearance of the De- 
ity. So in like manner, according 
to the Evangelist's application, Je- 
hovah came to his chosen people in 
Jesus Christ, not personally and lit- 
erally, but in the spirit and gifts 
which he bestowed upon his beloved 
Son. 

4. Raiment of camel's hair, <$-c. 
This description is thrown in x per- 
haps, to show the similarity between 
John and Elijah, or to remind the 
Jews that the herald of Christ did 
not come in that rich dress and 
equipage, which they would sup- 



pose appropriate to one who came 
to announce so splendid a king ; but, 
on the contrary, dressed in the gar- 
ments, and subsisting on the food, 
of the poorest class of his country- 
men. He was not " a man clothed 
in soft raiment," but apparelled like 
one of the old prophets. 2 Kings 
i. 8 ; Zech. xiii. 4. Raiment is an 
ancient word for clothing. Camels 
are not only very valuable for carry- 
ing burdens over the vast deserts of 
the east, but their milk and flesh are 
eaten, and garments are made of the 
hair, which, though coarse and 
shaggy, is manufactured into a 
rough, cheap cloth, for the common 
people. The hair is shed annually. 
A leathern girdle. This was a 
very important part of the oriental 
dress, as it confined the flowing 
cloak or robe, which would other- 
wise be inconvenient, if suffered to 
hang loosely about the body. The 
girdle was also used as a purse. 
The modern dervises, or Turkish 
priests, are clothed like the ancient 
prophets. His meat, <SfC. Meat, 
in old English, stands for food in 
general, whether animal or vegeta- 
ble. Locusts were allowed as an 
article of food by the law of Moses. 
Lev. xi. 22. They have been in use 
for this purpose, both in ancient and 
modern times, in the east. "We 
saw," says Niebuhr, in his Trav- 
els, " an Arab who had gathered a 
sack full in order to dry them, and 
keep them for his winter provis- 
ions." Wild honey. The honey 
which was found in the cavities of 
trees and "the clefts of rocks may 
have been so denominated. Ps.lxxxi. 
16. Palestine was described as "a 
land flowing with milk and honey." 
Or it may have been not the honey 
made by the bee, but honey-dew, a 



40 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, 5 
and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan ; and 6 
were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But 7 



sweet' substance exuding from the 
leaves of palm, date, and olive trees. 
1 Sam. xiv. 25, 26. Oriental trav- 
ellers speak of the abundance of 
honey in Arabia and Palestine. The 
dress and diet of the Baptist indi- 
cated no uncommon rigor and sever- 
ity, but rather simplicity and pover- 
ty. His mode of life affords no 
countenance or approbation to the 
recluse and hermit. 

5. The Jews, galled by the Ro- 
man yoke, looked with impatience 
for the Messiah, from whom they 
expected deliverance and universal 
rule over the rest of the world. Cu- 
riosity, impatience, and ambition, 
together with the striking air and 
bold address of John, probably drew 
thousands to the Jordan. Jerusa- 
lem. The inhabitants of the city. 
This was the Jewish metropolis, 
situated about forty miles east of the 
Mediterranean, in a region of high 
hills. The wonderful events of 
which it has been the scene, both in 
ancient and modern times, render 
it the most remarkable city on the 
globe. All Judea. Not literally 
every one, but vast crowds ; the 
country went as one man. It is 
an important rule in the interpreta- 
tion of Scripture, as well as other 
writings, that universal propositions 
should be qualified and limited by 
the circumstances in which they 
occur. The Bible is written in the 
free, figurative, diversified language 
of common life, and by no means in 
a literal, technical, pliUosophical di- 
alect. Judea lay between the Jor- 
dan and the Mediterranean. All the 
region round about Jordan. Should 
be, the country along the Jordan on 
both sides of the river. This stream 
rises in the Antilibanus mountains, 
and flowing southerly through Lake 



Merom and the Sea of Galilee, after 
a course of one hundred and twenty 
or thirty miles, empties into the 
Dead Sea. It forms the eastern 
boundary of Galilee, Samaria, and 
Judea. Its average width is from 
sixty to eighty feet, and its depth 
about ten or twelve, though it varies 
according to the season of the year. 
John had two stations, at least, on 
the Jordan ; Bethabara, or Bethany, 
and Enon, and perhaps more. 

6. Baptized of him, i. e. by him. 
Baptism* was well known among the 
Jews before John's day, as is evi- 
dent from Matthew's familiar way 
of introducing the mention of it. 
It was employed to initiate heathen 
proselytes into the Jewish religion, 
according to the testimony of the 
Jewish books called Tahnuds, which 
consisted of the writings and tradi- 
tions of the Rabbins. How admin- 
istered is nowhere said ; whether 
by immersion or sprinkling is of lit- 
tle consequence, so it was done with 
water and the heart was right. It 
was a new thing, however, to bap- 
tize Jews. John, by that means in- 
timated to them, that, though they 
were the covenant people of God, 
they had so far become like heathen, 
that, before they could be prepared 
for the Messiah's kingdom, they 
must pass through the same ceremo- 
ny as proselytes. In Jordan. In 
the Jordan. The definite article 
should be uniformly placed before 
this word. Confessing their sins. 
One that truly repents of his sins 
will be ready to confess them to 
God, and, so far as is proper, to 
men. John required of his converts 
a confession of their sins, either in 
general or particular, as an indica- 
tion of true contrition and a fitness to 
be baptized. Jam. v. 16 ; 1 John i. 9. 



in.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



41 



when he sawmany.of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his 
baptism, he said unto them : O generation of vipers, who hath 



7. The Pharisees and Sadducees. 
These were the two leading philo- 
sophical and religious sects among 
the Jews. The Essenes were a 
third one, resembling monks in their 
mode of life, but no mention is made 
of them in the New Testament. 
From Josephus and the Talmuds, as 
well as from scattered notices in the 
New Testament, we gather infor- 
mation respecting the other two. 

T/ie Pharisees. The Separatists. 
They were so called from a Hebrew 
word, meaning to separate, or to 
set apart, because they professed to 
set themselves apart from the rest 
of the people, and live purer lives. 
They plumed themselves upon their 
scrupulous adherence to all religious 
ceremonies and observances, wash- 
ings, fastings, tithes, and long, os- 
tentatious devotions, but in their 
lives were notorious for their ambi- 
tion, corruption, hypocrisy, and 
haughtiness. Such was the pre- 
vailing character of the sect, though 
there were doubtless among them, 
as in every body of men, some true 
and noble spirits. Acts v. 34. 
They received all the Old Testa- 
ment as of divine authority, and ad- 
hered closely to the letter of the 
Mosaic law. But in addition to 
these writings, they had the tradi- 
tions of the elders or early teachers 
of the nation, to which they gave 
equal credence as to the Pentateuch 
itself. Some of their doctrines 
were : the government of the world 
by Fate, or a fixed decree of God ; 
the existence of spirits and angels ; 
the resurrection from the dead ; the 
immortality of the soul ; and the 
future state of rewards and punish- 
ments. 

The Sadducees derived their name 
from Sadoc, the founder of their 
sect. They were less numerous 
and had less influence among the 

4*' 



people than the Pharisees, but were 
more wealthy. They rejected the 
traditions, and, as is supposed, re- 
ceived only the law of Moses, or 
the Pentateuch, as of divine author- 
ity. They believed not in the ex- 
istence of spirits, in immortality, or 
a future retribution. In fact, they 
were the skeptics of their day and 
nation. They however joined in 
the worship of the temple, and 
assisted at all religious assemblies. 
Several of them held the office of 
high priest. Caiaphas, who con- 
demned our Saviour, was a Sad- 
ducee. No account is given in the 
Gospels of a single conversion to 
Christianity from this-sect. 

Both Pharisees and Sadducees, 
in common with the rest of the na- 
tion, expected a Messiah. They 
came to the baptism of John, in- 
cited by this expectation ; and sup- 
posing John to be either the Mes- 
siah or his Forerunner, they were 
desirous of early securing his favor, 
and gaming posts of profit and 
honor in his kingdom. John saw 
through their motives, and uttered 
a powerful, though deserved, re- 
buke. O generation of vipers. 
Offspring of vipers, or broods of 
vipers. This phrase is descriptive 
of the two aforementioned classes. 
He did not spare the rich and lord- 
ly, but launched at them his burn- 
nig remonstrances in the bold tone 
of one of the ancient prophets. Vi- 
pers are a kind of snakes, whose 
bite is immediately fatal. This 
reptile has been used from the re- 
motest antiquity as an emblem of 
what is destructive. Applied to 
the Pharisees and Sadducees, it sig- 
nifies that they were subtile, malig- 
nant, deadly. The poison of vipers 
rankled in their hearts, under the 
fair seeming and smooth disguise of 
religious professions. Who hath 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



warned you to flee from the wrath to come Bring forth 8 
therefore fruits meet for repentance, and think not to say with- 9 
m yourselves. We have Abraham to our father ; for I say un- 
to you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children 



warned you to flee from the wrath to 
wme ? Rather a strong exclama- 
tion of surprise than an interroga- 
tion. John expresses wonder, that 
men so hardened and hypocritical 
should be induced to come to a bap- 
tism of repentance. " The wrath 
to come" was the impending de- 
struction soon to fall on the Jewish 
nation, unless they repented and re- 
formed, and which did descend forty 
years after, overthrowing the Tem- 
ple, destroying millions of men, and 
annihilating the national existence 
of the Jews. Those who embra- 
ced Christianity escaped these judg- 
ments of heaven, because they be- 
lieved in the prophecies foretelling 
their approach, and fled from the 
country. The same sins, also, 
which brought down these temporal 
calamities upon the heads of men, 
would meet with a becoming pun- 
ishment in the future world. 

8. Bring forth therefore fruits 
meet for repentance. Or, consistent 
with amendment of life. Fruits 
stand for good works, righteous, 
holy deeds. Here is an allusion to 
their noted hypocrisy. Show by 
your lives that your repentance is 
sincere. Manifest a character and 
conduct appropriate, belonging to, 
genuine penitence. Show forth,- if 
you really repent, not merely the 
leaves and flowers of profession, 
but the fruits of performance. 
Matt. vii. 20. The proof of good- 
ness is in the life. Let not repent- 
ance be a dead form with us, but a 
living act. Let it produce corre- 
sponding works. 

9. They deemed their salvation 
insured because they were the de- 
scendants of so righteous and faith- 
ful a man as Abraham- John viii. 



33, 39, 53. John understands then 1 
state of mind, and therefore ad- 
dresses himself, as every teacher 
ought, to that which, unless cor- 
rected, would nullify all his in- 
structions and warnings. Thus he 
taught with adaptedness. The 
same characteristic, in a greater de- 
gree, appears in the teachings of 
the Saviour. It has been a weak 
point in all nations, to put their sal- 
vation in their ancestors, not in 
their posterity ; to look back to the 
good old days, not to look forward 
to better ones ; to locate the Golden 
Age in the Past, not in an improved 
Future. The couplet of the poet 
has been forgotten : 

"They, that on-glorious ancestors enlarge, 
Produce their debt instead of their discharge." 

God is able, tf-c. Think not of 
saying to yourselves, We are Abra- 
ham's children, and are therefore 
fully assured of the favor of God, 
and the benefits of the Messiah's 
kingdom. With God all things are 
possible. He is not dependent on 
the Jews, or any other nation, for 
the success of his purposes ; he 
can find other servants and instru- 
ments. Yea, out of the very stones 
of the Jordan he can through his 
omnipotence raise up worthy chil- 
dren of Abraham ; an allusion, per- 
haps, to God's power in giving a 
child to Abraham. Gal. iii. 29. 
Perhaps in the expression " these 
stones," there is also an. allusion to 
the Gentiles, towards whom the 
Jews entertained the greatest con- 
tempt. Some deem it a proverbial 
phrase. It is to be feared, that, as 
some of old trusted in the merits 
of Abraham, so now many rely 
upon Christ, a much greater than 
Abraham, as a substitute for their 



in.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



43 



10 unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of 
the trees ; therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good 

11 fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize 
you with water, unto repentance ; but he that cometh after 
me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear ; 



own goodness, instead of forming 1 
him within them, reproducing his 
spirit in their hearts. But it will 
not do. Personal piety is the inex- 
tinguishable need of every child of 
God. 

10. TJie axe is laid unto the root 
of the tress, <5fc. i. e. the axe is 
lying, ready to be used, at the very- 
root of the trees. The approach- 
ing calamities are no trivial evils, 
but rather like cutting up the tree 
by the roots. This was a Jewish 
proverb. A searching, powerful 
influence is going abroad. A new 
standard is to be erected, by which 
the hearts of men, and the institu- 
tions of society, are to be tried. 
Principles and conduct are to be 
tested. Nothing will stand the trial 
but genuine repentance, true good- 
ness. The excuses and subter- 
fuges and lies of men will be swept 
away. Antiquated ceremonies and 
systems will be superseded. The 
realities of the spiritual life will 
stand forth in their just prominence, 
when the rubbish and the corrup- 
tions and the commandments of men 
have been consumed. Is hewn 
down. Will be, is to be, hewn or 
cut down. The present tense, ac- 
cording to Winer, is not unfrequently 
used in the sense of the future. 
See Luke iii. 10, 14. 

11. Unto repentance. As a sign 
of repentance and reformation. 
Baptism was a sign that the obliga- 
tion to repent was felt and ac- 
knowledged, and that the peniten- 
tial sentiments would be cherished. 
He that cometh after me. A cir- 
cumlocution for Jesus, the Messiah, 
the head of the kingdom of heaven, 



that is at hand. Mightier than I. 
Of higher dignity and authority. 
Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. 
Not the article we call shoes, but 
the sandals of the east ; which 
were soles for the bottoms of the 
feet, bound about the feet and an- 
kles with leathern thongs or straps. 
These sandals were put off when 
a person entered a house, and put 
on when he left it. As stockings 
were then unknown, the feet soon 
became soiled, being only protected 
on the bottom, and not at the sides, 
and hence they had to be frequently 
washed. To put on and off the 
sandals, upon these various occa- 
sions, was the office of the lowest 
servants. The strong expression 
of John is, therefore, that he was 
unworthy to perform the most me- 
nial service for the glorious Being 
who was soon to appear in the 
character and with the credentials 
of the long desired Redeemer. 
What a touching humility in one, 
who was himself the subject of 
prophecy, at whose birth miracles 
had been wrought, whose heart 
was fired with a spirit more than 
mortal, and whose privilege it was, 
after the long lapse of four hundred 
years, to renew the old prophetic 
office, and introduce the mighty 
Deliverer of the world to his minis- 
try ! What a beautiful resignation, 
too, adorned his character ! He 
.grasped at no honors ; living till 
the orb of the sun of righteousness 
was above the horizon, he yet did 
not witness the perfect day. He 
could say, " This my joy, therefore, 
is fulfilled ; He must increase, but 
I must decrease."- Great as he 



44 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. 
Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his 12 
floor ; and gather his wheat into the garner, but he will burn 
up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 



"was, lie had that humbleness of 
mind, that is indeed the noblest of 
all traits. He was ready at once to 
resign his own honors before the 
Son of God. Imprisoned for an 
honest rebuke of wickedness, his 
single anxiety seemed to be, to as- 
certain whether the Messiah had 
actually come. Matt. xi. 2, 3. He 
died a martyr to his own integrity, 
and the victim of the evil passions 
which he sought in vain to bring 
under the control of conscience 
and the laws of God. Is it strange 
that Ms memory has been canon- 
ized in the Christian church 1 He 
shall baptize you with the Holy 
Ghost, and with fire. Or, with a 
holy spirit, or breath, and with fire. 
' It is impossible to convey," says 
Furness, " the full force of this 
word spirit in a translation. The 
original word is much more com- 
prehensive than the word ' spirit.' 
It signifies also 'air,' ' wind,' and 
the meaning of the Baptist is, Wa- 
ter is the symbol of my office, but 
the power of him who is coming 
after me may be signified by far 
subtler and more searching ele- 
ments, 'wind and fire.' This ap- 
pears from the connexion. Pie in- 
stantly likens his successor to a 
husbandman, prepared with his fan 
to blow the chaff out of the wheat, 
and with fire to consume it." Such 
\vas the ministry of Jesus, a power- 
ful, searching, purifying influence. 
Such were the energies of the 
Spirit of God by which he was em- 
powered and strengthened to per- 
form his mission. 

12. Whose fan is in his hand. 
Not fan, according to the original 
word, but winnowing shovel, with 
which the grain when threshed 



was tossed up in the wind, and the 
chaff and kernels thus separated. 
Is. xxx. 24. The fan or van was 
more complex. It was designed, 
by means of sails, to raise an arti- 
ficial wind, and was not an imple- 
ment which could be carried in the 
hand. Thoroughly purge hisfaor, 
6fc. Heie reference is made to the 
mode of threshing grain in the 
east. The floor was not made as 
ours are with planks and boards, 
but consisted of an elevated circu- 
lar area, formed in the field by 
smoothing and hardening the soil 
with a cylinder. A high location 
was more tree from wet, and more 
accessible to the wind. There was 
frequently no covering, nor walls. 
Different methods were employed 
to get out the grain. It was beaten 
with flails, trodden by oxen, or 
bruised by a heavy kind of sledge, 
drawn by cattle. Is. xli. 15. The 
next operation was winnowing. 
This was to purge or clear up the 
threshing floor. The grain and 
straw were then separated, and the 
grain thrown up into the wind with 
a shovel, and the chaff thus blown 
out from it. The wheat was de- 
posited in the garner, or granary. 
There was danger, that, after they 
had been separated, the chaff and 
broken straw would by a change 
of the wind be driven back again 
amongst the grain. To prevent it, 
fire was put to what is called chaff, 
but which also included the broken 
pieces of straw, and commencing 
on the windward side, it crept on 
and consumed all, before it went 
out. This made it an unquenchable 
fire ; it burnt until it had done its 
office. Jesus came among the 
Jews and their institutions like the 



ra.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



45 



13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be 

14 baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying : I have need 

15 to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me ? And Jesus 
answering said unto him : Suffer it to be so now ; for thus it 
becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 



husbandman among his grain. By 
the searching power and purity of 
his religion, the good and bad 
would be divided. The former 
would be preserved in all calami- 
tics. The latter would be visited 
by the most terrible judgments, 
represented in figurative language 
by inextinguishable fire. Mai. iv. 
1. A less probable explanation of 
the verse is, that the antiquated insti- 
tutions and burdensome ceremonies 
of the Jews would be consumed 
like chaff in the fire, but the sound 
parts and wholesome laws would 
be preserved like wheat put into 
the granary. The x Saviour describ- 
ed a part of his office, when he 
said, " For judgment I am come 
into this world." 

13 - 17. Parallel passages, Mark 
-i. 9-11; Luke iii. 21, 22; John 
i. 29 - 34. 

13. Galilee. Nazareth, where 
Jesus had been living with his par- 
ents, Luke ii. 51, was a village of 
that province. Mark i. 9. John 
was at this time at Bethabara, a 
place on the eastern bank of the 
river, not far from its mouth. John 
i. 28. He afterwards baptized at 
Enon, on the western bank. John 
iii. 23. 

14. John forbade him. The rea- 
son is given ; because he felt him- 
self to be inferior to Jesus. That 
is, morally, not officially, inferior. 
John was already acquainted with 
the pure and exalted character of 
Jesus, and felt the deepest venera- 
tion for him as a private individual, 
for their parents were relatives. 
Luke i. 36. But lie did not yet 
know that he was the Messiah to 



come. John i. 31. He knew him 
not in an official character as Christ, 
but he knew him simply as Jesus. 
His ground of unwillingness to bap- 
tize him was, accordingly, that he 
was conscious of possessing less 
goodness and greatness than his 
kinsman. He says, therefore, that 
the baptism should be the other 
way, and that he himself ought to 
be the subject and not the adminis- 
trator of the rite, in the present 
case, to one too pure to need refor- 
mation. 

15. To fulfil all righteousness. 
Or, every righteous ordinance. As 
has been said, Jesus was baptized, 
not that the water might sanctify 
him, but that he might sanctify the 
water. That is, he did not need it 
as a sign of repentance and purifi- 
cation, but conformed to it, because 
it was an ordinance of God, and 
was to be a ceremony of his reli- 
gion through all tuner He claimed 
no immunity on account of superior 
holiness. In these cases the mas- 
ter is as the disciple, and the disci- 
ple as the master. His words to 
John have been thus paraphrased : 
"If my character be excellent as 
you have represented it, it is pecu- 
liarly becoming and natural in me 
-to fulfil every duty, and do what- 
ever is right and proper to be done, 
on all occasions. As the ordinance 
which you administer is of divine 
appointment, I wish to show my 
respect for every institution of God, 
by submitting to it ; as you an- 
nounce the approach of the Mes- 
siah's kingdom, I wish to bear a 
public testimony of my faith in your 
prophetic character, and to declare 



46 



THE GOSPEL 



And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of 18 
the water ; and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he 
saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting up- 



my expectation of that glorious 
event." These reasons satisfied 
John, and he acquiesced. We are 
led here to contrast the readiness 
of our divine Master to fulfil all 
righteousness, with the backward- 
ness of many persons to comply 
with the positively and divinely in- 
stituted ordinances of Christianity, 
Baptism and the Lord's Supper. 
His example teaches them to com- 
ply with all the commands of God, 
whether moral or ritual. Of the 
comparative importance of the two, 
moral and ritual, we may sum up 
all in his words : " These (the mor- 
al) ought ye to have done, and not 
to leave the other (the ritual) un- 
done." 

16. Straightway out of the water. 
He went up/rom the water. The 
original does not express the idea 
that they had been into the water, 
as would have been the case if the 
mode of baptism was by immersion, 
but they went down to the water, 
and then, when the rite had been 
performed, went Txpfrom the river's 
brink. The heavens, i. e. the visi- 
ble sky. Were opened. Some 
critics would transpose the word 
straightway from the foregoing 
clause, and insert it here. When 
it lightens, the clouds appear to 
open. The sky seems to be cleft 
asunder by the flash, for an instant, 
and then close up again. Such 
might have been the case now. 
The bright and sudden light might 
appear to make the firmament open. 
Acts vii. 56. This appearance is 
represented as taking place while 
he was praying. Luke iii. 21. 
The first act of his new office is, 
to acknowledge his dependence on 
God, and to supplicate his divine 
aid in the mighty enterprise before 



him. Unto him. The supernatu- 
ral appearance probably occurred in 
the sight of both Jesus and John, 
and also of the people. Him here 
refers to Jesus. He saw, i. e. Je- 
sus saw. John also says he saw 
it. John i. 32, 33. It was a tes- 
timony vouchsafed to John that Je- 
sus was the Messiah. John i. 34. 
The Spirit of God. Here we 
are plainly told what the Holy 
Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, is. It is 
not a person. It is not a numerical 
distinction of the Godhead. It is not 
a third part, or quality, or substance, 
or person, of the All-Glorious Dei- 
ty. The human mind has origi- 
nated these erroneous and mystify- 
ing notions ; not the Bible. The 
Holy Spirit, or Ghost, is THE SPIR- 
IT OF GOD. And as God is a Spirit, 
it is often, but not always, used for 
God himself. Here we may rest. 
We cannot understand the essence 
of the Deity. We can only say, 
that the Scriptures represent the 
Spirit of God as no more a distinct 
being from God, than the spirit of 
man is a distinct being from man. 
God is One, not Three. 1 Cor. ii. 
11. Descending like a dove. Luke 
says, "in a bodily shape." This 
may signify, either that there was a 
distinct, substantial appearance like 
a dove in form, or that the miracu- 
lous symbol of the divine spirit de- 
scended with a gentle, hovering, 
and dove-like motion. The inno- 
cence, gentleness, and meekness of 
Christ were fitly indicated by this 
reference to the dove. Matt. x. 16. 
This pure and gentle emblem waa 
a fitting investiture of an office of 
love and good-will, of humility and 
holiness. Lighting upon him. 
This would serve to connect, in 
the view of all the spectators, the 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



47 



17 on him. And, lo, a voice from heaven, saying : This is my 
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 

CHAPTER IV. 

. Tlie Temptation of Jesus Christ. 

HEN was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, to 



beautiful testimony of heaven with 
the person of Jesus. Unless it had 
lighted upon some particular per- 
son, it would have remained doubt- 
ful who was specially designated in 
the wonderful appearance. This 
circumstance singled out the indi- 
' vidual. So on the day of Pente- 
cost, when the holy spirit of God 
descended on the Apostles, cloven 
tongues of fire sat on each of them, 
pointing out the individuals who 
were divinely inspired and author- 
ized. A voice from heaven. Ear 
as well as eye was addressed. 
Probably, the surrounding multi- 
tudes heard the declaration, de- 
scending directly from God, and 
confirming the Messiahship of Je- 
sus. At subsequent periods, the 
same august voice broke the silence 
of the skies : on the mount of 
Transfiguration, Matt. xvii. 5 ; in 
the city of Jerusalem, John xii. 28 ; 
bearing attestation to the. same great 
truth. This is my beloved Son in 
whom I am icell pleased, i. e. with 
whom I am well pleased. The ti- 
tle of child or son was used fre- 
quently among the Jews, not in the 
sense of precise natural relation- 
ship, but in the more extended sig- 
nification of unity of affection and 
purpose. This mode of speech was 
used of men of different characters. 
Thus, the wicked were called the 
sons or children of Belial, Satan, 
and the Devil. John viii. 44 ; the 
good, the children of God. Matt. 
v. 9. In accordance with this form 
of speech, Jesus Christ was denom- 
inated the Son of God ; and to show 
the unparalleled excellence of his 



character, and his entire conformity 
to the divine will in the office he 
bore, he was called the well belov- 
ed, the only begotten, John i. 18, 
the dear,- Son of God. This term 
of endearment implies that Jesus 
had the full and constant approba- 
tion of God, that he was one with 
him, meaning to express not one- 
ness of nature or personality, but 
oneness of purpose and love, that 
he was peculiarly, more than any 
other being that ever existed, the 
Son of God, inasmuch as he at- 
tained to perfect love and holiness, 
and made the purposes of his Fath- 
er his own. God gave not the 
spirit by measure unto him. Thus 
he ever pleased God. Thus his 
disciples, inhaling his filial spirit, 
may, in some humble measure, 
please both hurt and his Father. 

GHAP. IV. 

1 11. Parallel passages, Mark 
i. 12, 13. Luke iv. 1-13. Mark's 
account is general ; Luke is more 
particular, and corresponds with 
Matthew, except in the order' of the 
temptations. This account of our 
Lord's temptation has been various- 
ly interpreted. Some suppose it to 
be a parable, designed for the in- 
struction' of his disciples. Some 
regard it as the description of a 
vision or dream. Some understand 
the tempter to have been a wicked 
man, or a Jewish priest. Most 
conceive him to have been literally 
the Devil, or Satan, as the popular 
terms are. 'But these views are. all 
more or less burdened with fatal in- 
consistencies and difficulties. We 



48 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days 2 



are rather to construe this passage 
as a figurative narration of a real 
transaction, a series of real tempta- 
tions in the mind of Jesus. The 
incidents were actual occurrences ; 
but, in relating them to his disci- 
ples, Jesus employ eu the popular 
oriental imagery. Force and spirit 
is given to the circumstances, by 
throwing them into the form of a 
dialogue. The thoughts and feel- 
ings of the mind are introduced as 
interlocutors, speaking and quoting 
from the Bible. Jesus prefigured 
to himself the misemployment that 
might be made of his special gifts, 
but resisted the allurements to make 
such an abuse of them. He was 
faithful to his high trust. He told 
the spiritual experience to his fol- 
lowers, in order to instruct them 
in the use of their miraculous pow- 
ers, in a manner fitted to impress 
the memory, and left it as a legacy 
of warning and encouragement to 
the world. 

1. Then. After the baptism of 
Jesus, and the descent of the holy 
spirit. "The water of baptism is 
succeeded by the fire of tempta- 
tion." Led up of the spirit into the 
wilderness. Mark uses the strong 
language, " And immediately the 
spirit driveth him into the wilder- 
ness." Under the powerful influ- 
ence of the divine, spirit, which had 
just been poured upon him "with- 
out measure," he leaves the crowd, 
and withdraws to a wild region, 
tway from the haunts of men, to 
the most sequestered parts of the 
desert or thinly peopled country, 
which were frequented by wild 
beasts. Mark i. 13. It was pro- 
ably the desert of Jericho, lying 
not far from Bethabara, where he 
was baptized. The soul of Jesus 
was full of the great consecration 
of himself to the work of God, and 
the solemn duties pertaining to it. 



His mind dilated and kindled with 
the grandeur of his mission. He 
retired to meditate on its toils and 
trials, its responsibilities and -joys. 
He was now to leave the humble 
shop of the carpenter, to assume 
the highest office ever known ia 
the world. What wonder that he 
repaired to the deepest solitudes, to 
engage in the exercises of fasting, 
prayer, and self-communion? What 
wonder that there, too, he should 
be subject to the assault of tempta- 
tions? To be tempted of the devil, 
i. e. by the devil. In the Bible, 
" certain and inevitable consequen- 
ces are very often represented as 
the results specially intended." Je- 
sus went not into the desert in or- 
der to be tempted. It would have 
been a practical violation of his 
prayer, "Lead us not into tempta- 
tion." His object was to fast, to 
pray, and to meditate. Or, rather, 
perhaps he had no specified plan. 
He wandered almost unconsciously, 
while under the workings of his 
high contemplations, and the migh- 
ty promptings of God's spirit, far- 
ther and farther from men, into "the 
deep fastnesses of the desert, moun- 
tainous country. There came the 
temptation, which was the effect, 
not the cause of his withdrawal. 
The words Satan and devil mean 
adversary and accuser. Human be- 
ings are called by these names. 
Matt. xvi. 23 ; John vi. 70 ; Tit. ii. 
3. In the last case, the words false 
accusers are translated elsewhere 
devils. Where no person is alluded 
to by these terms, they are used as 
a personification of temptation, evil. 
James iv. 7. This rhetorical figure 
is frequent in the Old and New 
Testament. Solomon personifies 
Wisdom ; Paul, Charity. 

2. Fasted. We are not to under- 
stand by this that he absolutely 
went witliout food during this long 



IV.] 



ACCORDING TO, MATTHEW. 



Sand forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when 
the tempter came to him, he said : If thou be the Son of God, 



period ; but that he had no regular 
supply. He lived sparingly. He 
had no sustenance except the scanty 
products of the desert, consisting, 
perhaps, of wild berries, fruits, and 
roots. Luke, iv. 2, says, indeed, 
that " he did eat nothing," but that 
is a general expressipn, which is 
probably to be taken with some lim- 
itation. So Jesus, says, Matt. xi. 
18, that "John came neither eating 
nor drinking," when we are told 
that " his meat was locusts and 
wild honey." Matt. iii. 4. Forty 
days. Moses, the Founder, and 
Elijah, the Restorer of the Jewish 
system, fasted the same length of 
time. Exod. xxxiv. 28 ; Deut. ix. 
9, 18; 1 Kings xix. 8. This is 
probably merely an undesigned co- 
incidence. An hungered, i. e. hun- 
gry. The meagre food of the des- 
ert was not sufficient. His body 
was'worn down by fasting. If, as 
some suppose, he had been during 
all this tune -miraculously support- 
ed, and had literally tasted nothing, 
we may rationally ask, Why should 
that aid be suddenly withdrawn 1 
It would throw him into that con- 
flict with temptation, into which we 
are told God directly leads no man. 
James i. 13. Miracles are not to 
be unnecessarily supposed. The 
facts in this account do not demand 
a miraculous interposition, but are 
more naturally explained without it. 
3. When the tempter came to him. 
What tempter ? A being in bodily 
shape, of horrid aspect, or a design- 
ing man, or a wily Jewish priest? 
This is inconceivable ; for their per- 
sonal appearance, and known de- 
sign, would have completely broken 
the spell of the temptation. What 
came was the tempting thought, 
the evil suggestion, that rose up in 
the mind, in his state of hunger 
VOL. i. 5 



and weariness. We are told in the 
Epistle to the Hebrews, that Jesus 
was "tempted in all points like as 
we are, yet without sin." And that 
" being tempted he is able to suc- 
cor them that are tempted." And 
that "he learned obedience by the 
things he suffered." How then are 
we tempted ? For when that ques- 
tion is answered, we can understand 
how Jesus was tempted. We are 
tempted by the concurrence of some 
external object with our inward de- 
sire, or by some . spontaneous im- 
agining, leading us, if followed, or 
even indulged, into sin. The wrong 
consists not in the thought, or im- 
agination, but in its being cherished, 
kept before the mind's eye, and 
acted out. Milton says truly, 

"Evil into the mind of God or man 
May come and go, so unapproved, and leave 
No spot or blame behind." 

Jesus was . thus tempted, or tried, 
or put to a moral proof. If it was 
in any different way, then he is no 
example for us in temptation ; we 
can derive no strength, courage, or 
hope, from his signal victory. But 
if he "was tempted in all points 
like as we are, "then "he is able 
to succor them that are tempted." 
He, as well as we, had at times to 
resist intruding thoughts of evil, 
whispers, and imaginings of wrong. 
But he resisted at once and entire- 
ly, and " no spot or blame " was 
left behind, any more than by the 
shadow of a cloud flying over the 
landscape." He was without sin. 
He said : If thou be the Son of God. 
This was the specious, plausible air, 
the temptation wore. "If, "as he 
thought with himself, " I am indeed 
the beloved Son of God, as I have 
been just declared to be by a voice 
from heaven, then why endure this 
weariness and painful hunger ? Why 



50 THE GOSPEL [CHAP. 

command that these stones be made bread. But he answered 4 
and said : It is written : "Man shall not live by bread alone, * 
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." 



may not my wonderful power be 
exerted for so important an end as 
my own comfort and self-preserva- 
tion?" To Ms pure nature bad 
thoughts were foreign ; but this 
tempting idea came in a robe of 
light. Command that these stones 
be made bread. Or, more correctly, 
that these stones be made loaves. 
"-Here is an opportunity to try my 
power, and determine whether I am 
really the Sou of God. The stones 
I see lying around me in the desert 
can, by a word, be turned into loaves 
of bread, to relieve my pressing hun- 
ger." Thus Jesus was tempted by 
the nature of the circumstances in 
which he was placed, as we are 
every day of our lives. He was 
tempted to use his power of work- 
ing miracles in order to change 
stones into loaves, and thus silence 
the sharp cravings of hunger. The 
first temptation was that, of appe- 
tite. Blessed be Heaven, we have 
not in our Saviour a "high priest 
. that cannot be touched with the 
feeling of our infirmities ; but was 
in all points tempted like as we are, 
yet without sin." Heb. iv.. 15. 

4. He answered. His good prin- 
ciples, his holy spirit, shrank from 
the idea with abhorrence. The 
words of Scripture rose to his lips : 
It is written, in Deut. viii. 3, Man 
shall not live by bread alone, but by 
every word that proceedeth out of the 
mouth of God. Man's life, includ- 
ing reason, will, affection, and hope, 
is sustained by all the diversified 
manifestations of God, by whatever 
he appoints. For word, thing might 
be properly substituted. These 
words refer to the case of the Is-, 
raelites, who were supported, not 
by bread, or any ordinary food, but 
by manna miraculously sent. As 



applied^ by Jesus to himself, their 
sense is this : " Animal Life may 
be sustained by any means God 
shall think proper. I will not there- 
fore distrust him so far as to under- 
take to supply my own wants by 
the use of those gifts allotted me 
by Him for the most important mor- 
al end." The tempting thought 
fled. The quotation may have al- 
so a spiritual import ; Wisd. of Sol- 
omon xvi. 26 ; as is beautifully set 
forth in a late author, Furness. 
" ' If so,' we may suppose the bless- 
ed Saviour to have communed with 
himself ' if I am the Son of God, 
then a mere animal life is not the 
end of my being, to which I am to 
devote my powers. The divine fac- 
ulties and gifts of the Son of God 
are destined not for private and finite 
uses, but for vast and comprehen- 
sive purposes correspondent to gifts 
so great and rare. They have not 
been bestowed on me merely to sup- 
port this perishing -clay, and to ex- 
ercise them for an object compara- 
tively so worthless would be sacri- 
lege. The life of the Son of God 
is not in the life of the body, but in 
the life of the godlike soul, and that 
is sustained by the consciousness of 
being true to the Divine Will, the 
word written on the heart. No, I 
Avill not desecrate my power by put- 
ting it to a mean use. Better were 
it for me to perish than to forget 
my true destiny. My dependence 
is not on bread alone, or principally, 
but on the consciousness of being 
true to God.' " "How often do 
,we see men, who possess powers 
fitting them to be the reformers and 
benefactors of thousands, sacrific- 
ing every thing for bread, or for 
the wealth and place which will se- 
cure bread enough and to spare! " 



IV.] _ ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 51 

5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth 

G him on a pinnacle of the temple ; and saith unto him : If thou he 

the Son of God, cast thyself down ; for it is written : " He 

shall give his angels charge concerning thee ; and in their 

hands" they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy 

7 foot against a stone." Jesus said unto him : It is written 

O 

insomuch that, if any one looked 
down from the top of the battle- 
ment, he would be giddy." 

6. If thou be the Son of God. 
This idea perpetually occurred to 

the mind of Jesus. In it was lodg- 
ed much of the force of the tempta- 
tion. Cast thyself down. Thus 
employing his miraculous powers 
to strike the multitudes of Jerusa- 
lem with awe and wonder. Such a 
" sign" would substantiate in their 
eyes his claim to the Messiahship. 
They were expecting some such 
striking display of power, rather 
than the beneficent miracles he ac- 
tually wrought. The temptation 
was that of vanity. The language 
of the Psalmist seemed to encour- 
age such an act. Ps. xci. 11, 12. 
The passage, however, expresses 
the protection of Divine Providence 
over the righteous, not the presump- 
tuous. Angels mean any kind of 
messengers or instruments employ- 
ed to effect the purposes of God. 
They shall bear thee up. ICuinoel 
remarks that this metaphor is taken 
from parents, who, in travelling 
over rough ways, lift up and carry 
their children over the stones in 
their path, lest they should trip and 
stumble upon them. Dash thy foot 
against a stone. A proverbial ex- 
pression, in both Greek and He- 
brew, to denote any danger or mis- 
fortune. 

7. The pure, discriminating eye 
of Jesus saw that the idea was not 
to be entertained. And as Scrip- 
ture language occurred to his mind 
,in its justification, so a passage did 
also in its condemnation. It is 



Jesus could change water into wine 
for others, to promote the innocent 
hilarity of a wedding, but he would 
not change stones into bread for 
himself, though it were to quell 
hunger, and relieve faintness. He 
performed no miracle specially for 
himself. He did not resist in the 
Garden, though a cloud of angels 
were ready to come at his bidding. 
He did not descend from the Cross 
of shame and agony, though his 
enemies scornfully challenged Mm 
to do it. Glorious being ! His 
heart beat with a Love superior to 
every selfish consideration. 

5. Then the devil taketh, him. 
There was no transportation except 
in his own thoughts. His tempting 
imagination flew Avith him to Jeru- 
salem, and seated him on the top of 
the temple. It is thus our thoughts 
and imaginations tempt us, carrying 
us hither and thither, to and fro, on 
the earth, to the cities of pleasure 
and the mountains of power and 
pride. Holy city. Jerusalem was 
so called because the temple of God 
was situated there. The inscrip-. 
tion on coins was " Jerusalem the 
Holy." Pinnacle of the temple. 
A wing; turret, or battlement of 
that edifice. The top of the porch 
is perhaps here meant, called the. 
King's Portico, which towered per- 
pendicularly 750 feet above the, bot- 
tom of a deep valley at its side. 
Josephus refers to it. " This clois- 
ter deserves to be mentioned better 
than .any other under the sun ; for 
while the valley was very deep, this 
farther vastly higher elevation of 
ths cloister stood upon that height, 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



again : C{ Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God." Again, 8 
the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and 
showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of 
them, and saith unto him :' All these things will I give thee, if 9 
thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto 10 



written, Deut. vi. 16, again. This 
adverb, according to Campbell, 
ought to qualify said, and not writ- 
ten , and the sentence read thus : 
Jesus again said unto him : It is 
written : Thou slialt not tempt the 
Lord thy God. .Tempt her6 signi- 
fies to try, to assay, to put to the 
proof. It is not used in the sense 
in 'which it is in verse 2 of this 
chapter, of alluring to evil, but of 
making trial whether God would 
support one who should thus pre- 
sumptuously cast himself upon, 
his Providence. If we expose our- 
selves to needless dangers, we can- 
not reasonably expect to be saved. 
A wanton and voluntary periling of 
life or health cannot be right. We 
cannot promise ourselves the pro- 
tection of Heaven, if we rashly 
presume upon it, and rush into dif- 
ficulties without cause. The man- 
ner in which he resisted this temp- 
tation was a type of his conduct 
through his ministry. He tempted 
not God, put his power to no proof, 
by rashly exposing himself to dan- 
ger and death ; but exercised the 
greatest prudence, avoiding peril, 
when he could consistently with his ' 
duty, and never exercising that mi- 
raculous energy in his own behalf, 
which he so often and generously 
employed for the relief of others. 

8. The third temptation is that 
of Ambition. Three great classes 
of enticements from duty are group- 
ed together in this history of Jesus' 
temptations ; those of Appetite, or 
the sensual nature ; those of Vani- 
ty, or the gratification of Self-con- 
sequence ; and those of Ambition, 
the love of fame and dominion', 



which Milton calls " the last infir- 
mity of noble minds." It has been 
observed that this order is the natu- 
ral order in the spiritual develop- 
ment of human nature. The first 
step is to subdue and keep the body 
under, the last to conquer the mind 
itself, and bring thought, hope, and 
the nobler powers all into captivity 
to Christ, which is true Freedom. 
Taketh him. See ver. 5. All 
the kingdoms. The world -with its 
crowns and sceptres passed before 
his mind. Mighty cities with all 
their magnificence stood present to 
his eye. Earth and her inhabitants, 
her riches, and honors, and pleas- . 
ures, lay at his feet. Going forth 
as the Messiah, would not his path 
lead directly to universal dominion ? 
Were not the Jews ready to take 
him and make him King? How 
seductive was the blandishment thus 
spread before his mental vision ! 

9. If lliou loiltfall down and wor~ 
ship me. Obeisance, and also re- 
ligious worship, in the east, were ' 
performed partly by prostrating the 
body upon the ground. This was 
the base condition, on which Jesus 
might become the master of the 
world, and mightier than the Alex- 
anders and Caesars who had fought 
for its sovereignty. He must him- 
self become the slave of Ambition.. 
He must ignobly surrender up the 
birthright of the free, illimitable 
spirit, for the sake of this external 
rule over men. The great heroes 
of the earth, so reputed, have al- 
ways been really as much in servi- 
tude, as the meanest follower in their 
retinue. Their spirits have been 
in "chains, slavery, and death." 



TV.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



53 



him : Get thee hence, Satan ; for it is written : "Thou shalt 
worship the .Lord thy God, and him only shalt thoii serve." 
11 Then 'the devil leaveth him; and, behold, angels came and 
ministered unto him. 



Their passions have ruled them 
with a cruel sway. They have 
"worshipped and served the crea- 
ture." " Sin has reigned in their 
mortal bodies," and over their im- 
mortal spirits, and they have " obey- 
ed the lusts thereof." Slaves they 
have been, indeed, to the lowest 
point of degradation. Jesus saw 
the dazzling picture of worldly am- 
bition, "the kingdoms, and their 
glory," and their bravery, but he 
saw also what he must fall down to 
worship, in order that the glittering 
prize might be secured. He knew 
that he came to be .the Spiritual 
King of mankind, not the servant 
of his own appetites and passions. 
Ths glorious vision that had daz- 
zled the imagination faded. The 
words of divine truth, cams to his 
memory. Ambition was foiled, and 
the Satan fled. 

10. Get thee hence, Satan. Or, 
get thee behind me. An expres- 
sion of rebuke and condemnation. 
Far from me be such, wickedness. 
Matt. xvi. 23. Thou shalt wor- 
ship ths Lord thy God. Deut. vi. 
13. God is the supreme object of 
worship and service. All other 
things must be subsidiary to the 
soul's devotion to him. The Sa- 
viour felt this in entering upon his 
mission. He renounced himself, 
suppressed Appetite, Vanity, and 
Ambition, put to flight every seduc- 
tive tempter that came into his 
.mind, and surrendered himself up 
to the purposes of God without 
qualification or reservation ; a liv- 
ing, spotless sacrifice, "he offered 
up himself" upon the altar of God 
for the sake of the world. Our ad- 
miration of this wonderful being 
will be more increased, the longer 
-' : 



we dwell upon the perfect self-de- 
nial and self-sacrifice he exercised 
against the temptations which be- 
set him at this period of his life. 

11. Then the devil leaveth him. 
Luke, iv. 13, says that " he depart- 
ed from him for a season," which 
implies that he returned again at 
some future period. Here is one 
circumstance which goes to corrobo- 
rate the interpretations above pre- 
sented. The devil leaves Jesus for 
a season, and returns again. But 
returns in what manner ? in a bodily 
form ? No ; it is not so said, but in 
the same manner in which it comes 
to all spiritual beings ; in desires, 
fears, imaginings. In the garden 
of Gethsemane, the evening before 
the crucifixion, the tempter came. 
It is. not described as a person. It 
came in the shape of fear and re- 
luctance at the terrible fate before 
him. The flesh was weak, though 
the spirit was willing. But the 
tempter was again met and put to 
flight, and Jesus submitted to do 
and suffer all his Father's holy will. 
The impersonality of the tempter 
in the last case, taken in connexion 
with. Luke's language, chap. iv. 13, 
furnishes a considerable presump- 
tion in favor of the theory advanc- 
ed in this chapter, that the devil 
here spoken of is a personification 
of evil, not a conscious being. 
Angels came and ministered unto 
him. Either divine messengers ap- 
peared, and satisfied his wants, or 
the cheering thoughts and happy 
feelings which sprang up in his own 
bosom at having resisted temptation 
successfully, .and held fast his in- 
tegrity, ministered as it were to 
him, satisfying his wants. Upon 
another occasion, when weary and 



54 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, 12 
he departed into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, he came 13 
and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea-coast, in the 
borders-of Zabulon and Nephthalim ; that it might be fulfilled 14 



thirsty, he stopped for refreshment 
at Jacob's well in Samaria. He 
was so spiritually exhilarated in his- 
interview with the woman there, 
that hunger and thirst vanished, and 
when his disciples returned and 
pressed him to eat, he replied : "I 
have meat to .eat that ye know not 
of. My meat is to do the will of 
him that sent me, and to finish his 
work." " When the great strug- 
gle was over, and the tempter had 
fled, and the bosom of Jesus, no 
longer darkened by evil shadows, 
was filled with the serene triumph 
of moral victory, and endowed with 
new force wrought out by the re- 
cent strife, then the ineffable light 
of God, beaming within, irradiated 
every thing around him, and the 
desert smiled, and' the sun "grew 
brighter in the heavens, and grace 
and beauty invested the meanest 
things, until they overflowed with a 
divine presence and spirit, and 
seemed to be living, speaking min- 
isters of God. Tn this divine frame 
he quitted the desert, and returned 
in the power of the spirit to Gali- 
lee." Luke iv. 14. The tempta- 
tion of Jesus proves that he was 
not God, for " God cannot be tempt- 
ed with evil." James i. 13. 

12-25. For the parallel pas- 
sages, see Mark i. 14 20 ; Luke 
iv. 14, v. 1-11. An interval of 
several weeks, or months, elapsed 
between the Temptation and the 
events related in verse 12. Many 
important incidents of Christ's min- 
istry, occurring at this time, are re- 
lated in the" first nine chapters of 
John, excepting the sixth. 

12. John was cast into prison. 
For an account of John's imprison- 
ment, and its causes and results. 



see Matt. xiv. 3 - 12 ; Mark vi. 17 
-29 ; Luke iii. 19, 20. This event 
was a reason why Jesus should 
leave the country of Judea and 
withdraw into Galilee, then under 
the jurisdiction of Philip, where he 
could pursue his work with less 
molestation from the Scribes and 
Pharisees, who had become highly 
excited against him, and gather 
around him a band of disciples, who 
should be the preachers of 'his re- 
ligion to the world. The ministry 
of his Forerunner was completed, 
and he now pursues his own with 
more activity, and makes prepar- 
ation to perpetuate it after his death, 
through the instrumentality of the 
Apostles. 

13. Leaving Nazareth, dwelt in 
Capernaum. Though Jesus had 
lived there many, years with his 
parents, yet the unbelief of the 
people, and their abusive treatment 
of him personally, probably induced 
him to remove and fix his abode at 
Capernaum. Matt. xiii. 58 ; Luke 
iv. 16 30. Dwelt, that is, made 
it his principal abode ; yet he was 
absent much. Perhaps his mother 
and family moved thither. It was 
afterwards called his city. Naza- 
reth lay near the middle of Lower 
Galilee. Capernaum was situated 
on the northwestern shore of the 
Sea of Galilee. Its precise situa- 
tion cannot now be determined. 
"Which is upon the sea-coast, i. e. 
the shore of the Sea of Galilee. 
In the borders of. Zabulon and Neph- 
thalim. In the Hebrew language, 
these tribes of Israel are called 
Zebulun and Naphtali. Gen. xlix. 
13, 21. The portion of .country as- 
signed to them was located west 
and northwest of the Sea of G?l'- 



IV] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



55 



15 which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying : "The land 
of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the 

16 sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people which 
sat in darkness saw great light.; and to them which sat in the 

17 region and shadow of death light is sprung up." From 

that time Jesus began to preach, and to say : Repent ; for the 
kingdom of heaven is at hand: 



lee, according to the division made 
by Joshua. Joshua xix. 10-16, 
32-39. The word borders here 
means boundaries. 

14. Fulfilled. Verified. Esaias 
the prophet, i. e. Isaiah. See Is. ix. 
1, 2, The prophet wrote during 
the irruption of the king of Assyria, 
and a short time before the ten 
tribes were carried away captive to 
Babylon. Looking beyond the dark 
present, he predicts the golden age 
of the Jews, when the oppressed 
and benighted would be enlighten- 
ed and redeemed by the Messiah. 
Matthew quotes the passage proba- 
bly by way of accommodation, ra- 
ther than of literal accomplishment. 
The quotation is not exact, and 
seems to have, been made from 
memory, but the sense is mainly 
preserved. 

15. By the way of the sea. Lying 
along the sea-coast. Beyond Jor- 
dan. This signifies in the vicinity 
of Jordan, oa or along that river ; 
not, the country on the east side, as 
the words .usually mean. Galilee 
of the Gentiles. This province was 
divided into two parts, Upper and 
Lower. Upper Galilee was inhab- 
ited in a considerable measure by 
the Gentiles, or other people than 
the Jews, and hence was called Gal- 
ilee of the Gentiles. This mixture 
of a foreign population was occa- 
sioned by Solomon giving to Hiram, 
in consideration of services done by 
him, twenty cities in the land of 
Galilee. 1 Kings ix. 1 1 - 13. These 
towns were in the "neighborhood of 
Tyre and Sidon. and were peopled 



by Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Ara- 
bians. 

16. Darkness, light. These terms 
are frequently used in Scripture for 
ignorance and knowledge of true 
religion, respectively. As the peo- 
ple were heathen who dwelt in this 
part of the country, they were in- 
volved in that moral darkness, which 
might without exaggeration be call- 
ed the region and shadow of death, 
i. e. the darkest shadow. This was 
a vivid figure to describe the .des- 
perate moral condition of the land. 
" A shadow is caused by an object 
coming between us and the sun. 
So the Hebrews imagined death as 
standing between these regions and 
the sun, and casting a long, dark, 
and baleful shadow abroad on the 
face of the nation, denoting their 
great ignorance, sin, and woe. It 
denotes a dismal, gloomy, and dread- 
ful shade, where death and sin reign, 
like the chills, damps, and horrors, 
of the dwelling-place of the dead." 
Job x. 21 ; Psalms xxiii. 4 ; Jer. ii. 6. 

IT. Jesus began to preach. He 
had already for a considerable time 
been laboring in Judea, but he now 
began to preach in Galilee. John, 
being imprisoned, was now unable 
to carry forward the reformation of 
the people, and prepare them for the 
kingdom, of the Messiah. Jesus 
takes up the great subject where he 
left it, and thus points out to the 
people that he was acting in con- 
junction with John, and was the 
person whom the Baptist had pre- 
dicted. Jesus did not immediate- 
ly declare himself as the Messiah 



56 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, 18 
Simon called Peter,' and Andrew his brother, casting a net into 
the sea ; for they were fishers. And he saith unto them : 19 
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they 20 
straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on 21 
from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zeb- 



in his preaching ; for the popular 
feeling, thus aroused, would have 
brought the Jews into immediate 
collision with the Romans. By his 
labors and instructions he sought to 
open their prejudiced minds to the 
important fact that the Messiah was 
to be a spiritual, not a temporal 
King. See note on chap. iii. 7. 

18. Sea of Galilee. This body of 
water went under the names of the 
Sea of Galilee, Sea of Tiberias, 
Lake of Gennesareth, or Cinnereth. 
It is included in Lower Galilee, and 
is situated east of north from Jeru- 
salem, at the distance of seventy 
miles. The shape of the lake is 
oval, its length about sixteen miles, 
its breadth about six. Its waters 
are pure and sweet, and abound in 
fish. It is situated among high, 
steep hills, and is therefore subject 
to severe and sudden gusts of wind. 
Many flourishing cities once stood 
on its romantic shores, as Tiberias, 
Bethsaida, Capernaum, Chorazin, 
and Hippos. Two brethren. It is 
an interesting circumstance, that 
several of the Apostles were related 
to each other, and also to Jesus, 
thus adding the ties of kindred to 
the sympathies of religion, and se- 
curing union and harmony. Simon 
called Peter, and Andrew. Peter is 
the same as Cephas in Hebrew, and 
signifies a rock. Matt. xvi. 18 ; 
John i. 42. They were the sons of 
John, or Jona. They were already 
acquainted with Jesus, as appears 
from John i. 35-42. This was a 
kind of second call . Net. A seine , 
or large drag net. The original 
word is not the same as that trans- 



lated nets in verse 21. The fishery 
of this lake' afforded a subsistence to 
a large number of persons. 

19. Follow me. Equivalent to 
saying, "Become my disciples." 
Matt. viii. 22, ix. 9. Fishers of 
men. You shall collect men into 
the kingdom of the 'Messiah, from 
the Jews and Gentiles. This prom- 
ise was abundantly fulfilled in 'the 
multitudes which were converted by 
the Apostles. This instance is in 
harmony with Christ's general meth- 
od of teaching, by which he em- 
ploys events, trades, objects around 
him to illustrate and enforce spiritu- 
al truth. In classical authors, terms 
of hunting and fishing are often 
used in relation to acquiring adhe- 
rents and disciples. Jesus calls not 
the rich, learned, refined, or power- 
ful ; resorts not to the schools of Je- 
rusalem, but to the fishing-boats of 
Galilee, to obtain his disciples and 
apostles. Fishermen could better 
endure hardships. They had not 
been so deeply corrupted by world- 
liness, or spoiled by vain philosophy. 
They would, being uneducated men, 
also make it more apparent to the 
world that their doctrine was from 
heaven, not of men. Many great 
movements in society begin in the 
Immbler walks of life. 

20. Straightivay. They obeyed 
the invitation without seeking to ex- 
cuse themselves, or waiting till a 
more convenient season. -Followed 
him. They were probably ignorant 
to some extent, at this time, of the 
spiritual character of their Master. 

21. James the son of Zebedec, and 
John his brother. James received 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



57 



edee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, 

22 mending their nets ;' and he called them. And they immedi- 
ately left the ship and their father, and followed him. 

23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their syna- 
gogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing 



the title of James the Elder, or 
Greater, to distinguish him from 
James called the Less. John was the 
Evangelist, designated as the dis- 
ciple whom Jesus loved. They had 
probably seen Jesus at Jerusalem, 
or elsewhere, for he was evidently 
no stranger to them. Ship. Bet- 
ter, boat, or fishing vessel, or craft, 
such as were used on this inland 
water. Mending their nets. These, 
according to the original, were small 
casting nets, and unlike that used 
by Simon and Andrew, verse 18. 
It has been ingeniously observed, 
that the inventor of a fictitious tale 
would not have been likely to have 
mentioned so trivial a fact as that 
they were mending their nets ; triv- 
ial to one not engaged in that calling, 
but important to the fisherman him- 
self. The mention of such a fact is 
one of those minute, but strong and 
beautiful filaments of truth and real- 
ity which are woven into every page 
of the Gospels ; were not our eyes 
so dulled by custom and familiarity 
as to pass them over unheeded. 

22. Left the ship and their father, 
and followed him. Matt. x. 37, xix. 
27, 29. They felt it to be their duty 
to leave all, at the command of one 
whom they considered as a divine 
messenger, and perhaps as the Mes- 
siah ; and though they had not yet, 
and did not have for a long time, 
correct ideas of the mission of their 
Master, yet they showed their reli- 
gious faith and loyalty by adhering 
to one authorized and sent by God. 

23. Synagogues. This word at 
first meant a collection of people, 
but, like the English word church, 
it afterwards was applied to the 



building Avhere the assembly was 
held. The origin of Synagogues ia 
unknown. They were probably in- 
troduced during or after the Baby- 
lonish captivity. They are not men- 
tioned in the Old Testament. At 
first they were erected without the 
cities, in the fields, and usually near 
streams, or on the sea-shore, for the 
greater convenience of ablution ; 
subsequently they were erected in 
cities, in proportion to the popula- . 
tion. Jerusalem had nearly five 
hundred. Services were held in 
them on festival and fast days, and 
the first, second, and seventh days 
of every week. Saturday was the 
Jewish Sabbath. The exercises 
consisted in reading the law and the 
prophets ; prayers, and addresses to 
the assembly, consisting chiefly of 
interpretations of Scripture. The 
whole was closed by a short prayer 
and benediction, to which the assem- 
bly responded, Amen. The officers 
in a Synagogue were ten in number. " 
The most "important were the Ru- 
lers, who constituted, according to 
Lightfoot, the "council of three," 
and the scribe, or minister, who 
prayed and preached. Mark v. 22 ; 
Luke iv. 20. The Synagogues 
opened a fine avenue for Christ and 
his Apostles to communicate their 
instructions to the Jewish people, 
for strangers were often invited to 
give a word of exhortation. Acts 
xiii. 15. Gospel of the kingdom, 
i. e. Christianity. Gospel is com- 
pounded of two Saxon words, mean- 
ing good, and message, or news. 
Jesus preached the good news of 
Christianity, the glad intelligence 
of the mercy of God, and the broth- 



58 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the 
people. And bis fame went throughout all Syria ; and they 24 
brought unto him all sick people, that were taken with divers 
diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with 
devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had 



erhood and immortality of mankind. 
The word kingdom is used as. im- 
plying that its subjects would all 
recognise and obey God, as the Su- 
preme Lawgiver and Judge. Heal- 
ing all manner of sickness and all 
manner of disease, i. e. every kind, 
not every case of sickness. Ac- 
cording to Bloomfield, the original 
word, translated sickness, signifies a 
thoroughly formed disorder, and that 
translated disease, an incipient indis- 
position. Jesus had already, as we 
learn from John ii., v., begun to 
work his beneficent miracles. How 
active was his benevolence ! He 
went about doing good, and pro- 
claiming glad tidings. 

24. Syria was at tlu's period a 
Roman province, lying north and 
northeast of Palestine, and contigu- 
ous to it. All sick people. Not 
literally every one, but great num- 
bers of all kinds. Possessed loith 
devils. Or, to hold to the original, 
possessed with demons, demoniacs. 
None probably believe that the Jews 
supposed that these persons were 
possessed of devils, in the present 
acceptation of that word ; but with 
demons, or the departed spirits of 
wicked, malignant men, evil genii, 
who entered into the living. Jose- 
phus says, "that those called de- 
mons are no other than the spirits 
of the wicked, that enter into men 
that are alive, and kill them, unless 
they can obtain some help against 
them." This was probably a su- 
perstition. Wetstein has conclu- 
sively shown that it is the unani- 
mous opinion of physicians, whose 
authority is great upon such a sub- 
ject, that demoniacs and lunatics 



were cases of natural disorders and 
insanity. The demoniacs sometimes 
believed, indeed, that they were pos- 
sessed with evil spirits ; but their 
testimony is not admissible ; since 
the insane often imagine themselves 
to be what they are not ; kings, 
generals, Christ, and even God. 
The symptoms, as given in the New 
Testament, of this class of suffer- 
ers, are precisely those of insanity. 
Their dislike to wearing clothes, 
their love of living in by-places, and 
wandering about, their recklessness 
in attacking persons, their sudden 
fits of violent convulsions, their fixed 
idea of being some thing or some 
body different from themselves, in- 
dicate a state of derangement. See 
Luke viii. 27-30; Matt. viii. 28 ; 
Mark ix. 20. When cured, the de- 
moniacs are said to be restored to 
reason. Luke viii. 35. Jesus and 
h'is Apostles used the popular lan- 
guage of the times in reference to 
them. Nor was there any prevari- 
cation in it, any more than in our 
using the word bewitched, though, 
we do not believe in witchcraft; 
and the expressions, St. Vitus' 
dance, and St. Anthony's fire, 
though we suppose that those saints 
have nothing to do with certain dis- 
orders of the human body called by 
those names. Jesus came not to 
reform institutions, but men, their 
makers ; not language, but the spir- 
it from which it sprang. When 
true religion had enlightened man- 
kind, he foresaw, that the supersti- 
tions about demons, ghosts, and 
witches, would disappear, as the 
unseemly birds of night vanish be- 
fore the shining of the sun. Lu- 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



59 



25 the palsy ; and he healed them. And there followed him 
great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, 
and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan. 

CHAPTER V. 

The Sermon on the Mount. 

AND seeing the multitudes, He went up into a. mountain ; and 



notic. Not maniacs, but those af- 
fected by epilepsy, or falling sick- 
ness. Matt. xvii. 15. Luna, in 
Latin, means moon. It was sup- 
posed that persons affected by this 
disorder were made better or worse 
by the changes of that luminary. - 
The same influence is supposed to 
affect the insane, and with some 
reason. Hence the insane are often 
called lunatics at the present day. 
Had the palsy. This disorder affects 
the nerves of locomotion. Some- 
times it seizes the whole body. 
Sometimes it fixes upon particular 
parts or limbs, and then takes vari- 
ous names according to its location. 
The cure, by our Master, of these 
severe chronic complaints afforded 
him an opportunity to do immense 
good, and furnished one of the 
strongest evidences of the divine au- 
thority of his mission and ministry. 
" The works that I do in my Fa- 
ther's name, they bear witness of 
me," was his convincing argument. 
25. Decapolis. Or, "the ten cit- 
ies," from two Greek words having 
this meaning. This region was sit- 
uated east of the Lake of Galilee. 
The names of the ten cities were, 
according to Pliny, Scythopolis, 
Hippos, Gadara, Dion, Pella, Gera- 
sa, Philadelphia, Canatha, Damas- 
cus, and Raphana ; but Ptolemy 
makes Capitolias one of the towns, 
and Josephus substitutes Otopos for 
Canatha. The vast throngs which 
assembled from the most distant 
parts of the land were drawn to- 
gether, probably, by the astonishing 
news of Christ's miraculous power, 



with the wish to be cured of their 
diseases ; with the sentiment of cu- 
riosity, wonder, ambition, highly 
exalted national hopes, and all the 
various motives that could actuate 
the human heart under circumstan- 
ces so extraordinary. Multitudes 
no doubt came hoping to see him 
declare himself the Messiah, unfurl 
the banner of that mighty name, 
and strike for the liberties of Pales- 
tine, and the subjugation of the 
world. How widely they would be 
disappointed in their hopes is appar- 
ent from the following chapter. 

CHAP. V. 

As has been already said, the 
Jews were in expectation of a tem- 
poral, not a spiritual Messiah. The 
vast multitudes that thronged around 
the Saviour, and witnessed Ms mir- 
acles, and heard his words, were 
probably inflamed with the same 
worldly desires. And as the masses 
of living beings swelled larger and 
larger, these persuasions would be 
immensely deepened by sympathy. 
Heart would beat to heart, and deep 
call unto deep ; all the strongest 
passions of human and Jewish na- 
ture were setting, like an ocean 
tide, in one direction, with an irre- 
sistible momentum. We can, by 
throwing ourselves into the scene,, 
and imagining the circumstances un- 
der which Jesus spoke, gain some 
idea of the moral intrepidity, which 
impelled him to dissipate these bril- 
liant but false anticipations, and, in 
the face of thousands, ready to raise 
the war-cry of a military leader, 



60 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



when he was set, his disciples came unto him. And he opened 2 
his mouth, and taught them, saying : Blessed are the poor in 3 
spirit ; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they 4 



and rush to conflict, rapine, and do- 
minion, to deliver first the Beati- 
tudes, and then, his searching com- 
ments upon the opinions and practi- 
ces of the Scribes and Pharisees. 

The object of the Sermon on the 
Mount, as it has usually been called, 
was to give the collected multitudes 
some notions of the nature. of his 
kingdom. He defines it as a king- 
dom within, a reign of the spirit. 
He settles the long vexed question 
of Happiness. He prostrates their 
worldly hopes, by showing that his 
followers must look for spiritual re- 
wards only, rewards within them- 
selves ; the happiness that arose, 
not from riches, honors, or pleas- 
ures, but from meekness, humility, 
righteousness, peace, and purity. 
The groundwork of his system, the 
fundamental precepts, he lays down 
in a series of bold and beautiful 
paradoxes ; at least, such they seem 
to most men, so small are their spir- 
itual attainments. Then he proceeds 
to inculcate an. infinitely higher 
toned morality and piety than that 
preached and practised by the teach- 
ers of the day. He proclaimed what 
may be called the Magna Charta of 
the spiritual life for all mankind, in 
this sublime address. It affords in 
itself alone an, unanswerable argu- 
ment for the truth of Christianity. 

1 12. For a parallel passage see 
Lukevi. 20-26. 

1. Seeing the multitudes, i. e. the 
multitudes mentioned in the last 
verse of the foregoing chapter. That 
was a reason for his speaking. He 
saw thousands around him, and he 
took the opportunity to explain his 
doctrines. What is here condensed 
in one continuous discourse was 
probably also delivered in parts to 
different people upon other occa- 



sions. He went up into a moun- 
tain. Or, according to the original, 
the mountain. Some well known 
mountain or hill in the vicinity of 
Capernaum. Its location cannot 
now be determined. From this ele- 
vation he could more convenient- 
ly address the vast concourse. 
And ivhen he icas set. Was seated. 
While teaching, the Jewish Rabbins 
were accustomed to sit, but their 
pupils kept a standing posture. 
Luke iv. 20 ; John viii. 2 ; Acts 
xvi. 13. His disciples came unto 
him. The disciples were learners, 
or those who were taught. Proba- 
bly the multitude are included in 
the term, as they were for the time 
his pupils, his disciples. So upon 
other occasions, those who followed 
his instructions, though not of the 
twelve, nor of his immediate attend- 
ants, were denominated disciples. 
John vi. 66. Nevertheless, others 
have understood by disciples those 
only who attached themselves to 
Jesus in the belief that he was the 
expected Messiah. 

2. He opened his mouth. These 
words are pleonastic, or redundant, 
i. e. they do not add any thing- to 
the meaning of the sentence. Ple- 
onasm is a common figure of speech 
in the Bible. * 

3. Blessed arc the poor in spirit. 
Some are in favor of the use of hap- 
py in this connexion ; but Ucssed 
is a more forcible and solemn word, 
and, as Carpenter observes, has ref- 
erence to the appointment and bless- 
ing of God. There is no verb in 
the original, and the translation 
would be more spirited thus, Blessed 
the poor in spirit. The declarations 
from verse 3 to 12 are sometimes 
called Beatitudes, because each of 
them begins with the word blessed, 



V.] ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 61 

5 that mourn ; for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the 



or happy, the Latin for which is 
beatus. The qualities here pro- 
nounced blessed are directly the re- 
verse of those which the Jews of 
that time, and the world generally, 
have so esteemed. Common opin- 
ion says, Blessed the rich. Jesus 
says, Blessed the poor. Common 
opinion says, Blessed the joyous, 
the elevated, the quick-spirited, the 
popular, the worldly-wise, the am- 
bitious. Jesus says, Blessed the 
mourning, the meek, the spiritually 
aspiring, the merciful, the pure, the 
persecuted, the peace-makers. What 
a signal testimony to the divine ori- 
gin of Christianity is presented in 
the fact, that its author flattered 
none of the prejudices or desires 
most current, but struck out a new 
path, taught a pure and lofty theol- 
ogy and philosophy, with great dis- 
tinctness, which the wise men of old 
had only felt after, and caught a 
glimpse of, not fully found ! He 
shows in these profound axioms, 
that religion promotes present and 
eternal felicity. "In the first 
place," says Dewey, "our Saviour 
addressed a company of men, his 
disciples and others, who looked for 
their Messiah as a temporal king, 
who expected that he would deliver 
them from the Roman yoke, conquer 
the surrounding nations, and rein- 
state the Jews -in all and more than 
all the possessions and splendors of 
the ancient monarchy. In the next 
place, he addressed a company who 
were accustomed to all those eva- 
sions of the moral law, which had 
been brought in by tradition, and 
which were daily multiplied by 
Jewish doctors and scribes. Let 
these tilings be borne in mind, and 
we shall see how far from being ab- 
stract, how pertinent, indeed, and 
pointed, is every word he utters." 
The poor in spirit, i. e. according 
to Norton, those whose poverty is 
VOL. i. Q 



of the spirit ; who feel that they 
are poor inwardly; who are con- 
scious of their moral and spiritu- 
al destitution. Blessed are such, 
whether of much or little estate, 
(though the poor in goods were 
more likely, indeed, to feel their 
spiritual wants ; ) for they are prom- 
inent candidates for the kingdom of 
heaven. They are much happier 
than the spiritually self-satisfied, 
self-sufficient, Rev. iii. 17 ; who 
thank God that they are not as other 
men are, and who boast of a lineage 
from Abraham, and think that of 
course they abound in spiritual 
riches. For theirs is the kingdom 
of heaven. Their state of mind en- 
titles them to the kingdom of heaven. 
They will be its possessors, rather 
than those who feel rich in spirit, 
who are puffed up with their reli- 
gious attainments. It will be ob- 
served throughout the beatitudes, 
that there is a tacit comparison in- 
stituted between the poor in spirit, 
the merciful, pure, &c., and the op- 
posite characters, the proud, the 
cruel, the sensual, &c. Another 
point worthy of notice is, the cor- 
respondence of the rewards with 
the characters described. The mer- 
ciful obtain mercy in return. The 
hungry are filled. The poor in 
spirit are heirs of the whole rich 
kingdom. ; the Gospel is theirs. 

4. They that mourn ; for they shall 
be contorted. It has been a ques- 
tion with interpreters, whether Jesus 
means those who mourn under a 
sense of their sins, or under the ex- 
perience of afflictions. Both per- 
haps are included. Those who 
mourned under a sense of their spir- 
itual destitution and unworthiness, 
who had that " godly sorrow which 
worketh repentance to salvation not 
to be repented of," would be ren- 
dered happy indeed under the Gos- 
pel, which tenderly cherishes every 



62 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



meek; for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they 6 



penitent emotion, and reveals a Fa- 
ther of mercy who is ready to for- 
give to the uttermost all that come 
unto 'him. Those who suffered in 
the cause of Christianity would be 
comforted under their trials by the 
great and entrancing promises it 
held out to them of eternal blessed- 
ness. Those who lost their goods, 
or friends, or were smitten by any 
earthly ills, would receive comfort 
unspeakable from that religion which 
clears up the mysteries of Provi- 
dence, shows that a Father's eye 
watches over all, and a Father's 
hand conducts "the beautiful vicis- 
situde." Jesus represents himself 
as coming " to bind up the broken- 
hearted, to comfort all that mourn, 
to give unto them beauty for ashes, 
the oil of joy for mourning, the gar- 
ment of praise for the spirit of heav- 
iness." He invites all that are 
weary and heavy laden to come unto 
him, and he will give them rest. 
His exhortation to his sorrowing dis- 
ciples was, to "be of good cheer." 
Religion^ opens fountains of never 
failing consolation, and reaches the 
deepest sorrows of the mind. This 
beatitude, without doubt, was spok- 
en with reference to the temper of 
his audience, as well as uttered to 
express an everlasting law of spirit- 
ual being. They were looking for 
mirth and revelry. The gay and. 
the light-hearted would be the most 
welcome subjects to the new king- 
dom, in their judgment. The great 
Teacher holds up the dispensation 
to come, in a reversed view, as af- 
fording comfort to the unhappy and 
afflicted. " Not in pride, and plenty, 
and mirth ;' but in a lowly, sorrow- 
ing mind, amidst persecution, and 
tears, and blood, he saw the ele- 
ments, the springs of human bles- 
sedness. Study those wonderful 
words of his, and see how true it is, 
in the very nature of things, that 



they only are blessed whom he pro- 
nounced so." Matt. xi. 28-30; 
John xvi. 20, 22 ; James v. 11. 

" He that lacks time to mourn lacks time to 

mend. 
Eternity mourns that." 

5. Tlie meek. We have no word 
in our language to express the true 
idea of Christian meekness. For 
what is called meekness is thought 
by most persons to signify poor- 
spiritedness, .servility, than which 
nothing can be farther from the sen- 
timent of Jesus. The meek are the 
mild, the amiable, the conciliating. 
The meek respect themselves too. 
much to be proud, arrogant, and 
quarrelsome, and others too much to 
be either servile, or haughty. Jesus 
was meek, Matt. xi. 29, but he vin- 
dicated his rights, John xviii. 23. 
Paul was meek, patient in the re- 
ception of the grossest insults and 
injuries, but he was not tame and 
abject ; he rebuked those who did 
him wrong. Acts xvi. 37, xxiii. 3. 
Meekness is a nice balance of quali- 
ties which in most men run into ex- 
tremes, either too high or too low ; 
either into sensitiveness and anger, 
or into timidity and meanness. It is 
one of the miracles of Christ's char- 
acter, that it combined within itself, 
in loving harmony and unbroken 
wholeness, those traits which have 
been deemed contrary, discordant, 
and almost opposite : energy and 
gentleness ; high intrepidity and 
lowliness of mind ; the Lion and 
the Lamb. They shall inherit the 
earth. Or, the land. The Jews in 
early times looked upon the land of 
Canaan as the sum of all blessings. 
To inherit it was one of their dear- 
est hopes, one of the promised fa- 
vors of God. The patriarchs dwelt 
gladly upon the prospect. Gen. xv. 
7, 8 ; .Ex. xxxii. 13. ' The whole 
nation looked wistfully towards 
it. The expectation cheered them 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



63 



which do hunger and thirst after righteousness ; for they shall 



through the sea, the wilderness, 
and amidst their enemies. It was 
a sentiment next in depth and dear- 
ness to their subsequent longing- 
after the Messiah. From this state 
of mind grew up a proverbial ex- 
pression, which Jesus employs : To 
inherit the earth, or, to possess the 
land. It means, as its derivation 
shows, to obtain the greatest bless- 
ings, to acquire the highest good. 
The expression is elsewhere found, 
coupled with moral traits. Ps. 
xxxvii. 9, 11 ; Isaiah Ix. 21. The 
hearers of Jesus were familiar, 
therefore, with his phraseology. 
How crushing to their eager hopes, 
to hear the quality of meekness 
thus extolled to the skies ! Not the 
revengeful, the military chieftain, 
the ambitious leader ; not those 
whose thoughts were on fire with 
the grandeur of power, the exulta- 
tion of victory and vengeance ; not 
these are blessed, not these shall at- 
tain to the greatest felicity. The 
meek, by the very qualities which 
others despise, are the happy ones. 
They are free from the evils, sor- 
rows, and losses, which plague the 
malicious and passionate. They 
have peace. They inherit the earth, 
they obtain a universal empire over 
the hearts of mankind. They win 
the world, which the warrior's 
sword never yet has conquered. 
They are meet for the inheritance 
of heaven. This is the everlasting 
principle of moral existence. It is 
mournful to see, in history and in 
private life, how often it has been 
violated by those who have aspired 
to do " some great tiling," and 
" grasped their ruin in their bliss." 
6. Hunger and thirst after righ- 
teousness. In the Bible, as in all 
literature, what is spiritual is of- 
ten illustrated by what is animal. 
Strong desires are called hunger 
and. thirst. Truth is called bread, 



meat, drink. Righteousness means 
moral goodness, virtue, holiness. 
No wants are so frequent and im- 
perious as those of food and drink. 
They come continually, and are 
never long satisfied ; denied a few 
hours, they create unspeakable dis- 
tress. What words, then, in the 
range of language, could more fitly 
and emphatically express the con- 
stant longings which the good feel 
for more goodness, the unquencha- 
ble desires of man's spiritual na- 
ture ! They shall befitted. " Here 
again, observe what a strict and 
grand truth or fact is enunciated in 
these words. It is only those who 
make goodness their supreme ob- 
ject of desire, who are ever filled, 
satisfied, happy, and at.peace. Any 
other object we may hunger after 
and obtain, but we are not filled. 
This is the constitution of our na- 
ture." Under this beatitude, as 
well as the others, it may be ob- 
served, that what Jesus says has 
the most keen and pointed reference 
to the existing opinions and feelings 
of his auditors. It was no com- 
mon-place truism. It was no cold 
abstraction. His declaration bore 
directly upon the views of his hear- 
ers, though it embodied also a prin- 
ciple true universally. He preach- 
ed to their inmost experience, and 
they felt it, and were " astonished 
at his doctrine." They hungered 
and thirsted after national renown, 
individual pleasures, honors, and 
riches. They wanted a Messiah 
who might aid them in gratifying 
their unrighteous wishes. Their 
desires revolved about self as a 
centre. Jesus sought by his start- 
ling paradox to turn the current of 
their thoughts in another direction. 
Happy, says this profound Teacher, 
are those who are visited by the 
most earnest longings and aspira- 
tions after moral excellence ; not 



64 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



be filled. Blessed are the merciful ; for they shall obtain 7 
mercy. Blessed ore the pure in heart ; for they shall see God. 8 



the worldly-minded, who are han- 
kering after political advancement, 
and outward treasures, and -the mad 
joys of conquest. " A true desire 
to know and do the will of God will 
secure its own end." 

7. Blessed are the merciful; for 
'they shall obtain mercy. The mer- 
ciful are the compassionate, forgiv- 
ing, those who feel for others' wants 
and woes, and seek to relieve them. 
They stand in contrast with * the 
hard-hearted, cruel, revengeful, and 
pitiless. Our Saviour here reverses 
a favorite desire of the Jews around 
him. They panted to take ven- 
geance on their enemies, their Ro- 
man oppressors. They nursed a 
stern and cruel hatred in their 
breasts. The fury with which it 
broke out and burned, forty years 
after, is evidence how thoroughly 
it had taken possession of them. 
Knowing their vindictive temper, 
Jesus, instead of still farther in- 
flaming it, as they expected and de- 
sired, goes directly counter to it, 
and puts the benediction on the op- 
posite quality of mercy. He else- 
where advances the same thought. 
Matt. v. 45, vi. 12, 14, 15, xviii. 
23-35. The merciful will have 
mercy from both God and man. 
From God, for if we show kind- 
ness and forgiveness, we prove that 
we are deserving of the same our- 
selves. By forgiveness we imitate 
him, and assimilate ourselves to 
his character. A merciful temper 
has in itself an earnest of God's 
favor. We please him by our sup- 
pression of cruel and resentful feel- 
ings. He is ready, when he sees 
such charitable and merciful dispo- 
sitions reigning in our characters, 
to do to iis as we do to others. 
2 Sam. xxii. 26, 27 ; Ps. xviii. 25, 
26. From men, also, the merciful 
obtain mercy. Prov. xi. 17. Or- 



dinarily, a person, who cherishes 
gentle and forgiving feelings to- 
wards mankind, will in the time of 
need be most likely to be recom- 
pensed with the same. How beau- 
tifully the great poet sings : 

" The quality of mercy is not strained : 
It. droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
Upon the place beneath ; it is twice blessed : 
It blesseth him that gives, and him that 

takes ; 

'T is mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes 
The tKroned monarch better than his 

crown.' 

It is an attribute to God himself. 
How shall thou hope for mercy, rend'ring 

none V 

8. Blessed are the pure in heart ; 
for they shall see God. Purity of 
heart is insisted on in contradis- 
tinction to the outward and cere- 
monial purity enjoined by the 
Scribes and Pharisees, while within 
they were full of all manner of 
moral uncleanness. The pure are 
the innocent, the spotless, the holy, 
the undefiled. Their spirits have 
not contracted the blots and stains 
of sin, or else they have had them 
washed white again hi the living 
waters that " flow fast by the oracle 
of God." See God. A figure of 
sense to describe a spiritual state. 
To see God is to understand his 
character, realize his providence, 
and to have a close walk with him. 
By purity and faith, we may live 
as seeing him who is invisible. 
The expression perhaps has some 
allusion to the Jewish rites, as the 
ceremonially pure alone were ad- 
mitted to the worship and presence 
of God in his temple. Ps. xxiv. 3, 
4. In the east, likewise, where 
monarchs seldom appear to their 
subjects, to see them was account- 
ed the highest of honors and privi- 
leges, and equivalent to enjoying 
their friendship. Prov. xxii. 29. 
To see God is to enjoy his favor. 
Said Origen: " God has no body, 



V.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



65 



9 Blessed are the peacemakers ; for they shall be called the 

jo children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for 

righteousness 5 sake ; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

and therefore is invisible ; but men 10. Blessed are they which are 

persecuted, <$-c. Those that are un- 
justly despised, calumniated, im- 
prisoned, tortured, killed. Perse- 
cution may consist of other injuries 
than those upon liberty, property, 
and life. Reputation may be at- 
tacked, odium excited, feelings 
lacerated, sincerity and goodness 
brought into groundless suspicion. 
The tongue and the pen can inflict 
deeper wounds than the sword. 
" All that will live godly in Christ 
Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 
Tim. iii. 12. In the imperfect, mis- 
judging, prejudiced communities of 
the freest lands, a man cannot act 
up to his sense of duty, in morals - 
and belief, " dare singly to be just," 
"conferring not with flesh and 
blood," without falling upon evil 
tongues. The Apostle told the 
plain, but sad truth. We ought 
not, of course, to court persecution. 
But if its lighter or heavier blows 
fall upon MS, for righteousness' sake, 
on account of our love and practice 
of moral goodness, on account of 
our religious independence, and de- 
votion to duty, then happy are we. 
Happier we are, unspeakably, than 
the. persecutor ; happier than those 
who repress honest convictions be- 
cause they are unpopular, and who 
seek to please men, rather than 
God. Theirs is the kingdom of 
heaven. " Here also is a sentiment 
in direct opposition to the prejudi- 
ces of the Jews. It must have been 
no slight mystery to them, how the 
kingdom of heaven was to belong 
to the persecuted, the despised, and 
the oppressed. In that kingdom 
they fondly hoped all- their natural 
evils would cease, that there would 
be ease, and plenty, and health, and 
profound peace, and joy. And yet 



of contemplation can discern him 
with the heart and understanding. 
But a defiled heart cannot see God ; 
but he must be pure who wishes to 
enjoy a proper" view of a pure be- 
ing." Heb. xii. 14. As the clear 
mirror reflects distinctly the objects 
placed before it, so does the pure 
heart reflect the image of God. 

9. The peacemakers. That is, 
those who are pacific in themselves, 
and 'promoters of peace around 
them. I sound no preparation of- 
war, Jesus virtually . said ; I sum- 
mon you to no fields of carnage ; 
on the contrary, my beatitude is for 
the lovers and maintainers of peace 
and concord. They shall be called 
the children of God. The word 
called is used, by an idiom of the 
Hebrew tongue, for the verb to be. 
The sense would be expressed in 
English thus : They will be the 
children of God. Those who re- 
semble God in his character, and 
are beloved and approved by him, 
are called, in Scripture phraseolo- 
gy, his sons, his children. Jesus 
was the Son of God in the strong- 
est degree, because he possessed in 
full those excellences which se- 
cured his favor. Men, who use 
their influence to allay contentions 
and promote peace, peace in fami- 
lies, in neighborhoods, in nations, 
over the globe, and every man 
may do something, many may do 
much, liken themselves to the 
divine character. They vindicate 
their sonship to the God of Peace. 
They are the favored ones of Heav- 
en. How full of honor, privilege, 
and joy, is such a relationship! 



1 Cor. xiv. 33 , 
20; 2 Cor. xiii. 
Heb. xiii. 20. 

6* 



Rom. xv. 33, xvi. 
11; Phil, iv. 9; 



66 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, 11 
and shall say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for my 
sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad ; for great is your re- 12 



this Teacher, upon whom all eyes 
are fixed, to whom all are listening-, 
pronounces the humble, the lowly, 
and the persecuted, the true and 
happy possessors of the heavenly 
kingdom. To us what truth is 
now unfolded in the language of 
Jesus ! They, who have suffered in 
the cause of truth and goodness, 
what a glorious dominion is theirs ! 
How they reign in the hearts of a 
grateful posterity ! And as believ- 
ers in the doctrine of immortality, 
we discern them living in a higher 
state, and reigning in the affections 
of myriads of intelligences." 

11. When men sJiull revile you, 
and persecute you, and shall say all 
manner of evil against you. Bet- 
ter, every kind of evil against you. 
The thought of the last verse is 
here expanded yet farther. The 
third person is changed to the sec- 
ond, bringing the idea more directly 
home to his disciples. Revilings 
were heaped upon Jesus. He was 
called a Samaritan, a term of bitter 
reproach, and was said to be in 
league with Beelzebub, the prince 
of demons. He was accused of be- 
ing insane, and the pains of cruci- 
fixion were sharpened by the scoffs 
of the bystanders. But he reviled 
not again. His disciples had to. 
bear the derision of their enemies, 
the vulgar abuse of the crowd, or 
the lofty scorn of the philosophers 
and princes of their day. But their 
prayer was, " let not this shi be laid 
to their charge." How much no- 
bler and happier these victims of 
the world's ridicule and hate, than 
the objects of popular adulation! 
ThGy we.re persecuted, prosecuted, 
as the force of the word suggests. 
They were accused in courts, and 
thousands, like the Saviour, were 



illegally and unjustly condemned 
to death. The tongue of slander 
was also busy against the early 
Christians. They were loaded with 
charges the most groundless. All 
manner of evil was falsely reported 
against them. Their holy doctrines 
were grossly misrepresented. Their 
innocent ceremonies were tortured 
into crimes. Their benevolent ef- 
forts were turned into treason to 
the state, and blasphemy to the 
gods. Falsely. There is point in 
this word. For, if the allegations 
brought against them were well 
grounded, they would have been far 
from being blessed. 1 Peter iii. 13 
-18, iv. 14-16. For my sake, 
i. e. in the cause of the Christian 
religion. There was no argument 
more powerful, to convince the 
world of the truth and value of the 
Gospel in early times, than the 
meek and patient endurance of 
their wrongs by the first Christians. 
This won the hearts of their most 
inhuman persecutors. And cases 
are stated, where the executioner, 
moved by their noble bearing, sud- 
denly embraced the truth, and per- 
ished himself by the very instru- 
ment with which he was about to 
inflict death upon them. 

12. Rejoice, and le exceeding- 
glad, <Sfc. The Jews looked for 
joys in a temporal, triumphant reign 
of their deliverer ; Jesus, in over- 
turning their hopes, would not over- 
turn their happiness, but informs 
them, that they would derive the 
highest degree of pleasure from the 
labors and sufferings consequent up- 
on then- adhesion to him. Their 
reward would not be like the un- 
certain favors of princes, but spirit- 
ual,. secure, and everlasting, laid up 
in heaven. It would be a reward, 



V.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



67 



ward in heaven ; for so persecuted they the prophets which 

13 were before you. Ye are the salt of the earth. But if the 

salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted ? It is 



not. limited to the gratification of the 
senses, not a poor satisfaction of 
some temporal, superficial desire, 
but large, deep, intense, commen- 
surate with the vast and undying as- 
pirations of immsrtals. So perse- 
cuted they the prophets. Prophets 
. include all religious teachers, wheth- 
er tney predicted future events or 
not. The language of Jesus is, 
You need not be surprised at the 
prospect of persecution ; it is no 
more than all the great and good 
have suffered. In this respect my 
dispensation is analogous to that of 
Moses. The religion of heaven will 
stir up the hostility of a bad world, 
and its promulgators will inevitably 
be the first objects on which that 
hostility wreaks itself. Moses met 
with disobedience, taunts, and in- 
surrection. Exod. xvii. 2, xxxii. 1 ; 
Num. xvi. 13. Elijah was in haz- 
ard of bis life, and hunted like a 
wild beast. 1 Kings xviii. 10, xix. 
2, 3. Elisha was mocked at even 
by the children in the street. 2 Kings 
ii. 23. Jeremiah was put in the 
stocks, beaten, cast into a most 
loathsome dungeon, and repeatedly 
menaced with death. Jer. xx. 2, 
xxvi. 8-15, xxxii. 2, xxxvii. 13- 
16, xxxviii. 6. The faithful Three 
were placed in a red-hot furnace. 
Dan. iii. 21 , 22. Daniel was thrown 
into a den of lions, vi. 16. The 
prediction of the Saviour was veri- 
fied in the 'persecution of his Apos- 
tles and disciples, as we learn from 
the history of the planting of Chris- 
tianity. But they joyed in stripes, 
imprisonment, and deatb ;"and, sus- 
tained by a good conscience, their 
Master's example, and the hopes of 
heaven, they sang " their hymns of 
lofty cheer " in tbe dungeon, and 
at the stake. ' >!: ' ' ' 



13. Ye are the salt of the earth. 
Livy, the Roman" historian, calls 
Greece sal gentium, the salt of the 
nations. Salt is used for preserving 
articles of food from taint, and for 
imparting to them a stimulating fla- 
vor. Hence, naturally, it became a 
symbol of preservation, of spirited- 
ness, and wisdom. Mark ix. 50 ; 
Col. iv. 6. Some understand by the 
salt, tbe Jews. But the sense is, 
more probably, that the disciples 
would be the salt of the whole 
world. Through them, the "Gospel 
would season, inspirit, and purify 
the corrupt race. By bearing him, 
they had been summoned to a great 
moral enterprise. The hopes of the 
earth rested on them. It was a 
caution to discharge so great a trust, 
and not lose their savor ; not desert 
him, and prove false to their privi- 
leggs, and duties to tbe world. The 
same warning holds morally good 
through all ages. Christians are 
the salt of the earth, the preservers 
from moral putrefaction. Let them 
not become insipid, lifeless, good for 
nothing. If the salt have lost his 
savor, <$-c. By exposure to the at- 
mospbere, rock salt loses its useful 
properties, and becomes tasteless. 
His is frequently used for its in the 
Scriptures . Maundrell , in his Trav- 
els in the East in 1697, describing 
the valley of salt, near Aleppo, 
says, " Along on one side of tb,e 
valley, towards Gibul, there is a 
small precipice, about two men's 
length, occasioned by the continual 
taking away of tbe salt, and in this 
you may see how the veins of it lie. 
I broke a piece of it, of which that 
part that was exposed to the rain, 
sun, and air, though it had the 
sparks and particles of salt, yet it 
had perfectly lost its savor ; the in- 



68 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be 
trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. 14 
A city that is set on an hiil cannot be hid ; neither do rnen light 15 
a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick ; and 
it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so 16 



ner part, which was connected to 
the rock, retained its savor, as I 
found by proof." You are to be 
the preservers and purifiers of the 
world ; but if you become corrupt, 
what means will there be of reform- 
ing and purifying you ? ' Woe' unto 
you, if, when you are thus privi- 
leged and commissioned, you prove 
unfaithful to your high trust. You 
will be castaways and vagabonds. 
Cast out, and trodden und-cr foot 
of men. It is supposed by some 
commentators, that allusion is here 
made to a bituminous salt procured 
from the 1 Dead Sea, which, as it had 
a fragrant odor, was sprinkled over 
the sacrifices in the Temple to coun- 
teract the smell of the burning flesh ; 
and as it sometimes spoiled when 
laid up, by exposure to the sun and 
air, it was scattered over the Tem- 
ple pavements in wet weather to 
prevent slipping ; thus it was cast 
out and trodden under foot. The il- 
lustration possesses great point, if 
the practice was observed in our 
Saviour's day. 

14. Ye are the light of trie world. 
The most eminent Jewish Rabbins 
were called "the- lights of the 
world." Jesus applies the title to 
those wlio beard and followed him. 
They would enlighten the world, 
not with the rays of material light, 
but, what was of transcendent con- 
sequence, with a moral illumination, 
chasing away the darkness of su- 
perstition and sin. Christ said of 
himself, that he was the light of the 
world, the sun of the moral uni- 
verse. He calls John the Baptist 
" a burning and shining light." 



Paul denominates the Philippian 
Christians as those that " shine as 
lights in the world." It is com- 
monly said of illustrious men, that 
they are "the lights -of their age 
and country." Light, as well as 
heat, is requisite to vivify the cold, 
benighted world. A city that is 
set on an hill cannot be hid. Our 
Lord was accustomed 'to talce his 
similes from the most obvious things ; 
from the sun in the sky, the birds 
flying through the air. ; the lilies in 
the field. On this occasion, proba- 
bly a city was in view from the em- 
inence on which Jesus delivered this 
address ; perhaps that of Japbia 
or Bethulia. Christians have not 
ceased to be the salt of the e'arth, 
and the light of the world, and cit- 
ies set on hills. They are seen and 
read by all men. Their characters 
and conduct are criticized. If true, 
they spread moral fertility and beau- 
ty around them ; if false, they de- 
feat the cause they profess to aid. 

15, Neither do men light a candle, 
$c. Luke xi. 33. Candles were 
not used then. The word should 
have been translated lamp ; also 
lamp-stand, instead of candlestick. 
For bushel, we ought to read meas- 
ure; the word in the original signi- 
fies a vessel of less capacity than a 
peck. The sentence contains a pro- 
verbial phraseology, to express, de- 
priving any thing of its utility by 
putting it to some use the farthest 
possible from the one for which it 
was intended. Religion is not to 
be kept secret, any more than it is 
to be ostentatiously obtruded upon 
the notice of mankind ; but it should 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



69 



shine before men, that they may see your good works, and 

17 glorify your Father which is in heaven. Think not that I 

am come to destroy the law or the prophets ; I am not come 



shine naturally and unconsciously 
out of the face and behaviour of 
every Christian. 

16. It is wrong to act for appear- 
ance's sake. We should have a 
higher principle of conduct than 
the praise of men. Our foremost 
aim should be to glorify our Father 
in heaven. His glory, the great- 
ness and goodness of his character, 
is hidden from the sight of the 
worldly. But in the good man it 
flames out, and the blindest can see 
it. A virtuous being is the most 
noble manifestation of the glory of 
God in the world. For example, 
the purest splendors of the Deity 
stream forth from the face of Jesus 
Christ. . He made God to be known, 
revered, and obeyed, and conse- 
quently .glorious in the eyes of 
men. Every Christian, however 
humble the sphere of his action, 
can do something toward the same 
holy end. He can praise his Fa- 
ther, can acknowledge his resplen- 
dent attributes, can win others " to 
work and worship so divine." The 
goodness and happiness of man- 
kind are the glory of the Creator. 
And the humblest creature that 
lives can advance that goodness, 
and augment that happiness in 
himself and others. No matter if 
he is poor, sick, ignorant, and un- 
known ; he shines, a cheering and a 
guiding light, if he has caught the 
spirit of religion. His lowly hovel 
is illuminated with a serene ray, his 
comfortless chamber is irradiated 
with a light above the brightness of 
the sun; the star of God's glory, 
that never sets, comes and stands 
over the place where that good 
spirit tabernacles and suffers-. He 
lives with the best effect, though 
unaware of his influence. 



"How far the little candle throws his beams! 
So shines a good deed on a naughty world." 

17. Think not that I am come to 
destroy, hit to fulfil. After showing 
in the Beatitudes, that the worldly 
hopes of the Jews were without 
basis, Jesus proceeds to anticipate 
and correct an erroneous impres- 
sion, which would naturally and 
.immediately arise, that he came to 
destroy the Jewish system. He 
came not, h'e says, as they might 
hastily infer from what he had been 
saying, for the purpose of destruc- 
tion, but of fulfilment. He came 
not to substitute violently one 
scheme for another, but to super- 
sede an old system, established for 
temporary uses, " a shadow of good 
things to come," with a new and 
perpetual one. His was the com- 
pletion of that splendid line of 
revelations of which the law and 
the prophets were the beginnings. 
He was so far from wishing to de- 
stroy, subvert,, or impair the vener- 
able authority of the Law and the 
Prophets, that the very end of his 
mission was to fulfil, finish, crown 
those disclosures of God, with 
others in harmony with them, but 
more advanced, and for the recep- 
tion of which those had served to 
prepare the world. The laio, i. e. 
the Pentateuch, or five books of 
Moses, or, more specifically, the 
Mosaic legislation. The propJiets, 
i. e. the books and compositions 
which the prophets had written, or 
the course of religious teaching 
which had succeeded the Mosaic 
legislation. The Jewish revelation 
was designed for a particular peo- 
ple and a limited tune. It was pre- 
paratory to a universal and perma- 
nent religion. It was the school- 
master to train men for the coming 



70 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till is 
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise 
pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore 19 



of the Great and Perfect Teacher. 
The master idea, running as a sta- 
ple 1 through the whole Jewish econ- 
omy, is THE UNITY OF GOD. Line 
upon line, precept upon precept, this 
truth was wrought through centu- 
ries into the core of the Jewish 
heart. This nohle principle, with 
the inferences which diverged from 
it in every direction, and reached 
to every motive of life, and eyery 
hope of the soul, opened the way 
for those fuller, tenderer disclosures 
of truth, which Jesus lived and 
died to make. The Jewish dis- 
pensation is not therefore to be 
judged by the Christian, nor the 
Christian by the Jewish. Each has 
its purpose in the counsels of 
Heaven, and each, when rightly 
understood, is seen to bear those 
beautiful characters of wise design, 
and benevolent adaptation, which 
are written all over the universe. 

18. This verse expands and con- 
firms the sense of the latter clause 
of the preceding. Verily. The 
Greek work is amen, which is used 
at the end of prayers. It expresses 
strong affirmation, so be it, truly, 
certainly. Our Master uses it in 
many places, to emphasize what he 
says. Compare Matt. xvi. 28, with 
Luke ix. 27. Till lieavcn and earth 
pass. Wakefield thus paraphrases 
the verse : " For verily I say unto 
you, the heaven and the earth will 
sooner pass away, than one jot or 
one tittle of the law be destroyed, 
and fail of its accomplishment." 
See Luke xvi. 17. The heaven 
and earth signify the whole crea- 
tion, the universe. The expression 
was no doubt a proverbial one, fit- 
ted to convey a vivid idea of its 
perpetuity, to say that a thing would 
last as long as the universe itself. 



One jot. Jot or yod, is the name 
of f, the smallest letter in the He- 
brew alphabet. One tittle. This 
signifies the small points, or the 
flourishes, made underneath or at 
the corners of the Hebrew letters, 
and on the accuracy of which the 
meaning of a word or sentence 
often depended. The Rabbins were 
accustomed to say, that an alteration 
of one of these little marks would 
destroy the world, because it would 
change the divine commandments. 
In transcribing the Old Testament, it 
was a sufficient reason for destroying 
the whole manuscript, if a mistake 
had been committed in reference to 
these small points and curvatures. 
The idea is, not only that the law 
in general was permanent, but that 
even its least requisitions, and the 
spirit they breathed, were of fresh, 
eternal obligation. The smallest 
part of God's commandments never 
can become null. The ceremonial 
and judicial institutions of the Jews 
were intended, at the time they 
were made, to be only temporary. 
But the moral truths, the spiritual 
requisitions, of Judaism were not 
to be abated one atom, but to be 
carried out to perfection, fulfilled 
by the Messiah. Till all l>e fulfill- 
ed, i. e. till all the pxirposes, con- 
templated in the Mosaic dispensa- 
tion, are effected ; till the gracious 
designs of God, commencing in the 
earliest revelations, are completed 
under Christianity. The Jews 
would suspect, from what Jesus had 
said, that he came to subvert the 
law and the prophets. By no 
means, is his language. The spirit 
of those revelations is strictly im- 
perishable ; it is to last and deepen 
till the final consummation of all 
things.. I came to breathe into it 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach 
men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven ; 
but whosoever shall do and teach ilietn, the same shall be call-' 
20 ed great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, that, 
except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the 



new energy, and send it forth over 
the globe, conquering and to con- 
quer, till the purposes of God are 
at last all accomplished. 

19. This verse is intelligible only 11 
when we learn that the Scribes and 
Pharisees, the teachers and casuists 
most in vogue, were accustomed to 
make distinctions between moral 
precepts ; calling some of greater, 
and others of less obligation, and 
holding that the transgression of 
one of the less commandments was 
a venial ofience. This method hu- 
mored the bad propensities of man- 
kind, and vitiated all strictness of 
morality. Matt. xxii. 36. One of 
these least commandments, i. e. more 
properly .rendered, one of the least 
of' these commandments, i. e. the 
laws of Moses, though some with, 
less probability refer the sentence 
to the doctrines of Jesus which fol- 
low. He appears to continue the 
thought started in the preceding 
verses. Suppose not, he says, that 
I have any hostility to the Mosaic 
system ; on the contrary, those will 
be lightly esteemed among my fol- 
lowers, who set themselves up as 
violators and disparagers of that 
dispensation of God, or who, like 
the Scribes and Pharisees, whilst 
they profess great fidelity to it, vir- 
tually nullify its injunctions by their 
traditions, and divisions of the law 
into duties of greater and less 
weight ; but they will be the most 
honored who practise and inculcate 
universal obedience, and who, in 
becoming the advocates of Chris- 
tianity, acknowledge also the finger 
of God in the law and the prophets. 
So at the present day, whosoever 



shall break, or undervalue one class 
of duties, one set of divine laws ; 
whosoever shall discard morality in. 
his zeal for piety, or neglect piety 
because" he is a good moral man, 
falls under the rebuke of this verse. 
Whilst one who does and teaches 
all the commandments, gives to 
every duty its place, is faithful to 
man, and God, and his Saviour, 
shall be great in the spiritual king- 
dom, and an eminent Christian. 

20. Your righteousness, your vir- 
tue, goodness. The righteousness 
of the Scribes and Pharisees. They 
professed great piety and benevo- 
lence. They thanked God, that 
they were not as other men are. 
Their claims to superior virtue seem, 
to have been acquiesced in by their 
countrymen. For it was a com- 
mon saying, that, if but two men 
were admitted into the kingdom of 
heaven, one of them would be. a 
Pharisee, and the other a Scribe. 
But, notwithstanding their bold pre- 
tensions, our Saviour, looking at 
the heart, detected and exposed 
their hypocrisy. They tithed the 
smallest herbs, but omitted those 
vast concerns, judgment, mercy, and 
faith. Their religion was of ap- 
pearance, not of reality. They held, 
that the thoughts of the heart were 
net sinful. They were scrupulous 
to a fault in things of small conse- 
quence, but they indulged with the 
greater latitude in selfishness and 
sensuality. They appeared beauti- 
ful outwardly, no garnished sepul- 
chre more so, but it was .with num- 
bers only a fair seeming ; descend- 
ing within, as Jesus did, a mass of 
moral corruption, as of the charnel- 



THE GOSPEL 



fCHAP. 



Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the king- 
dom of heaven. Ye have heard that it was said by them of 21 
old time : " Thou shalt not kill ; and whosoever shall kill shall 
be in danger of the judgment." But I say unto you, that who- 22 



house, disclosed itself. I What ! the 
people were ready to exclaim to 
Jesus ; is not the goodness of such 
persons as our religious teachers 
sufficient to save us? So far from 
that, is his reply, your virtue must 
far exceed theirs, or you can lay 
no claim to be my disciples. My 
standard is a far higher and purer 
one than theirs. Ye shall in no 
case enter into the kingdom of heav- 
en, i. e. you cannot become my dis- 
ciples, or Christians. The righ- 
teousness of the Scribes and Phari- 
sees is outward, technical, meagre, 
hypocritical ; the righteousness of 
my followers must be of the heart, 
living, sincere, universal, the 'un- 
qualified obedience of the whole 
man. Having thus stated the gen- 
eral principle, that he should re- 
quire a loftier virtue than the cur- 
rent examples of the day, he pro- 
ceeds to specify cases ; first in re- 
gard to Murder ; secondly, verse 
27, Adultery; thirdly, verse 33, 
Oaths ; fourthly, verse 38, Retali- 
ation. 

