NOTICES OF THE PRESS ELICITED BY THE FIRST EDITION OF DR. iZORISON'S NOTES AND DISQUISITIONS ON THE GOSPELS. "This is a popular, and, in a true sense of the word, evangelical book. It is not merely a dry commentary, but contains many luminous essays on different points in the life of Christ." - Gospel Bannzer. " We are happy to notice a volume in which the exposition of the Gospels is made to impress so much of their spirit. The author is a Unitarian, but is so candid in setting forth the grounds of differing opinions in various points, that his own doctrinal leanings are often not very apparent. He is studious in investigating and skilful in explaining the meaning of the text, and we cannot but anticipate that his work will exert a useful influence. We shall be glad to know that many of those for whom his book is designed appreciate its merits, and have the benefit of its aid in understanding the Scriptures." - Boston (Baptist) Christian 4Watchmnan and Reflector. " Teachers of Bible and Sunday-school classes often express the need felt of a help in their duties, combining sound exposition with an unction of the spirit that will at the same time enlighten the understanding and consecrate the heart. We think this volume of Dr. Morison's is eminently adapted to meet this want, as it is to daily and family use; and to both parents and teachers it is cordially recommended." - Providence Daily Journal. " The style is concise, elegant, and perspicuous." - The Century. " The author has done his work well, and the book will prove a most interesting and useful help to students of the New Testament." - Boston Advertiser. "We cannot refrain from heartily commending the spirit in which it is conceived and expressed...... Loving and reverential spirit, united to ripe scholarship, abundantly fits the author for the task, and makes his work a valuable guide to students of the Bible." - Boston Joturnal. " We need say nothing of the author's well-known clear logic and beautiful perspicuity of style, his moral glow, his spiritual insight, his nice perception and quick sympathy with all the peculiar loveliness of the character of Jesus." - Christian Register. " The author of this work seems to us to have performed his task well.......He brings to his undertalking scholarship, candor, and other needed requisites for an interpreter, and he has produced a work of much solid merit." - Boston Recorder.:" Dr. Morison has reason to be thankful that, where so many have failed, he has succeeded, and that, without sacrificing the practical purpose of instruction in the Scriptures, he has made a book which is' good' Iwithout being tedious, and which can be read. For us, the great charm of the book, even beyond its abundant learning and its simple and beautiful style, is the fulfilment of the law imperative in all expositions, but especially in the exposition of the Scriptur6s, that the same Spirit which wrote must interpret the words written......We confess to an honest pride, that one of a company of Christian scholars who have been charged with dealing very largely in criticism and questioning, should have given to the Church a book which every unprejudiced reader must commend for its well-sustained affirmations, and which will be of great service to sincere students of the New Testament, of every name. We are satisfied that many outside of what is known as the Unitarian denomination will thank Mr. Morison for his work of love." - Christian Examiner.i DISQUISITIONS AND NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. MATT HEW. BY JOHN HI. MORISON. %tconb 3b'ftfon. BO ST ON. WALKER, WISE, AND COMPANY, 245 WASIHINGTON STREET. 18 61. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by WALKER, WISE, & CO., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. University Press, Cambridge: Electrotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co. PREFACE. THE object of this work is to assist in the interpretation of the Gospels. It does not seek to go beyond the authority of Jesus. It does not undertake to show what the Evangelists ought to have said, and to force their language into accordance with it. If in any case it may seem to go beyond them, it has been only to meet the honest sceptic of our day on his own ground, and show either that he has misinterpreted the words and acts of Christ, or that those words and acts are in accordance with the great principles of reason, which reach alike through the realms of physical and moral being. The one all-sufficient answer to the unbelief of our age is still the same that Jesus addressed to the Sadducees, who represented the refined and philosophical scepticism of his day: " Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God." A true understanding of the Scriptures, with the insight which is gained from them in the light of the highest philosophy into the ways and works and character of God, is the most effectual remedy for scepticism, whether it be a disease going on through moral infidelity to intellectual unbelief, or an honest antagonism to doctrines which falsely call themselves Christian or Evangelical. The best antidote to scepticism and to a narrow religious dogmatism, is the same. Both believers and unbelievers read too much about the Gospels in the works of their favorite guides, and study the Gospels themselves too little. We have never known a diligent and thorough study of the New Testament to end either in bigotry or unbelief. There is a truthfulness breathing through its writings which cannot but affect the ingenuous mind that puts itself freely and constantly into communication with iv PREFACE. them, and there is a freedom, a breadth of moral purpose, a largeness of thought, a catholicity of sentiment, about them, which must give something of its own generous and liberal spirit to those who place themselves habitually and unreservedly within their influence. In preparing this work I have sought to avail myself of such helps as have been furnished by the scholarship of past ages; to take advantage of the improved methods of investigation which have been recently adopted, and to borrow liberally from the varied stores of information which have been gained through the enterprise, the laborious researches, the intellectual culture, and the conscientious love of truth for which many of the Biblical scholars of our day have been so honorably distinguished. For example, the text which is here followed in all the variations which are of consequence enough to warrant a departure from the reading in our Common English Version, is Tischendorf's Stereotype Edition of the New Testament, published in 1850. This work, which, we believe, stands higher than any other edition of the New Testament in the estimation of those most competent to judge, was prepared by a careful comparison of all the most ancient manuscripts of the New Testament to which the editor could gain access. Many years were spent upon it, and no labor or expense was ispared which promised any useful results. In regard to the Geography of the Holy Land, and the topography of Jerusalem and its environs, so important in order to a correct understanding and a vivid perception of many incidents in our Saviour's life, almost everything that we know with clearness and certainty has been gained since Dr. Robinson began his Biblical Researches in Palestine, less than thirty years ago. WTithin less than forty years, since Winer first published his " Grammar of the New Testament Diction" in 1822, a revolution hardly less remarkable has taken place in this department of Biblical knowledgce, and commentators have been called back from their freaks of utter lawlessness to the orderly rules and principles of grammatical construction. It is a matter of regret, that, in the only English version that we have of Winer's Grammar, the text, without any notice of the alterations being given, has been tampered with and changed by the translator for doctrinal reasons. But the promptness with which this act has been exposed and rebuked in this country, not only by the Christian PREFACE. V Examiner, but by the Bibliotheca Sacra, is a cheering evidence of the candor, as well as vigilance which guards the integrity of sacred learning. Indeed, within the lifetime of the present generation, a more generous spirit has been infused into these studies. They have been taken out from the darkened cell of monkish or sectarian exclusiveness, into the light of the world's advancing intelligence. Critical works, like those of Stanley, Jowett, Trench, and Alford, Schleiermacher, Olshausen, De Wette, Winer, and Meyer, Stuart, Norton, Noyes, Palfrey, Furness, HIackett, and Nichols, show that the finest artistic taste and moral sensibilities, the severest inductions of logic, the nicest discriminations of philological science, the most scholarly attainments and accomplishments, together with habits of profound and original thought, may be worthily employed in throwing light on the' sacred writings, and in bringing out the great and momentous truths which they contain. This branch of learning is, therefore, indicating its liberal tendencies, and beginning once more to gain a hearing from classes of men who formerly looked upon it with indifference or contempt. A thorough knowledge of the Gospels is found to enrich the mind and enlarge the heart. While the most effective means of controlling a congregation, in or out of the church, - the arts of rhetoric, and the attractive but superficial attainments which go to furnish the intellectual wardrobe of a popular preacher, - tend towards bigotry and conceit, the study of the Bible, the habit of throwing one's self into the heart of one after another of its great subjects, with the intellectual helps which are essential to it, can hardly fail to quicken the intellect, refine the moral sentiments, and make one's sympathies wider and more generous. The study of the Gospels, pursued in such a spirit, must at least conduce to humility, and that is closely allied to charity. I think that we may see some evidence of this liberalizing tendency in theological seminaries, where the greatest attention is paid to Biblical studies, as well as in the tone of works, like the Bibliotheca Sacra, which treat such subjects most thoroughly. Ecclesiastical history, dogmatic theology, the speculative doctrines of metaphysics and of morals, may be enlisted in the service of a party; but the Gospels more than anything else refuse to be confined within a sect, to serve its exclusive purposes, or to do its work. This volume was begun more than five years ago, at the sugges1~ ~~~~~~Z In Vi PREFACE. tion of the Rev. Henry A. Miles, D. D., to meet what was supposed to be a want in this department of religious instruction. In its plan it differs materially from Livermore's Commentary, leaving more room for the extended discussion of subjects, and following each verse of the text less closely in its remarks. If I could be sure that in my Notes I have made as faithful and intelligent a use of the materials accessible to scholars now, as Mr. Livermore did of those which were within his reach in the preparation of his work twenty years ago, I should give it to tlie public with comparatively few misgivings. If this volume should be favorably received, it will probably be followed by another on the three remaining Gospels, though this forms a complete work in itself. Nearly all the difficult questions which are likely to come up in Mark and Luke have been already considered. But the Gospel of John will require an extended preparation, and, in many respects, a distinct and original mode of treatment. In the mean time, and as a most important part of the same series with this, our readers will be glad to learn that a volume on the other books of the New Testament may be expected from the Rev. A. P. Peabody, D. D. J. H. M. MILTON, February 14, 1860. CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTION 11 The Gospel according to Matthew.31 CHAPTER I. The Lineage or Genealogy of Jesus. 33 Miraculous Conception..35 Prediction of Christ's Birth. 39 CHAPTER II. Visit of the Wise Men, or Magi.. 45 Murder of the Children in Bethlehem..50 Quotations from the Prophets. 52 CHAPTER III. John the Baptist....60 CHAPTER IV. The Temptation in the Wilderness.. 70 Makes his Home in Capernaum.78 The Call of Simon Peter and Andrew his Brother, and of John and his Brother James.79 CHAPTER V. Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount. 85 The Beatitudes... 87 Fulfilling the Law and the Prophets... 88 CHAPTER VI. General Design...101 Lord's Prayer. 102 Perfect Trust in God.. 107 Viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. Analysis.. 117 CHAPTER VIII. Gospel View of Miracles 126 Healing the Leper...... 135 Healing the Centurion's Servant...... 141 Bearing our Infirmities...... 143 Let the Dead bury their Dead...... 147 Stilling the Tempest...... 148 Angelic Existences and Agencies..... 152 Evil and Disorderly Spirits...... 157 CHAPTER IX. Christ's Way of viewing Death... 174 CHAPTER X. Directions to the Apostles...... 183 The Coming of the Son of Man...... 186 Further Directions to the Apostles...... 188 Life or Soul...... 191 Different Degrees of Reward. 193 CHAPTER XI. John the Baptist and his Message...... 201 Great Privileges unimproved visited by a heavier Condemnation 207 Christ's Thankfulness, and his Call to the Heavy Laden. 208 CHAPTER XII. Christ's View of the Sabbath...... 216 Hatred of the Pharisees against Jesus. 219 Casting out Satan by Satan 219 The Unpardonable Sin...... 222 Further Remarks of Jesus...... 223 Jesus and his Mother...... 224 CHAPTER XIII. Parables...... 232 The Parable of the Sower...... 237 Teaching in Parables...... 238 The Tares and the Wheat......240 The Wicked One......... 245 CONTENTS. iX CHAPTER XIV. IHerod Antipas. 260 Feeding the Five Thousand.264 Jesus walking on tile Water. 266 CHAPTER XV. Jesus and the Jewish Traditions..... 273 Fulfilment of Prophecy.. 274 The Syro-Phcenician Woman.. 278 Feeding the Four Thousand.. 279 CHAPTER XVI. A Sign from Heaven.... 288 On this Rock I build my Church.... 289 The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.. 290 The Humiliation and Sufferings of the Messiah... 292 CHAPTER XVII. The Transfiguration.. 305 The Coming of Elijah..... 312 The Tribute-Money and the Fish..... 313 CHAPTER XVIII. The Primitive Church of Christ... 320 CHAPTER XIX. The Christian Law of Divorce.. 332 Christ Blessing the Children.. 335 The Young Man who came to Jesus.. 336 Hard for the Rich to enter Christ's Kingdom 338 Gaining by Renouncing..... 340 CHAPTER XX. The Laborers in the Vineyard..348 CHAPTER XXI. Reckoning of Time..... 361 Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem... 364 CHAPTER XXII. The WTedding Feast...... 376 Paying, Tribute to Cmesar.. 377 The Resurrection from the Dead.... 379 The Two Great Commandments.. 381 Christ the Son of David. 382 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIII. Christ's Denunciation of the Pharisees.. 391 The Cumulative Guilt of a Nation.... 394 CHAPTER XXIV. Our Saviour's Gift of Prophecy.. 401 The Coming of the Son of Man in Judgment to the Jews 407 The Coming of the Son of Man in Judgment to All.. 418 Conclusion..422 CHAPTER XXV. Purpose of these Parables.....432 Parable of the Virgins.... 432 Parable of the Talents.....434 Parable of the Sheep and the Goats...... 434 The General Resurrection and Day of Judgment... 437 CHAPTER XXVI. The Supper at Bethany. -Judas.444 The Last Supper... 445 Warning Peter.449 The Agony of Gethsemane. 450 The Apprehension of Jesus 458 Jesus taken before the High-Priest. 460 Peter's Denial.461 CHAPTER XXVII. Preliminary Trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrim 479 Repentance and Death of Judas.. 480 Jesus before Pilate.. 481 The Crucifixion.. 483 Precautions against his Resurrection..... 488 CHAPTER XXVIII. The Gospel Narratives of the Resurrection.. 503 The Different Accounts not Contradictory. 505 The Different Times of his Appearance 508 Each Account Independent of the Rest 511 The Resurrection of Jesus......512 The Formula of Baptism...... 515 Concluding Remarks..... 519 INDEX..... 537 INTRODUCTION. HOW TO STUDY THE GOSPELS. WE are more and more convinced that the Gospel of Christ is to be the great source of moral and religious instruction and improvement to the world. The writings of the New Testament stand apart from all others. No works of man's genius pretend to an equal fellowship with them. They reach now, as they always have done, above the highest thought and experience of our race. As the sky rises as far above us when we are on the loftiest mountain as in the lowest valley, so they rise as far above the ideas and civilization of the world now, as they did in the days of Tiberius and Nero. There can hardly be a more convincing proof of their Divine authority than this; we mean, in the words of a profound and original thinker, Dr. Nichols, "the Gospel's sun-like solitude in the moral firmament. The vast space around it is clear of all light but its own." And this suggests a most important principle of interpretation. As these writings rise above all others, and shine in a vast space " clear of all light but their own," so it must be in that light, more than by any helps drawn from inferior sources, that we are to learn and to apply their truths. It is wonderful how our Saviour imbued with the universality of his own mind every transient incident and word into which his thought or life passed, so that it has become, like himself, to us "6 the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." 12 INTRODUCTION. "The grass which to-day is and to-morrow is cast into the oven," "the sower" who "' went forth to sow," "the fields" "' white already to harvest," " the light and gladness of the marriage feast " contrasted with " the outer darkness " where " shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth," the "grain of mustard-seed," the children at their sports in the marketplace, " I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink," his taking little children into his arms, his inspection of the tributemoney, are, by means of the virtue which went into them from him, taken up from the sphere of limited and transient expressions or incidents, and-stand out forever as emblems of universal and undying truths. He who could thus imbue the most ephemeral forms of speech with an imperishable life, and who could place a slight act of grateful reverence, or a casual conversation with a sinful woman by the side of a well, among the memorable events in the world's history, must have been charged with life and power beyond all others. And his language, passing from its earthly uses into a medium for the communication of divine and heavenly truths, and of an influence more subtile and life-giving than any truths in their naked presentation to the intellect, can borrow little from subsidiary illustrations and analogies. We have only to open our souls to it, as we do our eyes to the light, and it will come in. If we give ourselves up to it, we shall not be left in darkness or in doubt. It speaks with its own authority, and explains and enforces its own decisions. Often when we try to explain it, we shall only turn the attention away from it, or darken and obscure it by our words of inferior wisdom. A great part of our Saviour's language, and most of the lessons taught by his life, are of this character. He is the one Mediator between God and man, and it is worse than vain for us to interpose ourselves as his interpreters. This is one of the reasons why all commentaries are read with a sense of disappointment. They are expected to throw new light on the great essential teachings of Christ; INTROD UCTION. 13 and that is what no commentators can ever do. They might as well hope to throw new light upon the sun. Happy are they if they can to some extent remove from his teachings the obscurations which men have thrown over them. They are expected to give new efficacy to the "virtue" that goes out from them; and that they can never do. We may hope to clear up some of the obscurities which obsolete custolns, or modes of speech foreign to our habits of thought, have caused. We may analyze our Saviour's discourses, and show the underlying principles by which the different parts are united. We may bring together expressions, such as "the kingdom of Heaven," "the coming of the Son of man," "the end of the world," which with slight modifications are scattered through the accounts of his ministry, and, by a careful comparison of the different conditions and circumstances under which they were used, may detect the differences of meaning which were put upon them, and the central idea which gives a unity to these different meanings. We may free some of the fresh and beautiful expressions of Scripture from their subjection to the canting phraseology of a formal piety, and some of its sublime enunciations of truth from their cruel bondage to the "' decrees " of metaphysical speculations or ecclesiastical councils. We may compare the different narratives of the same events, and by combining them into one may harmonize what to the superficial reader seem to be contradictions. We may bring out the relations of time and space to the Gospel narratives, and thus make the acts and words of Jesus more consistent with one another, and more real to the reader. Above all, we may come back to the simple and natural methods of inquiry which are employed in the interpretation of all other writings. What Bacon and Newton, and other great philosophers, have done for the study of the mind of God in the book of nature, by breaking loose from arbitrary and unnatural methods of investigation, and applying the most direct and simple processes, is what the ablest religious 2 14 INTRODUCTION. thinkers and scholars must do, and to some extent are doing, for the study of the mind of God in the volume of that other book, in which he would reveal himself to us with greater fulness and a more affecting power. As what Bacon and Newton did most of all was to call men back to nature itself, as it exists in the world around us, so what we have to do most of all is to call men back to the Gospel itself, as it lies before us, dimly prefigured in the Old Testament, and embodied in the New. There are two things essential in order to a right understanding of the Gospels; —1. A fitting preparation of heart; and, 2. A mind free from all preconceived opinions which may bias or mislead us in our investigations. The first is a moral and spiritual preparation; the second is that, but it is also and mainly an intellectual preparation. 1. There is the fitting preparation of heart. This is what our Saviour meant by the faith, which he always regarded as essential to salvation. It was not an intellectual belief such as men have made it since, but a disposition of heart, a readiness to receive and to obey him in whatever he might teach or command. With this faith in the heart showing itself by obedience and fidelity in the life, our Christian consciousness will be enlarged, and we shall take in more and more of the truth. All that is most essential in the Gospels may be received. Its holiest precepts will direct us in our lives; its richest promises will be fulfilling themselves in our experience. Its great words of comfort and of power, which lie beyond the reach of criticism or commentary, will take up their abode in us, and become to us spirit and life. It is through this preparation of heart that the family Bible gains such a hold on the affections, instils into the soul its divinest influences, guides us in our duties, and teaches us how to turn sorrow and weariness and pain, and even sin itself, into the means of deliverance and triumph. Thus it is that Jesus introduces himself to us as our Teacher and Saviour. The Holy Spirit enters our souls, and renews INTRODUCTION. 15 them with a perpetual influx of life. And God reveals himself to us in whatever is great or beautiful in nature, in the dear and sacred relations which bind us to one another, and in all the gracious and merciful, though to us often mysterious and painful orderings of his providence. This use of the Bible - its daily and familiar companionship, its confidential communications to us in our retired moments - is worth more than all its more elaborate and learned lessons. 2. But there is also to be a preparation of the intellect, and in order to this, first of all, we must allow no preconceived opinions to stand in the way of a perfectly free and fair investigation. We must remember that, as students of the New Testament, one is our Master, even Christ, and that as no want of faith can be an excuse for setting aside anything that he has taught, so neither should any preconceived opinions of ours, or creeds drawn up and established by human authority, stand as a barrier between his words and us. If our views are not broad enough to take in any doctrine that he has taught, then we must make them broad enough. There is a freedom, a greatness, not merely an elevation but a breadth of thought, in his instructions, strangely in contrast with the narrow and enslaving opinions which metaphysical divines have elaborated "in order to satisfy the demand of unity in the Christian consciousness and in the activity of the dialectic reason," or which ambitious rulers in the Church have established as an engine of administrative authority. Christ has set our feet in a large place, and our allegiance to him requires that, in the study of his words and life, we should jealously assert and exercise the liberty wherewith he has made us free. A mournful spectacle, in this respect, has been presented by the Christian world. Advantage is taken of the new convert, in the most impressible moment of life, when he has no time or heart to examine for himself, when he is rejoicing in the advent of new hopes and a new experience, and his 16 INTRODUCTION. whole nature is fluent with emotion, - advantage is taken of him, in the unsuspecting confidence of his first enthusiasm, to impose upon him the sectarian stamp which is to fix his theological opinions, and be henceforth a bar, on the right hand and the left, in all his Biblical and theological investigations. Assuming those opinions to be true, he must study the Scriptures, not as a disciple of Jesus, but as the partisan of a sect. The word of God is in bondage. It can teach only what a human creed allows it to teach. In this respect, the Church of Rome, if it has a wider despotism than all the rest, is more consistent with itself. It does not profess to leave the people free to read for themselves. It claims for itself the right and the authority to be the sole interpreter of the Scriptures. But in most of the Protestant denominations, while there is professedly the greatest reverence for the Scriptures and the rights of the individual reason and conscience, no man is allowed to study the Scriptures freely under the guidance of his own reason and conscience. If he finds in' them doctrines not in accordance with " the standards" or " articles" of his church, he is called to account. If he continues so to read the Scriptures, and see those doctrines there, he is excommunicated, and shut out from the ordinances of his religion. —A generous and catholic faith, which would leave the Bible open to all, that they may read it as they do the book of nature, in perfect freedom, accountable only to God, —this faith in Christ and his instructions rather than in man and his traditions; -if the Son of man should come now, would he find it on the earth? Yet none the less is it our duty so to learn and so to speak. In all branches of the Church we hear generous voices from men seeking a larger liberty for others, and using it themselves. Some, like Henry Ward Beecher, without any great amount of learning or any remarkable fitness for critical studies, take up the great truths of the Gospel into their capacious souls, and speak them out with INTRODUCTION. 17 a power that breaks through sectarian restraints and finds an earnest response from thronging multitudes. Others, like Dr. Bushnell, with a riper scholarship, finer powers of analysis, and the same hearty devotion to Christ, not as he lies bound up corpse-like in church creeds, but as he reveals himself through the writings of Evangelists and Apostles, and to the Christian consciousness of each individual soul, are preaching a more generous and living Gospel. Others again, like Jowett and Stanley and Williams and Archbishop Whately, from the great centres of religious intelligence to our Anglo-Saxon race, from Oxford and Cambridge and the metropolis of Ireland, are using a larger liberty, and in works of Biblical criticism or religious inquiry are giving to the world examples of a freer thought, and a more faithful exposition of writings, which rise above and pass beyond the limitations of scholastic theologians and sectarian creeds, as the heavens, which shine on all, rise above and stretch beyond every earthly distinction of individual proprietorship or national domain. It is a comfort to be able to quote language like this from a sermon preached before the University of Oxford by the author of the Life of Dr. Arnold: "The true creed of the Church, the true Gospel of Christ, is to be found, not in proportion as it coincides with the watchwords or the dilemmas of modern controversy, but rather in proportion as it rises above them, and cuts across them...... The very peculiarity, the very proof of the divinity of his doctrine, was that they could not square it with any of their existing systems...... And it is both a confirmation and illustration of this character of Evangelical doctrine, that, if we look into some of the earthly representations of it which have met with most universal acceptance, they also share in this freedom from the bonds in which the world is anxious to confine us." (Stanley's Canterbury Sermons, pp. 113 - 115.) There is a healthful ring in these words, which is full of encouragement and hope. Not only are we, in the study of the Gospels, to beware 2* ]B 18 INTRODUCTION. of every human authority that would interpose itself between them and us, but we must also take heed to ourselves. We may be as much enslaved to our own way of viewing things, or to the personal feelings by which we are led in one direction or another, as to the established creed of a church. Whatever the motive, we must be careful not to twist and torture our Saviour's words to bring them into harmony with our ideas. A single example will illustrate what we mean. A writer, speaking of Christ in his mediatorial humiliation, says (Huntington's "Christian Believing and Living," p. 364): "Voluntarily, to this end, and for the time, things which only the Father knoweth are veiled from the Son, and he says (in language which we have only to suppose put into the mouth of any other being to find it in fact a proof of his divinity),' My Father is greater than I."' By the divinity of Christ the writer has just explained that he means his equality with the Father. To say then, that his declaration, "My Father is greater than I," is in fact a proof of his divinity, that is, a proof that his Father is not greater than he, is flatly to contradict the Saviour. To assert that we have only to suppose this language " put into the mouth of any other being to find it in fact a proof of his divinity," is to assert that in our opinion the language of Jesus, in its simple and obvious meaning, is so extravagant that we can accept it only in a sense directly opposite to what it says. Is this honoring Christ? St. John (1 John iii. 20) uses a form of expression precisely like this of Jesus, " God is greater than our heart." Is his language therefore a proof of his or of our divinity? In Job xxxiii. 12 we find it asserted, with no appearance of impiety or extravagance, " that God is greater than man." We are not arguing, or speaking even by implication, against the doctrine in support of which this delaration of our Saviour is so distorted from its plain and natural meaning. We quote the passage simply as an illustration of what seems to us a vicious, arbitrary, and most INTRODUCTION. 19 dangerous method of interpretation. Our reverence for Christ is shocked by such a way of dealing with his words. We solemnly believe that, except from a perversion of the moral sentiments, there is no greater bar in the way of a true understanding and application of the Gospels, than this habit of forcing them into conformity with our preconceived ideas. We must remember that they are to guide us, and not we them. If our capacity for Divine truth is to be the measure of what we receive, it must not be, even in our own minds, the measure of what Christ has taught, so that all his teachings must be forced into conformity with it. We must not let the limitations of our human thought turn aside from its only direct and natural meaning any clear and explicit statement of his. If we find ourselves tempted to do this, we may be sure that there is something wrong, not in his instructions, but in our opinions. We are, then, with all humility before him, to re-examine our opinions, and see if we cannot readjust them in such a way as to make them harmonize with the text. A less violent wrench than that which is here applied to the words of Christ would probably bring our views into accordance with his words. But if our opinions are fixed as one of the immutable terms in this controversy, then let us remember that so plain a declaration of his cannot be altered for our accommodation; and, without attempting to make it mean precisely the opposite of what it says, as plainly as language can say anything, let us leave the two - his assertion and our opinion - confronting one another, and acknowledge that it requires a higher wisdom than ours to bring them into harmony. But, after all, as a matter of interpretation not less than of Christian faith, our human inference is more likely to be wrong than the words of Christ. The opinion of overwhelming majorities in his Church can have no weight against his decisive and unqualified declaration. We, - all men, - the doctrine "which always, everywhere, and by all men" has been maintained, if any such contro 20 INTRODUCTION. verted doctrine can be found, -may be wrong, but HE CANNOT. We must then be on our guard against this forced method of interpretation, which has prevailed in past centuries almost as extensively as forced methods of interpreting the phenomena of nature before the time of Bacon and Galileo, and which has its influence still, though the ablest Christian scholars and thinkers are protesting against it more and more. It has its influence just where it will be most widely disseminated and most fatal. It enters into the apparently superficial, but nevertheless powerful and lasting, means of religious education for the young. The creed is taught first, and then the Bible in conformity with the creed. In some churches, at the end of every chapter that is read, and of every Psalm that is rehearsed, a doxology, which is in fact a creed in miniature, is repeated, as if the words of Scripture could not be trusted without it. How much more in harmony with nature and with truth, as well as with Christ's method of teaching, is that suggested by the generous and manly Robertson in a Confirmation Lecture. " Let the child's religion," he says, (Sermons, 1st Series, pp. 73, 74,) "be expansive,- capable of expansion, -as little systematic as possible; let it lie upon the heart like the light, loose soil, which can be broken through as the heart bursts into fuller life. If it be trodden down hard and stiff in formularies, it is more than probable that the whole must be burst through, and broken violently and thrown off altogether, when the soul requires room to germinate. And in this way, my young brethren, I have tried to deal with you. Not in creeds, nor even in the stiffness of the catechism, has truth been put before you. Rather has it been trusted to the impulses of the heart; on which, we believe, God works more efficaciously than we can do. A few simple truths: and then these have been left to work, and germinate, and swell. Baptism reveals to you this truth for the heart, that God is your Father, and that Christ has INTRODUCTION. 21 encouraged you to live as your Father's children. It has revealed that name which Jacob knew not, - Love. Confirmation has told you another truth, that of self-dedication to Him. Heaven is the service of God. The highest blessedness of life is powers and self consecrated to His will. These are the germs of truth: but it would have been miserable self-delusion, and most pernicious teaching, to have aimed at exhausting truth, or systematizing it. We are jealous of over-systematic teaching. God's love to you,- the sacrifice of your lives to God,-but the meaning of that? Oh! a long, long life will not exhaust the meaning, - the name of God. Feel him more and more,- all else is but empty words." In all our studies, and especially in all our religious teachings, we must leave room for growth, and be more earnest to implant the principles of righteous living, and a reverence for the truth as it is in Jesus, than to prove any doctrines on which the Christian world is divided to be true. And if at any time, we are to hold our dogmatic theology in abeyance, it is when we are engaged in interpreting for ourselves, or 2eaching to others, the words and the acts of Christ. Perhaps the forced methods of interpretation have for no single purpose been carried to a more unwarrantable extent than in the attempts which have been made to produce a literal conformity between different accounts of the same event by the different New Testament writers, so as not to violate the doctrine of a plenary verbal inspiration. But now that doctrine is no longer held to be respectable among enlightened Biblical critics and scholars. Dr. Cureton, the learned Canon of Westminster, in the preface to his " Syriac Gospels," p. lxxxix., speaks of " the verbal inspiration of the Gospels " as A" a theory long since abandoned by all scholars and critics, which, indeed, could only be maintained by those who are entirely ignorant of the way in which the New Testament has been transmitted to our own times, and which, 22 INTRODUCTION. if persisted in, must involve very serious objections against these inspired writings, and tend to infidelity." Alford, in the Prolegomena to his learned and valuable Commentary on the New Testament, thus speaks of the theory of verbal inspiration: " Much might be said of' the a priori unworthiness of such a theory as applied to a Gospel whose character is the freedom of the spirit, not the bondage of the letter; but it belongs more to my present work to try it by applying it to the Gospels as we have them. And I do not hesitate to say, that being thus applied, its effect will be to destroy altogether the credibility of our Evangelists...... The fact is, that this theory uniformly gives way before intelligent study of the Scriptures themselves; and is only held, consistently and thoroughly, by those who have never undertaken that study." But the same violence which has been employed in forcing the language of the Gospels into harmony with a creed or an unnatural theory of inspiration, has also been used to force their statements into accordance with some favorite theory of the writer. Thus Paulus has endeavored to explain the miracles of Christ in accordance with a theory which excludes all miraculous influences, and according to which neither the ruler's daughter nor Lazarus was actually dead. The great value of Dr. Furness's charming writings on the Gospels is, we think, in some cases, seriously impaired by the restraint that is put upon him, and which he imposes upon the accounts of the Evangelists, in consequence of his favorite theory in regard to the manner in which miracles must be wrought. The same unnatural perversion of the language of the Gospels has been effected by sceptics and unbelievers, who exercise as much ingenuity in forcing the accounts of the different Evangelists into a contradiction, as the old commentators did in forcing them away from it. They find it easier thus to discredit the authority of the sacred writings altogether, than to explain them away in such a manner INTRODUCTION. 23 as to confirm their naturalistic theories. The critical writings of Strauss and Baur are of this sort. They begin with theories about the Gospels, to which the Gospels themselves are forced to submit. There is no question in regard to the learning, the ability, or the consummate generalship of the men who lead the movement from within against the authority of the Gospels. And they have been of immense service in calling the attention of sensible and educated men to the Gospels, and inducing them to examine them for themselves, not through the perverse optics of these framers of theories, but with their own calm and unbiassed judgment. This of itself is a great gain. All that is needed in order to establish the truthfulness of the Gospels is that they should be thus examined. And here we cannot too earnestly urge the great body of intelligent men and women to refuse to take any one's theory about the Gospels without first studying, not specious writings in support of it, but the Gospels themselves. Let them test every assumption of the theorist by a careful reference to the record, and not admit this or that assertion in regard to what is found in them, until they see it there with their own eyes. The study of the Gospels is a simple thing. The knowledge which has a direct and important bearing on the most important subjects in them is contained within a small compass. The comparison of one narrative with another, in order to satisfy ourselves in regard to their true relations, is easily effected by a little care, and the application of a reasonable amount of intelligence. There is a vast deal of humbug in the pretensions of our modern neologists. The cloud of words thrown round their theories, like the cloud of mysticism which enveloped the old doctrines of the Church in its pretensions to an infallible inspiration and authority, has only to be tried in the light of reason and common sense by the truthful words of the Evangelists, and it will vanish away. Extraordinary pretensions, however, have always, for a 24 INTRODUCTION. season, an influence altogether disproportionate to the real power that is in them. A sceptical thought is easily lodged in the mind. Delicate and sensitive natures, who wish to believe, are afraid to examine, lest the foundations of their faith should sink under them. Strong-minded, efficient men, who ought to study into these things, and thus satisfy themselves, as they easily might, are deterred from so doing by a secret misgiving lest the grounds of their faith should not bear investigation. Some retreat into the straiter sects, from a less to a more rigid form of Congregationalism, from Congregationalism to Episcopacy, from Episcopacy to the Church of Rome, or directly, for extremes meet on the other side, from the Absolutism of Rationalism to the Absolutism of Romanism. There is everywhere, even in the Roman Catholic communion itself, a sentiment of unrest, coming from an inward unbelief, which men try to cover up and hide from themselves by stricter articles of faith, by more imposing forms of worship, by Church authorities, instead of healing it by letting in upon it the simple truths of the Gospel, as examined in the light of reason, and tested by conscientious and faithful lives. But change of position is not change of heart. The inward unrest, the hidden unbelief, which durst not trust God's truth unless guarded by human defences, clings to them still. These make-believe methods of finding a religious faith, and with it health and peace of mind, answer no good end. The sudden and unnatural marriages which are sometimes sought in the desperation of disappointed affections are seldom blessed. There is a hidden element of falsehood, or self-deception, at the centre of them all. If we have doubts, we must meet them fairly and honestly for ourselves. If they are practical doubts, relating to the essentials of Christianity, the efficacy of prayer, the presence and the power of God in the soul, the mediatorial office of Christ between God and, men, we must read the Gospels for practical guidance, and, seeking to give ourselves up INTRODUCTION. 25 entirely to their instructions by prayer, by humility of heart, by a warmer charity towards others, by more faithful and obedient lives, with the help which God will certainly give to us if we seek it thus, in our renovated affections, and the deeper, purer life of the soul, we shall find the faith, and with it the inward tranquillity and repose, which we crave. That is, we shall find enough of them to serve as a foretaste and pledge of the perfect love and peace which shall be fulfilled to us only in the kingdom of Heaven. And this is all that has been gained by the greatest saints, —by Madame Guyon and Fenelon, Archbishop Leighton and Baxter, Charles Wesley and Channing and William Croswell, as we see when we are admitted to a knowledge of their interior lives. "The perfect," we once heard Dr. Channing say, "is what we must always seek, but never hope to gain." If, on the other hand, our doubts are of an intellectual character, we must meet them fairly on intellectual grounds, and not push them aside for others, whether sceptics or bigots, philosophers or Christian believers, to do our work for us. It is better to read the Gospels ourselves, not through the creed of a church or a philosophical dogma, but with our own eyes and minds, such as God has made them, and judge of them by the principles of reason and common sense. If they give way under the examination, let us meet the facts of the case like brave and honest men, and not like children, who blind their eyes from fear of seeing a ghost. But they will not give way. They only ask to be tried on their own merits. The reason why they seem to us so unsubstantial is, that we do not rest our weight upon them. They are like the bridge across the St. Lawrence at Montreal, which sensitively vibrates to the slightest breeze, and therefore the timid traveller may fear to trust himself upon it; but ten thousand tons of human beings and costly merchandise resting upon it, only show how firm and strong it is. The more severely we test the Gospels, the more securely shall we find ourselves sustained by them. "Come, and see, 3 26 INTRODUCTION. and know for yourselves," is their appeal to us. Only let us examine them as they are in themselves, giving ourselves up to their great thoughts, opening our souls to the holy spirit which is proceeding from them, and the divine life which is embodied in them, and which by an eternal generation is born from them into the heart and life of our race. If we have doubts or fears, let us search the Scriptures till we are satisfied in regard to them. We have never known a man to have his faith shaken by a thorough and impartial investigation of the New Testament; but thousands have in this way had it confirmed and established. It does not require any great amount of learning to study the Gospels intelligently. The deepest thought and the widest amplitude of knowledge may find room for exercise, if we undertake to explore them in all their fulness, and in all the curious details connected with them. We may lose ourselves amid the wonders and mysteries of the Divine nature, if we undertake to fathom them in our speculations. But a clear mind, faithfully applying itself to the study of the Gospels in a truthful spirit, is all that is required in order to gain from them the knowledge that is most valuable to us. An acquaintance with ancient customs, with oriental productions, modes of living, and forms of speech, may give us a more precise idea of what is meant in some cases. But even then, except in a very few instances, the essential truth is not affected. It may be pleasant to us, and may gratify a reasonable curiosity, to know precisely what were the lilies of the field and the fowls of the air to which our Saviour called attention, as emblems and proofs of the paternal providence of God, - to know that it was the fruit of the carob-tree, "with a hard, dark outside, and a dull sweet taste," and not husks, which the Prodigal longed to eat as he fed it enviously to the swine, while he was perishing with hunger, -to know how the houses were constructed so that the paralytic might be taken up by an outside staircase to the fiat roof, and let down through it on his bed into INTRODUCTION. 27 the inner room or open court, where Jesus sat surrounded by a throng of people. But the lesson taught, in each one of these cases, to our minds and hearts, is wholly independent of such knowledge. And there is danger lest, in seeking for the adventitious information, we should have our interest absorbed in that which was intended only as an illustration, and drawn away from the vital truth which it was employed to convey. The geography of Palestine is intimately connected with our Saviour's ministry. As we follow him back and forth, from place to place, on the map, events start up before us, distinct and alive, each one with its own individuality upon it. Almost any person may learn enough of the geography of Palestine for this purpose. In getting a clear view of his life, and in comparing the different Evangelists with one another, it will be a great help to connect each event with the spot where it occurred, and thus make it real to us. It will give the Gospels a firmer hold on our minds, and free us from the indistinct and dreamy notions with which we regard them, and through which they are so easily turned into myths. We are thus enabled to feel and handle them, and see that they are not bodiless apparitions, but substantial facts. But we may study the geography of Palestine so as to know all about the various localities in their relation to the Gospels, and yet be all the while so absorbed in the geography itself as to have no perception of the moral influences which have made those places holy and immortal in the affections of mankind. Much of our Sunday-school teaching, we fear, is of this sort. One difficulty in the way of our studying the Gospels arises from the fact that we are so familiar with them that their words pass through our minds without making any impression. This difficulty may be obviated by reading them in some foreign language, or, if we cannot do that, in some translation different from our common version. Norton's or Campbell's translation, or even Sawyer's, notwithstanding 28 INTRODUCTION. the severe criticisms which it has called out, will sometimes reveal to us a sentiment or a thought which had escaped us in our daily reading. We have endeavored in this work to assist the student by analyzing in some cases, e. g., in the Sermon on the Mount, our Saviour's discourses, and thus bringing out the depth, the affluence, the comprehensiveness and completeness of the thought. After such an analysis we may come back to the familiar language with new interest; and while we see in it a deeper and richer meaning than before, we may find in the old words an aroma of Christian sentiment which had escaped in the process of analyzing the thought, and which can be embodied in no other words but those around which the religious associations of our own lifetime, and of centuries before, have been gathering. We would ask the attention of those who have a taste for such investigations, and particularly, if it may be done without presumption, the attention of men of a legal training, to the narratives which we have constructed from the different Evangelists, of the events connected with the last days of our Saviour's life, and the morning of the Resurrection. No external evidence has ever produced such undoubting confidence in our mind as the way in which these four distinct narratives, now approaching and now diverging from one another, - now almost united in one, and now apparently inconsistent with each other, — keep on, each one in its independent course, while all combine to set forth the same great facts with no real inconsistency even in their minutest details. We would particularly ask that the accounts of the denials by Peter, the trial of Jesus, and the events on the morning of the Resurrection, may be subjected to the severest test of a judicial investigation, by the aid of a topographical plan of Jerusalem and its vicinity, and of a Jewish palace, with a careful attention to the precise words of the original Greek (disregarded in our English version), by which the writers denote the different parts of a palace, - the house itself, the inner court or hall, the gateway or entrance to the court, and INTRODUCTION. 29 the tessellated pavement in front of the palace, on which Pilate erected the judgment-seat, from which he unwillingly pronounced the sentence of death on the Saviour of the world. Those who may be inclined to follow out this interesting and conclusive method of inquiry under the guidance of a powerful, discriminating, and appreciative mind, are referred to the very able work entitled " Hours with the Evangelists," by I. Nichols, D. D. "6The more," says Da Costa, " we examine the Gospels in detail, as with a microscope, the more diversities will multiply under our eyes; but the more also shall we find these diversities consistent, and so consistent that they constitute in each of the four Gospels a particular and distinctive character. And when once we have found this special character of each Gospel, we have also found the way to bring all these real diversities and apparent contradictions into one final and harmonious unity." But after all, even in an intellectual point of view, the most effective method of studying the Gospels is with a direct application of their precepts to the duties and circumstances of life. The philosophy of our day is experimental. Its truths and their value in each case are tested by experiment under the guidance of known facts. So the precepts of Christ, both in regard to their truthfulness and their value, are to be tested by being applied and carried out in practice. The great interior principles of faith and love- must be tried in our hearts; and they must be carried out in our fidelity to the precepts and commands by which our external lives are to be regulated. In this way, the intellectual study of the Gospels, which often turns aside into eccentric vagaries or degenerates into lifeless and heartless speculations, is tested by our own experiences, and the truths which it places before us as abstractions are filled out with the warmth and enthusiasm which are essential to them, and without which we can no nmore see them as they are, than we can understand the beauty of the flowering fielcds 30 INTRODUCTION. as they are in June, from the dried specimens in the hands of a botanist, or the diagrams in his book. There is a spiritual life flowing through every part of the Gospels, which have been created as living organisms, and not put together as pieces of mechanism; and when in our own souls we have experienced that inward life, we see it in them and them in it. Every word that our Saviour spoke, every act that he did, has an organic completeness in itself, and is endowed with the power of perpetuating its own life in the lives of others. Every portion of the Gospels has this essential vitality, a living and perpetual witness, to the soul which receives it, of the source from which it came. Cut off any one precept, and it grows out again from the parent stock. You cannot make it dead, so long as you test its vitality in your own soul. The separation of the intellectual study of the Gospels from the life in which their truths live and bloom, is a sad necessity, if it be a necessity, in the scientific education of theological students. It leads them, like the wandering spirit of old, into dry and desolate places, and opens before them the dreariest visions of holiness and faith. He who studies our Saviour's precepts about prayer, and never prays, can have, even intellectually, but a meagre idea of the subject. He who studies the great law of pre-eminence among his disciples (Matt. xx. 26) will make poor work with the doctrine until he has sought to realize it in himself, not only by an outward show of obedience, but an inward subjection of his whole nature to its spirit. It is only by the union of study and practice that the highest ends of religious teaching can be gained. Then the marriage between the intellect and the heart will be completed, and from it will be born a life of faith and holiness and charity, which will grow up as the true and worthy offspring of such a union. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. IT does not enter into the design of this work to determine the authenticity or genuineness of the Gospels. We take that for granted, referring those who may wish to examine the matter thoroughly to Mr. Norton's "' Genuineness of the Gospels " for the external evidence, and to Dr. Nichols's "Hours with the Evangelists" for the internal evidence. We suppose the Gospel of St. Matthew to have been written by him in the language which was then spoken in Palestine and which is usually called the Aramwean or Aramaic, and to have been afterwards translated into Greek, either by the Apostle himself or by some other competent person. In the year 1842 a copy of the greater part of the Gospel of St. Matthew in the Syriac language was obtained by Archdeacon Tattam from a Syrian monastery in the valley of the Natron Lakes, which was published in 1858 by William Cureton, D. D., Canon of Westminster, &c., which is regarded by the very learned editor as among the oldest manuscript copies of the Gospel now known, and respecting which he does not hesitate to express his belief, that "it has, to a great extent, retained the identical terms and expressions which the Apostle himself employed; and that we have here, in our Lord's discourses, to a great extent, the very same words as the Divine Author of our holy religion himself uttered in proclaiming the glad tidings of salvation in the Hebrew dialect to those who were listening to him, and through them to all the world." (Cureton's Syriac Gospels, Pref., p. xciii.) The precise time when the Gospel was written is uncertain. "Were we," says Davidson (Introduction to the New Testament, p. 136), "to express an opinion, we should be inclined to adopt A. D. 41, 42, or 43 as the most 32 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. probable." "The place where the Gospel was written is uniformly said to have been Judeaa." Davidson supposes it to have been written in Hebrew, and that the Greek version "must have been made before the close of the first century; probably before the appearance of the Gospel of John." It is one of the traditions respecting it, and it bears internal evidence to the same effect, that it was written particularly for the Jews. We see marks of this intention, especially in the first chapters; but throughout the Gospel there is evidently a peculiar adaptation to the Jewish mind, particularly when speaking of events as necessary in order to the fulfilment of the prophecies, and in the pains which are taken to set forth the new religion as a fulfilment, while the traditions of the Pharisees were only a perversion and abuse, of the Law and the Prophets. MATTHEW. CHAPTER I. 1-17. - THE LINEAGE OR GENEALOGY OF JESUS. THE Gospel of Matthew bears internal evidence of having been written by a Jew, and with particular reference to his own countrymen. We see marks of this design especially in the first chapters, which open the whole subject from aJewish point of view, and in a manner particularly adapted to the feelings and habits of thought then existing among the Jews. The writer is not, as has been charged against him, imbued with their prejudices and their erroneous ideas respecting the Messiah. But he has been educated as a Jew, and in sympathy with the Jewish mind. If he has also been introduced into a higher realm of spiritual life and thought, he is able to enter, as no one but a person born and brought up in a Jewish atmosphere could, into the views and feelings of his countrymen. By his appreciation of their state of mind, and his sympathy with them in their religious expectations, he is able to gain a hearing from them, while he turns in the direction of their strongest expectations, and shows how the prophetic writings find their fulfilment in Jesus. His quotations and allusions, his local and historical references, his mode of presenting what they would regard as objectionable subjects, his forms of expression and methods of appeal through their early religious associations, are C 34 MATTHEW I. 1-17. all adapted to the Jewish mind, and fitted to lead them, without any needless shock to their prejudices, into a recognition of Jesus as the Messiah. We have an instance of this in the opening words of the Gospel, " The lineage of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham." The term " son of David " seems to have been one held in the highest reverence among the Jews, even if it were not used, as it probably was, like the word Messiah, to designate " him who was to come," their great " deliverer" and "redeemer." By the use of this term, therefore, Matthew at the beginning appeals to a national expectation, which he still encourages when, in a genealogy, probably copied from public registers whose authority was recognized by the Jews of his day, he traces step by step the descent of Jesus from their most powerful monarch, and through him from their most illustrious ancestor. The prejudice which otherwise might have led them to put aside with contempt the claims of a poor young man from Galilee, is thus removed at the very outset. Though Jesus of Nazareth was despised and rejected of men, yet he was descended from a race of kings and patriarchs. We can scarcely conceive how this dry catalogue of hard words should rouse the national enthusiasm of a Jew by its roll of mighty names, and awaken his respect for one whose advent into the world had been prepared through such a line of ancestors. In order that it should have any weight with the Jews, this table of names must have been copied from family registers which they recognized as authentic. Whatever view, therefore, we may take of the inspiration of the writer, our confidence in his accuracy cannot be affected by any omissions or mistakes that may be pointed out in the list of names. It is not on his authority as that of an inspired writer, but on their authority as records preserved and accepted by the Jews, that Matthew presents them to his countrymen, If he had been inspired to correct every MATTHEW I. 18-25. 35 mistake and supply every omission, every alteration that he made would serve only to destroy their authority with those for whom he was writing, and to excite their prejudices against him. This view of the matter takes away altogether the force of objections to the accuracy of the Gospels, which are drawn from apparent discrepancies between the genealogy here and that in Luke iii. 23-38. We have only to suppose them to be, as they unquestionably are, copies of different records, which had been kept in different places, and which varied from one another, either through want of exactness in the records, or in consequence of the different methods by which the line of ancestors was brought down from a common original. The labored attempts, therefore, to reconcile these two lists of names with each other, or with records found in the Old Testament, however interesting they may be to ingenious scholars, can have no important bearing on the trustworthiness of the Gospels. 18 - 25. - MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION. The account of the birth of Jesus which is given here and in the second chapter of Luke, has been a stumblingblock to many sincere minds, and is rejected as in itself incredible by some who accept as authentic the other evangelical accounts of miracles. But is there anything in the nature of things incredible in what is here recorded? The great naturalists of our day recognize a succession of creative epochs, when higher types of physical life were introduced. The different orders of animals which have appeared from time to time were not slowly evolved by a process of development from lower orders previously existing, but one after another they have been introduced by separate and original acts of creation. Now, as the physical advancement of the world has thus been marked by distinct creative epochs, might we not expect something of the same 36 MATTHEW I. 18- 25. kind in its spiritual advancement? " But how is it possible," we are asked, "that such an event as that recorded here and in the second chapter of Luke could take place?" How is it possible, we ask in reply, that a new order of animals should be introduced, or the first man created? We cannot understand these things, and our ignorance should make us slow in setting limits, not only to what is possible, but to what is probable, in the exercise of God's almighty and creative power. Within certain spheres of creative action, where facts enough are ascertained to determine what is the established order of development and progress, as, for example, in the sciences of natural history, chemistry, and astronomy, we may draw our inferences with a good degree of certainty, and foretell what is to be from our knowledge of what has been. But even here we are not competent to decide beforehand when a new creative epoch shall supervene upon the existing order of things in time to come, as it has in time past, or whether it shall come at all. Our knowledge does not reach far enough,we have not ascertained facts enough, or with a sufficient degree of exactness, -to comprehend these widely separated and therefore apparently extraordinary interpositions, or to reconcile them with what we know of the laws of nature. There was a time when the motion of comets was supposed to be wholly eccentric, and inconsistent with the laws of planetary motion. It only required a wider and more precise knowledge of facts to reduce them all to the same law. So, unquestionably, it is in regard to the widely separated creative epochs in the physical universe. And have we not a right to infer, at least as not impossible or in itself extremely improbable, something of the same kind in regard to those apparently anomalous interventions by which a higher spiritual life has from time to time been brought into the world? Is it the part of a true philosophy to deny the alleged fact, because we cannlot see far enough to reconcile it with our preconceived and MATTHEW I. 18-25. 37 limited ideas of nature and the natural order of events? In regard to the miraculous conception of Jesus by an immediate creative act of the divine spirit, may we not regard it as analogous to those cieative epochs when new orders of plants or animals are first introduced? As to the vulgar objection, that it involves an act which is in itself impossible, or at least utterly incredible, we may allow it to have some weight with us, when those who urge it show wherein the birth of a soul into the world by the immediate act of God, as here related, is in itself more impossible, or more utterly inexplicable to us, than the ordinary process by which a plant, an animal, or a human being is produced. The precise means by which life is perpetuated is just as much a mystery to us as the means by which it was originally introduced with the first plant, or man, or with Jesus, who stands at the head of a new and spiritual creation. This much may be urged from their own stand-point against the conclusions of those who, on scientific grounds, reject this whole class of facts as lying outside of the order of nature. There are others, who believe in the Christian miracles, but reject the account of the miraculous conception as something plainly unnatural and improbable. Among these, perhaps at the head of this class of writers, is Dr. Furness, in the views which he has taken of this matter in the fresh, original, and beautiful works which he has published on Jesus of Nazareth. He lays great emphasis on the naturalness of the Christian miracles,- the ease with which they were evidently performed by Jesus in the natural exercise of his own faculties. But why were they so easy to him, unless because of the extraordinary powers with which he was endowed? He came to introduce a new epoch of spiritual life; and, that it night be in conformity with the order of nature, must it not have been by a new act of creation? He who stood at the head of this new era, by the natural exercise of his own powers uttering thoughts and doing deeds man never had done before, must 4 38 3IMATTHEW I. 18 —25. have been endowed as man never had been before. And could these extraordinary endowments have been bestowed upon him in any way more in accordance with the order of nature than by the method here indicated, i. e. by a new act of creative power? When speaking of nature as containing within itself all the powers and agencies of the universe, we must not confine ourselves to the limited operations which take place within our ordinary experience, but must leave room for those great secular interpositions which are equally a part of the divine system of nature, and which, at widely distant intervals in the fulness of time, bring in new orders of beings and new eras of life. Immeasurably the greatest religious epoch since the creation of man was that which was introduced by Jesus. When we speak of it merely as of a new revelation, we fail utterly to express either its character or its greatness. Matthew and Luke, in their account of the conception of Jesus by an immediate act of God's creative spirit; the introduction to the Gospel of John respecting the word made flesh; the language of Paul, as, e. g. in Col. i. 15 - 20, where he speaks of Christ as the first-born of every creature, and, not the revealer alone of divine truth, but the creator of new worlds of spiritual life and power, -are in this way brought into harmony with one another, with the account of his miracles, and with the otherwise extraordinary language which he applied to himself. The Gospel account of the conception of Jesus comes as the fitting and natural introduction into the world of a divine life, which, growing up under the laws of our mortal and human condition, should, as a new creation, stand at the head of a new era in man's history. Here, at its beginning on the earth, is a fountain high and large enough to fill all the streams of action, thought, and life which flow through the Gospel narratives. The knowledge, holiness, and power of Jesus, so far transcending all that man had known or been or done, are only on the same MATTHEW I. 22, 23. 39 high level as his birth. The beginning is needed, in order to account for that which follows. Without it, the miracles, and still more the terms in which Jesus constantly spoke of himself, would seem to us unnatural and monstrous. We accept, then, the account of the miraculous conception, not only because it is an undisputed part of the Gospel narratives, but because something of the kind is required by the higher and broader analogies of nature, and in order to the completeness of the Gospels themselves. 22, 23. — PREDICTION OF CHRIST'S BIRTH. The account of the miraculous conception of Jesus by a virgin would undoubtedly appear harsh and offensive to the Jewish mind. To soften this impression, the writer introduces from one of the most honored among the Jewish prophets language which so exactly describes the case before them that the whole matter presents itself as a fulfilment of the ancient prediction. The passage quoted from Isaiah vii. 14 is taken from the Septuagint version, where the word rrapOevov, virgin, is used instead of a literal translation of the less decisive Hebrew word, which means damsel, or a young and unmarried woman. This particular word, in the connection in which it is here given, is just the one to meet the Jewish feeling caused by the account of the birth of Jesus, and meet it all the more effectively because the purpose for which the passage is introduced is not stated. It is as if the writer, seeing how his Jewish readers were likely to be affected by an account so extraordinary, had said,'" Here we may apply the words of the prophet,' A virgin shall conceive and bear a son,' "- thus, in the very language of their sacred writings, describing that feature in the birth of Jesus which must have been most offensive to them. We are to regard the quotation as primarily brought forward less for the purpose of arguing from a prophecy fulfilled, than to soften their prejudices by 40 MATTHEW I. 22, 23. the literal application to the objectionable features of the case before them of language which they held sacred. Is the passage here quoted from Isaiah a prediction of the Messiah? To answer this question we must examine it in its original connection. There we find that Syria and Samaria have combined against Ahaz, king of Judah, who is greatly terrified and discouraged. The prophet announces, as a sign to Ahaz, that a woman then unmarried shall bear a son, and call his name Immanuel (God-withus, in token of God's presence), and before the child shall be old enough to know good from evil, the land whose two kings so terrified Ahaz should be desolate. This, as any one who reads the whole chapter (Noyes's Translation) must see, is the only application required or suggested by the language. lMay it not, however, in accordance with the divine intention, be taken up out of its original surroundings, and as a prophetic declaration find its highest and truest fulfilment in some remote and entirely different class of events? " Often," says Bengel, " predictions are quoted in the New Testament which the original hearers were undoubtedly required by the divine purpose to apply to events then taking place. But the same divine purpose, looking farther on, so framed the language that it might fit more exactly the times of the Messiah, and this divine purpose, the Apostles teach, we are readily to accept." "The difficulty," says Olshausen, (Commentary on Gospels, Matthew i. 22, 23,) "'can be removed by our acknowledging in the Old Testament prophecies a twofold reference to a present lower subject and to a future higher one. W}ith this supposition, we can everywhere adhere to the immediate, simple, grammatical sense of the words, and still recognize the quotations of the New Testament as prophecies in the full sense. And it belongs to the peculiar adjustment and arrangement of the Scripture, that the life and substance of the Old Testament were intended as a mirror of the MATTHEW I. 41 New Testament life, and that in the person of Christ particularly, as the representative of the New Testament, all the rays of the Old Testament ideas are concentrated as in their focus." We may admit the general principle here stated. The only objection to applying it in the case before us is the want of sufficient evidence that this particular passage was intended, either by the prophet or the evangelist, to be so understood. On reading carefully the whole passage in Isaiah, from the beginning of the seventh chapter to the eighth verse of the ninth chapter in Dr. Noyes's Translation, we cannot free ourselves from the impression, that though the seventh chapter standing by itself might indicate no allusion to the Messiah, yet the extraordinary passage beginning with the last verse of the eighth and reaching through the first seven verses of the ninth chapter can hardly be understood in any other way than as pointing on to the times of the Messiah; and if so, as giving some countenance to those who interpret vii. 14 as in a secondary sense applying to the same distant event. For the opposite view, see Dr. Palfrey's able, ingenious, and elaborate work on " The Relation between Judaism and Christianity." NOTE S. THE book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of Da2 vid, the son of Abraham. - Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren. 1. Jesus Christ] In the body truthfulness in the writers of the of the Gospel, where Jesus is spoken New Testament. the sona of as present and acting, he is never of David] i. e. the true MAessiah. called by his official title, Christ, the " For by no more common or more Mlressiah, or the azsoisted, though he is proper name did the Jewish nation constantly so called in the Acts and point out the Messiah, than by the the Epistles. This is one of the so01 of David. See Matt. xii. 23, slight but unmistakable marks of xxi. 9, xxii. 42; Luke xviii. 38; 4 4t 42 MATTHEIW I. And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar. And Phares 3 begat Esrom; 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- s gat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; and Ozias begat Joatham; and Joathamn begat Achaz; 9 and Achaz begat Ezekias; and Ezekias begat Manasses; and 10:Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; and Josias ii 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 Zorobabel; and Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Elia- 13 kim; and Eliakim begat Azor; and Azor begat Sadoc; and 14 Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; and Eliud be- l5 gat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of 16 whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. -- So all the 17 generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: when as his is mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then 19 Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make and everywhere in the Talmudic Manasseh, &c. 17. from writers." Lightfoot. 8. and Abraham to David are fours Joraml begat Ozias] Ozias was teen generations] Only thirteen not the son of Joram, but there are here given. One name may have were three kings between them, — slipped out of the account; but, as Ahcaziah, Joash, and Amaziah. Ih Lightfoot states, literal exactness in the Syriac version edited by Dr. numbers was not regarded by the Cureton, these names are supplied. Jews. 19. Then Joseph In these genealogical tables it was her husband] It was the cusnot unusual to omit several genera- tom among the Jews for a man tions, and to reckon the legal granld- to be betrothed to a woman some son or great-grandson as if he were time before he actually took her a son. Ozias is the Greek name from her father's house to live with for Uzziah, as Achaz is for Ahaz, her as Iis wife. Dining this interEzekias for Hezekiah, Manasses for val she was considered his wife, MATTHEW I. 43 her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. to But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying: Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that 21 which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he 22 shall save his people from their sins. (Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the and was legally liable for any mis- was done,' and the uniform usag e conduct, the same as if they had of the New Testament, in which actually conee together in mnarriage. ta is never used except in this If Joseph, therefore, had instituted sense, forbid any other." We are proceedings against Mary for con- surprised at so unqualified a stateJugal infidelity, the legal penalty, ment. Winer, the ablest writer on a disgraceful divorce or perhaps the Grammar of the New Testadeath, would have been exacted. menit, though he insists on design The word translated just, &8Katos, as the primary and almost uniform does not bear the meaining vsercijid, meaning of the word, is yet obliged which is sometimes put u{pon it. A to allow that there are cases (e. g. paraphrase closer to the original John i. 27, iv. 34, vi. 7, xv. 8, xvi. 7; would be: "But Joseph, her hus- Matt. xviii. 6; Luke xi. 50, xvii. 2, band, though a just man, [and there- &c.) where "the original import of fore unable to countenance what the particle of design entirely disseemned to him a violation of the appears." Winer, xliv. 8, c. (Maslaw,] yet not wishiing to expose her son's Tr., Am. ed. p. 354). Sophocles, [to unnecessary shange or suffer- in his learned work, " A Glossary of ing], had made up his mind to put Later and Byzantine Greek," Introher away privately;" not, however, duct., ~ 95, says: "In later and Bywithout a writing of divorce, as zantine Greek, 7va often denotes a that would have been unlawful. result; that is, it has the force of For the law of divorce, see Deut.'eOre, that, so that so as." And xxii. 23, xxiv. 1. 20. in a this he proves by many examples. dream] This mode of divine comn- Pizrpose or design is not then necesmunication, i. e. through a dream, sarily implied by the word 7va. On is mentioned nowhere in the New < is mentioied nowhere in the New.the contrary, it is also used to deTestament bnlsut here andnthe nrext note result as well as purpose; e. g. chapter, unless we regard the dream Lue ix. 45: t they unerstoo of Pilate's wife, xxvii. 19, as of the not this saying, and it ws hid from same character. 21. and thou shalt call his name Jesus] them, that [va, so that] they peri. e. SAvIoUR, -in Hebrew, tile ceived it not." This passage, we same name as Joshua. for think, furnishes the key to the pashe shall save his people from sage here, and to the same form of their sins] The true character expression, Matt. ii. 15, iv. 14, xxi. of his salvation, namely, salvation 4, xxvii. 35. In every one of these from sin rather than from its penal- instances, so that is a better transties, is here distinctly set forth. Iatioin of tva than in order that. It his people] not the Jews alone, but is equally in conformnity with the all who accept him as their Sav- grammatical usage of the Greek iour. 22. that it might word, and evidently better describes be fulfilled.9 &c.] Tea, that. "1 It the use that is made of the propheis impossible," says Alford, "to in- cies. The Evangelist does not mean terpret ova in any other sense than to say, these events occurred i ill ordller that.' [he words' all this order that the words of the prophet $~44 MATTHEW I. prophet, saying: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and 2s shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Eimmanuel;" which, being interpreted, is, God with us.) Then Joseph, 24 being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him; and took unto him his wife, and knew her not till 25 she had brought forth her first-born son; and he called his name Jesus. might be fulfilled," but " they The first clause of this sentence is occurred in such a manner that the emphatic one. The name Enmas a resrll the words of the proph- 1manuel, which is found nowhere else et were fulfilled in them." 22. in the New Testament, was not givmight be fulfilled] 7rXqpceOf. en to Jesus. He was not so named What is meant by failled? The by his parents. He never assumed literal meaning of this word is filled, the name himself, and was never so or filled out. Thus Matt. v. 17: called by his disciples. It was di" Think not that I come to destroy rected to be given to a child menthe law or the prophets: I come not tioned in Is. vii. 14, who was to be to destroy, but to fulfil;" i. e. I born in the reign of Ahaz, and who come to carry out to its complete was to be to him a sign that God and spiritual fulfilment the law was with him. " The mere use of whose burdensome forms, once a such a name." says Dr. Barnes, help, are now a hindrance to the "would not prove that he had a diwork for which it was given. To vine nature," especially, we might fulfil, in this case, is not, therefore, add, when there is no evidence that a literal fulfilment, - for in the lit- he ever bore the name. It does, eral sense of the words, Jesus did however, unquestionably describe come to destroy the law; but it was the mission of our Saviour, in whom to fulfil the law in a different and God was with us, manifesting himhigher sense than had previously self in the flesh, and reconciling the been thought of. The same, we world to himself. The Jews were suppose, is also true in regard to in the habit of giving significant tithe prophets. Not always in a ties to their great men. Thus the literal sense, but in their deepest original name of Joshua was Oshea and highest meaning, in the divine or Seaviomu, and Moses, Nmn. xiii. 16 truth and life, the spiritual re- called him Jelhoshuta, which means demption and deliverance towards the salvation of God. Eli meanis Ii/ which they were pointing, their God; Efli'ah, 3M1 God Jehovah,; Eliwords are fulfilled in Jesus. So, sha, God the Saviour. X. hIrd in other ways, in an inferior sense, firstsborn son] Tischendorf; in even one which though literal may conformity with the reading in somne never have occurred to them, spe- of the best manuscripts, leaves out cific words which they used may the word first-born; but Alford rehave been fulfilled in particular in- tains it, with the remark that the cidents connected with his life, i. e. omission "was evidently made from may be used to describe them, as superstitious veneration for Main the passage before us. See also ry." The perpetual virginity of Notes on ii. 5, 15, 17, 23; xxi. the mother of Jesus, as held by 4. For a fuller exposition of the the Roman Catholic Church, is not subject of Prophecy, see xxiv. implied or intimated here by either 23. Behold, a virgin] reading. SIATTHEW II. 1- 12. 45 CHAPTER II. 1-12. — VISIT OF TlHE ~WISEI MEN, OR nMAGI. THE remarliable event in this chapter, at least that which gives the greatest trouble to those who would understand in all its bearings every particular connected with the Gospel narratives, is the visit of the Magi, or wise men, under the guidance of a star, or some extraordinary luminous appearance in the heavens. A vast deal of learning has been expended upon the subject without coming to any satisfactory results. It has never been definitely ascertained who these wise men were, or what was the precise appearance in the heavens that brought them to Bethlehem. All that can be learned is, that there was at that time a widely extended expectation in the East of the birth, in that part of the world, of some one who was to have an extraordinary influence on human affairs. Jews, in their various national misfortunes, and the migrations consequent upon them, had mingled as permanent residents with the people beyond their eastern borders. They had undoubtedly carried with them their religious notions, and particularly the prophetic expectations of the!Messiah, which had entered so deeply into the heart of the nation. Their ablest and wisest men would naturally be brought into connection with the corresponding classes whom they might meet in foreign lands, and in the interchange of ideas with one another whatever was most remarkable in the science or religious systems of either would become the common property of all. Thus there may have been in those Eastern regions men of devout and earnest hearts, waiting anxiously 4~6 MATTHEW I. ]I —19. for some new manifestation from Heaven, and for some new and higher agency to go forth amid the confused and otherwise hopeless affairs of the world. When the fulness of time had come, a sign was given to them. As, to the shepherds at Bethlehem, who as Jews were accustomed to the idea of angelic ministrations, a vision of angels announced the birth of the Mlessiah, so to the Magi, who were accustomed to look to the heavenly bodies for portents of earthly changes, a star or other brilliant light in heaven was given as an indication of the great event for which they had been waiting. Probably they had already fixed on Judera, and of course on Jerusalem, the capital of Judlea, as the scene of the long-expected events. The often quoted passages from the Roman historians, Suetonius and Tacitus, both refer to Judea as the place fiom which, according to expectations generally prevalent in the East, a man was destined, about that time, to come and obtain the empire of the world. Pliny not improbably had reference to something of the same kind in calling Jerusalem (H. N., 1. 5, c. 15) "by far the most illustrious city, not only of Judea, but of the East," since in outward splendor it was greatly inferior to other Eastern cities. The place, therefore, was fixed and known. When the unusual appearance in the sky was seen, which the wise men accepted as a signal to announce the birth of the expected deliverer, they knew at once to what place it would lead them. Carrying the gifts which, with their Eastern ideas and habits, they regarded as most worthy to be offered on such a visit, they hastened to Jerusalem, and made known the object of their journey. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were deeply moved by the report of their coming. The hoary-headed monarch, whose long reign of cruelty and blood was soon to find a fitting termination in the horrible and loathsome disease which closed his miserable life, had, of course, his cruel suspicions excited by any reference at that time to the birth of a MATTIIEW II. 1 —12. 47 king. Only a short time before, more than six thousand of the Pharisees (Josephus, Ant. 17. 2. 4) had refused the oath of. allegiance to him, and foretold "how God had decreed that his government should cease, and his posterity be deprived of it."' He put to death their leading men; but, sitting on a throne to which as a foreigner he could have no rightful claim, the Idumoan Herod was not the man to forget their predictions, or anything else that might stand in the way of his regal power and its continuance in his family. But it would not do to let his fears be known. Cloaking, therefore, his murderous intention under an affectation of reverence for the predicted Messiah, he called together the chief priests and the scribes, who as teachers of the law were most thoroughly versed in the sacred writings, and asked them where the Christ, or the Messiah, was to be born. The inquest which he made, and the manner in which it was received and answered, prove how general and how strong among the Jews the expectations of the Messiah were. The leading minds of the nation evidently felt themselves to be on the eve of the extraordinary series of events which had been foretold by their prophets centuries before, and which had always been kept up in the expectations of the people. Having learned the particular place of the 3Messiah's birth, the wise men set out for Bethlehem. While on their way, they were gladdened exceedingly by seeing again the star which they had seen while in -the East, and which now showed itself in such a direction that it seemed to be leading them forward, till on their reaching the place it appeared to stand over the spot where the young child was. The expression, "to stand over a place," in its application to a heavenly body, was not foreign to ancient modes of speech. Josephus, in enumerating the portents which went before the destruction of Jerusalem, speaks of a comet which "stood over the city," in precisely the same form of words that is here applied to the star. 48 MIATTHEW II. 1-12. Bethlehem was a small town six or seven miles south of Jerusalem, but endeared to the Jewish heart by many precious historical associations. WTithin its limits, on the way to Jerusalem, Rachel, the favorite wife of Jacob, had died and was buried. There was the scene of most of the affecting events recorded in the beautiful pastoral of Ruth. There was the residence of Jesse, and there the genius and the devotions of David had been called out while tending his father's flocks amid its hills. There, by the consecrating oil of the aged Samuel he had been set apart for the kingly office. And there, five hundred years later, according to Jewish traditions, but we know not on what authority, was the birthplace of Zerubbabel, who led back the captive Jews from Babylon, and rebuilt their temple. Bethlehem abounds in high hills, from which the Dead Sea, and the mountains beyond its eastern shore, are visible. Some have supposed that the star which attracted the wise men in the East was the luminous appearance (the glory of the Lord shining round about them) which the shepherds, Luke ii. 9, saw on the night of the nativity, and which from those lofty hills might have been seen far to the eastward. But this will not account for the star which the Magi saw on reaching Bethlehem. Some have supposed that it was a comet; others, and Trench among them, have thought that it was a peculiar star, like that which shone out suddenly in Cassiopeia, November 11, 1572, and which, after surpassing in apparent size all the fixed stars, and even the planet Jupiter, being sometimes distinctly seen at midday, gradually decreased, till, sixteen months after it was first seen, it seemed to go out entirely, and no traces of it have been discovered since. This star was observed and reported by Tycho Brahe, the most illustrious astronomical observer of his day. Another star, yet more remarkable, appeared in 1604, at the same time with, and in the immediate neigh MATTHEW II. I-12. 49 borhood of, a remarkable conjunction of the planets Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, -" such a conjunction," says Trench, (in his " Star of the Wise ~Men," p. 32,) "as, occurring at rarest intervals, must yet have occurred as regarded the first two planets in 747, and all three in 748 A. U. C.; in years, that is, either of them very likely to have been, and one of which most probably was, the true Annus Domini." But these speculations, though they may possibly point to a true solution of the phenomena in question, do not seem to us of much consequence. With the birth of Christ we are introduced into a sphere of higher than material agencies. From the first inception of his earthly being, in the overshadowing power and spirit of the Most High, to the time when he " was taken up " from his disciples, " and a cloud received him out of their sight," Jesus was attended by powers which come not usually within the cognizance of the senses, and of which our natural philosophy, limited as it is by the observation of physical facts through the senses, can render no adequate account. They belong to a province &o divine agencies into which we have not been permitted to enter far enough to be able to speak with any certainty of the conditions or the extent of their influence on human affairs or the material universe. When once we are brought, as we are by the life of Jesus, into the realm of miraculous manifestations, it is idle to attempt to explain them by principles drawn from the narrow and unwieldy phenomena of physical science. The anniversary of the wise men offering their gifts to the infant Jesus has been celebrated in most Christian churches as the Epiphany, or manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. The wise men are regarded by the Roman Catholic Church as kings who came from different parts of India, and to them has been applied the language of the seventy-second Psalm, "' The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts," "and to him shall be given of the gold 5 D 50 MATTHEW II. 16- 18. of Sheba." Each of the gifts also has its mystical signification, - the gold, a royal offering, indicating his kingly office, the frankincense denoting his heavenly origin, and the myrrh (in about a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes his body afterwards was laid, John xix. 39) prefiguring his death. These are fanciful interpretations, but probably they come nearer to the reverential feeling which they were employed to express, than any meaning that we can arrive at through the researches of natural history. In all ages of the world, especially in those Eastern regions, the devout and lowly in heart have delighted in offering up whatever was most beautiful and precious, as a token of inward reverence and affection. In this way gold and gems and precious gums and ointments became invested with hallowed associations, and spoke to the soul with a grace and charm that we in our cold climate can poorly comprehend. A Judas might count the pecuniary cost of such gifts, and wise men in our day, whose wisdom is wholly absorbed in estimating their outward value, may exclaim about the waste in matters of sentiment. But the Saviour has recognized in such gifts a deeper and holier worth than any merely pecuniary value, even though it were to be expended upon the poor. 16-18. - MURDER OF THE CHILDREN IN BETHLEIIEM. The account of the murder of the innocents has been set aside as unhistorical, because it is mentioned by no other historian, and because it has been thought to be a crime too foolish and too atrocious even for the crafty and cruel Herod. But the craftiest men are often taken in their own craftiness. Their roundabout, underhanded, complicated plans for the accomplishment of what might be done so much more easily by some direct means, often fail of their purpose, and in the result appear like folly. "Any one," says Trench, "who is acquainted with, and I3MATTHEW II. 16 - 18. 51 calls to mind, the cruel precautions of Eastern monarchs, in times past and present, in regard of possible competitors for their throne, often making an entire desolation, even of their own kindred round them, will see in this what many an Eastern monarch would have done,- what certainly a Herod would not have shrunk from doing." His jealousy, which had been excited by the errand of the wise men, was changed to rage when he found that they had eluded, and, as he proudly considered it, "mocked" him. He determined therefore, in his wrath, to secure the destruction which he had designed for one of the children of tBethlehem by a summary act of vengeance on all. This was entirely in keeping with all that we know of IIerod. "The man," says Trench, "who could put his wife and three of his own sons to death, who made a solitude round him by the slaughter of so many of his friends, who could kill, under semblance of sport, as he did, the youthful high-priest, Aristobulus; who, when he was himself dying by horrible and loathsome diseases, so far from being softened, or owning the hand of God, which every one else saw therein, could devise such a devilish wickedness as that narrated by Josephus, to secure weeping and lamentation at his death,* would have had little scruple in conceiving or carrying out an iniquity such as the sacred historian lays here to his charge." Nor would the crime be one of so remarkable a character that historians like Tacitus or Josephus would be unlikely to omit it in their t According to Josephus, Antiq., Lib. XVII. c. 6, s. 6-8, " It troubled him greatly to anticipate the joy which there would be among the Jews at his death; and with the purpose of turning this joy into weeping, he got together from every city the chief personages of the land, whom he shut up in the Hippodrome of Jericho, where he lay dying. He then obtained a promise from his sister Salome and her husband, that, the instant he expired, these all should be slain, so that, although none wept and lamented him, there should yet be abundant weeping and lamentation at his death. His intentions were not better fulfilled than those of tyrants after their deaths commonly are." 52 MATTHEW II. 6, 15. imperfect catalogue of his crimes. The act was one of no political importance. The number of children murdered has been greatly exaggerated in the popular mind. "From two years old, and under," in the Jewish mode of reckoning, probably means, downward from those who have entered on their second year, or, as we should say, under one year old. In a small place like Bethlehem they could hardly have numbered more than ten or fifteen, and these might have been put out of the way without any public commotion by the practised and accomplished agents of a tyrant like IHerod. QUOTATIONS FROM THE PROPHIETS. 6. The references to the Old Testament in this chapter are worthy of notice. The quotation here from Micah v. 2 is given, not merely as an important historical fact in its relation to the inquiries of Herod, but as showing that the great Jewish council, or Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, composed of the chief priests and the men most learned in the law, had fixed on Bethlehem, where Jesus had just been born, as the birthplace of the Messiah. The ancient prophet, therefore, as interpreted by the highest religious authority recognized among the Jews, accorded with the writer as to the place of the Messiah's birth. This must at the outset have had great weight with those whose favorable attention M3atthew wished particularly to gain. It is not his opinion of the application of the prophecy that is given, but the deliberately expressed opinion of those whom they looked up to as their authorized teachers in such matters. See John vii. 42. 15. The second quotation, " Out of Egypt have I called my Son," Hos. xi. 1, is given as one of the coincidences in language and in fact which could not but strike those who regarded both as sacred, and who thus through their religious associations would be led on in the narrative MATTHEW II. 17, 18. 53 with less violent antipathies. Whether Israel, (whom God here calls his son,) coming up out of Egypt to receive and to perpetuate the knowledge of the true God through the laws and institutions appointed by him, was or was not held forth by the prophet as a type of that greater Son of God now coming from Egypt, who was to exercise a yet mightier influence in the advancement of God's kingdom through the earth, is of little consequence, so far as the writer's purpose or the pertinency of the quotation is concerned. 17, 18. The third quotation is from Jeremiah xxxi. 15. Jerusalem had been taken and destroyed by Nebuzaradan. The Jewish nobles had been slain, and after the sons of the king, Zedekiah, had been murdered in his sight, his own eyes were put out. The people were gathered together in chains at Ranmah, a city of Ephraim, probably about six miles northward from Jerusalem, whence they were to begin their wearisome and sorrowful journey towards Babylon, the land of their long captivity. The prophet Jeremiah, who had been one of the captives, and who is now predicting the joyful return of his people from their bondage, contrasts their future gladness with the feelings of that dismal day when they were taking their departure from Ramah with such lamentation and bitter weeping, that it seemed as if Rachel, the wife of their common ancestor, were there, as a mother, weeping for her children, and refusiing to be comforted because they were not. This striking and beautiful figure the Evangelist has transferred to Bethlehem, to represent the lamentation, weeping, and great mourning caused by the murder of the children. The image of Rachel rising from her tomb and weeping there is rendered more appropriate by the fact that her grave was near Bethlehem, in the midst of those who had been sacrificed by that barbarous act of cruelty. Whether Jeremiah used language which, besides describing the sorrows at Ramah and the joyful return of the Jews from Babylon, pointed on in prophetic vision to the sorrows of Bethlehem, 5* 54 MATTHEW II. 23, and the more joyful deliverance which should thence ensue, is not clearly announced, though the chapter, taken as a whole, seems to abound in words expressive of a grandeur and magnificence too rich and vast to find their entire fulfilment in the restoration of the Jews from Babylon. There is nothing distinctly said in the Gospel beyond the application of the passage to the mourning at Bethlehem; but if the Jews regarded it as being in some sense one of their M/iessianic prophecies, the few words quoted might carry their minds unconsciously on, from the parallel between the sorrows at Ramah and at Bethlehem, to the higher coincidence between the joys of the deliverance from the captivity at Babylon and the grander deliverance for which they were looking forward to the AMessiah. The force of such allusions comes through the fine but powerful associations which cannot be expressed in words, far more than through any direct or logical appeal to the understanding. Dr. W. AI. Thomson, in his work on Palestine, says (Vol. II. p. 503) in regard to this quotation: "The poetic accommodation of Jeremiah was natural and beautiful. Of course it is accommodation. The prophet himself had no thought of I-Ierod and the slaughter of the infants." That is, in his opinion (and the facts of the case, as far as known, certainly go to sustain him in it), the language of Jeremiah is here quoted, not as a prediction of this event, but merely as furnishing words which describe the sharpness of the sorrow caused by Herod's cruelty. 23. The fourth apparent quotation from the Old Testament is of a different kind. "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets,' Ie shall be called a ]Nazarene~"' No such passage is to be found in the Old Testament. Dr. Palfrey supposes that the reference is to Judges xiii. 5, "Ite shall be a Nazarite." Tischendorf makes the reference to Isaiah xi. 1, where the word translated Branch is in Hebrew Netser or Nazer. But IMATTHEW II. 55 the term Nazarene was one of contempt and disgrace, as the place, and everything belonging to it, John i. 46, were despised among the Jews. When, therefore, St. Matthew speaks of Jesus as dwelling in Nazareth, and of course bearing the despised name of Nazarene, he would soften the prejudice thus awakened, by intimating, though in obscure terms, that even thus he was fulfilling in himself what had been spoken by the prophets of the Messiah, as one despised and rejected of men. The form of speech, "by the prophets," is unlike that which occurs anywhere else in the Gospels when a quotation is made from a particular writer, and of itself would seem to imply that an idea expressed by different prophets, rather than the specific language of any one writer, was what was referred to as fulfilled in Jesus, when he was called by that mean and offensive name. This is the interpretation given by IKuinoel, Olshausen, Trench, and others, and seems to us more natural than any other. But we are too far removed from the times and habits of the writer, and those for whom he wrote, to speak with certainty of allusions which appealed so delicately to their finer sensibilities through the associations growing out of their religious culture N O TE S. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judsaa, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east 2 to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the 1. Herod the king] " Herod the days after he had put to death his Great, son of Antipater, an Idumnan son Antipater, in the seventieth year by an Arabian mother, made king of his age and the thirty-eighth of of Judnea on occasion of his having his reign, and the 750th year of fled to Rome, being driven from his Rome. The events here related tetrarchy by the pretender Antigo- took place a short time before his nus, and confirmed in his office by death." Alford. 2. Where Augustus Cesar after the battle of is he that is born KIing of the Actium. He died miserably, five Jews?] There had prevailed in 56 331ATTHEW II. Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come 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. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judoea; for thus it 5 is written by the prophet: " And thou, Bethlehem, in the land 6 of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda; for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel." Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise 7 men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared, and he sent them to Bethlehem, and said: Go and search dili- s gently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. WThen they had heard the king, they departed. And, lo, the 9 all the East an ancient and con- them as one star of surpassing stant expectation that, according to brightness. Supposing the magi to the fates, men coming from' Jud-e a have seen thefirst of these conjuncshould rule the world,' rerum poti- tions, they saw it actually' in the renter." Suetonius, Vesp. c. 4. east;' for on the 20th of May it "Many had been persuaded that it would rise- shortly before the sun. was contained in the ancient writ- If they then took their journey, and inogF of the priests, that the East arrived at Jerusalem in a little more should prevail, and that men com- than five months, (the journey from ing from Judaea should rule the Babylon took Ezra four months, see world." Tacitus, Hist. V. 13. Ezra vii. 9,) if they performed the to.worship him] " To do route from Jerusalem to Bethlehem homage to him in the Eastern fash- in the evening, as is implied, the Noion of prostration." Alford. vember conjunction in the fifteenth 2. Some readers may be interested degree of Pisces would be before in the following statement, which is them in the direction of Bethlehem, borrowed from astronomical calcu- coming to the meridian about eight;lations, by Alford: —" In the year o'clock, P. AM. These circumstarrof Rome 747, on the 20th of IMay, ces would seem to form a remarkathere was a conjunction of Jupiter ble coincidence with the history in and Saturn in the twentieth degree our text." 4. And when of the constellation Pisces, close to he [I-Ierod] had gathered all the the first point of Aries, which was chief priests and seribes of the the part of the heavens noted inl as- people together] This was probtrological science as that in which ably a meeting of the Jewish Santhe signs denoted the greatest and hedrim, which consisted of seventymost noble events. On the 27th of one members, and was at that time October, in the same year, another the highest religious tribunal known conjunction of the same planets took among the Jews, being composed of place, in the sixteenth degree of priests, Levits, and Israelites. The Pisces; and on the 12th of Novem- scribes were the teachers and interber a third, in the fifteenth degree preters of the law. 6. And of the same sign. On these last two thon, Bethlehem] This free veroccasions the planets were so near, sion of Micah v. 2 is given as the that an ordinary eye would regard report or answer of the Sanhedrim MATTIIEWY II. 57 star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came 10 and stood over where the young child was. W~hen they saw li the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy; and when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with MIary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him; and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto is him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Hlerod, they departed into their own country another way. 13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord 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 14 child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child 15 and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt; and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying: " Out of 16 Egypt have I called my Son." Then I-erod, 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 ri of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by is Jeremy the prophet, saying: "In RPama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because 19 they are not." But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel 20 of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying: Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel; for they are dead which sought the young 21 child's life. And he arose, and took the young child and his 22 mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard to Herod. 9. the star] "If ular language is so universally init is to be understood as standing accurate, and the Scriptures so over the house, and thus indicating generally use popular language, it to the magi the position of the ob- is surely not the letter, but the ject of their search, the whole inci- spirit of the narrative with which dent must be regarded as miracu- we are concerned." Alford. lous. But this is not necessarily 14. and departed into implied, even if the words of the Egypt] where, at no very great text be literally understood; and in distance from Jerusalem, and witha matter like astronomy, where pop- in a Roman province, he would be ~58 3~MATTIIEWV II. that Archelaus did reign in Juduea, in the room of his father Herod, lhe 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 safely beyond Herod's jurisdiction. turned into Galilee, to their own city, 22. Archelaus] succeed- Nazareth," leave room for the ined his father, and at first claimed tervening residence in Egypt? The to be a king; but he never had the subject will be more fully discussed title of king conferred upon him by when we come to treat of the Gosthe Roman Emperor. In the ninth pel of Luke. In the mean time, it is year of his government he was re- well to remember, that, in these very moved from office. 23. And brief and rapid sketches of events he came and dwelst in a city in our Saviour's life, there must, called iNazareth] Had we only from the very character of the narthis Gospel, we should certainly rative, be abrupt transitions from infer that Joseph and Mary had one event to others which occurred previously lived in Bethlehem, and at a wholly different time, and unnow went into Galilee to reside as der entirely different circumstances. in a strange place, while Luke (ii. 4, The Gospel of Matthew or Luke is 39) speaks of them as coming up not much longer than a eulogy on from Nazareth to Bethlehem imme- some eminent man. One Evangediately before the birth of Jesus, list, in his brief sketch, having his and returning again to Nazareth, ap- mind particularly interested in one parently without any delay after class of facts connected with the birth the rites of purification had been of Jesus, might speak of the visit of performed, which, according to the the magi, the cruelty of Herod, and law, would be forty days after his the consequent flight to Egyvpt, while birth. How is this account of another might select a wholly difLuke's to be reconciled with Mat- ferent class of filets, and speak of thewv's account of the flight into the annunciation, the journey firom Egypt, which covered the whole Nazareth to Bethlehem, the vision time between the birth of Jesus and seen by the shepherds, the circumthe death of Herod? It is impossi- cision, the purification, and the subble to determine how long a time sequent removal back to Nazareth, that was, because it cannot be de- without giving any ground to infer termined with certainty in what that either was ignorant of what year Jesus was born. But on any the other has recorded, or that behypothesis it is difficult to recon- cause one has related one class of cile the accounts of the two Evan- events, therefore the other class of gelists. The magi could hardly events, which purports to have ochave reached Bethlehem before the curred at nearly the same time, could purification in the temple; for the not have taken place. Both the remarkable circumstances connect- Evangelists together fail to relate ed with that event (Luke ii. 22- 39) a hundredth part of the incidents must in that case have attracted the which interested those then living now awakened and jealous atten- in Palestine within two years of the tion of Herod. Both the visit of the birth of Jesus. Nothing is more unmagi and the residence in Egypt safe than to infer a contradiction then probably occurred after the from a want of coincidence in two purification and before the return such narratives; for in each of them, to Nazareth. But if Luke had been from a great abundance of facts and aware of these events, would he sayings, - so many, says John, that have omitted all notice of them? the world could not contain them if Does his account, "And w hey they should all be written, —the had performed all things according writer makes such selections as may to the law of the Lord, they re- best suit his purpose, and uses them, MATTHEW II. 59 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. generally without indicating the birth of Jesus, Mark and John say precise time to which they relate. nothing; Matthew relates one series We shall find, as we go on, that it of events intimately connected, and will not do to take any one of the Luke another, while both, exceptGospels as a precise chronological ing a single incident, Luke ii. 41statement of events; still less as an 52, pass over the whole period of his account intended to embrace all the childhood and youth till he was facts belonging to any one period of about thirty years of age. our Saviour's life. As respects the 60 MATTHEW III. CHAPTER III. JOHN THE BAPTIST. THERE was, as we have already seen, among the Jews, a general but indefinite expectation of the Messiah, which had only been strengthened by their national vicissitudes and misfortunes. While they were scattered through distant lands, mingling with other nations, and in some measure adopting their philosophical ideas, the particular form which this expectation assumed varied with the place of their sojourn and their individual habits of thought. "Each region," says Milman, "each rank, each sect: the Babylonian, the Egyptian, the Palestinian, the Samaritan; the Pharisee, the lawyer, the zealot, arrayed the Messiah in those attributes which suited his own temperament." Some one was needed in Judoea to give consistency to these varying expectations, and especially to give them new intensity and power by announcing as already at hand that kingdom of God to which they had been pointing forward through so many centuries. This was the office assigned to the Baptist. He was not a follower of Christ, but only the herald to announce his coming. It was not given to him as it was to the disciples of Jesus, (Matt. xiii. 11,) "to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven," but " the least in the kingdom of God," (Luke vii. 28,) i. e. the humblest Christian, was declared by Jesus to be " greater than he." We must, therefore, be careful not to ascribe to him ideas which could be entertained only by those who had learned them from the Messiah himself. He had been brought up among the mountains of Judoa, IMATTHEWV III. 61 about as far to the south as Jesus was to the north from Jerusalem. IIis habits of life were probably those of a religious recluse, with a conviction borne in upon him that he had been born and set apart for some great and holy purpose. Like the mighty prophet Elijah of old, he was rude in dress, simple in diet, and severe in speech, dwelling in religious thought and prayer amid the solitudes of nature. When the time had at length arrived, he came down from the mountains to the valley of the Jordan. He announced the approaching kingdom of Heaven in terms of startling decision and severity. He warned men to flee from the wrath that was impending over the ungodly, and to prepare themselves, by change of heart and newness of life, to meet the Messiah at his coming. Crowds from all quarters gathered round him. Even Pharisees and Sadducees came to witness his baptism. He sees their national delusion in supposing that, because they are descended from Abraham, they must therefore be admitted into the MIessiah's kingdom. This new kingdom, he tells them, is not thus easily to be entered. " Ye generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Bring forth then fruit worthy of repentance, and do not think to say,'W e have Abraham for our father.' From these stones [that are lying round us] God can raise up children, or successors, to Abraham." And then, to impress them with a sense of the urgency of the occasion, as if not a moment were to be lost, he exclaims, with vehement and terrible earnestness, that the axe even now is lying at the root of the tree, and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is cut [chopped] down and cast into the fire. " I, indeed," he continues, " baptize you with water unto repentance," receiving none to my baptism but those who repent, and confess their sins; "but here is coming one mightier than I, who will subject you to a more searching ordeal, baptizing you, not in water alone, but in the holy spirit [wind] and fire," " for," he says, continuing the same thought still under the imagery 6 62 MATTIEW III. Of wind and fire, "with his winnowing instrument in his hand, he wvill clear up his threshing-floor, gathering the wheat into his storehouse and burning the chaff with unquenchable fire." Some have supposed that John here, by these different kinds of baptism, describes the different degrees of spiritual attainment in his disciples and those of the Messiah. " Baptism with water," says Olshausen, " implies repentance, and purification from sin; baptism with the spirit refers to the inward cleansing in faith, (the Holy Spirit being conceived of as the regenerating principle,) and, lastly, baptism with fire expresses the glorification of the regenerated higher life into its own peculiar nature." But these ideas, however familiar they may be to us, belong, in the higher development of our Christian experience, to a plane of spiritual life and thought which we have reason to suppose that John, who was only the herald or forerunner of Christ, had never reached. As the humblest disciple of Jesus, he "who is least in the kingdom of God," knows more of its interior life and economy than he who was not only " a prophet, but more than a prophet," under the old dispensation, it would be a serious anachronism to assign to John, at that time, so profound a knowledge of the religion of Jesus. The same remark applies also, though with less force, to the interpretations by which the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire are referred to the tongues of flame on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 3, compared with Acts i. 5, xix. 2, 3). For this would be to ascribe to the Baptist, before the ministry of Jesus had begun, a degree of knowledge which the disciples of Jesus did not have till some time after its close. So also the explanation of the baptism of fire by a reference to the " much tribulation" of Acts xiv. 22, and "the fire" (1 Cor. iii. 13) which "shall try every man's work, of what sort it is," implies in John a sort of knowledge which we have no reason to suppose that he possessed. Besides, any one of these interpretations interferes with the straightforward, direct, and vehement earnestness of his speech. MIATTHE~W III. 03 Why did Jesus come, to be baptized by John? The question is one which we cannot fully and confidently answer. But as John had been raised up to announce the immediate coming of the AMessiah, and by his preaching had excited such an expectation in the minds of thousands, the object of all this movement on the part of the Baptist would be lost to the cause, unless his predictions should in some way be connected with Jesus. Jesus, therefore, in the fulness of time, came to John at the Jordan. Whether they had previously had any personal acquaintance with each other is not quite certain. Though their mothers were related, the two families lived in the opposite extremities of Palestine, and probably their only opportunities of meeting would be in Jerusalem, at the great religious festivals. The extraordinary circumstances attending their birth would naturally draw their parents together. The probability, therefore, is that they had had some personal knowledge of each other, and that the expression of the Baptist (John i. 33), " I knew him not," means that he did not till then know him as the Messiah. But in order that the testimony of John should have its due weight with the people, it was important that it should come from him, not as a personal friend and companion of Jesus, but as an independent witness and prophet of God. John, therefore, was brought up under the old dispensation, having only a slight personal acquaintance with Jesus, and came forth, as he was moved by the spirit of God, to herald the coming of that kingdom in which the law and the prophets alike were to find their fulfilment. Like M3oses, he was to lead the people out of their ancient bondage through the wilderness to the very borders of the promised kingdom, seeing it near, pointing it out to his followers, indicating and setting apart their future and greater leader, but himself for wise and weighty reasons, not permitted to enter within its borders. As he was the 64 MATTHEW III. last, and in some respects the greatest of the prophets belonging to the ancient dispensation, Jesus, who submitted to all the requirements of that dispensation, came to receive from him its solemn sanctions, and it has been thought in the very place where Joshua, or Jesus (for the names are the same) led the tribes of Israel on dry ground through the Jordan, there he went down to its baptismal waters, and in his own person consecrated forever the rite which through all coming ages should stand as the sign, if not the seal of admission into his kingdom. As he went up from the water, and stood (Luke iii. 21) praying, his countenance we may suppose radiant with the emotions of the hour, behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he perceived the spirit of God, pure and peaceful as a dove (the sacred bird of Syria) descending, and (John i. 32) resting upon him; and behold, a voice from the heavens saying,'This is my son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased." When John saw Jesus, he was awed by him as in the presence of a superior being, and shrunk from administering to him the rite of baptism. He felt his own inferiority. The "former things" to which he belonged were now to be fulfilled by passing away, through a species of dissolution, into the higher kingdom which is to be inaugurated. With the modest humility which becomes a true servant of God, he submits to the request of Christ, and in so doing receives from heaven the proof that the Messiah has come. He sees, that, like the star which has been the harbinger of a fairer day, he must decrease, (John iii. 30,) while the Sun of Righteousness which he has announced as rising upon the world must increase in brightness and power. In that new kingdom no office was assigned to him. It was appointed in the counsels of Infinite Wisdom that he should stand apart as the appointed herald, but not be a follower of the Messiah. From that day the ministry of John was in fact ended. MATTHEW III. 65 "For this purpose," he said, (John i. 31,) "am I come baptizing with water, that he should be made manifest in Israel," and in proportion as he is made known must the Baptist retire before him. "I am," he said, (John i. 23,) "the voice of one crying in the wilderness," and now that voice having waked the solitudes of Judoea, and turned the expectations of the nation towards the Messiah, recedes again into silence. There is something very touching and very beautiful in the readiness with which this great man, so honored and reverenced among all the people as a prophet of God, humbled himself before Jesus from the first moment of his appearance. And, in all the circumstances of our Saviour's coming, in the blended dignity and humility which marked his personal deportment, and the tokens of divine love and approbation which came down to him from heaven, we see how befitting the work which had been given him to do was this his first entrance on the field of his labors. NOTES. IN those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilder2 ness of Judaea, and saying: Repent ye, for the kingdom of 1. In those days] An indefinite eral proclamation, somewhat in the expression nearly correspondinlg to style of Isaiah's exhortation, to all our at length, or in the cour'se of the inhabitants to assemble along time. In this case it refers to what the proposed route, and prepare the took place nearly thirty years after way before him. The same was the events spoken of in the para- done in 1845 on a grand scale, when graph next preceding it. In Ex- the present Sultan visited Brusa. odus ii. 11 it is used as a form of The stones were gathered out, crookintroduction to events which oc- ed places straightened, and rough curred forty years after those de- ones made level and smooth." Tihe scribed in the previous sentence. Land and the Book, Thomson, II. preaching] proclaim- 106. Sometimes they sent forward ing as a herald who goes before to heralds to announce their approach, announce the coming of a king. and to require the people to make "When Ibrahim Pasha proposed to this preparation for their coming. visit certain places in Lebanon, the in the wilderness] emeers and sheiks sent forth a gen- not strictly a desert, but coinpara-,6 B 66 MATTHEW III. heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the 3 prophet Esaias, saying, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." And the same John had his raiment of camel's 4 hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was tively an uninhabited region round Matt. xiii. 47, 48, and taking into the Jordan. 2. ]iaepent itself the good and the bad till they ye] The Greek word literally re- shall at length be separated in the fers to a change of mind or thought, end of the world; 4. as the Messiah's and implies a change so deep that it kingdom when it shall take the place reaches the very fountain of thought, of the Jewish dispensation after the and therefore touches the inmost destruction of Jerusalem, Luke ix. motives which give their shape and 27; or, 5. as it shall appear in its coloring to the life. Dr. Campbell consummation amid the brighter and Mr. Norton translate it, ReJbr*n; glories of a higher world, when the but this to most minds conveys the Son of man shall sit on the throne impression of an external change of his glory, Matt. xxv. 31, when it rather than of one which, beginning shall be fulfilled in the kingdom of in the soul, works outward through God, Luke xxii. 16, or when through the conduct, till mind and heart and much tribulation we shall enter the life alike are transformed. The word kingdom of God, Acts xiv. 22. Repent is confined too exclusively to These different meanings melt inthe inward feeling of sorrow, which sensibly into one another. We have is only the beginning of the change no reason to suppose that John the that is required. 2. the Baptist understood the expression kingdom of heaven] literally, at all in its higher signification, but the kingdom of the heavens, - a form only as indicating an outward, visiof expression used only by Matthew, ble kinigdom, founded on the printhe other Evangelists using the term ciples of righteousness, but exerciskingdom of God. Some stress has ing an earthly authority and power. been laid, and perhaps not without 3. For this is he reason, on this expression as indi- that Mrwas spoken of by the cating a plurality of heavens, corre- prophet Esaias] The quotation sponding to the many mansions in is from the Septuagint. The whole his Father's house which Jesus passage should be read (Isaiah xl.) speaks of (John xiv. 2), and adapted in order to understand the effect to the sons of God in the different intended by the introduction of a stages of their spiritual progress. few of the words here. The BapThe idea of the kingdom of Heaven tist, in John i. 23, describes'himself or kingdom of God as synonymous by these same words. 4. his with the Messiah's kingdom was raiment of camel's hair, and a probably familiar to the Jews, bor- leathern girdle about Ilis loins] rowed, perhaps, from passages like The Jews expected Elijah as the Daniel ii. 44. It is used in the New forerunner of the Messiah, and this Testament with different shades of description corresponds to that of meaning to indicate the Messiah's Elijlah in 2 Kings i. 8, He [Elijah] kilngdom: 1. as an inward principle was an hairy man, and girt with a of life in the soul (the kingdom of girdle of leather about his loins." God is within you, Luke xvii. 21); Elijah was intimately associated in 2. as a divine power extending the Jewish mind with the Messiah,;hrough the world and chanoillng as his forerunner, and Jesus himself its whiole character (a little leaven xvii. 10 - 13, distinctly declares that which leaveneth the whole mass, this expected Elijah is none other Matt. xii. 33); 3. as an organized than John the Baptist. The prophpolity, like a net cast into the sea, ecy which probably gave rise to the MATTHEW III. 67 6 locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, 6 and all Judasa, and all the region round about Jordan; and 7 were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But wheni he saw many of the Plarisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them: O generation of vipers, who hath s warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth expectation is a remarkable one, rificial types of expiation. It was and, from its place at the very end from these familiar and significant of the Jewish Scriptures, M~alachi ablutions that John's baptism was iv. 5, 6, must have attracted par- derived, and not from the practice ticular attention: " Behold, I will of baptizing proselytes, the antiquisend you Elijah the prophet before ty of which as a distinct rite is distle coming of the great and dreadful puted." Alexander on Mark. "It day of the Lord, and he shall turn was in itself," says Stanley7, " no the heart of the fathers to the chil- new ceremony. Ablutions, in the dren, and the heart of the children East, have always been Ilore or less to their fathers, lest I collle and smite a p'trt of religious worship, easily the earth with a curse." This de- performed and always welcome. scribes the influence of John in Every sylnagogule, if possible, was preaching his doctrine of repent- by the side of a stream or spring; ance, and thus preparing the helarts every mosque, still, requires a founof the people, parents and childlren, tain or basin for lustrations in its for the comingm of Christ. and court." 7. Pharisees his ineat was locusts and r ild d and Sadducees] Josephus reprehoney] Locusts, first boiled and sents these two sects as originating then dried in the sun, and carried about one hundred and fifty years like parched corn in bags, are still before Christ. They overlaid the sometimes used as anl article of food law and the prophets by their traby the Bedouin on the frontiers of ditions, and, like all sects wrho trust Syria. The insects were grasshop- to forms and traditions, they negpers, and not locusts, and should be lected the spirit of their religion, and so read wherever the word occurs became remarkable for their superin the Bible. Jaeger. Thle wiMld stition and hypocrisy. They had honey was not, as some have thought, great influence, as their representa vegetable product exuding from atives in all ages have among their trees, but honey made by wild bees. own people, and, like their succes" ild honey," says ThomsonL, "is sors now, were the most nmalignant still gathered in large quantities from enemies of Jesus, as he appeared in trees in the wilderness, and from the simplicity of his instructions rocks in the wadies, just where the and the purity of his life. The SadBaptist sojourned, and where he ducees, who were supposed to be came preaching the baptism of re- so called fiom a Hebrew word, pentalce." 6. And emeaning righteousness, rejected all were Baptized of him in Joor- tradition, and, though it was not dan] " When ses, were admitted originally one of their distinguishing as proselytes, three rites were per- features, yet in our Saviour's time formed, - circumcision, baptism, they denied the reality of a future and oblation; when svoeen, two, - life. By confining themselves to a baptism and oblation. The whole bare, literal, moral conformity to families of proselytes, including in- the law of Moses, they lost all spiritfants, were baptized." Alford. ual life, and with it all belief in " BcptieSn, symbolical or ceremnonial spiritual influences or spiritual bewashing, such as thle iMosaic law ings. Tley asre the type of the carprescribed as a sign of moral reno- ial unbelief wahich prevails among vation, and connected with the sac- the philosophical classes, and those 68 MATTHEW IiI. therefore fruits meet for repentance, and think not to say with- 9 in yourselves, We have Abraham to our father; for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of lo the trees; therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize ii you with water, unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; 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. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan, unto John, to be 13 whose thoughts are "' bound up in being solely of that higher and more a materialistic prosperity." perfect baptism to which that of 11. The Holy Chost] The word John was a mere introduction." translated Ghost or Spirit means Alford. 12. Whose also air or wind, and the comparison fan ] the winnowing shovel with is between water with which John which the grain when thrashed was baptized and the more searching tossed into the air so as to separate elements wind and fire, by which the chaff from the wheat. the Messiah should try his follow- he will thoroughly purge his ers. WThose shoes, foor] The threshing-floor may &c.] In the Talmud it is said, sometimes have been a large, flat 6 Every office a servant will do for rock, but usually it was a level spot his master, a scholar should perform of earth trodden or rolled smooth for his teacher, except loosing his and hard. The grain was beaten sandal thong." Milman's History of out by flails, or trodden out by Christianity, Book I. Chap. 3. The oxen. 13. to Jordan] office lower than' that of a disciple " It was the one river of Palestine, to the Messiah, which the Baptist - sacred in its recollections,- abunspeaks of as stilltoo high for him, is dant in its waters; and yet, at the used to indicate, not only his rever- same time, the river, not of cities, ence for that exalted being, but also but of the wilderness, — the scene his consciousness of the remarkable of the preaching of those who dwelt fact, that, in the purposes of the not in king's palaces, nor wore soft Almighty, it was not appointed for clothing. On the banks of the rushhim to hold even the lowest place ing stream the multitudes gathered, in the new kingdom which he had - the priests and scribes from Jeruannounced. According to Lightfoot, salem, down the pass of Adummin; it was the token of a slave having the paublicans from Jericho on the become his master's property, to south, and the Lake of Gennesareth loose his shoe, to tie the stane, or to on the north; the soldiers on their carry the necessary articles for him way from Damascus to Petra, to the bath. and with through the Ghor, in the war with fire] " The double symbolic refer- the Araab chief Hareth, the peasants ence of fire, elsewhere found, e. g. from Galilee, -with ONE from NazalMark ix. 49, as purifying the good reth, through the opening of the and consuming the evil, is hardly to plain of Esdraelon. The tall' reeds' be pressed into the interpretation of or canes in the jungle waved, J/ire in this verse. the prophecy here' shaken by the wind'; the pebbles MATTHEW III. 69 14 baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying: I have need s1 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. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting up17 on him. And, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. of the bare clay hills lay around, to poured upon him while he stood in which the Baptist pointed as capa- the river near its bank. We have ble of being transformed into'the no certain knowledge on the subchildren of Abraham'; at their feet ject. If it had been important we rushed the refreshing stream of probably should have had it. But the never-failing river. There be- why should his precise mode of gan that sacred rite, which has baptism be of consequence any more since spread throughout the world, than the particular garment which through the vast baptistries of the he then wore? If it is essential to southern and Oriental churches, baptism that we should enter the gradually dwindling to the little water precisely as he did, why is it fonts of the north and west; the not essential to the Lord's Supper plunges beneath the water dimin- that in partaking of it we should ishing to the few drops which, by recline upon a couch as he did'? It a wise exercise of Christian free- is foreign to the whole tone of his dom, are now in most churches the instructions to lay any stress on the sole representative of the full stream external and incidental adjuncts of of the Descending River." Stanlev. a form. 15. Suffer it to to be baptized of be so now] Let it be so for the him] We know too little of the present, just now. It is fitting that significance of this rite at that time we both of us should fulfil all rightamong the Jews, and especially as eousness, i. e. all requirements of it was administered by John, to un- the law. For the present, therefore, derstand why Jesus should himself permit me as the fulfiller of the law have observed it. In addition to to receive this rite while you as its what we have suggested in our gen- agent administer it. 16. eral remarks on the subject, it may ansd he saw the Spirit of God also be true, as Alford says, that lie descending like a dove] This did it "as bearing the infirmities may have been a mental vision, and carrying the sorrows of man- open to the spiritual perceptions of kind, and thus beginning here the Jesus and of the Baptist, John i. 32, triple baptism of water, fire, and or it may have been the actual bodblood, two parts of which were now ily shape of a dove appearing to accomplished, and of the third of them as symnbolical of the pure and which he himself speaks, Luke xii. peaceful spirit of God and of him who 60, and the beloved Apostle, 1 John that day was first publicly set apart v. 8, where spirit stands for fire." for his great and sacred work. We Great stress is laid on the manner should translate the verse as follows: in which Jesus was baptized, wheth- Andlc the moment that Jesus, being er it was by immersion, effusion, or baptized, was gone up out of the sprinkling The comiuzgy p out of water, lo, the heavens were opened the weater seems to imply that he to him, and lie saw the spirit of God, went down into the water, whlee he descending like a dove, comilg upon was either immersed, or had water him. 70 MATTHEW IV. 1-11. C HIAPTE IR IV. 1-11. — THE TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNTESS. WTV suppose that very few able scholars of our day regard the account of the Temptation as an account of events which actually took place according to the letter of the narrative. Some - Schleiermacher, for example - look upon it as a parable by which Jesus would impress most important lessons on the minds of his disciples. "Three leading maxims of Christ," he says, in his Critical Essay on the Gospel of St. Luke, "for himself and for those who were invested by him with extraordinary powers for the promotion of his kingdom, are therein expressed: the first, to perform no miracle for his own advantage, even under the most pressing circumstances; the second, never to undertake, in the hope of extraordinary Divine aid, anything which, like the dropping from the pinnacle of the temple, as it does not lie in the natural course of things, would be merely prodigious; lastly, never, though the greatest immediate advantage were by that means attainable, to enter into fellowship with the wicked, and still less into a state of dependence upon them; and Christ could not express himself more strongly against the opposite mode of conduct than by ascribing it to Satan...... In such a sense, then, Christ delivered this parable to his disciples." These undoubtedly are in part the lessons taught by the temptation in the wilderness. But it is doing violence to the language and spirit of the narrative to interpret it as applying in no way to the inward personal expe MATTHEW IV. 1-11. 71 rience of Jesus. Jesus, "conceived of the JIoly Spirit," had nevertheless been subjected to the mental as well as physical conditions of our human nature, and, instead of attaining at once, by reason of his divine origin, to "all the fulness of God," grew not only "in stature," but "in wisdom, and in favor with God and man." This sense of intimate union with God must have grown up in him with the unfolding consciousness of inward life and power, and have been dependent in some measure on the influences which usually affect our human sensibilities. In taking upon himself our infirmities, he was of course subject in some degree to our fluctuations of feeling, and exposed, as we find in his history, to periods of unusual elevation or depression of spirit. Though living "in the bosom of the Father," "not alone because the Father was with him," yet there were times when, under the pressure of severe mental or bodily anguish, his sense of oneness with God was for the moment disturbed or lost, and he prayed in agony of spirit that the cup might pass from him, or, as if wholly deserted, uttered his cry of complete desolation upon the cross. At the time of his baptism Jesus seems to have been lifted up into a state of unusual spiritual exaltation, and being (Luke iv. 1) full of the Holy Spirit, he was led away, as by a divine impulse, -'" led up of the Spirit," - into the solitary and mountainous regions about Jericho, and there gave himself to the thoughts suitable to his nature and condition, and to the great and solemn work on which he was now to enter. Mlark describes the savage features of the country by saying that Jesus was there "with the wild beasts." He remained forty days. So. Moses was in the mountain (Ex. xxxiv. 28) "forty days and forty nights," and "he did neither eat bread nor drink wine," and Elijah (1 Kings xix. 8) went in the strength of what he had eaten "' forty days and forty nights unto Horeb, the mount of God." It is impossible to say how long without 72 MATTHEW IV. 1 —11. any natural or supernatural sustenance the body may continue, while the mind is withdrawn from outward interests and wholly absorbed in matters pertaining to its own sphere and life. By such an absorption of mind, the body may be thrown out of its normal condition, and as, in some extraordinary cases of swooning, may remain in what would seem almost a temporary suspension of the animal functions. However this may be, Jesus was in the wilderness forty days, either wholly without food, or with only such scant and insufficient nutriment as the mountain solitudes might offer, without thought or care on his part. The soul, abstracted from the body and material things, dwelt apart in a world of its own. But at last, the body, overcome by its long privations and the strain to which its finer organs had been subjected, sunk down, and the mind was called away from its own meditations and emotions to sympathize with the pangs of bodily suffering. The soul which had been lifted up to such heights of spiritual insight, and burdened with such a weight of duty and of glory, was now brought down to a keen and painful sense of earthly weaklness, and the first thought that occurred to him was to employ the miraculous powers with which he had been gifted as the Son of God to turn the stones around him into loaves. From whatever source the thought may have come, it was probably entertained in that halfunconscious state, which we sometimes experience when the mind is so occupied with other matters that we mechanically assent to what is proposed for our physical comfort or relief. There was nothing of itself sinful in the act suggested. But when the attention of Jesus was awakened, he saw whither the suggestion tended, and that, in employing his miraculous powers to satisfy his personal wants, he should stoop from his perfect disinterestedness, and spend on a low and selfish object gifts bestowed on him for the highest good of all. iNo craving of hunger should make him forget the higher wants of his nature. MATTHEW IV. 1- 11. 73 6"Not by bread alone," he replies, in language borrowed from the great lawgiver of Israel (Deut. viii. 3), "but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, doth man live." Having thus appealed from the exactions of hunger to the sources of a higher life in God, he is next tried by a suggestion of an entirely different character. He knew how gross and earthly were the expectations of the Messiah which prevailed among his countrymen, and how impossible it would be to overcome their prejudices, change all their ideas and habits of thought, by the life of humiliation and sorrow which he was to lead among them. Why shall he not seek to reach their hearts in some other way? Instead of shocking their most dearly cherished hopes, and repelling them forever from his kingdom, why shall he not enforce upon them the terms of his great mission by some public and extraordinary display of his miraculous endowments, and so overcome them with wonder and astonishment that they will hail him at once as the deliverer who had for so many centuries been foretold by prophets and longed for by patriarchs and kings? In thought, he is borne to the summit of a lofty wing of the temple, while hundreds of thousands are gathered there at one of the great national festivals. As they are gazing upward towards him he is tempted to ask why he shall not cast himself down, knowing that as the Son of God he will be upborne by his angels and permitted to come to no harm? Thus he would show his confidence in God, and at the same time inaugurate his kingdom on the earth under the most favorable circumstances. The thought evidently had power to move and disturb him. But instantly he detects the dark design which lies concealed under this specious proposal. HIe sees that, instead of showing confidence in God by this vain and presumptuous display of his powers, he would only be tempting his providence. As the temptation was enforced by words taken from the Psalms, so he 7 74 MATTHEW IV. 1- 11. replies in language taken also from the Scriptures (Deut. vi. 16), "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." In the first temptation, the motive, the desire to appease his hunger, was innocent, but the object was unworthy the intervention of his miraculous powers. In the second temptation, the object, the speedy establishment of his kingdom, was worthy, but the motive which lay concealed under it, the love of immediate distinction, coupled with an unwillingness to wait God's time, was wrong. There yet remains another form in which the temptation may come. The question which might be supposed to be uppermost in the mind of Jesus was, how he might most effectually accomplish his work. The great changes which had been wrought, even in the religious ideas and institutions of mankind, had been accompanied, if not actually brought about and impressed on the common mind, by great political and social rovolutions. It was so that Moses, placed in the exercise of his miraculous powers at the head of the Jewish people, led them out of Egypt, and established a higher worship and a more beneficent law. Why then may not Jesus, in establishing a still purer faith and worship, enlist on his side the powers of this world through the universal dominion to which he may attain by the exercise of his marvellous endowments? It was no dream of earthly ambition, no vulgar thought of royal or imperial magnificence, that could be permitted even to approach the mind of Jesus, still less to throw a momentary shadow over it, or awaken one disturbing emotion or desire. But by placing himself at the head of the nations, at that grand crisis of human affairs, might he not more speedily and more effectually establish the kingdom of God among men than through the ignominious path of weaklness, sorrow, humiliation, and death? May he not in this way save his followers from the mortification and sorrows to which they must be exposed? For a moment the thought came over him. But then, how shall such power over the nations be gained? How secure the earthly throne through which his MATTHEW IV. 1 —11. 75 heavenly kingdom is to be advanced? There is but one reply. Only by falling down and worshipping the prince of this world, only by submitting to its spirit and maxims, only by stooping to such considerations and measures as may influence worldly minds, can he bring the powers of the world under him. The cross, which he has seen looming up in the divine majesty of humiliation and suffering at the very entrance into his kingdom, must be lowered before the ensigns of earthly greatness. The crown of righteousness, which shines with no earthly splendors and for no mortal eyes, must grow dim and pale before the dazzling glories of an earthly diadem. Those great words hereafter to be uttered, and to carry terror into the hearts of kings, "Ily kingdom is not of this world," the sublime and perfect trust, which in the very hour and power of darkness would not call in even the legions of obedient angels to enforce his authority or defend him from wrong, must give way to the appeal to human prejudices and passions, to the marshalling of hosts and the bloody caparisons of war, that so the Prince of Peace may establish his reign of peace upon the earth. The thought is one abhorrent to every principle of his nature and his religion. The motive appealed to was high and pure; the end was the very one for which he was born into the world; but the means were bad. Instantly the disguise of the tempter is torn off, and his dark purposes are unmasked. "If only thou wilt fall down and worship me." He repels alike the temptation and the tempter with an energy of expression which shows how much he had been disturbed by the thought, and how vehemently he abhors and detests the blasphemous condition which had been so artfully concealed within it. " Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written [Deut. vi. 13], Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." -It is remarkable, that the only other instance in which our Saviour used this energetic expression of abhorrence occurred when, in reply to his prediction of the sufferings and shameful death which 76 MATTHEW IV. 1 —11. awaited him, Peter (Matt. xvi. 23) began to rebuke him in words which implied that the Messiah could not thus meanly and ignobly die. This was the one suggestion of evil, veiling itself in garments of light, which he met with the sharpest exhibition of sensibility and impatience. Here the Devil left him, as St. Luke says, " for a season," and " behold, angels came and ministered unto him." There is nothing in either of the Evangelists to imply that the tempter came in bodily shape, or that such a presence was recognized in any other way than by the nature of the suggestions that were made. Whether there really is a prince of darkness, a malignant and mighty spirit, who had access to the mind of Jesus, with power to instil into it thoughts of evil under the guise of holiness and faith, is a question that we shall consider more fully hereafter. See xiii. 24- 30. We know, however, too little of the unseen world of spiritual existences, and especially of the dark background of evil which lies behind all actual sin, to be able to speak with confidence on such a subject. How far that invisible realm of life may be peopled by spiritual beings good and bad, how far, if at all, the two orders of spiritual beings may be allowed to intermingle and carry on their various works, what limitations are assigned to their free action, and how the kingdoms of light and darkness may be arrayed one against the other, are questions which we cannot specifically answer. An evil man separated from the body is an evil spirit. There is then, so far as we can see, no more reason why evil spirits should not exist than that evil men should not. " There is nothing," says Mr. Norton, (Translation of the Gospels, Vol. II. pp. 61, 62,) " in the idea of daemons being allowed to affect the minds and bodies of men irreconcilable with anything we see in the moral-government of God. There is no proof a priori against such agency." It narrows down the world in which Jesus moved, far more than reason gives us any warrant for doing, to cut him off from connection with all existences, except God on the one hand, and man with MATTHEW IV. 1- 11. 77 the laws and forces of the material universe on the other. We cannot say how far the work of redemption in which he was engaged allied to itself the sympathy and employed the assistance and fellowship of angels, such as here came and ministered to him, or of holy men in their spiritual estate, such as Moses and Elijah who talked with him on the mountain of Transfiguration. Neither can we say how far his mighty work of redemption may have reached down through realms of spiritual darkness, and arrayed against him the active malignity of evil spirits as well as of wicked men. Without the recognition of such existences both above and below, passages in his life, such as the temptation, the transfiguration, the agony, the cry upon the cross, to which the wondering and trusting instincts of his followers have turned in all ages, lose much of their sublime moral significance, and their mysterious spiritual power. The victory which he gained in the wilderness was over something more than a passing thought of evil, which of itself could have had no power to shake his firm and sinless mind. It was the first of that series of struggles and victories through which he was to overthrow the very empire of darkness, and " destroy him that had the power of death." While we thus view the temptation as one which actually occurred to Jesus in the suggestion of thoughts which for the time disturbed and agitated his spirit, we may see in it an epitome of the heaviest temptations that can assail his disciples, and of the way in which they should be overcome. There are the temptations of desire, - the love of enjoyment, the love of admiration, and the love of power, not presenting themselves to us in their coarse and selfish colors, as self-indulgence, vanity, and ambition, but clothing themselves in hues borrowed from heaven, and insinuating themselves into our hearts by false appeals to high and generous and holy ends. There is no sin in laboring to satisfy our bodily wants; but to concentrate our highest and best gifts on this work is to lose sight of the more essential truth, that we are to live not 7* 78 MATTHEW IV. 12- 16. by bread alone, but by all the influences and teachings of God. In that way the soul will be impoverished by the low and narrow acts to which it is devoted. On the other hand, in a high and religious act, throwing ourselves as favored ones of heaven on the special providence of God, that through the wonder thus excited we may gain over advocates to his cause, we may be led by hidden motives of personal vanity unconsciously to tempt and provoke that Providence whose leadings we ought to wait for and obey. Or while both the end and the motive are right, in our impatient zeal to advance what we believe to be the cause of righteousness and God, we may be tempted to stoop to unsanctified means, and to consent for the time to worship even the Devil in his disguise, if only he, with the powers which have been committed to him, will help us on in our work. 12-16. - MAKES HIS HOME IN CAPERNAUM. From the way in which the narrative goes on, we should suppose that the events recorded in the twelfth and following verses succeeded immediately to the Temptation. But from the first five chapters of John, we find that a considerable period of time and some important acts here intervened. Jesus, immediately after the Temptation, had come to John the Baptist, who on seeing him pronounced to his followers the remarkable words, "Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Jesus then returned to Galilee where his first miracle was performed, and afterwards came up to Jerusalem to the Passover. It was probably while he was at Jerusalem that he heard of John's imprisonment, which led him to hasten his return to Galilee. On his way back to Galilee he had the conversation with the woman of Samaria, which is related in the fourth chapter of John. He now left Nazareth and took up his abode at Capernaum, which was near the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee, though its pre MATTHEW IV. 17-22. 79 cise locality is not known with certainty. The quotation from the. Old Testament is part of the remarkable passage already alluded to in the first chapter of }Matthew,.and might well be employed by the writer to call the attention of his Jewish readers to the extraordinary events which he is about-to record as in some sense a fulfilment of the hardly less extraordinary prediction. Isa. viii. 22; ix. 1-7. 17-22. - THE CALL OF SIMON PETER AND ANDREW HIS BROTHER, AND OF JOHN AND HIS BROTHER JAMES. The readiness with which this call was obeyed would indicate some previous knowledge of Jesus on their part, such as we find (John i. 35-42) that they actually had, The expectations excited by John the Baptist were kept intensely alive by Jesus, though he had not yet publicly declared himself to be the Messiah. His proclamation (iv. 17) is the same as that of the Baptist: "Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." But while he used and continued to use words familiar to the Jews as describing an earthly kingdom, he took them up, as he did so many other Jewish phrases, into a higher plane of thought, and gradually invested them with a higher meaning and a purer spirit. He did not institute a new religious language; but by a change of heart and life and thought through the great truths which he proclaimed, he would fill out old and familiar expressions with new ideas, and make them glow with the new light which he had thrown into them. 23 - 25. The nature of the diseases which are here specified, and the character of his miracles, will be more properly considered in the specific cases as they occur hereafter. 80! MATTHEW IV. NOTES. TIHEN was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days 2 and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when 3 the tempter came to him, he said: If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered 4 and said, It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, 1. Led up of the Spirit] Luke that any amount much less than says: " And Jesus, being full of the usual means' nothing' in their diaHoly Ghost, returned from Jordan, lect; and if you understand more by and was led by the Spirit into the it, you are misled. In fact, their wilderness;" i. e. Jesus, filled with ordinary fasting is only abstaining the spirit of God, and therefore de- from certain kinds of food, not from siring a season of solitude, was led all, nor does the word convey any up into the wilderness, where he other idea to them." It may, howmnight give himself up entirely to ever, be taken here in its stricter the thoughts and emotions which meaning. Luke says, iv. 2, "And pressed upon him, and rapt him as in those days he did eat nothing." it were in an ecstasy so absorbing 3. And when the that for the time all consideration tempter came to lim] He was of earthly things, even of his own hungry, and in his hunger the temptbodily wants, was forgotten. er came to him. Oppressed with the wilderness] Probably the hunger, his mind reverted to the wild and mountainous region above words spoken at his baptism, " This Jericho, which, from the forty days, is my beloved son; " and the thought is called Qcarantaria. Others sup- was suggested to him, "If thou art pose it to have been the Arabian des- really the Son of God, turn these ert of Sinai, where Moses and Elijah stones into bread, and relieve thy each fasted forty days. We do not necessities." But immediately he think that Jesus attached any im- replies to the suggestion, from whatportance to such coincidences in ever source it may have come; time or place. His teachings and 4. It is written, Man shall his life belong to a higher sphere of not tive by bread alone] "Even thought. to be tempted] in bread man lives not by bread only, In order, or so as to be tempted; for is not the life more than meat? the result put as if it had been the Is not the word, the will, the power design. He was so filled with the of God in everything; so that we do spirit of God, that he sought for not inhale our very breath from the himself a solitary place where he air [alone], but from the breath of miht give himself up entirely to God?....In the deepest meaning Him, and there, after his physical of the essential and only truth, all energies had become entirely ex- things in the world, after their kind, hausted, was a reaction in his mind. are only variously embodied words of the devil] For this of the Creator, inasmuch as by his word see Dis. here and XIII., and mighty word alone they are upheld Note xiii. 39. 2. fasted in being...... What is man? Not forty days and forty nights] the body with its earthly, animal In regard to the Oriental use of soul, but the true and proper man, language in our clay, Thomson, I. that is, the living spirit which came 132, says: " You may take this as forth from God, which only lives in a general canon of interpretation, and by the spirit of God, which con MIATTIIHEW IV. 81 but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." o Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth 6 him on a pinnacle of the temple; and saith unto him, If thou be 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 again, s " Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Again, 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 9 saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt lo fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him: Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, " Thou shalt worship the tinually goes forth as word for the Ant. XV. 11. 5. The actual height preservation of the creature..... above the bottom of the valley was But this leads us further and fur- probably not less than three hunther; and' not alone' vindicates again dred and ten feet." Robinson. the true life of man in God, against 7. " Wherein consists such as in their error cleave to any the tempting of God on the part of institution of the means of life, as if man? It is the complete opposite it was not God alone in them that of the seeking in faith, of the waitgave them efficacy. As a general ing upon God in the obedience and rule the word of God, externally confidence of trust, a self-willed written and preached, is given for demand of the mighty help of God; the food of the inner man; but inas- and consequently unbelief, disobemuch as the living word of God in dience, and distrust are its innerthe word is the true word, thou most principles..... Every sin in mayest, if it be his will, without its innermost principle is, properly Scripture and preaching, live by speaking, a tempting and challenghis spirit; without intercourse with ing of God; since he who should brethren be connected with the obey tests the Almighty whether Church; even without the physical the way of his own self-will shall bread of the sacrament, receive, not prosper. But then, particularly, nevertheless, the heavenly bread. when the unbelief and disobedience Every manna given by God in the of self-will presses forward in what creaturely form is a witness that is false presumption, though seempoints beyond itself to the imme- ingly only a firm confidence in diate outgoing of God's life for the promised assistance, as if God must life of manl." Stier. 5. and should hearken to it; this is piunnacle of the tempie] mrre- the marked aggravation of sin, to pytmov, wing, "spoken of the high- which Satan here allures." Stier. est point of the temple buildings, 10. Get thee hence, probably the elevation of the middle Satan] The term Satan may here portion of the triple portico or colon- be applied to the evil suggestion, as nade along the southern wall, which it is in xvi. 23. and him only] at its eastern end impended over Deut. vi. 13; x. 20. The quotation, the vallev of Kidron; so that if from like most of the quotations in Matits roof one attempted to look down thew, is from the Septuagint, and not into the gulf below, his eyes became friom the Hebrew, where the word dark and dizzy before they could meaning only is not to be found. penetrate the immense depth; Jos. 11. Then the devil leaveth 82 3MATTHEW IV. Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Then the devil 11 leaveth him; and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. 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 him, and, behold, angels came transaction seemed as if it had acand ministered unto him] The tually passed before him. " The presence of the evil spirit and the temptation of Jesus," says Olshauministry of the angels rest here on sen, " stands as one of those decisive the same authority. But we must events, such as are met with in a not confound our popular idea of lower degree in common life also, the devil with that of the Evange- and which, by the determination list. Still less are we to confound that we take in them, give a direcwith it the philosophical idea bor- tion to the whole after-life. The rowed from the East, which makes Saviour here appears as standing the prince of darkness the almost between the two worlds of light and equal antagonist of God. Whatever darkness. As the hostile powers else they may teach on this sub- fled, heavenly powers surrounded ject, the Gospels lend no counte- him, and joined in celebrating the nance to any such doctrine as this. victory of good." " Since," he conThe most that can be legitimately tinues, " the temptation of Jesus inferred from them is, that there are took place in the depth of his inevil spirits, and one at their head, ward life without witnesses, we must "the devil and his angels," xxiv. regard the narration of Jesus as the 41, who, within certain limits al- only source of information and teslowed by God, may have the power timony to its reality." 13. of suggesting evil thoughts. There And leaving Nazareth9 he is nothing in this chapter to show came and dwelt in Capernathat Satan appeared in bodily form um] " Nazareth, Kefri, Kenna, or to the outward eye, even if we KnIqn, and all the regions adjasuppose the language to mean that cent, where our Lord lived,. and he was personally present. All that where he commenced his ministry, is implied, even on that supposition, and by his miracles'manifested is, that Satan, seeing our Saviour's forth his glory,' were within the helpless condition, - limits of Zebulon; but Capernaunm, "Ill wast thou shrouded then, 0 patient Chorazin, and Bethsaida were in Son of God! "- Naphtali. It was this latter tribe that was' by the way of the sea betook advantage of his weariness, yond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.' exhaustion, and consequent de- Zebulon did not touch the sea at any pression, and suggested to him the point, but the territories of these two thoughts here recorded, as if they tribes met at the northeast corner of had been the spontaneous sug- the Bfittauf, not far from Khan, and gestiodls of his own mind. There is within these two tribes thus united nothing which proves it to have been our Lord passed nearly the whole of the writer's intention to say that he his wonderful life." Thomson, II. transported Jesus bodily to the tem- 122, 123. 14, 15. which pie and mountain. The most that was spoken by Esaias] The can be inferred is, that he took him passage here following is a free away in thought or in spirit, pre- quotation from Isa. ix. 1, 2. Dr. senting to him these objects and Noyes's translation from the Hesuggestions so vividly that the whole brew is as follows: - MATTHEW IV, 83 is which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying: " The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the 1s 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. 8s And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net 19 into the sea; for they were fishers. And he saith unto them: 20 Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they 21 straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, 22 mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. 23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the 24 people. And his fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought unto him all sick people, that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with 1 "But the darkness shall not remain 7 " IIis domain shall be great. where now is distress; And peace without end shall rest Of old he brought the land of Zebulon Upon the throne of David and his and the land of Nephtali into con- kingdom. tempt; He shall fix and establish it In future times shall he bring the land Through justice and equity, of the sea, beyond the Jordan, the Henceforth and forever." circle of the Gentiles, into honor. It is difficult to suppose that this 2 " The people that walk in darkness language was intended to express behold a great light; nothing more than the temporal They who dwell in the land of death- prosperity of the land under any liUke shade, one of its kings. 23. in their Upon them a light shineth. es] Synagoes are sy nagoges "Syngogues are 5 "For the greaves of the warrior armed not mentioned till after the captivifor the conflict, ty. See Jos. Ant., XIX. 6. 3;De Bel. And the war-garments rolled in blood. Jud., VII.3.3. InthetimeofJesus Shall be burned; yea, they shall be they were spread all over Palestine, as well as among the dispersed Jews; 6 " For to us a child is born, in Jerusalem there are said to have To us a son is given, been four hundred and eighty of And the government shall be upon his them." Olshusen. Theofficersof shoulder, And he shall be called the synagogue appear to have been, Wonderful, counsellor, mighty poten- -1. the ruler of the synagogue, tate; Luke viii. 49; xiii. 14, who had the Everlasting father, prince of peace. care of public order, and the arrange 84 MATTTHEW IV. devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great 25 multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judma, and from beyond Jordan. ment of the service; 2. the elders, were seats, the first row of which who with the ruler formed a sort of appear to have been coveted, Matt. council; 3. the substitute or angel xxiii. 6; a pulpit for the reader of the assembly, - legatus or angelus lamps, and a chest for keeping the eccleske, —who was the reader of sacred book." From this account it prayers, &c.; 4. the v7rrlpqr S, or is easy to see how the Christian chapel clerk, to prepare the books Church, with its service, grew out for reading, to sweep, &o. There of the Jewish synagogue. MBATTHEW V. 85 C.APTER V. INTRODUCTION TO THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. THE precise order of events is not observed by St. Matthew. He does not distinctly point out the time when the Sermon on the Mount was given. After a passage, iv. 23 - 25, which, in its general terms applying to Christ's manner of life and the extent of territory which he visited, may cover no small part of his ministry in Galilee, this particular discourse is specified; but, except what might be inferred from the part of the narrative in which it occurs, no reference is made to the time when it was given. It is very much as if the writer had said, Jesus went for a considerable period of time through an extensive region, performing miraculous cures and attended by great multitudes of people. On one occasion, when he saw an immense concourse of people who had come from Galilee and Decapolis, from Jerusalem and Judxea, and from beyond the Jordan, he went up into a mountain. Luke vi. 12-18, on the other hand, indicates the time and the circumstances. It was just after Jesus had chosen his twelve disciples. He had retired into a mountain to spend the night in prayer. And in the morning, having set apart his twelve disciples, he came down to a level spot on the mountain, and there, when great multitudes had come to him, and he had healed their sick, "he lifted up his eyes on his disciples," and, addressing himself particularly to them, uttered these words. The fact of his speaking particularly to his disciples must be borne in mind, in order to understand the extent and bearing of some of the directions. Though containing principles applicable to all his followers in all 8 86 MATTHEW V. ages, they were primarily addressed to the Apostles, and have some specific rules which apply particularly to them and to those who may be situated as they were. Jesus had as yet made no public proclamation of the character of his kingdom. The multitudes were gathering round him in eager expectation of the time when he would raise the standard under which they should march on to victory and universal dominion. They thought only of an outward, visible kingdom, whose throne should be established by overthrowing existing governments, and placing the Jewish people, under their divine leader, at the head of all the nations of the earth. The visions of warlike conquest, of earthly glory and power, which had attended them through so many centuries, sweetening the cup of present sorrow, defeat, and captivity with the hope of future triumph over all their enemies, were now about to be realized. The long-expected Messiah had made his advent at last. Thousands were thronging about him, anxiously awaiting from him the signal for their national deliverance. Under circumstances of extraordinary solemnity he was now about to inaugurate his kingdom. The excitement is intense and overpowering. The terms used by the Evangelists Matthew and Luke would seem, as Tholuck and Olshausen say, to indicate the peculiar solemnity of the occasion. "He lifted up his eyes on his disciples," as if aware that the great crisis in man's history had come, and that he was now about to proclaim for the first time a kingdom such as never before had been established on earth. The expression, "having opened his mouth," implies a previous silence, in which the impatient expectations of the people were painfully suppressed. At last he opened his mouth, and what are the words whlich come to them? They are ready for deeds of violence. They would take up arms to throw off the Roman yoke. They have come to receive the benediction of their great deliverer before enlisting under his MATTHEW V. 3-16. 87 banner for the wars in which he is to lead them on to what the prophet Daniel had described when he said, vii. 14, "There was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed." 3-16. - THE BEATITUDES. But all these expectations, all their hopes of external dominion and glory, are thrown down and destroyed forever by the first words that fall from the lips of him to whom they had looked as their Messiah. His benedictions are not for the mighty men of war, for those who make their way to positions of wealth and power, and who are honored among men. But, "Blessed are the poor in spirit; Blessed are they that mourn_; Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness; Blessed are the meek; Blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers." And, as if this were not enough to crush all the worldly hopes with which they had come to him, he still more pointedly adds, "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." Here, in his prophetic mind, seeing as already present the spiritual victories which are to be gained through obloquy, persecution, and death, he breaks out, for the moment, into a lyric strain' of exultation such as we find only on two or three other occasions in his life. He calls on his followers to rejoice, and be exceeding glad. He sees in them even now the grand conservative element of society, the salt of the earth, which, amid the general corruption and decay, shall save the world from death. Amid the almost universal darkness they are to be the light of the world,a light so shining before men that they, seeing their good works, shall glorify their Father who is in heaven. 88 MATTHEW V. 17-48. And from that day to this how true have these words of Jesus been in their application to those who have done most for the advancement of his kingdom! " Holy men," says Mr. Norton, Tracts on Christianity, p. 144, "have suffered and died to procure for us the privileges which we enjoy...... They have followed in the track of pure splendor, in which their great Master ascended to heaven...... There is something very solemn and sublime in the feeling produced by considering how differently these men have been estimated by their contemporaries, from the manner in which they are regarded by God. We perceive the appeal which lies from the ignorance, the folly, and the iniquity of man to the throne of Eternal Justice. A storm of calumny and reviling pursued them through life, and continued, when they could no longer feel it, to beat upon their graves. But it is no matter. They have gone where all who have suffered, and all who have triumphed, in the same noble cause, receive their reward; but where the wreath of the martyr is more glorious than that of the conqueror." This triumph through death, this crown of martyrdom more joyful and glorious than all the insignia of earthly greatness or success, was first announced by Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, and held up by him as the last and highest of the Beatitudes. 17-48. - FULFILLING THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS. But this mode of teaching looks like an attempt to do away with the old dispensation, or to make it of no account. Such a purpose would prejudice against him, not Pharisees alone, but even the humble-minded and devout Jews who have been waiting for his coming. He therefore declares that he has not come to destroy, but to fulfil, the law and the prophets. " Till heaven and earth shall pass away, not one jot or one tittle [jot, the least letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and tittle, a slight mark or corner of a letter], not the small MATTHEW V. 17- 48. 89 est letter or stroke, shall pass away from the law, till all be fulfilled." But he did destroy the ceremonial law of Moses. In what sense then did he come to fulfil it? In that sense, we may reply, in which it was intended from the beginning that it should be fulfilled. It came from God. It embodied its holy principles and its prophetic life in outward ceremonies adapted to a rude and idolatrous age. It spoke to the coarse, dull minds it met, through such a language as they could understand, of symbols, types, and sacrificial observances. It went on from age to age, with judges and prophets, unfolding its deeper meaning with the advancing intelligence of the nation, writing out its expanding history of obedience and disobedience with their swiftly following retributions, in the progress of the race, pouring out its devotions in hymns and psalms and spiritual songs, giving utterance to its hopes in prophecies which flashed on with their sublime anticipations through distant centuries, till at length all law and history, hymn and prophecy, should be taken up into the life towards which they had always been pointing, and find their fulfilment in the spiritual religion, the kingdom of God, which Jesus came to establish on earth, and which in its saintly fellowship reaches up from earth to heaven. Thus, the law, according to its sacred and original design, was not destroyed but fulfilled, when in the fulness of time it left behind its now wearisome and ineffectual forms, and took up its sinless abode in Jesus Christ, condensing its instructions into his words, appealing to men through him as a divine life, and concentrating into his death the infinite treasures of divine love, mercy, and forgiveness, which had been poorly symbolized to the burdened heart of man by the ark of the covenant, the mercy-seat, and the sacrifices, in the wilderness or the temple, through so many centuries. Jesus fulfils the law and the prophets first. of all by taking up and condensing into his own words the life-giving spirit which pervaded them. Thus, as Cyprian long ago remarked, he has sometimes given one or two precepts, e. g. 8* 90 NMATTI-IEW V. 17-48. Matt. vii. 12, or xxii. 37 - 40, on which, as he said, "hang all the law and the prophets." In this way he shows in the Sermon on the Mount how the law and the prophets are to be fulfilled, not by a literal, heartless, and formal observance; for unless their " righteousness," i. e. in this connection, their obedience to the law, should be something more than that of the Scribes who taught and the Pharisees who formally observed its precepts, they could not enter into the kingdom of the heavens. Then, by a few illustrations which'go to the very root of the matter, in a manner more masterly than anything else in the range of legal or metaphysical analysis, he seizes on the principle which underlies the form and gives its meaning to the enactment, and shows how the law, defeated often and made of none effect by an obedience which is confined to a literal observance of its precepts, is really to be fulfilled only by obedience to its spirit and intention. The law, 21, forbids the act of murder. But do they therefore keep the law in its purest intention who observe this precept and yet cherish an angry, contemptuous, or malicious spirit, which is in itself the soul and essence of murder? The law, 27, forbids adultery, and so far has respect to our human weakness and hardness of heart, xix. 8, as to allow the separation of man and wife, provided that certain legal forms are observed. But the true intention of the law, which looks to chastity as belonging to the soul as well as to the body, goes beyond the outward act. It would pluck out the eye that tempts to sin, cut off the offending hand, and allow nothing but death, or that violation of the great and essential law of conjugal fidelity which is in itself a dissolution of the marriage tie, to interfere with the permanency of that relation, which, as an Apostle has said, Eph. v. 32, "is a great mystery," which enters the inmost springs of social and domestic purity, and touches at its source the fountain of life to every child that comes into the world. MATTHIEW V. 17- 48. 91 The law, 33, forbids perjury. But obedience to this negative precept does not answer the intention of the law, which finds its fulfilment only in such a state of inward integrity and reverence for God and the truth, that a man's word will be as sacred as an oath; and consequently oaths themselves in the dealing of Christians with one another will be superfluous, and therefore, according to the spirit of the third commandment, profane. Especially will this principle cut off those foolish forms of oaths then common among the Jews, which were made for evasion and dishonesty, and which, as Jesus declared in another place (Matt. xxiii. 1622), are sacrilegious and profane. " If," says Philo Judcmus, "' a man must swear, and is so inclined, let him add, if he pleases, not indeed the highest name of all, and the most important cause of all things, but the earth, the sun, the stars, the heaven, the universal world," &c., &c., (Bohn's Philo Judaus, III. p. 256,) so as to evade the third commandment. There does not seem to be any reference here, in our Saviour's words, to judicial oaths. The law, 38, allows retaliation, "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." But he who has been wronged is not Zbound thus to avenge himself. The highest intention of the law, the principle of justice which by the injured party is to be blended with mercy, finds its fulfilment, not in a literal observance of the precept and the revengeful spirit thus cherished, but in that state of mind which would rather suffer evil than inflict violence in return, and submit even to an unreasonable demand rather than forcibly to resist it. While the principle here involved is to be of universal application, the specific directions were undoubtedly intended particularly for the disciples. Nor even by them, as Jesus showed in his own conduct, John xviii. 23, when smitten on the face, were they to be literally observed. The pure intention of the law, 43, which, in commanding to love our neighbor, would seem also to command us to hate our enemies, is fulfilled only in such an extension of the 92 MATTHEW V. 17- 48. literal precept as may embrace all mankind, and lead us to love even our enemies, and pray for those who persecute and wrong us, that so we may strive to be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect, who causeth his sun to shine and his rains to descend on the evil and the good. This train of thought runs through the whole Sermon on the MIount. There is no repeal of the old law, but a more thorough application and universal extension of its principles. If it left many of its forms and specific rules behind, it was only that it might be fulfilled, according to its original and divine intention, by being taken up into a higher realm, and, as a spiritual power and influence, establishing its kingdom in the heart, and reaching the fountains of thought and life. The Jewish altar and temple must be overthrown. The smoke of the morning and evening sacrifice shall no longer rise from Mount Moriah. The Jews shall be dispersed through all the nations, and the Mosaic observances, as living institutions, be swept away from the earth. But till heaven and earth pass away, not one iota of the law in its essential characteristics shall pass away, till all its purposes are fulfilled. It came from God. It is the source of all true order and harmony in civil communities, and in the souls of men. It would lead by its divine precepts and its divine life through all the constraints and oppositions and changes of our mortal condition to the attainment of peace and harmony and spiritual joy. This law of God Jesus found stifled beneath endless traditions and restraints, like Lazarus in his tomb. He called it into life. He loosed it from its grave-clothes, and sent it forth a free, beneficent, and living spirit, with words of holy benediction, forgiveness, life, and peace to weary, sorrowing, and sinful hearts, who were sitting in darkness, and waiting for the kingdom of God. And in whatever age the Pharisees among Christian sects have sought by their traditionary doctrines or forms to bind and bury it, and to build up in its place a system of ceremonial observances and articles of faith which lead to MATTHEW V. 93 superstition and hypocrisy, the simple words -and acts of Jesus, the Gospels in their simplicity and power, and especially this great Sermon on the Alount, are always the most terrible as they are the most effectual protest against them. N O T E S. AND seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain; and 2 when he was set, his disciples came unto him. And he opened 3 his mouth, and taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in 4 spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are they i. a mountain] This is sup- "our Lord may have had a referposed to be a mountain known as ence to the poor and subjugated Kieerun Hattin, the Horns of Hattin; Jewish people around himl, once but there is no certainty in regard members of the theocracy, and now to it. The place most probably was expectants of the Messiah's tempoon the west side of the Lake of ral kingdom, and, fromtheir condiGalilee. 2. In regard to tion and hopes, taken occasion to the disappointment caused to all preach to them the deeper spiritual the Jewish prepossessions and am- truth." 4. This verse bitious hopes by these Beatitudes, carries on the same idea, and gives Dr. Palfrey says: "I think we may its benediction, not only to the poor, see that Jesus designed to break the but to those who have such a conforce of the blow, by hinting that the sciousness of spiritualloneliness that view which he was presenting was they mourn as in a state of bereavenot without warrant from those same ment,."for they shall be comfortOld Testament Scriptures which it ed." To them the Comforter shall seemed to oppose. To this end not come. The solitude in which they a little of the phraseology employed mourn shall be filled by Him whose by him on this occasion appears to absence they lament. And as the have been assumed." Among the poor and sorrowing, in opposition instances which he gives, compare to the proud and self-satisfied, are Matt. v. 3 with Ps. li. 17; Isa. lxvi. 2, blessed, so also, 5, are the neek, in v. 4, with Ps. cxxvi. 5; Isa. lxi. 2, v. opposition to the wilful and violent; 5, with Ps. xxxvii. 11, v. 6, with Ps. for they (Ps. xxxvii. 11) shall inherit xvii. 15, v. 7, with Ps. xxxvii. 25, the earth, or the land. The expres26, xli. 1. 3. Blessed sion" to inherit the land" originally are the poor in spirit] Not the applied to the promised land, bepoor in this world's goods, though came at length a common term to the idea is founded on a reference denote the full enjoyment of the Dito them, but they who so feel their vine blessing. As the poor in spirit spiritual wants as to long for the shall enjoy the kingdom of God riches of God's spiritual kingdom; spiritually present in their souls, so for theirs, in a peculiar sense, is the meek, in the renunciation of wilthe kingdom of God. It is not im- fulness and violence, shall enjoy it probable, as has been suggested, that also in its outward gifts. Meekness 9 4 MATTHEWV V. that mourn; for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the s meek; for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they 6 which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain 7 mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see s God. Blessed are the peacemakers; for, they shall be called 9 the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted lo for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, ii and shall say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your re- 12 ward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Ye are the salt of the earth. But if the 13 salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A 1. city that is set on an hill cannot be hid; neither do men 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 16 so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. - Think not that I 17 is a quality of mind which disarms not only good for nothing, but it opposition, admits us to the confi- actually destroys all fertility wheredence and affections of others, and ever it is thrown. "It is cast out" thus, enabling us to enjoy whatever and " trodden under foot;" so trouis most to be desired in the inter- blesome is this corrupted salt, that course of life, leads us truly to in- it is carefully swept up, carried herit the land. The expression forth, and thrown into the street. reaches on also to the period when There is no place about the house, the violent shall be put down, and yard, or garden where it can be the meek prevail and triumph. tolerated." And so, our Saviour 11. for my sake] "Where says, it is with those who, being selfishness prevails, there cannot be teachers and preachers of righteoussuch suffering as bestows happiness. ness, lose their zeal and fall away But where suffering is incurred for from the faith. 16. So] As the faith's sake, and is borne in faith, the city on a hill, as the candle on it perfects the inward life, and a candlestick, so, i. e. in like manawakens the desire for eternity." ner, let your light shine. 17. Olshausen. 13. if the to fulfil] One of the Fathers comsalt] If you, the very salt of the pares the law to a sketch, which earth, should lose your virtue, how the painter does not destroy, but can the deficiency be made up? fills out. It means to complete or "It is a well-known fact that the carry out. So, xxiii. 32, " Fill ye salt of this country [Palestine], up [fulfil] then the measure of your when in contact with the ground, fathers," i. e. complete the work or exposed to rain and sun, does which they have begun. So here, become insipid and useless. It is to fulfil the law and the prophets is MATTHEW V. 95 am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to is destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from 19 the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore 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 them, the same shall be called great in 20 the kingdom of Heaven. For I say unto you, that, except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of Heaven. 21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, " Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of 22 the judgment." But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, without a cause, shall be in danger of the to complete their work,- to carry an interpolation. There are three out and finish their design, - thoufgh degrees of guilt here indicated: 1. such a fulfilment or completion anger against a brother; 2. anger should be accomplished by leaving ventingf itself in a term of contempt, their temporary provisions behind Raca, thou toain, empty one; 3. anger and absorbing their essential life using a still more bitter term of reand truth into the higher dispensa- proach, /soip;, either a Greek word tion for which they were intended signifying "thou fool," or a Hebrew to prepare the way, and by which word signifying "rebel," and the they are apparently superseded. very word for uttering which Moses 20. Scribes] " Persons devoted to and Aaron were debarred from enthe work of reading and expound- tering the land of promise; Itear ing the law, whose office seems first notw, ye rebels, Num. xx. 10. The to have become frequent after the punishment due to each of these return from Babylon. They gener- three degrees of guilt is graduated, ally appear in the New Testament - 1. by " thejudcgnent," or local and in connection with the Pharisees; inferior court; 2. by " the council," but it appears from Acts xxiii. 9 or Sanhedrim, the highest legal that there were Scribes attached Jewish tribunal; and 3. and severest to the other sects also. In Matt. of all, by " the Gehenna of.fime." xxi. 15 they appear with the chief " the end of the malefactor, whose priests; but it is in the temple corpse, thrown into the valley of where they acted as a sort of police. Hinnom, was devoured by the......Their authority, as ex- worm, or the flame." Gehenna, pounders of the law, is recognized the valley of Hinnom, or Topliet, by our Lord himself, Matt. xxii. 1, running down from the west on the 2; their adherence to the oral tracdi- southern border of Jerusalem to tionary exposition proved, Matt. xv. the valley of Jehoshaphat. It has 1; the respect in which they were been supposed that the allusion held by the people shown, Luke xx. here is to the offal from the city, 46; their existence indicated, not which was thrown out into this only in Jerusalem, but also in Gali- valley to be consumed by fire. But lee, Luke v. 17; and in Rome, Jose- Dr. Robinson says that there is no phus, Ant. XVIII. 3. 5." Alford. evidence of such fires having been 22. without a cause] is omitted kept up in the valley. " Here," he by Tischendorf, and is undoubtedly says, " the ancient Israelites estab 96 MATTHEW V. judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring 23 thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, 24 and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, 25 whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to tohe judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto 26 thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. Ye have heard that it was said 27 by them of old time, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust 28 after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from 29 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 thee, cut it off, and cast it 30 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, "Whosoever shall put away his wife, 31 let him give her a writing of divorcement." But I say unto 32 you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery; and wholished the idolatrous worship of Mo- before the case is brought before a loch, to whom they burned infants public tribunal. This is the literal in sacrifice. 2 Kings xxiii. 10; Jer. sense: it involves another and highvii. 31. It was apparently in allu- er meaning; the way of all the earth, sion to this detested and abominable through which we are journeying fire that the later Jews employed to the judgments of eternity, and the name of this valley (Gehenna) the word'quickly" alluding to the to denote the place of future punish- swiftness of the passage, and the ment, or the fires of Tartarus." shortness of life. 29, 30. If 23. "It is not what complaints we thy right eye. if thy have against others that we are to right handl offend thee] i. e. consider at such a time, but what tempt thee to sin. We are to dethey have against us; not what stroy the first buddings of evil deground we have given for complaint, sire, though it should be by the sacribut what complaints they, as matter fiee of what is most dear and useful of fact, make against us." Alford. to us. There must be no dallying 25. thine adversary] or parleyingf with the temptations of he to whom thou hast given offence. passion. Whatever the sacrifice, we ~Whiles thou art in the must turn away at the very beginway with him] to the judge, i.e. ning. He who hesitates is lost. MATTHEW V. 97 soever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. 33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, " Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto 34 the Lord thine oaths." But I say unto you, Swear not all; 35 neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the 36 great King; neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because 37 thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever is 32. causeth her to commit one who, through the criminal conadultery] How so? By putting. duct of the other party, is divorced? her away for any other cause than There is no authority given for such the one herein specified, the man an one to marry again, though it declares the whole previous mar- is not specifically forbidden. The riage to have been unlawful, impure, Roman Church forbids such marand adulterous, and thus makes her riages; the Greek and Protestant guilty of adultery. Any other rea- churches allow them. The spirit, son for divorce than the one speci- if not the letter, of our Saviour's fied, which is in itself a dissolution instructions would seem to disof marriage, would invalidate the countenance them. 33, 35. whole previous marriage, and prove " Men had learned to think that, if the parties living under its sanction only God's name were avoided to have been in that very act guilty there was no irreverence in the freof adultery. We do not find the quent oaths, by heaven, by the earth, difficulty by which most commen- by Jerusalem, by their own heads, tators, from St. Augustine down- and these brought in on the slightwards, are embarrassed in their in- est need, or on no need at all; just terpretation of this passage. The as now-a-days the same lingering man who unjustly repudiates his half-respect for the Holy-Name will wife, does not oblige her to marry often cause men, who would not be again, and therefore does not, in wholly profane, to substitute for that way, cause her to commit that name sounds that nearly readultery. And yet this is what is semble, but are not exactly it, or usually regarded as the true inter- the name, it may be, of some heapretation. Asid-whosoever then deity." Trench. This whole shall marry liher that is di. matter of blasphemously trifling vorced, committeth adulteryo] and evasive oaths is again powerThe only person who, according to fully brought forward in Ch. xxiii. our Saviour, is properly and really 16-22; and that passage may be divorced, is she who has been guil- taken as the best commentary on ty of fornication, and he who mar- this: " Ye say, whosoever shall ries her thereby incurs the guilt of swear by the temple, it is nothing;" adultery. The intention of this, but, in fact, " whoseo shall swear by and of the other passage in which the temple, sweareth by it, and by Jesus speaks of divorce (see xix. 8, Him that dwelleth therein. And 9), is to render the marriage relation he that shall swear by heaven, as indissoluble as possible, —1. by sweareth by the throne of God, and forbidding divorce except for a single by Him that sitteth thereon." 36. cause; and, 2. by forbidding the Thou must not, then, swear even by woman who is thus put away, and thine own head; for it is not thine the man who puts away his wife own: thou canst not change one for any other cause than that, to hair white or black. It, also, is the marry agai. But how is it with "creature of God, whose destinies 9 G 98 MATT-IEW V. more than these cometh of evil. Ye have heard that it hath.% been said, " An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." But I 39 say unto you, that ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any 40 man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also; and whosoever shall compel thee to go a 41 mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee; and 42 and changes are in God's hand; so to the law, Ex. xxii. 26, could not that every oath is an appeal to legally be kept over night, because God." 37. cometlh of it was used as a coverlet by the evil] Among true men more is poor at night. 41. who. not needed, and whatever more soever shall compel] "This than a simple affirmation is re- language is taken from a Persian quired by men is because of the custom. A courier travelling on wickedness among them. Among the king's business could lawyou, in your dealings with one an- fully impress into his service men, other, this necessity ought not to horses, ships, boats, or any vehicle, exist. 38. an eye for an to accelerate his journey. The eye] This rule, Ex. xxi. 24, as St. same custom prevailed under the Augustine has said, was not in- Roman governors or Tetrarchs." tended as an incitement, but as a Livermore. The Jews complained limit to private revenge; not as a of this practice, on the part of the command stimulating men to do so Romans, as alleavygrievance. Jos. much, but as a command forbid- Ant., XIII. 2. 3. " We learn, from ding them to exact more. The coins and inscriptions, that the concommand, however, in its original riers in the service of the Roman connection, is to the wrong-doer, government had the privilege of "Then thou shalt give life for life; travelling through the provinces eye for eye." 39. That free of expense, and of calling on ye resist not evil] riC irovspp5, the villagers to forward their carthe evil or wicked man, who is riages and baggage to the next doing you a wrong. It is better to town. Under a despotic governsubmit to a wrong-doer than to re- ment this became a cruel grievance. tort by violence. The literal turn- Every Roman of high rank claimed ing of the left cheek, of course, is the same privilege; the horses were not intended, When Jesus, John unyoked from the plough to be harxviii. 22, 23, was thus smitten, he nessed to the rich man's carriage. made no violent resistance, but, It was the most galling injustice without turning the other cheek which the provinces suffered. We mildly remonstrated against the have an inscription on the frontier wrong. His example is the best town of Egypt and Nubia, mentionpossible commentary on his words. ing its petition for a redress of this 40. sue thee at the grievance; and a coin of Nerva's law] From personal violence, reign records its abolition in Italy. Jesus comes to a case of legal op- Our Lord could give no stronger pression, and applies the same exhortation to patient humility principle there. Rather than re- than by advising his Syrnian hearsist the lefal decision, which com- ers, instead of resenting the demand malids him to give up his coat, an for one stage's' vehiculation,' to go inner and less costly garment, as a willingly a second time." Eclectic pledge for what he is chalged with Review. 42. Give to him owing, the Christian is even to give that asketh] The same spirit of up his cloak, the outer and more kindness and submission, which is valuable garment, which, according to be exercised toward the enemy MATTHEW V. 99 43 from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, " Thou shalt love thy neigh44 bor, and hate thine enemy." But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and perse45 cute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the 46 good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not 47 even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans who subjects us to personal vio- times widely divergent, whence lence, and toward an unjust antago- may arise both the timely concesnist in the law, is to be extended to sion and the timely refusal." our neighbor in the less imperious 45. for he maketh his sun] A and pressing claims that are made similar expression is quoted from upon us. The command, which is Seneca by Meyer: "If you imitate not to be understood literally, but the gods, give benefits even to the like those before it, as a Hebrew ungrateful; for the sun rises even form of comparison, is this: Rather for the wicked, and seas are open to err on the side of charity than on pirates." 46. the publicans] the side of prudence. This method Tax-gatherers. This race of men, of interpretation is entirely in ac- so frequently mentioned as the obcordance with what is customary in jects of hatred and contempt among Oriental, and indeed in our own the Jews, and coupled with sinners, forms of speech. When a father were not properly the publicans, says to a credulous child, "4;My who were wealthy Romans, of the son, believe nothing that you hear rank of knights, farming the revereported," his meaning is plain nues of the provinces; but their unenough. He would guard his child derlings, heathens or renegade Jews, against the extreme to which he who usually exacted with recldesssees him exposed, by expressing ness and cruelty." Alford. very strongly his preference for 47. publicanis] Gentiles. Tischenthe opposite extreme, where the dorf. 48. Be ye theredanger to him is so much less. The fore] "Wherefore ye shall be percommands here are of this sort. feet." The future for the imperaJesus does not command us to ex- tive, as in the Ten Commandments. ercise no discretion in complying " In Greek authors," says Winer, with the requests of others. But xliii. 5. c., "this mode of expres. in opposition to one extreme, he sion is considered softer than the sets before us the other as that imperative." perfect] Not towards which we ought rather to partial and one-sided in your aims, incline. It would be a perversion but whole, entire, complete. Be not of his meaning to give to every one one-sided, like the publicans, who whatever he might ask, - a sword love only those that love them; nor to the madman, money to the in- like the Gentiles, who salute only temperate or the impostor. " Ours those who salute them; but be ye should be a higher and deeper perfect, even as your Father in charity, flowin'g from those inner heaven is perfect. Let no aim less springs of love which are the comprehensive than this satisfy sources of outward actions, some- you. As to the technical doctrine tLO hIMATTHEW V. 6o? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in 48 heaven is perfect. about perfection in this life, it can does, that likeness to God in inward be held only by those whose stand- purity, love, and holiness must be ard of perfection is very low and the continual aim and end of the incomplete. There is no passage in Christian in all the departments of the Bible more opposed to such a his moral life." This may be condoctrine than this, in the compre- sidered as the sublime conclusion hensive aim which it sets before of the second part of the Sermon, us, to keep us always active and the first part ending with the sixalways humble, " asserting as it teenth verse. MATTHEW VI. 101 CHAPTER VI. GENERAL DESIGN. IN the preceding chapter, Jesus has spoken of the higher fulfilment of the. law of " righteousness" which he demanded in the relation of man to man through obedience to its principles, especially in those points where it had been impeded in its operation and curtailed in its requirements by the low intellectual, moral, and spiritual condition of the people. He now shows how this same "righteousness," vi. 1, (for "righteousness," not "alms," is the word in the best editions of the New Testament,) is to be fulfilled in the duties which were regarded as more immediately connecting man with God. HIere, as in the previous chapter, v. 17-20, he first, 1, states the general principle, and then, as he had done before, goes on to illustrate it by examples, which, in language that a child may understand, exhaust this whole branch of the subject. In your alms, which were justly regarded as religious duties, (" He that hath pity for the poor, lendeth unto the Lord," Prov. xix. 17; " They cannot recompense thee, but thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just," Luke xiv. 14,) in your prayers and fastings, Jesus says, in substance, you must take heed, lest, looking to the praise of man for your reward, you shall fail of being approved by God. Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting should be dear to you, not as securing the favor of man, but as solemn privileges to be used and duties to be performed in the sight of God, and from motives which He who is unseen, 6, "in secret," will approve and reward. 9l 102 MATTHEW VI. 7-15. 7-15.- LORD'S PRAYER. Under the head of prayer without ostentation or vain and foolish repetition, Jesus gave his disciples an example of the sort of prayer which he would have them use. Not that exactly these words were always to be employed by them. The same prayer, as preserved by St. Luke, is not in precisely. the same words as here, and in the recorded devotions of Christ and the Apostles there is no evidence that this or any other liturgical form made a part of the service. Yet it was undoubtedly intended by him to serve through all ages as a guide and help to his followers in their devotions. For in it he has condensed into a few simple words all that we should most earnestly ask of God in prayer. "' Whatever from the beginning," says Stier, "since men first, on account of sin and evil, lifted their hearts and hands to heaven, has been in their minds to ask, is here reduced, in the simplicity of the new and everlasting covenant, the last utterance of God to us in his Son, to one word, which will remain man's last utterance also to God, until heaven and earth are divided no more. All the cries which go up from man's breast upon earth to heaven, meet here in their fundamental notes; and are gathered into words which are as simple and plain for babes as they are deep and inscrutable for the wise, as transparent for the weakest understanding of any truly praying spirit as they are full of mysterious meaning for the mightiest and last struggles of the spirit into the kingdom and glory of God." We may pray in secret; but it is no solitary or unsocial act in which we are engaged. B y the word'" Otur" we are bound to one another more closely as we kneel to offer up our supplications not for ourselves alone, but for all with whom we are connected as children of a common Father. "We do not," says Cyprian, in his com hMATTHEW VI. 7-15. 103 mentary or homily on the Lord's Prayer, " pray each one for himself alone; for we do not say,'M1Jy Father who art in heaven,' or,' Give me this day my daily bread,' &c. HIe who is the God of peace, and the author of unity and concord, would have us pray each one for all." Prayer thus becomes a bond of union, not only with God, but with one another among all his people. Our affections are drawn out more earnestly towards our brethren, and we feel that we are all one community of souls, bound together by common sympathies and wants as we lift up our hearts in prayer to Him, whom we thus address as the common Father of us all. While the expression "' Our Father" gives warmth and strength to this feeling of fellowship and brotherhood towards man, it unites us to God in the closest and most endearing relation. Bringing him down to us as our Father, and binding us to him by all the tender and powerful associations connected with that name, it adds the expression, "who art in hieaven," to lift us up into that purer realm with all the fond hopes and affections that cling trustingly and lovingly to him. Being thus lifted up with Him into his heavenly kingdom, as children with their Father, we ask that his name, here put for Himself, the infinite source of all holiness, may be hallowed,- held sacred and holy by all his children, - that through his holiness perpetually renewing itself in our hearts by the progress of the divine life in the soul and throughout the world his name may be honored and revered as holy. But it is not so now. Iere is a world of sin and disorder, where injustice and cruelty and evil passions so widely prevail, and human governmlents and laws have not the power, and oftentimes have not the disposition, to restrain them and root them out. We ask therefore that God's kingdom may come, that in its outward, visible authority, with all its spiritual agencies and powers, it 104 MATTHEW VI. 7-15. may come down from heaven and be established on the earth; that everywhere, in each soul and throughout all the world, its supreme authority may be recognized and its commands obeyed, and men give to it the allegiance which is due from loyal and obedient subjects to the divine kingdom which is placed over them. But the kingdom of God —this reign of laws and government- does not sufficiently endear itself to us. It does not satisfy the heart. Even in the exercise of God's authority and the advancement of his kingdom, we long for a more intimate personal relation than any which can exist between the laws or the ruling institutions of an empire and its subjects. By the petition, " Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven," God is brought into this personal relation with us. He is not an Almighty monarch, however righteous, enforcing laws however just, without any regard to the individual wants and personal feelings of his subjects. His personal will, as that of a Father, is brought into a thoughtful, compassionate, all-subduing connection with the souls of his children. Not merely do we say, "Thy purposes be accomplished in those great events, which, ordered by thine infinite wisdom, reach through kingdoms, worlds, or ages for their fulfilment, and before which we would bow down in awe and submission;" but, "M ay thy will, in all the minute and affecting incidents of life, enter into our hearts, control every thought and emotion there, and bring us into a cheerful, loving, childlike obedience to thee. May thy will, visiting us as a personal presence, and commending itself to all our dearest hopes and affections, be done among us on earth as it is among the angels of heaven, those prompt and willing messengers of his goodness, who delight to "do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word." "Here," says Claudius, "I picture to myself heaven and the holy angels who do his will with joy, and no sorrow touches them, and they know not what to do for love lMATTHEWS VI. 7 -15. 10O and blessedness; and then I think, if it were only so here on earthli!" It is a great thing to pray that God's will may be done. This prayer was uttered by our Saviour in agony of soul, and we know not how deeply God in his answer to it may strike into the very heart of what is dearest to us. The petition certainly means that we should give up every unjust or unholy object of ambition or gain that we possess or desire to possess, and that we should strive to remove every little resentment and unworthy feeling, every darling habit and propensity which may in any way interfere with our moral and religious well-being. It may be also that in praying that his will may be done, we are asking him to take from us some of our dearest earthly friends or possessions; since the loss of these may be needed, in order that his will may be done in our hearts as it is among his angels in heaven. If we think of these things, and condense them all into this petition with perfect submissiveness of soul, not only as we kneel by a dying friend or child, but in our usual morning and evening prayers when all things are fair anil bright around us, there will be no lack of feeling in our devotions, and our prayers will have a holy and uplifting influence on our lives. " But he who knoweth our frame, and remembereth that we are dust," will condescend to our lowest wants. IFrom these lofty subjects of contemplation and of prayer, the name, the kingdom, and the will of God, our Saviour lets us come down to a sense of our human wants, and teaches us to pray for "our daily bread." Thus, our daily food, asked and received from God, may become a daily motive for intercourse with Him, and a daily source of thankfulness and devotion. The more we learn to connect the thought of God with even the smallest of his gifts, the more constantly will the sense of his goodness and our obligation to him be kept alive in our hearts. But while we ask for our bodily food, 106 MATTHEW VI. 7-15.. our daily bread, in which words are included all our earthly wants, these same words may remind us of the bread from heaven, the spiritual food, which we also need and ask to have supplied to us day by day. Not only are we dependent creatures, resting on God's daily bounty for our support, but as erring, sinful beings we turn to him in penitence, and ask to be forgiven, even as we forgive those who have sinned against us. There has always been danger lest religion should be separated from morality, and men's prayers to God stand apart from their sympathies with one another. But the most difficult and most affecting duty to others is woven into our daily prayer, and made the only condition on which we are permitted so much as to ask that God will forgive us our sins. And to bind this condition still more forcibly upon us, the Saviour adds as a comment to the prayer: " For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." We have no right to ask God's forgiveness, except so far as we are ready to forgive those who have injured us. Not only have we sinned in times past, but as we call to mind our transgressions, we feel anew and more keenly the sense of our own liability to sin; and we pray therefore with renewed earnestness that our Father, in his great mercy, will so order events as not to lead us into temptation. Full of contrition for our former offences, with a sense of weakness aggravated by our consciousness of guilt, we turn, as helpless, erring children to their father, with the further, heartfelt petition, " And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." From evil, first and most of all, from sin, with the mournful train of griefs and pains which follow after it as its natural attendants. But in this petition we pray also to be delivered from every form of evil.' Here," says the author who has just been quoted from Dr. Hedge's Prose-Writers of Germany, "I still think of temptations, and MATTHEW VI. 16 - 34. 107 that man is so easily seduced and may stray from the strait path. But at the same time I think of all the troubles of life, of consumption and old age, of the pains of childbirth, of gangrene and insanity, and the thousand-fold misery and heart-sorrow that is in the world, and that plagues and tortures poor mortals, and there is none to help. And you will find, if tears have not come before, they will be sure to come here." And from this vast accumulation and variety of evils we pray God to deliver us, and rest in the certain assurance and conviction that he will hear and answer our prayer. Every element of devotion is here;- praise, confession, supplication, ascription, even without the last clause. There is no want of our spiritual or mortal nature which is not recognized and provided for. "The true Christian," says Luther, "prays an everlasting Lord's Prayer." What else indeed can he pray, either. in act or word or thought? To pray the Lord's Prayer is not merely uttering the words. It is lifting the soul up, that it may be touched with love and reverence by the hallowed name of our Father who is in heaven. It is striving to bring heart and life into accordance with all that is divine, so as to realize the true union between human effort and the Divine will. To pray the Lord's Prayer in spirit and in truth is to live it all out as in God's presence and with his aid. This co-working of man with God, this union of earnest effort and earnest prayer, is the life of all that is best within us. 16-34.-P PERFECT TRUST IN GOD. Having thus lifted up the souls of his hearers into communion with God, Jesus carries them along on this high plane of thought, and continues to show how the "righteousness " of the first verse is still to be fulfilled by motives which look to God, and not to man. In their fasting, which he does not enjoin as a duty, he directs them so to de 108 MIATTHEW VI. 16 -34. mean themselves as not to attract the notice of men, but appear to their Father in heaven as fasting, - hungering and thirsting (v. 6) for his righteousness. But the love of praise is not the only influence that may come in to destroy our singleness of purpose, and weigh down our heavenly affections by its sordid and unworthy motives. The love of earthly gain must be overcome by the love that follows the richer treasures which we lay up for ourselves in heaven. For where tile treasure is there the heart also will be; and if the mind is once corrupted by these inferior passions, it is as if the eye of the soul were diseased and clouded, so that the truth of God is shut out or perverted, and the very light that is in us turned into darkness. And if the liglht within thee be darkness, how great, the Saviour exclaims, "will the darkness be!" We can then, he adds, 24, safely owe no double allegiance to God and the world. If one master is loved and obeyed, the other will be hated, or at least neglected and despised. But Jesus goes deeper than this into the secret motives of the heart. The same spirit which leads to avarice in the accumulation of wealth, may, by undue anxiety about the provisions necessary for our daily wants, interfere with the purity of our religious motives, and the simplicity of love and faith with which we are to look to God for our support, and to receive our food and raiment day by day as from his hands. Nothing can exceed the poetic beauty of this passage (25 -34), the logical force of its reasoning, or the calm and sublime convictions of religious trust in which it rests. Are not the life, —the soul, —and the body, which God has freely created and bestowed, more than food or raiment? As he has provided these greater gifts, can ye not trust him in those which are the least? "Look at the birds of heaven;" [which may have been flying near them;] "for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and yet MATTHEW VI. 16-34. 109 your Heavenly Father feedeth them." Observe the exquisite tenderness in the mode of expression; —not their God or their Father, but your Heavenly Father. "And are not you far more to him than they? " While the reasoning proves the assertion to the understanding with logical power, these words bring it home with endearing emphasis to the heart. There is then no cause for anxiety; but if there were, of what use could it be? With all his anxiety, who among you could add one cubit to his life? "And as to raiment, why should you be anxious?" They were in the open field, and the flowers probably were near them. " Consider the lilies of the field, how they are growing: they toil not, they spin not; but I say unto you, that not Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these." And if God so clothe these perishing things, —the grass of the field which flourishes to-day only that it may be consumed to-morrow, - will he not much more clothe you, O ye distrustful ones? Do not put yourselves on a level with the unbelieving Gentiles, who are anxious about these things. And then he adds, in words which bring the paternal providence of God tenderly and warmly home to them, even in the smallest matters, "6 Your Heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. But seek ye first his righteousness and his kingdom, and all these things will be given to you in addition." " Wherefore," -for all these reasons, especially as they are summed up in the last sentence, -" be not anxious about the morrow; for," - in addition to the reasons already given -" the morrow, like to-day, will have, and will make provision for its own trials." Live faithfully amid the duties of to-day, with a perfect trust in your Heavenly Father for all that lies beyond; for by so doing you will best prepare yourselves for the duties and the trials of to-morrow. The evils of to-morrow will be provided for, and will be enough in themselves when to-morrow comes, without being forestalled now, and adding their weight to the already 10 110 MATTHEW VI. 16-34. sufficient burdens of to-day. The meaning of the passage, which closes the third division of the Sermon on the 3Mount, is, That we are to live as God's children in the present, giving ourselves up entirely to the duties which he assigns to us, with that perfect trust in him which leaves no room for anxiety in regard to the perishing things of time which we may need in the future. It is impossible to describe the new life and meaning which these words about the birds and flowers throw into nature, whose creatures, perpetually fed and clothed by God, are objects of his care and proofs of his active, allpervading presence, as they are the symbols of his goodness. The doctrine implies all that is valuable in pantheism, the all-pervading, efficient presence of God, while over the universe thus pervaded and sustained it throws the kind, intelligent providence of a personal God, and the thoughtful, benignant love of our Heavenly Father. While our Saviour would here withdraw us entirely from earthly anxiety, creating in the soul a love and faith which cast out fear and distrust, there is nothing of Asceticism or Stoicism in his instructions. He recognizes the evils of life. He does not ignore or despise its good things. Our Heavenly Father knows that we have need of them. And because he knows our need of them, and will provide for it, we are to place them where they belong, as wholly subordinate to the heavenly treasures, and, without anxiety or care for them, seek first his righteousness and his kingdom. MATTHEW VI. 111 NOTES. TAKE 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 sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. 3 Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right 4 hand doeth; that thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly.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 thy closet, and when thou hast 1. Your alms] Your righteous- synagogues stood on the right hand ness, 8&Katoifvqv, not f'XequogoVoe7z of the passage into the house added is undoubtedly the true reading; to the force of the expression. and it is to be taken here in the 4. in secret] Unseen. open. same sense as in v. 20, where it is ly] This word is omitted in the used by Jesus to show the sort of best editions of the Greek text, both fulfilment of the law which he came here and in vv. 6 and 18. to enforce. 2. do not 6. enter into thy closet] This sound a trumpet] There is no is not necessarily to be taken litergood reason to suppose that this ally. We may, as St. Chrysostom custom literally prevailed, though has said, shut our closet doors, and one of the Fathers mentions it as a yet leave the doors of the mind open tradition in his day, " that the hyp- to thoughts inconsistent with our ocrites call the beggars together by devotions. The ostentation of the the sound of the trumpet." But thing is what is condemned. He Lightfoot, in his comment on this who anywhere, though it be in a passage, says: "'I have not found, public place, retires within the closalthough I have sought for it much et of his own mind, and there prays and seriously, even the least mention to God in the secrecy and simplicity of a trumpet in almsgiving." of his soul, obeys this injunction of they have their reward] Have our Lord; while it is violated by reward enough, - what they sought him who willingly allows it to be and bargained for, namely, the praise understood that he often shuts himof man, and also, what they did not self up in his closet for secret prayer. seek or bargain for, the disappro- The secret prayer that is talked bation of God. 3. let not about to others is no longer secret. thy left hand] Do it without any In this particular the race of Phariregard to what others may say or sees is not yet extinct. There is think, in such perfect simplicity of a time and a place for our public heart, that not even the left hand devotions. But above all, in the may know of the charity which the secrecy of our own souls, by acts righthandis bestowing. Perhaps the too sacred for man to see or to hear fact that the alms-box in Jewish about, we are to keep up the habit, 112 MATTHEW VI. shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. But 7 when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them; for your Father knoweth s what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this 9 manner therefore pray ye: Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done, lo not merely of daily, but of constant and sweet to every child of man, communion with God, and thus keep with the universal compass of all alive the spirit of devotion within things and the hosts of the universe. us. While Jesus here enjoins secret He whose are all the heavens, and prayer, he does not forbid social or not thy own earth merely, is the public prayer, in which he is known Father, is thy Father." Stier. "In to have engaged more than once. the Lord's Prayer, which is prayer Matt. xi. 25, 26; John xi. 41, xvii. in its most perfect form, we are 1-26. 7. vain repeti. taught to acknowledge the Lord as tions] Do not babble, or make un- the sole object of our worship; to meaning repetitions in your prayers. revere his name or attributes; to "What is forbidden in this verse," desire at heart the restoration of his says Alford, " is, not much praying, kingdom within us, and throughout for our Lord himself passed whole the world; to resign our wills to his nights in prayer; nor praying in the will in all his dispensations and in same words, for this he did in the every act of his providence, till earth very intensity of his agony at Geth- shall become as heaven within us; semane; but the making number till the external form of our actions and length a point of observance, and be one with the internal spirit which imagining that prayer will be heard, rules them, and the whole earth may not because it is the genuine expres- be brought to the worship of the sion of the desire of faith, but be- Lord in the harmony and peace of cause it is of such a length, has been heaven." Arbouin. such a number of times repeated. 9. thy name] "De Wette obThe repetitions of Pater Nosters and serves:' God's name is not merely Ave Marias in the Romish Church, his appellation, which we speak with as practised by them, are in direct the mouth, but also and principally violation of this precept." the idea which we attach to it, his 9. After this manner] " We may Being, as far as it is confessed, replace our little children's hands to- vealed, or known.''The name' of gether, and teach them, say ye. God in Scripture is used to signify Well for every one for whom this is that revelation of himself which he early done; it is not too soon as has made to men, which is all that early as the child can cry. My we know of him; into the depths of father and my mother, and lift up his being, as it is, no man can penehis eyes to heaven as a child of trate." Alford. 10. as humanity. How perfect is the it is in heaven] "As in the simplicity of this beginning of all courses of sun and stars, so among prayer, descending to the root and the morning stars and sons of God, principle, already naturally present Job xxxviii. 7, there is the festal in the heart, of all sense of love and service of those who, active in rest, trust for gift and help...... Fur- shout for joy in their ranks of blessther, what an inexhaustible mean- edness. ~o should it be upon earth: ing is there in the conjunction, in vast is the meaning which carries this first glance towards heaven, of the promise in this prayer far above the Father-name which is inborn all the stir and tumult of humanity, MATTHEW VI. 113 11 in earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; 12 and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead 13 us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdomn, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father 15 will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.16 Moreover, when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their 17 reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and inviting and urging all the children clause, growing out of our conof God to restless wrestling in pray- scioustess of weakness and exposing and receiving, and fervor in do- ure, gives force to the second. ing his will." Stier. Feeling keenly our liability to evil, 11. our daily bread] r woV'o-tov- ewe ask with more intense earnestness that God will deliver us. It is A great deal of learning has been said James expended on this word, but with no James 13, God cannot be more satisfactory result than that tempted with evil, neither tempteth in our English version. Its root he any man.' But this which immay be two words, which melan on- plies direct personal solicitation to coming, referring to the day now sin, is not inconsistent with the fact ~.coising on~, and well enoob trns- that, in the vast and manifold ordercoming on, and well enough translated by our' ckli/.' But tihe most ings of God's providence, he should satisfactory analysis of the word is sonmetimes give rise to contingencies that adopted by a most of the, Greek which lead men into temptation, so tht dopte byost of the Greek that, with philosophical strictness of Fathers, 6 EWtr ov'cr[L 1Mv" w'hat is speech, he may be said to lead men needed jbr oue? subsistence. By the into temptation. But that is an inword bread is meant everything that cidental result, growing out of comis required for our support, - ll the plicated causes intended for other needful things of time. This un- purposes, and therefore allowved by doubtedly is the primary meaning God; but not desiqned by him for of the petition; but it may also ex- the purpose of tempting us. The tend itself so as to include the higher substance of the whole matter is nutriment, - those things which are stated by St. Paul, 1 Cor. x. 13; requisite and necessary as well for' but God is faithful, who will not the soul as the body. suffer you to be tempted above that 13. allnd lead us nolt in to temp- ye are able; but svill sith the tenmlptatation] There is a sense, and that tion also make a way to escape that ye a profound one, in which all actions may be able to bear it. and events proceed from God. With For tine is the kingdom, and this comprehensive view of the Di- the power, and the glory9 fobr vine agency reaching through all ever. amen.] Thereis no tace things, these words mean,' so order of this ascription in early times, all events connected with us, and in any family of manuscripts, or so assist us in the government of in any exposition. It is excellent our own thmoughts, that we may not in itself; but we have no reason to be led into temptation.' The two suppose that it originally formed any clauses of the petition must be ta- part of the Lord's Prayer. ken together:'lead us not into 1 anoint thine head] i. e. do temptation, but [on the contrary] as you are in the habit of doing; deliver us from evil.' The first let there be nothing unusual in 10* H 114 MATTHEW VI. wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto is thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. ~ Lay not up for your- 19 selves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for 20 yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be 2l 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 will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to your appearance to attract atten- single] clear, with no foreign subtion. The disfiguringr of the face, stance to obstruct the passage of the in v. 16, refers to the habit of cover- light through it. The eye, i. e. the ing the face with ashes, or leaving medium through which the light it unwashed and neglected in times passes, is put for the light itself, as of fasting. 19. treasures in our common speech we use the upon earth] No small part of word ciap to express the wine which the "treasures" in the East con- is contained in it. As the pure, sisted of sumptuous and magnificent clear eye is the medium through garments. " I had," says Bartolo- which the light finds its way into mo, "put my effects into a chest, the body, and fills it with light, so and opening it afterwards, I dis- the conscience, when it is clear of covered an innumerable multitude every foreign influence, lets the of termites (or ants). They had light of God's truth into the soul. perforated my linen in a thousand But if, 23, thine eye be evil, i. e. places, and gnawed my books, my the opposite of clear, no light can girdle, my amnice, and my shoes." enter. and the whole body is full of rust] foplortv, -a more darkness. And if the very light general term than rust: anything that is in you be darkness, how that corrodes, that eats into and con- great must the DARKNESS be! sumes what is valuable. break Man's lower nature is enlightened, through] Prof. Hackett, speaking spiritualized, and sanctified by the of the unsubstantial character of spiritual light which comes into it many of the houses in the East, through the eye of the soul; but if built as they are of small stones and that light, through the perversion clay, says that " the labor of digging of the eye, be darkness, how great throughl such walls cannot be diffi- must the darkness of the sensuous cult. Those who wished to plunder life be. There are none so mourna house would be apt to select a fully dark as they who, claiming to place where the partition was ap- be Christians, thus distort, pervert, parently thin, and then stealthily and turn into dalrkness the very remove the stones or clay, so as to light of God's truth. How many open. a passage. In some parts professed teachers of righteousness, of our TEnglish version I breaking their intellectual and spiritual perthrough' should be changed to ceptions clouded by their own pre-'digging through.' " Illustrations conceived opinions, refuseto receive of Scripture, p. 95. 22. the Gospel in its simplicity, and MATTHEW VI. 115 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 26 meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not 27 much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can 28 add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; spend all their ingenuity and' Thought' was then constantly strength in turning its light into used as an equivalent to anxiety darkness! 24. Mammnon] or solicitous care; as let us witness According to Augustine this was a this passage from Bacon:' Harris, Carthaginian name for lucre or an alderman in London, was put to gain. The researches of scholars trouble, and died with tho0tG/lt and have thrown no further light upon anxiety before his business came to it. 25. Take no thought] an end.' Or, still better, this from This word, 11EPLLV&aTE, from a root cane of the'Somers Tracts' (its implying division, admirrably ex- date is that of the reign of Queen presses the divided and distracted Elizabeth):' In five hundred years, state of mind which is here con- only two queens have died in childdemned as directly opposed to the birth; Queen Catherine Parr died entire consecration of the whole ratlher of thought.' A better examman to God, with perfect trust in pie than either of these is that ochim. The transition is a natural curring il Shakespeare's'Julius one from the single eye of v. 22, to Casar,' (' take thoughlt aend die for the divided allegiance of v. 24, and Cesar') where'to take thought' from that to the distracted, anxious is to take a matter so seriously to state of mind which is produced heart that death ensues." Trench. when the simple, trusting devotion for your life] *vxii, a of the soul to God is disturbed by word which has no equivalent in our too fond a regard for lower things: language, and is translated life, "This'take no thought' is cer- in this place, ii. 20, x. 39, xvi. 25, tainly an inadequate translation, in and xx. 28, but is rendered soul, xi. our present English, of the Greek 29, xii. 18, xvi. 26, xxii. 37, and original. The words seem to ex- xxvi. 38. It means the vital, senclude and to condemn that just for- tient principle which constitutes ward-looking care which belongs to our identity, and which may be man, and differences him fiom the thought of in its relation to our beasts, which live only in the pres- physical nature, as our physical, ent; and most English critics have mortal life, or in its relation to our lamented the inadvertence of our spiritual nature, as the soul. See x. authorized version, which, in bid- 39, xvi. 25, 26. 27. one cubit ding us 6 take no thought' for the unto his stature] The primary necessaries of life, prescribes to us meaning of the word here rendered what is impracticable in itself, and stature is age, which is the more would be a breach of Christian forcible term of the two. Who, by duty, even were it possible. But anxiety, can add a cubitto his term there is no'inadvertence' here. of life"? 28. the lilies of When our translation was made, the field] We cannot tell pre-'take no tloughllt' was a perfectly cisely what flowers these were. correct rendering of the original. " But if, as is probable, the name 116 MATTHEW VI. they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you 29 that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which 30 to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no 31 thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these 32 things do the Gentiles seek;) for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first 33 the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought 34 for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. may include the numerous flowers first his righteousness and his kingof the tulip or amaryllis kind, which dom," which readinag is sustained appear in the early summel, or the by the best manuscripts, and indiautumn of Palestine, the expression cates the true order in which we becomes more natural, -the red are to seek, first, the righteousness, and golden hue fitly suggesting and then, through that, the kingdom the comparison with the proverbial of God. " By the kingdom of God," gorgeousness of the robes of Solo- says Swedenborg, " in its universal mon." " Whatever was the special sense, is meant the universal heavflower designated by the lily of the en; in a sense less universal, the field, the rest of the passage indi- true Church of the Lord; and in a cates that it was of the gorgeous particular sense, every particular hues which might be compared to person of a true faith, or who is the robes of the great king." regenerated by the life of faith Stanley. " As the beauty of the wherefore, such a person is also flower is unfolded by the divine called heaven, because heaven is Creator-Spirit from within, from in him; and likewise the kingdom the laws and capacities of its own of God, because the kingdom of individual life, so must all true God is in him, as the Lord himadornment of man be unfolded self teacheth in Luke xvii. 20, 21," from within by the same Almighty 34. for the morrow] Spirit." Alford. 30. cast For to-morrow will have cares and into the oven] The slight an- troubles enough of its own, just as nual plants, which are called grass, to-day has. It has no claims to exare still used for fuel in the East. emption from evil more than to-day, The oven is a sort of earthen pot and therefore we are not to increase (the mouth downward, and taper- the burdens of to-day by uselessly ing towards the top) in which a fire forestalling the troubles of to-moris kindled that heats it easily, and row. Do what we can, it will have the bread, rolled out thin, is spread trials enough of its own. Leave it, over the outside surface and quickly therefore, as you do whatever else baked. 33. the kingdom is unavoidable, submissively and of God, and his righteousness] trustingly in the hands of God. Tischendorf has it: "But seek ye MATTHEW VII. 117 CHAPTER VII. ANALYSIS. MOST readers are accustomed to regard the Sermon on the Mount as made up of disconnected maxims and precepts. But on a critical examination, nothing perhaps strikes us more than the intimate relation of the parts, bound together as they all are, and making one orderly and consistent whole. After the benedictions in the fifth chapter, Jesus shows how the law is to be more strictly observed by obedience to the spirit rather than the letter. In the sixth chapter, he shows how improper motives may vitiate our religious acts, darken the light that is in us, break up our allegiance to God, and disturb our faith. The seventh chapter, after a few specific rules particularly applicable to the disciples, but involving principles of conduct which can never be out of season, closes with considerations of momentous interest and importance in their application to those who would be his followers in all coming times. First, 1 -5, he warns those who are going forth to regenerate and reform the world, that they must beware of cherishing a censorious temper or habit of mind, and especially be careful to have their own souls pure before they should dare to arraign the conduct of others or exhort them to cast out their sins; lest like hypocrites they should condemn in others faults which they themselves cherish in more aggravated forms. Only purity in their own hearts and lives will enable them to aid others in putting away their sins. Still, 6, they are to exercise their discretion in regard to others, and not waste their 118 MATTHEW VII. time and precious gifts on those who will listen only to what appeals to their impure, coarse, and sensual appetites. Lest, however, they should be discouraged by such persons, they are exhorted, 7-10, to look to One who will always hear, and never refuse to assist them. Ask, seek, knock, express the different degrees of earnestness in prayer, which will not be in vain. Tkterefore, 11-12, since God, even more than an earthly father, will give good' things to them that ask him, they are in some measure to imitate his beneficence, and do to others as they would have others do to them. For here, in doing thus to others with a constant and prayerful reference to God, is the fulfilment of all that has been enjoined by the law, or taught by the prophets. See xxii. 40. The question is sometimes asked, how far the Golden Rule is original in this place. Similar precepts have been quoted from -ther writers, but no one which has the same fulness of meaning as this. In Tobit iv. 15, we read, " Do to no man that which thou hatest." Kuinoel quotes from the Talmud a similar precept, "Do not to another. that which is hateful to yourself." Seneca, Ep. 94, says, "Expect from another the same that you do to him." Each of these, and indeed all of them combined fail to come up to the precept of Jesus. At best, they cover only the negative and least important side of the great rule of disinterested and active beneficence which he has laid down. But independently of the precise meaning of the precept standing by itself, he has infused into it a religious power which takes it up out of the region of moral precepts and endows it with his own spiritual life. The warm religious atmosphere which is thrown around his instructions gives them a new vitality. Take, e. g. the first of the beatitudes, "Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." Here is a precept relating to a disposition or habit of mind, and, as far as the ethical rule is concerned, it might be trans MATTHEW VII. 119 lated, Cultivate a lowly, unambitious spirit. Who does not see that the words of religious benediction and joy in which it is here imbedded lift it up out of the sphere of prudential or ethical rules, animate it with a religious life, and press it upon us with the holy and beneficent sanctions of a divine authority? It is so with all our Saviour's moral instructions. They are never presented as naked precepts. The spiritual life which enters into them, and the religious sanctions which are thrown around them, and which mould them into conformity with the will of God, bring them to us, not as formal rules, but as spirit and life. They do not stand outside as stern monitors to remind us of our duties and enforce obedience; they enter our hearts as vitalizing influences. They quicken our affections, subdue us to themselves, and lead to obedience as the spontaneous act of souls thus prepared. In this way, the Golden Rule, urged from a religious motive on hearts already touched by a sense of God's infinite condescension and kindness, is filled out with a divine life, which gives it inspiration and power. But it is no easy work to which the followers of Jesus are called. They are to strive, Luke xiii. 24, - dyCovlieO-e, struggle, as in a crowd and a contest, —on account of the multitudes that are pressing into the broad way that leads to destruction, and the narrow, afflictive way that leads to life. Especially they must beware of the false teachers, who would come as prophets to deceive them, and who could be known only by their works. Here he warns his followers against the danger of ostentatious and heartless professions. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in the heavens." In that kingdom, and in the great day of its consummation to each individual soul, when the secret thoughts and acts of men are revealed, to the astonishment of themselves most of all, 120 MATTIIEW VII. then shall they who have lived in outward formalities and professions cling still to their old protestations, and endeavor by them to shut out the new and dreadful revelations that are breaking in upon them. "Then will I confess unto them, I nrever knew you; depart from me, ye that work unlawfulness" davoylav, i. e.'ye violators of the law.' We should note the force of this word which in this connection shows what he means by the violation of the law which he came to fulfil. They who, instead of doing the will of God, trust to their professions of honor and respect for him, are the violators of the law whom he drives away from his presence. HIow grand and awful these words, in which Jesus as the representative of the divine justice announces the rejection of those who, honoring him with their lips, had yet refused to submit themselves to the will and the law of God. But these words of terrible warning to one class of offenders are not sufficient. Referring back to his whole discourse, in which all that is significant and vital in the law has been condensed and set forth, by images borrowed from that land of mountain-torrents, and sudden, violent, and destructive floods, he tells them that he who hears and does these words of his, is like a wise man who built his house upon a rock, and rain and floods and winds fell upon it in vain, for it was founded on a rock. But he who hears and does them not, is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand, and rain and floods and winds beat violently against it, and it fell in a ruin great and terrible in proportion to the expectations and hopes which he had been building on that precarious and deceitful foundation. Here is the solemn and appalling close of the greatest, the most comprehensive and most important discourse ever spoken to man. The multitudes were filled with astonishment at his instructions. The extraordinary ascendency of Jesus over them is shown by the fact, that, though he had so utterly disappointed them in all their most deeply cher MATTHEW VII. 121 ished expectations, they nevertheless recognized his authority, and were astonished at the power with which he spoke. It has been questioned by critics whether the words here brought together were actually spoken at one time. It has been suggested that Matthew may have put together as one discourse words spoken on different occasions. But those who have carefully followed us in our analysis will, we think, come to a different conclusion. The intimate connection of the parts; the orderly whole which they make; the touching and beautiful introduction; the body of the sermon freighted with profound and various instructions, yet all bearing upon the same subject, viz. the fulfilment of the law in its highest and most comprehensive sense; —the solemn and almost overpowering close; are to us an unanswerable proof that the whole was spoken on one occasion and ag one discourse, though there may have been a pause here and there to mark the succession of topics. NOTES. 2 JUDGE not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye 3 mete it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not 1, 2. A general law of retribution tence of allegiance to the truth. is here announced. As we give, so " It has been made known to me," shall we receive. "Justice," says says Swedenborg, "by much exTholuck, " is elastic; the unjust perience, that persons of every religblow I inflict upon another recoils ion are saved, if so be, by a life of upon myself." He who is kind, charity, they have received the remerciful, and gentle to others, will mains of good and of apparent truth. disarm them of their severity, and The life of charity consists in man's make them kind, merciful, and gen- thinking well of others, and desiring tie to him. Especially are we to good, to others, and receiving joy remember this in the judgments we in himself at the salvation of others;:pass on those who differ from us whereas they have not the life of in their religious views, where we charity who are not willing that sometimes indulge our personal or any should be saved but such as sectarian animosities under the pre- believe as they themselves do, and 11 122 MATTHEW VII. the beam that is in thine own eye? or how wilt thou say to thy 4 brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast 5 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.Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your 6 especially if they are indignant that by looked on with abhorrence, and it should be otherwise." 3, 4. gave vent to strong expressions of Only the eye that is single can see disgust. And Jesus heard them, clearly. The faults which offend and, looking down compassionately us most in others are often those on the dead creature, he said,' Pearls of which we are guilty ourselves. are not equal to the whiteness of his The proud man is most annoyed by teeth.' Then the people turned tothe pride of others, and the quickest wards him with amazement, and to see it. The offences which we sus- said among themselves,' Who is pect in others are often only faults this? This must beJesus of Nazof character or of temper projected areth, for only he could find somefrom our own minds, and having no thing to pity and approve even in a substantial existence except in our- dead dog;' and, being ashamed, selves. the mote... they bowed their heads before him the beam] From quotations given and went each on his way." by Lightfoot, this would appear to 6. dogs] Dogs (Phil. iii. 2; Rev. have been a proverbial form of ex- xxii. 15) stand as a type of the pression among the Jews. shameless, passionate, and profane, 5. to east out the mote out of while swine were abhorred as imthy brother9s eye] Before, 3, it pure, sensual, and obscene. This was only looking, or staring at the passage, Dr. Balnes says, " gives a mote in the brother's eye; but now, beautiful instance of the introverted with clear sighlt, and a charitable parallelism." In Hebrew poetry, intent, we help him to put it away. one member of a sentence generally The lesson tatght in these five answers to another, expressing the verses is a rebuke to the fault- same thling with some slight modifinding, satirical spirit, in which fication: the pharisees and hypocrites of all times cdeligllt to indulge. Oe of The heavens declare the glory of God; times n delight to indulge.Oneo And the firmament showeth his handy the few legends respecting Jesus, work." - Ps. xix. 1. which are not utterly worthless, is' Create in me a clean heart, 0 God; to the same effect, and, as told by And renew a right spirit within me." Mrs. Jameson, is nearly as follows: - Ps. li 10. "Jesus arrived one evening at the gates of a certain city, aind he sent these examples, as is wsually his disciples forward to preparethe case, the llelis is between supper, while he himself, intent on ome st clause are there are four doing good, walked throughl the, Sometimes, where there are four streets into.o wl t the C A. d I: clauses, it is between the first and streets into the market-place. And tir he saw at the corner of the market thc nld the second and fourth, as some people gathered together looking at an object on the ground; and " On her house-tops, he drew near to see what it might And to the open streets, be. It was a dead dog with a halter Every one howleth, round its neck, by which it ap- Descendeth with weeping." peared to have been dragged through lsa. xv. 3. the dirt; and a viler, a more abject, Sometimes, but rarely, the first a more unclean thing never met the and fourth, and the second alnu eye of man. And those who stood third correspond. In Matt. xii. 22 MATTHEW VII. 123 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 shall be opened unto s you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seek9 eth findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he o10 give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serII pent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in 12 heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets. 