21. Jesus proceeds to quote and 
comment upon the commandments 
of Moses, the traditions, and the 
glosses which had been put upon 
them, and shows what he meant by 
a better righteousness than that of 
the Scribes and Pharisees. First, 
in relation to Murder. Ye have 
heard that it ivas said by them of old 
lime, i. e. it is matter of tradition. 
Instead of by them of old time, some 
read, to them of old time: to the an- 
cients, meaning to the contempora- 
ries of Moses. Jesus did not de- 
cry the piety and morality of the 
Mosaic standards, but censured the 
interpretations, often lax, which 
were put upon the original com- 



mands. Thou shalt not Wl, i. e. 
thou shalt not commit murder. Ex. 
xx. 13. This precept was Mosaic, 
divine. Whosoever- shall Mil, tyc. 
This was an explanation, or tradi- 
tion, afterwards appended to the 
law, referring merely to the tem- 
poral punishment consequent upon 
the overt act of murder. Jesus 
went down to the source from 
which the act originated ; the 
thoughts and feelings of the heart ; 
and showed their criminality and 
danger, even when they did not 
actually, result in th'e deed of vio- 
lence. In danger of, i. e. respon- 
sible to, obnoxious to. The judg- 
ment. This signifies not a judicial 
sentence, but a municipal court by 
which sentence was passed, judg- 
ment pronounced. The Talmud- 
ists, or writers among the Jews of 
the third and fourth centuries after 
Christ, describe this court as con- 
sisting of twenty-three persons ; 'but 
Josephus, whose authority is to be 
pi'eferred, represents it as a tribunal 
of seven, which sat in each city or 
town, with the Levites as attending 
officers. As is evident from the 
reference of the text, causes of im- 
portance came before them ; and 
severe punishments, as strangling, 
and beheading, were inflicted at 
their command. 

22. But I say unto you. Jesus 
speaks with authority, with a nat- 
ural tone of superiority and com- 
mand, which Avas felt to be genuine 
by his hearers, and different from the 
hollow assumption of the Scribes. 
Chap. vii. 29. His special com- 
mission from God gave a godlike 
weight to his words ; as an ambas- 
sador from an earthly king speaks 
and negotiates with the energy and 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



73 



soever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in 

danger of the judgment ; and whosoever shall say to his brotlf- 

er, Raca, shall be in danger, of the council ; but whosoever 

23 shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. There- 



decision of the sovereign in whose 
stead he acts. Worldly teachers 
had glossed over the strict truth 
with their own interpretations p 
Jesus rends them away, and, back- 
ed by the power and wisdom of 
God, uses the simple but lofty form 
of address : " But Jsay unto you." 
Such an expression, in any but a 
special, divinely authorized, super- 
naturally gifted messenger of God, 
would excite any thing but respect. 
In Jesus it is natural and graceful. 
He utters his great truths with an 
easy air of authority, notwithstand- 
ing his humble origin, which con- 
vinces us that he had a right from 
above to decide, and that his word 
was final. Angry with his brother 
without a cause. 1 John iii. 15. 
Brother means any man. All man- 
kind, in the view of Christianity, are 
brothers. Angry without a cause, 
i. e. either without an adequate rea- 
son, or to- an excessive degree. 
This is to be understood in the two 
last clauses, as well as the first. 
Jesus calls not only the overt act of 
violence criminal and punishable, 
but also the state of feeling from 
which the act originated, the bad 
passions causelessly and excessive- 
ly inflamed. He deals with the 
li^art. In danger of the judgment, 
i. e. liable to the condemnation of 
tl 3 inferior court of judicature ; Or 
rather, to express the exact sense, 
is liable to such a punishment from 
God as may be parallel with that 
which this tribunal commands to 
be inflicted. - Raca. 'A Syriac or 
Chaldaic word, expressing great con- 
tempt, equivalent to fool, dolt, sim- 
pleton. A commandment of God 
may be violated in spirit, when it 
is kept in the letter. The feeling 

VOL. I. 7 



of bitterness and contempt, which 
prompts men to call each other by 
opprobrious names, often results in 
the actual deed of violence and 
murder. So far as these are its 
natural consequences, the feeling 
itself is of the like dark guilt as its 
results. The council, i. e. the San- 
hedrim, the chief tribunal among 
the Jews. It was established in 
the time of the Maccabees, about 
two hundred years before our Sa- 
viour. Civil and ecclesiastical cases 
fell beneath its jurisdiction. It could 
pass sentence of death, but depend- 
ed upon the Roman governor to 
carry it into eflect. Its number 
was about seventy, consisting of the 
highest officers of the Jewish com- 
monwealth. They commonly held 
their sessions at Jerusalem in a 
room near the temple. Mention is 
often made of this court in the New 
Testament. Our Saviour was con- 
demned by it, and his apostles were 
arraigned before it. The sense is, 
that he who used a word of con- 
tempt and scorn towards his fellow- 
man, would expose himself to a 
condemnation and punishment, un- 
der the government of God, equiva- 
lent and parallel to that which it 
came within the jurisdiction of the 
Sanhedrim to pronounce. Thou 
fool. This translation is nearer the . 
sense of Raca, used before, than 
of the word hi the original. The 
term is Moreh. It means not fool, 
but impious, apostate, wretch ; im- 
plying a low moral condition, as 
Raca does a contemptible intellect. 
Hell fire. In the Greek, the Ge- 
henna of fire. Gehenna is a word 
of Hebrew origin, signifying the 
valley of Hinnom. It was situat- 
ed near the city -. of Jerusalem oa 



74 THE GOSPEL [CHAP. 

fore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest 



the east. The brook Kedron ran 
through it. Horrid sacrifices of 
the heathen god Moloch were per- 
formed in this valley. On this ac- 
count, the place was afterwards held 
in such abhorrence, that it was made 
the common receptacle of the filth 
of the city. The carcasses of ani- 
mals, the bodies of executed crimi- 
nals, were thrown into this place. 
Fires were kept constantly burning 
to consume these things, and pre- 
vent the atmosphere becoming pes- 
tilential. Worms* were frequently 
to be seen preying upon the re- 
mains of the filth and rubbish of the 
populous city. Hence very severe 
and disgraceful punishments, and 
the retributions of the future world, 
in some places, are depicted by the 
figure of the Gehenna of fire, or 
the constantly burning fires of the 
valley of Hinnom, and the worms 
that are always to be found there. 
In using this term, our Lord em- 
ployed the current language of his 
day and nation. His idea seems to 
have been, that for the most oppro- 
brious words, and the corresponding 
temper which prompted their use, a 
man would be subject, whether in 
this life or the future one, to the 
punishment of God, a punish- 
ment as much severer in degree 
than those aforementioned, as the 
burning fires and undying worm of 
the valley of Hinnom, would ex- 
ceed in severity the punishment, in- 
flicted by the tribunal of Seven and 
the Sanhedrim. Three degrees of 
anger are specified, and three cor- 
responding gradations of punish- 
ment, proportioned to the different 
degrees of guilt. Where these pun- 
ishments will be inflicted, he does 
not say, he need not say. The 
man, who indulges any wicked feel- 
ings against his brother man, is in 
this world punished, his anger is 
the torture of his soul, and unless 



he repents of it, and forsakes it, it 
must prove his woe in all future 
states of his being. Jesus thus il- 
lustrates the principle of his reli- 
gion, in contradistinction to the er- 
roneous instructions of the Scribes 
and Pharisees, that not only the 
* outward act, but the inward feeling 
and the words of the lips, are sub- 
ject to the laws of God. Unjust or 
immoderate anger, contemptuous 
epithets, and passionate reproaches, 
were in fact breaches of that law 
of social duty, every violation of 
which was an offence of greater or 
less magnitude against the Supreme 
Lawgiver and Judge. 

23. It is said that the Scribes re- 
quired restitution in money matters, 
but that in other things, they held 
that gifts and sacrifices would ex- 
piate all offences not cognizable by 
the judge. But our Saviour takes 
a different ground. He teaches that 
reconciliation is better than sacri- 
fices, and that a gift to God is vain 
and unacceptable, so long as the 
giver is in the practice of violating 
his social obligations. Having in 
the preceding verses warned his 
hearers against anger and scorn 
towards their human brethren, he 
now points out the true course of 
conduct, when the offence has actu- 
ally been committed; it is, first of- 
all, to be reconciled ; even to post- 
pone the services and sacrifices of 
divine worship, till the broken chain 
of brotherly . love is again united. 
The duty of benevolence is para- 
mount to ritual observances. But 
the Jewish teachers inculcated the 
reverse. If thou bring thy gift to 
the altar. .The freewill offering 
and sacrifices of the Jewish wor- 
shippers were called gifts. The 
altar was situated in front of the 
temple. If a person had gone so 
far as to bring his gift to the very 
altar, to the place where it was to 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



75 



24 that thy brother hath aught against thee ; leave there thy gift 

before the altar, and go thy way ; first be reconciled to thy 

23 brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine 



be offered, and there, just before he 
made his offering, recollected that 
there was matter of difference, and 
ill-will between him and his brother, 
he was to turn back from the temple 
of God, and seek reconciliation with 
his fellow-man, and then he might 
reasonably trust that his gifts would 
be accepted by the Almighty. Re- 
memberest should be remember, gram- 
matically. That tlaj brother liatli 
aught against thee., i. e. has, or 
thinks he has, any just cause of 
complaint. Jesus mentions the case 
of one who has offended, not one 
who has been wronged. The per- 
son who has done wrong to another, 
or who, that other believes, has 
done wrong, is to seek reconciliation 
with his injured brother rather than 
perform ceremonial observances. But 
if it be the other way, and his broth- 
er has wronged him, there is nothing 
in the lessons of Jesus to show that 
his offerings will be unworthy until 
the affair is settled. It then de- 
volves upon the man who has done 
the wrong to seek the reconciliation. 
Still it is the fruit of a Christian 
spirit to forgive, to forget, to be al- 
ways ready to receive the advances 
of reconciliation from those who 
have ill used us ; to desire most 
earnestly to have others in charity 
with us, as well as to be ourselves 
in charity with them. 

24. Leave there thy gift before the 
altar. Gifts were delayed or re- 
jected sometimes on account of their 
impropriety, or because they had 
some blemish, or the person offering 
them was disqualified by unclean- 
ness, or for some other cause. But 
Jesus speaks of delaying the gift for 
a new reason, the moral unfitness 
and unpreparedness of the giver. 
Such an idea had not probably en- 



tered the minds of the Jewish teach- 
ers, wedded as they were to techni- 
cality and ceremonies. Go thy way. 
Seek reconciliation. Do not wait till 
the injured person, or he who sup- 
poses himself injured, comes to you. 
But go to him. And this would be 
practicable for those who came from 
the farthest parts of the land, for 
these gifts were offered on general 
festival days, when the nation was 
together at Jerusalem, and every 
man could find his neighbors and 
acquaintances. Be reconciled. Not 
only cherish right feelings yourself, 
but make reparation, explanation, 
of whatever will satisfy, within the 
bounds of reason, your offended, in- 
jured fellow-man, and thus obtain 
his pardon and love. Let there be 
reconciliation on both sides. Then 
come and offer thy gift. Having 1 
discharged your duty to man, you 
will be prepared to worship God. 
The spirit of these instructions, 
though wrapped in Jewish phraseol- 
ogy and imagery, is for us as well 
as for them of old. [f we would 
worship our Maker acceptably, our 
prayers must rise from hearts bap- 
tized into the love of man, as well 
as into the belief of God. The 
tongue we use in devotion must not 
utter cursings towards mankind, as 
well as blessings towards the Fa- 
ther ; else the cursings will devour 
the blessings, and our supplications 
will fall to the earth dead. If faith 
be one of the wings of prayer, love 
is the other.- 

25. See Luke xii. 58, 59. Jesus, 
having already shown, that to in- 
dulge in malevolent feelings, and 
use opprobrious epithets, is highly 
criminal, and that the exercise of a 
conciliating temper should take pfe- 
cedence of ritual observances and 



76 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him ; lest 
at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the 
judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 
Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out 26 
thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. Ye have 27 
heard that it was said by them of old time : " Thou shalt not 



acts of worship, now goes on to 
show, that, merely as a matter of 
self-interest, .we should seek to live 
in brotherly love, and settle all diffi- 
culties" immediately with our fellow- 
creatures. Agree witli thine ad- 
versary quickly, dye. Be, or make 
friends with him. This probably 
had reference to the Roman law con- 
cerning injuries, by which the plain- 
tiff, the adversary, as it is here trans- 
lated, could, without the formality 
of a summons or writ, drag the of- 
fender with his own hand before the 
court. On the way he had however 
an opportunity of settling the affair, 
if he pleased, and of being set at 
liberty. But if the case were brought 
before the judge, a fine would be 
imposed, and, if unable to pay it, 
the prisoner would be held in con- 
finement until the debt was dis~ 
charged. It is a maxim of pru- 
dence, therefore, as well as a dic- 
tate of love, to seek reconciliation 
with those whom we have offended 
and injured, and to do it at the ear- 
liest opportunity. The ill conse- 
quences of not being reconciled to 
our fellow-men are pictured forth in 
judicial phraseology. The longer 
the difficulty was delayed, the harder 
it would be to be settled, the more 
aggravated its evil consequences. 
The passage is designed rather to 
point out the importance of early 
reparation and reconciliation in re- 
gard to our fellow-men, than to be 
violently construed as an admonition 
against delay in religion, in general, 
or in our duties more especially to 
our Maker. In the interpretation 
of Scripture, there is as much dan- 



ger of attributing a sense to a pas- 
sage which was never in the writer 
or speaker's mind, as of mistaking 
the sense ; as much danger of erring 
as to the degree, so to speak, as to 
the kind of meaning. At any time. 
Tbese words are superfluous ; not 
in the original. The officer. The 
one who executed tbe sentence ; the 
sheriff, or prison-keeper. Reference 
is supposed to be made in this verse 
to tbe oppression of the Romans, 
which rendered it expedient to set- 
tle difficulties in private, rather than 
to resort to " hood-winked justice." 

26. He describes the evil of de- 
laying to be reconciled, but tbe ad- 
vantages of regaining peace and 
good-will are obvious, and therefore 
not mentioned. In this verse the 
language of the courts is still kept 
up. There would be no deliverance 
from jail till the last farthing was 
paid. If reconciliation is not early 
sought and secured, irreparable 
troubles will befall tbe injurer. He 
will not escape until he has expiated 
fully the offence. He will be visited 
with unmitigated retribution, who 
seeks not by penitence and confes- 
sion to avert it beforehand. Paid 
the uttermost farthing, i. e. paid the 
whole debt. What is here called a 
farthing was a small brass coin, 
equal to about four mills of our 
money. 

27. The last paragraph relates to 
the sixth commandment, to Murder, 
and the violation of social good- 
will. This one treats of the sev- 
enth, of Adultery and Divorcement. 

By them of old lime. Should be, 
to them of old time. But the words 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



77 



28 commit adultery. " But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh 
on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her 

29 already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck 



are not considered genuine in this 
place, since they are not found in a 
large number of the most ancient 
versions and manuscripts. The dis- 
tinguished critic Griesbach therefore 
rejects them as spurious. Thou 
slialt not commit adultery. Ex. xx. 
14. Oar Lord would not, by thus 
quoting- the. commandments, weaken 
their authority, but aims to prove 
that they should be kept in the spirit 
as well as the letter, and that the 
Jewish maxim, that the thoughts 
and desires were not sinful unless 
acted out, was false and dangerous. 
Our Father takes the will for^the 
deed, both in the virtuous and the 
vicious. 

28. To lust after her. Or, more 
explicitly, in accordance with the 
original, in order to cherish impure 
wishes and feelings. " Men, who 
can only judge by external actions, 
give the name of a crime merely to 
the last act ; but in the estimation 
of God, who searches the heart, he 
hath committed the crime who hath 
intended to do it,' or hath wished it 
done. The law of the ten com- 
mandments does not expressly pro- 
hibit all offences, but only such as 
are most atrocious of their kind. 
Thus it does not prohibit all false- 
hood to our neighbor, but false wit- 
nessing against him ; nor every in- 
jury to his property, but theft ; nor 
all unlawful commerce between the 
sexes, "but only adultery. Christ, 
however, here informs us, that who- 
ever indulges himself in any thing 
which' may lead to that offence is 
guilty in a certain degree of the 
crime of adultery." The impure 
desire is therefore to be abhorred 
and shunned as being akin to the 
criminality of the actual deed. 2 Pe- 
ter ii. 14. "By obscene anecdotes 

7* 



and tales ; by songs and jibes ; by 
double meanings and innuendoes ; 
by looks and gestures ; by conver- 
sation and obscene books and pic- 
tures, this law of our Saviour is 
perpetually violated. If there be 
any one sentiment of most value for 
the comfort, the character, the vir- 
tuous sociability of the young, one 
that will shed the greatest charm 
over society, and make it the most 
pure, it is that which inculcates per- 
fect delicacy and purity in the inter- 
course of the sexes. Virtue of any 
kind never blooms where this is not 
cherished. Modesty and purity once 
gone, every flower that would dif- 
fuse its fragrance over life withers 
and dies with it. There is no sin 
that so withers and blights every 
virtue, none that so enfeebles and 
prostrates every ennobling feeling 
of the soul, as to indulge in a life 
of impurity. How should purity 
dwell in the heart, breathe from the 
life, kindle in the eye, live in the 
imagination, and dwell in the inter- 
course of all the young ! ' ' Barnes. 
29. Right eye. The mention of 
the eye is naturally connected with 
the preceding verse, where it speaks 
of inflaming unlawful emotions by 
looking on an object of desire. The 
organ of vision might become an. 
instrument of sin. The Hebrews 
were accustomed to compare lusts 
and evil passions, and also good 
affections, with different members 
of the human body. The bowels, 
heart, and eye, were thus used. 
2 Cor. vi. 12, vii. 3 ; Mark vii. 21, 
22 ; Rom. vi. 13, vii. 23. Offend. 
Here is an instance where the mean- 
ing of the word has changed during 
two centuries, so that it does not 
now express what it did at the time 
our English version was made; It 



78 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



it out, and cast it from thee ; for it is profitable for thee that 
one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole 
body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend 30 
thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee ; for it is profitable for 
thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy 
whole body should be cast into hell. It hath been said : 31 
"Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a 



then meant to cause to fall, or to 
sin ; it now means to affront. The 
original clearly signifies lo make 
to stumble, to seduce, to tempt 
to sin, or to ensnare. If the right 
eye, or hand, if the best member 
in the whole body, led its posses- 
sor into sin, it were better to lose 
it than to perish entirely as to the 
moral nature. It is said that the 
right eye was indispensable to a sol- 
dier, as war was then conducted, 
and that to lose it would be more 
than to part with the other. Pluck 
it out. This cannot be understood 
with any propriety as an injunction 
to be literally performed, but as a 
strong mode of saying that the 
greatest loss was preferable to the 
loss of holiness ; that any hardship 
was to be endured rather than that a 
sinful habit should be tolerated ; that 
the dearest object was to be relin- 
quished, if it was a stumbling-block 
to our virtue. By self-denial, though 
it be painful as the plucking out of a 
right eye, or the cutting off a hand, 
must the vicious propensities be re- 
strained. The darling inclination, 
the easily besetting sin, must be re- 
nounced, however great the sacri- 
fice. Matt, xviii. 8, 9 ; Mark ix. 
43-47 ; Rom. viii. 13. 

30. The same in substance as the 
last verse. Reiteration is one of the 
figures of good speaking and writing. 
The deeply moved mind overflows 
with powerful imagery. It is prof- 
itable, i. e. it is better, it is prefer- 
able. One of thy members should 
perish. Men with diseased limbs 
hesitate not to have them amputated 



in order to save life. They willingly 
yield up a less good to retain a great- 
er. So, is the reasoning of our 
Master, should men do in spiritual 
things. It is better to crucify the 
most cherished desires, if sinful, 
than 'by their indulgence to endan- 
ger the salvation of the soul itself, 
and lose eternal life. HdL This 
term, in the original, Gehenna, has 
already been commented on, verse 
22. The main idea here conveyed 
is that of severe punishment, ex- 
treme suffering, and no intimation is 
given as to its place, or its duration, 
whatever may be said in other texts 
in relation to these points. Wick- 
edness is its own hell. A wronged 
conscience, awakened to remorse, is 
more terrible than fire or worm. In 
this life and in the next, sin and woe 
are for ever coupled together. God 
has joined them, and man cannot 
put them asunder. 

31. After showing that the laws 
of his religion included the heart, as 
well as the outward conduct, and 
that no sacrifice was too great to be 
made for virtue, he proceeds to .con- 
trast the practices and opinions of 
the times in relation to divorces, 
with the strictness of his principle. 
It hath been said. JDeut. xxiv. 1 ; 
Jer. iii. 1, 8 ; Matt. xix. 3-9; Luke 
xvi. 18; Mark x. 2-12. Moses 
had given a law in reference to di- 
vorcement, but it was designed for 
the then existing condition of the 
Jews ; it was adapted to the hard- 
ness of their hearts. Mark x. 5. 
Jesus would inculcate a stricter 
principle. On the interpretation of 



V.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



79 



32 writing of divorcement." But I say unto you, that whosoever 
shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, 
causeth her to commit adultery ; and whosoever shall marry 

33 her that is divorced committeth adultery. Again, ye have 



the Mosaic law respecting divorces, 
there was a division of opinion 
among the Jews ; one Rabbinical 
School holding, that a separation 
might take place for any cause, 
however slight ; another maintain- 
ing, that it was justifiable only in the 
case of unfaithfulness in the mar- 
riage relation. Our Lord supports 
the same principle on grounds of his 
own, and rebukes those loose no- 
tions and practices, common amongst 
the Jews in relation to this most 
sacred connexion. Writing of 
divorcement. This was a bill, or 
form, stating that at a certain time 
the writer had, at his own pleasure, 
divorced and expelled his wife, and 
that she was at liberty to marry 
whom she chose. It was subscrib- 
ed by two witnesses, and given to 
the woman as her bill of divorce. 
Frequency of divorces has always 
been deemed a proof of a very cor- 
rupt state of society. It was so in 
the time of our Saviour. The in- 
creased cases and facilities of di- 
vorce in our own country, are an 
omen of bad import. 

32. The Saviour restricts the 
power of- divorce to a single case, 
and that one in which there could 
be no reasonable hope of domestic 
peace or confidence. " Still his lan- 
. guage does not, to all, bear the liter- 
al inference, that he allowed of di- 
vorce in no other possible case. It 
has been suggested, " that Christ 
may have mentioned Adultery, ra- 
ther as an example of that land or 
degree of offence, which amounted 
to a dissolution of the marriage 
bond, than as the only instance 
in which it was proper that it 
should be dissolved. ' ' Fornication. 
Whoredom. Causeth her to com- 



mit adultery. These words are not 
to be taken literally. The man 
who dismisses his wife for insuf- 
ficient reasons does not actually 
cause her to commit that crime, hut 
is responsible for it, if he subjects 
her to a situation where she is led 
to commit it. He is a sharer in the 
guilt, so far as an unjust divorce has 
been the cause of it, for that was 
his act. Marry her that is divor- 
ced. That is, her who is divorced 
for any other reason than the one 
mentioned above, or causes as 
weighty as that. He who marries 
.a woman, dismissed from her hus- 
band on trivial grounds, is partaker 
of the guilt of adultery, inasmuch 
as a new connexion precludes the 
restoration of harmony, and the re- 
sumption of the conjugal ties, that 
have been needlessly and unjustly 
severed. The sense of the whole 
verse, according to a sensible com- 
mentator, is, " that, since divorce 
should never take place except for 
unfaithfulness, he who dismisses his 
wife for. a less cause, though he 
should not again be married, ex- 
poses her to the danger of an un- 
lawful connexion ; and he who 
marries her under such circum- 
stances, disregards the relation 
which, morally, if not legally, ex- 
ists between her and the husband 
who divorced her for an insufficient 
reason." 

33. From this to the 38th verse, 
Jesus takes up the subject of Oaths. 
In order to understand the drift of 
his instructions, it is necessary for 
us to go back to that time and peo- 
ple ; for whilst he inculcated a uni- 
versal religion, his form of address 
was modified and colored by the cir- 
cumstances of his hearers. What 



80 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



heard that it hath been said by them of old time : "Thou shalt - 
not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine 
oaths." But I say unto you, swear not at all ; neither by 34 



were those circumstances in the 
present ease ? The Jews were in 
the habit, as their learned men. in- 
form us, of dividing oaths into two 
classes, the lighter and the weigh- 
tier. The lighter were those, which 
did not contain the name of God, 
and which, they held, might be bro- 
ken with impunity, although there * 
was some tacit reference made in 
them to the Deity. These were 
frequently made, according to Philo, 
in common conversation, amount- 
ing in fact to what we call profane 
swearing. An apocryphal writer 
refers to the custom, Ecclesiasticus 
xxiii. 9 - 13. They also allowed 
of mental prevarication, a swearing ' 
with the lips, and disavowing or 
annulling of the oath with, the 
heart. That our Saviour did not 
refer to judicial oaths, or to solemn 
appeals to God upon important oc- 
casions in a reverent manner, as 
some believe, and prohibit them en- 
tirely, is apparent from the speci- 
mens he cites, which are unlike any 
that were ever used in any court of 
law ; and from his own example in 
answering to an oath, Matt. xxvi. 
04, when he did not answer to an 
ordinary interrogation, and from that 
of his Apostle Paul in calling God 
to witness, which is in spirit an 
oath, Rom. i. 9 ; Gal. i. 20 ; 1 
Thess. ii. 5 ; 2 Cor. i. 18, 23. 
He aims to sweep away the minute 
and pernicious distinctions introduced 
into promissory oaths and bonds, and 
to inculcate greater simplicity and 
sincerity of conversation. By them 
of old time. Rather, .according to 
Griesbach, to them of old time. -. 
Thou shalt not forswear thyself. 
Lev. xix. 12 ; Num. xxx. 2 ; Deut. 
xxiii. 23. Thou shalt not perjure 
thyself; thou shalt not take an 



oath in form, and do it with a men 
tal reservation, so as to deceive the 
other party, and be guilty of trifling 
with the venerable majesty of God. 
But perform unto the Lord thine 
oaths. Deal honestly in the matter. 
Be true to the obligation assumed 
in making the oath. So much for 
what Moses taught. What does" 
Jesus teach in commenting on this 
law in reference to the circumstances 
of his day ? 

34. But I say unto you, swear not 
at all ; neither by heaven. That is 
to say, abolish this practice ; aban- 
don the common irreverent oaths, in 
which there is a tacit understand- 
ing and purpose to deceive. The 
sense is more clearly brought out 
by Griesbach, who leaves out the 
usual semicolon, and puts in only a 
comma. For, as the punctuation 
was determined, not by the original 
inspired writers, but by their fallible 
successors in the church, it is law- 
ful to change it as the sense seems 
to require. Our Lord is not made 
to say, swear not at all, which 
would be plainly one sense ; but 
swear not at all by heaven, and the 
other pernicious forms which he 
mentions, which is plainly quite a 
different sense. If it had been his 
object to prohibit oaths altogether, 
upon every occasion, he would cer- 
tainly have said, swear not at all, 
swear not by God, and said no 
more ; but, as he goes en to specify 
what they were not to swear by, 
he leaves it plainly to be inferred, 
that there is at least one oath, that 
by God himself, that established in 
the Mosaic code, which it is lawful 
to take upon solemn and important 
occasions. If a legislator prohibits 
the importation of certain articles of 
commerce, we conclude that the ar- 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



81 



35 heaven, for it is God's throne ; nor by the earth, for it is his foot- 
stool ; neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King ; 

36 neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not 

37 make one hair white or black. But let your communication 
be : Yea, yea ; Nay, nay ; for whatsoever is more than these 



tides which he does not specify in 
the prohibition may bs lawfully im- 
ported. For it is God's throne. 
Is. Ixvi. 1 ; Acts vii. 49 ; Jesus 
shows, Matt, xxiii. 22, that in 
swearing by heaven there is a secret 
appeal to the Being who dwelleth 
therein, and that in a trivial matter 
such an oath should not be used, 
for it is profaneness ; especially 
should not be used as if a mental 
reservation could be made, and the 
performance of the oath could be 
innocently trifled with, for that 
would be perjury. To call heaven 
God's throne, and the earth bis 
.footstool, is to use figures in accom- 
modation to man's imperfect idea 
of the all-surrounding Deity. The 
Hebrew Scriptures abound in simi- 
lar instances. 

35. He who swears by the earth 
makes a solemn and binding oath, 
and is responsible for its fulfilment, 
for he virtually appeals to Him be- 
fore whose infinite greatness the 
mighty globe itself is but a foot- 
stool. And he who swears by 
Jerusalem calls Him to witness 
whose city Jerusalem peculiarly is, 
as the capital of his chosen people, 
and the place of his worship. The 
ancient Arabs called God simply 
" th'3 King." The Jews often ad- 
dressed him with this title. Ps. 
xcv. 3 ; Is. xli. 21. 

36. The oaths enumerated by 
Jesus were common amongst the 
Heathen likewise, as well as among 
the Jews. Juvenal, Horace, Virgil, 
Ovid, Martial, and Pliny, to men- 
tion no more, might be cited in 
illustration of the custom. As God 
is the architect of the head, and it 



is wholly in his hands, so that the 
very color of the hair is determined 
by his will exclusively, it follows 
that in swearing by the head refer- 
ence is made to the De.ity, and the 
oath is therefore weighty and not 
to be used on every insignificant 
occasion ; arid binding and not to 
be broken with impunity. 

37. Your communication. Ac- 
cording to Robinson, in his Greek 
Lexicon of the New Testament, 
your answer, your reply. When in 
common conversation yon make a 
reply, do not try to confirm your 
assertion with an oath, as if that 
would add any weight to it, but let 

Eaur yes be yes, and your no be no. 
et your simple affirmation or ne- 
gation be sufficient. Do not expose 
yourself to profaneness and per- 
jury. For whatsoever is more than 
these cometh of evil. Or, the evil 
one. If you go beyond this sim- 
plicity of speech, you fall into evil. 
It was a proverb among the Jews, 
to characterize a man of veracity, 
that his yes was yes, and his no, no. 
2 Cor. i. 17, 18, 19 ; James v. 12. 
In conclusion, upon this paragraph 
relating to oaths, we are to bear in 
mind, that profaneness and perjury 
were rife in the days of Christ, and 
that he addresses Liis remarks to 
uproot both these sins. Again, that 
his prohibition relates to promis- 
sory oaths and vows, and not to 
oaths before a magistrate, or in a 
court of law. Further, that it is 
undeniably true, that the authorized 
oaths of office, of courts, &c., are 
multiplied so as to lose much of 
their weight, and often administer- 
ed so as to command little respect. 



82 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



cometh of evil. Ye have heard that it hath heen said : "An 38 
eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." But I say unto you, 29 
that ye resist not evil ; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy . 
right cheek, turn to him the other also ; and if any man will 40 



And it is to be feared that perjury 
is more common than is supposed. 
But abuse is no valid argument 
against use. Still it was the ob- 
ject of our Saviour to prepare the 
way for an age when the simple 
yea or nay of his followers should 
be more trustworthy than the most 
tremendous oath. Finally, the les- 
sons of our Master are highly per- 
tinent' to the present times. They 
piercingly rebuke that vice of pro- 
fane language, which preeminently 
strikes at the majesty of God, and 
soils in the common mind the holi- 
ness of his name. 

38. Our Master criticizes another 
saying of old, relating to what is 

called Lex Talionis, or the law of 
revenge, retaliation. An eye for an 
eye, cj-c. Ex. xxi. 23 - 25 ; Lev. 
xxiv. 19, 20 ; Deut. xix. 21. This 

provision of the Mosaic code was 
adapted to a semi-barbarous state 
of society, and, like that relating to 
divorces, was tolerated and allowed 

for a time, as Jesus said, for the 
hardness of their hearts. The same 
custom was observed at Athens, 
Rome, and other ancient cities. 
According to the laws of Solon the 
retaliation was so rigid that where 
an eye was put out, and it was the' 
only one the person had, both of 
the eyes of the offender were put 
out to make the loss equal. The 
evil" of the ' law was that it en- 
couraged a fiendish spirit of re- 
venge, fatal to every sentiment of 

benevolence and piety, which was 
not content always with returning 
like evil for evil, but often carried 
its retaliation to the utmost extremi- 
ty. Moses, in order to provide a 
safety-valve for the boiling passions 
of a half savage people, permitted 



them ly law to demand an eye for 
an eye, &c. But in process of 
time, it became the custom, under 
the sanction of corrupt teachers, to 
make these exactions and take re- 
venge privately. Jesus annuls this 
whole custom, and inculcates a bet- 
ter spirit. 

39-48. Parallel passage, Luke 
vi. 27 - 36. 

39. Resist not evil. Or, the in- 
jurious person. The nature and 
condition of man, the example of 
Jesus and his disciples, forbid the 
idea that the principle of non-re- 
sistance, in the wide latitude which 
some give it, was ever designed to 
be conveyed in these words. Re- 
sisting evil is man's great work on 
earth ; resisting evil men, overcom- 
ing evil with good, is the mission 
of every Christian. The manner 
of resistance is the great question. 
The lesson of Jesus plainly was, 
that we should not oppose the evil 
or injurious person in his own 
spirit, should not resist in anger, 
revenge, or hate- ; should not resist, 
for the sake of doing harm, but of 
preventing harm ; should resist in 
such a self-possessed temper as. to 
be able to bear even redoubled in- 
dignities, and to prefer to suffer 
them rather than to give way to 
the angry passions. Smite tliec on 

thy right cheek, fyc. An affront of 
the worst kind. Is. 1. 6 ; Lam. iii. 
30. Nobody can suppose for a 
moment that this is to be literally 
understood. It is a hyperbole. As 
much as to say, it is better to turn 
the other cheek to the smiter than 
to retaliate in his own hot spirit. 
Meek and patient endurance is pref- 
erable to eager, headlong revenge. 
It is observable in this connexion, 



T-J 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



83 



sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy 

41 cloak also ; and whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go 

42 with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee ; and from him 

43 that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." Ye have heard 



that Jesus expostulated with the 
band who arrested him, and the 
officer who struck him. Mark xiv. 
43 ; John xviii. 22, 23. In these, 
as well as in other cases, it is not 
so much the object of our divine 
Master to give his followers a stat- 
ute book, to define nicely their do- 
ings, but to carry home deeply and 
feelingly to their hearts and con- 
sciences great principles, that should 
he an ever present and ever speak- 
ing law to them. It has been said, 
that it is devil-like to return evil for 
good, beast-like to return evil for 
evil, man-like to return good for 
good, but God-like to return good 
for evil. 

40. The first case he cites is of 
assault, the second is of a suit at 
law, and the third is that of per- 
sonal liberty. Here again the like 
principle of interpretation is to be 
applied as in the preceding verse. 
It is an illustration, rather than a 
rule, which Jesus here propounds. 
Loss of property is better than liti- 
gation. I can afford to lose dollars 
and cents ; but love for our neigh- 
bor is one- of the "must haves," it 
is of the necessity of life itself. 

Submit to any inconvenience, even 
that of losing an article of clothing, 
rather than be embroiled in quar- 
rels . and con tentions in law with a 

violent man. Coat. The coat or 

tunic was the under or inner gar- 
ment, encircling the whole body 
and descending to the knees. The 
cloak was a flowing mantle without 
sleeves, nearly square, worn over 
the close under-dress, and often 
used as a covering at night. Hence 
the custom and expression, to gird 

up the loins, or confine this loose 
dress around the person. There is 



a reference in the verse probably to 
the law of Moses. Ex. xxii. 25, 
26 ; Deut. xxiv. 13. 

41. Wlwsoever shall compel. This 
language is taken from a Persian 
custom. A courier travelling on 
the .king's business could lawfully 
impress into his service, men, hor- 
ses, ships, boats, or any vehicle, to 
accelerate his journey. No person 
could refuse with safety, however 
urgent, his own business or journey. 
The king's, will was omnipotent. 
The same custom prevailed under 
the Roman governors or Tetrarchs, 
and, according to Chardin, prevails 
now among the Turks. A com- 
pulsory service is spoken of in Matt, 
xxvii. 32 ; Mark xv. 21. Tioain. 
Two. The sense, is an amplifica- 
tion of the last verse. . It is better 
to do twice as much as is required 
of us .than to seek revenge, or to 
make an opposition which would 
only draw upon our heads greater 
ruin. Or apply it to the time : 
those thus pressed into the public 
service would feel angry and bitter ; 
but Jesus advises that they should 
be willing- to do more rather than 
less than they were compelled. 

42. Here are farther pointings, 
towards the same kind, conciliating, 
accommodating, fraternal spirit. We 
are not to understand that we are 
to give to every one that asks, or 
to lend to every one that wishes to 
borrow. To give to some would 
be to furnish them with the means 
of injury ; to lend to some would 
be to supply them encouragements 
to indolence and shiftlessness. Still 
"turn not thou away" from the 
really needy, help them in the most 
judicious way. James ii. 15, 16. 
Most noble were the injunctions of 



84 THE GOSPEL [CHAP. 

that it hath been said: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and 
hate thine enemy." But I say unto you, love your enemies, 44 
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and 



the Mosaic law on this head. Deut. 
xv. 7-11. Reject not the suit of 
the poor, or those who solicit your 
aid, though, as the connexion indi- 
cates, they have treated you in such 
a way as seemingly to release you 
from the obligations of benevolence. 
Luke vi. 30- 35. Rom. xii. 20. 
Give and lend to enemies. 

43. After using some minute il- 
lustrations of the true principles of 
morals and religion, and contrast- 
ing them with current doctrines, he 
proceeds from this verse to enjoin 
love towards enemies. It hath been 
said. Said by whom ? By ancient 
teachers and rabbins. There is no 
commandment in the Old Testament 
that we should hate our enemies. 
But the Jewish teachers corrupted 
the law, and deduced illegitimate 
inferences, at variance with its spir- 
it-; particularly from Lev. xix. 18. 
One of them said, that "he who 
lived in idolatry was the common 
enemy of all, and as such might be 
slain by any one." And Tacitus, 
a Roman historian, says, " the Jews 
hated all others as enemies." The 
language of Paul is that they v/ere 
" contrary to all men." Other ci- 
tations might be made to the same 
effect. " A Jew sees a Gentile fall 
into the sea : let him by no means 
lift him out : for it is written : Thou 
shalt not rise up against the blood 
of thy neighbor ; but this is not thy 

neighbor." The Mosaic law incul- 
cated, however, mercy to enemies. 
Ex. xxii. 21. Deut. xxiii. 7. 

44. Similar language is found in 
Luke vi. 27, 28 ; Rom. xii. 14-21 ; 
1 Peter iii. 9. And instances of 
obedience to this divine principle 
are related in Luke xxiii. 34 ; Acts 
vii. 60; 1 Cor. iv. 12, 13. Love 
your enemies. Though, we cannot 



love a bad man's deeds, nor refrain 
from speaking of them with indig- 
nation, especially if they injure us, 
yet we can love him, if we will 
only consider that he is our brother 
man, notwithstanding his wicked- 
ness, and can yet be restored to 
virtue and love, perhaps in some 
measure by the instrumentality of 
our own love to him. If we should 
sincerely love our enemies, how 
many of them would soon be en- 
rolled among our friends ! That 
this love should be like that of cor- 
dial attachment to near relatives 
and dear friends is not required : 
but we are to cherish a benevolent 
regard, a love for them, if not for 
their conduct ; a disposition to do 
them good at all times, and not 
evil; to rejoice in their happiness, 
and not to be envious of it ; to la- 
ment their calamities, and not to 
exult over their fall. If we cannot 
have the love of approbation, we 
can have the love of benevolence. 
But this precept runs counter to 
our general feelings, it requires 
strenuous self-denial to obey it. It 
has been remarked, that "this one 
precept is a sufficient proof of the 
holiness of the Gospel, and the 
truth of the Christian religion. 
Every false religion flatters man, 
and accommodates itself to his pride 
and passions. None but God could 
have imposed a yoke so contrary to 
self-love." Bless them that curse 
you. He shows how love to ene- 
mies is to be manifested. It is not 
to be a barren sentiment, but to 
produce the fruits of forbearance, 
good-will, and forgiveness. What 
is meant by blessing is defined by 
its being contrasted with cursing. 
As the one is to speak and impre- 
cate evil upon a person, the othei 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



85 



pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you ; 

45 that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heav- 
en ; for'he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, 

46 and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye 



is to speak and wish good for him, 
to give him good words. Do good 
to them that hate you. Here the 
emphasis is on the word do. An 
Apostle has said, we must "not 
love in tongue, but in deed and 
truth." The sentiment of good- 
will, if shut up in the heart, and 
not manifested and exercised in be- 
nevolent action, will soon droop and 
wither, like an unused limb of the 
body. The aflections of the soul, 
like the muscles of the arm or leg, 
are strengthened by action. Pray 
for them which despitefully use you 
and persecute you. These words 
originally referred to arraigning and 
prosecuting at law, but afterwards 
became more unlimited in their sig- 
nifications, embracing acts of insult 
and injury of any kind. The pre- 
cept to pray for our enemies shows 
how truly and profoundly our Mas- 
ter understood human wants and 
woes, and how completely he could 
remedy them. If it were universal- 
ly the custom to pray for our ene- 
mies, and to treat them in accord- 
ance with our prayers, hatred and 
unkindness would be thawed and 
softened, as snow by the sunbeams. 
The savage fsuds, the fostered 
grudges, the evil eye, the poisoned 
tongue, by which society is em- 
broiled and rent, would be known 
only in tradition; Murders, Duels, 
and "Wars, would belong only to 
the dark and bloody Past. 

45. TJiat ye may be the children of 
your Father, <Sfc. It is a Scripture 
idiom to call those who resemble 
any being his children. Thus, bad 
men are called the sons of Belial 
and Satan ; and good men the sons 
and children of God. John viii. 
44; 1 John iii. 10. The force is 

VOL. i. -8 



therefore, that you may become as- 
similated in disposition and conduct 
to the benevolent and impartial Dei- 
ty. Goodness in men likens them 
to the Being of all goodness. For 
he maketh his sun to rise, cj-c. The 
article before evil and good, just 
and unjust, is not hi the original, 
and the passage would read better 
without it. He maketh his sun to 
rise on evil and good, and sendeth 
rain on just and unjust. He does 
good to foe and friend, exercising a 
most generous benevolence towards 
all mankind. "We are bound to 

love our enemies ; this is a law of 
Christianity, original and peculiar. 
No system but this has required it ; 
and no act of Christian piety is 
more difficult. None shows more 
the power of the grace of God ; 
none is more ornamental to the 
character; none more like God; 
and none furnishes better evidence 
of piety. He that can meet a man 
kindly who is seeking his hurt, who 
can speak well of one that is per- 
petually slandering and cursing him; 
that can pray for a man that abuses, 
injures, and wounds him, is in the 
way to life. This is Religion, beau-" 
tiful as its native skies ; pure like 
its Source ; kind like its Author ; 
fresh like the dews of the morning ; 
clear and diffusive like the beams 
of the rising sun ; and holy "like the 

feelings and words that come from 
the bosom of the Son of God. He 
that can do this need not doubt that 
he is a Christian. He has caught 
the very spirit of the Saviour, and 
he must inherit eternal life." 
Barnes. 

46. For if ye love them which love 
you, i. e. if you love only those who 
love you ; if you do not extend 



86 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



love them which love you, what reward have ye ? do not even 
the publicans the same ? and if ye salute your brethren only, 47 
what do ye more than others 1 do not even the publicans so ? 



your affections beyond the circle of 
your firiends ; if you have no disin- 
terested love. What reward have 
ye? Luke vi. 34, " what thank have 
ye? " What virtue, merit, or praise 
is it in you, and what reward or 
approbation can you hope for, either 
from your conscience, or God? 
Your love is only selfish and con- 
.tracted. The worst men do as 
much as you. Do not even the pub- 
licans the same ? Or, tax-gatherers 
the same? There were taxes and 
customs levied by the Roman gov- 
ernment upon the nations under 
their subjection. Two classes of 
persons were engaged in collecting 
these revenues. One of these con- 
sisted of Roman knights principally, 
who paid the government a certain 
sum for the privilege of collecting 
the money in a prescribed district. 
The other class were less honora- 
ble, and consisted of those who 
were employed under the general 
contractors, as agents, to receive 
the dues at the gates of cities, in 
seaports, on highways, and bridges. 
These are the publicans usually 
spoken of in the New Testament. 
They were mostly Gentiles, but 
sometimes Jews. Engaged in rais- 
ing the taxes of a foreign power, 
addicted to rapacity, Luke iii. 12, 
13, in their office, and exerting 
their power to oppress the inhabi- 
tants, the collectors, or tax-gather- 
ers, were objects of universal odium 
and detestation. No epithet was 
too bad to apply to them. Publican 
was a synonyme for sinner. Luke 
vi. 32. Their bad qualities of course 
were likely to be nourished and 
strengthened by the harsh and bit- 
ter treatment which they received 
from the rest of the community. 
Theocritus, an ancient writer, be- 



ing asked which of the wild beasts 
were most cruel, answered : " Bears 
and lions, in the mountains ; and 
tax-gatherers and calumniators, in 
cities." Still, like every other class 
of worthless men, excellent charac- 
ters were found among them. Je- 
sus numbered among his illustrious 
Twelve, Matthew the publican. 
And Zaccheus was one, though 
perhaps belonging "to the superior 
class. In saying, therefore, that, in 
loving those who loved them, they 
did no more than publicans, Jesus 
virtually said, they did no more 
than the most abandoned and hate- 
ful persons in society. 

47. Salute. The species is put 
for the genus, or, to speak less 
technically, one act is mentioned 
as a representative of all the offi- 
ces of good-will. The salutations 
of the east vary according to the 
rank of the person addressed. In- 
feriors kiss the hand, feet, knees, or 
garments of their superiors, or pros- 
trate themselves upon the ground. 
Equals lay their right hand upon 
their bosom and incline their bodies 
a little to equals. Various expres- 
sions were used also in saluting : 
as, Peace be to thee ; Be thou 
blessed of Jehovah ; May Jehovah 
he with you. Similar forms are 
still observed in the east, according 
to modern travellers. Brethren. 
Many manuscripts read friends. 
The Jews were accustomed to treat 
other nations scornfully, and to re- 
strict their friendly offices to a nar- 
row circle of their own friends or 
sect. Jesus inculcates universal 
charity and courtesy. Wliat do ye 
more than others ? What act of sin- 
gular virtue or distinction is it,-to 
salute, or treat politely, only those 
who make the same return ? Worse 



VI.] ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 87 

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your 'Father which is in 
heaven is perfect. 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Sermon on the Mount, continued. 

L AKE heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen 

of them ; otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which 

2 is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not 



men do as much as that. The 
publicans. Or, as Griesbach reads. 
the Gentiles, or heathen, salute those 
that salute them. But the follow- 
ers of Christ were to aspire after 
wider . sympathies, more diffusive 
charity and civility. 

48. Perfect. It is not perfection 
.in general that is here urged, hut, as 
the connexion shows, perfection of 
charity ; completeness, roundness, 
expansiveness of benevolence. In 
this virtue, we are not to take im- 
perfect, narrow man as our model, 
but God, whose benevolent regards 
extend to the family of man, rich 
and poor, sinner and saint, bond and 
free ; whoss tender mercies are over 
all his works and creatures. We, 
like him, though not equally with 
him, for that would be impossible, 
are to be impartial in our feelings 
and conduct towards our race, kind 
to all, -loving all, praying for all, 
treating all as brethren. What a 
sublime appeal to the sensibility of 
man, that he should imitate the glo- 
rious Parent of all; that, leaving 
the contracted spirit of clanship, 
or nationality, or sectarianism, he 
should aspire after that grand chari- 
ty, which like the Providence and 
Grace of God, encircles in its'gener- 
ous embrace the whole brotherhood 
of man ! So Jesus taught, and so he 
nobly lived. Precept and practice 
harmonized perfectly in him. 

CHAP. VI. 

1.' Our Lord had been speaking 
of the wrong construction put upon 



many of the Mosaic precepts by the 
Scribes and Pharisees ; and he sets 
up a much higher and purer stand- 
ard of virtue than theirs. He now 
proceeds to show that in their reli- 
gious acts, as well as opinions, there 
was a corrupt motive ; and that his 
disciples should act from far better 
principles. Alms. The original 
text, according to the judgment of 
the best editors, reads righteousness 
instead of alms. The sense then 
would be, Do not your deeds of 
righteousness, your religious duties, 
from motives of vanity. This verse 
is a general text to the remarks 
which follow in verse 2, upon alms ; 
verse 5, upon prayer ; and verse 16, 
upon fasting. He goes on to speci- 
fy what religious duties should not 
be performed for the sake of publi- 
city. To lie seen of them. The 
strength of the prohibition lies in 
these words. Jesus does not con- 
demn public acts of virtue and be- 
nevolence. It would be inconsistent 
with his own injunction, Matt. v. 16. 
But he forbids such acts being done 
for the sake of being seen of men, 
from a love of ostentation. Such 
motives vitiate the apparently good 
deed. A man that ever acts virtu- 
ously, so far as we can see, may be 
influenced by such selfish or ambi- 
tious views, as to lose the solid re- 
ward of virtue, the favor of God. 
Thus the Scribes and Pharisees lost 
the approbation of Jesus and their 
Creator. Matt, xxiii. 5. 

2. Doest thine alms. The first 
specification relates to alms-giving. 



88 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the syna- 
gogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. . 
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But when 3 
thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right 
hand doeth ; that thine alms may be in secret ; and thy Father, 4 
which seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly. 



He contrasts the practices of the 
times with the pure principles of liis 
religion, and unveils the worthless- 
ness of an action, however good 
seemingly, which is prompted by a 
desire of the applause of men. 
Do not sound a trumpet before thee. 
"We have similar phrases at the 
present day : to blazon ; to trumpet ; 
to make a flourish of trumpets. It 
is not clea.r that "any custom is actu- 
ally described here, but a figurative 
expression is used, to teach that we 
should not make a show of our 
charities to acquire human praise. 
Reference is made in general, per- 
haps, to eastern customs. 2 Kings 
ix. 13. Stage-players and gladiators 
were brought into the theatres with 
sound of trumpets. The Persian 
dervises, a kind of religious beg- 
gars, according to Chardin, carry 
horns with them, -which they blow 
when any . tiling is given them, in 
honor of the donors. A Burman 
convert, reading the Sermon on the 
Mount, exclaimed, "How unlike 
our religion is this ! When Burmans 
make offerings at the pagodas, they 
make a great noise with drums and 
musical instruments, that others may 
see how good they are." TJie 
hypocrites, i. e. Scribes .and Phari- 
sees. ^Matt. xxiii. 13, 14, 15, 29. 
The word in Greek means actors. 
It was the custom among the an- 
cients for actors or stage-players to 
wear masks. Hence the force of 
the word in morals and religion. It 
describes those who act under a 
mask ; who profess to be good, but 
within are bad ; who personate, like 
stage-actors, an assumed character. 



It has been well said, that hypocrisy 
is the tribute which vice pays to 
virtue. In the synagogues and in 
the streets. The Scribes and Phari- 
sees took the most public opportu- 
nities of doing their religious duties, 
that they might be noticed and ap- 
plauded. -= They have their reward. 
They obtain the reward they desire ; 
the praise of men ; the poor return 
for their ostentation and hypocrisy. 
They cannot look for any further re- 
ward. The higher recompense of 
virtue and God's favor cannot be 
theirs. 

3. Let not thy left hand know, $c. 
A. proverbial expression. The sense 
is, Make no exertion to publish your 
benevolence ; on the contrary, let it 
hardly be known to yourself. The 
alms-box stood in Jewish syna- 
gogues on the right hand of the 
passage into the house ; hence the 
peculiar force and beauty of saying, 
that the left hand should not know 
of the alms which the right hand 
bestowed. 

4. Tliat thine alms may le in se- 
cret, I. e. may be secretly given. 
These directions refer more to the 
spirit than 'to the manner of bestow- 
ing charities. Gifts to the destitute 
are necessarily sometimes public. 
The rule of our Master is violated 
only when the motive of beneficence 
is, to be seen and praised by man- 
kind. It is the disposition of heart 
that makes the giver's "alms accept- 
able or not, in the presence of the 
Great Spirit. Seeth in secret. Sees 
the hidden virtues, the private char- 
ities, the tmobtrusive benevolence 
of his children on earth. Reward 



VI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



89 



5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites 
are; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in 
the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. 

6 Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, 
when thou prayest, enter into thyj closet, and when thou hast 
shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy 

7 Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. But 
when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do ; for 



thee openly. If never before, at 
least in that judgment when the 
secrets of all hearts shall be laid 
open, and the great question will 
be, what good deeds we have done 
to the poor, the sick, afflicted, and 
friendless. Matt. xxv. 34-36. 

5. WJien thou prayest. The sec- 
ond topic is prayer. He warns his 
hearers against three errors and 
sins : verse 5, Hypocrisy ; verse 6, 
Distraction of mind : verse 7, Vain 
Repetitions. Synagogues. There 
was no harm in praying in a syna- 
gogue. Here is no prohibition 
against social, public prayer. But 
praying there to be seen by .men, 
using a public resort for private de- 
votion, was ostentatious and cen- 
surable. We learn that such was 
the practice among the Jews. 
Corners of the streets. The Scribes 
and Pharisees had fixed hours of 
prayer, as the Mahometans have 
now, and they took care to be in the 
most conspicuous places at those 
times, that their devotions might at- 
tract notice. In the Jerusalem Tal- 
mud is this sentence : "I observed 
Rabbi Jannai standing and praying 
in the streets of Trippor, and going 
four cubits, and then praying the 
additionary prayer." 

6. Thy , closet. The Jewish 
houses contained an upper apart- 
ment for retirement, a land of pri- 
vate chapel. In Matt. xxiv. 26, the 
same word is translated " secret 
chambers." There were two rea- 
sons for this injunction : one, that 
8* " 



ostentation might be avoided ; the 
other, that attention of mind might 
be secured. It is not to be supposed 
that Jesus forbade public worship, 
or family devotion, when he thus 
rebuked the publicity of Jewish 
prayers. His command is, that pri- 
vate prayer should be in private. 
He authorized social prayer by his 
own example, and that of his disci- 
ples. John xvii ; Acts i. 24, iv. 
24. Is in secret. Is present, un- 
seen, in your chamber of devotion. 
Seeth in secret. A declaration of 
his spirituality and omniscience. 
Reward thee. An encouragement 
to faith and perseverance in devo- 
tion. Hundreds of precious as- 
surances like this are scattered 
throughout .the Scriptures. 

7. Use not vain repetitions. Or, 
babbling repetitions, or many idle 
words. This is expressed by one 
word in Greekj which is derived 
from Battus, the name of a Lybian 
king, who stammered ; or from the 
name of a Greek poet, who in- 
dulged in tautologies. The sense 
is, that the worshipper should not 
needlessly repeat or amplify expres- 
sions. This was done to a great 
extent, by both Jews and Pagans, 
and carried the idea, that the Deity 
required to be informed particularly 
of their wants, and was induced to 
supply them by reiterated supplica- 
tions. Such maxims as these were 
the Jewish Schools : " Every 



in 

one that multiplies 

be heard." "The 



prayers shall 
prayer which 



90 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 
Be not ye therefore like unto them ; for your Father knoweth 8 
what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this 9 
manner therefore pray ye : Our Father, which art in heaven, 



is long shall not return empty." 
Their practice was in accordance 
with these sayings. As the heathen 
fo. As specimens of the vain 
epetitions of the heathen, see 1 
Kings xviii. 26 ; and Acts xix. 34. 
They shall be heard. Or, more cor- 
rectly, shall make themselves heard.' 
Their much speaking. Their 
error was, that they supposed that 
the gods were altogether such as 
themselves ; that they must be in- 
formed of the necessities of their 
supplicants, and wearied by impor- 
tunity until they granted their re- 
quests. Our Lord, like Solomon, 
Ecc. v. 2, says,. " Let thy words be 
" few ;" and with the Son of Sirach, 
Ecc. vii. 14, " Make not much bab- 
bling when thou prayest." Yet it 
is vain repetitions he especially 
discountenances. Repetition may 
sometimes express a higher fervor 
of devotion. Matt. xxvi. 39, 42, 44. 
8. Your Father knoweth what 
things ye have need of. . Jesus does 
not by any means mention this as a 
reason why men should not pray, 
but as a reason why they should 
not pray as the heathen did, with 
long, reiterated, verbose expres- 
sions. Prayer is not designed to 
inform God of any thing ; not even 
of our desires ; for they are known 
to him better than we can express 
them. But it is communion of 
spirit with spirit. It is aspiration 
towards heaven and heavenly things. 
It is homage, gratitude, confession, 
supplication from the finite child to 
the Infinite Father. On this ground 
it is defensible, and with these views 
it should be performed. So Christ 
and his disciples taught and practised. 
9-13. For the parallel passage, 
see Lukexi. 2-4. 



The Jewish teachers were accus- 
tomed to give their disciples forms 
of prayer. John the Baptist taught 
his. disciples how to pray. Luke 
xi. 1. It was natural therefore for 
the disciples to desire, and for the 
Saviour to give a model of devo- 
tion. This model has usually gone 
under the name of the Lord's Pray- 
er, because our Lord composed it. 
The sentences, however, are partly 
drawn from the public liturgies of 
the Jews. But the work of select- 
ing, combining, and arranging them 
exhibits as plainly the wisdom of 
our Master, as if every word had 
been original. Here, as upon other 
occasions, he hesitated not to weave 
into his instructions the holy say- 
ings, and fitly spoken words, of 
prophets and priests before" him; 
for they were embalmed in the 
dearest associations of his auditors. 
This prayer, rising above the nar- 
rowness of Jewish notions, pos- 
sesses that comprehensiveness and 
adaptedness becoming a universal 
religion, and forms an epitome of 
Christianity. It breathes the spirit 
of filial faith in God, and fraternal 
affection for man. It may be view- 
ed as a compend of the leading 
topics of devotion ; suitable in afl 
ages, places, and conditions of the 
world. Every sentence is a text 
for a variety of subjects, which 
might be comprehended under it. 
From the practice of the disciples, 
we learn that this form was not 
given to them or us for exclusive 
and constant use, but as descriptive 
of the substance and spirit of true 
devotion. 

9. After this manner therefore 
pray ye. Take this as the pattern 
of your devotions. Our Father. 



VI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



91 



10 hallowed be thy name ; thy kingdom come ; thy will be done, 

11 in earth as it is in heaven ; give us this day our daily bread ; 



It has been observed that the word 
our, beginning this prayer, beauti- 
fully intimates, that in our private 
supplications love to man and love 
to God should be inseparable. In 
the secret chamber we should not 
forget our social condition. By 
the endearing appellation of Father, 
the irifiniteness and awfulness of 
the Deity are brought down to a 
level with our finite minds and 
timid faith. From Jesus we have 
received the spirit of adoption, 
whereby we can cry, Abba, Father, 
before the dread majesty of the 
Sovereign of the universe. Which 
art in heaven. Boundless, pure, 
tranquil, glorious, like the spread- 
ing skies above us,", is the Being 
whom we worship. But more than 
this. He dwells not peculiarly in 
the material heavens any more than 
elsewhere. He dwells in the spirit- 
ual heaven, of which x the sky is but 
an emblem ; the heaven of spiritu- 
ality, holiness, love, and mercy. 
Those who imitate him, as dear 
children, are entering, into.the same 
heaven of blessedness. Hallowed 
be thy name. May thy name be 
sanctified, or mayest thou be rever- 
ed. This is the first petition. It 
is a prayer that idolatry, profane- 
ness, and blasphemy may come to 
an end, and that the true worship 
of God may be established through- 
out the world. 1 Peter iii. 15 ; 
John iv. 21/23. 

10. Thy kingdom come. The 
kingdom of God, the kingdom of 
heaven, the kingdom or reign of 
the Messiah, are equivalent terms. 
This second petition means, there- 
fore, May the reign of truth, the 
sway of the Christian religion, be 
extended everywhere ; may Jesus 
Christ rule as the moral King, the 
spiritual sovereign of the globe. 



The Jews were accustomed to say : 
" He prays not at all in whose 
prayer there is no mention of the 
kingdom of God." Thy will be 
done, in earth as it is in heaven. 
Better, on earth. Religion may 
have spread the knowledge of God 
everywhere, and yet his will may 
not be perfectly obeyed. This is a 
supplication that the diffusion of 
truth may be followed by the pteva- 
lence of a heavenly obedience to 
the truth, and to God. In using 
these words, we pray that men, like 
angels, may submit their wills to 
the will of God ; obey his laws ; 
and yield, and yield cheerfully, to 
the wholesome chastenings of his 
Providence. " This comprehensive 
petition is the most humble, as well 
as the most prudent, that can he 
offered up from the creature to the 
Creator ; as it supposes the Supreme 
Being will do nothing but what is 
for our good, and that he knows 
better than we ourselves what is 
so." 

11. Give its this day our daily 
bread. The first three petitions are 
for. the world ; that the true wor- 
ship of God, the knowledge of his 
will, and obedience to his com- 
mands, may be universal. The last 
three petitions of the Lord's Prayer 
relate to the temporal and spiritual 
wants of ourselves. The first is 
for temporal good, and decides the 
question, whether it is right to pray 
for any such blessing. Bread stands 
here for food, clothing, and what- 
ever we need hi the flesh. This 
prayer reminds us that our daily 
blessings, as well as the sublime 
promises of eternity, descend from 
the Father on high. The prevalent 
anxiety and worldliness with which 
men labor for riches and renown are 
rebuked here ; for only one petition 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors ; and lead I2 
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil ; for thine is 
the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.- 



relates to temporal favors, and that, 
to good of the humblest, though 
most necessary kind, daily bread; 
whilst the other five requests are 
for spiritual objects. Prov. xxx. 
8. This day. Or, according to 
Luke, xi. 3, day by day. Daily. 
The original word is not used in 
the Classics, or the Scriptures, ex-- 
cept here and in the parallel place 
in Luke, and its meaning is therefore 
doubtful. The most probable sense 
is either necessary or sufficient. 

12. Forgive us our debts. Remit 
our offences. Faults and transgres- 
sions are called debts. The same 
figure of speech in some particulars 
prevails in our language. One man 
is said to owe another a favor, or an 
apology. It is observable here, 
that our sins are forgiven directly 
by God, upon the fulfilment of the 
conditions he has imposed, and that 
nothing is said, or anticipated, rela- 
tive to their being forgiven by any 
intervention of the blood of an in- 
nocent being, shed to placate the 
divine wrath. As me forgive our 
debtors. This is stated as the con- 
dition on which we may trust to 
be forgiven. Not that repentance 
and reformation are not necessary 
for forgiveness, but that a merciful 
disposition in us qualifies us preem- 
inently for the reception of mercy 
from God. With what face can a 
harsh and unforgiving man pray for 
pardon, when by the very act he 
becomes, as it were, his own accu- 
ser ? It becomes us ever to recol- 
lect that we stand in the same rela- 
tion to God as offenders, as those 
who trespass against us do to us ; 
nay, rather, that none can have of- 
fended against us by any compari- 
son so deeply as we have offended 
against God, and none can have that 



need of our mercy that we have of 
the divine mercy. 

13. Lead us not into temptation. 
This is a Hebraism, meaning, suffer 
us not to fall into trials that will 
lead us into transgression. The 
trials of life are the school of vir- 
tue. But the spirit of this petition 
is, that we may not encounter temp- 
tations too strong for our virtue ; 
may not be abandoned, unprotected, 
to the assaults of evil ; may not run 
recklessly and needlessly into any 
occasion of sin. 1 Cor. x. 13. How 
beautiful and appropriate is such a 
supplication for those hemmed in 
on all sides by moral dangers and 
difficulties, and liable at every mo- 
ment to overstep the sacred limits 
of virtue ! The sense of our ex- 
posed moral situation will render 
this a hearty, frequent, and earnest 
petition. But deliver us from evil. 
Or, the evil one ; as it is customary 
in the Scriptures to personify evil, 
and call it a person. This is a 
prayer that we may be emancipated 
from sin and its miseries, and that 
the natural evils of life, sickness, 
misfortune, bereavement, may re- 
dound to our spiritual good. How 
great a petition ! x It is that we may 
attain spotless virtue and perfect 
happiness. For thine is the king- 
dom, <Sfc. The for implies, that as 
God is all-powerful and glorious, 
the King over all, he is able and 
disposed to grant the foregoing pe- 
titions. His power can supply 
every present and future want. His 
glory is to do good to his creatures. 
We can therefore approach him in 
a glad confidence that he hears and 
answers our prayers. The word 
Amen signifies so be it, being de- 
rived from a Hebrew verb, mean- 
ing to be true, faithful. The people 



71.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



93 



14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father. 

15 will also forgive you ; but if ye forgive not men their tres- 
passes, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 

16 Moreover, when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad 



are supposed to have responded this 
word at the close of the prayers of 
the minister, in the Jewish syna- 
gogues. The same custom appears 
to have prevailed among the early 
Christians. 1 Cor. xiv. 16.. This 
doxology, or ascription of praise, is 
not found in Luke xi. 4, appended 
to the Lord's Prayer. The manu- 
scripts of the best authority do not 
contain it, and it is not cited by the 
most ancient ecclesiastical writers. 
It occurs however in. some of the 
early versions. Griesbach, in his 
critical edition of the New Testa-, 
ment, decides against its genuine- 
ness. The first English' version, by 
William Tyndale, leaves it out ; al- 
so the French version of Sacy. On 
the whole, it is probable that it was 
interpolated from the Jewish or 
Christian liturgies. But it harmon- 
izes nevertheless with the preceding 
prayer, and forms an appropriate 
and sublime conclusion. 

14. Christ enforces this truth often 
and urgently. Matt, xviii. 21 - 35 ; 
Mark xi. 25, 26 ; Luke vii. 40-48, 
xvii. 3, 4. He beautifully exem- 
plified his forgiving disposition to. 
his enemies even on the cross. His 
disciples breathed the same merciful 
spirit. Acts vii. 60 ; Eph. iv. 32 ; 
Col. iii. 13. The forgiveness of en- 
emies is one of the surest tests of a 
Christian character. And those who 
call themselves Christians might 
ir\\\e a valuable lesson even from the 
followers of Mahomet; that with 
greater light they should not prove 
to be of a worse temper. When a 
brutal man had struck an Arabian 
philosopher, instead of a blow he 
received from the good man this 
melting appeal : "Were I vindictive, 
I should return outrage for "outrage. 



Were I an informer, I should accuse 
you to the Calif. But I had rather 
pray God to grant that in the Day 
of Judgment I may enter into heaven 
with you." Your heavenly Father 
will also forgive you. "We are 
not, however, to understand hereby 
that the practice of this or any other 
single, duty can obtain God's favor, 
where other Christian virtues are 
neglected : for, though negative 
precepts are absolute, yet affirmative 
promises admit of this limitation, 
'if no other condition of salvation 
be wanting.' " 

15. To make the injunction more 
impressive, he states here negatively 
what he had laid down in the last 
verse affirmatively. This is a com- 
mon method in the Bible.. Deut. ix. 
7 ; Is. iii. 9, xxxviii. 1 ; Jer. xxix. 
11. We are all sinners against God, 
needing, and professing to desire 
forgiveness from him, and dependent 
on his mercy for pardon. Plow un- 
suitable, then, that our fellow-men, 
who may have done us wrong, and 
who may be in our power, should 
find in us an unforgiving' spirit ! If 
they implore mercy in vain from us, 
how can we expect to receive mercy 
from God ? 

16. Jesus continues an application 
of the same principle to Fasting. 
Reality and sincerity alone could 
make this external observance of 
any value in the sight of God. In 
this passage he neither enjoins nor 
prohibits fasting, except so far as 
verse 17 may be viewed as sanction- 
ing the observance. Christ does 
not refer here, probably, to the reg- 
ular Jewish fasts, but to those vol- 
untary and frequent ones, in which 
seekers after a reputation for piety 
were accustomed to make a show 



94 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



countenance ; for they disfigure their faces, that they may ap- 
pear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their 
reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and n 
wash thy face ; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto 18 
thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father, which seeth in 
secret, shall reward thee openly. Lay not up for your- 19 



of their austerities. Some fasted 
twice a week. Luke xviii.-12. And 
some even went so far as to do it 
four days in a week. At these 
times, besides abstinence from food,, 
they practised austerities upon their 
bodies, beating and wounding them- 
selves, and disfiguring their faces. 
Without their customary bathings, 
perfumes, and anointings, their per- 
sonal appearance was squalid. Their 
hair and beards were left uncombed, 
and the whole garb was unsightly. 
Sad countenance. Or, according 
to the derivation of the word, look 
not sourly, or like a Scythian or 
Tartar. This morose and gloomy 
expression was assumed by the hyp- 
ocritical Pharisees for appearance's 
sake. They disfigure their faces. 
They destroyed the natural appear- 
ance of their countenances by neg- 
lecting their usual dress and cleanli- 
ness, and affecting great sorrow and 
penitence. Such fasting had no re- 
ality, and therefore no acceptable- 
ness xvith God. Is. Iviii. 5. No se- 
verer condemnation is pronounced 
by Jesus upon any class of sinners 
than upon hypocrites. They con- 
vert the noblest things, even the ob- 
servances of that religion which they 
disobey, into instruments of self- 
aggrandizement. But they have 
their reward ; the miserable reward 
of supposing they have enjoyed the 
reputation of that virtue which they 
do 'not possess, when in reality 
they are understood, most likely, by 
men, and certainly by God, in their 
actual character. It has been said 
that the hypocrite is like the water- 
man, who looks one way and rows 



another ; the true Christian, like the 
traveller, has his journey's end in 
his eye. 

17. Anoint thine head, and wash 
thy face. That is, affect nothing, 
observe your customary habits of 
dress and ablution. Fast in heart, 
not in appearance. Orientals daily 
wash and anoint themselves with 
fragrant ointments, except at times 
of grief and humiliation. Deut. 
xxviii. 40 ; Ruth iii. 3 ; 2 Sam. xiv. 
2 ; Dan. x. 3 ; Mark xiv. 3 ; Luke 
vii. 46. This practice is rendered 
necessary by the warmth of the cli- 
mate, and the looseness of the attire 
of the people. Of course the direc- 
tion of Jesus is not literally applica- 
ble now. His aimwasuot to define 
the mode of keeping a religious cer- 
emony, but to teach the worth of 
reality and substance contrasted with 
Pharisaical hypocrisy. 

18. Openly. This word, accord- 
ing to Griesbach, is spurious, and 
should not be admitted into the text. 

-It was probably first placed in the 
margin by some transcriber, as af- 
fording an antithesis to seeth in se- 
cret, and was afterwards copied into 
the body of the page. 

19. In the following verses to the 
end of the chapter, lessons of faith 
in Providence, and freedom from 
anxiety about life and its circum- 
stances, are beautifully taught. 
These lessons were highly appro- 
priate to the disciples of that time, 
to the Apostles, who went forth 
poor to preach the Gospel. Yet 
they are good now ; they are the 
salt of that wisdom which is never 
spoiled by keeping, but which is 



VI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



95 



selves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, 

20 and where thieves break through and steal ; but lay up for 
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust 
doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor 

21 steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be 



fresh through all ages. Treasures. 
In the east, the most valuable pos- 
sessions often consisted of the. pro- 
ductions of the earth, the precious 
metals, and numerous suits of cloth- 
ing ; which, as fashions are not 
there fluctuating as here, retained 
their full value for years. Gen. 
xlv. 22 ; Judges xiv. 12 ; 2 Kings 
v. 5. Moth. A small insect which 
eats and destroys clothing. 7 Rust . 
Canker, or what consumes either 
grain or metals. Their gold and 
silver would \rust, their grain be 
blighted, and their garments moth- 
eaten. James v. 2, 3. Thieves 
break through. , Or, dig through the 
walls of a house to commit burglary. 
This precept is also found in Luke 
xii. 33, 34, and John vi. 27. It is 
not to dissuade from industry and 
frugality, but from absorption in 
the pursuits of wealth as the chief 
good. The phrase is a Hebraism, 
for instances of which see Hos. vi. 
6; Matt. ix. 13; Acts v. 4. A 
positive and negative expression are 
.inited to give the idea of prefer- 
ence, not to express an absolute 
value. So here. The idea is, Do 
not lay up for yourselves earthly so 
much as heavenly treasures. Man, 
made for immortality, made to be a 
cliild of heaven, and companion of 
angels and cherubim, must, to be 
happy, live to God and eternity ; 
that is his nature, his element. 
Otherwise he is like a plant, with its 
branches as well as roots growing 
into the ground ; like a bird, created 
for the ample scope of heaven, 
tamely creeping on the earth as a 
reptile. Let him, soar upward. 



20. Earthly treasures are per- 
ishable, therefore they should hold 
a subordinate place ; heavenly treas- 
ures are incorruptible, therefore 
they should be supremely loved and 
sought after. Men are anxious to 
make provision for their old age ; 
how much more should they gather 
riches for an everlasting future ! 
Treasures in heaven. What are 
they? Let our Saviour answer. 
Matt. xix. 21. Let Paul answer. 1 
Tinrr vi. 17-19. Charity, good 
works, a pure heart, a finished 
Christian character, love ; these are 
treasures, above gold or diamonds ; 
richer than East or West ; lasting 
for ever ; glorious to behold ; happy 
to possess and enjoy. We may be 
poor in aught else, but we may all 
be rich in soul, rich towards God, 
rich for the life to come. Let us 
covet, as no miser ever did his yel- 
low dust, that eternal inheritance 
laid up for the good in the regions 
of the fairer world. 

21. There wilLyour heart be also. 
'A. profound truth. Everybody has 
some treasure, something he es- 
teems, desires, and loves ; some, 
thing to which his heart turns, as 
the needle to the pole. If we have 
a treasure, and our heart is not with 
it, it is no treasure to us. A real 
treasure draws the affections after 
it. Luke xii. 34. Happy will it 
be for us when we shall see that 
virtue, goodness, God, heaven, are 
such treasures as are worth all our 
desires, hopes, and efforts. Laying 
up our treasures in heaven, our 
hearts will, spontaneously be drawn 
up thither. 



96 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP 



also. The light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine 22 
eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light ; but if 23 
thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If 
therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is 
that darkness ! No man can serve two' masters ; for either he 24 



22. The light of the body is the 
eye. Luke xi. 34. He states a 
physical fact to illustrate a spiritual 
truth. The eye is the receptacle, 
not the producer, of light. But by 
a visual deception, it seems to make 
the light ; when open, all is light' 
about us ; when shut, all is dark, as 
if night itself were around us. 
Thine eye be single. Sound, clear. 
Full of light. The whole body 
is enlightened -when the eye is in a 
healthy state. It is ia an atmos- 
phere of light. Its motions will all 
be sure and effective. 

23. Be evil. The same figure 
continued. If the eye be diseased, 
distempered, incapable of doing its 
proper office as an eye, then the 
whole body, through the failure of 
so small an organ, is enveloped in 
impenetrable darkness. Man gropes 
in uncertainty. He feels after things 
if he may peradventure find them, 
but all his movements must be un- 
certain ; his noblest sense is gone, 
" and wisdom at one entrance quite 
shut out." TJie light that is in 
thee be darkness, hoio great is that 
darkness! Luke xi. 35, 36. Here 
is the application. It is one of the 
sorest ills to have one's eyesight 
fail ; how - much, more to have the 
inner light quenched! In is the 
emphatic word. The connexion of 
verses 22 and 23 with the forego- 
ing subject is now evident. Jesus 
had been urging the. importance of 
heavenly-mindedness, of laying up 
imperishable treasures ; riches sub- 
ject to no earthly mischance. But 
to do this, the soul must be enlight- 
ened, the judgment must not be 
blinded, the mind's eye must not 



be dimmed by the glare of worldly 
splendor. If it is diseased, if it 
see false shapes and appearances, 
then thoughts, wishes, affections, 
are shrouded in error and darkness ; 
a darkness how great ! a gloom, as 
of Egypt, that can be felt ! When 
the bodily senses are impaired, the 
evil is slight compared with the 
perversion of the powers of the 
soul. When the inner world is 
dark, the spark of heaven, the light 
of God, reason, conscience, are be- 
nighted, what a night is there ! how 
much more awful than the natural 
night, how much worse than total 
blindness of the eyesight ! 2 Cor. 
iv. 4. Some of the ancient sages 
used the same comparison, "as the 
eye in the body, so is the reason in 
the soul." Jesus speaks of a light 
in us ; that would be a positive con- 
tradiction in terms, if all was origi- 
nally totally dark and depraved 
there. He never taught the doc- 
trine of Total Depravity. He as- 
sures us that the light may become 
darkness, reason may be dethroned, 
and conscience seared, and the heart 
hardened ; but God did not create 
us in that state. Having dimmed 
the lustre of the spirit-eye, we shall 
pray with Milton : 

" Thou celestial light, 
Shine inward, and the mind through all her 

powers 
Irradiate; there plant eyes, all mist from 

thence 
Purge and disperse." 

24. The Saviour had spoken of 
the perishable nature of earthly 
treasures as one reason why they 
should not be pursued and" laid up 
as the greatest good ; he had a.- 
luded to the darkness which over- 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



97 



will hate the one, and love the other ; or else he will hold to 
the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and 
25 Mammon. Therefore I say unto you : Take no ; thought for 
your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet 
for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than 



spreads the covetous, worldly mind, 
more dreadful than blindness ; he 
now appeals to the' principle that 
man cannot serve two masters at 
the same time, as a further motive 
to labor for the heavenly inherit- 
ance in obedience to God. Every- 
man has his ruling passion, his 
prominent object of pursuit. Two 
objects of different natures he can- 
not pursue with equal interest, af- 
fection, and unweariedness. He 
may worship and serve and love 
the Pleasure-god, or the Money- 
god, but he neglects his Maker. 
All idolatry did not cease when the 
wooden and stone images were 
thrown down. It is to be feared 
that thousands in Christian lands 
offer their sincerest service, their 
heartiest worship to Mammon, or 
some idol of the heart. Hate the 
one, and love the other. Which 
means, according to a common 
Hebrew idiom, to love less and love 
more, not absolute hatred and love. 
Or else. Or, at least will hold 
tn, obey one. Despise. Disobey 
the other. Ye cannot serve God 
and Mammon. This is the inference 
from the principle advanced. Mam- 
mon is a Chaldaic and Syriac word, 
meaning riches, and is here used as 
the name of the money-god. If 
we truly love and serve God, as 
devoted, dutiful children, we shall 
postpone all worldly aggrandize- 
ment as of inferior consequence. 
If "rich, we shall esteem wealth of 
less value than religion. If poor, 
we shall still feel that we may have 
within our possession the grandest 
treasure of the universe. But on 
the other side, if we centre our de- 
VOL. i. 9 



sires and hopes in things earthly, 
we shall inevitably defraud our 
Creator ; we cannot live to this 
world and to heaven also, give 
half a heart to God, and half a 
heart to Mammon. But how many 
are engaged in the futile attempt to 
bring about this impossible thing ; 
and distressing their lives with the 
knotty problem, how they may be 
worldly and spiritually minded at 
the same time ! 

25. Therefore. A conclusion from 
the preceding verse. If one must 
be your master.,, let it be the rightful 
one, your Father in heaven. Vex 
not yourself with needless fears 
about temporal prosperity. Take 
no thought. An unfortunate ren- 
dering. Rather, take no undue 
thought ; be not anxious and solici- 
tous, distracted in mind, tossed by 
cares. Phil. iv. 6. There is no 
countenance given here to the idle, 
the improvident, and thriftless. A 
degree of attention is necessary to 
secure a livelihood. Rom. xii. 11 ; 
1 Tim. v. 8. But the point is, that 
we should not be so much con- 
cerned about living, as to neglect 
life, to distrust Providence, and to 
forego heaven. Food and clothing 
are the means, not the ends of life. 
Several beautiful and pointed illus- 
trations enforce the doctrine through 
the following verses. Is noz the 
life more than meat, and the body 
than raiment? This is the first 
reason for a calm, unanxious re- 
liance on Divine Providence, the 
past experience of its care. 1 
Peter v. 7. If God has bestowed 
life and bodies, certainly he will 
not fail in providing the less gifts 



98 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



meat, and the body than raiment ? Behold the fowls of the 26 
air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into 
barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not 
much better than they ? Which of you by taking thought can 27 
add one cubit unto his stature ? And why take ye thought for 23 



of food and clothing. The splen- 
did boon of a human, rational, hap- 
py existence is such a proof of his 
kind regard as to banish the fear 
of any inferior needed blessing be- 
ing denied us. The formation of 
the body, with its wonderful adap- 
tation to the outward world, with 
-its perfect senses, its capacities of 
labor, endurance, and enjoyment, 
is such a master-piece of Heaven, 
as to leave us in no doubt that the 
requisite garb will be provided to 
shelter " this little moving temple." 
Meat. This name was formerly 
given to all kinds of food. Rai- 
ment. Old English for clothing. 
Luke xii. 22, 23. 

26. Behold the fowls of the air. 
Observe the birds. Luke xii. 24 ; 
Job xxxviii. 41. The Saviour uses 
the simple and elegant reasoning 
of nature, and from the birds, fly- 
ing around him, draws profoundest 
truths. It is obviously not his pur- 
pose to counsel men to do as the 
birds, and neither sow nor reap ; 
but to cast themselves on the bosom 
of Providence without anxiety. If 
the bird, an irrational, insignificant, 
transient creature, "poor citizen of 
the air," sings blithely, without fear 
of the morrow, or questioning of 
Providence, shall not man, the lord 
of this lower world, favorite of the 
skies, betaken care of? Are ye 
not much better than they? Of no- 
bler nature, more important station, 
and sublimer destiny. The poet 
Bryant has finely paraphrased the 
sentiment of Jesus, in his address 
to the Water-fowl : 

"There is a Power, whose care 
Teaches thy way along that pathless coast, 



The desert and illimitable air, 
Lone wandering, hut not lost. 

'" Thou >rt gone, the abyss of heaven 
Hath swallowed up thy form ; yet on my heart 
Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast 

given, 
And shall not soon depart. 

" He who from zone to zone 
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain 

flight. /"- 

In the long way that I must tread Slone, 
"Will lead my steps aright." 

27. Luke xii. 25, 26. Add one 
cubit unto his stature. A cubit is a 
measure, from the elbow to the tip 
of the middle finger, of 18, or 22 
inches. Few would desire to add 
thus much to their stature. It is 
more probable that the word here 
translated stature would be better 
expressed by age, as it is actually 
done in John ix. 21, 23, and He- 
brews xi. 11. Though few may 
wish to be taller, multitudes desire 
to add to the length of their lives. 
The argument is then, If Ave are 
so helpless as to be unable to add 
one cubit to our age, or prolong our 
life one moment, why should we 
not perceive our very weakness to 
be a motive against being " careful 
and troubled about many things " ? 
The impotence and fruitlessness of . 
all our solicitude, the impossibility 
of .our prolonging our existence one 
second beyond the allotted period, 
is a reason why we should confide 
cheerfully in that tender Providence, 
which takes no . advantage of our 
weakness, but ministers as the gent- 
lest nurse to our needs. God will 
do for us better than our fears, bet- . 
ter than our hopes. 

28. From the fowls of the air he 
draws the conclusion, that man 
should not be anxious for the means 



VI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



99 



raiment ? *" Consider the lilies of the field, how they ,grow ; 

29 they toil not, neither do they spin ; and yet I say unto you that 
even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to- 
day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much 



of supporting life. Now from the 
lilies of the field he infers that he 
should trust Providence for cloth- 
ing. Consider. Survey attentive- 
ly. The lilies of the field. Luke 
xii. 27. Flowers of this kind grew 
wild in Palestine, and probably mul- 
titudes of them were in sight from 
the hill where Jesus was addressing 
the crowd. " The white lily is a 
flower of the field in Persia, and 
some of its species may be field- 
flowers in Judea. Besides this, 
there is the martagon, crown impe- 
rial, and other colored lilies." The 
lily springs up and grows spontane- 
ously, expands its brilliant blossoms, 
eclipsing the pomp of kings, and 
fills the air with fragrance. Does 
God deck with perfect beauty this 
fragile flower, and make it the glory 
of the vegetable kingdom, and is he 
unmindful of his own children, his 
image, his heirs ? Toil, spin. 
Reference is here made to the em- 
ployments of males and females re- 
spectively. 

"Flowers! When the Saviour's calm, benig- 
nant eye 

Fell on your gentle beauty, when from you 
That heavenly lesson for'all hearts he drew, 
Eternal, universal, as the sky, 
Then in the bosom of your purity 
A voice he set, as in a temple shrine, 
That life's quick travellers ne'er might pass 

you by 

Unwarned of that sweet oracle divine. 
And though too oft its low, celestial sound 
By the harsh notes of work-day care is 

drowned, 
And the loud steps of vain, unlistening 

Haste, 

Yet. the great ocean hath no tone of power 
Mightier to reach the soul, in thought's 

hushed hour, 

Than yours, ye lilies, chosen thus and 
graced ! " 

29. Even Solomon in all his glory. 
Solomon was the richest and most 



magnificent king of Israel, and the 
reference to him possesses great 
force and beauty. " If the compar- 
ison of our Saviour be to the white- 
ness of Solomon's raiment, then, 
certainly, it never equalled the bril- 
liant whiteness of a lily : if it be 
to the resplendence of colors, then 
the mixture, the relief, the glow of 
colors, in some kinds of lilies, ex- 
ceeds whatever the manufacturers 
of stuffs for Solomon's wardrobe 
could compose." How bold, yet 
true, the figure that the lily of the 
field outshone the monarch, arrayed 
in his imperial robes, in his kingly 
glory, seated on an ivory throne 
overlaid with gold ! 2 Chron. ix. 17. 
30. Clothe. The subjunctive 
ought not to be employed here, for 
a fact, and not a contingency, is 
spoken of; the indicative would be 
the proper mode. The grass of, the 
field. This in the original has a 
wider sense than what we call 
grass ; including all kinds of plants 
and herbaceous productions. To- 
day, to-morrow. Expressive of its 
extreme- frailty ; suddenly destroy- 
ed ; one day in full bloom, the next 
consumed to ashes. Cast into the 
oven. On account of the scarcity 
of wood in the east, it is usual to 
employ dried grass, .or the leaves 
and stalks of plants for fuel. A 
traveller tells us, that in Barbary 
myrtle and rosemary are used to 
heat ovens. The Jews had vari- 
ous methods of baking their bread : 
in the ashes on the hearth, upon 
copper plates, in pans, and stoves. 
But the common kind of oriental 
oven, and the one no doubt referred 
to here, consists of a round hole ia 



100 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 

more clothe you, O ye of little faith ? Therefore take no 31 
thought, saying : What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, 
or Avherewithal shall we be clothed ? (Fo-r after all these 32 
things do the Gentiles seek ; ) for your heavenly Father know- 
eth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first 33 
the kingdom of God, and his righteousness ; and all these 



the ground, with the bottom covered 
with stones, and heated by fuel 
cast into it. When the stones are 
hot enough, the ashes are removed, 
and the dough is placed on the bot- - 
torn "of the oven, and turned whilst 
baking. O ye of little faith. Dis- 
trustful. Luke xii. 28. 

31. Luke xii. 29. The injunc- 
tion of verse 25 is reiterated. Take 
no thought. Take no undue thought, 
be not over anxious and troubled 
about food, or drink, or clothing. 

32. For after all these things do 
the Gentiles seek. This sentence is 
not parenthetical, as represented in 
our Bibles, but composes a regular 
part of our Lord's reasoning. It 
constitutes the fifth argument why 
we should repose implicit and child- 
like confidence in the providence of 
Heaven. Luke xii. 30 ; Matt. v. 47. 
This kind of reasoning was often 
made use of in the Old Testament, 
as if to shame the Jews into virtue, 
by comparing them with their hea- 
then neighbors. Jesus says it is 
heathenish, it is what Pagans, igno- 
rant of God, his providence, and a 
future state, do, to be chiefly soli- 
citous to secure earthly goods and 
pleasures, and to tremble for the 
future as if they were to become 
orphans in the world. We need 
not be surprised that they should be 
distracted and anxious, lest their 
wants should not be met. But how 
unbecoming in those enlightened 
with a true knowledge of the love 
and care of the Father, to doubt and 
question his providence towards 
man ! Seek. To seek earnestly, 
to strive after intensely, is the force 



of the Greek word. For your 
heavenly Father knoweth that ye have 
need of all these things. Another 
motive to banish all slavish solici- 
tude about the circumstances of life. 
The argument is from God's knowl- 
edge to his goodness. He knows 
our wants, therefore he will supply 
them. He who gave life knows 
how carefully its fitful taper must be 
guarded to prevent its being extin- 
guished. He who created the frail 
body knows its need of constant 
reinforcements to its strength, and 
shelter and clothing to its tender- 
ness. The vital air, the pure water, 
the comfortable fire, the warm gar- 
ment, the cheerful light, the whole- 
some food, the quiet home, the wel- 
come sleep, the grateful rotation of 
the seasons, and all the thousand 
glorious and wonderful ministrations 
of Nature, testify that our Great 
Friend, conscious of our necessities, 
is most kind and liberal in supplying 
them. 

" O, mighty love ! Man is one world, and 

hath 
Another to attend him." 

33. Seek ye first the kingdom of 
' God and his righteousness. Luke 
xii. 31. The kingdom of God is 
spiritual blessings ; the influences 
of Christianity ; the promises of 
heaven. His righteousness means 
the righteousness he enjoins and 
requires. Micahvi. 5-8. Put re- 
ligion forward, as the high, brilliant, 
blissful aim of your being. Call 
that primary, and every thing else 
secondary.. Other things are good : 
this is an essential good ; it is our 
life. And all these things shall le 



VI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



101 



34 things shall be udded unto you. Take therefore no thought 
for the morrow ; for the morrow shall take thought for the 
things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 



added unto you. Another reason 
for a serene reliance upon the care 
of Heaven. Let religion be the 
first thing in our affections, and in 
our labors, and Providence will be 
our mighty partner and helper in 
business. As an addition to this 
verse, the following words are quot- 
ed by early Christian authors : 
" Ask great things, and little things 
shall be added unto you ; ask hea- 
venly things, and earthly things 
shall be added unto you." All the 
vices are expensive and losing, as 
all the virtues are gainful and thrif- 
ty. Other things equal, the good 
man prospers better in worldly af- 
fairs than the bad man. Shrewd 
calculators never miss it more than 
when they live and labor for tem- 
poral good alone. They overshoot 
their mark. Seeking the world 
solely, they lose both the world and 
heaven. In cases without number, 
their unrighteous policy overleaps 
itself, and crushes to atoms their 
false and godless hopes. Virtue 
first, Virtue last, Virtue midst, 
should be the motto of every human 
creature ; 'and then all other needful^ 
inferior goods will be ours. Said 
David: "I have been young, and 
now am old ; yet have I not seen 
the righteous forsaken, nor his seed 
begging bread." 

34. Take therefore no thought. 
This injunction has been thrice 
repeated, showing its importance ; 
and each time has been reinforced 
by some fresh and cogent argument, 
though without the formality and 
ceremony of reasoning. The mor- 
row. The future. Shall take 



thought for the things of itself. 
Will bring its own cares and anxie- 
ties along with it, and the needed 
strength to meet them. This is the 
summing up of the whole. Do 
your present duties, unanxious about 
futurity. With wants and trials 
coming to beset you, there will also 
spring up a present help in every 
time of need. Sufficient unto the 
day is the evil tJiereof. Still an- 
other reason why we should not 
harass ourselves with imaginary 
troubles. Every day has its appro- 
priate load of care, and it is injus- 
tice to borrow from the morrow to 
increase that load. We always 
have evils enough without anticipat- 
ing any. Do not sorrows come 
thickly and quickly enough without 
conjuring them up from " the vasty 
deep" of the unknown Future? 
Let none but the Divine Hand draw 
that curtain which hangs before 
us. 

Consider the numerous," beautiful, 
and convincing reasons why we 
should rely calmly on Providence. 
" The irreconcilable nature of world- 
ly solicitude and Christian piety;* 
the past goodness of Cod ; the care 
which he takes of the lower ani- 
mals ; the beauty with which he 
clothes the spontaneous productions 
of nature ; the unprofitableness and 
impiety of anxiety ; the infinite per- 
fections and paternal character of 
the Supreme Being ; the gain of 
godliness in this world ; and the 
sufficiency of present evils without 
adding to their number by anticipa- 
tion." " If we know these things, 
happy are we if we do them." 



9* 



102 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Sermon on the Mount, continued. 

JUDGE not, that ye be not judged. For with what judg- 2 
ment ye judge ye shall be judged ; and with what measure ye 
mete it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest 3 
thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not 
the beam that is in thine own eye ? or how wilt thou say to thy 4 



CHAP. VII. 

1. Parallel with this chapter is 
Luke vi. 37-49. 

A variety of different topics are 
handled, more or less connected ; 
yet " none of the expressions are 
to be interpreted too literally. But 
their effect on the mind is greater 
than that of any literal expression. 
By his figurative mode of speaking 
Christ shows in the clearest man- 
ner what dispositions we should cul- 
tivate, and this tendency once com- 
municated leads to all right con- 
duct, without particular directions." 
Judge not'. Condemn not. The 
ahove rule applies here. Jesus is 
not to be taken literally in this dec- 
laration. He did not prohibit judi- 
cial sentences, or the making up 
and expressing of opinions in rela- 
^tion to the conduct and character 
of our fellow-men, within proper 
limitations. But the passing of 
rash and rigorous judgments, and 
indulging in a censorious, malicious 
temper, met his condemnation. He 
suggests, as a motive to check them, 
that such dispositions expose one 
to similar treatment from others. 
Horn. ii. 1, xiv. 4 ; James iv. 11, 
ii. 13. Allusion is made probably 
to the cen seriousness of the Scribes 
and- Pharisees, which was abundant- 
ly exhibited towards Jesus himself, 
and towards his followers. 

2. It is difficult to maintain chari- 
ty, kindness, and toleration towards 
our fellows ; as the strongest motive 
therefore to such virtues, our treat- 



ment of others is made the gauge 
of others' treatment of us ; and this 
principle reaches even to the bar 
of heaven, according to Jesus. 
Matt. vi. 14, 15, v. 7. With what 
judgment, dfc. This was a Jewish 
proverb. Jesus quoted many such 
expressions in common use, in or- 
der to avail himself of every proper 
means to make his views intelligi- 
ble, and stamp them upon the hearts 
of his auditors. Mete. Measure. 
It is a philosophical fact, that like 
dispositions produce like ; kindness 
begets kindness ; cruelty provokes 
cruelty. Others are generally to 
us what we are to them. Mark 
iv. 24. 

3. Beholdest. Pointest out cen- 
soriously. Mote. Any minute 
particle of matter. As the com- 
parison is here made between this 
and a beam or a log of wood, by 
a strong figure of speech, it would 
be better to translate mote, splinter 
or sliver. This saying is also found 
in various forms in the rabbinical 
writings. Uncharitableness detects 
the foibles, of others, and passes by 
its own vices. But love forgets 
others' offences, whilst intent upon 
its own, and exclaims with Paul, 
" I am the chief of sinners." 

4. How. With what face, or 
with what propriety, can you criti- 
cize and condemn an offending bro- 
ther, when you are yourself guilty 
of things far worse ? In this and 
the last verse a second reason is ad- 
vanced, why we should not judge 



VII.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



103 



brother : Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye ; and, be- 

5 hold, a beam is in thine own eye ? Thou hypocrite, first cast 
out the beam out of thine own eye ; and then shalt thou see 
clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 

6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your 
pearls before swine ; lest they trample them under their feet," 

7 and turn again and rend you. Ask, and it shall be given you ; 

seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shaft be opened unto you. 



others : viz., our inability to do it 
justly on account of our own sins. 
Brother. Jesus and his Apos- 
tles call mankind by this endearing 
appellation. In the eye of the Gos- 
pel,, mankind compose one vast bro- 
therhood, and family of God. 

5. Hypocrite. Uncharitable, un- 
candid man. One who overlooks 
his own larger sins, in searching out 
his neighbor's smaller ones, is guilty 
of a species of hypocrisy. If we 
first clear our own moral vision of 
its mists and impurities, we shall 
then see our brother's character in 
a truer light, be moire charitable to 
him, and more competent to show 
him the way of penitence, reforma- 
tion and spiritual life. 

6. Holy. That which was offer- 
ed in sacrifice to God. Dogs 
swine. These were unclean ani- 
mals according to the law of Moses. 
To call a man a dog was, and is, 
among oriental nations, ojfe of the 
strongest epithets of contempt. The 
Jews applied it to the Gentiles ; the 
Turks apply it to Christians. These 
words are here used as descriptive of 
two classes of men. One is sour, 
malignant, and abusive; ready not 
only to reject the teachings of the 
Gospel, but to rend in pieces the 
teacher. Phil. iii. 2. The other 
class is gross, sensual, and corrupt ; 
who trample the truth under their 
feet with a bestial indifference and 
disdain. -Pearls. A precious sub- 
stance found in. a shell-fish resem- 
bling an. oyster. They were ob- 



tained from the Arabian and Indian 
seas. The precepts of wisdom are 
often compared to them. Job xxviii. 
18. Similar symbolical sayings are 
found in Jewish and Classic authors. 
The connexion of this verse with 
the preceding is not perfectly clear. 
Some suppose that a wholly new 
topic is introduced. But the better 
view is this : that, as our Master 
had cautioned them against censo- 
rious judgments, he here points out, 
lest all liberty of forming an opin- 
ion of others' conduct might seem 
to be "taken away, another extreme 
to be avoided ; that of dealing with 
all men indiscriminately. The em- 
phasis is then upon dogs and swine. 
Some men are so gross and violent 
as not to be mistaken. Give not 
your reproofs, your instructions, pro- 
miscuously, else you might fall into 
the mistake of one who should cast 
the holy sacrifice before ravenous 
dogs, and pearls under the feet of 
swine. The lesson is one therefore 
respecting a charitable discrimina- 
tion of character, and an adaptation 
of instructions to the wants and con- 
ditions of mankind. 

7. Prayer is necessary to the for- 
mation of such a bland, but ^dis- 
criminating spirit as has just been 
recommended. We must drink at 
the fountain of Divine Love to im- 
bue ourselves with the same senti- 
ment. Ask seek knock. Three 
different forms to inculcate the same 
general idea, and make it more em- 
phatic. The successive terms ex- 



104 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP 



For every one that asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh 8 
findeth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what 9 
man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give 
him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent ? 10 
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your 11 
children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven 
give good things to them that ask him ? Therefore all things, 12 
whatsoever ye would" that men should do to you, do ye even so 



press increased earnestness. The 
idea is, that in our prayers we . 
should be urgent, persevering, and 
engaged, and then we shall .be 
heard and answered. Luke xi. 5 
- 8, xviii. 1-8. 

8. In temporal affairs, those who 
wish for any thing ask or seek for 
it, and, as a general rule, they ob- 
tain what they want. So in spirit- 
ual concerns, if we pray aright, our 
requests are granted. But it is of 
course implied, that we ask in a 
proper spirit, sincerely, humbly, and 
devoutly. And, also, that we ask 
what is consistent with God's Avill 
to bestow, and best adapted to our 
good, on the whole, to receive! 
The prayer of filial faith and sub- 
mission, which sums up all by say- 
ing, " Not my will, but thine be 
done," is never breathed in vain. 

9. Luke xi. 11-13. What force 
and beauty in this mode of reason- 
ing ! It has been observed that the 
word man is emphatic here. Who 
of you men? Who of a fallible 
race of creatures could treat their 
offspring with such hard-hearted- 
ness as to give a stone for bread ? 
How much less would the Divine 
Parent be guilty of such unnatural 
treatment ! Whom. Should be 
who, grammatically. 

10. Luke, in xi. 12, adds yet 
another illustration : " Or if he shall 
ask an egg, will he offer him a scor- 
pion?" Such metaphors were com- 
mon. 

11. Being evil. The imperfec- 



tion of earthly parents is contrasted 
with the perfection of our Heavenly 
Father. Parents may be selfish, 
unfeeling, partial, fickle, or passion- 
ate, but God is absolute, unchange- 
able, wise, and kind. Is. xlix. 15. 
Good gifts. In the parallel place 
in Luke xi. 13, the expression is, 
the Holy Spirit. This is an intima- 
tion that the best things we can ask, 
or God bestow, are spiritual bles- 
sings. The Holy Spirit, as used in 
the New Testament, often signifies 
miraculous powers and influences. 
Though these are not shed abroad 
now, as they were upon Jesus and 
his Apostles, yet the natural work- 
ings of the Holy Spirit of God 
upon us are a proper subject of 
prayer. What touching pursua- 
sives our Master addresses to us to 
be constant and persevering in our 
devotions to supplicate for spirit- 
ual blessings, and to resign our- 
selves trustfully into the arms of a 
Father, so mighty and so good, who, 
though he denies us the things we 
ask, will grant us what we really 
need ! 

12. Luke vi. 31. He had been 
alluding to the kindness of parents 
to their children. But he now says, 
Let what is right be done to all men. 
In all circumstances, everywhere, 
to every person, do as you would 
reasonably desire to be done by. 
The sense is, not that our wishes, 
however unjust, should be the 
measure of our conduct towards 
others; but that we should act to 



VII.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



105 



13 to them ; for this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye 

in at the strait gate ; for wide is the gate, and broad is the 



others as we might properly wish 
them to conduct towards us. Right- 
ly construed, the precept is of uni- 
versal obligation and application. It 
is an. abridgment of social duty. 
The common iron rule is, to do to 
others as others do to us. But this 
golden one of our Saviour is more 
noble, to do to others as we would 
that others should do to us. It is 
said to be a rule found extensively 
in classic and rabbinical writings, 
Tobit iv. 15 : " Do that .to no man 
which thou hatest." And the idea 
is so consonant to truth and justice 
that almost all languages contain it. 
We can better learn our duty in this 
way, because we see more clearly 
what is just and right, when we re- 
flect what others owe to us, than by 
asking what we owe to them. By 
chariging places, our judgments are 
rectified. It has been well said, 
"that this law is what the balance 
wheel is to machinery. It would 
prevent all irregularity of movement 
in the moral world, as that does in 
the steam engine. It would destroy 
avarice, envy, false conduct, treach- 
ery, unldndness, slander, theft, adul- 
tery, and murder." This is the law 
and the prophets. This is not to be 
cut to the quick, as interpreters say, 
not to be taken too literally. Similar 
phrases occur in Rom. xiii. 8 - 10 ; 
Gal. v. 14 ; 1 Tim. i. 5. The same 
language was used by our Lord, 
Matt. xxii. 37-40. Love to God 
and man is the substance of law, 
prophets, and, we may add, Gos- 
pel. And where one prevails in its 
vigor, the other can hardly be want- 
ing ; so that, in a free "sense, either 
love to man, or love to God, might 
be called the fulfilling of the law, 
and the sum of the prophets. It is 
related in the Jewish Talmud, that 
a Pagan came to Hillel, a great 



Rabbi, and offered to become a pros- 
elyte, provided he would teach him 
the whole law while he stood on 
one foot. The Rabbi took him at his 
word, and made him a proselyte by 
saying, - " Do not to another what 
is odious to thyself: this is the 
whole law ; the rest is but explana- 
tion ; go away perfect." " The 
ten commandments," said Luther, 
" are the measuring lines of God; 
they are written in our flesh and 
blood ; the meaning of them is : 
What thou wouldst have done to 
thyself, the same thou oughtest also 
to do to another. God .presseth up- 
on that point, and -saith : Such 
measure as thou metest, the same 
shall be measured to thee again. 
With this measuring line he hath 
marked the whole world." 