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction; and many there be 14 which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the forms of expression correspond the Lord's kingdom and the Lord in this way. He healed him, inso- himself." The limitation to the much that promise is in James iv. 3. "The blind 11. If ye then, being evil] "i. e. AntI dumb in comparison with God." Alford. Both spake 13. The gate is put before And saw." the way, and refers to that decisive exercise of will by which we enter So in the passage before us: on a Christian course, and the nar" Give not that which is holy unto dogs, row way indicates the perseverance Neither cast ye your pearls before which is also needed in order that swine, we may enter into life. Lest they [the swine] trample them 14. Biecause strait] Strait means nunder teir feet, narrow, antd the word translated nearAnti [the dogs] turn again and rend Ando[the dogs] turn a)ain and rend row hals a more intense sig'nification. It is from the same root - to squeeze, 7, 8. Ask, seek, knock] bruise, crush - as the word rendered Usually supposed to refer to differ- " tiribulation" (Acts xiv. 22), "' We ent degrees of earnestness in prayer. must through much tribulation enThe following, from Clowes's notes ter into the kingdom of God," andt on this passage, may possibly sulg- without doubt hIas here something gest a better interpretation: " To of the same meaning. It was a way ask has relation to the desire of so narrow as to be afflictive. There heavenly good in the will, to seek is almost always a contrast between has relation to the desire of heav- the narrowness, the straits, the tribenly truth in the understandcing, and ulation, through which the Christian to knock has relation to the joint must pass in the eyes of the world, effect of such desire in opening corm- and the spiritual freedom and joy in munication with the Lord a.nd his which he walks. life] In kingdom. In like manner, in the the New Testament death is often succeeding verse, 8, to receive has regarded as the offspring of sin relation to the appropriation and (,James i. 15), and life as the effect possession of heavenly good, to find or consequence of holiness. The has relation to the appropriation and term death, therefore, often stands possession of heavenly trnth, and to for sin and its sorrowful. consehave it opened has relation to the quences, as life is made to stand communication therebyeffectedwith for holiness alnd its blissful results. 124 MATTHIEW VII. the 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, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth 17 good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A is good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree, that bringeth not forth 19 good fruit, is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore 20 by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith 21 unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not 22 Absolute life is absolute holiness will say to me in that day] and blessedness. This is the corn- Here is one of those indefinite exmon, though not the only use of the pressions, which, like life, deeth, word cos', which is here translated kingdosn of feeres, outer darkness, &c., have a more powerful effect lfe. It refers to the life of the soul, c have a more powerftl effect a principle of divine life with its at- on the imagination anc the heart tendant blessedness and peace, and than any precise terms coald ever hardly more than two or three times, even if it wre possible to as Luke svi. 25 and James iv 14 "apply them to this class of subjects. to the life of the body. See Trench's They draw us into the realm of inSynonymes of the New Testamient. finite being. Its vast background 16. bytheirr iats] Sol- of light or darkness is thrown around them. They cannot be deemnly repeated at v. 20.'"The fiuit around them. They cannot be deis that which a man, like a tree, puts fined because they are employed in relation to matters which have no forth, from the good or evil dispo- relation to matters which ha sition which pervades the whole of bounds, and which in our present his inward being. Learning, corn- state of existence, we canl but impiled fromn every quarter, anl cor- perfectly comprehend. In " that biled with languagle, does not con- day," when the Son of Man shall stitute fruit; which consists of all comle (John xiv. 20); in f that day " that which the teacher puts forth vhen the crown of righteousness firom his heart, in his language and shall be given to him who has conduct, as something flowing from fought a good fight and finished sis his inner beino." 13engel. course (2 Tim. iv. 8); in "the day of thorns] "Aalthough their berries when God shall judge the secrets of resemble grapes, as the heads of men by Jesus Christ " (Rom. ii. 16); thistles do figs." Bengel. in "the day of judgment" (Matt. 1. Every goo At ee xi. 24), when 1"it shall he more toler-. very (aov) tree able for the land of Sodom than for bringeth forth good (KaXo'S) thee," - in " that day " only those firuit.] There is a peculiar fitness who do the will of God shall be alof adaption in the use of these two lowed to enter into the kingdom of epithets, which is lost in our version. Heaven. Wien " that day " shall be, The tree is good, the fruit which it or what precisely shall be the sign bears is not only good, but beautiful. of its coming, is wisely hidden from A good and faithfful life brings forth us. But it has been fully revealed its good and beautiful fruits, not to us by what means we shall best only in good deeds, but in the knowl- prepare to meet it. " Blessed is that; edge to which it leads of what is servant whom his Lord, when he true and fair. 22. lany cometh, shall find so doing." See MATTHEW VII. 125 prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, 23 and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, 24 ye that work iniquity.- Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise 25 man, which built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a 26 rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall 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. 28 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. xxv. 31 - 46. 23. 1 never for Christ is still needed in order knew you] Neverrecognized them that we may truly hear his words. as his disciples. For all their loud upon a rock] The living professions and words of honor and rock. Is there not here an allusion reverence to him, he know-s them to Christ himself as the foundation? not. Only those who receive his The expression was one familiar to truth into their hearts and show it the Jews in relation to the Messiah: forth in righteous living are recog- "Behold, I lay in Zion for a founnized as his. With what sublime dation a stone, a tried stone, a preand majestic authority are these cious corner-stone, a sure foundawords uttered! No king or prophet tion" (Isa. xxviii. 16). "IHe founds could ever have used such language his house on a rock," says Alford, without an almost insane presump- "who, hearing the words of Christ, tion. 24. whosoever brings his heart and life into acheareth these sayiag S of mnhie] cordance with his expressed will, To heatr the woros of Jesus implies and is thus by faith in union with something more than to perceive him founded on him. Whereas he them with the outward ear. When who merely hears his words, but on the mountain of Transfiguration, does them not, has never dug down the words, " This is my beloved Son, to the rock, nor become united with in whom I am well pleased, hear ye it, nor has any stability in the hour him7," were spoken, the command of trial." 25, 27. and beat implied that the disciples should upon that house] In verse 25, hear with loving and believing the Greek word rpooe7'eoav means hearts, that they should bring them- to fall upon; in 27, 7rpooeKot4av selves so into sympathy with him, or means to strike or dash against. rather into such an attitude of lov- The two words are wisely chosen ing submission before him, that his to describe the different effects prowords should find a welcome in duced by the same temptations on their minds. When Mary, sitting different persons; falling upon the at his feet, heard his word (Luke good to purify and confirm them, x. 39), it was with reverential affec- but dclshing violentlyj on others so as tion that she received his instruc- e'ntirelv to overthrow in them eve'y tions. And this loving reverence principle of faith and love. I 11I* 126 MATTHEW VIII. - MIRACLES. CHAPTER VIII. GOSPEL VIEW OF MIIRACLES. IN this and the next four chapters we have detailed accounts of our Saviour's actions, and particularly of his miracles. There lie in some minds objections so strong against miracles, and the assaults on the credibility of the Gospel narratives have rested so much on these objections, that it may be well here to look carefully into the subject. What is a miracle? Not a violation or suspension of the laws of nature. "If," says Olshausen, Vol. I. p. 236, "we start from the Scriptural view of the abiding presence of God in the world, the laws of nature do not admit of being conceived of as mechanical arrangements, which would have to be altered by interpositions from without; but they have the character of being based, as a whole, in God's nature. All phenomena, therefore, which are not explicable from the known or unknown laws of the development of earthly life ought not for that reason to be looked upon as violations of law and suspensions of the laws of nature; rather, they are themselves comprehended under a higher general law, for what is Divine is truly according to law. That which is not Divine is against nature; the real miracle is natural, but in a higher sense. It is true, the cause of the miracle must not be sought within the sphere of created things; the cause of it exists rather in the immediate act of God." A miracle, then, is not a violation of the laws of nature. IMATTHEW VIII. - MIRACLES. 127 It is not an effect without an adequate cause, but in a miraculous act the usual course of physical events is changed, the usual succession of physical causes and effects is stayed, by the intervention of a higher power. When a man raises his hand, the law of gravitation is not suspended in its action upon the hand; but its influence is resisted and overcome by the higher power which intervenes through an act of the will. If, as may be the fact in some cases of animal magnetism, a man is able, by a simple act of the will, to raise not only his own arm but the arms of another, in opposition to the law of gravitation, there would be no violation or suspension of that law. He would merely overcome its resistance in this particular case by the intervention of another and superior power. So if, by a yet more effective exercise of the will, he could stay the progress of disease, quicken again the stagnant current of life in the veins, or bring back to the physical organs the functions of a suspended vitality, it might all be, so far as we can know, in harmony with the laws of nature, and in conformity with what is everywhere recognized as an established fact or law; viz. that where two influences or forces come into collision, the weaker must yield to the stronger. Now, according to the Gospel narratives, Christ was endowed with powers through which he was able to cleanse the leper of his foul disease, quench the fever in its fiery progress, calm the winds, restore the maniac to his right mind, and expel demons, by an exercise of the will to him as easy and as natural as that by which we raise an arm, or with a word silence the noise of playful children. There are no thaumaturgical displays, such as we always find with professed wonder-workers. There are no marks of violent effort. He never, in performing a miracle seems to go out from his usual and normal condition. So far as his methods of action are concerned, there is nothing to separate these from his other works. 128 MATTHEWV VIII. - MIRACLES. In conformity with this supposition, there is a peculiar fitness in the term which Jesus usually applied to his miraculous acts. In the Gospels there are four different words applied to miracles, 1. prodigies or wonders, 7r;para; 2. powers or mnighty works, BvafetEa; 3. signs, o-r]yeia; and, 4. works, pyca. The only instance in which the word rEpara, corresponding to our word miracles, is applied to miraculous acts by Jesus is where he speaks of them (Matthew xxiv. 24; Mark xiii. 22) as performed by false prophets, with whom they must indeed have been prodigies or wonders, and (John iv. 48, " Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe,") where he speaks of them as they appear to those who, not believing in him, could regard them only as prodigies. The similar word, wonderful things, Oavauo-ta, occurs but once (Matthew xxi. 15), and there when mention is made of the acts of Jesus as they appeared to the chief priests and scribes who did not believe in him. Jesus himself never used either of these words as properly describing what he had done. It is to be regretted that the distinction which is so carefully observed in the original should not have been retained in the translation, and especially that the word miracle, in which the idea of something wonderful etymologically predominates, should not have been confined, as it is in the original Gospels, to the few cases where such a meaning was specially applicable. This would have cut off at once the whole class of objections which arise from the habit of viewing these acts as something monstrous and unnatural. "The very word Miracle," says 3Ir. Emerson, in his Divinity College Address, p. 12, "as pronounced by Christian churches, gives a false impression; it is MIonster. It is not one with the blowing clover and the falling rain." But this "false impression" is not authorized by any language of Christ, or any name or view of miracle which has been used by the Evangelists. Usually, Jesus places his miracles among his other acts MATTHEW VIII. - MIRACLES. 129 without any word to distinguish them from the rest, as in his message to John the Baptist (Matthew xi. 5), or where he alludes to them by a single word, he calls them simply his deeds or works t'pyya. To him, if we may judge from his language, they were neither wonders nor acts requiring an extraordinary exertion of power, nor signs, but simply actions performed in the natural exercise of his faculties. HIe seldom refers to them at all. And when he does refer to them, except on two or three occasions when the state of mind in those to whom or of whom he was speaking required him to hold them up in the light in which they appeared to others, he speaks of them merely as kis workLs. He never calls them signs, except that twice (Matthew xii. 39, xvi. 4; Luke xi. 29) he alludes to his death and resurrection as a sign like that of the prophet Jonah, and once (John vi. 26) he says that the multitudes seek him not because they saw the signs, o-rpeia, but because they ate of the loaves and were filled. Nor does he speak of them as powers or mighty acts, except Matthew xi. 21, 23, and Luke x. 13, when upbraiding the faithless cities in which most of them had been wrought. Ten times in the Gospel of John (v. 20, 36; vii. 21; x. 25, 37, 38; xiv. 10, 11, 12; xv. 24) he speaks of them, but always with the single exception already noticed (vi. 26) the same term, works, is used. This use of language is significant in many ways. 1. It gives an indication of the construction which our Saviour himself put upon these extraordinary acts. They were such as man had never done before (John xv. 24), but still they were only his works, not wonders, monsters, or prodigies, which by the very name would indicate a violation of the laws of nature. 2. If Jesus had been an impostor, seeking to impose on men by the display of such marvellous powers, he would have been inclined to make the most of them as signs and wonders, and to refer to them constantly as such. 3. If; on the other hand, as Strauss and others suppose, Jesus, a pure and gifted teacher of sublime moral and relig 130 MATTHEW VIII. - MIRACLES. ious truths, never performed such miraculous acts as are ascribed to him in the Gospel, but they gradually, as myths or legends, grew up round his life in the minds of those who came after him, and thus became at length a part of his personal history, then they who put the Gospels into their present shape, whether they invented these stories themselves, or honestly received them as traditions from an earlier age, must always have viewed them as wonders and prodigies, and spoken of them as such, whether referring to them in their own assumed character as evangelists or in the person of Jesus. From their point of view they could not have regarded them, nor could they have conceived of Jesus as regarding them, in the easy, natural, and subordinate relation which they now hold to him. No one but him who had himself lived within the sphere of powers adequate to such works, and to whom they were only his fitting and appropriate acts, could teach men to regard them in such a light, or stand as the original model for such a conception. And writers who had not been conversant with such a being, or known these to be the real facts of the case, could never so represent him and them, and preserve throughout on such a scale the grand but harmonious proportions of his divine thought, life, and acts. Especially would this have been impossible on the mythical hypothesis, which implies that the writers must have wrought their accounts of miraculous events into the life of Jesus from a conviction, on their part, of the superior dignity and importance of those events, and from a desire through them to make the strongest possible impression on the minds of others. AvamEL, powers, is applied to miracles seven times in Matthew, four times in Mark, twice in Luke, and not at all in John; aOJ/Zov, sign, twice in Matthew (xii. 39; xvi. 4), twice in Mark (xvi. 17, 20), twice in Luke (xi. 29; xxiii. 8), and fourteen times in John; p/PYov, twelve times in John, but not at all in any other Gospel, and in John, in every MATTHEW VIII. - MIRACLES. 131 instance but one, it is used by Jesus himself. The dramatic propriety in the use of these words by Jesus is remarkable. The name wonders is given to miracles from their effect; powers, from their cause; signs, from their purpose. Works, the only word literally describing them as they are, is the one used by Jesus. To him, living in the bosom of the Father, by whom all power had been given to him, there was nothing wonderful or extraordinary in the fact that he should still the tempest or raise the dead. From the deeper spiritual insight which he possessed, and the higher spiritual powers which he had come into the world to exercise and to impart, he regarded the power of working miracles as among the inferior gifts, not only of himself, but of his disciples (Luke x. 20), and declared that they who believed in him (John xiv. 12) should [in the exercise of their spiritual endowments] perform even greater works than those which he had done. And if he had actually lived in the conscious exercise of such powers, looking out on the world of matter and of spirit, as with the eye of God, from the central point of life and thought, and so impressing himself on the minds of his followers, he would stand betore them as the great reality which they were to describe. The ascendency which he would have over them would bring their minds into harmony with his. His modes of thought would become theirs. The miracles which at first awakened their astonishment, and seemed to stand out as prodigies, would at length, through his higher influences and instructions, gradually subside into a subordinate place, and there, in concert with his diviner words and acts, give their modest testimony to his authority. Here we are enabled to show the peculiar office of the miracles of Jesus in testifying to the truth of his religion. 1. They served then, as they have in all ages since, to attract the attention of those whose spiritual natures were not yet sufficiently unfolded to see the moral beauty of 132 3MATTHEW VIII. -- lIRACLES. his life or to feel the spiritual power of his instructions. 2. Hie referred to them (John v. 36; x. 25; xiv. 11) as a proof of the divine authority with which he spoke. Standing by themselves, they could furnish no such proof. They might excite our wonder, but they could not gain our confidence. ~We should painfully feel the want of a moral basis for their support, and therefore would find it hard to free ourselves from a suspicion of fraud. But the spotless purity which marked the conduct of Jesus, the moral grandeur of his instructions, and the whole tendency and bearing of his ministry, give a perfect assurance that he could not have meant to deceive when he appealed as he did to his miracles. And the fact that they were actually performed would take away all suspicion of his having been imposed upon himself. When he announced the doctrine of man's immortality, for example, as if it were a fact known to him through spiritual powers of vision more than human, we should feel that, however lofty his genius and pure his life, he might be deceived. The habit of dwelling so earnestly and exclusively on subjects of this kind might lead him into a state of ecstasy, in which the conceptions of his own mind would be mistaken for objective realities, or facts. But when he who announces such a doctrine stands by the grave of one who has been dead three days, and at his voice the dead. man comes forth alive, this work, the effect of more than human powers of action, prepares us to receive the doctrine which professes to come from more than human powers of spiritual perception. I-e cannot be mistaken as to the miraculous fact which he places before us; and this takes away all reasonable suspicion of self-delusion or mistake in regard to the doctrine. The more than human powers of action which the miracle has put beyond question must, when taken in connection with the purity of his life, oblige us to recognize the more than human powers of spiritual perception which he claims to possess, MATTHEW VIII. - MIRACLES. 133 and to receive on his authority the doctrines which he announces as revealed to him in the exercise of those powers. Restoring a dead man to life by an effort of the will is in itself no evidence of our immortality; but it is evidence of superhuman powers of action on the part of him who has performed it, and, as such, taken in connection with a life of perfect purity, constrains us to admit his claims to superhuman powers in other directions. Man could not have done such deeds without assistance from some power or agency mightier than his own. Jesus says (Luke xi. 20) it was by the finger of God that he cast out devils, and (John xiv. 10) that it was the Father dwelling in him who did the works. The nature of the doctrines to be confirmed and of the kingdom to be established by them shows, as he justly reasoned (Luke xi. 17) that they could not have been wrought by any Satanic agency. They must then have been wrought by a power (Matthew xi. 27, xxviii. 18) specially derived from God, and in attestation of his authority as a teacher from God. In this way the miracles confirm, beyond all possibility of doubt or suspicion, the divine authority with which he spoke, —an authority which without them could not have been so firmly established on any just principles of reasoning, or by any other agencies that were likely to act so powerfully on the human mind or heart. 3. There is a sense of harmony and completeness which the miracles are needed to fill out and sustain, in our conception of Christ. Without the superhuman endowments implied by them, words such as we find on almost every page of the Gospels would seem to us almost like blasphemy. When he says (John vi. 41), "I am the bread which came down from heaven," or (John xi. 25), "I am the resurrection and the life," or (Matthew xi. 28), "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," the words seem to proceed from the depths of' a profound humility. They are the natural utterance 12 134 MATTHEW VIII. - MIRACLES. of a being divinely endowed, and condescending with inexpressible dignity and tenderness to our weaknesses and sorrows. If they had been spoken by a man of the most exalted piety and genius, by Milton or Fenelon, or by the greatest among the prophets or apostles, by Moses or Elijah, by Peter, John, or Paul, they would fall harshly upon us. As spoken by Jesus, they awaken a sense of harmony and repose. They are in character with all that he did and was. But if the divine endowments through which his miracles were wrought should be taken from him, and he should be to us in this respect like other men, the words to which we turn now for comfort and support, and which draw us so affectingly and reverently to him, would be emptied of their indwelling life and power. They would no longer come to us as the pledges of God's mercy and his presence among men, but would mock our dearest affections and our hopes. When, after announcing on the Mount truths such as man had never uttered, speaking with an authority which awed and subdued those who heard him, though by those very words he was breaking up and disappointing. all the ideas and expectations of the Messiah which had been cherished for centuries in the heart of the nation,when from the utterance of divine truths such as these he came down and commanded the leper to be cleansed or the centurion's son to be healed, he was only exercising in another direction the same divine power that he had already manifested in words which stand a perpetual sign and proof of his more than mortal endowments. The whole bearing of Christ, as he appears in the Gospels, is simple and consistent with itself. It everywhere testifies to his identity. Whosoever recognizes the miracles, and enters into their meaning, is prepared to receive his instructions. He who understands his words most thoroughly, and who enters most deeply into his spirit, will find himself admitted there within " the hidings of a power " wholly MIATTHEW VIII. 1-4. 130 adequate to the performance of any deeds which are recorded as his. For he who with a divine authority uttered truths kept secret from the foundation of the world, and who in his life so far transcended the loftiest ideals of virtue and holiness that ever dawned upon the soul, was only acting in perfect consistency with himself when he did works "which none other man" had ever done. 1- 4. - HEALING THE LEPER. When Jesus came down from the mountain -it probably was not till the morning after the sermon —he was still followed by vast numbers of people. Among others a leper, one full of leprosy (Luke v. 12), cut off by his unclean disease from familiar intercourse with others, hanging upon the skirts of the crowd, and having perhaps heard the kind words of Jesus to them that are afflicted, watched his opportunity, and, as soon as he could reach him without coming into immediate contact with the crowd, approached him, and, with the mark of respect usually paid by an inferior to a superior, throwing himself before him, said, "Sir, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." And Jesus, stretching out his hand, touched him, and said, "I will; be thou clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. There is nothing, it will be observed, in the manner of the narrative to distinguish this from any other act of Jesus, or to indicate any unusual exertion or exercise of power on his part. He charged the man to say nothing about it to any one, but to go show himself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses had commanded for a testimony to them. The reason for enjoining silence may have been to secure from the priest a certificate of the cure before his jealousy was excited by a knowledge of the manner in which it had been effected. The certificate once obtained would be a testimony unto them - whether " tkemrn" refers to the priests or the people, or, as it well may, to both -that the mirac 136 MATTHEW VIII. 1 —4. ulous cure had actually been wrought. The caution may have been given because Jesus foresaw the danger either to the man's person or character to which he would be exposed by the notoriety that must follow such a disclosure, or, as would seem from Mark i. 45, Jesus wished himself to avoid the notoriety and the increasing crowds which were likely to be caused by the report of such a miracle, and which, according to Mark, were such as to oblige him to withdraw into unfrequented and desert places. One or all of these reasons may have influenced Jesus, and he may also, as Ambrose has said, have wished to set to his disciples an example of the unostentatious way in which they were to exercise their miraculous powers. It has been supposed that leprosy was set apart by the Jewish law from all other diseases as in a peculiar sense the emblem of sin. All diseases in some way and degree immediately or remotely come from sin or a violation of God's law. But this, as the most fearful and revolting form of disease, was selected from all the rest, and held up as a proof of the Divine displeasure, and to excite the religious horror of men against all sin and uncleanness. The cases of Miriam (Numbers xii. 10 - 15), Gehazi (2 KIings v. 27), and Uzziah (2 Chronicles xxvi. 16-21) served to connect it in a forcible manner with the direct inflictions of Divine justice. "The Jews themselves," says Trench on Miracles, p. 177, "termed it'the finger of God,' and emphatically,'the stroke.' They said that it attacked first a man's house, and, if he did not turn, his clothing; and then, if he persisted in sin, himself: a fine symbol, whether the fact was so or not, of the manner in which God's judgments, if men refuse to listen to them, reach ever nearer to the centre of their life." Even the Persians, according to Herodotus, Lib. I. cap. 138, cut off the leper from intercourse with other men as if he were suffering for some peculiar offence against their divinity. The disease assumed different forms, and the marks by MATTHEW VIII. 1 —4. 137 which the different kinds are distinguished are pointed out with great minuteness in the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Leviticus. Sometimes it covered the whole body as with shining scales of snow, and when these flakes were rubbed off the flesh appeared raw and inflamed underneath. Sometimes it did not seriously affect the general health, and sometimes the whole system wasted away, toes and feet, fingers and arms falling off joint by joint. " The best authors of the present day, who have had an opportunity of observing the disease," says Dr. Kitto, " do not consider it to be contagious." But when the Crusades threw hundreds of thousands of Europeans into Asia, the seat of this plague, it spread like an epidemic over all Europe, and in France alone there were no less than two thousand leper-houses set apart for its victims, who were viewed with a sort of religious- horror, "looked upon," says Calvin, " as already dead," and clothed in shrouds while the masses for the dead were said for them. In Palestine these miserable beings are now confined to a spot near Jerusalem, and to Nablous which occupies the site of the ancient Shechem. A little south of Jerusalem, " and hard by the city gate," says Williams, Holy City, Vol. I. Sup. p. 24, " are the Lepers' utits. They are allowed to intermarry, and thus propagate this loathsome malady which is hereditary. And a most pitiable sight it is to see the poor wretches, laid at the entrance of the gates of the city, asking alms of the passengers, with outstretched hands or stumps, in various stages of decay, under the influence of this devouring disease, for which, I believe, no effectual remedy is known. I saw no case of that whiteness, which is mentioned in Scripture as the symptom of this disorder; but I own that my eyes shrunk with horror from the contemplation of such misery, and I avoided contact with them as I would with one plague-stricken." "The children," says Dr. Robinson, Vol. I. p. 359, "are said to be healthy until puberty or later; when the disease makes its appear12* 138 MIATTHEW VIII. 1-4. ance in a finger, on the nose, or in some like part of the body, and gradually increases so long as the victim survives. They are said often to live to the age of forty or fifty years." These probably are afflicted by that variety of the disease which is called Elephantiasis. But in whatever form we regard it, and whether it was contagious or not, we see enough in it that was terrible and revolting to justify Moses in setting it apart by itself, and in making it, if any disease were to be used for that purpose, an emblem of the unclean, revolting, and deadly nature of sin, creeping in from the extremities to the centre of life. The leper, says Trench, "was himself a dreadful parable of death. It is evident that Moses intended that he should be so contemplated by all the ordinances which he gave concerning him. The leper was to bear about the emblems of death (Lev. xiii. 45), the rent garments, that is, mourning garments, he mourning for himself as for one dead; the head bare, as they were wont to have it who were in communion with the dead (Num. vi. 9; Ezek. xxiv. 17), and the lip covered (Ezek. xxiv. 17). In the restoration, too, of a leper, exactly the same instruments of cleansing were in use - the cedar-wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet- as were used for the cleansing of one defiled through a dead body, or aught pertaining to death, and which were never in use upon any other occasion. (Compare Num. xix. 6, 13, 18 with Lev. xiv. 4-7). "s The leper was as one dead, and as such was to be put out of the camp (Lev. xiii. 46; Num. v. 2-4; 2 Kings vii. 3), or afterwards out of the city; and we find this law to have been so strictly enforced, that even the sister of Moses might not be exempted from it (Num. xii. 14, 15), and kings themselves, Uzziah (2 Chron. xxvi. 21) and Azariah (2 Kings xv. 5), must submit to it." The eminent Jewish writer, Philo Judmeus, whose Platonizing habits of thought, however, allow little weight to his authority in matters of this kind, whenever he refers to the MATTHEW VIII. 1- 4. 139 Mosaic accounts of leprosy speaks of them (Unchangeableness of God, xxvii., xxviii.) as describing the taint of sin in the soul; and there is little doubt that the disease was regarded by the Jews as in a peculiar manner caused by the Divine displeasure in punishment for sin, and to be healed, not by the skill of man, but by the immediate act of God. When Jesus, therefore, healed the leper, he, in their eyes, not merely cured him of his disease, but cleansed him from his sin. Evidently this idea of cleansing him in the sight of the law is that which is uppermost in the mind of Matthew, who is writing for Jewish readers; while Mark and Luke, writing for those who might not understand the full force of the Jewish expression to cleanse, add that "the leprosy departed from him." This view of the disorder, and of the light in which it was regarded by the Jews, will enable us to understand something of the feeling with which the wretched man who believed himself smitten of God, and cut off by a moral taint as well as by a most loathsome and terrible disease from the companionship of man, threw himself before Jesus, and looked up to him with that supplicating expression of confidence, " Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." It may enable us to see how Jesus, when he touched him, and said, " I will; be thou clean," must have appeared to the Jews as standing in the place of God, and as by the finger of God removing, not only % foul disease, but at the same time and by the same act the moral taint which was connected with it as cause with effect. And it may also enable us to see in this vhat is characteristic of all his miracles, that the moral nfluences are inseparably connected with the physical )ower which he put forth, so that when "himself took," 17,'our infirmities and bare our sicknesses" he also, n a deeper sense, as our version of the passage in Isaiah tas it (Isa. liii. 4), 6"hath borne our griefs and carried our 140 MATTHEW VIII. 1-4. sorrows," or even, according to the Septuagint version, " bears our sins, and is afflicted in our behalf." In its primary meaning, the expression, "be thou clean," or "his leprosy was cleansed," refers to the law. He was clean who was pronounced to be so by the priest. There was therefore a special propriety in using the word cleanse in connection with the command to go to a priest. But in its secondary meaning, which was undoubtedly uppermost in the mind both of Jesus and of the sufferer, it referred to the removal, not of a legal restraint, but of the disease itself. Whether Jesus at the same time had reference to the moral cleansing from sin, the renovation of soul as well as of body, cannot with certainty be inferred from anything that is related by either of the Evangelists, though, if the view above given of leprosy being set apart in the Mosaic law as a visible type and expression of sin and its consequences be true, it is probable that this idea was also included in the words of Jesus. This passing from things sensible to things spiritual and the reverse, without changing the language, or changing the language without a corresponding change in the thought, is very common with Jesus, and is often the occasion of perplexity to those commentators who would determine in each case precisely what was his meaning. Familiar instances will occur to every diligent student of the Gospels. Indeed it is characteristic of all figurative language, especially when that language, suggested by immediate objects or events, is charged with a new meaning, and made to contain and perpetuate thoughts of wide application and extent. " The light of the body is the eye." "Whosever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." "Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." Here are examples in which familiar images stand before us as representatives of an outward and material, or of an inward and spiritual fact. MATTHEW VIII. 5-13. 141 5-13. —HEALING THE CENTURION'S SERVANT. Jesus had now come into Capernaum, which might be regarded as his home, though, as he says, v. 20, he had no home of his own. He only accepted the hospitality that was offered him. The centurion who met himl as he entered the city was not (Luke vii. 1-10) a Jew, though from his kindness in helping the Jews to build a synagogue he probably was a believer in their religion. From his acquaintance with heathen forms of worship and of faith, in which he had doubtless been educated, and which could hardly have been effaced from his mind, the idea of spiritual beings occupying different subordinate positions, and ready, as the inferior heathen gods were supposed to be, to do the bidding of their superiors, must have been familiar to him. It is difficult to determine precisely what idea he, from his peculiar religious associations and habits of thought, may have had of Jesus. I-Ie evidently regarded him as one endowed with more than human attributes, whom he felt himself unworthy to have under his roof, but who might command his agents, as inferior spirits, to remove the disease from his servant. All that he asks is that Jesus will only say the word, for then he is sure that his servant will be healed. Since even he, in his subordinate position as a man under authority, had soldiers under him who would go and come and do as he commanded them, it must be that Jesus could by a word send his unseen agents to do whatever he might command. It was this perfect confidence, connected as it was with his sense of personal unworthiness, that called out from Jesus the strong language of commendation which he used. Such faith, — such a readiness to believe and trust in him, —he had not found, no, not in all Israel. And in this humble-minded believer, who is not of the seed of Abraham, he sees a type of the thousands, from 142 MATTHEW VIII. 5 -13. the Gentile nations, who shall crowd into his kingdom, and be accepted as his friends. From the east and the west, from the north and the south (Luke xiii. 29), they shall come to the feast, and recline at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of Heaven, while the sons of the kingdom who reject his offers will be cast out into the outer darkness. The allusion is to a great feast held in the evening, where the worthy guests are admitted to partake of its joys, while they who come without the fitting qualifications are turned out from the pleasant light and festivity within the banqueting-hall, into the darkness of night, which prevails without. The image, viewed in the light of Oriental usage, is an exceedingly striking one, and is often repeated by our Saviour under different forms. They who believed themselves the exclusive sons of the kingdom, entitled above all others to its honors and its joys, in the day of its festal triumph and rejoicing, when their king, tile longexpected Messiah, should be seated on his throne and invite the faithful to partake of his feast, should see him whom they had rejected exalted over all, and those whom they had despised as outcasts called in to take their honored places with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, while they themselves should be thrust out from the light and splendor and festivity of the banquet-hall to the outside darkness that was pressing upon them, and the shame, sorrow, indignation, and contempt which awaited them there. No image could be more full of meaning or of terror to the Jews, than to be not only excluded from the great company of illustrious men, — patriarchs and prophets and kings, - whom they professed to reverence; but to be cast out into darkness and despair at the very hour when those whom they had despised as outcasts from the kingdom should be brought in to the royal banquet. Jesus then spoke the word, and the centurion's servant. MATTHEW VIII. 14-17. 143 whom he had never seen, was healed at that very hour. HI-ere, again, we see how intimately the exercise of his miraculous power was connected with the high religious purposes of his mission. Not merely was that power put forth to relieve the sufferings of a painful disease and to reward the kind-hearted master by restoring to him the dying servant to whom he was fondly attached, but it was so put forth as to confirm his religious faith, and give the weight of his authority to the sublime instructions by which it was accompanied, and which reached through temporal disease and death to the festive light of spiritual joy and the outer darkness, which lie in realms beyond. 14 - 17. - BEARING OUR INFIRMITIES. After healing the leper and the centurion's servant, Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law, at the house (Mark i. 29) which was owned by Simon [Peter] and Andrew. Jesus evidently (Mark i. 33, 35) spent the night there, and it may have been his usual place of abode while in Capernaum. He probably arrived there in the morning, and according to the custom of the place had remained unoccupied through the hottest part of the day. Towards night, when the heat had so far abated that the sick could be taken abroad without exposure to its severity, many feeble and suffering persons, especially those who were called demoniacs, were brought to him, and the whole city was gathered together in the court by the door, to witness the cures that he wrought. As the evening shadows began to fall, and those afflicted with various fevers and violent madness were borne to him, he took away their diseases, and thus, in the view of the writer, fulfilled in himself the remarkable words of the prophet (Isaiah liii. 4). Matthew translates the words literally from the Hebrew, "Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sick 144 MATTHEW VIII. 14 —17. nesses." But in our translation of Isaiah liii. 4, it reads, " Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." In the Septuagint it is rendered, "He bears our sins and is pained in our behalf," from which undoubtedly is borrowed (Heb. ix. 28), "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many," and (1 Pet. ii. 24), "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree." But which of these meanings is the true one, or may we accept them all? Throughout the Scriptures, as indeed in all the writings (particularly those of an imaginative character) which affect us most deeply, words primarily expressing ideas connected with matter and our physical condition or sensations, extend their influence into the region of mental or moral and religious ideas. The different shades of meaning melt insensibly into one another, or the words are placed in such relations that we may with almost equal propriety regard them as standing for ideas belonging to any one, or to all, of these classes. The passage just quoted is an instance of this. In its primary and literal signification (Lowth, Noyes, Barnes, &c.) it undoubtedly applies to bodily sufferings (infirmities and sicknesses), and therefore furnishes Matthew from the Messianic prophecies with a striking illustration of the cures which he had just described as performed by Jesus. But these same words (infirmities and sicknesses), in their secondary meaning, pass over into the region of mental affections, and, as expressing the disorders and sufferings of the mind, are properly translated, as in our common version, griefs and sorrows. Again, the same words may with equal propriety be taken in their relation to the moral nature, and then, as expressing moral disorders and the sufferings consequent upon them, they may be rendered, as in the Septuagint, by words which mean sins and sorrows: "He bears our sins, and endures sorrows in our behalf.". The interpretation given by MBatthew, which is un MATTHEW VIII,. 14- 17. 145 questionably the true, as it is the literal one, in its application to the scene before him, is important as showing in what sense the Apostle, writing after the resurrection of Jesus, understood him to have taken upon himself our infirmities and our sicknesses. When he healed the sick and took away from them their diseases, then, so far as bodily infirmities and sicknesses were concerned, the words of the prophet were fulfilled. If therefore the infirmities and sicknesses which the prophet speaks of should have a deeper meaning and refer also to diseases which afflict the soul, i. e. to our sins and the sorrows which proceed from them, we are authorized by the Apostle's example to infer that Jesus takes them upon himself in the same way in which he takes our bodily diseases, and that, as in healing our bodily infirmities and removing our sicknesses from us, "himself bare" them, so in healing the diseases of the soul and removing our sins from us, he in like manner bears them in his own body and takes them upon himself. In this last expression, however, from ]Peter, as also in Hebrews ix. 28, the view which impressed Matthew so strongly is intensified by the great and additional thought of the crucifixion. But while the passage admits of these three different meanings without doing violence to its language, can we suppose that such language was used by the prophet in order that we might deduce from it any one or all of these different meanings? There is nothing in the context to decide this question, and, in the absence of any such aid, the literal interpretation is the most natural, and therefore the one to be preferred in a translation. But is there, considered by itself, any absurdity or any violent improbability, in the supposition that language may intentionally be so used as to express a fact, which, according to our state of mind and the light in which we view it, may be taken either in its physical, its mental, or its spiritual bearings and relations, especially in writings so 13 146 MATTHEW VIII. 11 - 17. intensely imaginative as those of the Hebrew prophets, or in words made to bear such unaccustomed and hitherto unknown burdens of thought and life as those which Jesus was obliged to employ? From the beginning to the end of his mission Christ was obliged to impose upon words meanings which they had never borne before, and which, however familiar they may be to us, were perpetually misunderstood and stumbled over, not only by the Jews, but by his own immediate disciples. The expression kingdom of Heaven was used by him in a sense entirely different from that in which they understood it. And yet there must have been some common point of intelligence, or the expression could not have been used as a medium of communication between his mind and theirs; it could only have misled them, or been to them as a strange tongue. That common point was the Messiah's kingdom. Both he and they used the words kingdom of Heaven to express that idea. But while he meant that they should understand it in that sense till they were capable of something better, and used the expression, knowing that they would so apply it, how infinitely above their conceptions was the thought which to his mind radiated from those words and threw its divine glories around them, and which by and by should open on their minds to enlarge and spiritualize their gross, earthly conceptions. There is then in this case, understood and intended by Christ, a double mean-0 ing,- one, the primary meaning, adapted to their present condition, making a lodgement in their minds; and the other, a higher spiritual meaning which should unfold itself from} the germ lodged there with the higher spiritual development of their natures. In this way may not material images, borrowed from an earthly kingdom, have been employed by the ancient prophets to familiarize the minds~ of the people with conceptions as pure as they could un: derstand, and thus keep alive the heart and expectatio! MATTHEW VIII. 18-22. 147 of the nation through the long and desolate days of their preparation, till at last, in a higher spiritual light, and with a purer type of character, they see in those words a meaning which they had never dreamed of before? The subject is mentioned here only to call the reader's attention to it, but will be recurred to hereafter more than once. 18-22. - LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR IDEAD. A somewhat similar use of language occurs almost immediately in the narrative before us. Jesus, oppressed by the multitudes, had commanded his disciples to prepare to pass over the lake, when a scribe, i. e. a teacher of the law, and therefore a man of some consequence, offered to follow him whithersoever he might go. Jesus, perhaps seeing that motives of worldly ambition may have influenced him, announced to him his own homeless condition. Then another person came and asked to be excused from following him till he had gone and buried his father. Jesus replied, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead." The first dead is used in a spiritual sense, of those who, having no interest in Christ, are spiritually dead. The second part of the sentence takes up the word in the literal and bodily sense in which it has just been used. Thus there is a passing from one meaning to another, and a commingling of different meanings of the same word within the limits of a very short, and, in its grammatical construction, a very simple, sentence. The probability is, that the disciple, wishing to make his filial duty an excuse for not immediately following Christ, of whose success or divine mission he may have had doubts, and therefore asking to be permitted to tarry at home till he had buried his father, i. e. till his father had died, found his secret motives laid bare and his temporizing policy rebuked, by Christ's suddenly turning upon him in its higher and more awful application, the very 148 MATTHEW VIII. 23 - 27. word which he had used. "Suffer me first to bury my father." No, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead," "but go thou (Luke ix. 60) and preach the kingdom of God." It is impossible to bring out the whole force that is compressed into these few words. It was as if he had said: "If you are really my disciple, you have received a higher life, and it is your part to go forth with the words of eternal life, causing the dead to live, and not linger here by your earthly home, waiting till your father dies, in order that you may perform the rites of sepulture for him. It is a higher duty to save the living than to bury the dead." The condensed force and pungency of the command, which rings with such power even in the ears of those who cannot analyze it, is lost in every attempt to explain it by amplification. The force consists very much in the sudden retort of the word bury, the rapid change from a literal to a figurative meaning, and the blending of both in one with such a compressed energy of utterance. It is not probable that the father was already dead; for the burial usually took place in the evening after the decease. But if he were dead, the words of Jesus will express all the more earnestly the uncompromising urgency of the call. 23-27. - STILLING THE TEMPEST. The Lake or Sea of Galilee, of Tiberias, or of Genes. areth, is about fourteen statute miles long, and in its widest part about seven miles wide. Except on the north western side, about Capernaum and northward, where the ascent is a gradual one, and reaches to a height of fron 300 to 500 feet, the hills on its borders rise steep, bu seldom precipitous, till they attain to an elevation of 800 o 1,000 feet above the lake. Beyond the hills on the nortl the snowy summit of Mount HI-ermon rises 10,000 fez MATTHEW VIII. 23-27. 149 or more above the level of the sea. The impression made by the lake and the surrounding scenery is differently described by different writers. Dr. Robinson says that the attraction lies more in the associations than in the scenery. "The hills," he says, Vol. III. p. 253, "are rounded and tame, with little of the picturesque in their form; they are decked by no shrubs or forests..... Whoever looks here for the magnificence of the Swiss lakes, or the softer beauty of those of England and the United States, will be disappointed." Again, at p. 312, he says, "The form of its basin is not unlike an oval; but the regular and almost unbroken heights which enclose it bear no comparison, as to vivid and powerful effect, with the wild and stern magnificence around the caldron of the Dead Sea." Prof. Hackett, on the other hand, says, p. 318, " For myself, I cannot hesitate to say that the appearance of the lake, reposing so quietly in its deep bed, the framework of hills which encase it on almost every side, the steep precipices coming down in some cases so boldly to the shore, the cloudless sky above, having its every hue and variation reflected back from the watery mirror beneath, formed in my eye a combination of landscape beauty equal, to say the least, to any other which it has been my privilege to see in any land." It was one of the sudden gusts which sweep down through mountain gorges that threatened to destroy the little vessel in which Jesus and his disciples, with a few others, were crossing the lake from the northwestern towards the southeastern shore. It was in the evening (Mark iv. 35, 36), after he had sent the multitude away, and probably at a later period in the ministry of Jesus than its place in the narrative of Matthew would indicate. Jesus entered the boat just "'as he was," without any preparation for the journey; and being doubtless fatigued by the exhausting labors of the day, he had fallen asleep at the stern, lying on a pillow (Mark v. 38), or rather a'6 seat 13* 150 MATTHEW VIII. 23 —27. cover," which was probably (Smith's Dis. on the Gospels, p. 287) "a sheep-skin with the fleece, which when rolled up served as a pillow." A sudden " squall of wind,";Xala h, cateov, (Luke viii. 23,) came down upon the lake. There was a violent commotion in the sea, 24, "the waves beating into the vessel," (Mark iv. 37,) so that it was hidden by them, and filling with water. The danger was imminent and instant. The disciples came, one of them crying out, "Lord, save us, we perish;" another, "Rabbi, carest thou not that we perish?" (Mark iv. 38;) and another, with yet more emphatic urgency, "Master, master, we perish." (Luke viii. 24.) He, though suddenly awakened, mildly expostulated with his disciples, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" Then he arose, and, rebuking the winds and the sea, - "the wind and the raging of the water," (Luke viii. 24,)- he said, "Peace, be still," and immediately there was a great calm. Some modern writers have endeavored to throw discredit upon the narrative by denying that these storms on the lake are dangerous, and even Dr. Robinson has said, that in our day they are neither frequent nor severe. But Sir. Bartlett, in his "Footsteps of our Lord and his Apostles," thus describes a storm which he witnessed there on one occasion after sunset: "As it grew darker, the breeze increased to a gale, the lake became a sheet of foam, and the white-headed breakers dashed proudly on the rugged beach." If such storms were unusual, they would on that account be all the more terrific when they did come, and this circumstance would account for the extreme terror of the disciples. We cannot help quoting here, slightly transposed, a few sentences from a discourse by a friend whose pure mind and spiritual insight, united with earnest and untiring habits of study, would have done much for Biblical learning if his life had been spared. "This incident in the Saviour's life," says Rev. George F. Simmons in his Ser MATTHEW VIII. 23-27. 151 mon on Christ in the Storm, "lies, like the mirror of the lake on which it transpired, amidst the solemnities and eventfulness of the Gospel history. It lies by itself, forming a little picture of bounded outline. Though a mere glimpse, - as it were a stream of sunlight upon distant water, that comes out for a moment, and is over, —yet it impressed itself upon all the reporters; for each of the Gospels has given it, with but slight circumstances of difference. The imperturbable calmness of the great leader's mind makes the scene itself as placid as a summer's day. It raises in us a momentary commotion, and then quiets us with the stillness of his heaven-fast mind. The fear of the disciples was by no means unreasonable, so far as the circumstances were concerned. But in the midst of it all, we see the man Jesus, whose name is to become a heavenly name to all the world, and who first is to go through such a cruel martyrdom, sunk in the unconsciousness of natural slumber. Neither responsibility nor the unquiet lake disturbed him. While the water was still, much might have occurred to him as to the danger of losing an opportunity of exhortation and teaching. But he knew that Divine Providence needed not that means should be pressed beyond their natural. measure. A lesson for all whose care allows them no rest. The bed is hard; the wind is bleak; the waves dash over the little craft. But Jesus sleeps on. We see there the child of innocence and nature. We see there the child of labor and simplicity. Heaven is to him what the sky and air are to the natural man. His sleep therefore has this double side. It is the sleep of nature and the repose of holiness. All sweet affections, all good desires, the deep calm of prayer, the prophetic vision of piety, both natural and heavenly graces, —are garnered up in that heart which now lives only in holy dreams, - that steadfast will taking rest from the watchful guidance of the magnificent powers intrusted to it. 152: MATTHEW VIII. 32-38. Too soon that sleep will be disturbed. Too soon they who now call to him will not be able to watch with him one little hour. Rest, holy child! Saviour and Guide of the innocent, rest! It is well for us to covet that capacity for sweet and perfect sleep. We should aim at that tranquillity which care shall not disturb; at that sweetness of a trustful disposition which anxiety shall not embitter." 32-38. - ANGELIC EXISTENCES AND AGENCIES. The subject here introduced brings us into one of the most obscure departments of theological and metaphysical discussion. The region of pure intelligence, and the province of physical laws and forces, have been explored with great care, and many mature and satisfactory results have been reached. In both these departments we have wellestablished facts as a scientific basis for further investigations, even if we have not arrived at any thoroughly digested and perfected system of philosophy. But the border region, in which mind and matter are connected and acting on one another, is particularly difficult of exploration, as is the whole realm of being between man and God. How the mind is here united with a physical organization, how it acts upon the nerves and brain, or is acted upon by them, so as to gain through them a knowledge of material things, are questions of great interest, but involved in much obscurity. Whether, under abnormal conditions, particularly when the finer parts of our physical organization are unusually excited by disease or powerful mental emotions; the sensibilities may be so quickened as to lay open to the mind new avenues of information, or new senses may be awakened, are questions which belong to a still more delicate and difficult province of inquiry. Allowing these preternatural sensibilities, or, as they seem to us, these new senses, to exist in some extraor MATTEItW VIII. 32-38. 153 dinary instances, and that through them knowledge may be gained of what is passing in the minds of others or what is going on in distant places, have we any reason to suppose that here is anything more than an extraordinary quickening of the perceptive faculties, and through that the recognition and employment of some new physical agent? Or are we to suppose that, as our spirits act through our physical organizations, and in ways heretofore unknown make impressions on other minds, or under certain conditions are admitted to a knowledge of what they think or believe, so also we may be brought into connection with spirits divested of their material forms, and receive communications or impressions from them? Can we, especially in certain extremely delicate or disordered states of the nerves, lay ourselves open to these spirits, or put ourselves under their influence, so that we, as passive instruments or mediums, may be swayed and moved by them, consciously or unconsciously uttering their words, thrilled by their emotions, imparting their thoughts? These questions, which in all ages have more or less exercised the minds of men, have been pressed upon us under new names and forms by the still unsatisfactory experience and experiments of the last quarter of a century. There are two ways of looking at the universe. 1. According to one, we recognize the existence of God and men, and the world of material laws and forces. Knowing them, we know all that it is worth our while to know. We have only to worship God, to be just and true to our fellow-men, to study and obey the laws of nature. All beyond this we reject as fanciful and unreal, and therefore unworthy the attention of a strong, enlightened, and philosophical mind. 2. On the other hand, while admitting these facts as containing what it is most essential for us to know, we may believe in the existence and agency of intervening spirits between man and God. We know that the earth 154 MATTHEW VIII. 32- 38. is intimately connected with all the heavenly bodies, seen or unseen, bound by the same laws, acted upon by influences from them, and that it would be left in utter darkness and desolation if they should be withdrawn. These bodies, reaching through the infinite realms of space, are but parts of one vast and orderly system of worlds, mutually dependent one upon another, as all depend on Him who is the Creator and Governor of all. Now, as the earth is thus united in fellowship with all the heavenly constellations, and is affected by every motion in their distant spheres, may it not be that we also, as spiritual and intelligent beings, are in like manner connected with a vast community of spirits, rising in well-ordered ranks one above another, all bound together by the same laws, sympathizing with one another, worshipping the same Father, and seeking to accomplish his ends? As in all that we know of his works here we see his designs carried on by his ministers and agents,- the sun diffusing his light, the earth bringing forth his plants, the lightnings his messengers, and man employed to accomplish his ends, —so, beyond what our eyes can see, may not his higher purposes still be carried on by intervening agents, by the ministry of angels, and the watchfulness and care of attendant spirits? As the severest rules of mathematical reasoning lead to the conclusion that the most distant star is affected by every motion on the earth, might we not, from the analogies of the physical universe, be led to infer that there is a living sympathy between the highest order of spiritual beings and their brethren of kindred nature who are passing through the infancy of their being upon the earth? When Jesus speaks (Matthew xviii. 10) of the intimate relation between his Father in heaven and the angels of little children, and when he speaks (Luke xv. 10) of the joy there is in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth, he implies nothing inconsistent with reason, but by those few words lights up the realms of MATTHEW VIII. 32 —38. 155 spiritual being, and reveals to us relations which the analogies of nature might suggest as existing between us and God's unseen ministering spirits. The fact that they are invisible furnishes no presumption against their existence; for some of the most important agents in nature, as electricity or magnetism, were, in their constant and essential operation, so hidden from the cognizance of man, that for thousands of years he had no knowledge of their existence. The doctrine then of the existence of intelligent beings, intermediate between man and God, employed by their Creator and ours in carrying out his purposes, and sustaining important relations to us, is one not unreasonable in itself, though it belongs to a class of facts which lie beyond the cognizance of our perceptive faculties. Which of the views given above is most in accordance with the language of the New Testament? The question is one of interpretation. In the first chapter of Matthew we twice meet the expression angel of the Lord, and the word angel occurs three times (once, v. 9, with a peculiar explanation) in the last chapter of the Apocalypse. Throughout the Gospels the existence of angels is constantly recognized, and it evidently enters into the religious consciousness of nearly every writer in the New Testament. An angel (Luke i. 13, 31) foretold the coming of John the Baptist and of the Messiah; an angel (Luke ii. 9, 13) announced the birth of Jesus, and a multitude of the heavenly host joined in the song of gladness which welcomed that event. After the Temptation in the Wilderness angels came and ministered to Jesus. In the mountain of transfiguration (Luke ix. 30, 31) Moses and Elijah appeared in glory talking to him of his departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. In the agony of the garden (Luke xxii. 43) there appeared unto him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. According to Matthew and John, angels at the sepulchre announced his resurrection, while, evi 156 MIATTHEW VIII. 32-38. dently referring to the same thing, Mark speaks of a young man at the sepulchre clothed in a long white robe, and Luke, of two men in shining garments. At the ascension, while the disciples were looking steadfastly towards heaven, two men stood near them, in white raiment (Acts i. 10), and as beings from another world spoke to them. In accordance with these accounts were the teachings of Jesus. "We learn from our Lord's discourses," says Archbishop Newcome, in his Observations on our Lord, Chap. I. Sec. 6, " that the heavenly angels are a numerous host (Matthew xxvi. 53), that they are raised above the imperfect condition of humanity (M[atthew xxii. 30), and are holy (Matthew xxv. 31; Mlark viii. 38), glorious (Luke ix. 26), and immortal (Luke xx. 36) beings; that they are acquainted (Matthew xxiv. 36; Mark xiii. 32) with many of God's counsels, though not with all, that they are occasionally ministering spirits to mankind, both in this life (Matthew xviii. 10) and the next (Luke xvi. 22); that at the last day our Lord will come to judgment, and all the holy angels with him (Matthew xxv. 31), and that in their presence he will confess those (Luke xii. 8, 9) who boldly confess him before men, and deny those who timidly deny him." It is impossible to explain these expressions away as figurative on any just grounds of interpretation. The language both of Jesus and of the Evangelists is often specific and minute; it is used, not merely in passages of an imaginative and poetical character, but in the plainest historical details, and is applied under circumstances which admit of no other construction. Where there is no specific and formal reference to them, their existence is sometimes implied by undesigned and spontaneous allusions which show how the thought of them entered into the religious conceptions, and made a part of what is called the religious consciousness of Jesus and the Evangelists. JIATTHEW VIII. 23-34. 157 28-34. - EVIL AND DISORDERLY SPIRITS. But what shall we say of the existence and agency of other spirits than those of an angelic character? The subject has already been opened in the chapter on the Temptation in the Wilderness. To deny the existence of evil spirits is not to destroy the kingdom of evil. So long as sin actually exists in the world, and evil spirits are allowed to dwell as wicked men in human bodies, and under the limitations and restraints of our nature, the moral objection to the existence of evil or disorderly spirits under other forms is wholly without force. The objection lies against sin itself and its fatal influences. But as sin does exist and prevail, why may it not show itself in other modes of being as well as in that with which we are familiar? By denying the existence of the devil, we, as Goethe says, "' get rid of the wicked one, but the wicked ones remain." Besides, what becomes of all the wicked men who are constantly going from this present mode of life to another? We cannot suppose the bare act of dying, or changing the form of life, to work an essential change of character, and transform them from sin to holiness. If they exist at all, they exist, at least for a time, as evil spirits. Are they then permitted to go at large for a season? As in this world good and bad grow up together, and are open to influences whether of good or of evil from one another, as a bad man often is permitted to have access to innocent minds and to corrupt their virtue, may it not also be, as Swedenborg has supposed, in those modes of being which lie next beyond us, that the good and the bad are for a season allowed to live, to be employed in their different spheres, and, within the rules and limits established by the all-wise Creator and Ruler of all, to labor for the establishment of their kingdom, and to hold out its influences to those who are still upon the earth, that they may receive or reject them? May there not be a 14 158 MATTHEW VIII. 28 - 34. kingdom of evil as well as a kingdom of righteousness having its seat beyond us, but, within the conditions and limitations assigned by God, reaching down its poisonous influences into the sphere of our human interests and relations? The great and terrible fact that sin with its baleful influences does exist cannot be denied. Its enticements and seductions, its pestilence that walketh in darkness, and its destruction that wasteth at noonday, meet us at every turn. The world groans under a sense of the degradation and misery and sorrows which it inflicts. Where is its source? In the soul of man or in the world beyond? Is there a kingdom of darkness,- the devil and his angels, as there is a kingdom of light, - the Son of Man and the holy angels with him? When Christ came to save the world from sin, did he have to contend only with wicked men, their passions and crimes, and to infuse into men's minds the elements of a diviner life? Or did he have to contend with and overthrow a kingdom of darkness, lying beyond this world, and yet intimately associated with it, sending out its emissaries of wrong with every form of temptation to take advantage of the weaknesses of our nature and lead us into sin? Did the Prince of Darkness with his agents, recognizing Jesus as one who had come to destroy their kingdom, meet him in the wilderness, follow him through his ministry, incite Judas to betray him, and throw every obstruction that they could in his path? By the reference which Jesus so often makes to Satan, his kingdom, and his messengers; in the terrible depth of his anguish at Gethsemane and his cry of desolation upon the cross; are we to recognize merely the existence of sin in its impersonal influence and authority, seated deeply in the heart of the race, and incorporated into all its institutions and habits; or are we also to recognize a Prince'of Darkness with his attendant and obedient subjects constituting a kingdom of iniquity, and per MATTI-HEW VIII. 28-34. 159 mitted for a season, in the wise providence of God, to range at large through the world? In this supposition we are always to remember that wicked ones are not omnipotent because they are spiritual, and that, as wicked men here, so wicked spirits there, must be limited by the laws of God, and by the very conditions of their being, in the sphere and mode of their operations. The moral freedom of man, which God himself respects in all his dealings with him for his salvation, he will unquestionably constrain wicked spirits to. respect and leave untouched in all their efforts to injure and destroy him. Whatever Jesus may have taught in regard to the agency of evil spirits, the whole force of his instructions goes to show, that, if we only are on our guard, they can have no influence over us for evil. The question of the existence and agency of evil spirits, like that of good spirits, is not one embarrassed by any physical impossibility or moral improbability. It is simply a question of fact, which lies open to evidence, and is to be treated by commentators on the New Testament as a question of interpretation. What then is taught by Jesus on this subject? In the account of the Temptation, which must have been derived from him, he speaks of Satan as a personal being. The wicked one (Matthew xiii. 19), Satan (Mark iv. 15), and the devil (Luke viii. 12), are used as equivalent terms. Jesus (John viii. 44) tells the Jews that they are of their father the devil, and (Matthew xii. 26) he speaks of Satan as establishing a kingdom in opposition to the kingdom of God. He speaks (John xiv. 30) of the prince of this world, who hath nothing in him, who (John xvi. 11) is judged, and (John xii. 31) shall be cast out. He says (Luke x. 17, 18), "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven," and (Matthew xxv. 41) lie speaks of the " everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." It is possible that this may be figurative language, used 160 MATTHEW VIII. 28 —34. to express in vivid terms the power of evil. But in reading the Gospels, and the whole of the New Testament with care, seeking, without any prepossessions on our part, to enter into the conception of Christ and his disciples on this subject, we should hardly fail to infer that, to their minds, Satan and his angels were personal beings, acting in opposition to them, and exercising a dominion which it was Christ's office to overthrow. The language of the New Testament, its direct expressions and indirect allusions, harmonize more readily with this than with any other hypothesis. For further considerations, see chapter xiii. 39. There is still another class of beings referred to in language which is to be taken either literally or figuratively. As there are the Son of Man and the holy angels with him, and the devil and his angels, so there are demons, 8ato'vLta or 8alloves, and demoniacs, or persons supposed to be possessed by demons. The word Devil, see Whately on "Good and Evil Spirits," pp. 57, 80, is a proper name, always in the singular number. Wherever the word devils occurs in the New Testament it should read demons, that being the word in the original. It is unfortunate that in our version these beings are called devils. They were considered by the Jews to be disorderly, mischievous, and, as they are sometimes called (Matthew x. 1, xii. 43, Mark iii. 11, 30, &c.), unclean spirits. The idea seems to have been, that they were wandering about the earth, seeking, as the language of Jesus (Matthew xii. 43-45) suggests, a dwelling-place in some human being, whose will they might control, and whose mental and physical organs they might succeed in subordinating to their own uses. Two different views of this subject have been taken. On the one side, it has been maintained, that demoniacs were persons affected by nervous diseases of different kinds, especially when those diseases were so severe as MATTIIEW VIII. 28 -34. 161 to unsettle the powers of reason and of self-control. In short, they were either subject to fits, or belonged to that large class of sufferers who now find a home, and often, from physical and moral treatment combined, a cure, in our hospitals for the insane. The other view is, that while the demoniacs were unquestionably diseased, suffering particularly from those nervous affections which are induced by sensual indulgence, and through which the whole system, physical, mental, and moral, is disordered and deranged, they were actually besieged and taken possession of by these mischievous spirits, who were wandering about in quest of a dweilingplace. The spirits, taking advantage of the utter disharmony in their natures, enter through the rents that have been made, usurp the place which their own wills have held so-unsteadily, and exercise over them in body and mind a control more or less entire according to the degree of disorder and incapacity that they find. These unhappy victims of demoniacal influence are not represented as adepts in sin. They are not wholly given over to what is evil. They are rather imbecile, or without self-control, given over perhaps to habits of sensual indulgence, and the disorders growing out of it, with a perception, as the Gadarene had, of their unhappiness, but waging a feeble war against temptation, and making a feeble and therefore ineffectual resistance to the tyrannous power which has taken possession of them, and which substitutes his will and at times his consciousness in the place of theirs. He inflames their passions, arms them, as paroxysms of insanity sometimes arm men now, with an almost preternatural strength, drives them into unfrequented and desolate places, weans them from the companionship of man, fills them with delusions and evil thoughts, or forces them to isolate themselves in the midst of their friends by refusing to see or to speak. In support of the opinion that these cases as described 14 * 162 3MATTHEW VIII. 28-34. in the New Testament are only cases of insanity and other severe diseases, particularly nervous affections, it is said, —1. That language similar to that which is applied to these cases in the New Testament was applied by classical writers of Greece (Xenophon, Mem. I. 9; Aristoph. Plut. II. 3, 38) to sick persons who were to be cured by medical prescriptions. 2. That the symptoms, as they are brought out in the narratives, are such as truly describe those classes of diseases. 3. That the Evangelists apply the same language to sick, melancholy, and insane persons; e. g. (John x. 20), "lie hath a demon, and is mad." 4. That as the Jews were accustomed to attribute all effects proceeding from unknown causes to invisible personal agents, they attributed these mysterious diseases particularly to demons, and Jesus and his disciples, in speaking of them as they did, only used the popular language by which those diseases were generally designated, just as we use the words lunatic (moonstruck), sunrise, and sunset, without any regard to their literal and erroneous meaning. 5. The demoniacs are the only insane persons whom Jesus is said in the Gospels to have cured, which is very remarkable, if the two words, demoniacs and insane, do not describe the same class of' sufferers. 6. If these were really cases of demoniacal possession, how happens it that they were so numerous then, and so entirely unknown now? -. On the other side it is said,- 1. That as these cases were usually attended by disease, the medical prescriptions were not out of place; and, 2. Of course the symlptoms would, for the most part, be such as would characterize the disease, whatever it might be. 3. That in the expression (John x. 20), "He has a demon, and is mad," there is no more reason to consider the second clause an explanation of the first than in the expression, "I-He has a fever, and is delirious." Considering how general and unqualified the belief in demoniacal influences was MLATTHEW VIII. 28- 34. 163 among the Jews, there can be no doubt that they in their anger against Jesus did intend to describe him as one possessed by an evil spirit, and therefore raving, when he spoke to them in language so utterly beyond their comprehension. 4. Though Jesus often used the popular language without stopping to explain the errors involved in it, yet he applies this language to demoniacs in ways and under circumstances hardly consistent with his perfect veracity, if he knew that they were only cases of insanity. Let any one read carefully the whole passage (Luke xi. 14-26), and ask whether on such a supposition this language is quite consistent with our ideas of perfect truthfulness. Even if the first part of the passage should be regarded as an argumentum ad honminemn, reasoning with the Jews on their own ground, as it might be, it is impossible so to understand the last three verses, where he describes the unclean spirit, after he is gone out of a man, as wandering through deserts, in search of a restingplace, and finding none. Not only in public, but in private conversations with his disciples, Jesus uses similar language. In private directions to them, he says (Matthew x. 8), not "heal demoniacs," but "cast out demons," and (xvii. 21) when they come to him confidentially for instructions in regard to a case of this kind over which they had no power, he says, "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting," —language which must have -onfirmed them in the belief that it was a case of denoniacal possession, and which it is very difficult to reconile with his veracity unless he so regarded it. 5. To the tuestion why demoniacs were so common then, and so nknown now, the reply is, that, in the moral as in the,hysical world, particular periods are marked by the prevaance of particular forms of evil. Why was the plague f Athens, of Florence, or of London a disease so fatal nce, and so unknown now? "In looking over the past istory of the world, with reference to this kind of phe 164 MATTHEW VIII. 28 - 34. nomena," says an able Swedenborgian writer, Hayden on Spiritualism, p. 43, " we shall find that they have been exceedingly active in periods preceding great changes in the religious state of the world, and have been the forerunners of events that have powerfully affected the minds of men on a variety of subjects, especially in regard to their religious sentiments." If such beings do exist around us, we should expect them to show their power most of all in a time of moral disorder and chaos like that which preceded our Saviour's coming, and be excited by the fiercest desire to extend their power over men at the time when he was about to put down these disorderly agents, and establish the kingdom of Heaven. "If," says Trench, on The Miracles, p. 134, "there was anything that marked the period of our Lord's coming in the flesh, and that immediately succeeding, it was the wreck and confusion of men's spiritual life which was then, the sense of utter disharmony,..... with the tendency to rush with a frantic eagerness into sensual enjoyments as the refuge from despairing thoughts...... It was exactly the crisis for such soul maladies as these, in which the spiritual and the bodily should be thus strangely interlinked, and it is nothing wonderful that they should have abounded at that time; for the predominance of certain spiritual maladies at certain epochs of the world's history which were specially fitted for their generation, with their gradual decline and disappearance in others less congenial to them, is a fact itself admitting no manner of question." "We must' not," says Neander, "Life of Jesus," p. 146, "take the spirit of an age of materialism or rationalism as a rule for judging of all phenomena of the fvxyq [soul] which veils within itself the Izfinite, which is capable of such manifold excitement, and whose various powers are alternately dormant and active, -now one prevailing, and now another." If it was one important parn of the mission of Christ to overthrow here the dominion o MATTHEW VIII. 28- 34. 165 evil spirits, and to break up their dangerous intercourse with man, this alone will account for the fact that such. moral disorders as demoniacal possessions should no longer be found. 6. Such expressions as (Mark i. 34) are hardly consistent with any other conception on the part of the writer than that of an actual possession by demons; Jesus "did not suffer the demons to speak, because they knew him." The argument is not decisive on either side. Each person will be likely to adopt that view which accords best with his opinions in regard to the existence and influence of spirits. If we believe in the ministry of angels,-that the spirits of the departed may still linger for a season near their accustomed abodes and friends, - if we believe that "this world of ours stands not isolated, not rounded and complete in itself, but in living relation with two worlds," a higher and a lower,- that we are not only to welcome every impression from the world above, but to keep the gate of the soul closed against influences from the world below, - we shall find no difficulty in admitting, that.at that momentous crisis when the moral faculties of the race were so dislocated and disordered, evil and unruly spirits may have had an extraordinary sway, and that just at the time when their kingdom was about to receive a blow which must prove fatal in the end, they may have been excited to put forth unusual efforts in order to fortify and extend their authority. This view of the case seems to us upon the whole best to harmonize the different terms used in the New Testament, both those directly connected with demoniacal possessions, and those which refer in different relations to the connection between this and other worlds. We have very little doubt that this was the belief of the Evangelists themselves. Whether it was entertained by Jesus is not so certain. The whole subject is an obscure one. It can be known to us only through a divine revelation. From its very nature, and our acknowledged ignorance 166 MATTHEW VIII. 28- 34. of such matters, we must expect to find in it things which we cannot fully comprehend. We shall endeavor to explain the narrative before us, 28- 34, in accordance with each of these views. On the first supposition we may say that the symptoms, as they are minutely described in Luke viii. 26-37, and more vividly still in Mark v. 1-17, are those of extreme insanity. The fierce and habitual violence, the almost preternatural strength, the shrinking from the society of men, living naked among the sepulchres and in the mountains, the savage outcries, and fierce tearing of his flesh with stones, are symptoms of the most violent insanity. So is his double consciousness, speaking now in his own person, as when he came and threw himself down before Jesus, and then, in the violence of the struggle which ensued when Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of him, speaking in the person of the spirit, and afterwards in his still more violent ravings identifying himself with an army of demons by whom he supposes himself to be possessed. These are the wild, rapid, inconsistent starts of a madman. The whole narrative, so natural and lifelike, bears indisputable marks of truth. Even the transfer of the disease to the swine is as easily accounted for on this supposition as on any. Perhaps there is no one feature of the case which may not be thus explained, except his recognition of Jesus as the Son of the Most High God, and his falling down in reverence before him. It is possible, but very improbable, that in his fierce and isolated condition he should have heard reports to produce such an impression on his mind. WVe will now explain it on the other theory. WVe wil. suppose that, in addition to the insanity which had beer brought upon himself and aggravated in all its symptom: by habits of sensual indulgence and the attendant disorder of his inward life, he was actually possessed by a demo] whom he, having once admitted, has no longer the powe MATTHEW VIII. 28 - 34. 167 to expel. This evil spirit has taken possession of his faculties, fills out his consciousness, excites in him the fiercest enmities and passions, drives him away from the abodes of men, and subordinates his nature to his own mischievous and disorderly will. There may be moments of awakening consciousness, when the despotic tyranny is relaxed, and the poor man returns to himself and feels his misery. Such a moment may have come, when the spirit, recognizing with awe the presence of Jesus, was thrown off his guard, and the man, thus made aware of the character of Christ and seizing at once on the hope of deliverance, ran and threw himself at his feet. But immediately the spirit regained his control, the frenzy returned upon his victim, and believing himself now to be the demon by whom he was possessed, the act of homage by which he had thrown himself down in the hope of relief was turned into a fierce cry of rage and despair. "What hast thou to do with me, Jesus, thou Son of' the Most High God. Hast thou come hither to torment me before the time? I adjure thee by God, torment me not." For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Then, as if to call him to himself, Jesus asked him his name. But the power that had dominion over him was not then relaxed, and, as if he were a whole army of demons, he said, "Legion is my name." And still, under the same control, in the person of the demons whom he supposes himself to be and whose words he speaks, he besought Jesus that he would not (Mark v. 10) send them away out of the place, or command them (Luke viii. 31) to go out into the abyss, but allow them to enter a vast herd of swine that was feeding in the distance (Matthew viii. 30) there on the mountain near the sea (Mark v. 11). The request is not refused. The swine, seized with a sudden fury, rush headlong down the preci, pice into the sea, and perish in the waters. The whole account, on this supposition, is perfectly natu, 168 IMA.TTHIEW VIII. 28-34. ral and consistent. It places before us in terrible colors the features of that disjointed and discordant life which must belong to a human being subjected to such a foreign control before his whole nature is consciously and voluntarily surrendered to what is evil. There are one or two remarkable expressions here which, on this supposition, may throw a little light on a dark and difficult subject. " What hast thou to do with us (Matthew viii. 29), Jesus, thou Son of God?" indicates their knowledge of Christ as of a superior being who has authority over them. But how could the maniac have known him by this title? The second clause of the same sentence, "1-last thou come to torment us before the time? " would seem to indicate that they knew that they could be allowed to range at liberty only for a season. The same fact is also indicated yet more strongly by their beseeching Jesus (Luke viii. 31) that he would not command them to go out into the deep, the abyss, which word, wherever it is used in the New Testament, refers to the abode of the dead (Romans x. 7) or the abode of wicked spirits (Rev. ix. 1, 2, 11; xi. 7; xvii. 8; xx. 1, 3). The same idea is probably implied in the request of the demons (Mlark v. 10), that Jesus would not send them out of the place. The inference is that these spirits, who were perhaps, as Swedenborg asserts, the souls of departed men, were allowed to linger for a time about the earth before they entered the abyss. It ought to be added that this is the strongest case to be found in the Gospels, on the side of actual demoniacal possession. MATTHEW VIII.'169 NO TE S. WHEN he was come down from the mountain, great multi2 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, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy 4 was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. a 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 torment7 ed. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. s The centurion answered and said: Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but speak the word only, 9 and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my io servant, Do this, and he doeth. it.,When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto 11 you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in 5. there came unto him a 8 and 9. It is not unusual to repreenratriol] Iln the Roman army sent a man as doing himself what he )r a long time each legion contained does through others. 6. ]Lord] ixty centurise, and each centuria, A term by which, according to Gros the name implies, was supposed tius and Kuinoel, the Jews were consist of a hundred men. The accustomed to address even stranDmmander of one of these com- gers. It was also a term which, anies was called a centurion, and like our Sir, might be used in the:cording to Polybius (VI. 24), he most respectful salutations. as usually remarkable less for his 8. my servant] Literally, " my irina valor than for his calmness boy," or "my son;" but in Luke id sagacity. He sat as a judge in it is explained as servant, 8okAov. inor offences, and was, of course, 10. faith] The first use a province like Galilee, a man of this word in the Gospels, though considerable distinction and im- the corresponding adjective is found rtance. According to Luke (vii. (vi. 30). The noun here, as is sug-10), the centurion sent elders of gested by the adjective there, and Jews to Jesus, and did not him- viii. 26, means trust, confidence, and f meet him, till Jesus had come implies a believing, trusting heart. er his house, when he spoke to 11. and shall sit down n substantially as here in verses with] shEll recline with. At their 15 170 MATTHEW VIII. the kingdom of Heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall 12 be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go 13 thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his 14 wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her 1i 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, "THimself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave is commandment to depart unto the other side. And a certain 19' scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus saith unto him, The 2oi foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. And another of 2ql meals the Jews, in common with second evening beginning with the other Oriental people, reclined on setting sun. The hour of evenins couches. 12. there shall sacrifice and prayer was the nintl be weeping] There shall be the hour, or about three o'clock. Sec weeping; "a remarkable article Robinson's Lexicon. 19. i used emphatically," "as though certain scribe] one scribe. Fez that were the true ideal of sorrow, of that class came to Jesus with the normal standard of suffering, disposition to receive and folloi the archetypal reality of agony." him. He probably saw the mib " In this life, grief is not yet really taken motive, or the infirmity ( grief." Bengel. 12. gnash- purpose with which this scribe ha ing of teeth] " from impatience come; and knowing that such fo and bitterest remorse. Self-love in- lowers could only weaken his caus dulged on earth will then be trans- gave him such an answer as woui formed into self-hate; nor will the reveal him to himself, and lead hi sufferer be ever able to depart froln voluntarily to go away, though I himself." " Another exposition is, may, like the young man (xix. 2' the soft will weep, the stern will have gone away disappointed ai rage.' IBengel. This whole im- sorrowful. 20. the Sc agery is from the marriage feast, - a of Man] Dr. Palfiey suppos favorite similitude with our Lord,- that Jesus used this phrase " as cc lamps and torches within, the dark- taining a reference to a form ness of night without. conception and of speech deriv 16. the even] The Jews reckoned from (or at least according wil two evenings, the first evening a passage in the Book of Dar beginning with the declining sun, (vii. 13, 14), where it is said,'I s or about three o'clock, P. I.; the in tihe night visions, and behold, ( MATTHEW VIII. 171 his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and 22 bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead. 23 And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed 24 him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves; but he was 25 asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, say26 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 calm. 27 But the men marvelled, saying, WVhat manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him'? 28 And when he was come on the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, like a [or the] son of man came may be inferred from the size of with the clouds of heaven,' &c. In the lake. There is great weight in these words, the subject in the wri- a remark of Bengel, which might ter's contemplation was the coming be carried out more fully than in of the Messiah to establish the kine- his words: "Jesus had a moving dom of Heaven. Occurring in a school (Scholm arnbalciantesn); and passage of such brilliancy, the in that school his disciples were phrase Son of JlUan, though by no instructed much more solidly than means sufficiently specific in its if they had dwelt under the roof of meaning to be restricted into a des- a single college, without any anxiety ignation of the Messiah, yet was or temptation." 26. and likely to take a place among those rebumked the winds] hlshed them, titles which might properly be applied to him." -Relation between The word rebuke, &rLrqLd&o, is not Judaism and Christianity, pp. 66, used to express displeasure or 67. 22. let the dead bury anger but as a command to their dead] It may be, as Bengel cease from what one is already sugYgests, that this is meant to im- doing or saying. " And he charged ply that even the most imperative [rebuked, zrtrmlo'-Ev] them not ffices of life - such as the burying to make him known." (xii. 16.) Af tile dead - should be left to be 28. the Gergesenes] lerformed by others, since the comn- In Tischendorf, Gadarenses. In Luke nalnd to follow hilm was too imme- it is G'adarenes, but according to liately urgent and imperative to be Tischencldorf, Gerasenes. It is diffi)ut aside on any such grounds. cult to decide amolg these different' But go, thou, and preach the king- readings. If Um Keis occupies the lomi of God; that is, arouse those same spot as the ancient Gadara - lho are dead; being called to this, and of that there seems to be little lave burying to others, who, alas! doubt - Gadara could not have been o it naturally enough, as long as the scene of this miracle; for it is, aey themselves are as dead as their according to Thomson, "about three eand." " Ye are called, as the hours," i. e. about seven or eight vinlg, to diffuse life; leave every- miles, "to the south of the extreme iing else as burying-work to the shore of the lake in that direction.",ad." Stier. 23. into a But Gersa or Chersa, says Thomsip] The size of the ship or boat sol, Vol. II. pp. 35, 36, " is within 172 MATTHEW VIII. coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, 29 What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And there 30 was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. a few rods of the shore, and an im- power was most decisively exermense mountain rises directly above cised. Matthew, from his office as it, in which are ancient tombs, out a pTblicLn or tax-gatherer, would of some of which the two men pos- be likely to be more precise in the sessed of the devils may have issued use of numbers, and therefore to to meet Jesus. The lake is so near mention both, even though the parthe base of the mountain that the ticulars of the account which the swine, rushing madly down it, could other Evangelists have preserved not stop, but would be hurried on actually applied only to one. into the water and drowned. The 30. a good way off] ataKpav, place is one which our Lord would fac fsron them. Mark and Luke be likely to visit, having Capernaum say, EKEl, " There, on the mountain." in full view to the north, and Galilee There is no inconsistency. They'over against it,' as Luke says it were there, in the cistance, on the was (Luke viii. 26). The namne,,eounstain. This miracle, which has however, pronounced by the Beda- more the air of a legend than any win Arabs, is so similar to Gergesa, other in the Gospels except the takthat to all my inquiries for this ing of money from the mouth of a place they invariably said it was fish (xvii. 27), is nevertheless re'at Chersa, and they insisted that markably lifelike and natural in' they were identical, and I agree its details, especially as they are with them in this opinion." given by Mark and Luke. With, two possessed with devils] the exception of his destruction o: Mark and Luke speak of only one, the fig-tree (xxi. 19), it is the onl3 and represent him as so wild and miracle of Jesus that was not whollh ungovernable, that he dwelt with- beneficent in its effects. But tth out clothing among the tombs, driv- very destruction of property, as in en by the demon into desert places, similar case (Acts xvi. 16 -19), ma (Luke viii. 29), continuing day and have been to show how much mor night among the sepulchres and on valuable and sacred is a human soi the mountains, crying out and cut- than any amount of gain. It ma ting himself with stones (5Mark v. have been intended as a rebuke i 5), so fierce that chains and fetters those who, if Jews, were keepir had been broken by him, and no swine in violation of the law. man was able to subdue him. Yet may, in some way unknown to u when he saw Jesus coming, while have been necessary, in order he was yet afar off (Mark v. 6), he effect the cure and make it pe ran and prostrated himself before manent. Or still more probably, him, and shrieked out the words, may have been intended, by t " What hast thou to do with me, very considerable magnitude of t Jesus, thou Son of the Most High loss to attract the attention of t God? Art thou come hither to tor- community, as the cure of the nment us before the tcunee o Ire ment us lbefore the time? I adjure nine alone could not do, and prept thee by God, torment me not." them to receive the Gospel at soi Matthew (xx. 30) speaks of two future day. For such a loss wol blind men, where Mark and Luke produce a lasting impression mention but one. In each case their their sordid minds; and evide attention may have been confined to the people in the vicinity w the more conspicuous of the two as moved with awe and dread by 1 the one on whom our Saviour's more than by any other of his r MATTHEW VIII. 173 31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer 32 us to go away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, 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. 33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen to the pos34 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. acles. As to any injustice to the Jesus directed the man (Luke viii. owners, it was " God who inflicted 39) to go home and declare what this loss; and, viewed in this light, great things God had done for him. all inquiry respecting the particular The leper, v. 4, had been commandcause why it was inflicted, and all ed to tell no one. But this was on discussion of its reason or justice the opposite side of the lake, where in reference to the owner, are as Jesus had not the same need of much out of place as they would privacy as on the western side. As be concerning a fire, or a shipwreck, he was immediately to leave the or an earthquake." Norton's "In- place, and seldom if ever to visit it ternal Evidences of the Genuineness again, he may have been desirous of the Gospels," p. 282. That the of doing what he might to extend miracle was intended to produce a the knowledge of his mission in that very strong impression is a sugges- region. tion countenanced by the fact that 15* 174 MATTIEW IX. 18 - 26. CHIAPTEIR IX. 18- 26. - CHRIST'S WAY OF VIEWING DEATH. THE explanation of these miracles will belong more properly to Mark v. 22 -43. A single expression will here be noticed (24), "The maiden is not dead, but sleeping." Olshausen supposes that Jesus intended by these words to say thlat she really was not dead, but only "' in a deep trance." We think the expression is rather to be regarded as indicating the view which Jesus took of death. To him who looked through the shadowy envelopments of mortality, and saw in its higher experience the ongoings of the life here begun, death could not appear as it did to others; and, except when he was specially obligedl, as in John xi. 14, and MViatthew xvi. 28, to adapt himself to their understanding, he would naturally apply to it forms of speech different from those which were then in use. Here is one of those forms, borrowed possibly from the Old Testament (Deut. xxxi. 16; 2 Kings xx. 21). But the limited expression there, " I-e slept wit/h hEis fathers," is taken without any such qualification, and the act of sleep is held up as the peaceful and fitting emblem of death. "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep." The expression fixed itself among his followers. "M [any bodies of saints who had fallen asleep arose." (Matthew xxvii. 52.) "And having said this, he fell asleep." (Acts vii. 60.) "Of whom the greater part remain to this day, but some have fallen asleep." (1 Cor. xv. 6.)' They who have fallen asleep in Christ." (I Cor. xv. 18.) This softened mode of expression, entering the Christian consciousness, has changed the whole aspect of the grave. The pall of death is but a veil of slumber thrown over the mortal MIATTHIIEW IX. 18-26. 175 form of those who, having lived in Christ, have now fallen asleep in him. How in harmony is all this with the character of Jesus! He to whom the issues out of this life into a higher realm were as real and visible as its ordinary transactions here, could hardly accept as truthful accounts of death the terms which were employed by men on whom the shadows of the tomb fell with their deep and hopeless mystery. Sometimes he is obliged to adapt himself to the comprehension of others. But usually he speaks of death in other ways. It is a sleep. It is rendering back a gift (Matthew x. 39; Luke xvii. 33; John xii. 25), that it may be safely preserved, or the laying down of a possession (John x. 17), that it may be taken again. It is the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew xxv. 13, 31.) It is the harvest at the end of the world (Matthew xiii. 39), where the reapers are the angels. " The beggar died (Luke xvi. 22), and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." " Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." (Luke xxiii. 46.) There is nothing constrained in his language. The whole subject is transfigured by it; but it flows so easily from his own higher point of view, that we hardly see what power there is in his words, unless our attention is particularly called to them. Hle does not formally announce the continuance of our being beyond this world, but rather takes it for granted. The doctrine enters into all his conceptions )f life, makes up a part of his daily consciousness, and shows itself spontaneously in his words and acts.' God s not the God of the dead, but of the living." So, not Uioses and Elias alone, but Abraham and Isaac and racob, the maiden here, and his friend Lazarus at Bethany, ogether with the faithful of all times, were still among hie living inhabitants of a living world. Death, in his iew, belonged to the soul as a consequence of sin, and ot to the body. As life with him means spiritual life, ) death (a word he seldom uses) means spiritual death. 176 MATTHEW IX. NOTE S. AND 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 unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold certain of the scribes said 3 1. This verse belongs properly to the Jewish mind an intimate conthe preceding narrative, and should nection between sin and disease, as be placed at the end of the eighth between cause and effect. " Who chapter. his ownv city] forgiveth all thine iniquities: who Capernaumn. 2 Jesus see- healeth allthy diseases." (Ps. ciii, ing their faith] Matthew speaks 3.) " Who did sin, this man or his of their faith. Mark (ii. 2- 4) and parents, that he was born blind? " Luke (v. 18-19) explain how they (John ix 2.) Inthe case before us, showed their faith by the extraor- it is most likely that the disease, or dinary exertions they made to bring prostration of the nervous system, the sick man through the roof. The had been brought on by vicious ircrowd was such that they could not regularities and excesses, and that, enter the door. They carried him from a consciousness of this, the up, therefore, by an outside stair- young man in approaching a being way to the roof, and "unroofing the of such reputed holiness as Jesus roof [over] where he was," they may have been so disturbed and "having broken it up, let him overcome with a sense of guilt as to down. ""The horizontal aperture need the comforting assurance of in the flat roof had necessarily a sins forgiven even more than of secondary roof or porch over it, to bodily health restored. keep out the rain. The aperture 3. certain of the Scribes said] may be compared to the cabin The form of expression gave offence hatchway of a ship, and the porch to the Scribes of the neighborhood to the companion. The main roof who were present. "Who," they is covered with cement, but, if my ask amono themselves (Luke v. 21), memory serves me right, the see- " can forgive sins but God alone? " ondary roof is not unfrequently Jesus does not assent to the truth, sloping, and covered with tiles. It of what they say, that God, who is fitted to allow persons in an up- acts by his agents so often in the right position to enter; but we can moral administration of the unieasily conceive that it might not be verse, may not have bestowed on fitted to admit of a person recum- some other being than himself the bent on a couch without removing authority to forgive sins, and remit the porch." Smith's Diss. on Gos- the penalty which they bring; but peis, p. 272. thy sinls be in a word, EVtvMELo0e, which apforgiven thee] Jesus, seeing their plies both to the thought and the faith, and probably seeing at the emotions occasioned by it, asked, same time the anxiety and excite- why they were cherishing evil ment of the young man, in order to thoughts and emotions in their remove his agitation and prepare hearts? "For which," he conthe way for his cure, addressed him- tinues, pressing the point home tc self first to lis mental condition, them "is the easier to say (not to do) and with great tenderness said to' Thy sins have been forgiven thee, him, " Son, be of good cheer; thy or' Arise and walk'? But tha sins are forgiven." There was in they may know, that (not God alone MATTHEWV IX. 177 4 within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore thinlk ye evil in your 5 hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiv6 en thee? or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know 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 7 go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. 8 But when the multitude saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. 9 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom; and he saith unto lo him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. And it but) "the Son of Man on earth stronger clause, " Whosesoever sins hath authority to forgive sins," he ye forgive, they are forgiven to commands the young man to take them, and whosesoever ye retain up his bed and go home. The out- they are retained." (John xx. 23.) ward miracle of healing which they Whether, in either case, the act had thus seen, and which therefore implies anything more than the auhe plainly had the power to do, was thority to declare that forgiveness to be to them an evidence of his au- is granted is not shown by anything thority to forgive sins; though the connected with either of the pasforgiveness of sins was something sages before us. 9. attihe which they could not see. " By these receipt of custom] The place visible tides of God's grace, I will for collecting taxes. And give you to know in what direction he arose and followedl him] the great under-currents of His love The readiness with which the call are setting, and that both are obedi- of Jesus is obeyed by Matthew inent to my word." Trench. It may be timates, if it does not positively imthat the two expressions, " Thy sins ply, a previous acquaintance, as it aee forgiven," and " Thy disease is did in the calling of Peter and Anhealed," were synonymous in the drew, John and James (iv. 18. 22). mind of Him who saw in the disease In the conciseness of the Gospel the effect and punishment of sin; narratives the facts actually reand in its removal the withdrawal corded are not always sufficient to of the penalty, and consequently the explain the causes and motives forgiveness of the sin. This pas- which led to them, or the relation sage has been forced into a contro- in which they stand to one another. versial position which it will not Often something must be undersustain. The reasoning of the stood beyond what is told. The Scribes, that God alone can for- reader will also observe here the give sins, has been taken on their modesty with which the writer assertion, notwithstanding the point- speaks of himself, especially in reed rebuke which they received gard to the feast (v. 10). " A great from Jesus. Whatever may be feast" (Luke v. 29) which Matthew meant by the authority to forgive gave to Jesus in his own house. sills which Christ here claims for His associates, many tax-gatherers, himself, it was not confined to him- and sinners as the Pharisees conself. He ascribes the same author- sideread them, were present. The ity to his disciples in the same Pharisees probably were not there words (in the Greek) that are here personally to partake of the feast. used to express the forgiveness of They would not pollute themselves sins, with the addition of a still by eating in so promiscuous a com 78 IMATTHEWtV IX. came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his II disciples, WThy eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They lt that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick But go ye and learn what that meaneth, " I will have mercy, 13 and not sacrifice." For I amn not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. pany. Their censorious remarks righteousness, by pressing upon must have been made after the feast. them the language of a- prophet "Why," they ask (v 11), " does (Hosea vi. 6) whose authority they your master eat with publicans and could not reject, and who, by the sinners'? " " Because," Jesus in words, "I will have mercy, and not substance replies (12, 13), "these sacrifice," unmasks them to themare the very men to whom I have selves, and rebukes their unforgivbeen sent. As the physician is ing and uncharitable judgments. needed. not by the healthy, but the At the same time that Hosea is sick, so am I come to save, not the made to expose and condemn the righteous, but the sinful." No lan- Pharisees, he also shows the charguage can be plainer than this. He acter and office of Jesus, who merdoes not say that these persons are cifully came, not to call the rightesinful above others, or that the ous, but sinners. 13. I will Pharisees are truly righteous. He have mercy, and not sacrifice] answers the Pharisees on their own The Hebrew form of comparison, supposition, taking the subject as it instead of " I will have mercy rather lies in their minds. It is as if he than sacrifice," - the spirit indihad said: "Suppose things are as cated by sacrifice, which was only a you think; suppose that these per- form, rather than the form without sons are the sinners, and you the the spirit. the righteous] righteous ones; that is the very rea- This word, &KatOq, it has been said son- why I, as the physician of souls, is used to express an outside, forshould go to them rather than to mal, or self-rig-lsteousness. We canll you." It is one of the cases in find no such use of it. It is an epiwhich the language of Jesus applies thet for what is right in the sight in many ways. 1. It announces of God. " Prophets and righteous the general truth that those who are men desired to see my day." (Matt. already righteous do not need a xiii. 17.) " Then shall the rightSaviour. This, as a general propo- eous shine forth as the sun." (xiii. sition, is equally true, whether there 43.) " Then shall the righteous are any such persons actually liv- answer him." (xxv. 37.) " The jetst ing or not. 2. As directed to the [righteous] shall live by faith." Pharisees, it takes them on their (Rom. i. 17 ) "For scarcely for a own ground, and gives them from righteous man will one die- though their own point of view a reason, for a good man perhaps one even the validity of which they must ad- dares to die. But God commended mit, why he should seek out the his love towards us, in that while we sinful and abandoned. 3. But be- were yet sinners Christ died for us," yond this, with a keener edge and (Rom. v. 7, 8.) Here righteous and a more pungent personal applica- good, as synonymous terms on the tion, he turns the same words one hand, are contrasted with sinagainst them, and lays bare the ners on the other to rea emptiness of their pretensions to penitance] is omitted by Tischen MATTHEW IX. 179 14 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, TWhy do 15 we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bride-chalmber 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 tak17 eth from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles; else the bottles break, and dorf, and the sense is greatly im- sorrow, of the sense of the absence proved by the omission. of the bridegroom in the soul, - not 14. Then] Not necessarily at that the forced and stated fasts of the very time (though it may have been "old covenant now passed away." so), but about that time, the dis- "It is remarkable how uniformly a ciples of John, who had not then strict attention to artificial and risen far enough above the old dis- prescribed fasts accompanies a pensation to comprehend the new, hankering after the hybrid cerein its true character, came to ask monial system of Rome." Alford. why he did not fast as they and the 16. Then, following out the sanme Pharisees did? 15. chill thought with illustrations, - the dren of the bride-chamber] garments and the wine, —-borrowed Not ordinary guests, but the par- still from the wedding feast, lie asks ticular friends of the bridegroom, John's disciples, how it is possible who go to fetch the bride from her to patch up an old, worn-out, cerefather's house to the bride-chamber, im-onial system with something new or who go with the bridegroom to and stronger, but still of the same the house where the festival is pre- sort, of the same outside, superpared and the bride is to be found. ficial, ceremonial character? By John the Baptist had already pub- patching this piece of strong, unicly spoken of Jesus (John iii. 29) fiulled, badly-matched cloth on the as the "bridegroom." This gives old and rotten garment you do not peculiar force to the illustration reinedy the defect, but, on account here used by Jesus in his reply to of the strain that is put upon it, you John's disciples. " How," he asks, enlarge the rent, and by the con"shall the very sons of the bride- trast make the poverty of the old chamber, during the days of the garment appear even worse than marriage festivities, while the bride- it did before. 17. new groom is with them, fast?" It wrine into old bottles] And would be a forced, unnatural, and not only can you not preserve the old unseemly act. But the days will ceremonial observances by patchcome when the bridegroom shall be ing new rites and ceremonies upon taken from them, and then, in their them, but you cannot preserve them loneliness and sorrow, they will by infusing new life into them. The have no heart for feasting, but will old bottles, made of skin, smeared fast. The meaning is, that fasting perhaps on the inside with pitch, is not to be a forced, external ob- growing stiff and weak and brittle servance at stated times, whatever as they grow old, are not fit to hold the condition of a man's soul, but the new wine in its state of vehethat when he feels his desolation ment fermentation. No more is the mnd sinfulness, then he will mourn, new religion, with its restless and end, in the true sense of the word, boundless activities, coming as a ast. " Fasting should be the genu- new life into the world, to be comae offspring of inward and spiritual pressed within the old and now de 180 MATTHEW IX. 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 is 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. L- 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 but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him 22 about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. ~ And when Jesus came 23 into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels, and the people making a noise, he said unto them, Give place; for the maid 24 bilitated forms; for so it would burst instantly a united outcry, attended them asunder. The forms would with weeping, and often with beatperish, and with them the religion ing upon the breast, and tearing out which had sought shelter, expres- the hair ofthe head. Howexactly, sion, and the means of activity and at the moment of the Saviour's arinfluence in them. The new faith rival, did the house of Jairus cormust assume the new and elastic respond with the condition of one, forms adapted to the living energies at the present time, in which a with which it is endowed; and then death has just taken place! It reboth will be preserved. 18. sounded with the same boisterous My daughter is even now dead] expression of grief for which the Not, as some commentators say, is natives of the East are still noted. just dyingy; but she is just deacl; The lamentation must have comippTL EreXEVTU71oEV, by this time she menced, also, at the instant of the is dead. 23. the min. child's decease; for when Jesus arstrels and the people making rived he found the mourners already a noise] "During my stay in present and singing the death-like Jerusalem," says Professor Hackett, dirge. (See Mark v. 22, &c.) The "Ill. of Scrip.," p. 113, " I fre- account discloses another mark of quently heard a singular cry issu- accuracy which may be worth pointing from the houses in the neigh- ing out. Matthew speaks of'minborhood of the place where I lodged, strels' as taking part in the tumult. or from those on the streets through The use of instruments of music which I passed......I ascer- at such times is not universal, but tained, at length, that this peculiar depends on the circumstances of the cry was, no doubt, in most instances, family. It involves some expense, the signal of the death of some per- which cannot always be afforded. son in the house from which it was Mr. Lane mentions that it is chiefly heard. It is customary, when a at the funerals of the rich, among member of the family is about to the Egyptians, that musicians are die, for the friends to assemble employed to contribute their part around him, and watch the ebbing to the mournful celebration. The away of life, so as to remark the'minstrels,' therefore, appear very recise moment when he breathes properly in this particular history. is last; upon which th6y set up Jairus, the father of the damsel MATTHEW IX. 181 is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. 25 But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her 26 by the hand; and the maid arose. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land. 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 30 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 dumb spake. And the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was 34 never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, he casteth out devils through the prince of the devils. 35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching whom Christ restored to life, since Blind Bartimeus. 30. Jesus he was a ruler of the synagogue, charged them on pain of his dismust have been a person of some pleasure, saying, "See that no man rank among his countrymen." know it." Why the prohibition 24. And they laughed him to here, when he had already comscorni] A most vivid contrast, - manded the Gadarene demoniac these hired mourners scornfully (Mark v. 19) to go home to his laughing at him who had interrupt- friends and tell them how great ed their noisy demonstrations of things the Lord had done for them? grief; and Jesus, with serene be- That was on the east side, near the nignity, going in, taken the little farther end of the lake, in a remote maiden by the hand, and calling to place which Jesus never probably her to arise from the sleep of death. visited except at that time. The 27. Thou son of David] report there of what he had done It is a little remarkable that this ex- could therefore cause him no inconpression should be used in each of venience. Besides the different the three cases of healing the blind characters of the men may have which are mentioned by Matthew been such that the Gadarene would (xii. 238; xx. 30). have advance his cause, and the others mercy on us] A confession of bring discredit upon it, by being its misery and a cry for mercy, which advocates. The conduct of the two has become a part of the solemn men, who when they had received and affecting litany for all suffer- their sight did the opposite of what ing and penitent souls.'EXEr7rov, he had strictly commanded them, eleeison, has been transplanted by shows that they were not men to music and poetry into the devotions be depended upon. 34. of all languages. (See Longfellow's prince of the devils] (See xii. 16 18 2 MATTHEW IX. in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 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 disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will 38 send forth laborers into his harvest. 24). 35. and healing sheep without a shepherd! The every sickness] Every kind of harvest truly is plenteous, but the sickness and disease. laborers are few, &c. No one takes 36. fainted] Tischendorf substi- these words in' a literal sense; and tutes for this word another which is no one can fail to recognize somestill more significant, EoKVX/;votL, thing of their exquisite beauty in worried, harassed, torn in pieces, our English version, which admiradistraccted, for want of true and corn- bly preserves, not only the meaning, petent guides. How touching a but almost exactly the musical picture do these verses (35 - 38) give rhythm of the Greek. With such of the extent of our Saviour's labors a command from Him, how can we and the intensity of his sympathy help praying the Lord of the harvest for the multitudes whom he saw that he will send forth laborers into worried and scattered abroad like his harvest? MATTIIEWV X. 5 —15. 183 CHAPTERI X. 5- 22. — DIRECTIONS TO TIE APOSTLES. JESUS here gives his disciples specific directions for their conduct during the present journey; though even these directions are marked by a wisdom which belongs to all times. 5-15. He directs them to confine their ministry to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This was not owing to a Jewish prejudice on the part of Jesus. The disciples were now entirely inexperienced. They were not yet educated and prepared to go forth to evangelize the world. They must not yet go out beyond the reach of their Master. The object now, as Chrysostom suggests, was not so much to make converts, though that also was a part of his plan, as to train and exercise and educate the disciples within the narrow limits of Palestine, as in a school, that, when the time should come, they might be prepared for the larger work that was before them. Besides, it was important to have a nucleus somewhere. And where could it be so well as among the people, who, during so many centuries under Moses and the prophets, and more recently from the preaching of John the Baptist, had been in training for the dispensation which was now at hand? The disciples were to go forth not to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. The time for that had not yet come. They were to complete the work which John had begun, of preparing the popular mind for his advent, by proclaiming as his heralds or preachers that the kingdom of the heavens was at hand. And they were to give weight to their message by the miracles which they wrought in the name of their Master. 184 MATTHEW X. 16-20. They are to receive nothing for the cures they may effect. As the gift, 8, is one freely bestowed on them, so are they to exercise it without reward. But as they go forth thus endowed with power front on high, so, 9, 10, they are not to burden themselves with any provisions for their journey. No money, no wallet (scrip), no extra garments or shoes or staves are to be purchased so as to encumber them in their movements. Nor were they, on entering a village, to go about from house to house. Where, 10, they found one worthy and willing to receive them, with him they were to stay till their ministry in that village was ended. They, 12, 13, were not to be unmindful of the courtesies due to those who should receive them. If the house were worthy, their peaceful salutation would rest upon it; and if the house were not worthy, no harm would be done; the blessing which they had bestowed upon it would return in peace to their own bosom. They were not to waste their time and gifts on those, 14, who would not receive them; but by the symbolic act of shaking the very dust from their feet were to show that they regarded them as heathen and aliens. But a heavy retribution would fall on the city which should reject them. Not even Sodom and Gomorrah, which had refused to listen to Lot and Abraham, had been given over to so terrible a destruction in their day of retribution, as at length, in its day of judgment and condemnation, would fall on that city. 16-20. In the 16th verse, it has been thought, Jesus rises from specific directions for the present journey to considerations which apply to them and those who shall come after them in future ministrations. "Behold I send you,"- the I emphatic, as if to inspire and strengthen them by the thought who it is that sends them forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. He dwells upon the dangers that lie before them, and points out distinctly what they are, partly to put them on their guard and MATTHEW X. 16 - 20. 185 make them feel how circumspect and unoffending they must be, and partly, that, when the trials should come, they, remembering how he had foretold them, should not be cast down and disheartened by them. "Beware of men," he says, "for they will deliver you up, or betray you to councils, or Jewish courts of justice in provincial towns, and they will scourge you in their synagogues, and ye shall be brought before governors (the Roman pro-consuls, like Pilate) and kings (tetrarchs or viceroys, ruling as kings under the Roman government, like Philip and Herod) for a testimony or witness (piap~';ptov) to (not against) them and the nations or Gentiles," as they were in their time, and as Christian martyrs in all subsequent times have been. But here, lest from these warnings they should carry their prudence and precautions too far, he, v. 19, reminds them of the opposite dangers, and tells them to make no anxious preparation as to how or what they should say when arraigned. It is as if he had said, "Be wise and unoffending. Go forth in thoughtful simplicity and faith, as my disciples, as the agents and messengers of God. And then, when perils come, better than any labored forethought or preparation of yours, it shall be given you in that very hour what ye shall speak." "A new spirit," says Mr. Norton, "was to be breathed into them. God would elevate their souls, and would inform their minds with religious truth...... With this confidence, this knowledge of the truth, and this moral elevation, what they should speak would always be given them; the spirit of their Father would speak in them." "It is to be observed," says Alford, " that, in the great work of God in the world, human individuality sinks down and vanishes, and God alone, his Christ, his Spirit, is the great worker." Does not the promise apply to all times, and does it not rebuke the unbelief and hesitating fidelity of those who, in seeking to advance the highest interests of man, trust 16 * 186 IATTHEW X. 21, 22. only to their own wisdom and strength? And does not this vanishing away of the human individuality in Christ, by his entire surrender of himself to the Divine will, show in what sense he and his Father were one? 21, 22. Having thus confirmed their faith, Jesus places before them a yet darker picture of impending dangers.:MIembers of the same household shall be divided in deadly hostility against one another. And not only in your own homes, he goes on to say, but everywhere, ye shall be hated of all men on my account. But he who endureth to the end shall be saved. He who endureth as the early martyrs Stephen and James did, to the end of life, shall be saved. In this sense it applies to the faithful of all times and places. But as in the previous verses especial notice is given of the domestic feuds which should precede the destruction of Jerusalem, dividing the inmates of the same household in mortal enmity against one another, and turning the common hatred of the Jews with peculiar fierceness against the Christians, "the end" here in its primary application probably denotes the end of the Jewish polity, which may be said to have terminated with the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, the Roman general, A. D. 70. For at that time the political existence of the Jews was blotted out, and their national religious observances, "the sacrifice and the oblation" (Daniel ix. 27) ceased. In this sense the deliverance here announced, v. 22, refers to the freedom which the Christians should then enjoy from the persecutions to which they had been so cruelly subjected by the Jews, and of which some instances are given in the Book of Acts. 23.- THE COMING OF THE SON or MAN. "Till the Son of Man come." This expression probably means the same here as "the end" in the previous verse. " Till his religion is established and fully confirmed," says MATTHEW X. 23. 187 M[r. Norton. The words are used by Jesus and the Evangelists with entirely different meanings at different times. Matthew (xi. 19, " The Son of Man came eating and drinking,") speaks of him in the ministry in which he was then engaged. So (xviii. 11), "'For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost." On the other hand, in xvi. 27, xxiv. 30, xxv. 31, WVhen the Son of Mlan shall come "in the glory of his Father with his angels," "in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory," "in his glory, and all the holy angels with him," the expression evidently reaches on to some future, and, in one case (xvi. 27, 28), not far distant event. For it is there distinctly and emphatically asserted by Jesus, that there were those then standing by him who should not taste of death till they had seen him coming in his kingdom. What is meant by this coming which was then so near at hand? Primarily it meant the establishment of Christ's religion consequent upon the removal of the Jewish polity at the destruction of Jerusalem. But may it not also be, that he used language which, while foreshadowing the establishment of his religion on earth, should also, under the most solemn figures of speech, set forth the more thorough and decisive establishment of its principles in their retributive application to every soul that goes out from its mortality to meet him in his glory? "Throughout this discourse," says Alford, "and the great prophecy in chap. xxiv., we find the first Apostolic period used as a type of the whole ages of the Church, - and the vengeance on Jerusalem, — which historically put an end to the old dispensation, and was in its place with reference to that order of things, the coming of the Son of Man, as a type of the final coming of the Lord. These two subjects accompany and interpenetrate one another in a manner wholly inexplicable to those who are unaccustomed to the wide import of Scripture prophecy, which speaks very generally, not so much of events them 188 MATTHEW X. 24- 38. selves, points of time, - as of processions of events, all ranging under one great description. Thus in the present case there is certainly direct reference to the destruction of Jerusalem; the " end " directly spoken of is that event, and the " shall be saved" the preservation provided by the warning afterwards given in chap. xxiv. 15-18. And the next verse directly refers to the journeys of the Apostles over the actual cities of Israel, territorial, or where Jews were located. But as certainly do all these expressions look onwards to the great final coming of the Lord, the "end" of all prophecy; as certainly the "shall be saved" here bears its full Scripture meaning, of everlasting salvation; and the endurance to the end is the finished course of the Christian, and the precept in the next verse is to apply to the conduct of Christians of all ages with reference to persecution, and the announcement that hardly will the Gospel have been fully preached to all nations (or, to all the Jewish nation, i. e. efectually) when the Son of ltan shall come. It is most important to keep in mind the great prophetic parallels, which run through our Lord's discourses, and are sometimes separately, sometimes simultaneously, presented to us by him." 24- 38. - FURTHER DIRECTIONS TO THE APOSTLES. If the most contemptuous of names, v. 25, is given to the lord of the house, how much more will it be given to those who, as his inferiors, belong to his house. The scholar must be satisfied if he is treated as well as his teacher; the servant, if he is treated as well as his master; But fear them not, v. 26. The time of darkness cannot last. The real condition of things, and with it the nature of your mission and of the truths you teach, will be brought to light. "Why," says Chrysostom in his paraphrase, A" do ye grieve? Because they call you impostors and deceivers? Wait a little, and all men will declare you saviours and MATTHEW X. 24 —38. 189 benefactors of the world." Proclaim, then, in the light and from the house-tops what -I have told you in our obscurity and in secret. Fear not them who can kill only the body, and have no power over the soul, but rather. fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. We can see no reason to believe, with some modern critics, as Olshausen and Stier, that Satan or Beelzebub is the one whom the disciples are directed to fear. It is not Satan, but God alone, who has the power which is here held up as the cause of dread. Yet not alone by images like this of his power to destroy body and soul alike is their reverence for him to be strengthened. Calling their attention to the little birds around them, of which two were sold for an assarion, or half a cent, Jesus tells them that not even one of these should fall upon the ground unnoticed by their Father. [The sparrows, according to a recent traveller, Hackett, p. 86, are still numerous in Palestine, and are sometimes sold for food.] Why then shall they who are of so much more value than many sparrows, and the hairs of whose head are all numbered, — why shall they distrust the Providential care of God, or fear what man can do to them? In v. 32, by a connection so natural that it is hardly noticed, Jesus rises from actions here to their consequences in higher worlds; and, in order to confirm his disciples in their fidelity to him, he emphatically declares that they who confess or deny him before men, will be confessed or denied by him before his Father in the heavens. Still he wishes them (34-39) to understand fully what their trials and their sacrifices here must be. " I come, not to send peace, but a sword." Here, as in other passages of Scripture, the consequences of an action are mentioned as if they were the intended results. In Exodus iv. 21 God says of Pharaoh, "I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go," i. e. the effect of all these fearful exhibitions of the Divine power will be only to 190 MATTHEWV X. 24-38. harden his heart and confirm him in his wicked purposes. In 1 Kings xxii. 19 - 23, God is represented as putting a lying spirit into the mouth of the king's prophets; i. e. as they were all wicked and deceitful men, he allowed them to be deceived and misled by the lying spirit which they sought. So in the passage before us, one of the consequences of Christ's coming is put as if it were a part at least of his design in coming into the world to effect it. The connection is this. Notwithstanding that God suffers not a sparrow to fall unnoticed, and every one of you who confess me on earth shall be recognized and accepted by me in heaven, still, you are not to expect that I shall quiet at once the warring elements of the world. On the contrary, I shall introduce a new cause of hostility, and thus send, not peace, but a sword, setting a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother. This is the inevitable result. The bitterest hostility of their friends will be roused against the disciples because of their allegiance to him. And here, 37, is to be a new test of their fidelity. In the contests which are to come up they must decide which they will choose, him or their friends; and he that loveth father or mother, son or daughter, more than him, and who, besides that, is not willing even to take up his cross and follow him, giving up friends and life for his sake, is not worthy of him. That is, they must be ready to give up and to endure everything in his service. This was the primary idea, and probably the only one that impressed the disciples at the time. But the cross was not a Jewish instrument of punishment, and therefore would not naturally suggest to the Jewish mind the imagery by which it would describe the extreme degradation and sufferings of a cruel and infamous death. It is probable that Jesus employed this then unusual form of expression, not only to convey the idea of the personal sacrifices which his followers must make for his MATTHEW X. 39. 191 sake, but also to familiarize their minds beforehand with the terrible images of torture and death which he was to meet. Here, as in other places (Matthew xvi. 24, John iii. 14, viii. 28, xii. 32), though they did not fully understand him at the time, the cross threw its darkening shadow before them, and he was thus preparing their minds, unconsciously to themselves, that when he had been crucified, and had risen from the dead, these words, which at first had awakened only vague and unintelligible forebodings, should stand out in their prophetic character, as pointing all to the same result. 39.- LIFE OR SOUL. He who findeth, i. e. who seeketh to find, his life, shall lose it; and he who loseth, i. e. who is willing to lose it, shall find it. Here is another instance, in which Jesus, whose soul was full of thoughts which the earthly language that he spoke had no terms to express, used the same word to express very different meanings. At least the Evangelists so represent him. The word +vXO, which is here rendered life, like -rvvcE/a, and the Latin words animna and spiritus, as well as the corresponding Hebrew words wi:. and lVn, means primarily breath or air. It is used in the New Testament: 1. For the animal life, common to beasts and men (Matthew ii. 20, vi. 25, xx, 28). 2. It stands for the rational as well as sensitive, animating principle, a something, it has been thought, between the animal and spiritual principle of life. " The first man Adam was made a living soul," psyche, in contradistinction to the second Adam, who was a life-making spirit, pneuma. 3. It is used as nearly synonymous with our word soul. "Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades." (Acts ii. 27.) "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God." (Rev. vi. 9; see also Rev. xx. 4; 1 Peter iv. 19; Matt. x. 29.) It naturally bears all these meanings; 192 MATTHEW X. 39. for strictly speaking, the word 4+vXy stands for the vital, sentient principle in which our consciousness resides, and with it our sense of personal identity. It is that which constitutes a man's self, and might better be translated by the word self than by any other single word in our language. It is the sentient, conscious principle which pervades our whole being, animal, intellectual, and spiritual, and which may be considered in its relation to either one, or to all, of these departments of our nature. It may, therefore, refer to our physical, our intellectual, or our spiritual life. In v. 29 of this chapter Jesus uses it as we do the word soul, as something distinct from our physical life. In v. 39, he passes from one meaning to the other; and the better translation would be: He who findeth, or (John xii. 25) loveth himself, shall be lost, and he who loseth himself shall be saved. That is: He who is bound up in himself shall perish; but he who, in his devotion to me, is willingly exposing himself to death, as if (John xii. 25) he hated himself, shall live. The expression goes deeper than is intimated in our common version. There may be a selfish regard to our souls and spiritual interests, as well as to our earthly life and bodily interests. The Saviour's words are directed against every form of selfishness and self-seeking, whether in relation to body or soul, to this world or the world to come. Whosoever seeketh first himself, though it be his own soul, shall perish; and he who is willing to cast away everything, even his care for his own soul, in his devotion to me, shall be saved. He who is saving his soul in this selfish way shall lose it; and he who is losing his soul, in this unselfish devotedness to me, shall save it. At the same time the connection with the cross of v. 38 implies that there is a reference here to the loss of life, in our sense of the word life; and so there is a passing from the lower to the higher meaning of the word, from the mortal to the immortal life, and the verse may be thus paraphrased, "Whosoever seeks first of all his life (an earthly one), shall lose it (as an im MATTHEW X. 40-42. 193 mortal inheritance); and he who (in his supreme devotion to higher things) is ready to cast his life (his earthly life) away, shall find it (as an immortal inheritance). This practice of so using language that it shall reach from its primary and narrow meaning, spiritually up into higher realms of life, or prophetically on to more distant scenes and events, is one of the greatest difficulties in the way of the commentator, who would give a precise and definite meaning, and only one, to every expression that he meets. The charm, as well as much of the power that lies in the words of Jesus, consists in the fact that they open before us worlds of thought and being into which we may enter, but which are too full to be emptied of all their treasures, and too vast to be bounded by any exact definitions of ours. 40-42.-DIFFERENT DEGREES OF REWARD. And while men may thus save or lose their souls, there are different degrees of recompense, and not the smallest act shall be permitted to go unrewarded. To receive the Apostles is, of course, not merely to give them a hospitable reception, kindly supplying them with food and shelter; it is to receive them with their instructions into the heart and life. In so doing men receive Christ, who is represented by them, and whose life-giving doctrines they teach; nay, they receive God himself. The reward would depend on the kind of reception that was given. He who is far enough advanced in the Jewish religion to recognize and welcome a prophet or righteous man as such, because he is a prophet or a righteous man, shall receive the reward of a prophet or righteous man. In receiving him as a prophet, he is made partaker of the prophet's thought and life, and of course will share the prophet's reward. But he who has enough of the spirit of Christ to receive a little child as his disciple or repre17 194 MATTHEW X. sentative, shall in no wise lose a disciple's reward, for in so doing he is receiving the spirit and the life of Jesus into himself. Perhaps there were children present. The term "little ones" is applied by Jesus to children (xviii. 2 -- 6). Or it may be, as Mr. Norton and others suppose, that by "little ones" Jesus means his own inexperienced disciples; as if he had said, " whosoever shall give a cup of cold water to one of these, my children," &c. In either case the fundamental meaning is the same. There is a climax from the prophet, who, though a special messenger of God, was sometimes meagre in spiritual attainments, through the just man in his legal righteousness to the disciple in whom, as coming from Christ, is the fulness of a diviner life and through it of a larger reward. " lMany a benevolent, pious Jew," says Olshausen, "'might receive the Apostles as prophets or righteous men, because, from his point of view, he could not recognize anything higher in them; but he who was able to recognize in the messengers of Christ that specifically new thing which they brought, and who, from love to it, would receive them, received the full blessing from Him." The prominent idea in these sentences relates to the different kinds and degrees of reward which men shall receive according to their different attainments in the Jewish or the Christian life. N O T E S. AND when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease. 1 - 4. We have four different cata- ferent accounts may be easily comlo]ges of the Apostles, viz.: Matt. pared, we subjoinl the following x. 9 - 4; Mark iii. 16-19; Luke vi. table: - 14-1C; Acts i. 13. That the dif MATTIEW X. 195 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: the first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James 3 the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; 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 MIATTHEW. MIARK. LUKE. ACTS. Simon Peter Simon Peter Andrew James Andrew James James John James John John Andrew John Andrew Philip Philip Philip Philip Bartholomew Bartholomew Bartholomew Thomas Thomas Matthew Matthew Bartholomew Matthew Thomas Thomas Matthew James of Alpheus James of Alpheus James of Alpheus James of Alpheus Lebbeus Thaddeus Simon Zelotes Simon Zelotes Simllon Cananaios Simon Cananaios Judas of James Judas of James Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot In all these catalogues the names name, borrowed possibly, as Lightmay naturally be divided into three foot conjectures, from his place of classes. In the first two classes residence, and given to him, as the the names in the different accounts name Iscariot was given to the other arle the same; a'nd in the third class Judas, from his place of residence, there is no diffelrence of statement to distinguish them fiom one anin regard to the first name and other. " Whose surname was Thadthe last. Simon Cananaios is only deus," the reading of our common the Hebrew name corresponding to version is malkecd as doubtful by Simon Zelotes, in Greek. Probably Griesbach, and omitted by Tisclhenbefore being called by Jesus, he was dorf. If we knew nothing about a member of the sect called Zealots, Simon's name, bevond what we find who, according to Josephus (B. J. 4. here, we should think there was a 3. 9; ib. 4. 5. 1 - 4; ib. 4. 6. 3; and 7. contradiction in the accounts, Mark, 8. 1), were guilty of the greatest and the author of tile Acts saying excesses and crimes a short time Peter, where Matthew and Luke say before the destruction of Jerusalem. Simon. Simon Peter, and Andrew The only name about which there his brother, sons of Jonas, and John is any difficulty is that of Lebbeus, the son of Zebedee, with Jmnnes his or Thaddeus, or Judas [the son or brother, were (Luke v. 10) partners brother] of James. " Thaddeus," in the fishing-trade, and, together says Lightfoot, "is a warping of with Philip (John i. 44) belonged to the name'Judas,' that this apostle Bethsaida. This James is tle one put might be the better distinguished to death by Herod (Acts xii. 2). Barfrom Iscariot." Like Elijah and tholomew is, with reason, supposed Elias, they were only different forms to be the same as Nathaniel, who of the same name. In John xiv. 22 is mentioned by John twice (i. 46; we find a "Judas," not "Iscariot," xxi. 2) among the Apostles. He was among the Apostles. Lebbeus and from Cana of Galilee. Without any Thaddeus have been supposed to good reason, it has been conjectured mean the same thing; but, accord- that Philip and Bartholomew were ing to De Wette and Alford, this brothers; and that Thomas atnd view is not sustained by the ety- MIatthew were twisn-brothers. Tlhe mIology of the words. The proba- humility of Matthew has been inbility is tlhat Lebbens was a sur- ferred from his applying to himself 196 MATTHEW X. him. --- These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, s 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 IHeaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the 8 lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass, in s your purses; nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, io neither shoes, nor yet staves. Fior the workman is worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, in- lI quire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. And 12 here the reproachful epithet "'pub- the Roman world proverbial for lican." James, the son of Alphaeus their extortions; and in Judc a still (Alphneus and Cldopas or Clopas, more hateful, as among the manibeing only different ways of turn- fest signs of subjugation to a foreign ing the same Hebrew'word into dominion. The Je+w who exercised Greek), presided over the church the function of a publican was, as at Jerusalem, and "'from the aus- it were, a traitor to the national intere sanctity of his character was dependence." 5. Gentiles] commonly called, both by Jews The nations, — those who are not and Christians, "'James the Just." Jews. Samnaritans] Mention is made (Matt. xiii. 55, and Samaria lay between Galilee and Gal. i. 19) of James, a brother or Judma, and was inhabited by the kinsman of Jesus. (See note to xiii. Samaritans, who were descended 55.) If Judas of James is Judas from the ten tribes, ald from people the brother of James, this suppo- of heathen nations who at different sition agrees with xiii. 55, where we times had been sent as colonists read of James and Judas as among with them. Their religion was the brethren of Jesus; and with drawn partlyfrom the law of Moses, Jude 1, where we read of "Judas, and partly from pagan superstithe servant of Jesus Christ, and the tionsa 9. Provide neither brother of James." 3. NMat= gold] Pm'ovide is the emphatic the wthe publican] a collector of word. Take no pains to provide or taxes. Matthew's humilitv is seen purchase anything for your jourin his applying to himself in his ney; but go as you are, trusting in catalogue of the apostles the odious God. Purses were girdles worn name, which no other Evangelist about the waist, in which money applies to him in this connection. was carried. 10. scrip] " On no point," says Milman, Hist. a wallet usually of leather, in which Christ. B. I. c. IV., " were all orders shepherds and travellers carried proamong the Jews so unanimous as in visions. neither shoes] their contempt and detestation of," but be shod with sandals" (Mark the publicans. Strictly speaking, vi. 9). Lightfoot says that there the persons named in the Evange- was a marked distinction between lists were not publicans. These shoes and sandals, the former being were men of property, not below the more like an article of luxury than equestrian order, who farmed the the latter. nor yet public revenues. Those in question staves] Do not take pains to pro[those mentioned in the Gospels] vide them. Mark says Jesus comwere the agents of these contractors, mandecl them to take nothing for men, often freed slaves, or of low their journey, except a staff. birth and station, and throughouLt 11. anid there abide] With him MATTHEW X. 197 13 when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it be not wor14 thy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that l5 house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and 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 beware of men. For they will deliver you up to the councils, is and they will scourge you in their synagogues; and ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testi19 mony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak; for it 20 shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the spirit of your Father which 21 speaketh in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child; and the children shall rise 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 who is worthy, and when ye come that they esteemed it heathenish, into the house (not an house, as in profane, and impure. 16. our translation), i. e. with him into harmless as doves] Not harnmhis house, salute it. Be courteous. less, but pure. The dove, an emObserve the customary forms of blem of the Holy Spirit, stands for salutation. "A servant of the Lord Christian gentleness and purity of is truly courteous, for he has learned soul. Let your wisdom, of which to be so in the high court of his you will have abundant need, never king." 13. if the house degenerate into a selfish prudence be worthy] Here house, passing or cunning; but let it be united from its meaning in the previous with the purity of soul which inverse, is nsed as comprehending the cludes within itself singleness of family who lived in it. purpose and the love " which seeklet your peace rest upon it] eth not her own," and "which pray for its good, and if it be un- thinketh no evil." 9. take worthy the blessing that you ask no thought] give yourself no' for, it will return into your own anxiety about what you shall say. bosom. Thus, if those for whom (See vi. 25.) 22. for my we pray do not allow our prayers name9s sake] By the name of for their good to be answered as it Jesus is meant the spirit, the qualiregards them, still we shall not pray ties, and attributes belonging to in vain. The peace we ask for him. To come together in his them will come to us. name, is to come together in his 14. shake off the dust of your spirit; to ask anything in his name, feet ] The dust of heathen land is to ask it as in his stead or in his defiled. By shaking off the dust of spirit; and to be hated for his a city, the disciples were to show name's sake, is to be hated on0 aca17 198 MATTHEW X. that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they per- 23 secute 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 the Son of Man be come. The disciple is not above his mas- 24 ter, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disci- 25 ple 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 they call them of his 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 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. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them 29 shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the 30 very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not there- 31 fore; ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever 32 therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father, which is in heaven. But whosoever shall 33 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 count of the qualities which be- which was spoken in the ear." longed to him. " It is to be observ- Lightfoot. the house. ed," says Swedenborg, " that the tops] the flat roofs of the houses ancients, by the name of a thing, where trumpets were sounded to atunderstood nothing but its essence; tract attention, and proclamations and by seeing and calling by name, were made. 32. him i ill they meant the knowledge of its ] confess also] The emphatic I. nature and quality." 23. What personal dignity and authority flee ye into another] not only, must lie under it, to sustain it in as Mr. Norton suggests, that they such a connection! Who is this may escape persecution, but that that promises to recognize and acthey may carry on their work more knowledge us before the throne of effectually. 24, 25. The God, in the presence of his Father different relations of Christ to the who is in the heavens? Could any Apostles, viz. the teacher to his prophet or righteous man, — Gideol pupils, the master [lord] to his ser- or Barak, Abraham or Samuel, - vants, and the lord or head -f the promise thus to confess before God house to his dependents; literally, those who had confessed him before his domestics. 27. What men? Only the "ONE mediator ye hear in the ear] "Allusion between God and man, the man is here made to the manner of the Christ Jesus," (1 Tim. ii. 5) can schools, where the doctor whispered stand in this relation between us out of the chair into the ear of the and God. 34. not to interpreter, and he with a loud voice send peace, but a sword] Not repeated to the whole school that my wish, but the inevitable result. 1MATTHEW X. 199 35 on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her 36 mother-in-law: and a man's foes shall be they of his own 37 household. lie that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he -that loveth son or daughter more 3s than me is not worthy of me; and he that taketh not his cross, 39 and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. I-e that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake 40 shall find it. IHe that receiveth you receiveth me; and he that Think not that you can escape the 38. that taketh not his cross] trial. The throne of peace is to be This is the first mention that is established in the midst of discord made of the cross, that great symancd waTar. Love enters with its bol of Christian self-denial and selfdivine message, its rebuke against sacrifice and death, and through sin, its offers of mercy, but men death of victory. The word must turn against it, and strife and wars have fallen with a strange chill on ensue. " What nowr follows," says the hearts of the disciples. All that Stier, "down to ver. 39, form' a they could then understand by it circle of ideas which,' as Winzen- savored of humiliation and pain mann says,'nevir came fiom the and infamy. It was not till after mind of mortal, before Jesus.' It is the resurrection of Christ that the the subliming of all the prophetic hallowed and triumphant associexpectations concerning the king- ations now connected with it, could doLm of God into the transcendent have power over them, or any meanand future and heavenly; in per- ing for them. 39. He that feet correspondence with the true isdethis life] "We have once sense of all prophecy, which never in that per sense in till now be so clear- more rvx(/ in that deeper sense in could, however, till now be so clearly applehenlded and clexpressed. This wllich we found it at v. 28, pointis a testimony which is effectually g from the life of the boy to a tlhrown in the wavy of all who woul-d yet higher life. This striking declabuild up the lkingdom of peace on ration contains, if both sayings are thins side...... But, anlthourhl taken literally, a perfect contradiceverythino in his king dom looks toin; consequently, in th e d firsty ad forxvarsd to the beyond and the fu- lessg must obviously, in the first place, be understoocd in different ture, to the finding of life, in respect place, be understood pl different to all who shall be found worthy of sese. the second place, him, this heavenly kingdom does also must be used in two opposite not give up the earth. Upon it, and senses. The *vXi7 which is to be in hot conflict, must the heirs of killed, which nmust be crucified, is everlasting peace secure and pre- the sinful self-life of the old man, pare fortheir inheritance." This is which is truly death; and this dead an effectual answer to those timid life must be mortified and lost by sentimentalists and prudent con- an internal, continual crucifixion servatives, who think more of peace and self-denial (of which the taking and present security than of right- up of the external cross is only an eousness and truth, which, however external expression), in order that mildly urged, awaken the anger and we may find the living life, - our deadly opposition of those whose sanctified, glorified, and eternal life. interests they would compromise,... He who gives up, in the and whose lives they rebuke. fellowship of the cross of Christ, 200 MATTHEW X. receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth 41 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. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones 42 a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. all that which must die and pass Mount, the peroration goes up and away, has by such loss obtained the finds its solemn climax in the greatgain of eternal blessedness.'!" Stier. est and most terrible consequences 42. verily I: say unto of unfaithfulness and sin; here it you] This impressive form of comes down and finds its affecting affirmation comes in at the close anti-climax in the certain reward of each separate train of thought of the smallest act of kindness perin this discourse, viz. at verses 15, formed in the spirit of a disciple to 23: and 42. In the Sermon on the any one of Christ's little ones. IATTHEFW XI. 201 CHAPTER XI. JOHN TIIE BAPTIST AND HIS MESSAGE. JEsus continued in Galilee. John the Baptist had been for some time imprisoned by Herod. This was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, who is mentioned in the second chapter of Matthew. His father had once by will named him as his successor in Judaa; but he afterwards changed his mind, and leaving his son Archelaus, king of Judcea, appointed Herod to the inferior dignity of tetrarch or viceroy of Galilee to the north, and of Perea which lies on the east side of the Jordan. HIerod Antipas was a cunning, unscrupulous man. Is usual place of residence was at Tiberias, a name which, in honor of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, he had given to a town on the southwestern border of the Lake of Galilee, probably somewhere from eight to eleven miles south from Capernaum. In the other extremity of his kingdom, only a few miles eastwardly from the place where the Jordan empties into the Dead Sea, he had a castle called MIachmrus, which had been enlarged and fortified by his father, and in which, as appears, Herod Antipas sometimes resided. In this castle, according to Josephus (Ant. XVIII. 5. 2), John was imprisoned. He had never quite comprehended the nature of the kingdom of Heaven which he had announced as near at hand, nor could he fully understand either the character or the office of Jesus, to whom he pointed his disciples (John i. 29) as " the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world," and of whom he had afterwards said (John iii. 30), " he must increase, but I must decrease." In this respect he was like other prophets chosen for a specific purpose, who sometimes 202 MATTHEWV XI. (Dan. xii. 8) had but an imperfect understanding of the symbolical images which they saw, and the words they used. Even to the seers themselves " the words were closed up and sealed" for the time. We sometimes attribute a sort of omniscience to men raised up by God, and inspired only for a particular purpose. And when a man has once been set apart in this way, we are too apt to suppose that he must be entirely unlike other men, and free from human infirmities and passions. But even MIoses, who was favored with a nearer and more frequent access to God than any other of the prophets, had his seasons of distrust (Ex. iii. iv.), of unrestrained passion (Ex. xxxii. 19), and unbelief (Num. xx. 12). Elijah, the greatest of the prophets who came after him, showed himself to be of like passions with other men, and (1 Kings xix. 4-10) had his time of almost angry impatience, despondency, and doubt. In this they were only subject as men to the laws of our physical and mental constitution. The more they were raised above themselves in their moments of religious exaltation, the more severe would the reaction be likely to be, and the greater the depression that followed. John the Baptist, who in his public ministry had been followed by thousands to whom he had been devoting himself with all the zeal and energy of his earnest and powerful nature, proclaiming the near approach of the long-expected kingdom of Heaven, and having the head of that kingdom pointed out to him by a voice from heaven, was now cut off from his public labors, and shut up in a prison far away from the scene of Christ's ministry. He had been urging the necessity of immediate repentance as a preparation for the immediate coming of the kingdom of God. I-e waits in awe and expectation, but the silence is not broken by the sound of its coming. What can be the meaning of this delay? The energies of his active and powerful nature are thrown in upon themselves. He is moved by strong and violent emotions. He broods over the unpromising condi MATTHEW XI. 203 tion of things, and is disturbed by the tardy development of the Divine plans. He becomes impatient and distrustful. " Can it be," he may have asked himself amid the many thoughts that rushed upon his mind, "that there is any mistake in this matter? " The slightest doubt is too painful to be borne, when the whole thing can so easily be set at rest by one word from Jesus himself. The impatient doubt could hardly have gone further than this. His faith in Jesus could not have been seriously disturbed, or he would not have sent his followers to ask him the question which he put. Hle would have sent them rather to see for themselves, and to inquire of others. But tired of the delay, brooding over the possibilities of mistake, with apprehensions and forebodings which bear some proportion to the grandeur of his previous anticipations, in his forced inactivity.nd confinement, he sends two of his disciples across the whole length of the province, to ask Jesus whether he is really the one who was to come, or whether they were to look for another? In these few words, John intimated his impatience of delay, his secret misgivings, and his desire that Jesus would adopt some more decided and effective course. The whole proceeding on the part of John is perfectly natural, and in no way inconsistent with the assurance which had been miraculously given to him in regard to the office and person of the Messiah. Such alternations of feeling, and such convulsive movements of the mind, leading them for the moment to question the reality of their most cherished convictions, and even of what their eyes have seen, belong to men of his temperament, even where, as in the case of Martin Luther, there is the strongest faith and the most courageous and determined energy of will. How admirable the course which Jesus took to satisfy John, and how in its calmness does it show his infinite superiority, and the easy, majestic ascendency which he had over men! Merely to declare in words that he was the Messiah would not have satisfied the prisoner in his present state of 204 MATTHEW XI. mind. "Why then," he might have asked, "if he is the Messiah, does he so long delay?" Nor had the time yet come for Jesus publicly to announce himself as the Messiah. He knew that whenever that announcement was made, his earthly ministry must be brought speedily to an end, and, therefore, in the presence of John's disciples, in that same hour (Luke vii. 21) he performed many and various kinds of miracles; and, having thus impressed them with a conviction of more than earthly authority and power, he directed them to go back and tell their master what they had seen and heard, - how the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good tidings proclaimed to them, - in this message using just enough of the old prophetic language (Isaiah xxxv. 5, 6, xlii. 7, lxi. 1) to give, in the mind of John, additional significance and solemnity to his message. Then he added, in words of mild rebuke and encouragement, coupling a benediction with his reproof, "Ancl blessed is he who shall not be offended in me,"- who does not allow himself to be disturbed, or to lose his faith in me, because, in my divinely appointed work, I am not pursuing precisely the course which he had expected. No reply could have been better fitted to the state of John's mind, which was impatient because it was so earnest, - disappointed and doubting because it had believed and expected so much. Then, 7-14, turning to the multitude, Jesus made this an occasion of admonition and instruction to them. At the same time he would renew their respect for John, which might have been lessened by the doubts into which he would appear, from his questions, to have been betrayed. There is nothing which the multitudes bear with less patience than any seeming vacillation, or want of steadfastness in their great men. " What went ye out into the wilderness to see? " Did ye go out expecting to find one who would bend to your changing wishes, as a reed to the wind; or one who would gratify your voluptuous tastes, like courtiers who are in MATTHEW XI. 205 kings' houses, with their soft, effeminate garments? Or did you go into that solitary place to find a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. He is one who has been foretold by prophets as the herald who should be raised up to announce the new dispensation, and to prepare the way for its coming. Among those born of women no greater man than he has ever been raised up. And yet, he adds, with solemn emphasis, calling their attention to the higher kingdom which is now to be established, the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. That higher kingdom is of such transcendent dignity and power, that its lowest subject shall be greater than he who stood foremost in the old dispensation. Possibly Jesus may have had in his mind the Roman empire, whose citizens were greater, and bore with them the ensigns of a mightier power, than kings of other nations. But what does he mean in saying that the least of his own disciples is greater than John the Baptist? I-e means that the humblest of those who really belong to his kingdom are made the partakers of a diviner life, and better understand the nature of his kingdom, and the elements of a true spiritual greatness, than even the greatest of those who had gone before. "They are greater," says Lightfoot, "in respect of clear and distinct knowledge in judging of the nature and quality of the kingdom of Heaven." The knowledge of a divine life unfolded in the Sermon on the Mount, and set before the humblest of his followers in the words, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, is beyond all that the prophets and righteous men of old were able to attain to. They indeed, 13, - i. e. the law and the prophets until John, — only predicted the coming of the heavenly kingdom, —only pointed on to it in the remote and distant future. John, in this respect greater and more favored than they, proclaimed it as already at hand, and from his time (the idea is drawn from a besieged city) men are forcing their way into it, and taking it as by violence. In these words Jesus alludes to the crowds who, first attracted 18 206 MATTHEW XI. 15- 19. by John's preaching, were now, from their misapprehension of his kingdom, pressing round him, and seeking as it were to force their way in. "And this," he adds, 14, "if ye will only receive it," i. e. not take the language literally, but understand it as it should be understood, is Elijah, whose coming (see note xvii. 10) before the Messiah was generally looked for among the Jews. 15 - 19. The comparison here in our common version is rendered obscure. The children who say to their companions, "We have piped to you, and ye have not danced; mourned to you, and ye have not lamented," are sometimes thought to represent John and Jesus, while the others, who were so unreasonable as to respond to them neither in their merriment nor their mourning, represent those who condemned both the Saviour and his forerunner. The objection to this is, that it is precisely the opposite of what Jesus says: It - this generation - "is like children sitting in the market-places, and saying," &c., &c. On the other hand, it is difficult to see how the unbelieving Jews were represented by the children, who complained that their companions would sympathize with them neither in their make-believe mirth nor their lamentation. Luke (vii. 32) says, "They were saying to one another," &c., &c. And Tischendorf adopts a similar expression as the correct reading in Matthew. The true interpretation is thus made easy. To what shall I compare this generation? It is like a crowd of children in some public place, seeking amusement, and able to agree upon nothing, but chiding one another as hard to please, and by their mutual reproaches only adding to the general confusion and discontent. Such a capricious, dissatisfied, complaining race is this generation, who complain of John as a half-crazed demoniac because of his austere and ascetic life; and yet when Jesus came eating and drinking as others did, reject and stigmatize him as self-indulgent and intemperate, the companion of the low and the abandoned. But, he MATTHEW XI. 20 —24. 207 continues, 19, whatever these may say or do, wisdom is justified, i. e. is recognized and honored, by those who in spirit are really her children. Whatever the outward form under which she may come, however she may be despised and rejected among men, they who are her children, whose hearts are open to her influence, will hear her voice, and hold her in honor. To them she needs no word of commendation or defence, whether she come under the severe guise of John, the preacher in the wilderness, or in the more divinely attractive life and teachings of the Son of man. 20-24. - GREAT PRIVILEGES UNIMPROVED VISITED BY A HEAVIER CONDEMNATION. These words were probably spoken after a pause. The word "then" with which they are introduced rather intimates that some time, minutes or days, had intervened. The idea is the same as in Matthew x. 15. In proportion to our privileges are our responsibilities; and the greater the opportunities that we cast aside or neglect, the heavier the condemnation that must fall upon us "in the day of judgment," i. e. as MIr. Norton translates it, " when sentence is passed." As to the cities Tyre and Sidon, they had, many centuries before our Saviour, been among the most opulent and enterprising cities in the world. At the present time, and for centuries past, they have been places of no importance, and remain in a comparatively desolate and ruinous condition. But in the time of Jesus they were populous and flourishing cities, and continued so for generations afterwards. Why then are they mentioned, in connection with Sodom, as examples of a Divine retribution? They were noted, even among heathen nations, for the profligacy, licentiousness, and degrading superstitions to which they were given over. The force of the comparison lies in this. It is as if Jesus had said, 208 MATTHEW XI. 25-30. "You know how utterly degraded and abandoned these cities are, to what lewd, debasing superstitions they have bound themselves, and how hopeless their moral and religious condition is. And yet, notwithstanding all this, I declare unto you, that if the mighty works which have been done here had been done long ago in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in dust and ashes, and even Sodom, if it had witnessed such works of divine goodness and power, would have remained to this day. And thou Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, which art above all others in privileges, shalt be brought down to hell, — to Hades, i. e. to the abode of the dead, to utter destruction. It was the strongest language that could be framed to express the privileges which Christ was offering, and the heavy condemnation and sorrow which must fall on those who reject them. As a matter of fact, the words of Jesus have been fulfilled in regard to the places themselves. Tyre and Sidon, though in a ruinous and degraded condition at the end of the last century and the beginning of this, are now more prosperous, and have never been so utterly blotted out from the knowledge and memory of man as Chorazin and Bethsaida, of which no trace can be found by the most careful researches. Nor have modern travellers been able to fix with any degree of certainty on the site of Capernaum, which was favored above all other cities during our Saviour's ministry as the place of his residence. 25-30. — CHRIST's THANKFULNESS, AND HIS CALL TO THE HEAVY LADEN. According to Luke (x. 17-21), who in this case marks the time more particularly than Matthew, these words were spoken after the return of the seventy disciples. They had come back with joy on account of the miracles which they had performed. In this their first success Jesus sees the MATTHEW XI. 25- 30. 209 token of the ultimate triumph over the powers of darkness. " And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall fromn heaven." Yet he warns them not to rejoice in their miraculous powers, but rather that their names are written in heaven. Then, at the thought of the way in which these simple, unlearned men, these babes in knowledge, have received and proclaimed his truth, he breaks out into the sublime exclamation of thanksgiving which is here recorded by Matthew. Though his instructions were hidden from men whose wisdom is only the blinding prudence of this world, and though he may have been pained to find his offers rejected by them, and to foresee the sorrows which they who would not hear him must bring upon themselves, he nevertheless bows in thankfulness: " Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." He turns with a perfect trust to the infinite and holy Father, and rests in his will with gratitude and joy. Ile stops in no lower sphere. He asks not and he explains not how the hiding of these things from the wise and prudent, to their overthrow and destruction, though they were revealed unto babes, should be a reason for rejoicing; but he goes to the good pleasure of his Father in heaven as the centre of all that he could wish. The benignant will of God was so entirely his will, - that central Fountain of life and joy so filled to overflowing his own soul, that whatever might come was to him a source of thankfulness, because it came from Him. " Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." And, as an additional cause for gratitude, he goes on to say, "All things are delivered or taught unto me by the Father. "Everything has been given to me by the Father." Though man cannot understand me, the Father does; and so, though men do not understand the Father, yet I and they to whom I shall reveal Him, do understand him. Then, in the fulness of the Divine wisdom, power, and love which had been given to him, he uttered, 28-30, the words of in18 210 MATTHEW XI. vitation, and the promise of relief and rest, which, from that day to this, have fallen with such infinite tenderness on laboring and burdened souls. No commentary can add to or bring out their meaning. They pour out their sweetness, with ever-increasing freshness and power, into the souls of those who accept his offer, and who, giving themselves up entirely to him, take his yoke upon them, and learn of him in meekness and lowliness of heart. NO TE S. AND it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commancling 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 should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and 4 said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see; the blind receive their sight, and the lame 5 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 2. the worlks of Christ] of are not recorded. The Gospels can the Christ or lilessiah. This is the hatrdly be regarded as cont'aining only instance, except in the first more than samples of the different verse of the first chapter, where sorts of seoorks which he performed. MBlatthew in his own narrative ap- We must not, therefore, be surprised plies this name to Jesus. It proba- that single acts, such as raising the bly is used here as particularly ap- widolw's soil at Nain (Luke vii. 11 - propriate, in consequence of John's 15), and the raising of Lazarus (John state of mind in regard to Jesus as xi. 1- 46), should be mentioned only the Alessiall. In that case it har- by one writer. 6. offended] monizes with the view we have The root from which this expression taken of John, and the object of his comes in Greek means a trap or message. 5. the dead snare, and thence a stumbling-block. are raised up] Matthew has spe- Whatever might trip one up or cified only one case (ix. 24, 25) of cause him to stumble. Blessed is raising apersonfirom the dead. The he who is not offended in me, i. e. expression here implies more, and who finds nothingl in mv course should remlind us of the multitude which may serve as a stumblingof his extraordinary acts which block or impediment in the way of MATTHEW XI. 211 7 And, as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John: What went ye out into the wilderness to s 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. lo For this is he of whom it is written, " Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before ii thee." Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist; notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of Heaven is 12 greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent his faith in me. " When persecu- and Christian sense. 12. tion and tribulation arise because the kingdom of H-leaven sufs of the word, immlediately he is fereth violence] This is one of offended (Matt. xiii. 21), i. e. he the obscure and difficult passages, on finds an impediment or stumbling- which very different constructions block in the way of his fidelity to have been put. We have given one Christ. So xiii. 57, xv. 12, xvii. 27. in our general remarks above, p. 205; Lest we should offend them, i. e. but are by no means sure that the put a stumbling-block in their way. following is not a more satisfactory 10. ]Behlold I send explanation. The verb may be conmy messenger before thy face] sidered in the passive voice, and This is taken, with a slight altera- translated is forced, or suffeetlh tion, from Malachi iii. 1: " Behold I violence; or it may be taken as in will send my messeger, and li he shall the middle voice, and translated, prepare the way before me; and the forces itself, or snakes its ous seeay Lord [not Jehovah], whom ye seek, byp force. Mr. Norton renders it, shall suddenly come to his temple." "uiltil now the kingdom of Heaven John, therefore, is represented as is forcing its way." Stier adopts the the forerunner of the Lord, or the same interpretation. " The kingMIessiah. The word here translated dom of Heaven," he savs, "pro"the Lord," says Dr. Noyes, "'when claims itself loudly andll openly, used without the article, is every- breaking in with violence; the pool where applied to humnan beings in are compelled (Luke xiv. 23) to the Old Testament. And though enter in; those who oppose it are with the article, which it has here, constrained to take offence. In1 it denotes the Sapreme Being as short, all things proceed urgently the Lord of all the earth, when no with it; it goes with'mighty moveother use of the article can be as- merit and impulse' (as Drh3seke signed except to denote the Supreme preaches), it works effectually upon Being; yet in this verse the article all spilrits in both directions, and on may be used merely to denote that all sides. The first [clause of the particular lord who was an object sentence] speaks of that mighty of expectation and desire." excitement which the breaking in 11. Among them that are of the kingdom of Heaven in itself born of women] Possibly this occasions; the second points out expression is used, as Oldshausen inferentially the result. Its conasserts, by way of contrast to those straining power does violence to who are born of God in the higher all; but it excites at the same time, 212 MATTHEW XI. 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 was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 15 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto 16 children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not 17 danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking; and they is say, He hath a devil. The Son of xMan came eating and 19 in the case of many, obstinate op- party replying in anger, " We have position. He who Will not submit given you funeral music, and you to it must be offended and resist, have not lamented;" so that in the and he who yields to it must press disturbance both strains alike -the and strurggle through this offence. merry and the mournful —are reThus the kinodom of Heaven does jected. The picture is given to the and stuffers violence, both in its two- life; and the comparison is a most fold influence: it exerts a mighty interesting one, showing as it does power itself, and a mighty power how our Saviour, with the weight must be put forth towards it, wheth- of his great mission upon him, er it be of faith or of unbelief." entered into the amusements of 15. He that hath ears] boys, as he did with a deeper symA solemn call of attention to what pathy into the disposition and temhas been said. 16. It is per of babes. 18. He hath like unto children] According a devil] a demon. The Jews beto Tischendorf's reading, this should lieved insanity to be caused by evil be translated, "It is like children spirits, or demons. To say that a sitting in the markets, who, calling man has a demon might with them to one another, say," &c. mean either that he was a wicked 17. ~We have piped] Hired mu- man, given over to an evil spirit, or sicians were employed at weddings that lie was a maniac, or not imand at funerals (ix. 23). The chil- probably, as in this case, a union of dren are represented as imitating the two. "Thou hast a devil, and in their sports these hired minstrels; art crazy" (John x. 20); - the first and in their vehement recrimina- expression representing the cause, tions crying out against one another, and the second the effect. they only add to the general con- 19. is justified] This word ocfusion adcl inconsistency. This gen- curs in the Gospels six times, and eration reject at one time the Bap- always with the same nmeaniing, viz. tist, because of his ascetic habits; in the active voice, to cause to and at another time the Son of be recognized as just or approved. lian, because of his free and liberal " Bly thy iords thou shalt be justicourse of life, and add to the gen- fled," i. e. approved, or recognized elal confusion and to their own in- as just. (xii. 37.) " The people consistency by their divisions mong......justified God," i. e. approved themselves, accusing one another; of what he had done, or declared one party exclaimilng, "YoL refuse him to be just. (Luke vii. 29.) " He, to have this," and the other retort- wishing to justify himself," i. e. ing, "You refuse to have that," like to cause himself to be recognized noisy, unreasonable children, who as just. (Luke x. 29.) " Ye are are crying out against each other; they who justify yourselves before one party exclaimlling, " We have men," i. e. woulcl cause men to given you merry music, and you recognize you as just. (Luke xvi. have not dlanced," and the other 15.) " This mnan went down to MATTHEW XI. 213 drinking, and they say, Behold, a man gluttonous and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But WVisdom is jus20 tified of her children.- Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they 21 repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long his house justified," i. e. approved been frequently held up to cornby God, recognized by him as mercial states in the modern world, right. (Luke xviii. 14.) as showing the precarious tenure 2i. Tyre and Sidon] It has been by which purely mercantile greatusual with travellers to point out the ness is held; and in this respect the literal fulfilment of ancient proph- prophecies of the Hebrew seers were ecies (Isa. xxiii. 1 - 15; Ezek. xxvi. a real revelation of thle coming forxxviii.) in regard to these places. tunes of the world, the more reWe quote a few passages on this markable because experience had subject from Stanley's " Sinai and not yet justified such a result. But Palestine ": " There is one point to narrow the scope of these subof view in which this whole coast lime visions to the actual buildings is specially remarkable.' A mourn- and sites of the cities is as unwarful and solitary silence now prevails ranted by facts as it is mistaken in along the shore which once re- idea. Sidon has probably never sounded with the world's debate.' ceased to be a populous, and, on the This sentence, with which Gibbon whole, a flourishing town; small, solemnly closes his chapter on the indeed, as compared with its ancient Crusades, well sums up the general granldeur, but never desolate, or impression still left by the six days' without some portion of its old ride from Beyroot to Ascalon; and traffic; and still encompassed round it is no matter of surprise that in and round with the lines of its red this impression travellers have felt silk manufacture. Tyre may pera response to the strains in which haps have been in a state of ruin Isaiah and Ezekiel foretold the des- shortly after the Chaldrean, and subolation of Tyre anlld Sidon. In one sequently after the Greek conquest sense, and that the highest, this feel- of Syria. But it has always been ing is just. The Phcenician power speedily rebuilt...... The period which the prophets denounced has during which it sunk to the lowest entirely perished; even whilst'the ebb was during the last years of world's debate' of the middle ages the past and the first years of the gave a new animation to these present century; and the comparashores, the brilliant Tyre of Alex- tive desolation which it then exandcler and Barbarossa had no real hibited no doubt presented some of connection with the Tyre of Hiram; the imagery on which so much and perhaps no greater stretch of stress has been laid, in order to conimuagination in ancient history is vey the. impression of its being a required than to conceive how the desolate rock, only used for the drytwo small towns of Tyre and Sidon, ing of fishermen's nets. But as thlis as they now exist, could have been was not the case before thalt period, the parent cities of Carthage and and is certainly not the case now, Cadiz, the traders with Spain and it is idle to seek for the fulfilment of Britain, the wonders of the East for the ancient prediction within those luxury and magnificence. So total limits; and the ruin of the empire a destruction, for all political pur- of Tyre, combined with the revival poses, of the two great commercial and continuance of the town of states of the ancient world has Tyre, is thus a striking instance of 214 MATTHEW XI. ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall be 22 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 Judgment, than for thee.- At that time Jesus answered and 25 said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so 26 the moral and poetical, as distinct persons, —those who in singleness fiom the literal and prosaic, accom- of heart, without prejudices or preplishement of the Prophetical Scrip- possessions of their own, receive the tures." pp. 266, 267. 23. words of Jesus. The worldly pruAnd thou, Capernaua n] "It dence of the wise blinds them to would almost seem," sa'ys Stanley, truths which require the entire surpp. 376, 377, "as if the woe pro- render of themselves to Christ. The nounced,against Capernaumi had philosophical wise men have their been literally fulfilled, as if the minds too much circumnsc.ribed by doom of the cities of the southern their speculations to take in spiritual sea had been visited upon those of truths like those taught by Jesus, the north, as if it had been, more which transcend the bounds of their tolerable for the land of Sodom, in reasoning, and take them into higher the dav of its earthly judgment, and broader worlds of intelligence. than for Capernaum. It has indeed Distinct from these are the babes, been more tolerable in one sense; to whom the king dom of God is refor the name, and perhaps even the vealed, and to whom in all ages of remains, of Sodom are still to be the world the Saviou's words apply. found on the shores of the Dead But in his exclamation of thallnksSea, whilst that of Capernaum has, giving, he probably had more imoin the Lake of Genesareth, been mediately in his mind at the time utterly lost...... Still, it would the seventy who had just returned be contrary to the general spirit of rejoicing from their first evanaoeprophecy, whether in the Old or lizing mission. " These unlearnsed, New Testament, to press this argu- sincere, and childlike men, who," to ment too fir. The woe, here as use the langua.ge of a friend, " had elsewhere, was doubtless spoken, no previously cherished system to not against the walls and houses of support, - no abunldant treasury of these villages, but against those words, whiclh they were liable, conwho dwelt within them; and, as a sciously or unconsciously, to subniatter of fact, it would appear that stitute for the very worsds of Jesus; they [the walls and houses] did no habits of abstract reasoning survive the terrible curse for many which might lead them to state the generations." 23. to hell] to results of reasoning for the facts of Hades. The abode of the dead, - observation, - had been present at not like Gehenna, - a place of tor- the giving of sight to the blind and ture for the wvicked alone. The ex- hearing to the deaf. They had seen pression, shalt be brouzg7ht clowue to hell, the lame freed from their infirmity, means, shall he sutterly c7estroed. the sick healed, the dead raised, 25. and hast revealed them aind those possessed of evil spirits unto babes] Pure aud childcllike restored to sanity and self-control MATTHEWV XI. 215 27 it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father; and no man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to 2s whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me all ye 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. by His word. They continually had 7rapE0o0rl. and no man wondered at the gracious' words knoweth the Son but the Fa= which proceeded out of his mouth. ther] The blindness of most comThey were full of expectation and mentators to the explicit assertion reverence and admiration and of of Jesus here is very remarkable. love. And they had gone out tell- There is no more distinct, unequivoing just what they had seen and cal, and unqualified assertion in the heard, just as, at the time, it had New Testament. And yet, in diimpressed their receptive minds and rect opposition to it, creeds have moved their hearts. The name of been formed, defining the metatheir Master was continually upon physical nature of Christ, and entheir tongues, and, by the power of forcing their distinctions on a subthe Spirit of Jesus, their whole being ject which Jesus expressly declares became, for the time, merged in that no man understands, as the his; they were one with him, and, only condition of church-memberin his nlame, they had performed his ship in this world or of salvation works. Now they were full of joy, in the world to come. It would be and said,' Lord, even the devils are difficult to find a more audacious subject to us, through thy name.' and presumptuous violation of the And Jesus himself rejoiced in spirit, words of Jesus than the Athanathankfully acknowledging the wis- sian Creed, with its thrice repeated dom which had led, not the lettered curses against those who do not reand logical, not pre-occupied and ceive its doctrines. Jesus here detrained minds, not the Pharisee or clares, that, while the Son reveals Sadducee, but the fishermen of the Father, his own nature is not Galilee, —the Seventy, and such as known except by the Father. He they,- to be at first his followers reflects the image of God, as the and witnesses to receive the true im- perfect mirror reflects the sky so pression of Him, and to give it un- entirely that it remains itself unchanged to others, - that the world seen. 29. lowly in heart] mioht have transmitted to it, not a " This expression describes the plan, a philosophy and abstract sys- humility of the Redeemler, as in tem, but a whole, concrete Gospel entire accordance with the bent of of salvation." 27. All his holy will, and originating in the things are delivered unto me very depth of his heart; hence huof my Father] "I have been mility appears in Him as the cheerinstructed in all by my Father." ful result of free choice." OlshauNorton. " My Father hath impart- sen. Poverty of spirit comes from ed everything to me." Campbell. a sense of want; lowliness of heart "All things appertaining to my arises from a cheerful, unquestionoffice are delivered to me of my ing, and almost unconscious subFather." Whitby. Of these trans- mission to the will of God; or rather lations Campbell's is the most ex- it comes from so living in the presact, the word "imparted " bearing ence of God, that his love reaches the double meaning, celivered and into the soul, and calls out its taught, which belongs to the original powers in harlfony with his will. 216 MATTHEW X11. 1- 14. CHAPTEtR XII. 1-14. - CHRIST'S VIEW OF THE SABBATH. IT is exceedingly difficult to get from the Gospels a clear idea of the order of events, or the length of time that elapsed between different events. The expression, "then," or "at that time," which recurs frequently in MIatthew, does not, as in our language, indicate that what is now to be related belongs to the same occasion with that which has gone immediately before, but rather, that it belongs to a different time and occasion. It is merely a transition clause, nearly equivalent to the phrase, " and it came to pass," or " about that time." "It came to pass in those days" (Matthew iii. 1) applies to an event which took place after an interval of thirty years. -8. According to a humane provision of the MNosaic law (Deut. xxiii. 25), those who were passing through a neighbor's field were allowed to pluck the ears of grain with their hand, though not to use a sickle. Dr. Robinson says, that when near IHebron, passing by the fields of ripening wheat, "We had here a beautiful illustration of Scripture. Our Arabs'were an hungered,' and going into the fields, they'plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.' On being questioned, they said this was an old custom, and no one would speak against it." The offence of the disciples consisted, not in taking the grain, but in doing it on the Sabbath. " I-IHe that reaps on the Sabbath," says a Jewish authority quoted by Lightfoot, "though never so little, is guilty. And to pluck the ears of corn is a kind of reaping; and whosoever plucks anything friom the springing of his own MATTHEW XII. 9-14. 217 fruit is guilty, under the name of a reaper." It was to sweep away all sophistries of this kind, and to re-establish the substance and spirit of the law in the place of the trifling and superstitious observances which had grown out of it, that Jesus, in this instance, replies to the faultfinders by facts, which they as Jews must admit to be right, and then (verse 8, tMark ii. 27) lays down the true principle by which all ceremonial rites and institutions are to be interpreted. 1. Necessity knows no laws of this kind, and cannot be bound by their authority. Have ye not read, he asks, how David (1 Sam. xxi. 6) and those who were with him, when driven by hunger, took bread, which by the law (Ex. xxix. 33) only the priests were allowed to eat? 2. Where the worship of God requires the violation of the Sabbath, the lesser should yield to the greater. The form must give way, that the substance may be retained. "Have ye not read in the law," (Num. xxviii. 9, 10,) he says, addressing them still as Jews, "that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the temple, and are guiltless? And I say unto you, that something greater than the temple is here." IlHe then (Mark ii. 27) lays down the great principle by which all these rites are to be determined. "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Wherever, therefore, it interferes with man's highest good, its severity must be relaxed. "If," he adds, "ye had recognized the meaning and the authority of the divine precept," (Hosea vi. 6,)' [ercy is more to me than sacrifice,' ye would not, as you are now doing, condemn the innocent." The Son of Man has power to regulate the observance even of the Sabbath-day. 9-14. On another occasion (another Sabbath, Luke vi. 9) he, under the general principle already quoted from MlIark, brought up a third case, not wholly distinct perhaps from the first, in which the letter of the law is to be relaxed, and its spirit observed by works of charity 19 218 MATTHEW XII. 9 —14. and mercy. There was present in the synagogue a man whose right hand was withered. The Pharisees were eagerly watching, with the hope that they might catch him violating the law. They ask him, therefore, whether it is allowable to perform cures on the Sabbath! Jesus, knowing their thoughts (Luke vi. 8), asked the man to rise up and stand in the midst, which he did. Then, in reply to their question, he asked, which of the two is allowable on the Sabbath, to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? If any one among you have one sheep, and it fall into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? But is not a man of far more consequence than a sheep? So that it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath. They, unable to answer him, were silent. And Jesus, having looked round on them with anger, being grieved at the hardness of their hearts (Mark iii. 5), directed the man to stretch forth his hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole as the other. The principle on which Jesus here reasoned is, that it is a sin to neglect the opportunity to do a good deed, and therefore works of mercy must not be neglected even on the Sabbath. He has thus clearly taught, 1. that a man's own necessities, 2. that the offices of public worship, and 3. that works of charity, may justify what would otherwise be a violation of the Sabbath. Jesus is recorded to have performed cures on the Sabbath at seven different times; —the cure of the demoniac (Mark i. 21); of Peter's wife's mother (Mark i. 29); of the impotent man (John v. 9); of the man born blind (John ix. 14); of the woman with a spirit of infirmity (Luke xiii. 10- 17); of the man who had a dropsy (Luke xiv. 1); besides the one related above. Unquestionably one object which he had in performing so many miracles on the Sabbath, was to do away the narrow superstitious formalities in which that merciful institution had become incrusted, and by which its beneficent design was perverted or impaired and destroyed. MATTHEW XII. 14-37. 219 14-37. - HATRED OF THE PHARISEES AGAINST JESUS. 14- 21. Here is the first allusion to any conspiracy against his life by the enemies of Jesus. It was evident that he was producing a decided and powerful impression on the minds of the people, and that he carefully abstained from any violation of the law, yet his principles of interpretation, and the feelings with which he regarded its observances, were diametrically opposite to theirs. In this case, feeling the pungency of his rebuke, and unable to say a word in reply to his reasoning, the Scribes and Pharisees were (Luke vi. 11) inflamed with rage, and took counsel (Mark iii. 6) with the IIerodians, who were probably the adherents of Herod, and rather political than religious partisans, how they might destroy him. Jesus, knowing their designs, withdrew to the Sea of Galilee, where immense multitudes gathered round him from all the neighboring country, — from Jerusalem, from Idumea and beyond the Jordan on the east, and from Tyre and Sidon on the west. This would only increase the apprehensions and malice of his enemies. Jesus did all that he could consistently with the great purpose of his ministry to avoid notoriety. IIe severely charged those on whom his healing miracles were wrought not to make him known. 22-37. - CASTING OUT SATAN BY SATAN. About this time, when the popular mind was wrought up to a high pitch of expectation and excitement, there was brought to Jesus a demoniac, blind and dumb, whom he healed, so that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. There is nothing mentioned that would indicate insanity, nor is it possible to discover what the symptoms were that marked the case as one of demoniacal possession. It seems, however, to have been regarded as an extraordinary case, and the cure caused an unusual sensa 220 MIATTitHEWV XII. 22 - 37. tion of astonishment among the multitudes, who ask if this is not the Son of David, i. e. the Messiah? Such a suggestion could not be endured by the Pharisees. In the extremity of their malignant jealousy and scorn, hardening themselves against the holiness of his life and the merciful character of his acts, they contemptuously reply, that he does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. He, knowing all that was passing in their minds, overthrew their taunt by reasoning which they fromn their point of view could not answer, and then, 31, 32, exposed their unpardonable wickedness in the severest sentence that ever fell from his lips. The 21st verse is one of some difficulty. "If I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your children, i. e. your disciples, cast them out? wherefore they shall be your judges." There is no doubt that there were at that time men who practised among the Jews the pretended art of expelling demons. Josephus, Antiq., VIII. 2. 5, appeals to an extraordinary proof' of this fact which one of these exorcists had given before Vespasian in the presence of a part of the Roman army. There was a belief among the Jews that these men actually expelled demons by their art, and it was from this their point of view that Jesus addressed his argument to the Pharisees. If I, in my cures, which shake to its very centre the dominion of Satan, am in league with him, by whom do your disciples perform thieir cures? Let them answer the question, and be your judges. Jesus was doing nothing more than they were pretending to do. Why then should he be adjudged as guilty of a greater crime? But does not he, in using such language, countenance the belief that they had the power to cast out demons? This brings up a very interesting and important subject of inquiry. How far could a being with the more than human endowments and knowledge which Jesus possessed, looking through men's thoughts, and the shadows around MATTHEW XII. 22 — 37. 221 them, be among the Jews, and converse freely with them, without suffering their false ideas and conceptions to pass uncorrected? Parents are every day pursuing this course with their children, knowing that it would be a vain thing to try to correct them in regard to many false ideas which they are not yet able to understand, but which they will outgrow in the natural progress of their minds. It is not by specific corrections now, but by the gradual unfolding and enlightenment of their minds, that they are to be set free from these mistaken notions. So Christ came, not to correct specific errors, one by one, but to bring into the world those great elements of moral and religious life and thought, which, as they are received and applied, may lift men up above their errors, and set them free from their mistaken ideas. In order to gain access to them, he must meet them as they are, and reason with them from premises which they believe to be true. By seeking to correct their established convictions and habits of thought in regard to common and comparatively unimportant matters, he would rouse their prejudices, and close their minds against him in his more important influences and instructions. Their errors, therefore, he sometimes uses as illustrations or arguments by which to introduce into their minds truths which, once lodged there, and acting through their lives, shall at length set them free, and drive out the very errors by which they gained admittance. It is evident that this must essentially modify the form of any revelation from God to men, in its adaptation to the existing wants and limitations of their nature. The reasoning of this whole discourse proceeds in this way. It meets the Pharisees on their own ground, without one word to show whether that ground be tenable or not. In this way, he brings before them the momentous truth which it is his purpose to declare. If the very centre of Satan's kingdom is shaken by these works of mine, and if, as I have shown from your own point of 19 222 MATTHEW XII. 31, 32. view, I have done these works, not by the aid of Beelzebub, but, 28, by the spirit, and Luke xi. 20, the finger of God, then in this overthrow of the powers of darkness you may be sure that the kingdom of God has come upon you unawares. For how can the house of the strong man, thoroughly armed and on his guard (Luke xi. 21), be entered, unless a' stronger than he overcome, and disarm, and bind him? But, in this warfare, he continues, he who is not with me is against me. " Wherefore," he says, 31, 32, referring to the whole course of reasoning by which he has proved that these are the works of God against which they have set themselves, -" wherefore, though every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, yet blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven to men,.... either in this world [azveL, —ceon-] or the world to come." 31, 32.- TIlE UNPARDONABLE SIN. What is the sin thus fearfully and hopelessly condemned? All enlightened modern commentators, we believe, agree that " it is not one particular act of sin which is here condemned, but a state of sin, and that a wilful, determined opposition" to what is highest and holiest. He who speaks against the Son of Mlan may do it ignorantly, or through traditional prejudices, or from a sudden impulse, and may repent and be forgiven. "But he," to use the words of the Greek father Euthymius, " who, seeing my Divine works which God alone can perform, ascribes them to Beelzebub as you now do, and so blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, or the Divinity itself (for he now calls it the Holy Spirit), — he, plainly determined and fixed on what is evil, and knowingly insulting God, sins without excuse, and shall not be forgiven." His sin is not one of impulse, ignorance, or weakness. But he has gone on knowingly sinning and hardening himself against the Holy Spirit, maligning its influences, and attributing them MATTHEW XII. 38- 50. 223 to a diabolical agency, till he has reached such a degree of hardihood in wickedness that he is beyond all hope of repentance or amendment, and therefore beyond all hope of forgiveness. The settled frame of his mind is so wilfully and knowingly turned against God in his plainest and holiest influences and teachings, that he has made repentance, and through it reformation, an impossibility to him, whether in this world [econ] or the world to come. Jesus then turns again to their blasphemous charge against the Holy Spirit, in ascribing actions such as they had witnessed to the Prince of demons. Do at least, he says, be consistent with yourselves. Allow either that the tree and fruit are both good, or that they are both bad together. The tree is known by its fruit. But, 34, how, on this principle, can we expect anything good from you, since, as is the heart, so must the words be. So true is this law of our nature, so is even the careless, idle word imbued with the spirit, and so does it indicate the disposition, from which it comes, that, "I say unto you, for every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account in the day of judgment." The careless, idle words which men utter are perhaps the truest index to their character. 38-50. - FURTHER I{.EMARKS or JESUs. 38-40. On another occasion the Scribes and Pharisees, in a captious, unbelieving spirit, asked of him a sign. He knew their motives, and declared to them that no sign should be given except that of the prophet Jonah, as foreshadowing his own death. It is remarkable, as Dr. Furness has said, that whenever a sign was asked of Jesus, he invariably referred to his death, "as the greatest sign that he could possibly give of his truth." (John vi. 30, 51.) The reference to the book of Jonah proves nothing conclusively respecting the view that Jesus 224i MATTHEW XII. 46-50. might have of it, whether as an historical narrative, or an instructive allegory, framed like some of his own parables, to set forth important lessons of truth and duty. He then, 41 - 45, as he had done twice before in different connections, spoke of the way in which the generation must be condemned by those who had gone before, if they should slight the greater privileges which were granted to them. And finally he likens them to a demoniac who is for a time apparently cured, but with a relapse of his malady is in a far worse condition than before. The picture, which is in accordance with the prevalent ideas of the Jews, is full of life and interest. The unclean spirit, cast out of its comfortable abode, wanders, 43, into dry, i. e. desert, uncultivated, and desolate places, seeking rest, and finding none. And at last, tired of this he joins to himself seven other spirits worse than himself, and finding his old abode empty, swept, and furnished, they enter in and dwell there. So with this generation. HIowever the Jews may have been freed for a time by their afflictions from their old idolatries, yet the old spirit and others far worse had returned, and now their last end (xxiii. 45) is worse than all that had gone before. The same remarks apply to an individual, reformed for a season, and then relapsing into his old sins, with others still worse added to them. 46 - 50. - JEsus AND HIS MOTHER. Any impression that we might get here of apparent harshness in the conduct of Jesus towards his mother will be removed by attending to all the circumstances. INot only was the house where he sat full of people, but probably, as in another case (Mark ii. 2) the way of approach to the door was crowded, so that those who were out could not get at him (Luke viii. 19) on account of the multitude. While he was in the midst of his MATTHEW XII. 46-50. 225 weighty and impressive discourse, word was passed in to him (Luke viii. 20) that his mother and brethren were without desiring to speak to him. Immediately he turned this incident into an occasion of teaching the higher spiritual relationships which he had come to establish, and asked, 5" Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?" Then looking round about on those who were sitting around him (Mark iii. 34) he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, c "Behold my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother." We learn from John vii. 5, that his brethren did not believe in him, and Mark, iii. 21, tells us that when his friends or relatives heard how he was situated and what he was doing, they went out to lay hold on him; for they said, "Hle is beside himself." They evidently at that time did not at all understand him. It is more difficult to enter into the feelings of his mother. His past history and his character, as it showed itself to her in the intimate relations of life, must, we infer from the few glimpses that are given to us (Luke ii. 41-52, John ii. 1-12) have been such as to fill her with wonder and expectation. She pondered these things in her heart. But, as a human being, she doubtless had her alternations of feeling. She knew not how his work should be accomplished or what it was. When her relatives and possibly even her own sons declared that he was beside himself, her maternal feelings must have been touched, and, without sympathizing with them in their unbelief, she may have been painfully moved by vague apprehensions of impending danger, and hopes of coming greatness, so that she went with them to ease her anxieties by seeing him, and perhaps to persuade him to withdraw himself for a season from the perils that were gathering round him. If such were her feelings, nothing could do more to assuage her fears, awaken her reverence, and re-establish 226 MATTHEW XII. her faith, than the words here uttered, which in their calm dignity lifted him above all earthly interests and relationships. NOTE S. AT 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, 2 they said unto him, Behold thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath-day. But he said unto them, 3 Ilave ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and they that were with him? how he entered into the house 4 of God, and did eat the shoew-bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the 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- 7 eth, "I will have mercy and not sacrifice," ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord s even of the sabbath-day. 2. when the Pharisees saw Strictly speaking, there was no it] They must have been follow- house of God at that time, but only ing him through the fields in that a tent in which the Ark of the hypocritical spirit of ceremonial Covenant was kept. But, as in Ex. observance that would be ready to xxiii. 19, the tent was sometimes measure his steps after him, and called the house of God. find it out, if he should walk one which is not lawful for him yard beyond the prescribed length to eat] Ex. xxix. 33. For the of a sabbath-day's journey. This sheo-bread, see Leviticus xxiv. 65 - 8. whole chapter, down to the 46th From this reference and verse 8, as verse, is taken up in showing this well as from a Jewish authority trait of the Pharisees, and the terri- cited by Lightfoot, it is rendered ble severity with which it was re- probable that David went there buked by Jesus. 3. Have either on the sabbath, or just as ye not read] "At that very the sabbath was going out, which time of year Leviticus was being would make his example still more read on sabbaths, the book in which pertinent in this case. 8. there occur so many precepts as to for the Son of man] " Why is sacrifices which were required to be Christ called the Son of man, but performed, even on the sabbath." just because he represents humanity 1engel. 4. house of God] as a whole, — because, as a second MATTHEW XII. 227 9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their syna10 gogue. And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him saying, Is it lawful to heal on ii 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 13 on the sabbath-days. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored 14 whole, like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence; and great multitudes followed him; and he healed them all, 16 and charged them that they should not make him known; 17 that it might be -fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the s18 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. Adam, he bears in himself and sets was very great. According to Joseup a new humanity? This is the phus, it had more than 200 cities, key to the whole statement, ac- the least of which contained 15,000 cording to which, in the first place, inhabitants; and the whole province iMark ii. 27, as the words stand, contained more than 3,000,000 of contain a truth as profound as it people. According to Strabo, Galiis simple. So, in the Talmud, R. lee was full of Egyptians, Arabians, Jonathan says, literally,',The sab- and Phnceicians. (Lib. XVI.) See bath is in your own hands, not yoq Mlilman's Hist. Christianity, I. 4. in its hands, fordt is said: The sab- 18 - 20. "This quotation," bath is for you.' (Ex. xvi. 29; Ezek. says Dr. Palfrey, "from the prophxx. 12.) It is, according to God's ecy of Isaiah (xlii. 1-4) accords predesign, an ordinance and institution cisely with neither the Hebrew nor of mercy for the good of man, ap- the Septuagint." The Hebrew is pointed, in the first instance, for thus translated by Dr. Noyes: rest and refireshment (Deut. v. 14; "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, Ex. xxiii. 12); and then further for My chosen,in whom my soul delighteth; blessing and sanctification." Stier. I have put my spirit upon him; 11. and lift it out] He shall give laws to the nations. " Our Lord evidently asks this as a He shall not cry aloud, nor raise a thing allowed and done at the time clamor, Nor cause his voice to be heard in the when he spoke; but subsequently street. (perhaps, suggests Stier, on account The bruised reed he shall not break, of these words of Christ) it was And the glimmering flax he shall not forbidden in the Gemara; and only quench; permitted to lay planks jbr the beast He shall give laws according to truth. to conee osut." Alfordl. 15. He shall not fail, nor become weary, Until he shall have established laws in and great Gmultitdes] The pop- the earth, ulousness of Galilee at that time, And distant nations shall wait for his compared with what it is at present, instruction." 228 MATTHEW XII. Hie shall not strive, nor cry, neither shall any man hear his 19 voice in the streets; a bruised reed shall he not break, and 20 smoking flax shall he not quench; till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust." 21 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 25 their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out 26 Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom 27 do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the spirit of God, then the 2s kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else, how can one enter 29 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 20. a bruised reed..... the Philistines (2 Kings i. 2). The smoking flax] introduced here to Jews applied it to the prince of show the merciful and compnas- devils, as the most contemptuous of sionate nature of Jesus in his deal- all names. 25. their ing with the broken-llhearted and the thoughts] their thoughts, imagicontrite. Lightfoot, however, sa:vs:'nations, and feelings; i. e. he knew " He shall not make so great a noise the secret motives fiom which they as is made from the breaking of a spoke, when they charged him with reed now already bruised and half doing his beneficent and divine broken, or from the hissing of smok- works with a diabolical design, and ing flax only, when water is thrown by the aid of the prince of devils. upon it." 23. Is not this The Greek word, Ev!aO7'e~L, is the son of David.] A name much stronger and more comprewhich evidently among the Jews hensive than the English word was applied to the Messiah (ix. 27; thoughts, including as it does the xv. 22; xxi. 9; and especially xxii. emotions and purposes connected 42). 24. Beelzebul] (for with the thoughts. 28. is such is the established reading here, come unto you] Wesley, who as well as x. 25) means Lord of avowedly copied from Bengel, exmire, or Lord of place, as Beelzebub plains the passage: "The kingdom does Lord of flies. It was the name of God is come upon you — unaof a God worshipped, at Ekron, by wares, before you expected: so the MATTHEW XII. 229 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 33 this world, neither in the world to come. Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, 34 and his fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good word implies." 32. speak- the wisdom " which God ordained eth against the Holy Ghost] to our glory before the worlds," i. e. " This probably refers to the Diviane the nons, ages, or dispensations. nature of Christ, -the power by These passages imply in the past a which he wrought his miracles. succession of mons, ages, or dispenThere is no evidence that it refers sations. Jesus speaks more than to the third person of the Trinity." once (xiii. 39, 40, 49) of "the end Barnes. "It was blasphemy against of the world;" more exactly, the the Spirit of God to ascribe acts winding up or consummation of the which bore the manifest impress of won, the age, or dispensation then the Divine Goodness in their essen- existing. In Heb. ix. 26 we read, tially beneficent character to any " in the endof the world," literally, other source but the Father of at 1"the completion," or " consumMercies." Milman. " Against the mation of the ages." As the word Holy Ghost means against the most non, in its application to the past direct and conclusive testimony by and present condition of things imwhich the person.....isentirely plies only a limited duration of convinced, and consequently sins time, the natural inference is that with the most complete knowledge in its application to the future conand will; and this is the idea most dition of things, it does not necesessentially belonging to the unpar- sarily involve the idea of endless donable sin...... It is committed duration. As the word is applied when the man knows, with entire to the past in the plural number, conviction, what he is doing..... and thus denotes a succession of It is distinguished from every other aoons in the past, so when applied pardonable sin of man by this, that to the future in the plural number ill it there is not even a minimum (Eph. ii. 7, "in the coons, or ages of satanic deceit practised upon the which are to come,") it in like manunderstanding, or compulsion of aer denotes a succession of cons. any nature, or by any creature'These coons thus extend from the upon the will; but the purely evil past into the futule, each one at its is willed, spoken, and clone instead completion giving way to that which of the known and rejected good, the is to succeed, and each, whether in lie as such instead of the blas- the past or the future, being only phemed truth." Stier. one in the succession of ages. in this world, neither in the When, therefore, we read in the world to come] The word at'ov passage before us of a sin which (ceon), which is here translated shall be forgiven neither in this worlcl, can be rendered by no cor- world (ceon) nor the world (mon) to responding -ord in our language. come, we find in the language nothIt means a period of time, an age, ing that necessarily involves the or a dispensation. In 2 Thim. i. 9 idea of eternity, since the age to we read, " before the world began," come may, like each of those which more exactly, " before the worlds have gone before, at length fulfil its began," and still lmore literally, purpose, and give place to a yet "before the times of the worlds," higher dispensation beyond. See ages, ceons. In 1 Cor. ii. 7 we read of xxv. 46. 20 230 MATTHEW XII. things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man, out of the good treasure of the heart, 3a bringeth forth good things; and an evil man, out of the evil treasure, bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, that 36 every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. lFor by thy words thou shalt 37 be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Then certain of the Scribes and of the Pharisees answered 3s saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he an- a9 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 man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this genera- 41 tion, and shall condemn it; because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this 42 generation, and shall condemn it; for she came from the uttermost 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 36. every idle word] at last the measure of iniquity is There is no authority for giving any full, and hopeless ruin ensues. For worse meaning to the adjective. the same thought more fully carried The idle word may be a wicked, out, see xxiii. 35. 43. When or it may be a good, word. To give the unclean spirit is gone out account does not necessarily imply of a man] Mian, the individual, condemnation. The meaning is, stands here for the Jewish nation, that for everything we say, down who are represented as being then even to our idle words, we are to sevenfold worse than ever before. be held responsible, when in the day The connection with the previous of reckoning the account of our sentences is unbroken. You wicked lives shall be rendered up. men seeking a sign, shall find none 40. three days and three nights] except the sign of the prophet By the Hebrew reckoning, the day Jonah; and even that, while it when the account begins, and that foreshadows my death, shall likewhen it ends, are included in the wise testify to your condemnation, number of days. "A day and a as will also the Queen of the South. night," says a Jewish tradition, But what better could be expected? make an onah, and a part of an When the unclean spirit is gone out onah is as the whole." 41. of a man, and the man tails to forwith this generation] Here is tify himself by religious thoughts an indication of the cumulative and faithful deeds, and remains nature of sin in a community, and empty, and thus prepared for the of the judgments visited upon it return of what is evil, then that from generation to generation, till spirit, with seven others worse than MATTHEW XII. 231 44 places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house, from whence I came out. And when he 45 is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits, more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and 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 48 without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother'? and who are 49 my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disso ciples, and said, Behold, my mother, and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father, which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. itself, shall enter in and dwell xi. 31), to denote a near relative, as, there. So shall it be with this evil e. g. a nephew or cousin, and even generation, as compared with the to denote a fiiend. It has been generations which have gone before. supposed that the word is so used 47. thy brethren] The here; but its connection with the word brother is still used in the word mother would imply that it East, as it was in the clays of Abra- is used in its stricter sense. See ham (Gen. xiv. 16, compared withl xiii. 55. 232 IMATTHEW XIII. -PARABLES. CHAPTER XIII. PARABLES. THE fountain of life within flows forth into outward acts, and those outward acts are an emblem of the mind from which they come. So in nature, whatever we see proceeds from a fountain of life within, and is an emblem and token of the divine source from which it proceeds. Everything in nature, therefore, is an expression of the Divine Mind, and has its message or its influence from 1Him for us. The lightest forms of nature associate themselves with our deepest feelings or our highest thoughts, and the more entirely we are born into the realm of spiritual things, that is, the more alive our spiritual perceptions are, the more shall we be able to see the tokens and to feel the influences of the Divine Mind in our intercourse with nature. To him who looks through the visible forms to the great spiritual realities which they would express, every object around us, every change in nature, as an expression of the Divine 5MIind, is the outshadowing or the foreshadowing of something higher than itself. This great fact finds its way more or less into our common speech. The morning or evening of the day leads us spontaneously to think of the morning and evening of life. When we see the sun go down, and as it departs light up the western heavens with a richness and glory which the day has never known, we can hardly help thinking of the good man's life, which when withdrawn from our sight throws around the whole place where he dwelt, in gracious and touching remembrances, affections, virtues, and prayers more beautiful and holy MATTHEW XIII. - PARABLES. 233 than when he was bodily present with us. So the flower, the fruit, the leaf is each suggestive to us of thoughts and emotions which lie in a higher plane of life. Thus it was that Jesus saw all outward objects and events in their higher relations, and made use of them to express the higher facts which they bodied forth to his mind. No one can understand his language who receives it. merely in its literal acceptation; "for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life " (2 Cor. iii. 6). We have only to open the Gospels to see how in his use of speech material things are made to lift us up into the realm of spiritual being. ~When he says, "Ye are the salt of the earth," he speaks in no literal sense. When he speaks of light and darkness, it is the light and darkness of the soul. WVhen he speaks of hell fire, he speaks of it, not in its material, but its spiritual sense, as an emblem of the anguish into which the souls of the wicked shall be cast, unless they repent and are converted. So when he says, "Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life," it is in the higher and spiritual sense that these expressions are used. The devout heart catches this inner meaning of the Saviour's words, and finds them, as he has said, becoming to him "spirit and life." He that would read the Gospels in any other way loses all that is most holy and divine. It is as if we should confine our eye to the glass of the telescope, instead of looking through it to the worlds of light which it reveals beyond. These remarks are especially applicable to the chapter before us, which has been called the chapter of parables. The parables, like all figurative language and most of our reasoning from analogy, derive their power from the fact that material things, not only have certain established relations among themselves, but also certain relations to spiritual things, which they may help to illustrate, explain, and enforce. The connection is not one arbitrarily assumed by man, but has its foundation in the constitu20 234 MATTHEWV XIII. -PARABLES. tion of the universe and of the human mind. The analogies which reach from one department of thought to another, from things material to things intellectual or spiritual, have impressed themselves on all languages, and perhaps most decidedly on those which have been used to express the highest spiritual ideas. The simplest mind catches these resemblances, and delights in the higher meanings which are bodied forth in the most common forms of speech. The image borrowed from some familiar object of sense, and standing as the representative of some higher truth, fixes itself in the mind, and acts upon it through the imagination with a power which more literal terms could not have. The greatest poets, the profoundest reasoners, and the common language of mankind alike abound in examples of this kind. Shakespeare, for instance, may be taken to show how, in the highest poetry, images drawn from material things or common life shadow forth to the heart a deeper, higher, or more affecting meaning. "Thei immortal part needs a physician." — Ienry IV. "The benediction of these covering heavens Fall on your heads like dew."- Cymbeline. " Death lies on her, like an untimely frost Upon the sweetest flower of all the field."- Romeo and Juliet. No literal terms of description could convey to the mind the ideas here suggested with such exquisite beauty and tenderness. The Scriptures abound in expressions of this sort, which introduce into the mind some image easily comprehended, that fills the whole soul with sentiments and emotions suggested by it. Take expressions like these: " The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." (Jer. viii. 20.) "The night is far spent, the day is at hand." (Rom. xiii. 12.) "Abide with us; for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." (Luke xxiv. 29.) " I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine: and I lay down my life for the sheep." (John x. 14, 15.) " Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me..... MATTHEW XIII. - PARABLES. 235 and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matt. xi. 29, 30.) We see at once how the simple facts, which are presented in the words, spontaneously awaken other ideas; and the images, so familiar to us in nature, carry us on to thoughts which lie wholly beyond them. And not merely are other thoughts suggested, but sentiments and emotions, which we can hardly define, are awakened by the words, and lift us up into a higher -sphere. 6It is not merely," says Trench in the introduction to his Notes on the Parables, " that these analogies assist to make the truth intelligible, or, if intelligible before, present it more vividly to the mind, which is all that some will allow them. Their power lies deeper than this, in the harmony unconsciously felt by all men, and by deeper minds continually recognized and plainly perceived, between the natural and spiritual worlds, so that analogies from the first are felt to be something more than illustrations, happily but yet arbitrarily chosen. They are arguments, and may be alleged as witnesses; the world of nature being throughout a witness for the world of spirit, proceeding from the same head, growing out of the samle root, and being constituted for that very end. All lovers of truth readily acknowledge these mysterious harmonies, and the force of arguments derived from them." All just reasoning from analogy depends on the recognition of a unity of purpose running through all the works of God, and making them all, as parts of one great plan, point upward to the same results. The outward system of things stands forth to the mind as the representative of higher powers than address themselves to the senses. " The heavens declare the glory of God." (Ps. xix.) "6 The invisible things of Him, even his eternal power and godhead, are clearly seen from the creation of the world being understood by the things that are made." (Rom. i. 20.) " All things here," says Tertullian, 6 are witnesses of a resurrection; all things 236 MATTHEW XIII. -PARABLES. in nature are prophetic outlines of Divine operations, God not merely speaking parables, but doing them." Not only in processes of reasoning, but in the finer and more important processes by which the imagination is quickened and the affections reached, we are constantly drawn up from what is material and temporal to what is spiritual and eternal. Works like those of Dante and Milton borrow their marvellous power from this fact. Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress," and Baxter's " Saint's Rest," delight the heart, and feed the religious sentiments of generation after generation through the mysterious but vital connections which bind what is seen to what is unseen. This alone makes it possible to weave, from scenes and incidents addressed to the eye, a narrative which shall bring us into connection with a higher order of beings and events. The language which has most deeply moved the heart of the world, and especially that which acts most powerfully on the masses, and at the same time on the purest religious minds, partakes largely of this character. The world is, not only a school-room, in which visible objects serve as diagrams by which to prove the reality of spiritual things; but on every side are pictures addressing themselves to the eye, through the eye to the imagination, and through the imagination to the heart, awakening our spiritual sensibilities, and educating our whole natures to a higher life. We can hardly overestimate the influence in the religious training of the world, which has been exercised in this way by the pictures from nature, or from common life, which have been used by Jesus to represent spiritual ideas, excite religious emotions, or help us on in our religious experience. The parables belong to this department of religious instruction. The value of a parable is not to be estimated by the single truth which it is employed to set forth, however great that truth may be. Its accompaniments, its indirect and subtle influences, through the imagination, the new meaning which it thus gives to nature or to life, the atmos MATTHEW XIII. 1-9, 18-23. 237 phere of spiritual beauty, joy, or reverence, in which it enfolds the mind of the child, and by which it ministers to its spiritual and immortal life, are to be taken into account as adjuncts, apart from which the truth would be left comparatively without interest and without power. The parable of The Sower who went forth to sow, of the Wheat and the Tares, of the Ten Virgins, the Rich 3Man and Lazarus, The Good Samaritan, and the Prodigal Son, are among the most impressive and influential agencies in our religious education. As to the rules of interpretation, too much stress must not be laid on the details in judging of their relation to the main truth. Their office is rather, by completing the picture, to act on the imagination, to touch the feelings, and subdue the mind to the tone which is needed in order that it may receive the truth. This is a most important office. In the Prodigal Son, for instance, the little details which go to fill out the picture of want and wretchedness are what give its affecting pathos to the story. And the fact that they perform this essential office should put us on our guard against trying to force all the minute particulars into our interpretation. A parable is not an allegory. 1-9, 18-23. THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. IT is not improbable that as Jesus, from the boat in which he sat, looked up along the sweep of the hills that converged downward to the lake, he may have seen a sower actually going forth to sow, and pointing to him, or directing the eyes of the multitude towards him for a moment, he may have drawn his instruction from what was actually passing before them. It is also possible that the opening words, "Behold, a sower went forth to sow," were made more touchingly impressive to the devout Jews by calling to mind the affecting language of Psalm cxxvi.: " They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Ite that goeth forth and weepeth, 238 MATTHEW XIII. 10 —23. bearing precious seed, shall, doubtless, come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." It may also, there by the waters of the lake, have connected itself with the promise in Isaiah xxxii. 20: " Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters." Stanley, in his Sinai and Palestine, pp. 42 - 48, speaks of a field in the plain of Genesareth, where all the conditions involved in this parable were fulfilled; - the cornfield running down to the lake, the trodden pathway through it, the rich soil, the rocky ground protruding into it here and there, large bushes of thorns springing up in it, and countless birds of all kinds. The object of the parable is to show the different states of mind, on account of which different persons hear the same truth with such widely different results. There is the hardened mind, which, hearing the word but not understanding it, does not take it in at all, but leaves it on the surface to be carried away at once by the slightest temptation, the first suggestion of the wicked one. There is the shallow mind, quick and transient in its emotions, receiving it with a momentary warmth of joy which causes it quickly to spring up, but the plant having no depth of character in which to take root, in the first heats of opposition or persecution wilts away. There is the rich, strong mind, already preoccupied by other things, which receives it with them. But they, the cares of the world, the deceitful allurements of riches, the pleasures of life, and, as Mark says, the passionate desires for other things, strangle it, and though it struggles along with them, it brings no fruit to perfection. Then there are the good and honest minds which, in proportion to their strength, bring forth fruit, a hundred, sixty, or thirty fold. 10-23. -TEACHING IN PARABLES. This conversation, see ]Mark iv. 10, took place privately afterwards, and is introduced here parenthetically by the MATTHEW XIII. 10- 23. 239 writer as in the proper place for the explanations which it gives. After Jesus had withdrawn from the multitudes, and the disciples seeing that he had not been understood, asked him why he spoke to the multitudes in parables? " Because," he replied,'"while to you [whose spiritual perceptions are awakened] the hitherto undeclared mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed, yet (Mark iv. 11) to them who are without," i. e. who are not my disciples, "all things are in parables," i. e. are not plain, but veiled and hidden. It made no difference, therefore, to them whether he spoke in parables or not. They would not in any case understand him. But if, in the plainest terms, he should declare the truths which were embodied in these parables, they would misapprehend entirely the nature of his kingdom, and some of them would violently oppose him, while others with equal violence, as in John vi. 15, would endeavor to force him to become their king. In order to avoid this, and at the same time to impart encouragement and instruction to those who in lowliness and simplicity of heart were waiting for his kingdom, he adopted a method of teaching, which, while it taught nothing to those whose views and characters were all wrong, gave the needed help to those who were ready to receive it. Under this kind of instruction, it was peculiarly true, 12, that to him who had, i. e. who had the teachable spirit, it was given, i. e. was given to understand the words of Christ, and from him who had not this spirit was taken away even that which he had, viz. the sort of understanding which he might have had, if plain instructions had been given. Thus it was strictly true that Jesus spoke to them in parables, "because they did not," or, as in Mark iv. 12, and Luke viii. 10,'" in order that they might not," understand, while they saw and heard him. If they had caught the only meaning respecting his kingdom which they were capable of receiving from the plainest instructions, it would probably have led to violence and the premature close of his ministry. The parables were as letters in cipher, intel 2-14) MATTI-IEW XIII. 24 — 30. ligible to his friends, but without meaning to those who did not belong to him. 24-30. - THE TARES AND THE TWHEAT. The parable of the sower speaks of the different results produced by the same seed according to the different states of mind in those who receive it. This parable of the tares and wheat is to illustrate the different effects produced by different sorts of seed. If we interpret the parable and its explanation, 38, 39, literally, we find that good men proceed from seed sown by the Son of AMan, and bad men from seed sown by the Devil. But the words are not to be construed so strictly. As, in the parable of the sower, the seed was identified with the man in whom it grew up, so here the man is identified with the seed which essentially modified his whole nature. The tares are a bastard sort of wheat, or a mischievous plant, not easily distinguished from good wheat in the early stages of its growth. Both therefore for a time must be permitted to grow up together, since the bad cannot be rooted up without injury to the good. But when they have reached their maturity, and their entirely different characters are manifest, a separation is made. The good wheat is preserved, the bad consumed. The doctrine of the existence of moral evil and the delay in its punishment is here compressed into a single sentence. The most labored and profound investigations of philosophy have not been able to go farther, or to throw even a clouded ray of additional light on this dark and terrible problem. Those who are interested to know how far this problem may be solved without the aid of Christianity by a very able, thoughtful, and devout man, would do well to read, in Plutarch's Morals, his fine essay "Concerning those whom God is slow to punish." Among other less weighty considerations which he illustrates with MATTHEW XIII. 24- 30. 241 pertinent examples, he says that punishment may be delayed in order to give those who commit great crimes an opportunity to do what good they will. The man who gains a kingdom by crime may then seek to make up for his crime by using his power for good ends, and the world would be the loser if he were cut off at once. Or the offender's life may be spared, because his own conscience, in the apprehensions and terrors which it holds over him, may inflict a more dreadful punishment than immediate death. Or if the punishment is deferred in this world, it is only that it may hereafter be inflicted with the greater severity, before its purpose is accomplished, and the man's sin and guilt purged away. Or it may be in order to allow an opportunity for amendment, which is shown by the example of a young man who, after a dissolute, dishonest, and cruel course of life, being stunned by a fall and while in a swoon seeing as in another world how crimes are exposed, the souls of tlhe guilty turned inside out, and vengeance wreaked upon them, he determined to reform his character, and lived afterwards purely and uprightly. Jesus goes far deeper than this into the very constitution and nature of things. Without exposure and temptation to evil, we conclude from his teachings, there can be no virtue. Bad deeds and men cannot be extirpated now except by destroying the good with them. Evil does exist. It cannot be rooted out without rooting out also the virtues that are growing with it, and which often in the early period of their growth can hardly be distinguished from it. Nor can bad men be destroyed at once without a fatal influence on the good. But by and by, when their deeds and characters have fully developed themselves, in the consummation to them of this earthly dispensation, that is, in the end of the world to each of them, a separation shall be made in accordance with the principles of a righteous retribution. In these parables Jesus "gathers 21 242 MATTHEW XIII. 24-30. up ages into one season of seed-time and of harvest." So the end of the world, or the day of judgment to each individual when his earthly course is ended, is set forth by one majestic figure in which all the generations of men are brought together to be separated according to what they have done, 41, 42, and been, 48 - 50. There are nowhere more sublime images of moral grandeur than are placed before us here. Earthly scenes that impress themselves most powerfully on the imagination, earthly thrones and kingdoms and the mightiest displays of human authority shrink away. "The field is the world. The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are the angels...... The Son of man shall send forth his angels and he shall gather out of his kingdom all those who cause others to sin, and all who work iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be the wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father." The last sentence would probably come with still greater force to the Jews from its bringing to their minds a most impressive passage in one of their sublimest prophets. "' And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." (Daniel xii. 3.) To them at least, language like this used by the sacred writers of old, and for generations educating the hearts of the people to a deeper solemnity, became, when intermingled with the speech of Jesus, more impressive than words wholly unfamiliar to them could have been. We do not like to discuss the duration of future punishment in the presence of images such as are thrown around the condition of the wicked hereafter. Jesus undoubtedly intended to represent them as full of misery. But he says nothing in this place, if he does anywhere, in regard to the period of its continuance; not one word to show whether, like tares, the wicked themselves shall be MATTHEW XIII. 24-30. 243 utterly burned up, or whether the penal fires (taken of course in a figurative sense) shall only consume and purge away their sins, so that at last (as is intimated in 1 Cor. xv. 24-28), after we know not how many years or ages, they may be restored to life and peace, or whether they are left there in endless sin and pain. He places before us in the most impressive and terrible language the dreadful character and consequences of sin, that we may be warned against it; and it is much wiser in us, —it shows a deeper reverence for him, to use these expressions as undefined but awful warnings for ourselves and others, than by attempting to lessen or to aggravate their horrors by any speculations of ours in regard to the precise method of inflicting punishment, or the term of its duration. Why can we not learn to respect the reserve of Jesus in regard to such themes? The field is the world according to our use of the word. The harvest is the end of the world, the consummation of the con, age, or dispensation, as applied to the Jewish nation and to each individual soul. See Note. In this great field of the world we are sowing seed, and at the same time are ourselves growing up and ripening for the harvest. Whatsoever we sow, that shall we also reap. " For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap everlasting life." (Gal. vi. 8.) As in the ripened fruit, every shower that fell upon it, every hour of sunshine, every night that folded it round with darkness, every ingredient in the soil beneath, entered into its texture, and helped to make it what it is in the time of harvest, so with us, every incident in life, the passions we indulge, the actions we perform, the hopes we cherish or reject, the privileges we improve or leave unimproved, are entering into the texture of our souls, and preparing us, or leaving us unprepared, for the harvest. Nothing that has entered into our life's experience shall 244 MATTHEW XIII. 24-30. be lost. Our riches and honors, our pleasant homes and comfortable situations, except in their influence on the soul, shall pass from us. But every kind deed that we have done, every pang of contrition, every earnest effort in behalf of what is good, every prayer that we have uttered from the heart, every longing after holiness, every unselfish affection that we have cherished and obeyed, every sorrow that has helped to wean us from the world or draw us towards God, every pain or disappointment patiently or meekly borne, —every one of these, in the influences which it is having upon us, shall be gathered in, the only treasures we can carry with us, when our harvest, which is the end of the world to each one of us, shall come. And the harvest must be whenever the Son of man shall send forth his reapers, the angels, to gather us in. The little child that without one questioning thought or fear resigns itself into their hands, though but an opening bud, is gathered into the harvest of its Lord. The young girl who, through some mysterious sympathy with them or some strange monition to the soul, seems to hear the sound of their coming from afar, and without apprehension or surprise composes herself for the solemn change, and with encouraging farewells and a perfect trust leaves all that she loves on earth, goes already ripe for the harvest. The aged servant of Christ who has long been waiting for his Master's call, departs from us at last as one prepared and ripened for the kingdom of Heaven. He has finished his labors; he has had his trials. He has been opposed and maligned, he has been praised and honored by man; but he has done justly, loved mercy, and walked humbly with his God. Nothing that he has once gained in his religious progress is lost. His principles confirmed by a life of scrupulous fidelity; his mind expanded and enriched by a conscientious search after truth; his affections chastened and mellowed by disappointments and sorrows; his faith strengthened by every varying ex MATTHEW XIII. 24-30. 