13. This verse is connected with 
the foregoing rule of social conduct, 
which is hard of observance to 
thoughtless, sinful man. The fig- 
ures of the gate and the road are 
taken from the ancient cities, some 
of whose passages and entrances 
were broad and thronged, and others 
narrow and unfrequented. The cul- 
tivation of a true, disinterested, self- 
renouncing love, and its constant 
exercise under all circumstances, is 
difficult indeed. How few walk in 
the straight path of. love ! How 
many hurry along the broad road of 
selfishness ! The lesson conveyed 
in general is, that virtue requires 
choice, care, and effort. Enter. 
It must be an act of choice and 
preference.^ Strait gate. Close, 
narrow, difficult of entrance! Cau- 
tion will be demanded to walk in it 
uprightly. Broad is the way. The 
temptations to a thoughtless, world- 
ly life are numerous and obvious ; 
widely thrown open are the facilities 
to vice. Leadeth to destruction. 



106 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



way, that leadeth to destruction ; and many there be which 
go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the 14 
way, which leadeth unto life ; and few there be that find it. 

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's 15 

clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall 16 
know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, 



But the course is a dangerous one, 
and will lead to the most fatal con- 
sequences. Many go in thereat: 
Yet. strange and sad to say, it is the 
very way multitudes are flocking, 
and it will require resolution not to 
be borne away into the heedless 
crowd, yielding to the seduction of 
their example. But we must not 
follow a multitude to do evil. 

14. Because strait is the gate. The 
reading of Griesbach is, How strait 
is the gate ! This exclamation more 
energetically expresses the difficulty 
of the way of virtue. Leadeth un- 
to life. Conducts to that goodness 
which is the life and happiness of 
the soul, in this and all future states 
of being. Find it. It is said of 
the broad way, many go in thereat. 
The right way is something to-be 
found, to be sought after ; it does 
not come of itself. Holiness, piety, 
benevolence, are not the result of 
chance, but of choice. The two 
verses have been paraphrased thus : 
" Aim at entering in at the strait 
gate : though, there be a gate that is 
wide, and the way to it is broad, 
and many are travelling along it; 
yet it leads to perdition ; therefore 
take it not. And though there be a 
gait that is strait, and the way to it 
narrow, and few are they that travel 
thereto, yet take it, for it leads to 
life and eternal happiness." 

15. The gate is narrow and diffi- 
cult ; beware therefore of false 
guides . False proph ets . The term 
prophet is used with considerable 
latitude of signification in the Scrip- 
tures, meaning sometimes simply a 
teacher of religion. That such 



teachers and false pretenders .would 
arise, Christ and his disciples pre- 
dicted, Matt. xxiv. 11, 24 ; and de- 
scribed, Acts xx. 29 ; Rom. xvi. 18 ; 
2 Peter ii. 1, 3 ; 1 John iv. 1. If . 
any character of distinguished ex- 
cellence in any pursuit or art arise, 
there is usually a school of imitators 
and sciolists who spring up after 
him. In this respect religion holds 
an analogy with other things. 
Sheep's clothing. In the garb of in 
nocence, and fair appearance; not 
literally adressof sheepskins, though 
some -have supposed that reference 
was made to the dress of the proph- 
ets, but in the aspect of goodness 
and meekness. Heb. xi. 37. But 
inwardly ravening wolves. A wolf 
in sheep's clothing is a proverb to 
express a cruel hypocrite. The 
teachers here described make fair 
pretensions, are pure and innocent 
outwardly, but inwardly are ready 
to prey upon their victims. In this 
description, Jesus referred perhaps 
to the Jewish teachers, who made 
long prayers, but devoured widows' 
houses ; innocent, pure, and harm- 
less as sheep to all appearance, but 
in reality full of extortion and ex- 
cess, rapacious as wolves. 1 Tim. 
vi. 5. 

16. Know them ly their fruits. 
Though so deceptive in their ap- 
pearance, there was one "way by 
which their hypocrisy would be un- 
masked ; their lives would belie 
their professions. Their fruits, their 
works, would betray them. It has 
been said : A man's works are the 
tongue of his heart, and tell honest- 
ly whether be is inwardly corrupt, 



vn.3 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



107 



17 or figs of thistles ? Even so every good tree bringeth forth 

18 good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A 
good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrup 1 

19 tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree, that bringeth not fortb. 

20 good fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore 

21 by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith 
unto me : Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; 
but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven. 

22 Many will say to me in that day : Lord, Lord, have we not 



or pure. The Saviour takes an il- 
lustration from nature. Do men 
from the poorest plants, as thorns 
and thistles, obtain the richest fruits, 
as grapes and figs? So from these 
counterfeit teachers, meagre souls, 
wretched hypocrites, the encumber- 
ing thorns and thistles of the moral 
world, we are not to look for those 
rich, nutritious lessons of wisdom 
which proceed from one who speaks 
from the abundance of a deep, good 
heart. Especially from the tree of 
barren hypocrisy we cannot expect 
any fruits of good works, but only 
the leaves and flowers of good pro- 
fessions and specious pretensions. 

17. Matt. xii. 33 ; Luke. vi. 43 - 
45 ; James iii. 12. Good tree. A 
tree of a good kind produces fruits 
like itself. Corrupt tree evil fruit. 
But a tree of a bad kind produces 
fruits of the same sort. The Sa- 
viour draws an analogy between 
the natural and the spiritual world, 
showing that in each like produces 
like, good, good, and evil, evil. 

18. So it is morally impossible 
for a bad man to yield the fruits of 
virtue, or a good man to produce 
wickedness. Human conduct is de- 
termined by the state of the heart, 
as fruits are by the nature of the 
tree upon which they grow. 

19. John xv. 6. This verse 
bears so much the character of an 
intruder and interrupter of the 
sense, that many have deemed it 
an interpolation from Matt. iii. 



10. But there is no other evi- 
dence against its genuineness. It 
may be regarded as a parenthetical 
sentence. 

20. By their fruits ye shall knoio 
them. This is the summing up of 
the illustrations drawn from the nat- 
ural world. These false teachers 
would be known by their conduct. 
By that criterion Jesus permits us 
to judge of their sincerity. 

21. Not every one, i. e. no man. 
Lord, Lord. Or, Master, Master. 
Luke vi. 46 ; James i. 22. Saith 
and doeth are emphatic. Mere pro- 
fession is worthless. Earnest call- 
ing upon Jesus, and feigning a 
dependence and allegiance, not ac- 
knowledged in the heart, or ex- 
pressed in the life, is hypocrisy of 
the most shallow land. Kingdom 
of heaven often stands for the Gos- 
pel itself. Persons described above 
are not Christians, however loud 
they may be in their pretended de- 
votedn ess to Jesus. No doubt many 
came to him, after seeing his won- 
derful works, professing for him the- 
greatest interest, and readiness to 
follow him, John vi. 15, who were 
influenced by hopes of worldly hon- 
or and wealth. They said Master, 
Master, to secure a higher place in 
his court, not out of submission to 
his spiritual laws, which alone would 
entitle them to membership in his 
kingdom. 

22. Luke xiii. 25-27. In that 
day. At the period of future retri- 



108 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, 
and in thy name done many wonderful works ? And . then 23 
will I profess unto them : I never knew you ; depart from me, 

ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these 24 

sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise 
man, which built his house upon a rock ; and the rain de- 25 



bution. Prophesied in tliy name. 
Not necessarily predicted future 
events, but preached in thy name, 
preached the Gospel. In thy name. 
By thy power and authority. The 
Apostles appealed- to the authority' 
of Christ, when they performed 
miracles. Acts xvi. 18. Cast out 
devils. See note upon Matt. iv. 24. 
It was a common superstition at 
that time that the spirits of deceased 
wicked persons d\velt in some men. 
They were called, however, demons 
and not devils, in the present pop- 
ular meaning of that word. This 
sort of miracles is specified, because 
it was more difficult of performance. 
Matt. xvii. 21. Wonderful works. 
Miracles, so called because they 
created wonder and awe in those 
who beheld them. We learn from 
the New Testament that some were 
hypocritical in tlieir profession of 
Christianity from the beginning, and 
that miraculous powers were claim- 
ed by some who were not worthy 
of the trust. Goodness is the only 
key to unlock the gate of heaven. 
1 Cor. xiii. 1-3 ; Gal. vi. 15. 

23. Will I profess unto them. 
Plainly and publicly declare to them. 
To give greater vivacity and force 
to the truth, Jesus throws it into 
the form of a dialogue between him- 
self and these false claimants. I 
never knew you, i. e. never ap- 
proved and recognised you as my 
disciples ; for such is the meaning 
of know in some cases. Ps. i. 6 ; 
1 Cor. viii. 3. Depart from me, 
<%c. Ps. vi. 8. The dramatic sem- 
blance is continued. Work iniqui- 
ty. The sense of the original is 



stronger than to do iniquitously ; it 
is, to make a trade and business of 
iniquity, as these false teachers did, 
who converted the holy office of 
preaching the Gospel into an in- 
strument of selfish aggrandizement. 
The great end of Christianity, 
whether in teacher, or taught, is a 
good life. Nothing short of this, 
be it faith, or zeal, or profession, or 
even martyrdom, can meet the pur- 
poses of Heaven, or the wants of 
the soul. 

24. We come now to the epi- 
logue and peroration of the Sermon 
on the Mount, and it harmonizes, 
in its sustained beauty and energy, 
with the preceding part, and con- 
cludes all in a manner worthy of 
one who was a teacher from the 
Father of Lights. Similar figures 
were used by the Jewish teachers, 
but inferior in power and elegance. 
The following is one : " The man 
who studies much in the law, and 
maintains good works, is like to a 
man who built a house, laying stones 
at the foundation, and building brick 
upon them ; and though many wa- 
ters come against it, they cannot 
move it from its place. But the 
man who studies much in the law, 
and does not maintain good works, 
is like a man who, in building his 
house, put bricks at the foundation, 
and laid stones upon them, so that 
even gentle waters shall overflow 
that house." Wise man. Pru- 
dent, considerate man. 

25. The beauty of the compari- 
son is enhanced by knowing the 
reference which is here made to 
the soil and climate of Judea. The 



VTL] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



109 



scended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat 

upon that house ; and it fell not ; for it was founded upon a 
86 rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and 

dpeth them noVshall be likened unto a foolish man, which 
27 built his house upon the sand ; and the rain descended, and 

the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; 

and it fell ; and great was the fall of it. 

23 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, 
29 the people were astonished at his doctrine. For he taught 

them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 

comfort, and outward privileges, 
which its presence in the world 
partially communicates to all, have 
a speculative belief; but not prac- 
tising the precepts of religion, not 
bringing their own hearts and lives 
under its. influences, they rest th'eir 
hopes upon a sandy foundation. 
The storms of this life, and the 
trial of the next, will demonstrate 
their folly. 

27. Great was the fall of it. The 
overthrow of the spiritual hopes and 
prospects of the soul, the fall of 
man from virtue, is great indeed. 
The traveller is touched with sad- 
ness, as he surveys the ruins of 
splendid temples and palaces, the 
relics of ancient, grandeur ; but what 
are the desolations of earthly fab- 
rics, and splendid cities, compared 
with man, the temple of the Deity, 
broken down and in ruins ? 

28. Ended these sayings. Refer- 
ring to the whole discourse. As- 
tonished at his doctrine. At his 
teaching, both in matter and man- 
ner. The original expresses more 
than astonishment. The truths he 
enforced, the simplicity, directness, 
and spiritual power with which he 
delivered them, seized hold of their 
hearts, so as to strike them with 
awe. They felt, to their own won- 



land is hilly and rocky, and the 
heavy rains which fall at periodical 
seasons wash away the earth. The 
torrents pour down the hills with 
irresistible violence, carrying away 
whatever withstands their fury, 
sweeping before them buildings that 
are founded upon a sandy and 
treacherous basis. The winds also, 
as is common in warm countries, 
blow with terrible force ; still more 
endangering what is exposed to 
the rolling floods. The houses too 
of the poorer classes are of frail 
construction, being built of mud 
walls, or bricks dried in the sun, 
and reeds, and rushes, which ren- 
der their overthrow still more prob- 
able, in the heavy rains and hurri- 
canes incident to that climate, un- 
less they are very securely built 
upon a solid foundation. Jesus ac- 
cordingly spoke to his hearers of 
what was familiar to them, drawing 
illustrations from their own obser- 
vation and experience.' Fell not; 
for it was founded upon a rock. 
Thus one who has obeyed the in- 
structions of Christ, and built his 
hopes upon him as:the corner stone, 
will be able to stand, and having 
done all, and 'suffered all, still to 
stand, unshaken by the storms of 
adversity, calm in death, erect be- 
fore the throne of God. 

26. Heareth, and doeth them not. 
A. large class. Many now hear the 
Gospel, participate in. the security, 

VOL. i. 10 



der, a power within them rising up 
and paying respect to the power of 
Jesus. Deep responded unto deep. 
29. As having authority, and not 



110 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP, 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Miracles of Jesus. 

WHEN he was come down from the mountain, great multi- 



as the scribes. Mention is repeated- 
ly made of the surprise and admira- 
tion of the people at his teaching. 
Matt. xxii. 33 ; Mark i. 22, xi. 18 ; 
Luke iv. 32. Nor can we wonder 
at it, when we consider, on one side, 
the capacities and wants of human 
nature, and, on the other, the quali- 
fications of Jesus* to speak to it. 
Men have more in them than they 
know of. A soul of unlimited pow- 
ers hungers and thirsts within them. 
They love to be caught up into the 
light and glory of great truths and 
heavenly principles. Such times 
are memorable. And notwithstand- 
ing the degeneracy of the Jews, the 
formality and petrifaction into which 
religion had grown, the hypocrisy 
of the priests, human nature was 
stronger than Jewish habits. The 
common people heard Jesus glad- 
ly. For he spoke to them as a 
divine brother. They perceived 
that he was unlike their Rabbins 
and Scribes ; for they trifled, wast- 
ing their time and strength upon 
puerile ceremonies and vain contro- 
versies. But Jesus was grave, and 
dwelt upon truths that came home 
to the business and bosom of every 
man. The Scribes referred for 
authority to the ancients. Jesus 
spoke from an internal authority, 
and consciousness of the truth of 
what he said, and of an inspiration 
and commission, from the Deity, 
that must have clothed his words 
with a truly celestial power. The 
wickedness and hypocrisy of many 
of the Scribes of course undermin- 
ed all their moral force as teachers 
of religion. The pure and benevo- 
lent spirit of Jesus, his unimpeacha- 
ble goodness, added a thousand per- 
suasives to his doctrine ; and over- 



flowing, as it must naturally have 
done, in tone, and gesture, and fea- 
ture, it impressed the people alto- 
gether differently from the cant and 
coldness of the Pharisees and Sad- 
ducees. Jesus was humble, acces- 
sible , and noble . They were proud , 
reserved, and mean. Jesus preach- 
ed the truth of God. They preach- 
ed themselves. It is not strange 
that the people were astonished. 
No such teacher had ever yet ap- 
peared, or was ever again to appear. 
He spoke to the reason, the con- 
science, and the heart. He was 
profound, yet plain ; powerful, but 
gentle. The precepts he gave for 
human conduct ; the motives he ad- 
dressed to the heart ; the connexion 
he pointed out between the charac- 
ter and the life ; the authority with 
which he urged his doctrines ; the 
fearlessness with which he con- 
demned the hypocritical Scribes and 
Pharisees ; the beautiful light in 
which he presented God as a Fa- 
ther, and man as a brother ; the 
views he opened of the purposes of 
the Creator, and the destiny of 
man ; and the fine illustrations with 
which he clothed his truths all 
bore the fullest evidence to his un- 
rivalled excellence as a spiritual 
teacher and guide. TV' hat further 
proof can we reasonably demand of 
his divine mission, or of our per- 
sonal obligation to obey and follow 
him as our Master ? 

CHAP. VHI. 

1. Was come down. Whilst he 
was coming down. The moun- 
tain. The mountain which he had 
ascended,. Matt. v. 1, and . upon 
which he had delivered the forego- 
ing discourse. 



vni.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



Ill 



2 tudes followed him. And, behold, there came a leper and 
worshipped him, saying : Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make 

3 me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, 



2-4. Parallel to Mark i. 40 - 45, 
and Luke v. 12-16. 

2. Leper. The leprosy is per- 
haps the most dreadful disease 
known in the world. ; There are 
several different kinds of it, chiefly 
distinguished by the different ap- 
pearances it presents. The skin is 
the principal seat of the disorder, 
though it extends finally to every 
part of the system, and 'even de- 
stroys the bones, and causes the 
limbs to drop off. The first symp- 
tom is a small red spot, but in the 
progress of the disease it . covers 
the body with white scales, and re- 
duces the patient to an offensive and 
incurable mass of corruption, almost 
without the form and visage of man. 
Some kinds of it are highly infec- 
tious, and also hereditary. In gen- 
eral it is not accompanied with 
great pain, but with numbness, or 
violent itchings. Persons often live 
for many years who are afflicted 
with it, carrying about. with them a 
" body of death." It is almost in- 
curable by human means, and the 
Jews are said to have reckoned the 
power of healing it among the gifts 
of their Messiah. It has prevailed 
chiefly in the hot oriental countries, 
but was common in Guadaloupe, in 
the West Indies, in the 18th centu- 
ry. Some have supposed that 
swine's flesh was prohibited to the 
Jews, as tending to produce or ag- 
gravate this complaint. Mention of 
the leprosy is frequently made in 
the Bible, and specific directions are 
given by Moses to distinguish it, to 
exclude its victims from the society 
of others, or to receive them back 
after a cure, and to cleanse houses 
and clothss, that they may not com- 
municate the dreadful contagion. 
Lev. xiii., xiv. In the countries of 



the east, lepers, to this day, live 
apart from the rest of the people, 
and in some towns have a quarter 
of their own, Avhere they dwell and 
intermarry. They wear a peculiar 
badge, to warn others not to ap- 
proach them. The unhappy leper 
in question was severely afflicted, 
Luke v. 12, and was probably liv- 
ing in solitude' in the vicinity of the 
mountain, when Jesus and the mul- 
titude passed by. Luke says " in 
a city," which may mean in the 
suburbs or territory of a city. The 
man may have caught at a distance 
the words of the Messiah ; and en- 
couraged by his kindness and pow- 
er, and inclined to regard him as at 
least a prophet, if not the Promised 
One, on account of his fame and 
the crowds about him, he comes to 
salute Jesus at some distance, and 
beseeches his interposition. Wor- 
shipped him, i. e. did him obeisance, 
or prostrated himself before him, 
as was done to persons of great dis- 
tinction. Lord. Sir, or Master. 
T/iou canst make me clean. His 
request is modest and trustful. He 
doubts not the Saviour's power, he 
only prays that he may be disposed 
to exert it to cure him. The leper, 
according to the laws of Moses, 
was an unclean person. He there- 
fore naturally speaks of his cure as 
making him clean, and taking off 
those social disabilities under which 
he was suffering. 

3. Touched him. This act was 
significant. It implied that there 
was a connexion between Jesus 
and the cure of the leper. By the 
Jewish law, one who touched a lep- 
er incurred uncleanness. It was a 
mark of confidence and a sign of 
power in Jesus, to touch one in- 
fected with this foul disease. 1 



112 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



saying : I will, be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy 
was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him : See thou tell no 4 
man ; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the 
gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. 



will, be thou dean. An instance of 
the sublime, similar to that in Gene- 
sis : " Let there be light, and there 
was light." The loathsome disease 
retreats before the power of God, 
exerted by his Son. The Father 
gives Jesus this control over the 
worst of maladies. Though he 
uses the personal pronoun 7, it is 
by no means to be supposed that 
Jesus possessed in himself the pow- 
er adequate to a cure. It was the 
gift of God. John v. 30. The 
same power of working miracles 
was bestowed upon Moses, the pro- 
phets, and apostles. And imme- 
diately his leprosy was cleansed, i. e. 
the leper was cured. The disease 
is put in the place of the diseased 
person. The cure being instanta- 
neous was an evidence of a miracle ; 
for when cured by human means, 
the disorder would go off by de- 
grees, and not at once. 

4. See thou tell no man. Jesus 
not only cures him, but seeks to 
profit him yet further by his advice. 
Various reasons may have combined 
in this prohibition. Luther sug- 
gests, that he did it from humility. 
It was designed, perhaps, for the 
moral benefit of the cured ; or to se- 
cure to him the advantages of the 
law, and of being pronounced clean 
by the priests, which, owing to their 
opposition to Jesus, they might have 
been unwilling to do, had they 
known who wrought the cure. He 
enjoins it on him to go his way, to 
proceed directly to Jerusalem, and 
obtain a certificate of his cure, be- 
fore it was published who was the 
author of it. Again, if he had gone 
forth proclaiming the deeds of Je- 
sus, it would tend to arouse the 
Jews to declare Jesus king, which 



they attempted to do repeatedly, 
and which would excite the jeal- 
ousy of the Romans, the masters 
of the country. One or all of these 
reasons might induce Jesus, upon 
this and other occasions, to forbid 
the proclaiming of his miracles by 
those upon, whom they were per- 
' formed. If the cure of the leprosy 
was an evidence of Messiahship ac- 
cording to the Jewish belief, there 
was the more reason at this time for 
the command of Jesus, as he evi- 
dently did not wish to declare him- 
self prematurely, for he would thus 
have produced such^ an agitation, 
both among Jews and Romans, as 
to arrest his further course of preach- 
ing and miracles. Mark, i. 45, re- 
lates that the man broke the com- 
mand of Jesus, who was afterwards 
obliged on that account to live more 
retired. Priest, gift- Jesus 
shows his respect for the foregoing 
dispensation, though its officers had 
become' degenerate, and verifies his 
saying, that he came not to destroy 
the law. How true and beautiful 
such moderation and dignity of con- 
duct in one so powerful ! Reform- 
ers may learn a good lesson from 
their Master. For the health regu- 
lations and sacred offerings relative 
to leprosy, see Lev. .xiv. Testi- 
mony unto them, i. e. an evidence to 
the public that the leper was cleans- 
ed. If the priests accepted the of- 
fering, it was proof to the people 
that the disorder was expelled. 

5-13. Parallel to Luke vii. 1-10. 
The accounts vary in unimportant 
particulars, as we might suppose 
they naturally would, coming from 
independent witnesses. Slight dif- 
ferences and discrepancies, instead 
of overthrowing, confirm the fidelity 



VIII.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



113 



5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came 

6 unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying : Lord, my 
servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 

g And Jesus saith unto him : I will come and heal him. The 
centurion answered and said : Lord, I am not worthy that thou 
shouldest come under my roof ; but speak the word only, and 



of the narrators, and the truth of 
the facts. 

5. Capernaum. A town on the 
Sea of Galilee. See note on chap, 
iv. 13. There rame unto him a 
centurion. This was a Roman offi- 
cer who commanded one hundred 
men. Judea was kept in subjection 
by troops garrisoned in the principal 
cities and towns. There was prob- 
ably a garrison of soldiers at Caper- 
naum, a considerable city o*n the 
northwest side of the Sea of Gali- 
lee. Luke represents the commu- 
nications from the centurion to Je- 
sus as made through Jewish friends, 
whilst Matthew introduces the Ro- 
man as preferring his request in his 
own person. As a man is often de- 
scribed as doing a thing which he 
accomplishes through the agency of 
another, for example, building a 
house which he procures done ; so 
we' may, without any violence or 
wresting of language, suppose that 
Matthew exhibits the centurion as 
doing himself what he did in reality 
by means of his friends. Luke is 
more minute in his narration. He 
mentions that the centurion was 
very much attached to his servant, 
evincing the benevolence of his feel- 
ings even to one of inferior rank. 
He also describes the elders as 
strengthening their entreaty by men- 
tioning that he was friendly to the 
Jews, and had built a synagogue for 
them, thus manifesting his piety to 
God. 

6. Lord. Sir, a title of respect 
to a stranger. My servant. Or, 
slave. Though in this abject and 
menial condition, the centurion, fpl- 

10* 



lowing the dictates of a good heart, 
loves him, and cares for him as for 
a child. Lieth sicJi of the palsy. 
Luke does not name the malady, 
but says that he was "ready to 
die." Matthew says he was "griev- 
ously tormented." Palsy is not 
usually attended by excessive pain. 
But Jahn calls the palsy of the New 
Testament a disease of very wide 
import, and supposes that this per- 
son had the " cramp, which, in ori- 
ental countries, is a fearful malady, 
subjecting the patient to exquisite 
sufferings, and inducing death in a 
few days." In the present case, 
palsy approximated to apoplexy. 

7. I will come and heal him. That 
was his intention, but a change of 
circumstances rendered it proper to 
alter it. The strong faith of the 
centurion made it unnecessary for 
him to go to the house ; for he be- 
lieved that Jesus could work a mi- 
racle at a distance, and thought 
himself unworthy of receiving him 
under his own roof. 

8. I am not worthy, <$-c. The 
Jews avoided intercourse with the 
Gentiles as unclean. Acts x. 28. 
The Roman felt, therefore, that his 
house was undeserving of the honor 
of having a great prophet enter it. 
He expresses a deep and genuine 
humility, the fruit, no doubt, of a 
tender religious sensibility. How 
refreshing to find a heathen like 
him, as it were, a native Christian ; 
a piece of human nature retaining 
its divine image ; a Roman reli- 
gious ; a soldier humane ; an officer 
humble ! A bright light shining in 
a dark place ! Speak the word on* 



114 



THE GOSPEL 



[ClIAP. 



my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, 9 
having soldiers under me ; and I say to this man : Go, and he 
goeth ; and to another : Come, and he cometh ; and to my 
servant : Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he 10 
marvelled, and said to them that followed : Verily I say unto 
you, 1 have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I n 
say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, 
and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in 



ly. His opinion of Jesus was as ex- 
alted as that of himself was lowly. 
His faith is equal to his modesty. 
To speak the word only is to give 
merely a verbal command. His 
penetrating trust saw at a glance, 
that a miraculous cure could be as 
easily wrought when the worker 
was absent as when he was pres- 
ent. 

9. This verse may be thus para- 
phrased, and the sense will be more 
prominent: "Although I am my- 
self under the command of superior 
officers, yet, having soldiers under 
me, I say to one, Go, and he goeth, 
and to another, Come, and he com- 
eth, and to my servant, Do this, and 
lie doeth it." The Roman soldiers 
were under the most . rigid disci- 
pline. The illustration is a striking 
and apposite one. It is an argu- 
ment from the less to the greater. 
As much as to say, If I, who hold 
a subordinate office, and am subject 
to the control of others, receive in- 
stant obedience from my soldiers 
and servants, how much more can 
you, who have supernatural power, 
cure disorders by a word. You 
have but to speak, and it is done. 
The fitness of the comparison evin- 
ces the calm, full confidence of the 
centurion. 

10. Marvelled. He wondered, he 
deemed the faith of the centurion 
remarkable. So great faith, no, 
not in Israel. The kind of faith 
here spoken of was a belief in Je- 
sus' power to work miracles, and 



work them too when away. The 
centurion had manifested great con- 
'fidence in Christ's supernatural gifts, 
believed that he could not only heal 
his servant, but could do it without 
entering the house where he was. 
This was more implicit and larger 
confidence than any Jew had re- 
posed' in him. Among the chosen 
people, who were most highly fa- 
vored with religious privileges, he 
found none so ripe in his confidence 
as this foreigner and soldier. He 
might well marvel and wonder that 
the last should be first, and the first 
last. 

11. This and the following verse 
are not in Luke's history of the 
cure of the centurion's servant, but 
they occur in another connexion, 
Luke xiii. 28, 29. East and west, 
i. e. many from all quarters of the 
globe, from pagan nations, would 
enter the kingdom of heaven. Is. 
xlv. 6, lix. 19. Jesus says that 
the case of the Roman officer would 
not be a solitary one. but that mul- 
titudes of the Gentiles would be- 
come members of the assembly of 
the just made perfect. This remark 
would serve to soften the prejudices 
of the Jews against the Gentiles. 
It was a kindred declaration to that 
of Peter, in Acts x. 34, 35. Sit 
down. Or, literally, recline with. 
The oriental posture at table is not 
like ours, a sitting, but a recumbent 
one. Those who eat recline on 
couches. The figure expresses the 
joys of heaven by a banquet, as 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



115 



12 the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall 
be cast out into outer darkness ; there shall be weeping and 

13 gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion : Go 
thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. 
And his servant was healed in the self-same hour. 

14 And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his 

15 wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her 



spiritual things are frequently im- 
aged forth, by earthly things. Ref- 
erence jnay be made to the Jewish 
aversion to the Gentiles, which went 
so far as to exclude them from their 
tables. The Gentiles have been 
held unworthy of the common cour- 
tesies of life, but they will be ad- 
mitted to the heavenly feast .with 
the patriarchs themselves. Or, to 
drop the figure, the Gentiles will 
be admitted to the privileges and 
blessings of the Messiah's kingdom 
in this world and the world to come ; 
a kingdom which was thought to be 
the exclusive possession of the pa- 
triarchs and their descendants. 

12. The children of the kingdom. 
It is a Hebrew idiom to use the 
words sons and children in the sense 
of title, possession, desire. Thus, 
the sons of death are those doomed 
to death. The child of Satan, a 
very bad person. The Jews ar- 
rogated to themselves the kingdom 
of the Messiah to the exclusion of 
the Gentiles, and are called the 
children of the kingdom. But Jesus 
reverses the picture; Jews are lost 
and Gentiles are saved. Outer 
darkness, weeping and gnashing 
of teeth. Ps. cxii. 10. The meta- 
phor is continued. The kingdom 
of heaven, has been compared to a 
feast. Allusion is now made to the 
warm, lighted apartments of great 
splendor, where it is held, by way 
of contrast to the darkness and 
wretchedness without, or to gloomy 
subterranean dungeons into which 
slaves and. prisoners were some- 
times cast. Out of the feast cham- 



ber all was dark and cold, and those 
expelled would weep and gnash 
their teeth from shame and suffer- 
ing. Some would read, instead of 
gnashing, chattering of teeth, as 
produced by the cold into which 
they were driven. These expres- 
sions describe the awful calamities 
which would descend on the Jews," 
if they rejected the Messiah. Matt, 
xxi. 43. 

13. As thou hast believed, so be it 
done unto thee. As you believe that 
I can cure one at a distance, so be 
it done. The temporal blessing, 
which a confidence in. the power of 
Jesus' worldng miracles produced, 
may remind us of the incalculable 
value of faith in securing to us 
things of far higher excellence, the 
growth and peace and salvation of 
the soul. Was healed in the self- 
same hour. Or, at that instant. 
The cure was immediate and per- 
fect, which proved that it was mira- 
culous. For when persons recover 
from the palsy by natural means, 
the cure is gradual. Jesus wrought 
the miracle at a distance, and upon 
a stranger; there could then have 
been no room for any thing but 
reality and truth. 

14-17. Parallel to Mark i. 29- 
34; Lukeiv. 38-41. 

14. Peter's house. Jesus was 
now in Capernaum. Mark calls it 
the house of Simon Peter and An- 
drew, and speaks of James and 
John going with them to the house. 
Bethsaida was the city of Andrew 
and Peter, according to John i. 44, 
a place lying on the Sea of Galilee. 



116 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP, 



hand, and the fever left her ; and she arose, and ministered 

unto them. When the even was come, they brought unto 16 

him many that were possessed with devils ; and he cast out the 
spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick ; that it 17 
might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, 
saying : " Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sick- 
nesses." 

Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave 18 
commandment to depart unto the other side. And a certain 19 



south from Capernaum. It is con- 
jectured that this was the house 
they occasionally resorted to, be- 
longing to Peter's mother-in-law. 
Or perhaps they had removed thith- 
er for the convenience of, fishing, 
after the marriage of Peter. 

15. Arose, and ministered. Her 
being able to rise and entertain them 
was conclusive proof that the cure 
was complete, and also miraculous, 
for no natural restoration would have 
enabled her at once to resume her 
ordinary employments. 

16. When the even was come. 
The heat of the day would have 
been oppressive to the sick. We 
learn too from Mark i. 21, that it 
was the Sabbath day, and the re- 
gard of the people for its observance 
led them to postpone bringing their 
sick friends until after sundown, 
Mark i. 32, at which time the Sab- 
bath ended, Lev. xxiii. 32, and the 
next day began. Luke xiii. 14. 
Devils, i. e. demons. See note on 
Matt. iv. 24. With his word. At 
a word, by the mere force of his 
command. Healed all that were 
sick. Which showed that he cured 
them miraculously, for if he had 
possessed any tiling short of divine 
power, he would have cured some, 
and been unable to cure others. 
" The Redeemer, surrounded by 
crowds of such unhappy people 
who were bowed down by their 
physical sufferings, exhibited, in the 
healing power by which he relieved 



4heir external wants, an image of 
that spiritual energy which he con- 
stantly exercises, through the pow- 
er of his redemption, upon the 
hearts of men." 

17. Matthew, who was writing 
for Jews, quotes here from Isaiah 
liii. 4. This he does by way of ac- 
commodation. What, in the prophet 
is translated, " Surely he hath borne 
our griefs and carried our sorrows," 
is cited by Matthew in different 
words. Noyes translates it thus : - 

" But he bore our diseases 
And carried our pains." 

See 1 Pet. ii. 24, where the passage 
is understood as relating to Christ's 
freeing men from their sins, whilst 
here it is quoted as describing his 
curing them of their bodily disor- 
ders. This shows the latitude with 
which the Old Testament is cited in 
the New. By his miraculous pow- 
er, Jesus Christ bore away the dis- 
eases, and carried off the pains of 
men. By his precepts, promises, 
example, life, and death and resur- 
rection, he also removes the spirit- 
ual infirmities and pains of all who 
obey him. In the one sense, Peter, 
and in the other, Matthew, quotes 
the same passage. 

18-27. Parallel to Mark iv. 
35 - 41 ; Luke viii. 22, 25, ix. 
57-62. 

18. The other side. Jesus was at 
Capernaum at this time. To go to 
the other side of the water to the 
country of the Gergesenes, they 



vm.j 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



117 



scribe came, and said unto him : Master, I will follow thee 

20 whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus saith unto him : The 
foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests ; but the 

21 Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. And another of 



would cross almost the whole length 
of the Sea of Galilee, as may be 
seen by a reference to the map. 
The occasion of Jesus' going away 
appears to have been the collecting 
of great multitudes about him, which 
might lead to popular disturbances, 
or at least stir up the jealousy of 
the Romans. He prudently avoid- 
ed favoring the worldly hopes, or 
giving opportunity for the hot pas- 
sions of the Jews to break out. His 
vicinity to the sea enabled him to 
escape those vast crowds which his 
miracles drew abor him, whenever 
he foresaw a commotion, for few 
could follow him by water. 

19. Scrile. The Scribes were 
expounders of the Jewish law, and 
were chiefly of the sect of the -Phar- 
isees. They were usually arrayed 
in bitter opposition to Jesus. Mas- 
ter. Rather, Teacher. I will fol- 
low thee. Equivalent to saying, I 
will be your disciple. His offer, if 
we may judge by the reply of Je- 
sus, was dictated by worldly and 
ambitious views. It was not a love 
of Jesus, or a devotion to duty and 
truth, that prompted him, but far 
lower considerations. He sees Je- 
sus doing deeds of wonder, teach- 
ing with power, and surrounded by 
admiring crowds. He conjectures 
or believes him to be the Expected 
One. He wishes to secure an early 
title to a high p9st and preferment 
in his kingdom, and, spurred on by 
these selfish motives, lie proffers 
himself as a follower. 

20. The reply of Jesus," as in 
other cases, is directed rather to his 
ambitious state of mind, than to any 
peculiarity in what he said. Holes. 
Lairs, dens, such as. \vild beasts fre- 
quent. Nests. Rather, perches, 



or roosts, or places of rest and ref- 
uge. Jesus assures him that he 
need expect no honor, or emolu- 
ment, or worldly advantage- fiom 
following him. That he was a 
homeless wanderer, and his disciples 
must share the same lot, and lead a 
life of poverty, toil, and persecution. 
The disciples would be as their 
Master. We see the severe recti- 
tude and absolute truthfulness of 
Christ, who would not increase his 
followers by admitting those who 
were looking to his service for self- 
aggrandizement, although he desired 
disciples. -.He dealt frankly with 
all, and flattered the hopes of none. 
This is not the conduct of an im- 
postor or enthusiast. Son of Man. 
This term is applied to Jesus about 
seventy times in the New Testa- 
ment. In the Evangelists it is used 
exclusively by himself, with the sin- 
gle exception where a person quotes 
what Jesus says of himself. He 
took this title probably from Dan. 
vii. 13. At the outset, he did not 
openly call himself the Messiah, 
even to his disciples. But from the 
first he used a term which '(they 
would afterwards recollect, though 
they observed it not at the time,) 
was employed by him to indicate 
his claim to that great office. Some 
suppose it, with considerable proba- 
bility, to be an emphatic expression, 
meaning THE MAN. Some call it a 
title of honor, and others a term of 
humility. Perhaps not one reason, 
but various motives combined, led 
him to adopt it. Doing, as he did, 
astonishing works, calming the sea, 
raising the dead, uttering truth, liv- 
ing a perfect life, there was some 
danger that he would be mistaken, 
as by many of his followers to this 



118 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



his disciples said unto him : Lord, suffer me first to go and 
bury my father. But Jesus said unto him : Follow me, and 22 
let the dead bury their dead. 

And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed 23 



day he has been mistaken, for God. 
Jesus applies to himself an humble 
title, "the Son of Man," that would 
for ever forbid his being deified. 
"He called himself the Son of 
Man, to impress upon his hearers 
that he was an offspring- of the hu- 
man race, and the example of its 
capability, that he was a brother, 
a fellow-subject, and the universal 
model." 

21. Another case similar to the 
last. Disciples. Not the twelve, 
but those who had listened to his 
teaching. Suffer me first. Luke 
states that Jesus had previously said 
to him, "Follow me." Luke ix. 
59. Go and bury my father. This 
may mean, to go and bury his fa- 
ther who is already dead. Or, tak- 
en in a more free sense, it may 
have this purport, to go and live 
with his father until his decease. 
And the answer of Jesus would, 
according to the latter interpreta- 
tion, seem less rough and violent, 
and more appropriate to the case. 
This man might hesitate respecting- 
the character and claims of Jesus, 
and 'make an evasive answer, so as 
to leave the opportunity open to 
join Jesus afterwards, and secure 
the rank and dignity of a follower 
in his kingdom, if he proved to be 
the Messiah. 

22. Jesus looks into the heart, 
and frames his reply to meet his 
inward wants. -He takes up the 
word bury, and from that says, 
Let the dead bury their dead. This 
proverbial, and somewhat enigmati- 
cal and paradoxical way of speak- 
ing, was often used by our Great 
Teacher. Though obscure at the 
time, it aroused attention, it im- 
pressed the memory. Dead. Is 



used in a double sense. Those who 
are heedless of the concerns of .the 
spiritual life are often called in the 
Bible dead. Luke xv. 24 ; Rom. 
vi. 13 ; 1 Tim. v. 6. Classic poets 
and prose writers use a similar fig- 
ure. The Jews had a saying, that 
. " the wicked are dead whilst they 
live." Such is the sense in the 
case of the first word dead. Let 
the spiritually dead bury the physi- 
cally dead. The man makes his 
filial duty a plea for temporizing, 
and cloaks his hesitation under that 
sacred garb. Jesus strips off the 
disguise, and forcibly rebukes his 
state of indecision and procrastina- 
tion. There are enough to bury the 
dead, and perform the ordinary of- 
fices of life, who are indifferent to 
the soul and eternity.- Let them do 
their work. But thou, who hast a 
taste and aspiration for something 
better, " go and preach the kingdom 
of God." Luke ix. 60. He proba- 
bly obeyed the admonition. Tradi- 
tion says, that this disciple was bet- 
ter known afterwards as Philip, one 
of the twelve. It hardly need be 
said, that our Saviour was not un- 
mindful of the claims of filial duty. 
His own life is a beautiful proof of 
it. Luke ii. 51 ; John xix. 26, 27. 
But he would teach that in certain 
situations it is our duty to forsake 
the nearest relatives for the cause 
of the Gospel ; that the love of God 
should be stronger than the ties of 
kindred or affection, and the call of - 
duty before all other calls. Luke 
mentions yet a third case, ix. 61, 62. 
23". A ship. This was a smaller 
craft than is now called a ship ; a 
fishing boat, or vessel. His disci- 
ples followed him. Mark, iv. 36, 
adds, that " there were also with 



vm.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



119 



24 him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, in- 
somuch that the ship was covered with the waves ; but he was 

25 asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, say- 

26 ing : Lord, save us, we perish. And he saith unto them : 
Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith ? Then he arose, 
and rebuked the winds and the sea ; and there was a great 

27 calm. But the men marvelled, saying : What manner of man 
is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him ? 



him other little ships." They set 
sail on the Sea of Galilee. 

24. A great tempest. Mark says, 
" a great storm of wind." Luke's 
graphic language is : " There came 
down a storm of wind on the lake." 
The Sea of Galilee, surrounded by 
hills and mountains, is subject, like 
the lakes of Switzerland, to sudden 
and violent squalls and tempests. 
Covered with the waves. The sea 
dashed over the vessel, and there 
was danger of its filling and sink- 
ing. He was asleep. It was night. 
Jesus had been engaged during the 
day in teaching and healing the 
sick. He was fatigued. His ex- 
hausted powers were refreshed by 
sleep like those of other men. . He 
was not exempt from the necessi- 
ties of the body, though so great 
and gifted. He retires to the hinder 
part of the ship, and lays his head 
upon a pillow, for the purpose of 
sleep and rest. Mark iv. 38. The 
storm comes down from the lulls 
upon tbe lake, and his followers, are 
affrighted. But he sleeps securely 
and soundly, having no fears or 
anxieties to disturb his repose. His 
slumbers are calm and serene, his 
sleep that of innocence. 

25. We perish. We are perish- 
ing. In Mark there is a slight vein 
of reproach : " Master, carest thou 
not that we .perish 1 ?" In Luke, 
earnestness is expressed : " Master, 
Master, we perish!" What fine 
and delicate threads of truth we 
find scattered over every page of 



the Evangelists ! Probably what is 
recorded by all the writers was said 
at the time by one and another in 
their fright. 

26. WJiy are ye fearful, O ye of 
little faith? O ye distrustful. They 
had really no cause to fear. Jesus 
was with them, and they would not 
be lost. His presence was a pledge 
of safety. Julius Caesar, in a boat 
at sea, sustained the courage of the 
rowers in a storm, by making him- 
self known to them, and telling 
them that " they bore Caesar and his 
fortunes." How much greater rea- 
son had the followers- of Christ to 
hear the roaring of the winds and 
waves without fear ! Rebuked. 
Ps. civ. 7, 29. His rebuke was : 
"Peace, be still." Mark iv. 39. 
And there ivas a great calm. If 
the winds had gone down suddenly, 
and the air had become still, but the 
waves had continued to roll, as is 
customary after a storm, it might 
have been said, as it has been, that 
there was no miracle, but that the 
tempest lulled of itself. . But Luke 
says, that the wind and also the 
raging of the water ceased, and 
there was a great calm. This proves 
a miraculous agency ; else if the 
winds had ceased, the waves would 
still have been violently agitated for 
a long time, as is usual after a 
storm. 

27. Marvelled. Wondered, were 
astonished. What manner of man 
is this ? Or, more simply, to ex- 
press abrupt surprise, What a 



120 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP, 



And when he was come to the other side, into the country 28 
of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, 
coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man 



man ! How great is he ! They 
had not beheld before a miracle 
wrought upon the elements, and to 
see the raging tempest stilled to a 
perfect calm in a moment, by the 
word of Jesus, might well have 
overcome them with mingled joy, 
awe, and wonder. The control 
'which Jesus exercised over the most 
furious elements is beautifully sym- 
bolical of the calm which his reli- 
gion produces in the restless, fevered 
heart of man, tossed by passions, 
fierce in appetite, raging in its de- 
sires. "We join with Mrs. He- 
mans : 

" Thou that didst rule the angry hour, 

And tame the tempest's mood, 

O, send thy spirit forth in power, 

O'er our dark souls to brood ! 

" Thou that didst bow the billows' pride, 

Thy mandates to fulfil : 
Speak, speak to passion's raging tide, 
Speak, and say Peace, be still." 

28-34. Parallel to Mark v. lr- 
20 ; Luke viii. 26 - 39. The Evan- 
gelists vary in this narration, thus 
unconsciously affording evidence of 
their truth and independence as wit- 
nesses of the same facts, since their 
differences are capable of being 
easily reconciled. 

28. The other side, i. e. of the Sea 
of Galilee. The opposite side from 
Capernaum, from which they set 
sail. Country of the Gergesenes. 
Mark and Luke write Gadarenes. 
Both Gergesenes and Gadarenes 
may have been correct. For as 
Gadara was the capital of Peraa, 
and gave its name to the surround- 
ing country, and as there was a 
considerable city by the name of 
Gergesa.in the vicinity, the region 
lying on the lake may have been 
called indiscriminately by the name 
of the one or the other city. There 
met him two. Mark and Luke speak 



of only one. Probably one was 
better known, or much more dan- 
gerous than the other. There is 
no irreconcilable contradiction, for 
although Mark and Luke speak of 
but one, they do not say any thing 
which absolutely precludes the fact 
of there being another. When wit- 
- nesses in court agree in the main 
story, and differ in some particu- 
lars, it is thought to be a corrobora- 
tion of the facts to which they tes- 
tify. Possessed with devils. Matt, 
iv. 24. It should be read, possessed 
with demons, or those who were 
demoniacs. These were no doubt 
insane persons. But the supersti- 
tion of the times called them be- 
witched, or demoniacs, or those into 
whom an evil spirit or spirits had 
entered. The insane themselves 
shared in this superstition, and talk- 
ed as if evil beings dwelt in them, 
and spoke and acted through their 
organs. Rosenmiiller states that 
he once saw a melancholy woman, 
who constantly asserted that she 
was an unclean spirit. Jesus and 
his Apostles, whilst they cured 
these wretched beings, did not un- 
dertake to correct errors in philoso- 
phy, or reform the popular lan- 
guage. To have attempted it would 
have diverted them from their great 
work, and, by dividing, would have 
weakened and frustrated their ef- 
forts, and awakened a needless hos- 
tility among the believers in these 
superstitions. But they spent their 
efforts on the fundamental truths, 
which would finally clarify the mind 
of man of all errors of opinion, the 
heart of all corruptions of affection, 
and the life of all vices of conduct. 
Coming out of the tombs. _ So 
says Mark. Luke speaks of his 
coming out of the city. The tombs 



vm.j 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



121 



29 might pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying : 
What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God ? Art 

30 thou come hither to torment us before the time ? And there 
was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. 



were in the immediate neighborhood 
of the city, and either mode of 
speech was appropriate. Epiphani- 
us mentions, that there were in the 
vicinity of Gadara "caves cut out 
of the rocks, burying-grounds, and 
tombs." The tombs of the Jews 
were frequently excavations into 
rocks, Matt, xxvii. 60, and were 
sometimes so spacious as to be sup- 
ported by pillars, and contain sever- 
al different cells for the dead. They 
would therefore aiford a retreat large 
enough for the abode of the insane. 
And Josephus mentions that tombs 
were sometimes the haunts of rob- 
bers. In war the people fled to 
them for safety. Exceeding fierce, 
so that no man might pass by that 
way. They were highly dangerous 
to travellers, and their restoration 
therefore to reason was a public 
benefit, though a large number of 
swine perished, and some persons 
suffered a pecuniary loss. 

29. What have we to do loith thee. 
An expression of indignation, or 
deprecation. Judges xi. 12 ; 2 Sam. 
xvi. 10 ; Ezra iv. 3 ; John ii. 4. 
Son of God. See note on Matt. iii. 
1 7. It is a term equivalent to the 
Messiah. This is a very different 
expression from one now prevalent, 
" God, the Son." The insane had 
heard of Jesus, no doubt, before, 
and knew that he cast out spirits. 
They had perhaps been in those 
crowds that resorted from this very 
region of Decapolis to hear him. 
Matt. iv. 25. For it would seem 
from Luke viii. 29, that the spirit 
caught one of them at particular 
times, and that in the intervals he 
was sane. His disorder was period- 
ical in its attacks. It was not 
strange that they should know Je- 



VOL. I. 



11 



sus, if they had not seen him be- 
fore, as he was the centre to which, 
all eyes were turned, particularly 
since he had stilled the tempest. 
And with that boldness which char- 
acterizes insanity, they caught up 
the popular impression, that Jesus 
was the Messiah, or a distinguished 
prophet, and saluted him with a cor- 
responding title of dignity. What 
they did in this particular was ex- 
actly in character for persons de- 
ranged. It bears the stamp of in- 
sanity on its face. To torment us 
before the time. Wetstein supposes 
they referred to being confined in 
chains, or bled, or to undergoing 
other medical prescriptions, as they 
had done previously. See Luke 
viii. 29 ; Mark v. 4. They dreaded 
the harsh remedies that had been, 
applied to them, and feared lest 
they should be repeated. Others 
give a different view. The Jews 
held an opinion, that at the day of 
judgment evil spirits would be sent 
to their place of lasting punishment, 
2 Peter ii. 4 ; Jude 6 ; but that they 
might be confined or made to suffer 
before that time by superior beings. 
Tobit viii. 3. The insane, sharing 
in the popular superstition, believ- 
ing that spirits are in them, speak 
in their name, and deprecate being 
tormented before the time allotted 
for their final punishment. Mark 
and Luke represent Jesus as al- 
ready having commanded the un- 
clean spirit to come out. 

30. An herd of many swine. Mark 
says, "there were about two thou- 
sand . " A mixed population of Jews 
and Gentiles inhabited this country. 
It was contrary to the law of Mosea 
for the Jews to eat swine's flesh, 
and to that of Hyrcanus to keep 



122 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



So the devils besought him, saying : If thou cast us out, suffer 31 
us to go away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them : 32 
Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd 
of swine. And, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently 
down a steep place into the sea, and perished "in the waters. 



them. Yet both laws were broken. 
Some eat the forbidden flesh. And 
others raised the animals to sell to 
their Pagan neighbors. 

31. The devils besought Jiim. That 
is, the men who thought they were 
possessed by demons besought him * 
that the demons might be sent out 
into the swine. The other Evan- 
gelists state that Jesus had inquired 
of the man his name, and that he 
replied that it was Legion, for he 
believed a multitude of spirits had 
taken up their abode in him. This 
was a clear trait of a deranged 
mind. They add further, that the 
spirits, or the man speaking in the 
name of the spirits, besought Jesus 
that he would not send them into 
the deep, or the abyss, or command 
them to go out of the country, but 
permit' them to enter the swine. 
As has been said, this would be a 
very strange request for a spirit to 
make, but not at all unsuitable to 
a madman, who fancied himself to 
be, or spoke in the name of, unclean 
spirits, and who, after defiling him- 
self in the eye of the law by dwell- 
ing in a tomb, could find no habita- 
tion more conformable to his own 
ideas of himself than the body of 
the unclean animal here mentioned. 

32 . Jesus adopts the true method 
of rendering their cure permanent, 
by assenting to their wild proposi- 
tions, and giving them as it were 
ocular demonstration that the spir- 
its, or, correctly speaking, the in- 
sanity, had left them. And when 
they were come out, they went into the 
herd, fyc. Jesus miraculously trans- 
ferred the insanity from the men to 
the swine ; which being seized with 



madness rushed down the steep 
promontory, and were drowned in 
the waters of the lake. A cure has 
been sometimes effected by natural 
means, by humoring the fantastic 
whims of the deranged, and acting 
as if what they think to be real was 
real. So here. It was indeed a 
miracle to transfer the madness from 
the men to the animals; and by 
complying "with their request, and 
by their seeing as it were the legion 
of spirits leaving them, and entering 
into the thousands of swine, which 
were all destroyed in the sea, Jesus 
thus secured them against a return 
of their morbid fancies. For they 
had, so to say, seen their cure with 
their own eyes. Otherwise, noth- 
ing but a prolonged miracle could 
probably have prevented their re- 
lapsing into their former wretched 
state. Perished in the waters. It 
is objected by some to the benefi- 
cence of Jesus, that a great amount 
of property and life was destroyed 
in this case. True. But circum- 
stances rendered it right and bene- 
ficial. All things belong to God, 
and he and his delegated messen- 
gers have a right to dispose of all 
as he shall deem proper. The de- 
struction of the swine, as we have 
seen above, subserved the purpose 
of rendering the cure of the insane 
permanent. What is any amount 
of property, or brute life, weighed 
in the scales with the reason of an 
immortal man, or the safety and 
comfort of the neighborhood, and 
of travellers who were endangered 
by these madmen 1 Matt. viii. 28. 
The miracle was more impressive 
and useful on account of being at- 



vm.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



123 



33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the 
city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the pos- 

34 sessed of the devils. And, behold, the whole city came out to 
meet Jesus ; and when they saw him, they besought him that 
he would depart out of their coasts. 



tended with the loss of property. 
The sequel shows that the inhab- 
itants were stirred very deeply, by 
it, when otherwise they would per- 
haps have remained comparatively 
indifferent. . It was unlawful for the 
owners to keep swine, as the pre- 
sumption is that they were Jews. 
The miracle would serve to remove 
the popular superstition about pos- 
sessions by evil spirits. For they 
saw that an animal might be pos- 
sessed as well as a man, and it 
would be incredible that the spirit 
of a departed Jew would voluntarily 
enter into one of the unclean and 
most detested of animals. Again, 
it may be said, that the men origi- 
nated the proposition, and that Je- 
sus merely assented to it. 

33. This miracle produced a most 
powerful impression upon all who 
saw, and all who heard of it. And 
if it served to convince any that Je- 
sus was the Messiah, and to lead 
them to be his disciples, it compen- 
sated them tenfold for the loss of 
property, and the destruction of the 
brute animals. The description in 
this verse graphically, though art- 
lessly, depicts the consternation and 
stir produced by the miracle. And 
it is observable, that the relation 
was respecting what had befallen 
those possessed of demons, not what 
had happened to the swine. 

34. The whole city. A large num- 
ber of the people. They besought 
him that he would depart. They 
perhaps were convicted of their sin- 
fulness, and- feared further judg- 
ments. Or perhaps some were in- 
dignant at the loss they had sus- 
tained. Or, their request that he 



would depart from them might have 
been inspired by similar motives to 
that of Peter, after the draught of 
fishes, Luke v. 8 ; or to that of the 
centurion, that Jesus would not en- 
ter his house, Matt. viii. 8. The 
other Evangelists add some further 
particulars, which are interesting. 
That the man was restored to his 
right mind, and clothed. That he 
wished to accompany his benefac- 
tor, but was directed to return home 
and publish the miracle, since no ill 
effects could follow from its being 
known, as Jesus was going to leave 
that part of the country. That he 
did as commanded, testifying to the 
compassion of the Lord, and how 
great things had been done for him. 
It may be proper here to mention 
the circumstances which indicate 
that those possessed with demons 
were simply deranged. 

1. If these, and other cases, were 
not cases of insanity, it would ap- 
pear that whilst Jesus is described 
as curing almost every other dis- 
ease, he is never mentioned as cur- 
ing a case of insanity, a disorder 
"which more than any other would 
call for a divine power to remove it, 
and the cure of which would be 
peculiarly striking and convincing. 
And surely insanity was not then 
unknown. 

2. The conduct of the demoniacs 
is precisely that of the insane. The 
dwelling in by-pla"ces, in the tombs, 
and in the mountains, Mark v. 5, is 
an indication of insanity. The pro- 
pensity to wander, the wearing of 
no clothes, Liike viii. 27, the being 
out by night as well as by day, 
Mark v. 5, and the crying aloud 



124 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Miracles q/" Jesus, continued. 

-A.ND he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into 
his own city. And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of 2 
the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said 



n nd cutting the body with stones, 
distinctly mark the insane man. 
The inability to be bound or tamed, 
the unnatural strength which broke 
the fetters that confined his feet, 
and plucked asunder the chains that 
were on his hands, remind us of the 
Report of an Insane Hospital ; in 
none of which Reports was there 
ever given a more terse, striking, 
and graphic sketch of the conduct 
of the insane than is contained in 
this account. The periodical attack 
(Luke viii. 29, "For oftentimes it 
had cauglit him ") is a proof of in- 
sanity. The language of the man, 
his ready knowledge of Jesus, and 
his somewhat impudent address, 
joined with a salutation of great 
respect, his original and strange re- 
quest, his wild notion of being the 
abode of thousands of evil spirits, 
which he generalized under the 
name of the formidable Roman mil- 
itary division, "Legion," and, on 
the other hand, the language and 
mode of the miracle of Jesus, all 
uphold the position of its being a 
case of insanity. The state of the 
man after his cure, "Clothed, 
and in his right mind," Luke viii. 
35, sho\vs clearly of what he had 
been cured. All these circumstan- 
ces form a complete picture of the 
wanderings and subsequent restora- 
tion of reason. 

"What works of wisdom, power, and love, 
Do Jesus' high commission prove ! 

***** 
The shattered mind his word restores, 
And tunes afresh the mental powers." 

How shall we escape, if we neg- 
lect to hear and obey him who 
comes from God with such clear 



credentials of his authority, and of 
whom the Deity has said : " This 
is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
well pleased, hear ye him ! " 

CHAP. IX. 

1. Parallel to Mark v. 21 ; Luke 
viii. 40. 

Jesus yields to the request of the 
Gergesenes, and crosses over the 
lake to the other side, to the town 
of Capernaum, called his own city 
because he had made it his resi- 
dence. Matt. iv. 13 ; Mark ii. 1. 

2 - 17. Parallel to Mark ii. 1 - 22; 
Luke v. 17 39, who gives a more 
detailed account than Matthew. 

2. Sick of the palsy, lying on a 
led. His disease was severe and 
inveterate, and had reduced him to 
utter helplessness. The bed on 
which he lay was- a kind of mat- 
tress, which he could easily take up 
and carry, himself, when restored 
to strength. Seeing their faith. 
How they manifested their faith is 
particularly related by Mark and 
Luke. The friends of the paralytic 
had brought him on a mattress to 
the house where Christ was. But 
the press of the crowd was so great, 
that they could find no direct way 
to bring him to Jesus, and were 
obliged to uncover the roof where 
he was, and let him down on his 
couch into the court or area of the 
house where Jesus was teaching. 
This court or area in the middle of 
the house was frequently covered 
only by an awning, or screen, which 
could be easily rolled up. Houses 
in the east are generally of one 
story, and built in the form of a 



IX.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



125 



unto the sick of the palsy: Son, be of good cheer ; thy sins 

3 be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said 

4 within themselves : This man blasphemeth. And Jesus, know- 
ing their thoughts, said : Wherefore think ye evil in your 



hollow square, with a flat roof run- 
ning round the interior court. Go- 
ing up to the house-top with their 
sick friend, they unroll the awning, 
and let the bed down with cords 
through the filing, or properly, by 
the side of the tiling of the roof, 
into the midst of the company where 
Jesus sat and taught. He saw their 
faith, which had inspired them to 
persevere through all obstacles to 
obtain his aid. Son. An address 
of tenderness and condescension. 
Be of good cheer ; thy sins be for- 
given thee. The man was laboring 
under depression, or perhaps re- 
morse. The compassionate Saviour 
would encourage and comfort him. 
The Jews regarded disease as the 
consequence of sin, and had among 
them a saying that no diseased per- 
son could be healed, until all his 
sins were blotted out. The expres- 
sions, Be thou healed, and, Thy 
sins be forgiven thee, are regarded 
by many as having been synony- 
mous. To say one implied no more 
tban to say the other. It is true 
without doubt, that a far greater 
amount of the sickness and trouble 
in the world is caused by sin, than 
is. suspected. Christ is the great 
physician in the literal, as well as 
the figurative sense. Be is used 
instead of are. 

. 3. Certain of the scribes. Luke 
mentions that, there were Pharisees 
and doctors of the law sitting by, 
who had come from all parts of the 
country. This man blasphemeth. 
According to Mark and Luke, they 
added, " Who can forgive sins, but 
God only?" To blaspheme is to 
speak evil against God. Tbe true 
rendering hero of the words would 
be " This man speaks impious- 
U* 



ly." He claims a power to which 
he is not entitled, and which invades 
the prerogatives of God. It was 
true, that none could forgive sins 
but God. Jesus does not profess 
to forgive sins himself; he simply 
declares the fact that they are for- 
given. He could read the heart, 
and decide whether the conditions 
of forgiveness were fulfilled. He 
could comprehend the will of the 
Father, and declare his purposes of 
pardon to the penitent. The proph- 
et Nathan in like manner could say 
to David: "The Lord also hath 
put away thy sin; thou shalt not 
die." 2 Sam. xii. 13. Jesus gave 
his Apostles a similar power of for- 
giving sins, or rather of declaring 
them forgiven. Matt. xvi. 19, xviii. 
18 ; John xx. 23. If prophets and 
Apostles could declare men's sins 
forgiven, certainly it was no impiety 
in Jesus, and no assumption by him 
of Divine attributes, to pronounce 
a person's sins pardoned. As the 
Son of Man is to be the judge of 
the world, it was in harmony with 
his divine endowments by his Fa- 
ther, that he should possess such a 
knowledge of the state of the heart 
as to be able to declare forgiveness 
from God to the contrite. 

4. Knowing their thoughts. This 
of course does not imply that Jesus 
was omniscient, as some have false- 
ly inferred. He perhaps read the 
thoughts of their hearts in the lan- 
guage of their looks. Or, with 
more probability, we may suppose 
that a gift of knowing what was 
in man was vouchsafed among his 
peculiar powers. The capacity of 
knowing the thoughts of a few 
persons present is a quite different 
thing from the sublime attribute of 



126 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



hearts ? For whether is easier ? to saj : Thy sins be forgiv- 5 
en thee ? or to say : Arise, and walk ? But that ye may know 6 
that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins (then 
saith he to the sick of the palsy) : Arise, take up thy bed, and 
go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. 7 
But when the multitude saw it, they marvelled, and glorified 8 
God, which had given such power unto men. 

And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named 9 
Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom ; and he saith unto 



Omniscience. To argue from one 
to the other is to leap at a conclu- 
sion, wide indeed from the premises. 

5. ^hether is easier ? Which of 
-the two is easier? In reality one 

was as easy as the other.. Neither 
was hard to a divine messenger. 
To see the heart and know that the 
individual was worthy of pardon, 
or to work a miracle and raise up 
the palsied frame, was alike the re- 
sult of a divine commission and 
power. As if he had said, If I 
can heal the sick, I may without 
impiety absolve the sinner. 

6. But that ye may know, <$-c. 
He gives an ocular demonstration. 
He proves his right or authority to 
exercise one prerogative of divinity, 
to declare the forgiveness of sins, 
by actually and visibly exercising 
another, . the restoration of one in- 
curably diseased. But the exercise 
of either prerogative no more im- 
plies his deity, as has been strenu- 
ously argued, than the miracles of 
the Apostles, and their power to 
bind and loose on earth, evince 
their deity. The argument there- 
fore proves nothing, because it 
proves too nmch. Power. Au- 
thority, not original power, but 
delegated. Take up thy bed. The 
bed of the east was usually a mere 
mattress, spread on the floor, light 
and portable. 

7. To arise from his bod, take it 
up, and walk back to his house, 
from which he had been brought 



forth a perfectly helpless paralytic, 
was the plainest possible proof that 
his cure was complete and miracu- 
lous. For, as before observed, in 
the ordinary way, if palsy is cured 
at all, it is not cured instantly, but 
gradually. 

8. Glorified God. Luke vii. 16. 
They praised and adored God, they 
uttered ejaculatory thanksgivings to 
heaven. Their pious feelings were 
stirred within them. Given such 
power unto men. Or, unto a man, 
Jesus. Properly spealdng, only 
Jesus had shown such power. The 
plural for the singular. This dec- 
laration testifies in what light the 
Jews looked upon Jesus. They 
regarded him as one of their own 
race. They had not the remotest 
suspicion that he was any thing else. 
The very matter of their praise was, 
that God had delegated such great 
power, had miraculously gifted one 
of their kind. 

9. Matthew. Mark and Luke call 
him Levi. Matthew and Levi were 
probably two names applied to the 
same persoru Others of the Apos- 
tles, as Peter, arid Thaddeus, had 
two names. This is the same in- 
dividual who wrote the Gospel upon 
which we are now engaged. Mat- 
thew follows the general practice of 
historians, and speaks of himself in 
the third person, to avoid egotism. 
Receipt of custom. Or, custom- 
house, the place where the custom 
or toll was paid. The Jews, being 



EX.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



127 



10 him : -Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. And it 
came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many 
publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his dis- 

11 ciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto 'his 
disciples : Why eateth your Master with publicans and sin- 

12 ners ? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them : They 
that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 



under the government of the Ro- 
mans, were obliged to pay them a 
tax. Officers were placed in the 
large towns and cities to collect and 
receive it. In this case, the cus- 
tom, or tribute, was one probably 
that was levied upon persons and 
merchandise crossing the sea of 
Galilee. The receipt of custom, or 
office where it was paid, was situat- 
ed on the seaside, as appears from 
Markii. 13. Follow me, i. e. Be- 
come my constant disciple and at- 
tendant. He arose and followed 
him. Luke adds, " He left all," 
which, as his office was no doubt a 
lucrative one, must have been a 
great sacrifice. .But the Apostle 
himself makes no mention of it. 
He was, no doubt, previously ac- 
quainted with Jesus. " The call of 
a publican to be a follower of Christ, 
and a herald of his religion, was a 
sign of the sublime superiority of 
the new faith, in its impartiality, 
and mercy, over the bigotries of the 
old; and evinces the discernment 
and independence of Jesus, in se- 
lecting a worthy disciple from an 
order of men among whom com- 
mon opinion had pronounced that 
.there was no worth to be found." 

10. Sat. Reclined, as the cus- 
tom was at meals. In the house. 
Whose house Matthew does not 
state, but from Luke we learn that 
the entertainment was given by 
Matthew himself in his own house ; 
perhaps a farewell feast to his 
friends, and an occasion for them to 
hear Jesus converse. Publicans. 



He naturally invites many of his 
own" profession. Sinners. -JSTot 
necessarily men of bad character, 
but Gentiles, whom the Jews were 
accustomed to load with the most 
opprobrious epithets, calling them, 
dogs, sinners, and every vile name. 
Both classes were held in utter 
scorn and contempt by the Jews. A 
proverb was current : " Take not 
a wife from the family of a publi- 
can." 

11. Pharisees saw it. Standing 
without the house, they probably 
witnessed what was done ; eager 
to detect something to find fault 
with. r W7iy eateth your Master, 
<5fc. This objection was also brought 
up against Jesus at other times. 
Matt. xi. 19 ; Luke vii. 34, xv. 2. 
To decline eating with a man was a 
mark of strong antipathy. 1 Cor. 
v. 11. But to eat with one was a 
proof of regard, or sympathy. The 
doctors of the law accordingly had 
prohibited the Jews from eating 
with publicans and Gentiles. The 
Pharisees, as sticklers for outward 
rites, of course were punctilious in 
the observance of this requisition. 

12. They that be whole need not a 
physician. This was a proverb in 
use among the Jews and Gentiles. 
Jesus reasons with them on their 
own ground. " I am a healer of 
the soul. Of course it is to these 
very persons whom you regard as 
so sinful and lost, that I ought 
naturally to come, to restore them. 
The physician is for the sick, not 
the well. According to your own 



128 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



But go ye and learn what that meaneth : " I will have mercy, 13 
and not sacrifice." For I am not come to call the righteous, 
but sinners, to repentance. 

Then came to him the disciples of John, saying : Why do 14 



admission, I am now associating 
with those very persons who will 
be most benefited by a spiritual 
Teacher and Reformer. Instead 
therefore of reproach, my conduct, 
on your own principles, is worthy 
of approbation." The answers of 
Jesus to his enemies are indeed won- 
derful. They are like that two- 
edged sword going out of the mouth 
of him who was seen in the vision 
of the Apostle in Patmos. They 
pierce " even to the dividing asun- 
der of soul and spirit, and of the 
joint and marrow, and are a dis- 
eerner of the thoughts and intents 
of the heart." 

13. Go ye and learn. A. common 
phrase among the Jewish teachers, 
when they wished to refer their 
disciples to the Scriptures. The 
Pharisees had asked a question, 
importing that Jesus was blame- 
worthy in mixing with publicans 
and sinners. He replies : "I will 
refer you to your own Scriptures 
for an answer." The answer of 
Jesus is thus paraphrased by Nor- 
ton : " You reproach me for being 
with tax-gatherers and sinners ; it 
is fitting I should be ; the well need 
not a physician, but the sick. But 
do not think that you are less .mor- 
ally diseased than those whom you 
despise. You, no more than they, 
perform what God requires ; whilst 
you insist on ceremonies and su- 
perstitious observances, you neglect 
what is essential in religion and 
morality.- Go ye, and learn what 
this means, I desire goodness, and 
not sacrifices. I came to give an in- 
vitation to all to accept God's mer- 
cy ; and, as regards you, as well as 
them, I did not come to give an in- 
vitation to righteous men, but to 



sinners." / will have mercy, and 
not sacrifice. A, Hebraism, mean- 
ing, "I prefer mercy to sacrifice." 
Hos. vi. G ; 1 Sam. xv. 22 ; Prov. 
xxi. 3; Mic. vi. 6-8; Matt. xii. 
17. The sense of the citation is 
manifest. The Scribes and Phari- 
sees were rigid in ritual observan- 
ces, but lax in morals and character. 
Jesus would justify his associating 
with the vile, as being an act of 
mercy, to restore them to virtue. 
" Humanity is thus contrasted with 
a punctilious observance of ceremo- 
nial duties, and Christ declares, that 
a compassionate interest in the mis- 
erable and vicious is more accepta- 
ble to God than a rigid adherence 
to the letter of a ritual service." 
Ceremonies were divinely enjoined 
tinder Judaism, and also under 
Christianity, but they are only the 
letter of religion, and are always to 
be deemed subsidiary and secondary 
to its spirit. Not what we do, but 
what we are, determines our moral 
character in the sight of Heaven. 
Not come to call the righteous, but 
sinners, to repentance. Some infer 
that he meant that the good did not 
need his instruction. But he seems 
rather to be arguing with the Scribes 
on their own views. They esteem- 
ed themselves as righteous, Luke 
xviii. 9, and could not therefore lay 
claim to his attentions ; whilst those 
whom they despised as sinners must 
of course be the identical persons 
for whose sake he had come, and 
he did right therefore in mingling 
with them to reform them. 

14. The disciples of John. i. e. 
John the Baptist, who was proba- 
bly in prison at this time in the for- 
tress of Machaerus. Matt. iv. 12. 
It would appear from Mark ii. 18, 



IX.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



129 



15 we and the Pharisees fast qft, but thy disciples fast not ? And 
Jesus said unto them : Can the children of the bride-chamber 
mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them ? But the days 
will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and 

16 then shall they fast. No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto 
an old garment ; for that which is put in to fill it up taketh 

17 from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do 

and Luke v. 33, that the Scribes 
and Pharisees joined in making this 
inquiry. WJiy do we and the Phar- 
isees fast oft? This question was 
only stated to introduce the topic 
they were really desirous to have 
discussed, but thy disciples fast 
not. The question is in reference 
to the private, and not public and 
national fasts. The disciples of 
John were probably of this class 
originally, and still continued this 
custom of their order, especially as 
they were now in distress on ac- 
count of their master. These ob- 
servances being reckoned among the 
duties of religion, they naturally 
asked why the disciples of Jesus 
did not also conform to them. 

15. Jesus replies first to the in- 
quiry in reference to that particular 
time. At present, he says, my dis- 
ciples do not fast, because they have 
no occasion for affliction, for which 
fasting is a natural expression. I, 
their best friend and master, am 
still with them. But when I shall 
be taken from them, an event that 
will occur in process of time, then 
they will have cause for fasting. 
Children of the bride-chamber.. Judg. 
xiv. 11. A Hebrew - expression, 
signifying the friends and acquaint- 
ances of the parties who were pres- 
ent at the nuptial. rejoicings, and 
gave attendance at the bridal cham- 
ber. Great mirth and festivity at- 
tended marriages among the Jews. 
The figure Jesus employs is there- 
fore a very vivid one to express the 
incompatibility of his disciples'-fast- 
! ing while he was with them. The 



bridegroom. John iii. 29. " At a 
future time, when the disciples would 
be exposed to the persecutions of 
their ministry, without his presence 
to cheer and comfort them, they 
might be sad in heart, and would 
then be disposed to fast." 

16. This and the following verse 
have been thus paraphrased by Fol- 
len : "In the second place, do you 
ask why my disciples do not make 
fasting a regular practice, notwith- 
standing its sacred character as an 
old established form of religion? 
The adherence to any observance, 
on account of its being an old stand- 
ing form of religion, is contrary to 
the youthful spirit of religious free- 
dom that constitutes the essence of 
my doctrine. I could not, there- 
fore, teach this new doctrine of re- 
ligious liberty, and at the same time 
enforce such old and narrow forms 
of religion as your habitual fasts 
and prayers, without combining two 
discordant principles." It would 
be incongruous to unite a new reli- 
gion with old rites. New doth. 
A cloth not dressed, or fulled, but 
raw, or . unwrought, which when 
wet would shrink. A patch of such 
cloth, being put upon an old gar- 
ment, would occasion a worse rent 
than before, by pulling away the 
parts to which it was sewed. So 
the new doctrines of the Gospel 
would not harmonize with the old 
rites of the Pharisees. They were 
not to expect that Judaism could be 
repaired and renovated by Chris- 
tianity. 

17. Another illustration is used 



130 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



men put new wine into old bottles ; else the bottles break, and 
the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish ; but they put new- 
wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. 

While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came 18 
a certain ruler and worshipped him, saying : My daughter is 
even now dead ; but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she 
shall live. And Jesus arose and followed him, and so did his 19 

disciples. And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with 20 

an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched 
the hem of his garment. For she said within herself : If I may 21 



to express the same thought. As, 
in the last verse, we understand by 
the new cloth the religion of Christ, 
and by the old garment the rites of 
the Pharisees, so, in this, the new 
wine, and old bottles, stand respec- 
tively for the new religion and the 
old one. The spiritual faith of Je- 
sus, and the ceremonial rigor of the 
Pharisees, were totally at variance. 

New loinc. Wine unfermented. 

Old bottles. The bottles referred 
to by Christ were made of the skins 
of animals, as sheep and goats. 
When new, they were capable of 
being distended, and would hold 
new wine in a state of fermentation 
without bursting. But when old 
and dry, they were not sufficiently 
strong for the purpose, though they 
would still without injury hold wine 
that had been fermented. The Gib- 
eonites speak of their bottles as 
worn and rent. Josh. ix. 13 ; Job 
xxxii. 19; Ps. cxix. 83. Flasks 
made of skins are still used in sev- 
eral countries, as in the south of 
Europe. 

18-26. Parallel to Mark v. 22- 
43; Luke viii. 41-50. They give 
a more detailed account than Mat- 
thew. 

18. A certain ruler. According to 
Mark and Luke, his name was Jai- 
rus, and he was a ruler of the syna- 
gogue, a person of some distinction. 
This office related to the superin- 
tendence of the affairs and worship 



of the synagogue. Acts xiii. 15, 
xviii. 17. Worshipped. Bowed 
himself before him. My daughter 
is even now dead. Or, was just now 
dying, 'when I came from my house. 
She was so sick that she must now 
be dead. This declaration was con- 
firmed, for a message came that she 
was dead. She was an only daugh- 
ter, and about twelve years old. 
After every other hope had failed, 
the distressed father had hastened 
to Jesus, and most movingly en- 
treated him to come to his succor. 
Come and lay thy hand upon her. 
This was a customary gesture in 
invoking a blessing upon one, and 
is supposed to have been derived 
from the manner in which the Crea- 
tor was imaged, as exerting his 
beneficence by stretching forth his 
hand. Numb, xxvii. 18 ; 2 Kings 
v. 11 ; Matt. xix. 13 ; Acts iv. 30. 

19. Jesus might have exerted his 
power at a distance, but he chose 
to be present in person. His spirit- 
ual sympathies drew him to the 
house of mourning. He spent him- 
self for others. Going, coming, he 
was the servant of all. He came 
not to be ministered unto, but to 
minister ; and in that office his pe- 
culiar and heavenly greatness con- 
sisted. 

20. An issue of blood. The dis- 
ease was deemed unclean, Lev. xv. 
25, and therefore she does not ap- 
ply personally to Jesus, or touch 



IX.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



131 



82 but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him 
about, and when he saw her, he said : Daughter, be of good 
comfort ; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman 

23 was made whole from that hour. And when Jesus came 

into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels, and the people 

24 making a noise, he said unto them : Give place ; for the maid 



his person. The duration of her 
sickness for twelve years, her fail- 
ing to be relieved or restored by 
any medical skill, sufficiently show 
the obstinacy of her disorder. Mark 
v. 26. But she now applied to a 
Physician who could subdue any 
malady of mind or body, and whose 
services were "without money and 
without price." Blessed Benefac- 
tor! thy exceeding great reward, 
was the fervent love and thankful- 
ness of the wretched, recovered by 
thy power, whose gratitude " fol- 
lowed thee like an angel." Hem 
of his garment. This was tbe man- 
tle or upper garment ; the soldiers 
at the crucifixion divided it into four 
parts, to each soldier who had as- 
sisted in nailing the sufferer to the 
cross, a part. John xix. 23. The 
Jews were accustomed .in obedi- 
ence to Moses to put tufts or tassels 
of threads or strings upon the four 
corners, or, as it is improperly trans- 
lated, Num. xv. 38, Deut. xxii. 12, 
fringes. It was one of these tassels 
the woman touched. 

21. If I may but touch his gar- 
ment, I shall be whole. Or, shall 
be healed. She Avished to make 
known her wants privily to Jesus. 
The nature of her complaint de- 
terred her from openly presenting 
herself before the people. She did 
not expect, probably, to be healed 
without the knowledge of Jesus, 
and by stealth to" obtain a cure, 
without his willing it. Though the 
general interpretation is, that she 
believed his garments, without a 
distinct exercise of his miraculous 



gifts, would operate as an effica- 
cious charm to remove her disorder. 

22. Him. Should be the recip- 
rocal pronoun, himself. Mark and 
Luke are more minute, and men- 
tion that Jesus made inquiry who 
had touched him, and that after a 
pause, in which the disciples, with 
Peter at their bead, endeavored to 
answer tbe question by referring to 
the dense throng around him, the 
woman came, trembling, and fell 
down before bim, and confessed tbe 
whole truth. It was at this mo- 
ment he said, Daughter, be of good 
comfort. In which words the ten- 
derness of his address is fitted to 
soothe her fears, whilst he proceeds 
to pronounce a blessing upon her 
faith, which, as it had brought her 
to the feet of Jesus, was the pri- 
mary cause of the cure. Thy faith 
hath made thee whole. Or, well. It 
was her confidence that saved her, 
as it placed her within the reach of 
Christ's healing power. Tbat pow- 
er was the efficient cause, whilst 
tbe faith of the woman was the es- 
sential condition of the cure. 
Whole from that hour. Showing 
that the restoration was miraculous. 

23. Minstrels, and the people mak- 
ing a noise. It was the custom, 
both among the Jews, and heathen 
and semi-barbarous nations, to ex- 
press grief upon the death of friends 
and relatives in a violent and bois- 
terous manner. Gen. 1. 10 ; Numb. 
xx. 29 ; Deut. xxxiv. 8. So great 
was this tendency, that prohibitions 
were put -upon it by Moses. Lev. 
xix. 28; Deut. xiv. 1. But the Jews 



132 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



ia not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. 
But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her 25 
by the hand; and the .maid arose. And the fame hereof 26 
went abroad into all that land. 



nevertheless followed the heathen in 
many respects in their funeral rites. 
They hired- mourners to lament and 
sing dirges, and play mournful tunes 
over the dead. See Jer. ix. 17 
20 ; Amos v. 16. A report having 
been made at Jerusalem that Jose- 
phus was dead, he mentions that 
many persons " hired mourners with 
their pipes, who should begin the 
melancholy ditties for them." It 
was said, "the poorest Jew would 
afford his wife at her funeral not 
less than two pipes, and one woman 
to lament." With those hired to 
mourn, the friends and . neighbors 
would also join in the dirge with 
their voices, and beat their breasts, 
according to what was played by 
the instruments. Acts ix. 39. The 
funeral rites of the ancient Greeks 
and Romans, and other nations, and 
of Ireland, and many other coun- 
tries in modern times, are dis- 
tinguished by tumult and excess. 
But the Christian doctrine of im- 
mortality has blunted the edge of 
human sorrow, and the gentle spirit 
of the Gospel has rebuked the vio- 
lence and heartless hired lamenta- 
tions, which once prevailed almost 
universally at funeral occasions. 

24. The maid is not dead, but 
sleepeth. Sleep has been called the 
brother of death. Tbe figure of 
calling death sleep is frequent in 
the Bible. Dan. xii. 2 ; John xi. 
11, 13 ; Acts vii. 60; 1 Cor. xv. 6, 
18; 1 Thes. iv. 13-15; 2 Peter 
iii. 4. Jesus did not deny that she 
was actually dead, but he would 
convey the idea that she would be 
restored again to life ; that she 
would revive, as one from sleep. 
The extinction of life was only 



temporary. They laughed him to 
scorn, i. e, they derided, ridiculed 
him. Their sudden change from 
violent lamentation to levity shows 
' them to have been hired mourners. 

25. He tvent in. The advantage 
of comparing the different Evange- 
lists together is appai'ent here. It 

"might at first seem from Matthew 
that no one was present in the room 
when Jesus performed the miracle. 
But from Mark a.nd Luke we learn 
that the parents of the girl, and 
three of his disciples, Peter, James, 
and John, witnessed the act. These 
were witnesses enough to testify to 
tbe reality of the miracle. The 
crowd were put forth from the apart- 
ment to afford that stillness and qui- 
etness necessary to uninterrupted 
and distinct observation. It also 
seems to have been desired by Je- 
sus that his miracles might be 
wrought under a variety of circum- 
stances ; sometimes In the presence 
of few, and sometimes before many, 
that their genuineness might be 
more clearly established. Took her 
by the hand. Indicating the connex- 
ion between the agent and tbe re- 
sult. The words he used are re- 
corded in Mark and Luke. The 
latter also mentions another fact of 
interest ; that after she arose he 
commanded food to be given her, 
perbaps in further evidence of her 
entire restoration to soundness. 

26. Fame. Report. All that 
land. The whole surrounding coun- 
try. Though "Jesus is no longer 
present on earth to restore a lost 
daughter to her parents, or raise up 
to fife the widow's only son, the 
power of bis religion remains, to lift 
lip all that mourn, and cheer every 



IX.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



133 



27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed 
him, crying, and saying : Thou son of David, have mercy on 

28 us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men 
came to him, and Jesus saith unto them : Believe ye that I am 

29 able to do this ? They said unto him : Yea, Lord. Then 
touched he their eyes, saying : According to your faith be it 

SO unto you. And their eyes were opened. And Jesus straitly 

31 charged them, saying : See that no man know it. But they, 
when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that 
country. 

32 As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man, 

33 possessed with a devil. And when the devil was cast out, the 



weary heart with the unspeakable 
hope of another life, and the rich 
mercy of God. 

27. Thou son of David. This 
was one of the titles of the Christ 
or Messiah, as he was to be a de- 
scendant of David. Matt. i. 1, xii. 
23, xxii. 42 ; Luke i. 32 ; John vii. 
42. By calling him the son of Da- 
vid, the blind men expressed their 
belief in him as the Messiah ; .a be- 
lief already shared by many others. 
John vii. 31. In this case their 
faith must have rested in a consid- 
erable degree on the testimony of 
others. Have mercy on ws. 1 * Equiv- 
alent to beseeching him to restore 
his sight. 

28. Come into the house. The 
house in which he lived at Caper- 
naum. He wished to avoid the 
tumult and agitation of the multi- 
tude. Believe ye that I am able to 
do this ? This question might have 
been put to them to draw forth a 
more distinct avowal of their faith, 
in the presence of his disciples and 
others, and thus incline them to a 
fuller and firmer confidence in him. 

29. Touched he their eyes. Es- 
tablishing the connexion between 
his miraculous power and its effects. 
According- to your faith. This 
word has now so technical and the- 
ological a sense, that we hardly 

VOL.. i. 12 



realize that it simply means, in most 
instances, confidence. 

30. Their eyes ioere opened, i. e. 
they were restored to sight. 
Straitly charged them. Strictly com- 
manded them. He might have been 
afraid of a popular disturbance, af- 
ter so many miracles. See Note 
on Matt. viii. 4. 

31. Spread abroad his fame in all 
that country. These men were ac- 
tuated by principles which we see 
manifested every day in human con- 
duct. There is a propensity to di- 
vulge the. secret which is most priv- 
ily intrusted, and to do the thing 
which is most positively prohibited. 
Still their disobedience was inexcu- 
sable. Yet they did as many do 
after recovery from pain and sick- 
ness, break all the good resolutions 
they had formed, and grossly dis- 
obey him upon whom a short time 
before they were calling, " Havr 
mercy upon us." 

32. A dumb man, possessed will 
a devil. Or, a demon. The mai 
was dumb probably not on accouj 
of defective organs of speech, or or 
account of deafness, but the partic- 
ular turn his insanity took was th? . 
of dumbness. A deranged person 
who was melancholy and taciturn 
was said, in the popular phraseolu- 
gy of that day, to be possessed with 



134 



THE GOSPEL 



[Ciup. 



dumb spake. And the multitudes marvelled, saying : It was 
never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said : He casteth 34 
out devils through the prince of the devils. 

And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in 35 
their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, 
and healing every sickness and every disease among the peo- 
ple. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with 36 
compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered 
abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his 37 



a dumb spirit ; a phrase by which 
dumbness by insanity was distin-' 
guished from dumbness by defective 
organs of speech. 

33. When the devil, or demon, 
luas cast out, the dumb spake. When 
the man was restored to his reason, 
he resumed the faculty of speech. 
As his madness was attributed to 
possession by an evil spirit, when 
his disorder was cured, it was said 
that the demon had been cast out. 
It was never so seen in Israel. 
Probably the great number and as- 
tonishing- nature of the miracles, 
performed by Jesus that day, ex- 
torted this burst of wonder and ad- 
miration. He had, on the same 
afternoon, raised the daughter of 
Jairus from the dead, healed the 
woman with an issue of blood, re- 
stored to sight two blind men, and 
cured a madman, or demoniac. 
They might well exclaim, " Never 
before were such wonders as these 
witnessed in our land." 

34. He casteth out devils through 
the prince of the devils. Or, de- 
mons. Provoked to envy and jeal- 
ousy by the admiration expressed 
by the people, the Pharisees wilful- 
ly sought to pervert the evidence 
Goi gave his Son of his divine au- 
thority. This was the sin against 
the Holy Ghost. Because it was 
referring the proofs afforded by the 
power and spirit of God to the agen- 
cy of an evil spirit, thus resisting 
the highest and last proof of a com- 



mission from on high. It is to be 
remarked, that this opposition was 
occasioned by and related to but one 
class of miracles, the cure of de- 
moniacs. The conclusive and un- 
answerable reply Jesus made to their 
cavils upon a similar occasion is 
found in Matt. xii. 25. 

35. Parallel to Mark vi. 6 ; Luke 
viii. 1. What a beautiful delinea- 
tion of character is embodied in this 
verse ! The Greatest of all goes 
about doing good as the servant' of 
all. He establishes himself in no 
regal palace, or learned school, is- 
suing thence his commands, or his 
doctrines ; surrounds himself by no 
pomp and circumstance. But he 
mingles freely with all, is accessible 
and gracious to all. He dispenses 
the truth as freely as light and air. 
His sympathies are not restricted to 
any one class or condition of men, 
but he regards with interest the 
whole family of mankind. He heals 
the sick, comforts the unhappy, 
warns the evil, and blesses all with 
the visitings of mercy and hope. 
Labor and love are the motto of his 
ministry : 

" From heaven he came, of heaven he spoke, 

To heaven he led his followers' way; 
Dark clouds of gloomy night he broke, 
Unveiling an immortal day." 

36. Num. xxvii/16, 17 ; John x. 
11, 13, and various other passages 
of Holy Writ, have figures of a 
similar import, comparing an igno- 
rant or oppressed people to a flock 



x.r 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



135 



disciples : The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are 
38 few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will 
send forth laborers into his harvest. 

CHAPTER X. - 

Tfie Appointment and Commission of the Twelve Apostles. 
when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he 



without a shepherd- They toueh- 
ingly " describe the condition of a 
people like the Jews, whose reli- 
gious teachers had neglected their 
real wants, while they burdened 
them with the observance of tradi- 
tional usages. As sheep whoee 
keepers took no care of them would 
tire themselves in seeking pasture, 
the common people, left without 
instruction by" their priests, had 
sought it in vain, till they were suf- 
fering from want of spiritual food." 
Under the religious bondage of 
worldly Scribes and Pharisees, un- 
der the civil subjection of the Ro- 
mans, the sport of ambitious and 
evil minded persons, soon to fall 
victims to the terrible war that lev- 
elled their temple and city with the 
dust, and swept away their surviv- 
ing countrymen into the slave mar- 
kets of foreign and heathen nations, 
how truly, in the Saviour's spirit- 
ual, prophetic eye, were they a lost, 
shepherdless flock ! how naturally 
must his deep affections have yearn- 
ed to save them ! " How often," 
was his melting language, " would 
I have gathered thy children to- 
gether as a hen doth gather her 
brood under her wings, and ye would 
not!" 

37. Saith he unto his disciples. 
He turns to his followers, to call 
their attention to the spiritual des- 
titution of men, and suggests their 
duties as the teachers of his reli- 
gion. The harvest truly is plente- 
ous, but the laborers are few. A 
beautiful proverbial saying. " In 
the Rabbinical writing's, teachers 
are figured as reapers, and their 



work of instruction as the harvest." 
The ignorant, unspiritual multitudes 
thronging around them were as a 
field of grain already ripe and yel- 
low and fit for the sickle. They 
presented a rich field for religious 
exertions and instruction. But the 
reapers were few. Jesus and his 
little band were all the laborers to 
cut the boundless waving harvest, 
and gather it into the granary of 
God. 

38. Pray ye. Those who pray 
that the kingdom of God may 
come, and his will be done, will 
pray that teachers may be raised up 
and sent forth to advance the great 
moral work. It should be one of 
our daily aspirations to Heaven, that 
religion may become the life and 
hope of all mankind. The Lord 
of the harvest. Or, its owner, God. 
In the words of Gannett, " The 
world presents the same spectacle 
now that was contemplated by 
Christ, when he looked upon the 
multitudes that attended his preach- 
ing. The harvest is abundant ; 
men are longing and crying for 
truth, for religion ; the laborers are 
few ; comparatively few in number, 
and feeble in strength, for so great 
a work. Pray the Lord, that he will 
in his gracious providence raise up 
and send forth those, who shall ga- 
ther his children from the face of 
the whole earth into the 'kingdom of 
his Son, as a full harvest is gather- 
ed into the granary." 

CHAP. X. 

1. Parallel to Mark vi. 7; Luke, 
ix. 1, 2. His twelve disciples. It 



136 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



gave them pow.er against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and 
to heal all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease. 
Now the names of the twelve apostles are these : the first, 2 
Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother ; James 



appears from comparing- the Evan- 
gelists together, that Jesus had al- 
ready selected twelve, men to be his 
Apostles, having passed the whole 
night previous to his choice in prayer 
to God. Luke vi. 12. Twelve was 
a hallowed number to a Jewish 
mind, as corresponding to the num- 
ber of the patriarchs and the tribes 
of Israel. Matt. xix. 28. It was 

also a medium between too large 
and too small a number. The wis- 
dom of Jesus was manifested upon 
the slightest occasions, and in the 
smallest particulars. Power against 
unclean spirits, to cast them out. 
Or, more literally, power of, or over, 
unclean spirits, to expel them. See 
notes on Matt. iv. 24, and viii. 28 
34. Unclean. In the eye of the 
law. All manner of sickness, tyc. 
That is, every kind of sickness and 
disease. The Apostles and early 
preachers of Christianity were gift- 
ed with miraculous powers for the 
same purpose as was Jesus himself. 
The attention of a sensual world 
and age was aroused, and a divine 
sanction was given to their instruc- 
tions. Men saw that God was with 
them in the signs and wonders which 
they did, which no other man could 
do, unless thus authorized and em- 
powered from on high. 

2-4. Parallel to Mark iii. 13- 
19; Lukevi. 12-16. 

2. Names of the twelve apostles 
are these. We have four lists of 
this band, one by Matthew, one by 
Mark, and two by Luke, one in his 
Gospel, and one in the Acts, i. 13. 
The same order is not always ob- 
served, and there is a variation as 
to the names, Avhich, however, is 

easily reconciled. The word. Apos- 
tle signifies one sent, a messenger, 



and was "thus used in Jewish and 
heathen authors. It is now limited 
to those employed by Christ in 
spreading the Gospel, to the Twelve 
first selected, and to Matthias and 
Paul. The original corresponds to 
our word missionaries, in its sense. 
The first. This means the first 
in order, not in authority, or digni- 
ty. It is merely a word of intro- 
duction to the list, and not a dec- 
laration of Peter's superiority to the 
other Apostles, as some have con- 
tended. Simon, who is called Pe- 
ter , and Andrew his brotJier. We 
learn from Mark vi. 7, that they 
were sent forth by two and two, 
and hence there was a reason for 
their being registered in the same 
manner. It is a pleasant thought 
that several of the Apostles were 
near relatives, brothers one of an- 
other, and some of them related to 
Jesus, and that the afieetions of 
kindred mingled in their spiritual 
heroism. The home sentiments 
keep the character true and balanc- 
ed, as the history of all reformers 
testifies. The Apostles could not 
have been fanatics, or enthusiasts, 
or impostors, or dupes, for they 
were brethren. Peter and Andrew 
were brothers ; also James the 
Greater, as he was called, and 
John 5 also James the Less, Jude, 
or Thaddeus, and Simon Zelotes. 
Seven out of the Twelve were 'thus 
in three distinct sets of brothers. 
Is there no type here to an imagi- 
native soul of that grand truth of 
Human Brotherhood, which per- 
vades Christianity as one of the 
component elements of its vital 
strength 1 Peter and Andrew were 
sons of John, or Jona, or Jonas. 
John i. 42, xxi. 15. Hence Petei 



X.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



137 



3 the son of Zebedee, and John his brother ; Philip, ~ and 'Bar- 
tholomew ; Thomas, " and Matthew the publican ; James the 
son of Alpheus, and Lebbeus, whose surname was Thaddeus ; 

4 -Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed 



was called Barjona ; Bar, a Syriac 
word, meaning son. Matt. xvi. 17. 
He was also called Cephas, a He- 
brew word, which in Greek is Pe- 
ter, and in English is Rock. By this 
appellation, Jesus marked him out 
as one fitted by his energy and res- 
olution to aid in establishing his re- 
ligion upon an indestructible basis. 

It was common, in ancient as well 
as modern times, for persons to be 
called by surnames. Andrew was 
honored by being the first called, 
John i. 40, 41, or as confessing Je- 
sus to be the Messiah. They had 
been disciples of John the Baptist. 
John i. 35, 40. James the son of 
Zebedee. His mother's name was 
Salome, who was an attendant on 
Christ's ministry. Matt, xxvii. 56 ; 
Mark xv. 40. He was called James 
the Greater, to distinguish him from 
James the Less, in respect to age 
or size. He was put to death by 
Herod Agrippa. Acts xii. 2. 
John. Termed the beloved disci- 
ple. He wrote the Gospel called 
after his name, three Epistles, and 
the book of Revelation, although 
in respect, to two of the Epistles 
and Revelation there is some doubt 
entertained. The four disciples 
mentioned above were all fisher- 
men, Mark i. 16, 19, and probably 
others also of the Twelve. James 
and John were called Boanerges, 
Maik iii. 17, sons of thunder, either 
on account of their warm tempers, 
or glowing eloquence, or on account 
of an incident related in Luke ix. 
54. 

3. Philip. Philip, Peter and An- 
drew, James and John, were inhab- 
itants of Bethsaida. Matt. iv. 21 ; 
John i. ' 44. Little is known of 

Philip, except from- the few notices 
12 * 



in the New Testament. Bartholo- 
mew. Supposed to be the same as 
Nathanael. John i. 45, xxi. 2. 
The word means the son of Tol- 
mai, as Barjonas means the son of 
John, or Jona. He was of Cana. 
John xxi. 2. Jesus pronounced up- 
on him the memorable eulogium, 
" Behold, an Israelite indeed, in 
whom is no guile." Thomas. 
Called Didymus. John xxi. 2. 
Both words signify a twin, which 
he perhaps was. Matthew the pub- 
lican. He was also called Levi, 
Mark ii. 14, the son of Alpheus. 
He wrote this Gospel to which we 
are devoting our attention. James, 
the son of Alpheus. Or, of Cleo- 
phas and Mary. John xix. 25 ; 
Luke xxiv. 18. He was brother to 
the two next, Thaddeus, or Jude, 
and Simon. Compare Mark xv. 40 ; 
John xix. 25 ; Gal. i. 19 ; Luke 
vi. 16 ; Matt. xiii. 55 ; Mark vi. 3. 
He wrote the epistle called by his 
name, and was martyred at Jerusa- 
lem. Lebbeus, ivhose surname was 
Thaddeus. Thaddeus and Jude are 
the same names, in derivation and 
meaning. Luke vi. 16 ; Mark vi. 
3. He was the author of one epis- 
tle in the canon of the New Testa- 
ment. 

4. Simon the Canaanite. Or, 
Zealot, so called from belonging to 
Cana in Galilee, or on account of 
his zeal, the word in the original 
having such an import. This latter 
view is corroborated by the epithet 
used by Luke vi. 15, Acts i. 13. 
Some suppose that he belonged to 
a Jewish sect called Zealots. Ju- 
das Iscariot, i. e. Judas of Kerioth, 

or Carioth, a city of Palestine. 
Judg. v. 25. His crime and hia 
fate are recorded in the Gospels and 



138 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



him. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, 5 

saying : Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city 

of the Samaritans enter ye not. But go rather to the lost 6 

sheep of the house of Israel. And, as ye go, preach, saying : 7 

The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the 8 
lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils ; freely ye have received, 



Acts. He was enrolled among the 
Twelve. The unblemished conduct 
and character of Jesus were the 
more substantiated, inasmuch as this 
bad man had nothing whereof to 
accuse him, but declared him inno- 
cent. Matt, xxvii. 4. 

5. Into the way of the Gentiles. 
Rather, into the way to the Gen- 
tiles. This prohibition was made 
that the Gospel might be first offer- 
ed to the Jews, to whom it was 
promised, Acts in. 26, and if reject- 
ed by them, then preached to the 
Gentiles and Samaritans. It was- 
to be supposed, that the Jews were 
better prepared for Christianity than 
other nations, and they were to be 
its bearers to the rest of the world. 
In the short time the Twelve would 
have opportunity to labor during 
the mission upon which they were 
now sent out, they would accom- 
plish more in confining their exer- 
tions to Judea. Jesus came in an 
official character, as the Messiah of 
the Jews, and to them therefore he 
ought first to be announced. He 
confined his ministry, with slight 
exceptions, among the Jews. The 
oonmand now given was afterwards 
superseded by another : " Go and 
teach all nations." Matt, xxviii. 
19, Samaritans. S amaria lay be- 
tween Judea and Galilee. Its pop- 
ulation at this time was a mixed 
one, springing from a colony of hea- 
then foreigners, and remnants of 
some of the Jewish tribes settling 
there after the Babylonish captivi- 
ty. They seceded from the wor- 
ship at Jerusalem, and built a tem- 
ple on Mount Gerizim. They were 



in a state of deadly hostility towards 
the Jews, and had no. friendly deal- 
ings with them. John iv. 9, viii. 
48. It was prudent therefore to 
appeal first to the Jews, and not 
excite their jealousy by preaching 
among the Samaritans. 

6. 17ie lost sheep of the house of 
Israel. A figure of frequent use in 
the Scriptures. The Jews were in 
a truly pitiable state. Misled by 
their religious teachers ; oppressed 
by their foreign conquerors and ru- 
lers : too corrupt to welcome the 
only one who could have redeemed 
them ; too proud to acknowledge 
their unhappy condition ; well might 
the Saviour have compassion on 
them, and send forth his disciples 
to gather these wanderers home in- 
to the true and safe fold. House. 
Posterity, nation. 

7. The kingdom of heaven is at 
hand. The apostles were not sent 
forth to preach that Jesus was the 
Messiah, but to proclaim the ap- 
proach of his kingdom. They were 
to prepare the way of the Lord, 
and, going into different parts of 
the land, to spread everywhere the 
hope of the speedy establishment 
of the reign of God, in the person 
of his Son and Messenger, and by 
a moral and spiritual awakening of 
the soul, prepare men to admit the 
claims of Jesus to the Messiahship. 
In this respect their office resembled 
that of John the Baptist, and the 
commencement of Christ's minis- 
try. Matt. iii. 2, iv. 17. 

8. Raise the dead. This clause 
is believed by many to be an inter- 
polation. Devils, i. e. demons. 



X.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



139 



9 freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass, in 

10 your, purses ; nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, 
neither shoes, nor yet staves. For the workman is worthy of 

11 his meat. And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, in- 



Jesus delegated to his disciples the 
same miraculous gifts with which 
he had been endowed. Though, 
but partially acquainted with the 
spiritual aims of his religion, though 
still cherishing, as is manifest by 
their subsequent conduct, the delu- 
sion of a worldly kingdom, weak 
in faith, they yet are empowered, 
equally with then: divine Master, to 
work the most astonishing deeds, 
and thus attest the godlike authori- 
ty of their mission. Freely ye have 
received, freely give, i. e. gratui- 
tously, without making a trade or 
gain of their powers, as the Jewish 
exorcists were wont to do, for their 
own emolument. Acts iii. 6, viii. 
18, 20. This was not a prohibition, 
however, against receiving a sup- 
port from those among whom they 
labored. Luke x. 7. 

9-15. Parallel to Mark vi. 8- 
11 ; Luke ix. 3-5. See also Luke 
x. 4-16. 

9. Gold, nor silver, i. e. money 
made of these metals. Brass. The 
metal now called by this name was 
invented by the Germans, and is 
* different from the ancient composi- 
tion. The coin here mentioned 
was a copper one. Purses. Gir- 
dles. The people of the east 
dressed in full flowing garments. 
Therefore belts worn around the 
waist, while walking or exercising, 
were necessary to secure their 
clothes. Hence the figure, " gird 
up the loins," to express prepar- 
ation for labor or action. In these 
girdles were places provided to be 
used as purses, which were safe 
and convenient. Hence zone, or 
girdle, and purse are used synony- 
mously. The Apostles were to go 
forth trusting to the hospitality of 



the people among whom they la- 
bored, and their reliance did not 
prove unavailing. Luke xxii. 35. 

10. Nor scrip. This was a travel- 
ling bag or a wallet, usually made 
of leather, and employed to hold 
provisions for a journey. Two 
coats. Two tunics ; garments more 
like gowns than coats. They were 
not to put on two tunics, as was 
customary for a journey. Mark vi. 
9. Shoes. Shoes and sandals, con- 
sisting simply of a sole tied with 
thongs to the foot, were both in use 
among the orientals. The direc- 
tion here appears to be, that they 
should go forth accoutred as they 
were, without anxiously providing 
any new articles of dress. Or, they 
were not to use the shoes, or short 
boots, worn in travelling, but san- 
dals. Mark vi. 9. Staves. Gries- 
bach reads, staff. Mark, vi. 8, says 
that they might carry a staff. There 
is no real discrepance. Matthew 
says they should not provide staves 
if they were without them. Mark, 
that they might talte a staff if they 
already possessed one. The force 
of the whole passage is, that they 
should not solicitously spend time 
to equip themselves with burden- 
some articles, but go forth as they- 
were, throwing themselves on the 
generosity of those for whom they 
labored. The ivorkman is worthy 
of his meat. Is worthy of his sup- 
port. Meat is here used for sus- 
tenance in general. Those who 
labored for the spiritual good of 
mankind were entitled, not in the 
character of a gift, but of a recom- 
pense, to their living. They were 
deserving of a supply for their tem- 
poral wants. 1 Cor. ix. 14; 1 
Tim. v. 18. 