245 perience of life and carried into every department of activity and thought; - all growing up and ripening here under the clouds or sunshine of God's love, are gathered in when the revolving years have completed their circuit, and to him the end of the world, - the fulfilment and consummation of the age, — has come. And the wicked too! - There is no more sublime or beautiful or awful picture than this of the world as a field, and the end of the world as the harvest, in which for joy or sorrow we all of us shall be gathered in. THE WTICKED ONE. But how are we here to interpret "the wicked one," "6 the enemy," " the devil" and "C the angels "? As already stated, we are not to press the adjuncts of a parable too literally. They are to be considered as the surrounding scenery fitted to make an impression on the mind through the imagination, and thus prepare it to receive the truth which is taught. When Jesus speaks of a merchantman finding one pearl of great price, and selling all that he has in order to purchase that, we do not suppose that he asserts this as a fact which had actually taken place. He holds it up as a picture to illustrate an important truth; and this it does equally well, whether he regarded it as a veritable fact or as an imaginary incident. Some of the parables may have been suggested by passing events; but the particulars he undoubtedly supplied and arranged in such a way as might most effectually accomplish his purpose, as a teacher of divine truth. And this is the case, whether he draws his illustrations from familiar and well-known objects here, as the Sower and his Seed, the Good Samaritan, and the Prodigal Son, or from objects which lie beyond our personal cognizance, as the devil, the angels, &c. For example, in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke xvi. 19 -31), as in the details be21 * 246 MATTHEW XIII. 24- 30. longing to this world, the crumbs, the dogs, the sores, we do not suppose that Jesus speaks of facts which actually took place in precisely the manner there represented; so in the details belonging to another world, the being carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom, the conversation between the rich man and Lazarus, the gulf and the flames, we do not suppose that Jesus intended to set before us a representation of literal facts which actually took place. Are we to give a more strict and literal interpretation to the terms which are used here? It is impossible to draw a line which shall distinguish precisely between what is literal and what is figurative, what is a matter of fact and what is imaginative. The two provinces are constantly interpenetrating one another, in such a way as to set forth the central truth with the greatest distinctness and power. A few considerations, however, may help us to a just interpretation. In borrowing images from the outward world Jesus never, so far as we know, draws them from fabulous orders of being. The particular man, tares, wheat, pearl, leaven, which he refers to, may be imagined or assumed for the occasion; but they all belong to species which have an actual existence, and he never attributes to them properties which they do not really possess. There is everywhere this rigid conformity to the great essential facts of nature. Have we not a right to infer that in going beyond this world there will be the same adherence to the great essential facts of existence? As he never here draws his illustrations from any species of plant, animal, or other being, which does not really exist, will he speak to us of orders of beings there who have only a fabulous existence? In going beyond this material world, and placing before us agents of whom we cannot judge from our personal knowledge, but whom he with his spiritual powers of vision could recognize, would he be likely to speak of beings wholly fabulous and imaginary as if MATTHEW XIII. 24-30. 247 they really existed, or assign to them in their relation to us very important offices which they do not hold? We may doubt whether the angels carried Lazarus and placed him in Abraham's bosom. These are only incidental illustrations which answer the same purpose, whether they are literally true or not. But, in the face of what Jesus says there and here, can we doubt that there are such beings as angels, and that they, as God's ministers, hold important relations to us? So, when he speaks of the evil one, the enemy, the devil, Satan, we may doubt as to the special agency assigned to such a being in any particular case; but are we at liberty to say that the very idea of such a personage is drawn from a wholly fabulous and imaginary order of beings? When Jesus speaks, 42, of casting the wicked into a furnace of fire, we are not obliged to take it as a literal fact. It may be, and probably is, only a terrific image borrowed from what is most dreadful in this world to describe the intolerable anguish of the guilty in the world to come. The illustration, however, is drawn, not from a fabulous source, but from something which has a substantial basis of reality. Nor can it be shown that in a single instance Jesus has in any of his instructions assumed the existence of anything which belonged to a fabulous class of beings. Wahat right, then, have we to suppose that the moment he goes beyond the reach of our faculties and the limits of this world, he violates the proprieties of truth which he always observes where we have the power to judge, and sets before us orders of beings which have no existence, as if they really existed, and sustained some important relations to us? Another consideration is entitled to some weight; though it ought not to be pressed so far as it is by some of our ablest modern commentators. The language here, 19, 39, 41, is taken, not from the parables, but from the explanation which Jesus gave of two of his parables. When, therefore, he says, "HIe who sows the good seed is the Son of 248 MATTHEW XIII. 24- 30. man," and "he who sows the tares is the devil," by what principle of interpretation are we justified in accepting one clause of the sentence as true, and rejecting the other as merely an accommodation to the false ideas and prejudices of the Jews? His language asserts, as distinctly as language can, the existence and agency of an evil spirit. It does this while explaining the meaning of a parable, in a private and confidential conversation with his disciples. We must not, however, insist on a literal application of his words in all their particulars even here. In verses 19 and 20, we see in a similar explanation how figurative and literal expressions are blended together. The insufficiency of a language unused to the expression of abstract ideas required a liberal and constant use of figurative terms. Truths relating to the unseen spiritual world must be set forth by such images as can be received by those who are addressed. The most exact terms that can be used even now to give an idea of spiritual beings and agencies are doubtless only such clouded images of divine truth as we are able to receive, seeing them, according to St. Paul (1 Cor. xiii. 12), not face to face, but " darkly, as by the reflection of a mirror." When Jesus says, that he will send forth his angels to gather together those who have been stumbling-blocks in the way of others and those who work iniquity, and cast them into a furnace of fire where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth, we are to consider these as terms which set before us, in language as exact and intelligible as any that could be used, the momentous fact of a future retribution. The images must, from the nature of the case, be borrowed from what is known and experienced in this world. Earthly facts and conceptions are made to set forth " darkly " the higher facts belonging to our spiritual natures when they shall be transferred to a spiritual world. Still, if the angels and the devil have no personal existence, or no personal MATTHIEW XIII. 24- 30. 249 agency in bringing about the results here placed before us, is it easy to suppose that Jesus would have used such language merely by way of accommodating himself to the prejudices and false conceptions of the Jews? In meeting the Greeks who are spoken of in John xii. 20, could he have taught them, by conceptions drawn from their mythology, and going necessarily to confirm them in their erroneous habits of belief? Could he have spoken to them of Centaurs, of Rhadamanthus, of Jupiter and Pan, as he does to the Jews, of Satan and the angels? It is said that the idea of Satan, or, as Dr. Palfrey calls it, " the mythology of an evil spirit (answering to the Oriental Azhriman)," Lectures on the Jewish Scriptures, Vol. IVr. p. 21, was learned by the Jews from the Chaldoeans during their seventy years captivity in Babylon. This is possible. The word Satan with this signification occurs but two or three times in the Old Testament, viz. i Chron. xxi. 1, Zech. iii. 1, 2, and perhaps in the first and second chapters of Job. Before the time of Christ, the doctrine (of' which hardly a trace is to be found in the Old Testament) pervaded the philosophy and religious conceptions of the Jews. But may it not be, that, in the providential training of the Jews for the reception of higher religious ideas, the notions of diabolical as well as of angelic agencies, which grew up round the sublime Theism that became more and more the established faith of the nation, may have performed an important work in preparing them for the idea of a great Christian commonwealth, the kingdom of God, or of the heavens? To them, at the time of our Saviour's coming, the invisible realms were peopled with living beings, acting as God's agents, or in opposition to his will. The contest between good and evil was not confined to this visible world of theirs. Through their long and varied experience, these ideas were added to the Theism taught by Moses, and had become incorporated among their established religious conceptions and convictions. They held 250 MATTHEW XIII 24- 30. no small or unimportant place in their religious culture. If they were false, Jesus might have left them, as he did most of the prevailing sins and errors without specific notice, to vanish away and perish, before the higher conceptions of truth and duty which he came to reveal. But if they were false, and as false pernicious also, could he, not merely in his reasoning with the Jews, but in his private instructions to his disciples, from the temptation in the wilderness to his last solemn conversation with them the evening before his crucifixion (Luke xxii. 31, John xiv. 30, xvi. 11), have used language which must have confirmed them in the belief that those false ideas and conceptions were true? He has left no word which condemns or calls them in question. On the other hand, they harmonize with all that he has taught us respecting the unseen world, and God's methods of action there as here throuigh intervening agents. It is sometimes suggested, that Jesus may have shared the opinions of his age in regard to this subject, and so have been mistaken in his views. We know that he emphatically disclaimed for himself (Mark xiii. 32) the gift of omniscience. But in regard to any doctrine which he has taught, we have no disposition to go behind or to question his authority. To us his word, clearly announced and understood, is evidence and authority enough. Those who are interested in this subject are particularly requested to read the note to verse 39 of this chapter, and to remember that, even though such a being or such beings as a devil or devils exist, our popular or even our philosophical notions respecting them are not therefore to be assumed Us true or as reasonable. MATTHEW XIII. 251 NOTE S. THE 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 multi3 tude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them 4 in parables, saying: Behold, a sower went forth to sow. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side; and the fowls o 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 s the thorns sprung up, and choked them. But other fell into good ground; and brought forth fruit, some an hundred-fold, s some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold. Who hath ears to hear, let lo him hear. - And the disciples came, and said unto him, 1 Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them: Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven; but to them it is not 12 given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he 2. a ship] or rather a boat adapt- of Heaven, in the church abounded in its form and dimensions to the ing in Christian virtues and graces, size of the lake, and the purposes in the community where Christian for which it was used. ideas and affections fare bringing and sat] while the multitude stood. forth their pure and peaceable and "' So was the manner of the nation, beautiful fruits, that the truths of that the masters, when thev read our religion are to be seen. Their their lectures, sat, and the scholars whole character and influence can stood." Liftfoot. 3. Be. be recognized only in that world hold, a sower went forth to where all the harvest matured and sow] The literal translation is perfected is gathered in. more picturesque, and brings the 11. mysteries of the kingdom whole scene more vividly before us, of Heaven] the system of Divine " Behold, the sower iwentforth to sozo." counsels, doctrines, and ordinances, There is a profound truth conveyed which, as above man's powers of under this image of sowing seed. discovery, was revealed through The truths which Jesus taught were Jesus Christ. The word mystery, not dead and unproductive; but " when used in the New Testament seeds endowed with an inward vi- respecting any doctrine or truth, tality, and to be understood and ap- means one which has been secret or preciated only in the living plants unknown, but is now revealed. It and luxuriant harvests into which never denotes one which is obscure they should grow up when received or mysterious, because partially ininto good and honest hearts. It is comprehensible." Norton. in the soul ripened for the kingdom 12. whosoever hath] In propor 252 BIATTHE~W XIII. shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to 13 them in parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is 14 fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith: " By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed gross, 15 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, and should be converted, and I should heal them." But blessed 16 are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous 17 men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Hear ye therefore the parable of the is 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 received seed by the way-side. But he that received the seed 0o 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 but dureth for a while; for when tribulation or persecution tion to a man's spiritual suscepti- Apostles. A great spiritual fact, bility and his fidelity will be what like that which is here announced he gains fromn the teachings and in the blinding and ha.rdening effect life of Jesus. 14. in them of sin, reaches forward with its prois fulfilled] "In them is filled phetic warning to all times, and is up," or re-fulfilled, "the prophecy fulfilled in the religious experience of Isaiah," i. e. what the prophet of all who belong to the class which said (Isa. vi. 9, 10) of the blind- it points out. In verses 14 and 1.5, is ing effect, in his day, of disobedi- ascribed to the perverse and unbeence and practical infidelity, finds lieving Jews, in the language of the its fulfilment, and is equally true prophet, the effect of such wickedclnow. John, xii. 38 -40, applies the ness as theirs, which was to dull same words on another occasion, their religious sensibilities, "This and many years afterwards, Paul people's heart is waxed gross," - to (Acts xxviii. 25 - 27) applied them cloud their spiritual perceptions,with great emphasis to the unbeliev- " their ears are dull of hear ing, and ing Jews in Rome. In these differ- their eyes they have closed," - so ent applications of the same pro- that they could not at anv timephetic words as being fulfilled in "lest at any time they sliould"different people, at different times, see and understand thfeir true conand under different circumstances, dition, and turn in penitence — lbe we have an intimation of one of the converted " -to God, and be healed ways in which the ancient prophe- by him. 20. stony places] cies were applied by Jesus and the Rather, rocky ground, -a little MATTHEW XIII. 253 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 received 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. - 24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his 25 field. But while men slept, his enemy came, and sowed tares 26 among the wheat; and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the 27 tares 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 earth scattered on the large rocks is represented, 31, 32, as a plant, which lie beneath. 23. he spreading out its branches, and furthat heareth the vworyd, and nishing shelter to those who seek it. utnderstandeth it] contrasted with Next it is represented, 33, as an inhim, v. 19, who heareth and under- fluence, reaching through the man, standeth not. 24. The king- or the world, subduing and assimilatdom of leaven] Literally, the ing all things to itself. Then it apkingdom of the heavens, as if to de- pears, 44, as a hidden treasure, to:_ote different spheres of life, one be- set forth its exceeding preciousness, yond another, and all pervaded by as a pearl of great price, to indicate the spirit of God. The widely differ- at once its costliness and its beauty; ent applications of the term in this and finally, 47, 48, as a net drawing chapter show how comprehensive good and bad alike into its folds, and how various was the thought out of the sea of time to the shores which Jesus set forth, and how rich of eternity, that they may there be and full of meaning his langiuage separated according to what they was. Having ascertained precisely are. 25 - 40. tares] a what his words mean in one case, species of darnel or bastard wheat, we are not therefore at liberty to fix which, according to St. Jerome, who on that as their only interpretation lived in Palestine, was, till the ear whenever we may meet them. The was formed, so much like the good kingdom of Heaven is here first rep- wheat that it could not, without resented, 24-29, 38-43, as a king- much difficulty, be distinguished dom embracing, not those alone who from it. His enemy " sowed [the continue good, but also those who field] over again" [[re rrertpev] are corrupted by evil influences. It with tares. The force of the origi22 2 MA: 4ATTHEW XIII. 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 three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. ~ All 34 these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables, and without a parable spake he not unto them; that it might be 35 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." Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the 36 house. And his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said 37 unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of 3s the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked nal word is impaired in our ver- the smallest beginnings, spreads out sion. The man, v. 24, sowed; his its branches for those who might enemy sowed over again, or upon seek a shelter within them. what had already been sown. 33. leaven] The leaven shows its 32. so that the birds power of imparting its own properof the air come and lodge in ties to those who receive it, and its branches] Hackett,'Illus- assimilating them till they partake trations of Scripture," p. 124, speaks of its own nature. " Another strikof this plant, which he found in ing point of comparison," says Alblossom, full grown, in some cases ford, "is the fact that leaven, as six, seven, and nine feet high. "But used ordinarily, is a piece of the still," he says, "the branches or leavened loaf put amongst the stems of the branches were notvery dough, just as the kingdom of large, or, apparently, very strong. heaven is the renewal of humanity'Can the birds,' I said to myself by the righteous Man Christ Jesus."'rest upon them?..... At 38. the field is the that very instant..... one of the world] KOol'oS, the world, this outfowls of heaven stopped in its flight ward universe or world, according to through the air, alighted down on our use of the word. But in the next one of the branches, which hardly verse, in the clause the hary moved beneath the shock, and then vest is the end of the world] began, perched there before my entirely a different word is used. eyes, to warble forth a strain of the There it is aidV or eaon, - an age richest music." The mustard-seed or dispensation, -referring, not to and the plant growing from it illus- the outward universe, but in this trate the self-dceveloping power by case including our earthly discipline which the religion of Jesus, from and experience. The harvest is the MATTHEW XIII. 255 39 one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is 40 the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As, consummation of the co, the age, istence of evil spirits, and especially or dispensation in -which we now of one pre-eminent among them as live, and our consequent entrance the wicked one, the devil, or Satan, is on another, and (with the faithful) not to be held to by us as among the higher age or dispensation. AtZov, facts which Jesus has unquestionas applied to the Jews, includes ably taught. Our view of the subeverything relating to their condi- ject has been stated in Chapters IV. tion and experience under the Mo- and VIII. We have no doubt that saic dispensation, and the consum- the Evangelists believed in such exmation of the Cen, - the end of the istences and agencies. From a world,,-to them was the overthrow careful study of the language of of the Jewish polity at the destruce- Jesus, we incline to think that he tion of Jerusalem in the year 70, also believed in them. But a close and the consequent advent of a new and critical examination of all that cMen, —the coming of the Son of he has said on the subject has satisman,- in the establishment of the fled us, 1. That he did not directly Christian religion, which was the teach the existence and agency fulfilment or consummation of the of such beings; and, 2. That in Jewish dispensation. But in its almost every case where he speaks wider application, as in the passage of the devil or Satan, his words are before us, meon refers to our whole certainly to be taken in a figurative earthly dispensation and experience, sense. The word Satan is used sixand includes everything that may teen times in the Gospels; but, exact upon us in this life. The con- cept in the passages given below summation of the ceon, or end of the viz. 1, 4, and 7, where it is used as world, means the consummation of synonymous with devil, it occurs our earthly life, whether for good or only on five different occasions. for evil. But on leaving this eeol, 1. Matt. xii. 26: "If Satan cast we enter into another, and the ad- out Satan," where Jesus is arguing jective, adwcios, or meonian, which with the Jews from their own point is translated eternal and everlasting of view. 2. Matt. xvi. 23: " Get (Matt. xxv. 46), is borrowed from thee behind me, Satan," words adthis next ceon, and is applied to dressed to Peter. 3. Luke x. 18: "I qualities and conditions, which beheld Satan as lightning fall from whether for weal or woe, shall be- heaven," language evidently fioura long to us in that more advanced tive. 4. Luke xiii. 16: " Whom stage of our existence. "Eternal Satan hath bound, lo! these eighteen life, " is the blessedness which be- years," language personifying the longs to that condition of our being, cause of disease as Satan. 5. Luke and which, in its elementary prin- xxii. 31: "Behold, Satan hath ciples, as Jesus has said (John vi. sought for you, that he may sift 47), may begin within us now; and you as wheat." The principles of eternal (not everlasting, for the spiritual evil may be personified idea of time is not included in the here as that of physical evil in the word), -" eternal punishmnsent" is previous passage. In every one of the sorrow and anguish which shall these cases the expression may be belong to those who enter unpre- construed as a striking and natural pared into that more advanced ceon figure of speech without necessarily or stage of existence, and which, in implying the personal existence of its elementary principles, may begin an evil spirit. The word devil, within us now. See p. 229. 39. the &Lc/3okos, not demon, occurs in the enemy that sowed them is the Gospels on seven different occasions: devil] We must be careful not to 1. In the account of the Temptapress this matter too far. The ex- tion. 2. Matt. xiii. 39: "The ene 256 I3ATTHEW XIII. therefore, the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of muan shall 41 my that sowed them is the devil." literal, but only in a spiritual sense; 3. Matt. xxv. 41:'" Into everlasting and does not this almost require, in fire, prepared for the devil and his order to the harmony and completeangels." 4. Luke viii. 12: "Then ness of the meaning, that the rest cometh the devil and taketh away of the passage should likewise be the word out of their hearts," par- taken, not in its literal, but in its allel to Mlatt. xiii. 19, where the ex- spiritual sense? Is not the extended pression " the wicked one " is used,. description given to show in what and to Mark iv. 15, where the word sense Jesus used the word, devil, "Satan " is used. 5. John vi. 70: viz. as the impersonation of wicked" Have not I chosen you twelve, and ness? - Ye are of your father the one of you is a devil? " 6. John devil, that spirit of wickedness, viii. 44: "Ye are of your father, the which prompted to the first murdevil." 7. John xiii. 2: " The devil der, which is the very essence and having put it into the heart of Judas parent of what is false; and on acIscariot to betray him." In verse count of your affinity with it, ye 27 of the same chapter, it reads, believe me not, because I tell you "And after the sop, Satan entered the truth. As he had a little while into him." before referred to Judas as a devil The first and seventh of these (John vi. 70), because of his wickinstances may be set aside as the edness, so he may here call the Jews language of the Evangelists, and not the children of the devil, because of of Jesus. The seventh may be in- their affinity with what is evil. As terpreted figuratively; and as to the in the one case, the word devil as first, we refer to our comments on the personification of wickedness is the account of the Temptation in applied to a bad man, why may it Chapter IV. not in the other case be used in the The fifth case, " Have I not same way as the personification of chosen you twelve, and one of you evil, especially of murder and falseis a devil? " is certainly figurative, hood, to describe the spirit and tenland gives a decisive intimation of per of the Jews who were seeking the way in which the word may his life and refusing to receive the have been used by Jesus. It is prob- truth? Does not this better adapt able that this expression refer- itself to the inward and profound ring to Judas may have led to the thought of Jesus, than the interpreuse of the same term by St. John, tation which requires him here to when speaking of Judas in the sev- speak literally of a personal devil enth instance. in his direct and personal relation to The sixth case is as follows: " Ye them? Even if Jesus had believed are of your father, the devil, and the in such a being, would not this figulusts of your falther ye wish to do. rative and spiritual application of He was a murderer from the begin- the term be more natural and more 1ninl, and stood not in the truth; in accordance with his usual mode because there is no truth in him. of speech? When he speaketlh a lie, he speakethl In the fourth case, " Then comleth of his own; for he is a liar, and the the devil, and taketh the word out father of it." The natural and ob- of their hearts," or; as it is in Matt. vious interpretation, at first sight, xiii. 19: " Then cometh the waicked of this rather extended description one and catcheth away that which of the devil, would be a literal one is sown in his heart," the whole applying to a personal being actu- sentence is figlurative, and this -wordl ally existing and answering to this is plainly usedl to personify the evil character; but on a closer inspec- influences which remove from shaltion of the passage, we see that the low minds the truths which they wolrd Jixh/er ctuanot be used ill a gladly receive in a moment of re MATTHEW XIII. 257 send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom 42 all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and 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 Heav46 en is like unto a merchant-man, seeking goodly pearls; who, ligious excitement, but which they and the disastrous influence which do not understand. they might exercise over men who There remain now only two pas- allowed themselves to be acted sates to be considered. One is the upon by them. But we find very aw;ful declaration, "Depart from little evidence that he believed in me, ye cursed, into everlasting Satan or the devil as a real, perfire, prepared for the devil and sonal being, who ruled over the his angels." The other is the pas- realm of evil spirits, as a king over sage before us, "The enemy that his subjects. It does not seem sowed them is the devil." It may entirely certain to us; but we think be, that Jesus meant nothing more the most natural and satisfactory in either case than the impersonation explanation of his language, on of evil. The accompanying lan- the principles of a just and exact guage in both instances is intensely interpretation, is to be found in figurative. It is difficult to distin- the supposition that he alluded to guish between the main point of his Satan or the devil as the personificainstructions and the images under tion of wickedness, and in that sense which it was conveyed. But the called him the Prince of Devils, and presumption to our mind is, that in spoke of hint and his angels, as he using language such as this, he called him the father of the murdoes imply the actual, personal ex- derous and lyingJews, and spoke of istence of such beings as are sug- him as the prince of this world. gested by the words, " the devil and (John xii. 31, xiv. 30, xvi. 11.) his angels." He has never directly Evil spirits were his angels and taught the existence of such beings. subjects, just as wicked men were Every passage in which they are his children, in a figurative, and not spoken of may be interpreted figur- a literal sense. 44. treasd atively, without any violent wrench ure hid in a field] The kingto the language. Still, the impres- dom of Heaven, i. e. the religion of sion left upon us is that Jesus did Jesus, is like a hidden treasure, believe in a vast background of evil which a man, while employed on beyond what we can see, - an em- other things, discovers, and with pire of darkness where evil spirits joy secures for himself. His hidlive, from which evil influences ing it, while he went to purchase have been permitted to enter, even the field, is one of the adjuncts, into this world, and whose power he which, though indicating the great came to overthrow. The result of value of what had been found, is this whole investigation, which we not to be construed as having any have carefully gone through many direct bearing on the main object times, as a matter of Scriptural of the parable. 45, 46. As a interpretation, has been to leave us contrast to the man who happened very decidedly with the impression to find the treasure is the merchantthat Jesus did believe in evil spirits, man who, while seeking for beauti22 * 258 MATTHEW XIII. when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all 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 which is instructed unto the kingdom of Heaven, is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.- And it came to pass, that, 53 when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. And when he was come into his own country, he taught 54 them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother 55 called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, ful pearls, found one very costly, ing that they were not in a state of and went and sold all that he had mind to be benefited by it, refused in order to purchase it. to perform (Luke iv. 24 - 27) many 52. Therefore] For this reason, miracles among them. Their uni. e. taking into account the new belief, 58, does not refer so much to truths and hopes and life which the fact that they did not, as that have been here set forth, every they would not, believe. It indiScribe, who is instructed in my cates a spirit of unbelief which set religion, being already learned in itself against him, and would not the law, is like a householder who be convinced by anything that he brings out from his treasury things might do. " Is not this," they asked both new and old. It was cus- contemptuously, "the carpenter's tomary in the East to preserve in son? Is not his mother called houses costly garments and other Mary? and his brethren, James, and articles for many generations; and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And this perhaps is what more particu- his sisters, are they not all with us'? " larly suggested the comparison. 55. and his brethren] 53 -58. He went into his own Who were the brethren of Jesus? country, i. e. to Nazareth. For a ful- This has been, among commenler account of what occurred there, tators, one of the difficult questions, see Luke iv. 16 - 24. Though and the ablest among them have Jesus had astonished them by his given different answers. The brethwisdom and his mighty works, still ren of Jesus are spoken of on six they found a stumbling-block to different occasions, viz. Matt. xii. their belief in the fact, that his 46, and parallel passages in Mark father, the carpenter, and his breth- and Luke; the present passage and ren or kinsmen, were known to its parallel, Mark vi. 3; John ii. 12; them as ordinary men. Jesus, see- vii. 3, 5, 10; Acts i. 14; 1 Cor. ix. 5. MATTHEW XIII. 25 9 56 and Judas? and his sisters, are they not all with us? whence 67 then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without 5s honor, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there, because of their unbelief. Mr. Norton, in his note on this pas- ply is: 1. That the names were sage, supposes that "the brethren" among the most common Jewish or'"kinsmen" of Jesus, — for the names, and might be repeated in original allows either interpreta- two different branches of the same tion, -were the sons of Alpheus family. We are acquainted with (the same name in Hebrew as Clopas three different branches of a family or Cleopas), whose wife Mary is in each of which may be found the said (John xix. 25) to be the sister names William, James, and John. 2. or kinswoman of Mary the Mother The brethren of Jesus spoken of in of Jesus. In Matt. xxvii. 56, Mark John vii. 5, following John ii. 12; vii. xv. 40, she is said to be the mother 3, did not at that time believe on him, of James and Joses, i. e. Joseph. and therefore they could not have Luke, in his catalogue of the Apos- been among the Apostles. 3. Whereties (Luke vi. 16; Acts i. 13), men- ever they are mentioned in the New tions Judas of James, i. e. the son Testament, except in the seventh or brother of James. Thus we chapter of John, and 1 Cor. ix. 5, have applied to the sons either of they are mentioned in connection Alpheus, or of his wife Mary, three with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. of the names, which are here ap- For these reasons, we suppose that plied to the brethren of Jesus, viz. the brethren of Jesus were the sons James and Joses and Judas. Would of Joseph, though they may not have these three names be likely to be been the sons of Mary. James, the repeated in two different branches son of Alpheus, was probably the of the same family? Is it not more James whom St. Paul speaks of reasonable to suppose that these (Gal. i. 19) as "the brother of the brethren of Jesus, as they are called, Lord." Nor is it improbable that were the sons of Alpheus (Cleopas) James and Judas, sons of Alpheus, and Mary, of whom at least two, are " the brethren of the Lord," James and Judas, and possibly, as whom he refers to, 1 Cor. ix. 5, as Mr. Norton supposes, a third, Simon, among the Apostles. were amongl the Apostles? The re 260 MIATTHEW XIV. 1 - 12. C HAPTE I XIV. IHEROD ANTIPAS. 1- 12. OF Herod Antipas some account has already been given in chap. xi. Contemporary records, to those who care to enter into such horrible details, furnish examples enough to show that the beheading of John, with the revolting circumstances attending it, was no extraordinary instance of cruelty in those times. Lardner, Part I. Bk. I. Chap. I. Herod seems to have been a weak and crafty, - for the two qualities often go together, - rather than an able and cruel man, as his father, Herod the Great, whom we find in the second chapter of Matthew, had been. When he was on a visit to his half-brother, Philip, a private citizen, and not to be confounded with Philip, the Tetrach of Ituroea and Trachonitis, mentioned in Luke iii. 1, he became enamored of his brother's wife, HIerodias, whom he persuaded to leave her husband, and to marry him. This act was a violation of the Jewish law, and called down on Herod a severe rebuke from the stern preacher in the wilderness, who thus incurred her lasting displeasure. She was a bold, bad, unscrupulous woman. " Josephus," says Dr. Lardner, " has represented lierodias as a woman full of ambition and envy, as having a mighty influence on Herod, and able to persuade him to things he was not of himself at all inclined to." It is, therefore entirely in character with all that we know of her, that in her anger against John, she should, as we read (Mark vi. 19), seek to destroy him, and that she should have recourse to indirect means for revenging herself, when she had failed in other ways to accomplish her purpose. It was undoubtedly by her direction, that her MATTHEW XIV. 1- 12. 261 daughter Salome, at a feast on the birthday of Herod, when lie was probably heated with wine, won his favor by dancing before him, and gained from him a promise, given with an oath, that he would grant any favor that she might ask of him, even (Mark vi. 23) to the half of his kingdom. She went. to her mother, and being instructed by her, came back immediately with earnest haste, and said, " I desire that thou give me forthwith on a dish the head of John the Baptist." This extreme haste probably arose from a fear lest the king, after the excitement of the hour was over, should relent, or refuse to grant her request. See Robinson's Calmet, art. Antipas. The evident reluctance of Herod, even then, to comply with her demand confirms this view of the case. An executioner was sent immediately, and the head of John was brought to the girl, who carried it to her mother. John, as we have seen in chapter xi. was imprisoned near the Dead Sea. The narrative of the Evangelists, particularly that of Mark, indicates that he was not far off from the festive party, who must therefore have been in that part of Herod's dominions which was most distant from Galilee. Herod had thus beheaded John from a false sentiment of honor, and grievously against his will, for he feared him, (Mark vi. 20,) " knowing that he was a righteous and holy man;" and, though he desired to put him to death, he feared the people, for they accounted John as a prophet. The circumstances attendant on the life of John, his uncompromising attitude as a prophet of God, the reverence in which he was held, and the strange ascendency which such men sometimes gain over the imagination of the worldly minded and corrupt, may have wrought with peculiar force on Herod, and roused his superstitious apprehensions. So that when he heard of Jesus and his extraordinary acts, and the sensation that he was producing in his dominions, he may have been (Luke ix. 7) sorely perplexed, and have broken out in the words which were spoken, half in rage and half in fear, "John have I beheaded; but who is this?" And 262 MATTHEIW XIV. 1- 12. in order to allay his apprehensions, to satisfy himself whether the reports that he heard were true, and also, as we might infer from the words and conduct of Jesus (Luke xiii. 31, 32), to get him into his power, he sought to see him. At another time his words, as in the passage before us, took a different turn; and, as Mir. Norton in his note on Matt. xiv. 1-12, suggests, may be regarded as the excited, figurative language of an angry man; as if he had said: "John have I beheaded. But what have I gained by it? Here we have him, the same thing over again, raised from the dead, and therefore showing forth these powerful works." IHerod, it has been said, was a Sadducee, and as such (Matt. xxii. 23, Acts xxiii. 8) believed in "no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit." We find no evidence that he was a Sadducee. But even if he were so, it would not have secured him from all dread of the supernatural, under the circumstances in which he was placed. The annals of superstition are marked by no greater absurdities than those which are drawn from the most unbelieving times. Nor have any men, when under the pressure of extraordinary circumstances of emotion, shown themselves more the victims of an unreasonable credulity than those who have prided themselves most on their philosophical unbelief. Herod, more than half a Jew, with the superstitious ideas of his nation hanging over his mind, driven by the more powerful will of a woman into crimes at which his own nature revolted, on hearing from all quarters accounts of sick men healed, demoniacs exorcised, and the dead raised to life, may, in spite of his hardness and unbelief, have been so disturbed and conscience-smitten as in amazement and terror, to utter the language attributed to him in the Gospels. In Shakespeare's Macbeth we have, drawn by a master's hand, the inconsistencies, absurdities, and horrors which mark the speech and conduct of a man, betrayed like Herod into crimes which he could never have committed unless impelled by the overpowering ambition of an artful, merciless, MATTHEW XIV. 1- 12. 263 unscrupulous woman. The perplexities which oppressed the mind of Herod, and drew from him the exclamation, 4 "It is John whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead, and by him these mighty works are wrought," may have been not unlike those which wrenched from the terrified Macbeth at the appearance of Banquo whom he had murdered: — the words, — " The times have been, That, when the brains were out, the man would die, And there an end: but now, they rise again, With twenty mortal murders on their crowns, And push us from our stools." The great misdeeds and consequent misfortunes of Herod's life, his repudiating of his wife, the daughter of Aretas, king of Petrea, and his disastrous defeat by that monarch, his murder of John the Baptist, his attempt to supplant the influence of his wife's brother Herod Agrippa with the Roman emperor, Caligula, and to secure for himself the title of king, and his consequent banishment, first to Gaul, A. D. 39, and thence to Spain where he died, were caused by the instigations of the jealous, unprincipled, ambitious woman, with whom he was united by an adulterous and incestuous marriage. Herod is referred to again on two occasions. The Pharisees (Luke xiii. 31, 32) tell Jesus to depart; for Herod is seeking his life. The reply of Jesus, " Go ye and tell that fox," &c. shows how well he understood his crafty character. He appears again in the trial of Jesus. He was (Luke xxiii. 8) exceedingly glad to see him, for he had long desired it on account of the reports which he had heard of him, and, besides, he now hoped to see him perform some miracle. But when Jesus not only refused to do anything to gratify his curiosity, but would not even reply to his wordy questions, he gave way to the natural and cruel levity of his character, and, by the most extravagant marks of homage, subjected him to the heartless mockery and scoffs 264 MIATTIIEW XIV. 13-21. of the soldiers. The Herod who appears in the thirteenth chapter of Acts is Herod Agrippa I., grandson of Herod the Great, and brother of Herodias. 13-21. - FEEDING THE FIVE THOUSAND. After Jesus knew that Herod was making inquiries concerning him, 13, as connected with 1 and 2, he crossed over the lake with his disciples to an uninhabited place, near the city of Bethsaida, which was at the northeastern corner of the lake, not far from the entrance of the Jordan. They sought rest; "for there were many coming and going, and they had not leisure even to eat." (Mark vi. 31.) Jesus probably desired also to have a season of undisturbed intercourse with his disciples. For this purpose he went up into a mountain with them. But the people soon saw which way he had gone. They ran together round the lake, and some of them reached the spot even before Jesus had come to the shore. He could not therefore long be left with his disciples. They were flocking towards him from all the neighboring villages. And when, on the mountain where he was sitting with his disciples, he lifted up his eyes, he saw an immense multitude coming towards him. He came out to meet them, and, being moved with compassion for them, he healed their sick, and taught them many things. But seeing that in their haste they had come without their customary supply of food, he asks Philip (John vi. 5) how they are to be fed. Philip probably conferred with the other disciples, and they advise Jesus to send the multitude away, that they may purchase bread in the neighboring fields and villages. "They need not go away," said Jesus. " Give ye them to eat." " But we have nothing here," say they, " except five loaves and two small fishes." And these, according to John vi. 9, belonged to a lad who was with them. Jesus directed the multitudes to be seated on the green grass of which there was much there, in MATTHEW XIV. 13-21. 265 companies, by hundreds and fifties. They sat down as it were in garden plots, each company making a square by itself. Jesus, having lifted up his eyes to heaven and blessed the food, caused it to be distributed among the people, and they all, five thousand men, besides women and children, ate as much as they desired, and twelve baskets of fragments remained. In the different accounts here, we have the characteristics of the different Evangelists. In Matthew there is the plain statement of facts, with his peculiar exactness as to numbers, he being the only one who adds to the 5,000, "besides women and children." Luke's is a clear historical account. He mentions the name of the place, Bethsaida. There were two cities of this name, one on the west side, and the other where they now were, near the northeastern corner of the lake. Mark, on the other hand, throws in those graphic details, which indicate an eyewitness. " For there were many coming and going, and they had not leisure even to eat." He speaks of many finding out whither Jesus had gone, and "running together on foot," so that they reached the place before him. He speaks of the green grass, and of the appearance- like garden plots —of the separate groups, as the multitude reclined at their meal. John's account also has the marks of an eyewitness. He alone speaks of Jesus as going up into a mountain and sitting there with his disciples, of his lifting up his eyes and seeing the great multitude coming towards him, of the conversation with Philip, of the lad with his five barley loaves, and two little fishes." These graphic details and the parenthetical clause -— " now there was much grass in the place "- are characteristic of one who was personally present. 22, 23. After the miracle Jesus constrained his disciples to enter a vessel, and go back to the other side before him. The language indicates a reluctance to go on their part. Probably they had become aware of the disposition in the multitude 23 266 MATTHEW XIV. 21-34. (John vi. 14, 15) to take him by force and make him a king, and, sympathizing with the movement, were unwilling to go away. For this very reason, in order to prevent their becoming implicated in any such movement, Jesus may have obliged Ahem to enter the vessel. Then, having dismissed the multitudes, he went up into the mountain alone to pray. When the night came on he was there, apart from the confused excitement of the crowds and their ambitious schemes in his behalf, the silent heavens bending over him, and the mountain solitudes around. These retired seasons of meditation and prayer were peculiarly grateful to him. "It seems to me that no one can remember how the Holy One found strength and peace in prayer, and ever again doubt that we need it. Judas did not pray. Herod did not feel the need of it. Pilate felt no need of it. The worldly and the cruel did not pray. But the Holy One, alone on the mountain, by the grave of Lazarus, at his own last hour, felt the need of prayer; and so long as the record of that example remains, we have an unanswerable evidence of the necessity of prayer." -E. Peabody, D. D. JESUS WALKING ON THE WATETR. 21 - 34. While Jesus was alone on the mountain, in the gray twilight of the dawn, as it broke faintly into the darkness of the night, Jesus saw the disciples tossed about by the waves, and struggling with their oars to make some headway against the opposing wind. At about the fourth watch of the night, which extended from three to six o'clock, he went towards them, walking on the water. As they saw him approaching, they screamed aloud with fear, thinking it a spirit, or an apparition. A word from him calmed their apprehensions. Peter with the vehemence and the sudden revulsion of feeling which he showed on other occasions more than once, asked that he might MATTHEW XIV. 267 walk to him on the waters, and then, in the violence of the wind his courage failing him, and he beginning to sink, he cried to Jesus for help. When they had come into the vessel, the wind ceased. This miracle evidently produced on those who were there (Mark vi. 51, 52) a stronger impression of amazement and wonder, than that which they had witnessed the day before with unmoved and hardened hearts. Their sense of personal danger from the storm, the terrors of the night heightened by what they feared at the time as a phantasm or apparition from another world, had prepared them to recognize with gratitude and wonder the power which interposed to save them. They immediately came to the land of Gennesaret, a rich and beautiful plain on the west side of the lake, lying four or five miles north from Tiberlas, and probably a little to the south from Capernaum. N O T E S. AT that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, 2 and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth 3 themselves in him.- For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison, for Herodias' sake, his 4 brother Philip's wife. For John said unto him, It is not laws ful 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 birthday was kept, the daughter of 7 Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod; whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would 8 ask. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, 9 Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger. And the king was sorry; nevertheless, for the oath's sake, and them which io sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. And n he sent and beheaded John in the prison. And his head 10. and beheaded John in likely to be correct in this matter prison] Josephus, who is less than Matthew, assigns a different 268 MATTHEW XIV. was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel; and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took up 12 the body, and buried it; and went and told Jesus. - When 13 Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place reason for the death of John from on Jesus, and direct their hopes to that which is here given. His ac- him as their expected king. John's count of John is as follows (Ant. disciples came to tell him of it, his XVIII. 5. 2): "Now some of the own Apostles collected about him, Jews thought that the destruction and the multitude flocked to him. of Herod's army came from God; From this excited multitude, eager and that very justly, as a punish- to force on him an office so foreign ment of what he did against John, from that which he was appointed who was called the Baptist. For to sustain, our Lord was desirous of Herod slew him, who was a good withdrawing himself, till their pasman, and commanded the Jews to sions should subside, and he should, exercise virtue, both as to righteous- in consequence, be able with less ness towards one another, and piety difficulty to repress their misdirecttowards God, and so to come to ed zeal. He probably wished also baptism. For that the washing to withdraw his disciples, who were with water would be acceptable to very likely to share in the popular him, if they made use of it, not in ferment. He therefore passed over order to putting away, or the re- from Galilee to the other side of the mission of some sins only, but for lake, into the dominions of Philip, the purification of the body: sup- a part of the country where he apposing still that the soul was thor- pears to have spent but little time oughly purified beforehand by right- during his -ministry. Here, howeousness. Now when many others ever, a great number of persons came in crowds about him — for they soon collected, whom he fed miracwere greatly moved or pleased by ulously. The performance of this hearing his words -Herod, who fear- miracle, with its effect on the muled lest the great influence John had titude, which our Lord must have over the people might put it into his foreseen, may seem inconsistent power and inclination to raise a re- with the reasons that have just bellion (for they seemed ready to been assigned for his leaving Galido anything he should advise), lee. But it is to be observed, that, thought it best, by putting him to while he repressed those feelings of death, to prevent any mischief he the multitude which arose fiom might cause, and not bring himself false expectations concerning the into difficulties by sparing a man Messiah, it was necessary for him, who might make him repent of it at the saome time, to give the most when it should be too late. Ac- decisive proofs of his Divine aucordingly he was sent a prisoner, out thority. As he but seldom visited of Herod's suspicious temper, to this part of the country, we may Macherus, the castle I before men- suppose that it was his purpose to tioned, and was there put to death." perform a miracle so astonishing 13. WVhen Jesus heard of and so public that it would make it9 he departed thence by ship a deep impression, and that the into a desert place] " The knowledge of it would be spread news of John's execution," says everywhere round about. Under Mr. Norton, "probably produced a this aspect the miracle resembles sudden excitement among the peo- that of the cure of the demoniacs, ple, and a feeling of strong resent- related in the eighth chapter of Matment, -for'all believed John to thew, which was so remarkable in be a prophet,' - and might power- its circumstances, and which was fully tend to turn their attention likewise performed on the eastern MATTHEW XIV. 269 apart; and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. 14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude; and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 15 -- And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, sayshore of the lake." In the work of Evangelists group events that were educating the disciples as Apostles separated in point of time, it is and Evangelists, while it was im- more probable that Jesus had spent portant that they should at times be some time there, perhaps a day or sent out by themselves, and at times more, healing and instructing them, be brouonht into connection with but seeking also for himself and his large and excited multitudes of disciples seasons of retirement; and men, it was also important that that once, when lie came out from they should sometimes be alone his retirement, and saw the people witlh Jesus to receive his private who had been there so long, weary, and confidential admonitions and scattered, and hungry, - like sheep instructions, as well as to have the without a shepherd, - his compasspirit and habit of devotion estab- sion for them was excited, and he lished in them. We must still re- fed them. There has been a differgard them as a peripatetic school, ence of opinion in regard to the going about with their master, and place where the five thousand were preparing under him for the great miraculously fed, and which Jesus and responsible office which is soon left to walk upon the lake. We to devolve on them. 14. think, however, there can be no And Jesus ewent forth] He had longer any doubt that it waas, as probably been with his disciples in we have placed it, at the northeast some retired part of the mountain corner of the lake, neat Bethsaida, fiom which he now came out. This afterwards called Julias, where may not have been the same day as Philip, the tetrarch, resided at least that on which he crossed the lake. a portion of the time, and where he Mr. Norton supposes that one or died and was buried in a costly more days had intervened. The tomb. (See Robinson's Researches, inarative in Mark vi. 33, 34, at first III. p. 308.) John vi. 23 speaks of sight wolld indicate that the multi- other vessels coming that night from tudes were fed on the same day that Tiberias to the place where they Jesus arrived there. His account had eaten bread. " The contrary is as follows: " And the people saw wind," says Stanley in his Geograthem departing, and many knew phy, p. 374, "which, blowing up lim, and ran afoot thither out of all the lake from the southwest, would ciies, and outwent them and came prevent the boat from returning together unto him. And Jesus to Capernaum, would also bring whllen he came out, saw much peo-'other boats' from Tiberias, the Ale." Accordling to the text in chief city on the south, to Julias, fischendorf's edition, we must the chief city on the north, and so read: " And many saw them de- enable the multitudes, when the parting and knew them; and on storm had subsided, to cross at foot from all the cities they ran once, without the long journey on together thither, and came before foot which they had made the themn. And when Jesus came out," day before." This accords with &c. This may mlean, that when the account given by John vi. 22Jesus came out fiom the boat he 24. 15. And when it saw the multitudes, and then fed was evening] 23. and them. But considering the circum- when the evening was conme stances of the case, and the rapid, From these two verses it would sketchy manner in which the seem as if there were two evenings 23 270 MATTHEW XIV. 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, WVe 17 have here but five loaves and two fishes. He said, Bring is them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit 19 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. And they did all eat, and were filled; and they took up of 20 the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they 21 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 tip into a mountain apart to pray. And when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was 24 now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves; for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus 25 went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples 26 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; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be 28 thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, that day. " This," says Trench on before us; but the first seems to us the Miracles, p. 224, " was an ordi- the most satisfactory. The words nary way of speaking among the rendered " evening" or "even" Jews, the first evening being very (Exod. xii. 6, xxx.'8; Levit. xxiii. 5) much our afternoon (compare Luke mean " between the evenings," or ix. 12, where the evening of Mat- " between the twilights." thew and Mark is described as the 20. twelve baskets full] Not day beginning to decline); the improbably these were the baskets second evening being the twilight, in which the disciples carried their or from six o'clock to twilight." provisions. " The Jews," says Mr. Lightfoot, on the other hand, a great Norton, " seem to have been, in some authority in such matters, com- degree, distinguished by the use of paring 15 with 23, says: " That such baskets." Juvenal, Sat. VI. denotes the lateness of the day; 542, speaks of Jews at Rome, whose this, the lateness of the night. o, " whole furniture is a basket and' evening' in the Talmudists, signi- some hay." 28. bid me fies not only the declining part of the come unto thee] " In the quesday, but [of] the night also." tionable little word'me,' always Either explanation meets the case questionable when it too hastily re MATTHEW XIV. 271 29 Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he 30 walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he 31 cried, saying, Lord, save me! And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, 32 0 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 plies to Christ's powerful T, ere it modesty, which is always connected has been specially asked and called, with a nice adjustment of a man's lurks the secret flaw in the great consciousness to all his faculties, so faith, on account of which it must that he will not presume on what soon again become very little. Had lies wholly beyond him, nor shrink Christ of himself called out:' And from what lies within his compass. thou, Peter, come out to me,' he The fitting measure of our faith in certainly would not have sunk. ourselves, and, as with Peter, of But, because he will outrun the our faith in God, can be gained others in showing his faith, the real only in this way by exposures Peter must show himself just as, which sometimes end in defeat and alas! he still is, and give a warning humiliation. 80. to sink] of the future denial of his Lord; KararrovrlEcrtfal, a stronger word f'alling back agailn as suddenlyas he than to sink, — beginning to be had raised himself." Stier. bursied in the sea. 31. And 29. And he said Come] But Jesus stretched forth his hand, why did he allow him to come? and caught him] The calmness Because the presuming and pre- of Jesus, and the ease and naturalsumptuous disciple needed the les- ness of the movement by which the son, which he could not learn from affrighted disciple was rescued, are anly words of Jesus so well as from worthy of notice. There is nowhere his own precipitate and humiliating in our Saviour's life any indication experience. And so it is that God of surprise. He is never, even for deatls with us in his providence, a moment, thrown off his guard. often allowing us to adventure on He does not seek an occasion for our own rash and foolish schemes, the exercise of his wonderful gifts, because only by failure and disaster, but accepts them when they come. through our own humiliating ex- One woman, of a despised race, at perienlce and exposure, can we the well of Jacob in Samaria (John conle to ourselves, and learn the iv. 1- 43), called forth a discourse true and humble gauge of our own full of his richest and sublimest inpowers. This is a great thing in structions; and here, the violence the training of children and the edu- of the storm and the terror of his cation of the young, as well as in disciples, excite him to no unthe discipline of maturer life. Not usual effort. "He reached out that system which is for the present his hand, and laid hold of him, the safest for the child is most to be and said unto him, O0, thou of desired, but that which will best little faith, wherefore didst thou call out all his powers, and by his doubt?' 32. and worown experience teach him the truest shipped him] did homage to measure of himself. In this way sim, saying, Truly thou art only will he attain a true Christian God's Son.' 272 MATTHEW XIV. Gennesaret. And when the men of that place had knowledge 35 of him, they sent out into all that country round about; and brought unto him all that were diseased, and besought him that 36 they might only touch the hem of his garment; and as many as touched were made perfectly whole. MATTHEW XV. 1 —20. 273 CHAPTER XV. 1- 20. - JESUS AND THE JEWIsSH TRADITIONS. 1-6. THE SCRIBES AND MOSES. The Scribes and Pharisees, who had come down from Jerusalem in order to find some serious charge against Jesus, ask him why it is that his disciples transgress the traditions of the elders as they do by eating with unwashed hands. Jesus replies to them in language of great severity, "Why do ye transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God lath commanded, (Ex. xx. 12,) saying, Honor thy father and thy mother; and (Ex. xxi. 17) He that curseth father or mother shall be put to death. But ye teach, If a man say to his father or mother, Whatever I have which might benefit you is a gift to God, [and cannot therefore be used for your benefit], he shall not honor his father or mother, i. e. he shall even be exempt from the obligation to honor and provide for them. And ye thus annul or render of none effect the commandment of GOD by your tradition." Lightfoot has shown that the Jewish Talmhnudists attached greater weight to the Rabbinical traditions than to the law. "The words of the scribes," say they, "are lovely, above the words of the law; for the words of the law are weighty and light; but the words of the scribes are all weighty." Alford says, "The Jews attached more importance to the traditionary exposition than to the Scripture text itself. They compared the written word to water; the traditionary exposition to the wine which must be mingled with it. The duty of washing before meat is not inculcated in the law, but only in the traditions of the Scribes. So rigidly did the Jews observe it, that Rabba Akiba, being imprisoned, and having water scarcely sufficient to sustain life given 274 MATTHEW XV. 7, 8. him, preferred dying of thirst to eating without washing his hands." It is customary among the Jews to cut themselves off from the obligation of certain acts by consecrating their property to God as a gift so far as those specific acts were concerned. Their property might be used for anything else, but not for those particular acts. For example, if a man wished to free himself from the obligation to support his parents, he might set aside his whole property as a gift to God, so far as any advantage might accrue to them from it, and, according to the traditions of the elders, he would then have no right to use any part of it for the benefit of his parents, though he might use it for any other purpose. Thus they set at naught the law of God by their quibbling traditions, and justified by their traditions those who did not honor their father or their mother. 7, 8.- FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. Jesus has confronted the Scribes by the authority of Moses, their great lawgiver. He here shows how the condemnation of one of their prophets falls on them: "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said, This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. But in vain do they worship me teaching for doctrine the commandments of men." Dr. Noyes's translation of this passage (Isa. xxix. 13, 14) is as follows:."Since this people draweth near to me with their mouth, And honoreth me with their lips, While their heart is far from me, And their worship of me is according to the commandments of men, Therefore, behold, I will proceed to deal marvellously with this people; Marvellously and wonderfully. For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the prudence of the prudent shall be hid." These words were undoubtedly applied by the prophet to the men of his own day; and we have no reason to MATTHEW XV. 7, 8. 275 suppose that he had in his mind the thought of any further application. How then could Jesus say, "Well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you when he said, This people," &c. They not only contain a direct message to the Jews, who lived in the time of Isaiah; but that message is so put as to contain in itself a general truth which is prophetic of the condition of all men, whenever and wherever they may live, who seek to propitiate the favor of God by their distant, outside, hypocritical worship. See above, xiii. 14. But does not this involve a-double sense? Is it right to use the authority of the prophet in applying his words to persons whom he could not have had in his mind at the time he spoke? This is what Jesus has done in the passage before us. And, notwithstanding the dread many persons have of attributing a double or rather a twofold meaning of this kind to the language of Scripture, it is what is constantly done with other language. Every expression which, originally spoken solely with reference to a specific case, is so put as to involve a general truth, may be used in this way. If the Scriptures more than all other writings have been so applied, it is only because, under the simplest forms of speech, and often with direct reference to specific cases, they more than all other writings express the most profound and universal truth. The Supreme Court of the United States may give a decision which is of little consequence in its application to the case immediately in hand. And that case is the only one which is before the Court, and to which they specifically apply their decision. But that decision may involve considerations of momentous importance in cases to which the principles there established by the authority of the highest judicial tribunal of the land may hereafter be applied. The language which is at first applied specifically only to a single case, nevertheless embraces within its scope and within the intention of the Court, all 276 MATTHEW XV. 7, 8. cases of the same character that may arise afterwards. What is said of one is said of all,- that one case is a type of all the rest, and the authority which decides it applies with equal force to all the rest. So in the decisions of the great Judge of all, as announced by his prophets, the principles involved in the case to which they are specifically applied and the consequences flowing from those principles, reach on with the weight of their divine authority, and find their fulfilment in every analogous case that may afterwards arise. Whatever may be said of the doctrine of types, and the absurd extent to which it has been carried, or of the interpretation sometimes put on the prediction of specific events, many of the ancient prophecies stand forth as types or outshadowings and foreshadowings of divine truths, which shall be perpetually fulfilling themselves in the experience of all times. The passage quoted here from Isaiah is one of this kind. The predicted destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, immediately fulfilled in the fatal retribution which fell on those wicked cities, became, through that fulfilment, a type or sign of the retribution which is in store for every corrupt and ungodly people. The principle of retributive justice, which is involved and announced in that case, holds true always, and applies with more or less force to every new case that may arise. Of this character are the instructions here given to the Pharisees. The question immediately at issue between them and Jesus relates to a matter which is in itself of no sort of interest or importance now. But this specific case of washing before meat is made to stand out as the type or representative of all similar cases, and brings out the great essential principles in such a way as to elucidate the whole subject of a spiritual or formal worship, and to furnish instruction in this matter for all times. Where a sincere and vital religion is dying out, there is always a disposition, with a numerous class of men, to seek refuge MATTHEW XV. 11- 15. 277 in forms, and to put their consciences to sleep by multiplying religious forms at the expense of the essential principles of devout and holy living. This fatal tendency, belonging alike to unenlightened and to the most luxurious times, making void the law of God by human traditions and observances, is here exposed and condemned. The heart as the centre of the life is the one thing to be kept pure. The thoughts which proceed from that, and not the neglect of outside forms, are what defile the man. Mr. Norton has quoted from Philo Judmus a passage very similar to this. "Through the mouth, as Plato says, mortal things enter, and imperishable things pass out. For food and drink enter it, perishable nutriment of the perishable body; but words proceed from it, immortal laws of the immortal soul, by which the rational life is governed." — Philo, De Mundi Opificio, Opp. I. 29. The fact that so plain a statement as that of Jesus, 11, should appear to the disciples, 15, a parable or dark saying which needed explanation, shows how dull their spiritual perceptions were at that time, and how slow they were to fiee themselves from the superstitious formalities of the Jews. The same attitude of mind towards Jewish teachers and observances is indicated by the vehemence with which they put the question, 12, " Dost thou know how the Pharisees were offended by thy words?" His reply is, "Every plant which my Father hath not planted shall be rooted up." As if he had said, The Pharisees are here the recognized and authoritative teachers of the law. Still, if they teach anything not in accordance with the truth, anything which my Father doth not approve and sustain, it cannot stand, but will be rooted up as a plant which he hath not planted. Give them up as your guides. They are only blind leaders of the blind; and no good, but mischief only, can come of their instructions. Here, 15, Peter asks an explanation of the parable, 11. It was not a parable in one sense of the word.; but the disciples could 24 278 MATTHEW XV. 21-28. not understand it. With an expression of sorrowful surprise that they even yet should be unable to understand words so simple, he explains his meaning in such a manner as to do away forever, one would think, at least among his followers, all superstitious regard for merely external observances in matters of religion. THE SYRO-PEICENICIAN WOMAN. 21- 28. In order to escape from the crowds, with the tumults and controversies connected with them, as well as to prevent any premature and mistaken movement in his behalf, he retired from the lake of Galilee towards the northwest, to the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon. It is a question among commentators whether he actually entered their territory or remained still within the limits of Galilee. He sought retirement. " He went (Mark vii. 24, 25) into a house, and would have no man know it; but he could not be hid; for a woman, whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him," and came crying after him. The desire to escape observation will account for the anxiety of the disciples to stop her cries. For in calling after them she must necessarily attract attention. She was a Grecian by descent, a Syro-Phcenician by birth, and from her birthplace called, as she is here, a woman of Canaan. At first Jesus paid no regard to her. His object probably was to call out and strengthen her faith, by subjecting it to trial. This is in accordance with the whole discipline of life. He therefore, said within her hearing, "I am sent only," i. e. his personal ministry was confined, "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But instead of being discouraged, she threw herself at his feet, and with affecting earnestness entreated him to assist her. He replied to her, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." "Yes, Lord," she exclaimed, "it is; for even the little 5MATTHEW XV. 32- 38. 279 dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table." The humble, trusting character of this speech showed that nothing more was needed for her. " O woman, great is thy faith. Be it to thee as thou wishest." And her daughter was healed from that hour. What was this faith? Not knowledge; she had not that. Not a belief in certain theological doctrines. It is certain that she knew nothing of them. Her faith consisted in a readiness to believe, - an humble, trusting attitude of mind and heart, -" the tenderest susceptibility for what is heavenly." As to the apparent severity of Jesus towards her, " It is," as Olshausen has said, "Christian experience alone which opens our way to the right understanding of this..... The restraining of his grace, the manifestation of a treatment wholly different from what the woman may at first have expected, acted as a check usually does on power when it really exists, the whole inherent energy of her living faith broke forth, and the Saviour suffered himself to be overcome by her...... Where faith is weak, he anticipates and comes to meet it; where faith is strong, he holds himself far off in order that it may in itself be carried to perfection." FEEDING THE FOUI THOUSAND. 32-38. It has been supposed by some modern writers, as Schleiermacher, Neander, &c., that this account and that in xiv. 14- 21, are but different accounts of the same transaction. The circumstances, it is said, the place, the multitude, the compassion of Jesus, the perplexity of the disciples as to what should be done, the sort of food at hand, are substantially the same in the two accounts. But these would be likely to be substantially the same if the miracle bad been repeated anywhere in that vicinity. The only exception to what we should look for is in the perplexity of the disciples. How could they, after witnessing the 280 MATTHEW XV. 32-38. first miracle, be so much at a loss here? The reply is, that, though they had seen Jesus perform many miracles, they had never, except in a single instance, known him to. use his miraculous power for such a purpose as that. Why, then, should they expect it now? Some of the circumstances are alike in the two cases, but others again are different. In the first, there were 5,000 persons; in the second only 4,000. In the first, there were five loaves and two fishes; in the second,'seven loaves and a few fishes. In the first, it is not said how long the multitudes were with Jesus; in the second they were with him three days. In the first, specific mention is made of a storm on the lake and of Jesus walking on the water; in the second he is represented as crossing the lake in a vessel without any such occurrence. In so concise an account of two similar events we should hardly expect a greater variety in the details, which certainly point to two distinct transactions. Besides (xvi. 9, 10) Jesus explicitly refers to the two miracles. It may also be added, that in the first account the word translated baskets is Koqt'Jovs, while here it is uorvpl'aav, a long basket, which travellers sometimes used as a bed when they pass the night in the open air, and the satne as that in which Saul was let down from the wall (Acts ix. 25). The same distinction is observed in our Saviour's reference to the two miracles, and in all these cases the distinction is found in the Curetonian Syriac Gospels. In the repetition of the miracle, there is nothing improbable. When we consider what multitudes thronged around the -steps of Jesus, and that the east side of the lake was a desert place, at a distance from villages where food could be procured for such a concourse of people, we can hardly think it strange, if more than once towards the close of the day, he should have had compassion on the weary multitudes, and fed them by his miraculous power lest they should hunger and faint by the way. MATTHEW XV. 281 39. Having dismissed the multitude, Jesus went into a vessel and passed to the vicinity of Magdala, or, as the best copies have it, Magadan. iagdala is near the southeast corner of the plain of Genesareth. For an interesting and graphic description of this fertile and populous region, see Stanley's Sinai and Palestine, pp. 366-375. After his account of what that country once was, he says, "Of all the numerous towns and villages in what must have been the most thickly peopled district of Palestine, one only remains. A collection of a few hovels stands at the southeastern corner of the plain,- its name hardly altered from the ancient Magdala or Migdol, -so called, probably, from a watch-tower, of which ruins appear to remain, that guarded the entrance of the plain; deriving its whole celebrity from its being the birthplace of her, through whom the name of I Magdalen' has been incorporated into the languages of the world. A large solitary thorn-tree stands beside it. Its situation, otherwise unmarked, is dignified by the high limestone rock which overhangs it on the southwest, perforated with caves, recalling, by a curious, though doubtless unintentional coincidence, the scene of Correggio's celebrated picture." N O TE S. THIEN came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of 2Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands, when they 3 eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye 1. which were of Jerusalem] ency he has now gained. 2. The fact that Scribes and Pharisees for they wash not their hands had come from Jerusalem to watch when they eat bread] Not that and oppose Jesus, shows incident- they did not have clean hands, but ally what an impression he had that they did not wash them. It been making, and what an ascend- was a superstitious duty to wash 24 * 282 MATTHEW XV. also transgress the commandment of God, by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, " Honor thy father and moth- 4 er; " and, "1 He that curseth father or mother, let him die the 5 death." But ye say, "Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. 6 Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites! well did Esaias prophesy 7 their hands before eating bread, gift in whatsoever thou mightest be Nwhether they were clean or not, - helped by me'; then let him not particularly before eating bread. honor his father and mother at all." 3. Observe the solemn - Ligltfoot. 7. Ye hypos contrast between the command- crites] This is the first time that ment of God, and the tradition of Jesus directly addresses the Scribes men, even though the tradition and Pharisees by this term. Hithwas held to by the elders and erto he has rather reproved them teachers. 4. Honor thy by holding up the principles of father and mother] The stress righteousness which opposed and which Jesus lays on this great com- overthrew all their superstitious mandment is remarkable. Its ob- conventionalisms. But now, when servance is to an extraordinary ex- they put to himl a question which tent a criterion of the morals of a directly involves the principles that people. There is a saying among separate him and them, he at first the Chinese, "If a man show rev- states strongly the inconsistency erence for his father and mother in between their tradition and the his house, why go farther to burn commandments of God, and then spices? " There is a place holy directly charges them with the one enough for sacrifice and worship. crime which vitiated all their religWhere there is this reverence for ion, and which from that day to parents, the simplicity of the char- this has been the characteristic of acter and the freshness of the heart their successors. When men separe preserved. He who honors his arate the forms of religion from its father and mother will honor God. substance, and substitute man's tra6. he shall be free] ditions for the commandments of These words, inserted by our trans- God, however specious the prelators, do not belong here. The tence, and however artfully dissecond clause of the sentence is the guised the processes by which their apodosis to the first, which begins in purpose is to be accomplished, they verse 5: " Whosoever shall say to are led by a superstitious spirit his father or mother,' Anything I through dishonest methods into have which might be used for your hypocrisy, - that hideous crime benefit is, so far as you are con- against man and God, on which cerned, set aside as a consecrated the heaviest denunciations of our gift [and therefore not to be em- Saviour fell. Every step away from ployed for you],' he shall not honor the simplicity of the truth, as it his father or his mother." Thus stands revealed to us by God in setting aside all his property, so far Christ, is a step in this direction. as relates to his parents, lie has It gives to human explanations, freed himself from all obligation to glosses, institutions the authority provide for them: and, there-fore, which belong's only to the comrightly, so the Scribes taulght, he mandments of God. It substitutes shall not be oblioed to honor them. human formulas of faith, and forms " Whosoever shall sav to his father of worship, with the idle ceremonies or mother,' Let it be a [devoted] growing out of them, for the wor MATTHEW XV. 283 8 of you, saying, " This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far 9 from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching for docl0 trines the commandments of men." And he called the mulii titude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which iL cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. - Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Phari1, sees were offended, after they heard this saying'? But he alnswered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father hath 14 not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone; they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall 15 fall into the ditch. Then answered Peter, and said unto him, 16 Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said: Are ye also yet 17 without understanding? Do not ye yet understand that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast is out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts; mnurders, adulteso ries, 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 ship and the morality which Jesus the strong man, hardened into hyhas taught, and thus renders the pocrisy, knows how to avail himhiw of God of none effect through self of the timid consciences of the its superstitious and hypocritical weak, andl how to turn to his own traditions. So true in regard. to ends the pliant, trusting faith of the them is the language of Isaiah, that unsuspecting. 13. Every their heart is alienated from God, plaint] Not that which has grown. and their moral and spiritual per- naturally, but that which is planted ceptions blunted. If the pure and and fostered by man,- the conzdevout, who are led away by these rzandments of Couen, which are taught subtle processes from the simplicity for doctrines. 16. yet of the Gospel, could only give up without understanding] What., the human hindrances which offer still not able to understand so simple themselves to them as helps, andt a truth, -ye who have been with sit at the feet of Jesus to learn of me so long? This conversation him, and thus receive their religion with the disciples (12 - 20) was after directly from him, rather than from he had entered into the house (Mark the perverse and impure channels vii. 17), and when lie was probably thlrough which it comes to theml, with them alone. 20. which how would the face of the world be defihe the amanl] " In the very changed! But there is always this appellation of vmlen is contained an tendency and weakness in our hu- argument: for the spiritual nature, mnan nature; this clinging to helps which is the superior part in man, beyond what God has given; and is not reached by outward filth." 284 PMATTHEW XV. Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out 22 of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou 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 Bengel. 23. Send her ment was important to his church away] The disciples probably at that period, in several respects. meant to ask of Jesus that he Before Christianity had gained an should grant her request, heal her establishment in the world, it had child, and let her go. for she special occasion for those aids which crieth after us] They wished to this element might affbrd it. One evcape the attention and notoriety aid was the remarkable attachment which her cries were likely to at- of the Jew to his own Scriptures; tract. "; We may suppose," says and to these Scriptures, especially Benugel, " that the disciples feared the Prophecies, Christianity appealthle judogmlent of men, and made ed as one of its principal supports. their petition to our Lord, both for The Old Testament was tile classic, their own sake, lest her crying the rubric, the oracle, the glory of should produce annoyance, and for the Hebrew. He counted its very the sake of the woman herself." letters. It was to him the word of 24. I am not sent God; and let him embrace a relirbut unto the lost sheep of the ion as being based upon this founhouse of Israel] "' After those dation, and no superstition or phiflocks which have stlrayed awctyfrom," losophy would occasion any peril to,&c., seeking the scattered Israelites his faith. We cannot overlook this in the regions of Tyre and Sidon, reason, why, in that system of umoral Jesus confined his personal ministry harmonies which always characterallmost entirely to the Jews. In his izes the Divine administration, the directions to the Apostles he com- Christian seed should have been manded them (Matt. x. 5) not to go sown in a Jewish soil. The Gospel into the way of the Gentiles, or into was not left to stand alone on its any city of the Samnaritans. Not, as own simple moral claims, which some have supposed, that his per- the world was so little prepared to sonal sympathies were bound in by appreciate, —no, nor even on its Jewish prejudices. His conversa- own miraculous testimonials. But tion with the woman of Samaria, there was a reliious culture in the and his relmaining at Sychar two Jewish mlind adapted to yield it a days, show the kindness of his feel- powerful support, such as it could in towards them, and his readiness derive fiom no othler human source. to do them good. But the disciples, God was pleased to connect the two who were slow to rise above their systems of Judaism and ChristianJewish prejudices, were not yet pre- ity; and while the one was a schoolpared so as to be trusted with peo- master to bring men to Christ, the pie or in places where their national other was a completion and confirantipathies were likely to be ex- mation of its predecessor...... cited. " Jesus," says Dr. Nichols, The Jewish convert to Christianity "ptlainly intended to restrict his felt an intensity of interest in his labors, and those of his Apostles new belief such as a Jew only could also, during his own life, within the feel. Accustomed to look upon his limits of the Jewish nation. We own nation as the chosen subject of may not know his reasons, but one a Divine administration, familiar naturally occurs. The Judaic ele- with special mlanifestations in its MATTHEW XV. 285 26 came she and worshipped him, saying, LDord, help me! But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's 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 favor through all his ancestral his- for even the little dogs," &c.) which tory, he took up his adopted re- implies a further entreaty on her ligion with a trust and a zeal of part, though it does not state it -which no Gentile belief was capa- in words. It is impossible to supble, and which were so necessary to ply the ellipsis in English without bear it triumphantly over the sea nmarring the exceeding fineness and of prejudice and persecution upon delicacy of the sentiment. The which it was then launched. Bless- modesty and reverence towards ings which ask no assistance from Christ which are here implied, - circumstances are of rare occur- her hunility in regard to any claims rence in our world." Hours with which she might have -upon him, - the Evangelists, Vol. 1. pp. 390 - her ready assent to the apparently 393. 26. to dogs] little disparaging terms in which he had clogs, a diminutive, which may have alluded to her and hers,- her perbeen used somewhat as a term of feet faith in him, and the devoted endearment, and which therefore love for her child which, while it may have taken away something could not accept any refusal, yet fiom the apparent harsmness of our pressed its claims with such a deliSaviour's language in speaking cate and reverential reserve towards thus to a distressed mother respect- him from whom she knew that reing her suffering child. lief might come,-give a peculiar 27. Anid she said, Truth, 0Lord t and affecting moral beauty to these yet the dogs eat of the crumbs] words, which evidently touched our Our English version fails, we think, Saviour as indicating to him the to give the true meaningl of this finest qualities of character. In Dr. passtge. The exact translation is Cureton's Syriac Gospels, a word is as follows: "Yea, Lord; for the added, which is found both in the little does eat," &e. In conformity Peshito and the Jerusalem Syriac, with the Greek idiom, we are to and which heightens the interest suppose an ellipsis or omission be- and pathos of the passage She fore the word yap, for, which mnust saith to him, Yea, my Lordl for be supplied in English, in order to even the dogs eat of the crumbs mnake the passage inltelligible, and which fall from their masters' may be given as follows: " ea, tables, and live." The expression, Lord [but do not deny me]; for and live, in allusion to the sick child even tile little dogs," &c. Bengel, for whose life she is pleading, is whom even Winer re a'rds as a great one of those fine touches of nature authority in such matters, says: which can hardly be counterfeited, " The particle vat [ yesa] partlv and which bear in themselves deassents; partly, as it were, places cisive marks of genuineness. The on our Lord's tongue the assent to whole narrative is worthy of study; her prayvers, i. e. prays." She puts this refined and delicate woman, as such a construction on his wordsf her language shows her to have that while by the expression,' Yea, been, in her distress on account of Lord,' she assents to them, she, at her daughter, and her efforts for her the same time, turns aside the ap- relief, forgetting herself and everyparent edge of theii delial, and thing arounc her so entirely as tn draws from them encouragement to follow after Jesus and his company continue her petition, which she of men, with cries which were does in the most delicate way, by a bringing on them an unpleasant turn of expression (" Yea, Lord; amount of attention; her following 286 MATTHEW XV. table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, 0 woman, 28 great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the 29 Sea of Galilee; and went up -into a mountain, and sat down there. And great multitudes came unto him, having with 30 them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others; and cast them down at Jesus's 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 ples 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 tude to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves 36 after him still, and beseeching him where such crowds could have come to help her, though he answered her from. But according to Josephus not a word;' the entreaty of the (See Milman's Hist. of Christianity, disciples that he would send her Bk. I. Chap. IV.) the whole province away, and his reply to them " that of Galilee was at that time crowded he is not sent except to the lost with flourishing towns and cities, sheep of the house of Israel;" all beyond almost any other region of these things, instead of discouraging the world. According to his stateher, only leading her to prostrate ments, " the number of towns, and herself before him, and calling out the population of Galilee, in a disfrom her a more affecting appeal trict of between fifty and sixty to him for help; - every one of the miles in length, and between sixty particulars is worthy of attention, and seventy in breadth, was no and may furnish an instructive less than 204 cities and villages, the lesson. Such persistency in ask- least of which contained 15,000 ing, and yet such submissiveness; souls." This would make, for the such earnestness, and yet such rev- whole province, a population of erence and delicacy, are rarely com- more than three millions. There is bined, and thev furtnish a beautifll some reason, we think, to question type of Christian character. We the exactness of the large numerical see here as elsewhere how the mira- statements which are found in cle is subordinated to its higher in- ancient writers; but after all reafluences and teachings. 30. sonable deductions have been made And great multitudes] Jesus from this account, there will still retLurns to Galilee, and is encom- remain a population sufficiently passed again by multitudes of peo- dense to confirm the Gospel narple. To those who travel in that ratives in regard to the ease with region now, it is a matter of wonder which large multitudes were col MATTHEW XV. 287 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. lected in that region. 39. Magdalum, so some MSS., in Matt. Magdala] In Tischendorf's edi- xv. 39, turn Magdala into Magation, this is Magadain. "As Herodo- dan." Stanley. In the Curetonian tus (II. 159) turns Megiddo into Syriac Gospels it is Mlagadun. 288 MATTHEW XVI. 1 —4. CHeAPTER XVI. 1-4.-A SIGN FROM HEAVEN. 1 - 4. THE Pharisees and Sadducees demand a sign from heaven. They had witnessed his miracles, but wished for something more. " In the Jewish superstition," says Alford, "it was held that demons and false gods could give signs on earth, but only the true God, signs frorm heaven." "And thus we find that, immediately after the first miraculous feeding, the same demand was made, (John vi. 30,) and answered by the declaration of our Lord, that He was the true bread from heaven." Reference to the same habit of the Jewish mind is found in 1 Cor. i. 22, "The Jews demand signs, and the Greeks seek for wisdom." It probably was at the close of the day when the demand for a sign from heaven was made of Jesus, and the sunset glow of the heavens suggested his answer. For the Jews, according to Lightfoot, were curious in observing the seasons, and in foretelling the state of the weather. They asked of him a sign from heaven. He replies, looking probably to the western sky, "It being now evening, ye say, It will be fair, for the sky is red; and, in the morning, ye say, there will be a storm, for the sky is red and lowering. Ye know how to distinguish the aspects of the sky, and can ye not also understand the signs of the times." As if he had said: "It is your business to understand things spiritual and divine. You profess to be the moral and religious teachers of this people. And here you are asking a sign from heaven. But how is it that ye do not understand the signs which are actually given? You know how to foretell the state of the MATTHEW XVI. 13-18. 289 weather from the aspect of the sky, and can ye not, in the miracles which I have wrought, and the truths which I have been teaching, and the new life that I am awakening, see the signs of the times? Can ye not see in them the signs of a new era, of a purer and higher kingdom to be established on earth? If your minds were open to spiritual, as your eyes are to material things, you would see all around you manifest indications of the changes that I am to introduce." 5-13. The noticeable fact here is the extreme slowness of spiritual apprehension which is manifested by the disciples, especially when their perplexity here about bread is compared with the specific instructions on that point which had just been given to them, (xv. 11,) and repeated with an explanation, (xv. 17-20,) which could not be misunderstood. 13-18. - ON THIS ROCK I BUILD MY CHURCH. The above conversation took place on the vessel as they were crossing the lake. They arrived at Bethsaida on the northeast corner of the lake, and in passing from that city to Coesarea Philippi, which lies far to the north, near Mount Hermon, the remaining incidents recorded in this chapter took place. Who do men say that I the Son of man am? They reply, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and some Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. These different views prevailing at that time show the vague, but at the same time the active and wide-spread expectations of the time. The reply of Peter, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," is the first distinct declaration of faith on the part of the disciples. Jesus excepts this one article of faith as containing the true idea of his office, and the foundation of his Church. "Blessed art thou, Simon, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father who is in the heavens. And I say unto thee that thou 25 290 IMATTHEW XVI. 19. art a rock (Peter means rock), and on this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of death (Hades, not Gehenna) shall not prevail against it." There are two explanations of this passage. According to one, Peter is identified with the declaration which he has just made, as the person hearing the word is identified with what he hears (xiii. 20.) When Jesus therefore says, " Thou art a rock, and on this rock will I build my Church," he means that this confession of faith in him as the Messiah, the Son of the living God, is the foundation on which his Church is to be built. According to the other explanation, Peter himself, as the foremost of the disciples, and the first to recognize from the teachings of Jesus this essential truth, is the stone or pillar on which his Church is to be built. " He was," says Alford, " the first of those foundation-stopnes (Eph. ii. 20, Rev. xxi. 14,) on which the living temple of God was built: this building itself beginning on the day of Pentecost by the laying of three thousand living stones on this very foundation." For this sort of reference to the pillars and stones of the spiritual building see 1 Peter ii. 4- 6, 1 Tim. iii. 15, Gal. ii. 9, Eph. ii. 20, Rev. iii. 12. 19. - TiE KEYS OF THE KINGDOMI OF HEAVEN. In verse 19 the figure is changed. "I give to thee the keys of the kingdom 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." Tile kingdom of Heaven is, 1. The religion of Jesus, with its Divine influences, entering the individual soul, and establishing its dominion over it. 2. When it has entered different souls and united them under its authority into a community, it becomes an outward institution or kingdom, receiving or rejecting men according to its influence over them individually. 3. But the kingdom of Heaven does not fulfil and complete its work here on the earth. When those who have MATTHEW XVI. 19. 291 submitted to its influence and authority here lay down the burden of the flesh, the kingdom of Heaven is the name applied to the more perfect and glorious condition of being into which they then enter. Jesus uses the expression in these three different ways. When therefore he says to Peter, " I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven," he means, I will give to thee the truths by which my religion shall be unlocked and laid open to the souls of men, so that it may act upon them as a spiritual power, and receive them into itself as an outward institution, or a divinely organized community of souls. And more than this. So far, its work is on the earth. But it is not confined to the earth. W5hat is done here, in this lower sphere of the kingdom of Heaven in accordance with its laws, applies with equal force in its higher sphere, in the heavens, where those same laws prevail. Whatever is done in accordance with those laws here is recognized as in accordance with them there above, wherever that kingdom extends. Whatever is bound or loosed in accordance with them here, has the sanction of Heaven, and is bound or loosed there. They who, accepting the offers of salvation, become members of the kingdom of I-Heaven on earth, become by that act members of the kingdom of Heaven above; and they who by rejecting its offers exclude themselves from it here, at the same time close its doors against them in the heavens. In this sense, what is bound or loosed on earth is bound or loosed in heaven. But how is it that Jesus uses this language in his address to Peter alone? It is addressed to him as the spokesman or representative of the Apostles. As Olshausen has said, " That which at verse 19 is spoken to St. Peter is at Matt. xviii. 18, John xx. 23, addressed to all the Apostles. One cannot therefore find in these words anything that is peculiar to St. Peter; he merely answers as the organ of the college of Apostles, and Christ, acknowledging him as such, replies to him, and speaks through him to them all." " That 292 MATTHEW XVI. 21-28. which is through St. Peter bestowed on the Apostles, was again through the Apostles conferred on the whole Church." "That the Apostles then, and their true successors in the Spirit, turned with the word of truth towards one place, and away from another, that they followed up their labors on one man and not on another, in this consisted the binding and loosing. The whole new spiritual community which the Saviour seems to found took its rise from the Apostles and their labors. No one became a Christian save through them, and thus the Church through all time is built up in living union with its origin. Christianity is no bare summary of truths and reflections to which a man even in a state of isolation might attain; it is a life-stream which flows through the human race, and its fountains must reach every separate individual who is to be drawn within this circle of life. The Gospel is identified and grown into union with the persons. The explanation, therefore, of the passage which the Protestant Church usually opposes to the view of the Catholics, according to which the faith of Peter, and the confession of that faith, is the rock, is entirely the correct one, - only the faith itself and his confession of it must not be regarded as apart from Peter himself personally." 21-28. - THrE HUMILIATION AND SUFFERINGS OF THE MESSIAH. 21. Here commences a new era in the ministry of Jesus. He now for the first time openly and plainly (Mark viii. 32) announced to his disciples the sufferings and death and resurrection from the dead through which he was soon to pass. They could not take in the idea. They remembered his words, but it was not till after his resurrection that they understood what was meant by them. The words were indeed so fearfully distinct, that at first they could not be misinterpreted. Peter, adhering still to his mistaken ideas of the Messiah and his kingdom, and unable to admit the possibil MATTTHEW XVI. 21-28. 293 ity of such degradation and sufferings as have just been foretold, in the ardent impetuosity which so often showed itself in his conduct, laid hold on Jesus, and remonstrated with him as one does with a friend in despondency. (See Whately, Good and Evil Spirits, p. 135.) "God be gracious to thee, Lord; this thing shall not be to thee." As if he had said, "There is no ground for such gloomy apprehensions. This cannot be." It was an act of ignorant presurnmption for him to address Jesus in this way. The suggestion evidently touched him most keenly. Turning to Peter, and looking at the disciples (Mark viii. 33), he rebuked Peter, and said to him, " Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art a stumbling-block to me, because thou regardest not the things of God, but the things of men." Why does Jesus show such extreme sensitiveness? HIe had used the same expression once before (Matt. iv. 10), in his last reply to the tempter in the wilderness. It has been supposed that it is not applied to Peter so much as to the evil spirit from whom the suggestion came. But the language is very explicit. "Turning, he said to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan," thou tempter. Here, as in the other case (iv. 10, see note there), where the same expression is used, there is something which indicates a peculiar sensitiveness, as if Jesus entered enough into the feeling of the disciple to be himself not wholly insensible to the temptation which came here under its most insidious form. 46 Unquestionably," says Olshausen, "'the Saviour must be conceived of as having maintained one contintuous conflict with temptations. The great periods of such temptations at the commencement and termination of his ministry exhibit, merely in a concentrated form, what ran through his whole life. Here then, for the first time, there meets our view a moment in which temptation assails him by holding forth the possibility of escaping sufferings and death. It was all the more concealed and dangerous that it came to him through the lips of a dear disciple, who had just solemnly 25* 294 MATTHEW XVI. 21-28. acknowledged his divine dignity. From the clear and pure fountain of Christ's life no unholy thought could flow; but inasmuch as he was to be a conqueror victorious over sin, it had to draw near, that in every form he might overthrow it; and upon his human nature, which only by degrees received within itself the whole fulness of the divine life, sin, when it drew near, did make an impression." Instantly, however, in this case, on feeling the power of tile temptation, he recognized the source fromn which it came, and by the harsh word which he used in his reply to Peter, he laid open to him the wicked agency or wrong principle and motive by which the suggestion had been prompted. Nor does he stop with the disclosure of what is wrong in the disciple. He lays down, 24- 28, more strongly, and with words of more fearful and solemn interest, the utter self-renunciation which would be required of his followers. We have no language which comes up to the full force of the idea here set forth. Utterly to deny and renounce themselves, - to take up the cross, that appalling instrument of degradation and torture and death, and follow H-im —is what he sets befbre them as their duty now. But he rises into a region of thought which makes even these sacrifices seem small. "For what," he asks, "shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the %whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then shall he reward every man according to his doing." Here we are lifted up amid the retributions of another world. The sacrifices made here, the obedience, in self-renunciation and holy living, of those who follow him in his conflicts and humiliation, will be rewarded by him, when in that higher world he shall meet them with the ensigns of his greatness, in the glory of his Father, and attended by his angels. Then, v. 28, by one of those sudden transitions which are so common with him, he comes down from the thought MATTHEW XVI. 295 of his kingdom, in its glorious consummation with ransomed souls above, to the time of its establishment and ascendency on earth, i. e. to the time when, with the destruction of Jerusalem, the dispersion of the Jews, and the overthrow of the whole Jewish polity, the sacrifice and the oblation should cease, the old religion no longer be recognized in the region where it had so long prevailed, and the religion of Christ, the Son of man coming in his kingdom, should take its place as the only true worship among men. NOTE S. THE Pharisees also, with the Sadducees, came, and, tempting, desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, 3 It will be fair weather; for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day; for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites! ye can discern the face of the 4 sky, but can ye not discern the signs of the titmes? A wicked 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. 1. The Pharisees also, with shows how grieved our Saviour was. the Sadducees] The Pharisees " Groaning in his spirit, i. e. with a overlaid the Law with their tradi- deep sigh, he says,'Why is this tions, and thus made it of none generation seeking for a sigln?'" effect through their superstitious It was not anger, but grief, that and hypocritical observances. (See tempered his indignation. 3. xv. 1-20.) The Sadducees bytheir 0 ye hypocrites] These words, unbelief, retaining the letter of the or rather the one word hypocrites, is law, but explaining it away in a omitted by Tischendorf. The term ca.ptious and sceptical spirit, ren- hypocrites is one which Jesus never dered it of none effect. These hos- in any other case applied to the tile sects, however, could forget Sadducees; and it is not probable their differences long enough to at- that it was so applied here. They tack one whose simple, energetic, were rather an unbelieving than a and life-4iving truths laid open self-righteous and hypocritical sect. the emptiness of their pretensions, He applies the word to the Scribes and overthrew alike the religious and Pharisees, but not to them. reasoninels of both. 2. 4. the sign of the He answered] Mark (viii. 12) prophet Jonas] (See note to xii. 296 MATTHIEWV XVI. And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had 5 forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said unto them, Take 6 heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 7 It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus s perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do 9 ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? neither the lo seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it ii not to you concerning bread, that ye shoull beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then -under- 11 stood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he 13 asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am? And they said, Some say that thou art Johll 14 the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 15 39.) If the account of the prophet then to wonder that he repeated Jonah were, like the parable of the often the same thought in nearly the Good SanLnaitan or of the Prodigal same words. If, therefore, we find Son, not a historical narrative, but in the different Evangelists nearly a story invented for the purpose of the same instructions given under teaching the impossibility of fleeing different circumstances, we are not from the requirements of God; it to suppose that one or the othes would none the less serve as a sqign of the writers has made a mistake, of the Saviour's death and resur- but that Jesus, in conformity with rection from the dead. Some holy the wants of his hearers, repeated man may have been inspired of his instructions again and again. God to teach this great truth, in the 9, 10. baskets] In the way in wvllich it is there tattuht, as ninth verse it is cophini, and in by a poem or a parable. The lesson the tenth spamides, entirely different is none the less true or important words. The same distinction is because it is thus tLaugt't; nor does found in Mark. In Dr. Curetoh's Jesus, in alluding to it in the man- Syriac Gospels, the first word is ner he does, express any opinion as translated baskets, the second planto whether it is historical or not. niers. The distinction is important, 7. It is because we as indicating two different miracles. have takel no bread] How could 13. that I, the Son of they have forgotten so soon what mans] Observe how often Jesus Jesus had told them? (xv. 16 - 20.) uses this expression, as if to indcliTheir dulness in this case shows how cate his intimate relationship to our they needed line upon line and pre- humanity. The Son of man, who cept upon precept. We are not stood with the Jews for the Mes MATTHEW XVI. 297 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the 17 Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, 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 siah, though it was not a term exclu- earnestness by St. John, both in his sively applied to him. 16. Gospel and his Epistles. At what Thoiu art the Christ, the Sonl was perhaps originally the close of of the living God] Here is the his Gospel (John xx. 31) he says: counterpart to our Saviour's own "But these are written, that ye expression. He was the Son of might believe that Jesus is the God as he was the Son of man, Christ, the Son of God; and that and thus the mediator between God believing ye might have life through and man. Here is the first and his name." Why can we not be only Gospel creed respecting Jesus, content with this? Why must we and it gained his earnest and em- go beneath it with any poor metaphatic approval. Perhaps it is in physical analysis of ours to deterreference to this that St. John more mine precisely what is meant by than once in his first Epistle uses these great words, and impose our this expression: "Whosoever shall definition on others as an article of confess that Jesus is the Son of faith, without assent to which they God, God dwelleth in him, and he cannot be admitted into the Church in God." " I-He that believeth in of Christ, but must, in the blasphethe Son of God, hath the witness in mous words of the Athanasian creed, himself." " These things have I " without doubt perish everlastwritten unto you that believe in the ingly." It is a presumptuous and name of the Son of God; that ye awful thing for men to impose conmay know that ye have eternal ditions which Christ never imposed, life, and that ye may believe in the and to erect barriers which were name of the Son of God." " Who never authorized by him in the way is he that overcometh the world, of admission to his Church. but he that believeth that Jesus is 17. Simon Bar-jona] Simon, the Son of God?" It had been son of Jonas. "It is exceedingly well for the peace and unity of the probable that this is intended to Church, if the successors of the form a contrast to the foregoing Apostles had been as modest and as Jesus, Son of God. Simon denotes truthful as they were in what they here, as does Jesus, the human perrequired as articles of faith on this sonality of the individual; son of great subject. There never can be Jonas is probably used here in a unity in the Church of Christ till figurative sense. Primarily it is his professed followers consent to indeed a genealogical designation come back to the simplicity and (John i. 42, xxi. 16, 17 ); but as power of his instructions as we find Hebrew names generally are dethem set forth and expounded in scriptive, Christ here looks to the the Gospels, and in the other writ- import of the name. Perhaps he ings of the New Testament. We referred it to Jona, a dove; and in accept the words of Peter as in- that case this meaning would arise, dorsed and approved by his Mas-'Thou, Simon, art a child of the ter. They were heard from heaven Spirit (alluding to the Holy Spirit (" This is my beloved Sonl," Matt. under the symbol of a dove): God, iii. 17) as esus Jesus came up from the Father of Spirits (Heb. xii. 9), the baptismal waters of the Jordan, hath revealed himself to thee.' and the heavens were opened to Where God reveals himself there is him. They were repeated again formed a spiritual man." Olshaufrom heaven on the Mountain of sen. flesh and blood] Transfiguration. (Mattlhew xvii. 5.) No man, no merely human faculties, They are dwelt upon with affecting have revealed this to you; " only 208 IMATTHEW XVI. I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build nay church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of thle kingdom 19 of Hleaven; and whatsoever thou shlalt 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 the divine can teach us to know speech, tile words of Jesus in the the divine." 18. ThIou art passage before us will be found Peter [a rock] e and upoa this to harmonize with them easily, rock ]I ri build imy chulch] and to express, though by a more From the eiliest dcays of our relig- pointed and individual applicaionll, the Chr1istian Chnrch or comn- tionl, no more than Paul meant mninity of believers has been repre- when he spoke of being "built on sellted as a building. The Greek the foundation of the Apostles and word ecclesit, like its English syno- prolhets," or than the author of the nyme the churcll, means either the Apocalypse meant when lie spoke comnmunity of' worshippeis, or the of the Twelve Apostles as the place in which they meet for wor- twelve foundations of the wall of ship. Thle word synagooue, in its thenew Jerusalem. the gates Greek form, is applied either to the of hell] gates of death, -the congreeg'tion or to the building in power of the kingdom of death. tllicl they assemble. The Greek An Oriental form of speech still word EKtXrlolna, or church, is seldom used when we speak of the Turkish used in the New Testament to de- power as "the Ottoman Porte." note a building set apart for relig- 19. And I will give ious purposes. The Christians at unto thee the keys of the th-lt time had no such buildings. Mkingdom of H-eaven] "' The But in one case at least the place of Jews familiarly used the terms' to worship is cailled the church (1 Tim. bind' and' to loose' metaphorlically, iii. 15): "in the house of God, in the sense of' to forbid' and' to which is the c/h2erch of the living permit.' They used them concernGod." The Church itself, the coln- ing the teachers of their Law, who munity of believers, is constantly were supposed capable of explainrepresented as a building, and its inlg its requnirernents, - what it formembers are represented as living bade i(ll what it permitted. Wlsen stones of which it is built, or as Jesus says,'I will give you the foundations or pillars on whicll it keys of the kingdom of Heaven,' his rests. " Ye are God's buildinlg." neaning is, I will appoint you a.min(1 Cor. iii. 9.) " Ye are the temple ister of my religion, to make knowin of the living God." (2 Cor. vi 16.) to men the telrms on which they " Ye also, as living stones, are built may enter the kingdom of Heaven. up a spiritual house." (1 Peter ii. WYhnt follows is an amplification of 5.) " And are built upon the this idea:- I appoint you a teacher foundation of the Apostles and and expositor of my religion, to prophets, Jesus Christ himself beinii declare to men its requirements, the chief corner-stone, inl whom all what it forbids and permits; and, the building, fitly framled together, be assured that what is thus forbidgroweth unto a holy temple in the den and permitted by you is forLord." (Elph. ii. 20,21.) "And the bidden and permitted by God. It wall of tlhe city had twelve forlida- is of the authority of Peter as a tions, and in them the names of the minister of his religion that Jesus twelve Apostles of the Lanmb." speaks, and not of any power to be (Rev. xxi. 14.) If we familiarize exercised according to his discretion ourselves with these forms of as n indivilua.." NOl'ortoll. MATTHEW XVI. 299 21 should tell no man that he was Jesus, the Christ. -- From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be 22 raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began 20. that they should tell no such a halo over the cross and the man that he is the Christ ] The tomb,was even more unintelligible to disciples now received him as the them. After theTransfiguratiol, it is Messiah; but the time had not yet said (Mark ix. 10), "And they kept come when he was publicly to be that saying with themselves, quesdeclared and recognized as such. tioning with one another what the When that time should come, his rising from the dead should mean." death would be near at hand. Again, in reference to the same 21. From that time forth] subject, it is said (Mark ix. 32), "But The altered tone of our Saviour's they understood not that saying, communications to his disciples, and were afraid to ask him." No "from that time forth," is very plainer language than his could be observable. The confession of faith used;but the idea itself,in its relation in him as the Messiah, which had to him, was one which they could been made by Peter, seems to have not take in; and it was not till after quickened his sympathy for them, his resurrection that his plainest inand to have increased his confidence structions respecting his death could in them. A new era in his inter- be understood. The thought was course with them had arrived. too strange and repulsive to be acHitherto he has alluded mystei- - cepted by them. Their first feelously to his death. But now, as in ing, therefore, when the words were the strong language of Peter, they urged and pressed upon them, was have expressed their belief in him as one of astonishment and increduthe Christ, the Son of the living lity. It seemed to them that their God, he sees that the time has ZMaster, in a moment of depression come when he must teach them as and discouragement, had given way plainly as possible in regard to the to unreasonable apprehensions and true nature of his mission. Thus forebodings. This supposition alone he speaks of his humiliation and explains the conduct and the landeath here, and shows these things guage of Peter. 22. Aind in connection with his exaltation iln Peter took him9, and began to the next chapter. He wished them rebauke him] For the moment, to undcerstand what lav before him, Peter assumed the attitude of a and so to understand it in its rela- superior. Not in anger, but with a tion to a true spiritual greatness condescension of sympathy, such as that they might not be permanently a loving child may exercise towards depressed amnd ciscouraged by it. a suffering parent, or a faithful serThey receive his conmmunications at vant towards an unfortunate and first like men who have been stunl- discouraged master, he laid his ned by some dreadful, and, there- hantd [soothingly] upon him, and fore, incredible disclosure. That said, in opposition to the dishearthe, the Son of God, the long-ex- ening words which Jesus had just pected Messiah, who was to over- spoken, " God be gracious to you, come and role the world, should die Lord: this shall not happen to you." a violent and shameful death, was The word ertrt/ycaS, which is transsomething too astounding to be be- lated 9rebuke, does not involve the lieved, or even understood. And idea of personal anger or of moral that further communication, disapprobation. Thus, Jesus " reand be raised again on the bukel the wind and the sea " (Matt. third day] which to us now throws viii. 26); i. e. he said to them, 300 MATTHEW XVI. to rebuke hlm, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter, Get 23 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 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 "Peace, be still." (Mark iv. 39.) God, but the things that be The word is used to express an ear- of men] savorest, to have the mind nest remonstrance against what one' and heart fixed upon. Your mind is doing, or what he might be in?