140 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



quire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. And 12 
when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be 13 
worthy, let your peace come upon it ; but if it be not wor- 
thy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not 14 
receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that 
house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say 15 
unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and 



11. Inquire who in it is worthy. 
Seek out a candid and good man, 
and be his guest. Pie will most- 
readily award you a hospitable re- 
ception, and be most competent to 
farther your high objects. There 
abide till ye go thence. Or, accord- 
ing to Luke x. 7, in the directions 
to the Seventy, " Go not from house . 
to house." As long as they remain- 
ed in one town or city, they were 
to lodge at the same house. This 
course possessed obvious advan- 
tages, in preventing their time be- 
ing wasted, or offence being given 
to their host by withdrawing as' if 
dissatisfied ; or their being exposed 
to destitution and insult ; or their 
having the appearance of vagabonds, 
with no regular abode and impor- 
tant business. The prudential reg- 
ulations given by Jesus for the con- 
duct of his disciples are admirably 
adapted to their situation, and prove 
that the preacher of the Gospel, 
though going forth on a great er- 
rand, is not to neglect the proprie- 
ties and advantages of common life. 

12. Salute it. Judg. xix. 20; 1 
Sam. xxv. 6. It was customary in 
the east, for those who entered a 
house, to salute the family with 
" Peace be to this house." Peace 
was deemed a summary of all bles- 
sings. Jesus would not permit his 
disciples to violate any of the usual 
courtesies of life, or suppose that 
on account of their great office they 
were above the performance of the 
humblest duties. Well would it 
have been if all his ministers in 



every age had borne this truth in 
mind, and demeaned themselves 
humbly, gently, and courteously. 
"How little understood, and less 
practised, is the beautiful principle 
of Christian politeness ! 

13. House, here, and in the con- 
text, means family. In some cases 
it means nation; verse 6. John iv 
53 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 15. The expres 
sions in this verse are Hebrew forms 
of speech. The sense is this : If 
the family return your greetings, 
and receive your message with can- 
dor and attention, your invocation 
of peace upon them will not be in 
vairi, the peace of God will abide 
with them. But if they prove to 
be the reverse, and treat you and 
your errand with coldness, or indig- 
nity, then your good wishes will be 
fruitless ; the dove which you sent 
forth will return, bearing the olive 
branch of peace in her mouth, hav- 
ing found no rest for the sole of 
her foot. Ps. xxxv. 13 ; Is. Iv. 11. 

14. Shake off the dust of your feet. 
A symbolical action, to express very 
strongly the criminality of refusing 
the Apostles a hearing or recep- 
tion. This illustration is in accord- 
ance with the public sentiments of 
the Jews. The Scribes taught, that 
even the dust of a heathen land 
would desecrate their holy soil, and 
that it was therefore to be shaken 
from the feet. The injunction of 
Jesus was literally obeyed by his 
disciples, who by this act declared 
that they placed those who did not 
receive and hear them on a level 



X.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



141 



Gomorrah in the day of judgment, "than for -that city. 

16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be 

17 ye" therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But 
be ware 'of men. For they will deliver you up to the councils, 

18 and they will scourge you in their synagogues ; and ye shall 



with the heathen. Acts xiii. 51, 
xviii. 6. For a 'parallel idea, see 
Matt, xviii. 17. ' 

15. Sodom and Gomorrah. An 
account of the destruction of these 
places is found in Gen. xix. The 
country about the Dead Sea, where 
those cities were situated, bears 
geological evidence to the present 
day of the appalling catastrophe. 
They are often adduced as instances 
of the judgment of Heaven. In 
the day of judgment. There is no 
the in the original. No particular 
day is referred to, but judgment, 
retribution, whenever it should come. 
Some have supposed allusion is made 
to temporal calamities, soon to de- 
scend on the Jews for their sins. 
As mankind are accountable in pro- 
portion to their light and privileges, 
a severer condemnation would be 
visited on those who rejected Christ 
and his Apostles than on those who 
had neglected the example and 
warnings of Abraham and Lot. 

16. As sheep in the midst of 
wolves. We notice here how en- 
tirely open and frank our Lord was 
in speaking of the . dangers before 
them. He permits them not to go 
unwarned into the conflict. What 
an infallible evidence is here of his 
uprightness and honesty ; his infi- 
nite removal from deception, or en- 
thusiasm ! The figure here used is 
found elsewhere, of comparing the 
bad to wolves and other wild beasts, 
and the innocent to sheep and lambs. 
Lam. iii. 10 ; Matt. vii. " 15 ; Acts 
xx. 29 ; Is. xl. 11 ; John xxi. 15, 
16. Wise as serpents, and harm- 
less as doves. The Apostles were 
to combine two qualities seldom 



found together ; sagacity and sim- 
plicity ; to imitate two animals most 
unlike each other ; the one the most 
subtile, the other the most simple in 
nature. So the perfect character is 
ever that which holds in the nicest 
equipoise varying traits ; the lion 
heart and lamb-like innocence ; the 
wisdom of the serpent and the sim- 
plicity of the dove. The Egyptians 
used the serpent as a symbol of 
wisdom . In their mission the Apos- 
tles would be exposed to difficulties 
requiring the utmost caution and 
prudence, and at the same time they 
were vehicles of a doctrine demand- 
ing entire sincerity and simplicity. 
Rom. xvi. 19. 

17. Beware of men. Be on your 
guard against their plots, for they 
will seek to ensnare and destroy 
you. They will deliver you up to 
the councils, and they witt scourge 
you in their synagogues. This was 
actually fulfilled upon many occasions 
afterwards. Acts iv. 5-7, 15, v. 
40 ; 2 Cor. xi. 24. The councils 
were the Sanhedrim and other tri- 
bunals among the Jews. Scourg- 
ing was a severe punishment, in- 
flicted upon the body with rods or 
thongs. The number of blows was 
limited to forty among the Jews. 
Deut. xxv. 2, 3. Thirty-nine were 
usually given, a scourge of three 
cords being struck thirteen tunes 
with greater or less force in pro- 
portion to the crime. The same 
punishment was in use among other 
nations, and the number of stripes 
proportioned to the offence commit- 
ted. The punishment was a very 
painful one, as the blows fell upon 
the naked back and sides, and some- 



142 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testi- 
mony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver 19 
you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak ; for it 
shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For 20 
it is not ye that speak, but the spirit of your Father which 
speaketh in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother 21 
to death,. and the father the child ; and the children shall rise 



times extended round to the breast, 
culling up the skin and flesh. The 
victim stooped forward, and was 
sometimes bound to a low pillar, 
that the person inflicting the stripes 
might do it to better advantage. 
The sentence was executed some- 
times in the synagogues. Matt, 
xxiii. 34 ; Mark xiii. 9 ; Acts xxii. 
15), xxvi. 11. Our Saviour himself 
suffered under this brutal punish- 
ment, though unconvicted of any of- 
fence. Luke xxiii. 15 ; John xix. 1. 

18. Before governors and kings. 
Though to all human appearance the 
cause of the Gospel was too humble 
to attract such notice, yet Jesus 
foresaw what agitation it was des- 
tined to produce, and that kingdoms 
and empires would not, in all their 
fancied strength, be able to shut it 
out or suppress it. For my sake. 
For the sake of my Gospel. ' For 
a - testimony against them and the 
Gentiles. Or, a testimony to them 
and the Gentiles. The witness 
which the Apostles and disciples 
bore to the truth of Christianity on 
those occasions when they were ar- 
raigned before the civil authorities, 
contributed materially to its advance- 
ment. The book of Acts, and suc- 
ceeding ecclesiastical history, estab- 
lish this point with repeated in- 
stances, and show Jesus to have 
predicted nothing but what was ful- 
filled. 

19, 20. See Luke xii. 11, 12. 
19. Take no thought, $c. Be not 

anxious as to the matter or manner 
of your defence. They might well 



be alarmed, poor and unlearned as 
some of them were, at the prospect 
of being summoned before the great 
and powerful rulers and statesmen 
of the world, unless some assurance 
were given them that they would 
not be deserted at" such crises. 
For it shall be given you in that 
same hour what ye shall speak. It. 
would appear from the individuality 
of those speeches of the Apostles 
and disciples on record, that their 
inspiration' was not of a kind to su- 
persede the activity of their own 
minds. They were not passive 
mouth-pieces of the Divinity. But 
they were aided and illuminated by 
the Holy Spirit. Conscious of the 
divine help and authority, they were 
lifted above all fear, and spoke with 
a force and point which none of 
their adversaries could gainsay. 

20. It is not ye that speak, but the 
Spirit of your Father. Matt. ix. 13, 
and John xii. 44, have like idioms. 
It is not so much ye that speak, as 
the spirit of God. Ex. iv. 12. A 
strong expression, to imply that 
they would be sustained on those 
trying occasions by supernatural il- 
luminations and endowments. God 
himself would aid them. They 
need not fear, therefore, kings or 
emperors. The encouragement was 
the more needed, as the people of 
the east look upon their rulers, 
kings, and governors with a super- 
stitious awe, as if they were verily 
gods. 

21. We have in the prediction 
contained in this verse, which was 



X.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



143 



up against their parents, and- cause them to be put to death ; 

22 and ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But he 

23 that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they perse- 
cute you in this city, flee ye into another. For verily I say 
unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till 

24 the Son of Man be come. The disciple is not above his mas- 



afterwards frequently fulfilled to the 
letter during the persecutions of the 
Christians, another instance both of 
Christ's prophetic power and his 
operi-mindedness. When in after 
years the Apostles were treated 
with every indignity and cruelty, 
and in some cases their own friends 
turned against them, they could not 
complain that they had not been 
forewarned of their difficulties. And 
if their Master's prophecies in rela- 
"tion to their earthly trials held so 
true, they might well believe that 
his promises of a better -life after 
death would likewise be. gloriously 
verified. History relates, that their 
nearest friends and relatives some- 
times betrayed the Christians, and 
consigned them to modes of torture 
and death too horrible to be de- 
scribed. . 

22. Hated of all men. Univer- 
sally, not literally by every man. 
For my name's sake. Because they 
were Christians. 1 Peter iv. 14, 
16. He that endureth to the end 
shall be saved. This would be true 
in many ways. He who bore him- 
self manfully to the last, and acted 
with dauntless courage, would be 
the most likely to find safety. Or, 
he who persevered in his Christian 
faith, despite the hatred of men, 
would be saved from the destruc- - 
tion of the Jews and their city, as 
actually happened. Or, he who 
was faithful unto death would ob- 
tain everlasting salvation. Let each 
judge which is the probable sense. 
Jesus addressed it to them as a mo- 
tive to encourage them to hold out 
to the end. 



23. Flee ye into another. Acts 
ix. 30, xvii. 10. They were not 
rashly and needlessly to lose their 
lives. When persecuted, they were 
to flee, if possible ; and by thus 
doing they did not compromise or 
betray their cause, but helped it for- 
ward, inasmuch as wherever they 
were scattered they preached the 
truth. Thus the persecution men- 
tioned in Acts viii. 4, gave a wider 
extension to the Gospel, and the 
purpose of its enemies was defeat- 
ed. Ye shall not have gone over 
the cities of Israel, <$fc. Ill treated 
in one place, they were to choose 
another as the sphere of their ex- 
ertions. They would not in this 

.way visit all the towns in Palestine 
before the coming of the Son of 

Man. Till the Son of Man be 
come. Much obscurity envelopes 
this phrase, and many different in- 
terpretations have been advanced. 
But the most probable is tbat which 
regards the coming of the Son of 
Man as the time when, about forty 
years after the crucifixion, Jerusa- 
lem was destroyed, the temple razed 
to the foundations, the Jevrish fes- 
tivals and the national rites and 
worship brought to an end, and 
Christianity established and con- 
firmed. Matt. xvi. 28, xxiv. 30, 
34 ; Mark ix. 1 ; Luke ix. 27. Je- 
sus would thus urge their activity 
in proclaiming the Gospel, because 
the time was short, and the work 
great. 

24. Tlie disciple is not above his 
master, <%c. These are proverbial 
phrases, which were in use among 
the Jewish teachers. It was to re- 



144 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



ter, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disci- 25 
pie that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If 
they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much 
more shall ihey call them of bis household ? Fear them not 26 
therefore. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be 
revealed ; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you 27 
in darkness, that speak ye in light ; and what ye hear in the 
ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops. And fear not them 2S 



mind them that they need expect 
no better fate for themselves than , 
their Master suffered. They should 
not repine under their trials, for 
their Lord had already endured the 
same or greater. John xv. 20. 
Similar language is also used for 
other purposes. Luke vi. 40 ; John 
xiii. 16.. 

25. It is enough for the disciple, 
<$-c. The disciple must he content- 
ed to suffer the same hardships and 
persecutions as his Master. Beel- 
zebub. To escape the necessity of 
acknowledging his divine authority, 
and yet being unable to deny the 
fact of Christ's miracles, the Scribes 
and Pharisees imputed them to the 
agency of evil spirits. " He casteth 
out devils by Beelzebub, the prince 
of devils." Matt. xii. 24, 27. The 
meaning of the name is lord of 
flies, or lord of filth. 2 Kings i. 2, 
16. He is called the god of Ekron. 
The inhabitants of that region ap- 
pear to have worshipped him as a 
protector from the insects which 
Tavaged their land. "He is never 
called a devil, or represented as a 
fallen angel." Little is known, 
however, of the connexion between 
the term as used in the Old Testa- 
ment and in the New. It is suffi- 
cient to understand, that it was a 
term of the deepest insult and scorn 
which Jewish hatred could devise 
to heap upon the head of Jesus. 
And the disciples could expect no 
milder treatment than their Master 
had received. 



26-33. See Luke xii. 2-9. 

26. Therefore. Better, neverthe- 
less, fear them not. For there is, 
<$fc. The reason why they were 
not to fear contempt and persecution 
was, that the truth was great, and 
would prevail; Christianity would 
gloriously triumph, and their course 
of conduct would be justified in the 
eyes of all mankind ; and when the 
secrets of all hearts were revealed, 
they would be recompensed with 
eternal life for all they had labored 
and suffered on earth. Eccles. xii. 
14 ; 1 Cor. iv. 5. 

27. Wfiat I tell you in darkness, 
3fc. The instructions I give you 
in private are to be publicly pro- 
claimed. What I teach you in ob- 
scurity is to go forth in light and 
glory, and fill the earth. Jesus 
had not one doctrine for the initiat- 
ed, and another for the ignorant, 
like the priests and philosophers of 
old, but his teachings were alike 
intended for all conditions of men. 
WJiat ye hear in the ear, <%-c. 
This is. thought to refer to a Jewish 
custom. The doctors of the law 
had interpreters, who received what 

they said by its being whispered in 
the ear, and then made it public to 
the audience. House-tops. The 
houses of the east had flat roofs, 
which in mild weather were much 
frequented at certain hours of the 
day. The minister of the syna- 
gogue, according to Lightfoot, gave 
notice of the coming of the Sabbath 
by sounding with a trumpet six tunes 



X.J 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



145 



which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but rather 
fear him, which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell, 

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? and one of them 

30 shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the 

31 very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not there- 

32 fore ; ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever 
therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also 

33 before my Father, which is in heaven. But whosoever shall 



irom a high house-top. Among the 
Turks the hour of prayer is simi- 
larly announced by a crier. The 
phrase denotes, therefore, that what 
was spoken secretly should be pro- 
claimed in the most public man- 
ner. 

28. While you are thus conspic- 
uously preaching, fear not, Jesus 
says, human scoffers and persecu- 
tors; rather -stand in awe before 
Him who is not only master of our 
present, but also of our eternal des- 
tiny, and who can punish in the 
severest manner not only body, but 
soul, in the future world. Let the 
fear of him conquer all other fears. 
The disciples would be tempted by 
temporal hopes and apprehensions, 
but these were to be subdued by 
motives drawn from God and eter- 
nity. 

29. Farthing. Equal to about 
seven mills of our currency. One. 
of them, <5fc. Two sparrows were 
worth but a farthing, and not one 
of those creatures, thus cheap in 
the eyes of men, was neglected by 
the kind Creator. The beautiful 
argument is, If God takes such in- 
terest and care of .the least of birds, 
how much more will he guard his 
dear child, man. Without your 
Father. Without his oversight and 
permission. " Not one of them is 
forgotten before God." 

30. Another illustration of the 
minuteness of the Divine Provi- 
dence. God's care extends, as well 
as his knowledge, to the smallest 

VOL. i. 13 



particulars. How surely then will 
he protect and bless his human off- 
spring, his saints, his Apostles ! If 
their hairs are numbered, how much 
more will their heads be shielded, 
and their souls strengthened! 1 
Sam. xiv. 45. 

31. Matt. vi. 26. Since the Di- 
vine Being provides for animals, 
much more will he for his moral 
creatures, made in his likeness, use- 
ful in advancing his designs, and 
destined to rise and improve for 
ever. Watching over the sparrow, 
he is pledged not to neglect man. 
Such considerations were eminently 
fitted to soothe and cheer the disci- 
ples of Jesus in their approaching 
trials ; and they are equally adapt- 
ed now to comfort the lonely and 
suffering, and strengthen all our 
hearts for the dangers and trials of 
life. 

32. This verse is connected with 
the 27th. The intervening portion 
consists of encouragements to the 
persecuted. What Jesus taught his 
disciples privately, they were to 
preach in the most public manner. 
They were to acknowledge them- 
selves his followers openly, before 
the world. In eVery scene, and 
every act, Christ may be confessed. 
We are to manifest everywhere that 
we are his disciples, by obeying his 
commandments and breathing his 
spirit. In the church, in the fami- 
ly, in the scenes of business, in the 
festival, and at the funeral, we are 
to show ourselves Christians, by 



146 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father, 
which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace 34 
on earth ; I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am 35 
come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daugh- 
ter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her 
mother-in-law ; and a man's foes shall be they of his own 36 



trusting, following, loving, imitat- 
ing our blessed Master. ' Thus con- 
fessing him to be our Saviour be- 
fore men, we are assured that he 
will acknowledge us as his disciples 
in the presence of God, and in the 
realms of the blest. 

33. But on the other hand, if his 
disciples did not adhere to Mm 
through evil report and through 
good report, if they denied him, he 
would of course riot acknowledge 
them to be his followers, unless, 
like Peter, they repented again, and 
professed to be bis disciples. The 
declaration in these two verses serv- 
ed to animate and warn his follow- 
ers and others at that time, and tbey 
are not less applicable now. If we 
confess Christ before men, he will 
confess us before his Father and 
our Father. If we deny him before 
men, he will deny us before God 
and all good beings. Let the prom- 
ise cheer us, and the admonition 
warn us. 

34. Think not that I am come, 
<SfC. The effect of the coming of 
our Lord is here put, by a strong 
figure of speech, for the object or 
purpose of that coming. It cer- 
tainly never was the direct aim of 
Jesus to send strife into families or 
communities. His intentions were 
pacific. His birth-song was, " On 
earth peace." But it would be the 
unavoidable result of his coming 
and the gradual spread of his reli- 
gion in the face of a sinful world, 
to stir tip opposition, hatred, and 
party spirit. The Gospel would 
divide men into sects before it would 
finish its work and produce a state 



of union. Severe diseases need 
powerful remedies. As tbe world 
was deeply corrupted, the purifying 
fire, Matt. iii. 11, Luke xii. 49, and 
the separating sword pf the Spirit, 
^must go forth to purge the earth 
and cut off its abominations before 
there could be a reign of peace. 
There can be no peace, until the 
conditions of peace are complied 
with. This prophecy of Jesus has 
been fulfilled on every page of ec- 
clesiastical history, and is now ful- 
filling. I came not to send peace, 
but a sword, i. e. sball send a sword, 
rather than peace. The consequen- 
ces temporarily of my advent will 
be as warlike as if I had come on 
purpose to produce dissension. But 
those consequences are not charge- 
able to religion, but to the preju- 
dices and passions of men. In the 
end, Christianity produces peace in 
tbe soul, peace in tbe world, peace 
towards God. 

35. Micah vii. 6 ; I am come to 
set, i. e. the temporary effect of my 
coming will be to set the nearest 
relatives at variance with one an- 
other. As all cannot think alike 
and feel alike, as there will be some 
faithful to the injunctions, and oth- 
ers not so, there will inevitably 
arise ill-will, contention, treachery, 
and persecution, even amongst fam- 
ilies and between friends. But the 
Apostles were not to be terrified 
when they beheld the engine of di- 
vision at work, for they had been 
forewarned what to expect. 

36. The ordinary law of enmities 
would be reversed. Foes would 
spring up in the bosom of the fami- 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



147 



37 household. He that Iqveth father or mother more than me is 

not worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daughter more 

33 than me is not worthy of me ; and he that taketh not his cross, 

39 and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth 
his life shall lose it ; and he that loseth his life for my sake 

40 shall find it. He that receiveth you receiveth me ; and he that 

41 receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth 
a prophet, in the name of a. prophet, shall receive a prophet's 
reward ; and he that receiveth a righteous man, in the name 
of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward. 



ly itself, more bitter and treacher- 
ous than strangers. See verse 21. 

37. But a caution is added, that 
they should not be deterred from 
religion . by these feuds and divis- 
ions. They were to triumph over 
private feelings, over the partialities 
of friendship and relationship, in 
espousing the cause of truth. Noth- 
ing was to stand in the way of their 
becoming followers of Christ. - The 
cause of God should be dearer than 
peace purchased by ease and indif- 
ference. Father, mother, brother, 
sister, wife, child, are dear ties all, 
but there are even holier than these, 
a Heavenly Father, a Divine 
Brother. Is not worthy of me. Is 
not entitled to be called my disciple. 
" He who could not rise above the 
strongest ties of kindred and affec- 
tion, and surrender all relatives and 
friends for the sake of the Gospel, 
was not fit to be its advocate;" 

38. Taketh not his cross, and fol- 
loweth after me. Here is a distant 
allusion, perhaps, to the manner of 
Christ's death on that instrument. 
It was Ihe custom for the criminal 
to cany his own cross to the place 
of execution. So did Jesus Christ. 
It has been said, that what was 
usually carried by the doomed was 
not the whole cross, but the piece 
put at right angles near the top. - 
This was a refinement of cruelty 
and disgrace, to compel the individ- 



ual to bear the instrument of his 
own torture. Jesus signifies in this 
vivid manner that his followers were 
to be daunted by no hardships and 
dangers, but to be fearless in then: 
profession of his religion, even in 
the prospect of exquisite suffering 
and death. And many did follow 
their Master .to the cross and the 
stake, and died in vindication of his 
holy Gospel. 

39. The word life is used in this 
verse in two senses, as the word 
dead ,, is in Matt. viii. 22. The 
meaning is, that he who preserves 
his earthly life by base compliances 
will lose his spiritual one, and that 
he, who, faithful to duty and reli- 
gion, undergoes suffering and death, 
will secure spiritual and eternal life. 
The renunciation of self, of life, of 
this world, in the cause of religion, 
will secure life everlasting. 

40. But in the midst of difficulty 
and discouragement, they would 
have the satisfaction of meeting 
with some good men who would re- 
ceive ,them, and in receiving them 
would receive the Gospel of God 
and his Messiah. Respect to the 
ambassador is respect to the sover- 
eign who sends him. 

41. Prophet. Used here in the 
sense of a public teacher of reli- 
gion. Righteous man. A private 
Christian. Those, who, in times 
of peril, hospitably entertained the 



148 



THE GOSPEL 



[ClIAP; 



And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones 42 
a cup of cold wafer only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say 
unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. 

CHAPTER XI. 

TliR Testimony of Jesus respecting himself and John the Baptist, and his Rebuke of the 

impenitent Jeies. 

JrxND it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of com- 
manding his twelve disciples, he departed thence, to teach and 
to preach in their cities. 

Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, 2 
he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him : Art thou he that 3 



persecuted, would be entitled to 
equal rewards in the sight of God 
with their guests. In the name of. 
In the character of; to receive as a 
prophet, as a righteous man, i. e. 
treating them kindly on that ac- 
count. 

42. These little ones. As if he 
had said, My children. A phrase 
of endearment; or perhaps one of 
humility, signifying his lowly, ob- 
scure disciples. A cup of cold wa- 
ter only, L e. the smallest office of 
kindness and hospitality. He shall 
in no wise lose his reward. If so 
slight a favor was done to a person 
lecause he was a disciple of Jesus, 
it would show an interest in reli- 
gion, and would not, therefore, go 
unrewarded. The value of human 
actions consists in the motive with 
which they are performed. The 
least deed, if performed in reference 
to the will of God, under a sense 
of duty, is more honorable and more 
rewarded, than the greatest, done 
with selfish views. 

CHAP. XI. 

1. This verse would be more 
properly attached to the tenth chap- 
ter, for it is connected with it in 
sense, and it is not particularly re- 
lated to the next verse, which be- 
gins a new subject. Had made an 



end of commanding. Had finished 
giving his instructions. Thence. 
He was now in the vicinity of Ca- 
pernaum. Thence he went forth to 
teach and to preach, to instruct pri- 
vately and publicly, in their cities, 
i. e. in the cities of Galilee. We 
see that our Master imposes no du- 
ties on his disciples which he does 
not readily undertake himself. He 
enforced his injunctions by his own 
example ; a model worthy of imi- 
tation by all who instruct or com- 
mand others, whether parents, or 
teachers, or ministers, or rulers. 

2-19. See Luke vii. 18-35. 

2. John had heard. By means 
of his disciples, Luke vii. 18. In 
the prison. Rather, in prison. John 
had been thrown into prison in the 
fortress of Machserus, which was a 
short distance northeast of the Dead 
Sea. See Josephus' Antiquities of 
the Jews, B. 18, chap. 5, sec. 2. 
The cause of this act of Herod An- 
tipas was the freedom with which 
John reproved him for re: crying 
his brother's wife unlawfully. See 
Matt. xiv. 3, 4. The works of 
Christ. These stood out promi- 
nently to public notice, and awak- 
ened the wonder of multitudes. 
They were even borne to the dun- 
geon of John: He sent two of his 
disciples. His disciples still ad~ 



XI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



149 



4 should come, or do we look for another ? Jesus answered and 
said unto them : Go and show John again those things which 

5 ye do hear and see ; the blind receive their sight, and the lame 



hered to him in his adversity, and 
obeyed him as before. Those friends 
who continue faithful in the day of 
trouble are friends indeed. 

3. We learn from the narrative 
that John and Jesus did not pro- 
ceed in concert, but acted indepen- 
dently. Whatever testimony there- 
fore either gave to the character or 
claims of the other has the value 
of impartial and independent evi- 
dence. There could have been no 
collusion between them. Art thou 
he that should come? A phrase 
answerable to " Art thou the Mes- 
siah? " Or do we look for anoth- 
er ? Are we to expect another ? A 
Messiah had been long foretold, and 
the Jews were in eager anticipation 
of his coming. He was usually 
spoken of, therefore, as He that 
should come, the Great Coming 
One. Various views have been tak- 
en, by different writers, of the mo- 
tive which prompted John to send 
this message to Jesus. Some hold 
that he wished to identify Jesus, 
and ascertain whether he was the 
one whom he had baptized, and 
whom he knew to be the Messiah. 
Some, that he wished to satisfy his 
own mind whether Jesus was the 
Messiah. Some, that, being con- 
vinced himself, he wished to con- 
firm his doubting disciples, and at- 
tach .them to Jesus, if he himself 
should be destroyed. Others, that 
having originally, when he had bap- 
tized Jesus, and seen and heard 
the testimony from heaven, and de- 
clared him to be " the Lamb of 
God which taketh away the sin of 
the world," been persuaded that 
Jesus was the actual Messiah, yet 
that his delaying to assume the out- 
ward sovereignty supposed to be- 
long to, that office, and delaying 
13* 



to rescue him so long imprisoned) 
which he could so easily effect by 
his miraculous power, had shaken 
his previous belief, an'd that he now 
wished to decide the matter by a 
reference to Jesus himself. The 
last seems the most rational inter- 
pretation of John's conduct. His 
ideas of the office of the Messiah 
were similar to those of his coun- 
trymen at large, who were look- 
ing for a temporal kingdom. This 
seems to be indicated by Jesus him- 
self in this chapter, verse 11. Lan- 
guishing in confinement, his active 
mind became impatient and per- 
plexed, he longed for the speedy es- 
tablishment of the Messiah's reign, 
under which he would probably ob- 
tain his liberty, and witness the 
great objects of his mission ad- 
vanced. He sends to Jesus, in his 
trouble and disappointment, to learn 
his movements and plans. His 
message was, "Art thou the real 
Christ, or are we disappointed in 
you, and must we still look for 
another to come? " A vein of im- 
patience, therefore, and also of re- 
buke, runs in the question. This 
solution comports best with the 
declarations of John, the circum- 
stances in which he was placed, his 
probable conceptions of the Mes- 
siah, the ardor of his character, 
and the language of the message, 
the reply to it, and the subsequent 
remarks by Jesus on the office and 
character of his Forerunner. 

4. Go and show John again. 
Again should be omitted. This 
seems to indicate clearly that John 
asked this question and waited for 
a reply for his own satisfaction, 
rather than to strengthen the faith, 
of his disciples in Jesus. Those 
things which ye do hear and see. 



150 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are 
raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them ; 
and blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. 6 



The messengers came at a favora- 
ble hour ; for we learn from the 
parallel passage in Luke vii. 21, 
that Jesus was then in the very act 
of healing the sick, and casting out 
demons. Hence, according to his 
usual manner of teaching, he drew 
an answer, from, the events of the 
moment and the spot. 

5. See Is. xxxv. 5, 6, lxi> 1, 2, 
3 ; Luke iv. 18, 19. The answer 
of Jesus was calm, prudent, and to 
the point. It arose spontaneously 
from the circumstances of the oc- 
casion. It foreclosed priestly rage, 
or the equally embarrassing popular 
enthusiasm, to which an explicit 
declaration, in so many words, that 
he was the Messiah, would have 
exposed him. It presented the sol- 
id foundation of his claims, both to 
John and to after generations. He- 
mentions two kinds of evidence, 
that of miracles, and that of the 
philanthropy of his religion. One 
includes the various specifications 
of healing the sick and raising the 
dead; the other, the fact .that he 
preached the Gospel to the poor. 
He applied the same rule to him- 
self that he gave to test others. 
Judge the tree by its fruits. His 
life was his demonstration. His 
deeds were his arguments. As 
Nicodemus said, "No man can do 
these miracles that thou doest, ex- 
cept God be with him." Jesus of- 
ten appealed to Ids miraculous deeds 
as proofs of the divinity of his mis- 
sion. And he must have best 
known on what grounds it rested. 
John v. 36, x. 25, 37, 38, xiv. 11, 
xv. 24. Again, his impartial love 
and labors for the poor, as well as the 
rich ; for the slave, the beggar, the 
outcast leper, as well as the power- 
ful and refined, could only have pro- 



ceeded from him \vho dwelt in the 
bosom of God, whose mercies are 
free to all his creattires. He rose 
above the narrowness of his age 
and country, the ignorance of Gali- 
lee, and the bigotry of Scribes and 
Pharisees, who despised the people, 
John vii. 48, 49, and taught with 
the inspiration and authority of the 
impartial Father of all. In saying 
that the poor had the Gospel preach- 
ed unto them, he did not mean that 
it was not also preached, and to be 
preached, to the rich ; or that he 
had any different Gospel . for the 
poor from that for the rich ; but that 
the glad tidings of heaven, the high- 
est good, the happiest privileges of 
which human nature was capable, 
were to be brought by his Gospel 
within the reach of the poorest as 
well as of the richest. He taught 
no exoteric or public doctrine to the 
poor and ignorant, and an esoteric or 
secret doctrine to the learned, like 
most of the ancient philosophers. 
It was a new era, when all men, 
without distinction of nation or con- 
dition, were called to all the highest 
blessings and hopes of the children 
of God. None but a divinely com- 
missioned teacher could have con- 
ceived or effected such a mighty 
revolution in human affairs. Let 
the Gospel continue to be preached 
to the poor, till no unhappy, suffer- 
ing soul, in the dark haunts of our 
cities, or in unknown Jieathen wastes, 
shall pine in ignorance of its blessed 
tidings. Missions, and ministries 
to the poor, are at once the fruits 
and the proofs of the divinity of the 
Gospel. 

6. Blessed is Tic, <$-c. Mingled in 
this beatitude is a slight tinge of re- 
proof, that John should be scanda- 
lized that he had not assumed the 



XI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



151 



7 And, as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes 
concerning John : What went ye out into the wilderness to 

8 see ? a reed shaken with the wind ? But what went ye out for 
to see ? a man clothed in soft raiment ? Behold, they that wear 

9 soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to 
see ? a prophet ? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. 



temporal sovereignty supposed to 
belong to the Messiah. But the 
idea is conveyed in the most delicate 
and inoffensive manner ; even in a 
benediction. Not be offended in me. 
Finds no cause of offence or stum- 
bling in me, though I act contrary 
to his wishes and hopes. Blessed 
is he who cavils not at my mode of 
proceeding, or character, or doctrine, 
who finds nothing in me to drive 
him away from truth and God ; but 
who, whatever violence may be done 
to his preconceived notions of the 
Messiah's kingdom and worldly glo- 
ry, regards me with a docile, trust- 
ing, loving disposition. This answer 
was adapted " to awaken John to 
new patience, thought, and faith." 

7. As the messengers of John 
were going away, Jesus generously 
pronounced a high eulogium on him, 
and expressed his confidence in John 
as of firm integrity, and consistency, 
and more than a prophet in his of- 
fice. Perhaps he wished to avert 
any prejudice which might arise 
against John on account of the na- 
ture of his inquiries, and his own 
reply to them, and to renew the peo- 
ple's impressions of John's preach- 
ing and predictions. He appealed 
directly to his hearers themselves. 
WJiat went ye out into the wil- 
derness to see? What was your 
motive- in flocking around John? 
Wilderness means here an unculti- 
vated and thinly peopled country. 
A reed shaken with the wind ? As 
much as to say, Did you go to see 
a vacillating, inconstant- man, bend- 
ing this way and that, like a reed 



shaken in the breeze? A strong 
negative answer is implied, and, 
agreeably to such an idiom, the next 
sentence begins with but. No ; you 
went to see one steadfast and im- 
movable, a prophet of the most in- 
flexible temper. 

8. But. A repetition of the ques- 
tion in. a new form. A man clothed 
in soft raiment ? A delicate, volup- 
tuous person, a courtier, apparelled 
in purple and fine linen? Such 
were not the garments of John. 
He was dressed in camel's hair, and 
a leathern girdle around his loins, 
but he was greater than courtier or 
king. They that wear soft clothing 
are in kings' houses. You must go, 
not to the wilderness and to John, 
but to the palaces of kings, to see 
those that are clothed in soft rai- 
ment and live daintily, and who have 
a corresponding effeminacy and ca- 
priciousness. Luke vii. 25. Soft, 
i. e. made of the finest materials. 

9. But. Indicating again a nega- 
tive reply to the question of the last 
verse. A prophet and more ilian 
a prophet. The people crowded to 
hear John as a religious teacher, re- 
former, and prophet. But he was 
more than a common prophet ; be- 
cause he was himself the subject of 
prophecy ; because he not only pre- 
dicted the -coming of the Messiah, 
like the other prophets, but prepared 
his way, and inaugurated him into 
his office by baptism ; because he 
was the connecting link of two dis- 
pensations, the twilight, in which 
Jewish darkness and Christian day 
melted into each other. The sketch 



152 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP, 



For this is he of whom it is written : " Behold, I send my mes- 10 
senger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before 
thee." Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of 11 
women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist ; 
notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven, is 
greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until 12 
now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent 
take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied, 13 
until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which 14 



of John here given, though short, 
is vivid and powerful, drawn by a 
master's hand. 

10. Is written. Malachi iii. 1. 
Similar language is used by Isaiah, 
xl. 3, and quoted Matt. iii. 3, see 
note thereon, also Mark i. 2 ; Luke 
i. 17, 76 ;' John i. 23. Prepare thy 
way before thee. As pioneers pre- 
ceded the march of eastern kings 
and their armies, so did John the 
Baptist go before Jesus, to prepare 
the people for the coming of his 
kingdom of righteousness. 

11. Among them that are born of 
women. A circumlocution for men. 
A greater than John the Baptist. 
He was greater than any others, 
greater even than the prophets, on 
account of his office, and privileges, 
as the Forerunner and Witness of 
Christ. He saw and heard what 
kings and priests and prophets had 
desired to see and hear, and desired 
in vain. Least in the kingdom of 
heaven is greater than he. Not 
necessarily greater in character, or 
virtue, but favored with greater 
privileges. For the disciple of 
Christ, or the subject of bis king- 
dom, although comparatively an ob- 
scure member of it, possessed, af- 
ter tbe resurrection and the descent 
of the Spirit, more correct views of 
the divine purposes towards man- 
kind, and of the honor, glory, and 
immortality to which they were 
called, than any Jew, though he 
were the herald of Christ, could 



enjoy. How great are tbe privi- 
leges and obligations of Christians, 
if they are' more favorably situated 
for divine knowledge and improve- 
ment than John the Baptist ! 

12. Luke xvi. 16. The days of 
John the Baptist, i. e. from the be- 
ginning of Jesus' ministry, the at- 
tention of the people had been 
eagerly directed to the Messiah's 
kingdom. The new religion " suf- 
fereth violence," like a prize that 
is earnestly snatched at and seiz- 
ed, or like a city that is assaulted. 
We learn elsewhere that immense 
crowds pressed around John as he 
preached and baptized, and around 
Jesus as he wrought miracles and 
instructed his disciples and the peo- 
ple. Yet their warm interest was 
often a blind enthusiasm. In the 
language of Norton on this verse, 
"Jesus referred- to those many 
Jews, who, possessed with false no- 
tions of the character of the Mes- 
siah, as a deliverer from the tyr- 
anny of the Romans, and ready for 
deeds of violence, were eager to 
enlist as his followers, striving to 
force themselves upon him, without 
any of the dispositions he required 
in his disciples." 

13. Prophesied, until John. The 
prophets were your instructors and 
masters until John. He has intro- 
duced a new era, and the ancient 
dispensation is to be superseded by 
a more full and affecting revelation 
of God's will. 



XL] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



153 



15 was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 

16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation ? It is like unto 
children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, 

17 and saying : We have piped unto you, and ye have not 
danced ; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lament- 



14. If ye will receive it. If you 
can credit it. Implying' that it would 
be difficult for them to believe it. 
This is Elias, which was for to come. 
The same name is written Elijah in 
the Old Testament. The history 
of this great prophet and reformer 
is found in 1st and 2d Kings. It 
was predicted that the Messiah 
would be preceded by a herald to 
prepare his way. Mai. iv. 5. See 
also Matt. xvii. 10-13. Hence an 
expectation had grown up among 
the Jews, that Elijah in his own 
person would appear as " the Fore- 
runner. They seem also to have 
anticipated that Jeremiah or some 
other of the old prophets would rise 
up to grace the Saviour's coming. 
Matt. xvi. 14 ; John i. 21. It was 
predicted in Luke i. 17, that John 
would be endued with the spirit and 
power of Elijah. When 'John, 
therefore, replied to the question 
of the Jews, John i. 21, he proba- 
bly only replied to their literal un- 
derstanding of the prophecy, and 
denied that he was the identical 
Elijah. He did not deny that he 
was an Elijah, in his spirit, power, 
and office, a fearless, successful re- 
former. 

15. Let him who hath the facul- 
ties of hearing and understanding 
see to it that he give candid atten- 
tion. A formula of frequent use, 
and of frequent need, as well now 
as then. The matter was worthy 
of their especial notice ; for if John 
was the predicted Elijah, as had 
just been plainly declared, then Je- 
sus was the predicted Messiah. 

16. Whereunto shall I liken this 
generation? Jesus continues the 



same subject in sorrowful reference 
to the stubbornness of the Jews, 
and their backwardness to believe 
on the messengers of God. How, 
he says, shall I describe this way- 
ward race ? It is like unto children. 
The Jews are compared, not to the 
children who called, but to their 
companions who were called, and v 
who were so difficult that they could 
neither be pleased by the song of 
joy, nor the strains of mourning. 
Markets. Places of public con- 
course, and thoroughfares of busi- 
ness, where children as well as men 
would resort. 

17. We have piped unto you. 
Here is a reference to the dramatic 
sports of children, who play festi- 
vals and funerals. In eastern coun- 
tries it was customary on joyous 
occasions for the musician to strike 
up his. time, and the company to r . 
dance to it ; and at funerals for the 
mourning song to be commenced, 
and those present to follow the pro- 
cession, lamenting and beating their 
breasts. These things were acted 
by children in the streets ; and part 
of them refusing to follow their 
leader gave origin to our Saviour's 
happy illustration. " I have found 
a comparison for the inconsistency 
and obstinacy of this generation. It 
is like contrary children, who are 
satisfied neither with playing fes- 
tival, nor playing funeral, who 
are sullenly determined not to be 
pleased, notwithstanding all the ef- 
forts of their playmates to find some- 
thing- that might suit them." The 
Jews were so wilful and fastidious, 
that they would be pleased, neither 
by the austerity of John the Bap- 



154 THE GOSPEL [CHAP. 

ed. For John came neither eating nor drinking ; and they 18 
say : He hath a devil. The Sou of Man came eating and 19 
drinking, and they say : Behold, a man gluttonous and a wine- 
bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But Wisdom is jus- 
tified of her children. Then began he to upbraid the cities 20 

wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they 



eating nor drinking. 



VII. 



drinking. 



tist, nor the mild condescension of 
Jesus Christ. They were a nation 
of fault-finders, and nothing could 
please them. 

18. Neither 

Not literally going without food and 
drink, but living very abstemiously. 
See Matt. iii. 4. Luke says, "neither 
eating tread, nor drinking wine; " 

1. e. leading an ascetic and secluded 
life, and not partaking of food reg- 
ularly. He hath a devil. He hath 
a demon. He is melancholy or 
mad. For the Jews attributed low 
spirits and insanity to possession by 
demons. The same slander was 
uttered against Jesus. John 

20, viii. 48, x. 20, 21. 

19. Came eating and 
Observed the usual customs of so- 
cial life, and kept no fasts. A 
man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, a 
friend, <$-c. With the cheerful, fa- 
miliar, and gracious manner of Je- 
sus, and his mingling in all society, 
even that of publicans and sinners, 
they- were as ready to find fault, as 
with the abstemious and stern life 
of the Baptist. Nothing will satis- 
fy those that will not be satisfied. 
But Wisdom is justified of her chil- 
dren. Of is old English, for by. 
The children of wisdom .are the 
wise, as the children of disobedi- 
ence are the disobedient. Eph. ii. 

2. Wisdom is the wise course 
adopted by John and Jesus respec- 
tively, which would be vindicated 
or approved, as best fitted for the 
ends they came to fulfil, by all wise 
and candid minds. Such is the 
general maxim as applied to this 
particular case. This interpreta- 



tion agrees best with the context ; 
for having just before shown that 
the Jews were inconsistent and cav- 
illing, Christ now, by way of con- 
. trast, exhibits the different judgment 
which the wise would pass upon the 
same measures. They would justi- 
fy John in his mode of life, and 
Jesus in his, aware that each acted 
best according to the high office he 
filled, and the circumstances in 
which he was placed. The charac- 
ter and conduct of each were best 
adapted to his particular sphere and 
duties. We find at the present 
day some, like the ancient Jews, 
that are disposed to cavil when a 
good object is presented to them, 
no matter what its nature or claims. 
To find fault is their element, and a 
wilful fastidiousness and lawless 
caprice their besetting sin. They 
may indulge in the same dispo- 
sition now that led the Jews to 
reject John for his austerity and 
Jesus for his cheerfulness, and be 
subject to a like condemnation. 
" Observe, especially, that God's 
ministers are variously gifted ; the 
ability and genius of some lies one 
way, of others, another way. Some 
are Boanerges, sons of thunder ; 
others Barnabases, sons of consola- 
tion ; yet all these worketh that one 
and the self-same spirit, and there- 
fore we ought not to condemn either, 
but to praise both, and to praise 
God for both, who thus tries various 
ways of dealing with persons of va- 
rious tempers." Henry. 

20-24. See Luke x. 12-16. 

20. A new paragraph begins here, 
though it is connected in sense- with 



XL] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



150 



21 repented not : Woe unto thee, Chorazin, woe unto thee, Beth- 
saida ! for if the mighty works which were done in you had 
been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long 

22 ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall be 

twenty miles distant from each other, 
and were distinguished for their 
commerce, wealth, and luxury. 
Judgments were denounced by the 
prophets, Isaiah xxiii. ; Ezek. xxvi., 
xxviii., against Tyre, on account of 
her idolatry and wickedness, which 
were signally fulfilled. It was re- 
peatedly taken and destroyed, and 
not a vestige of its former glory 
remains. A few fishermen now 
spread their nets to dry amongst the 
ruins of its walls. A like fate he^ 
fell Sidon. The waves of the sea 
now dash on lonely rocks, upon 
which were built the palaces in 
which thousands and tens of thou- 
sands once revelled in pomp and 
pleasure. So surely is sin not- only 
a reproach, but a ruin to any people, 
however powerful or rich. Such is 
the law of God. They would have 
repen ted long ago . Tyre and Sidon , 
like Nineveh, might have repented 
and reformed, had they been warn- 
ed of their impending desolation. 
They were not irreclaimable . Je'sus 
used these places as illustrations ; 
yet incidentally. It was a remark- 
able declaration, and is not without 
its remote significance touching the 
laws of retribution. For they who 
sinned under less light will be pun- 
ished with less rigor, and the op- 
portunities and motives to repen- 
tance that were not addressed to 
them at one time may be at another. 
Sackcloth. Esther iv. 1 ; Jonah iii. 
5 ; Neh. ix. 1. A rough cloth, 
made of goat's hair, or coarse linen, 
or wool. It was worn by mourners, 
or as a sign of humiliation. Ashes. 
It was customary in the east, where 
all emotions, whether of joy or sor- 
row, are ardently expressed, to lie 
in the ashes, or to cover the head 



the preceding one. Upbraid.. To 
reprove or chide. Mighty works, 
i. e. miracles. They had resisted 
the highest evidence he could give 
of a divine commission, and still 
continued impenitent. What sin 
could be more unpardonable than 
this, which took away the motives 
to repentance, and the conditions of 
forgiveness ? 

21. Woe unto thee. This is not 
so much a denunciation as a predic- 
tion ; not, let woe be unto thee, but, 
woe will be unto thee. See Matt, 
xxiv. 19. There is compassion also 
in it, and we may suppose that Jesus 
uttered it witlra tone of the tender- 
est sorrow and pity. Alas for thee 
would, according to some commen- 
tators, more truly express the senti- 
ment of Jesus. The order of the 
warnings is varied in Luke by the 
mention of Sodom first, chap. x. 12, 
whereas in Matthew it is put last. 
Chorazin Bethsaida. These 
were villages in Galilee, situated 
near Capernaum, where he then 
was, "and on the shores of the Sea 
of Galilee. Their very locations 
are now matters of conjecture. 
Jesus had preached and performed 
his miracles in all places in that vi- 
cinity. The shores of this inland 
sea were his resort. But with in- 
crease of privileges there always 
comes increase of responsibility ; 
and these towns, where the miracles 
of Christ had been wrought, and his 
discourses" delivered, and his daily 
shining life of goodness passed, 
must have been tenfold hardened, if 
they continued impenitent. Tyre 
and Sidon. These cities, so pro- 
verbially wicked, were situated in 
Phoenicia, northwest of Palestine, 
on the Mediterranean Ssa, about 



156 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, at the day of judgment, 
than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto 23 
heaven, shalt be brought down to hell ; for if the mighty works 
which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it 
would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, that 24 
it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, in the day of 



with dust or ashes, as a token of 
grief. Job ii. 12 ; Jer. vi. 26. 
Says an interesting writer, " "We 
cannot read the record of sorrow- 
ful and depressing remembrances 
which this train of thought (see- 
verses 16 - 19) summons before 
Jesus, without a keen feeling of 
the painful trials and disappoint- 
ments of that tender and sympa- 
thetic mind. There flitted before 
his quick thought the scenes where 
he had spent his strength for nought, 
the cities on whose housejs and 
people his spirit had shed its best 
energies and love, and shed them 
only to be like water spilt upon the 
ground, and that cannot be gather- 
ed. Devoted to them, life and 
mind, there comes back to him no 
return but this recurring experience, 
that they were offended in him. 
Nazareth, Chorazin, Bethsaida, Ca- 
pernaum, are all before him, pres- 
sing their bitter memories on his 
fainting heart ; all sought and lost, 
toiled for, but not won ; sought by 
works that might have averted hea- 
then Tyre and Sidon from their 
desperate courses ; and ministered 
unto by one, who, if he had preach- 
ed vmto Sodom, might have awaken- 
ed even it to repentance, and stayed 
/he fiery indignation of Heaven." 

22. See Matt. x. 15, and the note 
thereon. 

23. Thou, Capernaum. A. more 
direct address because he was in it 
at the time. Exalted unto heaven. 
Is. xiv. 13, 14. Art favored with 
the most exalted privileges. Jesus 
himself lived there. It was even 
more privileged than other towns in 



tbe neighbourhood. Brought down 
to hell. Or, the abyss. This, as 
well as the foregoing expression, is 
plainly hyperbolical. The meaning 
is, that, from the enjoyment of the 
noblest privileges, it would, on ac- 
count of its impenitence and un- 
faithfulness, be brought down to the 
lowest condition. The word trans- 
lated hell is Hades, which means 
strictly the place of the departed, 
whether good or bad ; it was rep- 
resented by the Jews as situated be- 
neath the earth. It has sometimes 
been translated grave. It here re- 
fers to the abject degradation to 
which Capernaum would be redu- 
ced, compared with its former dis- 
tinguished opportunities, and not to 
any place of punishment in the fu- 
ture world. The prediction has 
been fulfilled ; and even its situation 
is now lost, so completely has the 
town been effaced from the earth. 
The same laws of God's moral gov- 
ernment are in action now ; and the 
city or nation, which is exalted to 
heaven in point of privileges, will 
yet, if unfaithful and wicked, finally 
sink into oblivion, and its place be 
unknown, and its history sound like 
a fable. It would have remained 
until this day. Its wickedness .was 
the sole cause of its ruin. 

24. See note on Matt. x. 15. 
More tolerable. Scripture here con- 
firms what is consonant to experi- 
ence and reason, that punishment 
has its degrees. The greater the 
sin, the greater the misery. What 
must be our condition, national or 
individual, .temporal or eternal, if 
we shut our eyes against clearer 



XI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



157 



25 judgment, than for thee. At that time Jesus answered and 
said : I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, 
because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, 

26 and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so 



Gospel light than, shone even upon 
Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Caper- 
naum, or if we darken it with the 
vapors of sin? "How shall we 
escape if we neglect so great salva- 
tion.?" 

25 - 27. Compare Luke x. 21 ; 22, 
where the same expressions of Je- 
sus' devout joy are uttered on the 
return of the Seventy. 

25. At that time. As if to mark 
how soon Jesus reassured his faint- 
ing spirit, and turned from the sad- 
dening view of the inefneacy of his 
labors, to the most devout and grate- 
ful feelings. "To think of God 
was again to he revived, again to be 
his Christ, strong in hope." An- 
swered and said. Went on to say. 
He replied to no question, but pro- 
ceeded to say, in addition to his 
foregoing remarks, what follows. 
I thank thee, O Father. I make 
grateful acknowledgments to thee, 
or give glory. This is an ejacula- 
tory prayer. Father is the uniform 
title with which Jesus addresses the 
Deity. It argues no small advance 
in the Christian life, when his fol- 
lowers can with truth and sincerity, 
and not as a mere form, or from 
cold imitation, call God their Fa- 
ther. The conviction of God's~pa- 
ternal character is the strong-hold 
of goodness in the human heart. 
Lord of heaven and earth. Univer- 
sal sovereign, whose will there is 
none to dispute, above or below. 
The inquiry may be appropriately 
made here, How could the Saviour 
address this prayer to God, if he 
was himself God ? If he was the 
Highest, why did he address a 
higher than himself? Did he thank 
himself? Or, if we adopt the doc- 
trine of two natures, which by the 

VOL. i. 14 



way is not once mentioned in the 
Bible in any place, did one of his 
natures thank the other? Would 
that constitute worship ? Because 
thou hast hid these things, <SfC. That 
is, the truths of the Gospel. The 
loise and prudent. The worldly 
wise, those wise' in their own con- 
ceits. Hast revealed them unto 
babes, i. e. to men of little learning, 
fame, or influence, but who were of 
innocent and docile dispositions. 
He elsewhere calls his disciples lit- 
tle ones. Matt. x. 42. In this verse 
is contained a peculiar idiom of the 
Hebrew language, an instance of 
which occurs in Rom. vi. 17. The. 
cause of gratitude was not, as the 
sentence literally expresses it, that 
God had hidden these things from 
the wise and revealed them to babes ; 
but because, ' having in his provi- 
dence permitted them to be hidden 
from the learned and the famous, 
poets, orators, statesmen, and phi- 
losophers, he had communicated 
them to the meek and the childlike, 
to the unlearned carpenter and sim- 
ple fisherman. The Scribes and 
Pharisees, puffed up with their 
learning, rejected the counsel of 
God, but the common people heard 
Jesus gladly. Preached by persons 
,_pf such humble origin as himself 
"and his Apostles, the Gospel would 
appear to be less indebted for its 
truth and success to any power, or 
learning, or wisdom of man, and 
more plainly and unequivocally to 
be the special revelation of Heaven. 
The Jews were accustomed to at- 
tribute every thing directly to the 
agency of God, even what was 
done by the will or instrumentality 
of man. Thus Jesus, in conformity 
to the usual mode of speech, repre- 



158 



THE GOSPEL 



jUHAP. 



it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me 27 
of my Father ; and no man knoweth the Son but the Father ; 
neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to 
whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me all ye 28 



sents God as hiding these things 
from the wise and prudent, by which 
we are not to understand that their 
unbelief was caused, but -only per- 
mitted, by him, and that it was at- 
tributable to their own folly. The 
latter clause of the verse may be 
illustrated by two quotations from 
the Talmuds. " From the time in 
which the temple was destroyed, 
wisdom was taken away from the 
prophets, and given to fools and 
children." "la the days of the 
Messiah, every species of wisdom, 
even the most profound, shall, be 
revealed; and this even to chil- 
dren." 

26. So it seemed. good in thy sight. 
For many things this is the only 
satisfactory explanation, that they 
are as they are. "When the specu- 
lations of philosophy can go no far- 
ther, it soothes the" troubled mind 
to say, It is the will of our God. 
That will is so benignant, where we 
can. understand it, that we can trust 
it, where it is inscrutable ; being 
perfectly convinced, that, could we 
see the whole, we should see it ad- 
vancing our welfare through dark- 
ness as well as light, through clouds 
and mysteries as well as in the 
plainest revelations and blessings. 

27. All things, i. e. all things 
necessary to my mission and the* 
salvation of mankind, and not strict- 
ly all things in the universe. All 
knowledge of God needful for my 
official work, as the rest of the 
verse sliows ; not all power and 
government. General terms are to 
be limited in interpretation by the 
connexion in which they stand. 
Are delivered unto me of my Father. 
By my Father. Matt, xxviii. 18 ; 
John xvii. 2. A plain declaration 



of the subordination of the Son to 
the Father. Though my religion 
is rejected by the wise and prudent, 
would seem to be his meaning, yet 
I can fall back and repose with joy 
on the assurance that God has given 
me this mission to perform, and all 
.things adequate to its triumphant 
fulfilment. No man. No one. 
Knoweth the Son but the Father. 
Know here, as in many other cases, 
has the sense of being intimately 
acquainted with. No one knows 
the Son as the Son, i. e. in his pe- 
culiar and glorious relation to the 
Father, but the Father. The Gos- 
pel was so far in advance of man- 
kind, and even of the Jews, as a 
religious people, that no one, not 
even his disciples, fully understood 
and sympathized with him in his 
sublime purposes. He could look 
to Heaven alone for support. But 
he was not solitary, for the Father 
was with him, and understood him 
and his errand into the world. 
Neither knoweth any j<m, any one 
the Father, save the Son, <fc. 
So, on the other hand, the Father 
is not known in his full glory, ex- 
cept to his Son, and those of a like 
spirit with him, who have been en- 
lightened by him in relation to the 
character of the Father. Will re- 
veal him. Instead of him read them, 
that is, both the Father and the 
Son. The Son reveals himself and 
his Father, reveals his Father in 
himself. The sense of the whole 
is, that the Father has given him a, 
full commission and -knowledge in 
relation to the salvation of mankind, 
and that none but the Father and 
Son, and those who are instructed 
by the Gospel, can enter completely 
into their plans with regard to the 



XI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



159 



29 that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take 
my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly 

30 in heart ; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke 
is easy, and my burden is light. ^ 



reformation of the world. Spiritual 
things must be spiritually known. 
Only the godlike can comprehend 
the godlike. 

28-30. This paragraph grows 
naturally out of the preceding ver- 
ses. He had been" speaking with a 
thankful exultation of the commis- 
sion given him by the Father for 
the salvation of mankind. He now 
invites all, but especially the weari- 
ed and overburdened, to come and 
experience the life, liberty, and bliss 
of this salvation. His mind had 
been raised so high in the contem- 
plation of his mission, that he 
breaks out into a beautiful apos- 
trophe to the children of toil and 
sorrow, to come to him and experi- 
ence the blessings of the Gospel. 
The imperative mode is here used 
less in the sense of command than 
of earnest supplication. O come 
unto me. 

28. Come unto me. Not physi- 
cally, but spiritually. Those come 
unto Christ, who obey and love 
him. John vi. 35, vii. 37. All 
ye that labor and are heavy laden. 
All without distinction are invited. 
Those who labored under the en- 
cumbrances of the Mosaic ritual, 
those who were heavy-laden with 
human traditions, those who groan- 
.ed under the slavery of sin, and 
those who were oppressed with the 
nameless cares and trials of human 
existence, were addressed in this 
moving entreaty. Whatever be the 
toil or the suffering, rest is prom- 
ised, on condition 'of going unto Je- 
sus. I will give you rest. Jesus 
would supersede burdensome cere- 
monies, with a simple, spiritual faith 
and practice. Acts xv. 10 ; Gal. v. 
i. He would overthrow the oppres- 



sive commandments of men, and 
vindicate in their power the laws 
of God. He would extract the 
sting from sorrow, sickness, and 
death, and give rest and gladness 
to the sons and daughters of grief. 
When the soul" is directed to Jesus 
it finds peace, as the disturbed mag- 
netic needle, pointing to its pole of 
attraction, straightway subsides, and 
becomes still. The knowledge of 
God which he communicates calms 
the agitated soul. The burdens he 
imposes, so far from wearying, re- 
new the strength. The duties he 
enjoins promote present and future 
happiness. Here is found 

"A sovereign balm for every wound, 
A cordial for our fears." 

29. Take my yoke, <$-c. A com- 
mon figure. To follow or obey one 
is to wear his yoke ; a metaphor 
from husbandry, to illustrate reli- 
gion. The sense is without dis- 
pute, Submit to my instruction, 
learn of me the truth of God, and 
obey it. For I am meek and lowly 
in heart. Jesus would be a mild, 
condescending teacher and guide, in 
contrast with the haughty Scribes 
and Pharisees, who treated the peo- 
ple at large with contempt ; who 
put upon them burdens heavier than 
they could bear, and would not so 
much as touch them with one of 
their fingers. Matt, xxiii. 4 ; Luke 
xi. 46. Ye shall find rest. Fulfil 
the condition, and you shall receive 
the reward. Unto your souls. Je- 
sus does not promise his followers 
exemption from the common, out- 
ward, physical ills of life. But he 
does promise that they shall have 
rest, where rest is of most value, in 
the soul. There shall be peace in 
the heart. In the virtues of the 



160 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP 



CHAPTER, XII. 

The Reasonings of Jesus with the Scribes and Pharisees, and his Rebukes of their Wickedness. 

iA.T that time Jesus went on the sabbath-day through the corn ; 
and his disciples were an hungered, and" began to pluck the 
ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they 2 



Christian character, in purity, self- 
denial, piety, and mercy, there is a 
quiet and tranquil happiness truly 
divine. The soul feels a conscious 
dignity and serene elevation, as if 
raised above the storms that sweep 
this lower world. "There is in 
man a higher than love of happi- 
ness ; he can do without happiness, 
and instead thereof find blessed- 
ness." Let not the good grieve, 
if they have little of the gold, or 
honors, or pleasures of this world. 
Our Father does not pay his faith- 
ful ones in things of so perishable a 
nature, but in the higher rewards 
of the spirit itself. 

30. For my yoke is easy, <$-c. The 
Christian religion makes none but 
reasonable requirements, and im- 
poses none but necessary restraints. 
It is free from the burdensome cere- 
monial of the Jews. It requires 
no arduous pilgrimages like Ma- 
hometanism, nor the bloody sacri- 
fices and human offerings of pagan 
idolatry. It gives free course and 
noble gratifications to all the high, 
enduring faculties of the soul, and 
enjoins self-denial only in things 
hurtful, and where it brings joys 
far deeper and richer than those of 
any sensual or worldly nature. The 
Christian has found it to be so by 
experience. The yoke of Christ is 
easy, and his burden light to him. 
Take the whole checkered course 
of life through, and he has discov- 
ered only one thing suited alike to 
all states and all changes, and that 
is Religion ; tempering and enhanc- 
ing pleasures, soothing troubles, 
cheering difficulties, enriching pov- 



erty, smoothing the pillow of sick- 
ness, and glorifying the bed of 
death; and in all giving a peace 
that passeth understanding. 

We have probably read these last 
paragraphs of the chapter so many 
times in a monotonous mood and the 
sluggish acquiescence of habit, that 
we have not considered the com- 
manding and awful strain, as of the 
summons to judgment, fitted to make 
every heart quake, with which the re- 
sponsibility of the hearers of Christ 
is sounded forth, or the inexpressible 
sweetness and winning grace with 
which he calls on the wearied, suf- 
fering, and sinful to come to him 
and to forget their woes in the bo- 
som of his love. It is a passage to 
startle all the fears, and thrill with 
ecstasy all the hopes, that inhabit the 
human heajt ; a passage to be read 
with deep awe, with tears of peni- 
tence, and tears of joy. Muse upon 
it in thy heart till the fire burns. 

- CHAP. XH. 
1 - 8/ Mark ii. 23 - 28 ; Luke vi. 
1-5. 

1. At that time. About that time. 
Luke specifies the time, though ob- 
scurely, as " the' second Sabbath af- 
ter the first," which is conjectured 
by Carpenter to mean the first Sab- 
bath after Pentecost, in our month 
of May. Sabbath-day. . Corre- 
sponding to our Saturday. T7ie 
corn. The fields of grain, probably 
barley or wheat. Indian corn was 
unknown till modern times. All 
kinds of grain were formerly called 
corn. An hungered. An old Eng- 
lish expression for hungry. 



xn.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



161 



said unto him : Behold thy disciples do that which is not law- 

3 ful to do upon the sabbath-day. But he said unto them : Have 
ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and 

4 they that were with him ? how he entered into the house of 
God, and did eat the shew-bread, which was not lawful for him 
to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the 



ears of corn. The heads of grain. 
Luke adds, they rubbed them in 
their hands, for the purpose, no 
doubt, of shelling- out the kernels 
from the heads. Eat . This they 
were allowed to do by the law of 
Moses, Deut. xxiii. 25, but they 
were not to reap, or carry any away. 
2. Thy disciples do that which is 
not lawful, i. e. do that which is 
forbidden by law. "What they held 
to be forbidden was not the plucking 
and eating of the grain, but doing it 
on the Sabbath. Moses had en- 
joined abstinence from Jabor on that 
day. Ex. xx. 10, xxxv. 2, 3 ; 
Numb. xv. 32-36. And these 
rigid formalists carried his laws, 
relative to the day of rest, to such 
extremes, as to forbid even works of 
necessity .and mercy. One teacher 
held tbat attendance on the sick was 
unlawful on that day. The follow- 
ing passage occurs in one of the 
Rabbinical books, which may ex- 
plain the opinions of the time, and 
illustrate the text before us ; " He 
that reaps on the Sabbath, though 
never so little, is guilty. And to 
pluck the ears of corn is a kind of 
reaping ; and whosoever plucks any 
thing from the springing of his own 
fruit is guilty-under the name of a 
reaper." The Pharisees nominally 
directed the charge of Sabbath- 
breaking against the disciples, but 
in reality they aimed their blow at 
Jesus himself. He answered it in 
this light. They appeared to have 
been -actuated on this and other oc- 
casions, when the observance of the 
Sabbath was in question, by a union 
of superstition for outward ceremp- 

" ' " -W* ' ' 



nies, and of personal hostility to 
Christ. See Matt. xii. 10; Luke 
xiii. 14, xiv. 1 -3 ; John v. 16, ix. 
16. They gladly seized hold of any 
pretext to blacken his character. 
And his lofty independence, though 
tempered by gentleness and pru- 
dence, gave them frequent opportu- 
nities of misconstruing his words 
and actions. 

3. What David did. Jesus de- 
fends himself and his disciples, first, 
by the example of David; an au- 
thority which the Jews very much, 
respected. The history of the case 
referred to is contained in 1 Sam. 
xxi. 3 6. An hungered. Hungry. 

4. How he entered into the house of 
God. David seems, from the nar- 
ration, not actually to have entered 
the house, or tabernacle, tbe tem- 
ple had not yet been built, but to 
have met the priest elsewhere, prob- 
ably in the court of the tabernacle. 
The sheio-bread. Lev. xxiv. 5-9. 
This bread was so called because it 
was placed on a table in the taber- 
nacle, before the presence of God, 
as there" manifested. It was the 
shown bread. Twelve fresh loaves, 
" an emblem of the offerings of the 
Twelve Tribes," were put there 
weekly ; the old bread being re- 
moved, and eaten by the priests 
alone. David, in his extremity, and 
by the permission of the priest, par- 
took of this holy bread, contrary to 
the law, and gave it to his compan- 
ions. But he was justified by the 
necessity of the case. He had been 
pursued by Saul, and had no time 
to provide for his journey. In vio- 
lating tlierefqre tb.e letter of the law, 



162 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



priests ? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the 5 
sabbath-days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and 
are blameless ? But I say unto you, that in this place is one 6 
greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this mean- 1 
eth : "I will have mercy and not sacrifice," ye would not 
have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord 8 
even of the sabbath-day. 



he might be said not to have violated 
its living spirit. So the disciples 
were justified in their seeming trans- 
gression by the necessity of nature. 
We may suppose, perhaps, that 
Jesus does not admit that his disci- 
ples did break the Sabbath by pluck- 
ing and eating of the grain, but that 
he reasoned with the Pharisees on 
their own ground, as the readiest 
way to silence their calumny. 

5. In the law, i. e. of Moses. 
Numb, xxviii. 9, 10. Profane the 
sabbath and are blameless. It was a 
Jewish saying, " There is no sab- 
batism at all in the temple.'-" The 
labor of the priests was as much as 
on oilier days, in slaying and pre- 
paring, and offering up the victims. 
Yet they were blameless, because 
it was a law that sacrifices should 
be offered on the Sabbath. Thus 
the disciples were excusable, be- 
cause, -although they did that which 

.according to the mere letter of the 
law might be called ivork, yet they 
obeyed the higher law of self-pres- 
ervation. What the priests did in 
the temple, my disciples may do 
here. Thus far lie has justified 
himself and them by the necessity 
of the case, and the example of 
David. 

6. Is one greater. The original 
is in the neuter gender. Something 
greater than the temple. Jesus 
thus modestly expressed his claim 
to superiority. Greater than the 
temple may mean greater than those 
who serve in the temple, or greater 
than that, system on account of 
which the temple was erected. He 



had power to supersede that sys- 
tem and its laws, and establish one 
less ceremonial. What he allowed 
his disciples to do was justifiable, 
though contrary to the traditions of 
the elders. Their health and life 
were of more consequence than ex- 
ternal observances. His second jus- 
tication, therefore, is drawn from 
the fact of his superiority to Moses. 

7. I will have mercy and not sacri- 
fice. Hos. vi. 6 ; 1 Sam. xv. 22. 
A Hebrew idiom. The sense is not 
that God did not require sacrifice, 
but that he preferred acts of righ- 
teousness to mere external observ- 
ances. He looks at the heart rather 
than at the hand. The verse may 
be paraphrased thus : "If you had 
considered the superiority, of right 
affections over outward ceremonies, 
you would not have condemned the 
necessary violation of a ritual law, 
or perhaps a mere tradition." This 
is the third answer of Jesus to the 
accusation of the Pharisees. 

8. The Son of Man is Lord, or 
Master, <c. By the Son of Man 
we are to understand Christ him- 
self, as in verse 32. See note on 
Matt. yiii. 20. Jesus was author- 
ized to establish a system of reli- 
gion, under which the Sabbath 
would be changed from a day of 
physical rest to one of spiritual 
awakening ; from a day of offering 
material sacrifices to one of wor- 
shipping God in spirit and truth. 
In his church also the Sabbath haa 
been transferred, in commemoration 
of his resurrection, from the seventh 
to the first day of the week. He 



XU.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



163 



9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their syna- 

10 gogue. And, behold, there was a man which had his hand 
withered. And they asked him, saying : Is it lawful to heal on 

11 the sabbath-days ?' that they might accuse him. And he said 
unto them : What man shall there be among you that shall 
have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath-day, 

12 will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out ? How much then is a 
man better than a sheep ! Wherefore it Is lawful to do well on 



could therefore grant a freedom to 
his, disciples unknown to the scru- 
pulous Pharisees. This was bis 
fourth justification. Mark adds, ii. 
27, "The Sabbath was made for 
man, and not man for the Sab- 
bath ; " which signified that the day 
would be truly kept, if made sub- 
servient to man's greatest good. 

9-16. See Mark iii. 1-6, 12, 
Luke vi. 6 U. 

9. He went into their synagogue. 
This was, according- to Luke vi. 6, 
on another Sabbath-day. The two 
narratives are introduced together 
because they relate to the same 
subject. We see that by studying 
the parallel passages of the Evan- 
gelists we gain a more complete 
knowledge of the history of our 
Lord. 

10. Which had his hand withered. 
Who had a withered hand. ' Tbis 
was probably a species of palsy, of 
which there were several kinds ; 
but which is never suddenly cured 
by natural means. Luke mentions 
that it was the right hand. 7s it 
lawful, <Sfc. It had been decided 
by some of the Jewish teachers, as 
we learn from their books, that it 
was not lawful to heal on the Sab- 
bath-day, except in case of immi- 
nent danger. Tliat they might ac- 
cuse him. They asked questions 
not for information, but for accusa- 
tion. How malignant must that 
hatred have been, which the quiet 
of the Sabbath did not mitigate ; 
which followed Jesus in his circuits 



of doing good, only to slander and 
accuse, and which converted his 
acts of mercy into crimes of the 
deepest dye ! Whilst, on the other 
band, with what wisdom, patience, 
magnanimity, and calmness, did the 
divine Teacher meet all his difficul- 
ties ! Who can look upon him and 
not love so noble a being 1 ? Who 
can love and not imitate him ? 

11. Pit. A. cistern or well, at 
which cattle were watered. The 
Jews had carried their notions to 
such an extravagant length as to 
question whether it were lawful to 
rescue an animal from danger on 
the Sabbath day ; but it had ""been 
decided in the affirmative, as we 
learn from the Rabbinical books. 
"If a beast fall into a ditch, or into 
a pool of water, let the owner bring 
him food in that place, if he can ; 
but if he cannot, let him bring 
clothes and litters and bear up the 
beast, whence if he can come up, 
let him come up," &c. Jesus 
would therefore justify his conduct 
upon grounds of their own admis- 
sion, and by their actual practice in 
relation to the inferior creation. 

12. How much then is a man bet- 
ter than a sheep ! Of how much 
more importance and value. Jesus 
intimates, that the restoration of the 
withered hand of a human being 
was of more consequence than the 
life of an animal ; and as the Jews 
admitted that the one might be res- 
cued, so they must also admit that 
the other might be healed. It ii 



164 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



the sabbath-days. Then saith he to the man : Stretch forth 13 
thine hand. And he stretched it forth ; and it was restored 
whole, like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out, and 14 

held a council against him, how they might destroy him. 

But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence ; 15 
and great multitudes followed him ; and he healed them all, 
and charged them that they should not make him known ; 16 



lawful to do well, <SfC. To perform 
beneficent acts. "We learn from 
this that moral laws are superior to 
ceremonial institutions. Our Lord 
reasoned with the Jews upon their 
own maxims and conduct ; for even 
they allowed that the Sabbath did 
not free them from the obligations 
of mercy. Strange indeed would 
it be, if that day, set apart as sa- 
cred to God, could be lawfully 
spent in doing evil, or neglecting 
works of mercy. 

13. Stretch forth thine hand. Je- 
sus, having answered their insidi- 
ous question, performs the miracle. 
By his command to stretch forth 
the helpless, palsied hand, he puts 
the faith of the man to the proof. 
He stretched it forth, <5fc. He 
has such confidence in Jesus as 
to lead him to obey implicitly this 
command, although apparently in- 
capable of it. Where there is a 
disposition to obey, there is strength 
given sufficient for our duty. .Faith 
recognises no impossibilities. The 
complete and sudden recovery of 
the palsied hand is a proof of mi- 
raculous power. The palsy was a 
disease not admitting of a speedy 
cure. Jesus exculpated his disci- 
p\ss on the previous occasion by 
ths plea of necessity ; at this time 
he justified himself by the plea that 
he performed a deed of benevo- 
lence. 

14. The Pharisees went out. The 
closeness of our Lord's reasoning, 
and his independence, had exasperat- 
ed these malicious men, so that they 



go out immediately to plot his de- 
struction. The tumult of their pas- 
sions showed how ill they were 
qualified to discuss moral questions. 
Stung with envy at his popularity, 
and enraged at his superiority in 
word and deed, they already began 
to lay those plans which finally re- 
sulted in his crucifixion. Held a 
council. Not a formal assembly ; 
the sense rather is, they counselled 
together. Mark adds, that the He- 
rodians also joined with them, pro- 
bably a political party attached to 
the reigning sovereign, and opposed 
to any change in the state, as the 
Pharisees were to any in the church. 
Him, i. e. Jesus, not the man 
who is last mentioned. 

15-21. See Mark iii. 7 - 12. 

15. When Jesus knew it, he with- 
drew. When he had learned it, or 
when it came to his knowledge, he 
withdrew, as Mark states, to the 
sea, i. e. the Sea of Galilee. He 
also mentions from what places 
the multitudes came ; and that he 
gave directions to have a small ves- 
sel in waiting to receive him on ac- 
count of the crowd. Jesus with- 
draws from danger less on account 
of himself than because the objects 
of his mission would be defeated by 
his premature death. Great multi- 
tudes. Notwithstanding the oppo- 
sition of their teachers, the great 
mass of the people welcomed his 
instructions and confided in his mi- 
raculous power. Healed' them all. 
This is one of those universal ex- 
pressions, that require to be limit- 



XEL] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



165 



17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the 

IS prophet, saying : ' ' Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, 

my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased ; I will put my 

spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. 

19 He shall not strive, nor cry, neither shall any man hear his 

20 voice in the streets ; a bruised reed shall he not break, and 
smoking flax shall he -not quench ; till he send forth judgment 

21 unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust." 



nature of the subject, 
all who sought to be 



ed by the 
He healed 
healed. 

16. Should not maJce him known. 
See note on Matt. viii. 4. This 
command arose from the wish, to 
avoid any tumult of the people, who 
might desire to make him king, and 
also to shun his foes, who were plot- 
ting against his life. 

17. That. Implying that the pre- 
ceding circumstances rendered the 
quotation from Isaiah appropriate. 
Esaias. Isa. xlii. 1-4. The 
prophet seems to have had in view 
the character of the Messiah or 
some great deliverer. The Evan- 
gelist applies the description to the 
present conduct of Jesus. See note 
on Matt. i. 22. 

18. The quotation made by Matt, 
agrees in substance, though not in 
all points of phraseology, with the 
passage in Isaiah. It describes the 
mind and humane character of Je- 
sus, who, though he did not distrust 
his cause or his God, yet gave way 
before his enemies to avoid their 
violence . B ecause his kingdom was 
not of this world, he would not de- 
fend it as the kingdoms of this 
world are defended. His weapons 
were spiritual, his warfare divine. 
He used the mildest means in 
spreading his religion ; means, how- 
ever, so powerful that they would 
eventually prevail over all opposi- 
tion. Is well pleased. Such was 
the testimony repeatedly given of 
Christ. Matt. iii. 17 ; John xii. 28. 



I will put my spirit upon him. 
John iii. 34. It is said of Jesus 
that " God giveth not the spirit by 
measure unto him." Judgment to 
the Gentiles. A law ; meaning a 
system of religion, -which was to be 
preached not only to the Jews, but 
also to the Gentiles. 

19. Images of peace. He would 
not be clamorous or violent, like a 
warrior, but gentle and meek, shun- 
ning rather than seeking publicity. 

20. Bruised reed. The reed was 
used as an emblem of weakness. 
Ezsk. xxix. 6 ; 2 Kings xviii. 21. 
Smoking- flax, i. e. the wick of 
an expiring lamp. The general 
meaning of these figures is, that his 
conduct would be characterized by 
meekness and kindness ; that he 
would not crush the contrite and 
feeble, but encourage the faintest 
aspirations after virtue ; and that he 
would not seek applause. Such" 
was in fact the character of our 
Lord. He was tender to the weak- 
ness of his disciples, forgiving to- 
wards his enemies, and cherished 
the first symptoms of penitence in 
the transgressor. He courted not 
" the noise of boasting, nor the loud 
reports of fame. ' ' Send forth judg- 
ment unto victory. Till he make 
his law or religion victorious. In 
the exercise of benevolence and 
meekness, he would intrench his 
Gospel in the hearts of men. Some 
understand that reference is hers 
made to the judgments that befell 
the Jewish people, and the coming 



166 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP 



Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind 22 
and dumb ; and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and 
dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, 23 
and said : Is not this the son of David ? But when the Phari- 24 
sees heard it, they said : This fellow doth not cast out devils, 
but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew 26 
their thoughts, and said unto them : Every kingdom divided 



of the Son of Man in his glory. 
Matt. xxiv. 30. 

21. In his name. In him. shall 
the Gentiles trust. The most, ex- 
tensive benefits were to follow from 
the Gospel. In Jesus, the descend- 
ant of Abraham, all the nations of 
the world were to be blessed. Gen- 
tile as well as Jew was to be ad- 
mitted to the privileges and hopes 
of his religion. We witness at the 
present day the fulfilment of his 
prediction. 

22-32. See Mark iii. 19-30; 
Lukexi. 14-23. 

22. Possessed with a devil. "With 
a demon; a demoniac. See note, 
Matt. iv. 24. Blind and dumb. 
The individual was probably afflict- 
ed with insanity, one symptom of 
which is taciturnity, and in some 
cases blindness. Insomuch. So 
that. 

23. The people ivere amazed. As 
they believed in the reality of pos- 
session by evil spirits, they were 
astonished beyond measure at the 
cure of the demoniacs. Is not this 
the son of David? According to 
some commentators tlie negative 
particle should be omitted , and the 
question would read, Is this the son 
of David ? This phrase is usually 
considered equivalent to, Is this the 
Messiah ? For it was expected that 
the Messiah would descend from 
the house of David. See note on 
Matt. ix. 27. " This inference was 
drawn by the common people, and 
not by the proud and haughty Phar- 
isees. It is not uncommon that the 
plain common sense of the candid 



but unlearned sees the true beauty 
and meaning of the Bible, while 
men filled with pride, and science, 
falsely so called, are blinded." 
* 24. Fellow. This expression of 
contempt is not contained in the 
original, but was inserted by the 
translators, as is indicated by the 
Italic letters. Beelzebub. The mar- 
gin reads Bcelzebul. See note on 
Matt. x. 25. Devils should be ren- 
dered demons. The people were 
evidently deeply impressed with the 
miraculous power of Christ. The 
Pharisees feared the loss of their 
influence, and they resorted to this 
unjustifiable method to destroy the 
confidence of the people in Jesus, 
catching at the words of the rela- 
tions of Jesus, that "he was be- 
side himself," or mad, Mark iii. 21. 
They could not deny the exercise 
of a superhuman power, but, to 
frustrate its influence, they attribut- 
ed it to an evil being. This argued 
a stubbornness that would yield to 
no evidence, whatever, since it per- 
verted the highest proofs of divine 
authority by the malicious insinua- 
tion that he himself was mad, or 
possessed with Beelzebub. 

25. Knew their thoughts, $c. He 
had a spiritual insight into the hearts 
of men. Said unto them. Jesus 
uses reasoning, and not invective, 
even with his most malignant ene- 
mies ; an example worthy of all 
imitation. He first argues against 
them from the absurdity of their 
charge ; laying down the general 
rule, that eveiy community, large 
or small, subsists by its union, and 



xn.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



167 



against itself is brought to desolation ; and every city or house 

26 divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out 
Satan, he is divided against himself ; how shall then his king- 

27 dom stand ? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom 
do your children cast them out ? Therefore they shall be your 

28 judges. But if I cast out devils by the spirit of God, then the 

29 kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else, how can one enter 



then, verse 26, applying the rule to 
the case in hand; from premises 
that they would admit, he draws a 
conclusion subversive of their ac- 
cusation. House, i. e. Family. 

26. Satan. The original signi- 
fies an adversary, hut afterwards 
had the more general meanings of 
tempter and accuser. Satan is a 
general, Beelzebub a specific term. 
The former is often used as the 
principle, or perhaps the personifi- 
cation of all evil. Jesus addresses 
to them an argumentum ad homi- 
nem, or takes them upon their own 
ground. If your calumny is true, 
the evil one is fighting against him- 
self, and overthrowing his own king- 
dom ; he must then have less than 
human wisdom. As Jesus laid 
claim to be a divine teacher, we 
have a natural curiosity to ascertain 
how his teaching and his claim cor- 
responded, and we always discover 
in his conversations the traces of 
the most eminent wisdom, auto- 
graphs of the divine spirit. We 
meet with constant intrinsic proofs 
of the truth of the history and di- 
vinity of our Master. 

27. Your children cast them out ? 
Sons, disciples, or followers ; those 
who had been instructed under the 
care of the doctors of the- law. Je- 
sus reasons, in the second place, 
against their charge, from the case 
of their own exorcists. It must be 
borne in mind that our Saviour 
does not assert that they actually 
did cast out demons. But he ar- 
gues with them on their own prem- 
ises. "He and the exorcists were 



on the same footing ; and if it was 
alleged that the one cast out de- 
mons through the power of demons, 
the same must be admitted of the 
other also. If I use magical arts, 
do not your disciples likewise ? But 
if your disciples cast them out by a 
divine power, may I not be author- 
ized in the same manner? We learn 
that there were exorcists among the 
Jews from Luke ix. 49, Acts xix. 
13, also from the Jewish historian, 
Josephus, and the early Christian 
Fathers. They pretended to exor- 
cise demons in the name of the God 
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Sol- 
omon was alleged to have been the 
author of this art. The Egyptians 
and the heathen borrowed from the 
Jews the forms of adjuration used 
in then: magical practices. There- 
fore they shall be your judges. They 
will convict you of slander and ca- 
lumny; for they show, your incon- 
sistency. The opinion you form 
therefore concerning them will de- 
termine what decision you are to 
make respecting me. 

28. The Spirit of God. Luke xi. 
20, has, " the finger of God." The 
idea is the same. Jesus worked 
miracles by the divine power or co- 
operation. Having foiled the ac- 
cusation of his enemies, he draws 
the irresistible conclusion, that, as 
he performed works of divine ener- 
gy, he gave conclusive evidence of 
a divine mission. The kingdom of 
God is come unto you. Since he" 
bore proofs of divine authority, he 
was to be received as a divine mes- 
senger and teacher. 



168 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first 
bind the strong man ; and then he will spoil his house. He 30 
that is not with me is against me ; and he that gathereth not 
with me, scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto .you, all 31 
manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men ; but 
the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven 



29. He continues his argument. 
He had shown above that he acted 
independently of Beelzebub and Sa- 
tan. He now proves that he must 
necessarily be superior to them, else 
he could not have expelled demons. 
He brings an illustration from com- 
mon life. The robber cannot plun- 
der a house or . castle until he has . 
first overcome or bound its owner. 
So, unless Jesus were more power- 
ful than Satan, he could not subvert 
his kingdom. Spoil Ms goods 
his house. Despoil, or plunder his 
plate, treasures, or furniture of Ms 
house. 

30. He that is not with me is 
against me. A. proverbial expres- 
sion, which Jesus employs still far- 
ther to refute their charge. He had 
shown, by expelling the demons, 
that he was not with, or on tbe side 
of Beelzebub, but against him. In 
Mark ix. 40 ; Luke ix. 50, the con- 
verse of this proverb is used : " He 
that is not against us is on our part." 
Both are applicable and true, ac- 
cording to different circumstances. 
The proverb in Mark and Luke has 
been thus paraphrased : " He that 
does not make use of my name to 
injure* me must be friendly to me." 
He that gathereth not with me, 
<jrc. This is another proverbial 
phrase, borrowed from rural life. 
He who assists not the shepherd in 
collecting his flock, or the husband- 
man in gathering his harvest, would, 
if he labored at all, hinder him in 
his object. The application is the 
same with that of the preceding ex- 
pression. Let it be borne in mind 
that Jesus, throughout this whole 



passage, is reasoning with the Phar- 
isees on their own ground, and not 
on his. 

31. Wherefore. This word has 
reference to the foregoing reason- 
ing," equivalent to so then, in view 
of yonr calumny and the refutation 
it has received. J say unto you 
In verses 25, 26, Jesus had shown 
the inconsistency of their charge ; 
in verse 27, how it would operate 
against themselves ; in verse 29, his 
superiority to Satan ; and in verse 
30, his hostility to him. He now 
goes on to describe the criminality 
of their accusation, and its awful 
consequences to themselves. Blas- 
phemy. Calumny, reviling, or, as it 
is expressed hi the next verse, speak- 
ing against. Shall be, i. e. may or 
can be. All kinds of sin may be 
forgiven unto men, except the sin 
which he now specifies. Blasphe- 
my against the Holy Ghost. What 
this sin was is evident from the 
tenor of the antecedent passage ; 
but that we may not mistake as to 
the nature of this offence, it- is dis- 
tinctly declared in Mark iii. 30, that 
it was, " because they said, He hath 
an unclean spirit." Their sin con- 
sisted in blaspheming or defaming 
that Holy Spirit or power of God, 
which cooperated with him and 
enabled him to perform his wonder- 
ful works. They were instigated 
to this crime by their envy of his 
power and popularity, and the fear 
of losing their own ; as is casually 
suggested in one instance, where 
they said, " If we let him alone, all 
men will believe on him." John 
xi. 48. Their object, in charging 



XII.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



169 



32 unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son 
of Man, it shall be forgiven him ; but whosoever speaketh 
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in. 



him with an alliance with the prince 
of demons, was to undermine the 
confidence of the people in hirn and 
destroy his influence. 

32. Speaketh a word against the 
Son of Man. Our Lord hi this 
verse reiterates what he had said in 
the last, with the addition of a com- 
parison, to place the heinousness of 
their offence in bolder relief. He 
says, Whosoever speaks against 
me personally may be forgiven. 
Thus the Jews had objected to his 
humble birth, had called him a glut- 
ton and a wine-bibber, a friend of 
publicans and sinners, a Galilean, a 
Nazarene, and a Samaritan, as terms 
of contempt. They had brought 
many grave but groundless accusa- 
tions against his conduct and his 
character. But all these, he says, 
are pardonable sins, compared with 
the one of .which they are now 
guilty. Whosoever speaketh against 
the Holy Ghost, <Sfc. We have seen 
in the previous verse what consti- 
tuted this daring transgression, viz. 
attributing Jesus' beneficent deeds 
to an evil agency. This was more 
than to speak against Jesus himself. 
It was impiety against God. It was 
shutting the eyes and hardening the 
heart agaiust the mightiest proofs 
and brightest manifestations of God's 
Spirit and power. It was rejecting 
the last evidence, as it would seem, 
by which God could give testimony 
that he had commissioned his Son 
to declare his will. It shall not be 
forgiven him. Two modes of inter- 
preting this passage have been de- 
fended. One literal, that the sin in 
question is strictly unpardonable, 
whether in the present or the future 
state. The other, grounded upon 
the fact that our Saviour spoke a 
free and popular language, and used 



VOL. I. 



15 



the idioms -of his nation, supposes 
that he declared the extreme enor- 
mity of the sin, and the consequent 
difficulty of its being forgiven. Thus 
God is represented as saying, "I 
will have mercy and not sacrifice," 
a Hebrew idiom to express his pref- 
erence of mercy to sacrifice. Our 
Saviour says, "It is easier for a 
camel to go through the eye of a 
needle, than for a rich man to en- 
ter into the kingdom of heaven," 
declaring the extreme difficulty, but 
not the absolute impossibility of that 
event. So the text in hand is de- 
signed to give a deep impression of 
the malignity of assigning the very 
works of God to the power of Sa- 
tan, and how hardly so heinous a 
perversity could be forgiven. The 
latter mode seems the most ration- 
al, for we are informed of no crime 
or transgression, unless it be this, 
which does not come within ''the 
reach of divine mercy. And we 
know that Jesus still labored and 
taught amongst the impenitent Jews, 
and that he prayed for then- forgive- 
ness upon the cross. It would ap- 
pear therefore that the reason, why 
this sin was so difficult to be for- 
given, was not any indisposition on 
the part of God to forgive, but the^ 
reluctance of the offender to repent. 
If repented of, this, like every other 
transgression, would be pardoned. 
But he who would not believe, when 
such evidence was presented, as the 
works wrought by the divine Spirit, 
was clearly in such a stubborn, per- 
verse, and determined state of op- 
position ; he was so resolved to sup- 
press the honest convictions of his 
own heart, and to wear a front of 
hypocrisy and defiance, that there 
was little hope or probability that 
he would repent, and cherish a bet- 



170 THE GOSPEL [CHAP. 

this world, neither in the ivorld to coine. Either make the 33 
tree good, and his fruit good ; or else make the tree corrupt, 
and his fruit corrupt ; for the tree is known by 7m fruit. O 34 



ter mind, and little therefore that he 
would be forgiven. He could not 
be pardoned, because he would not 
ask for meicy, would not acknowl- 
edge his sin, but persist in it, would 
not fulfil the conditions of forgive- 
ness, viz. repentance and reforma- 
tion. Such a fell spirit could not 
hope for pity, because it spurned it ; 
and as long as it continued harden- 
ed, it must, from the very nature of 
man, and the laws of God, continue 
unforgiven. The fear of commit- 
ting the unpardonable sin has al- 
ways haunted many tender con- 
sciences, and mingled in the terrible 
fancies of insanity. The particular 
sin, however, of which Christ here 
speaks cannot now occur. But still 
a similar perverse and wilful state 
of mind, and a determination to re- 
ject the claims of religion, or of the 
purest form of religion, against the 
clearest evidence and the strongest 
convictions of the mind, a stubborn 
intention to repress the relentings 
of the heart, may now expose one 
to the doom here pronounced. Not, 
surely, because God is not ready to 
pardon his child, though his sins be 
as scarlet, but because his child will 
not fulfil those conditions of peni- 
tence and amendment without which 
there can be no forgiveness. Nei- 
ther in this world, neither in the 
world to come. World often means, 
in the New Testament, age or dis- 
pensation. Wakefield accordingly 
paraphrases the sentence thus : 
" Though the Christian religion is 
a dispensation of mercy, this sin 
shall no more be forgiven by the 
laws of the Gospel than it is by the 
law of Moses," under which the 
punishment was death. Lev. xxiv. 
16. Others suppose that it means 
literally neither in time nor in eter- 



nity. The best word to express it 
is, perhaps, never, Mark iii. 29, for 
this is used in Hebrew idioms with 
a general and indefinite sense. At 
least we well know that the sin 
would never be pardoned as long 
as the sinner continued impenitent, 
though-it were for ever in the most 
literal sense ; for the Bible assures 
us that there is an eternal connex- 
ion between sin and misery, and one 
of the greatest elements of the latter 
is, the state of not being forgiven 
by God. 

33. Eitliermahe the tree good, <$-c. 
Two methods of interpreting this 
verse are proposed, according as it 
is connected with the foregoing or 
with the succeeding passage. If 
with the preceding, the sense is, 
Reconcile me and my works; 
either make it appear that the tree 
is bad and the fruit consequently 
bad, or else admit that the tree is 
good and the fruit also. Be consis- 
tent with yourselves ; for there is as 
much connexion between deeds and 
the motives which prompt them, as 
between the nature of the tree and 
the nature of its fruit. If it is a 
good work to cast out demons, ac- 
knowledge me to be good ; or if 
you contend that I am evil, then to 
cast out demons must be evil like- 
wise. The other way of explana- 
tion is, that the words are connect-- 
ed with the succeeding verses, and 
signify that the Pharisees ought not 
to be guilty of the inconsistency of 
evil conduct and pious pretensions. 
Better be openly base, than hypo- 
critically good. There is, however, 
no particular objection to supposing 
that he referred both to himself and 
to the Pharisees, since the rule of 
judgment he proposes would be as 
effectual to convict them of wicked- 



XII.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



171 



generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good 
things ? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth 

35 speaketh. A good man, out of the good treasure of the heart, 
bringeth forth good things ; and an evil man, out of the evil 

36 treasure, bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, that 
every idle word that men shall speak n they shall give account 

37 thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt 
be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. 

38 Then certain of the Scribes and of the Pharisees answered, 



ness, as it would to vindicate him- 
self against then- charges. Matt, 
vii. 16-20. 

34. O generation of vipers. Brood 
of vipers, see note on Matt. iii. 7, 
also xxiii. 33. This most venom- 
ous r-eptile is used as an emblem of 
malice and wickedness. How can 
ye, being evil, $c. A question re- 
quiring a strong negative answer. 
They could not, being evil at heart, 
speak otherwise than evil of Christ 
and his works. Out of the abun- 
dance, <5fc. Out of the overflowing 
of the heart ; a proverbial expres- 
sion, implying that as a man speak- 
eth so is he, as a general rule, 
without denying that there may be 
hypocritical words. 

35. A repetition and enlargement 
of the foregoing sentiment. The 
gopd treasure consists of good feel- 
ings and principles, and the evil 
treasure the reverse. Unless they 
had been filled, with corrupt and 
censorious passions, they would not 
have thus slandered our Lord. 
Griesbach leaves out of the text 
the words of the heart, as they are 
not found in the greater part of the 
earlier manuscripts and versions. 

36. But I say unto you. A phrase 
frequently used by Jesus when about 
to say something of great impor- 
tance. Idle word. Corresponding 
to vain ivords, in the Old Testa- 
ment. Idle here means more than 
useless ; it signifies calumnious, 



false, or pernicious. Such words 
the Pharisees had been speaking 
against Christ, and he warns them 
that, however trifling the offence 
may seem in their own apprehen- 
sion, it is one for which they are 
answerable at the bar of God. In 
the day of judgment. In a day of 
judgment, for the article the is not 
in the original. They would be 
brought to judgment and retribution 
at some future time, whenever that 
time should come; 

37. A more distinct declaration 
of the idea of the preceding verse, 
announcing that men are responsi- 
ble for their words, as well as their' 
deeds, and rightly too, since words 
are often most powerful deeds, both 
in then: origin and consequences. 
The destiny of nations has some- 
times depended upon one word of a 
frail mortal. Justified. Acquit- 
ted. And should be rendered or, 
as the same individual could not be 
both justified and condemned. It is 
not intended, that words would form 
the only criterion of judgment, but 
that they would enter into it as an 
important element. Since we are, 
therefore, answerable for our speech, 
how strictly ought we to guard our 
lips, that no profane, or false, or 
calumnious word should ever escape 
therefrom, to rise up against us in 
the final retribution ! 

38-42. Lukexi. 16,29-32. 

38. - Answered. That is, went on 



172 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



saying : Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he an- 39 
swered and said unto them : An evil and adulterous generation 
seeketh after a sign ; and there shall no sign be given to it, 
but the sign .of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three 40 
days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of 



to say. Master. Should be trans- 
lated Teacher. Luke adds, that they 
sought a sign, "tempting him," or 
wishing to put his power to the 
proof. Would see a sign. Dan. 
vii. 13 ; Matt. xvi. 1 ; Mark viii. 
11 ; Luke xi. 16 ; John vi. 30 ; 1 
Cor. i. 22. Luke states, that what 
they wanted was " a sign from 
heaven." They demanded more 
than an earthly sign, than a miracle 
of healing the sick, or curing the 
blind ; they desired a sign from 
heaven, some token or portent from 
the clouds or sky. As the ancient 
Jewish prophets had exhibited signs 
from heaven, Moses calling down 
manna and quails ; Samuel produc- 
ing a storm ; Elijah sending fire 
and rain, so the Scribes and Phar- 
isees now demand from the Messiah 
some similar manifestation of his 
power. " It may be gathered from 
the. Jewish writings that an idea 
was entertained that the Messiah, 
when he came, would give some 
peculiar token, or signal, some ex- 
traordinary display of power, a 
luminous appearance in the heav- 
ens, perhaps, for it is not distinctly 
defined, which should be a cre- 
dential of his authority, to point 
him out to the people as the Mes- 
siah beyond the possibility of mis- 
take. The demand for a sign, there- 
fore, was equivalent to a demand 
for evidence that he was such a 
personage as was expected. But 
Jesus did not present himself to the 
nation as a military leader. Evi- 
dence, therefore, was demanded, of 
which the very nature of the case 
did not admit, and which he could 
not give." Furness. 



39. Adulterous. The force of this 
epithet is doubtful. Probably it is 
a figure of speech to represent the 
unfaithfulness of the Jewish people 
to God ; for their relation to him is 
often described figuratively as that 

'of the marriage state. The sense 
would be, a. wicked and apostate 
generation. There shall no sign 
be given to it, $c. No other sign 
than he had already given. He had 
no new prodigy more astonishing or 
convincing than the miracles he had 
already performed. If he should 
exhibit some sign from heaven, it 
either would not overcome their cre- 
dulity, or, if it did, it would only 
encourage their false and worldly 
notions of the expected Deliverer. 
Wonders from the sky might appro- 
priately grace the advent of a hero ; 
but miracles of beneficence were 
more in harmony with the Prince 
of Peace. The sign of the proph- 
et Jonas. The Jews demanded a 
sign from heaven. Jesus promised 
them .a sign from the earth, -even 
the sign of Jonah, whose humilia- 
tion would best represent the death 
and resurrection of the Son of 
Man. 

40. Whale. Jonah i. and ii. The 
word in the original signifies any 
large fish or sea-monster'. Jesus 
uses the story of Jonah as an illus- 
tration, not as an authority, or pro- 
phecy, or type. As the account 
was familiar to the Jews, it would 
strikingly illustrate the subject in. 
hand, so that they would remember 
the application long afterwards. 
The Son of Man. See note, Matt, 
viii. 20. - Three days and three 

Jewish 



nights. 



According to the 



xn.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



173 



Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 

41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this genera- 
tion, and shall condemn it; because they repented at the 
preaching of Jonas ;. and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. 

42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this 



mode of computing time, a part of 
a day was reckoned as the whole ; 
compare 2 Chrom x. 5, and 12 ; 
Esther iv. 16, with v. 1. Thus our 
Lord, though buried on Friday even- 
ing and raised on Sunday morning, 
was said to have been three ' days 
and three nights in the tomb, be- 
cause he was there one whole day 
and parts of two others. In tlie 
heart of the earth. A Hebrew phrase 
for in the earth. Christ's greatest 
sign was to be his resurrection from 
the dead. Observe here, that he 
gives the first intimation of his 
death, and its succeeding events, 
and makes a specific prediction, 
which, by its exact fulfilment, vin- 
dicated his prophetic power and di- 
vine authority. 

41. Nineveh. The capital of As- 
syria, one of the most ancient cities 
in the world. Gen. x. 11. It was 
situated on the banks of the Tigris, 
and its circuit was three days' jour- 
ney. Its walls were 100 feet high, 
and three chariots could drive 
abreast upon, the top ; and at in- 
tervals were placed 1500 towers, 
twice the height of the walls. Af- 
ter passing through various fortunes, 
and being in the possession of dif- 
ferent conquerors, its vast walls and 
palaces were so utterly destroyed, 
that the site of the city can now 
with difficulty be recognised. This 
appears the more probable, when we 
consider that its edifices were con- 
structed of sunburnt bricks, which 
by long exposure to the weather 
crumble back into the bitumen from 
which they were made ; and thus 
this splendid city in the course of 
ages would present, as it actually 

15* 



does present, only a mass of un- 
distinguishable ruins. Shall nse 
in judgment. A judicial phrase, 
borrowed from the proceedings of 
Jewish and Roman courts, in which 
it was usual for witnesses to stand 
up while giving their evidence. 
Mark xiv. 57; Acts vi. 13. Shall 
condemn it. Similar modes of speech 
to those occurring in this and the 
next verse are found in Ezek. xvi. 
51, 52; Rom. ii. 27, and Heb. xi. 
7. The Ninevites, though a hea- 
then nation and grossly wicked, re- 
pented and reformed at the preach- 
ing' of the prophet. Jonah iii. But 
the Jews, though they had been 
favored with great religious privi- 
leges, and the knowledge of the 
true God, were so stiff-necked and 
rebellious that they would not re- 
pent at the preaching of the Son of 
God, though he proved his divine 
authority by the most astonishing 
and beneficent miracles. The hea- 
then people therefore showed a bet- 
ter disposition than the children of 
Israel, and, by their readiness to 
obey, condemned the unbelieving 
and disobedient Scribes and Phari- 
sees. A greater, than Jonas is here, 
i. e. Jesus Christ. The Greek words 
are, something greater is here. The 
gender is neuter. A more delicate 
and modest expression than to de- 
clare directly that Tie was greater. 
Or perhaps designed to refer to the 
higher character of his miracles and 
doctrines, rather than to any per- 
sonal greatness. 

42. The queen of the south. * Or, 
of Sheba, the chief city of Arabia 
Felix. 1 Kings x. 1-13. She 
came from a part of Arabia south 



174 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



generation, and shall condemn it ; for she came from the utter- 
most parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon ; and, 

behold, a greater than Solomon is here. When the un- 43 

clean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry 
places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith : I will 44 
return into my house, from whence I came out. And when he 
is come, he findeth it empty,- swept, and garnished. Then 45 
goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits, more 
wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there ; and 



from Judea. In the judgment. Or, 
in the place of judgment. Utter- 
most parts of the earth. An expres- 
sion for a great distance, and not 
literally the most remote part of the 
world. Arabia was the most dis- 
tant cdtmtry in the south known 
to the Jews. She took great pains 
to hear the wisdom of Solomon by 
travelling a long journey. But the 
Jews woiild not listen to one far 
greater than Solomon, though he 
preached among them. They were 
condemned, therefore, by a compar- 
ison with the heathen queen, as be- 
ing less desirous of wisdom, and 
unwilling to make even far less sac- 
rifices to receive and obey it. 

43-45. See Luke xi. 24-26. 

43. WJien the unclean spirit, cjf-c. 
To illustrate the growing depravity 
of the Jews, Jesus makes use of 
an illustration suggested by the cure 
of the " demoniac, verse 22, and 
founded on- the common belief in 
demoniacal possessions. We may 
suppose that he employed opinions 
and even superstitions familiar to 
his hearers, but which he did not 
believe, as instruments to express 
and adorn his doctrines. Thus we 
commonly speak of the rising and 
setting of the sun, though we know 
that it is philosophically incorrect. 
Jesus frequently calls to his aid in 
his instructions the manners, cus- 
toms, and institutions of his nation 
and age ; without, however, vouch- 
ing for their goodness and propriety. 



Pie even used fictitious narratives, 
the better to unfold and paint his di- 
vine principles. Dry places. Or, 
waste, desert places, which were 
supposed to be the_ peculiar haunts 
of such spirits. Afye are to remem- 
ber that the whole imagery of this 
parable is Jewish, and are not, there- 
fore, to seek a moral correspondence 
in all "its minutiae, but to take its 
general import: Seeking rest, <$-c. 
This graphically describes the un- 
easy, dissatisfied state of one who 
has partially reformed, but who has 
not given up all longings after his 
past sins ; though it is observable 
that the spirit, and not the man, is 
represented as perturbed. 