- is fixed on things earthly and dlined to do. " And Jesus charged human, not on those which are (it is the same word) them not to heavenly and divine. Therefore, make him known " (Matt. xii. 16); you cannot take in the true meani. e. he remonstrated with them ing of mlly words. We must rememagainst what he saw was their wish ber, that all this while the disciples and purpose to make him known. are as a school, exercised and disSo Peter here remonstrated with ciplined under the various trainJesus against (what seemed to ing of their Master. After this prihim) the desponding and humiliat- vate remonstrance with Peter, and ing view which he had just givenl through him with his companions, of his ministry. Beut he in order to msnake a still deeper imturned and said unto Peter] pression upon them, he called the The language in Mark (viii; 33) is people to him (Mark viii. 34), and more graphic: " When he had in their presence laid down still turned about, and looked on his more strongly the doctrine of selfdisciples, he rebuked Peter." He denial and self-sacrifice, which he first looked at his disciples. He saw has already taught ( Matt. x. 37 - 39) how they were affected by this act with such distinctness and force. of patronizing familiarity and re- 24, 25. These two verses monstrance on the part of Peter, are but carrying out, in its applicaand that they probably were all tion to all ihis followers, the great moved by the same unworthy view idea which he was to exemplify in of his wordls which Peter had taken. his life and death, and which he He may also himself have sympa- has just now severely remonstrated thized with them, so far as to feel a with Peter for refusing to accept. momentary shudder at the thought It is impossible for us to understand of that which afterwards, at its near how appalling to the Jews this approach, brought upon hinll such image of the cross must have been. an agony of grief. Alnd, therefore, It was not their mode of punishto regain instantly his ascendency ment. It was introduced by the over them, and on the same instant Romans as an instrument of cruelty to shake off the thought which had and oppression, too shameful and come to him as the last and sharp- too dreadful to be used among their est temlptation in the wilderness, he own citizens, and to be inflicted on uttered the strong words, the lowest criminals and strangers. Get thee behind me, Satanl] "We can hardly feel," says Mr. The word satan rmeans adversary or Norton, " the impression which it seclducer, and is unsdoubtedly applied must have made upon those to here to Peter, who for the moment whomi the horrible torture of crucihad put himself in opposition to his fixion, as inflicted upon the most BMaster, anid would seduce and draw wretched outcasts of society, was himia away from the patth of humnili- not an uncommon spectacle." It atio and sorrow whllich lhe had was connected in their mind with chosen. for thoLu savor- all that was hateful and unjust in est not the things that be of a foreign domination;and nothing MATTHEW XVI. 301 25 follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and 26 whosoever will lose his life, for my sake, shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and could be more abhorrent to all their true meaning sowell as our commost cherished convictions than mon version. We must think of that their Messiah, who was to him who spoke, and who by his break every yoke and free them spiritual perceptions reaching into from foreign rule, should himself be higher worlds, saw the soul saved subjected to this vilest and most by that which seemed to destroy it, painful of deaths, and that he and lost by that which to mortal should hold up this to his followers eyes seemed to save it. And when as what they also must be ready to the soul is lost everything is lost; endure in their devotion to him. for "what shall a man be profited Nothing shows more powerfully the if he gain the whole world and lose personal and moral ascendency of his own soul? or what shall a man Jesus over those around him, than give in exchange for his soul?" the fact that, with such images of There is no more impressive and reward as this, he could still bind awful passage in the sacred writthem to him. 25.'Vhoso- ings, and few which are more perever will save his life] We fectly rendered in our English verhave already (Matt. x. 389) com- sion. Verbal comments upon it are mented on this passage. The words poor and small. They who would are repeated here with a slight force it into a proof-text for the alteration, and bearing with a doctrine of everlasting damnation, mighty pressure on what he has and they who would explain it away already foretold respecting his own as referring to nothing beyond this fate. The meaning of the word world, show themselves alike insen-,vvxi, which is translated life here, sible to its power. Its solemn and and soul in the next verse, is to be dreadful appeal should come home borne in mind. There is in the to every soul that is in danger of Greek, as also in the Syriac, a nice wasting its immortal energies on distinction which is lost in our Eng- the things of time, or of giving to lish version. " Whosoever may them more of its affections than is wish E[e'v AeA\71 to save his life consistent with its highest good. [ soul] shall lose it; and whosoever A very striking illustration of the will lose his life [ soul ] for my sake manner in which a man may ruin shall find it." It is not, he who?nac his soul in this world, and have no vish to lose his life for his sake. he suspicion of the work of death does not require that of us. He which is going on within the fair only requires that we shall not and prosperous exterior of his life, wish to save it at the expense of is given by Archbishop'Whately in what is better than life. He has his Annotations on Lord Bacon's spoken of the cross. He now speaks Essays. "Most persons," he says, of the life which may be lost upon " know that every butterfly (the it; but in the same sentence uses Greek name for which, it is rethe same word to designate the life markable, signifies the same also as which makes that earthly mortal the soul, —psyche) comes from a life of no account. 26. grub, or caterpillar; in the lan3For what is a mann profited] guage of naturalists, called a larva. Literally, " What sha/ll a man be The last name (which signifies profited," &c. There are those who literally a mask) was introduced by translate psyche here by the word Linuus, because the caterpillar life, because it is the samne word is a kind of outer covering, or disthat is so rendered in the previous guise of the future butterfly within. verse. But this does not convey the For it has been ascertained by 26 302 MATTHEW XVI. lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his 27 curious microscopic examination, mer-house; and some of them — that a distinct butterfly, only unude- those that have escaped the paraveloped and not full grown, is con- sites (the other grubs which are tained within the body of the cater- injured sometimes do the same) pillar; that this latter has its own — assuming the pupa-state, from organs of digestion, respiration, &c., which they emerge, butterflies. Of suitable to its larva life, quite dis- the unfortunate caterpillar that has tinct from, and independent of, the been preyed upon, nothing remains future butterfly which it encloses. but an empty skin. The hidden When the proper period arrives, and butterfly has been secretly conthe life of the insect, in this its first sumed. Now is there not somestage, is to close, it becomes what thing analogous to this wonderful is called a puupa, enclosed in a crys- phenomenon in the condition of alis or cocoon (often composed of some of our race? May not a man silk, as is that of the silk-worln have a kind of secret enemy withwhich supplies us that important in his own bosom, destroying his article), and lies torpid for a tinme soul, psyche, - though without inwithin its natural coffin, from which terfering with his well-being during it issues, at the proper period, as a the present stage of his existence; perfect butterfly. But sometimes and whose presence may never be this process is marred. There is a detected till the time arrives when numerous tribe of insects, well the last great chanye should take known to naturalists, called ich- place? " 27. For the Son neumon-flies, which in their larva of man shall come] For this state are parnsitical; that is, in- world is not all. This mortal life habit and feed on other larvae. The is nothing compared with that ichneumon-fly, being provided with which rises over it. It is worthy of a long, sharp sting, which is in fact notice how every sentence here, in an oviposito? (egg-layer), pierces verses 25, 26, 27, is introduced by with this the body of a caterpillar a for, each one taking us up yet in several places, and deposits her farther into the height of its subeggs, which are there hatched, and lime argument. " If any one wishes feed as grubs (larvse) on the inward to come after me, let him deny himparts of their victim. A most won- self, and take up his cross and folderful circumstance connected with low me;" " for he who wishes to this process is, that a caterpillar save his life shall lose it;" and that has been thus attacked goes then everything is gone, "for what on feeding, and apparently thriving shall a mall be profited, if he gain quite as well, during the whole of the whole world, and lose his own its larva-life, as those that have soul?" "For the Son of man shall escaped. For, by a wonderful pro- come in the glory of his Father, vision of instinct, the ichneumon- with his angels, and then shall he grubs within do not injure any of reward every man according to the organs of the larva, but feed his works." What a contrast this only on the future butterfly enclosed closing picture of the Son of man within it. And consequently, it is coming in the glory of his Father, hardly possible to distinguish a with that in verse 21, of his suffercaterpillar which has these enemies ing and dying at the hands of wickwithin it from those that are un- ed men! How are we lifted up by touched. But when the period ar- his words above all earthly conrives for the close of the larva-life, siderations of gain or loss, as we the difference appears. You may see him rising through the same often observe the common cabbage path of humiliation and suffering caterpillars retiring, to undergo and death, which he assigns to his their change, to some sheltered followers, and coming with his anspot, - such as the walls of a sum- gels to reward every man accord MIA.TTiEW XVI. 303 Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man 2s according to his works. Verily I say unto you, there be some ing to his works! accord. perceptions. So the kingdom of ing to his works] Literally, Heaven, or the religion of Jesus, according to his doing. Works, per- may be viewed, on a larger scale, haps, give us too superficial an idea in its relation to the human family. of the doing or working which begins When it took the place of the old in the soul of a man, - his inmost Mosaic dispensation, as it did at the life,- and reaches out through all destruction of Jerusalem and the his deeds. 28. there dispersion of the Jews, and was left be some standing here which free to unfold its powers and estabshall not taste of death, tilt] lish itself in the earth, that was, in Thus far every sentence in this dis- a peculiar sense, the coming of the course has been closely and logically Son of man in his kingdom, to the connected with that which went be- earth. And when, through succesfore. We have been taken through sive ages, the whole work of rethe scene of our probation here, to demption is accomplished, and the that of our retribution hereafter. whole family of man are grouped But in this sentence there is a sud- together in thought, and placed den, and apparently abrupt change before the eye as finishing their from one great subject to another. earthly course, and entering on a These apparently violent transitions further stage of existence, then, in are not uncommon in our Saviour's reference to them, the Son of man discourses. But if we could place is said to come in the glory of his ourselves at his point of vision, we Father, and all the holy angels should see how natural.and easy with him. Whether by has conzing the transition is. The central prin- we are to understand his personal ciples of a great thought connect presence in these different ways, or together topics which, to a super- only that he should be present in ficial eye, seem to have no relation his religion, his spirit, and his teachto one another. -In order to under- ings, which should be, like his disstand the transition, we must not ciples, his representatives among only learn, but make ourselves fa- men, is not distinctly taught. We miliar -with, the different applica- believe that he meant to intimate tions of the expression, the insgdons his actual and personal presence in of lieaven, and of the similar ex- his religion and his Church with his pression, the conming of the Son of followers on earth and in Heaven. zan. 1 The kingdom of Heaven is We know too little of the power the religion of Jesus in the indcli- which a spiritual being like Christ vidual soul, or in the community of may have of diffusing and extendbelievers called the Church,- first ing his personal and conscious preson earth, and then in the heavens. ence, to oppose these views by obWhen the kindom of Heavel, or the jections of this sort, which carry relioion of Jesus, with its divine no reasonable weight with them. truths and agencies, comes to any Now, if it be not presumptuous in one, and is received by him, it is to us so to speak, drawing our inferhim the coming of the Son of man ences not from any data of ours, ill his kingdom. When the religion but from the forms of expression of Jesus, or the kingdom of God, which he has used, we may supfinds its more perfect consummation pose that the mind of Jesus, equally in him on his leaving this world and at home in all these developments entering into a higher condition of of his religion, or different forms of being, it is to hilm the comning of his coming, connects them all tothe Son of man in the glory of his gether as parts of one great plan, Father with his anlgels, wvho are and passes easily from one to anthen first revealed to his spiritual other. In asking what a man could 304 MATTHEWr XVI. standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man comning in his kingdom. give in exchange for his soul, he till they see the Son of man coming follows him beyond this mortal life, [not in the glory of his Father with and speaks of meeting him there to his angels, but] in his kingdom." reward him according to his works. This is the same coming of the Son Then pausing a little, and thinking of manl as that referred to in [Matt. of the time when the Jewish nation x. 23. In these sudden transitions shall be dispersed, their city and from one theme to another, we must altars overthrown, and his own re-. remember that the Evangelists do ligion take the place of the ancient not give all the words that Jesus worship; and seeing around him spoke, but only the salient points, some who shall outlive the bloody often leaving the connecting and changes by which his kingdom is explanatory clauses and events thus to be established on the earth, wholly out of sight. The events he, in verse 28, gives utterance to related in this chapter may have this other thought, "Verily I say extended through several weeks, unto you, There be some standing and must have occupied a number here who shall not taste of death, of days. MATTHEW XVII. 1 —9. 305 C HAPTERI XVII. 1-9. - THE TRANSFIGURATION. TEiEREz has been much discussion in regard to the place where this remarkable event occurred. Traditions reaching back nearly to the middle of the fourth century have fixed on Mount Tabor as the spot. It is thus referred to before the end of the fourth century by Cyril of Jerusalem, and by St. Jerome who resided in Palestine. A little more than two hundred years later, mention is made of it by Antoninus. Martyr speaks of three churches erected on Mount Tabor, corresponding to the three tabernacles which Peter proposed to erect. But, as Dr. Robinson in his Biblical Researches, Vol. III. pp. 220, 221, has shown, from an early date, and down to the time of Josephus, the summit of Mount Tabor was occupied by a fortified city. It could not therefore have been the "high mountain" here mentioned by the Evangelists. Dr. Robinson supposes that the "' Mount of Transfiguration is rather to be, sought somewhere around the northern part of the lake, not very far from C.nsarea Philippi, where there are certainly mountains enough." The last locality that has been mentioned in the Gospel narrative, xvi. 13, is Crsarea Philippi. Jesus had gone up from Bethsaida at the northeast corner of the lake to the village of Cxsarea, which was at the eastern source of the Jordan, and near the foot of Mount Hermon. Six days after the conversation recorded as having taken place in that locality, occurred the scene of the Transfiguration. Those few days may have been spent by Jesus partly in the villages instructing the people and healing their sick, and partly in private and confidential intercourse 26 306 MATTIHEW XVII. 1-9. with his disciples amid the solitudes of the mountains. This was the extreme northern limit of his ministry. At length, the time having now come when he must set his face for the last time towards Jerusalem, wishing to make on the minds of the leading disciples an impression which could never be effaced, and seeking also, as he often did before his heaviest trials, for the inward supports which came from retirement and prayer, he took Peter and James and John, and went up into a high mountain to pray. lMay not this mountain have been Mount Hermon? Stanley, in his Sinai and Palestine, pp. 391, 392, says: "It is impossible to look up from the plain to the towering peaks of Hermon, almost the only mountain which deserves the name in Palestine, and one of whose ancient titles was derived from this circumstance, and not be struck with its appropriateness to the scene. That magnificent height — mingling with all the views of Northern Palestine from Shechem upwards — though often alluded to as the northern barrier of the Holy Land, is connected with no historical event in the Old or 1-New Testament. Yet this fact of its rising high above all the other hills of Palestine, and of its setting the last limit to the wanderings of Him who was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, falls in with the supposition which the words inevitably force upon us. High up on its southern slopes there must be many a point where the disciples could be taken'apart by themselves.' Even the transient comparison of the celestial splendor with the snow, where alone it could be seen in Palestine, should not, perhaps, be wholly overlooked. At any rate, the remote heights above the sources of the Jordan witnessed the moment, when, his work in his own peculiar sphere being ended, le set his face for the last time' to go up to Jerusalem."' But how are we to interpret the account of the Transfiguration itself? Dr. Furness entitles it, "The Dream of Peter." In his History of Jesus, p. 155, he supposes 3IATTIIEW XVII. 1 -9. 307 that Peter, after a time of great mental excitement, falling asleep, "began to dream; and in the visions of his sleep, his eyes having closed, perhaps, while fixed on the venerated form of his MIaster, and his mind being filled with the idea of the Messiah's glory, he still saw Jesus; but now all arrayed in robes of dazzling whiteness, in all that external glory associated with the person of the Messiah. And there appeared also to Peter, in his dream, two others, who, he thought, were Mloses and Elias; and they conversed with Jesus about what was to take place, - that mysterious decease at Jerusalem. WThile he was thus dreaming, a cloud came up, and it thundered; and the sound, startling the dreamer from his sleep, was instantly connected, as is not uncommon in dreams, with an articulate voice," &c., &c. Dr. Palfrey regards it rather as a visionary representation given for the encouragement of the disciples. In his relation between Judaism and Christianity, pp. 92, 93, he says: " It was fit that they should be instructed and reawakened by a glorious vision, presenting to them their AMaster, not with the environments of regal pomp, but as the equal associate of the venerated ancient teachers of their faith. And such being the case, I understand further, that the presence of Mioses and Elijah was visionary, and not real; that it was not Moses and Elijah actually conversing with Jesus that the Apostles saw, but that a vision of such a scene was presented to their view." Neander, in his Life of Jesus, though he rather inclines to regard the whole as an objective historical event, makes a supposition which embraces the substance of these two views. The disciples, he supposes, were deeply impressed by the prayer of Jesus. "His countenance beamed with radiance, and he appeared to them glorified and transfigured with celestial light. At last, worn out with fatigue, they fell asleep; and the impressions of the Saviour's prayer and of their conversation with him were reflected in a vision 308 MATTHEW XVII. 1 —9. thus: Beside him, who was the end of the Law aind the Prophets, appeared Moses and Elias in celestial splendor; for the glory that streamed forth from him was reflected back upon the Law, and the Prophets foretold the fate that awaited him at Jerusalem. In the mean time they awoke, and, in a half-waking condition, saw and heard what followed." " Still"," he adds, "the difficulty remains, that the phenomena, if simply psychological, should have appeared to all the three Apostles precisely in the same form. It is, perhaps, not improbable, that the account came from the lips of Peter, who is the prominent figure in the narrative." The more carefully we examine the narratives of the different Evangelists, the greater does tile difficulty in the way of these views appear. In the first place, the account is given by each of the three Evangelists with no word to indicate that it is not a narrative of real events. Jesus, with his three most intimate disciples, went up into a high mountain by themselves to pray. And while praying he was transfigured before them. His countenance was changed, shining as the sun, and his garments were white as the light, or, as 3Mark says, "exceeding white, like snow, so as no fuller on earth could whiten them." And Luke speaks of their overpowering brightness as of lightning flashes. And behold there were two men talking with him, M3oses and Elijah, who appeared to them in glory, and who spake of his departure which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. Peter and those who were with him had been - not were, as in our translation -weighed down with sleep. But when they were fully awake (Luke ix. 32) they saw his glory, and the two men that were standing with him. And as they-the two men —were departing from him, Peter, in his fear not knowing what to say, said, " Lord, it is good for us to be here; let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, one for 3Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was MATTHEW XVII. 1-9. 309 yet speaking, a shining cloud; or, according to Griesbach's reading, a cloud of light overshadowed them. They were filled with awe as they entered it. And there came from it a voice, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." And when the disciples heard it, they fell upon their faces and were exceedingly afraid. Then Jesus came and touched them, and said, 6 Rise, be not afraid,". when they raised their eyes, and saw Jesus alone. And as they were going down from the mountain, Jesus charged them saying, "Tell what you have seen to no one, till the Son of man has risen from the dead." "'And they kept it to themselves (Mark ix. 10), reasoning together what the rising from the dead was." The particulars of the transaction are given with minuteness and precision. It could not have appeared to one only, for " Peter and they who were with him" (Luke ix. 32) saw his glory and the two men that were standing with him." "And when the disciples" (not one of them) "heard," &c. they fell on their face. Nor could it have been a dream; for, apart from the improbability of the same dream occurring to them all, Luke says expressly, that, though they had been heavy with sleep, they now wh.en fully awake saw his glory, &c. Neither could it have been merely a vision; for they not only saw Moses and Elijah, but also heard what they said, and the subject of their conversation is reported to us: "They spake of his departure," &c. What the disciples heard from the cloud is also precisely reported. Besides, if the whole matter had been only a dream, or a scene only subjectively present to their minds, if "the presence of Moses and Elias was visionary and not real," why should it occupy the conspicuous and significant place it does in three of the Gospels? Still more, if "only a vision of such a scene was presented to their view, how was it possible that Jesus could attach so much importance to it as he did in charging the disciples to tell no one of it 310 MATTHEW XVI. 1-9. till after he had risen fiom the dead? Among the incidental indications of truthfulness in the narratives themselves, are the words in Mark, -"they reasoned among themselves what the rising from the dead should mean." How natural that they should thus reason together, and yet who, writing long after the event, and when the resurrection from the dead had become a common idea, could have thought to mention it unless it were a fact? The only objection to receiving these accounts as faithful historical narratives arises from the character of the facts themselves. They do not fall within the sphere of our common thought and experience. But one great object of Christ's coming into the world was to enlarge the sphere of our conceptions, to free us from the narrow, blinding, and despotic dominion of the senses, and open to us a glimpse at least of the great and spiritual realities by which we are environed. The disciples could not be reconciled to the idea of a suffering and crucified Messiah. They were perplexed and filled with grief by what Jesus had told them of his approaching death. Here for a moment the chosen three were allowed, with their quickened perceptions, to look through the veil, to see the glorified forms of two persons who had passed from the earth centuries before, and to hear them talk with Jesus of his departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. And although in their troubled and bewildered apprehension they did not then understand fully the import of what they saw and heard, yet afterwards they remembered it with a new perception of its significance, and recorded it for the instruction of those who should come after them. (See John i. 14, 2 Peter i. 16-18.) For once, as an emblem to all times, of the Divine glory in which he lived, the spirit of Jesus shone through and irradiated its mortal covering, lighting up his countenance till it was like the sun, and his very garments were, like the lightning, of a dazzling bright MATTHEW XVII. 1 -9. 311 ness, so as no fuller on earth could whiten them. In associating with him Moses and Elijah in their glorified forms, the Transfiguration furnishes a connecting link between two worlds. By these visible images of the departed it helps us in our conceptions of a spiritual and immortal condition, and enables us in our thought to people with bright and living forms the otherwise void and shadowy regions of the dead. Not only is Christ transfigured, and Moses and Elijah made visible, but a whole world of spiritual thought and life is revealed as filled, not merely with the one infinite intelligence, but with the tender sympathies and affections which drew those ancient benefactors of mankind to talk with Jesus when the time of his heaviest sorrows was at hand. The place which this event holds in the Gospel narrative is not without its significance. Jesus had been speaking of his approaching death and of the entire self-renunciation which he required of his followers. They could not understand him. He led them away therefore by themselves. Leaving the populous places about Caesarea Philippi, he probably took them into the mountain solitudes, and during a period of six days was imparting to them there instructions, of which no record has come down to us. Then, as a teacher sometimes does with the most advanced of his class, he chose out three of his disciples to impress on them a lesson which they alone were at all prepared to receive. He leads them up into a high mountain, and, while he is praying, his countenance glows with a celestial radiance, spirits of just men made perfect stand by him, and a voice is heard speaking to them from heaven. They did not fully understand it then, but after his death and resurrection from the dead had laid open to them its meaning, they publish their account of it to enrich forever the minds of Christian believers. " The design of this miracle," says Mr. Norton, " appears to have been, —1. By a scene which should make the most 312 MATTHEW XvII. 10- 13. powerful impression on the senses and the imagination,a' sign from heaven' such as the Pharisees had demanded, - to produce in the minds of the three leading Apostles who were present with Jesus the strongest conviction of his Divine mission, and to prepare them, as far as possible, for the overwhelming disappointment of their cherished hopes in his approaching death; 2. To show them that a close relation existed between himself and those earlier messengers of God whom they held in peculiar reverence, Moses, the founder, and Elijah, the restorer of their ancient religion, who had prepared the way for him who'came not to annul the law and the prophets, but to perfect;' 3. To give the disciples direct and palpable evidence of the reality of a future life." 10- 13.- THE COMING OF ELIJAH. "It would," says Lightfoot in his note on this passage, "be an infinite task to produce all the passages out of the Jewish writings, which one might, concerning the expected coming of Elias." The following, given here in a condensed form, is among the passages quoted by Lightfoot from the Jewish writers. " God shall restore the soul of Elias, which ascended of old into heaven, into a created body like to his former body, and shall send him to Israel before the day of judgment, and he shall admonish both the fathers and the children together, to turn to God." It was the expectation of the Jews that at the coming of the Miessiah there should be a resurrection from the dead, and that Elias was to come before the resurrection. WVhen Jesus, therefore, tells the disciples to say nothing about what they had seen till he had risen from the dead, they immediately in their minds connect this rising from the dead with the expected resurrection, and ask, If this appearance of Elias is all, and we are not permitted to speak of it till after the resurrection, MATTI-IHEW XVII. 24-27. 313 how is it that the Scribes say that Elias must come first, i. e. before the resurrection? Jesus replies, nearly in the words of Mal. iv. 6, "Elias is coming, and will restore all things," or put all things in order. He merely repeats this passage which the Jewish teachers were accustomed to use, to show, in reply to the disciples' question, why Elijah was expected first. Then he goes on in his own language to give his own view, which is, that the prophecy is already accomplished, that Elias has already come, and that the Jewish teachers who had made such account of his coming did not recognize him while he was with them, but did to him what they chose, and that in like manner the MIlessiah, the Son of man, would also suffer from them. "Then understood they that he spake of John the Baptist." Luke (i. 17) shows in what sense Elias was to come: " And he (John) shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias." 24 — 27.- TiHE TRIBUTE-MONEY AND THE FSI-I. The tribute-money was not paid to the Roman government, but for the Jewish and temple worship. (See Ex. xxx. 13, 2 Kings xii. 4, 2 Chron. xxiv. 6, 9.) Jesus in his conversation with Peter refers to his peculiar position as the Son of God, so as to impress it on the minds of his disciples. "It was necessary for him," says Mr. Norton, "to direct their thoughts to the fact of his and their extraordinary relation to God, and the peculiarity in his manner of doing it upon this occasion would tend to make a deeper impression on their minds than a simple declaration of the truth might have done." We agree with Olshausen in considering this the most difficuIt miracle in the Gospels. It, more than any other, has an air of marvellousness about it such as we find in later and apocryphal writings. But there is no reason to question the genuineness of the passage. There is 27 314 MATTHEW XVII. nothing derogatory to the Saviour's character in the performance of such an act. The Gospels are intended to meet the wants of all classes of minds, from the most ignorant to those most advanced in intellectual and moral culture. That which is needed to impress the ignorant may seem to others trivial and unworthy of a Divine author, while that which is the most striking evidence of a Divine authority to him who has made the greatest advances in spiritual improvement may be wholly without meaning to his ignorant neighbor. This, under the circumstances of the case, may have been the most effectual way of impressing important truths on the mind of Peter. Peter had made an inconsiderate promise. May it not be also that Jesus took that opportunity to show that even a hasty promise, if it involved no act of injustice to others, was in his sight so sacred that a miracle was to be performed, rather than that a disciple of his should fail to keep it? Bengel significantly says, "Men who are occupied in worldly affairs most easily take offence at the saints when money is in question." NOTE S. AND after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them; 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. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good 4 for us to be here; if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed 5 them; and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This 5. a voice out of the cloud] chap. iii. 17; secondly, at this "A voice came from heaven, first, central period; thirdly, and lastly, MATTHEW XVII. 315 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 came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again lo from the dead.- And his disciples asked him saying, Why ii then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus 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 not, but have done unto him whata little before our Lord's Passion, his denunciations of divine retriJohn xii. 28. After each of these bution, the prophet sets forth the voices from heaven, fresh virtue prominent sins of the times referred shone forth in Jesus, fresh ardor and to in his prediction, and it will be fresh sweetness in his discourses and perceived that they are principally actions, fresh progress." Bengel. those which Christ especially no9. the vision] " What ticed in his reprobation of the dethings they had seen." Mark ix. 9. generate people of his day:'I will 11. Elhias truly shall first be a swift witness against the sorcercome, and restore all things] ers, and against the adulterers, and But how did John the Baptist restore against false swearers, and against all thiisgs? " Seminaliter," says those that oppress the hireling in Bengel, i. e. " he will sow the seed his wages. the widow, and the fatherof these things: he will initiate less, and that turn aside the stranger them, as the preparation for what is from his right, and fear not me to follow." 12. but I say saith the Lord of Hosts.' These unto you, that Elias is come words find a correspondence in already] " With the prelc'hingl of those bold and cutting rebukes in Johlln the Baptist, as described by which our Lord exposed the proflithe Jewish and Gospel writers, and gacy of his own times. and which the history of the eventful era an- he so pointedly directed against nounced by him, is associated the adulterers, and those who betrayed memorable proplecy in TMalachi: others into adultery by their false Behold, I will send my messenger, doctrines of divorcement, - against and he shall prepare the way before false swearers and those who enme: and the Lord, whom ve seek, couraged false swearing by their shall suddenly come to his temple, absurd distinctions between oaths, and the messenger of the covenant, - against those who wronged the whom ye delight in [or wish for]: fatherless and the widow, and who behold, he shall come, saith the were the signal objects of his most Lord of Hosts. But who may abide solemn denunciations. the day of his coming? And who "But perhaps no portion of the shall stand when he appeareth? prophecy exhibits more striking For he is like a refiner's fire, and coincidences with the events of like fuller's soap; and lie shall sit the Gospel age than the concluas a refiner and purifier of silver: sion:' Behold, the day cometh and he shall purify the sons of Levi, that shall burn as an oven; and and purge them as gold and silver, all the proud, yea, and all that that they may offer unto the Lord do wickedly, shall be stubble: and an offering in righteousness.' In the daly that cometh shall burn 316 MATTH EW XVII. soever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he slpake unto 13 them of John the Baptist. And when they were come to the multitude, there came to 14 him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, 15 have mercy on my son; for he is lunatic and sore vexed; for ofttines he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I 16 brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, 0 faithless and perverse gen- 17 them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, was it foretold. As his immediate that it shall leave them neither root precursor, came also one who mlight nor branch. But unto you that fear be termed another Elijah, from the my name shall the Sun of Right- strong resembllnce he bore to that eonsness arise with healing in his stern and minatory prophet, assailwings. Behold, I will send in the vices of the day with reyou Elijah the prophet, before the marlkable zeal and boldness, and coming of the great anld dreadful endeavoring to persuade the Jews to day of the Lord; and lie shall turn a general reformation as the only the heart of the fathers to the chil- means of averting an impending dren, and the heart of the children destruction which would prove, he to their fathers, lest I come and observed, as anL axe laid to the smite the earth with a curse;'-or, roots of the trees.' A personage in other words, so as to prevent, if every way resembling him had been possible, or take the appropriate announced by the Messianic prophmeans to prevent, the infliction of ets, and our Saviour declared that punishment on the land,- not earth, John was the individual foretold. as the originall, not only here, but "Does any one say that all this often elsewhere also, is inappro- is certainly quite remarkable, but priately rendered in the common that still it is possible that John, version of the Scriptures. notwithstanding lie was a just man, " When this prophecy was utter- and held in the highest reverence, ed, the Jews had returned from that might have been misled by an arlong captivity in Babylon to which dent imagination in supposing himthe predictions of national jndgo- self the Forerunner predicted'? One ments in the Old Testament so fre- thing is plain. The destruction of quently refer. But the spirit of Jerusalem shortly after his day prophecy foresaw in the distant fn- was no illusion of the imagination. ture a still heavier judgment await- The catastrophe really took place, ing them for their sinls. Such a whatever may be thought of its calamity actually befell them in the being a fulfilment of the judgment Gospel age, - a calamity far ex- denounced by Malachi. It folceeding any they had ever before lowed the preaching of John, preexperienced. Mloreover, not many cisely as it had been predicted that years anterior to this catastrophe, a a tremendous calamity to Judca remarkable person, styling himself would follow the preaching of a a messenger from God, and who an- prophet whose description strikingly thenticated his commission by mira- answers to that of the Baptist. And cles, made his appearance in Jud-a, as that terrible event which overpreaching everywhere a sublime threw and scattered the Jewish system of piety and virtue, severely nation, soon after the time of the reproving the people for their im- Forerunner, was no matter of fancy, moralities, and denouncing the cor- neither could any imalgination have ruption of the priesthood. Thus foreseen it." Nichols's Hours with sIATTHEW XVII. 317 eration! how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer is you? Bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him; and the child was cured from 19 that very hour.- Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, 20 and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said 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 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. 24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received the Evangelists. Vol. I. pp. 270- cause so exalted a being as Jesus to 274. 14-21. The critical move! This sudden expression of notice of this miracle belongs more feeling gives a most valuable insight properly to Mark ix. 14 - 29, where into the life of Jesus; and while it the particulars are given more fully. shows how strong his emotions 17. how Iong shall I were, it also shows that his strugbe with you?] The following re- gle against temptation was not conmark of Bengel here may be true, fined to the wilderness. " Only he though it belongs to a province can speak thlls," says Stier, "who, in which we should be slow to as the Holy One among sinners, bore speculate. " He was in haste to the burden of all, and whose whole return to the Father; yet he knew life was in the innermost sense, from that he could not effect his de- the very first, a profound szfilring parture Luntil he h'ad conducted through the feeling and enduring of his disciples into a state of faith. sin. Thus, according to the Father's Their slowness was painful to him." counsel, it was necessary in this Something of the same feeling is word, which was drawn' from the shown in John xiv. 9:' Have I usually closed depths of his heart, been so long time with you, and yet immediately after the revelation of hast thou not known me, Philip~? " his glory, to manifest the glory also how long shall I suffer of his human endurance, the pain you?] how lono- shall I put up, or of divine love in his human nature bear, with you? The change from which was alike strongly susceptithe Mountain of Transfiguration to ble of this on account of meekness this scene of misery and unbelief and purity. If we had not this was very great, and evidently a most word, and that other in Luke xii. 50, trying one to our Saviour. The we should want the true, entire invery'susceptibilities by which he sight into the self-denying, atoning was capable of being lifted up into nature even of his whole earthly such a height of joy and glory course in our flesh and blood. What would make him feel more pain- complainiungs, klnown only to the fully the contrast here. How natu- Father, does this single expression, ral is this outburst of holy impa- which lie neither can nor will retience, and yet how different from strain, presuppose? " 21. the passionless level in which a but by prayer and fasting] by writer of fiction would be likely to entire devotion to God, and self27 * 318 MATTHEW XVII. tribute-money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your Master 25 pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, renunciation. 24. tribute- behinfd, was now following his Lord. money]'a ~81pax/ia, the two- Chrysostom soggests that this quesdrachmanc, a sum paid annually by tion [that of the collectors to Peter] the Jews of twenty years old and may be a rude and ill-mannered one: upwards towards the Temple inll'Does your Master count himself Jerusalem, Exod. xxx. 11-16; 2 exempt from the payment of the Kings xii. 4; 2 Chron. xxiv. 6- 9. ordinary dues? We know his freeThe original sum was half a shekel, dom: does he mean to exercise it which was not a coin, but a certain here?' Yet, on the other hand, it weight of silver. " In the time of may have been, as I suppose it was, the Maccabees (1 Mace. xv. 6) the the exact contrary. Having seen Jews received the privilege, or or heard of the wonderful works won the right, from the kings of which Christ did, they may really Syria of coining their own money, have been uncertain in what light and the shekels, half-shekels, and to regard him, whether to claim quarter-shekels, now found in the from him the money or not; and in cabinets of collectors, are to be re- this doubting and inquiring spirit, ferred to this period. These grow- they may have put the question to ing scarce, and not being coined Peter. This Theophylact suggests. any more, it became the custom to But, after all, we want that which estimate the temple dues as two- the history has not given, the tones in drachms, a sum actually somewhat which the question was put, to know larger than the half-shekel, as those whether it was a rude one or the who have compared together the contrary. To their demand Peter, weights of the existing specimens overhasty, as was so often the case, have found." As the produce of at once replied that his Master the miracle was to pay for two per- would pay the money. No doubt sons, the sum required was four zeal for his Master's honor made drachmas, or a whole shekel; and him so quick to pledge his Lord; he the stater, which is translated piece was confident that his piety would of money, in verse 27, is just that make him prompt to every payment sum. Josephus (Ant. XVIII. 9. 1) sanctioned and sanctified by God's speaks of this as an annual pay- Law. Yet at the same time there ment in his time; and Philo, also, was here, on the part of the apostle, "who tells us how conscientiously a failing to recognize the higher and ungrudgingly it was paid by dignity of his Lord: it was not in the Jews of the Dispersion, as well this spirit that he had said a little as by the Jews of Palestine, so that while before,' Thou art the Christ, in almost every city there was a the Son of the living God.' He unsacred treasury for the collection of klerstood not, or at least for the time these dues, some of which came had lost sight of, his Lord's true pofrom cities beyond the limits of the sition and dignity, that he was a Son Roman empire." Doth over his own house, not a servant not your Master pay tribute? in another's house...... It was " We may presume," says Trench, not for Him who was'greater than "that our Lord and Peter, with the temple,' and himself the true others also, it is most probable, of temple (John ii. 21), identical with his disciples, were now returning to it according to its spiritual signifiCapernaum, which was'his city,' cance, and in whom the Shekinah after one of his usual absences. glory dwelt, to pay dues for the supThe Lord passed forward without port of that other temple built with cuestion, but the collectors detained hands, which was now fast losing Peter, who, having lingered a little its significance, since the true taber rMATTHIEW XVII. 319 Simon? Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith 26 unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the 27 children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast a 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. nacle was set up, which the Lord fering in its essence from the apochad pitched, and not man. It is ryphal miracles, which are conthen for the purpose of bringing tinually mere sports and freaks of back Peter, and with him the other power, having no ethical motive or disciples, to the true recognition of meaning whatever." Notes on the himself, from which they had in Miracles. 25. custom or part fallen, that the Lord puts to him tribute] a property-tax, or a pollthe question which follows; and tax. 26. Then are the being engaged, through Peter's children free] Referring to himhasty imprudence, to the render- self, according to Peter's confesing of the didrachm, which now he sion, as the Son of God, and therecould hardly recede from, yet did fore not liable to pay money for the it in the remarkable way of this support of worship in his Father's miracle.... Here, as so often temple. It is important to bear in in the life of our Lord, the depth mind that this money was not paid of his poverty and humiliation is to the Roman government, but for lightened up by a gleam of his the temple service. 27. glory. And thus, by the manner for me and thee] As the tribute of the payment, did he reassert here paid was for those twenty the true dignity of his person, which years old and upwards, and as it else by the payment itself might was paid only for Jesus and Peter, have been obscured and complllro- Bengel infers that the other dismised in the eyes of some, but ciples had not then passed their which it was of all importance for twentieth year. They were, probathe disciples that they should not bly, most of them very young men; lose sight of, or forget. The miracle, but notwithstanding Bengel's sathen, was to supply a real need, - gacity and learning in such matters, slight indeed as an outward need, we do not think there is any sufficifor the money could assuredly have ent reason to suppose that at that been in some other and more ordi- time any of them, with perhaps the nary way procured; but as an inner exception of John, were less than need, most real; in this, then, dif- twenty years of age. 320 MATTHlEW XVIII. 1- 10. CHAPTER XVIII. THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH OF CHRIST. WE look upon this chapter as indicating, 1. (1 - 4.) The terms of admission into the kingdom of Heaven, or the Church of Christ; 2. (5-10.) The thoughtful tenderness and solicitude with which his followers, or the members of his Church, are to watch over the weak and inexperienced among them; 3. (11-14.) The earnestness with which they are to seek out and save the lost; 4. (15 - 17.) The manner in which, as members of his Church, we are to deal with those of our brethren who injure us; 5. (18- 20.) The power which is given to us as united together in him and he in us; and 5. (21-35.) The forgiving and forbearing spirit which we are to exercise towards our brethren, however often they may sin against us. The meaning of each passage is perhaps in itself plain enough; but it requires close attention and a careful analysis to see how intimately the different clauses are connected, and how they all bear on the same subject. 1-10. First, there are the disciples with their minds so blinded by schemes of personal ambition and their obstinate Jewish prejudices, that they are hardly able to understand the plainest teachings of their Master. Their jealousy and pride had perhaps been excited by the particular favor which had been shown (xvii. 1) to Peter, James, and John, and they were disputing by the way as to which of them should hold the highest offices in his kingdom. Jesus (Luke ix. 47), knowing the feeling by which they were moved, asked them (Mark ix. 33), after coming into the house, what they had been disputing about by the way. They, obviously abashed by his ques MATTHEW XVIII. 1 - 10. 321 tion, at first made no reply. But afterwards, concealing the invidiousness of their personal dispute under the general form of their question, they asked Jesus who is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven, i. e. in the community or kingdom which he is about to establish on the earth? He replied in such a way as not only to meet the specific question, but the feeling out of which their dispute and all similar disputes have arisen. He called to him a child, and with this impressive emblem before them, said, "Unless ye be converted and become as little children"-far from being the greatest " ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven," - shall not belong to my kingdomn, or my church, at all. These proud, ambitious thoughts and prejudices of yours must be put aside. For he who like this little child makes himself of no account, and has his mind and heart open with childlike docility to every pure influence and teaching, - he is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. Tfhen, rising from the literal to the figurative meaning of the word child, and carrying the idea of self-renunciation or humility out into deeds of active beneficence, he adds, whosoever shall receive one such child, i. e. one weak and inexperienced disciple of mine in my name, i. e. in my spirit, receiveth me, and, Luke ix. 48, not only me, but Him who hath sent me. As the rulers of a mighty empire throw their defences around the least of their obedient subjects, and identify themselves with him if his rights are violated, so Christ identifies himself with the most helpless and ignorant of his disciples, and makes their cause his. And not only will he who receives such an one in a spirit of childlike humility and love, receive Christ, but, 6, he who shall offend such an one, i. e. who shall be the means of causing a weak brother to sin, shall be exposed to the heaviest condemnation. He shall be cut off from the community of believers. Sad it is for the world, 7, that it should abound in temptations to sin; but that, alas 822 MATTHEW XVIII. 1- 10. for them! is no excuse for those who lead others astray. And as there is no way to avoid being the cause of temptation to others, except by cutting off whatever is wrong in our own lives and hearts, therefore, 8, 9, if thy hand or thine eye is causing thee to sin, cut it off, tear it out, and cast it from thee. Then, in a still stronger form, he repeats the admonition that they must not let their pride and want of charity injure the weak and inexperienced disciples, for, he adds, the angels who watch over them are highly honored by my Father who is in heaven, and, unworthy and lost though these feeble ones may seem to you, it is for that very reason that the Son of man has come to save them. And his coming to save them is a further reason why you should be the more careful and thoughtful for them. I-low does it seem to you? Then, 12, 13, follows the pertinent and beautiful parable of the shepherd on the mountains searching for the one foolish sheep that had wandered away, as they also - his disciples - must go out and search for the erring and the lost. For in so doing, they will only be acting in accordance with the will of God. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven, that one of these little ones - these frail and erring ones - should perish. If then your brother sin against you, do what you can to "gain" or win him back, - 1. By going to him and setting the matter truthfully before him between you and him alone, that his pride may not be excited by the presence of others, and that he may be touched by your kindness; 2. If he does not hear you alone, then take two or three with you, that he may be moved by the weight of their authority, and think more carefully of what he has done; but, 3. If he disregard them, refer it to the church, and, if he refuse to listen to them, you have done all that you can do, and are henceforth to regard him as no longer a Christian brother. For an explanation of v. 18, which is closely connected with this, 3MATTIITEW XVIII. 18 —20. 323 see note to xvi. 19. The authority there given to St. Peter is here assigned to all the Apostles, and also, we think, to the Church in all ages, which of course overthrows the papal claim of supremacy through St. Peter. 18 - 20. The condition of fulfilment for the promises in verses 18 and 19 is given in 20. "For where two or three are brought together in my name, i. e. in my spirit, there am I in the midst of them, and whatsoever they, thoroughly united in my spirit and in harmony with one another, shall in accordance with that spirit bind or loose on earth, it shall be bound or loosed in heaven, and whatever they shall ask, it shall be granted to them." The perfect harmony with the spirit of Christ, i. e. in his name, is the condition on which the action on earth shall be ratified in heaven, and on which the prayer of the disciples on earth will be answered by their Father in heaven. So in John xiv. 13, 14, and xvi. 25, 26, the same condition, "in my name," is annexed. Have we not here (17-20) Christ's idea of a church?'Where two or three are gathered together in his name, and he is in the midst of them, is not that, in its simplest form, a Christian Church? The church spoken of in this passage is, as Stier says, "the society, called together in unity of faith and love, of those who believe on him, who are united in his name; a society in which is carried out and exercised upon earth what is valid in heaven. This is the simple, fundamental idea here clearly expressed." The presence of Christ is, of course, a spiritual presence, and the form of speech here and elsewhere (e. g. John xiv. 23) would indicate that it is also a personal presence. Here then is a Christian Church - a community of believers, though only two or three - coming together in his name, united in his spirit, and he himself in the midst of them, the medium to them of a divine life, which flows in upon them, and by which they grow up in him, "the one Mediator between God and men." Here is the 324 MATTHEW XVIII. 1S-20. seminal idea of a Christian Church, and with this as a centre, in accordance with the directions given in this chapter, each separate community of believers, formed in direct communion with Christ, has life in itself through him, and is in itself through him a living organism, with all the elements of Christian growth and life. And wherever two or three of its members find themselves, in the Providence of God, cut off by change of place or other circumstances from the primitive community, they also meeting together in the name of Christ may be united with him as members of his body, and so long as they live in accordance with his precepts they are truly a church of Christ, owned, assisted, blessed by him, and growing up into him who is the head. What they shall bind or loose in his name, i. e. in accordance with his spirit, on earth, shall be bound or loosed in heaven, and what they shall agree on earth to ask in accordance with his spirit, it shall be done for them by their Father who is in heaven. This is the primitive idea of the Church, — and the only one which was given by Christ. Archbishop Whately says, that "the churches founded by the Apostles were all quite independent of each other, or of any one central body." Out of this simple community of Christian believers, united with one another in Christ, and having such officers, or servants rather and ministers, as might be required for the purposes of general convenience, order, and edification, have grown up the monstrous ecclesiastical assumptions and prerogatives, by which men, under different names, but always in the spirit of arrogance and presumption that is here rebuked, have lorded it over God's heritage. What can be more directly in violation of the teachings of Jesus than the prerogatives and despotic authority which have been assumed over his Church? His language is: "Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven;" and the kingdom MATTHEW XVIII. 21- 35. 325 of Heaven in the question, verse 1, to which these words are a reply, is the kingdom of Christ on earth, his Church here on earth. In Luke xxii. 24-26 (with which compare Matthew xx. 25 27) he uses still stronger language. There was a strife among the disciples, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, "' The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called Benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief as he that doth serve." The same idea is again urged upon the disciples by Jesus in language which looks as if it had been directly aimed at the distinctions which have sprung up to feed a low, earthly ambition in his Church. " Be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master [Schoolmaster], even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant." (Matthew xxiii. 7-11.) Of course these terms are not to be taken literally; but if they have any purpose or meaning whatever, it is to condemn the spiritual domination and pride which have been cherished and exercised within the Church, and under the pretence of sustaining its dignity and authority. 21-35. As to the question put by Peter, and the reply to it, it is not certain whether they made a part of this same conversation or not. Even if they did not, the Evangelist has evidently introduced them in this place as bearing upon the subject which has just been under consideration. The circumstances of the case, especially the manner in which the question is put, would seem to indicate that Peter was prompted to ask the question by what had just been said. After the directions which Jesus had given, 15-17, for dealing with an offending brother, 28 326 3MATTIHEW XVIII. Peter asked for some specific rule. lie wished to know precisely how many times he is to forgive, and in mentioning seven as the number, he undoubtedly thinks that he is carrying his forbearance to tlfe farthest possible limit. The reply of Jesus, "I say not unto you, until seven times, but until seventy times seven," implies that there are to be no limits of the kind which Peter has suggested. And to illustrate and enforce the duty of forgiving others from our need of the Divine forgiveness, he added the parable of the unmerciful servant, which shows in the most forcible manner that we cannot expect God to forgive us unless we from our hearts forgive every one his brother. It is the same doctrine implied in the Lord's prayer (vi. 12), and more explicitly urged in the remarks which follow it (vi. 14, 15). N O T E S. AT the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying,;Vho is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven? And Jesus 2 called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 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 1. At the same time] Liter- ing is in the midst of the open sea, ally, at that hoar, but not thus to where there could be no possible be taken. It is nearly equivalent hope of escape. This mode of to Then, or At that tinme. punishment was not practised by 6. a millstone] The form the Jews, though it was in use of expression here is very strong. among some other nations. It is The millstone is of the heavy kind better for a man to be drowned now turned by animals, and the drown- inl the sea, than to live till he has IMATTHEW XVIII. 327 7 depth of the sea. - Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man 8 by whom the offence cometh! 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.1o Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold ii 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? 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 13 the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And 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. 14 Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven caused these little ones to sin, and tie about their angels, and we ourthen die. 8. if thy hand selves, as believers, do not think or thy foot offend thee] What- enough of ours. The angels are in ever is to you a cause or occasion heaven, and yet occupied at the of sin, though it be a hand, or foot, same time in service and business or eye, cut it off, pluck it out, anld on earth about their wards; for the cast it from you. " Hand, foot, heaven is not closed in space over eye," says Olshausen, " here appear the earth, but is ever open to us in to be used by the Saviour to denote everything which it sends. Where mental powers and dispositions, and the angels of God go and stand, he counsels their restraint, their there also is heaven, and the face non-development, if a man find of God, which they at all times, himself, by their cultivation, with- without interruption from anything drawn from advancing the highest else, behold." 12. he principle of life." " It is, hoNever, not leave the ninety and nine, a more elevated thing to succeed in and goeth into the mountains] learning how to cultivate even the Luke xv. 4 says, " in the wilderlower faculties in harmony withl ness." " The combined description the higher life." 10. their of the pastures in the wilderness, angels] Behold the face, a-c. indi- and on the mountains, can hardly cates a place of honor and peculiar find any position in Palestine prefavor. " This saving of our Lord," cisely applicable, except'the mounsays Alford, "assures us that those tainous country' or'wilderness,' angels whose honor is hi~gh before so often called by these names, on God are intrusted with thle charge the east of the Jordan. The shepof the humble and meek, —the herd of this touching parable thus children in agre and the children becomes the successor of the wild in grace. "" We speak to our herdsmen of the trans-Jordanic children," says Stier, " far too lit- tribes who wandered far and wide 328 MATTHEW XVIII. that one of these little ones should perish.- Moreover, if 1a 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 thee, then take with 16 thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neg- 17 lect 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 over those free and open hills,- while it did not invent, has yet asthe last relics of the patriarchal sumed them into its service, and state of their ancestors." Stanley's employed thenm in a far loftier sense Sinai and Palestine, p. 416. than any to which the world had ever 17. unto the church] This word, put them before...... KKX7tc'la,:KKXlo'rla, is found nowhere in the as all know, lvwas the lawful assermGospels, except in this verse and bly in a free Greek city of all those Matt. xvi. 18: " On this rock I will possessessed of the rights of citizenbuild my church," —a remarkable ship, for the transaction of public fact, when we consider how much affairs. That they were summoned the Church has arrogated to itself is expressed in the latter part of so that the history of the Church is the word; that they were sumconsidered synonymous with the moned out of the whole population, history of Chlristianity. The grad- a select portion of it, including neiual ascendency of the Church and tiler the populace, nor yet strangers, its offices, - of an outward despotic nor those who had forfeited their authority over the inward life and civic rights, this is expressed in the precepts of our religion, - furnishes first. Both the calling, and the callone of the saddest exhibitions of ing out, are moments to be rememhuman ambition and depravity. bered, when the word is assumed The word, as used by Jesus, was into a higher Christian sense, for in undoubtedly intended to express them the chief part of its peculiar what he meant by a community of adaptation to its auguster uses lies. believers united in him, and endow- It is interestinl to observe how, on ed by him with all the means of one occasion in the New Testament, grace which are needed for their the word returns to its earlier sigChristian life and advancement. nificance." (Acts xix. 32, 39, 40.) In the passage before us he refers Thle meaning of the word ecclesia, to one such community of believers church, may derive some light as complete in itself and as having from the use, by our Saviour, of the autlhority to deal with offenders. word KXEKTroL, the elect, or the In Matt. xvi. 18 he uses the word chosen, since the ecclesia was the Clhurch to express in the abstract body of the eclectoi, the chosen. the whole system of means and " For many are called, but few are powers and agencies by which his chosen," eclectoi. (Matt. xxii. 14.) kingdom was to be established in "But for the sake of the elect the world, resting, as they all do, [eclectoi] those days shall be shorton faith in him as the Christ, the elled." (Matt. xxiv. 22.) " So as to Son of the living God. The word deceive, if possible, even the elect." itself, says Trench, Synonymes of (Matt. xxiv. 24.) In verse 31 of the New Testament, pp. 17, 18, " is the same chapter, " And they shall one of those words whose history gather together the elect from it is peculiarly interesting to watch, the four winds." "And he shall as they obtain a deeper meaning, avenge his elect." (Luke xviii. 7.) and receive a new consecration in " Let him save himself, if he be the Christian Church, which, even the Christ, the chosen [the elect] of IMATTHEW XVIII. 329 is 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 anything 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 ami I in the midst of them. God." (Luke xxiii. 35.) The Faith of Jesus. In this sense the Church of Christ is the body or word is used by St. Paul, e. g. Col. conmmunity of the elect, of those i. 18 " And he is the head of the who are not only called, but called body, the Church." 20. in out, i. e. chosen as true and faithful my niame] Name denotes the perbelievers. It includes the weak, son, the being himself, or his spirit. the inexperienced, and those who To assemble in the name of Jesus, are easily led astray, and directs the and pray in his naime. presupposes strong to watch over them; to seek the life and the spirit of Jesus to be them out when they wander away; already existing in those so meeting to deal kindly but honestly with together. "It is no isolated act," them, when they do wrong; and to "but requires rather as a necessary forgive them whenever they sin- condition, that man should be under cerely and penitently ask to be the power of living Christian prinforgiven. Here is the Christian ciple." The influence of combined Church, calling in those who are and associated prayer, through the without, and receiving those who, sympathetic quickening of the religby accepting the call, cause theim- ious nature is here implied. selves to be effectually called, and there am I in the midst of numbered among the elect. The them] He is present by his spirit, word church, in the New Testa- which they are thus cherishing in nment, is almost always applied to a their own hearts, and in his religion single body of believers, united in which they are thus seeking to esone another and in Christ, and thus tfablish as the rule and law of their forming a community by them- lives. HIe also, we suppose, promises selves, with all the privileges, ordi- to be himself p2ersonally present nances, and means of grace essen- with them. Such a promise does tial to salvation, so that if every not of itself prove him omnllipresent. other Church in the world should We are too apt to infer that powers be cut off, in this one would be left more than human can belong only the germl of all that would be need- to God. It is said that because ed to evangelize and convert the Jesus stilled the tempest. he must world. The word church, in Matt. therefore have been omnipotent: xvi. 18. is used to express in the that because he knew that Peter abstract that system of powers and would catch a fish with the piece of ag'encies, human and divine, by money in his mouth, therefo'e lie which the kingdom of Heaven, the was omniscient; and that because religion of Jesus, is to sustain, ex- he is personally present with all tend, and perpetuate itself in the those wsho come together in his world, so that the gates of death, name, therefore he is omnipresellt. the powers of evil, shall not prevail Such reasoning is altogether Inagainst it. It is also used, though authorized. Between the liimitavery rarely, and never by our tioes of man's faculties andl the Saviour, or in the Gospels, to desig- omnipotence of God, there is room nate the great body of the faith- for the exercise of powers which ful throughout the world, who live lie beyond the reach of all that we and believe in Christ, keeping the caln know and distinctly conceive. commlandmlents of God and the We cannot define the ranks of be28` 330 MATTHEW XVIII. 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 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 paymlent to be made. The servant therefore fell down and wor- 26 shipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the Lord of that servant was moved with 27 compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But 28 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. ings and intelligences which may place in a religious as in a scientific range through the boundless fields investigation, and is as dangerous of existence between us and the in the interpretation of the words Supreme Mind. We cannot set of Divine Truth as in the limitaany precise limits to their powers. tions which it would put on the Between the limitations of man's works of the Divine Mind. presence, while he is in the body, 24. ten thousand talents] The and the ubiquity of the Infinite largest sum that was spoken of, as Spirit, the power of being personally we sometimes say a thousand milpresent in places distant from one lions of dollars. According to Olsanother at the same moment, may hausen, -it could not be less than be possessed in entirely different $13,000,000. " In the constlruction degrees by different beings. A of the tabernacle, twenty-nine talman may be present to ten thousand ents of gold were used. (Exod. men at the sanme moment, acting( xxxviii. 24.) David prepared for by his voice and gestures on every the temple three thousand talents one of the vast assembly. It may of gold, and the princes five thouwell be, that spiritual beings of a sand." According to Plutarch, it higher order, not bound by a mate- was exactly this sum of 10,000 rial organization, may with their talents with -which Darius sought clearer perceptions and finer powers to buy off Alexander; and the payof action be present at the same ment of the same sum was imposed moment to millions of beings widely by the Romans on Antiochus the separated from one another. It will Great, after his defeat by them. not do then to accept the reasoning 26. fell down and by which one class of Christians worshipped him] A customary argue that the promise here made act of respect from an inferior to by Jesus to be personally present a superior. 28. an hundred with his disciples is an impossi- pence] less tha'n a millionth part bility; or that by which others ar- of ten thousand talents, showing gue, that because he is thus present the smallness of our brother's oblihe must therefore be omnipresent. gation to us, compared with ours to Bad reasoning is as much out of God. he laid hands on him, MATTHEW XVIII. 331 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, 0 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 his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tor35 mentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my Heavenly Father do also unto you, ifye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. and took him by the throat] dignity of the persons, is nicely more exactlv and literally, he seized indicated by the l'anguage. and choked hini. Pay me 32. 0 thou wicked servant] His that thou owest] Observe here cruelty to his fellow-servant was the haughty mode of expression more severely regarded than his which is so exactly in character wasting his lord's goods. with the reckless and cruel servant. 84. till he should pay all that He does not mention the trifling was due unto him] and as that suI1 of one hundred pence, which can never be done, the condition, would lessen his consequence and it has been said, amounts to a perrebuke his pride, but shows his in- petual imprisonment, and theresolence while he conceals the small- fore proves the doctrine of eternal ness of his claims, as some do the punishment. The Roman Catholics, poverty of their ideas, by a grand, on the contrary, and some Protimperious, and generalizing form of estant writers, e. g. Olshausen, inspeech. If the sum due to him had fer from it, that as the word until been ten thousand talents, he could implies that a limit is fixed, so not have made a more loftyv and there is such a thing after death sounding demand. 25. fell as deliverance, in behalf of some. down at his feet, and besought It seems to us, however, unreasonhim ] Not as in verse 26, fell able to deduce any doctrine from down and worshipped him. The dif- one of the minor adjuncts of a ferent decrees of homage customary parable. in the two cases, according to the 332 MATTHEW XIX. 1-12. CHAPTER XIX. 1-12.- THE CHRISTIAN LA~W OF DIVORCE. 1, 2. JESUS now left Galilee for the last time. As the Samaritans (Luke ix. 53) refused to receive him, he turned eastward from the direct route to Jerusalem, and crossing the Jordan entered the Perma, a part of the kingdom of Herod Antipas. Strictly speaking, Judclea did not extend beyond the Jordan. But here, as Mr. Norton remarks, it is "to be understood in its more extended meaning, as equivalent to Palestine. The name Pervea is not used in the New Testament. The expression, Jiedea beyond the Jordan is, as Reland remarks, used by Josephus in one instance to denote Perea." Antiq. XII. 4, 11. 3- 6. The Pharisees come to try and perplex him by their questions, and ask him if it is lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause. This, as De Wette suggests, was a delicate subject to be discussed in the dominions of Herod Antipas. See xiv. There was a division of opinion among the Rabbins as to the construetion to be put upon the Mosaic law of divorce in Deut. xxiv. 1. The School of Hillel maintained from it that when anything in his wife displeased a husband, "even if she had only oversalted his soup," it would be a sufficient reason for giving her up. Rabbi Schammai took the expression in a more limited sense, as referring only to what was scandalous and dishonorable.'" In the words for every cause," says Olshausen, "there is expressed that exposition of the Mosaic law which agrees with the opinions of Hillel's followers, and the question accordingly is so put as to request his opinion on that view." Jesus, in his reply, pays no regard to these disputes. He goes not only be MATTHEW XIX. 1- 12. 333 hind them, but also behind the law of Moses, to the fundamental reason on which the law of marriage and divorce must rest. But he does this in a way not to offend their Jewish prejudices. From the constitution of the sexes as shown in the act of man's creation, Jesus declares, in words sacred to the Jews (Gen. ii. 24) the priority and sacredness of the marriage relation beyond all others. Not by the law of Moses, but long before that, in the constitution of the sexes, by the very act of creation, God ordained the law which is to be binding in this relation, and, "What God hath thus joined together, let not man put asunder." 7, 8. But if this be so, they ask, "Why did Moses command [permit, Mark x. 4] to give a writing of divorcement, and put her away." In reply to this question, Jesus again lays down one of those fundamental principles which so widely distinguish his views of law from all others. God in his dealings with man, he here intimates, must adapt his specific laws and regulations to the necessities of man's condition. Hence a succession of dispensations, each adapted to the existing state of things, and preparing the way for something better. Hence in many respects, because of the hardness of men's hearts, because they on account of their blunted moral sensibilities are able to bear only so much, God allows and even enjoins at one period of human progress that which is forbidden in a more advanced stage of moral and religious culture. Even Milton, in his Tetrachordon, allows the necessity of this adaptation, though it is opposed to his general course of argument. "For this hardness of heart," he says, "it was that God suffered, not divorce only, but all that which by civilians is termed the secondary law of nature and of nations. He suffered his own people to waste and spoil and slay by war, to lead captives, to be some masters, some servants..... in his commonwealth; some to be undeservedly rich, others to be undeservingly poor..... 334 MATTHEW XIX. 1 —12. In the same manner, and for the same cause, he suffered divorce as well as marriage, our imperfect and degenerate condition of necessity requiring this law among the rest, as a remedy against intolerable wrong and servitude above the patience of man to bear." This graded principle of adaptation to man's condition and capabilities in the laws which are designed for his use even by the Divine wisdom, must always be borne in. mind by those who would study the laws of Mioses in the light of the highest philosophy. Law is always given, as St. Paul says of the Jewish law (Gal. iii. 19), because of transgressions; and not that which is perfect when judged by the rules of absolute rectitude, but that which is the best that men are able to bear at the time, is the law which is dictated by the highest wisdom. Considering the character of the Jews in the time of Moses, the difficulty with which they were brought to recognize the highest sentiments of religion and morals, and especially the violence of their passions and their tendency continually to lapse into idolatry and a low sensualism, it is easy to see that some regard must have been had to these things in the laws of marriage. In many respects the Jews of that time were but a race of semi-barbarous, half-emancipated slaves. Lightfoot in his commentary on this passage has shown that, had it not been for the permission of divorce and the legal forms by which the rights of the wife were thus guarded, she might have been summarily dismissed, or exposed to the most harsh and cruel treatment, or even to death from the violence of her husband. 8. Jesus here returns again to the fundamental principle which existed before Moses, before Jacob or Abraham, and according to that the law of God was and is, as he has already declared (v. 32), that there shall be no divorce except for the one crime which destroys the sacredness, and is therefore in fact a dissolution, of the marriage re MATTHEW XIX. 13-15. 335 lation. The remarkable thing here again is the facility with which Jesus, even in discussing rules of legislation with the most bigoted adherents to the letter of the law, goes behind specific rules, and rests his doctrine on the substantial reality of things. " Christ taught, as the men of his day remarked, on an authority very different from that of the scribes. Not even on his own authority. He did not claim that his words should be recognized because he said them, but because they were true.'If I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?' " - F. W. Robertson. 10 - 12. The conversation which follows took place (Miark x. 10) in the house, and was addressed particularly to the disciples. "If," say they, "the case of a man is so," i. e. if the law and his liability under it are such, " it is better for a man not to marry." To this remark of theirs Jesus assents with particular reference, we may suppose, to the hardships and persecutions which his followers must endure in those times. Still, he adds, this rule of celibacy is not one of universal application. None but those to whom the power has been given, 11, are able to bear it; and of those to whom it has been given, some, 12, are by nature free from the passions which make a life of continence without marriage difficult to them, some by hardships and privations are made so, while others from their own high motives and convictions rise above the control of the passions, and cheerfully put aside all thought of these domestic relations for the kingdom of Heaven's sake, i. e. that they may give themselves entirely to the advancement of that kingdom. CHRIST BLESSING THE CHILDREN. 13- 15. The beautiful incident related here and Mark x. 13-16, of Jesus, when he took little children into his arms, and put his hands upon them, and blessed them, shows the relation which he looks on them as sustaining 336 MATTHEW XIX. 16-22. towards himself. The disciples would have sent them away as too young for his adoption. But with a degree of displeasure which he seldom manifested, he commanded them not to forbid, but to let the little ones come to him; for, said he, of such is the kingdom of Heaven. In saying this, he used words which are not confined to those then present, but which reach forward, indicating his relation to all little children, and coming, a gracious invitation, to all parents and guardians who would consecrate their children to him by the waters of Christian baptism and the processes of Christian culture. "All gifts of God," says Roos, "do not enter by the unclerstandcli into the soul." "Not only," says Alford, in his notes on Mark x. 14, "is Infant Baptism justified, but it is..... the NORMAL PATTERN OF ALL BAPTISM; none can enter God's kingdom except as an infant. In adult baptism......we strive to secure that state of simplicity and childlikeness, which in the infant we have ready and undoubted to our hands." THE YOUNG MAN WHO CAME TO JESUS. 16-22. The young man here, who was a ruler (Luke xviii. 18), and who in his eagerness to see Jesus (Mark x. 17) came running to him, and kneeled before him, was probably an amiable, well-meaning young man, susceptible of moral and religious impressions, who had carefully observed the rules of a conventional morality, and who, not finding in them the peace of mind which he sought, came to Jesus with the expectation, as lMr. Norton has said, that he "would enjoin, for instance, some unusual austerity, some long-continued exercise of fasting and prayer, or some peculiar vow, or some extraordinary almsgiving, or some large gift to the treasury of the temple, or some other definite act or course of conduct of a like character, by the performance of which he might assure MATTHEW XIX. 16-22. 337 himself of eternal life." He was probably sincere, and, as he supposed, very much in earnest. The fact of his using the expression eternal life, shows that he was not wholly superficial in his ideas. Jesus in reply to his question, by the words, "Why callest thou me good?" or rather, 6 "Why askest thou me respecting what is good?" "6 No one is good, but God alone" (Mark x. 18), turns his attention first of all to the infinite Source of all goodness. Then, as a practical test of his fidelity to God, he says to him, If thou really desirest to enter into life, keep the commandments. Which? he asks in reply, and with surprise, as if he had expected something more, and doubted whether he had not misapprehended the answer. Jesus specifies the moral precepts of the Decalogue. The young man, as if wondering and amazed at the easiness of the terms, replies in a tone which shows how little he understood what it was to observe the commandments in their thorough and spiritual application, as Jesus had already expounded them in his Sermon on the:Mount. These, he says, I have always kept. But is there not something more still wanting? he asks, not with self-complacency, but from a secret uneasiness, and a conviction that something is still wanting to secure his peace. Jesus, looking upon him (Mark x. 21) with an expression of love as he saw where his weakness lay, applied at once the test which should reveal to him the fatal defect in his character. Yes, one thing is wanting (Mark x. 21), and if thou wouldst be perfect, go and sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor; and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, take up the cross, and follow me. The sadness and grief caused by these words prove that the young man came to Jesus, as he believed, with an honest purpose; but they prove also that the one essential condition of discipleship, the readiness to give up everything at the call of duty and of God, was lacking, and that this one want was undermining all his virtues. The one thing 29 T~ 338 MATTHEW XIX. 23- 26. which he lacked was not, that he did not sell all his goods and give them to the poor, but that there was something which he valued more than his allegiance to God. The outward test revealed the inward want, and this inward want, loving the things of God less than the things of the world, was the fatal defect which Jesus in thus bringing it to his knowledge would have him supply. "It is not here commanded," says Clement of Alexandria, "as some readily receive, to cast away our possessions and separate ourselves from them; but to drive out of the soul its idea of riches, its diseased passion and longing for them, the anxieties which are the thorns that choke the seed of life." While the words of Jesus revealed the young man to himself, they were also something more than a test. They show what was a necessary condition of discipleship in that day. What could a young man do with his riches then as a follower of Jesus? Must they not have been almost of necessity a fatal encumbrance? There is nothing to show that the condition was to be a general one. As Lord Bacon has said, "But sell not all thou hast, except thou come and follow me; that is, except thou have a vocation, wherein thou mayest do as much good, with little means, as with great." - Furness's Thoughts, &c., p. 167. H-]ARD FOR THE RICH TO ENTERI CHRIST'S KINGDOM. 23 -26. The words here are suggested by the young man who went sorrowfully away from Jesus, because he had great possessions, and therefore apply primarily to those who are outwardly rich. Jesus looked on this young man as the representative of a class, and saw in him how difficult it was for those encumbered by wealth to give themselves up entirely to him. For in those days it was only by leaving all that they could become his followers, and thus enter the kingdom of Heaven. And at all MATTHEW XIX. 23-26. 339 times, though not always perhaps to the same extent, there are peculiar temptations and perils connected with the enjoyment of great wealth, and however shining the exluiples of humble, self-forgetting, and self-sacrificing fidelity among the rich, the Saviour's words still apply, as a fearful and needed admonition, to those who in the midst of their earthly abundance are in danger of neglecting the higher wants and interests of the soul. But the words apply also with a more searching power to all, whether rich or poor, who (Mark x. 24) trust in riches, i. e. whose heart is in them. They are the opposite of the "poor" (Luke vi. 20) and "the poor in spirit" (Matthew v. 3). The words in their more extended meaning apply to a state of mind. In the kingdom of God, every individual, being merely a steward of God, and viewing himself as such, has renounced all his possessions, and having consecrated them to God holds them subject to his disposal. In this sense the beggar may be rich, cleaving to his bit of a possession, and striving for more, while the possessor of wealth, renouncing all, is poor. So in the dangerous meaning of the word, a man without money may be rich, when his heart is enamored of his own virtues, genius, artistic tastes, intellectual attainments and capabilities, or anything else which his self-love may appropriate as his own. In respect to all such it may be said, that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for them to enter the kingdom of God. The proverb, as verse 26 proves, indicates, not an impossibility, but a very great difficulty. The amazement and consternation of the disciples exhibited by the question, Who then shall be saved? show how unprepared they were for principles of conduct so severe. Jesus comforts them somewhat by the assurance, that, though this is impossible with men, still all things are possible with God. 340 MATTHEW XIX. 27 - 30. 27- 29.- GAINING BY RENOUNCING. 27 -30. Peter's state of mind may have been one of self-complacent confidence, when he recollects that he and his fellow-disciples had given up everything, and asks what is to be their reward; what shall be to us? Perhaps, after recovering a little from the astonishment occasioned by the severity of the doctrine just announced, which at first had seemed to leave no room for hope to any one, and recollecting what sacrifices he and his fellow-disciples had made, his mind recurs to the commi-and in verse 21, and the promise there of treasure in heaven; and in a sudden burst of feeling, with too keen an eye to the reward, he exclaims, Lo! we have left all and followed thee; how then shall it be with us? or, what shall be our portion? In order to understand the reply of Jesus, we must transfer our thoughts into these Oriental forms of speech, or translate them into our more literal and prosaic dialect. In the regeneration may be joined with either branch of the sentence, but belongs, we think, rather to the second than the first. Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed me, shall in the regeneration, when the Son of man sits upon his throne, also sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel; i. e. in the new order of things which shall prevail when my religion is established, and I shall rule among men, then shall ye also who have followed me now rule with me as my representatives in the advancement of my kingdom, i. e. of my religion, through the world. He may possibly allude here, as in xvi. 28, to the destruction of Jerusalem, as the decisive moment when the old religion shall be overthrown, and the new established in its place, with a glance forward to yet higher scenes of kingly glory. In verse 29, the thought is carried into the future world with greater distinctness. All who have made sacrifices on my account shall (Mark x. 30) receive an hundred MATTHEW XIX. 341 fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands with persecutions, and in the world to come, eternal life. But how can they receive in brothers, sisters, and mothers, an hundredfold? We must look for a deeper meaning than that which lies upon the surface. As a man abounding in wealth is in the best and spiritual sense of the word poor, if his heart is not bound up in his riches; as in the bad sense of the word he is rich who in the midst of his poverty clings with all his heart to the little which he has and lusts for more; so do we in a still different sense, really receive, not in proportion to what we outwardly possess, but in proportion to what we are able to appropriate and enjoy. They therefore whose souls are born into the higher life of the Gospel of Christ, shall, in their renovated affections, desires, and powers of thought and emotion, enjoy an hundred-fold more than before even here in their houses, fields, and friends. To them alone can it be said now in this present time, "All things are yours" (1 Cor. iii. 21), while in the world to come they shall inherit eternal life. NOTES. AND it came to pass, that, when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of 2 Juduea, beyond Jordan. And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there. 1. When Jesus had finished yond Jordan," which would allow these sayings] These words in- though it does not oblige us to dicate a connection and complete- suppose that Jesus was employed ness in what he had been saying in at that time on both sides of the the previous chapter. Jordan. Jordan] the into the coasts of Judaea, be- Jordan. Our translators evidently yond Jordan] Mark (x. 1) says, did not understand the use of the "into the coasts of Judea, and be- definite article in Greek. Accord29* 342 MATTHEW XIX. The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and say- 3 ing unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have 4 ye not read, that he, which made them at the beginning, made them male and female; and said, " For this cause shall a s man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh "? Wherefore they are no more 6 twain, but one flesh. What, therefore, God hath joined toing to Bengel and Winer, the highest eth forth good things; and the (not authorities on this subject, "there on) evil an," &c.; latt. xiii. 3 is scarcely an instance in the Scrip- "Thie (not a) sower went forth to tures where the article is redun- sow,7 i e. the Son of man John dant," and it is " utterly impossible xiii. 5, " He poureth water into the that the article should be omitted (not a) basin," that usually stood where it is decidedly necessary, or there for use. These matters are employed where it is quite super- not of great importance, but the fluous." "'OpoS can never denote use of the article in the New Testhe mountain, nor rT o'po a reoun- tament well deserves the attention tain."' Yet this distinction is con- of the critical student. stantly overlooked in our English 3. for every cause] upon every version. Often, as in the case here, pretence. Josephus gives this sense the omission of the article is of little to the law, and owns that he diconsequence; but usually it implies vorced his wife, " not being pleased somethingo which adds to the life- with her manners and behavior." like character of the expression. Antiq. IV. 5. And said] In Matt. v. 1, it is quite a different And he said, i. e. Jesus said, using thing to say, as it is in the Greek, the words to be found in Gen. ii. " he went up into the mountain, 24. and they twain from what it is to say, as in our shall be one flesh] Here is deversion, "he went up into a moun- scribed the peculiarity of the martain." " Ye call me the Master, and riage relation, that which distinthe Lord; and ye say well," (John guishes it from all other relations xiii. 13,) is much more forcible and of interest or fiiendship. " They graphic than with the omission of are two," says Stier, " and yet no the article as in our version. So longer two: this is, in the shortest in Matt. xviii. 17, " Let him be to and profoundest expression, the thee as the (not a) heathen man and mystery of marriage, the great mvsthe publican; " in John iii. 10, "Art tery whose further typical signifithou the (not a) Master of Israel, and cance the Apostle Paul opens to us knowest not these things;" Matt. in Eph. v. 31, 32. The bodily felxxvi. 26, "And as they were eating, lowship is not merely the basis of Jesus took the bread," i. e. the bread marriage, but also that whvlich is which had been specially provided alone essential to it, which may for the purpose, just as in the fol- indeed, and in a certain sense, lowing verse he took " the cup;" should be sweetened and glorified John i. 21, "Art thou the Prophet?" by friendship of soul, being superi. e. the prophet predicted by Moses added to it, but which subsists as and expected as the Messiah, not marriage apart from that." " This as in our version, " that prophet;" bodily union," says Olshausen, MIatt. i. 23, " Behold, the virgin shall "when it is founded on an anteconceive," not a virgin; Matt. xii. cedent combination of soul and 35, "The (not a) good man, out of spirit, is the very summit and flower the good treasure of the heart, bring- of all union and communion, and MATTHEW XIX. 343 7 gether, let no man put asunder. - They say unto him, Why did Moses, then, command to give a writing of divorcement s and to put her away? IHe saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your 9 wives; but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery; and whoso o10 marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. - His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his 11 wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them, All men 12 cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb; and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men; and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs fbr 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 refor this very reason forms the con- by the sanctities of heaven thrown dition of the continuance of the over the marriage tie and all the whole human. race. It is owing to domestic relations, he would make tile holy nature of this bodily union a Christian home more sacred and that it is to be considered indisso- endearing in its relations than any luble, as one which man cannot, other home had ever been. In this and which only God can dissever." as in other things the world, even 9. And whoso mara the Christian world, though slowly retih her which is put away rising towards his idea, is still far bedoth commit adultery] The low it. Lawgivers still and perhaps point of this prohibition is brought necessarily allow his precepts to be ont by the wav in which Josephus violated on account of the hardness expoulnds the Jewish law of divorce. of men's hearts and the low state of'He that desires to be divorced," morals among them. he says, "for any cause whatso- 12. He that is able to receive ever, (and many such causes happen it, let him receive it] Jesus among men,) let him in writing give makes allowance for differences of assurance that he will never use her temperament and constitution. He as his wife any more; for by this does not ask the same things of all. means she may be at liberty to Though he requires self-renunciamarry another husband." This tion in all his followers, he does not temptation to be divorced in order require that all shall show it by the to marry again Jesus cuts off by his same acts. 13. And the severe prohibition. By every pos- disciples rebnked them] Resible means he would make the buked not the children, but those marriaag e union inviolable and in- who were brinoinug them. dissoluble. By the finer affections But the disciples] " The greater Vwhich he would cherish in human part of whom," says Bengel, " aphearts, by the purer morals flowing pear to have been unmarried: and out from righteous affections, by unhmarried men, unless they are more delicate and generous acts, humble-minded, are not so kind to 314 MATTHIEW XIX. buked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and for- 14 bid them not, to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of Heaven. And he laid his hands on them, and departed is thence. And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, 16 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, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus is said, " Thou shalt do no murder; Thou shalt not commit adultery; Thou shalt not steal; Thou shalt not bear false witness; Honor thy father and thy mother;" and, " Thou 19 shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." The young man saith unto 20o infiants." 14. Suffer little have to do with God, then it cannot children] Suffer the little children, often enough be repeated: Be only -the little ones to come to me. Bet- a child,- follow the call, trust to ter as in the original with the article. the promise, take the gift, obey the Jesus has just been defending the word, all as if thou didst let thyself law ofmarriage. Here, as a branch be lifted, carried, comforted, blessof the same subject, he is upholding ed." Stier. 16. eternal the claims of children, by rebuking life] This expression occurs here those who would keep them from and in the correspondilg passages him, andcl by taking them into his in Mark and Luke for the first time. arms, laying his hands upon them, It is used at v. 29 of this chapter, andi blessing them. Luke xviii. 30, and only once again. for of such is the kingdom of xxv. 46, in the first three Gospels. H:Ieaven] There is nothing more It is difficult to ascertain the precise beautiful in the [New Testament meaning in which it is used by the than the relation of Jesus to little young man, though it undoubtedly children and his sympathy with is intended to denote a future state them. What do words like these of blessedness. 17. Why teach in regard to them? If his callest thou me good?] Accordkingdom is made up of those who illg to Tischendclorf, the reading are like them, what shall we say should be, Vh7iy askest thou nse reof them, and of the doctrine of in- specting the good? One is good: but hate depravity? That doctrine is if thozu cishest, j~c. This agrees with found in metaphysical systems of lthe reading in the Curetonian Syriac divinity, but nowhere is it taught Gospels. One is good. One onlyis or indicated by the words or the good in the absolute sense of the acts of Jesus. An hereditary lia- word, uniting in himself all perfecbilitv to sin, coming out with the tions. The natural inference from development of our natures, and this language of Jesus, is that by it showing itself in times of tempta- he meant to disclaim for himself tion, we all of us may feel, and this absolute goodness, which exshould be constantly on our guard cludes, not only all sin, but the posagainst. "Not," says Richter, "the sibility of being tempted.' For children must become as you, but God cannot be tempted with evil." vice ver'sa, you must become as the (James i. 13.) " Then was Jesus children." "If we have to do with led up of the spirit into thie wildermen, then the rule is, Be so child; ness to be tempted of the devil." trust, look to - whom? But if we (JMaItt. iv. 1.) "For in that he him MATTHEW XIX. 345 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 disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly 24 enter into the kingdom of Heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than 2a for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly anazed, saying, 2G Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all 27 things are possible. - Then answered Peter, and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all and followed thee; what 28 shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily self hath suffered being tempted, he cause he could not keep his great is able to succor them that are possessions, and at the same time tempted." (Heb. ii. 18.) follow Christ. These divided affec20. from my youth up] These tions are always a source of anxiety words are omitted by Tischendorf and sorrow. 23. hardly] as not contained in the best mann-u- with cliicslty. They are too much scripts. The omission is an im- taken up with present comforts to provement in the passage. It is a think of better thingos; but if, as in little harsh to write, The young this case they thinki of them and man, 6 mravloKor - the youth - really desire to possess them, they said, All these have I kept from are too much attached to their my:yeouth nup, EK VOTrrlrTo 1o0v. present comforts and possessions to 21. go an d ssell thast make the needed sacrifice. 24. easier for a camel] The iot a co isel; necessary, not m ompd similar proverb of the elephant is not a counsel; necessary, not op- said to be familiar in the Koran said to be familiar in the Koran tional; but particular, not universal, and the Talmud. "Perhaps thou accommodated to the idiosyncrasy art one of those who caPn make an of his soul, to whom it was ad- dressed. For many followed Jesus elephant go through the eye of a to whom he did not give this com- needle." The substitution which manud. He may be perfect, who is sometimes proposed of KtmFltov, still possesses wealth; he may give meaning a cable, for Kac/,u71ov, a all to the poor, who is very fai from camel, - camilon for camlelon,- is perfection. Our Lord's words laid entirely without authority. an obligation on the man who offer- 26. with God all things are ed himlself of his own accord, and possible] So Mark ix. 23, All that so iunreservedly. If the Lord things are possible to him that behad said, Thou art rich, and art too lieveth. 27. forsaken fond of thy riches, the young man all] "i The all which the Apostles would have denied it; wherefore, had left was not in all cases coninstead of so doing, he demands temptible. The sons of Zebedee had immediately a direct proof." Ben- hired servants (Mark i. 20), and Levi gel. 22. sorrowful] be- (Matthew) could give a great feast in 346 IMATTHI EW XIX. I say unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or breth- 29 his house. But whatever it was, it twelve tribes of Israel] The was their all." Alford. 28. religion of Jesus is the kiincdlom of in the regeneration] As the king- Heaven; where it comes, the Son of doms (of leaven is used to express the man comes in his kingdom; where condition of a Christian individual, it prevails, as it does in the thorough of the Christian commonwealth, and regeneration of the soul or of the of the redeemed above (xvi. 27, 28), race, there he, as the head of the so regeneration, being born again, new dispensation, is said to come refers to the act by which the inldi- in his glory, to reign or to sit upon vidual soul, or the Christian com- the throne of his glory, and there, nuilitry, are born into the kingdom he now declares, the Apostles shall of Heaven. Among the Stoics this be associated with him, sitting on word expressed the periodic reno- twelve thrones, and thus under him vation of the earth when in the sharing the regal influence and ansprinlg it revived firom its winter thority which he is exercising over death. Josephus (Antiq. XI. 3. 9) the souls of men, whether in this speaks of the restoration of the Jews world or the world to come. Dr. after the Captivity as "the regain- Palfrey, in his Relation between ing and regeneration of the courn- Judaism and Christianity, pp. 98, 99, try." The word is used only twice has well explained this passage: in the New Testament. In Titus iii. " As, adopting the phraseology in 5, it plainly refers to the new birth Daniel (vii. 13, 14), Jesus calls his of the individual, when it is awak- establishment in a moral dominion, ened to the higher thought and life a sitting upon'the throne of his of the Gospel. In the passage before glory,' so he tells his Apostles, who us it refers to the same newness of were to be the agents and reprelife in its more extended influence sentatives of his spiritual adminisamong men, whether on earth or in tration, that they too shall sit on heaven. " The first seat of the re- thrones. And the figure is still generation is the soul of man; but, further carried out. There were as beginning there, and establishing its many Apostles as there had been centre there, it extends in ever wi- Jewish tribes; and this coincidence dcening circles." " Man is the pres- is blought to view in the language ent subject of the regeneration, in which they are told that they are and of the wondrous transforma- to have spiritual rule over God's tion which it implies; but in that people. The word judge here, as day it will have included within its often in Scripture (comp. 1 Sam. limits the whole world of which viii. 5, Isa. xl. 23), means simply to man is the central figure; and here govern, to exercise sway; not to adis the reconciliation of the two pas- minister law, but to give, to promulsages, in one of which it is spoken gate it, which latter function beof as pertaining to the single soul, longed strictly to the Apostolic office. in the other to the whole redeemed Tihe twelve Apostles together were creation." Trench's Synonymes of to give law to collective Israel. the New Testament. In the rregen- Notiling is said of any such distrieration is certainly to be joined with bution of power as that each Aposthe second, and not, as in our Bibles, tie should have a tribe for his sepwith the first, clause of the sentence. arate jurisdiction. One name of when the Son of maln Israel regarded collectively was the shall sit in the throne of his twelve tribes, or the twelve-tribed naglory, ye also shall sit upon tion. (Comp. Acts xxvi. 7.)" The twelive t4-ones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel mean here the MATTHEW XIX. 347 ren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred-fold, and 30 shall inherit everlasting life.- [But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. people of God. When the Son of nutely than with us. Where we man shall sit (active voice) on his should say, " I am exposed to death throne (genitive case), ye shall sit among those who are like enraged (middle voice) on twelve thrones lions," David in a far more pictur(accusative). Greek scholars who esque and expressive way says: are curious about such things have "My soul is among lions: and I supposed that they saw in these nice lie even among them that are set distinctions of language an intima- on fire, even the sons of men, whose tion of the different kinds or degrees teeth are spear and arrows, and of power which Jesus and the Aplos- their tongue a sharp sword." (Ps. ties were respectively to exercise. lvii. 44.)- No one thinks of conWhen the Son of msan shall sit, the struing this literally. Where we active form expressing the act ab- might describe the great and terrisolutely, united with the genitive, ble calamities impending over a naon his glorious throne, as the case tion as a dark and tempestuous denoting source or cause, the whole night overwhelming the land and expression may seem to represent shutting out the light of heaven, him as sitting independently on his our Saviour in accordance with throne, while the middle voice with modes of expression natural to the something of a passive signification East, and perfectly well understood and the accusative case, the case of as figurative, says: "Immediately direct limitation, give in respect to after the tribulation of those days the Apostles the idea of a more lim- shall the sun be darkened, and the ited and dependent authority. This moon shall not give her light, and distinction is indicated by Stier and the stairs shall fall from heaven, and Alford. But it will not do to lay the powers of the heavens shall be any stress on these nice distinctions shaken." (Matt. xxiv. 29.) So in of language, for such delicate shad- the passage before us, where we ings of expression may be turned in might say, In the new order of almost any direction by a fanciful things they shall be united with or ingenious mind. The distinction him in his reign over the saints in here suggested may have been in glory, Jesus, in language far more the writer's mind. But in Luke impressive and august, but not litxxii. 30, ye shall sit on thrones, eral, says, "In the regeneration, thrones is in the genitive, and in when the Son of man shall sit in Rev. iv. 2, where God is repre- the throne of his glory, ye also shall sented as sitting on his throne, sit- sit upon twelve thrones, judging the ting is put in the middle voice, twelve tribes of Israel." In this and throne in the accusative case. way he sets before them their fuWhile the preposition remains the ture condition of honor and greatsame, the genitive, dative, and ness connected with the thought of accusative cases are used indis- the more than regal influence which criminately (Rev. iv. 9, 10; v. they, as his representatives and 13; vi. 16; vii. 10; xi. 16). Apostles, are to exercise in advanye shall sit on twelve thrones] cing and establishing his kingdom Figures of speech in the oriental among men, and thus ruling over languages are carried out more mi- them. 348 MATTHEW XX. 1- 16. CHAPTER XX. 1-16. - TiE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD. 1 - 16. THIS has seemed to us the most difficult of all the parables. Its precise relation to what goes before it is obscure, and it is quite impossible to show the precise bearing of all the incidents, whatever explanation may be adopted. It is much easier to overthrow any one of the many interpretations which have been given, than to supply its place by another which is altogether satisfactory. Some, according to Trench, regarding the equal penny to all as the key to the parable, say that the lesson here taught is the equality of rewards in the kingdom of God. Others make, not the equal penny, but the successive hours at which the laborers are called, the prominent lesson of the parable. Some of these, as Origen and Hilary, suppose the different hours apply to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and lastly to the Apostles; others, that they apply first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles; while others suppose that they apply to the different periods of life at which the laborers enter on the work of the Lord. Luther, as quoted by Stier, says, "If we would interpret strictly, we must understand the penny of the temporal good, and the favor of the householder of the eternal good," and he sees quite clearly that the murmuring laborers trot away with their penny and are damned." Stier assents to this, and asserts that " the penny is certainly a temporal good, different from eternal life, only not of a mere outward and earthly nature," "the promise (1 Tim. iv. 8) of the life that now is." Alford thinks the salient point of the parable to be, that "the kingdom of God MATTHEW XX. 1- 16. 349 is of grace, and not of debt; that they who were called first and have labored longest have no more claim upon God than those who were called last." Its primary application, he thinks, is to the Apostles who had asked the question; and its secondary applications "to all those to whom such a comparison of first or last called, will apply," nationally to the Jews, individually to those whose call has been in early life, as well as to those who are first in point of talents, labor," &c. Mr. Livermore, in a few clear and truthful words, gives the immediate application of the parable.'" Peter," he says, " had inquired respecting the rewards of discipleship. The Saviour replies, that the Apostles 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 converts under the Gospel dispensation will on that account be any more meritorious, or better rewarded, than those, who, being called later, manifest an equal fidelb ity and zeal." "The first as to time and privileges, may become inferior to the last, and the last become first." In order to understand the parable, we must consider carefully its surroundings and the relation in which it stands to them. The words (xix. 30, and xx. 16) with which it is introduced and ended are so closely connected with it, that it plainly must be interpreted so as to be an illustration of them. Peter (xix. 27) asks, "What shall we have?" Jesus in the two following verses answers the question, and then answers the state of mind which had prompted the question, and which he evidently intended to rebuke. "Ye, and all who have made such sacrifices for me, shall indeed be rewarded. But while you seem to yourselves thus worthy of honor and reward, it is well for you to remember that many who are first shall be last, if in looking too much to their reward they allow in themselves a wrong disposition and temper of mind." To illustrate this characteristic of his kingdom, by which the first are often made last, and 30 350 MATTHEW XX. 1-16. the last first, he relates a story of a householder, who in the morning engaged laborers for a specific sum, and afterwards at different hours of the day engaged also other laborers to go into his vineyard without any agreement as to the exact sum which they were to receive. When the day was ended, the laborers were called together, and those who came last received each one a penny, which was all that had been promised to those who came first. The selfish feelings of those who had labored all the day were excited; they expected for themselves a larger reward than had been agreed upon; and began to murmur because it was not given to them. Because of the envious, complaining spirit which they thus showed, they were rebuked and sent away with their penny, while the master evidently looked with more favor on those who had modestly received his bounty. "; So," Jesus adds, repeating emphatically under a different form the expression with which the parable had been introduced, -" so the last shall be first and the first last." The outward distinctions which come from time, birth, talent, or labors, and which are most apparent among men, must in the reckoning at the end give way to the higher distinctions which rest on the condition of the mind and character; so that often they who are first in time, office, gifts, accomplishments, or even the length and apparent usefulness of their labors, shall in the disclosures of that hour be found worthy only of a subordinate place, while others who were the least thought of here and who thought the least of their own merits, shall then be found among the first. But what construction is to be put upon the equal penny which every one received? It will not do to insist upon pressing every minor circumstance of a parable into the interpretation. But in this case the equality of the wages is brought forward so prominently that it can hardly be overlooked. All who were sent into the vineyard, were, as faithful laborers, the representatives of those who, through MATTHEW XX. 1 —16. 351 the bounty of their Lord, shall alike receive the gift of eternal life. But while eternal life is equally bestowed on all, they who from their superior services had presumed on a superior reward, have thus been cherishing a spirit, which, though it may not exclude them from eternal life, will nevertheless place them below those who in shorter and less conspicuous services have been more meek and lowly in heart. The substance of the parable is this. While all who obey the call of their CMaster and labor faithfully in his vineyard shall equally receive the reward of eternal life, yet if any by reason of their pre-eminent place or services here presume to look down on others, and selfishly or proudly to claim for themselves more than is given to others, they are indulging a disposition and temper of mind which must at length reverse the present order of precedency, and make many who are first last, and last first. The great law of our spiritual being, by which pride abases and humility exalts, is here held up by the Saviour, and applied to the Apostles as a warning against the self-seeking, self-complacent spirit indicated by the question which Peter has asked in their behalf. As Bengel has said, it is in respect to the Apostles, not a prophecy, but a warning. While the parable was directly given for the admonition of the Apostles, who were evidently presuming too much on their place next to the Saviour, and their labors and sacrifices, it after the manner of Jesus lays open a grand principle of spiritual advancement and decline which shall stand forth a perpetual admonition to all who from their conspicuous position, endowments, or services are in danger of cherishing the spirit which is here condemned. It applies to the Jews, who as a people prided themselves on account of their superior privileges, and who by their pride cut themselves off from the high place which they once held. It applies as a warning to all who hold distinguished places in the Church, or distinguished posts of Christian usefulness 352 MATTHEW XX. 1 —16. and honor, to those whose reputation for learning, ability, or sanctity gives them a peculiar influence in the Christian community, and to all who from their early calling, the richness of their gifts, or the abundance and success of their labors are tempted to think too highly of themselves, or to despise others. "This parable," says Luther, "hits even excellent people, nay, it terrifies the greatest saints, and therefore Christ holds it up before the Apostles themselves." "How many shining stars," says Ramback as quoted by Stier, "have already been struck by the tail of the dragon, and cast down by pride to the earth." Stier also borrows from Herberger a story which, as he says, strikingly portrays in an extreme light what Christ here mildly represents in a softer light. A monk died, leaving a great name for sanctity; a robber who had heard him preach repented, ran to confess, but fell on the way and broke his neck. A devout man saw both, wept at the death of the saint, but rejoiced at that of the robber. Why so?' When the monk died, the devil took him because of his pride; when the robber broke his neck, angels received his penitent soul.'" A more pertinent illustration of the parable might be given. Aran was a follower of Jesus the Crucified, and a teacher of his truth in the early days of the Church. He labored unsparingly, and saw the work of the Lord prospering marvellously in his hands. Thousands of new converts honored him as their spiritual father; his name was pronounced with loving admiration in many and distant lands, and pilgrims came from the remotest parts of the earth, that they might profit by his counsels and the sanctity of his life. But, unawares to himself, his heart was beginning to be elated by the honor and success which followed him in his labors. He rejoiced, not so much that souls were redeemed from their sins, as that they were won to Christ through the eloquence of his speech. And so it happened, that while his labors and his zeal increased, and MATTHEW XX. 1 —16. 353 multitudes more than ever thronged around him, and throughout the whole of Christendom he was regarded with reverence and wonder, the lowliness and simplicity of his own heart were leaving him, and even while he exclaimed, Non nobis, domine, " Not unto us, ) Lord, not unto us," pride and vainglory from underneath the very altar on which they had been laid in sacrifice whispered to him that the glory must indeed be given to God, but that few among men had been privileged to do so much for the advancement of his name and cause. Near him was Garnan, a simple disciple who honored Aran as in the hands of God the instrument of his salvation from the worship of idols, and who labored among the menials of his household, - rejoicing if at any time he could lead the trembling pilgrim within the reach of his master's influence. His knowledge was the instinct of a loving and faithful soul. He was thankful if he could revive the drooping hopes of a fellow-servant or bestow a cup of water on the fainting traveller, to refresh him after the burden and the heat of his journey, — repeating while he did it some comforting words of Jesus, or uttering some prayer of faith as it came unbidden from his heart. Thus day and night, in season and out of season, unnoticed by the eye of man, he employs himself thinking only of his Mlaster and his MVaster's work, - praying in his simple way, and thus keeping the well-spring of piety alive in his heart, but never dreaming that he is doing anything for others, and least of all that he is doing anything to help on that great movement which is already causing the earth to tremble at its coming, and by which the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord, and his Christ. At length the day of persecution arrived. Aran welcomes its approach. Amid the admiration of thousands, who greet him almost with plaudits as they witness the alacrity with which he gives himself into the hands of his 30* w 354 MATTHEW XX. persecutors, he goes bravely to the flames, praising and thanking God for the strength which he has given him, that the honors of such a life may not be tarnished nor its influence weakened by a mean and cowardly death. Garnan also is seized and bidden to make ready. No sympathizing or admiring eyes are turned towards him. He thinks of the Saviour who died for all, - of the saintly man whom it has been his privilege to serve. HI-le hardly remembers to pray even for the salvation of his own soul. But he prays for his friends, that they may serve God in their lives, and glorify him in their death. He prays for lonely andilcl trembling ones, that their faith may be strengthened. I-He prays for the kingdom of God, that it may come throughout the world. The flames encircle them, and at the same moment the souls of both escape from their fiery shroud. One is canonized in the church, and numbered among the starry names which have power to stir men's souls through all coming generations. The other, no man except a few of his fellow-servants cared for or remembered, and soon his name had utterly perished from all human records. Beyond the veil, angels indeed received Aran as one of the "many" who have been " called" into the kingdom of God; but Garnan they surround with brighter gleams of joy as they bear him with songs of joy and place him among the few whom their Lord has "chosen" to lean upon his bosom. So the last shall be first, and the first last. NOTES. For the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire la1. For the kingd om of Hearv. an householder] The comparien is like unto a man that is son is not with the householder MATTHEW XX. 355 2 borers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 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, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye res ceive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and give them their hire, alone, but with the whole action of a course." Stier. 3. about the householder as related in the the third hour] The third, sixth, parable. went out early ihi ninth, and eleventh hours coirethe morning to hire laborers] spend to our 9 A.MI., 12 ir., 3 p.mI., Morier, in his Second Journey and 5 P.ii. 1" These would not, exthrough Persia, p. 265, mentions cept just at the equinoxes, be exactly having noted in the market-place the flours; for the Jews, as well as at Hamadcan, a customn like that the Greeks andl Romians, liviced the alluded to in the parable: " Here natural day, that between sunrise we observed every morning before and sunset, into twelve equal parts the sun rose, that a numerous band (John xi. 9), which parts must of of peasants were collected with course have been considerably spades in their hands, waiting to be longer in summer than in winter." hired for the day to worlk in the " Probably the day was also divided surrounding fields. This custom into four larger parts here indclistruck me as a most happy illustra- cated, just as the Roman night tion of our Saviour's parable, par- into four watches, and indeed the ticularlvy when, passing by the same Jewish no less." Trench. place late in the day, we found 7. because no man hath hired others standing idle, and remem- us] It appears that all went as bered his voids,' Why stand ye soon as they were, called. They, here all the day idle?'" Trench. therefore, are not blamed by tlhe his {qneyard] "Vine- question, Why stand ye here all the yard is, since Isa. v. the similitude day idle? 8. So when kept up by Christ to denote God's even was come] In paying the institution upon earth, his people, laborers at the close of the davy, his kingdom." Stier. 2. a merciful provision of the Jewish a penny a day] The penny was law was followed: "At his day equal to about sixteen cents of our thou shalt give him his hire, neither coin. " Ile promises the due re- shall the sun go down upon it, for ward, the denarius, vwhich also in he is poor, and setteth his heart Tacitus still appears as the usual upon it." (Deut. xxiv. 15.) " The ample day's wage for working wages of him that is hired shall not soldiers. But if those who are abide with thee all night until the called at the very first begin dis- morning." (Lev. xix. 13.) Job (vii. trustfully to ask, How much am 2) implies a similar custom. The I certain to get? then, indeed, it evening of each day resembles the is not good, and tlhey are to be evening of life, and the reckoning warned of the unhappy end of such at the close of the day stands here 356 ~ SMATTHEW XX. beginning from the last, unto the first. And when they came 9 that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that lo they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they 1l murmured against the good man of the house, saying, These 12 last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 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 16 shall 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 as a symbol of the reckoning at the earth " as " the depression of the close of life. 12. and heat Jordan valley." In a distance of of the day] roV, Karocva-. The only about twenty miles from the word is used in the Septuagint, Hos. Dead Sea, which is 1,312 feet below xiii. 15, for the dry, burning east the Mediterranean, to Jerusalem, wind, so fatal to all vegetable life. which is 2,200 feet above it, is a The word is found in thie New Tes- perpendicular ascent of more than tament only here (Luke xii. 55), 3,500 feet. How long Jesus had reand in James i. 11, where it is ap- mained in the valley of the Jordan, propriately rendered " bunezing heat." on its eastern side, we have no 13. ]Friend] "At first means of ascertaining but probably sighllt a friendly word merely, as- not more thana day 0or two. He had sun-es a more solemn aspect when. set out from Galilee, to go directly we recollect that it is used in xxii. up to Jerusalem through Samaria; 12 to the guest who had not the but when the Samaritans (Luke ix. wedding garment, and in chapter 53) refused to receive him, he probxxvi. 50 by our Lord to Judas." ably turned to the left, crossed the Aiford. 