44. My house. The man, in ac- 
cordance with Jewish notions, is 
described as being the abode of the 
evil spirit. Empty, swept, and gar- 
nished, i. e. prepared for the guests. 
No impediment existed to prevent 
the unclean inhabitant from enter- 
ing again. So far from any guard 
being placed to exclude him, Ms 
dwelling was ready for his recep- 
tion. No good thoughts or spiritual 
affections had been welcomed and 
entertained to exclude the entrance 
of evil. A vacant mind is ever an 
exposed one. 

45. Seven other spirits, more wick- 
ed than himself. Seven was a fa- 
vorite and sacred number among the 
Jews. It frequently means several. 
It was the belief of the times that 
sprats which had been exorcised 



xn.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



175 



the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall 
it be also unto this wicked generation. 

46 While he yet talked to the people, .behold, his mother and 

47 his brethren stood without, desiring to speak. with him. Then 
one said unto him : Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand 



might return reinforced to their 
former haunts. But we are not to 
admit that Jesus countenances this 
belief. The last state of that man 
is loorse than the first. An attempt 
at reformation, which fails, leaves 
one in a worse condition than ever 
in some respects ; for -failure dis- 
courages further resolution and ef- 
fort, and the transgressor, recldess 
and despairing, may plunge into 
seven-fold greater wickedness than 
before. The burnt brand soon kin- 
dles again when thrown upon the 
flames. Heb. vi. 4-6, x. 29; 2 
Peter ii. 20. So shall it be, <$-c. 
We have here Jesus' own interpre- 
tation of this parable. . The main 
purport of it was, that the Jewish 
nation, having been purified of idola- 
try by the Babylonish captivity, 
so some interpret, or, according 
to others, having been aroused from 
their vices to a temporary reforma- 
tion by the thrilling appeals of John 
the Baptist, had now relapsed into 
'a far worse condition than before. 
They were about to be guilty of 
greater wickedness tban their fa- 
thers. They had received cordially 
the instructions of the great re- 
former, but experienced only a par- 
tial and temporary effect. They 
quickly subsided into a worse state 
than ever. It would be more diffi- 
cult than before to renew them un- 
to repgntance and salvation. We 
are here incidentally taught the dan- 
gers of backsliding, and the diffi- 
culty of persevering in an upright 
course ; but we ought not on this 
account to be deterred from repent- 
ing of and forsaking our sins ; for 
a worthy de|erminatipn, though but 



partially kept, breaks in some meas- 
ure the dominion of evil, and en- 
larges the freedom of the soul. We 
are to resolve and re-resolve with 
iron purpose, and step by step to 
pursue the narrow, but glorious 
patb of virtue. Tbe mountain of 
holiness is to be built up by. add- 
ing particle to particle, thought to 
thought, prayer to prayer. 

46 - 50. Compare Mark iii. 31 - 
35. Lukeviii. 19-21. 

46. While he yet talked, cj-c.- Je- 
sus' method of instruction was oral 
conversation. He conversed famil- 
iarly witb the people upon the deep 
themes of the spiritual life. His 
condescension and blandness of man- 
ner were such that the ignorant and 
doubting were encouraged to ap- 
proach him and unburden their dif- 
ficulties. Brethren. These were 
either tbe sons of Mary by Joseph, 
or, as is more likely, the sons of the 
sister of Mary, tbe wife of Cleopas, 
and therefore the cousins of Jesus. 
For we know that relatives of that 
degree were called brothers, ac- 
cording to Jewish custom. The 
brethren or cousins of Jesus are of- 
ten alluded to in the New Testa- 
ment^; at least three of tbe Twelve, 
James, Simon, and Judas, or Jude, 
are supposed to have been thus re- 
lated to him. , Matt. xiii. 55 ; Mark 
iii. 25, vi. 3 ; John ii. 12, vii. 35 ; 
Acts i. 14 ; 1 Cor. ix. 5 ; Gal. i. 
19. They came to Jesus, probably 
strengthened with parental author- 
ity, to rescue him, as they consider- 
ed it, from rash exposure to the ha- 
tred of the Jews, to counsel pru- 
dence, and to put him. upon his 
guard against their machinations. 



176 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



without, desiring to speak with thee.. But he answered and 48 
said unto him that told him : Who is my mother ? and who are 
my brethren ? And he stretched forth his hand toward his dis- 49 
ciples, and said : Behold, my mother, and my brethren. For 50 
whosoever shall do the will of my father, which is in heaven, 
the same is my brother, arid sister, and mother. 



What strong collateral testimony is 
afforded here of Jesus' total inde- 
pendence of his friends and rela- 
tives, and the absence of any collu- 
sion between them ! To their nar- i 
row view, he conducted so unwisely 
as to convict him of derangement. 
It was not the first or last time that 
prophets have been confounded with 
madmen. Mark iii. 21. Stood 
ivitliout. They could not enter the 
house on account of the crowd. 
Desiring. Endeavouring. They 
had been maiding the attempt to 
speak with, him for a considerable 
time. Mark iii, 21. 

47. We are told that they had 
sent a message to him, calling him. 
Their object was, perhaps, to warn 
him of some plot against his life, 
and to induce him to withdraw to 
some more secure place, though self- 
ishness, as well as affection for him, 
may have mingled in their motives. 
The crowd was so large that they 
were unable to speak with him di- 
rectly. The request was probably 
passed from one to another through 
the multitude. 

48. Our Lord, ever ready to con- 
vert to a moral account the passing 
incidents of the day and hour, turns 
to his disciples, and enforcing his 
words with a gesture of his hand, 
verse 49, declares who were his 
mother and his brethren. We are 
not to suppose that it was any want 
of filial and fraternal affection that 
dictated the questions of this verse. 
Jesus Avas a dutiful son and an af- 
fectionate brother. He discharged 
the domestic obligations with per- 
fect integrity. He loved the circle 



of his family none the less, because 
he loved mankind the more. It was 
not coldness of affection, but the 
desire of fastening the attention of 
the people upon his words, that led 
him to say, " Who is my mother, 
and who are my brethren ? " Luke 
ii. 51; John xix. 25-27. Some 
degree of rebuke, at an untimely 
interruption of his work and teach- 
ing by their ofnciousness, may be 
supposed to have been mixed with 
his words. 

49. Stretched forth his hand, <5fC. 
How vivid the picture of our Sav- 
iour's manner here presented ! We 
seem to see him stand with out- 
stretched hand, and countenance 
beaming with affection upon his 
disciples, and sublimely saying, 
Behold my mother and my breth- 
ren! behold those who by their 
spiritual attachment supply the place 
to me of the nearest kindred ! 

"Who is my mother? or my brethren ? 
He spake, and looked on them who sat around 
With a meek smile of pity, blent with love, 
More melting than e'er gleamed from human 

face. 

As when a sunbeam, through a summer shower, 
Shines mildly on a little hill-side flock ; 
And with what look of love he said. Behold 
My mother, and my brethren; for I say, 
That whosoe'er shall do the will of God, 
He is my brother, sister, mother, all." 

50. For whosoever shall do the will, 
<5fc. Remark here, how simple is 
the test he proposes of fellowship 
and relationship : the doing of the 
will of God. He sets up no arbi- 
trary standard, no dogma of faith, 
no ecclesiastical rule, but advances 
one essential and comprehensive re- 
quisite, as beautiful as it is explicit. 
John xiv. 21. Is my brother., and 



xni.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



177 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Parables of Jesus. 

HE same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the 

2 sea-side ; and great multitudes were gathered together unto 
him, so that he went into a ship, and sat ; and the whole multi- 

3 tude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them 



sister, and molJier. Is dear to me 
as all relatives in one. Says a 
beautiful writer on the Gospels, 
Furness, " Is it looking at the pas- 
sage too curiously, to see in the in- 
troduction of the word ' sister,' a 
little fraction, as it were, a bright 
but delicate hue of truth? " in re- 
lation to the woman who had spok- 
en, Luke xi. 27. Jesus declares the 
superiority of the spiritual to the nat- 
ural ties. He elevates the connex- 
ions of the good with one another 
above the tenderest attachments of 
kindred. He thus proclaims the 
brotherhood of his disciples with 
one another and with himself. If, 
then, we do the will of Heaven, we 
are encouraged with the thought, 
that we are forming holy and happy 
ties with the beings of higher and 
brighter worlds ; that we are enter- 
ing into blessed associations, not on- 
ly with the goodly fellowship- of the 
prophets, the -glorious company of 
the apostles, the noble army of mar- 
tyrs, and the holy church through- 
out all the earth, but also with him 
who is Head over all, the beloved 
Son of God. We .are not called to 
a life of solitary and uncheered vir- 
tue. The good are bound together 
and joined to God and Jesus by the 
ties of an everlasting sympathy. 
The golden chain of love which has 
been let down from heaven joins all 
below to one another, and all below 
to all above. " Love not the world, 
neither the things that are in the 
world," "for "the world passeth 
away and the lust thereof," "but 



whosoever shall do the will of my 
Father which is in heaven," said 
Jesus, " the same is my brother, 
and sister, and m'other," and he 
abideth for ever. 

CHAP. xm. 

1-23. See Mark iv. 1-20; 
Luke -viii. 4-15. The latter Evan- 
gelist gives a less full and particular 
account. 

1. The same day. Or, perhaps, 
at that time. For we can hardly 
conceive that the events and in- 
structions mentioned in the last and 
this chapter, with those related in 
the parallel passages, could all. have 
happened in one day. House. Matt, 
xvii. 24. His home seems to have 
been at the house of Peter. Sat 
ly the sea-side. Capernaum was sit- 
uated on the Sea of Galilee. He 
left the house because the multi- 
tudes were unable, on account of 
their number, to hear him, except 
in a larger place. 

2. He loent into a ship. The ori- 
ginal is, the ship or loat, meaning a 
particular one kept for this purpose, 
or more probably one owned by his 
disciples, who were fishermen. The 
crowds were so dense as to render 
it necessary for him to withdraw 
from the shore, and address them 
from the water. And sat', dfc. It 
was customary among the Jews for 
their teachers to give their instruc- 
tions sitting, but for their hearers 
to receive them standing. Jesus 
followed the manners of his day, so 
far as they were innocent. 



178 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP 



in parables, saying : Behold, a sower went forth to sow. And 4 



3. Parables. A. parable is a com- 
parison, or similitude. But the term 
has a wider meaning. It stands 
often in the "Old Testament for pro- 
verb. Fables and apologues are par- 
abolical. In the New Testament, 
parables are usually stories to illus- 
trate spiritual doctrines or facts. It 
is immaterial whether the narrative 
be a historical account or not, pro- 
vided only it is appropriate to the 
illustration of the truth in hand. ' 
This mode of teaching was very 
popular, in the east, and especially 
among the Jews. We find innu- 
merable specimens of it. In the 
Old Testament some instances of it 
occur, as that of the trees, in Jud. 
ix. 8 15, and that of the poor man, 
in 2 Sam. xii. 1-7. The Talmu- 
dical writings are full of this species 
of composition. Jesus, therefore, 
employs it in the instructions of his 
religion. But it is remarkable, that 
he commenced it so late in his min- 
istry. Would it not seem that the 
method of direct precept and prov- 
erb had proved inadequate, and that 
he now resorts to a new instrument 
of address, better suited to the stu- 
pidity of the people, and to the spir- 
ituality of his doctrine? The only 
instance of a parable before this is 
supposed to have been that of the 
unclean spirit, 'Matt. xii. 43-45, 
illustrating the increasing depravity 
of the Jewish people. The disci- 
ples question him, verse 10, as if he 
were now introducing a novel way 
of teaching. There were advanta- 
ges in it, both to the teacher and to 
the taught. It saved the one from 
the bald and open statement of doc- 
trines that would be misunderstood 
by the people, and draw down their 
immediate violence, and crush their 
propagator ere he could explain 
himself. On the other hand, it del- 
"k-ately veiled spiritual truths in the 
robes of fancy and imagination, for 



the benefit of the hearer. It spoke 
a material language to those who 
were buried in sense. Again, it 
conveyed a hidden meaning, which 
could only be attained by an honest 
and unprejudiced inquirer, and left 
those in ignorance who preferred 
blindness. It taught only those who 
wished to be taught. In the words 
of another, "It is naturally adapted 
to engage the attention, and is level 
with the capacity of all, and con- 
veys moral or religious truths in a 
more vivid and impressive manner 
than the dry, didactic mode, and, by 
laying hold of the imagination, in- 
sinuates itself into the understand- 
ing and affections, and while it 
opens the doctrines it professes to 
conceal, it gives no alarm to men's 
prejudices." It extorted assent ere 
the prejudiced hearer put his mind 
on the defensive against the truth 
which it was intended to convey. 
Furthermore, it planted truths in 
the memory, which, understood long 
afterwards, might spring up and 
bear fruit. The parables of our 
Lord are always simple, beautiful, 
and forcible. They often interpret 
themselves. They are level to the 
comprehension of the humblest hon- 
est mind, whilst they are the vehi- 
cle of the profoundest principles of 
our religion. They have been class- 
ified as relating, 1. to the design of 
the Gospel, as a scheme of meicy; 
2. to its rise and progress, both in 
the individual and the race ; 3. its 
fruits ; and 4. its grand consumma- 
tion in futurity. The following par- 
able is ranked in the second class. 
A sower went forth to sow. This 
parable is taken from agriculture, 
with which the majority of man- 
kind are familiar, and is therefore 
intelligible and interesting to them. 
The original is, the sower, referring 
perhaps to some individual then in 
sight. 



xni.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



179 



when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side ; and the fowls 

5 came and devoured them up. Some fell upon stony places; 
where they had not much earth ; and forthwith they sprung 

6 up, because they had no deepness of earth ; and when the 
sun was up, they were scorched ; and because they had no 

7 root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns ; and 

8 the thorns sprung up, and choked them. But other fell into 
good ground ; and brought forth fruit, some an hundred-fold, 

9 some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold. Who hath ears to hear, let 
10 him hear. And the disciples came, and said unto him : 



4. Some seech fell by the way-side. 
See verse 19. As we have Jesus' 
own interpretation of this parable, 
there is no need of an elaborate 
explanation. The Jews had ways 
and paths running through and by 
the side of their cultivated fields, 
which were trodden hard by men 
and beasts. - Matt. xii. 1. It was in 
one of these paths that our Saviour 
and his disciples passed through 
the grain fields on the Sabbath-day. 
Foiols came and devoured them up. 
As the seeds did riot sink "into the 
earth, but lay exposed upon the sur- 
face, they were carried away by the 
birds. Luke adds, viii. 5, "and it 
was trodden down." 

5. Stony places. Rather, rocky 
or ledgy places, where the earth was 
very thin, and not merely a soil filled 
with stones. Sprung up, because 
they had no deepness of earth. The 
soil was so shallow, that they soon 
reached the surface, but had no suf- 
ficient root. 

6. When the sun ivas up, <5fC. In 
Palestine, seed-time was in Novem- 
ber,, when the. sun was overclouded. 
But when the short winter is past, 
the heat of the sim parches up the 
earth, and withers plants that are 
not deeply rooted. 

7. Fell among thorns. Several 
different kinds of thorns are men- 
tioned in the Scriptures. A part of 



the field is here spoken of in which 
the shrubs and briers had not been 
entirely rooted out. These sprang 
up and choked the tender plants. 

8. Brought forth fruit. Yielded. 
An hundred-fold, cj-c. In eastern 
countries this was a credible in- 
crease, where the soil is fertile, and 
stimulated by a warm atmosphere. 
Gen. xxvi. 12. This incidental allu- 
sion to the fertility of the country, 
which might be deemed extrava- 
gant in some parts of the earth, is a 
proof of the uncalculating honesty 
of the account. The terms, an hun- 
dred, sixty, and thirty fold are not to 
be taken literally, but as expressing 
great fruitfulness. This reference 
to the productiveness of the land of 
Palestine is an argument that the 
great population mentioned in the 
Old Testament might have been 
supported upon it. Owing to ne- 
glect, the country is less fruitful than 
in former times. 

9. Who hath ears, 6fC. A form 
of expression frequently used at the 
close of his instructions, or of some 
remarkable passage ; .see note on 
Matt. xi. 15 ; but, as Campbell ob- 
serves, always after some parable, 
or prophetic declaration figurative- 
ly expressed. Jesus distinguished 
those, who had ears to hear and a 
disposition to learn, from the rest of 
the thoughtless multitude. 



180 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 

Why speakest thou unto them in parables ? He answered and n 
said unto them : Because it is given unto you to know the 
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven ; but to them it is not 
given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he 12 
shall have more abundance ; but whosoever hath not, from him 
shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to 13 



10. Wliy speaJccst thou unto them 
in parables ? They ask the question, 
as if it were a new mode of teach- 
ing, to which they were not accus- 
tomed. 

11. Answered and said. Mark 
represents the succeeding conversa- 
tion as talcing place in private, 'with 

the Twelve and other disciples. 
Jesus now mentions a reason in an- 
swer to the question, why he spoke 
in parables. Amongst other causes, 
he adopted this mode because he 
would not longer favor the mul- 
titude with privileges which they 
abused. He wrapped up his mean- 
ing in the drapery of parables, be- 
cause they had not profited by his 
plainer teachings, and because such 
seeds of truth might in this way be 
dropped into their minds, as might, 
after he was gone, germinate and 
bring forth fruit. It r is given unto 
you. It is your privilege, because 
of your fidelity to the truth as far 
as you know it. It would be their 
duty moreover to spread it to others. 
The mysteries of the kingdom of 
heaven. Not things incomprehen- 
sible in their nature, or seemingly 
strange and contradictory ; but truths 
before secret, and now made known ; 
such as the spiritual nature of the 
Gospel, its designed extension to 
the Gentiles, the suffering character 
of the Messiah, and tbe succession 
of Christianity in the place of Juda- 
ism. These were mysteries, that 
is, something hidden. But as soon 
as they were revealed, they became 
objects of knowledge, and were no 
longer mysteries. Rom. xvi. 25 ; 
1 Cor. xiii. 2 ; Eph. i. 9, iii. 3, 4. 



But to them it is not given. This 
does not mean that they were denied 
arbitrarily tbe privilege of under- 
standing the truths and instructions 
of the Christian system, but had in- 
capacitated themselves by their own 
perversity. They did not welcome 
or relish the plainest teachings of 
the Gospel. Jesus elsewhere said, 
John iii. 20, 21 : "Every one that 
doeth evil bateth the light, but he 
that doeth truth cometh to tbe 
light;" and vii. 17: "If any man 
will do his will, he shall know of 
the doctrine," i. e. so far as one. is 
faithful to the light he already en- 
joys, will that light increase in dis- 
tinctness. 

12. Whosoever hath, to him shall 
oe given. Matt. xxv. 29 ; Luke xix. 
26. This was a proverbial expres- 
sion. Hath is used in two senses, 
first, tbat of possession, and second, 
tbat of improvement. The signifi- 
cation is, that whosoever hath much 
and makes a good use of it, will 
have a greater abundance ; but who- 
soever hath hot, i. e. bath little, 
shall lose even that little which he 
seemeth to have, Luke viii. 18, by 
carelessness and negligence. It is 
not meant that tbe privileges of the 
slothful are wrested violently from 
them, but that they naturally lose 
them by neglect. The- application 
is, that the Jews, by their inatten- 
tion and prejudice, lose what they 
had, little though it were, of spirit- 
ual privileges, while those who prof- 
ited by tbe instructions of Christ 
would have more and more. 

13. Therefore. So then. He 
states in this verse still further his 



xni.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



181 



them in parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing 

14 they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is 
fulfilled' the prophecy of Esaias, which saith : " By hearing ye 
shall hear, and shall not understand ; and seeing ye shall see, 

15 and shall not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed gross, 
and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have 
closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and 
hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, 

16 and should be converted, and I should heal them." But blessed 
are your eyes, for they see ; and your ears, for they hear. 

17 For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous 
men have desired to^see those things which ye see, and have 



reason for "using parables. The 
people were in a moral condition 
incapable of receiving truth in its 
naked form. They would be daz- 
zled by its full blaze ; it must come 
to them in the guise of figures and 
allegories. Because, or since, they 
seeing see not, <$-c. They saw tbe 
works of Christ and heard his teach- 
ings, but tbey were made none the 
wiser or better, for they did not un- 
derstand or welcome them. Jesus 
did not use this mode of teaching to 
keep the people in ignorance ; but 
being ignorant and perverse, he used 
such a style of address as would in- 
struct those who were well disposed, 
but would not arouse the passions 
of the prejudiced. And such truths 
would be stamped upon their minds 
by tliis imagery as might revive, in 
the course of time, and renovate the 
character. Their not seeing, hear- 
ing, and understanding, was not 
therefore the end he had in view in 
employing parables, but simply the 
occasion of their use. These fig- 
ures insinuated the' truth, so that it 
would be remembered ; whereas had 
he spoken plainly, they were so sin- 
ful that they could not or would not 
understand his doctrine. 

14. In them is fulfilled, i. e. in 
reference to them the declaration of 
Isaiah is illustrated Is. vi. 9, 10. 

VOL. i. 16 



The description the prophet gives in 
his time is applicable to the people 
of that age. Isaiab probably made 
here no prediction, but gave a his- 
torical description. Seeing-, i. e. 
shall' see. A Hebrew mode of em- 
phatical expression. 

15. This people's heart is waxed 
gross, <3fc. Has become fat. The 
images in this verse are all of a ma- 
terial nature, fitted to convey a bold 
and striking impression of the sen- 
sual, stubborn, and prejudiced state 
of the people of that day. Lest at 
any time, <$-c. Newcome bas ren- 
dered it, " so that they see not with 
their eyes, nor hear with their ears, 
nor understand with their heart, nor 
are converted, that I. should heal 
them." They are represented as 
preferring to continue in their de- 
based condition. They would not 
see, lest they should see the light ; 
they would not hear, lest they 
should hear the truth. 

16. Our Lord continues the proph- 
et's style of address, and pronoun- 
ces a benediction upon his disciples, 

- for their good use of their privileges. 
They were happy in having 'the see- 
ing eye and the hearing ear. Luke 
x. 23, 24 ; 1 Peter i. 10 - 12. 

17. Many prophets. Teachers. 
Have desired to see, <Sfc. Our Lord 
here" declares, what is evident from 



182 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



not seen ihem ; and to hear those things which ye hear, and 

have not heard them. Hear ye therefore the parable of the 18 

sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and 19 
understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth . 
away that which was sown in his heart ; this is he which re- 
ceived seed by the way-side. But he that received the seed 20 
into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and 
anon with joy receiveth it ; yet hath he not root in himself, 21 



the whole tenor of Scripture that 
there was a deep longing amongst 
all good men and religious teachers 
for the coming- of a great deliverer. 
They rejoiced in the day, though it 
was far off, and they saw only its 
twilight. John viii. 56 ; Heb. xi. 13. 
If the Apostles and disciples were 
happy in seeing the fulfilment of this 
great hope in part, how much hap- 
pier are we, who have seen the 
meridian glory of the Sun of Righ- 
teousness ! How much more respon- 
sible, that we should walk as the 
children of the light and of the 
day ! 

18. Hear ye therefore, <%c., i. e. 
since you are teachable and inquir- 
ing, and love the truth, understand 
the import of the above parable. 
We are here highly favored in hav- 
ing our Master's own explanation, 
which is useful not merely for this 
individual case, but aids us in arriv- 
ing at those principles on which all 
parables must be explained. Mark 
iv. 13. The parable of the sower,. 
i. e. the explanation of the para- 
ble. 

19. The word of the kingdom. The 
Gospel, the truths of the spiritual 
kingdom of Christ. The wicked 
one. The evil one. A personifica- 
tion of all that is or tends to evil. 
Jesus adopts the phraseology of his 
time, for thus only could he be un- 
derstood. So Paul uses the phrase, 
"the god of this world," 2 Cor. 
iv. 4, meaning worldly desires. 
Calcheth away. Implying haste and 



quickness, as the birds eagerly 
snatch their food. Luke, viii. 11, 
adds, " The seed is the word of 
God." This is he which received 
seed, <S(-c. Man is compared to the 
field, and not to .the seed ; as we 
say, the sown field, meaning the 
field that has received seed. The 
seed was good, but the field did not 
retain it. So the word was true, 
but the hearer did not cherish it. 
There is now, as then, a class of 
way-side hearers. They hearken to 
the truth, and perhaps acknowledge 
its correctness, but straightway go 
about their business or pleasures, 
and suffer it to slip at once from 
their minds and hearts. It never 
descends below the mere surface of 
their understandings. This is a 
large class ; and nothing more dis- 
courages the teachers of religion, 
than to have hearers whose souls 
seem to have been trodden and worn 
so smooth, by many-footed cares and 
pleasures, as to present an "adaman- 
tine front against all serious impres- 
sions, as the polished shield turns 
aside every weapon of assault. 

20. Stony places, i. e. rocky or . 
ledgy ground . Anon. Immediate- 
ly. With joy .receiveth it. This 
describes a second class of hearers, 
common in all ages ; and delineated 
by our Lord with vivid, dramatic 
power. They are not the bronzed, 
impervious, and indurated souls, 
who are susceptible of hardly a mo- 
mentary impression, but those who 
are easily affected, perhaps even to 



ACCORDING 'TO MATTHEW. 



183 



but dureth for a while ; for when tribulation or persecution 

22 ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He 
also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the 
word, and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, 

23 choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that re- 



tears. They gladly and cordially 
welcome the truth. 

21 Yet hath he not root in him- 
self, but dureth; or endureth. But 
, these persons have no deeply rooted, 
_well grounded principles. They 
hear the instructions of religion, as 
they witness a show, or listen to a 
play at the theatre ; and it would 
seem, at the time, that the effect 
would, be lasting, so carried away 
are they by the appeal. But alas ! 
it is like the morning cloud and ear- 
ly dew. For when tribulation or 
persecution ariseth, then they fall. 
The burning sun of trial withers 
their rootless virtues. The tempta- 
tions to which they are exposed on 
account of religion, the difficulties 
of a Qhristianlife, the inconvenience 
arising from an unpopular faith, 
persecutions, and dangers, cause 
them to apostatize. For the Gospel 
has not struck its roots deep into the 
faculties of their souls. Such is 
the class of stony ground hearers. 
By and by. Presently, soon. 
Is offended. Stumbles, is led to 
transgress. 

22. The care of this world, and 
the dcceilfulness of riches. Mark 
adds, "the lust of other things,"- 
and Luke, " the pleasures of this 
life," All the various foes of man's 
moral nature are included in this 
description. The cares of our 
worldly life, though necessary, are 
liable to betray our better interests. 
It should be our prayer, therefore, 
that, whilst our ha7ids are employed 
in worldly avocations, our* hearts 
may take hold of something more 
satisfying and durable. The de- 
ceptive power of riches is prover- 



bial, so that the Apostle said, " The 
love of money is the root of all 
evil," and most powerfully describ- 
ed its seductive fascination and fatal 
consequences. 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10. 
The desires of ambition, appetite, 
and pleasure, captivate multitudes 
of the young, the spirited, and the 
aspiring, who escape the former 
tempters. Choke the loord, 6fc. 
Although men receive the seed of 
truth, and it becomes rooted, and is 
growing apace, yet if they suffer 
their characters to be overrun with 
weeds and thorns, it cannot become 
fruitful, but is choked and destroy- 
ed. We have now in the world 
this class of thorny ground hearers. 
They listen with interest, they un- 
derstand the preached word, they 
are rooted and grounded in the faith, 
but life is the touchstone of the 
character. When they go forth to 
the perilous scenes of their proba- 
tion, they are beset with thronging 
cargs, beguiling pleasures, dazzling 
riches, and aE the thousand-fold 
shapes of evil. Their better prin- 
ciples and feelings are overshadow- 
ed by this luxuriant growth of 
temptations. They can produce few 
blossoms, much less bring any fruit 
to perfection. Sowing wheat one 
day and tares the other six, can they 
wonder that the harvest is so mea- 
gre ? ' As has been said, " If adver- 
sity slays its thousands, prosperity 
slays its ten thousands." "The 
above three classes of nominal dis- 
ciples are distinct from each other. 
Thoughtlessness or levity of mind 
distinguishes the first ; timidity, or 
a dread of unpleasant consequences 
the second ; and worldliness, or de- 



184 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP 



ceived seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, 
and understandeth it ; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth 

forth, some an hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty. 

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying : The kingdom 24 
of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his 
field. But while men slept, his enemy came, and sowed tares 25 
among the wheat ; and went his way. But when the blade 26 
was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares 



votion to wealth, to business, or to 
any secular interests, the third. 
But they agree in the effect of their 
several errors ; in none of them is 
Christian faith operative." 

23. Heareth understandeth 
beareth fruit. These are the three 
characteristics of a true Christian, 
in their natural order. "We must 
first read or hear the truth as it is 
in Jesus. We must then compre- 
hend it. Mysteries cannot nourish 
the divine life. Finally, there must 
be the practical fruits of holy living, 
piety to God, .. and benevolence to 
men, and purity of heart. John xv. 
8 ; Gal. 'v. 22, 23. " In a rich and 
mellow soil, in a heart that submits 
itself to the full influence of truth, 
unchecked by cares and anxieties, 
under the mild vernal showers and 
summer suns of divine grace, with 
the heart spread open, like a broad 
luxuriant field to the rays of the 
morning and evening suns and dews, 
the Gospel takes deep root and 
grows ; it has full room, and then 
and there only shows lohat it is." 
Hundred sixty thirty. There 
are different grades of goodness. 
All Christians have not attained to 
an equal stature. Their powers, 
privileges, and fidelity are various. 
The reward is apportioned in equity 
to all. The largest acquirements 
ought not to nurture pride, and the 
smallest ought not to beget discour- 
agement. This parable reminds 
preachers that they ought not to ex- 
pect that all will profit by their in- 



structions, or that those who do will 
be all equally benefited. It re- 
minds all of the importance of hear- 
ing the truth, receiving it into good 
and honest hearts, Luke viii. 15, 
and bringing forth fruit with pa- 
tience. 

24. The kingdom of heaven. The 
divine administration in establishing 
and spreading Christianity in the 
world. Good seed " is good princi- 
ples. The bad seed is bad prin- 
ciples. The wheat is good men, 
whose characters are formed on 
good principles. The tares are bad 
men, whose characters are formed 
on bad principles." The parable is 
explained by our Lord himself, ver- 
ses 37 43. 

25. While men slept, i. e. in the 
night, whilst there were none to ob- 
serve the mischief done. Sowed 
targes. It is a question what plant 
is here meant. The English word 
tares describes a kind of vetch. 
Perhaps a noxious weed, as cockle, 
or darnel, is intended. In the Rab- 
binical writers, however, a spurious 
kind of wheat is mentioned, which 
infested fields of grain, and some- 
what resembled wheat in its form 
and growth. That plant was per- 
haps referred .to in the. text. The 
Persian version confirms this view, 
by rendering it, bitter grain. 

26. Brought forth fruit, then ap- 
peared the tares also. The good and 
the bad plants were so much alike, 
that they were not distinguishable 
from each other until the fruit ap- 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



185 



S7 also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto 
him : Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field ? from 

28 whence then hath it tares ? He said unto them : An enemy 
hath done this. The servants said unto him : Wilt thou then 

29 that we go and gather them up ? But he said : Nay ; lest, 
while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with 

30 them. Let both grow together until the harvest ; and in the 
time of harvest I will say to the reapers : Gather ye together- 
first the tares, and bind them in bundles, to burn them ; but 



peared. So it is with good and bad 
principles. The latter often wear a 
specious guise, and are only detected 
when the season arrives of bearing 
fruit. 

27. So the servants came. These 
facts were introduced to give nat- 
uralness and vivacity to the story, 
and ought not, therefore, as com- 
mentators say, "to be cat to the 
quick," or pressed too far. Yet we 
may suppose that the astonishment 
of the early teachers of Christianity 
is described, at finding that evil men 
as well as good were within the pale 
of the church. 

28. Wilt thou then iliat we go, dfc. 
The first thought was that the tares 
might be immediately eradicated. 
So there would be those, who, when 
they saw the good and the bad min- 
gled together in the same body, 
would be impatient to make a sud- 
den and violent separation between 
the two, little considering how dif- 
ficult it would be to discriminate, 
and how dangerous to the good to 
attempt to .remove the evil. 

29. Root up, also the wheat. The 
history of the Christian church pow- 
erfully illustrates this passage. The 
attempt of fallible men to extirpate 
those believed to be evil and hereti- 
cal from the enclosure of the church 
has occasioned the frightful perse- 
cutions that darken the pages of 
history. 

30. Let both grow together until 
the harvest. The mixture of good 

16* 



and evil in this life will probably 
continue unto the end. It is not 
within human power perfectly to 
distinguish between the two. Prin- 
ciples, men, and institutions, are all 
of a mottled character. Even truth, 
carried to extremes, becomes error, 
and error itself is powerful, because 
it has in it a tincture of truth." 
Characters are so complex, and the 
roots of good and evil are so matted 
and interlaced together, that men 
cannot always know their own 
hearts accurately ; how much less 
the heart of another, though an 'in- 
timate friend ! and ho.w much less 
still that of a stranger, or a body 
of those comparatively strangers! 
What perfect folly and wickedness, 
then, for fallible man harshly to 
judge others ! A charitable heart 
will rather construe all favorably, 
thinking no evil, hoping for the best, 
and willing that all should grow to- 
gether until the harvest, rather than 
rashly tear up the evil, perhaps at 
the expense of the good, and what 
is perhaps itself good. Gather ye 
together, <$-c. This indicates, that, 
although the present is a mixed 
state of good and bad, there is a 
time of distinction between them, 
approaching. In the mean time, to 
those who are impatient of evil, and 
would violently root it out, may be 
applied the language of God, ad- 
dressed to Abraham, in the cele- 
brated modern apologue, in which 
the patriarch is described as driving 



186 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



gather the wheat into my barn. Another parable put he 31 

forth unto them saying : The kingdom of heaven is like to a 
grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. 
Which' indeed is the least of all seeds ; but when it is grown, 32 
it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that 
the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. 

Another parable spake he unto them : The kingdom of 33 

heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in 



an idolater from his hospitality into 
the -wilderness : " I have borne with 
him one hundred years, and canst 
not thou bear with him a single 
night 1 ?" For the interpretation of 
this parable, see verses 37 43. 

31, 32. See Mark iv. 30-32; 
Luke xiii. 18, 19. 

31. Another parable. The object 
of this and the following parable is 
to show that his spiritual kingdom, 
from small beginnings, would dilate 
with a mighty expansion. Both 
in the individual soul and in the 
world at large, its commencement 
would be insignificant, but its growth 
vast and indefinite. A grain of 
mustard seed. This was so small 
as to be proverbial for its littleness. 
Matt. xvii. 20. See also the next 
verses. This is not the plant known 
amongst us by this name, but the 
mustard tree, not annual, but living 
and growing several years. How 
sublime was the faith of Christ in 
the power of his gospel ! For, 
though small, it contains the germs 
of a wondrous and mighty growth. 
" It grew silently, but it grew rap- 
idly. It was of God, therefore it 
flourished. Beginning in an origin 
so obscure that the world looked 
with contempt upon its pretensions, 
coming forth from a mechanic's 
abode in the despised city of Naza- 
reth, in the rude province of Gali- 
lee, in the conquered land of Pales- 
tine, and borne to other countries 
by men whose nation were the" scoff 
of other nations, and who them- 



selves held the lowest place of so- 
ciety among their countrymen-, it 
spread, it prevailed, it won atten- 
tion, admiration, obedience, till it 
became 'the greatest' of the reli- 
gions of the earth." 

32. Greatest among herbs. Ref- 
erence is here made, not to the ab- 
solute size of the plant, but to the 
comparative greatness of the tree 
which sprang from so small a seed. 
Becometh a tree. The Jewish 
writers mention a mustard plant so 
large that a man might climb it, as 
he would a fig-tree; and another 
so tall and spreading as to cover a 
tent with one of its branches. 
Birds of the air come and lodge in 
the branches. So, under the mighty 
power of the Christian kingdom, 
multitudes would find refuge and 
protection. The Gospel \vould be- 
come a tree whose branches would 
overshadow the whole earth, and 
the leaves of which would be " for 
the healing of the nations." 

33. Luke xiii. 20. Leaven. 
Yeast, which has the property of 
assimilating to its own nature the 
meal or dough in which it is con- 
tained. As in the preceding para- 
ble the extensive propagation of 
Christianity is imaged, so here its 
diffusive and penetrating character 
is portrayed. Or, if limited to the 
individual in its application, it inti- 
mates that Christianity was to per- 
vade his whole nature and being, 
master every power, control every 
taste, spiritualize every feeling, and 



xm.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



187 



34 three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. All 

these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables, and 

35 without a parable spake he not unto them ; that it might be 
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying : " I will 
open my mouth in parables ; I will utter things which have 
been kept secret from the foundation of the world." 

36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the, 
house. And his disciples came unto him, saying : Declare 

37 unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered 
and said unto them : He that soweth the good seed is the So'n 



assimilate, the whole man to the 
spirit of Christ and God. Three 
measures. Each equivalent to one 
peck and a half English. The quan- 
tity used at one time in making 
bread. Till the whole was leavened. 
As the leaven would not cease its 
action till the whole mass was af- 
fected by it, so religion would not 
cease to work in the heart and in 
the world until it has leavened the 
whole with its own spirit and pow- 
er. Thus beautifully Jesus ideal- 
izes the most common things, and 
by them shadows forth the glorious 
en ergies of the G ospel . 

34, 35. See Mark iv. 33, 34, 

34. Without a parable spake he 
not. Not an assertion that he al- 
ways spoke in parables, but thart 
upon the present occasion he chiefly 
used this method of instruction. 

35. That it might be fulfilled. 
The quotation is not so much a ful- 
filment .as an illustration. As the 
Psalmist designed to give instruc- 
tion in a parabolical and poetical 
form concerning the history of the 
past, so Jesus has, after his exam- 
ple, but not in accordance with any 
prediction of his, thrown around 
his doctrines, concerning the future 
kingdom of God, the graceful garb 
of parables. The prophet. Ps. 
Ixxviii. 2. This, psalm is ascribed 
to Asaph, chief singer in the reign 
of David. 1 Cbron. xvi. 5. The 
force of the word prophet, as ap- 



plied to him, may be understood 
from 1 Chron. xxv. 1, 2, where it 
appears to be used in the sense of 
poet or singer. The subject of the 
Psalmist's composition is the past 
history of the Israelites, while that 
of Jesus is the future promulgation 
of his Gospel. Secret from the 
foundation, <$-c. What had been 
a secret, a mystery, would now be 
made known. In his parables Je- 
sus was darkly unfolding the pro- 
gress of the truth, and revealing 
things unknown to all former ages. 
Matthew wrote for the use of the 
Jews particularly; he delights, 
therefore, in drawing quotations 
from their sacred books, the nation- 
al classics, to illustrate the new re- 
ligion, and win their favorable at- 
tention to its claims. 

36. Declare, i. e. explain. The 
disciples did not understand the par- 
able of the tares any more than that 
of the sower. They shared in the 
prejudices and ignorance of their 
day, and only excelled others in 
their having more of the truth- 
seeking spirit. 

37. He. that soweth, ej-c. We learn 
here, that the particular design of 
the parable was not so much to il- 
lustrate the mixture of good and 
evil in the general governmert of 
God, as under the Christian dispen- 
sation. There would be good and 
bad principles, and good and bad 
men in the Christian world. But 



188 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



of Man ; the field is the world ; the good seed are the children 38 
of the kingdom ; but the tares are the children of the wicked 
one ; the enemy, that sowed them, is the devil ; the harvest is 39 
the end of the world ; and the reapers are the angels. As, 40 
therefore, the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so 
shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall 41 
send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom 
all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall 42 
cast them into a furnace of fire ; there shall be wailing and 



they were not to be violently sever- 
ed one from the other, else the good 
would suffer with the bad. Jesus 
sowed only good seed in his field. 
His revelations were dimmed by no 
error. 

38. The field is the world. That 
is, the whole earth. Children of 
the kingdom. It is not properly the 
children of the kingdom that are 
sown, but those truths which make 
men Christians, or members of 
Christ's kingdom. It is customary, 
in the 'Hebrew language, to call 
those children or sons of any being 
or ~thing who exhibit dispositions 
congenial with it. So, the children 
of the wicked one are' those who 
have a wicked spirit, such as is im- 
puted to the author of evil. 

39. The devil. It was supposed 
among oriental nations, that there 
were two principles, one good, and 
the author of all good, and the other 
evil, and the author of all evil. 
Our Lord refers the evil in his 
church to this reputed author of 
evil. The end of the world. This 
but imperfectly expresses the origi- 
nal. The sense is, the conclusion 
of this state of things, as some sup- 
pose, the end of the Jewish dispen- 
sation ; or, as others believe, the end 
of the time, i. e. of the Christian 
dispensation. There is an indefi- 
niteness about the phrase, which 
commentators have never fully 
cleared up. It is enough for us to 
know that there is to be a righteous 



judgment at the conclusion of this 
state of things, to which the Chris- 
tian church, ,in. common with the 
rest of the world, will be subjected, 
and the good distinguished from the 
bad. The reapers are the angels. 
The ministry of angels was sup- 
posed, among the Jews, to consti- 
tute a part of the divine government 
and providence. Ps. Ixxviii. 49, 
xci. 11 ; Acts. vii. 53 ; Gal. iii. 19 ; 
Heb. ii. 2. Hence angels are intro- 
duced in the imagery of the para- 
ble, in harmony with the belief of 
the times, and represented as per- 
forming the work of their great 
task-master. 

40 . Tares are gathered and burned. 
On account of the scarcity of wood 
in Palestine, it was the custom to 
burn dried plants, hay, or stubble, 
for cooking and other purposes. 
For the convenience of transporta- 
tion, they were tied in bundles. 

41. All things that 'off end. Liter- 
ally, all stumbling-blocks, i. e. all 
persons or things that cause men to 
transgress. Matt. xvi. 27. Them 
ivhich do iniquity. Synonymous 
with the last expression. False 
teachers ; wicked men ; any who 
cause others to fall. 

42. A furnace of fire. Dan. iii. 
11 ; Matt. xxv. 41 ; Rev. xx. 14, 15. 
This refers to the oriental punish- 
ment of burning alive, and implies 
the severest infliction of pain, and 
the dreadful sufferings of the wicked. 
The figure of a furnace of fire may 



xm.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



189 



43 gnashing of teeth". Then shall the righteous shine forth, as 
the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to 

44 hear, let him hear. Again the kingdom of heaven is like 

unto treasure hid in a field, the which, when a man hath found, 
he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he 

45 hath, and buyeth that field. Again the kingdom of heaven 

46 is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls ; who, 
when he hath found one pearl of great price, went and sold all 



also have been suggested by the 
burning of the tares in verse 30. 

"Wailing and gnashing of teeth. 
The natural expressions of intense 
pain. , 

43. Shine forth, as the sun. Dan. 
xii. 2, 3 ; Rev. ii. 28. An image 
implying strength, beauty, and glo- 
ry. Who hath ears to hear, let him 
hear. See note on Matt. xi. 15. 
Three very important lessons are 
conveyed by this parable. One 
against disappointment at finding 
imperfections in the Christian 
church, or even hypocrisy and 
wickedness ; for it was predicted 
that there would be, by him who 
knew what was in man. The sec- 
ond is against persecution. The 
grossly immoral may be distin- 
guished and expelled, but it is not 
for erring man to condemn his 
brother for modes of faith or cus- 
toms of worship. We must wait 
until the harvest before we can per- 
fectly know the true from the false, 
the right from the wrong. The de- 
cision will fall to one in whom we 
have perfect confidence. With pa- 
tience then let us wait the great is- 
sue. We learn, thirdly, from this 
parable, the inconceivable misery 
consequent upon wickedness, and 
the glorious reward which awaits 
the righteous. 

' 44. Treasure hid in afield. The 
allusion is here not, probably, to a 
treasure, as that of money, which 
had been artificially concealed, but 
to some native precious mine, as of 



gold or silver. He hideth. Or, 
fie keeps it secret. Selleth all that 
he hath, 6fc. He is willing to sacri- 
fice every thing else for the great 
prize he has in view. This parable 
shows the preciousness of the Gos- 
pel, and the efforts and sacrifices 
worthy to be made in secliring it. 
Worldly gratifications, sensual in- 
dulgences, cherished schemes of am- 
bition, ease and riches and reputa- 
tion, all that men have and Jove, 
they should be willing to relinquish 
. for this inexhaustible and eternal 
treasure. Jesus even required that 
a man should give up father and 
mother, brother and sister, wife and 
children, houses and lands, yea, 
and his own life also, if need be, to 
become his true disciple. But this 
self-denying spirit is its own exceed- 
ing great reward, and compensates 
for all losses. 

45. Merchant man, seeking goodly 
pearls. It is customary in the east 
for travelling merchants to purchase 
and exchange gems and other valua- 
bles. Wisdom is often likened to 
rubies, gold, and silver. Ps. xix. 
10; Prov. iii. 13-15. See note 
on Matt. vii. 6. The nearness of 
the coasts of the Red Sea brought 
pearls into the Jewish market. 
They were highly esteemed on ac- 
count of their rareness and beauty, 
and were precious in proportion to 
their size. They are the product 
of a kind of oyster. 

46. Sold all that he had, and 
bought it. He, like the man of the 



190 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



that he had, and bought it. Again the kingdom of heaven 47 

is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of 
every kind ; which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and 48 
sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad 
away. So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels 49 
shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, 
and shall cast them into the furnace of fire ; there shall be 50 
wailing and gnashing of teeth. ; Jesus saith unto them : 51 
Have ye understood all these things ? They say unto him : 
Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them : Therefore every scribe, 52 



preceding parable, sacrificed every 
minor consideration to attain his 
principal end. In one case, how- 
ever, the treasure was one unexpec- 
tedly found, and in the other dili- 
gently sought. Religion is the un- 
.speakable treasure to those to whom 
it comes, comparatively without 
seeking, as Avell as to those who 
travel far, or study long, to gain it. 
But to many " the pearl has ceased 
to be precious, because it has always 
been in our hands. The treasure is 
no longer hidden, and, without the 
joy of discovery, we do not think of 
the worth of possession." 

47. A net. A drag net, sweeping, 
as it were, the bottom of the river or 
lake, and gathering every thing into it. 

48. Cast the bad away. The 
worthless on account of their small- 
ness or kind, for some sorts of fish 
were unclean to the Jews. Lev. xi. 
10. This was an illustration pecu- 
liarly appropriate to the fishing pop- 
ulation of Galilee, whom he was 
then addressing. 

49. At the end of the world. The 
para"ble of the net and the fishes is 
explained in this and the following 
verse. Some understand, by the end 
of the world, the end of the Jewish 
dispensation by the sack of Jerusa- 
lem, and others the destruction of 
the world itself. The object of the 
parable appears to have been to fore- 
warn the early disciples that all 
kinds of persons would be gathered 



into the Christian church, but that 
eventually a separation would take 
place, and that at the judgment, 
whether in the Jewish overthrow, 
or at the end of the material world, 
the good and the bad would meet 
respectively with their merited re- 
wards and punishments. The an- 
gels. See note on verse 39. 

50. See note on verse 42. Who 
can doubt that there is a fearful 
punishment awaiting the wicked, 
here and hereafter, when Jesus 
himself, the compassionate Teacher, 
has described it with images of all 
that is most terrible to the appre- 
hensions of men, the outer dark- 
ness, the unquenchable fire, and the 
never dying worm ? 

51. Understood all these things? 
The parable which he had explain- 
ed furnished a clue for understand- 
ing the rest. The thought is here 
suggested of the importance of hav- 
ing a rational belief. The Gospel 
is a revelation. If we would be en- 
lightened or saved by it, it must be 
through our clear comprehension of 
its truths, duties, and promises. Ill 
would it become us to call it a reve- 
lation from heaven, if it was not in- 
telligible to the human mind. Its 
best emblem is light. 

52. As they understood his doc- 
trines, he inculcates in the following 
parable their obligations to teach 
them. Every scribe, <$-c. A doc- 
tor of the Jewish law, but meaning 



xm.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



191 



ivhich is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is like' unto a 
x man that is an householdei-, which bringeth forth out of his 

53 treasure things new and old. -And it came to pass, that, 

when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. 

54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught 
them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, 
and said : Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty 

55 works ? Is not this the carpenter's son ? Is not his mother 
called Mary ? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, 



here a teacher of Christianity, as is 
expressed by the phrase, instruct- 
ed unto the kingdom of heaven. 
Householder. The father or master 
of a family. Bringeth forth out 
of his treasure things new and old. 
This refers to providing for the sa- 
cred rites, according to Lightfoot. 
The wine, corn, or fruits, new or 
old, of the present or past years. 
A thrifty householder would be well 
stored with both, as might be re- 
quired. So the religious instructer 
would study variety in his teach- 
ings. He would draw from the old 
as. well as the new dispensation. 
He would teach the truths of natu- 
ral and revealed religion ; . those 
which were old to his mind, and those 
which are now learned for the first 
time from his Master himself. In 
his method of instruction he was to 
combine precept and parable. It 
is an important rule for every minis- 
ter of the Gospel to study variety, 
and, within just limits, novelty, both 
in the manner and matter of his dis- 
courses, .whilst at the same time the 
old and familiar should not pall upon 
his interest, or that of his hearers. 
He should adapt his teachings to 
tbe capacities, tastes, and condition 
of his charge. 

53 - 58. See Mark vi. 1-6. 

54. His own country, i. e. his own 
town, Nazareth, where he had been 
brought up. Capernaum was call- 
ed his own city, as it Avas subse- 
quently his chief place of residence. 



Matt. ix. 1. Jesus had made a pre- 
vious visit at Nazareth and met with 
an inhospitable reception, as is re- 
lated Luke iv. 10 - 30. Syna- 
gogue. This was on the Sabbath- 
day. Mark vi. 2. Tliey were as- 
tonished. Two reasons are assign- 
ed for their wonder and surprise, - 
his wisdom, or his instructions of 
truth, and his mighty works or mir- 
acles. As he had been brought up 
amongst tbem, they could not real- 
ize that he was any thing more 
than a common individual, for he 
had studied under none of the doc- 
tors of the law. John vii. 15. 

55. Carpenter's son. Markvi. 3, 
records it, " Is not this the carpen- 
ter?" As Joseph worked at some 
mechanical trade, it is probable tbat 
Jesus also pursued the same occu- 
pation before his ministry. It was 
the custom of the Jews for the sons 
even of rich and distinguished men 
to learn some useful handicraft. 
Joseph was probably poor, an addi- 
tional reason why his family should 
be employed in manual labor. 
God has eminently honored labor, 
and woe is the world because the 
false notion has crept into it, that it 
is disgraceful ! Disgraceful ! when 
the patriarchs, kings, and prophets 
of Israel were many of- them shep- 
herds and husbandmen ; when Da- 
vid was summoned from the sheep- 
fold to the throne, and Elisha and 
Amos from their flocks and fields to 
the prophetic office ; when the Son 



192 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



and Judas ? and his sisters, are they not all with us ? whence 56 
then hath this man all these things ? And they were offended 57 
in him. But Jesus said unto them : A prophet is not without 
honor, save in his own country, and in his own house. And 58 
he did not many mighty works there, because of their unbelief. 



of God himself was subject unto 
his earthly parents in his youth, and 
labored in their lowly employments, 
until bis hour came when he should 
go forth to be the Light of the 
world ; when fishermen apostles 
were his bosom friends, and Paul, 
the tent-maker, the herald of the 
Gospel to the Gentile world ! Or 
if these human and celestial exam- 
ples are not enough, "Go to the 
ant, thou sluggard, consider her 
ways and be wise." His brethren. 
See notes on Matt. x. 3, xii. 46. 
They were probably cousins, though 
the question is not a material one. 
Three of those mentioned here, 
James, Simon, and Judas, probably 
belonged to the Twelve. Matt. 
xxvii. 56 ; Mark xv. 40. 

56. His sisters. The same re- 
mark respecting the degree of rela- 
tionship is applicable here as in the 
preceding verse. Are they not all 
luith its ? i. e. do they not live 
amongst us 1 Whence then hath 
this man all these things ? There 
could be but one answer to this 
question : viz. that he derived them 
from on high.. A young man of 
Nazareth of Galilee, uninstructed in 
the learning of his age, acquainted 
only with the Hebrew Scriptures, 
and surrounded by the narrowing 
influences of his time and nation, 
even occupied with domestic cares 
and mechanical labors, dilates at 
once into a mighty reformer and 
wonder-worker. The change was 
too great to be credited Y>y his for- 
mer acquaintances. They incredu- 
lously inquire whence he derived his 
wisdom and power. Jesus on an- 
other occasion answered the ques- 



tion himself : " The words that I 
speak unto you, I speak not of my- 
self; but the Father that dwelleth 
in me, he doeth the works." 

57. They were offended in him. 
They were scandalized at him. 
They were jealous of him, for he 
had been brought up amongst them 
in an humble condition. They 
were acquainted with his family 
and friends ; and they could not re- 
ceive one, with whose early life 
they were so familiar, as being 
indeed a prophet or the Messiah. 
Pride, envy, and prejudice com- 
bined against their admission of his 
divine authority. A prophet is not 
without honor, <S[-c. By prophet may 
here be meant any religious teacher. 
Jesus here quotes a proverb which 
was common among the Jews ; im- 
plying that early acquaintance and 
familiarity with the highest person- 
age would breed jealousy and con- 
tempt of him. Those who had been 
accustomed to look upon him in an 
humble condition could with difficul- 
ty learn" to respect his new claims 
to the most exalted office. John 
iv. 44. This proverb does not im- 
ply that he was not also treated ill 
elsewhere, which was the fact. 

58. Did not many mighty loorks. 
Mark states, that he did nothing ex- 
cept lay his hand upon a few sick 
persons and heal them. Because 
of their unbelief. Some have sup- 
posed that the miraculous power of 
Christ was dependent upon faith, 
as an essential condition of its ex- 
ercise, and that he literally could 
not, as Mark says, vi. 5, exert his 
power, because the Nazarenes had 
no faith in him. But in many in- 



XIV.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



193 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The Death, of John t/te Bapt&t. Jesus miraculously feeds Five Thousand, and walks on 

the Sea of Galilee. 

that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, 



stances he wrought miracles upon 
inert matter, or upon the uncon- 
scious dead, or upon disbelieving- or 
unwilling subjects. Matt. viii. 29 ; 
Luke xxii. 51. Why then, it may 
be asked, could he not perform his 
usual wonders at Nazareth ? There 
were two reasons. Qne was, that 
he had few opportunities. There 
was such aversion and unbelief hi 
relation to him, that they did not 
bring their sick to be healed. But 
hi the few cases which were pre- 
sented, his power was triumphant as 
on other occasions. Again, there 
was a moral reason why he did not 
perform many miracles there. The 
people were not in a condition to be 
properly impressed by them. They 
would not admit them as wrought 
of God, and evidences of the divine 
authority of his messenger. Al- 
though, then, miracles were design- 
ed to create confidence and faith in 
Christ, yet, where unbelief already 
existed to the contrary, supported 
by groundless prejudices, these won- 
ders would prove hi vain. Jesus 
would not therefore increase their 
temptations, and enhance their guilt, 
by obtruding upon them his wonder- 
ful works, which he foresaw they 
would gainsay and frustrate, so far 
as any moral effect was concerned. 
Where unbelief was owing not to 
a want of evidence, but to a want 
of a right disposition to admit that 
evidence even when it was furnish- 
ed, it was needless, and would ag- 
gravate their guilt, to supply it. 
In the conduct of the Nazarenes, we 
are taught the influence of ground- 
less prejudices in preventing the re- 
ception of the Gospel. This cause, 
under other forms, operates now, as 
VOL. i. 17 



it did then. Would that we might 
rise above the thwarting influence 
of our prejudices! for no intellect- 
ual hindrance is greater to the per- 
ception of truth. 

CHAP. XTV. 

1, 2. Mark vi. 14-16; Luke ix. 
7-9. The two last Evangelists 
are more full in their accounts, and 
relate not only the conjecture of 
Herod, but of others ; of some, that 
Elijah, and of others, that one of 
the old prophets, had appeared. 

1. Herod the tetrarch. This was 
a son of Herod the Great, called 
Antipas. To him fell, in the di- 
vision of his father's government, 
the provinces of Galilee and Peraea. 
See note on Matt. ii. 22. Tetrarch 
signifies strictly the ruler of the 
fourth part of a kingdom or em- 
pire, but is also 'used hi a more 
general sense. Heard. Absorbed 
in his affairs or his pleasures, Her- 
od had not heard of Jesus as con- 
temporaneous with John, but seems 
now to have learned for the first 
time that there was such a person. 
We are to recollect that there were 
then but few facilities for gaining 
intelligence, and that the news even 
of the works and teachings of Christ 
would spread but slowly, and with 
difficulty gain access to the courts 
of princes. Perhaps Herod had 
been absent from his province liith- 
erto, either in his war with Aretas, 
a king of Arabia, or on a journey 
to Rome. Some commentators, 
among whom is Kuinoel, suppose 
that Herod had heard of Jesus be- 
fore, but that he now had his atten- 
tion called to him hi a particular 
manner. 



194 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 

and said unto his servants : This is John the Baptist ; he is 2 
risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth 

themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John, and 3 

bound him. and put him, in prison, for Herodias' sake, his 
brother Philip's wife. For John said unto him : It is not law- 4 



2. Servants. The inmates of his 
palace, or his courtiers. This is 
John. Luke states that he was per- 
plexed to know who Jesus was. In 
saying that this was the one whom 
he had heheaded, the mighty wdrk- 
iiigs of a guilty conscience are laid 
open ; the bloody image of his mur- 
dered victim rose to his mind's eye, 
and haunted the scenes of his splen- 
dor, and led him, as soon as this 
distinguished character appeared, to 
identify him with John. A strik- 
ing testimony to the force of con- 
science ! Herod, in the midst of his 
power and magnificence, could not 
escape the pangs of remorse and 
ghastly fears, for having unjustly 
put to death a good man and bold 
censor. The arrow of self-condem- 
nation pierces him through the pur- 
ple of royalty. He is risen from 
the dead. It has been conjectured 
that Herod belonged to the sect of 
Sadducees, (compare Matt. xvi. 6 ; 
Mark viii. 15,) who disbelieved in 
the resurrection of the dead, and 
that his convictions of guilt over- 
came his speculative belief. The 
most wicked are often the most su- 
perstitious. Mighty works do show 
forth themselves, cj-c. i. e. "mighty 
powers operate by him; " which it 
was supposed would be the case 
with the prophet who was to pre- 
cede the Messiah. The conscience- 
smitten Herod may have supposed 
that this power was to vindicate 
John's innocence and avenge his 
death ; that the same energy that 
raised him from the dead continued 
to operate in him and enable him to 
do mighty works after his resurrec- 
tion. 



3-5. See Mark vi. 17-20; 
Luke iii. 19, 20. 

3. Herod had laid hold, <5fc. Mat- 
thew here makes a, digression, to 
relate what had happened some 
time before, by way of explaining 
what Herod had said concerning 
John in verse 2. Put him in prison. 
This was a gross act of injustice 
and tyranny, the consummation, as 
it would appear from Luke iii. 19, 
20, of other indignities. John was 
imprisoned, as we learn from Jose- 
phus, in the fortress of Machserus, 
situated on the river Jordan north 
of the Dead Sea. Herodias' 1 sake. 
She was the grand-daughter of 
Herod the Great, and the daughtei 
of Aristobulus. Her character was 
stained with licentiousness and cru- 
elty. Brother Philip's wife. An- 
tipas and Philip were half-brothers, 
being sons of Herod the Great by 
different mothers. Herodias had 
eloped from her husband, Philip, 
who is supposed to have been a pri- 
vate man, and not the tetrarch of 
Iturea, by whom she had one 
daughter, Salome, and now lived 
with Herod Antipas, who had re- 
pudiated his wife, the daughter of 
Aretas, king of Arabia. Incensed 
by this outrage, Aretas made war 
upon Antipas, and defeated him in 
battle with great loss. The soldiers 
on their way to this war are sup- 
posed to have been the ones ad- 
dressed by John the Baptist, Luke' 
iii. 14. As Herod had rendered 
himself in some measure unpopular 
by this needless war, he would the 
more fear John's influence over the 
people, and shrink from subjecting 
himself to the odium of putting so 



XIV.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



195 



5 fill for thee'to have her. And when he would have put him to 
death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a 

6 prophet. But when Herod's birth-day was kept, the daughter 

7 of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod ; where- 
upon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she 



great and good a man to death. It 
may be observed here that one bad 
act is usually a prelude to another. 
Adultery led to the imprisonment 
and death of John. The Rubicon 
of virtue once crossed, there .is no 
limit to ambition and wickedness. 

4. John said. Kept sayirg, ac- 
cording to Carpenter, for such is 
the force of the imperfect tense. 
Not lawful for thee to have her. Ac- 
cording to the law of Moses, a man 
was to marry his brother's widow 
if he died childless, in order to per- 
petuate the line. But in the present 
instance the parties were guilty of 
adultery and incest, for Herod had 
causelessly abandoned his own, and 
taken another man's wife, which 
was adultery ; and he had moreover 
talcen a near relative, without the 
existence of those circumstances, 
viz., the death of his brother, and 
that without children, which could 
alone prevent their being guilty of 
incest. Thus there was a double 
transgression of the laws of God. 
Josephus confirms in his history the 
account here given, arid thus inci- 
dentally, and all the more power- 
fully, substantiates the truth of the 
Gospels. Herod had seduced the 
wife of his brother while on a visit 
to him ; a horrible breach of the 
rites of hospitality. 

.5. When he ivould have, i. e. when 
he wished. Mark says, that " Hero- 
dias had a quarrel against him, and 
would have killed him, but she 
could not." He feared the multi- 
tude, <3fc. The Pharisees, Matt. 
xxi. 26, were prevented by the same 
fear of the people from saying that 
the baptism of John was not from 



heaven, but of men. Mark states 
the reason to have been, that " Herod 
feared John, knowing that he was a 
just man and an holy." The two 
reasons are compatible with each 
other, and they disclose the inde- 
pendence of the -historians. The 
evil nature of Herod shrank by fear 
from the bold and honest reformer. 
His dread was the tribute that vice 
pays to virtue. His fear of the peo- 
ple was a different and altogether 
lower sentiment ; an apprehension 
lest, if John was put to death, a re- 
bellion would be excited amongst 
his subjects. 

6-12. See Mark vi. 21-29. 
6. Herod's birth-day. It was cus- 
tomary for Icings and princes to cel- 
ebrate their birth-days with great 
magnificence, as we learn both from 
sacred and profane history. Gen. 
xl. 20. Upon the present occasion 
Herod gave an entertainment to his 
nobility and chief officers, Mark vi. 21. 
"Whether the festival was at Machse- 
rus, where John was imprisoned, or 
elsewhere, we know not. Daugh- 
ter of Herodias. We learn from 
Josephus that the name of this 
daughter was Salome. Danced. 
What was the nature of her dancing 
we are not informed. Some sup- 
pose it to have been of an indecent 
kind ; but others, among whom is 
that great authority, Lightfoot, con- 
sider it as a dance to express joy for 
the life and prosperity of Herod. 
Pleased Herod. It was great con- 
descension for v one in her station to 
appear befoie the company. Esther 
i. 11, 12. He might have been fur- 
ther pleased with the grace and ele- 
gance of her movements. 



196 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



would ask. And she, being before instructed of her mother, 8 
said : Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger. And 9 
the king was sorry; nevertheless, for the oath's sake, and them 
which sat with him at meat, he commanded il to be given her. 



7. Give her whatsoever she would 
ash Mark adds, " unto the half of 
my kingdom." Flushed with wine 
and excitement, and transported 
with the dancing- of Salome, he is 
impelled in a fatal moment to make 
a rash and dangerous promise, con- 
firmed with an oath. For another 
instance of a rash vow, see Judges 
xi. 31. 

8. Instructed of her mother. It 
would appear from Mark that she 
was not instructed before she came 
in to dance, but that she went out, 
and received her instructions before 
she gave her answer. Perhaps there 
was a preconcerted design to ac- 
complish John's death, though it 
seems hardly probable. John Bap- 
tist's. An erroneous translation for 
John the Baptist's. In a. charger. 
An antiquated word, meaning a 
platter or large dish. It was cus- 
tomary for rulers and kings to re- 
quire the head of their victim to he 
brought to them after his execution, 
both as a proof of its certainty and 
as a gratification to their revenge. 
Thus in ancient Rome the head of 
her rival was brought to Agrippina, 
the mother of Nero ; and, in mod- 
ern times, the head of a celebrated 
Turkish pacha, after being cut off, 
was sent to Constantinople, and ex- 
hibited publicly on a dish. From 
the account in Mark vi. 25, we 
might infer that Salome was quite 
young, from the childlike sprightli- 
ness and haste with which she re- 
turned from her mother to the king, 
but the bloody request she made 
with apparent heartiness would indi- 
cate that she was older in years and 
in wickedness. 

9. The king was sori~y. Tetrarchs 
were sometimes called by this title. 



According to Mark, he was "ex- 
ceeding sorry." This might have 
been occasioned by his respect for 
John, Mark vi. 20, or the reproof of 
a not wholly deadened conscience., 
or his fear of a popular commotion. 
His sorrow, however, was of no 
very salutary kind, for it 'did not re- 
sult in repentance, or arrest the sin- 
ful deed. Few are so bad as not to 
he more or less sorry for the com- 
mission of a wicked act, but yet 
they go on and consummate it. 
Oath's sake. This was the first 
cause of the subsequent crime. 
Herod had been - ensnared into a 
rash promise which he had sealed 
with an oath. The true way then 
open before him was to avoid doing 
wrong, even at the cost of breaking 
his promise. As it was wrong to 
make the promise, much more was 
it wrong to keep it. No promise 
or oath could justify murder. But 
probably Herod feared lest his honor 
might be wounded, rather than that 
the sacredness of an oath would be 
violated. Honor, falsely so called, 
has led to many monstrous deeds. 
Them which sat with him at meat. 
This was the second cause of the 
crime. His guests around rein- 
forced the request of Salome, or 
we may suppose that he felt a re- 
luctance to break his word in their 
presence. It is probable that John 
was obnoxious to them, as well as 
to Herod and Herodias, for he had 
not spared sinners in high places. 
" In how dispassionate a manner 
and with what uncommon candor 
does Matthew relate this most atro- 
cious action ! No exclamation ! No 
exaggeration! No invective .! There 
is no allowance, which even the 
friend of Herod would have urged 



xrv.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



197 

[1 And he sent and beheaded John in the prison. And his head 
was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel ; and she 

12 brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took up 

13 the body, and buried it ; and went and told Jesus. When. 

Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place 



in extenuation of his guilt, that his 
historian is not ready to make. ' He 
was sorry ; nevertheless, from a re- 
gard to his oath, and his guests.' " 

10. Sent and beheaded John. What 
a picture of the violence and cruelty 
of the age ! A prophet of God, 
without accusation, or trial, or sen- 
tence, or previous notice, is slain in 
the prison to which the pique of a 
licentious woman and the injustice 
of her paramour had consigned him. 
No wonder the unquiet conscience 
of Herod suggested that the Great 
Wonder-worker was the prisoner 
whom he had beheaded, and who 
was now risen from the dead, to do 
mighty works. Josephus, though 
not favorable to Christianity, has 
incidentally given powerful confirm- 
ations to the truth of its history. I 
will adduce two instances ; one re- 
lating to the character of Herodias, 
and the other to that of John. Jo- 
sephus says of Herodias, " She was 
a woman full of ambition and envy, 
having a mighty influence on Her- 
od, and able to persuade him to 
things he was not at all inclined 
to do." And respecting John, that 
" some of the Jews thought that 
the destruction of Herod's aimy [in 
the war with Aretas] came from 
God, and that very justly, as a pun- 
ishment of what he did against John 
that Avas called the Baptist ; for 
Herod slew him, who was a good 
man, and commanded the Jews to 
exercise virtue, both as to righteous- 
ness towards one another and piety to- 
wards God, and so come to baptism. " 

11. His head ivas brought, <5fC. 
Mark informs us, that Herod sent 
an executioner immediately, who 

' 17* 



went and beheaded John in prison. 
If Herod was at this time at Tibe- 
rias, the city in which his court was 
usually held, an interval of more 
than a day must have occurred be- 
fore the head was brought from 
Machaerus, where John was impris- 
oned. Brought it -to her mother. 
What a gift from a daughter to a 
mother ! The head of one of God's 
greatest prophets ! Herodias had 
thus an opportunity of gratifying 
her resentment, and being assured 
that her enemy was dead. But this 
awful crime did not go unpunished. 
As already mentioned by Josephus, 
the army of Herod was defeated by 
Aretas, whose daughter he had di- 
vorced to take Herodias. Both 
Herod and his wife were afterwards 
deprived of their kingdom and ban- 
ished into Gaul, and afterwards to 
Spain, where he died ; while Sa- 
lome, if we may credit Nicephorus, 
an early writer, was killed during 
their exile in attempting to cross a 
river on the ice. 

12. Buried it. Or, as Mark says, 
"laid it in a tomb." Went and 
told Jesus. As Jesus had been a 
friend of their master, and they had 
previously been sent with messages 
to him, they are naturally drawn to 
him by friendship and spiritual ties. 
Probably some of them became his 
disciples. 

13-21. Parallel to Mark vi. 31 
-44; Luke ix. 10-17; John vi. 
1 13. The narrative dropped at 
verse 3 is here resumed, after the 
digression to relate the history of 
John's death. 

13. Heard of it, i. e. not'of the 
death of John, for that took place 



198 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



apart ; and when the people had heard thereof, they followed 
him on foot out of the cities. 

And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude ; and was 14 
moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 

And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, say- 15 

ing : This is a desert place, and the time is now past ; send 
the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy 
themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them : They need 16 
not depart ; give ye them to eat. And they say unto him : We 17 
have here but five loaves and two fishes. He said : Bring 18 



long before, but that Herod had had 
report of him, verse 3. Departed 
thence by ship into a desert place 
apart, i. e. into a country compara- 
tively uncultivated and uninhabited. 
From Luke we learn, that it was 
near the city of Bethsaida, and from 
John, that it was on the other side 
of Ihe Sea of Galilee and beyond 
the jurisdiction of Herod, in the do- 
minion of Philip. Several reasons 
may be assigned for Jesus' with- 
drawal. He Avould not trust him- 
self in the power of the fox-like 
Herod, who desired to see him. He 
had not yet completed his ministry, 
and he would not rashly expose 
himself to danger, or give the peo- 
ple an opportunity to raise a tumult 
in his name and endeavor to make 
him king. Followed him on foot. 
Or, as Mark has it, "ran afoot.?' 
This word is not used in contrast 
with riding, as would at first ap- 
pear, but in contrast with going by 
sea or ship. Jesus sailed across 
the lake, whilst the people went 
round by land to the place where he 
went ashore. 

14. Jesus ivent forth, <$-c. From 
John's account we learn that Jesus 
had gone up into a mountain apart 
with his disciples, probably for rest, 
and seclusion, and when he saw the 
people " as sheep not having a shep- 
herd," Mark vi. 34, that he was im- 
mediately prompted to go forth, for- 
getful of his own fatigue, to heal 



their sick, and preach the Gospel. 
For their teachers were " blind 
leaders of the blind," and they 
needed some one to enlighten "their 
ignorance, and guide them into 
ways of peace and pleasantness, into 
green pastures and by the -side of 
still waters. The Good Shepherd 
looked with pity upon those thus 
wandering and lost. 

15. When it was evening. The 
Jews had two evenings, one corre- 
sponding in some measure to our af- 
ternoon, beginning at three o'clock 
and ending at six ; the other an- 
swered to our evening or night, and 
began at six o'clock. This kind of 
evening was spoken of in verse 23. 
The time is now past, i. e. the 
hour is late. It was near night ; 
and the multitude, hungry and wea- 
ry, required refreshment, which the 
disciples said they could procure in. 
the neighboring villages. 

16. They need not depart, <SfC. 
John relates the conversation be- 
tween Jesus and Philip, in which 
the Master put his disciple's faith to 
the e proof by asking him, " Whence 
shall we buy bread, that tlese may 
eat?" knowing himself that he 
should work a miracle to satisfy 
their wants. He would cultivate 
an implicit faith in his followers, 
and therefore says to them, " Give 
ye them to eat ;" though they had 
but five loaves and two fishes. 

17. John vi. 8, .9. A lad in at- 



XIV.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



199 



19 them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude" to sit 
down on the grass, and took the five loaves and the two fishes, 
and, looking up to heaven, he blessed ; and brake, and gave 
the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to .the multitude. 

20 And they did all eat, and were filled ; and they took up of 

21 the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they 



tendance had all the food in their 
possession ; and what was that 
among so many ? What were five 
loaves and two fishes, to five thou- 
sand men, besides women and chil- 
dren 1 The loaves were made of 
barley, and the fishes were probably 
from the neighboring lake, which 
supplied the surrounding population. 
The bread used among the Jews 
was not baked in the form of our 
loaves, but rather in that of cakes 
or biscuits. Hence they were never 
cut with a knife, but broken ; see 
verse 19, and Matt-, xxvi. 26. 

19. To sit down on the grass, 
i. e. to recline, after the eastern cus- 
tom when about to partake of food. 
The mention of the grass, and, by 
Mark, of "the green grass," and, 
by John, that "there was much 
grass in the place," is one of those 
natural particularities that mark an 
eyewitness of the scene, or one 
that received his account from an 
eyewitness. The grass spoken of 
shows that this was not a barren 
desert, but only an uncultivated re- 
gion, probably devoted to pasturage. 
The other Evangelists state, that 
they were seated in companies, by 
fifties and hundreds, which enabled 
them to be easily counted. Look- 
ing up to heaven, he blessed. He 
made a prayer of thanksgiving over 
the food about to be distributed ; a 
manifestation of the piety of Jesus 
and his sense of dependence, on God. 
He blessed God for the food. The 
custom of grace at meals was uni- 
versal among the Jews. The form 
was in these words : " Blessed be 
thou, O Lord our God, the King of 



the world, who hast produced this 
food from the earth, (or this drink 
from the vine)." The fact that Je- 
sus often prayed is an evidence that 
he is not God, but the Son of 
God. 

20. And they did all eat, and loere 
filled, i. e. they had a sufficiency, an 
important consideration to substan- 
tiate the miracle. Tioelve baskets 
full. The word in the original, co- 
phini, is found in classic writers, 
where it appears to signify a ham- 
per or pannier, such as the Jews 
were accustomed to carry about 
with them in their wanderings in 
Gentile countries, where they re- 
ceived but little hospitality and Were 
obliged to furnish their own bedding 
and food, fearing also, perhaps, that 
they should be polluted by that of 
the Gentiles. Jesus had directed 
them to gather up the fragments 
that remained, that nothing might 
be lost, John vi. 12, 13 ; where the 
fragments are spoken of as what 
remained of the five barley loaves, 
but in Mark, as resulting from the 
fishes also. The capacity of the 
baskets is not known, probably they 
were such as the disciples carried 
with them in their journeys. And 
it has- been suggested that each 
Apostle filled his basket with the 
fragments, thus making twelve in 
number. Although there was a 
profusion of food miraculously cre- 
ated, yet the fragments were gath- 
ered up with as much care as from 
an ordinary meal, and a lesson of 
frugality indirectly taught by him 
whose most common acts were 
pregnant with meaning and truth. 



200 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP 



that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women 
and children. 

And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a 22 
ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent 
the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes 23 
away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray. And when 



Nothing could more strongly im- 
press them with the sense of the 
astonishing miracle than finding that 
far more remained, after so many 
thousands had eaten, than there' 
was at first. 

2 1 . Five thousand men , cj-c. Their 
arrangement in companies of fifties- 
and hundreds made it easy to count 
them. A miraculous increase of 
food is also related in 1 Kings xvii. 
16, 2 Kings iv. 42-44, though in 
much smaller quantity. It is inter- 
esting to notice that Jesus adapted 
his miracles, as he did his instruc- 
tions, to different classes of persons ; 
some to his disciples, and some, as 
in this case, to a vast multitude. 
Few miracles could be less exposed 
to cavil than this, which addressed 
not only the eye, but satisfied the 
appetite of thousands. What could 
have been more morally sublime, or 
a higher proof of divine authority, 
than the creation so suddenly of an 
immense quantity of food, to re- 
lieve the famishing crowd ? What 
then shall we say of that Provi- 

dence which supplies the wants of 
a dependent universe, and every mo- 
ment diffuses life and happiness 
throughout millions of beings and 
worlds 1 The effect of the miracle 
is described in John vi. 14, 15. 

22-36. Mark vi. 45-56. John 
vi. 14-21. 

22. Constrained his disciples, <%-c. 
Perhaps the disciples favored the 
multitude in their desire to take Je- 
sus and make him king, and Jesus 
was obliged therefore to be peremp- 
tory in sending them away, as he 
could more easily dismiss the peo- 



ple without their presence. The 
other side, i. e. the west side of the 
lake, according to Mark, "unto 
Bethsaida," whilst John says, they 
"went over the sea, toward Caper- 
naum." Both are correct, as anoth- 
er Bethsaida was on the western 
side of the lake, whilst they were 
near one on the eastern side. Ca- 
pernaum was also on the northwest 
side. Sent the multitudes away. 
It would seem that he had acquired 
such complete ascendancy over the 
people, that he could dismiss them 
without difficulty when freed from 
the perhaps embarrassing- presence 
of his ambitious disciples. 

23. Went up into a mountain 
apart to pray. An eminence that 
probably overlooked the lake. He 
had just given a manifestation of 
his benevolence by feeding the faint- 
ing multitude ; he now exhibits his 
piety by communing with God ; so 
intimate is the union between love 
to man and love to his Maker. It 
is noticeable, that he retires apart 
to pray, agreeably to his direction 
of seclusion in performing this act, 
Matt. vi. 6. He retires to a moun- 
tain, " where inviolate stillness 
dwelt," and where "the spirit of 
the solitude fell solemnly" upon 
the breast. He had just passed 
through a critical passage of his 
life, and he turns to offer his thanks- 
givings to God ; the Holiest on earth 
adoring the Holiest in heaven. 

" Cold mountains and the midnight air 
Witnessed the fervor of his prayer." 

What a beautiful example of trust 
and love towards God, of the obli- 
gations and pleasures of prayer and 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



201 



24 the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was 
now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves ; for the wind 

25 was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus 

26 went unto them, walking on the sea.. And when the disciples 



secret communion, is here offered to 
our imitation ! If, too, it was neces- 
sary and delightful' to Jesus to re- 
fresh his spiritual being with these 
communings with Heaven, how 
much more is it needful for us, 
enveloped in the smoke and din of 
the earth! "It is extraordinary, 
that these frequent accounts of Je- 
sus' praying to God should not 
have prevented any idea of .his be- 
ing himself God. For, if he had 
been God, he could not have any 
occasion to pray. That his human 
nature prayed to his divine nature, 
or that one part of himself prayed 
to the other part, is too absurd to 
be replied to." The evening was 
come. This is the second evening, 
as that mentioned in verse 15 was 
the first, according to the Jewish 
method of computing time. He 
was there alone, yet not alone, for 
the Father was with him. 

" ' He was there alone,' when even 

Had round earth its mantle thrown. ; 
Holding intercourse with Heaven. 
'He was there alone.' . 

"There his inmost heart's emotion 
Made he to his Father known ; 
In the spirit of devotion, 
Musing there ' alone.' 

" So let us, from earth retiring, 

Seek our God and Father's throne; 
And to other scenes' aspiring, 
Train our hearts ( alone.' " 

24. Tossed ivith loaves. Violent- 
ly tossed with the waves, for so the 
original authorizes us to translate it. 
This lake was subject to sudden 
squalls and frequent gusts of wind 
from Ihe surrounding mountains. 
Dr. Clarke says, that a boisterous 
sea is instantly raised, when the 
strong current made by the Jordan 
is opposed by contrary winds, which 
sometimes blow here with the force 
of a hurricane from the southeast. 



25. Fourth loatch of the night. 
Anciently the Jews divided the 
night into three parts ; the first 
lasting till midnight,. Lam. ii. 19 ; 
the second, from midnight till cock- 
crowing, Judg. vii. 19 ; the third or 
morning watch, from cock-crowing 
till the rising of the sun, Ex. xiv. 
24 ; 1 Sam. xi. 11. . But after the 
conquest of Palestine by Pompey, 
this mode was superseded by the 
Roman division of the night into 
four watches, which furnishes an 
incidental evidence, of the period 
when these events took place, and 
authenticates the Gospel history. 
By this last division, 1st, the even- 
ing watch was from six to nine 
o'clock ; 2d, midnight watch, from 
nine to twelve ; 3d, cock-crowing, 
from twelve to three ; 4th, morning, 
or fourth watch, from three to six. 
It was, therefore, after three in the 
morning, when Jesus came to them. 
So long had he been engaged in 
communion with God ; finding thus 
his rest in prayer, as at another sea- 
son he found it to be his meat and 
drink to do the will of his Father. 
Upon a previous occasion, Luke vi. 
12, just before the choice of his 
twelve Apostles, he continued all 
night in prayer. Walking on . the* 
sea. This was an undoubted exhi- 
bition of supernatural power. The 
Egyptian hieroglyphic for an im- 
possibility was the figure of two 
feet walking upon the sea. Jesus 
comes down from the mount of 
prayer, to still the boisterous lake 
and relieve his endangered disciples. 

26. It is a spirit, i. e. a spectre, 
apparition. The ancients believed 
that the spirits of the departed re- 
appeared to the living ; and the un- 
usual circumstances under which 



202 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying : It is 
a spirit ; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus 27 
spake unto them saying : Be of good cheer, it is I ; he not 
afraid. And Peter answered him and said : Lord, if it be 23 
thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said : 
Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he 29 
walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the 30 
wind boisterous, he was afraid ; and beginning to sink, he 
cried, saying : Lord, save me ! And immediately Jesus 31 



they saw the figure of a man on the 
billows, in the darkness of the night, 
at once suggested that here was 
such an appearance, the most ap- 
palling in nature. 

' 27. It is I; be not afraid. Jesus 
does not attempt to correct their phi- 
losophical error respecting ghosts, 
but simply to banish their fears. In 
like manner, he did not disabuse his 
hearers of the popular but false no- 
tions of possessions by demons. 
We have an illustration in this 
narrative of the terror produced by 
superstition. 

" When power divine, in mortal form, 
Hushed with a word the raging storm, 
In soothing accents, Jesus said, 
' Lo ! it is I ! be not afraid.' 

"Blessed he the voice which breathes from 

heaven, 

To every heart in sunder riven, 
"When love, and joy, and hope are fled, 
' Lo ! it is I ! be not afraid.' 

" And when the last dread hour shall come, 
While shuddering nature waits her doom, 
This voice shall call the pious dead : 
'Lo! it is I ! be not afraid.' " 

28. If it be thou, bid me come unto 
thee, <$-c. ' Peter, with his character- 
istic impetuosity, as soon as he re- 
covered from his fear, gives loose 
to his ardor, and wishes to be bet- 
ter assured that it was Jesus. He 
was tempted, perhaps, also, to ex- 
hibit his faith ostentatiously. In the 
individuality of character which is 
preserved of all those persons intro- 
duced into the New Testament, we 
have a proof, of immeasurable and 



undeveloped strength, of the truth 
of the book. 

29. He said: Come. Our Lord 
gave permission to his rash and ar- 
dent disciple to make the attempt, 
principally, we may conjecture, in 
order to test his character, and ac- 
quaint him with its weaknesses. - 
Walked on the water, cf-c. It ap- 
pears that Peter succeeded for a 
time, and actually walked upon the 
fluid surface, as upon a solid floor. 

30. But when he saw the wind 
boisterous, <5fc. He was terrified by 
the rough appearance of the sea, 
and began to sink, though he still 
retained faith enough in Jesus to 
call upon him to rescue him. 
"Whilst he believed, the sea ro 
brass ; when be began to distrust, 
those waves were water." But his 
want of faith was the occasion, not 
the cause, of his sinking. As long 
as his confidence continued, he was 
sustained by supernatural power; 
but when it ceased, that power was 
withdrawn by the will of Jesus, to 
teach his disciple his own defective 
character, and the necessity of un- 
wavering- faith in him. This whole 
account is in perfect keeping with 
Peter's character, as elsewhere re- 
corded in the New Testament. All 
his bold and headlong acts are kin- 
dred to each other. It is the same 
spirit under different circumstances ; 
first rash, then " easily daunted, 
and prone lo fall." We are led to 



XIV.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



203 



, stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said, unto him : 
33 O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ? And when 

33 they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they 
that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying : Of a 
truth thou art the Son of God. 

34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of 

35 Gennesaret. And when the men of that place had knowledge 



remark, how many persons in life, 
sink in the sea of troubles and diffi- 
culties, for lack of faith. A distin- 
guished lady, who exhibited uncom- 
mon force of character, and steady 
devotion to noble objects, once ob- 
served, that she drew, in her youth, 
a vital lesson of the importance of 
courage and faith, from this narra- 
tive. 

31. Immediately Jesus stretched 
forth his hand, <Sfc. There was no 
real danger of his drowning, while 
such a friend was near him. His 
call for help is instantly answered, 
and he is taught the feebleness of 
his own faith. Wherefore- didst 
thou doubt? The Greek for doubt is 
taken from a word descriptive of a 
person's standing where two ways 
meet, hesitating which to choose, 
inclining sometimes to the one and 
sometimes to the other, with a 
doubtful, swaying motion, as of a 
balance. " Christ's mild rebuke, so 
unlike the denunciations which his 
professed followers in other ages 
have launched at what they have 
been pleased to call, but could not 
with certainty know to be deficien- 
cies of faith, that mild rebuke from 
him who did know all things, was 
the only punishment for the failing 
faith of the disciple. ' Wherefore 
didst thou doubt? ' wherefore, after 
seeing what thou hast seen, and 
hearing what thou hast heard, 
couldst thou doubt] " 

32. The wind ceased. Was hush- 
ed or lulled. He who could walk 
upon the waves could by the same 
power calm the winds and smooth 



the waters. John mentions that 
the ship arrived immediately at its 
destination, vi. 21. 

33. They that loere in the ship. 
Probably the disciples. Worship- 
ped him. They did not offer Christ 
divine worship, of which there is no 
example in ancient times, and for 
which there is no authority in mod- 
ern, but they did him obeisance, 
probably by prostrating themselves 
before him, according to the east- 
ern custom of paying respect to 
kings and great men. Mark de- 
scribes their amazement as great, 
and assigns as one cause of it, that, 
hardened in their hearts, they had 
forgotten the miracle of the loaves. 
The Son of God, i. e. the Mes- 
siah. Matt. xxvi. 63 ; John i. 49. 
If Jesus Christ was God himself, is 
it not incredible, that they should 
never have suspected that he was 
God, or addressed him x thus, but 
called him the Son .of God, or the 
expected Messiah 1. 

.34. The land of Gennesaret. 
Called, in the Old Testament, Chin- 
nereth. Deut. iii. 17 ; Numb, xxxiv. 
11 ; 1 Kings xv. 20. It was a small 
district of Lower Galilee,' adjacent 
to the lake, on the western side. It 
was sometimes called, on this ac- 
count, the lake of Gennesaret. The 
towns of Capernaum and Tibeiias 
were situated in this territory. 
Hence, John vi. 17, says, they 
" went over the sea, toward Caper- 
naum," and Mark vi. 45, that they 
were to go to Bethsaida, which was 
on the west side, in the same re- 
gion. From Bethsaida, on the east 



204 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



of him, they sent out into all that country round about ; and 36 
brought unto him all that were diseased, and besought him that 
they might only touch the hem of his garment ; and as many 
as touched were made perfectly whole. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Jesus condemns the Traditions of the Scribes and Pharisees, cures the Daughter of the 
Canaanitish Woman, and feeds Four T/tousand. 

JL HEN came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of 
Jerusalem, saying : Why do thy disciples transgress the tra- 2 
dition of the elders ? for they wash not their hands, when they 



of the lake, they go to the land of 
Gennesaret, containing the towns of 
Capernaum and Bethsaida on the 
west. How shall we account for 
the geographical accuracy with 
which the Evangelists wrote, other- 
wise than by supposing that they 
were contemporaneous with the 
events they describe, and competent 
to give an independent and exact 
.narrative ? 

35. Had Jmowledge of him. Knew 
him, for Jesus had performed mira- 
cles there before, and taugbt in the 
neighborhood. The daughter of 
Jairus bad been cured in the vicinity, 
and the diseased woman also came 
behind him trembling and touched 
the hem of his garment, which may 
incidentally account for tbe request 
in the next verse. 

36. Might only touch the hem of 
his garment, i. e. the fringe or tas- 
sel of tbe outer garment. They 
asked but the smallest favor of his 
miraculous power, confident tbat 
that would be sufficient for their re- 
lief. As many as touched ivere 
made perfectly whole. 'Not by any 
inherent Adrtue in the garment, but 
through the distinct volition and 
exercise of miraculous power by 
Jesus himself. 

Every chapter contains some les- 
son of truth, or pleadings of love, 
or motives to duty. "We are in tbis 



reminded, by the death of Jobn the 
Baptist, of the persecutions and 
martyrdoms which have in every 
age befallen the most illustrious ser- 
vants of God. The world lias hat- 
ed and killed them because they 
were not of the world. Yet their 
memories flourish green in all ages, 
and twine themselves deep around 
tbe affections of the human heart. 
What a posthumous kingdom over 
the wills and sentiments of their 
race ! 

Whilst the miracles of Christ win 
our assent to his divine authority, 
they should impregnate our breasts 
with the feelings of divine benevo- 
lence. They as much concern our 
hearts as our heads. 

CHAP. XV. 

1-29. Parallel to Mark vii. 1 
-31. 

1. Scribes and Pharisees. See 
note on Matt. iii. 7, v. 20. Of Je- 
rusalem. Belonging to Jerusalem. 
A deputation bad been sent from the 
metropolis, where the most learned 
men resided, perhaps with the ex- 
press design of watching Jesus, 
whose fame had spread abroad from 
one end of the country to the other. 
He was at this time in Galilee, as 
mentioned in the last chapter. 

2. Transgress the tradition of the 
elders ? The elders 'are those dis- 



XV.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



205 



3 eat bread. But he answered and said unto them : Why do ye 
also transgress the commandment of God, by your tradition ? 



tinguished for their wisdom and vir- 
tue, who had flourished in the past 
acres of the Jewish commonwealth. 
Their wise sayings and maxims 
relative to the Mosaic law and insti- 
tutions had acquired, in the course 
of time, great authority among the 
Jews. They were attributed to 
Moses, who, it was said, received 
from God an oral, as well as a writ- 
ten law, at Mount Sinai. The oral 
communications were explanatory 
of the written laws. They were 
said to have been given by Moses to 
Aaron and his posterity, passing 
from one to another, through priests, 

Jrophets, and rabbins, to Rabbi 
udah, in the second century of the 
Christian era, who committed to 
writing the traditions, as the oral 
law was called, which existed in the 
time of Christ and are referred to 
in the text, and thus formed what is 
now calledl the Mishna, which means 
miscellanies. This volume contains 
explanations of all the precepts of 
the Mosaic law. About a century 
after, another Jewish Rabbi, Jocha- 
nan, composed another volume, sup- 
plementary to the Mishna, called 
Gemara, i. e. completion or perfec- 
tion, which contains illustrations and 
comments on the Mishna. These 
two, the Mishna and the Jewish 
Gemara, compose the Jerusalem 
Talmud. Long after, Rabbi Asa 
composed the Talmud of Babylon, 
in a celebrated Jewish school near 
that city. This consists of the 
aforesaid Mishna as the text, and a 
new Gemara as commentary or sup- 
plement. These works are all, writ- 
ten in the Hebrew language, and 
are even in higher estimation among 
the Jews than the Scripture itself. 
In these Talmuds is found the Caba- 
la, or mystical method of explain- 
ing the law, by which abstruse and 
mysterious significations are formed 
VOL. i. 18 



by ingenious combinations of let- 
ters composing a word or words in 
the law. The criminality, in the 
judgment of the Scribes and Phar- 
isees, of transgressing any precept 
of the elders may be estimated from 
these sentences in their writings : 
" The words of the Scribes are 
lovely above the words of the law, 
for the words of the law are weigh- 
ty and light, but the words of the 
Scribes are all weighty:" "The 
words of the elders are weightier 
than the words of the prophets :." 
" The written law is narrow, but 
the traditional is longer than the 
earth and broader than the sea." 
The Jews compared the Bible to 
water, the Mishna to wine, and the 
Gemara to hippocras. Wash not 
their hands, when they eat bread. 
Or, eat food. The Scribes and 
Pharisees, according to Mark, had 
already observed that the disciples 
ate bread with unwashen hands. In 
the Talmudical writings, there are 
many minute and ridiculous direc- 
tions given respecting washing the 
hands, upon the ground that some 
uncleanness may be contracted. He 
was thought worthy of excommuni- 
cation and even death, who broke 
the custom. An evil spirit, called 
Shibta, was said to sit on the food 
of him who ate without washing, 
and to make the food hurtful. A 
story is related in the Talmud of a 
man's perishing in prison, because, 
part of the water brought him being 
spilt, he preferred using the rest 
rather to wash than to drink. 
Mark, writing for the benefit of the' 
Gentiles, goes into a fuller account 
of the ceremonies of washing than 
Matthew, who was writing for the 
Jews, where these customs were 
known. 

3. Transgress the commandment 
of God, by your tradition ? Jesus 



206 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



For God commanded, saying : "Honor thy father and mother ; " 4 
and : " He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death." 
But ye say : Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother : 5 
It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me ; 
and honor not .his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus 6 



did not commence with a vindica- 
tion of his disciples, for the observ- 
ance had the sanction of great au- 
iiority among the Jews ; but he 
first destroyed the very foundation 
on which their reasoning depended. 
He showed that in their adherence 
to the traditions of men they were 
guilty of violating the command- 
ments of God. His answer was 
virtually : You accuse my disciples, 
and through them me, of violating 
the traditions of the elders ; but I 
will point out a case, where, by 
these very traditions you value so 
much, you transgress the infinitely 
higher laws of God. You are the 
most guilty, for you break the 
moral law. 

4. For example : Honor thy father 
and mother, 6fc. This Avas the fifth 
commandment. Ex. xx. 12, xxi. 
17 ; Lev. xix. 3. This precept in- 
cluded not only filial respect, but 
also a proper care and maintenance 
of parents. For instances of this 
sense of the word honor, see 1 Tim. 
v. 3, 17. Curseth. Revileth. 
Die the death, i. e. let him surely 
die. Ex. xxi. 17. We learn from 
this verse the high and holy nature 
of the filial obligations. All the at- 
tentions of children never can repay 
the debt of gratitude which they 
owe those from whom they derived 
their being, their education, and the 
comforts' and blessings of early lifet 
Reverence, love, and obedience, so 
far as parental commands are right, 
are, by the laws of natural and re- 
vealed religion, obligatory upon chil- 
dren, and the contrary is prohibited 
under the most awful penalties. If 
aged and infirm, or poor, parents 
are to be taken care of by their off- 



spring, their last days to be made 
comfortable and happy, and the de- 
scent to the grave smoothed by filial 
sympathy and attention. 

5. But ye say. He contrasts their 
iniquitous sayings with the divine 
commandments. It is a gift. Mark 
says, "It is Corban, that is to say, 
a gift," something devoted to the 
service of God. If a Jew wished 
to evade the duty of supporting his 
parents, he might, according to the 
doctrine of the Scribes and Phari- 
sees, the tradition of the elders, de- 
vote his property to the treasury of 
the Lord, or place it in the hands 
of the priests. He would then say 
to his parents, My property is Cor- 
ban, a gift sacred to God^so far as 
you might be profited by it. He 
was said to be free accordingly from 
the obligation of providing for the 
wants of his father and mother. 
Thus, under the guise of a false 
piety, the command of God was dis- 
obeyed. Some commentators sup- 
pose, that what they refused to their 
parents was not actually devoted to 
a sacred purpose, but by the use of 
the word Corban, or by taking a 
rash oath or vow, they represented 
that it was alienated from the use of 
their parents as much as if it had 
been given to God, which seems as 
rational an interpretation, and one 
that is countenanced by the different 
vows of obligation or prohibition in 
the Talmudic books, as Lightfoot 
has shown on this passage. Jesus 
would not censure the practice of 
giving to religious objects ; but he 
would condemn the practice of thus 
giving at the expense of violating 
the filial obligations. 

6. He shall be free. These words 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



207 



have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your 

7 tradition. Ye hypocrites ! well did Esaias prophesy of you, 

8 saying : " This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, 
and honoreth me with their lips ; but their heart is farxfrom me. 

9 But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the 

10 commandments of men." And he called the multitude, and 

11 said unto them : Hear, and understand. 



Not that which goeth 



in Italics are not in the original, but 
are. introduced by the translators ; 
the sense would be unimpaired if 
they were omitted. The " whole 
might read thus, as "Wakefield has 
translated it : "A man may say 
to his father or mother, that is an 
offering to God (by which I might 
have profited thee), and so honor 
not his father or his mother." Of 
none effect by your tradition. By 
this wicked subterfuge they really, 
though not expressly, nullified the 
fifth commandment. 

7. Ye hypocrites. Ye false pre- 
tenders, ostensibly keeping the 
commandments, but in reality setting 
them aside to make room for your 
own traditions. Esaias. Is. xxix. 
13, where there is a difference in 
language from the passage here 
quoted, since this Avas taken from 
the Greek Septuagint and not from 
the original Hebrew. The declara- 
tion of Isaiah is introduced, not as 
implying the fulfilment of a prophe- 
cy, but as a description given by the 
prophet of the people of his time, 
which was applicable to the Jews 
of that period. Prophecy of you. 
Of such as you. 

8. Draweth nigh unto me with 
their mouth. The orthodox critic 
Griesbach has omitted this sentence 
in his celebrated and accurate edi- 
tion of the New Testament. The 
formal lip-worship prevalent in the 
time of Isaiah was chargeable upon 
the Jews of Christ's age. The 
Scribes and Pharisees were full of 
good professions, scrupulous in 
meats and drinks, and punctilious 



in all external observances, but the 
love of God had died out of their 
hearts, and left them cold and hol- 
low. No spirit of devotion burned 
within. 

9. All worship is necessarily in 
vain, if it spring not from a heart 
obedient to God. He who is sub- 
servient to the will of man, or to 
human institutions, in opposition to 
God's laws, by that very state of 
mind disqualifies himself for offering 
acceptable worship, which implies 
by the very act a supreme regard to 
the Being who is worshipped. By 
these direct and searching applica- 
tions of truth to their consciences, 
Jesus gave them mortal offence, and 
so stung their pride that they were 
never satisfied until they saw him 
upon the cross. ' 

10. He called the multitude. Turn- 
ing from the Scribes and Pharisees, 
he now addressed the people at 
large. Thus far he had been enga- 
ged in rebutting the charge against 
his disciples, because they ate with 
unwashen hands,' by an argumen- 
tum ad hominem to the Pharisees, 
who, in their eagerness to observe 
human institutions, broke the divine 
commandments; thus undermining 
the very ground of their accusation. 
In a more public address to the 
whole people, he proceeds to attack 
the formal observances upon which 
the Jews plumed themselves so 
highly, as being wholly empty and 
worthless without inward purity. 
Hear , and understand. He awakens 
their attention by reminding theni 
of their duty to listen candidly and 



208 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



into the mouth defileth a man ; but that which cometh out of 

the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples, 12 

and said unto him : Knowest thou that -the Pharisees were 
offended, after they heard this saying ? But he answered and 13 
said : Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, 
shall be rooted up. Let them alone ; they be blind leaders of 14 
the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into 
the ditch. Then answered Peter and said unto him : Declare 15 



endeavor to understand his 'instruc- 
tions. 

11. Not that which goeth into the 
mouth, <$rc. This refers back to 
verse 2, where they had objected to 
the disciples because they ate with 
unwashen hands. Jesus would not 
destroy the law which authorized a 
distinction of meats, but he asserts 
that nothing is naturally unclean, or 
could defile a human mind ; but that 
regard was chiefly to be paid to tbe 
thoughts, intentions, and words 
coming out of a man. These it 
was that had power to stain his pu- 
rity. 

12. Were offended. Were scan- 
dalized. They were indignant, that 
the veil of hypocrisy should be torn 
'off and their idle pretentious to holi- 
ness exposed to contempt. They 
did not venture openly to denounce 
Jesus, but the disciples observed 
that they had taken offence. The 
question of the disciples carries the 
impression that they regretted that 
the Pharisees were offended, think- 
ing it necessary, perhaps, to propi- 
tiate their favor, in order to establish 
their Master's kingdom. 

13i Every ylant. Every planta- 
tion, according to many critics, re- 
ferring to the "Scribes and Pharisees 
as a body, who would be overthrown 
by the advance of truth ; or, as is 
more likely, erroneous doctrines and 
customs are meant. It was the bu- 
siness of our Lord to extirpate these, 
to make way for the truth. "We 
have the promise of Jesus that these 



in due time shall, by the reformation 
of the world and the elevation of the 
church, be finally rooted up. Truth 
is great, and it will eventually pre- 
vail. There are many plants in the 
Christian church, unscriptural doc- 
trines, idle rites, and groundless 
pretensions, which cannot abide the 
searching investigation of free and 
independent minds. It becomes us, 
therefore, abandoning all other foun- 
dations, to repose upon Christ, the 
corner-stone, fearless of the future. 

"Nought endures but thou, O Lord ; 
Everlasting is thy word ! 
Thou, the first, the midst, the end ; 
Thou, the deathless, changeless friend : 
Grant us, Lord, beyond the skies, 
Flowers whose fragrance never dies." 

14. Let them alone. Have done 
with them. Have nothing to do 
with their doctrine, dread not their 
opposition. It is to be ~ expected 
that they will, be enraged at those 
who endeavor to convict them of 
their errors. Blind leaders of the 
blind. A proverbial expression 
common to the Hebrews, Greeks, 
and Romans, and aptly illustrating 
the point our Lord wished to con- 
vey. The common people were 
blind through ignorance. The 
Scribes and Pharisees, their guides, 
were blind through perversity and 
hypocrisy. The consequence of 
one leading the other would be, that 
both would go astray and fall into 
destruction. Ditch. More prop- 
erly, pit, which was dug to hold 
water in a country exposed to severe 
drought. 



XV.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



209 



16 unto us this parable. And Jesus said : Are ye also yet without 

17 understanding ? Do not ye yet understand that whatsoever 
. entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out 

18 into the draught ? But those things which proceed out of the 

19 mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man. For 
out of the heart proceed evil thoughts ; murders, adulteries, 

20 fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the 
things which defile a man ; but to eat with unwashen hands 
defileth not a man. 

21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of 

22 Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out 



15. Then answered Peter. Hare 
again is inwoven in the history a 
bright thread of reality, in the char- 
acteristic representation of this' dis- 
ciple as the spokesman of the com- 
pany. ' The slighter such an inci- 
dent, the greater the evidence of 
undesignedness, nature, and. truth. 
Declare unto us this parable. Ex- 
plain your maxim or figure, which 
had been given in verse 11. The 
word parable is used with a consid- 
erable" latitude of meaning. See 
note on Matt. xiii. 3. 

16.. Are ye also yet without under- 
standing ? Still without understand- 
ing. He appeals to their common 
sense. You must be obtuse indeed, 
after all my instructions, not to un- 
derstand my comparison. 

17. Food enters the bodily sys- 
tem, but not the spiritual constitu- 
tion, Mark vii. 19, and consequently 
does not affect the character. 

IS. But what is spoken comes 
from the abundance of the heart, 
and that defiles the character. As 
a poet -says: 

"Our outward act is prompted from within, 
. And from the sinner'3 mind proceeds the sin." 

Christ in this passage taught, in op- 
position to the Pharisees, 1st, that 
outward things do not pollute the 
character ; and 2d, that evil words 
and thoughts, coming from the 
heart, defile the man. 

18* 



19. Jesus proceeds to give a cata- 
logue of those things which corrupt 
a man. Evil thoughts. Or, pur- 
poses. He then particularizes what 
deeds they prompt. Blasphemies. 
Calumnies, or, if it relates to the 
Creator, impious expressions. Mark 
mentions not only the acts, but the 
evil qualities, covetousness, wicked- 
ness or malice, deceit, lascivious- 
ness, an evil eye, pride, foolishness. 

20. Unwashen hands. This re- 
fers back to verse 2, where the dis- 
ciples were accused of eating with- 
out washing their hands. It was 
no sin to neglect an empty form. 
Jesus encouraged no superstitious 
or idle ceremonies, but what is real, 
rational, and indispensable. 

21. Into the coasts of Tyre and 
Sidon. Or, towards the borders of 
Tyre and Sidon, for it does not ap- 
pear with certainty that he ever left 
the country of Judea. His object 
in retiring to that region was proba- 
bly to escape from the importunity 
of the Scribes and Pharisees, or the 
snares of Herod. This supposition 
is strengthened by what is said in 
Mark, that he would have no 'man 
know the place where he was. On 
Tyre and Sidon see note, Matt, 
xii. 22. 

22. Woman of Canaan. Pales- 
tine was formerly called Canaan. 
Perhaps she was a descendant of 



210 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying : Have mercy 
on me, O Lord, ihou son of David ; my daughter is grievously 
vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And 23 
his disciples came and besought him, saying : Send her away, 
for she crieth after us. But he answered and said : I am not 24 
sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then 25 
came she and worshipped him, saying : Lord, help me ! But 26 
'ie answered and said : It is not meet to take the children's 



the ancient Canaanites. Mark vii. 
26, she is termed " a Greek, a Sy- 
rophenician by nation. ' ' This coun- 
try had been conquered and govern- 
ed by the Greeks under Alexander 
the Great. Besides the Jews gave 
the name of Greek to all who be- 
longed not to their own nation. 
The region in which Tyre and Si- 
don were situated was called Phoe- 
nicia, and was included in the more 
general name of Syria. Hence the 
inhabitants were Syrophcenicians, as 
distinguished from the Phoenicians of 
Libya, or Carthaginians. Coasts. 
Borders. Son of David. She 
might have learned this epithet of 
the Messiah from the multitude 
around him, and his beneficent pow- 
er to cure the sick. Vexed with a 
devil. A. demon. See note on Matt, 
iv. 24. The Jews ascribed all invet- 
erate diseases to the agency of de- 
mons, or the disembodied spirits of 
wicked men. 

23. He answered her not a word. 
The disciples, imbued with the pre- 
judices of their countrymen, would 
have been offended had he imme- 
diately granted her request ; but by 
deferring the matter, they them- 
selves, moved by her pathos, join 
with her in supplicating his aid. 
Send her away, i. e. dismiss her, 
satisfy her, or despatch her busi- 
ness ; whereas the common version 
makes it appear that they would 
have him send her away disap- 
pointed of her object. So far from 
it, her eloquent grief overcame their 



rooted dislike to the Gentiles, and 
they became co-pleaders with her. 

24. Lost sheep of the house of 
Israel. An image of a flock with- 
out a shepherd, bewildered and ex- 
posed to the ravages of wild beasts. 
The ministry of Jesus was special- 
ly devoted to the Jews, as the na- 
tion that had been particularly edu- 
cated by God to maintain his pure 
worship. Still, he preached to the 
Samaritans, he cured the servant of 
a Roman, and the daughter of a . 
Greek, and thus intimated, .not 
doubtfully, that his religion was a 
gift from Heaven to all men. But 
this and the other objections Jesus 
made to the woman's petition may 
be understood, as has been truly 
suggested, rather as an expression 
of what was- passing in the minds 
of his disciples, than of his own 
disinclination to relieve the Gentile. 
He wished to overcome their preju- 
dices, and bring back their hearts to 
nature and to truth, by exhibiting 
her sublime faith, which would not 
have been manifested had he at 
once granted her prayer. 

25. 'Worshipped him. Notwith- 
standing her seeming repulse, strong 
in her maternal heart, she throws 
herself in a supplicant posture at 
his feet with the new entreaty, 
"Lord, help me!" Beautiful in- 
stance of persevering faith ! 

26. It is not meet, <5fc. Or, fit or 
right. We may suppose Jesus here 
expresses less his own sentiment 
than that of the disciples and the 



XV.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



211 



27 bread, and to cast it' to dogs. And she said: Truth, Lord ; 
yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's 

28 table. Then Jesus answered arid said unto her : O woman, 
great is thy faith ; be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her 
daughter was made whole from that very hour. 

29 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the 
Sea of Galilee ; and went" up into a mountain, and sat down 

30 there. And great multitudes came unto him, having with 
them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many 



multitude. He - assumes for the 
moment their style of speech. The 
Jews regarded themselves as the 
children of Go'd, and they hesitated 
not to call all other nations sinners, 
dogs, and every thing most oppro- 
brious. This seemingly harsh lan- 
guage is softened, therefore, when 
we know that words, highly offen- 
sive when first used, in time lose 
their rudeness, and sink into mere 
terms of designation. The manner 
and look of Jesus, as we learn from 
the sequel,, were such as not to in- 
timidate, but encourage the woman. 
The diminutive also is used in the 
original, meaning little dogs, which 
bespeaks likewise a mildness of 
address. 

27. The dogs eat of the crumbs, 
fyc. Never was an answer more 
apropos and ingenious. I acknowl- 
edge, she says, the force of your 
words, and I ask but for the crumbs, 
which the dogs have by right of 
custom, that fall from the abundant 
table spread for the entertainment 
of the Jews. ' Jesus effected his 
purpose, and exhibited her humility 
and faith, in their native grace and. 
constancy, to the admiration of bis 
disciples. 

28. Great is thy faith. Or, con- 
fidence in my power and disposition 
to aid thee. This eulogy would ap- 
pear the more remarkable to the 
bystanders, because he had just ap- 
plied to. her the common term of 
Jewish contempt. If such faith wag 



found among the dogs, what ought 
to be expected of -the children? 
Does not Jesus, in this sentence, 
already intimate that Gentile as 
well as Jew would be admitted to 
the highest favors of his kingdom? 
Whole from that very hour. Ac- 
cording to Mark, the mother found 
her daughter already restored, when 
she returned home. The cure was 
instantaneous, and therefore mirac- 
ulous. It was at a distance, and 
must therefore have taken place 
without artifice or concert. Tbe 
disease, in all probability', was a 
mental one, and, from its mysteri- 
ousness and difficulty of treatment, 
attributed to demons. "The case 
of the Canaanitish woman is in it- 
self a thousand sermons. Her faith, 
her prayers, her perseverance, her 
success, the honor she received from 
her Lord, &c., &c., how instruc- 
tively, how powerfully, do these 
speak and plead ! They that seek 
shall find, is the great lesson incul- 
cated in this short history." 

29. Came nigh unto the Sea of 
Galilee. On the eastern coast, in 
the region of Decapolis, as we learn 
from Mark. Into a mountain. Ac- 
cording to the original, the moun- 
tain, i. e. the ridge of mountains 
surrounding the lake, or some well 
known eminence in particular. 

30. See note on Matt. iv. 24. T 
Maimed, i. e. those, according to 
Wetstein and Wakefield, who had 
lost a limb. Matt, xviii. 8, where 



212 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



others ; and cast them down at Jesus' feet, and he healed 
them ; insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw 31 
the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, 

and the blind to see ; and they glorified the God of Israel. 

Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said : I have 32 
compassion ' on the multitude, because they continue with me 
now three days, and have nothing to eat ; and I will not send 
them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. And his disci- 33 
pies say unto him : Whence should we have so much bread in 
the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude ? And Jesus 34 
saith unto them : How many loaves have ye ? And they said : 
Seven, and a few little fishes. And he commanded the multi- 35 



the halt or maimed is he whose 
hand or foot has been cut off. What 
a striking manifestation of divine 
power to reproduce a lost limb ! 

31. In tliis place, Mark, instead 
of giving a general summary of 
Christ's miracles, like Matthew, in- 
serts a particular instance of the 
cure of the deaf person who had 
a.n impediment in his speech. Al- 
though the Scribes and Pharisees 
played a captious and cavilling part 
towards Jesus, yet the great mass 
accorded him their faith and admi- 
ration, and praised God, who had 
raised up for them so mighty a pro- 
phet. Though his miracles were 
so astonishing, the thought never 
appears to have crossed their minds, 
that he was any other than a being 
endowed by God with wonderful 
gifts. That belief, so awful and 
abhorrent to a Jewish mind, but so 
prevalent in Christendom, that Je- 
sus was God himself, .was totally 
unknown at that time ; for they 
glorified, not Jesus, but the God of 
Israel. 

32-39. See Mark viii. 1-10. 

32. And have nothing to eat. Not 
that they had been three days with- 
out food, or as is probably meant, 
one day with a part of the day pre- 
ceding and that succeeding, but that 
they had exhausted their provisions. 



Jesus, like a true shepherd, mani- 
fests an active sympathy with their 
suffering condition, and is prompted 
by benevolence, even more than by 
a desire to substantiate his authori- 
ty, to perform the stupendous act of 
multiplying food to a vast amount. 
" O, the faith and zeal of these cli- 
ents of Christ ! They not only fol- 
low him from the city into the desert, 
from delicacy to want, from fre- 
quence to solitude, but forget their 
bodies in pursuit of the food for 
their souls. Such sweetness did 
these hearers find in the spiritual re- 
past, that they thought not on the 
bodily." 

33. His disciples say unto him, <%c. 
It is remarkable that they should 
have so soon forgotten the miracu- 
lous multiplication of bread related 
in chap: xiv. 17-21, but their hard- 
ness of heart may have caused the 
obliteration of that impression. Or, 
they may not have doubted Christ's 
power, but only whether he would 
then choose to exert it. Or again, 
we may suppose we emphatic. We 
cannot supply their wants, Imt.you 
have the power ; a hint to remind 
him of what they wished him to do. 
It is a decisive mark of the truth- 
fulness of the history, that no at- 
tempt is made to explain this and 
other difficulties. Confidence is re- 



xvi,] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



213 



36 tude to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves 
and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to 

37 his disciples, and the-disciples to the multitude. And they did 
all eat, and were filled ; and they took up of the broken meat 

38 that was left seven baskets full. And they that did eat were 

39 four thousand men, beside women and children. And he sent 
away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts 



of Magdala. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Jesus refuses to give the Scribes and Pharisees a Sign. TJie Confession of Peter, 
predicts his approaching Fate and future Glory. 



Jesus 



L HE Pharisees also, with the Sadducees, came, and, tempt- 



posed in the candor of the reader. 
The remarks made upon the preced- 
ing miracle of the same land are 
applicable here, and require not to 
be repeated. 

35. To sit down, i. e. to recline, 
as was the custom at meals. 

36. Gave thanks. Jesus was fill- 
ed with a living spirit of devotion 
and love to God, which was mani- 
fested upon every occasion, whether 
joyful or sorrowful. The fountain 
of piety welled up in his heart with 
streams ever fresh and pure. He 
lias set us an example of thanking 
God for our temporal as well as our 
spiritual blessings. 

37. Broken meat that was left. 
Economy should be practised in the 
midst of the greatest abundance. 
The smallest of the Divine gifts is 
not to be wasted. What iis squan- 
dered in the extravagance of the 
luxurious, and the excesses of the 
sensualj would suffice to feed the 
hungry, clothe the naked, and re- 
lieve the sick. Christ would teach 
his followers to be frugal, that they 
might be benevolent. 

38. It is observed by Priestley, 
that the history of this miratle .must 
be a true account of the Evange- 
lists, for it is less in magnitude than 
the preceding ; the number of per- 



sons fed being less, the quantity of 
provisions greater, and what remain- 
ed not so much. Whereas, if it 
had been a fiction, they would have 
made some advances on the preced- 
ing one, so that the latter should 
have appeared the more wonderful 
of the two. 

39. Coasts. Borders of Magdala. 
In Mark viii. 10, it is Dalmanutha. 
These places were probably situat- 
ed near each other, in the vicinity 
of the Sea of Galilee, on the west- 
ern shore. To be in the neighbour- 
hood of one was also to be in the 
neiglibourhood of the other, which 
is all that coasts or parts imply. 
Our information respecting these 
places is rather uncertain and con- 
tradictory. Mary Magdalene deriv- 
ed her cognomen from Magdala, of 
which she was probably a native or 
an inhabitant. 

CHAP. XVI. 

1 - 12. Parallel to Mark viii. 11 -. 
21. Matthew's account is more full 
than that of Mark. A similar nar- 
ration is given in Matt. xii. 38-42. 

1. Pharisees and Sadducees. For 
an account of these sects, see note 
on Matt. iii. 7. Though hostile to 
each other, they agreed in their 
opposition to Jesus. Tempting. 



214 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



ing, desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven. 
He answered and said unto them : When it is evening, ye say : 2 
It will be fair weather ; for the sky is red. And in the morn- 3 
ing : Jl ?vill be foul weather to-day ; for the sky is red and 
lowering. O ye hypocrites ! ye can discern the face of the 
sky, but can ye not discern the signs of the times ? A wicked 4 
and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign ; and there 
shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. 
And he left them, and departed. 

And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had 5 
forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said unto them : Take 6 



Trying or testing. The ' Evange- 
lists pass no judgments on the mo- 
tives of these persons, as the Eng- 
lish word tempting would imply, 
but simply state the fact that they 
questioned him. Mark viii. 11. 
-4 sign from heaven. See note on 
Matt. xii. 38. Notwithstanding our 
Saviour performed so many aston- 
ishing miracles, they demand some- 
thing more ; some wonder in the 
heavens, similar to those exhibited 
by the old prophets. Ex. xvi. 4 ; 
1 Sam. xii. 18 ; Isa. xxxviii. 8. It 
is supposed that Josephus refers to 
this desire for wonders, where he 
says, that " there were impostors in 
the time of Agrippa, who went be- 
fore the people into the wilderness, 
pretending that God would there 
show the signals of liberty." Signs 
from heaven were indeed afterwards 
exhibited, of the most appalling na- 
ture, to attest Christ's authority, 
the sun being darkened three hours 
on the day of his crucifixion. Are 
there not many now who overlook 
the evidences of religion that lie un- 
der their notice, and demand such 
as, from the nature of the case, are 
impossible ? 

2, 3. The ancients, as we learn 
both from Jewish and classic au- 
thority, were skilful in prognosticat- 
ing the weather. This was done, 
as at the present day, by observing 



the signs of the sky, the appearan- 
ces of the clouds and the heavenly 
bodies. The import of our Saviour's 
reproof is, that they were ingenious 
in predicting the weather from the 
signs in the heavens, but that they 
could not understand the* signs of 
the times, the miracles which came 
from the sky or descended from the 
God of heaven, and which authenti- 
cated his divine commission. Foul 
weather. A familiar expression for 
a storm. Hypocrites. A term de- 
scriptive of the general character of 
the Pharisees, rather than as hav- 
ing any particular application in 
this place. Discern. Discriminate, 
judge of. 

4. See note on Matt. xii. 39. 
This was his uniform reply, that no 
mightier evidence would be afforded 
of his authority from God, than his 
death and resurrection, shortly to 
take place at Jerusalem; a sign, 
not from the sky, but from the earth. 
Mark states, that he said this with 
the profoundest emotion ; that " he 
sighed deeply in his spirit." How 
could it have been otherwise, when 
he saw their obduracy and incurable 
wickedness ? 

5. Were come to the other side. 
"Were coming, or were on their way 
to, the other side of the Sea of Gal- 
ilee. Mark has here a delicate linea- 
ment of nature and truth, as he 



XVL] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



215 



heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the 

7 Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying : 

8 It' is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus 
perceived, he said unto them : O ye of little faith, why reason 

9 ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread ? Do 
ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the 

19 five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up ? neither the 
seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye 

11 took up ? How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it 
not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the 

12 leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees ? Then under- 
stood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven 
of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sad- 
ducees. 

13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Csesarea Philippi, he 



qualifies the expression, " they had 
forgotten to take bread," by saying-, 
that they had but one loaf with them. 

6. Leaven. Both good and bad 
doctrines were .compared to leaven, 
which silently diffuses itself through- 
out the mass in which it is mixed. 
1 Cor. v. 6, 7. In Mark viii. 15, 
"the leaven of Herod "is spoken 
of, by which is probably meant, the 
doctrine of the Herodians or parti- 
sans of Herod, which was as perni- 
cious, in a political point of view, as 
that of the Pharisees and Sadducees 
was in a religious aspect. There is 
ever some leaven of error working 
around us in society, happily if not 
in the Christian church, against 
which we ought to be upon our 
guard. 

7. We have here an evidence of 
the exceeding backwardness of the 
disciples to understand the figura- 
tive language of their Master. Has 
not a similar dulness of apprehend- 
ing the metaphors of Scripture pre-. 
vailed in all ages ? They supposed, 
that, in their destitution of bread, 
Jesus was unwilling that they should 
buy loaves of the Pharisees and 



Sadducees, for fear that they should 
be contaminated. 

8-11. Of little faith. Distrust- 
ful of my power, or of Divine Provi- 
dence. He reminds them of the late 
repeated miracles, by which many 
thousands had been miraculously 
supplied with food. Matt. xiv. 21 ; 
xv. 38. According to Mark viii. 
17, 18, he reproves them sharply 
for their stupidity. 

12. At last, their minds were 
opened to its meaning. But the 
event is an instructive one, as it pre- 
sents a picture of their spiritual ob- 
tuseness, and want of insight, which 
continued until they were supernat- 
urally inspired on the day of Pente- 
cost, notwithstanding our Saviour's 
most assiduous and patient instruc- 
tions. Tlien. After all these 
explanations. Doctrine. Implies 
their practices as well as their ten- 
ets ; the superstition, cant, and hy- 
pocrisy of the Pharisees ; and the 
denial of a Providence, and a future 
life, and the pride of the Sadducees. 

13-28. Parallel to Mark viii. 
27-38 ; ix. 1 ; and Luke ix. 18-27. 

13. Came. Was coming, or, as 



216 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



asked his disciples, saying : Whom do men say that I, the Son 
of Man, am ? And they said : Some say that thou art John 14 
the Baptist ; some, Elias ; and others, Jerernias, or one of the 
prophets. He saith unto them : But whom say ye that I am ? 15 
And Simon Peter answered and said : Thou art the Christ, the 16 
Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him : 17 



Mark expresses it, via. 27, "by the 
way." Coasts. Borders. Ac- 
cording- to Mark, "towns," or vil- 
lages, lying around and dependent 
on the city. Gzsarea Philippi. - A 
city of tipper Galilee, near the 
source of the Jordan, at the foot of 
Mount Hermon. It is supposed to 
have occupied the site of the ancient 
town of Laish, afterwards called 
Dan. Judg. xviii. 29. The Phoe- 
nicians also called it Paneas ; and 
its modern name is Banias. The 
name of Cacsarea was given it in 
honor of Tiberius Cssar, the Ro- 
man emperor, and that of Philippi, 
after Philip, the tetrarch, who re- 
built and embellished it, and to dis- 
tinguish it from another Caesarea, a 
city on the coast of the Mediterane- 
an. It was about thirty miles north 
from the Sea of Galilee, and 115 
from Jerusalem, and was probably 
the most distant place from that city 
which Jesus ever visited. WJwm. 
Grammatical correctness requires 
who. The Son of Man, i. e. the 
man by eminence, the man that ex- 
cites such curiosity arid wonder. 
The motives of Jesus, in thus ques- 
tioning his disciples, will better ap- 
pear, if we consider tbat his con- 
duct must have perplexed them. 
Instead of suffering himself to be 
proclaimed king, he was privately 
fleeing from the tyrant who had 
killed his forerunner, and seeking 
retirement. To clear up the obscu- 
rity, and prepare their minds for his 
approaching fate, lie enters upon 
this conversation, and draws from 
them their confession that he was 
the Messiah or Christ ; and then 



warns them to be faithful in follow- 
ing him, though they had to carry 
the cross itself, and opens visions 
of a higher than any earthly glory 
upon their dismayed eyes. Verses 
21, 24, 28. 

14. John the Baptist, <3fC. These 
views of Christ's person were all 
founded upon substantially the same 
ground, the belief in the transmi- 

'gration of souls, which appears to 
have been prevalent at that time. 
See notes on Matt. xi. 14, and xiv. 
2. Those who were not ready to 
admit that Jesus was the Messiah, 
might yet recognise him as his pre- 
cursor. It is said,_that there was 
a Jewish tradition, that Jeremiah 
would precede the advent of the 
Messiah, and dig up those vessels 
which it was supposed he had bur- 
ied, and restore, in all its ancient 
splendor, the temple worship. 2. 
Maccabees, ii. 1 9. 

15. The question here asked 
shows, that Jesus had not express- 
ly told the Jews that he was the 
Messiah, but left it to be inferred 
from his works and his words. 

16. Simon Peter answered. This. 
Avas in harmony with his ardent 
temperament. ~ Christ, the Son of 
the living God. This described the 
person and office of Christ, and the 
power from on high with which he 
was invested. It was the joint con- 
fession of the disciples, expressed 
through Peter. Christ should have 
the article .prefixed to it as in the 
original ; the Christ, the Messiah. 
It is observable that Peter's testi- 
mony is, that Jesus is the Son of 
God, and not God himself. The 



XVL] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



217 



Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona ; for flesh and blood hath not 

IS revealed it unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven. And 

I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter ; and upon this rock I 

will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 



phraseology of the answer is slight- 
ly varied in the other Evangelists. 
The epithet living, as applied to 
God, signifies real, true, in distinc- 
tion from idols and false gods, that 
were not living beings. Is it not 
an incidental evidence of the truth- 
fulness of Mark's Gospel, who is 
supposed to have written from Pe- 
ter's dictation or aid, according to 
early tradition, that the commenda- 
tion of Peter by Christ is omitted, 
as if through modesty? 

17. Simon Bar-jona. The latter 
was a Syriac word, meaning the son 
of Jona: John i. 42. As Furness 
remarks, " How naturally, when a 
friend communicates any unexpect- 
ed sentiment or intelligence, do we 
express our surprise in a similar 
way, uttering the whole name of 
our friend, with fervent emphasis ! " 
Flesh and blood. A Hebrew cir- 
cumlocution for man. GaL.i. 16 
But my Father, <%c. Human wis- 
dom or authority (in allusion, per- 
haps, to the Scribes and Pharisees) 
has not revealed this truth to you, 
bat you have arrived at it, because, 
in the providence of God, you be- 
came 'my disciple, witnessed my di- 
vine works, and yielded to the nat- 
ural influences of God's spirit upon 
your soul. 

18. Thou art Peter. Or, a Pe- 
ter. Thou art rightly named Pe- 
ter; which signifies, in the 'original 
Greek, rock. And upon this rock 
I will build, df-c. The necessity of 
building bouses ITS. Judea on a rock 
foundation rendered this figure a 
graphic one to the Jews. See Rev. 
xxi. 14; Eph. ii. 20, where the 
apostles and prophets are called the 
foundation, and Christ the corner- 
stone. Some have supposed that 

VOL. I. 19 



Jesus, in saying that he would build 
his church upon this rock, meant 
Peter's confession that he was the 
Christ ; others, that he meant him- 
self; but the most obvious reference 
is to Peter. He was to be a foun- 
dation, as he first preached the Gos- 
pel to the Gentiles, and took a prom- 
inent part also in spreading it among 
the Jews. As the first, firmest, and 
most energetic among the Twelve, 
he might without invidiousness be 
called a main rock in the foundation 
of the church. But that no peculiar 
and exclusive privilege was granted 
to Peter above the other disciples, 
as maintained by the church of 
Rome, is evident from a comparison 
of the following passages : Matt, 
xviii. 18; xx. 26; Acts xv., and 
Gal. ii. 11. Besides, if any pecu- 
liar authority had been vested in 
Peter more than in the other Apos- 
tles, no countenance would have 
been given to the papal supremacy, 
for the prerogative would have been 
personal and incommunicable. The 
gates of hell. Or, of Hades, the 
abode or world of the dead, without 
reference to happiness or misery: 
See Is. xxxviii. 10, where, in the 
Septuagint version, Hades is trans-, 
lated grave. In the gates of an- 
cient cities it was customary to hold 
courts and public assemblies and 
consultations. Hence the gates of 
death mean the designs or power of 
death. The church shall not die, 
but be immortal ; a prophecy which 
has been fulfilling for almost twen- 
ty centuries/ The word church is 
first used in the New Testament in 
this place. Its original signification 
was an assembly. The people of 
Israel are called by this" name. Acts 
vii. 38. It means sometimes the 



218 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom 19 
of heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be 
bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall 
be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples, that they 20 

should tell no man that he was Jesus, the Christ. From 21 

that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how 
lhat he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the 



whole body of Christians,'and some- 
times a particular society of believ- 
ers. Eph. i. 22 ; Acts viii. 1 ; Rom. 
xvi. 5. The ancient English ver-' 
sion of Tyndale renders it congre- 
gation. The noble confession of 
Christ by Peter is an example for all 
subsequent time ; whilst we should 
beware of being tempted like him 
to a denial of our Master, we should 
also avoid adding any human dog- 
mas to the beautiful simplicity of 
his faith, which, comprehended the 
great essentials. 

19. The keys of the Idngdom of 
heaven, i. e. the prerogatives of the 
new dispensation. This, like all 
figurative expressions, must be in- 
terpreted by the subject and pur- 
pose of the discourse with which it 
is connected, and the use of lan- 
guage amongst the hearers. A key 
was anciently used as a symbol of 
power and wisdom. Isa. xxii. 22 ; 
Rev. iii. 7 ; Luke xi. 52. "When 
the Jews invested a man with the 
authority of doctor of the law, they 
gave him the key of the closet in 
the temple where the sacred books 
were kept, to intimate that they in- 
trusted him with power to explain 
the Scriptures, and teach the peo- 
ple. WJiatsoever thou shalt bind, 
$c. To bind, according to Jewish 
phraseology, is to forbid, and to 
loose is to permit. The force of 
Christ's words is this : I authorize 
you to preach my religion, by which 
what is forbidden and what is per- 
mitted is forbidden and permitted in 
heaven or by God. The word what- 
soever refers to things, to rites or 



laws which Peter and the Apostles 
might make . or repeal. A similar 
power with regard to persons is 
supposed to be conferred on all the 
Apostles in John xx. 23. For the 
exercise of both powers, see Acts 
v. 15, 20 ; xxi. 24. The same au- 
thority here given to Peter is also 
imparted, Matt, xviii. 18, to all the 
Twelve. The preeminence of Peter 
was not absolute, but arose from his 
distinguished energy and ability, and 
could not, therefore, from its nature, 
descend to any successor. Although 
this is the great Roman Catholic 
text, when it is thus explained, it 
affords not the shadow of an argu- 
ment for the lofty claims of that 
church. 

20. They should tell no man. In 
Luke ix. 21, ."he straitly" or 
strictly " charged them." The rea- 
sons of this prohibition have been 
intimated from tune to time in the 
foregoing passages. Jesus would 
not give occasion to disturbance and 
sedition, which would certainly have 
arisen, had his Apostles at once 
gone forth to proclaim his Messiah- 
ship. The time had not yet come, 
his ministry was not ended. He 
therefore holds their enthusiasm in 
check, and henceforth explains to 
them more fully, that he is to be not 
a triumphant, but a suffering deliv- 
erer ; to be less the Lion of Judah 
than the Lamb of God. Jesus. 
This word has no place in the origi- 
nal, according to Griesbach, and 
other eminent critics. 

21. Began Jesus to show unto his 
disciples, <Sfc. It is natural to be* 



XVI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



219 



elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be 

22 raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began 
to rebuke him, saying : Be it far from thee, Lord ; this shall 

23 not be unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter : Get 
thee behind me, Satan ; thou art an offence unto me ; for thou 
savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of 



lieve, that, as the ambition of the 
disciples had been raised to the 
highest pitch by the declaration that 
Jesus was the Messiah, it was his 
intention to suppress all the expec- 
tations of reward and glory which 
they would indulge, as followers of 
the great Leader. He, therefore, 
from that time, more clearly de- 
clared, what he had already hinted, 
Matt. xii. 40, that he was to be put 
to death at Jerusalem ; he would 
thus prepare their minds beforehand 
for the coming event. Hence his 
discourse, as tke solemn tragedy 
draws near, is more and more occu- 
pied with allusions to it. 

"O, suffering friend of human kind! 
How, as the fatal hour drew near, 
Came thronging on thy holy mind 
The images of grief and fear ! 

"Gethsemane's sad midnight scene, 

The faithless friends, th3 exulting foes, 
The thorny crown, the insult keen, 
The scourge, the cross, before thee rose." 

Must go. Must is often used to 
signify, not necessity, but that a 
thing Avill come to pass. The pre- 
diction here made was fulfilled to 
the letter, as we shall see in the con- 
clusion of this history. The el- 
ders, chief priests, and Scribes, or 
Jewish Sanhedrim, were chiefly in- 
strumental in effecting this awful 
catastrophe. 

22. Then Peter took him. Took 
him aside, or took him by the hand, 
as some think ; but, as others sup- 
pose, took him up, or interrupted 
him, without allowing him to com- 
plete his declaration. Nothing can 
be more true to nature tban this 
burst of a sanguine temper, after the 
mind had been teeming with visions 



of splendor and power. Peter is a 
representative of the world, that 
shudders at sufferings and trials, 
and sees not in them the accom- 
plishment of a more than heroic des- 
tiny. Be it far from thee. Liter- 
ally, God be merciful to thee, which 
is equivalent to God forbid, 1 Chron. 
xi. 19, where the Septuagint has 
the same words as here. 

23. He turned. Mark has it, 
" turned about and looked on his 
disciples." Every p t age of the Evan- 
gelists has some inimitable touches 
of nature. Jesus turned suddenly 
round, as if started out of his usual 
equanimity by this untimely famil- 
iarity of his disciple, and ready to 
show how aware he was of the 
temptation, and how firm and re- 
solved he was to overcome it. 'Sa- 
tan. Here is an instance of the 
freedom with which this word was 
used among the Jews. It means an 
adversary, or evil adviser. Such 
Peter bad become to Jesus, by de- 
claring that the lot that he had pre- 
dicted would not fall upon him. 
The thoughts which tempted Jesus 
after his baptism in the wilderness 
were said to come from Satan, i. e. - 
were evil; An offence unto me. A 
cause of offence, a snare, a stum- 
bling-block, namely, "by nurturing 
that natural horror of his painful and 
ignominious death, which occasion- 
ally harassed our Saviour." " How 
soon is Peter, the rock, turned to an 
adversary!" Thou savorest not 
the things, cf-c., or approvest or.re- 
gardest not the things which please 
God, but those which please men. 
The views of Peter savored of 



220 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples : If any man will 24 

come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and 
follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it ; and 25 
whosoever will lose his life, for my sake, shall find it. For 26 
what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and 
lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for 



worldliness and ambition, and were 
iii consistent with the purposes of 
Heaven ; though he was misled by 
his affection for his Master, as well 
as by the earthliness of his mind, for 
he was shocked at the thought of 
one whom he so loved being put to 
death. But Jesus would rend away 
the veil, and show them the certainly 
coming reality. He would teach 
them, that "the infant doctrine 
which TV as to go through the world, 
consoling the sorrows of the mourn- 
ers, and pouring balm into wounded 
bosoms, was itself first to be nur- 
tured with tears, and baptized in 
blood." 

24. Will come after me, L e. will 
be my disciple. Let him deny him- 
self. Let him forget himself. Let 
him be ready to incur the most 
dreadful sufferings. My disciples 
must be of such hardihood as to look 
danger and death, the most dreadful 
death, in the face. See note on 
Matt. x. 38. Take up his cross. 
Crucifixion was a Roman mode of 
punishment, introduced among the 
Jews, and was inconceivably ago- 
nizing and disgraceful. To add 
new horrors to it, those who were 
thus executed were compelled to 
bear the instrument of their own 
death to the place of punishment. 
Hence the imagery of the text, so 
crushing to the hopes of his follow- 
ers. How perfectly is the truthful- 
ness of Jesus manifested in his 
dealing thus frankly with his disci- 
ples ! 

25. See note on Matt. x. 39. The 
word life is here used with a two- 
fold meaning, which fact explains 



the paradox. He who desires to 
save his earthly life, at the expense 
of conscience and fidelity . to me, 
shall lose his spiritual, heavenly 
life ; and he who loses his earthly 
life, and dies rather than swerve 
from his rectitude, shall find his true 
life. 

26. SouL This is the same word 
which in the previous verse is trans- 
lated life, and such should be its ren- 
dering here. The sense is : What 
would a man be profited, if he should 
gain the whole world, its riches, 
honors, and pleasures, and lose his 
life, the essential condition on which 
he would possess and enjoy them 
all? Or as Luke has it, ix. 25, 
"lose himself." Or what equiva- 
lent could one find for his life ? But 
the original word, in a secondary 
sense, means soul, and refers to the 
future and spiritual existence. That 
the word is susceptible of both 
meanings is, according to Campbell, 
beyond a question. The value of 
an immortal soul is indicated indeed 
by the world itself, which, with all 
its wonders, and riches, and glories, 
seems to exist chiefly for the sub- 
lime purpose of educating human 
spirits, and preparing them for im- 
mortality. How senseless and mad 
must he be, who confounds the in- 
strument with the end, and barters 
away himself for the world, or for 
an insignificaiit portion of its fleeting 
possessions or indulgences ! Know, 
O man, that thou art of so great a 
price, that the world is too poor to 
buy thee, though its crowns and 
treasures and mines of gold were 
put into the balance. Thine ini- 



xvn.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



221 



27 his soul ? For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his 
Father, with his angels ; and then he shall reward every man 

28 according to his works. Verily I say unto you, there be some 
standing here which shall .not taste of death, till they see the 
Son of Man coming in his kingdom. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The. Transfiguration of Jesus. Miracles. 

AND after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his 
brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 



mortal spirit outweighs the material 
universe in the scales of God. 

27. Mark and Luke add here, 
" Whosoever shall be ashamed of 
me and of my words, in .this adul- 
terous and sinful generation, of him 
also shall the Son of Man be 
ashamed when he cometh," &c. 
Come in the glory of his Father, 
tfrc. Most commentators refer this 
to the final judgment ; but others, 
with more likelihood, consider it a 
description of the establishment of 
Christ's religion with great power 
and glory in the world. With his 
angels. Is a Jewish figure to de- 
note the providence of God; as 
where it is said, " Their angels do 
always behold the face of my Fa- 
ther which is in heaven," i. e. they 
are under the special care of God. 
Reward every man according to 
his ivorks. Render to every man, 
&c. When Christianity is estab- 
lished, every man shall be judged 

'by that standard, according to his 
works, and be condemned or acquit- 
ted, as he shall obey or disobey its 
divine laws. 

28. As the spirits of the disciples 
might well droop by his exhibition, 
vv. 24-26, of the sufferings to be 
undergone in behalf of his kingdom, 
he would encourage them with the 
brilliant vision of his spiritual pow- 
er, which was so soon to be firmly 
enthroned amongst men, that some 

19* 



who were then present would be 
eyewitnesses of it. Shall not taste 
of death. A Hebraism for shall not 
die. We know that John at least, 
and prpbably many others of the 
bystanders, was alive about forty 
years after, when Jerusalem was 
destroyed, and Judaism was super- 
seded by Christianity, as the visible 
church and acknowledged religion 
of God on earth. -John xxi. 22, 23. 
Similar predictions were also made 
by our Lord, in Matt. xxiv. and xxv. 

CHAP. XVH. 

1-9. Parallel to Mark ix. 2-9, 
and Luke ix. 28-36. 

1. After six days. Luke writes," 
" About an eight days after," which 
may not be at variance with Mark 
and Matthew, but include the two 
days of the previous conversation 
and the subsequent transfiguration. 
The language also purposely con- 
veys the idea of some indefiniteness 
of time ; about an eight days after. 
Peter, James, and John his broth- 
er. The first had been called the 
Rock of the church. The last two 
were termed Boanerges, or sons of 
thunder. The three were the most 
prominent men among the Twelve, 
the most devoted and powerful 
disciples, Gal. ii. 9. They were at 
other times favored with peculiar 
privileges by their Master. They 
were admitted to witness the xe- 



222 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



and was transfigured before them j and his face did shine as 2 
the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, 3 
there appeared unto them Moses and Elias, talking with him. 



suscitation of the ruler's daughter, 
Mark v. 37, and accompanied Jesus 
in his temptation in the garden of 
Gethsemane, Matt. xxvi. 37. They 
were a sufficient number, according 
to the law, to bear witness to any 
fact. Perhaps the tender sensibili- 
ty of Jesus shrank from having a 
greater number accompany him t& 
his retirement and devotions, for his 
tears upon more than one occasion 
betokened a susceptible heart. 
An high mountain apart. Early 
tradition designated Mount Tabor 
as the scene of the Transfiguration, 
though many have supposed that it 
was Mount Hermon, or Mount Pa- 
neus. No data now exist to decide 
the question. Luke states that his 
object in going up was to pray, and 
the mind of Jesus appears not to 
have been independent of those ele- 
vating influences which came from 
the loneliness and sublimity of such 
a place. The mountain was his fa- 
vorite oratory, and the sea his fre- 
quent resort. 

2. Was transfigured. Or changed 
in the external appearance, not in 
shape or size. In Luke, it is said, 
" the fashion of his countenance was 
altered." His face shone with a pe- 
culiar lustre, and his garments be- 
came white and glistering. These 
phenomena, though outward, must 
have conveyed to the disciples a 
powerful spiritual impression ; for 
such an appearance was indicative 
of the Divine presence and favor. 
It was an ancient opinion, that he 
designed here to give his disciples a 
glimpse of that glory promised in 
Matt. xvi. 27, to fortify their minds 
against the scandal of the cross. 

3. Moses and Elias. Elijah. The 
one, the great Lawgiver of Israel, 



the other, the great Reformer and 
Prophet. To see their Master con- 
versing with these most venerable 
men of Jewish history would exalt 
him, in the eyes of his companions, 
to a height he had not before occu- 
pied in their minds. This scene was 
peculiarly fitted, as undoubtedly it 
was in tended, to show the harmoni- 
ous connexion between the old and 
new dispensations, since their great 
Leaders were seen holding a friend- 
ly interview. It afforded new evi- 
dence of Jesus' Messiahship ; serv- 
ed therefore to encourage the disci- 
ples, whose hearts had failed them 
at the prospect of their Master's 
death, and their own exposure to 
persecution, which he had predicted. 
From a lowly individual, he now 
rose before their conceptions into 
the highest glory conceivable by a 
Jewish mind. But more than this. 
The transfiguration may have taken 
place for the sake of Jesus as well 
as his disciples. This is indicated 
by the subject of the conversation, 
as given by Luke, who says, they 
" spake of his decease, which he 
should accomplish at Jerusalem." 
They appeared to encourage and 
strengthen him by their sympathy, 
for a fate which was so dreadful to 
contemplate, that in the garden he 
prayed, that if it were possible the 
cup might pass from him. If an 
angel then appeared to succour him, 
why is it not likely that this scene, 
with its glory, and heavenly visit- 
ants, and voice from the cloud, was 
designed to sustain the Master, as 
well as impress his followers! We 
are not informed in what way the 
disciples identified Moses and Eli- 
jah, but not unlikely they ascertain- 
ed the fact fiom Jesus himself. 



xvn.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



223 



4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus : Lord, it is good 
for us to be here ; if thou wilt, let us make here three taber- 
nacles ; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 

5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed 
them ; and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said : This 
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye him. 

6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and 

7 were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and 

8 said : Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up 

9 their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they 



4. Answered Peter. Rather, pro- 
ceeded to say, for it does not ap- 
pear that his remark was any reply 
to what had been said before. We 
are elsewhere told that the disciples 
were heavy with sleep, but awoke 
and beheld the glorious appearance, 
and that, as the two men were de- 
parting, Peter, with his characteris- 
tic forwardness, although participat- 
ing in the fear common to all three, 
and hardly knowing what he utter- 
ed, said to Jesus, " Lord, it is good 
for us to be here," &c. Three 
tabernacles. Or, booths, such as 
could be formed of the bougbs of 
trees common in that place. This 
speech, whilst it revealed tbe wild 
rapture of Peter, disclosed also his 
earthly savor of mind. He seems 
to have supposed that this scene 
could, from its nature,' be long per- 
petuated ; or tbat these distinguish- 
ed individuals would remain as as- 
sistants to Christ in founding a tem- 
poral kingdom ; or, as has been sug- 
gested, he wished 1 to dwell apart 
from the cares of life, in this sweet 
solitude and celestial society, nor 
again return to encounter those ter- 
rible evils that had lately formed 
the unwelcome subject of bis Mas- 
ter's conversation. 

5. A bright cloud. A luminous 
one, which was a symbol of the Di- 
vine presence, or the Shechinah. 
Ex. xvi. 10, 2 Chron. v. 14. 



Overshadowed. Better, surrounded 
them, as a cloud of liglit could not 
from its nature overshadow any thing. 
A voice out of the cloud, 6fc. 
The same audible Divine sanction, 
of Jesus had been before given at 
his baptism, and was afterwards at 
Jerusalem, in the presence of the 
multitude. Matt. iii. 17, and John 
xii. 28. Some suppose tbat refer- 
ence is particularly made to Deut. 
xviii. 15. Peter long after, 2 Pet. i. 
16 - 18, referred to this scene and 
to the Voice, as a proof of bis Mas- 
ter's authority and truth. Some 
suppose that John, i. 14, also refers 
to it, but not upon any strong 
grounds. Though no articulate 
voice now speaks from the sky to 
bid us hear him, who is the beloved 
Son of God, yet his bloody cross, 
his empty sepulchre, and his benign 
Gospel, with all its sweet and thril- 
ling tones, are ever sounding the 
solemn command in our ears, and in 
the depths of our spiritual nature. 
See note on Matt. iii. 17. 

6. Sore. An old English word 
.for very, exceedingly. Full of con- 
sternation, they fall prostrate upon 
the earth. Acts ix. 4. From a no- 
tion prevalent among the Jews^that 
one who saw God should die, they 
were perhaps afraid to look up. 
Ex. iii. 6 ; Dan. viii. 17. In Luke, 
they are said to have " feared, as 
they entered into the cloud." 



224 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying : 
Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of Man be risen again 

from the dead. And his disciples asked him, saying : Why 10 

then say the scribes that Elias must first come ? And Jesus 11 



9. Came down from the mountain. 
Luke states, ix. 37, that they did 
not come down till the next day, 
from which it has been inferred that 
the transfiguration took place in the 
night, which they had passed on the 
mountain, and that this might have 
partially influenced Peter in propos-' 
ing to build three tents. Tell the 
vision to no man, cj-c. Or, as Mark 
has it, " that they should tell no 
man what things they had seen." 
The vision then was not what we 
understand by that word now, as 
some have contended, but a sight, 
an appearance. The purpose of the 
transfiguration, as already intimated, 
was to strengthen Jesus for his ap- 
proaching sufferings by the sympa- 
thy of the great worthies of the old 
dispensation, and the approving voice 
of Heaven ; and to confirm the be- 
lief of the disciples in Jesus as the 
Christ, and remove the discourage- 
ments lately produced by the pre- 
diction of his death, through an ex- 
hibition of his glorified state. The 
reasons, therefore, of .Jesus' enjoin- 
ing this secrecy were similar to 
those, which prompted him to make 
the same prohibition on other occa- 
sions. Matt. xvi. 20. The disci- 
ples did not yet sufficiently under- 
stand the nature of his kingdom to 
proclaim his Messiahship. Their 
minds rather needed to be held in 
restraint. The people also were in 
too inflammable a state for this fact, 
which, had it been made known, 
would have proved like a spark in 
a magazine of powder. With that 
wisdom which never failed him, he 
therefore commanded them to keep 
secret what they had witnessed. 
The Jews had often required a sign 
from heaven as a proof that Jesus 



was the Christ. Here was a sign 
from heaven, to satisfy the most 
skeptical. The transfiguration af- 
fects the question of Christ's per- 
son, for he appears here, not in his 
state of humiliation, but of glory. 
And what is his glory ? It is that 
of a Divine messenger ; a beloved 
Son of God, not God himself, in 
which character it would seem that 
this was the time and place for him 
to appear, if he was in reality the 
Supreme. Risen again from the 
dead. Mark says that they were in 
doubt about his meaning. They 
did not yet understand how, if he 
were the Messiah, he could suffer 
death, nor, accordingly, how he 
coulo^ be literally raised from the 
dead. 

10- 13. ParaUel to Mark ix. 10- 
13. 

10. Elias must first come, i. e. 
Elijah. This was the popular opin- 
ion entertained by the Jews, founded 
on Mai. iv. 5, 6. The error con- 
sisted in supposing that the identi- 
cal Elijah of old tunes would reap- 
pear amongst men, and not that an 
Elijah, i. e. a man of like character 
and office, a hardy reformer, was to 
come before the advent of the- Mes- 
siah. It would appear that this 
conversation took place whilst Jesus 
and the three were coming down 
from the mountain, before they 
reached the other disciples and the 
multitude. They asked the ques- 
tion, because they had been prohib- 
ited from proclaiming the Messiah, 
though Elijah his precursor had al- 
ready come, as they thought, being 
seen by them on the mountain, and 
no reason therefore seemingly ex- 
isting why they should not immedi- 
ately publish their Master's Messi- 



XVIL] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



225 



answered and said unto them : Elias truly shall first come, and 

12 restore all things ; but I say unto you, that Elias is come 
already, and they knew him notj but have done unto him what- 
soever they listed. ,. Likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer 

13 of; them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto 
them of John the Baptist; 

14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came tc 

15 him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying : Lord, 
have mercy on my son ; for he is lunatic and sore vexed ; for 

16 oft-times he faileth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I 



ahship. Or, to construe their ques- 
tion differently, Why dp the Scribes 
say that Elias. must first come, when 
the Messiah has already appeared, 
and no forerunner has preceded 
him? If thou art the. .Messiah, 
where is Elijah that was to herald 
thy advent? Are the Scribes right 
or wrong in their instructions on 
this point? 

11. Jesus^replies, that the Scribes 
are right ; they say truly .that Eli- 
jah is to come first and restore all 
things, or establish, or consummate 
the whole, or prepare for the Mes- 
siah by a great moral reformation, 
Matt. iii. 1 - 7 ; Luke iii. 3 - 15, i. e. 
such is the purpose of God ; not 
but what Elijah had already come. 
In Mark the present tense is used. 

12. That Elias is come already, 
i. e. John the Baptist, who might 
be properly called an Elijah, from 
his austere life, and his energetic 
spirit of reform. 'Luke i. 17. 
Knew him not. Recognised him 
not in his official character, as the 
messenger of God, and the forerun- 
ner of the Messiah. Whatsoever 
they listed. Have treated him with 
every indignity. Listed is old Eng- 
lish for chose. Also the Son of 
Man. The Messiah will meet with 
no better fate than his forerunner. 

13. It appears that the Apostles 
did not know, before this, that John 
was the predicted Elijah of Malachi. 



14.- 18. Parallel to MaTk ix. 14- 
27; Luke ix. 37-43. 

14. When they were come to the 
multitude. : Mark states that " all 
the people, when they beheld him, 
were greatly amazed, and, running 
to him, saluted him." Some have 
conjectured that a certain glorious 
lustre still lingered around his per- 
son, as there did around Moses when 
he came down from the mount. 
Ex. xxxiy.. 29, 30. But the proba- 

. bility is that he came to them by 
surprise, and they rejoiced to see 

. him. Man, kneeling down to him. 
"The ancients consecrate the ear 
to Memory, the forehead to Genius, 
the right hand to Faith, and the 
knees to Mercy." The man threw 
himself into a posture of earnest 
supplication. He was pleading for 
an only son. Luke ix. 38. 

15. Lunatic, i. e. moonstruck, or 
affected with a disorder which was 
thought to be influenced by the 
changes of the moon, though it was 
also believed that an evil spirit was 
implicated in the convulsions. For 
as Lightfoot remarks : " It was very 
usual for the Jews to attribute some 
of the -more grievous diseases to evil 
spirits, specially those wherein .ei- 
ther the body Was distorted, or the 
mind disturbed and tossed with a 
frenzy." See note on Matt. iv. 24. 
So far as the disease can now be 
known by the symptoms that are 



226 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



brought him unto thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 
Then Jesus answered and said : O faithless and perverse gen- 17 
eration ! how long shall I be with you ? how long shall I suffer 
you ? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil, 18 
and he departed out of him ; and the child was cured from 

that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, 19 

and said : Why could not we cast him out ? And Jesus said 20 
unto them : Because of your unbelief. For verily I say unto 
you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say 



recorded, it would seem to have 
been epilepsy, or a falling sickness, 
attended with violent paroxysms, 
the victim foaming at the mouth, 
gnashing with his teeth, wallowing 
upon the ground, torn and bruised, 
falling into the fire, or the water, 
malting violent outcries. He had a 
dumb spirit, or lost his speech at 
times, and enjoyed only short inter- 
vals of reason. Luke ix. 39. This 
desperate case was presented to our 
Saviour to cure. 

16. Could not cure him. The 
reason why they could not is assign- 
ed in verse 20. 

17. O faithless and perverse gen- 
eration ! Perverse in the original is 
derived from a word which signifies 
to twist, to turn awry ; as wrong in 
English, by a like metaphor, comes 
from ivrung, a participle from ivrin- 
gen, to twist. This rebuke was 
addressed to those present, in gen- 
eral ; as well to his distrusting fol- 
lowers as to the cavilling Scribes, 
Mark ix. 14, who, not unlikely, tri- 
umphed in the failure of tbe disci- 
ples to work a cure. How long 
shall I be with you, <5fC. How long 
will my presence and assistance be 
required among you ? How long 
shall I endure with patience your 
perversity? The tone of Jesus' 
mind was rather that of regret and 
sorrow than of impatience. 

18. Rebuked the devil. Demon. 
Jesus used the popular language of 
his day, and addressed the youth as 



if some evil spirit were in him ; but 
his words no more imply that he re- 
garded the demon as a conscious 
being, than his addressing the dead, 
or the winds and waves, or a fever, 
as was the. fact, would indicate that 
he believed them to be conscious 
agents. From that very hour. 
From that moment. The sudden- 
ness with which this desperate dis- 
order was cured proved that it was 
done by no common means ; for it 
usually required a continued medical 
treatment. 

19. To Jesus apart. According 
to Mark ix. 28, in the house. The 
disciples, like most transgressors, 
little suspected that their difficulty 
and failure arose from any personal 
deficiency. The question they ask 
carries the idea that they had made 
an attempt to cure the child, but 
had not succeeded. 

20. Because of your unbelief. Or 
rather, want of confidence and trust. 
Perhaps the violence of the disease, 
perhaps the skeptical questionings 
of the Scribes, had shaken their as- 
surance. Faith as a grain of mus- 
tard seed. Understood by some as 
meaning a living, growing faith, 
such as might be illustrated by the 
vegetable kingdom. Matt. xiii. 31, 
32. But others take the sense to 
be, If you have the smallest genu- - 
ine faith, you can do all things ; for 
the orientals frequently use the mus- 
tard seed as an emblem of what is 
extremely small. Mark xi. 23 ; 



xvn.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



227 



unto this mountain : Remove hence to yonder place, and it 
shall remove ; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 

21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. 

22 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them : The 

23 Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they 
shall kill him ; and the third day he shall be raised again. And 
they were exceeding sorry. 



Luke xvii. 6. Ye shall say unto 
this mountain, <$-c. A hyperbolical 
and proverbial phrase, denoting the 
greatest power. 1 Cor. xiii. 2. 
The least true faith would enable 
them to perform the mightiest won- 
ders. The Jews were accustomed 
to call those teachers eminent for 
their virtues and genius, rooters up, 
removers of mountains, as descrip- 
tive of their power. 

21. This kind goeth not out, <3{C. 
Some suppose the signification to 
be, that this kind of demons, or of 
beings, cannot be dispossessed with- 
out unusual spiritual exercises ; but 
no mention had been made, in this 
conversation, qf demons, or that this 
kind of miracles cannot be perform- 
ed without extraordinary prepara- 
tion. Other commentators suppose 
an allusion to be made to faith, of 
which they had just been speaking. 
For where that faith was possessed 
even in the smallest degree, as a 
grain of mustard seed, all miracles 
were alike easy, even to the rooting 
up of trees and mountains, and hurl- 
ing them into the sea, and all de- 
mons and diseases could be equally 
well expelled. This kind of faith 
emanated not but by fasting and 
prayer, by the most diligent "use 
of .the means of devotion, and spir- 
itual life. This verse is left out 
by Wakefield, and Adam Clarke 
" strongly suspects it to be an inter- 
polation," as it is wanting in some of 
the earliest manuscripts and versions. 

22-23. Parallel to Mark ix. 30 
-32, and Luke ix. 43-45. 



22. Abode in Galilee, Whilst they 
were travelling or moving about in 
Galilee. Shall be betrayed. Bet- 
ter, delivered up, without reference 
to the mode in which it would be 
done. It is so rendered in Mark 
and Luke. We learn from Mark 
that Jesus was at this time living as 
far as possible in retirement. His 
mind seems to have been much 
occupied with the thrughts of his 
impending death. This was the 
second time that he had mentioned 
this distressing subject. It is ob- 
servable, that this prediction was 
made while Jesus was yet in Gali- 
lee in security, before he went up 
to Jerusalem and was subject to the 
dangers that there surrounded him. 
What a fortitude must his have 
been, that he could with such calm- 
ness anticipate and speak of the suf- 
ferings, which he so clearly fore- 
saw ! The common opinions en- 
tertained of Jesus do him injustice. 
They invest him chiefly with the 
character of meekness and inoffen- 
siveness, qualities indeed, which he 
possessed in an eminent degree, but 
which were balanced by the purest 
heroism ever seen among men. 

23. They were exceeding sorry. 
We learn from the other Evange- 
lists that the disciples did not un- 
derstand his prediction, and were 
afraid to ask for an explanation. 
Their grief, therefore, was aggra- 
vated by the indefiniteness of the 
approaching danger. The dark and 
unwelcome subject conjured up ap- 
palling images of fear and terror. 



228 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



And when they \vere come to Capernaum, theythat received 24 
tribute money came to Peter, and said : Doth not your master 
pay tribute ? He saith : yes. And when he was come into 25 
the house, Jesus prevented him, saying : What thinkest thou, 
Simon ? Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or 
tribute ? of their own children, or of strangers ? Peter saith 
unto him : Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him : Then are the 26 
children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, 27 
go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that 
first cometh up ; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou 
shalt find a piece of money ; that take, and give unto them 
for me and thee. 



24. Capernaum. The place where 
he abode. They that received trib- 
ute money. Supposed to be not 
those who collected the taxes paid 
to the '^Romans, but persons who 
collected the contributions for the 
service of the temple, in the pay- 
ment of its necessary expenses for 
sacrifices and other tilings. Ex. 
xxx. 13 ; Neh. x. 32. It was an 
annual tribute of half a shekel, 
levied on all Jews twenty years old 
and upwards. The Greek word 
translated tribute expresses the sum, 
two drachms, amounting to about 
twenty-eight cents of our money. 
This tax is supposed to have been 
in some degree a voluntary one, 
which would account for the ques- 
tion put to Peter respecting his 
Master's paying it. 

25. The impetuous disciple an- 
swered in the affirmative before con- 
sulting Jesus. Prevented. For- 
merly meaning, according to its de- 

~>efore, or to an'ui- 



rivation, to go 
pate. . Jesus anticipated Peter. 
What thinkest thou. It would seem 
that Jesus would delicately remind 
Peter that he had given an answer 
without his authority. Strangers, 
i. e. those not related to the king, 
or members of his family. 

26. Then are the children free. 
He had, by his question, led Peter 



to acknowledge the fact on which 
his conclusion was grounded. His 
argument was, that, as earthly kings 
exempted their sons from paying 
tribute, so he, being the Son of 
God, was, on the same ground, re- 
leased from the obligation of pay- 
ing tribute for the temple of God. 
The temple was God's palace. 
Jesus, as his son, was accordingly 
free from paying a tax for its ser- 
vice. 

27. Lest we should offend them. 
Jesus ever manifested a spirit of 
prudence. He would avoid giving 
any unnecessary offence , setting thus 
an example of caution, and teaching 
us, that it is better to waive our 
privileges and yield our rights, than 
to insist upon them to the prejudice 
of the cause of truth. Something 
is to be conceded to the captiousness 
of men. We should strive to be 
blameless and irreproachabl6, as was 
the Author and Finisher of our faith. 
If Jesus had not paid the tribute, it 
would have furnished his cavilling 
enemies with an occasion to say, 
that he despised the temple and 
worship of God, and thus have 
caused them still more obstinately 
to reject him as the Messiah. A 
piece of money. In the original a 
stater, a Roman silver coin, of the 
value of one shekel in the Jewish 



xvm.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



223 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Instructions of Jesus. 

A.T the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying : 

2 Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven ? And Jesus 

called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 



currency, four drachms in the Gre- 
cian, and about fifty-six cents in our 
own, and therefore sufficent to pay 
the tribute of two persons. Here 
was a miracle, either of knowledge, 
or of power, or both. Jesus knew 
that a certain fish with the money 
would first come to Peter's hook, or 
caused that it should first come. It 
has been objected, that the miracle 
was wrought for a trifling object, 
and for Jesus' benefit. But it may 
be remarked, that Peter shared the 
advantage with his Master, and that 
Jesus was not individually benefited, 
except .in a very small degree, and 
that, in a case in which he might 
have pleaded exemption. The mir- 
acle, also, w&s calculated for other 
ends. It would impress Peter, the 
other disciples, and the tax-gather- 
ers, with a new proof of the divinity 
of Jesus, whose power thus extend- 
ed into the depths of the sea, and 
over the animal kingdom. It would 
also serve to enforce upon them and 
upon all men, the obligation of obey- 
ing the laws of the government un- 
der which they live, of " submitting 
to every ordinance of man for the 
Lord's sake," and of contributing 
to the support of the public institu- 
tions of religion. 

CHAP. xvm. 

1-5. Parallel to Mark ix. 33 - 
37, and Luke ix. 46-48. 

I. At the same time. This con- 
nects it, in general, with the prece- 
ding events. Came the disciples 
unto Jesus. Here is a slight dis- 
crepancy, which is capable of being 

VOL. i. 20 



explained, and which is of value as 
showing the individual authority and 
truthfulness of the writers. Mat- 
thew states that the disciples first 
asked Jesus ; Mark, that he first in-" 
quired of them the subject of their 
dispute by the way, and that they 
were silent through shame. Dif- 
ferent periods in the conversation are 
referred to, one taking it np at one 
point, and the other at another. 
WJio is the greatest. It has been 
conjectured, that what led to this 
rivalry was the approbation shown 
to Peter, Matt. xvi. 17, 18, and the 
privilege granted to him, with James 
and John, of being present at the 
raising of the ruler's daughter, 
Luke viii. 51, and at the scene of 
the transfiguration, Matt. xvii. 1. 
Although Jesus, by announcing his 
death, had filled his disciples with 
foreboding apprehensions, he had, 
also, by predictions of his glory, 
excited their ambition. For they, 
probably, supposed he would estab- 
lish his kingdom after he was raised 
from the dead.- Acts i. 6. They 
disputed which should hold the 
highest place in his kingdom, should 
occupy the first station in his tem- 
poral government. Their hearts 
were pufied up with ambition. 

2. Catted a little child, <5fc. To 
make a deeper impression, he gives 
them a lesson of humility, in the 
most touching manner, by a sym- 
bolical action, a common mode of 
instruction in the east, of which 
there are instances in John xiii. 4, 
xx. 22 ; Acts xxi. 11 ; Rev. xviii. 
21. Tradition relates, that this 



230 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



and said : Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and 3 
become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom 
of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this 4 
little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 
And whoso shall receive one such "little child in my name re- 5 
ceiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones 6 
which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone 
were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the 
depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences ' 7 



child was Ignatius, afterwards & 
celebrated Father and Martyr of the 
church, hut it is very uncertain. 

3. Be converted, <$-c. i. e. changed 
from the state of ambition to humil- 
ity. Pointing to the child, he said : 
There is your model ; if you do not 
" fling away ambition," and be- 
come like him, so far from having 
lofty stations in my kingdom, you 
cannot even become members of it 
at all. The unambitious, unenvying, 
and docile temper of childhood stood 
in direct contrast with the worldly 
and aspiring spirit of the disciples. 
Matt. xix. 14, xx. 26 ; 1 Cor. xiv. 
20. 

. 4. The same is greatest. He, 
whose disposition approaches the 
nearest to a simple, childlike spirit, 
shall be the most eminent of my 
disciples, and shall share first in the 
advancement and glory of my king- 
dom. 

5. Sliall receive one such little child. 
Or, receive with honor and affection 
one whose character is like that of 
this little child, in its innocence and 
humility. The Syriac version reads, 
"one that is as this child." In 
my name. For my sake, or as my 
disciple. Matt. xxv. 40. He before 
praised the humble ; he now com- 
mends those who respect and love 
them, as showing marks of esteem 
to himself. 

6-9. Parallel to Mark ix. 41 -48. 

6. Whoso shall offend, i. e. cause 
to offend, or ensnare. One of these 



little ones. This obscures the sense ; 
which is, one of the lowly, humble 
followers of Jesus, as is shown by 
the next words. Which believe in 
me. Or, as expressed in Mark, that 
" belong to Christ." There is no 
reference to age. Millstone. The 
original is supposed to mean, not 
one of the smaller stones turned by 
hand, usually by females, but a large 
one propelled by asses or mules, the 
upper millstone. The punishment 
of drowning here described was 
common amongst the Syrians, and 
other nations of the east, though it 
is said not to have existed among 
the Jews. Persons were sometimes 
rolled up in sheets of lead, or tied 
to stones, thrown into the water, 
and drowned. The passage signi- 
fies, It were better for him to die, 
or suffer the worst punishment, than 
to cause an humble believer, a babe 
in Christ, to apostatize and fall. 
Yet how many are made to fall from 
virtue and hope by the scandalous 
lives, the hypocritical professions, 
the corrupt doctrines, and the super- 
stitious practices of the so called 
Christian world ! Let Jew, and 
Mahometan, and Pagan, and Infidel 
declare ; who have been repelled 
from the Great Master on account 
of the absurdities, and inconsisten- 
cies, and abominations of his dis- 
ciples, and who will rise up as con- 
demning witnesses against them at 
the bar of heaven. 

7. Woe. Rather, alas. An ex- 



XVIIL] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



231 



For it must needs be that offences come ; but woe to that man 

8 by whom the offence conieth ! Wherefore, if thy hand or thy 
foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee ; it is 
better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than, 
having two hands, or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire. 

9 And if thine eye offend thee : . pluck it out, and cast it from 
thee ; it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, 
rather than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell-fire. 

10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones ; foi 
I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold 

11 the face of my Father which is in heaven. For the Son of 

12 Man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye ? 



pression of concern and sorrow, 
rather than of denunciation. Of- 
fences. Rendered temptations in the 
Ethiopia version, i. e. causes of sin. 
It must needs be. Such is the 
constitution and condition of man, 
that it is to be expected that there 
will be sin. Taking men as they 
are, we are to look for offences and 
snares. Free agency will be abus- 
ed ; but that does not excuse the 
individual transgressor, for he is re- 
sponsible for the sin he commits, the 
evil he causes to others as well as 
to himself. 

8, 9. See note on Matt. v. 29, 30. 
Causes of offence come from our- 
selves, as well as from others. But 
it is better to renounce the most cher- 
ished indulgences and sins, though 
it be like dismembering the hand 
or the eye, rather than persist in 
them at the risk of the most terri- 
ble consequences, imaged here by 
everlasting fire. We must deny 
ourselves the inferior gratifications 
of a sensual nature, if we would 
possess the purest pleasures of the 
spiritual life, and. escape the flames 
of an accusing conscience. To en- 
ter. into life halt or maimed. These 
figures are not to be pressed too 
far, but regarded as adornings of 
the comparison. 
. 10. One of these little ones i. e. 



one of my humble, childlike disci- 
ples. Jesus reverts to the topic in 
verse 6. Their angels do always 
behold the face of my Father. Heb. 
i. 14. Their angels are high in the 
Divine favor. It was customary in 
eastern countries for kings to live 
secluded from common notice. To 
behold their face therefore, or to en- 
joy their presence and society, was 
a mark of the highest favor. In 
representing his lowly followers as 
under the care of guardian angels, 
as a reason wby they should be held 
in honor, he refers to a prevalent 
opinion among the Jews and other 
nations, and by this lively figure de- 
picts the tender, minute care of God 
over bis creatures. Jesus always 
used popular language and imagery 
as the most forcible instrument of 
conveying his truth. 

11. Another reason is assigned, 
why the humble-minded should not 
be despised. The Son of Man came 
to save them and all who would 
obey him. The greatest Being 
came to save the lowest. That 
which was lost. Those, who, like 
sheep, had wandered and strayed 
from the true fold. Jesus came not 
" to call the righteous, but sinners, 
to repentance," to cure the sick, not 
the well, to restore the endangered 
and the lost, not the strong and safe. 



232 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHA. 



if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone 
astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into 
the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray ? And 13 
if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more 
of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 
Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven 14 

that one of these little ones should perish. Moreover, if 15 

thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault 
between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast 
gained thy brother ; but if he will not hear ihee, then take with 16 
thee one or two more : that in the mouth of two or three wit- 



Therefore be of good cheer, ye who 
are heavy-laden with sin and sor- 
row, bewildered and wandering-. 
For it was for persons of just your 
condition, that Jesus lived and died. 

12. How think ye? As if he 
would appeal to their personal ex- 
perience and feelings. He would 
illustrate the compassion of God for 
the lost, and his joy at their recove- 
ry, by the feelings of the shepherd 
for his flock. The general subject 
of the preceding verses is here con- 
tinued. Ninety and nine. The use 
of round numbers of this kind was 
common then as now. Into the 
mountains. These words are con- 
nected in the best authorities with 
ninety and nme, thus : Doth he not . 
leave the ninety and nine in the 
mountains, and go, &c. Luke, xv. 
4 , has it, " in the wilderness," or 
uninhabited region. 

13. He rejoiceth more of that' sheep. 
In his remarks upon human nature 
and its manifestations, our Lord ever 
shows that he knew what Avas in 
man. " The nature of joy is to en- 
large itself less upon ordinary occa- 
sions, than upon extraordinary and 
accidental ones." A small, unex- 
pected favor produces more joy, be- 
cause more surprise, than a large 
blessing long possessed. 

14. It is not the will of your Fa- 
ther, tf-c. This is the doctrine of 



which the foregoing parable is an 
illustration. As if he had said : A 
faithful shepherd is not more con- 
cerned for the smallest of his flock, 
than is your Father that not the 
least of his_ rational offspring should 
be lost. 

15. Thus far Jesus had admon- 
ished the offending. He now gives 
advice to the offended, and shows 
how they were to treat those who 
injured them. Thy brother, i. e. 
thy Christian brother, or thy brother 
man. Go and tell him. Lev. xix. 
17 ; Luke xvii. 3. "Wait not till he 
comes to you, but be willing to go. 
to him, and expostulate and argue 
with him kindly, and, if possible, 
convince him of his fault. Obtain 
redress in private, if it is in your 
power, rather than blazon the mat- 
ter abroad. Many difficulties arise, 
simply from a misunderstanding, 
which a private interview would 
correct. Angry passions would be 
less likely to be excited where there 
were no witnesses to a man's fault 
and disgrace. The best opportuni- 
ty would thus be afforded for repara- 
tion, if wrong had been done. 
Thou hast gained thy brother. Hast 
recovered him to the Christian 
brotherhood, or regained his confi- 
dence and friendship, and brought 
him back to penitence and virtue 
1 Cor. ix. 19. 



XVIII.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



233 



17 nesses every word may be established. And if he shall ne- 
glect to hear them, tell it unto the church ; but if he neglect to 
hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a 

18 publican. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind 

on earth shall be bound in heaven ; and .whatsoever ye shall 

19 loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, I say unto 
you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any 
thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father 

20 which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered 
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. 



16 But if this step fails, resort to 
a second. Take with thee one or 
two more, <SfC. If inclined to deny 
his fault and resist your remon- 
strance, the presence and advice of 
other persons of confidence and 
weight, would control his passions ; 
testimony might thus also be borne 
to the injury, and to the unsuccess- 
ful attempt at reconciliation on the 
side of the injured party. Allusion 
is made to the Mosaic law. Deut. 
xix. 15. In the mouth. A He- 
brew idiom for by the testimony. 

17. Tell it unto the church. Tyn- 
dale's rendering is better, congrega- 
tion, for such is its meaning in the 
original. The particular religious 
community or body to which you 
both belong. This was in conform- 
ity to the usages of the Jews, who 
admonished offenders in their syna- 
gogues. As an heathen man and 
a publican. Matt. v. 47. Language 
derived from the conduct of the 
Jews towards the Gentiles and tax- 
gatherers. He is to be cut off from 
your communion and friendship as a 
Christian brother, and is to be re- 
garded by you as one of the world 
at large. Still the common offices 
of humanity are not to be denied 
him. Only rebuke, not revenge or 
malice, is permitted. Rom. xvi. 17 ; 
2 Thess. iii. 14. 

18. -JBind loose, i. e. forbid and 
.permit. See note on Matt. xvi. 19. 

Here is a repetition of the promise 

9* 



made to Peter, and now extended 
to all the Apostles, probably with 
more particular application to the 
case of discipline mentioned in the 
last verse. John xx. 23. This verse 
utterly annihilates the Roman Cath- 
olic' pretensions to authority and in- 
fallibility, so far as grounded on our 
Savour's commendation of Peter, in 
Matt. xvi. 18, 19. Some think an 
answer is here given to the question 
proposed in the first verse : "Who 
is the greatest in the kingdom of 
heaven?" Jesus says: I confer 
no peculiar authority on Peter, but 
grant you all an equal power in the 
administration of my religion. 

19. If two of you shall agree on 
earth, <%c. A strong motive for 
union is here presented, that what 
they in common asked in the Chris- 
tian cause, in which they were en- 
gaged, would be granted. Any 
thing. Should be every thing, i. e. 
whatever related to the promulgation' 
of the Gospel. General expressions 
are to be limited by the connexion 
in which they stand. This promise, 
like the foregoing in verse 18, and 
the subsequent one in verse 20, is, 
from the nature of the case, restrict- 
ed to the Apostles. Acts i. 1426 ; 
xv. 1-29. 

20. Gathered together in my name, 
i. e. as my disciples, or with my 
authority, for the sake of my reli- 
gion. There am I in the midst of 
them. This figurative language is 



234 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



Then came Peter to him, and said : Lord, how oft shall my 21 
brother sin against me, and I forgive him ? till seven times ? 
Jesus saith unto him : I say not unto thee, until seven times, 22 
but until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of 23 
heaven likened unto ,a certain king, which would take account 
of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was 24 
brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents. But 25 



illustrated by the Rabbinical wri- 
ters, who say : " If two men sit 
down with the law between tbem, 
the Shechinah or Divine Presence 
is with them." Wherever you are 
gathered together as my Apostles, 
though it be but two or three, i. e. 
a small number, yet it sball be as 
though I were personally present 
and praying with you, and blessed 
your devotions and meeting. My 
truth, my authority, my spirit shall 
be with you. 1 Cor. v. 3, 4. The 
wholly unwarranted conclusion has 
been drawn from this text, that Je- 
sus was the omnipresent God, else 
bis promise would have no signifi- 
cance. But even if "he were per- 
sonally present in every Christian 
assembly in the world, it would be 
far from proving his infinite -presence 
in all worlds and all space. But if 
he were God, and known to be God 
by his disciples, it would have been 
superfluous for him to have said that 
he should be present with them under 
certain circumstances ; for they would 
have known that he would necessa- 
rily be ever and everywhere pres- 
ent. It may be remarked here, that 
Jesus is an Intercessor with the 
Father for Ms disciples on earth. 1 
John ii. 1. 

21. How oft shall my brother sin, 
<Sfc. Peter may have been prompt- 
ed to this inquiry, by the remarks 
upon treating one who had injured 
us, in verses 15-17, or perhaps by 
some indignity which he himself 
may have suffered in the dispute 
between the Apostles, verse 1. The 
expression, brother, is to be under- 



stood as meaning one of a common 
faith, or one of tbe common human 
brotherhood. Till &even times? 
Seven was called the. full or com- 
plete number. Peter might have 
been led to specify the particular 
number, because that was a matter 
in discussion among the Jews, who, 
according to Ligbtfoot, pardoned 
the third, but not the fourth offence. 
So that Peter had doubled the num- 
ber, as if to go to the greatest 
length of mercy. 

22. But Jesus woxild inculcate a 
far nobler spirit than that of the 
Jewish schools. I say not unto 
thee, until seven times, but until sev- 
enty times seven. Forgive as long 
and as often as there is need or op- 
portunity of doing it, and the of- 
fender sincerely repents. There is 
no limit to the exercise of a merci- 
ful disposition; for so the number 
seventy times seven indicates. Luke 
xvii. 4. 

23. To produce a deeper impres- 
sion of the duty of forgiveness, he 
relates a striking parable, or moral 
fiction. Therefore. For. The 
kingdom of heaven. The adminis- 
tration of heaven. God- deals with 
men as a certain king dealt with 
his servants. Likened. Like. 
Would take account. "Would settle 
accounts, or reckon with. His ser- 
vants. Not slaves, but officers, or 
ministers, who managed the royal 
estates or revenues. 

24. Ten thousand talents. The 
sum here stated, if the silver talent 
was meant, would be about fifteen 
millions of dollars, but if the gold 



XT'IIL] ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 235 

forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be 
sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and pay- 

26 ment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and wor- 
shipped him, saying : Lord, have patience with me, and I will 

27 pay thee all. Then the Lord of that servant was moved with 
2S compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But 

the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, 
which owed him an hundred pence ; and he laid hands on him, 
and took him by the throat, saying : Pay me that thou owest. 

29 And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, 

30 saying : Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And 
he would not ; but went and cast him into prison, till he should 

31 pay the debt. So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, 
they were very sorry ; and came and told unto their lord all 

32 that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, 
said unto him : O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that 

33 debt, because thou desiredst me ; shouldst not thou also have 
had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on 

34 thee ? And bis lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tor- 
talent, about fifteen times as much. 28. An hundred pence. The Ro- 
The sense is, an immense sum, and man denarius or penny was worth 
hence a large round number is used about fourteen cents. The sum then 
to express it. was fourteen dollars, an insignificant 

25. Commanded him to be sold, amount when contrasted with his 
<3fc. This was in accordance with own vast debt. Took him by the 
the Jewish practices, if not law. throat. Or, throttled him. His own 
The servitude thus produced could, violence appears the more odious, 
however, last but six years. Lev. as it is set by the side of the lenient 
xxv. 39 -46 ; 2 Kings iv. 1 ; Amos treatment he had received from his 
viii. 6. The same custom also pre- infinitely larger creditor. 

vailed among the Greeks and Ro- 30. Cast him into prison. This 

mans, and debtors were often sub- custom prevailed among the Ro- 

ject to great cruelties by whippings mans, and, barbarous and absurd as 

and imprisonments from their cred- it is, has existed in most Christian 

itors. And payment to be made, lands to this day. But the stain 

So far as practicable out of the pro- upon civilization and religion is be- 

ceeds of the sale. ginning to be wiped out. - 

26. Worshipped him. Did him 31. They were very sorry. More 
obesiance. Have patience with me. than that; they were very indig- 
Tyndale translates, "Give me re- nant; they were grieved and pro- 
spite." . voked. 

27. Forgave him the debt, i. e. 34. Tormentors. Rather, jailors, 
granted his request, and remitted or prison-keepers, who used torture 
the debt for the present. only when occasion required. Im- 



236 THE GOSPEL [CHAP. 

mentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So like- 35 
wise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from 
your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Conversations of Jesus. 

it came to pass, that, when Jesus had finished these 
sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of 



prisonment, in the east, is a great 
punishment ; since offenders, par- 
ticularly state criminals, are scanti- 
ly fed, treated with great severity, 
loaded with clogs and chains, and 
subjected to scourgings and rack- 
ings, which speedily end their lives. 
The Great Teacher would thus 
graphically paint the miserable con- 
sequences of a hard and unforgiving 
temper. 

35. From your hearts. Sincerely 
and honestly. Their. His. This 
verse expresses the moral or appli- 
cation of the parable ; " He shall 
have judgment without mercy, who 
hath showed no mercy." Revenge 
is the part of a beast, but forgive- 
ness is the part of a man, the part 
of God. God will treat his children 
as they treat one another ; such is 
his law. An unforgiving disposi- 
tion draws upon itself a dreadful 
punishment, not by any arbitrary 
enactment, but by the natural ar- 
rangement of things. It fills the 
heart with bitterness and ashes. 
We learn from this parable, 1st, 
That forgiveness of our sins by 
God, great though they be, depends 
upon the condition that we forgive 
others, though their offences are 
comparatively small ; according to 
the petition of the Lord's prayer. 
Penitence is another condition, 
though not stated here, as the ob- 
ject of this parable did not require 
it. 2d, That God forgives freely. 
There was no interposition on the 
"art of any person to stand surety, 



or make payment for the debtor 
but, upon his earnest entreaty, " the 
Lord of that servant was moved 
with compassion, and loosed him, 
and forgave him the debt." Yet we 
are told that the administration of 
heaven is likened unto this king ; 
verse 23. God deals with us as the 
Mng dealt with his servant. How 
totally inconsistent, this is with the 
popular doctrine of the Atonement, 
which represents God as pardon- 
ing no transgression, until a full 
satisfaction is made by the death of 
Christ ! Can this with any proprie- 
ty be called forgiveness ? Is it not, 
rather, stern justice, unrelenting se- 
verity? Where is there any par- 
don, if the debt must all be paid,- 
if not by the offender, at least, by 
some one else? Again, as wo are 
told to imitate the Divine conduct 
in this particular, we must, accord- 
ing to the above doctrine, exact the 
full debt from our fellow-men ; never 
forgive a transgression against our- 
selves, until our justice, or revenge, 
be appeased ; in fact, imitate the in- 
exorable creditor. Who does not 
shudder at such conclusions, which 
are the direct inferences from this 
prevalent corruption of Christian- 
ity? 

CHAP. XIX. 

1-9. Parallel to Mark x. 1 - 12. 

1. He departed from Galilee. He 
did not visit Galilee again, till after 
his resurrection. We are told by 
Luke, that lie now " steadfastly set 
his face to go to Jerusalem," as if 



XIX.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



237 



2 Judea, beyond Jordan. And great multitudes followed him ; 
and he healed them there. 

3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and say- 
ing unto him : Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for 

4 every cause ? And he answered and said unto them : Have 
ye not read, that he, which made them at the beginning, made 

5 them male and female; and said: "For this cause shall a 
man leave father arid mother, and shall cleave to his wife ; and 

6 they twain shall be one flesh " ? Wherefore they are no more 



he summoned tip courage for his ap- 
proacMng fate. Coasts of Judea, 
beyond Jordan. An obscurity rests 
upon this sentence, which has long 
perplexed the learned. For Judea 
proper did not extend east of the 
Jordan, or include the Persea, or 
that region beyond the Jordan. It 
has been suggested, that " beyond 
Jordan," or the Jordan, properly 
speaking, should be rendered upon 
or by the side of the Jordan. John 
i. 28. But the more probable ex- 
planation is, that he came into Ju- 
dea, from Galilee, not by the direct 
and customary route through Sama- 
ria, which he had been prevented 
from taking by the inhospitality of 
the inhabitants, Luke ix. 52, 53, but 
by the more circuitous route through 
the Peraea so called, according to 
Mark, " the farther side of Jordan," 
and, as Matthew has it, " beyond 
Jordan." 

3. To put away his wife for every 
cause. For any cause or fault what- 
ever. It is probable, that this, like 
other questions proposed by the 
Pharisees, was asked, not for the 
sake of information, but to involve 
Jesus in difficulty. Two celebrated 
schools existed at this time among 
the Jews, called by the names of 
two great teachers, Hillel and Sham- 
mai, which held different views upon 
the dissolution of the marriage re- 
lation ; that of Shammai contending 
that divorce was unlawful, except in 
the single case of infidelity in the 



connexion, whilst that of Hillel, 
more lax, permitted the union to be 
severed on any trivial ground, as 
that of dislike or discontent. Deut. 
xxiv. 1. The answer of Jesus they 
supposed could not be framed with- 
out exposing him to the odium of 
one or the other of these parties. 
From verse 10, we infer that these 
questioners belonged to the school 
of Hillel. 

4. But the usual wisdom of Jesus 
did not desert him. He refers them, 
beyond the quibbling and jargon of 
the schools, to the authority of the 
Great Lawgiver, and the purpose of 
God, who made the sexes, and in- 
stituted marriage as a connexion not 
to be dissolved for any slight cause. 
Gen. i. 27, ii. 21, 22. " God creat- 
ed at first no more than a single 
pair, one of each sex, whom he 
united in the bond of marriage, and 
in so doing exhibited a standard of 
that union to all generations." 
Male and female. Rather, a male 
and a female. 

5. And said. The nominative to 
this verb is doubtful. It may be 
God, or Moses, or the Scripture, or 
the verb may be impersonal. For 
this cause. On account of the di- 
vine purpose, in making them of 
different sexes. Twain. Two. The 
binding tenure of the relation is il- 
lustrated by the two facts, that the 
most intimate and early connexions, 
as the filial and fraternal ones, are 
given up for this new one ; and that 



238 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



twain, but one flesh. What, therefore, God hath joined to- 
gether, let no man put asunder. They say unto him : Why 7 

did Moses, then, command to give a writing of divorcement 
and to put her away ? He saith unto them : Moses, because 8 
of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your 
wives ; but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto 9 
you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornica- 
tion, and shall marry another, committeth adultery ; and whoso 

marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. His 10 

disciples say unto him : If the case of the man be so with his 



two persons thus joined become as 
one flesh, one person, one soul, 
having like privileges and rights. 
The inference is, then, that no triv- 
ial cause should sunder such a rivet- 
ed union. 

6. Hath joined togetJier. The verb 
in the original signifies yoked to- 
gether, by a metaphor taken from 
the yoking of oxen. Indeed, in 
some countries, a yoke or chains are 
put upon the newly married couple, 
as emblems of their close connexion. 
Jesus declares that the marriage 
bond is sanctioned by God, and not 
to be lightly sundered by human 
caprice or folly. 

7. They objected to this reason- 
ing, that Moses, in his law, permit- 
ted divorces. Deut. xxiv. 1-4. 
Command to give a writing, <SfC. 
The command of Moses related not 
to the putting away, which lie per- 
mitted for the reason stated in the 
next verse, but to the giving of a 
bill of divorce. 

8. Because of the hardness of your 
hearts. On account of your intract- 
able disposition, referring to the 
Jewish people in general. We here 
have an explicit admission, that 
some laws and customs among the 
chosen people were in themselves 
imperfect, but were necessary, in 
that peculiar and semi-barbarous pe- 
riod. Had the Jews not been per- 
mitted to put. away their wives in 
many cases, they might have treated 



them with great cruelty, and even 
put them to death. Thus civil laws, 
in all periods, present no perfect 
standard of right, but are necessari- 
ly mixed with imperfections, in their 
accommodation to the age and the 
people. The civil regulations of 
the great Hebrew legislator, in this 
respect, shared the common fate of. 
all political institutions. They were, 
for the time, best suited to the wants 
of the Jewish nation, but destined 
to be outgrown and superseded, by 
a jurisprudence more nearly in ac- 
cordance with immutable right. In 
saying that ' ' from the beginning it 
was not so," Jesus asserts that the 
original purpose, in the Divine es- 
tablishment of the relation, Avas, 
that it should be perpetual. The 
influence of his religion has given, 
wherever it has gone, new sanctity 
to marriage, and thus elevated wo- 
man and home. 

9. I say unto you. There is in 
these words a lofty tone of unbor- 
rowed and original authority, as if 
he were speaking from heaven, and 
not of himself. See note on Matt, 
v. 32 ; Luke xvi. 18. According 
to Mark, these words were uttered 
in private, to the disciples, after they 
had retired from the crowd. A di- 
vorce is permitted by Christ in the 
single case of conjugal unfaithful- 
ness. 

10. If the case of the man be so with 
his ivife, <3{c. If such be the condi- 



XIX.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



239 



11 wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them : AH men 

12 cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For 
there are some eunuchs which were so born from their moth- 
er's womb; and there are ; some eunuchs which were made 
eunuchs of men ; and there be eunuchs which have made 
themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He 
that is able to receive it, let him receive it. 

13 Then were there brought unto him little children, that he 
should put his hands on them, and pray ; and the disciples re- 

14 buked them. But Jesus said : Suffer little children, and for- 
bid them not to come unto me ; for of such is the kingdom 



lion of the husband with his wife. 
The disciples talked as Jews, full of 
the notions of their times. If, said 
they, marriage has this binding ten- 
ure, it is better to remain single. It 
is a striking proof of the truth of 
the Gospels, that there is no con- 
cealment of the errors, and follies, 
and sins of the Apostles ; but they 
are depicted just as they were, ob- 
tuse and blinded, but honest. 

11. All men cannot receive this 
saying. All cannot practise this 
saying, and abstain from marriage. 

Save they to whom it is given. 
Or, who are disinclined, from their 
natural constitution, or other causes, 
to marry. 1 Cor. vii. 7. 

12. Were so born. Those who 
were indisposed to marriage from 
their birth. Which weremade, <5fc. 
The word eunuchs is here used in 
its literal sense ; but in the previous 
and subsequent places figuratively. 

Which have made themselves, <5fc. 
Who have, from choice, from reli- 
gious motives, for the sake of pro- 
moting God's kingdom, by their 
greater exemption from private 
cares, abstained from marriage. 
No personal violence is spoken of 
here. It is supposed that reference 
was made, in this clause, to the Es- 
senes, who voluntarily lived in celi- 
bacy. Able to receive it. Refer- 
ring to the words above, in verse 11. 



Let him who can live without mar- 
riage, if such be his preference, live 
without it. No peculiar holiness is 
here attached to an unmarried life 
by Jesus. 

13-29. Parallel to Mark x. 13- 
30; Lukexviii. 15-30. 

13. That he should put his hands 
on them, and pray. It was custom- 
ary among the Jews, to lay the 
hands on a person's head, in whose 
behalf a prayer was offered. Gen. 
xlviii. 14 ; 2 Kings v. 11. This is 
one of the most beautiful passages 
in our Saviour's history. Though 
occupied with healing the sick, 
preaching to the multitude, disci- 
plining his followers, and, chief of 
all, with the fearful anticipation 
of his hastening fate at Jerusalem, 
he yet had time and affectionate 
thoughts to bestow on those little 
innocents, that were the purest im- 
ages of his divine kingdom. But 
the disciples, perhaps impatient un- 
der the interruption, or deeming it 
beneath their Master's dignity to 
notice and caress children, repulsed 
.them. They may have been stim- 
ulated the more to this harshness, 
from the lesson, which had been be- 
fore deduced from childhood, against 
their ambition. Matt, xviii. 2. The 
sight of children had become dis- 
tasteful. 

14. A similar sentiment is taught 



240 



' THE GOSPEL . [CHAP 

And he laid his hands on them, and departed 15 



of heaven, 
thence. 

And, behold, one came and said unto him : Good Master, IS 
what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life ? And 17 
he said unto him : Why callest thou me good ? there is none 
good but one, that is, God. But if thou wilt enter into life, 



in Matt, xviii. 5. Of such is the 
Iiing3om of heaven. The kingdom 
of heaven is composed of such as 
haA r e a childlike simplicity, affec- 
tion, and purity. Mark writes, that 
Jesus was " much displeased," that 
his disciples rebuked them. Chil- 
dren can no more be earned to re- 
ceive the Saviour's benediction, as 
in olden time, but they may be ta- 
ken to the altar and baptismal font 
of his religion, to be dedicated, in 
all their loveliness, to bis service. 

"Happy were they, the mothers, in whose 

sight 
Ye grew, fair children! hallowed from that 

hour 
By your Lord's blessing! Surely thence a 

shower 

Of heavenly beauty, a transmitted light, 
Hung on your brows and eyelids", meekly 

bright, 
Through "all the after years, which saw ye 

move 

Lowly, yet still-majestic, in the might, 
The conscious glory of the Saviour's love ! 
And honored be all childhood for the sake 
Of that high love ! Let reverential care 
Watch to behold the immortal spirit wake, 
And shield its first bloom from unholy air ; 
Owning, in each young suppliant glance, the 

sign 
Of claims upon a heritage divine." 

What opinion our Saviour enter- 
tained of human nature is evident 
from the benediction here pronounc- 
ed upon it in its infantile, unsophis- 
ticated state. Could he believe that 
those tender beings were originally 
and totally depraved in their nature, 
when he thus held them up as the 
types of his spiritual kingdom ? Far 
from it. 

15. Laid his hands on tJiem. Mark 
has more : ''Took them up in his 
arms, put his hands upon them, and 
blessed them." This action reveals 
the amiable and affectionate disposi- 
tion of Jesus. 



16. One came. He was a young 
man, verse 20, and a ruler, Luke 
xviii. 18. He approached Jesus 
with the signs of the greatest re- 
spect, kneeling to him, Mark x. 17. 
His motive was good, and he pro- 
posed the greatest ' of questions, 
What he should do to have eternal 
life. Probably he had been con- 
founded by the instructions of the 
Jewish doctors, by their subtleties, 
and division of the commands of 
God, calling some lighter and some 
weightier. Hence, he asks, " What 
good thing shall I do? " His ad- 
dress, " Good Master," or Teacher, 
was the common title of the day, in 
speaking to religious instructors. 
We learn that the doctrine of im- 
mortality was not unknown to him, 
as he inquires how he might gain 
its blessedness. 

17. Jesus first discards these 
empty titles, according to the direc- 
tion given to his disciples. Matt, 
xxiii. 8. Why callest thou me good, 
tf-c. According to the reading of 
Griesbach, Why asltesl thou me con- 
cerning good? One is good. But 
in Mark the text remains unaltered. 
In this passage, Jesus asserts that 
God alone is good, originally, ab- 
solutely, and perfectly, thus dis- 
claiming his own title to such a 
character as many of bis disciples 
have attributed to him, that of un-., 
created perfection. The word God 
is of Saxon or Teutonic derivation, 
and. signifies the Good, the essen- 
tially, infinitely Good Being. The 
young man hoped, perhaps, to se- 
cure his salvation, by observing some 
new rite or command which Jesus 
might enjoin. But the Saviour re- 



XIX.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



241 



18 keep the commandments. He saith unto him : Which ? Jesus 
said :" Thou shalt do no' murder; Thou shalt not commit 
adultery ; Thou shalt not steal ; Thou shalt not bear false 

19 witness ; Honor thy father and thy mother ; " and : " Thou 

20 shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." The young man saith unto 
him : All these things have I kept from my youth up ; what 

21 lack I yet ? Jesus said unto him : If thou wilt be perfect, go 
and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor ; and thou shalt 

22 have treasure in heaven ; and come and follow me. But when 
the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful ; 

23 for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his 



ferred him to God, as the sum of all 
excellence, and to his command- 
ments, as the way of life eternal. 

18, 19. Which? This question 
shows that he wished to fix on 
some particular one, as of saving 
efScaey. Have we not here an in- 
stance of a desire that has appeared 
in all ages, of doing some one thing 
to save the soul, rather than of com- 
plying with the whole circle of 
God's laws ? Thou shalt do no 
murder, <SfC. Ex. xx. 12 16 ; Lev. 
xix. 18. The Saviour here gives 
specimens of the commandments, 
rather than enumerates all that were 
essential. Thy neighbor as thyself. 
As means comparatively, not abso- 
lutely like. 

20. Kept from my youth up. Ra- 
ther, from my childhood up ; for he 
was yet a young man- He thought 
well of himself, but yet felt the want 
of something more, and, with the 
spirit of inquiry, rather than of 
boasting, he asked, What lack I yet ? 
From Mark Ave learn, that Jesus, 
when he heard this evidence of his 
exemplary life, "beholding him, 
loved him," but saidj " One thing 
thou lackest." 

21. If thou wilt be perfect, <j-c. If 
thou wilt attain to the highest spir- 
itual excellence, and be complete in 
character, greater sacrifices are re- 
quired. Renounce the gratifications 

VOL. r. 21 



of wealth, distribute your property 
among the destitute, and thus attain 
leisure from worldly .concerns to 
serve as my disciple in preaching 
the Gospel, and thou sbalt possess 
a richer treasure in heaven than any 
earthly fortune. No more was re- 
quired of him in selling all that he 
had, than of the other persons whom 
Jesus had called to be his attendants 
and Apostles, except that his estate 
was larger. Matthew left all, Luke 
v. 28, and Peter says the same of 
the whole company, verse 27. 

22. Went away sorrowful. A 
graphic stroke of the Evangelist's 
pencil. The young man had been 
put to the proof, and found wanting 
in that spirit of self-sacrifice and re- 
nunciation required by Christianity. 
He might have an amiable and up- 
right character, but the fountains 
of the great spiritual deep had not 
been opened in his soul. He did 
not yet see that the grand, towering, 
heavenly good of life consisted in 
supreme love to God and man, how- 
ever fortunes might come or go. 
His great possessions were the 
grave of his spirit. He retires sor- 
rowful, as we may suppose, with 
hanging head, and sad countenance, 
and slow and heavy steps, and heav- 
ier heart. No high promptings of 
the better nature can be resisted 
without sorrow. It is goodness, not 



242 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



disciples : Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly 
enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, 24 
it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than 
for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his 25 
disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying : 
Who then can be saved ? But Jesus beheld them, and said 26 
unto them : With men this is impossible ; but with God all 

things are possible. Then answered Peter, and said unto 27. 

him : Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed, thee ; what 
shall we have therefore ? And Jesus said unto them : Verily 28 



selfishness, that is light-hearted and 
serenely happy. The so called gay 
life of folly and sin is the saddest of 
all lives, for the inner heart is cold 
and leaden. 

23. Jesus converts the occasion 
into a lesson of warning against the 
moral dangers of riches. A rich 
man. Explained in Mark by " them 
that trust in riches." Shall hardly 
enter. Shall with difficulty enter. 
The rich are tempted to trust in 
their riches as the supreme good. 
They were therefore disinclined, 
more than the poor, from entering 
into the service of Christ on earth, 
and thence into the spiritual life of 
heaven. \Ve read of only two rich 
men who became disciples of Jesus, 
and that, too, secretly ; and the dec- 
laration of Jesus stands confirmed 
by the accumulated experience of 
centuries. Religion has scarcely 
any mightier foe to contend with 
than wealth and its natural concom- 
itants. Matt. xiii. 22 ; 1 Tim. vi. 
9, 10. 

24. Jesus here speaks yet more 
emphatically, and uses a proverb 
that signifies the greatest difficulty 
and improbability. Easier for a 
camel, <5fc. A similar expression is 
found twice in the Talmud, with 
the substitution of the term ele- 
phant in the place of camel. An 
absolute impossibility is not, of 
course, meant, for some rich men 



became disciples of our Lord. The 
moral dangers of riches are, that 
they will engross time and the af- 
fections to the exclusion of nobler 
things, and lead to fraud, oppression, 
and covetousness in their acquisi- 
tion, and in their possession and use 
engender pride, luxury, and dissipa- 
tion, or congeal the whole man with 
a contracted, icy avarice. 

25. Exceedingly amazed. Be- 
cause they looked for a temporal 
kingdom, in which wealth would be 
an important element. 

26. Jesus beheld them. A descrip- 
tion of the mingled astonishment 
and earnestness of his manner as he 
looked on them. Who then, i. e. 
what rich man. With God all 
things are possible. Surprised as 
you are at the strength of my asser- 
tion, impossible as it may seem to 
human apprehension, and as it con- 
cerns human power, yet by divine 
aid, by the motives of the Gospel, 
even the rich, with all their tempta- 
tions to worldliness, may be quick- 
ened, in the spiritual life. 

27. We have forsaJien all, <3fc. 
Peter's question refers to verse 21. 
Jesus had directed the young man 

and sell all, to .relieve the 
and the inquiry naturally 
arises, What reward shall we have, 
who have left our houses, families, 
and callings, to fellow you? It was 
an inquisitive, not a boastful spirit 



to go 
poor; 



XIX.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



243 



I say unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regenera- 
tion, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, 
ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes 

29 of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or breth- 
ren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or 
lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred-fold, and 

33 shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall 

be last ; and the last shall be first. 



in the disciple. Their all was in- 
deed but little, but it was their all 
to them, as much as if it had been 
the wealth of Croesus, or the crown 
of Alexander. 

28. In the regeneration. The 
best critics place the comma before 
instead of after these words, for they 
relate not to the past, but to the fu- 
ture ; not to their following Christ, 
but to their reigning with him in 
glory. Regeneration here refers 
not to the change in individual char- 
acter, so much as to the moral ref- 
ormation of the world at large, its 
new creation by Christianity. Sit 
in the throne of his glory, <$-c. Said 
Jesus, This shall be your reward : 
you shall rank next to me in the 
kingdom of righteousness and truth, 
which I am to establish on earth, 
and in the future -world you shall 
inherit everlasting life and happi- 
ness. But'in expressing this idea, 
he enrobes it in a Jewish costume, 
and uses such material figures as 
were adapted to their ignorance and 
unspirituality, and as woiild array 
the splendid promise in the most 
brilliant, but really true colors, to 
their minis. Twelve thrones. As 
thai was the number of the Apos- 
tles. Judging. Ruling, or exer- 
cising authority over, as the word 
often signifies in Scripture. Twelve 
tribes of "Israel. After the Gospel 
dispensation, this appellation was 
given to the Christian world, as it 
had been before to the chosen peo- 
ple James i. 1. This wonderful, 



but then so improbable prediction, 
has been gloriously fulfilled. The 
fame and doctrine of _ those obscure 
men have gone forth into all coun- 
tries. That new religion, which is 
" the wonder, the beauty, and the 
glory of the earth," first spoke its 
divine accents abroad among the na- 
tions, through their "tongues of 
fire," and shone with the irradiations 
of their meekness and love. What 
influence of poet or philosopher can 
compare with the mighty impulses, 
which they communicated to the 
hearts and lives of their own and 
all succeeding generations? What 
glory of monarch or warrior can be 
likened to the thrones of heavenly 
light, in which these men have 
swayed the world, " who first fished 
for their living in the Sea of Gali- 
lee, and then were called to be 
Apostles of Christ" ? They " shine 
as the brightness of .the firmament, 
and as the stars for ever and ever." 

29. Jesus goes on to extend the 
promise of noble rewards, beyond 
the circle of the Twelve, to all who 
should strive and suffer in the Chris- 
tian cause. For my name's sake, 
i. e. as my disciple, or in behalf of my 
religion. An hundred fold. Mark 
adds, " with persecutions," intimat- 
ing the conditions of suffering and 
death, on which they would secure 
these illustrious blessings. Rom. 
viii. 17, 18. 

30. This verse has, by the ill- 
judged division into chapters and 
verses, been separated from the fol- 



244 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



CHAPTER XX. 

The Parable oftJie Laborers, Request of James and John, and Cure of the Blind Man. 

JP OR the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an 
householder, which went out early in the morning to hire la- 
borers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the 2 
laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 



lowing parable, to which it belongs ; 
though it is found in Mark, where 
no parable succeeds it, and where 
we must suppose it connected with, 
the preceding "remarks, as we may 
conjecture it to be in some degree 
also in Matthew, for the conversa- 
tion was eontimious. It is a pro- 
verbial phrase, generally understood 
to apply to the reception of Chris- 
tianity by the Gentiles, earlier than 
by the more favored Jews ; but 
more likely, from its connexion 
with foregoing remarks, designed 
to teach the disciples, that the pri- 
ority of time of their becoming fol- 
lowers of Christ would not entitle 
them to any higher rewards than 
later converts would receive, would 
not elevate them to loftier dignities, 
as they erroneously supposed, in 
the new kingdom. Character, not 
the time of conversion, would give 
them distinction one above another. 

CHAP. XX. 

1. The parable of the laborers is 
connected with the last verse of the 
preceding chapter, as is indicated 
by the word for. The kingdom of 
heaven, or the dealings of God un- 
der the Christian dispensation, may 
be likened, said Jesus, to the treat- 
ment of his laborers by the owner 
of a vineyard. We have here a 
continuation of the conversation in 
the last chapter, and the parable can 
only be understood with reference 
to that. Peter had inquired respect- 
ing the rewards of discipleship. 
The Saviour replies, that the Apos- 
tles would attain the highest honors, 



next to himself, and that all other 
disciples would receive abundant 
rewards, both in this life, and in that 
which is to come. But, he adds, 
do not suppose that the earlier con- 
verts under .the Gospel dispensation 
will, on that account, be any more 
meritorious, or better rewarded, than 
those who, being called later, man- 
ifest an equal fidelity and zeal. The 
virtue and acceptableness of the act 
consisted, not in the time, but in the 
prompitude and conscientiousness 
with which the call was obeyed, 
whenever it came. Yea, even the 
first, as to time and privileges, may 
become inferior to the last, and the 
last become first. This parable has 
been supposed generally to refer to 
the calling of the Gentiles, and the 
equality they would hold with the 
Jews; but the interpretation above 
covers that ground and much more, 
and is more consistent Avith the gen- 
eral strain of the conversation. It 
hardly need be stated, that it has 
not a particle of allusion to the indi- 
vidual age at which persons become 
Christians, nor furnishes one iota of 
encouragement, for the eflicacy of 
death-bed repentance. The succes- 
sive hours correspond to different 
periods of the Christian dispensa- 
tion, not to the seasons of human 
life. An householder. A master 
of a family. Early in the morning, 
i. e. the first hour, at six o'clock. 
Vineyard. The cultivation of the 
grape was an important part of Jew- 
ish agriculture. 

2. A penny. The Roman dena- 
rius or penny is equal to the Gre- 



XX.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



245 



3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing 

4 idle in the market-place ; and said unto them : Go ye also into 
the vineyard ; and whatsoever is right I will give you. And 

5 they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and 

6 ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he 
went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them : 

7 Why stand ye here all the day idle ? They say unto him : Be- 
cause no man hath hired us. He saith unto them : Go ye also 
into the vineyard ; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye re- 

8 ceive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith 
unto his steward : Call the laborers, and give them their hire, 

9 beginning from the last, unto the first. And when they came 
that icere hired about the eleventh hour, they received every 

10 man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that 
they should have received more ; and they likewise received 

11 every man a penny. And when they had received it, they 

12 murmured against the goodman of the house, saying : These 
last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal 
unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 



cian drachm ; about fourteen cents. 
This was the usual pay of laborers 
and soldiers. Tobit v. 14. 

3. Third Jiourj i. e. nine o'clock. 
Idle in the market-place. Mean- 
ing, unemployed. This was the 
usual place for persons to resort to, 
in order to obtain hire, as well as 
to sell and buy goods. 

4. Whatsoever is right. Or, rea- 
sonable. No specific agreement was 
made with those last hired. 

5. 6. Sixth ninth eleventh, hour. 
At twelve, three, and five o'clock 
respectively. The different periods 
are here represented at which per- 
sons became the disciples of Jesus, 
according as they had opportunities 
of doing it. Why stand ye here all 
the day idle ? 

" The God of glory walks his round, 
From day to day, from year to year ; 
And warns us each, with awful sound, 

'No longer stand ye idle here ! ' 

Recall us to thy vineyard, Lord ! 
And grant us grace to please thee there ! " 
21* 



8. When even was come. Or, six 
o'clock. Steward. The overseer 
of the domestic economy. From 
the last unto the first. This was 
done so that the first might not go 
away, but be present at the dialogue 
which followed. 

9. The price may have been left 
unsettled with those who went last 
into the vineyard, that they might 
labor the more strenuously, by 
knowing that they would be paid 
according to the amount of work 
done, and not according to the time 
of labor. 

11. The goodman of the house. 
The word is translated householder 
in verse 1. It is an old English 
term, now obsolete, to express the 
head of a family, without regard to 
moral quality. 

12. Have wrought but one hour. 
As they were hired at the eleventh 
hour, or five o'clock, and left their 
work at even, or at six o'clock. 



246 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



But he answered one of them, and said : Friend, I do thee no 13 
wrong ; didst not thou agree with me for a penny ? Take that 
thine is, and go thy way. I will give unto this last even as 14 
unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with 'mine 15 
own ? Is thine eye evil, because I am good ? So the last shall 16 
be first ; and the first, last. For many be called, but few 
chosen. 