17. And Jordan, and came by a less direct Jesus going up to Jerusalem] route through the Pelrxa. Tihe incidents and conversations 18. unto the chiief priests and which begin with chapter xix., and unto the scribes] The appellawhllich probably took place on the tion chief priests seems to have east side of the Jordain, end with been a common one at that time. the sixteenth verse of this chapter. According to Bengel, it was the The expression going up to Jerusa- especial province of the Scribes to lem refers to the remarkable as- kcnow the written law, as it was of cent firom the valley of the Jordan. the priests to decide and give sentence "There is no such second gash," in accordance with it. " Scribis] it is said, "on the surface of the quorum erat scientia; uti ponti iaci MATTHEWr XX. 3 a57 19 him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles, to mock, 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 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 answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to sententia." 19. and shall majesty, but possessed very little deliver him to tile Gentiles.] knowledge." " The flesh," says Observe in these two verses the Luther, in reference to this chapter, minuteness and exactness of the " is always for becoming glorious prediction. " The Son of Man shall before it is crucified; exalted before be delivered to the chief priests and it is humbled." desiring scribes, and they shall condemn a certain thing of him] asking him to death," as they didl; but sonlething which she does not specify having no authority to execute the at first, as if she were a little diffisentence, " they shall deliver him. dent about making the request, and to the Gentiles," — to the Roman htlf conscious that it ought not to goverinor and soldiers, -" to mock be made, and that a refusal sas not and scourge and crucify himl; and improbable or unjust. 21. on the third day he shall be raised may sit, the one on thy right up." Luke, who records this pre- hand, and the othler on the left] diction with some slight variations, that they lay occupy the highest and whose language, even more places in his kingdom, which she than that of Matthew, indicates the and they believed was speedily to solemnity and emphasis with which appear. (Luke xix. 11.) our Lord spoke, and the amazement 22. Ye kinow not what ye ask] of the disciples, adds (xviii. 34) Jesus replies to them, not to her, that they nevertheless did not un- " Ye know not what it is that ve derstand one word of what he had are asking." Some have supposed said respecting his death and resur- that in this reply Jesus refers to the rection. They were so intently position at his right hand and his fixed upon the thought that he was left when he should be upon the now speedily to establish his king- cross. But he refers rather to the dom on earth, that they were utterly utter incompatibility of their reblind to any other idea, and could quest with the spirit and nature of not receive it. This state of mind, his kingdom, and their entire ignowhich is mentioned here only by rance of what, from the nature of Luke, who does not relate the fol- his kingdom, must be involved in lowing incident, will account for the their request. Ar ye eable] otherwise improbable request which They, still ignorant of the whole is afterwards made by two of the matter, and supposing that the quesdisciples (Mark x. 35), through tions of Jesus which involved so their mother. 20. the much self-renunciation and suffermother of Zebedee's children] ing were some easy conditions on the mother of Zebedee's sons with her which their request would be sons. Salome (Matt. xxvii. 56 com- granted reply hastily that they are pared with Mark xv. 40). " From able. Yet even as Jews they ought the adoration and discourse of this to have taken the words of Jesus womlan, it is evident that she enter- ill ac different and profo-under sense. tained a high idea of our Lord's " The phrase that goes before this, 358 MATTHEW XX. drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with. 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 prepared 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 concerning the cup, is taken from from his humility, so here his Iradivers places of Scripture, where mility shows itself in his majesty. sad and grievous things are com- Though by the words, to sit on nzmy pared to draughts of a bitter cup."'igqht and on m?J left, he admits that' So cruel a thing was the baptism he holds a royal office in a more of the Jews,..... that not with- than earthly kingdom, still he acout cause, partly by reason of the knowledges one loftier and greater buryting, as I may call it, under than himself, without whose anwater, and partly by reason of the thority and consent it was not for cold, it used to signify the most him to appoint to the highest places cruel kind of death." Lightfoot. of honor and of power in his king" To be overwhelmed with grief, to clom. That " is not mine to give, be immersed in affliction, will be but [it is for those] for whom it has found common in most languages." been prepared by my Father." Campbell. " Afflictions and calam- it is prepared] the perities in the sacred writings are often feet tense is here used to describe compared to waves and billows by a future event in its relation to which the suffering are over- another event still farther in the whelmed." Ps. lxix. 1, 2; Isa. xliii. future. but] aXX' os. 2. Kuinoel. Being baptized into The conjction as 7 Ad T?....."Xhe conjunction alkaa, when, as the death of Christ is, in its spiritualce, it is not folloed by a sense, a favorite figure with St. place, it is not followed by a Paul. (Rom. vi. 3, 4; Col. ii. 12.) ye, but by a noun or pronoun, is Theiy say to him, " Wge are able." generally to be understood as of the " The one of these brethren was the same import with EL I7/, usnless, exfirst of the apostles to..... be cet; otherwise the verb must be baptized with the baptism of blood supplied as is done here in the (Acts xii. 1, 2); the other had the common version." Campbell. We lollngest experience among them of doubt whether caXXad is used in this a life of trouble and persecution." wav like our but to mean unless or Alford. 23. Ye shall except. The most natural transladrink indeed of my cup] We tion of this passage, and that which may suppose that Jesus mlade this retains most exactly the Greek reply to them, that they should in- idiom, is, " It is not mine to give, deed share with him his sufferings but [is] for whomsoever it has been even to the baptism of death with prepared by my Father." a solemnity of emphasis which 25. the princes of the Gentiles showed how much more meanling exercise dominion over them] he attached to the words than they " the rulers of the Gentiles [of the had done. but to sit on nations] lord it [rule] over them, my right hand, and on my and the great [the imperial] ones left, is nsot mine to give] As exercise authority over them;" i. e. the majesty of Jesus shines out over the rulers. Among the Gte MATTHEW XX. 359 26 great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you; but whosoever will be g eat among you, let hii 27 be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, 2s 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. 29 And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude fol30 lowed him. And, behold, two blind men, sitting by the waytiles there are different grades of may be said, without exaggeration, authority, the inferior officers ruling that, if it were the only saying of over the people, and at the same his that had come down to us, and, time subject to the authority of even if it had been unaccompanied those higher than themselves. by the splendid illustration of his 26. But it shall not be so personal example, it would have among you] Not so shall it be been recorded among the deathless among you. With the Gentiles are sayings of the world's best wisdom. different grades of official power Truly he was a world-teacher, and and authority. Not so shall it be the world's wisest mLay sit at his among you. But whosoever may feet, finding all their wisdom anticiwish to be great among you, let him pated." 28. a ransom be your servant; and, verse 27, who- for many] "As the synoptic:d soever may wish to be first among Gospels (with the exception of you, let him be your slave; " i. e. Matt. xxvi. 28) do not contain any the greater the distinction sought, other similar declaration in Christ's so much the humbler let the office own words, impartiality requires and the service be. The only test firom us the confession, that this of greatness with Christ is the hu- passage taken by itself cannot prove mility and fidelity which are ready the doctrine of Christ's vicarious to engage in the lowest offices, and death, especially as the same exwithout any thought of self to do pressions here used to describe it what can be done for the good of may denote any kind of death in others. This is the foundation of way of sacrifice." Olshausen. Christian duty and distinction. It 29. Asnd as they departed is the great doctrine expressed in froms Jericho] 30. And, the first of the beatitudes, implied behIold two -blind men] Matin almost every conversation of our thew mentions two blind men, Mark Saviour, repeated again and again and Luke only one, probably the (x. 38, 39; xvi. 24-27), directly one who made himself prominent: enforced (xviii. 4), illustrated by the " 1Bartinceus, a blind man, the son parable at the beginning of this of Timneus (Mark x. 46). So chapter, and confirmed by his own Matthew (viii. 28) speaks of two example a.t the last supper (John demoniacs; Mark (v. 2), and Luke xiii. 4- 16), and by his death. (viii. 27) mention butone: probably " Then it was, " says Dr. Furness, the one who was most remarkable, "that Jesls, perceiving their am- and with whom the extraordinary bition, gives them, —gives theis! — conversation took place. In chapgives the world! - that immortal ter xxi. 5 -7, Matthew mentions definition of true greatness, the both the ass and the colt; Mark depth of whose meaning is yet to only the colt on which our Lord be fathomed, and of which his life rode. Matthew, the tax-gatherer, is the only adequate illustration is usually more minute and precise which the world has yet seen." in regard to numbers. Where the "Of this whole passage in which other Evangelists speak of 4,000 or Jesus defines greatness, I think it 5,0007 Matthew adds to those nunm 360 MATTHEW XX. side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, 0 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, 0 Lord, thou Son of David!3 And Jesus stood still, and called them, 32 and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? They say 33 unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had 34 compassion on them, and touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received sight; and they followed him. bers, "besides women and children." proaching Jericho, and Matthew See Matt. xiv. 21 compared with says that both were healed when Mark vi. 44, Luke ix. 14. and John he was leaving Jericho. It is better vi. 10; and Matt. xv. 38 compared to allow that in an unimportant with Mark viii. 9. But Matthew particular either one or two of the ancd Mark speak of meeting the Evangelists has made a mistake. blind men [man] as they were going It is such a mistake as detracts out friaon Jericho, Luke as they were nothing from the authority of the drawuing nigh to Jericho. Attempts writer, or the trustworthiness of the have been made to reconcile the narrative. These positive contratwo accounts, by rendering Luke's dictions in the different Evangelists, expression, ev ro) yytELtv avrTov when thoroughly examined, are exp'IpLXcsio "whell he was dra ing found to be very few, and relate to nig4h Jerusalem] at Jerichoi" or insignificant matters. If we knew " while he was nigh to Jericho"' [ir all the details as they occurred, it going out]. Both these interpreta- is possible that even here the aptions are forced. The explanation parent discrepancy might be exgiven by Bengel is less unreasona- plained. We know the sympathy ble. He supposes that one of the that often exists between persons blind men, Bartimus, met Jess suffering from the same infirmity. blind men, Bartimmus, met Jesus on his way into Jericho, and that It is possible that the blind man while Jesus was dining, or rather whom Luke represents Jesus as passing the nighlt, with Zaccheus healing on his approach to Jericho, this mall joined himself with in' may have gone in quest of two other blind man, and both sitting by others whom he had known ansi the side of the way through which indaue them to sit by the wayside Jesus must pass, made their appeal he they coving t cal ity Jesus as to him and were healed by him, as he was leaving Jericho. It may morning. There is nothing imhave been so; but even then there possible or very improbable in is a discrepancy which is not re- such a supposition. But we think moved; since Luke says that one anny explanation of very little conwas healed when Jesus was ap- sequence. MIATTHEW XXI. 361 CHAPTER XXI. RECKONING OF TIME. TIHERE are few difficulties in this chapter except in the chronological succession of events. Matthew is evidently more careful to give the incidents and conversations than to arrange them in their exact order. Indeed he hurries through the transactions of the first four days, including that on which he left Jericho, that he may give in full the remarkable words uttered by Jesus on the last day that he spent in the temple. Six days before the Passover (John xii. 1) Jesus came to Bethany. As the legal day of the Jews extended from sunset to sunset, the arrival of Jesus at Bethany was probably a little after sunset on Friday, i. e. just at the beginning of the last day of the week, which was the Jewish Sabbath. Carpenter, Harmony of the Gospels, p. 196, and Greswell, Diss. Vol. III. p. 19, suppose the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to have been on Monday. The common opinion they say, " rests on no better authority than that of prescription." We think that the probabilities are not on their side. We know that the crucifixion took place on Friday, and that the Passover was eaten by Jesus and his disciples the evening before, which was the beginning of Friday according to the Jewish mode of reckoning. Jesus arrived at Bethany (John xii. 1) six days before the Passover. The Paschal lamb was to be killed the afternoon before it was eaten. " The festival of unleavened bread began strictly with the Passover-meal." But it was customary for the Jews "to cease from labor at or before midday; to put away all leaven out of their houses before noon." Hence, in popular usage, the day before the 31 362 MATTHEW XXI. Paschal supper came very naturally to be reckoned as the beginning or first day of the festival, which, including this day, continued eight days. See Robinson's Greek IHarmony of the Gospels, pp. 211, 213. Thus the feast or festival of the Passover, or the feast of unleavened bread, which in its larger compass reached through more than a week, may have been accounted to begin either with, the day when the lamb was killed, or the day following. In strictness of speech, the festival began with the Pascllhal supper. But Matthew (xxvi. 17) speaks of the day before that as "the first day of unleavened bread," and Josephus (Wars of the Jews, V. 3. 1 and Ant. XI. 4. 8) speaks of it in the same way. Now " the feast of unleavened bread" and "the feast of the Passover" were used as synonymous terms to denote the same festival, and that festival may have been regarded as beginning on either of the abovementioned days. Too little is known of the usage of language in this respect by the Evangelists to enable us to determine with certainty which of the two days is meant by them as the day from which to reckon when mention is made of the Passover (or feast of the Passover) by John (xii. 1) and by Matthew (xxvi. 2), and of "the Passover and the unleavened bread" by Mark (xiv. 1). If their language is to be taken in its strictest sense, Jesus arrived at Bethany on Sunday, and " two days before the Passover" would be on Wednesday. If they followed what Dr. Robinson calls the "popular usage," and reckoned back from what Matthew calls " the first day of unleavened bread," then each of those events falls a day earlier. Carpenter and Robinson take the later date; Alford, in accordance with the traditions of the Roman Catholic and Episcopal church, assumes the earlier; and in this particular we accord with him, though, as it appears to us, there is no weight of reason or authority which decidedly preponderates either way. Finding Jesus at Bethany on the eve of the Jewish MATTHEW XXI. 363 Sabbath, that is, on Friday evening, we suppose that he remained there through the Sabbath, and partook of the supper which had been prepared for him, and at which Mary anointed his feet with the pure and costly ointment. (Matt. xxvi. 6-13; MSark xiv. 3-9; John xii. 1-8.) The next day, which corresponds to our Sunday, he entered Jerusalem. (Mark xi. 1-10.) Such a procession, with its incidents and delays, must have taken up the greater part of the day. Mark says that when he had gone into the temple and looked round on everything there, it was now evening, and he returned to Bethany with the twelve. The next morning, Monday (Mark xi. 12-1.5) he came back to Jerusalem, destroying the barren fig-tree as he came, expelled the money-changers &c. in the temple, and in the evening went out of the city. "And as they passed by in the morning" (of course, the next morning, or Tuesday), seeing the withered fig-tree as they came, they entered Jerusalem again, and, after a day crowded with conversations and events, Jesus (Mark xiii. 1, 3) went from the temple to the Mount of Olives, where he uttered the remarkable warnings and predictions which are recorded in the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth chapters of Matthew, and the corresponding chapters in Mark and Luke. After this conversation, which must have extended far into the evening (the beginning of Wednesday, or the fourth day of the week), it was now (Matt. xxvi. 2; Mark xiv. 1) "6two days" to "the feast of the Passover, and of unleavened bread." If this view is correct, we have no record of the manner in which Wednesday was spent by Jesus. Probably he was in the comparative retirement of Bethany or the Mount of Olives, gaining strength for the severer trials and sufferings before him. 364 MATTHEW XXI. 1- 17. 1-17. TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM. 1 - 17. We are here brought within the last week of the Saviour's life. Heretofore his' usual practice has been to avoid all publicity. But now, knowing that his hour is at hand, he is evidently willing to make a more general and public impression. He has probably spent the Sabbath with Mary and Martha and Lazarus whom he loved at Bethany, which lies secluded at the foot of the Mount of Olives on the eastern side, and about fifteen furlongs (John xi. 18), or a little less than two miles from Jerusalem. While he was there, many of the Jews (John xii. 9, 11) came out from the city, not only to see Jesus, but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. These men, many of them doubtless strangers who had come up to celebrate the great national festival, were probably very much excited by what they heard and saw at Bethany, and on their return to Jerusalem heightened the already impatient expectations of others, and prepared to welcome Jesus on his approach to the city the following day. Jesus on Sunday morning left the house of his friends, and on reaching that part of the Mount of Olives where Bethphage and Bethany meet, he paused and sent forward two of his disciples to procure an ass and her foal from the opposite village. There is no evidence that any arrangement had previously been made with the owner, nor is there anything to show decisively that such an arrangement had not been made. In either case it is most likely that the owner was one of the friends of Jesus, who knew the disciples, and therefore understood the reply which Jesus, 3, directed them to make to him. The ass, and the foal whereon never man sat, were brought, garments were placed upon them, and Jesus sat upon them, i. e. on the garments. These preparations must have caused a very considerable delay, during which the multitudes were gathering round him, rousing one another to a still higher pitch of enthu MATTHEW XXI. 1- 17. 365 siasm, while some had spread their garments before him, others were cutting branches from trees and spreading them in the way. At the descent of the Mount of Olives (Luke xix. 37-40), the whole multitude of the disciples broke forth into acclamations of joy and praise. Some of the Pharisees who were present asked him to rebuke his disciples for using such language. But he replied, that if these were silent, the very stones would cry out, —by this hyperbolical expression intimating the sympathy which even inanimate things have with the highest spiritual and moral forces of the universe. Then, as he reached that point on the southwestern slope of the Mount of Olives, where the city with all the magnificence of its towers and palaces and temple glittering in the noonday sun broke upon his sight, his thoughts were turned on scenes and events wholly different from those which met the eyes and filled the wondering minds of his followers. Unmindful of the shouts of gladness and triumph which filled the air, he thought of the long catalogue of crimes, and the approaching day of doom, when her enemies should compass her about and keep her in on every side, and her walls and her children alike should be overthrown and destroyed. Beholding the city, "the mother and altar of saints," he wept over it, saying, "If thou, even thou, hadst only known, even yet in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace! but now they are hid from thy eyes." The long succession of sins and crimes had blinded them, and destroyed in them the sense of their true condition, and prevented a knowledge of the sorrows which must inevitably fall upon them. 10, 15-17. The whole city was moved at his coming, and as he entered within the courts of the temple the children took up the words of ancient prophecy which had announced his approach, and sent up their welcoming cries of Hosanna to the son of David. Jesus refused to rebuke them at the request of the Chief Priests and 31 * 366 MATTHEW XXI. Scribes. Having thus finished his triumphal entry, and looked round on everything in the temple (Mark xi. 11), it being now eventide he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. 19 - 22. The withering of the fig-tree from its very roots is given much more fully and exactly in Mark xi. 12- 14, 20- 26. Matthew mentions the different parts of the transaction as if they had all occurred at the same time. N O TE S. AND when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, 2 and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say aught 3 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 1. Bethphage] the house of figs, Lord hath need of them] "If as Bethany is the house of dates. now the disciples should at first be Its precise geographical position almost suspected of the intention to has not heretofore been ascertained; steal the animals, a single word is but Barclay (City of the Great King, to satisfy the owner. It is by all p. 65) thinks, for reasons which seem means implied in this, that these to us satisfactory, that he has iden- people belonged to the number of tified the spot on the southern spur those who believed on him, that of the Mount of Olives, just before they at once understood who'the reaching the point from which Jeru- Lord' was, and without hesitation salemisvisible. Mark says, "When willingly served him. The they were drawing nigh to Jeau- need of the Lord who has not even salem, at Bethphagge and Bethany an ass of his own for his festal proby the Mount of'Olives," i. e. at cession, presents a significant conthe dividing line between Bethphage trast which the preachers on the and Bethany. 2. Go into advent from the earliest times do the village] There may have not fail to notice." Stier. been some previous understanding 4. All this was done, that it between Jesus and the owner of the might be fulfilled] This is Matanimals; but there is no word here thew's most common method of into intimate such an arrangement. troducing passages from the ProphA miraculous knowledge on the ets. (See i. 22; ii. 15; iv. 14; xxi. part of Jesus seems to be implied 4; xxvii. 35.) See also, with a by the language of the Evangelists. slight variation in the introductory 3. ye shall say, The word,'07ro for vea, ii. 23; viii. 17; MATTIHEW XXI. 367 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." xii. 17; xiii. 35. In xxvi. 56 we ter of Isaiah, e. g. foreshadowing read, " All this was done that the the humiliation and sufferings and Scriptures (or writings) of the death of the Messiah, has its fulprophets might be fulfilled." The fillment in Christ, even though some expression, that, inz order that, is used of the terms used should not liternot so much to indicate a purpose ally describe any specific action or as a fact. Sometimes it is employed event connected with him, or his merely to introduce a passage from kingdom. Still, in a few cases, our the sacred writings by way of ac- attention is called to the fulfilment commodation, perhaps to remove a of prophecy, not only in this higher Jewish prejudice. " Out of Egypt sense, but in minute and apparently have I called my Son" (ii. 15); unimportant particulars. Isa. liii. " He shall be called a Nazarene" 7, 9, 12: "As a sheep before her (ii. 23), are examples of this sort. shearers is dumb, so he opened not The coincidence is verbal and inci- his mouth. And he made his grave dental, and forms no part of the with..... the rich in his death. original meaning or purpose of the And he was numbered with the writer. In order that it saiht be fel- transgressors." The passage before.filled (see Notes, pp. 43, 44) does not us is of this kind. The prophet then involve the necessity of certain Zechariah, in his anticipations of specific acts in order to the fulfil- the Messiah's kingdom and the ment of certain prophecies. It may blessings which should attend it, be used merely to point to an un- breaks out, ix. 9, into language designed and appa'rently incidental which, taken figuratively, would coincidence, and never necessarily describe the character and office of implies that the act was done with Christ. "I suppose," says Dr. the express intention of fulfilling Noyes, "the mild, pacific disposithe letter of the ancient writing. tion of the Messiah, rather than his But there is a deeper sense in which humility, to be particularly denoted the word fu/fl is applied in the New by the adjective, and by the cirTestament to every part of the Jew- cumestance of his riding upon an ish dispensation, to its law, its his- ass. It seems to have been approtory, and its prophecies. They all priate to princes and magistrates to pointed on to the more perfect dis- ride upon asses, especially white pensation for which they were pre- asses (see Judges v. 10; x. 4; xii. paring the way, and in which they 14); but it was a sign of peace to were to find their fulfilment. The ride upon an ass rather than a warlaw was to be fulfilled, v. 17 (see horse." But while thle prophetic Notes above, pp. 88 - 92, 94), not language here used has its fulfilnient by the literal observance of all its in the mild and pacific character as precepts, but in the purer life and well as the kingly office of the nlesspirit by which it should be eman- siah, it is also literally fulfilled to a cipated from its now burdensome remarkable degree in its minute and forms and ritual observances. So apparently unimportant particulars. the prophecies, foreshadowing, by The very images which were eamsuch types and images as could be ployed to foreshadow his character used the richer life and diviner and office are actually reproduced glories which should belong to the before the eyes of men, though, as ]MVessiah's kingdom, are fulfilled, not St. John says (xii. 16), even the so much by the precise reproduc- disciples did not understand or tion of each one of those types and call to mind the prophetic words images in the outward acts and till after "Jesus was glorified." events of his life, as by the unfold- The language in its connection ing of its spirit and power and truth with the events is very extraorthrough him. The fifty-third chap- dinary: - 368 MATTHEW XXI. 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 him thereon. And a very great multitude s spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way. And the multi- 9 tudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David! blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest i — And when lo he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, %Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus, the ii prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the 12 temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in L Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion, fere in their behalf, and afford them Shout, 0 daughter of Jerusalem! his protection; and, all at once, by a Behold thy King cometh to thee! sort of simultaneous movement, they He is just, and having salvation; d their garmets i the way Meek, and riding upon an ass, spread their garments in the way MEven u pon a n ass." before the horses. The consul was affected unto tears; but had of Were these particulars, thus cir- course no power to interfere." The cumstantially fulfilled, merely inci- time is to be observed in the Greek. dental coincidences, or were they The very great multitude spread foreseen and foretold as events (aorist) their garments in the way, which should actually and literally and others were cutting (imperfect) take place? We incline to the opin- branches from the trees, and strewion that they were thus foreseen ing them in the way. 9. and foretold. But if this view is the Hosanna to the Son of David] correct one, here and in a few other Save now, salvation to the Son of cases we must remember that such David, - a term which seems to a minute and literal specification of have been given to the Messiah. apparently unimportant facts which The rest of the sentence is from Ps. are to be, forms no essential part of cxviii. 26. 12. went into the prophet's work. It belongs the temple] not the temple proper, rather to the art of the conjuror but within the sacred enclosure, than to the inspiration of the proph- where the mercenary spirit was et to insist on such verbal coinci- cherished while furnishing doves dences. 8. spread their for sacrifice, or exchanging at a garments in the way] a token profit the money with which the of extraordinary respect. An in- people might make their purchases stance is mentioned by Dr. Robin- for sacrifice. This took place in son, in his Biblical Researches, II. p. the outer court, or court of the 162. At a time when the inhabit- Gentiles. "By the authoritative ants of Bethlehem were in deep dis- act of cleansing this part of the tress on account of some oppressive temple, our Lord not only testified act of the government in 1834 or his zeal for God's house, agreeably 1835, "Mr. Farran, then English to the construction put on it by Consul at Damascus, was on a visit the disciples (John ii. 17), but his to Jerusalem, and had rode out with zeal for the Gentiles also: it being Mr. Nicolayson to Solomon's Pools. a way of teaching by action that On their return, as they rose the the Gospel was open to them as well ascent to enter Bethlehem, hundreds as the Jews." Archbishop Newof the people, male and female, met come. " Our blessed Saviour, who them, imploring the consul to inter- came to redeem, not the Jews only, IMATTHEWr XXI. 369 the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers 13 and the seats of them that sold doves; and said unto them, It is written, " My house shall be called the house of prayer; 14 but ye have made it a den of thieves." And the blind and the 15 lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, 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 hun19 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 forever. And presbut the Gentiles also, and to make fig-tree, i. e. a fig-tree either standthem a principal part of his fold, ing by itself or distinguished from would not suffer them to be thus others by its leaves, while they were neglected; but in this act of his still bare, he went to it and found gave them a prceludiuvn of his fur- nothing on it but leaves. Mark says ther favor intended towards them; that it was not yet time for figs, but and he that was to vindicate their Jesus, seeing from a distance this souls from death, and take away tree covered with leaves, may have the partition wall between them and supposed from the fact of its having the Jews, first vindicates their orcs- leaves, that as one of the early kinds tory from profanation." Mede. Ac- it might have fruit, since the fruit cording to Mark, this cleansing of of the fig-tree is formed before the the temple did not take place till leaves come out. A great deal of the day after the triumphant entry. learning has been spent on this pasA similar cleansing of the sacred sage with little profit. Early figs enclosure occurred near the com- are now ripe at Jerusalem in'May. mencement, as this was near the Barclay's City of the Great King. close, of our Saviour's ministry. Let no fruit grow (John ii. 13 -17.) 13. Two on thee henceforward forever] passages from the prophets are here " And yet this forever has its merbrought together. My house shall ciful limitation, when we come to be called a house of prayer for all transfer the curse from the tree to people," or, as in Mark xi. 17, " for that of which the tree was as a all nations." (Isa. lvi. 7.) " Is this living parable; a limitation which house, which is called by my name, the word itself favors and allows. become a den of robbers in your. None shall eat fruit of that eves? " (Jer. vii. 11..) 19. tree till the end of the present aeon, iAnd when he saw' a fig-tree] not until these times of the Gentiles Jesus had come from Bethany are fulfilled." Trench. The witherearly in the morning, and apparent- ing of the fig-tree from its very roots ly without having taken any food. is described much more fully and Being hungry, and seeing a single exactly in Mark xi. 12 - 14, 20 - 26. x 370 MATTHEW XXI. ently the fig-tree withered away. And when the disciples saw 20 it, 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 Matthew mentions the different had before taught respecting the parts of the transaction, and the power of faith and prayer. In Mark words connected with it, without xi. 21, Peter says, " Master, behold any reference to time, as if all had the fig-tree which thou didst curse happened at once. Mark mentions has withered away." We shrink the visit to the fig-tree and the words from applying the word curse to any of Jesus, " Let no one eat fruit of expression used by our Saviour. It thee hereafter," as occurring on the has an air of harshness and almost morning (AMonday) of the second of profaneness in our language visit to Jerusalem, while it was not which it has not in the Greek. In till the morning of the third day, or order to understand its meaning Tuesday, that the disciples saw here, we have only to bear in mind how it had withered away, and the words which.called out Peter's Jesus added his remarks on the remark, " Let no man eat fruit from power of faith. This shows how thee hereafter forever;" or, as in careful we must be about assigning Matthew, "Let there be no fruit to one specific date facts which are from thee forever." Neither of found related together without any these expressions implies disapnotice of a change of time. The pointment, vexation, or anger. It important words and events (all that is only the calm and terrible sencan be essential for our instruction) tence of death pronounced upon the are sometimes brought together unfruitful tree, as a symbol of the under a single head, as if they had more terrible ruin which must fall all occurred at once, when they may on man's unfruitfulness. It was in fact have been separated from also, as the words following show, a each other by considerable intervals proof of his power to strengthen of time. This withering of the fig- the faith of the disciples. "In tree stands apart from all the rest view of the dangers that surroundof our Saviour's miracles, as a work ed them," says Davidson, Intr. to of destruction. There is no mark New Testament, I. p. 102, "this of impatience or anger, such as impressive act was fitted to call some critics think they find indi- forth their highest faith in his cated by it. Amid the impressive ability to save from every foe, and solemn imagery which Jesus in whether human or spiritual." those last days is throwing around 21. if ye shall say unto this the subject by his terrible words of mountains Be thou removed] warning, this blasted tree stands "The Jews used to set out those forth a perpetual type and symbol teachers among them that were of the curse of death which rests more eminent for the profoundness on all unfruitful lives, whether of of their learning, or the splendor of nations or of men. Especially did their virtues, by such expressions it then apply to the Jews, whose po- as this,' He is a rooter up (or a relitical history was drawing rapidly mover) of mountains.' The same to a close. On passing the spot the expression with which they sillily next day (Mark xi. 20), the disciples and flatteringly extolled the learnbeing greatly impressed by what ing and virtue of their men, Christ they saw, Jesus took occasion from deservedly useth to set forth the it to repeat (see xviii. 19) what he power of faith." Lightfoot. MATTHEW XXI. 371 22 sea; it shall be done. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. 23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who 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: 26 lieve him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; 27 for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I 28 you by what authority I do these things.- But what thinlk ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, 29 and said, Son, go work to-day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not; but afterward he repented, and went. 30 And he came to the second and said likewise. And he an, 31 swered and said, I go, sir; and went not. Whether of them 22. And all things whatsoever sent with a view to make our ye shall ask in prayer, believ. Saviour declare himself to be a ing, ye shall receive] " As re- prophet sent from God, —in which spects the idea that believing prayer case the Sanhedrim had power to will be heard, St. John (xiv. 13; xv. take cognizance of his proceedings, 16; xvi. 24) has given it in its com- as of a professed teacher." The plete form, by adding the clause in question which he puts to them by nay name (Comp. on Matt. xviii. 19); way of reply confounds and baffles for in that clause the putre origin of them in their attempt, and opens such prayer is traced to the mind the way for the condemnation and spirit of Jesus, and in this very which he by the two ensuing paraorigin of the supplication there lies bles leads them (31-41) indirectly the necessity of its fulfillllent." to pronounce upon themselves. Olshausen. "Faith in God would 28 -32. But what think ye ] place them [the disciples] in rela- Here you are making your profestion with the same power which he sions of fidelity to God; but how wielded, so that they might do does it seem to you? A certain mightier things even than this." man had two sons, &c. Which of Trench. 23-27. And the two did the will of his father? when he was come into the They say unto him, The first. Even temple] Jesus had now, Tuesday so, is the reply; the very publicans morning, entered the sacred en- and harlots, who were at first disclosures of the temple (not the obedient to God, but afterwards betemple itself), probably for the last lieved in John and repented at his time. The chief priests and elders preaching, shall enter the kinghave come with artfully prepared dom of God sooner than you, who questions to entrap him. " It was," with all your professions neither says Alford, "an official message, believed in him at first, nor after 372 MIATTHEW XXI. twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, 32 and ye believed him not; but the publicans and the harlots believed him; and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. - I-ear another parable: 33 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 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 wards repented that you might be- door near the ground, and a level lieve, when you had seen him in space on the top, where a man could the way of righteousness. sit and command a view of the plan33. a vineyard] " The vinestock tation." Hackett. According to often appears on the Macabhean Professor Hackett, these towers are coins as the emblem of Palestine, sometimes forty or fifty feet high, sometimes, too, the bunch of grapes and so built as to serve for houses. and the vine-leaf." "The image 38. comes let us kill of the kingdom of God as a vine- him] In the original we have here stock, or as a vineyard, runs through the very words that are used in the the whole Old Testament. (Deut. Septuagint (Gen. xxxvii. 20) by xxxii. 32; Ps. lxxx. 8-16; Isa. v. 1 the brothers of Joseph. As then -7; xxvii. 1-7; Jer. ii. 21; Ezek. against Joseph, so now against xv. 1-6; xix. 10.)" Trench. We can- Jesus, counsel had already been not lay much stress on such referen- taken (John xi. 53) to destroy him. ces. a tower] i. e. a watch- 40. When the lord, tower. These towers " first caught therefore] " We may observe that my attention as I was approaching our Lord here makes Wi7en the lord Bethlehem from the southeast. qf the vineyard cometh coincide with They appeared in almost every field the destruction of Jerusalem, which within sight from that direction; is unquestionably the overthrow of they were circular in shape, fifteen the wicked husbandclmen. This pasor twenty feet high, and, being built sage forms, therefore, an important of stone, looked, at a distance, like key to our Lord's prophecies, and a a little forest of obelisks.... decisive justification for those who, Those which I examined had a small like myself, firmly hold that the com MATTHEW XXI. 373 41 what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, lie will miserably destroy those wicked men; and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him 42 the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures, " The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner; this is 43 the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes "? Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from ing qf the Lord is, in many cases, to have uttered the speech here atbe identified primarily with that tributed to them, they also, at the overthrow." Alford. The Lord of thought of the terrible example the vineyard here is not the Son, but which was to be made of the unHe who sent the Son. The minute faithful, as taught by Jesus from adjuncts of a parable are not to be their own lips, may have added the insisted upon in any interpretation words, 1xp /yEvotro, " may it not we may put upon it. 41. be," or, "heaven avert the necesThey say unto him] The ]an- sity of such an infliction." The guage here put into the mouth of whole has been represented in a those standing by is represented by parable. They assent to the dreadMlark and Luke as spoken by Jesus. ful conclusion; but since it is all Luke (xx. 16) adds, that "when represented under the conditions asthey heard it, they said, God for- sumed in the parable, they couple bid." De Costa in The Four Wit- their assent with the hope or prayer nesses, pp. 32, 33, Edinburg Edition, that a state of things requiring such says, " Who sees not that, in order punishment may never be. It is to explain the difference between not improbable that, after their St. Mark, and still more between reply in Matthew, Jesus, in words St. Luke and St. Matthew, we must not recorded by either of the Evanlook in the two former for the man- gelists, made the application of their ner in which the thing actually hap- sentence more directly to the Jewpened; while from a higher point ish. nation, and that the deprecating of view St. Matthew's narrative ex- words, Not so, or God forbid, were presses that inward conviction felt then called from them. by the enemies of Jesus and of his 43. Therefore I say unto you] truth, which compels them involun- Therefore refers to the whole previtarily, in their own consciences, to ous parable, and not to the quotation Justify the sentence he pronounces alone. Jesus, according to Luke against them? " We have no right xx. 9, directed this parable of the to infer any such purpose, or such wicked husbandmen rather to the insight into the secret thoughts of people than to the priests and men, on the part of St. Matthew. scribes. The parable itself is too We rather infer, from a comparison plain to need any explanation, being of the different narratives, that Mat- spoken directly against the Jewish thew, with his characteristic exact- people, and having its fulfilment in ness, here relates things as they the destruction of Jerusalem. In actually took place, —that Mark its form there is perhaps a reference and Luke give the sentiment of this to Isa. v. 1- 7. which would make verse, which was actually spoken it more impressive to the Jewish by others, as coming from Jesus, mind. The great law of retribution, since, in drawing it from others in however, which is illustrated by it, the manner he did, he in fact adopt- and applied to the Jewish nation, is ed and confirmed it as his own. so set forth as to be a warning to And though the bystanders may all those who live unfaithful to their 32 374 MATTHEW XXI. you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on 44 religious privileges. For a moment, 9, " Blessed is he who cometh in the at verse 42, Jesus leaves the wicked name of the Lord," are from the husbandmen, who have slain the same psalm. " Some of the ancient son and heir, and carries out the Jews," says Dr. Noyes, " perhaps subject of his rejection by a figure those who lived in the time of of speech, which nuder the sanction Christ, regarded the psalm as proof what the Jews regarded as a phetic of the Messiah; and some prophecy of the Messiah, Ps. cxviii. supposed that Christ and the Apos22, 23, shows forth not only his re- ties regarded it as such. But the jection, bhut his subsequent promo- most common opinion of interpreters tion to the highest place, —the is, that those verses are quoted only chief corner-stone. (See note to by way of accommodation, or rheverse 44.) And whosoever falleth torical illustration, or, at least, are on this stone, to him it shall be a applied to Jesus in a mystical, not rock of stumbling and offence on a literal sense." In opposition to which he shall be bruised and such interpreters, Stier says, " He broken; but he on whom in his per- who will acknlowledge in the Old verse and obstinate disobedience Testament no foreseeing sense of this stone shall fall, it shall grind the Spirit transcending the human him to powder. By the stone is consciousness of the prophets, movmeant Christ himself, the imper- ing above the typical histories and sonation of his religion and his relations in independent miraculous kingdom, which shall be a stum- power, finds the just recompense bling-block on which some shall of this false inspiration-theory.... fall to their hurt, and which shall (especially in such passages as that fall on others with its grinding retri- now before us), in a most unworthy butions. If we do not build upon degradation of the words of Christ it in faith, either we shall fall upon and his apostles to a mere play it in unbelief, or it will fall on us in upon Old Testament phrases in mojudgment. "Flor this recson," Jesus ments of most exalted and holy adds, 43, referring back to the para- earnestness." A favorable specible, i. e. because this religion with men of the mystical interpretation its righteous retributions bruises which prevailed particularly among those who stumble upon it, and falls the early fathers is to be found in with crushing, grinding power on Cyprian's Treatise on the Lord's those who set themselves against it; Prayer, and is applied to this quotherefore the kingdom of God shall tation in verse 42: " We ought to be taken away from you, and given renew our prayers again at the to a people, i. e. the true followers setting of the sun, and the close of of Christ, who bring forth its fitting the day. For because Christ is the firuits. 44. And whoseo true sun, and the true day, when at ever shallall fall] This verse is the departure of the sun and day omitted by Tischendorf, who thinks we pray that the light may at length it has been interpolated from Luke come again, we pray for the comxx. 18. Griesbach and Alford re- ing of Christ who shall afford the tain it. Its proper place is between grace of eternal light. But that the 42d and 43d verses. Verses 42 Christ is called the day, the Holy and 44 have been thought to refer, Spirit declares in the Psalms." not only to Ps. cxviii. 22, 23, but to The stone, it says, which the buildIsa. viii. 14, xxviii. 16, and especi- ers rejected is become the head of ally to Daniel ii. 44, 45. The pas- the corner. By the Lord this was sage from the Psalms is the only made, and is marvellous in our eyes. one distinctly cited in this place. This [or he] is the day which the It is also cited in Acts iv. 11. The Lord hath made; let us walk and words used in the triumphal entry, rejoice therein." This may serve MATTHEW XXI. 375 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. as poetry to embellish a thought, ing, or as a truthful explanation or as rhetoric to commend an ex- of the passage above quoted from hortation, but it can hardly be Psalm cxviii. soberly accepted as sound reason 376 MATTHEW XXII. 1- 14. CHAPTER XXII. 1-14. THE WEDDING FEAST. 1-14. A SIMILAR parable to this of the Wedding Feast is given in Luke xiv. 16- 24, and has been thought by many critics to be the same. But the two are unlike in so many particulars that they may be considered as separate parables. The parable here speaks of the calling of the Jews, their neglect, 3, they would not come, their contemptuous indifference, 5, they made light of it, and finally their insults and murderous cruelty, for which the king sent his armies and destroyed their city;-foretelling the coming of the Roman armies, instruments in the hands of God, whose eagles may possibly be alluded to in xxiv. 28, and by whom the great city of the Jews should be burned up. Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans within a little less than forty years from the time of the prediction. From 9 to 13 mention is made of the Gospel invitation, which, since the Jews refuse it (Acts xiii. 46), goes to all, bad and good, with its offers of mercy, and would gather all in to the marriage feast. But it must be remembered, that though all, even the wicked, are called, yet there are conditions to be fulfilled, and that, without the wedding garment, "the internal adornment of the soul" in righteousness, the very guests at the table will be cast out from the lighted festal-room into the outer darkness of the night, where in shame and grief there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. We would call attention here to the quiet manner in which the prophecy rises from the loss of national privileges, and an earthly retribution to the fulfilment of that MATTHEW XXII. 15-22. 377 same law of retribution in the judgments of another world. Intervals of time vanish away. The boundaries between this life and that which is to be are disregarded. The spiritual insight of our Lord, following the great laws of God's kingdom on to their results, whether in the conduct of individuals or nations, fixes itself on national ruin here, and exclusion from the society of the redeemed hereafter, as the condition of the unfaithful, without any broad line of distinction to separate them from each other, as if they belonged to two different orders of events. The sharp distinctions between this world and another, or this life and another, which enter into all our thoughts, do not seem to have had the same place in his mind. He looked through both alike, and saw in both alike the operation of the same divine principles and laws. His kingdom, having its seat in the soul of every follower here, receives and cherishes within itself all faithful souls, whether on earth or in heaven. So as his thought reaches alike through seen and unseen worlds, facts which in their outward surroundings seem to us to belong to entirely distinct orders of events, are in his mind and language intimately connected together, as brought about by the same laws. The shadows of time which imprison us within this material world, and make us look on all that lies beyond as of a character entirely different, never with him separate causes from their effects, or deeds done in the body from their legitimate results, whether in this world or that which shall succeed. 15-22. PAYING TRIBUTE TO CESAPI. 15-22. The Pharisees, foiled in their previous attempt (xxi. 23) to entrap Jesus, hold a consultation, and in their extreme craftiness lay a snare for him which they believe it will be impossible for him to escape. The leading men keep in the background. But they have arranged their 32* 378 MIATTHEW XXII. 15-22. measures with the Herodians, who, though usually their enemies, are now brought to act together with them by their common hatred against Jesus. The Pharisees did not believe in paying tribute to the Romans; the Herodians were the creatures of a dynasty established and sustained by the Roman government. The disciples of the Pharisees, and the Herodians, "spies" Luke calls them, were to come as if engaged in a dispute on this subject, and to refer the question to him as to one of such impartiality, truthfulness, and wisdom, that they are willing to abide by his decision. "Is it right," they ask, "to pay tribute to Cesar or not?" If he should answer, No, then the Herodians are ready to charge him with rebellion against the Roman government, and his destruction is sure. If he should say, Yes, then the Pharisees will make use of his reply to turn the popular prejudices of the Jews against him, and destroy his authority with them. But he saw through their artful disguise, and, with words which laid open their hypocrisy, asked them to bring him the tribute money. Pointing out to them the image and superscription of Ctesar, he said, "' Render unto Cmsar the things which are Cmsar's, and unto God the things which are God's." He is not satisfied with simply baffling them in their inquiries, and sending them away confounded and silenced, but in his reply he lays down a broad and most important principle of conduct. Give to the government the money and the allegiance which are due to it, but let it be done in accordance with the higher allegiance and the more unqualified obligations by which you are bound to him in whose image you have been created. By uniting the two, he shows that the lesser obligation is to be limited and explained by the greater. They who put the question had supposed that he must join himself either to one side or the other. But, as has been finely said, 1"the very peculiarity, the very proof of the divinity of his doctrine, was that they could not square it with any of their existing systems. It was with his MATTHEW XXII. 23-31. 379 doctrine, as it was in the legendary tale which describes how the tree of the wood of the True Cross had been of old rejected, because it would not fit into the building of the ancient temple. It was too long for one corner, it was too short for another..... And so it was laid aside till it came forth at last to be the means and symbol of the world's redemption." "The true Creed of the Church, the true Gospel of Christ, is to be found, not in proportion as it coincides with the watchwords or the dilemmas of modern controversy, but rather in proportion as it rises above them and cuts across them. How often are we told that we must be either Pharisees or Herodians; that we must follow everything to its logical extreme..... But there is a'right division of the word of truth,' - there is a middle way of religion, which, not from weakness, not from indolence, not from halting between two opinions, but from sincere love of Christ, and from desire to conform ourselves to his image, we may humbly desire to walk." — Stanley's Canterbury Sermons, pp. 112, 113. 23 - 33. THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD. 23 - 31. The Pharisees, amazed and wondering, left Jesus. They believed in the resurrection of the dead. But the Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, "neither angel nor spirit" (Acts xxiii. 8), came with a question which they believed would be wholly unanswerable. A woman who has had seven husbands, - "in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be?" We may imagine the cunning, sharp, triumphant look with which these closing words were uttered. Jesus did not argue with them after their own fashion, but in one of the most instructive passages in the New Testament, in the calmness and depth of his spiritual insight, he pointed out to them how utterly they had been mistaken, not knowing either the Scriptures or the power of God. From that day to this a class of 380 MATTHEW XXII. 23- 33. keen, but shallow and conceited men, sometimes nominally as friends and sometimes as enemies of our religion, have founded their objections to Christian doctrines or to Christianity itself on this double mistake, attributing to the Scriptures what the Scriptures do not teach, and shutting up the power of the Almighty within the limits of their narrow, short-sighted conceptions. In no particular perhaps has this been more remarkable than with the two classes represented by the Pharisees and Sadducees; —the latter denying altogether the immortality of the soul, and the former believing, as Martha did (John xi. 24), in the resuscitation of the body at a general resurrection in the last day. The reply of Jesus, while directed against the Sadducees, is so framed as to meet both these classes. Though the great laws of spiritual life prevail in all worlds alike, it will not do, he says in substance, to carry into the world to come the limitations and connections which here grow out of our sensuous and material organization. "6 The sons of this world are given in marriage," but in the resurrection, "'when (Mlark xii. 25) they rise from the dead," " they (Luke xx. 35, 36) who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; neither can they die any more; for they are as angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection." The sublime view which is here opened to us of that world, and the spiritual relations which alone prevail there, ought to banish forever from our minds all thought of the resurrection of the present body, with its outward, material organization. 31 - 33. But lest the doctrine of the resurrection should still be misunderstood, Jesus quotes from the sacred writings which Pharisees and Sadducees alike reverence, a passage (Ex. iii. 6) which not only implies the fact of a resurrection of the dead, such as the Sadducees denied, but which also proves, in opposition to the belief of the Pharisees, that the dead are already risen. As touching MATTHEW XXII. 34-40. 381 the resurrection of the dead" (Matthew), "concerning the dead that they are raised" (Mark), "that the dead are ra~ised, even Moses showed at the bush" (Luke). For as the Lord is not the God of the dead, but of the living, so when he called himself the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, he declared by this form of speech that they were then risen from the dead, "for all (Luke xx. 38) live unto him." It is worthy of remark, that when Martha said (John xi. 24), "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day," Jesus immediately corrected this view of a distant resurrection by announcing the true doctrine of a spiritual, uninterrupted, eternal life. "I am the resurrection and the life." "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." 34-40. THE Two GREAT COMMANDMENTS. 34-40. The lawyer who put the question, Which is the great commandment in the law? may have supposed that Jesus would propose some precept of his own as more important than any commandment in the law, and thus lay himself open to the condemnation of the Jews. But in reply to their captious questioning, he brings out from the law itself (Deut. vi. 5; Levit. xix. 18) two precepts, which contain within themselves the substance of all our duties to God and man, - of all that has been taught by the law and the prophets. Thus the enemies of Jesus could not question him in their craftiness and malice, without being astonished and overwhelmed by some principle of Divine truth. He did not answer them according to their folly, but took advantage of the occasions which they made to expound our relation to human governments and to God, to unfold the true doctrine of the eternal life, and to set vividly before us the sum and substance of our duties to God and man. 382 MATTHEW XXII. 41-45. 41-45. CHRIST THE SON OF DAVID. 41 - 45. There are those who believe that Jesus here intended nothing more than to silence and confound his enemies. "Alike from the terms of the conversation and from its context," says Dr. Palfrey in his Relation between Judaism and Christianity, p. 108, "I infer that the object of Jesus was not to prove or disprove anything, but simply to perplex the Pharisees, and show to the bystanders what incompetent teachers they were, and what shallow and unskilful interpreters of the Old Testament Scriptures." HIase says, "He (Jesus) proved to them his dialectical embarrassment by proposing a sophistical question on the Messianic signification of Psalm cx." But as Jesus, in reply to the captious questions which his enemies have put to him, has taken occasion to unfold or announce to them great and important principles of political duty and of moral and religious life, and to silence them, not by sophistical reasonings after their own fashion, but by the profound and majestic truths which he uttered, is it probable that now, when they are all silenced, he of his own accord would propose a question respecting a passage in their sacred writings with no higher purpose than to perplex them and show off their incompetency as religious teachers? Unless the language pretty decisively indicates this design on his part, we should be slow to believe it. It is not countenanced by his conduct on any other occasion. What then is the true interpretation of this passage? Jesus has already been announced publicly as the Messiah, and the last day of his public ministry has now come. But all the Jews, his friends hardly less than his enemies, view the Messiah as an earthly king, exercising a wider and holier sway than any king who had gone before, but still an earthly dominion. Jesus would prepare the way for the overthrow of these erroneous ideas. But they will not receive plain instructions, or a direct contradiction MATTHEW XXII. 41-45. 383 of prejudices so deeply rooted in their minds. He can reach them only through their Jewish habits of thought. He therefore asks them, "What think ye of the Christ," i. e. the Messiah or the Anointed One?" "Whose son is he?" They say unto him, "The son of David." "How then," he asks, 6" doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying (Ps. cx. 1), Jehovah said unto my Lord?" &c. "If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?" These questions are put by Jesus in regard to the interpretation of a psalm which all around him regarded as a prediction of the Messiah, and they are put in such a way as to show that the construction which they put upon these words is wholly inconsistent with the fact certainly established by their prophetic writings that the Messiah was to be of the seed of David. As no one among the learned Pharisees and lawyers could explain the contradiction, would not his friends at least, and might not some even of his enemies, be led to reconsider the whole matter, and to admit different and higher views of the Messiah and his kingdom, when the spiritual claims and authority of Jesus should be more distinctly presented? "There is certainly," they would say to themselves, and perhaps among themselves, "a difficulty here. These two views of ours cannot be harmonized with one another. If the Messiah is really, and on this point there can be no question, the son of David, and David nevertheless looks up to him with reverence and calls him Lord, may it not be that he and his kingdom are of a more exalted and divine character than we have supposed? And these wonderful works which are attributed to Jesus, his resurrection from the dead, his ascension into heaven, and the everlasting kingdom which he professed to establish, —the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Heaven, - may it not be that these after all are the true fulfilment of the ancient prophecies?" Those who were disposed to follow Jesus, and some of the more thoughtful even among his enemies might be led into 884 MIATTHEW XXII. reflections of this kind. A doubt lodged in the mind by a pertinent and suggestive question will often do more in the end to remove a deeply rooted prejudice and to revolutionize all one's habits of thought than any specific instructions or reasonings on the subject. A doubt thus introduced into the mind is like the water which is sometimes poured into the clefts of a granite ledge, and which freezing there rends the whole mass asunder, when direct and violent efforts to split it would be wholly unavailing. These views of the passage agree substantially with those of Campbell, Kuinoel, and Norton. NOT E S. AND 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 fatlings 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 1. answered] "Not only he a rebuke in the expression itself to who has been questioned, but he those who would shroud his religalso to whom a reason for speaking ion in gloom! 3. to call has been given, may rightly be said them that were bidden] It to answer." 2. a mar. seems to have been customary in riage] Any great celebration or the East (Esther v. 8; vi. 14) to send festival was so called. The acces- a second time to call those who had sion of a prince to his throne was already been invited to a feast. In called the marriage of a king with this case, as there might have been his people. " Blessed are they who some mistake in the matter, the are called unto the marriage supper king sends, 4. the third time a still of the Lamb." (ReV. xix. 9.) How more pressing call. 7. But often does Jesus set forth this festive when the king heard thereof, character of his religion, and what he was wroth] "Among the MATTHEW XXII. 385 and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, s 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 io 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. ii 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 camest thou in hither, not having a wedding 13 garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to Miohammedans, refusal to come to distributed among the guests, to be a marriage feast, when invited, is worn as a badge or token of their considered a breach of the law righttoaplaceat the festival. There of God. Hedaya, Vol. IV. p. 91. is no sufficient evidence in the Old It was probably considered in this Testament of such a custom. The light among all the Oriental na- passages quoted by Stier (Gen. xlv. tions." Ad. Clarke. 9. 22; Jud. xiv. 12; 2 Kings v. 22) are and as many as ye shall fisnd] not to the point. It seems, howPococke says, "thatan Arab prince ever, to be implied in the passage will often dine before his door, and before us, and the custom, we becall to all that pass, even to beggars, lieve, still exists in the East. " We in the name of God, and they come may and ought, when he calls, to and sit down to table, and when come just as we are; but we may they have done retire with the usual not, if we would see his face and form of returning thanks. It is al- enjoy his last feast, remain as we wa s customary among the Ori- are. " As the king clothes his entals to provide more meats and guests, the bridegroom his bride, so drinks than are necessary for the does God himself clothe us witl feast, and then the poor who pass the robe of righteousness and garlby, or whom the rumor of the ment of salvation," if we only Awill *feast brings to the neighborhood, receive it with humble and faithful are called in to consume what re- hearts. The wedding garment is mains. This they often do in an spoken of in Rev. xix. 7, 8: "'For outer room to which the dishes are the marriage of the Lamb is come, removed from the apartment in and his wife hath made herself which the invited guests have feast- ready. And to her was granted that ed; or, otherwise, every invited she should be arrayed in fine linen, guest, when he has done, with- clean and white; ibr the fine linen draws from table, when his place is is the righteousness of the saints." taken by another person of inferior 12. Friend]'Eraipe, rank, and so on, till the poorest comrade. A word of ambiguous come and consume the whole." J. meaning, which may be addressed Cobbin. 10. bad and to an intimate friend, and also to good] are alike invited and brought those with whom we are not on in (xiii. 47), with the expectation, terms of intimacy. And however, that all will become fitted he was speechless] He had no for the companionship of those who word of explanation or excuse to are there. 11. a wedding give for having put himself among garment] It is disputed among the wedding guests without the wedthe critics whether the master of ding garment, - for having come the feast usually had such garments without the fitting preparation. 33 Y 386 MATTHEW XXII. the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping 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 Cssar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wiclk- is edness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. 19 All, bad and good, were invited; the difficulties which lie in the way but some preparation of heart was of those who would follow Christ. needed, before they could properly 16. with the Herodians] accept the call. 13. bind Little is known of the Herodilans. him hand and foot] These mi- They were a political rather than a nor particulars in the parable are religious sect. They wTere attached not of course to be literally inter- to the party of Hero0l, and of course preted and applied. As the guest supporters of the Roman goveriwho had here numbered himself ment. Their usual position w'Ias among the chosen ones had not the one of hostility to the Pharisees. qualities which would fit him for a But wherever they are mentionedl place at the marriage feast of the in the Gospels (Mai'k iii. 6; xii. 13), Lamb, he could find no freedom or they are acting with the Pharisees pleasure or fellowship there, but by against Jesus. Some little light, the very condition of his heart, and but not much, is thrown upon their the affinities of his nature, helpless history by Josephus, Antiq. XVII. and dumb, like one speechless and 3. Their flattering address here bound hand and foot, he is shut out savors of political cunning, and is from their society, and left in the in keeping with their position as outer darkness and sorrow in which courtiers...... How terrible to his soul must dwell. outer such men the reply of Jesus, seeing darkness] Those who left the as he did through their wNricked delighted hall of the marriage feast, sign. 19. the tribulte were sent out into the outer dark- money] a Roman coin denarct is. ness of the night,-a figure of There was also another coin (xvii. speech to describe the' darkness of a 24 - 27) which would seem to have soul shut out from the light and been used for temple money. Some warmth of God's truth and love. have supposed that the reply of 14. For many are called, Jesus related merely to these two but few are chosen] (See Note kinds of coins, one of which was to xx. 16.) Though all are invited, be paid to Cusar, and the other to yet few so accept the call, and use God. But his reply goes deeper the means of salvation, as to be than this, even if it does not tacitly numbered among the chosen ones. refer to man as bearing in his image These words apply to the whole and superscription the same relati(:n parable, and not merely to its clos- to God which the penny bears to Cumilg sentence. The idea is the same sar. The tribute money, —" it has as in Matthew vii. 14, and'refers to been often described; it may still be MATTHEW XXII. 387 20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and super21 scription? 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 they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way. 23 The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that 24 there is no resurrection, and asked him, saying, Master, Moses said, "If a man die, having no children, his brother 25 shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother." Now there were with us seven brethren; and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased; and, having no issue, left his wife 26 unto his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, 27 unto the seventh. And last of all the woman died also. 28 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the 29 seven? for they all had her. Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power 30 of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. 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 Jacob "? 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 Sad35 ducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting 36 him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment 37 in the law? Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with seen,- the little silver coin, bear- Augustus, son of the divine Augusing on its surface the head encircled tus, Emperor." Stanley. 30. are with a wreath of laurel and bound as the angels of God in heaven] round with the sacred fillet, - the as angels of God in heaven, not as well-known features, the most beau- the angels. They are not like the tiful and the most wicked, even in angels, but are themselves as angels outward expression, of all the Ro- in heaven. 32. is not the man Emperors - with the super- God of the dead, but of the scription running round. in the living] God is God, not of dead stately language of Imperial Rome, but of living persons; —without the'Tiberiuts Ocesa', divi Augusti fillius article, and more emphatically deAugustus, Imperator,' Tiberius Cusar noting the present and continuous 388 MATTHIIEW XXII. all thy mind." This is the firs-f and great commandment. 3s And the second is like unto it; " Thou shalt love thy neighbor 39 as thyself." On these two commandments hang all the law and 40 the prophets. While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked 41 them, saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? 42 They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, 43 How then doth David in spirit call him Lord? saying, " The 44 life of those whose God he is. of peculiar spiritual exaltation or 40. on these two command. sensibility to spiritual influences, ments hang all the law and the spiritual faculties peculiarly the prophets] " Christ appears opein to spiritual impressions, or peto us to point by the metaphorical culiarly moved by the spirit of God, expression to the symbolical tassels it is difficult to assign to it any worn by the Pharisees on their gar- meaning adapted to the place which ments, and enjoined by Moses, as a it holds. This, we think, must have memorial of the commandments: been the meaning intended by the two as the two tables, in each many writers. So in the passage before threads, but bound together in one us,'" David in spisit," or, as Mark blue string, i. e.'many command- has it (xii. 36), " David in the holy ments of one indivisible heavenly spirit," there is implied a state of law of love."' Stier. The simpler mind more or less produced and interpretation, " On these two prin- guided by the special influences of ciples depend all the rest," seems the Divine Spirit. There can hardto us the more natural and correct. ly be a question that Jesus was 43. in spirit] " Vates, pro- and meant to be, so understood at pheta," i. e. Seer, prophet. Kuinoel. the time. It may be said that he Speaking by inspiratiosn." Camp- was only accommodating himself bell. "LUnder a Divine impulse." to the views of others in order to Norton. "In spiritual contempla- confute them. But we cannot think tion." Palfrey. The expression that this would be quite in accord"in spirit" does not necessarily ance with the perfect sincerity and imply a special Divine influence, - truthfulness of his character. He "shall worship the Father in spirit plainly assumes, first, That David and in truth" (John iv. 23), " in is speaking here of the Messiah; the spirit, and not in the letter" and, secondly, That he does this (Rom. ii. 29). " Walk in the spirit, under a divine impulse, in the spirit. and ye shall not fulfil the lust of But because David was thus, in the flesh " (Gal. v. 16). But when the spiritual exaltation of his facit is used to express the impelling ulties, enabled to foretell the kingcause, it does, -we think, imply be- dom of the Messiah, and its ultimate ing moved by the Spirit of God, - triumph, it does not follow that he divinely moved or inspired, - or, as had a perfectly clear and adequate Mr. Norton explains it, "under a conception of the Saviour's characDivine influence." "And he came ter and office. Divine illumination ins the spirit into the temple." (Luke does not imply perfect infallibility. ii. 27.) "And he was led in the The prophet may not always unspirit into the wilderness." (Luke derstand entirely the vision that iv. 1.) " As it is now revealed unto comes before him. Daniel (xii. 8, his holy apostles and prophets in 9) says, "I heard, but I understood the spirit." (Eph. iii. 5.) "I was not," and when he asked for an in the spirit on the Lord's day." explanation, the reply was, "the (Rev. i. 10.) Unless the phrase in words are closed up and sealed till spirit is here used to express a state thle time of the end." We should 3MATTHEW XXII. 389 Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I 45 make thine enemies thy footstool." If David then call him always bear this in mind in our comes in with all its original force: attempts to explain the prophetical " If David call him Lord, how is he writings of the Old Testament. his son? Must there not then be a Visions of a future and holier king- different and higher sense in which dom than the world had known, - the language is used than in its apforegleams of one greater than any plication to a king of Israel? Bemonarch or conqueror, who should sides, what Jewish monarch was put down all his enemies, and rule there who united in the manner the nations in righteousness, were here indicated, 4, the priestly with granted to prophets and holy men of the kingly character and office? old who spake as they were moved There is no suitable correspondence by the spirit of God. But they between the words and the subject. were obliged to employ such teims But if, on the other hand, David in as were used among men; and the spirit had a glimpse of the higher whole prophetic vision, as it stood and holier kingdom of the Messiah revealed in the words of the prophet, with its attendant conflicts and vicmust be marked by the imperfec- tories and glories, are not the images tions necessarily inherent in our here such as a warlike king like limited human conceptions, habits David might fittingly employ to of thought, and forms of speech. body forth the essential facts of the As a single illustration of our mean- case?- 1. The exalted condition ilg, we subjoin the whole of Psaln of the Messiah whom the prophet cx. as it stands in Dr. Noyes's king looks up to as his Lord; 2. version: — The sceptre of his power going forth from Zion, the seat of the Jew1. Jehovah said to my lord, ish religion, gaining its ascendency " Sit thou at my right hand, even in the midst of his enemies Until I make thy foes thy footstool." en in the midst of his enemies 2. Jehovah will extend the sceptre of thy 3. His people in the beauty of hlolipower from Zion; aless, and his followers coming forth Thou shalt rule in the midst of thine in the freshness of their youthful enemies. zeal like dew from the womb of the 8. Thy people shall be ready, when thou morning; 4. His oining the priestly musterest thy forces, in holy splen- nol to the kingly office; Jehovah, 5, 6, dor [in the beauty of holiness] y. of; Je 5 6 Thy youth shall come forth like dew putting down and destroying his from the wonib of the morning. enemies when kings and rulers rise 4. Jehovah hath sworn, and he will not against him, and executing justice repent: among the nations, while he, 7, like' Thou art a priest forever. one in a desert land suddenly reAfter the order of RMelchisedek! " freshed by a running brook, lifts up 5. The Lord is at thy right hand, his head i his hea d in joy and triumph. Is Hle shall crush kings in the day of his ~~~wrath. ~there not here under these various wrath. 6. lIe shall execute justice among the images, 1 - 4, a picture of the Mesnations; siah in his ex'altation and holiness, He shall fill them with dead bodies; while the warlike images that follie shall crush the heads of his ene- low show how amid violent oppomies over many lands. sition and bloody conflicts, where 7. He shall drink of the brook in the kings and people are overwhelmed way; Therefore shall he lift up his head. and destroyed, his kingdom shall be established, and he, notwithWe will suppose this psalm to be, standing these wearisome wars, as our Saviour himself assumes in shall, like one refreshed by a speaking of it, composed by David. stream in the sultry day, lift up his Could the opening words be applied victorious head. The cruelties spoby him to ally one of his succes- ken of in the psalm are objected sors? The question of Jesus still to. " The least," says Dr. Palfrey, 33* 390 MATTIHEWr XXII. Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer 46 him a word; neither durst any man, from that day forth, ask him any more questions. " that such a supernatural inspira- view of its Messianic character, tion, had David possessed it, might and can hardly be explained natuhave been expected to do, would be rally and intelligibly, on any other to keep him from describing the fu- supposition. Is there in the last ture Messiah, the meek and peace- three verses anything inconsistent ful Jesus of Nazareth, as a furious with this view? We leave it for soldier who should' strike through the careful reader to judge whether kings,' and pile up heaps of bloody the latter clause is not also perand helpless corpses, and slay till fectly in accordance with the dark he should be exhausted with weari- and destructive conflicts which ness and thirst." But is not this a marked the earIy progress of Chriscaricature? The images in the tianity, and whether its languagoe psalm, of war and cruelty and may not without any violence be desolation, do they not truthfully interpreted as a highly impassioned describe the condition of things and condensed figurative descripthrough which the religion of Jesus, tion of the struoggles and slaughters' extending the sceptre of its power and conquests by which God in his from Zion," passed in its victorious providence was preparing for the progress? And do they not accord establishment of the Messiah's kingwith the wars and rumors of wars, dom. 44. till I make nation rising against nation, and thine enemies thy tootstool] kingldom against kingdom, which We would refer to the striking coJesus himself has spoken of as incidence between Ps. cx. 1, and 1 among the signs of his coming? Cor. xv. 25, to the use made of the We wish to state the matter pre- same verse in Acts ii. 34; Heb. i. cisely. Here is a psalm which the 13, and x. 13: " The eternity of the Jews received as written by David, session," says Bengel, "is not deand as referring to the Messiah. nied; but it is denied that the asJesus in quoting from it, speaks of sault of the enemies will interfere David as saying these things in with it. The warlike kingdom will spirit, and with reference to the come to an end; the peaceful kingMessiah. The presumption from dom, however, will have no end. all this is that Jesus believed in Compare 1 Cor. xv. 25, &c. Even David as the author of the psalm, before that the Son was subordinate and that the psalm was, or at least to the Father, but did not then apcontained, a prediction of the Mes- pear so, on account of the glory of siah and his kingdom. The psalm his kingdom: even after that he itself, in the first four verses, is will reign, but as the Son, subordialtogether in harmony with this nate to the Father." MATTHEW XXIII. 391 CHAPTERI XXIII. CH1RIST's DENUNCIATION OF THE PHARISEES. ACCORDING to MIatthew, the Sermon on the Mount was the first public discourse of Jesus to the Jews, and this the last. There is, in some respects, a remarkable resemblance or contrast between the two. As that opened with seven beatitudes, so this closes with seven woes. Verse 14 is omitted by Tischendorf. The beatitudes offer themselves in sounds of perpetual gladness and welcome to those who will come; the woes stand out as sad and awful warnings to those who will not hear. It is remarkable that in enumerating the crimes which made a national existence no longer possible for the Jews, Jesus did not dwell on the vices of the people, but on the spiritual wickedness, —the vainglory, hypocrisy, and religious insensibility of their spiritual teachers and guides. 3-12. As teachers of the law, holding the place and reading the precepts of Mloses, the Scribes and Pharisees are to be respected; but beyond this, their example and their teachings are to be shunned. They, 4, profess much and do little, and what they do, 5 - 7, is in order to be seen of men. But do not ye, 8 - 11, seek these human distinctions, - these titles of honor, Rabbi, Teacher, Father. By Father is not meant the relation of parent to child, but some official title of respect which Jesus would not have his followers assume or apply, - as, e. g. the term Pope, Papa, Father, in the sense in which it is now assumed by the head of the Roman Catholic Church. The expression, "for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren," strikes directly at the pretended supremacy of any one over the other disciples. 392 MATTHEW XXIII. 13 - 34. Some have thought the translation Foe unto you too severe, and have substituted for it, Alas for you. But the former expression comes more nearly to the meaning of the original in its union of severity and pity, and is more in accordance with the whole tone of our Saviour's discourse.'Woe unto you, 13, because ye shut up the kingdlom of Hleaven, i. e. will not yourselves receive my religion, and as religious teachers and guides use your authority to prevent others from receiving it. Woe unto you, 14, because under the pretence of religious services and duties, ye contrive to appropriate the possessions of widows and devour as it were their houses. This verse is omitted by Tischendorf. Woe unto you, because without the vital religious faith through which alone a true convert can be gained, ye compass sea and land to bring one man over a proselyte to your hypocritical and wicked purposes. " A disciple," says Alford, "of hypocrisy merely, - neither a sincere heathen nor a sincere Jew, — doubly the child of hell, — condemned by the religion which he had left, - condemned again by that which he bad taken," - not a sincere convert, but an apostate from the old religion, a hypocrite in regard to the new. Mr. Norton supposes that this may refer to Judas, whom the Pharisees had won over to their dark and murderous purposes. Woe unto you, 1631 (see also v. 33-36), because ye evade and profane the most sacred religious obligations by your unfounded and bewildering distinctions. Woe unto you, 23, 24, because while punctiliously scrupulous about the slightest observances - the tithing of unimportant herbs -ye omit the weightier matters of the law, viz. righteousness, mercy, and love. Allusion is probably made here to Micah vi. 8: "He hath showed thee, 0 man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Woe unto you, 25, 26, because ye regard only the outside of the cup and the platter, both in the literal and figurative sense of MATTHEW XXIII. 393 the expression, while within they are full of rapine and excess; yea, woe unto you, 27, because, being thus mindful of the outside alone, ye are like whited sepulchres, fair without, but within full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.- Finally, woe unto you, 29 - 33, because, as the last consummate act of hypocrisy and crime, at the very time that ye are building and adorning the tombs of the prophets, and saying, " if we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets," ye by your very words, and by actions which speak more powerfully than words, testify to yourselves that ye are the sons of them who slew the prophets. Go on then, if you will. Since there is no hope of amendment for you, and no room for the establishment of my kingdom except on the ruins of yours, Fill up speedily the measure of your fathers. Complete the work of cruelty and crime which they began, that, in the national overthrow and destruction which must ensue, the time of redemption to my followers from all your cruelties and oppressions may come. 0 ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, [no longer, as with John the Baptist, iii. 7,'"Who hath warned ye to flee from the wrath to come? but] how can ye escape the damnation [or judgment] of hell? Wherefore, or, for this reason, 34, refers to this clause as well as to what goes before. It is as if Jesus had said, If there were any hope of your amendment and co-operation with me, - any hope that you would cease to stand in the way of God's kingdom, and to persecute and oppress my disciples, I might even yet bear with you. But since there is no such hope, and no way in which my religion can be established on earth except by the consummation, on your part, of crimes which must soon end in the overthrow' of your power and the destruction of your city and nation, therefore, as the only way of shortening those evil days, and hastening the coming of the Son of man, behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men 394 MATTHEW XXIII. and scribes, whom ye shall persecute and scourge and murder, so that your measure of iniquity may soon be full, and on you may come every kind of blood-guiltiness that the world has known, -all the righteous blood that has been shed from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of the last righteous man, whom ye slew within the very precincts of the temple. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. THE CUMULATIVE GUILT OF A NATION. We have here stated by Jesus, in its terrible results the slow but constantly progressive power of sin among a people who give themselves up to what is evil. The catalogue becomes constantly darker from generation to generation. Children grow up into the crimes of their parents, and add to them yet other crimes of their own. Partial judgments fall upon them from time to time, and check somewhat the progress of corruption. Prophets and holy men are raised up and sent among them that all who will may yet repent and be saved. But these messengers of God's mercy only aggravate the guilt of those who will not hear. So they, hardened alike by the judgments and mercies of heaven, add to the murderous spirit of their fathers a deeper hypocrisy of their own, and fill up whatever has been left wanting in the measure of crime by those who went before, till they have reached such a point of obduracy and wickedness, that national dissolution and death must ensue, and in that crisis, that day of national retribution, all the crimes which have been accumulating through so many ages, unfolding new depths of iniquity in each successive generation, as they are now consummated in their lives, so also are they fulfilled in the judgments which fall upon them. "The mills of the gods grind late, but they grind clean." Mercy not less than justice requires that their reign of iniquity should be ended. When a people, through the slowly accumulating results of MATTHEW XXIII. 395 ages of infidelity and sin, are at length ripe for judgment, when the last terrible crisis, so long preparing, has come, and neither the warnings nor the promises of God will move them to turn from their iniquities and live, then mercy and justice alike require that the sorrowful retributions which have been gathering through the whole period of their history, from their earliest to their latest crime, shall fall in ruin on their sinful and devoted heads. The Jews were now reaching this period. They had had their opportunities. But now to them the end of the world, the end of their eon or dispensation, was at hand. All that can be done has been done. One thing only waits, - the cross of Christ. But except with the few who will hear, that will only deepen their guilt, and hasten the day of vengeance. All efforts in their behalf are in vain. It only remains to pronounce their sentence, though it be with tears and with the yearning of an infinite tenderness towards them. "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them who are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a bird gathereth her young under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your 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." These were the words of Jesus as he went out of the temple for the last time. And when he departed its glory also departed, and it was left indeed naked and desolate to them. Then was the beginning of that desertion which Josephus in his Wars of the Jews, VI. 5. speaks of as among the omens which preceded the destruction of the temple. "Moreover," he says, "at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner court of the temple, as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said, that in the first place they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise; and after that, they heard a sound as of a multitude saying, Let us depart hence." 396 MATTHEW XXIII. NOTE S. THEN 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 ye not after their works; for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, 4 and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they 5 do for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the 6 uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, 7 Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your s 2. sit in Moses9 seat] The men have loaded with a heavy Sanhedrim, which was composed weight, they apply their hand to it mainly of the scribes and Phari- to keep it steady, and prevent it sees, was the highest religious au- from falling." I(enrick. "In what thority recognized among the Jews. an entirely different light does the 3. therefore] This Saviour appear, who himself sought word limits the command which it to bear the heaviest burdens, and by introduces. Therefore, iasnaszch as his love to make everything easy for they occupy the seat of Moses, and his people." Stein. 5. their so fjar as they occupy it, and are phylacteries] Strips of parchthe expounders of his law, observe ment with certain passages of Scriptheir directions, but do not imitate ture, viz. Exod. xiii. 11-17, and 1 them in their conduct. -11; Deut. xi. 13-22; vi. 4-10, for they say, and do not] written on them, and worn on the There is always this danger with forehead between the eyes, on the those whose business it is to ex- left side next the heart, and on the pound the duties of moral and re- left arm. and enlarge the ligious obligation. They are so borders of their garmentsl The taken up with thinking about them, fringes were commanded to be worn and enforcing them on others, that for a memorial. (Num. xv. 38.) they are in danger of failing to re- 6. the -uppermost rooms] ceive them into their own hearts, the highest place for reclining at and carry them out in their lives. the feasts. the chief seats] There is no soul so impervious to The uppermost seats in the Synathe vital and vitalizing powers of gogue, i. e. those which were neardivine truth as one encased in its est the Chapel, where the sacred own religious speculations and stud- books were kept, were esteemed ies. Its intellectual processes on peculiarly honorable." Jahn. these great themes absorb into 8. Be not ye called Rabbi] themselves the life which should Rabbi, my Master. The negative enter into it and quicken alike its particle is sometimes used in Hesensibilities, its affections, and its brew instead of the comparative active powers. 4. For " For thou desirest not sacrifice, they bind] The allusion here is else would I give it, and the sacrito beasts of burden, which when flees of God are a broken spirit." MATTHEW XXIII. 397 9 Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth; for one is your Father, which is in io heaven. Neither be ye called masters; for one is your Masii ter, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be 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 14 in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer; i5 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 make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 16 Woe unto you, ye blind' guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear 1? by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. Ye fools, and blind! for whether is greater? the gold, or the temple that (Ps. ii. 16, 17.) That is, outward struction is less marked in English sacrifice is less required than a bro- than in Greek, but may be repreken spirit. So it may be here, that sented as follows: - Jesus commands his disciples not to receive or bestow these titles of 7Woe unto you, blind leaders, who say, respect, for they are nothing when Whosoever shall swear by the temple, thus received and accepted, com- it is nothin, - But he who shall swear by the gold of pared. with what they are when ap- the temple, is bound thereby; plied to Christ their only master, Ye fbols and blind ones! and to God who alone in the highest For which is the greater, the gold, import of the word is their Father. Or the temple that sanctifieth the The meaning of the passage is the gold? same whether wie adopt this or the same, whether we adopt this or the And woe unto you, blind leaders, who common interpretation. In either say, case, Jesus forbids his disciples to Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it seek or to use among themselves is nothing; those titles of distinction which But he who shall swear by the gift may interfere with their brotherly that is on it, is bound thereby: equality, or put any one on earth as Ye fools and blind ones! ra master between them and him. For which is the greater, the gift, 6a -2aste betweenip Jheb (Thir Or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 16-22. Bishop Jebb (Thirty Years' Correspondence, Vol. I. Ipp. Whoso, therefore, shall swear by the 56, 57) has pointed out in these altar, passages a construction which cor- Sweareth by it, and by all things responds very closely to the paral- thereon; lelism of Hebrew poetry, and which And whoso shall swear by the temple, may interest those who are curious dwelleth that, and by may dwelleth therein; in some of the lighter matters per- And he who shall swear by heaven, taingin to the form of our Saviour's Swears by the throne of God, and by teachings. The characteristic con- him that sitteth thereon. 34 398 MATTHIE~W XXIII. sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the is altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools, and blind! for 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 things thereon; and whoso shall swear by the temple sweareth 21 by it, and by him that dwelleth therein; and he that shall swear 22 by heaven sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypo- 23 crites! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and culin; and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides! which strain at a 24 gnat, and swallow a camel. WToe unto you, scribes and Phar- 25 isees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 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. 23. tithe of mint, and anise, 24. which strain at a gnat, and cumin] These were unim- and swallow a camel] The portant herbs, and the scribes and Jewvs carefully strained their wine, Pharisees are represented as hypo- that they might not drink any critically magnifying the impor- unclean insect in it. The camel tance of piaying their tenths on. was also an unclean animal. The them, that they might cover up meaning of the comparison is obvitheir short-comings in weightier ous. The translation should be who matters. Jesus tells them that they strain out a gnat, &c. should not omit the least, but above 27, Ye are like unto whited all they should observe the weight- sepulchres] " In order that those ier matters of the law. " The tithe who were forbidden to approach was a provision made by the law of unclean places might not be polMoses for the support of the Levites, luted, the Jews were accustomed the stranger, the fatherless, and the to whitewash the sepulchres." widow, Deut. xxvi. 12; and was Schleusner. " The Jews used once therefore intended to proceed from a year (on the 15th of the month the produce of the field, and not Adar) to whitewash the spots where from garden herbs. The Pharisees, graves were, that persons might not however, were so scrupulously exact be liable to uncleanness by passing in observing the injunctions of the over them. (See Numn- xix. 16.) This law, that they tithed all small goes to the root of the mischief at herbs." Kenrick. once: your heart is not a temple of MAiTTHEW XXIII. 399 29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of 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 35 your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city; that 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 tem36 ple and the altar. Verily 1 say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. 37 0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her 38 chickens under her wings! and ye would not. Behold, your 39 house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall the living God, but a grave of pesti- pie and the altar] between the lent corruption." Alford. 35. Zacharias, son of Bara. vao9, temple proper and the altar, chias] It is not known with cer- which was in the court, Iepdv, just tainty who is meant here. There is in front of the temple. The altar a tradition mentioned by Origen built by Solomon, was, according to that Zacharias, the father of John Josephus, about 30 feet square and the Baptist, was slain by them in the 15 feet high. According to the temple. It may have been some same writer the altar in the enclosother person of that name whom ure of Herod's temple was about the Jews had recently murdered, or 75 feet (50 cubits) square, and 224 it may be that Jesus alluded to feet high. 39. Ye shall Zacharias the son of Jehoiada, lot see me henceforth, till] who was killed there (2 Chron. Many commentators find here a xxiv. 21), and of whose blood the prediction of the future conversion Jews had a saying, that it was nev- and restoration of the Jews. " Uner washed away till the temple was til that day the subject of all prophburnt at the captivity. ecy," says Alford, " when your reWSoi of Barachiah] " does not pentant people shall turn with true occur in Luke xi. 51, and perhaps and royal hosannas and blessings to was not uttered by the Lord himself, greet IHim whom they have pierced." but may have been inserted by mis- " Christ takes leave of them," says take, as Zecharias the prophet was Stier, "not merely with the feeling son of Barachiah, see Zech. i. 1." that he can return to the temple Alford. between the tern- only as Messiah or never (accord 400 MATTHEW XXIII. not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord! ing to Hase), but with the clear- chapter, 25, 26 is an instance of the discerning prophecy that at one same transition from the literal to time the people of God shall honor the spiritual, from the cups and him. The still fiuture restoration of platters which the Pharisees used, Israel according to the flesh is an- to themselves in their outside connounced throughout all the Old duct and inward life. So here, Testament, from Deut. iv. 30, on to after announcing the destruction Zechariah;..... he who has not which is soon to fall upon the Jews read this is not yet able rightly to as a nation, may it not be that he read the prophets." - " I depart turns from tile outward ruin of the from you: after this ye shall not city anti nation as a whole to the insee me in this temple till ye recog- ward spiritual manifestation of himnize me as the Messiah; i. e. ye self which he will make to those shall never see me in this temple among them who shall heartily reagain." Kuinoel. But is there ceive and acknowledge him as the not another interpretation which is Messiah? Your house is left unto more in harmony with our Sa;viour's you desolate. My visible ministry habits of speech? We have seen among you is ended. Hereafter, how often and almost insensibly none of you shall see me till, conhe rises from the literal to the fig- verted, and born into a higlher life, urative and spiritual meaning of ye joyfullv behold and recognize me words. " He who saveth his life," as the Son of God. This is subi. e. his bodily life, " shall lose it," stantially in accordance with Mr. i. e. his spiritual life. In this very Norton's view. MATTHEW XXIV. 401 CHAPTE R XXIV. OUR SAVIOUE's GIFT OF PROPHECY. THE question of prophecy is intimately connected with the Scriptures, and any attempt to explain the Gospels must be incomplete unless it should treat this subject fully and fairly. 1. A prophecy may be merely a message or a simple communication in relation to some future event, as, e. g. (1 Kings xxi. 17 - 19): "And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel,..... saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine." The interpretation of dreams (Gen. xl. 8 - 23; Dan. ii. 31 - 45), the message to Cornelius (Acts x. 1 - 8), and the message to Peter in the same chapter are instances of this. 2. An impression in regard to the future may be made upon the mind, so as to act upon it with a mysterious power. Some insects are endowed with a prophetic instinct, by which they provide for the preservation and support of their offspring which are to be born after their death. We find this sort of blind but prophetic instinct having a marked influence in forming the minds and shaping the destiny of extraordinary men, such as Julius Caxsar, Lord Bacon, Oliver Cromwell, and Napoleon. As in the heart of the plant and insect, so in the heart of man, it would seem as if there had been sometimes implanted from his earliest years a propelling power urginng him on, he hardly knows how or why, to the 21.:' Z 402 MATTHEW XXIV. work for which Providence has designed him. Do we not see something of this kind working in the heart of a nation? In Rome, e. g., did not this prophetic conviction of the great national destiny which lay before them nerve the people with a sterner fortitude under defeat, and prompt them to more daring enterprises, and thus help them to accomplish the designs of' Providence? Or is this an idea attributed to them by later writers in describing the deeds of their ancestors, after the imperial grandeur of the nation had become an historical fact? The history of the Jewish nation furnishes a remarkable instance of the same kind. From the time of Abraham onward through all their individual and national reverses, they were led on by an indefinite but certain assurance of future greatness and glory. This impression, repeatedly renewed, was continued fiom Abraham to Moses, from Moses to David, from David on his throne, through a succession of prophets, to Daniel an exile and captive. Whatever may be thought of specific prophecies, this expectation of a destiny beyond what had fallen to the lot of any other people has followed them from the earliest times recorded in their history down to the present hour. However indistinct their expectations may have been, however mistaken the interpretation which they have put upon it, and however misguided their conduct under it, that such an expectation has existed among them for thousands of years is a fact which can hardly be called in question by any intelligent and careful student of history. As we examine their records, we find notices of great men rising up fiom age to age, who, professing to be moved by a divine inspiration, foreshadowed sometimes more and sometimes less distinctly the coming of a most extraordinary person, whose influence should be felt throughout the whole world. Abraham is told (Gen. xviii. 18) that "all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him." Moses (Deut. xviii. 18) says, " The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken." MATTHEW XXIV. 403 Sometimes he is described as a conqueror (Ps. cx.), sometimes as the Prince of peace (Isa. ix. 6), under whose mild and powerful reign (Isa. ii. 4) " nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." He shall be endowed with a divine wisdom, authority, and strength (Isa. xi. 2-10) to uphold the poor and meek. 6 By him the eyes of the blind (Isa. xxxv. 5, 6) shall be opened, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing," and yet he is to be (Isa. liii.) a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, pouring out his soul unto death. These and other visions of future greatness and power, many of them conflicting with the prevailing notions of the times when they appeared, were given from generation to generation, especially when times of great national corruption were about to be followed by their just retribution. Through the darkness of the impending evils announced as the judgments of God there comes always this light of promise from beyond. This is a most remarkable feature running through all the prophetic writings. However severe the calamities which are announced, whatever desolation of fire and sword may fall upon the land, though the whole remnant of the people should be carried away into captivity, there is still a great and glorious future. We think no one can read even the minor prophets without recognizing this extraordinary feature in their predictions. Whether we call them seers or poets, whether we regard them as moral teachers or inspired prophets, this feature still remains in their writings, and it marked the conduct of their greatest men in the most hopeless periods of their history. The writers, even though they were divinely inspired prophets, may not themselves have comprehended in full the character of the deliverer or of the era whose coming they foretold. John the Baptist, whom Jesus declared (xi. 11) not inferior to the greatest of them all, evidently did not fully understand the Saviour, or the nature of his kingdom. Daniel, after one of his sublime prophecies, says (Dan. xii. 8, 9), "And I heard, but I understood not; then 404 MATTHEW XXIV. said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things'. And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." This sort of impression in regard to future events, made upon the mind and bodied forth in words or images through a divine influence, is a mode of prophecy which we can easily conceive of as possible. 3. There may be another and still higher form of prophecy. Future events are folded up in the present as in a seed. The oak is already in the acorn, the bird in the egg, the man in the child. From the seed the naturalist to a certain extent foretells what will be the progress of the plant, through each successive period of its growth. So to some extent in human affairs, from our knowledge of men and the influences which act upon them, i. e. from our knowledge of causes and the habit of following those causes on in their workings, till we begin to understand the laws of succession or of progress, we may learn to anticipate events, and to catch some glimpses of the future in the present. In proportion to the completeness of our insight into causes, and the laws of their progress in any particular sphere of activity, will be our ability to foresee and foretell future events, " Till old experience do attain To something like prophetic strain." If we suppose a mind divinely quickened in this respect so as to look at a glance through causes to their immediate or remote results, and determine with certainty the course of events in the complicated web of human affairs, we should have an instance of this third and highest form of prophecy. It is the way in which all future events lie open to the Omniscient Mind. Now this is the form under which our Saviour's prophetic endowments manifested themselves in perfect harmony with all the other manifestations of his greatness. We have seen above (pp. 128-135) that his miracles were "his works," as natural and easy to him as our ordinary MATTHEW XXIV. 405 actions are to us. In his views of death (see above, pp. 174, 175) we have seen him, in the plane of his ordinary thought, recognizing the existence of a higher world, which lay as much open to his spiritual insight as the material world does to our bodily senses. So from time to time he foretells future events, not as something specially communicated to him, but as lying within the plane of his ordinary thought. As, from his knowledge of the laws of nature, to use his own illustrations, he foresaw that a cloud fio:a the west would bring rain, that a south wind would be followed by heat, and that when the fig-tree put forth her leaves the summer would be nigh, so also from "the signs of the times" he foresaw future events. From his knowledge of the laws of the moral universe, and his insight into the condition of society and the souls of men, he saw in the world of human passions and interests, and the influences which encompassed them, unerring indications of events which must ensue. In the souls of Peter and Judas he foresaw the denial and repentance of one, and the treachery of the other. In the character of priests and rulers, as contrasted with his own pure doctrine and life, he foresaw the antagonism which could result only in his death. So at this time he saw the utter and irremediable corruption of the nation, -justice poisoned at the fountain, wickedness sustained and honored under the forms of law, falsehood, murder, impiety and all uncleanness disguised and reverenced under the forms of religion, the people rapidly ripening for judgment in the accumulated guilt of ages. The crimes enumerated in the twenty-third chapter are the premises from which the judgments afterwards announced follow as necessary and logical conclusions. Those judgments consist in the destruction of Jerusalem and the retributions which lie beyond the sphere of the senses. The rapidity with which Jesus passes from one to the other class of judgments is what makes the difficulty in the interpretation of this'prophetic discourse. 406 MATTHEW XXIV. As was natural to one who looked with equal ease and clearness through the physical and the spiritual world, his thought and his language go easily from one to the other, and often without any word to mark the point of transition. The destruction of Jerusalem, which is so distinctly foretold as the judgment of God on a wicked people, is to him an emblem, or rather the foreground, of the judgments which reach on from their early indications and partial fulfilment here to their perfect consummation hereafter. It is difficult for us who are shut up so closely within the senses to understand the true perspective in the views of one who with equal ease comprises both worlds within the sphere of his vision. The present glances on to the future, and the future throws back its light or its shadows into the present. The two worlds are united and blended by almost insensible gradations into one comprehensive plan. The sharp distinctions by which they are separated to us are hardly recognized by him. This mortal life, with its germ of immortality unfolding itself here, is only the beginning of the eternal life which reaches through the everlasting ages. The horizon of his thought lies always in that higher life and world; and unless we constantly recognize this fact, we can hardly understand aright any word that he uttered. Least of all can we understand the prophetic imagery by which he lays befbre us the future judgments of God, which display them partially here and perfectly hereafter. From the foreground of visible circumstances and events he is constantly following his principles on to the vast and mysterious background beyond. There is no dark line of separation between the two, and we may not always be able to determine when the, scenery is shifted from one to the other. MATTHEW XXIV. 1- 35. 407 1-35. THE COMING OF TH:E SON OF MAN IN JUDGMENT TO THE JEWS. Bearing these remarks in mind, we shall endeavor to explain the extraordinary predictions before us. In the previous chapter we are told that Jesus pointed out the causes of the national ruin, and foretold the destruction of Jerusalem. On leaving the temple, the disciples, as if incredulous, and supposing that they must have misunderstood what he had said, came to call his attention to the buildings within the sacred enclosure, and the immense stones of which they were composed. In this way they probably meant to indicate to him that it was impossible that the destruction of the city and temple which he had foretold should take place. Titus himself, after he had taken the city, when examining the strength of its fortifications, is represented by Josephus (Wars of the Jews, VI. 9. 1) as expressing a similar thought. "We have certainly," he said, "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 hands of men, or any machines, do towards overthrowing these towers?" Jesus knew the thought of his disciples. He also knew that walls and towers and the most desperate courage furnish no adequate security for a hopelessly corrupt and wicked people. He therefore replied to his disciples only by repeating more explicitly what he had already said. "See ye not all these things; verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here a stone upon a stone which shall not be thrown down." In less than forty years from the time when these words were spoken, i. e. in September, A. D. 70, Jerusalem was taken, and the temple was utterly destroyed, in spite of the earnest efforts of Titus, the Roman general, to save it. Dr. Robinson (Researches, &c., I. p. 436) says of Matt. xxiv. 1, 2: "'This language was spoken of the buildings of the temple, the splendid fane itself, and its magnificent 408 MATTHEW XXIV. 1 - 35. porticos; and in this sense the prophecy has been terribly fulfilled, even to the utmost letter. Or, if we give to the words a wider sense, and include the outer works of the temple, and even the whole city, still the spirit of prophecy has received its full and fearful accomplishment; for the few substructions which remain serve only to show where once the temple and the city stood." After Jesus had uttered this prediction, he went out to the Mount of Olives. While he was sitting there, four of his disciples, Peter, James, John, and Andrew (Miark xiii. 3), came to him privately, and asked when these things should be. "And what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?" These last two events, however imperfectly understood by the disciples, were grouped together, and evidently regarded by them as belonging to the same grand manifestation of the Messiah's kingdom. From 4 to 35 is the reply to their question. The principal subject is the destruction of Jerusalem, and the signs which should precede and accompany it, interspersed with such cautions and warnings as might be useful to his followers. First, he warns them, 5, against the false Christs, whose pretensions and influence in leading men astray would be a natural consequence of the feverish and mistaken expectations of the Messiah on the part of the Jews. Then, 6, 7, shall be wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. Yet all these, 8, are only the beginning of sorrows, — the beginning of the death-agony in which the old order of things should perish, and of the birth-throes by which the world should be born into a higher life. Then shall succeed, 9, persecutions and martyrdoms; many, 10, shall be offended, and they shall betray and hate one another. False prophets, 11, who usually abound amid the superstitious fears which mark the great epochs of national corruption, shall rise and lead many astray, and, 12, because of iniquity many will be discouraged, and their love shall IMATTHEW XXIV. 1 —35. 409 grow cold. But, he says, 13, rising in thought from these earthly calamities to the higher life into which the faithful shall enter, "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." (See Rev. ii. 10.) The Gospel, 14, must first be preached in all the world, i. e. through all the known world, or the Roman empire. Here were the signs which should precede the great event, and bring on the end. How far were they fulfilled? Any one who will read from the latter part of the second to the fifth Book of the Jewish Wars, by Josephus, may see how exactly, in its general features, the condition of the Jews, and of the Roman empire, as it appeared to the Jews during the few years previous to the destruction of Jerusalem, corresponded to the picture here given. The Jews were engaged in wars against one another, and in fatal outbreaks against the Romans. "War in the immediate neighborhood," says Stier, "ever growing alarms in the distance, terrifying rumors of war, commotions and tumults of the people against each other, this is in reality, on the small scale, the picture of the time as described by Josephus, which, with every year, became more exactly applicable. The wars were certainly, at that time, more of the nature of insurrections, tumults here and there (Luke xxi. 9), manifold coinmotions and massacres, for example, between the Syrian and Jewish inhabitants in the cities (nation against nation), such as are to be read of in Josephus, Jewish Wars, II. 17, 10, 18, 1-8: according to his expression,'every city was divided into Iwo opposing hosts.'" Confidence between man and man was lost. Governments were overthrown. The ties by which society is kept together were dissolved, and the wretched superstitions and fanatical pretensions which mark the absence of a living faith abounded and prevailed. As to the literal fulfilment of the prophecy, point by point, in its minute specifications, history furnishes no sufficient materials for the decision. Christian writers, by whom alone any account could be given of the false Christs, 5, have left 35 410 MATTHEW XXIV. 1 -- 35. no records of the events belonging to that period, beyond what we gather from the later writings of St. Paul (2 Tim. iii. 1-13) and St. John. Commentators adduce from different historians of that period accounts of famines, pestilences, and earthquakes, enough to give a coloring of plausibility to the doctrine of a literal fulfilment of ver. 7; but we have not the historical details which are needed in order to put ourselves into the position of those who lived at that time, and to determine how they were affected by these events. For this reason, in accordance with the view which we have taken of our Saviour's gift of prophecy, and also in accordance with the poetical and prophetic use of language, we incline to regard the latter part of ver. 7 as carrying out in a figurative form the idea begun in the first clause of the sentence: a "nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines [Tischendorf omits 1" pestilences "] and earthquakes," i. e. great privations, sufferings, and commotions in divers places. As to the persecutions, 9, Peter, and Paul, and James the brother of John, and probably many others, were put to death before the destruction of Jerusalem. The manner in which some of the early Christians were led to betray and hate one another may be inferred from Tacitus (Ann. XV. 44), where, in giving an account of the destruction of the Christians at Rome by Nero A. D. 64, he says, that " some of them were taken who confessed, and through them as informers a great multitude were seized," and exposed to cruel tortures and death. Eusebius, referring to Vespasian as emperor, says ( H. E. III. 8), " At that very time the sound of the sacred Apostles had gone out to all the earth, and their words to the uttermost parts of the world," the word used by him for world being the same that is used in the passage before us, ver. 14. St. Paul (Col. i. 23) speaks of the Gospel, which then, about A. D. 63, " was preached to every creature which is under heaven." The preliminary signs are now finished. "Then shall the end come." The last and fatal series of events is at hand. MATTHEW XXIV. 1 -35. 411 When, therefore, 15, ye see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet stand in a (not the) holy place (" standing where it ought not," Mark xiii. 14), let them who are in Judaxa flee to, or, as Alford translates it, over, along, across the mountains. TVhoso readeth, let 1im understand, is a word of warning put in by the Evangelist, as it also is by Mark, to direct the attention of those who might be living at the time of its fulfilment to the sign here given. It is impossible now to determine precisely what the sign was. The passage referred to may be found in Dan. ix. 27, or xii. 11. Josephus says (Ant. X. 11. 7), "Daniel wrote concerning the Roman government, and that our country should be made desolate by them." But what was this " abomination of desolation," or " desolating abomination "? WThatever it may have been, as used by Jesus, it undoubtedly was meant to apply to some event which the Christians would understand as connected with the terrible calamities that should immediately precede the destruction of Jerusalem. Luke in the parallel passage says (xxi. 20), "But when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed by armies." This may have been the explanatory clause inserted by Jesus immediately after the words recorded by Matthew and Mark, so that the whole passage would read as follows: "When, therefore, ye shall see the desolating abomination spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing, where it ought not, in a holy place, - when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed by armies, then know that its desolation draweth near. Let them who are in Judmea flee over the mountains." This appears to us, upon the whole, to be the most probable reading of the passage. If so, we are to see its fulfilment in the Roman armies with their eagles, which, as objects of idolatrous worship on the part of the legions, were an abomination to the Jews; and certainly in the miseries and slaughter which came with them they were a desolating abomination. Whenever, therefore, the Christians should see Jerusalem thus invested by armies, they were to seek for refuge among or beyond the 412 MATTHEW XXIV. 1- 35. mountains. This event took place when the Romans under Cestius Gallus encamped around Jerusalem, A. D. 66, or about four years before the final siege of the city by Titus, A. D. 70. Josephus, in his WTars of the Jews (II. 19. 6), says that when Cestius made his attack on Jerusalem, a horrible fear seized upon the seditious, and many of them ran out of the city as if it were to be taken immediately, and that after Cestius had left the city (II. 20. 1), "many of the eminent Jews swam away from the city, as from a ship when it was going to sink." The Christians must at that time have been numerous in Jerusalem. lMay not the precipitate flight urged by our Saviour when the sign should be given be that which is mentioned in these passages by Josephus? Eusebius (H. E. III. 5) says: "The people of the church in Jerusalem being commanded by a divine revelation, which had been given to their leaders before the war, to leave the city, and to dwell in a city of Perea, which they call Pella, those who believed in Christ, removing from Jerusalem, dwelt there, while holy men utterly deserted the royal metropolis of the Jews, and the whole country of Judea, and thus the judgment of God followed those who had acted unjustly towards Christ and his Apostles, and caused that race of ungodly ones utterly to disappear from among men." This account, which harmonizes with what Josephus has said of the flight from Jerusalem, shows that the warning given by Jesus was not in vain. Eusebius, however, does not mention what the warning was. As the sign was given for the Christians, it would be likely to be understood only by them, and as they have handed down no particular account of the events connected with the siege of Jerusalem, we must be content to remain in ignorance on this point. The fact that the sign, whatever it may have been, was understood by those for whom it was intended, and that they were saved by it, is the only fact that is clearly established here by the tradition which Eusebius has transmitted to us. The passage in the three Evangelists may be hlarmonized as MATTHEW XXIV. 1 - 35. 