And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples 17 
apart in the way, and said unto them : Behold, we go up to is 
Jerusalem ; and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the 
chief priests and unto the scribes ; and they shall condemn 19 
him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles, to mock, 



Reference is made in this part of 
the parable, it would seem, to Pe- 
ter's inquiry, in chap. xix. 27, made 
as if he and his associates expected 
a greater reward than others, who 
entered later into Jesus' service. 

15. Thine eye evil. Or, envious. 
An evil eye is used as an emblem 
of envy. Art thou jealous and 
grudging-, because I am good, or 
gracious and liberal. The master 
of the house performed his promise, 
and therefore wronged no one by 
his generosity to the last laborers. 
God will dispense his gifts accord- 
ing to his own pleasure and benig- 
nity, and deal justly with all, how- 
ever some may murmur at their 
own, or envy the lot of others. He 
is no respecter of persons, and Gen- 
tiles, as well as Jews, will share in 
his impartial love. 

16. So. According to the illus- 
tration now given. Not the first 
called, but the most industrious, 
would be the most approved. The 
period of becoming disciples would 
make no difference in the rewards. 
Many be called, but few chosen. 
A further proverbial expression, 
thought by some eminent critics 
to be an interpolation. An allusion 
is made, according to some, to the 
selection of soldiers for an army. 
Many shall be called to be disciples, 



but few shall be chosen, i. e. choice 
disciples. 

17-19. Parallel to Mark x. 32- 
34. Luke xviii. 31 - 34. 

17. Going up to Jerusalem. This 
was his last journey towards the 
holy city. As many others were 
probably on their way to the festi- 
val of the passover, he withdraws 
his disciples apart to communicate 
something of the deepest interest. 
Mark says, that Jesus went before 
them, and that they followed him in 
amazement and fear, thinking, per- 
haps, that their safety and lives 
would be endangered at Jerusalem. 
The fearless bearing of their Mas- 
ter awed and astonished them. 

18, 19. The Son of Man. See 
note on chap. xi. 19. Shall be be- 
trayed, <5{c. The minuteness of this 
prediction, and its exact fulfilment, 
is a clear proof of the Saviour's 
prophetic and divine knowledge. 
This is the third time he had spok- 
en of the unwelcome subject. 
Condemn him to death. The Jew- 
ish Satihedrim could not pass a ju- 
dicial sentence of death upon him, 
or carry it into execution, but they 
could judge him to deserve such a 
sentence. Matt. xrvi. 66, xxvii. 2. 
To the Gentiles. They would 
even call in the aid of the Gentiles, 
whom they abominated, to help 



XX.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW, 



247 



and to scourge, and to crucify him; and the third day he shall 
rise again. 

20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children, with 

t ' 

her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. 

21 And he said unto her : What wilt thou ? She saith unto him : 
Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right 

22 hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. But Jesus an- 
swered and said : Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to 
drink of the cup that I shall drink of ? and to be baptized with 



them in their bloody crime. All 
these particulars were exactly ful- 
filled. He was betrayed by Judas 
into the hands of the chief priests 
and Scribes. By them he was ad- 
judged worthy of death. He was 
handed over to Pontius Pilate, was 
mocked by Herod and the sol- 
diers, was scourged, crucified, and 
on the third day was raised from 
the dead. None but a supernatu- 
ral foresight could have anticipated 
these particulars ; for, as has been 
observed, humanly speaking, it was 
much more probable that he would 
be privately assassinated, or stoned 
in some transport of popular fury, 
or by order of the Sanhedrim, than 
that he should be thus sentenced to 
crucifixion, a Roman punishment, 
with which he had never been 
threatened. Notwithstanding the 
plainness of his declarations, Luke 
tells us, that his disciples "under- 
stood none of these things," for 
they still labored under the infat- 
uation of expecting his temporal 
glory. 

20-28. Parallel to Mark x. 35 
-45. 

20. Though the curtain of a dark 
future had just been lifted by Jesus, 
this infatuation was illustrated anew 
by the mother of two of the Apos- 
tles, James and John. Her name 
was Salome. Matt, xxvii. 56 ; Mark 
xv. 40, xvi. 1. Her ownr services 
to Jesus, the special favors he had 
bestowed upon her sons, and the 



promise in Matt. xix. 28, embolden- 
ed her to prefer this ambitious re- 
quest. According to Mark, the sons 
themselves, James and John, are 
tbe supplicants. Both the mother 
and her children were probably con- 
cerned in the application ; for Mat- 
thew states, she came with her sons. 
They shielded themselves . under 
their mother's mediation, from the 
rebuke which had already been ad- 
ministered to the aspiring. Matt, 
xviii. 3. 

21. One on thy right hand, and 
the other on the left. Their imagi- 
nation was possessed with the fig- 
ure - which Jesus had used of sit- 
ting upon thrones. That glittering 
prospect dazzled their eyes, and they 
could not see or understand, that 
sufferings and death awaited their 
Master and themselves, before they 
could reign in their spiritual glory. 
In reference to eastern customs, 
they desire the highest places of 
confidence and honor with Jesus, 
indicated by sitting on his right and 
left hand. 

22. Yeknoionotwhatyeaslt. For 
they mistook the nature of his king- 
dom. How many parents know 
not what they ask for their children, 
when they desire pleasures, posses- 
sions, and honors of this world, 'for 
them ! For, without the jewel of 
virtue, they will be poor and miser- 
able indeed, however rich or dis- 
tinguished. Cup that I shall drink 
of. An image of his future suffer- 



248 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



the baptism that I am baptized with ? They say unto him : 
We are able. And he saith unto them : Ye shall drink in- 23 
deed of my cup ; and be baptized with the baptism that I am 
baptized with ; but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is * 
not mine to give ; but it shall be given to them for whom it is 

pi'epared of my Father. And when the ten heard it, they 24 

were moved with indignation against the two brethren. But 25 
Jesus called them unto him, and said : Ye know that the princes 
of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are 
great exercise authority upon .them. But it shall not be so 26 
among you ; but whosoever will be great among you, let him 
be your minister ; and whosoever will be chief among you, 27 



ings. Ps. xi. 6, Ix. 3 ; Isa. li. 17 ; 
Matt. xxvi. 39; John xviii. 11. 
The baptism that I am baptized with. 
Another illustration, to the same 
purport. Martyrdom was called the 
baptism of blood ; repentance, the 
baptism of tears, in oriental speech. 
Can you meet the dangers and suf- 
ferings I am destined to undergo? 
This clause is, however, expunged 
from the text in this and the next 
verse, as spurious, by Griesbach 
and other great critics. We are 
able. Little they knew of the thorny 
path they were to tread. Their fan- 
cied strength was weakness, their 
bright hopes a bubble. Still, their 
words were, in some sense, pro- 
phetic ; for in due time they were 
able to do and suffer gloriously, 
submitting to banishment and death, 
on account of their crucified Master. 
Acts xii. 2 ; Rev. i. 9. 

23. You shall, is the spirit of the 
reply, share in my toils and suffer- 
ings ; the cup of sorrow, tbe bap- 
tism of blood, shall be yours ; but 
to bestow the dignities of my king- 
dom is not in my power, except as 
they are allotted by my Father. 
The words in Italics were intro- 
duced by the translators, and had 
better be omitted. The' reference 
of his own will to his Father's 
shows us, as clearly as language 



can show, that he was a created, 
dependent being, not the original, 
uncaused Power. ' 

24. They were moved with indig- 
nation. The ten were offended with 
the other two, as making a request 
against their interests. Ambition is 
always indignant at ambition. 

25. As Jesus had before rebuked 
their ambition by the presence of 
a child, so now he uses a new illus- 
tration, to quell their aspiring tem- 
per. Calling them together, he di- 
rects their attention to the political 
rulers of tbe times, among pagan 
nations, who domineered and tyran- 
nized over their subjects. Luke 
xxii. 25. Among them, ambition 
and rivalry were to be expected. 
But 

26. 27. It shall not be so among 
you. Rather, let it not be so among 
you. Such a grasping disposition 
is wholly inconsistent with the prin- 
ciples of my religion, and the office 
you are to sustain in proclaiming 
it to the world. Your minister. 
Your servant. The true greatness 
of my followers will spring from 
humility and the benevolent offices 
of charity and good will. The use- 
ful are the great, the good are the 
glorious. " Only in loving compan- 
ionship with his fellows does man 
feel safe, only in reverently bowing 



XX.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



249 



28 let him be your servant ; even as the Son of Man came not to 
be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom 
for many. 



down before the higher does he feel 
himself exalted." On what a stu- 
pendous and world-wide scale have 
the sentiments of meekness and hu- 
mility here inculcated been trans- 
gressed by the Roman Church, in 
its vast temporal authority, its arro- 
gant claims, and its spiritual tyr- 
anny ! 

28. Even as the Son of Man. To 
carry the lesson home still deeper, 
he presents the highest model for 
their imitation, in lowliness "and use- 
fulness. Even the Messiah him- 
self, with all his power and dignity, 
came not into the world to receive 
the homage of men, to be applauded 
and admired, but to minister to 
man's wants, to meet the cravings 
of his undying nature, and to melt 
the heart to penitence by the power 
of the cross : thus consecrating him- 
self, and even laying down his life, 
as a ransom, or as a means of deliv- 
erance, for the human family. His 
own example, therefore, in conde- 
scension and self-sacrifice, is a 
bright pattern for his disciples to 
copy ; a potent corrective of their 
selfish ambition. To give his life 
a ransom for many. Or, to ransom 
many, i. e. "to deliver them from 
the evils of ignorance, error, and 
sin." Wakefield supposes many to 
refer to the sacrifices under the Jew- 
ish laws, one ransom to be given in- 
stead of many. But the more com- 
mon and better opinion is, that many 
refers to mankind, to all" men.' The 
woid here translated ransom signi- 
fied originally the price paid for 
treeing a slave, and therefore, figu- 
ratively, any means of freedom from 
servitude. Thus God is said to 
have ransomed the Israelites, not by 
any substitution, but by the displays 
of his power. Ex. vi. 6 ; Deut. 



vii. 8 ; Luke xxiv. 21. Thns Jesus 
Christ has ransomed mankind, i. e. 
all who will comply with his reli- 
gion, from the bondage of a sensual 
life, and raised them into the joys of 
a spiritual one. This verse affords 
no countenance to the popular doc- 
trine of the Atonement ; that some- 
thing was necessary to reconcile an 
offended Deity to his . erring chil- 
dren, and that Christ, in his death, 
supplied that want ; for that would 
be to construe with a bald literal- 
ness, what, it is as plain as any 
principle ha language can be, should 
be interpreted figuratively. If we 
say, Luther redeemed the Christian 
church, it is understood at once that 
we speak metaphorically. So ought 
this phrase to be taken. But all 
the great corruptions of Christianity, 
the doctrines of Total Depravity, 
Transubstantiation, Trinity, Elec- 
tion, as well as this of the Atone- 
ment, are attributable to the same 
cause, the construing of figurative 
language literally. When the doc- 
trine of the Atonement was once 
established, this verse was then used 
as a proof of it, but it did not sug- 
gest it originally. 

29-34. Parallel to Mark x. 46- 
52 ; Luke xviii. 35-43. There are 
two discrepances 'in this passage, 
comparing the accounts together. 
Matthew speaks -of two blind men ; 
Mark and Luke of- but one. Mat- 
thew and Mark describe the cure as 
taking place when he left Jericho ; 
Luke when he entered it. As to 
the number of men, some writers 
suppose that there were two, but 
that Mark and Luke mention only 
the most noted of them, a certain 
Bartimeus. Others conjecture that 
he healsd them at different times, 
and that Mark and Luke speak of 



250 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude fol- 29 
lowed him. And, behold, two blind men, sitting by the way- 30 
side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying : 
Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David ! And the 31 
multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their 
peace. But they cried the more, saying : Have mercy on 
us, O Lord, thou Son of David ! And Jesus stood still, and 32 
called them, and said : What will ye that I shall do unto you ? 
They say unto him : Lord, that our eyes may be opened. 33 



only one case ; at all events, they 
do not say that only one was cured. 
As to the other point, it lias been 
suggested, that the expression, was 
come nigh unto Jericho, may without 
violence be translated, ivas in the vi- 
cinity of Jericho, and agree, there- 
fore, with Matthew and Mark, who 
state that he did the cure as he de- 
parted from the town. A theory of 
two towns, the old and new Jericho, 
has been advanced, and that he did 
the cure as he departed from one 
and approached the other. But, on 
the whole, perhaps, it is better in 
these cases to admit that there may 
have been some contradiction, for 
the attempt to reconcile difficulties 
is sometimes overstrained. We 
would rather say, with Bloomfield, 
" that, if the trifling discrepances 
adverted to were really irreconcila- 
ble, still they would not weaken the 
credit of the Evangelist, being such 
as are found in the best historians ; 
nay, they may be rather thought to 
strengthen their authority as inde- 
pendent witnesses." 

29. Jericho. This city, next in 
importance to Jerusalem, and situa- 
ted about twenty miles northeast 
from it, and five from the Jordan, 
was the scene of many interesting 
events in the Jewish history. It 
was overthrown by Joshua, Josh, 
vi. 21-26, and was afterwards re- 
built, 1 Kings xvi. 34, and contained 
a school of the prophets, 2 Kings 
ii. 5. It was called " the city of 



palms," from, the number of these 
trees growing around it. It is now 
an insignificant village, called Ri- 
cha. 

30. Sitting ly the ioay-si.de. The 
most favorable place to beg, and 
hear the news. O Lord, thou Son 
of David. This appellation of the 
Messiah they might have caught 
from hearsay, and used it as a con- 
ciliatory token of respect. Or, 
" suffering under a sore misfortune, 
they were naturally disposed, far 
more ihan others, to feel the force 
of the evidence which Jesus gave of 
his authority, and to think lightly 
of the circumstances that seemed to 
weaken that evidence." 

31. Because they should hold their 
peace. Rather, that they should 
hold their peace. They cried the 
more. It was their only chance. 
They fear that the opportunity may 
be lost for ever. They are therefore 
instant and importunate, and send 
their piercing cries through the 
dense multitude to the ears of Jesus. 
What naturalness is there in this 
circumstance, that, unable to see 
Jesus, they should try to arrest his 
attention by 'their boisterous cries! 
The multitude rebuked them, think- 
ing, perhaps, that it was beneath 
Jesus to notice these blind beggars, 
or impatient that his journey or his 
discourse should be interrupted, 
anxious or curious as they were to 
hear every word that dropped from 
his lips. Mark adds the descriptive 



XXI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



251 



34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes ; 
and immediately their eyes received sight ; and they followed 
him. 

CHAPTER XXI. 



Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Miracles and Parables. 

when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to 
Bethphage, unto the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two dis- 

2 ciples, saying unto them : Go into the village over against you, 
and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her ; 

3 loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought 



circumstance, that, " casting away 
his garment," as impeding his 
haste, the blind man "rose and 
came to Jesus." 

34. Jesus had compassion on them, 
and touched their eyes. Showing 
that the miracle proceeded from 
himself. Our Saviour did not cold- 
ly and mechanically perform his 
miracles. Although he was sur- 
rounded by admiring' disciples and 
a thronging multitude, he yet had 
time and thought to bestow on the 
unfortunate, that lay by the road- 
side, poor and blind. Although on 
the way to his own crucifixion, and 
filled with its approaching terrors, 
he still had a heart to sympathize 
with, and a hand powerful to succor 
the miserable. His potent touch 
unsealed the blinded eye. His ev- 
erlasting Gospel still goes the rounds 
of the world, as its author walked 
in Palestine, mighty to shed light 
and comfort over the darkened mind 
of man. Reader, you do not pos- 
sess your Saviour's divine power, 
but you can cherish his divine sym- 
pathy for the sick and. wretched. 

CHAP. XXI. 

1-11, 14-16; Mark xi. 1-11; 
Luke xix. 29 - 44 ; John xii. 12 - 
19. 

1. Drew nigh unto Jerusalem. 
See chap. xx. 17, 18, 29. Were 
tome to Bethphage, i. e. were on 



their way. Mark and Luke also 
speak of Bethany. The two villa- 
ges were situated at the foot of the 
Mount of Olives, on the east side, 
and their territories were contigu- 
ous. Bethphage signifies house 
of figs ; Bethany, house of dates; 
from which it has been conjectured 
that those trees abounded there. 
Mount of Olives. Or, Olivet. A 
high ridge lying east from Jerusa- 
lem, so called from the olive trees 
growing upon it, and of which a few 
remain to the present day. The 
valley of Jehoshaphat, or of Hin- 
nom, and the brook of Kedron or 
Cedron, lay between this mountain 
and Jerusalem. 

2. The village over against you. 
Bethphage. An ass tied, and a colt. 
The ass is a fine animal in the east, 
and much used in common life, as 
the Jews were forbidden to keep 
horses, lest they should be prompt- 
ed to conquests. Some, however, 
violated the prohibition. Bring 
them. The other writers speak on- 
ly of tbe colt or young ass, as that 
was the animal on which. Jesus rode. 
Both were sent for, as they would 
go better together, one being the 
mother, and the other her colt. It 
was to a friend or acquaintance 
probably that Jesus sent, who would 
be willing at once to loan his beasts, 
when he knew who wished for 
them. Mark and Luke mention 



252 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



unto you, ye shall say : The Lord hath need of them ; and 
straightway he will send them. All this was done that it might 4 
be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "Tell 5 
ye the daughter of Sion : Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, 
meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass." 
And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 6 
and brought the ass, and the colt ; and put on them their 7 
clothes, and they set Aim thereon. And a very great multitude 8 



that the colt never had been used 
for labor, and we are told - that it 
was a custom to employ animals, 
that never, had borne the yoke or 
saddle, for sacred uses. Deut. xxi. 
3 ; 1 Sam. vi. 7. Jesus foresaw 
what would befall him in a few 
days, and he made this public entry 
into Jerusalem to fix the attention 
of the people upon himself, and 
thus give the greatest publicity to 
his death, resurrection, and other 
attendant events. 

3. The Lord. Simply, the Mas- 
ter. That would be a sufficient 
reason to him. 

4. That it might be fulfilled. Or, 
according to Waken" eld, so as to ful- 
fil. Jesus' peaceful entry into Je- 
rusalem corresponded with Zecha- 
riah's description of the Messiah, an 
analogy which, according to John 
xii. 16, the disciples did not at first 
understand, but perceived it after 
Jesus was glorified. The prophet. 
Zech. ix. 9, also Isa. Ixii. 11. The 
sense, rather than the exact words, 
seems to be regarded by Matthew. 

5. Tfie daughter of Sion, i. e. the 
city of Jerusalem, so called from 
Mount Zion on which it was built. 
A poetical personification of cities 
was common among the orientals. 
Meek, and silting upon an ass. 
The horse was used in war, but to 
ride upon an ass was an emblem of 
peace. By this symbolic act, Jesus 
presented himself to public notice, 
not in the character of a haughty 
monarch, riding upon a spirited 



charger, and fulfilling the worldly 
expectations of his countrymen, -but 
as a lowly and peaceful prophet rid- 
ing upon an humble ass. In the 
earlier periods of the Jewish com- 
monwealth, to ride upon an ass was 
a mark of the highest distinction ; 
Judg. v. 10 ; 2 Sam. xvii. 23 ; but 
in later times, as the number of 
horses increased in Judea, the ass 
was resigned to the use of the poor- 
er people, and to ride upon it be- 
came a mark of poverty and lowli- 
ness, as would seem to be indicated 
by the saying of Zechariah. Even 
in his most triumphant hour, Jesus 
would declare the pacific character 
of his kingdom. 

7. Put on them their clothes, i. e. 
on both the animals, not knowing 
on which Jesus would ride, or as 
an honor to him. 2 Kings ix. 13. 
The garments served the purpose 
of a saddle. Set him thereon, i. e. 
on the colt ; for though the original 
has it on them, yet that was a pop- 
ular idiom, used probably because 
both had been spoken of before. 
The sense is, on one of them. Judg. 
xii. 7. The other Evangelists men- 
tion only one animal. Some under- 
stand thereon as referring to the 
clothes on which they placed Jesus. 

8. A very great multitude. One 
circumstance which had drawn to- 
gether this crowd, was the interest 
produced by the miracle of raising 
Lazarus from the dead. Besides, 
vast multitudes congregated at this 
time at Jerusalem, and Jesus had 



XXI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



253 



spread their garments in the way ; others cut down branches 
9 from the- trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multi- 
tudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying : Ho- 
sanna to the Son of David ! blessed is he that cometh in the 

10 name of the Lord ! Hosanna in the highest ! And when 

he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying: 

11 Who is this ? And the multitude said : This is Jesus the 

12 prophet, of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the 



become known through the coun- 
try and therefore attracted their no- 
tice. John. xi. 56. Spread their 
garments in the way, i. e. their 
outside garments, their mantles or 
cloaks. 2 Kings ix. 13. These 
acts were insignia of respect and 
honor j paid to one whom the fickle 
multitude at the time seem to have 
regarded as the veritable Messiah. 
As the branches were boughs of the 
palm-tree, John xii. 13, and were 
flat, they would not obstruct the 
way. They were emblems of vic- 
tory and peace. It has been cus- 
tomary in all ages, to offer similar 
tokens of honor to the great and 
distinguished, and to strew flowers, 
garments, and branches in their 
way. Myrtle boughs were thrown 
in the path of Xerxes, the king, as 
he advanced info Greece. Our own 
day has witnessed spectacles not 
dissimilar. 

9. Hosanna. Compounded of two 
Hebrew words, Save now, or. Save, 
we beseech thee. It was an accla- 
mation of reverence and joy, used 
at the feast of tabernacles, and here 
employed to express their welcome 
of the Expected One. It has some 
similarity to the modern expression, 
"God save the king." Hosanna 
to the Son of David. Signifies, God 
save the Son of David. * Blessed is 
he that cometh, <$c. Ps. exviii. 25, 
26 ; Luke xix. 38 ; John v. 43. 
Hosanna in the highest, i. e. with 
supreme praises, or, in the highest 
places, or heaven. Save now, thou 

VOL. i. 22 



who dwellest in the heights. Luke 
ii. 14. From the differing accounts 
of the historians, we may infer that 
the jubilant voices uttered a vari- 
ety of enthusiastic salutations and 
praises. Spontaneous and gratify- 
ing as was this public homage, Je- 
sus clearly looked beyond it all, and 
foresaw how soon, under altered 
circumstances, the multitude would 
cry, Crucify him, crucify him. 

"Ride on, ride on in majesty ! 
Hark ! all the tribes Hosannas cry ! 
Thine humble beast pursues his road, 
With palms and scattered garments strewed. 

"Ride on, ride .on in majesty ! 
In lowly pomp ride on to die ! 
O Christ ! thy triumphs now begin 
O'er captive death and conquered sin ! " 

10. All the city was moved. The 
previous fame of Jesus, the shouts 
of thronging multitudes, and the 
tokens of joy and triumph which 
attended the procession, naturally 
stirred the people with mingled emo- 
tions of fear and hope, curiosity and 
hatred, wonder and veneration. 

11. The 'prophet, of Nazareth. 
This would "imply that they still 
regarded him more as a prophet, 
like John or some one of the old 
prophets, than as the mighty Mes- 
siah of intense Jewish hope. 

12. 13. Parallel to Mark xi. 15 - 
19; Luke xix. 45-48. Matthew 
appears to neglect the order of this, 
transaction, which properly belongs 
between verses 19 and 20, in order 
to recite in one paragraph continu- 
ously the account of the withering 
of the fig-tree. We learn, from 



254 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought iu 
the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, 
and the seats of them that sold doves ; and said unto them : 13 
It is written : " My house shall be called the house of prayer ; 
but ye have made it a den of thieves." And the blind and the 14 
lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. And 15 
when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things 
that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying : 



Mark xi. 11 15, that this was not 
done on the day of Jesus' entry into 
Jerusalem, but the day after, he 
having passed the night in Bethany. 

12. Into the temple of God, i. e. 
the outer court of the temple, whith- 
er Gentiles were accustomed to re- 
sort. Jesus had before made a sim- 
ilar purification of the temple. John 
ii. 13 17. The money-changers. 
Or, brokers, persons who exchanged 
the coin of the Jews, which was 
necessary for those who paid the 
usual taxes and contributions to the 
temple, and took in return Roman 
and other foreign coin. Them that 
sold doves. The poor, who were 
unable to purchase larger animals, 
were allowed to offer doves for sac- 
rifice. Lev. v. 7, xii. 8. These 
traffickers had stationed themselves 
in the courts of the temple, for the 
convenience of trading, to provide 
for the approaching festival. 

13. It is written. Isa. Ivi. 7 ; 
Jer. vii. 11. Jesus, with a refer- 
ence to the prophets whom they 
respected, expressed his detestation 
of their dishonesty and overreach- 
ing in trade, and their profaning the 
precincts of the most holy temple. 
A den of thieves*: Robbers. Re- 
ference is here made to a custom 
common to robbers of all countries, 
to take refuge in caves. It is un- 
necessary to suppose that any mi- 
raculous power was exerted on this 
occasion. Jesus was already known 
as a distinguished individual. His 
very boldness awed them, and en- 



couraged the impression that he 
was a prophet, and therefore, ac- 
cording to the opinion of the times, 
had a right to regulate these things. 
Their own consciences too might 
secretly' subdue any inclination to 
resist. But we find here no trae.es 
of sedition, or of a political attempt 
on the part of Jesus, for he was the 
sole actor, and though no resistance 
was offered, no other acts of a sim- 
ilar land were afterwards perform- 
ed. We learn too an incidental 
proof of the Roman toleration, un- 
der- the sanction of which a private 
Jew could thus vindicate, without 
opposition, the sanctity of his tem- 
ple. Our Lord would cleanse even 
the court of the Gentiles from fraud 
and desecration, that the proselytes 
of the gate, so called, or .those who 
did not conform to the Jewish cere- 
monial, might worship God in peace. 
This transaction, therefore, instead 
of arguing a Pharisaical punctilious- 
ness, may be regarded as a proof 
of his liberality, which would pro- 
vide for the Gentiles, as well as the 
Jews, a fitting place for worship. 

14, 15. We are here carried back 
again to what occurred on the" day 
of Jesus' entrance into .Jerusalem, 
which had been interrupted by the 
episode of the cleansing of the tem- 
ple. The wonderful things. Al- 
luding, probably, to his entrance in 
triumph, and his miracles of heal- 
ing. The children. Luke xix. 39. 
Understood by some commentators 
to be the servants, i. e. the disciples 



XXI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



255 



Hosanna to the Son of David ! they were sore displeased, and 

16 said unto him : Hearest thou what these say ? And Jesus 
saith unto them: Yea; have ye never read: "Out,, of the 
mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise " ? 

17 And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany, and 
he lodged there. : 

IS Now in the morning, as he returned into the city, he hun- 

19 gered. And when he saw a fig-tree in the way, he came to it, 

and found nothing thereon, but leaves only ; and said unto it : 

Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And pres- 



or followers of Christ; for the ori- 
ginal word is rendered thus in most 
places in the New Testament. 
Sore displeased. Highly displeased. 
The cause of their displeasure is 
indicated in John xii.. 19. They 
were envious of his popularity, as 
tending to obscure their own. 

16. Luke relates still another in- 
cident ; that the Pharisees requested 
Jesus to check his disciples; but 
that he told them, that the very 
stones would cry out if man should 
be dumb on so glorious an occasion. 
Out of the mouth of babes and 
sucklings, fyc. Ps. viii. 2. Ac- 
cording- to the conjecture of the last 
verse respecting the children, we 
understand these to be, not babes in 
years, bat in spiritual attainments. 
Matt. xi. 25. 

17-19. Parallel to Mark xi. 11 - 
14. 

17. Bethany. As this was the 
village of Lazarus and his sisters, 
it has been plausibly conjectured 
that he made their house his home 
at this time. Mark informs us that 
he was accompanied by the Twelve. 
What more palpable proof could 
there bs against the theory ad- 
vanced by some, of Jesus' aspiring 
to political power, than the fact, 
that, after his triumphal procession, 
when the people was ripe for'revo- 
lution, and the whole nation was 
congregated in the holy city, Jesus 



retires to a quiet village and humble 
friends to pass his nights ? He thus 
escaped any plots against his own 
life, and- avoided any occasion of - 
popular tumult that might be raised 
in his favor. Besides, the calm 
scenes of Mount Olivet were more 
congenial to his mind, than the din 
of a crowded city. How unambi- 
tious and beautiful was his retiring 
to Bethany, after thousands had sa- 
luted him with every mark of royal 
honor ! This humility bears the 
palm alone. 

18, 19. As Jesus was returning 
into the city from Bethany, fully 
bent on his great duties, he suffered 
hunger ; an evidence of his absorp- 
tion in his work, and forgetfulness 
of his bodily wants. He finds a 
fig-tree by the roadside, and there- 
fore belonging to no one. The 
original is more exact, one fig-tree, 
one among many, a fig-tree that 
was distinguished from others. 
Mark says, that "the tune of figs' 
was not yet." It might be asked, 
then, why he went to it, expecting 
fruit. The answer is, that, as the 
fruit of the fig-tree appears before 
the leaves, and as this tree was' cov- 
ered with leaves, it was reasonable 
to expect that it had fruit. As it 
was not the usual time for gathering 
figs, none were expected from any 
tree but this, because, perhaps, no 
others had leaves, the indication of 



256 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



ently the fig-tree withered away. And when the disciples saw 20 
t/, they marvelled, saying : How soon is the fig-tree withered 
away !. Jesus answered and said unto them : Verily I say 21 
unto you, if ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do 
this which is done to the fig-tree, but also, if ye shall say unto 
this mountain : Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the 
sea ; it shall be done. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask 22 
in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. 



fruit. It was not likely that the 
fruit had been picked, for the fig 
harvest was not yet. Failing of re- 
ceiving physical nourishment from 
the tree, Jesus makes it an instru- 
ment of spiritual good ; the highest 
use to which any object can be put. 
Not in the petulance of disappoint- 
ment, but with a calm power, seek- 
ing to impress his disciples, he de- 
votes the tree to barrenness hence- 
forth, and it soon withered away. 
Perhaps this event had some con- 
nexion with tbe parable of the fig- 
tree, Luke xiii. 6 9. He would 
teach the value of faith, as we learn 
from verse 21, by a symbolical ac- 
tion, a frequent method in the east. 
This lesson was especially needed 
by the disciples, standing as they 
did, on the eve of mighty events 
that would try their faith severely. 
Most commentators have drawn also 
another moral from the event, that 
of the unfruitfulness and destruc- 
tion of the Jewish nation, to which, 
covered over as it were with the 
; leaves of good professions, our Lord 
bad come seeking fruit, but finding 
none. 

20-22. Parallel to Mark xi. 20- 
26. 

20. The disciples saio it. This 
was on the next morning, as they 
went from Bethany to Jerusalem. 
How soon is the fig-tree withered 
away! Or, according to Wirier, 
How did tbe fig-tree wither away 
so quickly? The miracle astonish- 
ed them the more as being unusual, 



out of tbe ordinary course of Jesus' 
miraculous deeds, and startling on 
account of its suddenness. 

21. This mountain. The Mount 
of Olives. A similar hyperbole 
concerning this very mountain is 
found in Zech. xiv. 4. See note on 
Matt. xvii. 20 ; xviii. 19. In gen- 
eral, they would be able, if they had 
faith, to perform the greatest mira- 
cles for the promotion of religion ; 
not that literally the plucking up 
and casting of a mountain into the 
sea would be a proper act to per- 
form. The Jews called those who 
were most distinguished as teachers, 
for genius and Virtue, rooters up of 
mountains, or capable of overcom- 
ing the greatest difficulties. The 
gift of working miracles was limited 
to the apostolic age, and there are 
no trustworthy accounts of its hav- 
ing been since possessed or exer- 
cised. 

22. Believing, ye shall receive. 
Mark, in the parallel passage, states 
forgiveness, as well as faith, to be a 
condition of efficacious prayer. If 
the declaration was applicable only 
to the Apostles, the sense would 
be, that God would grant them, in 
answer to believing prayer, all 
things necessary to their office. If 
the promise was more extensive, it 
announces that whatever shall be 
asked in prayer, in a confiding spirit, 
shall be received. For a good man 
will pray that only what is consist- 
ent with God's will may be given 
him. His devotions will always 



XXI.] ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 257 

23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and 
the elders of the people came unto Mm as he was teaching, 
and said : By what authority doest them these things ? and who 

24 gave thee this authority ? 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 be- 
have this saving clause, If it be the higher. According to the customs 
Divine pleasure. Prayer is there- of the Jewish doctors, and even 
fore eminently an act of faith, a re- Grecian disputants, if any one pre- 
ferring of all things to God, a full posed a captious question to anoth- 
confiding in his goodness, as able er, the other had a right to ask one 
and willing to grant us, if not the in return, and not to answer the 
identical objects of our petition, yet question addressed to him until his 
what is far better. . We have, in 1 own had received a reply. The 
John v. 14, 15, the Christian phi- question of Jesus showed with what 
losophy of prayer. consummate wisdom he could in- 

23 -27. Parallel to Mark xi. 27- volve them in their own snare. He 

33 ; Luke xx. 1-8. took the wise in their own craftiness. 

23. The chief priests and the el- 25. The baptism of John. Or, 
ders of the people. s Members of the better, according to Newcome, by 
Sanhedrim, and perhaps making John. The leading feature in his 
the inquiry with the authority of office stands for his whole ministry, 
that body. Jesus had now return- Baptism was his striking peculiari- 
ed from Bethany to Jerusalem, and ty, and the epithet of the Baptist 
whilst walking in the temple .and was always joined to his name. 
teaching his disciples and auditors, From heaven, or of men ? From 
he met these insidious men. They God, or of merely human authority? 
proposed these two questions, What Jesus had already given every rea- 
was Jesus' authority, and, From sonable proof of his own divine 
whom he derived it. For he had commission. If his miracles and 
entered the s city in triumph, hosan- instructions were not convincing, 
nas had been shouted by the peo- nothing could be sufficient to per- 
ple, he had cleared the courts of suade his wilful opponents. But 
the temple of merchandise, and the question he now proposes brings, 
healed the sick and preached the them to a dilemma from which all 
Gospel in the sacred places, with- their adroitness could not set them 
out asking permission from the San- free, ^-* Why did ye not then believe. 
hedrim, the Jewish ecclesiastical Mm? i. e. in his testimony of me ? 
court. If John's mission was authorized by 

24. Our Lord did not wish to God, they would be inexcusable in 
elude the question, or merely to not being his followers. The Sav- 
confound his adversaries, and disap- iour could also draw another infer- 
point them by not explicitly declar- ence from this fact, that if John 
ing himself to be the Messiah, as came from God, he was not alone 
they expected. His motives were to be believed and followed, but also 

22* ' .... - 



258 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



lieve him ? But if we shall say : Of men ; we fear the people ; 26 
for all hold John as a prbphet. And they answered Jesus, and 27 
said : We cannot tell. And he said unto them : Neither tell I 

you by what authority I do these things. But what think 28 

ye ? A certain man had two sons ; and he came to the first, 
and said : Son, go work to-day in my vineyard. He answered 29 
and said: I will not; but afterward he repented, and went. 
And he came to the second and said likewise. And he an- 30 
swered and said : I go, sir ; and went not. Whether of them 31 
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 



Jesus, to "whose Messiahship he had 
often testified, and of which he was 
the forerunner. If they acknowl- 
edged John as being from heaven, 
they must acknowledge Jesus to he 
also. If they could not pronounce 
upon John's baptism, they were 
certainly incompetent to decide upon, 
the claims of Jesus. 

26. We fear the people. Luke 
adds, that they " will stone us." 
As their reasoning with themselves 
to fix upon an answer showed their 
total want of truth, so this confes- 
sion argued their moral cowardice, 
lest they should commit themselves. 
Jesus had answered them so that 
they could find no handle of accusa- 
tion against him. What depth of 
sagacity. 

27. We cannot tell. A palpable 
falsehood, for their very querying 
with themselves proved that they 
knew the whole subject throughout. 
There are none so blind as those 
who will not see. Neither tell I 
you, <$rc. As the question of Jesus 
required to be answered first, and 
they had confessed their inability, 
he was released from the obligation 
of making them any reply. As 
they had pleaded ignorance, he 
takes them at their own word, and 
infers their incompetency to be 
judges in the matter. Still, in the 



subsequent parables he indirectly 
informs them, what was the nature 
and source of his authority, and 
their guilt in resisting it. The 
wounds which Jesus inflicted upon 
the spiritual pride of the Scribes 
and Pharisees, and his detection 
of their hypocrisy, so exasperated 
them, that they could only be satis- 
fied with his crucifixion. 

28. The- object of the following 
parable is to rebuke them for disbe- 
lieving John ; the object of the one 
succeeding it is to condemn them 
for rejecting Jesus. A certain man 
had two sons. Under this figure 
Jesus describes two classes ; the 
Scribes and Pharisees, and the 
openly immoral and irreligious. 

29, 30. Repented, i. e. changed 
his mind. By the son who express- 
ed his willingness to obey, are rep- 
resented the professedly religious, 
who yet in the end are the most 
hardened and guilty. By the. other 
one, are imaged those who, openly 
vicious at first, afterwards repented 
and brought forth the fruits of righ- 
teousness. The condition of the 
hypocrite is more hopeless, than 
that of those in bondage to their 
appetites and passions. 

31. Of them tioain, i. e. which of 
the two. They say unto him : The 
first. Thus condemning themselves 



XXI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



259 



32 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 had seen it, repented not after- 

33 ward, that ye might believe him. Hear another parable : 

There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, 
and hedged it round about, and digged a wine-press in it, and 
built a tower ; and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a 



out of their own mouth. Publi- 
cans, 6fC. They were classed among 
the most vicious. They correspond- 
ed to the son who first refused, but 
afterwards .went to the vineyard. 
Though disobedient and sensual, 
they had heen more affected by the 
preaching of John, than the learned 
and respectable. They, who prom- 
ised the least, performed the most ; 
whilst they, who promised the 
worst, proved the best. 

32. In the way of righteousness. 
Campbell translates it, in the way of 
sanctity, referring to the austerities 
of John's mode of life in the desert, 
in respect to food, drink, and cloth- 
ing, which was severe enough to 
please the most punctilious Phari- 
see. Although they would not ac- 
knowledge John's divine authority, 
yet, as he came in the way of righ- 
teousness, preaching reformation, 
and practising virtue, their not be- 
lieving on him was a mark of their 
ill dispositions. -But the publicans, 
<$f-c. See Luke viL 29, xvi. 16. 
See .note on Matt. xi. 12. Great 
moral revolutions proceed from the 
lower to the higher, rather" than from 
the higher to the lower classes of 
society. The mightiest changes in 
history have been effected by the 
instrumentality of the obscure, the 
forgotten, and the despised. When 
ye had seen it, repented not. You 
not only failed to repent as soon as 
the vilest sinners, but, even after 
you had seen their repentance, the 
good effects of John's influence up- 



on them, you still continued im- 
penitent. 

33-46. Parallel to Mark xii. 1- 
12; Luke xx. 9-19. 

33. The object of this parable is 
to condemn the Jews for their un- 
belief and rejection of the prophets 
and the Messiah himself, as that 
of the preceding was to reprove 
them for their impenitence under 
the preaching of John. The same 
imagery is found in Isa. v. 1-7. 
The householder represents God, 
the husbandmen the Jews, the ser- 
vants the prophets and wise men 
sent from time to time to recall the 
nation to their allegiance, the son 
is Jesus Christ. It is a historical 
view of Jewish disobedience, con- 
taming also a prediction of Jesus' 
death. Householder. Master of a 
family. A. vineyard. Judea was 
favorable for the cultivation of the 
vine. Hedged it. Or, fenced it. 
It was a custom to enclose vineyards 
with walls, or fences, or hedges of 
thorns. Digged a loine-press, i. e. 
a wine-trough, or vat. We learn 
from Mark xii. 1, that the upper vat 
or press, in which the grapes were 
trodden by men, is not meant here, 
but the lower receptacle, into which 
the liquor flowed through a grated 
"opening from the upper one. The 
lower cistern was dug in a rock, or 
the earth, and plastered. Chardin, 
the modern traveller, found vats 
built in this way in Persia. Built 
a tower. The tower was a place 
of abode for the keepers, who pro- 



260 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



far country. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he 34 
sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive . 
the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and 35 
beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he 36 
sent other servants, more than the first ; and they did unto 
them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his^son, say- 37 
ing : They will reverence my son. But when the husband- 38 
men saw the son, they said among themselves: This is the 
heir ; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. 
And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and 39 
slew him. When the lord, therefore, of the vineyard cometh, 40 
what will he do unto those husbandmen ? They say unto him : 41 
He will miserably destroy those wicked men ; and will let out 
his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him 
the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them : Did ye 42 
never read in the Scriptures : " The stone which the builders 



tected the vineyard from the depre- 
dations of men and animals. Went 
into a far country. The original 
simply is, went away, or ivent abroad, 
without specifying whether far or 
near. It would be absurd to seek 
a particular moral correspondence 
to every circumstance in the para- 
ble. The hedge, the wine-vat, the 
tower, are ornamental. 

34. The time of the fruit. The 
season of gathering- the fruit. Sent 
his servants, i. e. the prophets. 
Might receive the fruits of it. ' It 
was a custom to pay the rent in 
kind, or with a part of the produce. 

35, 38. Beat one, and kitted anoth- 
er, <$-c. This had been historically 
true of Jeremiah, the prophets in 
the time of Elijah, and Zechariah, 
not to speak of others. Luke xiii. 
34 ; Heb. xi. 37 ; 1 Sam. xxii. IB.; 
1 Kings xix. 10 ; 2 Chron. xxiv. 
21, 22, xxxvi. 16; Neh. ix. 26; 
Jer. xxxviii. 6. More than the first. 
Not in number, but of greater dig- 
nity and honor. 

37. Sent unto tlwm his son. God, 
finally, commissioned his son with 



an embassy, to bring his chosen 
people to a sense of their duty. Al- 
though he had sent many prophets, 
and they had been persecuted and 
slain, yet the riches of his compas- 
sion were not exhausted, but he 
still gave a beautiful manifestation 
of his long-suffering and love, by 
sending his beloved Son. For, 
though they had maltreated his 
previous messengers, yet it seemed 
that they would surely reverence 
the brightness and image of God. 

39. Slew him. A virtual predic- 
tion of Jesus' own death. 

40. TJie lord, i. e. the owner. 

41. Miserably destroy those wicked 
men. To preserve the paronoma- 
sia, or play upon words, contained 
in the original, Campbell translates 
it, he will put those tvretches to a 
loretched death. This remark is as- 
cribed by Mark and Luke to Christ, 
and not to his hearers. These di- 
versities are to be expected in inde- 
pendent writers, arid bear witness 
to the honesty of their accounts. 

42. In the Scriptures. Ps. cxviii. 
22, 23. The stone ivhich the build' 



XXI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



261 



rejected, the same is become the head of the corner ; this is 

43 the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes " ? There- 
fore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from 
you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 

44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken ; but on 

45 whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And 

when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, 

46 they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought 
to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude ; because they 
took him for a prophet. 

ing, after he had made this declara- 
tion. 

44. An evident continuation of 
the metaphor in verse 42, expressing 
the different degrees of criminality 
and punishment of neglecting and 
rejecting the Christ. Isa. viii. 14. 
Criminals in the east were some- 
times put to death by being thrown 
from . a pillar or eminence upon a 
rock below, or, if that did not ter- 
minate life, large stones were cast 
upon them to crush them. Jesus 
probably alludes to this custom. 
Whoever runs against the corner- 
stone, whoever is offended with 
Christ, sball injure himself; but he 
on whom it falls sball be ground to 
powder ; they who reject and perse- 
cute me shall perish miserably. 

45, 46. Mark xii. 12. A prophet. 
But not the prophet, the Messiah. 
His parables were so simple, and 
his application so direct, that they 



ers rejected, $c. Having led them 
by his parable to condemn them- 
selves out of their own mouth, he 
proceeds to bring home the applica- 
tion more pointedly, to the Jews, 
quoting for this purpose a passage 
from their Scriptures, in which ref- 
erence is made to architecture. 
The stone, which was laid aside as 
worthless, by the builders, finally 
becomes the main strength and or- 
nament of the edifice. So it was 
in things spiritual. The stone de- 
spised by Jewish builders proved 
to be the Rock of ages, the chief 
corner-stone, the crucified Jesus, 
to be the Messiah of the world. 
Head of the corner. Not the foun- 
dation, but the uppermost stone of 
the corner, which binds all below 
it firmly together. Some critics in- 
geniously transpose the 42d and 
43d verses, so that the 41st and 
43d, the 42d and 44th verses, come 
together, as the sense seems to re- 
quire. 

43. The kingdom of God shall be 
taken from you. The ecclesiastical 
superioiity of the Jews shall be de- 
stroyed. Their privileges shall be 
taken away, and given to a nation, 
i. e. the Gentiles, who will be more 
faithful, and, in the language of tbe 
parable, render the owner the fruits 
in their season. This has been 
fulfilled. The hearers of Jesus 
could no longer mistake his mean- 



could not mistake bis meaning, and 
their anger was kindled to such a 
flame, tbat they were ready to do 
him personal violence on the spot, 
if his popularity had not been so 
great as to overawe them. But 
they bided their time, wove more 
thickly the meshes of their conspira- 
cy, and, ere many more days had 
elapsed, they had so far turned the 
tide of popular favor by tbeir cabals, 
as to be able to gratify their enven- 
omed passions. 



262 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

a 

The Parable of the Marriage Supper. Conversations of Jesus. 

Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, 
and said : The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, 2 
which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants 3 
to call them that were bidden to the wedding ; and they would 
not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying : Tell 4 
them which are bidden : Behold, I have prepared my dinner ; 
my oxen and my failings are killed, and all things are ready ; 
come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went 5 
their ways ; one to his farm, another to his merchandise. And 6 
the remnant took his servants, and" entreated them spitefully, 
and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth ; 7 



CHAP. XXH. 

1. Jesus answered and spaJce. 
Proceeded to speak. A similar 
parable is related, Luke xiv. 15- 
24. 

2. Kingdom of lieaven. The ad- 
ministration of the Gospel. A 
marriage. More properly, a mar- 
riage feast. The object of this par- 
able appears to be similar to that of 
the Vineyard let. out to husbandmen, 
in the last chapter. The Gospel 
was first proffered to the Jews, but 
they rejected it, as a nation, and 
were destroyed by the Romans. It 
was then made free to the Gentiles, 
whom they esteemed the offscour- 
ing of the world. Stories resem- 
bling this parable are found in the 
Rabbinical writings. 

3. Call them that were bidden.- It 
has been said by some critics, that 
it was an ancient usage to invite the 
guests sometime beforehand, and 
then summon them again to the en- 
tertainment, when it was nearly 

.ready. An allusion seems bere to 
be made to two invitations. 

4. Sent forth other servants. 
There is a moral significance to this 
feature in the parable. For God 



suffereth long and is kind, and urges 
repeatedly his messages of love up- 
on tbe attention of mankind, through, 
various dispensations, and by the 
ceaseless flow of his blessings. 
My dinner, i. e. my feast, without 
reference to the time of day. Fat- 
lings, i. e. fatted animals, of what- 
ever kind. It was agreeable to an- 
cient simplicity to speak thus famil- 
iarly. Similar instances are fre- 
quent in Homer, one of the oldest 
poets in the world. 

5, 6. It was considered a breach 
of the law of God, and an affront 
of the greatest indignity, to neglect 
a marriage festivity. Two classes 
are here described, the trifling and 
worldly, the malignant and persecu- 
ting. The bulk of the Jews heeded 
not the Gospel invitation, because 
they were devoted to business and 
pleasure ; but some, the Scribes and 
Pharisees, chief priests and elders 
of the people, were not satisfied 
with silent neglect and contempt, 
but proceeded to open acts of hos- 
tility against Jesus and his Apos- 
tles. -Entreated them spitefully. 
Or, rather, treated them injuriously, 
barbarously. 



xxn.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



263 



and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, 

8 and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants : The 
wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. 

9 Go ye, therefore, into the highways, and as many as ye shall 
20 find bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the 
' highways, and gathered together all, as many as they found, 

both bad and good ; and the wedding was furnished with guests. 

11 And when the king came in to see- the guests, he saw there a 

12 man which had not on a wedding garment ; and he saith unto 
him : Friend, how earnest thou in hither, not having a wedding 

13 garment ? And he was speechless. Then said the king to 
the servants : Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, 
and cast him into outer darkness ; there shall be weeping 



7. Destroyed those murderers, cf-c. 
There is an evident allusion here to 
the destruction of the Jewish peo- 
ple by the Roman armies, and the 
burning of their temple and city. 
The cause of these national calami- 
ties was, national wickedness. A 
long series of crimes and injuries 
committed, even against the mes- 
sengers and Son of God, had " treas- 
ured up wrath against the day of 
wrath, and revelation of the righ- 
teous judgment of God." The eter- 
nal law thus vindicated itself with 
such awful sure ness, that the chosen 
people themselves became but the 
more notorious examples of its exe- 
cution. 

9. Highways. Rather, crossings 
of the streets, or thoroughfares. It 
was customary with the rich men 
among the Jews, to invite all desti- 

tute strangers and travellers to their 
feasts. Jesus refers, in this part of 
the parable, to the preaching- of the 
Gospel to the Gentiles. 

10. Both bad and good, i. e. all 
sorts. 

11. Which had not on a wedding 
garment. Those who attended up- 
on such an occasion were expected 
to appear in an appropriate garment. 
The usual marriage dress was a 



white embroidered robe. Accord- 
ing to many authorities, it was cus- 
tomary for the host to provide rich 
clothes for his guests, and to refuse 
to wear them would be a gross in- 
sult. Instances are cited from Ho- 
mer, Diodorus Siculus, and modern 
travellers. Gen. xlv. 22 ; 2 Kings 
v. 22, x. 22 ; Esth. viii. 15. It is 
required of every Christian, that he 
be clothed with humility, and all 
the graces of the spiritual life, else 
his presence will be impertinent in 
the guest-chamber of his Lord. 

12. And he was speechless. He 
had no excuse to offer for himself, 
for he had neglected to clothe him- 
self with the garment provided by 
the hospitality of his entertainer. 
His sordid dress was not therefore 
an indication of poverty, which 
would have been excusable, but an 
evidence of contempt or indifference 
towards the king. 

13. Cast him into outer darkness. 
See note on Matt. viii. 12. As en- 
tertainments were given in cheerful, 
illuminated rooms, to be driven out 
from them was to be thrust into the 
cold and darkness. In connexion 
with the binding of hand and foot, 
reference is thought to be had to 
confinement in a dark dungeon. 



264 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few. are 14 
chosen. 

Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might 15 
entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him- their dis- 16 
ciples, with the Herodians, saying : Master, we know that thou 
art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest 
thou for any man ; for thou regardest not the person of men. 
Tell us, therefore, what thinkest thou ? is it lawful to give 17 
tribute unto Caesar, or not ? But Jesus perceived their wick- 18 



Weeping and gnashing of teeth. 
Images of grief and despair on ac- 
count of the disgrace and mortifica- 
tion of being expelled from the nup- 
tial feast. 

14. See notes on Matt. xx. 1 - 16. 
All who come are not improved. 
There are many called guests, but 
few chosen or choice ones. Multi- 
tudes are invited to become Chris- 
tians, but how few are really pos- 
sessors as well as professors of the 
Christian life, hearty doers as well 
as hearers of the word of God ! 

15-33. Parallel to Mark xii. 13 
-27; Luke xx. 20-38. 

16. Then. After the official del- 
egation from the Sanhedrim, chap, 
xxi. 23, had availed nothing, it ap- 
pears that they counselled together 
privately to accomplish his ruin. 
Entangle. A word, in the original, 
having reference to the ensnaring 
of birds in a net. The force of the 
words, Avould be improved by leav- 
ing out his, which was the work of 
the translators, as is indicated by 
the Italics. The priests and scribes 
wished to draw from him some ex- 
pressions in conversation that would 
furnish matter for accusation against 
him, either to the Romans or the 
Jews, and finally procure his death. 
We have, in the remainder of this 
chapter, an account of successive 
attempts, made by the leading clas- 
ses of Jewish society, the Hero- 
dians, Pharisees, Sadducees, and 
Lawyers, to effect this object, and 



their total failure and discomfit- 
ure. 

16. Their disciples, ivith the Hero- 
dians. The Pharisees sent their 
emissaries, with the Herodians, who 
are supposed to have been a politi- 
cal party, and disposed to uphold 
the dominion of the Romans over 
the Jews, and who were favorable 
to the adoption of Gentile manners 
and customs. Matt. xvi. 6 ; Mark 
viii. 15. Although the two sects 
were hostile to each other, they 
buried their mutual animosities, to 
unite in a common attack upon 
Jesus. We know that thou art 
true, <Sj-c. According to Luke xx. 
20, these spies were to " feign them- 
selves just men," that they might 
thus the more successfully entrap 
him, and deliver him up to the civil 
authority. In pursuance of this 
plan, they address him with an in- 
sincere, though deserved eulogium. 
For of whom, more than of Jesus, 
could it ever be said, that he was 
true, taught tbe truth, and regarded 
neither the frowns nor the flatteries 
of men ? Beautiful testimony of his 
enemies to his unsurpassed recti- 
tude, and dauntless moral courage ! 

17. Is it lawful to give trilmte un- 
to Gzsar ? The Roman emperors 
were called by this appellation after 
Julius Caesar, who first attained the 
imperial dignity. Tiberius Caesar 
was at this time- on the throne. The 
tribute, which the Romans exacted 
from Judea, in common with the 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



265 



edness, and said : Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites ? Shew 

19 me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. 

20 And he saith unto them : Whose is this image and superscrip- 

21 tion ? They say unto him : Caesar's. Then saith he unto 
them : Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things which are 

22 Caesar's ; and unto God the things that are God's. When 



rest of their conquered provinces, 
was excessively galling to Jewish 
pride. It became a much agitated 
question, whether it was consistent 
with the Mosaic law, to pay this 
tax or not. Josephus relates, that 
Judas, a Galilean, Acts v. 37, rais- 
ed a revolt, partly on this account, 
saying, that the taxation was no 
better, than an introduction to sla- 
very. It was this question, with 
collateral and aggravating circum- 
stances, which drove the Jews into 
their last fatal conflict with Rome. 
The inquiry seemed to involve Je- 
sus in a dilemma, from which he 
could not escape. For, if he an- 
swered in the affirmative, his reply 
would conflict with the Mosaic law, 
Deut. xvii. 15 ; but if, in the nega- 
tive, he would give occasion to be 
charged with sedition against the 
Roman government, Luke xxiii. 2. 
But his wisdom was superior to the 
wiles of his enemies. 

18. Wickedness. More particular- 
ly, malice, craft. Hypocrites. Dis- 
semblers. Pretending, with great 
deference to his authority, to ask 
his decision, they were solely actu- 
ated by a desire to entangle him in 
difliculty. 

19. Tribute money. The coin in 
which the tax was paid. A penny. 
A denarius ; a Roman silver piece 
of about fourteen cents. 

20. Whose is this, image and su- 
perscription ? Or, inscription. The 
image was the head of the emper- 
or. The inscription was, C.&SAR 
AUGUSTUS ; OF SUBJECT JUDEA. 
It is said, that Julius Cajsar first 
stamped his image on the Roman 

VOL. i. 23 



coin. The invention was originally 
Persian. 

21. Render, therefore, unto Ctesar, 
<3fc. Jesus drew his answer from 
the coin itself. As it had the em- 
peror's image and inscription, it was 
an evidence that it was his, and, 
therefore, to be paid in tribute to 
him ; for Roman coin could only 
circulate in Judea, when the land 
had become subject to the Roman 
government. It was a maxim of 
the Jewish schools, that, where the 
money of any king is current, there 
the inhabitants acknowledge that 
king for their lord. Since, there- 
fore, it was proved, by the very 
fact of the coin, that they were a 
conquered people, they could do no 
less, than pay tribute to their, con- 
querors. And unto God the things 
that are God's. Referring, proba- 
bly, to the annual tribute due to his 
temple, of half a shekel, twenty- 
eight cents. This admirable answer 
has passed into a proverb. The 
same thought is amplified in Ro- 
mans xiii. 7. While the citizen 
maintains his allegiance to the pow- 
ers that be, he is, also, to render 
that service to God, which is his 
due. The image of princes, stamp- 
ed on their coin, denotes, that tem- 
poral things belong to their govern- 
ment. The image of God, stamped 
on the soul, denotes, that. all its fac- 
ulties and powers belong to the 
Most High, and should be employed 
in his service. Man's duties to hu- 
man and Divine government do not- 
clash. Jesus intimates, that the 
tribute was due to Caesar, but they 
ought not to sacrifice their religion 



266 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



they had heard these words, they marvelled ; and left him, and 
went their way. 

The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that 23 
there is no resurrection ; and asked him, saying : Master, 24 
Moses said : "If a man die, having no children, his brother 
shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother." .Now 25 
there were with us seven brethren ; and the first, when he had 
married a wife, deceased ; and, having no issue, left his wife 
unto his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, 26 
unto the seventh. And last of all the woman died also. 27 
Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the 28 
seven ? for they all had her. Jesus answered and said unto 29 
them : Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power 
of God. For in the resurrection, they neither marry, nor are 30 
given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. 



to any human power. He, there- 
fore, silenced both parties, the sedi- 
tious Pharisees, who were opposed 
to acknowledging their subjection 
to Rome, and the irreligious Hero- 
dians, who were in favor of sacri- 
ficing religion itself to their masters. 
He not only escaped the difficulty, 
but gave a wise and satisfactory an- 
swer, fitted to guide the doubting in 
the way of their duty. The knotty 
question'was solved. His enemies 
departed, in confusion and wonder, 
at his answer. 

23. The Sadducees. See note on 
Matt. iii. 7. There is no resurrec- 
tion. One of the articles of their 
belief. Acts xxiii. 8. Jesus scarce- 
ly overcomes one difficulty, ere 
another is presented to him. Grati- 
fied with his victory over their old 
foes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, 
with self-sufficient pride, make their 
assault. 

24. Deut. xxv. 5, 6. This was 
the Levirate law, so called, which 
was designed to preserve estates in 
the same family, and continue fami- 
lies and tribes distinct from each 
other. Raise up seed unto his 
brother, i. e. the children should be 



reckoned in tbe genealogy of the 
deceased brother, and enjoy his 
estate. It is not an exact quotation, 
but the substance of the law. 

25. Seven brethren. Perhaps a 
supposed case, one too which they 
might have often employed against 
the Pharisees, in their controversy 
about a future state. Seven is an 
indefinite number, of frequent use 
among the Jews. 

28. In the resurrection, i. e. in the 
future state. Their prevalent no- 
tions of another life were very 
gross, and little raised above the 
actual condition of man in this 
world. 

29. Ye do err, i. e. you deceive 
yourselves, by not considering the 
Scriptures, which, as Jesus shows 
in verse 32, contain traces of the 
doctrine of immortality ; and by not 
reflecting on the power of God, 
who is able to raise the dead, and to 
form a new state, different from the 
present. 

30. In the resurrection, they nei- 
ther marry, <$-c. The relations of 
the present life, and tlie appetites 

. of the body, will not exist there. 
Are as the angels. Luke says, 



xxn.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



267 



31 But, as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read 

32 that which was spoken unto you by God, saying : "I am the 
God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Ja- 
cob " ? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. 

33 And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his 
doctrine. 

34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sad- 

35 ducees to silence, they were gathered together ; then one of 
them, which ivas a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, 

36 and saying : Master, which is the great commandment in the 

37 law ? Jesus said unto him: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy 



" they are equal unto tKe angels," 
a general expression, to describe 
their similarity, as it respects the 
necessities of the body, and their 
immortality, for he says farther, 
"neither can they die anymore." 
In one word, they are immortal 
spirits. 1 Cor. xv. 50. It is ob- 
servable here, that Jesus, incident- 
ally, confirms the belief in the exist- 
ence of angels, a point which the 
Sadducees denied. 

31, 32. Jesus proceeds, after hav- 
ing rebutted their objection, to pro- 
pose an argument, level to their 
comprehension, and drawn from the 
Scriptures, which they acknowledg- 
ed, in proof of a resurrection. I 
am the God of Abraham, <^c. fix. 
iii. 6, 15, 16 ; Heb. xi. 16. This 
declaration was made long after 
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, had 
died. As God cannot, with any 
propriety, be called the God of that* 
which does not exist, the conclusion 
is a strong one, that, as he called 
himself their God, they did exist in 
another state of being. He does 
not say, I was, but I' am, the God 
of Abraham. This was peculiarly 
a Jewish mode of reasoning. . The 
Sadducees find themselves surpass- 
ed, with their own weapons of in- 
genuity and attack, and the people 
at large were astonished at the won- 
derful strength of Jesus' teaching, 



which prostrated the most subtile 
objections and wily stratagems of 
the Jewish doctors. According to 
Luke, even some of the Scribes re- 
marked, " Master, thou hast well," 
in the original, beautifullv, " said." 
34-40. Parallel to Mark xii. 28 
-34. 

34. Had put the Sadducees to si- 
lence. It was matter of exultation, 
that their great opponents, the Sad- 
ducees, had fared no better than 
themselves. Gathered tog-ether. 
More exactly, gathered for the same 
purpose, i. e. to try Jesus with hard 
questions. 

35. Onfi of them, which was a 
lawyer. Mark calls him " one of 
the Scribes," i. e. a teacher or ex- 
pounder of the law. Tempting him. 
Whether in a good or a bad sense, 
is a question. It has been suggest- 
ed by some of the Christian Fa- 
thers, that the man came with an 
evil intention, but departed better 
disposed. Some have supposed, 
that the lawyer mentioned here, 
and the Scribe spoken of in Mark, 
were different persons. 

36. Which is the great command- 
ment in the law ? It was one of the 
subtile refinements of the Jewish 
theologians, to divide the law of 
Moses into greater and less com- 
mandments, and to determine what 
precepts belonged to each class, and 



268 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP 



-God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
mind." This is the first and great commandment. And the 
second is like unto it ; "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 



what was the most important one. 
Some maintained that the ceremo- 
nial, others, that the moral, com- 
mands were the greatest. See note 
on Matt. v. 19. 

37. Deut. vi. 5 ; Lev. xix. 18. 
With all thy heart, <$-c. Mark adds, 
"with all thy strength." These 
are intensive expressions, signify- 
ing, that God is to be the chief ob- 
ject of our love, engrossing our af- 
fections, and calling forth the whole 
energies of our nature. In Mark, 
this is preceded, as in Deuterono- 
my, by a solemn annunciation of 
the strict unity of God. How would 
it be possible to fulfil the command- 
ment, if two or more beings, alike 
perfect, were presented to our af- 
fections? To love God, we must 
know him in his true and beautiful 
character, and feel that he is su- 
premely lovely. To love him su- 
premely will render obedience to all 
his laws a pleasure, and will assim- 
ilate us, more and more, to his im- 
age and blessedness. He should 
reign in the hearts of his children, 
as over the works of his creation, 
unrivalled. The nature and effects 
of such a love are happy beyond 
description. As the sun makes 
bright and beautiful all it shines 
upon, so does this affection trans- 
form the whole soul into its own 
divine nature. As God is holy, so 
is it holy ; as he is benevolent, so is 
it benevolent ; as he is infinite, so it 
stretches itself forth without limits ; 
absorbing the strength of the spirit- 
ual nature into itself; powerfully 
pervading the whole inner world ; 
purifying, brightening- all; starting 
into being the noblest thoughts, de- 
signs, and hopes ; and, having glow- 
ed with increasing fervor, through 
the chills of life, it shall not be ex- 



tinguished by the damps of death, 
but rise and burn purer and purer in 
heaven. 

38. First and great commandment. 
Says a writer, "It is so in its anti- 
quity, being as old as the world, and 
engraven originally on our very na- 
ture ; in its dignity, as directly and 
immediately proceeding from, and 
referring to God ; in excellence, be- 
ing the commandment of the New 
Covenant, .and the very spirit of the 
divine adoption ; in justice, because 
it alone renders to God his due, 
prefers him before all things, and 
secures to him his proper rank in 
relation to them ; in sufficiency, be- 
ing in itself capable of making men 
holy in this life, and happy in the 
other ; in fruitfulness, because it is 
the root of all commandments, and 
the fulfilling of the law ; in virtue 
and efficacy, because by this alone 
God reigns in the heart of man, 
and man is united to God ; in ex- 
tent, leaving nothing to the creature 
which it does not refer to the Crea- 
tor ; in necessity, being absolutely 
indispensable; in duration, being 
ever to be continued on earth, and 
never to be discontinued in heaven." 

39. Is like unto it, i. e. in its im- 
portance. The love of man is in- 
timately connected with the love of 
God. Philanthropy and piety are 
sister sentiments. It was a doctrine 
of the Pharisees, that the strict ob- 
servance of one precept would atone 
for the neglect of others. But Je- 
sus inculcates obedience through- 
out, both in our relations to God 
and to ,man. Thy neighbor. A 
comprehensive term, meaning any 
one with whom we have to do, or 
who needs our aid. 

' ' Our neighbor is the suffering man, 
Though at the fartherest pole," 



xxn.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



269 



40 self." On these two commandments hang all the law and the 
prophets. 

41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked 

42 them, saying : What think ye of Christ ? whose son is he ? 

43 They say unto him : The son of David. He saith unto them : 

44 How then doth David in spirit call him Lord ? saying : "The 
Lord said unto my Lord : Sit thou on my right hand, tfll I 

45 make thine enemies thy. footstool." If David then call him 

46 Lord, how is he his son ? And no man was able to answer 



As thyself. As means not equal 
in degree, but similar in kind. 
Matt. vii. 12. See note on chap. 
xix. 19. 

40. Hang all the law, <SfC. Mark 
adds, " There is none other com- 
mandment greater than these." 
These commands are so familiar to 
us, that we cannot understand, how 
striking they must have appeared to 
the Jews, who had confounded the 
important and the unimportant, and 
were entangled in the nets of soph- 
istry, woven by their teachers. The 
law and the prophets are founded 
on these two grand commandments. 
Rom. xiii. 9. Love to God is the 
basis of piety ; love to man, that of 
morality. Love is the golden chain 
that binds man to man, and all to 
God. Some have conjectured, tbat 
an allusion "is made here to writing 
the laws and hanging them up in 
a public place, to be read by the 
people. 

41-46. Parallel to Mark xii. 35 
-37; Luke xx. 41-44. 

41. Having silenced the Pharisees, 
Herodians, Sadducees, and Scribes, 
with his wonderful answers, he-takes 
an opportunity, when the Pharisees 
were together, to put their wisdom 
to the proof, as they had his. His 
question, however, was not designed 
chiefly to confound his opponents, 
for that motive was unworthy of 
him, but to lead them to more ele- 
vated views of the Messiah, as be- 
ing of higher dignity than a tempor- 



al king, and to rebut the objection, 
doubtless used by the Pharisees with 
effect among the common people, 
that one, who appeared like an ordi- 
nary individual, as Jesus did, could 
not be the great Deliverer. 

42. Of Christ. In the original, 
of the Christ, i. e. of the ancestry 
and dignity of the Messiah. Whose 
son is he ? Rather, whose son is 
he to be'? He did not speak of 
himself, as our version implies, but 
of the Messiah they expected. 
The son of David. This was the 
current opinion, drawn from their 
Scriptures. 

43, 44. In spirit. Under a divine 
impulse. Ps. ex. 1. The Lord said 
unto my Lord. Jehovah said unto 
my Lord or Master. On my right 
hand. It ssras customary for per- 
sons, next in dignity to the king, to 
be seated on his right hand. Make 
thine enemies thy footstool. A figure, 
derived from the practice of the 
victor, putting his foot upon the 
neck of the vanquished, as a mark 
of subjection. 

45. If David address him with so 
honorable a title, how is that con- 
sistent with his being his son? 
The only key of explanation lay in 
the fact, that the Christ was to pos- 
sess a spiritual superiority, that he 
was to be, not a mere earthly prince, 
like David, but a spiritual deliverer, 
the Saviour of the world. Acts ii. 
36. 

46, No man was able, <SfC. Be- 



270 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



him a word ; neither durst any man, from that day forth, ask 
him any more questions. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Jesus' Condemnation of the Scribes and Pharisees. 

-L HEN spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 
saying : The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 2 
All, therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe 3 
and do ; but do not ye after their works ; for they say, and do 



cause they looked upon the Messiah' 
as a temporal ruler, and, therefore, 
not differing- from David in the land, 
though he might in the degree, of 
his power and dignity. The ques- 
tion could not be answered, there- 
fore, because they took a low view 
of the character and office of their 
Messiah. Jesus would elevate their 
minds to nobler conceptions. He 
had so effectually answered his op- 
ponents by his divine wisdom, and 
confounded them on their own 
grounds, that they were too much 
awed, to venture again, by asking 
him questions, to expose their own 
weakness and folly. He had, how- 
ever, only silenced, not convinced 
them. Foiled in the arts of discus- 
sion, they resort to different and 
darker, but more success^! means, 
to arrest his influence. As we pro- 
ceed farther, in this wonderful his- 
tory, how much is there to admire, 
how much to love, how much to 
imitate in our blessed Lord ! It 
should ever be the effect of studying 
his life, to inspire us with a more 
devoted trust and obedience to him. 
For in him is life, and light, and 
everlasting happiness. 

CHAP. XXHI. 

1-14. See Mark xii. 38-40. 
Luke xx. 45 - 47. 

1. During the last days of Jesus' 
life, he is recorded as delivering 
many discourses, both to his ' disci- 
ples and to the people. In the fol- 



lowing chapter, he warns the mul- 
titude, in the most pointed manner, 
to beware of the influence of their 
hypocritical teachers. His hour 
is rapidly approaching, and he hesi- 
tates not to expose the Scribes and 
Pharisees, in all their moral defor- 
mity, before his hearers. 

2. The scribes and the Pharisees. 
See note on chap. iii. 7. Sit in 
Moses' seat. In reference to the 
sitting posture, in which Jewish 
doctors were accustomed to explain 
the law. They were the receiv- 
ed expounders of the Mosaic reli- 
gion. 

3. All, therefore, whatsoever, <5fC. 
It is likely that they interpreted 
much of the law correctly. The 
expression is a general one, subject 
to exceptions, and denoting that 
they were to be hearkened to, so 
far as they taught in harmony with 
the Scriptures. After their loorks. 
But their example was as carefully 
to be shunned. A comparison is, 
probably intended here, that they 
should do rather as the Pharisees 
said-, than as they did, without en- 
joining that all their instructions 
should be received with, implicit 
confidence. Warburton points out 
the magnanimity of our Saviour, in 
reconciling the people to their teach- 
ers, and bidding them hearken to 
their instructions, though they were 
not to copy their example. An 
impostor, or a fanatic, would not 
have done this. 



.xxin.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



271 



4 not. For they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne 
and lay them on men's shoulders ; but they themselves will not 

5 move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they 
do for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries, 

6 and enlarge the borders of their garments ; and love the 
uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the syna- 



4. Bind heavy burdens. Acts xv. 
10. They did so by multiplying 
traditions and ceremonies, and in- 
sisting on them, as of equal impor- 
tance with moral precepts. An al- 
lusion is here made to loading 
beasts. of burden with an excessive 
weight. The Scribes and Phari- 
sees would not even lighten or steady 
their burdens with the tip of one 
of their fingers, a proverbial phrase. 
They were severe towards others, 
but indulgent towards themselves. 
Having urged the claims of obedi- 
ence with great severity, tbey did 
not supply those mild and gracious 
motives, that would render obedi- 
ence pleasant. Has not this pic- 
ture been repeated from age to age, 
and appeared even in our own day ? 
Has not the tone of theology been 
harsh, dogmatical, and denunciato- 
ry, rather than mild and winning? 
Have not burdens been put upon 
human nature heavier than it can 
bear? 

5. They do for to be seen of men. 
To the charge of oppression, he 
adds that of ostentation and ambi- 
tion. So far as they did conform to 
their precepts and ceremonies, they 
acted from a vitiated motive. He 
goes on to particularize. Make 
broad their phylacteries. These/ were 
scrolls of parchment, worn on the 
forehead and the left arm. They 
were inscribed with passages of the 
law, usually these : Ex. xiii. 1 - 10, 
11-16; Deut. vi. 4-9, xi. 13-21. 
The same were inscribed on their 
door-posts. The custom of wearing 
them, arose from a too b'teral inter- 
pretation of Ex. xiii. 9, 16 : Deut. 

- - , }...". 



vi. 8. Great holiness was attached 
to them, and they were regarded as 
amulets or charms, to keep off evil 
spirits. The following is an extract 
from a Jewish Targum : " The 
congregation of Israel bath said, I 
am elect above all people, because 
I bind my phylacteries on my left 
hand and on my head, and the 
scroll is fixed to the right side of 
my gate, the third part of which 
looks to my bed-chamber, that de- 
mons may not be permitted to in- 
jure me." The word phylacteries 
is derived from a Greek, verb, to 
keep, in reference either to keeping 
the law by the use of them, or to 
their keeping or protecting a person, 
by their supposed magic power. 
Enlarge the borders of their gar- 
ments. These were "the fringes or 
tufts, worn on their mantles, to dis- 
tinguish them from other nations, 
and remind them of God's laws. 
Numb. xv. 38, 39. Their ostenta- 
tion was manifested in making these 
phylacteries and fringes broad and 
conspicuous, as badges of their 
greater sanctity, Mark xii. 38, Luke 
xx. 46, and thus making their gar- 
ments long. 

6. Uppermost rooms at feasts. 
More correctly speaking, the high- 
est places at table. The Jewish 
table extended around three sides 
of an oblong square, with one end 
open, on the outside of which, were 
couches ranged for the guests to 
recline upon, and within which, 
servants could enter to wait upon 
them. The most honorable place, 
or the uppermost room, was at the 
end. which connected the sides of 



272 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



gogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men', 7 
Rabbi, Rabbi. But be riot ye called Rabbi ; for one is your 8 
Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. And call no man 9 
your father upon the earth ; for one is your Father, which is in 
heaven. Neither be ye called masters ; for one is your Mas- 10 
ter, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be Ji 



the square together. Chief seats 
in the synagogues. These were 
near the pulpit, but faced the peo- 
ple, while the back was turned to- 
wards the speaker. 

7. Greetings in the markets. Or, 
salutations in the most frequented 
places. They loved to be address- 
ed in a formal manner, with great 
signs of respect, in the sight of the 
world. Rabbi, Rabbi, i. e. doctor, 
master, teacher. This obnoxious 
and haughty title was introduced 
into the Jewish schools under a 
threefold form, as Rab, the lowest 
degree of honor ; Rabbi, of higher 
dignity ; and Rabboni, the greatest 
of all. The ambitious Scribes and 
Pharisees coveted these idle appella- 
tions. 

8. But be not ye called Rabbi. 
Jesus would not have his disciples, 
in the exercise of their high office, 
as teachers of his religion, puffed 
up with this foolish love of distinc- 
tion, so insidious and so fatal to 

a meek and humble temper of mind. 
James iii. 1. For one is your mas- 
ter. The reason of his prohibition 
was, that they were upon an equali- 
ty, Christ being their common Mas- 
ter. Christ. This word has been 
left out of the text by Griesbach, as 
destitute of sufficient authority. 
And all ye are brethren. This clause 
in several manuscripts is placed at 
the end of the next verse, where, 
according to the sense, it more prop- 
erly belongs ; as the mention of the 
fraternal relation would then be im- 
mediately connected with that of the 
filial. It is clear beyond a doubt, 
from this and other passages, that 



Peter had none of that superiority 
among the Apostles, on which the 
claims of the Catholic church are 
founded. 

9. A ^continuation of the same 
sentiment. They were not implicit- 
ly to submit to any teacher, as a 
child to a parent. They were nei- 
ther to assume nor admit such an 
absolute domination. Upon the 
earth is contrasted with is in heaven. 
You are not to look among the im- 
perfections of earth, but in the 
heights of heaven, for one, upon 
whom you may fully rely. Of 
course, there is no prohibition here 
of children paying respect to their 
parents. It is not a little remarka- 
ble, that the head of the dominant 
church in Christendom, in his some- 
times greater than imperial author- 
ity, has, in all ages, been called by 
that very title, which is here forbid- 
den, Papa, Pope, Father. So little 
has the doctrine of Christ been ad- 
hered to, by the great mass of his 
disciples ! 

10. Masters. Leaders, guides. 
This was a third title of honor as- 
sumed by the Scribes and Phari- 
sees, as we learn from the Rabbini- 
cal writers. Because their epithets 
encouraged pride and spiritual tyr- 
anny, on one side, and subservien- 
cy and superstition, on the other, 
they were to be wholly discontin- 
ued among the equal children of a 
common Father, and the equal dis- 
ciples of a common Master. In the 
bright light of these verses, what 
becomes of the doctrines of infalli- 
bility and divine right vested in any 
man,- or body of men? what be- 



xxm.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



273 



12 your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall .be 
abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. 

13 But woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for 

ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men ; for ye neither 
go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go 

H in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye 
devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make, long prayer ; 

15 therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto 
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye compass sea 
and land to make one proselyte ; and when he is made, ye 



comes of ecclesiastical usurpations 
and exclusiveness ? They disap- 
pear like mists before the morning 
sun. 

11, 12. He now points out the 
true and royal road to greatness, 
that of usefulness and humility. 
See note on Matt, xviii. 4. Abased 
humble. Words from the same 
Greek verb, which would be more 
properly translated alike. Jesus 
preaches no doctrine more "often, 
than Jhis of Humility, and none is 
more necessary to our being his 
real disciples, and entering into the 
deep and pure life of his religion. 
Covet ; humility; beautiful is " the 
ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, 
which is in the sight of God of great 
price." 

13. This and the next verse are 
transposed by Griesbach, and many 
other v trustworthy scholars. But 
woe unto you. Rather, alas for you. 
See note on Matt. xi. 21. It is con- 
genial to our ideas of Jesus' charac- 
ter, to believe, that an unutterable 
pity mingled with his most search- 
ing rebukes. He wounded not to 
inflict pain, but to heal. To use 
the language of Wakefield : " Woe 
unto you is an exclamation better 
suited to the enthusiasts of modern 
tunes, who denounce damnation 
against all but their own sects, than 
to the benevolent Saviour of man- 
kind," Matt. xxiv. 19. Scribes 
and Pharisees. See note on Matt. 



iii. 7. Shut up the kingdom of 
heaven against men. Or, in their 
faces as it were. The figure is ta- 
ken from shutting and locking a 
door against those who were enter- 
ing it. In accordance with this, 
they are described in Luke xi. 52, 
as having " taken away the key." 
They had done so by their exam- 
ple, instructions, and authority, and 
thrown all possible obstacles in the 
path of the Gospel. Neither suffer 
ye them, <^c. They were not con- 
tent with remaining outside them- 
selves, but they endeavored to pre- 
vent all others from going in. This 
churlish conduct reminds us of the 
fable of the dog in the manger. 

14. Devour loidows' 1 houses. Or, 
estates. They were, furthermore, 
guilty of avarice, and, under the 
mask of great sanctity, they hesitat- 
ed not to defraud those, who were 
peculiarly helpless and exposed, and 
who were taken in by their fair- 
seeming goodness. Long prayer. 
Nine hours were daily spent by 
some in devotion. See note on 
Matt. vi. 7. For such mingled hy- 
pocrisy, covetousness, and oppres- 
sion, they would be doomed to a 
severe punishment. 

15. Compass sea and land. A 
proverbial phrase, signifying that 
they left no effort untried, or, as we 
say, no stone unturned, to gain 
proselytes to Judaism, or, more 
likely, to Pharisaism, doing it not 



274 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP, 



make him two-fold more the child of hell than yourselves. 
Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say : Whosoever shall 16 
swear by the temple, it is nothing ; but whosoever shall 
swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. Ye fools, and 17 
blind ! for whether is greater ? the gold, or the temple that 
sanctifieth the gold ? And : Whosoever shall swear by the 18 
altar, it is nothing ; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is 
upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools, and blind ! Tor whether is great- 19 
er ? the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift ? Whoso, 20 
therefore, shall swear by the altar sweareth by it and by all " 



so much from a religious as a cov- 
etous and ambitious motive; for 
they made a gain and a boast of 
godliness. There were two kinds 
of proselytes ; 1st, the proselytes 
of righteousness, i. e. complete, 
who embraced the Jewish religion 
in its fall extent, and shared in all 
the rites and privileges of Jews 
themselves ; 2d, the proselytes of 
the gate ; foreigners who lived 
among the Jews, who were not cir- 
cumcised, yet conformed to some 
of the Jewish laws and customs ; 
they were admitted into the outer 
division of the temple, called the 
court of the Gentiles. The Tal- 
mudists speak against proselytes, 
as injurious to the purity of their 
religion. Make him tivo-fold, <$-c. 
Many critics translate this clause, 
Ye make Mm a child of hell more 
deceitful than yourselves. The sim- 
ple idea is, that, by converting him, 
they made him far worse than them- 
selves, for he probably retained his 
old errors, mixed with those of 
his formal, hypocritical teachers. 
Child of hell is an expression sig- 
nifying worthy of, or doomed to 
hell, or the severest punishment ; 
as the children of light means those 
who enjoy the light. 

16, 17. Next he censures their 
absurd and wicked distinctions re- 
specting oaths, which they divided 
into great and small. See notes on 
chap. v. 33-37. It is nothing, 



i. e. the oath by the temple is not 
obligatory. The gold of the temple. 
Probably the money in the treasury 
is meant, not the ornaments, with 
which the building was decorated. 
He is a debtor, i. e. is bound to 
fulfil his oath. Unusual sanctity 
seems to have been attributed to 
the gold in the temple treasury. It 
was corban, devoted. Mark vii. 11. 
Our Lord showed the futility of the 
distinction, by intimating that the 
temple was greater than the gold 
which it consecrated. It has been 
conjectured, that the Pharisees took 
advantage of the feeling of sacred- 
ness associated with this gold, to 
obtain greater contributions from 
the people. 

18, 19. They also attributed pe- 
culiar sanctity to the offerings upon 
the altar, as is supposed, from self- 
ish considerations. 1 Cor. ix.43. 
He is guilty. Rather, he is bound. 
The same word which is translated . 
in verse 16, he is a debtor. It was 
absurd to believe that the gift could 
be more sacred than the altar, for. it 
derived all its sacredness from the 
altar. 

20 22. Jesus would sweep a.way 
their futile distinctions, and show 
that the validity of an oath depend- 
ed, not on the particular thing by 
which it was taken, whether gift, 
altar, gold, temple, or heaven, but 
upon its tacit reference to God. 
Just so far as it was efficacious, by 



xxm.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



275 



21 things thereon ; and whoso shall swear by the temple sweareth 

22 by it and by him that dwelleth therein ; and he that shall swear 
by heaven sweareth by the throne of God and by him that sit- 

23 teth thereon. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypo- 
crites ! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin ; 
and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, 

_ mercy, and faith. These ought ye to have done, and not to 

24 leave the other undone. Ye blind guides ! which strain at a 

25 gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Phar- 



appealing to objects consecrated to 
tba divine service, so far was it ob- 
ligatory, since it called God to wit- 
ness. By him that dwelleth there- 
in. A visible symbol of tbe Divine 
presence, in the form of a cloud, 
rested upon the mercy-seat of the 
Holy of Holies. 1 Kings viii. 10, 
11, 13. As God was the king of 
the Jews, the temple was his pal- 
ace. In pursuance of the same 
idea, he is described as sitting upon 
a throne in heaven. 

23. Pay tithe, i. e. a tenth part. 
Mint. Sweet-scented, garden mint, 
or spearmint. It was strewed by 
the Jews on the floors of their 
dwellings. Anise. A mistake of 
the translators for dill, an aromatic 
plant used by perfumers. Cum- 
min. An herb resembling fennel, 
with aromatic seeds of a hot and bit- 
ter taste. The Scribes and Phari- 
sees were not satisfied with paying 1 
the usual tithes for the support of 
the Levites and the poor, and for 
the service of the temple, Numb, 
xviii. 20-24; Deut. xiv. 22-24, 
28, 29, but they paid also a tenth 
part of the small herbs. Have 
omitted. Same word as is rendered 
below, leave undone. Judgment, 
mercy, and faith. Mic. vi. 8. A 
more approved translation is, justice, 
humanity, and fidelity, the great so- 
cial virtues, unless by faith we un- 
derstand man's duties to God. Luke, 
xi. 42, has recorded it, "judgment 



and the love of God." These ought 
ye to have done, <$-c. The moral du- 
ties should have been discharged, 
whilst the ceremonial observances 
should not have been neglected. 
He did not object to their scrupu- 
lousness in tithes, provided they 
kept the spiritual commandments ; 
though, in reality, the two courses 
of conduct could hardly be recon- 
ciled in the same person. 

24. Strain at a gnat. It is re- 
markable that this error, which was 
at first merely a blunder in print- 
ing, should have been so long per- 
petuated. The correct reading is, 
strain out a gnat. It was the cus- 
tom in the east, where insects 
abound, to strain or filter wine 
through a cloth or sieve. The 
Jews did it, partly from fear of swal- 
lowing any creature that was un- 
clean in the eye of the law, as well 
as from motives of cleanliness. 
What is here called gnat is said by 
some to be a small animalcule bred 
in the liquor. The camel was the 
largest animal, with which the Jews 
were much acquainted. . Hence, 
the smallest insect and the greatest 
animal are employed to make the 
antithesis stronger. The phrase is 
proverbial, and is similar to one 
found among the Arabians : " He 
eats an elephant, and is strangled 
with a' gnat." Jesus places, in 
bold relief, their inconsistency, in 
carefully observing the little points 



276 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



isees, hypocrites ! for ye make clean the outside of the cup 
and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and ex- 
cess. Thou blind Pharisee ! cleanse first that which is within 26 
the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye are 27 
like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful 
outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all 
uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous 28 
unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity 
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! because ye 29 
build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of. 



of ceremonial usage, and trampling 
under foot the first moral principles 
of religion. 

25,26. Woe unto you. See note 
on chap. xi. 21. The repetition of 
this phrase of condemnation car- 
ries with it an awful weight and 
solemnity. As he begins sentence 
after sentence with this word, it 
must have sounded in their ears 
like the first thunderings of those 
judgments, which were soon to roll 
over their nation. Make clean the 
outside. They were attentive to 
the washings and purifications of 
the law, but neglected that moral 
and inward purity, without which, 
all forms were hut a cheat and a 
lie. Cup Platter. The vessels 
for drink and food respectively. 
Within they are full of extortion and 
excess. Instead of excess, Gries- 
bach reads 'injustice, which would 
be more consonant to the known 
character of the Pharisees. How- 
ever scrupulously their vessels were 
washed, they were yet filled with 
food procured by extortion and in- 
justice, and therefore most foul and 
unclean. Cleanse first, <5fC. See 
that their contents are the fruits of 
honesty and justice, and they will 
be truly clean. Purify the" heart, 
and the conduct cannot be other- 
wise than pure, for streams take 



their quality from the fountain out 
of which they flow. 

27,28. Whited sepulchres. Tombs 
are said to have been annually 
whitewashed, that they might be 
seen and shunned ; for it was an 
unclean act, according to the law, to 
touch them. Numb. xix. 16. Their 
whiteness, contrasted with the green 
herbage or groves, must have pos- 
sessed a degree of beauty, but with- 
in there was death and corruption. 
So it was with these hypocrites. 
Precise in the observance of forms, 
sanctimonious in their deportment, 
zealous for the law, they were yet 
chargeable with the grossest im- 
moralities and stained with the foul- 
est crimes. Luke xi. 44. 

29, 30. Because ye build. They 
were blamed, not because they paid 
marks of respect to the venerable 
dead, but because they did it hyp- 
ocritically ; because, whilst they 
thus honored the prophets and the 
righteous, they yet were ready to 
imitate their persecutors. Gar- 
nish the sepulchres, <5fc. It was 
customary, both among the Jews 
and Gentiles, to show their rever- 
ence for the dead by building 
or beautifying their tombs. The 
Scribes and Pharisees pretended a 
respect for the martyred prophets, 
which they did not feel, for it was 



xxm.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



277 



30 the righteous, and say : If we had been in the days of our 
fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the 

31 blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto 
yourselves that ye are the children of them which killed the 

32 prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 

33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers ! how can ye escape the 

34 damnation of hell ? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you 
prophets, and wise men, and scribes ; and some of them ye 
shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in 



wholly inconsistent with their real 
character. They adorned indeed 
their tombs, but they violated their 
instructions. Even after the time 
of Christ, there were many tombs 
of the ancient worthies still to be 
found hi Judea, which had been 
erected or rebuilt long after their 
death. Partakers with them in the 
blood of the prophets. Yet, at the 
same time they were indulging in a 
worse spirit than that of their per- 
secuting forefathers, and desiring 
and plotting the death of him, who 
was greater than the prophets. 
They professed to honor the de-. 
parted messengers of God, While 
they were ready to kill the Messiah, 
his Son. 

31. Ye are the children of them, 
<$-c. They acknowledged that they 
were children, by natural descent, 
of those, who had slain the prophets 
of God. ^But, more than that, they 
were witnesses to themselves, they 
were conscious in their own hearts, 
that they were, in feelings and mo- 
tives likewise, children of those 
bloody ancestors. 

32. Fill ye up then, <3fC. The last 
verse may be regarded as paren- 
thetical, and this one to be a con- 
clusion drawn from the 30th. They 
pretended, that, if they had lived in 
the days of yore, they should not 
have been guilty of the barbarities 
of those periods ; but they would 
go on, and in time fully equal the 
most wicked age. Despairing of 

VOL. i. 24 



their amendment, indignant at their 
hypocrisy, he says, Go on and fill 
up the measure of the sins of your 
fathers. A prediction is here ex- 
pressed in the imperative mode, i. e. 
you will go on. 

33. Ye generation of vipers. Bet- 
ter, brood of vipers. They pos- 
sessed the venom and malignity 
of the most noxious reptiles. See 
note on chap. iii. 7. How then 
could they escape the severest pun- 
ishment ? The seeming harshness 
of this language is, perhaps, partly 
attributable to the oriental highly 
figurative mode of speech, which/ 
delights in the boldest metaphors, 
most startling paradoxes, and strong- 
est hyperboles. Jesus spoke in the 
usual style. But until we possess 
his knowledge of mankind, and his 
authority from God, we are forbid- 
den to judge our fellows and pro- 
nounce their condemnation. Hell, 
i. e. Gehenna, or the valley of 
Hinnom, near Jerusalem, where the 
filth of the city and the bodies of 
malefactors were thrown, to be con- 
sumed by fire and worms. Hence 
it was used as a figure for a keen 
and terrible punishment. 

34. Wherefore. The effect, rather 
than the design of the teachers' be- 
ing sent, is here expressed. 1 'send 
has the sense of the future. I will 
send. Prophets, andioise men, and 
scribes. The Saviour applies Jew- 
ish titles to his Apostles, Evange- 
lists, and disciples. Ye shall Mil 



278 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city ; that 35 
upon you may .come all the righteous blood shed upon the 
earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of 
Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the tem- 
ple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all. these things shall 36 
come upon this generation. 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and 37 



and crucify, <fyc. These predictions 
were literally fulfilled in the early 
histoiy of Christianity, as recorded 
in the Acts of the Apostles and 
Epistles. Stephen was stoned. 
James was killed by the sword. 
Some of the other Apostles were 
imprisoned, scourged, and driven 
from city to city; and, at least, 
four of the Twelve, according to tra- 
dition, were crucified. 

35. That expresses the conse- 
quence, rather than the design. You 
have reached such a pitch of in- 
fatuation and wickedness, that the 
accumulated judgments of Heaven 
will eventually fall upon you for the 
slaughter of so many wise and good 
jnen. A figurative expression, de- 
scribing their coming woes. They 
would be so overwhelming, as to 
seem sufficient for all the crimes 
that had been committed, from the 
creation of the world. Upon the 
earth, i. e. the land of Judea. 
Righteous -Abel. Gen. iv. 8. Zach- 
arias, son of Barachias. He is 
probably the prophet whose death 
is related, 2 Chron. xxiv. 20, 21. 
The only material objection is, that 
he is called the son of Jehoiada. 
Luke does not mention the name of 
his father. As a solution of the 
difficulty, we may conjecture that 
the father of Zechariah had two 
names, as was frequently the case 
among the Jews, Barachias and Je- 
hoiada. Thus Matthew is called 
Levi ; Lebbeus, Thaddeus ; and Si- 
imn, Cephas. Or, it is not wholly 
improbable, that some early tran- 
scriber, thinking only of Zechariah 



the prophet, the son of Barachias, 
wrote his name instead of that of 
Zeehariah, the son of Jehoiada, the 
murdered priest. This supposition 
may derive some additional strength, 
from the fact that Jerome found Je- 
hoiada in a Hebrew Gospel of the 
Nazarenes. Between the temple and 
the altar. This circumstance ap- 
pears to harmonize with the ac- 
count of the death of Zechariah, in 
Chronicles. The guilt of the crime 
was increased, if possible, by the 
sacred place, in which it was com- 
mitted. 

36. All these things shall come up- 
on this generation. As much as to 
say, that the nation had sunk to 
such a state of degradation and 
wickedness, that it would be visit- 
ed with judgments so overwhelm- 
ing, as would seem to suffice for 
the crimes of all preceding ages. 
Josephus, one of their countrymen, 
an opposer of the Gospel, bears im- 
portant, because impartial, testimo- 
ny to their abandoned condition, 
lie says, that they had carefully 
imitated, and even exceeded, all the 
most atrocious deeds of their ances- 
tors. Though, at the time Jesus 
spoke, his predictions must have 
seemed highly improbable, yet that 
generation had not all passed off 
the stage, before all the vials of 
wrath were poured out upon their 
doomed city and country. 

37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. How 
natural and expressive of deep emo- 
tion is this repetition of the word ! 
Can any reader fail to see, that 
every page of the Gospels has some 



XXHL] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



279 



stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have 

gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her 
3S chickens under her wings ! and ye would not. Behold, your 
39 house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall 

not see me henceforth, till ye shall say : Blessed is he that 

cometh in the name of the Lord ! 



bright signature of truth and reali- 
ty upon it, and that it would be a 
miracle of miracles, if these writ- 
ings were the work of imposture or 
fanaticism? Killest the prophets, 
<$c. See notes on verse 35, and 
chap. xxi. 35, 36. Thy children. 
The Jewish people, who often as- 
sembled at' the holy city in obedi- 
ence to the law, and who might be 
appropriately called her children. 
Hen gathereth her chickens, <$rc. A 
figure full of beauty and pathos, to 
express bis affection and interest for 
his country, and his earnest efforts 
to rescue it from impending destruc- 
tion. 2 Esdras i. 30 ; Deut. xxxii. 
II, 12. He had pleaded with the 
Jews in the most moving manner ; 
he had urged them to repentance 
by every motive ; he was about to 
appeal to them by the yet more af- 
fecting spectacle of the cross. But 
all was in vain. They were ad- 
vancing obstinately towards the pre- 
cipice of their ruin, and nothing 
could turn them aside. Luke xiii. 
34, 35. This burst of patriotic la- 
mentation for" the coming overthrow 
of that city, so dear to the Jewish 
heart, is in striking contrast with 
the tremendous rebukes, he had 
just administered to the Scribes and 
Pharisees. It was thus, that the 
two elements of the severe and the 
gentle mingled harmoniously in his 
most heroic, yet humane spirit, and 
gave a divine perfection to his char- 
acter. What power of reproof was 
joined to the most melting compas- 
sion ! what magnanimity of soul', to 
weep over the city that was so soon 
to ring with the infernal cry, Cru- 



cify him, Crucify him, and whose 
inhabitants would exult at his ago- 
nies on the cross, as at some holy- 
day spectacle ! 

38. Your house is left unto you 
desolate, i. e. the temple, of which 
the Jews were excessively proud. 
Perhaps he directed their attention, 
by a gesture of the hand and eye, 
to that glorious edifice, on which 
Jewish wealth had been lavished 
without measure, and around which, 
Jewish piety had thrown all its ho- 
liest associations, " the Earth's One 
Sanctuary." He could say noth- 
ing more awful than that that house 
should be overthrown from pinnacle 
to foundation. It appears, that Je- 
sus now left it for the last time. It 
might truly be said to be left deso- 
late even now, for it would no more 
resound with instructions of him, 
who was greater than the temple, 
and who carried in himself the Holy 
of Holies; the Shechinah of the 
Divine Presence. By some he is 
understood to say, that the Jewish 
dwelling-place, i. e. country, would 
be left desolate. 

39. Ye shall not see me, <5fc. A 
form of speech is used equivalent 
to his saying, You will no more 
have my presence among you ; for 
they would never acknowledge him. 
to be the Messiah. In the sen- 
tence, Blessedis he that cometh, <$rc., 
he alludes to the hosannas with 
which he .was saluted on 'his en- 
trance into Jerusalem, chap. xxi. 9 ; 
Ps. cxviii. 25, 26. Or, the sense 
of the verse may be, that my reli- 
gion, of which I am the embodi- 
ment, will not again be addressed 



280 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Jesus prophesies the Destruction oftJie Temple arid Jerusalem, and exhorts his Disciples to 

Watchfulness. 

.A.ND Jesus went out, and departed from the temple ; and his 
disciples came to him, for to show him the buildings of the 
temple. And Jesus said unto them : See ye not all these 2 
things ? verily, I say unto you, there shall not be left here one 
stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And 3 



to your attention, till you shall un- 
dergo, through the judgments of 
God, such an .alteration in your 
feelings, that you will gladly say, 
Blessed is he that cometh in the 
name of the Lord, i. e. the Christ ; 
till you shall submit to what would 
once have seemed most humiliating. 

CHAP. XXIV. 

1-42. Parallel to Mark xiii. 1 
37; Lukexxi. 5-36. 

1. Departed from the temple. As 
would appear, for the last time. 
To show him the buildings. Full of 
admiration themselves at the gran- 
deur Of the temple, they call his no- 
tice to it, as if to say, Can so mag- 
nificent an edifice be left desolate, 
as you have predicted ! Far from it. 
In their estimation it was as stable 
as the world itself. Between the 
different parts of the Gospel narra- 
tion, as it proceeds, there are many 
fine and delicate connexions, which 
demonstrate, beyond a doubt, the 
truth of the history. We are not 
expressly told, why they invited his 
attention to the temple at that, more 
than any other time, but the context 
furnishes the reason, chap, xxiii. 
38. 

2. See ye not all these things? 
According to Griesbach, not should 
be omitted ; but it would not essen- 
tially affect the meaning. Mark 
xiii. 2. Not be left here one stone 
upon another, <$-c. We learn from 
Mark and Luke that the disciples 



had spoken with peculiar admira- 
tion of the " goodly stones and 
gifts." Jesus frames his reply ac- 
cordingly. These very stones, said 
he, are destined to be- scattered in 
the dust. Josephus states that the 
temple was built of stones which 
were white and strong, and that 
each in its length was 25 cubits, or 
37 feet, in its height 12, and its 
breadth 18 feet. The prediction of 
our Lord was not} perhaps, in this 
verse, designed to be literal, but to 
express by a common figure, the 
utter overthrow of the temple. Yet 
it is remarkable, that the fulfilment 
was so exact, that one stone was 
not left upon another. Josephus, 
an eyewitness of the war, and 
whose history is a running commen- 
tary upon this portion of the Gospel 
narrative, says, that, with the ex- 
ception of three towers, the wall 
was thoroughly laid even with the 
ground, and dug up to the founda- 
tion. Other Jewish writers corrob- 
orate this account, and state, that 
Terentius Rufus, the Roman gen- 
eral, left in command at Jerusalem 
after its capture, ploughed up the 
temple and the places about it ; so 
that that saying was fulfilled, " Zi- 
on shall be as a ploughed field." 
We have, in this and the subsequent 
prophecies, an unanswerable proof 
of the divine foreknowledge, and 
authority of Jesus. No event so 
disagreeable to the Jews, or so un- 
likely to happen, could have then 



xxrv.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



281 



as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto 
him privately, saying : Tell us, when shall these things be ? 
and what shall be the sign of thy coining, and of the end of the 

4 world ? And Jesus answered and said unto them : Take heed 

5 that "no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, 

6 saying : I am Christ ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall 
hear of wars, and rumors of wars ; see that ye be not troubled ; 



been predicted, as the destruction 
of .their temple, " with its glittering 
masses of white marble and pinna- 
cles of gold." The victor, whoever 
he might be, would be supposed to 
be desirous of keeping such a proud 
trophy of his .success. Titus, the 
conqueror, sought to preserve it; 
but it was set on fire, in violation of 
his orders, by one of his soldiers, 
and could not be extinguished, 
though the greatest efforts were 
made to do it. Thus wonderfully 
were the words of Jesus fulfilled 
that had been uttered forty years 
before. 

3. Mount of Olives. See note on 
Matt. xxi. 1, 2. From that eleva- 
tion Jerusalem appeared as if lying 
beneath their feet. It was, proba- 
bly, towards night, and the declin- 
ing sun was brilliantly reflected 
from the splendid palaces, and from 
tbe vast temple towering over all 
with snowy whiteness." The disci- 
ples came, i. e. James and John, Pe- 
ter and Andrew, who enjoyed most 
of his intimacy and confidence . Mark 
xfi. 3. Startled by his predictions, 
they are anxious to learn when they 
would be fulfilled. When, shall 
these things be, i. e. the destruction 
of tbe temple, verse 2. End of the 
ivorld, i. e. the Jewish world or dis- 
pensation. They were anxious to 
know how soon a new kingdom was 
to be established. Their ambition 
made them impatient. 

4, 5. Jesus warns them against 
being deceived by false pretenders, 
who would come in his name, or 
arrogate to themselves his authority. 

24* 



He here distinctly acknowledges 
that he was the Messiah. Christ. 
Should be the Christ. We are in- 
formed in Acts v. 36, 37, viii. 9, 
10, xxi. 38, and by Josephus, that 
such, or similar impostors actually 
appeared, and led many into ruin. 
Simon Magus was called, by his de- 
luded followers, the Great Power of 
God. Tbeudas, Judas of Galilee, 
Dositheus of Samaria, and an Egyp- 
tian, drew away great numbers af- 
ter them, but they perished with 
their adherents. Josephus relates, 
" that in the reign of Claudius, who 
died about the year 54, the land was 
overrun with magicians, seducers, 
and impostors, who drew the people 
after them in multitudes into soli- 
tudes and deserts, to see the signs 
and miracles which they promised 
to show by the power of God." It 
may be here stated, as an interest- 
ing fact of history, that there ap- 
peared, between the reign of Adri- 
an and the year 1682, no less than 
twenty-four false Messiahs, or im- 
postors, claiming divine authority. 

6. Wars, and rumors of loars. 
The history of those times shows 
the fulfilment of our Saviour's 
words. Six years after the death 
of Christ, the Roman emperor Ca- 
ligula commanded his statue to be 
erected in the temple of Jerusalem. 
The Jews resisted this desecration 
with the greatest spirit, and a war 
would have ensued, had not the 
emperor in the mean time died. In 
one year and a half, four Roman 
emperors, Nero, Galba, Otho, and 
Vitellius, suffered violent deaths. 



282 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP, 



for all these things must come to pass ; but the end is not yet. 
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against 7 
kingdom ; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and 
earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of 8 
sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and 9 
shall kill you ; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my 
name's sake. And then shall many be offended ; and shall 10 
betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many n 



The empire was thrown into tre- 
mendous convulsions, and its pro- 
vinces filled with wars and rumors 
of wars. In Palestine, Syria, and 
Egypt, many thousands were slain, 
in the most horrible massacres. 
See that ye be not troubled. They 
were not to be alarmed by these 
tumults, for, notwithstanding these 
events, the final overthrow would 
not occur immediately. 

7. Famines, and pestilences. A. 
famine was predicted by Agabus in 
Acts xi. 28, which, according to 
Suetonius, Tacitus, and Eusebius, 
took place in the reign of Claudius 
Cassar. Josephus, in his Antiqui- 
ties, b. .20, chap. 2, states that many 
people died of hunger at Jerusalem. 
Other famines are also related to 
have occurred during that period. 
Pestilences usually succeed famines, 
and are often produced by them, 
on account of the scarcity and bad- 
ness of food. Josephus mentions 
one in Babylonia in the year 40, 
and Tacitus one in Italy in 66. 
Earthquakes, in divers places. In 
the reign of Claudius an earthquake 
occurred at Rome, one in Crete, 
and others in Smyrna, Miletus, 
Chios, Samos, and other places. 
Tacitus mentions, that, in the reign 
of Nero, the cities of Laodicea, 
Hierapolis, and Colosse, were de- 
stroyed, and Pompeii and Campa- 
nia almost demolished by the same 
cause. Suetonius mentions one at 
Rome in the reign of Galba. Thus 
history, as written by Jewish and 



heathen authors, bears unanswer- 
able witness to the fulfilment of our 
Saviour's prophecies. 

8. The beginning of sorrows. All 
the preceding events, terrible as 
they were, were but the preludes 
to the woes that would follow, 
which were to be as overwhelming, 
as ever happened to any nation in 
the world. 

9. One of the features of the 
coming times would be the perse- 
cutions of the Christians, not by 
one nation merely, but by all wher- 
ever they existed. Of this fact 
abundant evidence is furnished in 
the Acts and the Epistles. The 
first of the ten Roman persecutions 
took place under Nero, in whose 
reign the great Jewish war began. 

For my name's sake, i. e. on ac- 
count of your profession of my 
religion. Tertullian says, there was 
nomini pralium, a war against the 
very name of Christian. It was a 
common saying among the heathen, 
" Such an individual is a good man, 
only he is a Christian." 

10. Many be offended, i. e. stum- 
ble, or apostatize from Christianity, 
in consequence of these persecu- 
tions. This was the historical fact. 

Shall betray one another. This 
may be illustrated by a quotation 
from Tacitus, in his description of 
the persecution under Nero : "At 
first several were seized, who con- 
fessed, and then by their discovery 
a great multitude of others were 
convicted and executed." 



XXIV.] ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 283 

12 false prophets -shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because 

13 iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But 
he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the 
world, for a witness unto all nations -; and then shall the end 

15 come. When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of 

desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy 

16 place (whoso readeth, let him understand,) then let them which 



11. Many false prophets shall rise. 
Not false Messiahs, as in verse 5, 
but false teachers. 2 Cor. xi. 13 ; 
2 Tim. ii. 17, 18. Or reference is, 
perhaps, made to those false pro- 
phets who, according to Josephus, 
were suborned by the tyrannical 
Zealots, who ruled the city of Je- 
rusalem, to declare^ that aid would 
be given to the people from heaven, 
while they were besieged^ by the 
Romans. 

12. Wax cold. Become, or grow 
cold. On account of the cruel per- 
secutions, the prevalence of wick- 
edness, and the spread of false doc- 
trines, t the attachment of many to 
the Christian cause would decline. 
2 Thes. ii. 3 ; Gal. iii. 1 ; 1 Tim. i. 
19 ; Heb. x. 25. 

13. Those Christians, who re- 
mained constant in their belief of 
the Gospel, would escape from the 
ruin of Jerusalem. Eusebius says : 
" The whole body of the church at 
Jerusalem, having been commanded 
by a Divine revelation, removed 
from the city, and dwelt at a certain 
town beyond the Jordan, called 
Pella." 

14. Preached in all the world, i. e. 
the Roman world, which embraced 
nearly all the countries then known. 
Rom. i. 8, xv. 19,24-28; Gal. i, 
17 ; Col. i. 6, 23, We learn, bqth 
from the New Testament and pro- 
fane writers,, that tbe Gospel was 
P?opaga^ed far and jwide in Asia, 
Africa, and Europe^ during the for- 
ty years that ' elapsed between the 



death of its founder and the over- 
throw of Jerusalem. The epistles 
of Paul, dedicated, as they are, to 
churches in various parts of the 
Roman empire, bear witness to the 
fulfilment of the text. Even per- 
secution, as it drove . the faithful 
from city to city, accelerated the 
diffusion of the truth.* For a wit- 
ness unto all nations. Furnishing 
them with evidence of the excel- 
lence of the Gospel, as designed for 
Gentiles as well as Jews, and show- 
ing the justice of Heaven in visiting 
with its judgments the people, 
which had rejected and crucified its 
Author. Then shall the end come. 
The end of the Jewish state and 
polity. 

15. The abomination of desolation. 
Or, the desolating abomination, i. e. 
perhaps the Roman armies. Luke 
xxi. 20. They desolated the coun- 
try and city. They were an abom- 
ination to the Jews, because their 
standards and ensigns had idolatrous 
images of their gods and emperors 
sculptured upon them, and there- 
fore profaned the holy city with 
their presence. Hug, however, un- 
derstands by the desecration of the 
holy place, whjch was tp'be the sig- 
nal for flight, the possession of the 
temple by the Zealots, a band of 
robbers, who ca^ed to their aid tho 
idumeansj a heathen people, and 
polluted the sanctuary by making it 
a place of arms, and the theatre of 
the most detestable arid murderous 
deeds. Spoken of by Daniel the 



284 



THE' GOSPEL 



.[CHAP. 



be in Judea flee into the mountains ; let him which is on the 17 
house-top not come down to take any thing out of his house ; 
neither let him which is in the field return back to take his 18 
clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them 19 
that give suck, in those days ! But pray ye that your flight be 20 
not in the winter, neither on the sabbath-day. For then shall 21 
bo great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the 



prophet. Dan. ix. 26, 27, xi. 31, 
xii. 11. Whoso readeth, let him 
understand. These were undoubt- 
edly the words of the Evangelist, as 
if he had said, Reader, attend. As 
Matthew wrote between the time 
when the prediction was made and 
its fulfilment, he warns the Chris- 
tians to be on the alert, and observe 
the signal of- flight to the moun- 
tains. 

16. Instead of taking refuge in 
the city of Jerusalem, with the vain 
hope of its being able to hold out 
against the Romans, they were to 
seek safety in flight. The moun- 
tains with their caves and defiles 
would furnish a secure retreat. Be- 
sides, as the mountainous regions 
were at peace with the Romans, 
those who resorted thither would be 
safe. The disciples obeyed their 
Master, when the time came, and 
escaped to Pella, and other places 
beyond the Jordan. The next four 
verses dwell upon the necessity of 
a speedy departure, when the signs 
of danger showed themselves. 

17. On the house-top, <$-c. Houses 
in the east are constructed with flat 
roofs, upon which persons may 
walk and enjoy retirement. Stairs 
were built on the outside. Hence, 
an individual might descend without 
entering the house, or he might' 
pass from house to house on the 
roofs. It is a figurative expression, 
implying that the utmost expedition 
was to be used. They were to flee 
at once, without delay. Anything 
out of Jiis hoiise. Griesbach, with 



other critics, reads, the things in his 
house. 

18. Return back to take his clothes. 
By which are meant the outer gar- 
ments, which were laid aside during 
labor. Another sentence somewhat 
of a proverbial and hyperbolical 
kind, denoting the necessity of the 
greatest despatch. 

19. Woe unto them, <$c. i. e. alas 
for them, woe is them. 

20. In the winter. On account of 
the cold storms of ram and hail, and 
bad travelling. This season has 
considerable severity in Judea, as 
we learn from the uniform testimony 
of historians and travellers. It is 
mentioned in the Jewish books, as 
the token of a gracious Providence, 
that, when the first temple was de- 
stroyed, the event occurred in sum- 
mer, not in winter. Neither on the 
Sabbath-day. Because .on that day 
they were allowed to travel only a 
short distance. A Sabbath-day's 
journey was not far from one mile. 
This was granted the people to ena- 
ble them to attend worship in their 
synagogues. The gates of towns 
and cities were also closed on the 
Sabbath-day. Neh. xiii. 19, 22. 
Most of the Jewish Christians 
would, of course, retain the scruples 
of their previous faith, in regard to 
travelling on that day. 

21. Great tribulation. Luke xxi. 
24. That the expression here used 
is not altogether hyperbolical is 
plain from the thrilling account of 
Josephus. He remarks, that, if the 
miseries of all mankind from the, 



XXIV.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



285 



22 world to this, time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those 
days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved ; but 

23 for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if 
any man shall say unto you : Lo, here is Christ, or there ; 

24 believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false 
prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch 

25 that, df it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Be- 

26 hold, I have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say 



creation were compared with those 
which the Jews suffered, they 
would appear inferior. The siege 
of Jerusalem furnishes the bloodiest 
page in all history. One million 
and one hundred thousand perished 
in the city. The streets ran with 
blood. Multitudes were crucified 
outside the walls. Before the ca- 
pitulation, the famine rose to such a 
pitch that the most loathsome sub- 
stances were used for food, and a 
mother killed and devoured part of 
her own child. Deut. xxviii. 57. 
Nearly one hundred thousand were 
taken captive, of whom some were 
slain in cold blood ; some were sent 
to the mines of Egypt ; some were 
reserved to fight with wild beasts in 
the theatres ; and others were sold 
as slaves. All that was most dread- 
ful in ignominy or suffering, was 
concentrated in this awful over- 
throw. How vividly true the words 
of Jesus ! 

22. Except those days should be 
shortened. Josephus mentions vari- 
ous circumstances, which abridged 
the period of these unspeakable suf- 
ferings . The dissensions of the 
Jews N among themselves very much 
hastened the crisis. Titus, the Ro- 
man general, was so struck with 
admiration at the vast strength of 
the walls as he surveyed them after 
the capture, that he exclaimed : 
" We have certainly had God for 
our assistant in this war, and it was 
no other than God who ejected the 
Jews out of these fortifications ; for 



what could the hand of man or any 
machines do towards overthrowing 
any of these towers?" No flesh 
be saved, i. e. none who were en- 
gaged in this affair. For the elects 
sake, cfe. Out of regard to the 
Jewish Christians, who had espous- 
ed the vital cause of the Gospel, 
that period would, be shortened. 
Christians were called the elect, 
because they were now the chosen 
or the choice people of God. 

23. Lo, here is Christ, or there. 
In times of such commotion, persons 
claiming to be the Messiah, would 
abound, for the Jews were intently 
looking for deliverance. See note 
on verse 5. Jesus warns his disci- 
ples not to trust these pretenders, 
since they were assured that the 
Christ had already come. 

84. Shall show great signs and 
wonders* Acts viii. 9, xiii. 8, xix. 
14. Shall profess to perform mira- 
cles ; not that they would be actu- 
ally competent to do it ; for we have 
no evidence that the power of work- 
ing miracles was ever granted to im- 
postors or wicked men. Josephus 
relates that several made the at- 
tempt. If it were possible, 3fc. 
More correctly, if possible, express- 
ing not an impossibility, but ex- 
treme difficulty. Even Christians 
themselves would run the risk of 
being led astray by them. 2 Tim. 
iii. 13. This verse affords no coun- 
tenance to the doctrine of the final 
perseverance of the saints. 

25. He reminds his disciples that 



286 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP, 



unto you : Behold, he is in the desert ; go not forth ; Behold, 
he is in the secret chambers ; believe it not. For as the light- 27 
ning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, 
so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For where- 28 
soever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 

Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the 29 

sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and 
the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven 



he had given them seasonable warn- 
ing, and that they should, therefore, 
be upon their guard. 

26. He, i. e. the Messiah. In 
the desert. The remarkable coinci- 
dence of the fact with the predic- 
tion is shown by Josephus, who 
states, that many impostors and de- 
ceivers persuaded the people to fol- 
low them into the desert, promising 
to show them signs and wonders 
done by the providence of God. 
In the secret chambers, i. e. retired 
places. As much as to say, that, 
while some would adopt one meth- 
od, others would adopt another, to 
secure adherents. The Jewish his- 
torian relates that a vast multitude 
was decoyed into the temple, under 
the pretext, that the signs of de- 
liverance would be there manifest- 
ed, and that about six thousand of 
them perished in slaughter. 

27. As the lightning, <%c. He 
goes on to say, that they would not 
find the Messiah by resorting to the 
desert, the secret chambers, or any 
particular place, but that his com- 
ing would be sudden, startling, and 
splendid, like the lightning, filling 
the whole heavens,- and flaming 
across from horizon to horizon. 
Thus conspicuous and terrific was 
the destruction of Jerusalem, in all 
its fancied strength, and the vain 
security of its inhabitants. 

28. By the carcass is here repre- 
sented the Jews, out of whom the 
true life had departed, and who had 



become, as it were, a carcass with- 
out the soul. By the eagles are to 
be understood the Romans, who, 
like eagles or vultures, would has- 
ten to their prey, and whose ensigns 
were the figures of eagles. Wick- 
edness soon attracts its retribution. 
Similar phraseology is found in oth- 
er parts of Scripture. Deut. xxviii. 
49 ; Job xxxix. 30 ; Lam. iv. 19 ; 
Hos. viii. 1. This prediction met 
with the most exact fulfilment. The 
Roman eagles hovered over the 
ruins of the once beautiful city, 
and preyed upon its wretched in- 
habitants. 

29. Shall the sun be darkened, <$-c. 
These vivid figurative expressions 
are descriptive of the destruction of 
the city and nation of the Jews. 
As the sun, moon, and stars are 
the sources of light to the globe, 
and as their eclipse or destruction 
would be the most appalling of ca- 
lamities, the imagery here used ex- 
presses, with intense power, the tre- 
mendous ruin impending over the 
devoted nation. The prophets of- 
ten resorted to these brilliant fig- 
ures, to portray the convulsions and 
overthrow of states and kingdoms. 
Isa. xiii. 10, 13 ; Ezek. xxxii. 7, 8; 
Dan. viii. 10 ; Amos viii. 9 ; Joel 
ii. 30, 31. We never shall under- 
stand the full and rich significance 
of the Sacred Scriptures, unless we 
remember, that they are written in 
a highly oriental, poetical style, 
which abounds far more hi bold 



XXIY.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



287 



30 shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son 
of Man in heaven ; and then shall all the tribes of the earth 
mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds 

31 of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his 
angels with a great sound of a trumpet ; and they shall gather 
together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven 

32 to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig-tree ; when 

his branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that 



metaphors, personifications, and pro- 
verbs, than the writings of the cold- 
er .western nations. 

30. The sign of the Son of Man 
in heaven. The Jews had often 
demanded of Jesus signs and won- 
ders. They would now witness 
them on a magnificent scale. His 
sign would appear in the heavens, 
his star be in the ascendant. The 
tribes of the earth, i. e. of the land. 
The tribes of Israel. They shall 
see the Son of Man coming. It will 
then be as clearly manifest, that he 
is the Messiah, as if he were ac- 
tually present in person. In the 
clouds of heaven with power, fyc. 
Denoting the terribleness and maj- 
esty of his approach. Jesus had 
been persecuted, rejected, and cru- 
cified by the Jews, but the day of 
vengeance was at hand. His Gos- 
pel was soon to triumph glorious- 
ly in the world, while his enemies 
would be destroyed, their temple 
burnt, their city razed to its founda- 
tion, and their wretched nation dis- 
persed to the four winds of heaven. 
Such were the signs and coming of 
the Son of Man. 

31. His angels, i. -e. his messen- 
gers, the Apostles, and early teach- 
ers of Christianity. With a great 
sound of a trumpet. The Gospel 
with its- thrilling messages, would 
resound, like a trumpet, through the 
world. They shall gather togeth- 
er his elect, i.-e. he shall, through 
the instrumentality of his disciples, 
gather together and form a Chris- 



tian church and association of be- 
lievers, an object which was accom- 
plished after the destruction of Je- 
rusalem ; for the faithful in heart 
in every place were united by the 
Apostles and first preachers into a 
holy society, that might fitly be 
called elect or choice. From the 
four winds, fyc. i. e. from every 
quarter, from every nation. Acts 
ii. 9-11. Jesus Christ, as the sec- 
ond Adam, the spiritual Adam of a 
new human race, collected the ele- 
ments of his church out of all kin- 
dreds and tongues and nations. The 
dispensation limited to one people 
was superseded- by a universal re- 
ligion. 

32. Learn a parable of the jig- 
tree. Or, take an illustration from 
the fig-tree. Parable sometimes 
means illustration, comparison. 
Summer is nigh. Rather, Spring. 
In Hebrew there are no terms to 
express Spring and Autumn. As 
certainly as Spring and Summer 
follow the leafing^ of the fig-tree, so 
surely shall the fall of Jerusalem 
succeed the signs before mentioned. 
As much as to say, the retributions 
of Providence will be as unerring, 
as the course of Nature. Mount 
Olivet, on which Jesus was now 
sitting, abounded in figs as well as 
olive-trees. Though the mind of 
Jesus was filled with the pictures 
of astonishing events to come, we 
still find him gracefully drawing 
from Nature, at his side, the embel- 
lishments of his speech. 



288 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these 33 
things, -know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily, I say 34 
unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be 
fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away ; but my words 35 

shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no 36 

man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But 37 
as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of 
Man be. For, as in the days that were before the flood they 38 
were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, 
until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until 39 



33. All these things, i. e. the signs 
he had before so graphically de- 
scribed It is near. Or, lie, the 
Christ, in his kingdom, is near. 

34 . This generation shall not pass, 
<5fC., i. e. those then living would 
witness the fulfilment of Jesus' pre- 
dictions ; which was the case, for 
the destruction of Jerusalem took 
place about forty years after, and 
many then living were involved in 
the great catastrophe. John long 
survived the event, and Lightfoot 
speaks of some Rabbins who also 
outlived it. It is apparent from this 
verse, that Jesus had been previ- 
ously speaking of the downfall of 
the Jews, not of future judgment. 
At the time Jesus uttered these 
words there was peace with the 
Romans, and no prospect of the 
Jews venturing to contend with 
them; or, if they did, of the tem- 
ple, city, and nation being wholly 
destroyed. Yet forty years accom- 
plished it all. What boundless 
confidence ought we ever to repose 
in the promises and warnings of 
Jesus, since he has so clearly estab- 
lished his claim of an unerring" 
prophet ! 

35. Shall pass away, <$-c. This 
verse contains a Hebrew compari- 
son. It is not asserted that heaven 
and earth shall pass away, but the 
essence of the declaration is, that 
they shall sooner pass away than 
my words fail. .Compare Matt. v. 



18 with Luke xvi. 17. The whole 
material universe shall sooner crum- 
ble to pieces, than the declarations 
of Christ be falsified. 

" Not earth stands firmer than thy word, 
Nor stars so nobly shine." 

36. But of that day and hour 
TtnowetH no man. Or, no one. Je- 
sus had mentioned many harbingers 
of the great event, but the exact 
time was disclosed to no one : nei- 
ther to men, angels, nor to the Mes- 
siah himself ; Mark xiii. 32 ; Acts 
i. 7 ; but was reserved in the om- 
niscience of the Father alone. , This 
must ever stand as an invincible 
proof of the superiority of the Fath- 
er over the Son, an evidence clear 
as the sun. at mid-day, that Jesus 
Christ is not God. To suppose, as 
is done by most commentators, that 
" Jesus said this of his human and 
not of his divine nature, and that 
one might know what the other was 
ignorant of, is to attribute a mental 
reservation to our Saviour, fit only 
for a Jesuit." 

37-39. Noe. The Greek, of. 
which the Hebrew form is Noah. 
They were eating and drinking, tyc. 
They were engaged in the ordinary 
occupations and amusements of life, 
when the deluge burst upon tham ; 
so the manifestation of the Son of 
Man, the overthrow of the Jewish 
state, would take the -nation by sur- 
prise, while buried in a vain secu.- 
rity, and still expecting some deliv- 



XXIV.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



289 



the flood came and took them all away ; so shall also the com- 

40 ing of the Son of Man be. Then> shall two be in the field ; 

41 the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two. women shall 
be grinding at the mill ; the one shall be taken, and the other 

42 left. Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord 

43 doth come. But know this, that, if the goodman of the house 
had known hi what watch the thief would come, he would have 
watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken 

44 up. Therefore be ye also ready ; for in such an hour as ye 

45 think not, the Son of Man cometh. Who then is a faithful 
and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his 



erer would appear, though on the 
brink of ruin. Knew not, i. e. re- 
garded not, considered not, though 
forewarned by the righteous patri- 
arch. Luke xii. 35, xvii. 34. 

40, 41. Then shall two, <$-c. i. e. 
two men, as the word is masculine 
in the original. Men would be se- 
curely engaged in their usual affairs, 
such is the general sense of these 
illustrations, when they would be 
swept off, with such hurry and con- 
fusion, that the nearest associates 
would be separated from each other. 
Some interpret it, that a providen- 
tial distinction would be made, one 
being lost, and another rescued. 
Two women, <5fC. The machine for 
grinding grain in the east consists 
of a simple, mill of two stones, a 
concave and a convex, turned one 
upon the other by a female hand. 
When the upper stone is large, or 
unusual despatch is required, two 
women are employed. 

42. Watch, therefore, <Sfc, This is 
a particular precept, adapted to that 
exigency. They were to be on the 
watch for the coming of those signs 
and wonders, that preceded the fall 
of the Jewish commonwealth, for 
their own personal safety and their 
usefulness to the world depended 
upon their vigilance. The precise 
hour and day were not known, they 
were therefore exhorted to be watch- 

VOL. i. 25 



ful. It is an exhortation worthy of 
our attention in every age ; for the 
coming of the Son of Man to us in- 
dividually, in the event of death, 
will be, we know not how soon or 
how sudden. 

43.. He proceeds more impressive- 
ly to inculcate this duty by a para- 
ble. The good man of the hoiise, 
i. e. the householder would not have 
slept and suffered his house to be 
broken through, bad he known, not 
the hour, but even so much as the 
ivatch, a space of several hours ; 
but would have taken precautions 
of resistance. There were four 
watches during the nigbt, of three 
hours each. Thief. The correct 
translation is robber, one who steals 
with acts of violence or outrage, 
not the stealthy pilferer. Broken 
up. Better, broken into. 

44. Therefore. Since you are in 
a similar condition with the house- 
holder, and liable to be surprised at 
any moment, be on the alert, and 
suffer not the overwhelming catas- 
trophe to come upon you unawares ; 
for it will descend suddenly and un- 
expectedly. 

45 47. Jesus continues still fur- 
ther to illustrate the need of vigi- 
lance and circumspection, by the 
parable of the wise and the evil ser- 
vant, Whom his lord hath made 
ruler, $c. To whom his master 



290 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



household, to give them meat in due season ? Blessed is that 46 
servant whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. 
Verily, I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all 47 
his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart : 48 
My lord delay eth his coming ; and shall begin to smite his 49 
fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken ; the 50 
lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not 
for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of ; and shall cut 51 
him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites ; 
there shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth. 



hath given the superintendence of 
the rest of the servants, to distribute 
the rations of food at the proper 
times, which, according to general 
custom, were monthly, as some crit- 
ics maintain. Ruler over all his 
goods. For his fidelity he would 
be promoted to the office of treas- 
urer or steward. Luke xii. 42- 
46. 

48, 49. But and if. But if. 
That evil servant. But if the ser- 
vant, thus intrusted with authority, 
should prove vicious and unfaithful, 
and should presume upon his mas- 
ter's absence, and begin to commit 
acts of outrage and oppression 
against the other servants, and to 
indulge in revelry, he would be sur- 
prised by his lord's unexpected re- 
turn, and meet with condign punish- 
ment. The reference of this parable 
is, like the rest of the chapter, to 
the destruction of Jerusalem, for 
which the disciples were most sol- 
emnly warned to be ready. 

51. Shall cut him asunder. A. 
considerable difference of opinion 
has existed among expositors, rela- 
tive to the nature of the punishment 
here described. Some have, like 
our translators, supposed that it was 
a literal cutting in two of the body, 
and cite, in proof of it, the custom 
of the east to punish criminals in 
that manner. But what follows, 
the appointment of his portion with 
the hypocrites, is inconsistent with 
his having been killed. Others, 



with greater probability, render the 
passage thus : will cut him off from, 
his household, or discard him, and 
give him his portion, or punishment, 
with the unfaithful and perfidous, 
who only served, as hypocrites, 
with an eye-service. - Weeping, 
and gnashing of teeth. Servants, 
or slaves, who were unfaithful, 
were, according to Macknight, 
sometimes condemned to the mines ; 
and as this was one of the severest 
of punishments, when they first en- 
tered, nothing was heard among 
them but weeping and gnashing of 
teeth, on account of their fatiguing 
and distressed life in those gloomy 
caverns, without the prospect of ever 
being released. Though Jesus 
spoke for the special warning of his 
little circle of followers seated 
around him on the Mount of Olives, 
to prepare them for events that 
would descend upon that genera- 
tion, yet his words have a wider 
and more lasting significance, and 
call forth an echo from the human 
heart everywhere. His followers 
of all times must watch and pray, 
lest they enter into temptation, 
watch for the coming of sickness, 
accident, and death, and be prepared 
to meet the will of heaven with sub- 
mission, and God in peace. 

"W/hate'er its form, whate'erits flow, 
While life is lent to man below, 

One duty stands confest, 
To watch incessant, firm of mind, 
And watch where'er the post's assigned, 

And leave to God the rest." 



XXV.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



291 



CHAPTER XXV. 

The Parables of the Virgins, the Talents, and the Judgment. 

JL HEN shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten vir- 



CHAP. XXV. 

The following chapter contains 
three parables, familiarly known as 
those of the Virgins, the Talents, 
and the Judgment. Various inter- 
pretations of this passage have been 
proposed by different commentators. 
Some have referred the whole to 
the coming of Christ at the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem ;. others to a day 
of general judgment. While a third 
class unites both of these views, and 
considers the words of Jesus as 
containing two senses ; a primary 
one, relating to his- coming at the 
establishment of his religion on the 
ruins of Judaism ; and a secondary 
one, his coming to judgment in a 
future state. Yet others believe the 
parables of the virgins and the tal- 
ents to relate to the overthrow of 
Jerusalem, but the representation of 
the judgment, as limited in its appli- 
cation to another life. Great names, 
which it is needless to mention, 
have espoused these several views, 
and advanced plausible arguments 
to sustain them. But we would in- 
quire, whether there has not been 
an unreasonable and injurious prom- 
inence given to the question of time 
in the interpretation of this chapter. 
Are not the words of our Lord rath- 
er designed to describe the" establish- 
ment of his 'kingdom in a general 
sense? a kingdom, which would be 
set up more manifestly, indeed, at 
the fall of the holy city and the Mo- 
saic system, but which was already 
enthroning itself in the hearts of his 
disciples, which would spread from 
them throughout the world, and last 
without end here" and hereafter ; a 
kingdom in which the duty of watch- 
fulness, the faithful use of powers, 
and means, and the exercise of love 



and benevolence to others, in connex- 
ion of course with other virtues, 
would be of the highest importance, 
and a criterion of discipleship, as 
the several parabolical descriptions 
represent. This view would avoid 
the difficulties of double senses ; or 
of an abrupt change in the discourse 
at the 31st verse, from speaking of 
the coming of Christ's kingdom at 
the overthrow of the temple, to an 
account of the scenes of eternity; 
or of forcing the whole chapter to 
refer to the future state, contrary to 
the use of language in verses 13, 31, 
the Son of Man shall come, cj-c.,- 
which elsewhere is explained in al- 
lusion to the destruction of the Jews 
by the Romans ; see chap. xvi. 28, 
xix. 28, xxiv. 27, 30, 34, 44. This 
view would also escape the rather 
frigid explanation which refers the 
whole, including the judgment scene, 
to the period of the fall of the Jews. 
It also harmonizes with the fact of 
the elevated tone of feeling, in which 
Jesus was then speaking and the 
solemn visions of his mighty king- 
dom, his universal religion, then 
rising and glowing before his mind. 
To his spiritual glance, Time was 
but an accident and a circumstance, 
Death but a night between to-day 
and to-morrow, a door between this 
apartment and that of the Father's 
mansion. He saw his kingdom 
coming in the hearts of men, search- 
ing, and trying, and judging them, 
erecting the standard of eternal rec- 
titude, and, now and for ever, in all 
worlds and ages, connecting sin and 
misery, goodness and happiness to- 
gether in bonds never to be broken. 
The above interpretation is in sub- 
stance advanced by some eminent 
critics of a recent date. 



292 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



gins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bride- 
groom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 2 
They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with 3 
them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 4 
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 5 
And at midnight there was a cry made : Behold, the bride- 6 
groom cometh ; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins 7 
arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the 8 
wise: Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But 9 
the wise answered, saying : -JVb so ; lest there be not enough 
for us and you ; but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for 



1. Then is used rather as an 
introductory word to the sentence, 
than as specifying a particular time. 
The kingdom of heaven. The 
Christian dispensation, or the com- 
ing of Christ in his kingdom. To 
meet the bridegroom. This refers to 
a marriage custom among the Jews 
and other eastern nations. It was 
usual for the bridegroom, accom- 
panied by other young men, his 
friends, and attended by music, to 
go by night and wait upon his bride 
at her father's house, from which 
she returned to his home in a pro- 
cession, in which her female compan- 
ions joined carrying lighted torches 
or flambeaux. It is to the virgins, 
who attended on the bride and 
awaited the coming of the bride- 
groom, that reference appears to be 
had in the text. The whole com- 
pany then repaired to the bride- 
groom's house, where the nuptial 
services were performed and the 
marriage feast held. 

24. Wise. More exactly, pru-^ 
dent, and so throughout the parable. 
Lamps. Or, torches made of iron 
or earthen ware, to which rags 
soaked in olive oil were attached, 
and which were carried on a wood- 
en stick or handle. They gave a 
brilliant light, but needed replenish- 
ing, from time to time, with oil. 
Many circumstances in a parable 



are merely ornamental. Thus, ten 
was a favorite Jewish number, and 
has no special significance here. 

6. An Armenian wedding is thus 
described by a traveller : " The 
large number of young females who 
were present naturally reminded 
me of the wise and foolish virgins 
in our Saviour's parable. These 
being friends of the bride, the vir- 
gins her companions, (Ps. xlv. 1^,) 
had come to meet the bridegroom. 
It is usual for the bridegroom to 
come at midnight ; so that literally 
at midnight the cry is made, Behold, 
the bridegroom cometh; go ye out 
to meet him. But on this occasion 
the bridegroom tarried; it was two 
o'clock before he arrived." 

7. Trimmed their lamps. Or, 
snuffed them, for they had burned 
low and dim, while they waited. 

8. Our lamps are gone out. Or, 
going out or expiring. They had 
made no provision for" the delay of 
the bridegroom, and were unable, 
therefore, to moisten their wasted 
torches with new oil. 

9. Not so. These words were 
supplied by the translators, as is 
shown by their being in Italics. 
Some critics propose to drop them, 
and read the sentence thus : " Lest 
there be not enough for us and you, 
go ye rather to them that sell and 
buy for yourselves ; " but being 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



293 



10 yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom 
came ; and they that were ready went in with him to the mar- 

11 riage ; and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other 

12 virgins, saying : Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered 

13 and said : Verily, I say unto you, I know you not. Watch, 
therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein 

14 the Son of Man com'eth. For the kingdom of heaven is as a 

man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, 

15 and delivered unto them his goods ; and unto one he gave five 



omitted in the original as spurious, 
by Griesbach and others. 

10. Marriage. Marriage feast. 
And the door was shut. The follow- 
ing; is a description of a Hindoo 
wedding by Mr. Ward: "After 
waiting two or three hours, at 
length, near midnight, it was an- 
nounced, as if in the very words of 
Scripture, Behold, the bridegroom 
cometh ! Go ye out to meet him. 
AH the persons employed now 
lighted their lamps, and ran with 
them in their hands to fill up their 
stations in the procession ; some of 
them had lost their lights and were 
unprepared, but it was then too late 
to seek them, and the cavalcade 
moved forward to the house of the 
bride. The bridegroom was car- 
ried in the arms of a friend, and 
placed on a superb seat in the midst 
of the company, where he sat a 
short time, and then went into the 
house, the door of which was im- 
mediately shut and guarded by Se- 
poys. I and others expostulated 
with the door-keepers, but in vain. 
Never was I so struck with our 
Lord's beautiful parable as at this 
moment: And the door teas shut." 

12. I know you not, i. e. I acknow- 
ledge you not as belonging to my 
friends. 

13. Watch, therefore. This is the 
important lesson and moral of the 
parable, and applicable to all ages. 
If the disciples of Jesus were to be 
prepared for Ms coming, whether 

" ' 



his spiritual manifestation in their 
heart, or his external coming at the 
subversion of the Jewish- church 
and state, so ought we of these lat- 
ter times to be likewise watching 
and waiting unto prayer for his 
moral triumph in our souls, the 
growth of his kingdom among men, 
and the approach'of that last solemn 
event which will be a coming of 
him to our spirits individually. 

"Let all your lamps be bright, 
And trim the golden flame ; 
Watch ! 't is your Lord's command, 
And while we speafc he '3 near ; 
Mark the firs't signal of his hand, 
And ready all appear. 

The last clause of this verse, ivhere- 
in the Son of Man cometh, is proba- 
bly spurious, and has therefore been 
rejected by most biblical critics. 

14. The kingdom of heaven is. 
These words were introduced by 
the English translators, and have 
been well superseded in some ver- 
sions with the clause, The Son of 
Man is. Travelling into afar coun- 
try. Or, simply journeying abroad, 
or into another country. As Jesus 
had in the preceding parable incul- 
cated watchfulness, in the following 
one, he enjoins the careful use of 
the smallest as well aslargest gifts. 
His goods. His money or prop- 
erty. Masters sometimes furnished 
their slaves with capital to be em- 
ployed in traffic. This custom is 
said to be still continued in the East, 
and in Russia. 

15. Talents, The talent has beep 



294 THE GOSPEL ' [CHAP. 

talents, to another two, and to another one ; to every man ac- 
cording to his several ability ; and straightway took his jour- 
ney. Then he that had received the five talents went and 16 
traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And 17 
likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 
But he "that had received one went and digged in the earth, 18 
and hid his lord's money. After a long time, the lord of those 19 
servants cometh and reckonelh with them. And so he that had 20 
received five talents came and brought other five talents, say- 
ing : Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents ; behold, I 
have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto 21 
him : Well done, thou good and faithful servant ; thou hast 
been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over 
many things ; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also 22 
that had received two talents came and said : Lord, thou de- 
liveredst unto me two talents ; behold, I have gained two other 
talents beside them. His lord said unto him: Well done, 23 
good and faithful servant ; thou hast been faithful over a few 
things, I will make thee ruler over many things ; enter thou 
into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one 24 
talent, came and said : Lord, I knew thee that thou art an 
hard man, reaping where thou has not sown, and gathering 

variously estimated from eight to tion or timidity, and sloth. The 
fifteen hundred dollars. It stands useless efforts, made by the heed- 
here for an indefinitely large sum less and idle, often cost as much 
of money. According to his sever- pains as would the well-directed la- 
al ability. According to each one's bors of industry and business. The 
capacity for business. Took his money was buried to prevent its 
journey. In the original, the same being stolen. This individual rep- 
verb which in its participle form is resents that class which, dissatisfied 
rendered in verse 14, travelling into with their abilities and opportuni- 
a far country. Mankind are vari- ties, refuse to employ them at all to 
ously endowed by the Creator with any good purpose, 
more or less privileges, opportuni- 21. Well done. The plaudit be- 
ties, and influence, according to stowed by audiences upon those 
their power of using them. None they approved at the circuses or 
is left entirely destitute. There is amphitheatre. Make thee ruler 
no room either for pride or despair, over many things, i. e. will raise 
God metes out to all an equitable thee to higher trusts. Enter thou 
lot, nor gives here too much, nor into the joy of thy lord. Referring, 
there too little. as is supposed, to festive entertain- 
18. Went and digged in the earth, ments prepared for the faithful ser- 
Moved, it would appear, by vexa- vants. 



XXV;] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



295 



25 where thou hast not strawed ; and I was afraid, and went and 
hid thy talent in the earth ; lo, there thou hast that is thine. 

26 His lord answered and said unto him ; Thou wicked and sloth- 
ful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and 

27 gather where I have not strawed ; thou oughtest therefore to 
have put my money to the exchangers ; and then at my coming 

28 I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore 
the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 

29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have 
abundance ; but from him that hath not shall be taken away 

30 even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant 



24. An hard man. Unfeeling, 
unjust. Reaping tvhere thou hast 
not sown, tfc. Proverbial phrases, 
to describe a man of extortion. 
Strawed. Strewed or scattered. 

25. I was afraid. This is the fa- 
tal excuse upon which thousands 
are wrecked. They profess to be 
afraid, lest they should not be ade- 
quate to their obligations, and do 
nothing, lest they should not do all. 
They live like heathen, lest they 
should not succeed in living like 
Christians. Miserable timidity ! 

26. Thou kneioest, <$-c. This 
sentence is better expressed in the 
interrogative form : Thou knewest 
that I was a hard man ? Thou 
oughtest at least then to have given 
my money to those who would have 
paid for its use. The unfaithful 
servant was condemned out of his 
own mouth. 

27. To the exchangers, i. e. to 
the brokers, or bankers, who ex- 
changed money, and also received it 
on deposit at interest, and loaned it 
to others. Usury. An odious 
sense is now attached to this word. 
The original simply means interest; 
without specifying that it is exor- 
bitant or not. 

29. The expressions here used 
are of a proverbial kind. Matt. xiii. 
12. The general sense is, that 
those, who use well their opportu- 



nities, are favored with additional 
ones, while those who abuse them 
lose even what they have. Instead 
of the phrase, that ivhich he hath, 
some authorities read, ivhat he seem- 
eth to have. The maxim here laid 
down is true both in temporal and 
spiritual affairs, not by any arbitrary 
decree of God, but by the natural 
and irresistible working of his provi- 
dence. This parable suggests many 
valuable thoughts. 1st, That God 
variously endows his creatures ; 
verse 15. Variety is the law of the 
universe. 2d, Those who possess 
much, of them more will be requir- 
ed. The rich, and gifted, and in- 
fluential, are envied, but with how 
little reason ! They have to render 
a heavier account than others ; 
verse 20. 3d, Nor will those, who 
have little, be released from their 
accountableness for that, because it 
is little. Because we can do but 
little good, or gain but little knowl- 
edge, or be of but little service, or 
make but little progress in virtue, 
it is no excuse, why we should fall 
behind in that little ; verse 24. 4th, 
For our acceptance with Gjod de- 
pends, not so much on the amount 
we accomplish, as the degree of 
fidelity we manifest. Compare 
verses 21 and 23. 5th, It is unrea- 
sonable to complain of the Divine 
government. It is wickedness and 



296 THE GOSPEL [CHW- 

into outer darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of 
teeth. 

When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the 31 



sloth that are the chief murmurers 
in this world ; verse 26. 6th. There 
is a PROBATION, and a RETRIBU- 
TION, and he that overlooks either, 
loses sight of a grand and solemn 
fact of his being ; verses 15, 19, 23, 
30. 7th, Perhaps, there is as much 
or more danger of neglecting' or 
abusing the one talent, as the two, 
or the five ; verse 18. The genius, 
that runs to waste in a Byron or a 
Bonaparte, is a meteor that star- 
tles the world with its obliquity, but 
how many one talents, how many 
moderate abilities, gifts, and oppor- 
tunities, are squandered, unobserv- 
ed, and unreproved ! 8th, The gain 
of moral power and external privi- 
leges is in a constantly accelerating 
ratio, while the vicious sink at the 
same rapid rate ; verse 29. 9th, 
Men are usually rewarded out of 
their own labors. They are paid 
in kind. They who labor for this 
world have this world's reward. 
They who labor for virtue find it 
to be its own exceeding great re- 
ward. Goodness and love will be 
rewarded with nothing less than a 
heaven of the same; verses 21, 22. 
10th, There is a reward for virtue, 
and a punishment for sin, a glo- 
rious reward, a bitter punishment. 
Let those who are deaf to other and 
higher motives to goodness, at least, 
obey these ; verses 23, 30. 

31-46. This sublime passage 
seems to be an expansion of chap, 
xvi. 27. In chap, xxiv., and thus 
far in xxv., the coming of the Son 
of Man has been described ; but now 
a new topic is introduced, a descrip- 
tion of what would take place when 
he had come. We are here favored 
with an account of what would oc- 
cur when his kingdom had been es- 
tablished, and his religion had gone 



into operation. The judgment here 
described is a general one, without 
particular reference to time, or rath- 
er covering all time and eternity ; a 
judgment of the souls of men, both 
in this and all future states. The 
great and all-important principle of 
the Divine government, which is 
embodied in the Christian religion, 
is here powerfully portrayed, in a 
scenic or figurative representation ; 
viz., THAT ALL MEN WILL BE RE- 
WARDED ACCORDING TO THEIR DEEDS, 
WHETHER GOOD OR BAD. Men are 
to be judged by the laws of Christ, 
both in this life and the next. That 
judgment has already commenced, 
wherever the sound of the Gospel 
has gone. The Christian world is 
in a constant process of judgment 
before its great Master. Commenc- 
ing in time, triumphant 'over death, 
this judgment will reach into eter- 
nity and last for ever ; being fully 
perfected in that world, where the 
illusions of sense will vanish, and 
the secrets of the heart will be re- 
vealed. The question of time, there- 
fore, or whether Jesus refers to one 
period or another, is of minor im- 
portance. For belief and for prac- 
tice, the grand point to know is, 
that we shall be judged according 
to our lives, and so rewarded, either 
with happiness or punishment, and 
that the incipient retributions of the 
present state are prophetic of a more 
solemn and searching judgment in 
the spiritual world. 

In regard to the particular form 
in which these principles axe ex- 
pressed, it is necessary to consider 
the peculiar circumstances of Je- 
sus' hearers. They were Jews. 
They were cherishing haughty and 
revengeful passions. They revelled 
in. the visions of victory over their 



XXV.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



297 



holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his 

32 glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations ; and he 
shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth 

33 his sheep from the goats ; and he shall set the sheep on his 

34 right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say 
unto them on his right hand : Come, ye blessed of my Father, 
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of 

35 the world. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat ; 
I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger, and ye 

36 took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me ; I was sick, and ye 

37 visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then 



Roman masters and the whole Gen- 
tile world. Our Saviour most point- 
edly rebukes this vindictive temper. 
"When the Messiah's throne should 
be erected, and not Jews alone, but 
all nations, should become his sub- 
jects, he would especially reward 
the humane and pacific, not the 
selfish, ambitious, and hard-bearted. 
The above considerations explain 
the prominence given in this para- 
ble, for such it essentially is, to 
the merciful and philanthropic vir- 
tues. It was not, tbat these were 
the only requirements of his king- 
dom, or ,that the happiness and 
misery of men here and hereafter 
would be adjudged solely accord- 
ing to their discharge of the social 
obligations, but that the Jews, with 
their brilliant temporal expectations 
of a conquering Messiah, were ex- 
ceedingly liable to forget that Love 
to Man, the sentiment of Human 
Brotherhood, was to be one of the 
most glorious features of the new 
administration. 

31. See note on Matt. xvi. 28. 
Att the holy angels loith him. A fig- 
ure, as some suppose, descriptive 
of the assistance of God's provi- 
dence. Then, i. e. when he had 
come, then or thenceforward, such 
and such things would take place. 
The throne of his glory. Or, 
his glorious throne. 



32. Att nations. Not Jews alone 
would be subjects of his kingdom, 
but the whole world would be sum- 
moned to his judgment. Sheep 
goats. Moral distinctions are else- 
where imaged by these animals. 
Ezek. xxxiv. 17 ; Zech. x. 3. The 
use of this figurative language plain- 
ly shows, that our Lord was utter- 
ing a parable. 

33. On his right hand, <$-c. Allu- 
sion is here made, 'perhaps, to a 
custom of the Sanhedrim, by which 
the acquitted and the condemned 
were thus placed respectively. 

34. Ye blessed of my Father. A 
clear evidence tbat tbe Father is the 
original and unrivalled source of all 
the blessings descending through Je- 
sus, and enjoyed under the Christian 
dispensation. Prepared for you, 
<5fc. As Bloomfield observes, no 
countenance is here given to tbe 
doctrine of Absolute Decrees, or 
Election, or Predestination ; for it is 
a Hebraism merely, and it is clear 
from the context that the true mean- 
ing is, that the kingdom of heaven 
was all along prepared for those 
who should approve themselves 
worthy of acceptance. 

35. 36. An hungered. Hungry. 
Ye took me in. Entertained me. 
Naked, i. e. comparatively destitute 
of clothing. The characteristics of 
love and mercy belonging to the 



298 THE GOSPEL [CHAP. 

shall the righteous answer him, saying : Lord, when saw we 
thee an hungered, and fed thee 1 or thirsty, and gave thee. 
drink? when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in ? or 38 
naked, and clothed thee ? or when saw we thee sick, or in 39 
prison, and came unto thee ? And the King shall answer and 40 
say unto them : Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have 
done 'it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have 
done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left 41 
hand : Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre- 
pared for the devil and his angels. For I was an hungered, 42 
and ye gave me no meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no 
drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in ; naked, and 43 
ye clothed me not ; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 
Then shall they also answer him, saying : Lord, when saw we 44 
thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, 
or in prison, and did not minister unto thee ? Then shall he 45 
answer them, saying : Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye 
did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And 46 
these shall go away into everlasting punishment ; but the 
righteous into life eternal. 

new dispensation are brightly de- 46. Everlasting punishment, 

picted, because, with their existing life eternal. The same word in the 

state of feeling, the Jews, as before original is here translated, in one 

stated, were singularly tempted to case everlasting, and, in^the other, 

indulge in inhuman purposes, a eternal. The usual sensS" attributed 

hostile temper, and selfish, contract- to it is that of strictly endless dura- 

ed hopes. They wished for a Mes- tion. It is admitted, that it may 

siah, not so much for the benefit of have that meaning, but it is denied, 

the world, as for their own aggran- that it necessarily has it. If, there- 

dizement. fore, the doctrine of the absolute 

37. The humility of the benevo- eternity of future punishment is true, 

lent and good is here set forth in a this text does not absolutely prove 

figurative form, as in verse 44. The it. For the derivation of the adjec- 

presumption of the wicked is also tive in the Greek is from a word 

described. meaning life, age, dispensation, 

41. Into everlasting fire, prepared world, an indefinitely long period 
for the devil and his angels. A. or lapse of time. The adjective it- 
vivid Jewish figure, painting the self is used many times in the Sep- 
severe punishments inflicted on the tuagint, or Greek version of the Old 
bad ; the fire of .remorse, and what- Testament, and applied to things of 
ever other pain may be meted out a temporary nature, or that existed 
to the sinner. For remarks on the only for an indefinitely long time, 
word everlasting, see the note on Gen. xvii. 8, xlviii. 4 ; Lev. x^i 
the next verse. 34 ; Numb. xxv. 13 ; Hab. iii. 6 



XXVI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



299 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

The Anointing in the House of Simon. Institution of the Lord's Supper. Scene in the 
Garden of Gethsemane. ' Seizure of Jesus. Denial of Peter. 

it came to pass, when Jesus had finished alJ these say- 



Whether, therefore, it signifies 
strictly for ever, or an indefinite pe- 
riod, depends upon the nature of 
the thing to which it is applied. 
When connected with God, it means 
literally eternal. Gen. xxi. 33. But 
when joined to other things, whose 
nature is limited, it means lasting, 
or long-enduring. As connected 
with punishment in this verse, it 
probably has this sense ; for by 
punishment, we usually understand 
what is for the correction and bene- 
fit of the offender, and what there- 
fore will be continued only so long, 
as will be for his best good. . This 
is sometimes the case in the frail, 
fallible governments of men ; how 
much greater the probability, "that 
punishment has this reformatory 
character in the wise and sure-exe- 
cuting government of God, and that 
it is continued indefinitely, as the 
good of the transgressor requires ! 
The above view is in harmony with 
the paternal attributes of God, and 
finds a response in our spiritual and 
social nature. But it is often said, 
the same word is used in respect to 
the life of the good, and is that to 
be limited? The reply is, Yes, if 
they cease to be good, and fall from 
their high" estate, as most believe the 
angels did, who are nobler intelli- 
gences, as popularly believed, than 
human spirits. In other words, the 
wicked will be punished as long as 
they are wicked, and the good will 
be blessed as long as they are good, 
which, if they have overcome self 
and sin in this life, may be reasona- 
bly considered as identical with 
eternity. If man retains his free 
moral agency in the future life, 



and if he did not, that life would be 
inferior to this in one of the noblest 
and most fearful prerogatives of our 
being, he will still have a choice 
of good or evil, and can rise or fall. 
But to pursue this train of thought 
any farther would be to pass from 
the province of expository, to that 
of dogmatic theology. 

Every human soul is judged by 
the Gospel of Christ, if made known 
to it, in this life ; it shall be more 
searchingly judged in the life to 
come. Unspeakable anguish, fear, 
and suffering will settle down on 
the evil, impenitent, unreconciled 
spirit ; but peace, blessedness, and 
joy will be the portion of the peni- 
tent, holy, and submissive child of 
God. This shall continue for an 
indefinitely long time, but beyond 
that our Lord does not carry us, 
leaving all in the hands of Him, who 
is wise, and just, and good. We 
need not strive to look farther into 
eternity, than he has given us the 
power of doing, but rather pause 
and adore before its mighty closed 
portals ; for the glimpse he has af- 
forded us into its awful secrets, is 
fitted to inspire us with longings 
after all that is holy and virtuous, 
and loathing and terror at all that is . 
sinful ; for, at all events, our pres- 
ent conduct, the power of habit, 
will send its consequences far, far 
onward into our future being. The 
Scriptures certainly represent this 
life, in general, as the crisis, which 
determines the future, and it is their 
object to awaken in us a strong and 
wholesome fear. They afford no 
encouragement for the impenitent 
wicked, now or ever, but every en- 



300 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



ings, he said unto his disciples : Ye know that after two days 2 
is the feast of the passover ; and the Son of Man is betrayed 
to be crucified. 

Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, 3 
and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, 
who was called Caiaphas ; and consulted that they might take 4 



couragement and hope for those 
who repent and reform. They teach 
s, that " it is not our wisdom to 
speculate, but to fear." 

If the above view should be 
.thought to diminish the dread of 
transgression, and relax the bonds 
of virtue, the answer is, _ that, if 
f rue, it cannot be otherwise than 
the most salutary view on the 
whole, and in the end. And if 
there is danger, on one side, of rep- 
resenting the future state of the 
wicked in too mild and hopeful a 
light, and thus, diminishing the 
dread of transgression, may there 
not be equal danger, also, on the 
other side, of depicting the govern- 
ment of Him, whom we call Fa- 
ther, and surely that is no un- 
meaning name, in too vivid colors 
of wrath, vengeance, and inexorable 
justice, and thus driving the timid 
into despair, and the bold, into a 
latent, or reckless infidelity? 

CHAP. XXVI. 

1-5. See Mark xiv. 1, 2. Luke 
xxii. 1, 2. The manner in which 
Jesus passed his days and nights at 
this period seems to be indicated in 
Luke xxi. 37, 38. 

1. All these sayings. Referring 
to the discourses of the two preced- 
ing chapters. The following chap- 
ter contains the deeply interesting 
history of the treachery of Judas, 
the institution of the supper, the ag- 
ony in the garden, the seizure of 
Jesus, his examination before Caia- 
phas, and the denial of Peter. 

2. These two verses would be 
more correctly joined to chapter 



xxv. Yc know. Or, know ye, 
understand ye, imperative mood. 
After two days. Or, within two 
days. The feast, of the passover. 
This was one of the three national 
festivals of the Jews, held in the 
month of Abib, afterwards called 
Nisan, corresponding to our April. 
All the males of the nation were re- 
quired to be present. It was insti- 
tuted in commemoration of the de- 
liverance from Egypt, and particu- 
larly the passing- over of the angel 
of death, and the sparing- of the first- 
born of Israel, when the first-born 
of the Egyptians were destroyed. 
Ex. xii. 27. Is betrayed. Is to 
be delivered up. Crucified. Our 
Lord foretells, with the utmost ex- 
actness, both the time and the meth- 
od of his death, at once evincing his 
prophetic power, and fore-arming 
the minds of his disciples against 
this trial of their faith. Yet it 
seemed to all human appearance un- 
likely that he would thus die, for 
he was popular among a great por- 
tion of the people, and innocence 
and wisdom had apparently shielded 
him at every point against criminal 
accusations. 

3. The chief priests, <$rc. Who 
composed, when assembled, the 
council called the Sanhedrim. The 
palace of the high priest. Their 
proper place of meeting was a 
chamber belonging to the temple, 
but, according to the Talmud of 
Babylon, they ceased to. hold their 
sessions in that place, about forty 
years before the destruction of Jeru- 
salem, or about the time referred to 
in the text. Caiaphas. Josephus 



XXVI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



301 



5 Jesus by subtilty and kill him. But they said : not on the 
feast-dat/, lest there be an uproar among the people. 

6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the 



corroborates the fact here related by 
the Evangelist. The full name of 
this high priest was Caiaphas Jo- 
seph. He was appointed to the of- 
fice by Valerius Gratus, who pre- 
ceded Pontius Pilate as procurator 
of Judea, and continued in it until 
he was removed by Vitellius, Pilate's 
successor. He married the daugh- 
ter of Annas or Ananus, who had 
also been high priest at a former pe- 
riod, Luke iii. 2, and who still re- 
tained the name, as he probably 
possessed great influence and au- 
thority, and might be the occasional 
substitute of his son-in-law in the 
official duties. The character of 
Caiaphas, as disclosed in the Gos- 
pels, and as intimated by Josephus, 
was far from honoring the priest- 
hood. 

4. Take Jesus by subtilty and kill 
him. The very deep impression, 
which Jesus had made upon the 
Jewish nation, is revealed in this 
fact. The most venerable men, 
professedly guardians of religion, 
meet in solemn conclave, not for the 
purpose of passing any order of ar- 
rest, or talcing any preliminary steps 
for a fair trial, but to concert meas- 
ures, as it would seem, to make 
way with their dreaded victim clan- 
destinely, without the intervention 
of law, or the possibility of a res- 
cue by the people, or, at least, to 
seize him, and place him in custody, 
at their future disposal. We here 
see, by their conduct, how well they 
deserved the terrible sentences of 
condemnation, uttered against them 
by Jesus at various times. A ven- 
erable council to behold, but full of 
injustice and wickedness at heart, 
mere whited sepulchres ! 

5. Not on the feast-day. Or rath- 
er, during the festival, which lasted 



VOL. I. 



26 



eight days. Lest there be an up- 
roar among- the people. Not justice , 
not humanity, stood as an obstacle 
in their way, but simply a motive 
of temporary expediency. Judicial 
proceedings, on the days of public 
festivals, were forbidden, and they 
might fear the popular resentment} 
if the usage was violated. Or, as 
is more probable, since Jesus was 
favored by the people, and the city 
was then thronged with multitudes, 
of whom many were his country- 
men, the Galileans, they might 
dread an outburst of violence, if he, 
who had so lately been escorted into 
the city in triumph, should now be 
put to death. The popularity of 
Jesus resulted, in part, from his be- 
neficent miracles, but still more, 
from the fond hope of the Jewish 
heart, that he would assume a tem- 
poral sovereignty. 

6-13. See Mark xiv. 3-9, and 
John xu. 2-8. From the account 
in John, we infer that the transac- 
tion took place some time previous, 
and that the occasion of it, was the 
warm gratitude of Mary to Jesus, 
for raising her brother Lazarus from 
the dead. ' But Matthew and Mark 
relate the event, in connexion with 
its influence upon the plans of the 
Sanhedrim, and the treachery of 
Judas. The three accounts so near- 
ly agree in the circumstances de- 
tailed, as to assure us, that they all 
refer to the same scene. 

6. Now when, i. e. at a previous 
time. The passage, from the 6th 
to the 13th verse inclusive, may be 
considered as parenthetical, and ex- 
planatory of the conduct of Judas in 
verse 14. In Bethany. The vil- 
lage near Jerusalem, on the Mount 
of Olives, whither Jesus often re- 
tired. As to the place, the three 



302 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box 7 
of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head as he sat 
at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, 8 
saying : To what purpose is this waste ? For this ointment 9 
might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When 10 
Jesus understood it, he said unto them : Why trouble ye the 
woman ? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye n 
have the poor always with you ; but me ye have not always. 



Evangelists coincide. Simon tJie 
leper. Perhaps, an individual whqm 
Jesus had cured of that dreadful 
malady. John mentions that Laza- 
rus, whom he had raised from the 
dead, shared in the entertainment, 
and that Martha was in attendance. 
7. A woman. John says that it 
was Mary, and that she did the act 
at a supper made in honor of Jesus. 
Simon was probably a kinsman of 
Lazarus and his sisters. An ala- 
baster box. A. beautiful kind of soft 
marble, easily worked, and often 
made into vases and other ornamen- 
tal vessels. The form of the box 
was probably that of a flask or 
cruise. Of ve?y precious ointment. 
Mark and John mention that it was 
of spikenard. The plant, from 
which the unguent is made, is call- 
ed nard, and belongs to the grasses. 
It grows best in India, and shoots 
up leaves and spikes, from three 
to six feet high. Its aroma is so 
strong that the air around is per- 
fumed with it, when the roots are 
crushed or bruised. The ointment 
was very costly. John says that 
there was a pound in the box, and 
that the odor filled the house ; while 
Mark agrees with him, in estimat- 
ing its worth, at "more than three 
hundred pence," or about forty dol- 
lars ; a munificent testimony of her 
profound veneration and gratitude to 
Jesus. Poured it on his head, i. e. 
probably some of it, not all. This 
was customary at oriental feasts. 
It was rather a liquid oil, than an 
ointment. John states that she also 



anointed his feet with it, and wiped 
them with her hair. As he sat at 
meat. The ancient posture at table 
was reclining, not sitting. 

8. They had' indignation. They 
were very indignant. To lohat pur- 
pose is this waste? According to 
John, it was Judas, who was espe- 
cially displeased, though the other 
disciples might have shown some 
uneasiness, worldly-minded as they 
were. 

9. Sold for much. Mark says, " for 
more than three hundred pence." 
John informs us, that it was not out 
of any regard for the poor that Ju- 
das said this, but because he wished 
to appropriate the contents to his 
own use, being steward of the com- 
pany. We learn incidentally from 
this verse, that Jesus and his disci- 
ples gave alms to the poor, though 
destitute themselves. It is not un- 
usual for covetousness to put on the 
cloak of charity. We see, in this 
instance, the effect of the love of 
money to destroy man's susceptibil- 
ity of appreciating what is true and 
magnanimous. The avaricious of- 
ten esteem that as wasted, which is 
given for objects of Christian phi- 
lanthropy, but not so is it regarded 
by the Saviour of the world. 

10. Why trouble ye the ivoman? 
It would distress her to see her 
warm kindness repulsed by cold- 
ness and rebukes. Hath wrought 
a good toork upon me. She has 
shown a generous and commenda- 
ble spirit. 

11. The poor always loith you 



XXVLJ 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



303 



12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did 

13 it for my burial. Verily, I say unto you, wheresoever this 
gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also 
this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. 

14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the 

15 chief priests, and said unto them : What will ye give me, and I 

You have continual opportunities to 
succor the poor, but the occasions 
of testifying your respect and grati- 
tude to me will soon cease. We 
have, indeed, the poor always with 
us 



" 'T is our great Father's plan, 
That mutual wants and mutual care 
May bind us, "man to man." 

The poor seem to be a kind of rent- 
receivers for the great Proprietor 
of all our possessions. A hundred 
Scripture blessings rest on his head, 
who is kind to the poor. But there 
are other great and noble objects 
besides mere alms-giving, appealing 
to the charity and generosity of the 
Christian world. Indeed, the best 
charity to the poor is to elevate 
their characters and enable them to 
help themselves. 

12. She did it for my buriaL It 
would be more exact to say, for my 
embalming. It was usual to anoint 
the dead, and' embalm them with 
costly spices. The mind of Jesus 
was so filled with the thought of his 
approaching fate, that every object 
and scene took a hue from it. The 
very odor of the ointment, as it fill- 
ed the house, seemed like the omen 
of death to his tender sensibility. 
He virtually said, that she might 
be justified in her deed, since he 
was so soon to die, that the perfume 
was as it were a preparation for his 
interment. 

13. For a memorial of her. That 
is, for an honorable testimonial of 
her nobleness of character. Beau- 
tifully has the declaration been veri- 
fied. Those, who performed the 
slightest offices for Jesus, have a 



name wide as the world, and last- 
ing throughout all ages. " The 
odor of that ointment was not con- 
fined to that lowly Jewish dwell- 
ing. It has filled the world." 

" Who shall blame the kind oblation, 

Perfumes rich, profusely shed ? 
No ! Through each remotest nation 
Shall her grateful fame be spread." 

" O ! say what deed so lifted thy sweet name, 
Mary! to that pure, silent place of fame ? 
One lowly offering of exceeding love." 

14-20. Markxiv. 10-17; Luke 
xxii. 3-14. 

14. This verse may be considered 
as connected with the narrative of 
the proceedings of the Sanhedrim, 
vss. 3-5. The intervening passage 
is apparently introduced to explain 
the motives, which influenced Judas 
to betray his Master, though -his 
name is not mentioned in the ac- 
counts of Matthew and Mark. 
Then. About that time, referring 
to the meeting of the Sanhedrim in 
vs. 3. One of the tioelve. A cir- 
cumstance of aggravation. Iscariot. 
An epithet probably meaning the 
man of Carioth, or JCerioth. 

15. What will ye give me. Judas 
was actuated, no doubt, by a varie- 
ty of considerations. Impatience 
and curiosity to have Jesus declare 
himself, and a desire for the honors 
and rewards of a temporal kingdom, 
combined with the persuasion, that 
Jesus could, at any moment, free 
himself from his enemies by his 
miraculous power, and some ming- 
lings of resentment at his reproof, 
at the time of the anointing, may 
have entered into the web of his 
motives. Still the ruling evil pas- 
sion, the Satan, according to the 



304 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP 



will deliver him unto you ? And they covenanted with him for 
thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportu- 16 
nity to betray him. 

Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disci- 17 
pies came to Jesus, saying unto him : Where wilt thou that we 
prepare for thee to eat the passover ? And he said : Go into 18 
the city to such a man, and say unto him : The Master saith : 



Gospel account, was covetousness. 
He bargained in crime. He' sold 
himself and his Master for money. 
He inquired, in the text, how much 
they would give him for his wick- 
edness. What a contrast does his 
sordid treachery present to the. gen- 
erosity of Mary! "For covetous- 
ness aims at base and low purchases, 
whilst holy love is great and com- 
prehensive as the bosom of Heaven, 
and aims at nothing less than infi- 
nite ! " They covenanted with him 
for thirty pieces of silver. Or, paid 
bin* that amount. The first unjust 
act of the Sanhedrim was to take 
counsel to arrest and kill Jesus by 
subtilty; the second, was to enter- 
exultingly, Mark xiv. 11, into posi- 
tive negotiation with an apostate 
disciple, for the betrayal of his 
Master and Friend. The sum of 
money was the price of a slave, Ex. 
xxi. 32, and would be about fifteen 
dollars in our currency, though the 
value of money was then far greater 
than now. " With regard to the 
price of his treachery, a survey of 
human nature and human passions 
will not authorize us to say that any 
sum is too small to tempt habitual 
and absorbing avarice to any act or 
degree of wickedness. ' Earthly, 
sensual, arid contemptible, there is 
no knowing how low this passion 
will creep, nor how high it will 
strike." 

16. Sought. Was seeking. He 
was intent upon the evil object from 
day to day. Luke says, it was to 
be accomplished in the absence of 
the multitude. To betray. Origi- 



nal, to deliver up; without defining 
the quality of the act. 

17. The first day of the feast of 
unleavened bread. The Jews eat 
that kind of bread during seven days 
succeeding the feast of the passover, 
hence, the whole festival is often 
called the feast of unleavened bread. 
The day here spoken of was Thurs- 
day, in the evening of which the 
passover was eaten. There is good 
reason for believing, that the occa- 
sion on which Jesus instituted the 
supper was the passover feast, and 
that all the Jews partook of it, on 
the same evening. The objection 
from John xviii. 28, that on the next 
day, Friday, the priests would not 
go into Pilate's judgment-hall, "lest 
they should be denied, but that they 
might eat the passover," may be 
easily removed. For the passover 
here referred to was not the paschal 
lamb, nor the sacrifice at the end of 
the first day of the passover, called 
Chagigah, but the feast of herbs 
and unleavened bread, which lasted 
seven days longer. The expres- 
sions in John xix. 14, 31, are also 
cited against the above view; but 
the preparation of the passover was, 
doubtless, as Campbell renders it, 
the preparation of the Paschal Sab- 
bath, which was a "high day," as 
it occurred during the feast of un- 
leavened bread. This is corrobo- 
rated by Mark xv. 42, and John xix. 
31, where the preparation is said, 
expressly, to relate to the Sabbath. 

18. Into the city. They were then 
in Bethany. To such a man. A 
familiar expression, to point out one 



XXVL] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



305 



My time is at hand ; I will keep the passover at thy house with 

19 my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed 

20 them ; and they made ready the passover. Now when the 

21 even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they 

did eat, he said : Verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall 

22 betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began 



whose name is not given. The 
man would be met by them " bearing 1 
a pitcher of water." Murk xiv. 13. 
It is unnecessary to suppose, that 
there was any miraculous power 
exerted on this occasion. Jesus 
was probably acquainted with the 
man, and he takes the liberty, com- 
mon during- the great festivals, of 
requesting the use of a furnished 
room at his house. Accommoda- 
tions for guests were furnished gra- 
tuitously at these times. Such was 
the hospitality of the inhabitants of 
the city, notwithstanding the im- 
mense multitudes which resorted 
thither, that, according to the Jew- 
ish writers, " a man could never say 
to his friend, ' I have not found a 
fire, to roast the Passover lamb in 
Jerusalem,' nor 'I have not found a 
bed to sleep on in Jerusalem,' nor, 
' the place is too strait for me to 
lodge in Jerusalem.' " My time is 
at hand. Referring, probably, to 
the approaching termination of his 
ministry and life. I will keep the 
passover at thy house. This rebuts 
the view entertained by some, that 
Jesus did not keep the passover, but 
only a common supper ; for he would 
not have said this, had he foreseen 
that, on account of his death, he 
should never partake, of it. 

19. The disciples, i. e. Peter and 
John. Luke xxii. 8. They made 
ready the passover; which consisted 
in obtaining a guest-chamber, en- 
gaging the articles of food, wine 
and bread, and herbs, and preparing 
the paschal lamb, by having it killed 
and dressed by the priests at the 

26* 



temple, and afterwards roasting it 
themselves. 

20. Now when the even was come. 
It is natural to infer, from the close 
connexion of this verse with the 
last, that it was the passover feast, 
at which they now reclined, and for 
which they had prepared, as related 
in vs. 19. He 'sat down. Original, 
he reclined. The order of events 
upon this interesting occasion, ac- 
cording to Carpenter, is as follows : 
" 1. Introductory observations of our 
Lord. 2. Observations in relation 
to the contention of the Apostles 
respecting precedency. 3. Jesus 
washes their feet and discourses 
thereon. 4. He announces the 
treachery of Judas, after which that 
Apostle withdraws. 5. Declara- 
tions to the Apostles, including two 
announcements of Peter's denial of 
him. Then followed the institution 
of the Lord's supper." 

21 -25. Mark xiv. 18-21 ; Luke 
xxii. 21-23 ; John xiii. 21-30. 

The three first items of the above 
order are recorded only by Luke 
and John, but the fourth is contain- 
ed in the following paragraph. 

21. That one of you shall betray 
me. This appears to have been the 
first intimation the disciples had, 
that there was treachery in their 
company. It is not likely that Jesus 
could know any more of the matter 
than they, except by Divine power. 
The object of mentioning it seems 
to have been to arouse the peniten- 
tial emotions of Judas and turn him 
from his bad purpose. 

22. Exceeding sorrowful, 



306 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



every one of them to say unto him : Lord, is it I ? And he 23 
answered and said : He that dippeth his hand with me in the 
dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of Man goeth, as it 24 
is written of him ; but woe unto that man by whom the Son of 
Man is betrayed ! it had been good for that man if he had not 
been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and 25 
said : Master, is it I ? He said unto him : Thou hast said. 



" When their Master declared that 
one of them would betray him, they 
did not resent the accusation, but, 
in the spirit of a touching self-dis- 
trust, which their experience of his 
better wisdom had taught them to 
cherish, the cry broke forth on ev- 
ery side, ' Lord, is it I? Is it I? ' 
When one, whom we deeply rever- 
ence, charges us with an evil de- 
sign, we suspect ourselves of it, 
rather than him of a wanton accusa- 
tion." They were not suspicious, 
moreover, of one another. Began 
every one of them to say, i. e. said. 

23. Dippeth his hand with me in 
the dish. One of the dishes at the 
passover entertainment consisted of 
a species of salad, of lettuce or bit- 
ter herbs, raisins, and vinegar ; em- 
blematical, it was said, of tbe clay 
their forefathers used in making 
brick in Egypt. To this sauce, into 
which they were accustomed to dip 
their bread or meat as a sop, John 
xiii. 26, allusion is here made. 
Since in a company of thirteen per- 
sons, there would probably be more 
than one of these dishes, it has been 
thought that Judas reclined near 
Jesus, so as to dip into his dish. 
But he did not particularly point 
out Judas by this declaration, for, 
otherwise, it would not have been 
necessary to have designated him to 
John by a private sign ; though the 
present verse may refer to the same 
transaction more fully related in 
John xiii. 23-27. 

24. Goeth. A softened expression 
for dieth. As it is written of him. 
As decreed in the counsels of God 



and revealed in the Scriptures. 
Woe unto that man. Or, alas for 
that man. It had been good for 
that man, <$-c. Or, according to the 
Improved Version, " It would have 
been good for him (the traitor) if 
that man (the Son of Man) had not 
been born." Without, however, 
resting upon this, it is plainly a pro- 
verbial and figurative expression, 
descriptive of a great calamity or 
punishment. Many phrases of the 
same purport are found in the Jew- 
ish writers. This is one: "He 
that knoweth the law and doeth it 
not, it were better for him that he 
had not come into the world." The 
inferences which have sometimes 
been drawn from a strictly literal 
interpretation of these words, in 
regard to the nature and duration of 
future punishment have, therefore, 
little pertinence or warrant. 

25. The conduct of Judas is nat- 
ural. Bad men are prone to assume 
a frankness and Innocence which 
they do not possess, in order to 
avoid suspicion. Thou hast said. 
Equivalent to Yes, or, It is. Matt, 
xxvi. 64, comp. with Mark xiv. 62. 

26-29. Parallel to Mark xiv. 22 
- 25, Luke xxii. 19, 20 ; 1 Cor. xi. 
23-25. The paschal supper, from 
parts of which the observances of 
the Lord's supper seem to be de- 
rived, was celebrated, according to 
Olshausen, as follows : 1. A prayer 
from the head of the family, and a 
cup of wine and water distributed 
among the guests. 2. The lamb, 
with the bitter herbs, and unleaven- 
ed bread, was served. The younger 



XXVI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



307 



26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed 
it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said : Take,, 

27 eat ; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, 



members of the company were in- 
formed of the object of the cere- 
mony, as commemorative of the de- 
parture from Egypt. The cxiii. and 
jxiv. Psalms were read. 3. The 
second cup, supposed to be men-- 
tbp"d in Luke xxii. 17. 4. The 
unleavened bread is again broken, 
and distributed, and eaten, in the 
sauce of herbs ; this may answer to 
the breaking and dividing of the 
bread by Jesus, when he instituted 
the supper. 5. A third cup, called 
the cup of blessing, which, perhaps, 
corresponds to the cup taken by 
Jesus after the bread at the institu- 
tion of the supper. Psalms cxv. to 
cxviii. were sung. 6. A fourth cup, 
and sometimes the reading of Psalms - 
cxxvi. to cxxxvii., called the great 
Hallel. 7. A fifth cup closed the 
feast. 

26. And as they were eating-. Ju- 
das had probably withdrawn. Je- 
sus proceeds to institute a memorial, 
corresponding in his religion to the 
paschal supper, in the Jewish sys- 
tem. As the one commemorated 
the great deliverance from Egyp- 
tian bondage, so the other was de- 
signed to celebrate the" spiritual 
emancipation produced by the Gos- 
pel. Our Lord presides at the en- 
tertainment, as the head of a family; 
and, keeping the Jewish ceremony 
with prayer, and eating of the pas- 
chal lamb, and with the other ob- 
servances of the occasion, he grace- 
fully and spontaneously introduces a 
new and peculiar rite of his own. 
Jesus took bread. This must have 
been the unleavened bread of the 
passover, formed of thin cakes, 
which could be readily broken. 
Blessed it. It is not in the original ; 
rather, he blessed, or gave thanks to 
God. Take, eat ; this is my body. 



The formal and solemn character 
of these words indicates a fixed 
design of establishing a new ordi- 
nance ; yet, as has been said, it was 
originated not so much " by the un- 
derstanding, as the affections of 
Jesus. He saw, in the broken bread 
and in the flowing wine, the symbols 
and mementos of his own body and 
blood. Thus hallowed by the deep 
sensibility of Jesus, shall they not 
be everlasting mementos? Shall 
not our hearts melt with answering 
tenderness? and can we disown or 
cancel the vows of gratitude and 
remembrance which Nature herself 
prompts? " The Roman Catholic 
doctrine of transubstantiation, with 
its mitigated forms prevalent even 
in Protestant churches, arose, as 
Selden said, from mistaking rheto- 
ric for logic, or, in other words, from 
interpreting with a prosaic literal- 
ness a bold, vivid, and almost vio- 
lent metaphor. The verb to be is 
often used in the Hebrew and Sy- 
riae languages, a dialect of which 
Christ spoke, to convey the sense of 
to signify. Thus here : This sig- 
nifies or represents my body. Many 
other cases of this idiom occur in 
the Scriptures. Gen. xli. 26, 27 ; 
Dan. vii. 24 ; Matt. xiii. 38 ; 1 Cor. 
x. 4 ; Rev. i. 20. It is one of the 
most astonishing facts of human 
credulity arid ignorance, that the 
afore-mentioned doctrine, that the 
bread and wine of the communion 
are literally the body, and blood of 
Jesus Christ, should have, for so. 
many ages, predominated in the 
church. 

27. And he took the cup. The 
Jews were accustomed to use wine 
at the passover feast. It has been 
common to regard this cup as an- 
swering to the third cup of the 



308 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



and gave it to them, saying : Drink ye all of it ; for this is my 28 
blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the re- 
mission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink hence- 29 
forth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it 
new with you in my Father's kingdom. 

And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the 30 



passover, or the cup of Hallel, or 
blessing. Drink ye all. Rather, 
all ye; as meaning the disciples, not 
the cup. It is a singular fact, 'that, 
notwithstanding this injunction was 
given as if prophetic of future abuses, 
the cup is not tendered to all at the 
Catholic communion, but it is re- 
stricted to the clergy. Luke and 
Paul add, after both the bread and 
the cup, these words of Jesus : 
" This do in remembrance of me." 
28. Far this is my blood of the 
new testament, i. e. this represents 
my blood of the new covenant, for 
so should the last words be render- 
ed, signifying the new dispensation 
of religion, in contradistinction to 
the Mosaic one. As the first cove- 
nant had been sealed with blood, 
sprinkled by Moses upon the peo- 
ple, so would the second likewise 
be ratified, as it were, by the death 
of its Founder. Which is shed for 
many, i. e. for all, not only for Jews, 
but for Gentiles. For the remission 
of sins. " Tbe Gentiles being in 
an uncovenanted state were regard- 
ed by the Jews as unholy, and were 
called sinners. See Gal. ii. 15. 
When, by faith in Christ, they en- 
tered into the Christian covenant, 
they became holy, and their sins are 
said to be forgiven. Thus the blood 
of Christ is said to have been shed 
" for tbe remission of sins." These 
words, in the institution of the eu- 
charist, are only to be found in Mat- 
thew, who wrote for the Jewish be- 
lievers, and would be understood by 
them." The blood of Christ con- 
tributes to the remission and for- 
giveness of sins, because it puts the 



seal of truth on his Gospel, and re- 
veals the love of God for the sinner, 
and melts his heart to penitence by 
the touching appeal of a crucified 
Redeemer. There is remission of 
sins under Christianity, because the 
most persuasive motives are address- 
ed to men to induce them to repent 
and reform, and thus fulfil the con- 
ditions on which alone God, under 
any dispensation, forgives tbe trans- 
gressor. 

29. Until that day when I drink it 
neio, <5fc. i. e. in a new manner, or 
of a new kind ; meaning, either that 
be should not again participate in a 
social repast, until after his death 
and resurrection, when his Father's 
kingdom would be more fully estab- 
lished ; or that he should not again 
unite with them in such an enter- 
tainment on earth, but share with 
tbem the honors and happiness of a 
better world, figuratively expressed 
by drinking wine with them. The 
counsels and consolations, with the 
prayer, John xiv. -xvii., are sup- 
posed by Carpenter to intervene be- 
tween this and the following verse. 

30-35. See Mark xiv. 26-31; 
Luke xxii. 39, and John xviii. 1. 

.30. Sung an hymn. Or, psalm. 
It was customary to sing or chant 
psalms during the paschal supper, 
and at its close. The ones used 
were from cxiii. to cxviii. inclusive, 
and sometimes others also, as those 
from cxxvi. to cxxxvii. Jesus and 
his disciples chanted a Hallel, or 
song, of praise, a fitting conclusion 
to the new and beautiful rite they 
bad observed. What is translated, 
sung an hymn, is one word in the 



XXVI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



SOD 



31 Mount of Olives. Then saith Jesus unto them : All ye shall 
be offended because of rne this night ; for it is written : "I 
will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be 

32 'scattered abroad." But after I am risen again, I will go be- 

33 fore you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him : 
Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I 

34 never be offended. Jesus said unto him : Verily, I say unto 
thee, that this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny 



original, which means, literally, hav- 
ing hymned. Prom the account 
above given of the Lord's supper, 
we infer, 1st, That it was instituted 
in remembrance of our Lord. 2d, 
That it is therefore a means of spir- 
itual improvement. 3d, And also 
an end, inasmuch as it is kept for 
Christ's sake, to glorify him amongst 
men. 4th, That it is in accordance 
with human nature, which has ever 
delighted to commemorate the lives 
and deaths of the great and good. 
5th, And that, consequently, all 
those, of whatever age, who feel 
their obligations to Jesus as their 
spiritual benefactor, cherish a living 
faith in him as the Son of God, re- 
solve to keep his commandments, 
and profess his name, are entitled 
to a place at his table, wherever it 
is spread. 6th, And that the repre- 
sentation of the supper as an awful 
mystery, fencing it up in an enclos- 
ure of creeds and arbitrary rales, 
and observing it with an exclusive, 
sectarian spirit, are melancholy de- 
viations from the affectionate sim- 
plicity of its origin. 'Let this feast 
of love be kept with the pure aim 
for which it was instituted, in re- 
membrance of him who died to give 
us life. 

31. All ye shall be offended because 
of me. Carpenter renders it, " All 
ye will fall away from me," i. e. 
they would stumble, or lose their 
faith in him, on account of the 
-events soon to happen, so as to de- 
sert him. Like a wise and kind 



friend, he warns them of the im- 
pending difficulties. For it is writ- 
ten. Zech. xiii. 7. The words of 
the old prophet were about to be 
verified. When the leader was seiz- 
ed, his followers would disperse. 

32. But he would encourage their 
hearts by the promise of his resur- 
rection and a future meeting with 
them in Galilee. Go before you. 
The pastoral image of the preced- 
ing verse is continued in this ex- 
pression. John x. 4. 

33. The individuality of Peter's 
character is beautifully preserved, 
in every part of the New Testa- 
ment. This resolution was a mag- 
nanimous one, but he little knew 
his. own strength to carry it into 
execution, though he had been 
schooled by failures before. The 
eventual tempering and harmoniz- 
ing of so impetuous a spirit was a 
noble trophy of the power of the 
Gospel. 

34. The strong emphasis and cli- 
max of Jesus' reply have not es- 
caped the critics. He told him, that 
verily he would not only be offended, 
or desert his Master, but that he 
would deny him, not only once, but 
thrice, and on that very night, and 
even before the cock-crowing. As 
cocks were not allowed in Jerusa- 
lem, it has been asserted that Peter 
could not have heard one. The 
difficulty has been removed in va- 
rious ways : that the law was evad- 
ed, and that these fowls were some- 
times kept in the city, as is proved 



310 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP 



me thrice. Peter said unto him : Though I should die with 35 
thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the 
disciples. 

Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsem- 36 
ane, and saith unto the disciples : Sit ye here, while I go and 
pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons 37 
of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then 38 
saith he unto them : My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto 
death ; tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a Sfl 



by a story in the Talmud, and would 
therefore be heard, which is the 
most probable view ; that one might 
be heard, in the silent night at the 
house of Caiapbas near the city 
wall, from some neighboring vil- 
lage ; that the phrase, before the cock 
crew, means before cock-crowing, 
as descriptive of a certain hour ; or, 
that reference is made to tbe sound- 
ing of the trumpet at the changing 
of the Roman watch, which, as it 
took place at the times of the cock- 
crowing, was called by that name. 
There is no discrepancy between 
Matthew and the other Evangelists 
in the expression once and tivice; 
for Matthew speaks only of the last 
crowing, but Mark and Luke of the 
first and last. 

35. But the rash disciple is not 
convinced of his liability to fall, and 
only breaks forth into new protesta- 
tions of fidelity. Cowper's lesson 
from this scene is sensible and in- 
structive : 

"Beware of Peter's word, 

Nor confidently say, 
' I never will deny thee, Lord ;' 

But, ' Grant I never may.' " 

36-46. Mark xiv. 32-42. Luke 
xxii. 40-46. 

36. Gethsemane. Literally, place 
of oil-presses, referring to the olive 
oil there manufactured. It was sit- 
uated across the brook Kedron from 
Jerusalem, under the Mount of Ol- 
ives. John calls it "a garden," 
and we are told that Jesus " ofttimes 



resorted thither." According to 
modern travellers, very aged olive 
trees are still standing on the 
ground. Sit ye here, tyc. He seeks 
retirement even from his disciples. 
He resorts to prayer as a relief and 
remedy for his overburdened spirit. 
All the circumstances of this scene 
possess a naturalness and reality, 
which leave upon every candid 
mind the liveliest conviction of the 
honesty and truthfulness of the his- 
tory. 

37. Peter and the two sons of Zeb- 
edee, i. e. James and John. These 
three were his most intimate friends, 
and often selected to be his confi- 
dants. Began to be sorrowful and 
very heavy. This translation lacks 
the power of tbe original, which ex- 
presses an agony of anguish. 

38. Exceeding sorrowful, even un- 
to death. To explain tbis scene, 
very unreasonable suppositions have 
been made. 1. As that Jesus then 
contended with the great prince of 
darkness. But there is certainly no 
mention of it. 2. Or, that the spir- 
itual aid from heaven, with which 
he had been sustained hitherto, was 
now withdrawn. This impeaches 
the goodness of God towards one 
whom he called beloved, in whom 
be was well pleased, and to whom 
the spirit was given not by measure 
or .time. 3. Again, that Jesus at 
this crisis bore the wrath of God for 
the sins of mankind. But as to the 
former part of this idea, there is no 



XXVI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



311 



little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying : O my 

Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me ; never- 

40 theless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto 



evidence that he was suffering under 
the anger of the Deity, for we are 
told, in John x. 17, that his Father 
loved him because he laid down his 
life ; and an angel or spiritual influ- 
ence from on high strengthened him 
in the dark hour. Luke xxii. 43. 
As to the notion that he was now 
suffering vicariously for man, . or 
instead of man, like Atlas, under 
the weight of an incumbent world 
of sin, there is not a single word of 
it whispered in any of the narra- 
tions, and it is to be regarded as a 
far-fetched and groundless conjec- 
ture. The plain and scriptural 
view is, that the agony of Jesus was 
not supernatural, but that it was 
similar to what martyrs have endur- 
ed, and greater only as his sensibili- 
ty was more tender, his destitution 
of sympathy greater, and the cause 
for which he was about to suffer 
immeasurably more important. He 
was a man of sorrows, exposed to 
a combination of evils. The clearly- 
seen horrors of his approaching cru- 
cifixion, with all the aggravating 
circumstances of the treachery, de- 
sertion, and denial of his disciples, 
the wickedness of his enemies, and 
the deadness of the world, in which 
he stood solitary, and without sym- 
pathy as to his plan of spiritual sal- 
vation, were sufficient, for the time, 
to cloud and greatly distress his 
mind. His previous references to 
his dreadful death, Matt. xvi. 23, 
xx. 22 ; Luke xii. 49, 50, his pain 
at the baseness of Juda-s, verse 22, 
John xiii. 21, and his direct mention 
of the cup of suffering which he 
must soon drink to the dregs, verses 
39, 42, reveal not ambiguously the 
cause of his anguish. His distress 
was great in proportion to the refine- 
ment of his character, his exact fore- 



sight of his dreadful sufferings, his 
consciousness of being misunder- 
stood and wronged by men, and his 
knowledge of the sea of woes that 
was rushing on his beloved country 
for their rejection of the true Messi- 
ah. The picture is heightened by 
Luke, xxii. 44; though it is not 
probably meant that he sweat blood, 
but sweat as freely as if bleeding. 
Tarry ye here, and watch with me. 
Jesus in his distress and forebodings 
is strengthened, as the afflicted al- 
ways are, by the presence of his 
dearest friends. Blind and unsym- 
pathizing as they were, he leaned 
on them, since the strong in their 
despairing hours find comfort even 
in the weak. It was night too, 
when loneliness is most felt, and 
fear puts on its most portentous 
shapes, and the rustling of a leaf 
terrifies the bold heart. 

39. A little farther. Luke says, 



" a stone's cast," or throw. He 
would pour out his heart alone. 
Fell on his face. What intensity of 
feeling and earnestness of supplica- 
tion are here depicted ! The Sa- 
viour prostrate on his face in pray- 
er ! If it be possible, let this cup 
pass from me, tyc. Cup was often 
used to express one's lot, or calami- 
ties. Mark says, " the hour," xiv. 
35. Jesus was no stoic or fakir. 
He prayed, with human, feelings, to 
be delivered from the grim and hid- 
eous fate before him, if compatible 
with the purposes of God ; but if 
not, that he might be totally resign- 
ed, and identify his will with his 
Father's. He would have preferred 
that it should be otherwise, if possi- 
ble ; but, as it was, he would resolve 
his preference into the Divine pleas- 
ure. Is not this the very essence 
of submission and obedience ? not 



312 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter : 
What ! could ye not watch with me one hour ? Watch arid 41 
pray, that ye enter not into temptation ; the spirit indeed is . 
willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the sec- 42 
ond time, and prayed, saying : O my Father, if this cup may 
not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. 
And he came and found them asleep again (for their eyes were 43 
heavy); and he left them, and went away again, and prayed 44 
the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his 45 
disciples, and saith unto 'them : Sleep on now, and take your 



compliance, where there is no oppo- 
sition, but a deliberate, unreserved 
yielding of one's own will to the 
better wiU of God? "Though he 
were a son, yet learned he obedience 
by the things he suffered." 

40. Asleep. "We are to remem- 
ber that it was now the dead of 
night, that they were worn out with 
fatigue and excitement, and that 
even their grief and distress had a 
natural tendency to make them 
sleep, as is proved by many medical 
authorities. So Luke, who has 
been supposed to have been a phy- 
sician, says, with wonderful reality, 
that they were " sleeping for sor- 
row.' ' Saith unto Peter. Because 
he had been the most vehement in 
his declarations of attachment. The 
question is imbued with a mournful 
sensibility. 

41. Watch and pray. Good ad- 
vice at all times, especially applica- 
ble when danger and temptation the 
most overwhelming were at hand. 

. That yecnter not into temptation, 
i. e. so as to be overcome by it. 
The spirit indeed is ivilling, <SfC. 
This remark shows the kind con- 
struction Jesus put upon their con- 
duct. Whilst he admonished them 
to be on tbeir guard, he apologized 
for their indifference to his sorrows, 
in words apparently suggested by 
his own conflict with trial and temp- 
tation. 
42-44. It is evident from the 



history ;that it was the apprehension 
of something future, not. a present 
evil, as popularly believed, not the 
burden of the world's sins, which 
weighed down his spirits. He was 
suffering prospectively. The an- 
guish of his soul is affectingly laid 
open in this scene, wbere " he turn- 
ed repeatedly from man to God, 
from heaven to earth, seeking some 
relief, some support, amidst the hor- 
rors that environed him, and for a 
while seeking it in vain." The 
example of Jesus on this occasion is 
admirably suited to the wants of 
weak and sorrowing humanity. He 
encased himself in no stoical indiffer- 
ence. He treated the evils of life 
as evils. He showed that the high- 
est excellence consists, not in an in- 
sensibility to sorrow, but in adher- 
ing to duty in spite of it. " He 
sanctified the passion of fear, and 
hallowed natural sadness, that we 
might not think the infelicities of 
our nature and the calamities of our 
temporal condition to become crimi- 
nal, so long as they make us not to 
omit a duty." To the tempted, 
despairing, and suffering, his eon- 
duct affords the happiest encourage- 
ments. See Heb. ii. 10, 18, iv. 15, 
v. 2, 8, in some of which passages 
his trials are represented as having 
a beneficial effect also upon his own 
character., 

45. Sleep on now, ana take your 
rest. A clearer sense is given by 



XXVI.] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



313 



rest ; behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is 

46 betrayed into the hands of sinners.. Rise, let us be going ; 
behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. 

47 And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, 
and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from 

48 the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that bc- 
trayed_him gave them a sign, saying : Whomsoever I shall 

49 kiss, that same is he ; hold him fast. And forthwith he came 

50 to Jesus, and said : Hail, Master ; and kissed him. And 
Jesus said unto him : Friend, wherefore art thou come ? Then 

51 came they and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. And, 

behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his 
hand, and drew his sword ; and struck a servant of the high 



putting it into an interrogatory form. 
Are you still sleeping and resting, 
even in this hour of peril ? Behold, 
the hour is at hand, cj-c. Lo, the 
moment has arrived, when I shall be 
betrayed into the hands of sinners, 
i. e. he delivered to the power of 
the Gentiles, who are called sinners 
indiscriminately. 

46. Rise, let us be going. As if 
filled with perfect courage, and im- 
patient of any longer suspense, he 
would even go to meet his approach- 
ing enemies. This whole narration 
is stamped, with indescribable natur- 
alness and reality. 

47-56. Compare Mark xiv. 43- 
52 ; Luke xxii. 47-53 ; John xviii. 
212. Carpenter here makes an 
important remark, applicable also 
to other parts of the history : " The 
agitating and hurried nature of the 
occurrences is impressed in the 
characters of reality on the different 
records. We need only to realize 
them to our conceptions, to perceive 
how all. might take place, and yet 
be only partially seen by different 
witnesses." 

47. One of the twelve. A circum- 
stance which enhanced his guilt. - 
A great multitude. John says, " a 
band of men and officers from the 

VOL. i. 27 



chief priests and Pharisees." It 
was probably a miscellaneous col- 
lection, part soldiers, and part ser- 
vants, headed by Judas, but under 
the command of Roman officers and 
Jewish priests. Luke xxii. 52. 
Staves. Clubs. 

48, 49. As Jesus was personally 
unknown to the men, or could with 
difficulty be recognised in the night, 
if known, the traitor points him out 
by the usual mode of salutation 
among friends in the east, thus ag- 
gravating his treachery with hypoc- 
risy. 

50. Friend. Rather, companion 
or associate, for no particular at- 
tachment is necessarily implied in 
the original. Laid hands on Jesus, 
and took 1dm. Dupin has shown 
conclusively, in his able work on 
the Trial of Jesus, that he was seiz- 
ed illegally, or without any judicial 
order for his arrest. 

51. One of them, i. e. Peter, ever 
the most forward to speak and act. 
He had that rash valor, which, in 
the moment of danger, led him to 
fight for his Master; but he was 
wanting in that calmer and loftier 
moral courage, which would sustain 
him in the palace of the high priest, 
and enable him to confess his Mas- 



314 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



priest's, and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus unto him : 52 
Put up again thy sword into his place : for all they that take 
the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I 53 
cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me 
more than twelve legions of angels ? But how then shall the 54 

Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be ? In that same 55 

hour said Jesus to the multitudes : Are ye come out as against 
a thief, with swords and staves, for to take me ? I sat daily 
with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me ; 
but all this was done, that the Scriptures of the prophets 56 
might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled. 



ter, in the face of his triumphant 
enemies. A servant. John calls 
him Malchus. It had been already 
mentioned by Luke, xxii. 38, that 
there were two swords among the 
disciples. These were rather knives, 
or cutlasses, than long weapons, 
and. perhaps, were used to defend 
them against robbers in their trav- 
els. Luke informs us, that Jesus, 
with a divine compassion towards 
his enemy, healed the wound by Ms 
miraculous power. 

52. Our Saviour, after the agony 
in the garden of Gethsemane, ap- 
pears to have entirely recovered his 
fortitude and self-possession. He 
rebukes his treacherous disciple, . 
heals his wounded foe, restrains the 
impetuous Peter, and remonstrates 
against the priests and captains. 
His. Old English for its. They 
that take the sword, <$-c. A proverbial 
expression, that tliose who resorted 
to violence would be likely to perish 
by violence. The sword devours 
those who resort to its arbitration. 
The history of the whole world is 
but a comment upon this text. 

5M, 54. Now. Even at this crisis 
of danger. - Twelve legions of an- 
gels. Spoken, perhaps, in allusion 
to his twelve Apostles. The Roman 
legion consisted, at this period of the 
empire, of about 6000 men. The 
sense is, an indefinitely large num- 



ber. If resistance were my duty, 
should I not be aided, not merely by 
these few disciples, but by the ar- 
mies of God ? At my supplication, 
would not the arm of infinite power 
be stretched out in my defence? 
This showed that the self-sacrifice 
of Jesus was voluntary. He laid 
down his life of his own accord. 
He says, that only by submitting to 
his fate, would the great purposes of 
his religion be fulfilled. The Scrip- 
tures, in their intimations of a suf- 
fering Messiah, and the love and 
self-sacrifice, which were to prevail 
under his reign, were thus to be ac- 
complished. It is usual to refer to 
Is. liii. in this connexion. Nothing 
could better quiet the consternation 
of the disciples, than to inform them 
that the divine predictions of old 
were now to receive their fulSlment. 

55. In that same hour. Or, at that 
time. A thief. Rather, a robber, a 
desperate character, against whom 
force was necessary. Jesus expos- 
tulates with the crowd, because they 
had listened peacefully to his in- 
structions in the temple, but had 
now rushed out with weapons of 
violence to seize him, as if he were 
a man of blood. 

56. The Scriptures of the prophets, 
i. e. the writings of the prophets. 
See note on verse 54. Then all the 
disciples, <Sfc. There is a sad em- 



XX VL] 



ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 



315 



57 And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caia- 
phas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were 

53 assembled. But Peter followed him afar off, unto the high 
priest's palace ; and went in, and sat with the servants to see 

59 the end. Now the chief priests and elders, and all the council, 

60 sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death. But 
found none ; yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found 

61 they none. At the last came two false witnesses, and said : 
This fellow said : I am able to destroy the temple of God, and 



phasis on the word all in this clause. 
Even the daring of Peter and the 
affection of John gave way at this 
exigency. They had perhaps sup- 
posed that Jesus would exert his 
miraculous power in self-defence. 
But when they see him, in the 
hands of his enemies, an unresist- 
ing victim, they flee panic-struck. 

57-68. Mark xiv. 53-65; Luke 
xxii. 54, 55, 63-65; John xviii. 
13-24. 

57. John, xviii. 13, informs us 
that Jesus was first led to the house 
of Annas, who had, formerly, been 
high priest. This might be done 
as a mark of honor, or to gratify his 
curiosity. He was father-in-law to 
Caiaphas, who was then acting high 
priest, or, as John says, " high priest 
that same year ; " for at that period 
the office frequently changed hands. 
The scribes and the elders. The 
Jewish Sanhedrim met at the house 
of Caiaphas. Their malignity against 
Jesus was manifested by -their being 
assembled in the night, contrary to 
law, to try him, probably in order 
to guard against a popular tumult, 
and to forward the matter so far, as 
to turn the enthusiasm of the people 
against him, on the morrow. 

58. The high priest's palace. Or, 
hall or court, which was open 
above. Servants, i. e. the inferior 
officers attendant upon the occasion. 
The other Evangelists add, that 
Peter warmed himself with them 
at a fire they had kindled, for the 



night air in Judea is cold at that 
season of the year. The same ve- 
hemence of character, which had 
often before exposed the Apostle 
to temptation, now led him, unpre- 
pared, into the midst of danger. 
The very uneasiness of such a mind 
would naturally betray itself, while 
the calmer, but more feeling John, 
escaped unobserved. 

59. All the council. The whole 
Sanhedrim had prejudged the case, 
and wished not for a fair trial, but 
for sentence of death against the 
prisoner. Such were the hands, 
that held the scales of justice among 
God's chosen people ! Sought false 
witness. They would have prefer- 
red true testimony, of course, if it 
was to be found, and would be 
equally favorable to their wishes ; 
but, otherwise, they were ready to 
resort to false evidence. John re- 
lates more particularly the words, 
which passed between the high 
priest and Jesus, previously to the 
calling of witnesses, and the indig- 
nities which Jesus suffered. John. 
xviii. 19-23. 

60. Found none, i. e. no testimony 
of any sort which was to their pur- 
pose. Mark says, " their witness 
agreed not together." 

61. Fellow. This is a needless 
and inappropriate addition of the 
translators. I am able to destroy 
the temple of God. They put a false 
construction upon, and misquoted, 
language which Jesus had actually 



316 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 



to build it in three days. And the high priest arose, and said 62 
unto him : Answerest thou nothing ? what is it which these 
witness against thee ? But Jesus held his peace. And the 63 
high priest answered and said unto him : I adjure thee, by 
the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, 
the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him : Thou hast said. Nev- 64 
ertheless, I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of 
Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the 



used, John ii. 19, in reference to 
the destruction of his body, and its 
resurrection from the dead, after 
three days. They so perverted his 
declaration as to involve him in a 
crime of speaking blasphemy against 
the holy temple. But, as Mark, xiv. 
59, states, their testimony was still 
contradictory and inconclusive. 

62. It would appear, notwith- 
standing the opposite opinion of 
some critics, that the Sanhedrim 
was now in session, and that the 
high priest was presiding as usual, 
over it. Answerest thou nothing ? 
It seems to have been his aim to ex- 
tort a reply, and to find matter of 
accusation in it against Jesus. 
What is it which these witness against 
thee ? How great a crime are you 
charged with in their evidence ! It 
is observable, that the high priest 
had arisen from his seat, in his state 
of excitement, and was now seem- 
ingly trying by threatening words to 
overawe his prisoner. 

63. But Jesus maintains a digni- 
fied silence, as to the charges, and 
gives his reasons, Luke xxii. 67, 
68. why he did not reply. He saw 
the futility of their charges, and the 
craft of the high priest to torture 
his words into proofs against him. 
But the ground is now changed ; 
we hear no more of blasphemy 
against the temple. Nothing could 
be made of the false and contra- 
dictory witnesses. J adjure thee, 
<5fC. Unable to effect their guilty 
purpose by the testimony of others, 



they now resort to the most illegal 
method of compelling the prisoner 
to criminate himself. The high 
priest in the Jewish form adminis- 
ters an oath to which there was no 
innocent alternative, but to answer 
Lev. v. 1. The Christ, the Son of 
God. In other words, Art thou the 
Messiah ? As Dupin has remarked; 
the adjuration of the high priest 
was a gross infraction of that rule 
of morals and jurisprudence which 
forbids our placing an accused per- 
son between the danger of perjury 
and the fear of inculpating himself, 
and thus making his situation more 
hazardous. 

64. Thou hast said, i. e. I am the 
Messiah, Mark xiv. 62. Jesus felt 
under obligation, when put under 
oath, to answer the high priest, and 
he could only answer in the affirma- 
tive, be the consequences what they 
woiild. His declaration was impor- 
tant, as he had forborne hitherto 
to declare himself the Messiah. 
But now, before the highest assem- 
bly of his nation, under oath, and in 
the most public and solemn manner, 
he asserts his great office. He puts 
his foes into the dilemma of freeing 
him, or condemning one, whom 
they now know to be the Messiah. 
Nevertheless. Or, moreover, in 
addition . Hereafter. Better, hence- 
forth. The Son of Man, $c. 
This language was used of the 
Messiah, Dan. vii. 13, 14, to de- 
scribe his conspicuous, powerful 
coming. The right hand of power 



XXVI.] ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 317 

65 clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, say- 
ing : He hath spoken blasphemy ; what further need have we 
of witnesses ? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. 

66 What think ye ? They answered and said : He is guilty of 

67 death. Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him ; and 
6S others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying - 

Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee ? 



Luke xxii. 69. Literally, the right 
hand of the power, i. e. of the Al- 
mighty. Clothed with Divine au- 
thority. They had been asking for 
signs from heaven. They would 
soon, either at the cruqifixion or at 
the destruction of Jerusalem, be 
furnished with such powerful and 
ocular proofs of his Messiahship, as 
might be likened to his coming visi- 
bly in the clouds of heaven, invest- 
ed with a divine majesty and glory. 
Prisoner as he was, Jesus rises at 
this time into the grandeur of his 
office, and awes them by the sub- 
limity of his prophecies. 

65. Rent his clothes. This was 
done with affected horror at Jesus' 
assertion of his high authority. The 
customs of the east tolerate more 
violent expressions of feeling, than 
are usual among us. Explicit pro- 
hibitions were made in the Mosaic 
law, Lev. x. 6, xxi. 10, that the 
priests should not rend their gar- 
ments upon funeral occasions. Fre- 
quent allusions are found, both in 
the Classics and the Scriptures, to 
this singular usage. Gen. xxxvii. 
29, 34 ; 2 Kings xviii. 37, xix. 1 ; 
Job i. 20 ; - Acts xiv. 14. Blas- 
phemy. As that he had spoken 
against God by claiming to be the 
Messiah, his Son. It was not that 
he had claimed to be God, or equal 
to God, for this he never did. Ye 
have heard, <5fc. There was no fur- 
ther occasion for witnesses, for they 
had predetermined to condemn Je- 
sus, guilty or not guilty. They 
wrested what had been illegally ex- 

2'7* 



torted from him by an oath, into 
grounds of condemnation. In truth, 
the whole scene before the Sanhe- 
drim was an absolute mockery of 
justice. 

66. He is guilty of death. De- 
serves to die. The council but too 
much resembled their president, in 
their injustice and fury against Je- 
sus. So overwhelming was the 
popular feeling, that not one ap- 
pears to have dared to lift his voice 
in behalf of the innocent and gross- 
ly injured prisoner, though we have 
reason to - believe that at least Jo- 
seph of Arimathea and Nicodemus 
disapproved of such proceedings. 
Luke xxiii. 51 ; John xix. 39. The 
Sanhedrim could not, however, exe- 
cute their sentence, for the Romans 
had reserved in their hands the 
power of life and death. 

67, 68. Spit in his face. An act 
of the grossest abuse. Job xxx. 10 ; 
Isa. 1.6. Buffeted. Good gram- 
mar requires buffet, i. e. struck with 
the fist, inflicting heavy blows, such 
as would cause bruises and pain. 
Palms of their hands. Rods, ac- 
cording to some. Prophesy unto 
us, thou Christ. This they said in 
derision of his pretensions to the 
office of prophet and Messiah. 
Mark states, that they had blind- 
folded him, and then required him. 
to designate who struck him. What 
a hideous picture is here drawn of 
the highest Jewish tribunal, that 
would allow such outrages upon a 
prisoner, who had not been so much 
as legally convicted or sentenced ! 



318 



THE GOSPEL 



[CHAP. 

Now Peter sat without in the palace. And a damsel came 69 
unto him, saying : Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But 70 
he denied before them all, saying : I know not what thou sayest. 
And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, 71 
and said unto them that were there : This fellow was also with 



When, too, we consider the spotless 
conduct of Jesus, his truth, benevo- 
lence, meekness, Divine origin and 
office, where shall we find words 
to describe the abominations of the 
Sanhedrim I When the first court 
of the nation had fallen to this depth 
of brutality and inju