413 follows: " When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, and the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing, where it ought not, in a holy place, then," &c. This rendering would seem to refer to some sign in or near Jerusalem, and immediately connected with the Roman armies; but, notwithstanding what has been said on the matter by HIug (see Livermore) and Alford, we are wholly unable to determine what specific event is pointed out. This harmony of the different expressions used by the Evangelist would accord perfectly with the passages which we have quoted above from Josephus and Eusebius. When the sign, whatever it might be, should appear, then the Christians in Judsea were to flee, 16 - 20, with the utmost haste. But why this haste, if the sign were given four years previous to the final and fatal siege of Jerusalem? In our ignorance of the precise position which they held and the dangers which threatened them, it is impossible to give a specific answer to this question. The four years which followed were years of dismal and overwhelming calamities among the Jews. Their miseries were caused even more by the cruelty of opposing factions, and the wickedness and tyranny of their own leaders, than by the sword of the Romans. By separating themselves immediately and utterly from the Jews at this early period, the Christians were freed from the wretchedness among their countrymen, which excited the compassion even of their enemies. Unless they had taken this early opportunity to escape, while the Jews were wholly intent on driving away the Roman army, they might have turned the eyes of hostile factions upon themselves as a common enemy, and, thus being cut off from the possibility of escape, they might have been involved as innocent victims in the slaughter which the Jews were inflicting on one another with such merciless and indiscriminate vengeance. In the winter, 20, or rather stormy weather, fleeing as they must with their wives and little ones, their sufferings would have been greatly aggravated; and if they should flee. 35 * 414 1MATTHEW XXIV. 1- 35. upon the Sabbath, though they might not feel bound by the strictness of the Jewish observance, they would excite the suspicion and bring down upon themselves the hostility of the Jews. For then, 21, during the four years ending with the siege of Jerusalem, shall be great tribulations, "such as was not since the beginning of the world, to this time, no, nor ever shall be." We have not room to copy from Josephus the details which go to prove the fulfilment of this prophecy. There were sieges, murders, famines, in Galilee, not less than in Judsea, hundreds of thousands slain, mutual and general hatred and distrust, with all the miseries attendant on this condition of things, before the final siege of Jerusalem; and then, according to the historian's estimates, more than two millions and a half of people who had come up to the feast of the Passover were crowded together within the walls of the doomed and devoted city. There were no cruelties and no extremities of suffering to which they were not subjected. "No other city," says Joseplhus (Jewish Wars, V. 10. 5), " ever suffered such miseries, nor did any age, from the beginning of the world, ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was." Again, he says, in his Preface to the Jewish W~ars, that "if the miseries of all mankind from the creation were compared with those which the Jews then suffered, they would appear inferior." And except those days should be shortened, 22, no flesh would be saved, i. e. the whole race or nation would be utterly cut off; but on account of the elect or chosen ones, i. e. on account of their influence and prayers, those days shall be shortened.'"And they," Luke (xxi. 24) adds in this place, " shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Eleven hundred thousand Jews were' slain in the siege of Jerusalem, thousands were destroyed by the sword or by wild beasts for the entertainment MATTHEW XXIV. 1-35. 415 of the Romans at their national festivals, and of the ninetyseven thousand taken captive in the war, those above seventeen years of age were sent to the works in Egypt or distributed through the Roman provinces, and those under seventeen were sold as slaves. At Cesarea, Titus murdered twenty-five hundred Jews in honor of his brother's birthday. "6 Some he caused to kill each other: some were thrown to the wild beasts, and others burnt alive." If they, 23, 24, "shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets," &c. St. Paul, in what is probably the last Epistle that he ever wrote (2 Tim. iii. 1, 13), speaks of " the perilous times" that shall come, and of the " evil men and seducers," who "shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." This was probably written A. D. 68, or about two years before the fatal siege of Jerusalem. St. John, in his first Epistle (ii. 18), says, 1" Little children, it is the last hour; and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists." Again (iv. 1) he says, "But try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world." This Epistle was written either just before the siege of Jerusalem, or afterwards. In either case its words go with those of St. Paul to indicate the state of things which our Saviour had foretold as connected with the overthrow of the Jewish polity, when "the end," or, as St. John calls it, the " last hour," should come. Josephus also, in his Jewish Wars (VI. 5), says: " There was then a great number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose upon the people...... Now a man that is in adversity does easily comply with such promises..... Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself." Jesus, 26, warns his followers not to be led astray by any such pretensions. "For," 27, "as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of 416 MATTHEW XXIV. 1- 35. man be." That is, he comes not with a limited, bodily presence, in the wilderness or the secret chambers, but in the power of his religion overspreading the whole land, like the lightning, which, confined to no one spot, fills the whole sky. With the downfall of the Jews, the new religion will rise as the fulfilment of the old, and in its advancement Christ will manifest his presence to the world, as he did in the judgments which fell at that time upon the Jews. "For," 28, " wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles," more properly the vultures, "be gathered together." WThere moral death and corruption are, there the judgments of God, like vultures, shall come to clear away the pollutions of the land, —a retribution for the past, a preparation for the future. Immediately after, 29, or rather in connection with, the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Josephus speaks of "a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city; and a comet that continued a whole year." But the language is rather to be taken figuratively. " That is," says Lightfoot, s" the Jewish heaven shall perish, and the sun and moon of its glory and happiness shall be darkened and brought to nothing. The sun is the religion of the church; the moon is the government of the state; and the stars are the judges and doctors of both." WVe doubt whether the language was intended for so specific an application. We speak of a dark and dreadful day, or a dark and troubled night, to describe a period of great public or private misery. Oriental writers carry their figures of speech more into details than is allowed by the usages of language among us, and give the particulars which go to fill out the idea of gloom and sorrow. It is not merely a dark day, but "the sun is darkened;"- not merely a dark and dismal night of grief and pain, but its darkness, the moon refusing to give her MATTHEW XXIV. 1 -35. 417 light, should be rendered more frightful by the portentous glare of falling stars, and in the universal consternation and distress, men's hearts failing them for fear, the very powers of' the heavens should be shaken. Every source of light or hope to which men had been accustomed to look up should be withdrawn, amid troubles and terrific commotions in what had seemed to them most elevated and stable among the powers by which the order and government of the world had been sustained. The same powerfully figurative language is continued. "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven," 30; not the sign shall appear in heaven, but, "Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man that he is in heaven." Then, when the rites of their own religion shall no longer be observed, when (Josephus, Jewish Wars, VI. 2. 1) the daily sacrifice (Dan. xii. 11) shall be taken away, and the city overthrown with such sufferings and slaughters as never had been known before, -when such unspeakable calamities have fallen upon them, then shall all the tribes of the land smite their breasts, then shall appear the sign which I have now made known to you of the Son of man in heaven, and they who refused to recognize him before shall in these events see him coming in power and great glory to establish his kingdom on the earth. "The Jews," says Kuinoel, " will recognize the majesty and power of the Messiah as their Judge, when, as a punishment for their perversity. and madness, he shall mournfully exhibit them in the overthrow of their temple and city. The Hebrew prophets use the same image which occurs here. When they would describe God as declaring his majesty, they speak of him as about to come sitting upon the clouds, whether it be to bring assistance or to pass judgment (Deut. xxxiii. 26; Isa. xix. 1)." a"And," 31, "he shall send his angels," &c. "When Jerusalem shall be reduced to ashes, and that wicked nation cut off and rejected, then shall the Son of man AA 418 MATTHEW XXIV. 36- 51. send his ministers with the trumpet of the Gospel, and they shall gather together his elect of the several nations, from the four corners of heaven."' Lightfoot. He shall send forth his angels, the messengers of salvation, and as with the sound of a trumpet, which was used to call religious assemblies together, he shall gather his chosen ones, i. e. those who hear and obey the call, into his Church throughout the whole earth. As a matter of fact, the religion of Jesus prevailed wonderfully after its most influential and violent opponents and persecutors had been cut off in the wars which ended with the destruction of Jerusalem. "It was after this period," as Adam Clarke has said, "that the kingdom of Christ began, and his reign was established in almost every part of the earth." That there might be no mistake as to the time included in this prophecy, and as to what was there meant by his coming and the end of the world, - eon or dispensation, -he distinctly declares, 34, that the generation then before him should not pass away till all these things were fulfilled. 36-51. THIE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN IN JUDGMENT TO ALL. At the thirty-sixth verse is the point of transition from God's judgment, as shown in the destruction of a wicked city and nation, to his judgment in its wider application to the whole family of man. All that has been predicted thus far applies primarily to the destruction of Jerusalem, and would be accomplished before that generation should pass away. In the foreground of the prophetic picture lie the events which should precede, and the circumstances of dread and horror which should accompany, that great national catastrophe. These events are distinctly portrayed and their limits fixed. But beyond them, in a background reaching onward into eternity, is another and kindred class pof events, which are also denoted by the coming of the MATTHEW XXIV. 36 -51. 419 Son of man, and of which the precise limits are not to be distinguished or defined. The time when the holy city should be overthrown had been fixed, and the signs of its approach pointed out. But of that day and hour, when this more extended series of events included in the general judgment of our race should be completed, no man could know, not the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only (Mark xiii. 32). Only He whose omniscient mind takes in all causes, and sees in them all future results as already present, can determine that. The idea which fills out the whole picture or succession of pictures, and harmonizes all their parts, is the idea of a divine retribution. This shows itself in the foreground; then, 37-39, it goes back to the times of Noah and of Lot, and from the past goes on again to the future, dwelling at first on single examples, and finally gathering up all separate incidents and souls and ages into one overpowering scene of divine majesty and justice. At first we seem to be lingering still around Jerusalem in those days of impending ruin, as if, after its destruction had been foretold and language pointing on to a wider range of judgments had been used, he at first, in his reference to the flood and to Sodom (Luke xvii. 28), employed images equally applicable to both classes of events. From this point, however, there is nothing which can be construed as applying, like what has gone before, distinctly and exclusively to the destruction of Jerusalem. The coming of the Son of man carries us into a wider field, until at length we see the whole human family standing before him in judgnrent. A great deal is said about types. May it not be that all the language relating to the destruction of Jerusalem was meant to be a type of the general judgment? Is there not this double meaning running through it? In the sense in which the expressions type and double meaning are commonly used by theologians, we answer, No. 420 MIATTHEW XXIV. 36-51. Nothing has added so much to the perplexity and confusion of ideas in the study of this discourse, as the notion of a double meaning running through it. But, in another sense, it is typical, as every fact in nature is, of something beyond itself. A falling globule of water, as an expression of the law of gravitation, is typical of the form and motion of the stars, and thus a type of the whole frame and structure of the material universe. Almost every incident or fact mentioned by our Saviour is so put by him, that it stands forth as the expression of a general law, and the type of whatever may be brought about in accordance with that law. The clothing of the lilies, and the feeding of the ravens, as an expression of the paternal benignity and providence of God, is made a type of the still greater kindness which he always exercises towards us. The corn of wheat (John xii. 24), which, except it fall into the ground and die, abidcleth alone, but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit, as an expression of the great law of self-sacrifice in order to the attainment of the highest results, is typical of every fact included under that law, and especially of the death of Christ and the -unmeasured benefits resulting from it. So the destruction of Jerusalem, as an expression of the Divine justice, or of the judgments of God, is typical of every fact included under that law, and especially of the righteous retribution which awaits every soul, when at the close of its probation here it is called to judgment. The coming of the Son of man in the destruction which fell on a city and people hopelessly corrupt, as an expression of a great law, is typical of Christ's advent to judgment, with regard to every soul that appears before him. The difficulty usually is in detecting the deep and hidden law which serves as a bond of union between one class of facts and another. As, in natural science, superficial resemblances are disregarded, and, by a law of association which it is difficult for the uninitiated to recognize, the strawberry, the mountain-ash, the blackberry, and the apple are placed side by side in the same MATT-IEW XXIV. 36 - 51. 421 family, so in our Saviour's words facts are sometimes grouped together which have little or no superficial resemblance, though they are vitally connected as representatives of the same law. In this way language is employed in describing one class of facts, which applies with equal force to other and kindred, though apparently dissimilar, classes of facts. Almost all the language on which we have been commenting in this chapter, and which describes with such terrific power the events connected with the overthrow of the Jewish ritual and nation, designates with great force the general law of retribution in its application to our race; and with most readers this last is the only lesson which it teaches. On the other hand, when the subject is really changed, as it is in verse 36, from one to another kindred class of facts, those two classes of facts are in the mind and the language of Jesus bound together so closely, by the same uniting law, that only a slight and indefinite notice is given of the transition, and it is only by the closest attention that we can discover precisely where the change has taken place. Jesus has just spoken, 36, of the uncertainty of " that day and hour," and would make this uncertainty a reason for watchfulness to all. As, in the time of Noah, the flood came unexpectedly upon a world absorbed in other cares, so shall the coming of the Son of man be. No man can tell when his "day" shall come. " Then two men shall be in the field; one is taken, one is left. Two women grinding at the mill, turning with their hands the same stone; one is taken, one is left. Watch, therefore, for ye know not what day your Lord doth come." How could this language apply to the destruction of Jerusalem? Jesus has already, 15, 16, pointed out the sign by which his followers are to be saved from that catastrophe. In the 34th verse he has limited the time within which that series of events is to take place. But the same idea of a divine retribution, which is there characterized as the coming of the Son of man, is here carried out in the divine retribu36 422 MATTHEW XXIV. tion which awaits every man at the close of this mortal life, and which is to him the coming of the Son of man in judgment, when, as St. Paul describes it, " we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ." We are not all called at once. Even with those most intimately connected, "( one is taken, one is left." No man knoweth when the call shall be made to him. How perfectly and with what a powerful warning does this language hold up before us the uncertainty of life, and the certainty of judgment! [No philosophical precision of speech could address itself to the heart with such truth and power. The same idea is dwelt upon and enforced with still greater distinctness in the ensuing parables. The parable which closes this chapter, and which applies to "that" unknown "hour" which conies to all, is too direct and explicit in its appeal to each soul to allow of any labored comment. It applies to our conduct here as a preparation for that solemn moment when the Son of man shall come to each one of us at the close of our mortal labors, and the interests of this world shall be lost in the retributions of the world to come. He comes, first, to every soul in the offers of mercy and salvation which he makes. He comes to all, when they receive him, and strive to obey him, with loving and believing hearts. His final coming to each one is when he shall call us to account for the use that we have made of his gifts. CONCLUSION. We have endeavored to explain this remarkable prediction of our Saviour. We have shown how the part of it which applied to "that generation" was fulfilled, not literally perhaps in all its parts, but exactly in accordance with its spirit. And this is the way in which we are to interpret and apply, not only the highest prophecy, but the highest poetry, the profoundest inductions of philosophy, and the grandest generalizations of transcendental mathematics. The literal, MIATTHEW XXIV. 423 precise interpretation of a single expression is often false, and false in proportion to the magnitude of the truth which soars up in its majestic proportions through such words and images as our human forms of speech and thought may furnish. Any one may see that a literal, prosaic interpretation of King Lear, or Paradise Lost, sentence by sentence, in order to show precisely what facts are proved by them, would do no sort of justice to the grander movements of soul which fill out with their inspiration every part of those wonderful works. Far more in the prophetic words of our Saviour, which so far surpass all the other words that have ever been spoken, it is the letter. that killeth. No one, whether as the advocate or the enemy of our faith, can understand them, unless he enter beneath the letter into the spirit, and thus catch as he may something of the inspiration, the largeness of thought and affluence of life, which they are fitted to awaken and impart. The humble inquirer, entering thus into the heart of our Saviour's words that he may cherish their spirit and obey their commands, will come nearer to the essential truth which they are designed to teach, than the ablest scholar, who, without religious sympathies, or with a superstitious regard to the letter, seeks to analyze them by applying critically, sentence by sentence, the rules of the grammar and lexicon. NOTE S. AND Jesus went out, and departed from the temple; and his disciples came to him, for to show him the buildings of the 1. to show him the build- destruction of the temple could apings] They were amazed at his ply to an event so utterly improbawords, and, wondering whether ble as that, they point out to him they could have understood him the massive structures within the aright, instead of asking directly sacred enclosure, and say, " Master, whether what he had said of the see what manner of stones and 424 MATTHEW XXIV. 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 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 coming, and of the end of the what manner of buildings." (Mark and what shall be the sign xiii. 1.) The temple had been built of thy coming, and of the end by Herod the Great, who employed of the world?] The fulfilment of 18,000 men on the work for nine the prediction, the coming of the years before the building could be Son of man, and the end of the used at all. Additions were contin- world, i. e. the consummation of the ually making afterwards till A. D. ceon, are here put together as belong64. It was first occupied about ing to the same family of events. eight years before the birth of In this instance they primarily and Jesus; but as the work was still distinctly refer to the destruction of going on, it might be said to Jesus Jerusalem, the dispersion of the by the Jews, as in John ii. 20, that Jewish people, and the passing away it had then been forty and six years of the Mosaic dispensation as the in building. Sixteen years added to authorized religion of the land. thirty —the age of Jesus at that The disciples who put the question time — would make the forty-six. to Jesus undoubtedly supposed that Some of the stones employed in the his great but earthly kingdom was buildingo are represented by Jose- then to be established in Judna, phus as more than 70 feet long, 10 and that when he came to close the wide, and 8 high. Even Tacitus, old dispensation, (in the end of the accustomed as he was to the impe- world, — the consummation of the rial wealth and grandeur of Roman coon,) he would commence his kingly architecture, speaks of the temple reign upon the earth, clothed with as of unmeasured opulence, "iam- authority and power like other mensi opulentine templum." kings, only with a greater majesty 2. there shall not be left and a more universal dominion. In here one stone upon another] his reply he uses the terms, coming According to Josephus (Jewish of' the 3oes of mcan, the end, first in Wars, VII. 1. 1), the Roman general reference to the destruction of Jerugave orders to demolish the entire salem, but also, according to his city and temple, except three tow- usual manner, in such a way as to ers, which were left to show poster- show forth other and grander truths. ity what kind of a city it had been. The retribution which was at length " But for all the rest of the wall," to fall upon the Jews, the end of he says, " it was so completely lev- their dispensation, and the coming elled with the ground by those that of the Son of man in judgment to dug it up to the foundation, that them, were also terms equally apthere was nothing left to make plicable to every human being. those who came thiither believe it The images here used to describe'a had ever been inhabited." particular case so set forth a uni3. And as he sat upon the versal principle of divine retribuMlIount of Olives] Opposite to tion, that in almost every instance Jerusalem, and probably in full they may be applied now to men in view of the temple, on which the their individual experiences. The light of the moon, then nearly way in which the specific language full, would shine. when of Jesus is made to embody princishall these things be?] The ples of universal application is more question was put privately by four marvellous than any miracle which of the disciples (Mark xiii. 3). he wrought. But because his lan MATTHEW XXIV. 420 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; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and s earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of 9 sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye \shall be hated of all nations for my lo name's sake. And then shall many be offended; and shall 11 betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many 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 guage is so overcharged with mean- end] This may refer to the escape ing, reaching out in every direction, fromn impending death of the Chrisit is exceedingly difficult in any tians, who remembered these warnsingle instance to do justice to its ings, and held out to the end in their fulness by any one specific interpre- fidelity to Christ. But the language tation. We must bear this in mind, applies with equal force to the reespecially in our attempts to under- ward of fidelity which shall crown stand a vast, sublime, and compre- with salvation every one who conhensive discourse like this, which tinues faithfully to the end. takes up almost as much space in 14. in all the world] throughout the Gospels as the Sermon on the the Roman empire, or the known and Mount, and which, if the whole of habitable world. In consequence of it were confined to the destruction the unsettled state of Palestine, alnd of Jerusalem, would occupy a place the persecutions there, the ministers wholly out of proportion to its im- of Christ went abroad, more than portance in the records of a divine they otherwise might have done, and universal religion. among all nations, - into Asia Ali4. Take heed that no man nor, and the reimote East, into Afdeceive you] Calamities may rica, and through Europe to the come, many and fearful, —impos- western boundaries of Spain. tors, rumors of wars, famines and 15. stand in the holy place] in earthquakes,- but these are only a holy place. There is no article. the preliminary symptoms, -the The holy place would denote the beginning of those birth-pangs by enclosures of the temple. But a which the regeneration, the birth of holy place might be outside of the the new world or dispensation, is to city; e. g. on the Mount of Olives, be accomplished. 13. he which was occupied by Roman that shall endure unto the troops previously to the destruction 36* 42 6 MATTHEW XXIV. be in Judasa flee into the mountains; let him which is on the 17 house-top not come down to take anything out of his house; neither let him which is in the field return back to take his is 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 be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those 22 days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if 23 any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false 24 prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch (f the city. whoso read- these impostors multiply, and the eth, let him understand] Mat- more easy credit did they find with thew probably wrote his Gospel on those who were willing to have the eve of tile events here foretold; their miseries softened by hope. and it is supposed that he inserted Even during the conflagration of these words to call the attention of the temple, a false prophet encourhis readers to the sign here indi- aged the people with pretended micated, and thus warn them of the raculous signlls of deliverance. The approaching dangers. MIark inserts Jewish Christians themselves were the s~ame caution. 17. on very unwilling to give up all hope the house-top] The roofs being of deliverance froml their subjection flat, those who were on them in to the Romans: this accounts for thle city could pass from house to the language of Christ, when he house, and thus escape over the speaks of the danger which. the walls. The expression, however, is elect were in of being deceived by designed merely to indicate the ne- these impostors; and shows his cessity of great haste. wisdom andc goodness in forewarn19. And woe unto them] Here ing them against trusting to the falis amn instance of our Saviour's ten- lacious promises of persons who afder, thoughtful, and compassionate firmeed confidently that they were savlipathy for women. The expres- divinely raised up, to accomplish sion, woe unto the/z, uttered here such a delivelance." Kenrick.'with-such a depth of comimisera- great signs and wonders] tion, may also have been spoken signs, to convince and mislead thelm; more in sorrow than in anger, even wonzders, or portents and prodigies, wiheun it occurs in his most terrible to perplex and terrify them. In denunciations, as, for example, in times of great public commlotion the twenty-third chapter. and alarm, men's hearts failing 22. for thie elect's salke] On them for fear because of the unitheir account. God does interfere to versal insecurity and distress, they chalnge the direction of hulllan af- feel that desperate measures are fairs and shorten the season of ter- rendered necessary by the desperriblle calamllities on account of his ate condition of affairs. When not elect, - of those who endear theml- only governments are losing their selves to him by their fidelity. authority, and laws and rulers are 24. there shall arise false hated and rebelled against, but the Christs] "The nearer the Jews whole social fabric is breaking up; were to destruction, the more did when a universal distrust succeeds MATTHEW XXIV. 427 25 that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Be26 hold, I have told you before. W~herefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: Behold, 27 he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shinethl even unto the west, 2s so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. E'or wheresoto confidence in the family relations, credulity and unbelief, which must and faith is dying out, - then, ill the bring forth such a harvest of decepconvulsive throes and agitations of tion and crime, and thus, in the society, bold, bad men are in the overthrow of the past, prepare the ascendant; impostors and deceiv- way for the introduction of the new ers reign amid the general wreck dispensation. Compare with this of earthly interests and heavenly the prophecies (bet'ore quoted) in hopes; ~with ain insane and frantic the last two chapters of Malachi; desperation men rush into any ex- and the destructive and warlike travagant delusions that are impu- processes by which the kingdom dent enough to promise relief. The spoken of in the one hundred and most reckless credulity, at such tenth Psalm was to be established. times, succeeds to an utter want of See note, xxiii. 39. faith, in sudden and frenzied alter- 26. Wherefore, if they shall nations. The dissolution of society, say unto you] " Christ here menthe disintegration of all the ele- tions the very places where these ments of social, moral, and relig- deceivers would appear, and Joseions influence, the universal break- phus tells us, that impostors, under ing up, which comes as " the end pretence of a divine inspiration, enof the world " (ouvrEXeta TroU ma- deavored to introduce novelty and vYO) to the old and long established change, and raised the common order of things, are marked by these people to such a degree of madwild and terrific changes and exag- ness, that they drew them forth gerations. It was so in the break- into the desert, pretending that God ing up of thle Jewish polity. It would there make them see the towas so in Rome, where at abonut kens of liberty, i. e. of their being the same time, amid similar com- rescued from the Roman yoke. He motions and catastrophes ill the also mentions some who appeared moral and social condition of the in secret chambers, or places of sepeople, the dissolution of the old curity in the city." Kenrick. civilization was preparing a way 27. so shall also the for the introduction of hiogher ideas coming of the $oxn of inan in the coming of the Son of man. be] He was to come in judgment But there never was a period in the to the Jews, - the end of the worlc Roman history nwhen such extrava- to them, for their wsorld, age, or disgances of superstitious credulity,c- pensltion was now to end, - but at companied by all the worst sorts of the same time he was to come in religious imposture, prevailed, as in his religion, with a new world, age, that unbelieving aiid godless age. or dispensation, to those who would Against such times and dangers, receive him. Herein his coming though they had not begun to show then was an emblel of his final themselves wvhen he spoke, Jesus coming to all, —in judgment and uttered these distinct and solemn with the loss of all that they most w'arnings. With his profound and valued to the unfaithful and unbeproplletic insight into the human lieving, to those who have lived soul, ud ito the moal rehtiois of only for this world;- with a new cause and effect, he saw then the o00sld of life acd joy to the penitent seeds of impiety and superstition, and the faithful wio believe in him. 428 MATTHEW XXIV. ever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those clays 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 heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son 30 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 of heaven, with power and great glory. And he shall send his 31 angels with a great sound of a trumpet; and they shall gather 29. Imaediately after derness as an emblem of God's the tribullation of those days providential care and presence. shall the sun be darkened] "The glory of the Lord appeared "'A day- of darkness' is an obvious in the cloud." (Ex. xvi. 10.) God fignure for' a day of distress.' Hence, " called unto Moses out of the midst in the Oriental style, a time of utter of the cloud." (Esx. xxiv. 16.) From calamity, the destruction of a na- these and similar expressions often tion, is described by the extinction repeated in the Pentateuch, the idea of the sun, and the other lights of of any special act of Divine interheaven. Thus Isaiah (xiii. 9, ference with human affairs would 10), in speaking of the destruction naturally clothe itself in imagery of of Babylon, says: Behold, the day this sort. Thus when Isaiah (xix. of Jehovah is coming, cruel with 1) would represent God as about wrath and fierce anger, to lay the to punish the Egyptians, he says, land desolate and to destroy its " Behold, the Lord rideth upon a sinners out of it. For the stars swift cloud, and shall come into of heaven and its constellations Egypt." The language of course shall not give their light, and the was figurative. God was not repsun shall be darkened in his going resented as visibly or actually ridforth, and the moon shall not cause ing on a cloud. So in the passage her light to shine.' So also Ezekiel, before us, this image of impressive describing the fall of Egypt (xxxii. grandeur is employed to describe 7, 8)." Norton's Translation of the the matjesty of the Son of man Gospels, II. 528. when he shall come in judgment to 30. And then shall appear the the Jews, i. e. in the power of those s.gn of the Sost of manl in divine principles of justice, which, heaven] The fiifilmeint of the as embodied in his religion, were events here predicted would be a then to be enforced, and by which sign of the Son of man in heaven; the way was to be prepared for the mid while all the tribes of the ladz wide and speedy establishment of — not of the earth - should smite the kingdom of heaven, i. e. of his their breasts and mourn, they would religion on the earth. recognize in these calamities, which 31. And lie shall send his he had foretold as the downfall of angels] Literally, his messengegrs. their polity and their nation, the evi- In the Gospels the word angel is delce of his truth, and in them would almost always used to denote lieavsee him coming as on the clouds of enly beings. But there are excepheaven, and with power anid great tions. "' And when the messengers glory, to establish the kingdom of [angels] of John had departed." he;aven on earth. in the (Luke vii. 24.) " This is he of clouds of heaven] This was an whom it is written, Behold, I send imalge familiar to the Jews, and my messenger [anegel] before thy was perhaps derived, in the first face." (Luke vii. 27.) When Jesus instance, from the pillar of cloud was going up to Jerusalem, he which went before themll in the wil- " sent smessesigers [anzgels] before MIATTHIEW XXIV. 429 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 33 summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these 34 things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be 35 fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words 36 shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no his face." (Luke ix. 52.) These it-the coming of the Son of man passages are all from Luklie. Ill the in the destruction of Jerusalem - other Gospels there is, we believe, is near, nay, is at vour very doors. no instance of a similar use of the 34. This generation word, unless in the case before us. shall not pass] In order to iimIn tile Apocalypse (ii. 1, 8, 18; iii. press it upol his disciples' minds 1) the expression " angel of the that he was not speaking of some church" is evidently applied to the event in the remote and indefinite minister or bishop of the church. future, he fixes the timnle, as ill Matt. And this,'we suppose, is the mean- xvi. 28, within the lifetime of some ilo of the word in the passage be- of those who belonged to that genfore us. When the hitherto lpow- eration. This definite limitation of erful elements of Jewisll hostility time confines the signs tius far menshould be overthrown and clestroyecl, tioned to a period hlarmonlizing with and the wzay open everywhere for their consummation in the destructhe more rapid diffusion of the Gos- tion of Jerusalem and tile events pel, the Sonl of mall would send immediately precedilng and followforth his messengers with a great ing it. At the same time, we must sound of a trumpet -thile trumpet admit that much of the lafnguage, was used by the Jews to call relig- which was unlquestionably spoken ious assemblies together- as her- with a specific reference to that aids of salvation, to gather together class of events, may be read nov his chosen ones, i. e. those who withsomething of apersonal appliwould hear and obev the call, from cation to ourselves. 36. B It every qluarter under heaven. They of that day aend hour] The who were ready to hear and obey obvious interpretationl of this pLswould thus be gathered into his sage is, that though all these things churchI 32. Nowr leayan shall take place hefore the present a parable of the figtree] " On generation shall pass away, yet no mny first arrival in the southern part one knows the precise day and hour of Syria, near the end of March, of their fulfilment. ButL thelre is most of the fiuit-trees were clothed another interpretation which seems with foliaoe, and in blossom. The to us more in accordance with our fig-tree, on the contrary, vas much Saviour's usual method of instrucbehind themn ii this respect, for the tion, mingling together as hlie often leaves of this tree do not make their does things temporal and things appearance till comparatively late eternal, and passing almost insensiin the season. As the spring is so bly from the one order of facts and fatr advaiced before the leaves of the events to the other. The lacnguage fig-tree hegin to appeatr, (the early which heretofore,in pointimg to a sinfiruit, indeed, comes first,) a person gle event, overflows with thoughts may be sure, when he beholds this and images that reach beyond it, sign, that summer is at hlancl." here ceases to dwell on the single Hackett. 33. know that instance of divine retribution as the it is sear] When ye shall see all principal topic, andl, touching only these signls f,lfield then kliow that incidemtally on circumstasces coin 430 MATTHEW XXIV. 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 the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; 40 the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall 41 be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord 42 nected with it, holds up, in the the majestic images which he embackground, the termination of our ploys seem to us degraded by such human and mortal life, and the ret- a limitation of their me:ilng. But ributions which shall then succeed. why, if he passed fiom one subject The transition from the specific to to the other, did he not more disthe universal is indicated, if not tinctly indicate the point of transidistinctly announced, by the words tion? We can only say, 1. that employed. "The Lord," says Ben- there is what seems to us an indicagel, " shows the time of the temple tion of such a transition; and 2. and of the city in ver. 32- 34; he that it was not his habit to mark, denies in this verse that the day like a modern logician, the differient and hour of the world [to each topics of his discourse, especially soul] are known. The particle UB when, as in this case, they were, to his mlind, only didhesct phases of but, implies a contrast: the prob< implies a contrast: the pro- lhis mind, only different phases of I, the same thought or illustrations of nouns arhea, these, aurl, this, refer the same principle. To his wonderto events close at hand; the pionoun ful intuitive perceptions, the pan ticEKEtVTJS, that, to that which is dis- ular included the universal. Partictant." These things of which I ular facts were held up as illustrahave been speaking shall cll take tions of general principles, and facts place in the present generation; but which we froin our superficial habits of that day and hour [when the Son of thought regard as wholly distinct of man in a still higher sense shall were grouped tooether by him, become] no one knoweth. That clay cause the same underlying principle is several times used in this sense. reaches through them all and makes' In that day many shall say to me, them parts of the same series. It Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in is only by going down to this underthy name, &Sc. And then willI lying thought that we can learn the confess to them, I never knew you; close logical connection by which depart fiom me, ye workers of in- the different parts of his discourses iquity." (Matt. vii. 22, 23.) " Hence- are bound together. 42. forth there is laid up for me a crown Watch, therefore] " You may of righteousness, which the Lord, ask why those who were so far the righteous judge, shall give me distant from the last day were exat that day." (2 Tim. iv. 8.) Some horted to watchfulness on that commentators suppose that there is ground. I answer, — 1. The remoteno such transition as we have here ness of the event had not been insuggested, but that the whole dis- dicated to them. 2. Those who course of our Saviour down to the are alive at any particular time end of the twenty-fifth chapter re- represent those who will be alive lates to the destruction of Jerusalem. at the end of the world. 3. The It requires much ingenuity to apply principle of the divine judgments, all his words to that subject, and and of the uncertainty of the hour MATTHIEW xXIV. 431 43 doth come. But know this, that, if the goodman of the house had known in 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 46 household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. 47 Verily, I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all 4s his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, 49 My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his 5o fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not 51 for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of; and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth. of death, resembles in every age clay, might be entered with little that of the last day; and the hour difficulty by digging through the of death is equivalent to the hour w'alls. See note, vi. 19. 45. of resurrection and judgment, as Who then is a faithful] the though no time had been inter- faitlful and wise servant. 51. posed. 4. The feeling of the godly, a nd shall cut hia asuander] which stretches forward to meet cut him in pieces, "' a cruel kind of the Lolrd, is the same, whether punishment practised a'mong the with the longest or the shortest Hebrews and other ancient nations." expectation." Bengel. To us who Here it is used figuratively, to debelieve that the day of each one's note a severe punishnent. It may death is the day also of his resur- mean to cut ofr separate. "He rection and judgment, these re- will cut him off [from his present marks come with greater force associates] and assign him his porthan to Bengel, who believed as tion with the hvpoc rites." Martha did (John xi. 24) before the hypocrites] This word Jesus had taught her better, that is used by Jesus to denote those we'shall rise again in the resur- who have incurred the greatest r:ection at the last day." 43. possible guilt, makino virtue and his house to be broken up] religion a cloak for their hideous a&opvyrvat, to be dsgt through. The crimes against God and man. houses, being built of stones and 432 MATTHEW XXV. 1 —13. CHAPTER XXV. PURPOSE OF THESE PARABLES. THE conclusions at which we arrived in the last chapter make the interpretation of the present chapter easy. From the judgments of God which are represented by the coming of the Son of man in the retributions which fell on the Jewish city and people, the transition (xxiv. 36) is natural to the judgments of God which are represented by the coming of the Son of man in the retributions which await each individual soul when its period of earthly probation is ended. The twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth chapters are continuous parts of the same discourse, which treats of the coming of the Son of man in the retributions of God on a wicked city and people, on each individual soul at the close of its earthly life, and on all the nations of men. The momentous thought which presents itself to any one who carefully reads the parables here given, is unquestionably that which they were intended to teach. The impression which they make as a whole is the true one, and it ought not to be weakened or disturbed by any minute analysis of the parts. One after another, by images the most awful that can be presented to the soul, they would set before us, in their most personal and practical form, the principles of a divine retribution, and thus keep alive in us a sense of solemn accountability to God, and the need of constant diligence and watchfulness in our calling. PARABLE OF THE VIRGINS. 1-13. In xxiv. 37-51 we are exhorted to watch, because we know not how soon our Lord will come; and MATTHEW XXV. 1- 13. 433 here, by the example of the wise and foolish virgins, we are taught not only to be ready now, but to make provision also for the future; for we know not how long we may have to wait for his coming. They who are represented by the wise virgins "foresee," says Trench, "that they may have a long life to live of toil and self-denial, before they are called to cease from their labors, before the kingdom shall come unto them;- and consequently feel that it is not a few excited feelings which will carry them successfully through all this. They feel that principles as well as feelings must be engaged in the work, - that their first good impulses and desires will carry them. but a very little way, unless they be revived, strengthened, and purified by a continual supply of the Spirit of God. If the bridegroom were to come at once, perhaps it might be another thing, but their wisdom is, that, since it may possibly be otherwise, they see their need of making provision against the contingency." Another distinction between this and the previous parable is, that in that acts of wickedness are reproved; here, a lack of the Christian virtues, —not bad oil, but no oil. There is little reserved power for the unknown contingencies that may arise. "By the lighted lamps," says Gerhard, "may be understood the external profession and outward form of piety," as well as the sudden emotions connected with it; s" by the oil in the vessels, the inward righteousness of the heart, true faith, sincere love, watchfulness, and prudence, which, though unnoticed by man, are God's alone." With what a solemn emphasis do the words, "and the door was shut," fall upon the heart! The privilege, whatever it may be, which we have neglected to prepare ourselves to improve, is closed against us. Thus day after day the door is shut; and if at its close the whole of life has failed of its great purpose in regard to us, its privileges are all withdrawn, the door is shut, and we are left outside in darkness and sorrow. 37 B 434 MATTHEW XXV. 14- 30. PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 14-30. This parable goes a step further. Not merely must we abstain from cruel and wicked acts; not merely must we have a reserved fund of religious principle for future emergencies; but we must increase that fund by constant fidelity in the use of it. Not only are we accountable for what has been given to us, but also for the gain which we might secure by using it with diligence and care. God provides us with opportunities according to our several abilities. These opportunities are really ours only as we avail ourselves of them. He who neglected to use the one talent had not even that. The great law of our nature and of retributive justice here laid down is, - 1. that we cannot really continue to possess any one of God's gifts, except so far as we faithfully exercise, appropriate, and improve it; and, 2. that we are accountable, not for the amount that we have gained, but for our diligence and fidelity in the use of what has been entrusted to us. It is not, Well done, good and successful, but good and faithful servant. He who had gained five, and he who had gained two talents, are in the same terms welcomed to the joy of their Lord. And he who came with his one talent was condemned, not because he had been unfortunate, but because, harboring evil thoughts towards his lord, he had shown himself a wicked and slothful servant in the use he had made of the talent intrusted to him. Verses 25 - 28 show how an evil disposition of mind and heart lies at the bottom of a sluggish and unfaithful life. The want of opportunity is oftener the fault than the misfortune of those who resort to it as an excuse for their evil conduct; and therefore it can only aggravate their condemnation. PARABLE OF THE SHEEP AND THIE GOATS. 31 - 46. Thus far this world has been in the foreground, its characters and acts visibly ripening for the judgments IATTHIEW XXV. 31-46. 435 which are represented as taking place at the coming of the Son of man. Here the higher world is brought forward, and the actions of this mortal life, the deeds done in the body, lie in the background, and appear only in their results. Not the scenes and events of this life, hastening to judgment, but the judgments which await them in another world, are foremost in the picture. Heretofore the mind has dwelt on individual cases, - the wicked city and people, the cruel servant, the ten virgins, the three servants to whom the different talents were intrusted; but now, by one majestic sweep of thought, all individual cases from all ages and nations are brought together, and the view is the most awful and sublime that has ever been presented in human language. "[But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all the nations." So, 2 Cor. v. 10: "For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive according to what he hath done in the body, whether it be good or bad." So again, Rev. xx. 12: " And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened." The great fact that every soul shall hereafter meet a retribution in accordance with its life here, is thus set before us in language the most solemn and emphatic. And the grounds on which the sentence rests, as in iMatt. vii. 22, 23, are not outward professions or forms of belief, but the principles of holiness and love manifested on earth, though in ways and acts obscure and unrecognized by man. He who sits upon the throne of judgment identifies himself with every one of his suffering brethren, and in the great day of account will acknowledge any act of kindness done to the least of them as if it had been done to him. Both righteous and wicked are filled with amazement and surprise; but not *the less, therefore, shall the words of Christ stand; and the inward life of all, as revealed to him in their conduct, shall go on working out for each one the 436 MATTHEW XXV. 31-46. awards of eternal justice. Now that the true character of that life is fully manifested in the light of divine truth, or the all-enlightening presence of Christ, it fixes its stamp on every soul, and divides them even as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats. No longer united by ties of kindred, the bonds of neighborhood, or the necessities of our mortal condition, they are separated from one another, and drawn by the very affinities of their nature, these into eternal punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. ]Eternal, - an epithet applying to the new era, the more advanced condition of being on which they have entered, and applying also to the elements or principles of spiritual life, which are unfolded and exercised here on earth, and which then will be all in all. The great facts of the Divine retribution —the eternal bliss into which the righteous are drawn up, and the eternal woe into which the wicked are cast down - are too plainly set forth to be the subject of criticism. These central and indisputable facts stand unaffected by any just principles of criticism. The images of uplifting or appalling grandeur in which they are enveloped cannot act too powerfully on the imagination and the heart of man. The obscurity in which the particulars of our future being are left, was undoubtedly intentional on the part of our Saviour. For though the whole matter in its blissful or terrible details may have been disclosed to him, he knew that we, in our present stage of existence, could not comprehend them, and would only be confounded or misled by any language in which they might be described. We cannot understand, except in a general way, that which in all its particulars must lie so far beyond all our experience here. For this reason, we attempt no minute definition or analysis of the precise images or language employed in this grand and awful picture of the retributions of eternity. We take no notice of the doctrine of a first and a second resurrection, which some commentators think they find intimated MIATTHEW XXV. 31 —46. 437 here. And we should gladly avoid all other disputed doctrines involved in the criticism, were it not for the disastrous hold which some of them have taken on the popular mind. TILE GENERAL 1RESURRECTION AND DAY OF JUDGMENT. Does Jesus here, 31-46, teach that some specific day, separate from that of each man's death, is to be set apart for the general and simultaneous resurrection and judgment of all the tribes and generations of men? His language does not, we think, require any such interpretation. In the previous parables he has been singling out individual cases of sudden judgment. But lest they should leave upon the mind an idea of a partial and imperfect retribution, which some men might escape, he here in one awful picture represents all men of all nations and times as standing before him to undergo the searching ordeal which in the previous parables has been applied to individual souls. Nothing is said or intimated in regard to a resurrection of the body, or the simultaneous resurrection of the whole race. The meaning of the language is: Not one, or a few, like those already specified, shall meet the Son of man and be judged by him at his coming, but all the nations and generations of men shall be gathered before him in his glory, to receive from him - in the words which come from him as the great essential law of God's kingdom - the sentence of joy or woe which awaits them as they enter on their eternal state of being. It will not do to bind down to a literal exactness language like this, intensified with emotion and abounding in the sublimest figures of speech. But even when construed in its stricter sense, the language here does not imply what is usually understood by the day of judgment. Suppose that every soul, when its earthly course is ended and its earthly garments laid aside, goes directly into the presence of Christ 37* 438 MATTHEW XXV. 31 - 46. and his angels, to be judged according to the principles of life or death which it has cherished here, and which are there to work out their solemn retributions. In this individual manifestation, or coming of Christ to each individual soul, is it not strictly true that "all the nations shall be gathered before him"? As, in a vast military review, the armies of an empire pass, company by company, day after day, before the monarch, each battalion as it comes from its neighboring barracks or distant campaign, till all at length have been gathered before him, so in this grander procession and review of human beings, moment by moment, hour by hour, year after year, and generation after generation, each individual soul by itself, in the solemn depths of its own consciousness, and yet all in one ceaseless succession of companies, pass on, till at last all the nations shall be gathered before him, and separated one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. When we say, the hour will come when all who are on the earth must die, we do not mean that all shall die at the same hour. So when it is said, 6 "We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ," or,'When the Son of man shall come in his glory,..... all the nations shall be gathered before him," it is not implied that we shall all stand before him, or be gathered before him at one and the same moment. As the coming of the Son of man in mercy now to each soul is whenever that soul is ready to receive him, so the coming of Christ in judgment to each one of us is when we go from this to the next stage of our existence. MATTHEW XXV. 439 NOTES. THEN shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bride2 groom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with 4 them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bride7 groom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins s arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the 9 wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you; but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for 0o yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the mar1i 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 cometh. — For the kingdom of heaven is as a 6. And at smnithight] An Ar- as if in the very words of Scripleniasn wedding is thus described ture, Behold, the bridegroom combya traveller quoted in Livermore's eth; go ye out to meet him! All Commentary. "The large number the persons employed now lighted of young females who were present their lamps, and ran with them in naturally reminded me of the wise their hands to fill up their stations and foolish virgins in our Saviour's in the procession; some of them parable. These being friends of the had lost their lights and were unbride, the virgins, herl companions, prepared; but it was then too late to (Ps. xlv. 14,) had come to smLeet Ilhe seek them, and the cavalcade moved bridegrloom. It is usual for the forward to the house of the bride. bridegroom to come at midnight; The bridegroonl was carried in'the so that literally at sidnigiht the cry arms of a friend, and placed on a is?eaCde, Behold, the bricdegrooem corn- superb seat in the midst of the eth; go ye out to meet hias. But on company, where he sat a short this occasion the bridegroom tarried; time, and then went into the house, it was two o'clock before he ar- the door of which was immediately rived." 8. are gone out] shut and guarded by Sepoys. I rather, are going out. 10. and others expostulated with the And the door was shut] The door-keepers, but in vain." following account of a Hindoo wed- 14. the kingdom of heav. ding by Mr. Ward is also copied en] These words are inserted by from M1r. Livermore. " After wait- our translators without reason. Jeinog two or three hours, at length, sus has been speaking all along of near mhidnight, it was announced, the coming of the Son of man, and 440 MATTHEW XXV. man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five 1s talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 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, is and hid his lord's money. After a long time, the lord of those 19 servants cometh and reckoneth with them. And so he that had 20 received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, 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 deliveredst 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 hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed; and I was afraid, and went and 25 hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. that fact is the one still to be illuss- the end of life, but all along, that trated. " Watch, therefore, because this reckoning is made, and its ye know not the day nor the hour: terms enforced,- the diligent and for it is as a man travelling into a faithful furnished with larger opfar country," &c. 15. portunities, the sluggish and unto every man accordilg to his fitithful deprived of what they once several ability] = not oppressing had. But in the final summing up, the servant of small powers with we shall be called to account only opportunities and responsibilities for the use of what we have had. beyond his strength. And is it not The much or little, if only faithfully so with us all? We may complain used, will be all the same to us of the narrow sphere, the small then. 24. I ksnew thee opportunities, granted to us; but if that thou art an hard mai] we have the ability to use greater, Here the real character of the shall we not find them? Our fidel- slothful servant comes out. And itv and skill in the use of what we how true is the picture! They who have to-day will prepare us for neglect the means of success, who greater opportunities, and them fbr give way to indolence and refuse us, to-morrow. It is not merely at to make the required exertions, are MATTHEW xxv. 441 26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful 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 into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the 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 the ones who complain most of the will be the kingdom of heaven. hardness of their lot and of the con- but from him that hath duct of God towards them. not] He had had it; but yet, as 26. thou kanewest that I he had made no use of it, it was as reap where I sowed not] The if he had it not. 30. into slothful servant is answered on his outer darkness] the outer darkown ground. This is made a little ness. A reference again to the more explicit in Luke xix. 22: feast and joy within, the darkness " Out of thine own mouth will I and sorrow without. 33. judge thee." 29. unto Come9 ye bessed of my Fa. every one that hath shall be ther, inherit the kingdom given] A reat law of our nature, prepared for you] But not, 41, filling out as its complement the ye cursed of rmy Fathcr; the curse other law announced (v. 3, 6; they had broughlt upon themselves. Luke vi. 20, 21), that in proportion Neither is it, 41, depart into eteras we feel our want, will be the sup- nal fire prepared for you, but preply that is granted. To him that pared for the devil and his angels hath the disposition and the ability i. e. prepared, in the very nature of to use will be given, that he may things, for what is evil as its natural have the more abundantly; and at fruit. Not a punishment purposely the same time they who feel their and arbitrarily prepared by God, wants, and in lowliness of spirit are but growing as a necessary consehungering and thirsting after right- quence out of the life which they eousness, will be filled, and theirs had lived, and the characters they 442 MATTHEW XXV. shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? 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 IKing 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, prepared 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 had formed. 41. for the xxii. 22; 1 Sam. xxix. 4; 1 Kings devil and his angels] We have xi. 14. In 1 Chron. xxi. 1 and already given quite as much space Zech. iii. 1, 2, is the first appearto the subject of demonology as its ance in the Old Testament of Satan importance demands, and would re- as the evil one, and both these writfer the reader interested in such ings belong probably to a period things to the remarks which may not antecedent to the Babylonian be found in chapters iv., viii., and captivity. During the peliod of xiii. The expression here may de- more than five centuries which innote a personal being and his agents, tervened between that captivity and or it may be used only as a personi- the birth of Christ, the minds of the fication of evil, - sin, and those who Jews became imbued with the idea are employed as its messengers to of demons and a prince of demons, disseminate it. Go ye into the sor- such as we find in the New Testarows which have been prepared — ment. Traces of these notions may not for you —but for sin and its be found in some of the apocryagents, as its natural and necessary phal writings, but the fullest develresults. In partaking of sin you opment of the doctrine is seen in the must partake also of the bitter A)ocalypse of' Enoch, a work which fruits which it bears. The neces- belonged to that period, which was sary and awful connection between known and quoted from by some sin and sorrow, so that those who of the New Testament writers engage in the former must also be (2 Peter, and Jude 14), but which involved in the latter, unless they was unknown in the Christian repent and leave their wickedness Church for nearly a thousand behind, is the terrible fact which is years. In 1773 Bruce the trayvhere announced as a part of the eller brought three copies of it great system of things. The doe- from Abyssinia, and in 1821 a trine of demons, or of a personal translation of it into English was devil, is not found in the old He- made by Richard Laurence, afterbrew Scriptures; though the word wards Archbishop of Cashel. See Satan, an adversary or enemny, is Christian Examiner for May, 1859, sometimes used, as in Numbers Art. The History and Doctrine of 1MATTHEW XXV. 443 answer them, saying, Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye 46 did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal. the Devil. 46. And gencies has been completely elimithese shall go away inato nated; one lifted up into the etereverlasting punishments but nal glories, the other depressed into the righteous into life eter, the shadows of eternal gloom. It is nal] Everlasting and eternal, in a happiness or disorder, transfused this verse and verse 41, are in not from this world, but from ainothGreek the same word awovtov (aaio- er, and which, therefore, survives nion). For its meaning, see note, temporal duration and mortal dissoxii. 32. It relates to the condition lution, and exists in sharper confor good or for evil, in which we trasts than ever, after the fashions are when we pass from this to the of this world have passed away." next stage of our existence. As Foregleams of Immortality, pp. 129, our earthly or mortal life relates to 130. Bengel in his note on this pasour external mode of being here, so sage says, "Eternal signifies that our eterlnal life or eternal punish- which reaches and passes the limits ment relates to the spiritual quail- of earthly time." So in his note on ties which, beginning here, shall Rom. xvi. 25, "since the world began, abide with us hereafter, and bear XpovoLs aCoIvLotS, [during the eterin us the fruits of righteousness or nal ages,] from the time when not sin, which belong to our condition only men, but even angels, were there, i. e. to our eternal (aidnion) created. The times are denoted, condition. It relates rather to the which with their first commencenature than the duration of the con- ment as it were touch upon the dition in which we may be placed. previous eternity, and are, so to The eternal life here begun shall speak, mixed with it; not eternity enfold the righteous in the splen- itself, of which times are only the dors of its bliss, and the eternal streams; for the phrase, Before eterdeath or punishment shall envelop nal ages (English version, Be/bfore the ungodly in its ghastly shadows the world began) is used at 2 Tim. 1, of sin and shame. "The same 9; Ps. lxxvii. 5 (lxxvi. 6.)" word, aeOivtov, etern.al, is applied punishment] KdoXacts, punto the punishment of the bad and the ishment, not TrLLOpla, vengeance; happiness of the good, and it refers "for pnnishnent is inflicted for the not at all to duration in months and sake of him who suffers; vengeance, years. It means, rather, those op- for the satisfaction of him who inposite states of mind from which flicts it." Bengel. the idea of time and all its contin 444 MATTHEW XXVI. 1- 17. CHAPTER XXVI. 1-17. THE SUPPER AT BETHANY. — JUDAS. 1- 2. IT was now (see introduction to chap. xxi.) late on Tuesday evening, which, according to the Jewish method of reckoning, was the beginning of Wednesday. The expression "after two days is the Passover" would place that event on Thursday. 3 - 5. Here the scene changes, and the writer recurs to deliberations previously held by the chief priests and elders in regard to the best way of getting Jesus into their hands by subtlety or deceit, and putting him to death. They had concluded that it would not be expedient to do this during the festival. 6-13. The writer then, without explicitly stating his object, proceeds to show how their purpose came to be altered by the proposal of Judas to put Jesus into their hands. And in order to give what stood in his own mind as the immediate occasion of the traitor's proposal, he goes back four days (John xii. 1), and gives an account of a supper at Bethany, where an event had occurred which, with the comment of Jesus upon it, exasperated Judas, and hastened him on in his work of treachery. The passage is worthy of remark, as showing how, in the narrative of an unpractised writer like Matthew, the true order of events is departed from without notice being given, and how the object which is foremost in the mind of the writer may be left so obscurely indicated by his words, that we can discover what it is only by comparing his narrative with that which has come to us from another source. No mention is made of Judas in the account of the supper by Matthew, but at the close of the account he says, 14- 16, "Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the MATTHEW XXVI. 17-29. 445 chief priests," as if his going were in some way dependent on what had just been described. John, on the other hand, in his more precise and circumstantial detail of events (xii. 1 - 8), singles out Judas as the one most prominent in complaining of the waste. Judas, therefore, must have been the one who was most excited by the indignation which Matthew mentions, and who would feel most keenly the rebuke implied in the language of Jesus. Indignant, therefore, and exasperated, he sought an interview with the chief priests. The same avaricious spirit which had caused his indignation at the supper manifests itself in the offer which he made to the priests. "This might have been sold for two hundred pence," were his words when he saw the precious ointment poured upon the head and feet of Jesus; and now his question is, "What will you give me if I will give him up to you?" There is no formal connection between these two expressions in Matthew. He does not even tell us that the questions were both put by the same man. It is only by the help of John's Gospel that we discover this, and by his aid we see, not only how perfectly the two narratives, apparently different, harmonize with each other, but how important in its place the apparently irrelevant account of the supper at Bethany is in the Gospel before us. Where a man's mind is full of a subject, and he sees as an actual witness the relation of all its parts to one another, he is very apt to state facts as they lie in his mind in their true relation to one another, but without the explanatory clauses which a reader not conversant with the facts needs in order to understand their connection, and which a writer not personally familiar with the facts would hardly fail to put in. 17-29. THE LAST SUPPER. 17 -19. The writer now returns to Jesus. It was the first day of unleavened bread when the disciples asked Jesus where they should prepare the Passover. There is nothing 38 446 MATTHEW XXVI. 17 —29. miraculous implied in the narrative. All the houses in Jerusalem were open at that time for guests. Jesus may previously have spoken to some one in the city who was friendly to him, and engaged a chamber in his house. And now he tells two of his disciples (Mark xiv. 13), viz. Peter and John (Luke xxii. 8), go to such a one, probably mentioning his name, and say to him, " The teacher "- the title by which Jesus was best known to his followers -" saith, My time is near for me to keep the Passover with my disciples at thy house." Jesus probably sent Peter and John privately, so that the other disciples did not know the place until they had assembled there to eat the Passover. A reason for this may have been, that Judas might not know beforehand whither to bring those to whom he intended to betray him, and that Jesus might have a few last hours with his disciples entirely undisturbed. 21- 29. Nothing could be more simple or more touchingly beautiful than the account which the Evangelists have given of the Last Supper. The chamber had been prepared. Jesus and his twelve disciples were there, reclining at the table. While they were eating, Jesus was troubled in spirit, and said, "Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me." And they were exceeding sorrowful, and looked at one another, not knowing who it might be. But each one, being more ready to suspect himself than either of his associates, began separately and perhaps privately to ask, " Lord, is it I?" And he replied, but in such a way that Judas could not hear him, " He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth, as it is written of him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born." Judas, recovering somewhat from the confusion occasioned by the announcement of Jesus that one of them should betray him, and supposing that he might be suspected by his associates unless he should put the question which they had put, now the last MATTHEW XXVI. 17- 29. 447 of them all, asked, "Rabbi, is it I?" His guilty heart caused his tongue to stumble in its words, and instead of the hearty, loving reverence implied in the address, Lord, is it I? his treacherous purpose half revealed itself in the term which he used, - Rabbi, which is not, like Rabboni, expressive of the highest honor and reverence. The very word that Judas uttered so fixed itself in the minds of the disciples, that in Matthew, though his Gospel comes to us in another language, the Hebrew word is retained. "R abbi," he asked, "is it I? " Jesus answered, " Thou hast said," i. e. It is even as thou hast said. Soon after this, when the others had received from Jesus the sign who it was that should betray him, Judas (John xiii. 30, 31) probably withdrew, and Jesus, relieved from the pressure caused by his presence, exclaimed, " Now is the Son of man glorified." Then followed the institution of the Lord's Supper. The Passover had been eaten. But while they were yet at the table, Jesus took bread, and having blessed and broken it, he gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take, eat, this is my body, given [Luke xxii. 19] for you; this do in remembrance of me." "It was a round cake of unleavened bread which the Lord broke and divided; signifying thereby both the breaking of his body on the cross, and the participation in the benefits of his death by all his." Alford. What could be the meaning of the clause, this do in remembrance of me, unless it was intended that the Supper should be observed as a lasting memorial of himself? The bread thus broken is to us an emblem of the broken body of Christ, and his body expresses to us the truth,- the bread from heaven which he came to impart to man, —the words of his which are spirit and life (John vi. 63), loaded down as they are with the divine fulness of meaning and of redemptive power which is given to them by his whole "manifestation in the flesh." In this sense, our spiritual being is upheld "by the inward and spiritual process of feeding upon him by faith: of making that body our own, 448 MATTHEW XXVI. 17-29. causing it to pass into and nourish our souls, even as the substance of the bread passes into and nourishes our bodies. Of this feeding upon Christ in the spirit by faith is the sacramental bread the symbol to us." "The commemoration is of him, in so far as he has come down into time, and enacted the great acts of redemption on this our world, — and shown himself to us as living and speaking man, an object of our personal love and affectionate remembrance;but the other and higher parts of the sacrament have regard to the results of these same acts of redemption, as they are eternized in the counsels of the Father." Alford. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." As the bread is an emblem of the body of Christ, and that an emblem of the divine truth which came through him into the world to feed and sustain the souls of men, so is the wine an emblem of his blood shed for many for the remission of sins, and his blood thus shed for sinful men is an emblem of the divine love manifested in him for the redemption of the world. As in partaking of the wine we rise through the symbol into that which it symbolizes, we receive into our souls the love of Christ, and are thus made partakers of his spirit. This it is in its highest spiritual sense to partake of the blood of Christ. The cup of blessing thus received in faith, " is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?" "Let us recur to the paschal rite. The lamb being killed, the blood (Ex. xxiv. 8) is sprinkled on the door-posts, and is a sign to the destroying angel to spare the house. The blood of the covenant is the blood of the lamb. So also in the new covenant. The blood of the Lamb of God, slain for us, being not only sprinkled on, but actually partaken spiritually and assimilated by the faithful soul, is the blood of the new covenant, and the sacramental cup is, signifies, sets forth, this covenant in his blood, i. e. consisting in a participation in his blood." Alford. MATTHEW XXVI. 31- 35. 449 29. 1 "But I say unto you, that I shall not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." Here the fruit of the vine (see note) is used in its higher and spiritual signification. "The Lord's Supper points not only to the past, but to the future also. It has not only a commemorative, but also a prophetic meaning. In it we have not only to show forth the Lord's death till he come, but we have also to think of the time when he shall come to celebrate his holy supper with his own, new, in his kingdom of glory. Every celebration of the Lord's Supper is a foretaste and prophetic anticipation of the great Marriage Supper which is prepared for the Church at the second appearing of Christ." Thiersch. 31 - 35. WARNING PETER. 31 - 35. Probably the discourses and prayer recorded by John (xiv.-xvii.) were spoken after the paschal psalm or hymn, and before they left the city. They were certainly spoken (John xviii. 1) before the party had crossed the Kedron. From Luke xxii. 31 -34, and John xiii. 36- 38, it would seem as if some warning, 31, had been previously given, perhaps more than once, and with a more direct and exclusive application to Peter. It may be that they are only different accounts of the same conversation, each writer retaining or omitting the parts which made the strongest impression on his mind, and using the words as they remained in his memory. The different topics, however, which are introduced, especially in Luke as compared with Matthew and 3Mark, seem to us to indicate different occasions. And if Peter had been thus warned once or twice before, it will account for the eagerness with which he here repels from himself, 33, the charge which is made, 31, equally against all the eleven. 38* cc 450 MATTHEW XXVI. 36 — 46. 36 -46. - THE AGONY OF GETHSEMANE. The external facts here narrated are easily understood. After the supper, late in the evening, Jesus with the eleven went out of Jerusalem across the brook Kedron to Gethsemane, a place which lay a little way up on the MIount of Olives, in sight of the eastern wall of Jerusalem. It is supposed that there may have been a house there, in which the eight disciples remained (for the night was cold), while Jesus, with Peter and James and John, went to a more retired part of the grounds. There, as the "agony," the struggle, as St. Luke calls it, came upon him, he said to them, " My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death; tarry ye here and watch with me." He yearned for their sympathy. He loved to have them near, though in the depth of his agony he wished also to be apart from them. lHe went, therefore, about a stone's throw from them (Luke xxii. 41), and, kneeling, fell on his face, and prayed, saying, "0 my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me! nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." After remaining thus for a season, he came back to the three disciples, and finding them asleep, he said, "What! could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." -Ie went away a second time, and prayed, saying, "' O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done." The altered form of the prayer shows that the sharpness of the struggle was over. He came to his disciples again, and finding them asleep, he went away the third time, and prayed, using the same words. Several hours may thus have been passed by him in Gethsemane. When he returned the third time to his disciples, he found them asleep. Grief (Luke xxii. 45) had overcome them. "Sleep on now, and take your rest," he said. A short interval of time now probably MATTEIVW XXVI. 36-46. 451 elapsed, while the disciples continued sleeping, when Jesus saw, as he might from that spot in the moonlight, Judas, and the crowd who were with him, coming through one of the eastern gates of the city. Then he roused his disciples, and said, "' Behold, the hour is near, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go: behold, he is near who doth betray me." The narrative here is a plain one. It is a condensed statement of the prominent facts, which probably took up several hours, viz. from nine or ten in the evening till somewhere from twelve to two in the morning. It is objected that the disciples, being asleep, could not have heard what Jesus said in his prayer. But they were awake each time when he left them, and may each time have heard the first piercing words of his prayer, and then have fallen asleep while he still lay upon his face in agony. The distance, a stone's throw, would not prevent their hearing the words which were forced fiom him in his anguish. But how shall we account for the intensity of his sufferings? Luther supposes that the physical pangs, and consequently the dread of death, were greatly aggravated in his case. "We men," he says,' conceived and born in sin, have an impure, hard flesh, which does not soon feel. The fresher and sounder the man is, the finer the skin, and the purer the blood, so much the more does he feel, and is susceptible of what befalls him. Now, since Christ's body was pure and sinless, whilst ours is impure, we therefore scarcely feel the terrors of death in one fifth of the degree in which Christ felt them. Since he was to be the greatest martyr, he therefore had to suffer death's extremest terrors." This may be true of the susceptibility to merely physical suffering. The exquisite physical organization of a perfect man may have the most acute sensibility to pain, as well as to enjoyment. But beyond its physical sufferings, we cannot conceive of death as having any terrors for Jesus. We have seen how he looked through it, and regarded it only as 452 MATTHEW XXVI. 36-46. a sleep, an incident or change in the mode of living,- an entrance, through momentary pangs perhaps, into the heavenly and immortal life. The dread of death, therefore, could not of itself have been that which so weighed down and oppressed his soul in Gethsemane. How, then, can we account for the agony which the Evangelists have described in language so remarkable? First, there may have been the exquisitely sensitive physical organization mentioned by Luther. All its natural susceptibilities would be increased, and its powers of endurance weakened, by the exciting and exhausting scenes through which he had been passing. After the excitement of some extraordinary effort is gone by, in the physical and mental prostration that succeeds, when the nerves are as it were unsheathed and laid open to every painful sensation, the soul itself is more than at any other time exposed to depressing and disheartening thoughts. Painful and discouraging views throng before it, and shut out the light which might come from other quarters. It was so with Jesus at Gethsemane. In the extreme physical exhaustion and the consequent nervous sensibility and depression of those hours of agony, his mind was in a state to look only on the dark side of his mission. Not the glorious line of apostles, martyrs, saints, the ransomed of the Lord, an innumerable company who shall owe their salvation to him, rose in vision before him; but the unthankfulness and hatred of those for whom he was about to die, the scorn and bitterness with which they would reject his offers, the cruelties to be endured by his followers, the long centuries through which they would be struggling with the world and its powers of evil. The treachery, desertion, and denial which he was to experience among his chosen friends, the cross, the bodily anguish, the howls of anger and derision with which his sufferings would be mocked and insulted by those for whom his keenest agonies were borne, the overshadowing darkness, the ensuing ages of sin and misery, which might be MATTHEW XXVI. 36-46. 453 removed if men only would come to him, —all these lay with their intolerable weight upon his soul, making it exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. And this intolerable anguish, this bitterness and darkness, worse than of death, which was then pressing upon him and shutting out all light and hope, this was the cup which he could not think of without agony, and concerning which he prayed that, if it were possible, it might pass from him. How strong his yearning for human sympathy was is indicated by his touching appeal to his disciples, ver. 38, "Mly soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; stay here and watch with me." And how keenly he felt the want of sympathy is shown by the exclamation when he returned and found them sleeping: T"Were ye so entirely unable to watch with me for a single hour " They who have gone through some terrible grief know how, for the time, all their painful susceptibilities were aggravated and inflamed, so that every little act of apparent neglect or thoughtlessness on the part of their friends was like vitriol poured into a deep and angry wound. Now if we consider that the sensibilities and sympathetic emotions of our Saviour, in delicacy, intensity, and extent, went as far as his other faculties beyond all that men have ever known, and that not only the unworthiness of those who were near, but the sins and cruelties, the infidelity and indifference of coming generations, were brought before his prophetic vision, to smite upon the soul that was pouring itself out in agony for a deliverance which they would not accept, we may have some inadequate idea of the causes of the unutterable anguish which oppressed and overpowered him beneath the shadows of Gethsemane. A mother may be made to suffer an agony worse than death, through her love and sympathy for an unworthy child. Every sin of his, every act of ingratitude, every new sign of increasing depravity in him, smites on her heart; and the more intense her love and sympathy for him, the more terrible the suffering which it is in his power to inflict. 454 MATTHEW XXVI. 36-46. What she feels for her child, Christ felt still more intensely for each one of the thousands who, in rejecting him, were sinning against God and their own souls. What she with limited powers endures for one, he, with his finer sensibilities, his deeper love, his enlarged sympathies and comprehensive insight, may have suffered an hubndrecl-fold from every one of those whose salvation he was longing and struggling to secure. As she in the intensity of her love and sympathy bears in her own breast the sins and sorrows of her ruined child, so he in Gethsemane, and on the cross, bore in his own body the sins and sorrows of a lost world. And thus the words of the prophet were fulfilled in him: "He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, and we esteemed him stricken from above, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised foe our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes are we healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isa. liii. 4- 6.) When, through his love and sympathy for man, this dreadful weight of sin and pain was laid upon him, and only the dark and awful side of his ministry to a sinful world was open to him, for a little while he sunk beneath the burden, and in agony of soul cried out, "O Father,"not, O my Father, -" if it be possible, let this cup pass from ne." Wi hen he prayed again, the intensity of the struggle had abated: " 0 my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done." A third time he prayed: it was in the same words; the darkness had gone; he " was heard in that he feared." (Heb. v. 7.) He had prayed to be delivered from the intolerable anguish that overpowered him, and while he prayed it was removed. In submitting himself to drink the cup, it had passed from him. And how often, when in an agony of prayer we strive to bring ourselves into the fitting frame to endure, by this very act of submission the cup is emptied of its bitterness, MIATTHEW XXVI. 36-46. 455 and the anguish which had seemed to us so dreadful in its approach has already passed away i The intensity of our Saviour's sufferings in consequence of the greatness of his endowments is a subject which cannot be comprehended by us in all its length and breadth, and depth and height, any more than we can comprehend the full extent of his thought or emotion in any other direction. But what we learn here is in harmony with all that we know of him. Every part of his nature is on the same grand scale. The miracles which he wrought no more decisively indicate the possession of powers over material nature beyond what other men possess, than the truths which his words open to us, and the life which he lived, show the possession of powers of thought, spiritual perceptions, and moral energies beyond what has ever been revealed to us in the history of man. And here we find him exhibiting a sensibility to suffering on the same vast scale; and the agony of Gethsemane, in its mysterious and terrible severity, has awed and subdued the world, as a deeper and more affecting expression of the same greatness which reveals itself in his other acts and words. But is there not a deeper meaning than this in his sufferings? 3May not these sufferings have been aggravated by the assaults of evil spirits? As, in the Transfiguration, the splendors which shone around him were from a world beyond the reach of our mortal senses, so may it not be now, in his humiliation and agony, that the cause of his severest agony lay beyond the limits of this mortal life? Since the consequences of his victory over death and sin reach on into unseen worlds, and have their fullest consummation there, may it not be that the conflict, as, e. g., in the wilderness and Gethsemane, may have been aggravated by the action of invisible and spiritual agencies? Apprehending the influence of his victorious death in overthrowing and subduing their kingdom, may they not have rallied their forces for a last terrible conflict with him? We 456 MATTHEW XXVI. 36-46. know so little in regard to the whole realm of unseen spiritual agencies, especially on the side of what is evil, that it becomes us to approach the subject with diffidence. So far as relates to the passage before us, there is no expression used by Jesus which implies the presence of any such influence. What we have said of his sensibility to suffering, through the exquisite texture of his physical and emotional organization, and his unbounded love and sympathy for man, may be sufficient to account for all his sufferings there and on the cross. Still there may have been these other agencies. His words immediately after, " This is your hour, and the power of darkness," (Luke xxii. 53,) will bear, and naturally suggest, such a construction. "His struggle," says Olshausen, "was an invisible agony of the soul;.... a contest against the power of darkness; for as in the beginning of his ministry the Saviour was tempted by the enemy through the medium of desire, so now at its end was he assailed tlhrough the medium of fear." This is the view taken by Mr. Parsons in his fine essay on "The Ministry of Sorrow." "All the hells," he says, " were admitted to assault, to tempt, that humanity..... All evil influences attacked him. There were no tendencies to sin in human nature which they who had lived in the indulgence of those sins, and had so gone down into darkness, and then and there become the embodiment of those sins, did not find in the humanity he assumed, and endeavor to rouse into activity. They were all resisted, all conquered...... No spot or stain from hell could cleave to him. And all the enemies of good yielded to his perfect goodness, and found themselves, all and forever, defeated and subdued...... He reduced them to order, and subjected them forever to the force of those laws which permit them to excite in man so much only of their own evils as shall leave man in full and perfect ability to resist them and reject what they would give to him." This, we suppose, is Swedenborg's view of the subject, and it is sub;stantially the salne as that taken by IMATTHE W XXVI. 36 - 46. 457 Trench in his Notes on the Demoniacs in the country of the Gadarenes. "That whole period," he says, "was the hour and power of darkness...... We cannot doubt that the might of hell has been greatly broken by the coming of the Son of God in the flesh; and with this the grosser manifestations of his power." We leave this whole branch of the subject, in connection with what we have already said of evil spirits, as lying in a region which can be only darkly and imperfectly explained or explored by us. There is another view of the cause of our Saviour's sufferings which has entered deeply into the theology of Christendom. It is expressed by Olshausen in its mildest form, when he says that Jesus in Gethsemane, " as representative of mankind, sustains the wrath of God." We cannot accept this view of the subject, - 1. Because it is inconsistent with all the moral instructions of Jesus, and gives a shock to all the moral sensibilities and convictions which he came into the world to revive and sustain. We must throw aside the Sermon on the M[ount, the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and everything else in the Gospels which relates to our duties and the character of God, before we can accept such a doctrine. 2. We cannot accept it, because we find nothing in the Scriptures to countenance it. In the different accounts of the agony of Gethsemane there is no indication of such a relation between God and his Son. Nor is the doctrine to be found in the Old Testament. Allowing the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah to refer, as we think it does, at least in its secondary sense, to the Messiah, the interpretation that we have given above seems to us much more in accordance with its language and its spirit than the horrible idea that the sinless One was under the wrath and curse of God. " We must not for a moment," says Alford, " think of the Father's wrath abiding on him as the cause of his sufferings. Here is no fear of wrath, but, in the depth of his human anguish, the very tenderness of filial love." 39 458 M3ATTIEW5 XXVI. 47-56. For a fuller view of this subject, see lnitroduction to " Theological Essays," edited by Dr. Noyes, and the Notes at the close of that volume. 47-56.- THrE APPREiHENSION OF JESUS. The different narratives of this event are marked by the differences which we should expect from independent witnesses of actions which most of them took place in the night, which must have been hurried and confused, and which could not have been seen entire in all their relations by any one of those who were present. We must call to mind the disciples just waking out of their sleep at Gethsemane, the overshadowing trees, the glimmering of the moonlight through them, the crowd with weapons and staves or clubs, with lanterns and torches, hastening eagerly towards them, hardly knowing what to expect, and without the thorough understanding and concert among themselves that would be found if they had been only a military detachment or band. The great multitude which Matthew speaks of were, - 1st, a detachment of Roman soldiers (I owripa, a band, the word used to express a cohort, John xviii. 3, 12); 2d, the officers or captains of the temple, who were Jews (Luke xxii. 52); 3d, servants and others deputed by the priests; and, 4th, some of the high-priests and elders (Luke xxii. 52). Among these was Judas. He had given some of them a sign by which they might know Jesus. Confused and disconcerted, we may suppose, by the consciousness of his treacherous purpose, he rushed forward and kissed his Master, who may still have been among the trees, and in such a position that the preconcerted signal would hardly be seen by the associates whom the traitor had left behind. The mild rebuke of our Saviour would increase the agitation and mental embarrassment of Judas, so that he may have fallen barek, hardly knowing what he did, and therefore leaving his companions still in MATTHEW XXVI. 47 -56. 459 doubt as to which person was Jesus. The subsequent conduct of Judas, as inferred from his repentance and death, shows how keen his sensibilities were, and that he might now have been wholly confused and disconcerted. At this moment Jesus came forward, as represented by John (xviii. 4-9), and, giving himself up, by the extraordinary impression which his calm and majestic presence produced, gained for his disciples an opportunity of going away. But at that time another party of his assailants, perhaps, coming up and laying hands upon him, one of his followers asked, " Lord, shall we smite with the sword (paXalpa)?" (Luke xxii. 49); and Peter, without waiting for a reply (John xviii. 10), drew his weapon (see note to verse 51) and cut off the right ear of one of the high-priest's servants. This would, of course, cause some commotion and delay. Jesus immediately commanded Peter to sheathe the weapon, and then healing the wound he thus allayed the anger of his enemies, which otherwise might have been dangerous to Peter. At the same time he rebuked the rashness of his disciple, by reminding him of the fatal consequences of such conduct, and, 53, the needlessness of any human interference; since even then he had only to ask for deliverance from his enemies, and it would be granted. It was still in his own power to live or die, as he had said (John x. 18), " No man taketh it (my life) from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." But how then could the purposes of Divine mercy, as revealed in the Scriptures, be fulfilled? In this same calm and self-collected spirit he appealed to the multitudes, - the high-priests, the officers of the temple, and the elders (Luke xxii. 52),- asking why they had come against him as against a robber, with weapons. But this also, he added, 56, was a part of the same divine plan as declared in the Scriptures. "All this was done in such a manner that the Scriptures of the prophets were fulfilled." Mark (xiv. 27), at an earlier period of the narrative, had 460 MATTHEW XXVI. 57-68. quoted the passage (Zech. xiii. 7), "'I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." Matthew, after the general reference to the prophets, adds, as:Mark also does (xiv. 50), " Then all the disciples forsook him and fled." But Mark goes on to say, "And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: and he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked." All the Evangelists write that Peter followed Jesus afar off, and John adds (xviii. 15), undoubtedly speaking of himself 6 and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high-priest, and went in with Jesus into the hall [not the palace] of the high-priest." 57-68. - JEsus TAKEN BEFORE THE HIGHI-PRIEST. The distance from Gethsemane to the nearest gate of the city is less than a thousand feet. The house, or rather palace, of the high-priest was probably on the northeastern slope of Mount Zion, very near the temple, and perhaps a third of a mile from the fortress of Antonia, where the Roman Procurator or governor had his quarters. Jesus was taken first to Annas, who had been high-priest, and was father-in-law to Caiaphas (John xviii. 13). Annas, who may have been in the same palace with his son-in-law, sent Jesus bound to Caiaphas (John xviii. 24). His being sent to Annas is omitted by the first three Evangelists as a circumstance of little importance. This examination before Caiaphas was only an informal preliminary investigation; "for it was not lawful to try causes of a capital nature in the night." (Jahn's Bib. Arch. 246.) The object of the examination was, not to discover what crimes the prisoner had committed, but what charges could be brought against him with the best prospect of causing him to be put to death. As a trial, the whole proceedings were irregular and illegal. He was taken to the high-priest, with whom (Mark xiv. IMATTHEW XXVI. 69- 75. 461 53) all the high-priests, elders, and scribes had assembled. The whole Sanhedrim (Council) sought false testimony against him in order to put him to death. After many unsuccessful efforts, 60, 61, they at last succeeded in getting two witnesses, who, by perverting both the words and the application of an expression which he had used a long time before (John ii. 19), gave some color of excuse for the charge of blasphemy. Whereupon the high-priest asked Jesus what explanation he could make in regard to the accusation. Jesus, knowing that they were only seeking to compass his death, made no reply. Then the high-priest said, " I adjure thee by the living God to tell me whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus replied, " Thou hast said " (" I am," 3Mark xiv. 62.) Then addressing himself to the assembled representatives of the Jewish people, in language more impressive to them from its resemblance to a remarkable passage in one of their prophets (Dan. vii. 13, 14), he continued, "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming upon the clouds of heaven." This was enough. The high-priest, as an expression of his horror at such blasphemy, rent his garments; when, catching his spirit, the attendants who held Jesus (Luke xxii. 63, 64) spit in his face, and, having blindfolded him, smote him with the palms of their hands and with sticks, saying in derision, " Prophesy to us now, thou Christ, who it is that is striking thee." 69 - 75. - PETER'S DENIAL. While these things were taking place, another series of incidents was occurring, which is recorded, though with slight differences, by all the Evangelists. In order to understand the narratives, it is necessary to understand something of the architecture of a Jewish palace. It was "6 usually built round a quadrangular interior court; into which there is a passage (sometimes arched) through the front part of 39* 46S2 MATTIHEW XXVI. 69-75. the house, closed next to the street by a heavy folding gate, with a small wicket for single persons, kept by a porter." (Robinson's Harmony, 225.) This interior court is sometimes called aaX'l, or the hall, and the passage from the street to it, 7rpoalvtov or vrvXkCv, the porch or gateway. When Jesus was first brought to the high-priest, Peter followed him at a distance as far as to the hall, 58, (not palace, but hall, or open court), into which he was brought by a disciple (John) who was known to the high-priest. There in the hall he sat by a fire which had been made (John xviii. 16, 18), to see what was passing in the room in which Jesus was, and which would be open on the side next to the court. While he was sitting out here, 69, i. e. outside of the room where Jesus was, he was recognized by a damsel as one of those who had been with Jesus, and charged with having been with him. But he denied the charge. In order to withdraw himself from observation, he then went out into the passage-way or porch, 71, and there being recognized very soon, he denied his Master the second time. After about an hour, during which time he had probably returned to the court, he was recognized a third time, when with vehement imprecations he denied all knowledge of the man. At that moment the cock crew, and Jesus, who was in a room that was open on the side towards the court, turned and looked upon him, and he, remembering the prediction, rushed out through the passage-way and wept bitterly. It is possible that the third denial took place just as they had bound Jesus and were leading him away to Pilate. For "the morning," spoken of Matt. xxvii. 1, began with the cock-crowing, or at three o'clock. IMATTHEW XXVI. 463 NOTES. AND it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these say2 ings, he said unto his disciples, Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover; and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. 3 Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high-priest, 4 who was called Caiaphas; and consulted that they might take 5 Jesus by subtilty and kill him. But they said, Not on the feast-day, lest there be an uproar among the people. 6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the 7 leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head as he sat 8 at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, 9 saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment lo might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the ii woman? for she lath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. 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 thlis, that this woman hatlh done, be told for a memorial of her. 14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the i5 chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I 2. after two days is the real name. Josephus calls him "Jofeast of the Passover] i. e. seph Caiaphas." 5. Not on on the next day. 3. the feast day] Our translators the chief priests] or 7high-priests. have inserted the word clay without This office was originally for life, authority. It should be, Not cluring and was received by right of inheri- the festival. The expression refers tance. But Herod the Great changed to the whole period of the feast or the high-priest at his pleasure, and festival, which continued eight Jewthe Roman Procurators or governors ish, or seven of our days. followed his example in this respect. 12. she did it for my burin Valerius Gratus, who appointed Cai- al] rather, she did it to prepare me aphas to the office, had, according for burial. Sometimes a long period to Josephus (Ant. XVII. 2. 2), ap- intervened between the preparation pointed and displaced five or six of a body for burial and the burial high-priests within a few years. itself. The preparing of Jacob's saho was called] surnamed, body for burial (Gesi. 1. 2) took i. e. being callec in addition to his place in Egypt, his sepulture in 464 MATTHEW XXVI. will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportu- 1s nity to betray him. Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disci- 17 ples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? And he said, Go into is Canaan. 15. And it, tthe one lengthwise, the other they covenanted with him transversely, so that the animal was for] or p2aid to hiin thirty pieces of in a manner crucified. Its flesh Awas silver, -thirty silverlinys it has been divided, and served to those who translated, or shekels of silver, — partook, with a salad of wild and about fifteen or twenty dollars. As bitter herbs. Not fewer than ten the thirty shekels were the esti- nor more than twenty persons assemmated value of a slave's life (Ex. bled in one place to observe the xxi. 32), that sum may have been feast. At first the Passover was fixed upon as a mark of con- eaten by them standing, with the tempt towards Jesus. ]oins girt about, and -with shoes on 17. the passover] was instituted for the feet. But this was not the case the purpose of preserving among at the time of our Saviour, when the Hebrews the memory of their the Greek and Roman customl of liberation from Egyptian servitude, reclining at the table prevailed. and of the safety of their first-born "It is the custom of slaves," says on that night when the first-born of the Jerusalem Talmud,' to eat the Egyptians perished. (Exod. xii.) standing; but now Israelites eat It was celebrated for seven days reclining, to denote that they (Lev. xxiii. 4- 8), during the whole passed from servitude into freeof which time the people ate un- dom." Jahn's ArchseologSy. "The leavened bread. On the eve of the pascha1 supper, 1. began with the 14th day of the month Abib the first cup of wine, before drinking leaven was removed. 011On the 10th which the master of the household of the month the master of a famlily offered a prayer of thanksgiving to separated a ram or a goat of a year God for the gift of wine. Then was old. It wa.s taken to the appointed put on the table, 2. a supply of court of the temple, and there slain bitter herbs, commemorative of the and prepared in the presence of a bitter life led in Egypt: of these, priest, that lie might see that it was dipped in an acid and salt liquid, filee from defect or disease, and each partook amidcl songs of praise. sprinkle its blood on the altar. It Then followed, 3. the serving of the was slain on the 14th day of the unleavened bread, of the highlymonth, between the two evenings. seasoned kharoset, or broth of tihe " The Pharisees and Rabbinists, ac- paschal lamb, and the peace-offercording to the Alishna (Pesach 5. 3) ings (Lev. iii. 8; x. 14). Therehel(d the first evening to commence upon, 4. the master, after blessing with the declining sun; and the seec- Him who made heaven and earth, ond evening with the setting sun. dipped a portion of the bitter herbs, This latter viewv was the prevailing about the size of an olive, into the one in the time of our Lord; the charoset, and ate the sop. In this hour of evening sacrifice and prayer act lie was imitated by all at the being then the ninth hour, or 3 P. M. table. 5. The second cup was made (Acts iii. 1); and the paschal lamb ready; and this was the point at being regularly killed between the which the father of the family, ninth and eleventh hours. (Jose- asked or ulnasked by his son, exphus, Jewish Wars, VI. 9. 3.)" Rob- plained the import of the feast in inson's Lexicon. It was roasted all its parts." After singing, 6. whllole, with two spits thrust through the first part of the series of Psalms MATTHEW XXVI. 465 the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, 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 23 every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the 24 dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth, as it 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 25 been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. 206 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, 28 and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the re29 mission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink hencetermed the Hallel (Ps. cxiii., cxiv.), sidered already far off." Bengel. the master, 7. washed his hands, We find in the Gospel narratives no and, breaking a loaf, pronounced a ground for sympathy with those thanksgiving, and then, the cere- who would excuse or palliate the monial preparation being finished, conduct of Judas. He who could the meal, 8. properly was eaten. be so long a time with Jesus, and It was at this period probably that yet gain nothing of his moral and Jesus, troubled in spirit, said, 21, spiritual power, must have closed " Verily I say unto you, that one of his heart against all that was hig'h you shall betray me." See Beard's or holy. The very terms of his Biblical Reading-Book, p. 254. proposal to the rulers, 15,'l hiht 24. it had been good for that will ye give me if' I will deliver hii man if he had not beera born] to you? " show how base and shame"1 This phrase does not necessarily less his motives were, and are enimply the interminable eternity of tirely inconsistent with the view perdition: for it is a proverbial ex- sometimes entertained, that Judas pression. Cf. Luke xxiii. 29, Eccle- took this step only that he might siasticus xxiii. 14. Judas obtains a urge Jesus on to announce his real situation of exclusively pre-eminent purpose and to assume the royal misery amongst the souls of the authority which belonged to him as damned. For so long a time he the Messiah. His subsequent reaccompanied our Lord, not with- morse, ending in death, shows inout sharing the sorrows connected deed strong sensibilities, but this therewith; a little before the joy- only aggravates his guilt. For it ful pentecost he died." indicates what he had to struggle that mail] " The words, that man, against in his own heart before he might seem a predicate. That is could bring himself to betray his tile designation of one who is con- Lord for the price at which a DD 466 I MATTHEW XXVI. forth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdomn. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the 30 slave's life w-as valued, and thus man's capacity, and to matters proves him to have been, in spite of nloral or divine." 30. his better nature, guilty of the two sung an hymnl] The word thus most detestable crimes, avarice and translated may mean that the treachely, if not also of murder. hymn was either sung or recited. No good can come from the attempt into the 1ffount of Olives] to extenuate the guilt of such a One of the most affecting incidents character. 29. when I in the Bible is related in connecdrink it nsew awith you in my tionl with the Mount of Olives, and Fatlshe9s kingdom]'lle word forms no unlsuitable introduction to newV, KanLeY, used here, is not the the agony of Gethsemane. When same as that which is used, ix. 17, Absalom had rebelled against his Viov, to describe the newly-made father, David, leaving the ark of wine which was not to be put into old God in Jerusalem, " went up by bottles. It is the same word which the ascent of Mount Olivet, and is applied to the new covenant, or wept as lie went up, and had his Christian dispensation, to distin- head covered, and he went baregnish it from the old covenant, or foot: and all the people that was _Mosaic di.Iensation. It means, not with him covered every man his something newly made of the same head, and went up, weeping as they sort, but something of a different went up." (2 Sam. xv. 30.) The sort. As the relicion of Jesus is the western base of the Mount of Olives spiritual fulfilment of that which is bounded by the brook Kedron, was shadowed forth in the Mosaic and is one or two hundred yards dispensation, so "the wine " which distant from the eastern wall of the he will drink " new " with his disci- temple. The summit is about 2750 ples in the kingdom of his Father, feet above the Mediterranean, and is the spiritual refreshment and life 4060 feet above the Dead Sea, and which shall be the perfect fulfil- 137 feet above the highest p)art of ment of that which is now only Jerusalem. (See Barclay's Jelusasymbolized by the eucharistic winle lemi, pp. 104, 105.) The mean disor, ii its spiritual sense, the blood of tance of that part of the summit Christ. " The Jewish Passover was which lies opposite to the city, from superseded by the Lord's Supper; the eastern wall of Jerusalem, is this will be again succeeded by fur- about half a mile by the nearest ther things of a heavenly nature." pathwvay, and of course, in a 1engel. Another inlstance this of straight line, much less. " When the way in which Jesus rises from about half tile waty up the ascent," the natural to the spiritual signifi- says Prof. Hackett, " I found mycation of language, without a single self, apparently, off against the levexplanatory word to show where el of Jerusalem." " Three paths, the transition takes place. We deeply worn," he says, "'lead over have only the connection in which the mount. We gaze at those the words are found to guide us paths the more intently because we in the interpretation. " Emnblem," have no doubt that the feet of the says Lord Bacon, "reduceth con- Saviour trod them again and again ceits [conceptiois] intellectual to as he approached the city or left it. images sensible, which strike the That reflection came over me with memory more." " The scope or such power, as my eyes fell upon purpose of the Spirit of God is not them for the first time, that I could to express matters of nature in not refrain from weeping." Olivet the Scriptures otherwise than in "must have been adorned, ancientpassage, amnd for application to ly, with fields of grain, groves, and MATTHEW XXVI. 467 31 Mount of Olives. Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me 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 be33 fore you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, orchards. At present it exhibits, on and "be a priest upon his throne," the whole, a desolate appearance. refers, according to Dr. Noyes, to Rocky ledges crop out here and the Mlessiah. So does (ix. 9)" Rethere above the surface, and give to joice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion," the hill a broken, sterile aspect. "behold thy king cometh unto thee," The loose soil, which might cover "lowly, and riding upon an ass, even them in part, is left to be washed a colt, the foal of an ass." See away. Yet the mount is not whol- Matt. xxi. 5. The words (xii. 10), ly destitute of verdure even now. "' they shall look on me whom they A few spots are planted with grain; have pierced," (see John xix. 37,) and fiuit-trees, as almonds, figs, may have looked forward to the pomegranates, olives, are scattered same period for their fulfilment. up and down its sides. The The passage here quoted by the olives take the lead decidedly, and Saviour is more obscure in the conthus vindicate the propriety of the nection from which it is taken in ancient name." Barclay, in his Zechariah, but in the obscured " City of the Great King," p. 60, gleams of coming conflicts and says that "there is not in all the glory which passed before the world a prospect so delightful to prophet's mind, the vision may behold as the panorama to be en- have been designed by the Omjoyed by ascending the minaret niscient Spirit to foreshadow the alongside the Church of the As- specific event to which the words cension, that now crowns the ele- are here applied by Jesus. With vationnearest the city." From this our views of prophecy, there is no point towards the east are to be serious difficulty in this interpretaseen the Dead Sea, the valley of the tion. 32. But after I Jordan, where a green streak "- am risen again, I will go be"a blue strip " it appeared to Dr. fore you into Galilee] This Hackett -" on a whitish ground passage has troubled the commenmarks the course of the river," and tators. "It is something extremely beyond the plain of the Jordan, from improbable," says Schleiermacher, north to south, appears a continuous " that Jesus, if he foresaw so exactchain of mountains, as far as the ly the days of his resurrection, and steep cliffs of the Dead Sea, above therefore could not but know that which rises, deeper in the country, he should see his disciples again Jebel Shihan, with its compressed more than once in Jerusalem, and gently rising summit, which in should here have said that he the winter time is frequently cov- would lead them into Galilee." ered with snow." 31. for At this distance of time, and it is written, I will smite the with our ignorance of the cirShepherd] These words (Zech. cumstances, it is impossible for xiii. 7) are from a prophecy which, us to say why such a promise we think, in several places glances should or should not be made at on through the shadows of interven- that particular time. The meeting ing events to the Messiah. "My of the disciples with the Lord in servant, the Branch" (Zech. iii. 8), Galilee after the resurrection holds and again (vi. 12, 13), "the man a prominent place in the Gospel of whose name is the Branch," who Matthew (xxviii. 7, 10, 16,) and "shall build the temple of the makes the impressive close of the Lord," who "shall bear the glory," Gospel of Johl. And there may 468 MATTHIEW XXVI. Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily, I say unto 34 thee, that this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto himl, 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 have been special reasons for fixing before, as merely an expression of in the minds of the disciples the distrust onl the Lord's part; it was fact that they, and perhaps the this solemn and circumstantial replarger company, "above five hun- etition of it which afterwards struck dred brethren at once," mentioned upon his mind when the sign itself by St. Paul (1 Cor. xv. 6), were to was literally fulfilled." Alford. We meet him in Galilee. The ardent do not think this explanation perand confiding impetuosity of Peter's fectly satisfactory. We know too character, 33, shows itself here. little about it to speak with conProbably the precise reply of Jesus fidence. It has been questioned is given by Mark (xiv. 30) as lie whether cocks were kept in Jerusareceived it from St. Peter himself: lem. But even if they were not, Verily I say unto thee, that thou kept by the Jews, which is by no to-day, this very night, before the means certain, they may have been cock has crowed twice, shalt deny kept by the Romans who resided me thrice." But Peter could not in the city. The different night believe that the warning was need- watches among the Roman soldiers ed, and replied, " Though it should were announced by the sound of the be necessary to die with thee, I will trumpet. (Livy, XXVI. 15.) Cicero, not deny thee; " and likewise all the Pro Murena, 9, in contrasting the rest of the disciples asserted the civil with the military life, says, same, in their vain self-confidence. " You [tie civilian] are roused by 34. this night9 beftre the the crowing of the cock, he [the coAck crow, thou shalt deny me soldier] by the sound of the trumthrice] How is this to be recon- pet." In Jerusalem the night ciled with IMark xiv. 30, " Before watches may have been indicated the cock has crowed twice, thou to the citizens generally by the shalt deny me thrice"? The dif- sound of the trumpet in the tower ference is so slight that it may be of Antonia, which was the headallowed to stand without impairing quarters of the military, and from our confidence at all in the writers. which the blast of the trumpet But the passages may perhaps be might easily be heard in the hall reconciled. " The first cock-crow- of the high-priest's palace. " The ing is at midnight; but inasmuch as cock crew " may have been the cusf.ew hear it, when the word is used toenary form 6f expression for the generally, we mean the second crow- sounding of the trumpet which aning, early in the morning, before nounced the completion of that pedawn. If this view be taken," the riod of the night which was called two expressions, before the cock- "the cock-crowing." The watches crow, and before the cock crozo were reckoned backward; midnight twice, "aimount to the same, - only beginning at nine, and cock-crowthe latter is the more accurate ex- ing at twelve (Mark xiii. 35), and pl'ession. It is most likely that were announced, not at the beginPeter understood this expression as ning, but at the close. 36. only a mark of time, and therefore Gethsemane] To some persons received it, as when it was spoken the fact that Kech'on, the name of MIATTHEW XXVI. 469 37 pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons 38 of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto 39 death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, 0O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me never40 theless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the brook over which Jesus passed going; see, he is at hand that doth on his way to Gethsemane, means, betray me.' (Matt. xxvi. 46.) It is to be black, and Gethsemane, an not improbable that his watchful olive-press, may suggest thoughts in eye, at that momlent, caught sight accordance with the associations of of Judas and his accomplices, as the place and hour. Gethsemane is they issued from one of the eastern but a very short distance from the gates, or turned round the northern city, the north end of the garden or southern corner of the walls, in being about 145 feet beyond the order to descend into the valley." bridge over the Kedron, and 985 feet 37. to be sorrowful and from the nearest gate of the city. very heavy] " To be in great dis" It is the spot," says Professor tress, and almost beside one's self for Hackett, " above every other which trouble." Bengel. 38. My soul the visitor must be anxious to see. is exceeding sorrowful. even It is the one which I sought out be- unto death] A Hebrew form of folre any other, and the one of which speech indicating sorrow in the greatI took my last formal view on the estpossible degree. Soul, the sentient morning of my departure. The tra- principle of animnal and spiritual life. dition which places the agony and This is the only instance, we bebetrayal of the Saviour here has a lieve, in which Jesus uses the word great amount of evidence in its sup- dleath to express bodily dissolution, pot.... The space enclosed as unless when obliged to do so in Gethsemane contains about one third order to prevent misapprehension. of an acre, and is surrounded by a low Death with him applies to the soul. wall covered with white stucco. It (John v. 24; viii. 51, 52; xi. 26.) is entered by a gate, kept under lock Can it be that he uses the word in and key, under the control of one this sense here, to intimate that in of the convents at Jerusalem. The the extremity of his anguish it was eight olive-trees here are evidently as if he were subjected, for the time, very aged,.... and it is not iml- to the pangs of spiritual death, and possible that those now here may brought so into contact with the have sprung firom the roots of sins and consequent sufferings of those which grew there in the days the world, that he felt their dreadof Christ.. As I sat beneath the ful weight of woe and death, as if olives, and observed how very near they had been laid upon his own the city was, with what perfect ease soul.? 39. this cup] "We a person there could survey at a may be sure that the cup which he glance the entire lenoth of the east- prayed might pass from him could ern wall, and the slope of the hill not have been merely the bodily towards the valley, I could not di- pain and death, which so many vest myself of the impression that men have endured with unshrinktlhis local peculiarity should be al- ing fortitude." Whately. It was lowed to explain a passage in the the shuddering sense of horror and account of the Saviour's apprehen- grief that was overwhelming him, sion. Every one must have noticed respecting which he prayed that it somlething abrupt in his summons might pass from him, and in regard to the disciples, -' Arise, let us be to which his prayer was heard. 40 470 MATTHEW XXVI. the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What! could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch, and 4i pray, that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the sec- 42 end 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 rest; behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; behold, 46 he is at hand that doth betray me. And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, 47 and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that be- 48 trayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. And forthwith he came 49 to Jesus, and said, Hail, Master; and kissed him. And so Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then 40. asleep] sleeping for 45. Sleep on nowa] The sorrow. (Luke xxii. 45.) "There is agony is now over. Jesus no longer another symptom of grief, which is requires their sympathy. He therenot often noticed, and that is pro- fore lets them sleep on, though the found sleep. I have often witnessed hour and the man of treachery are it even in mothers, immediately after at hand. After this, the disciples the death of a child. Criminals, we may have taken their rest for a are told by Mr. Akerman, the keep- considerable time, before he saw er of Newgate, in London, often the company with their torches and sleep soundly the night before their lanterns comning to seize him, when, execution. The son of Gen. Cus- verse 46, he roused his disciples that tine slept nine hours the night be- they might have a few moments in fore he was led to the guillotine in which to awake and recover themParis." Dr. Rush. 41. selves before they were assailed. bat the flesh is weak] " We 49. and kissed him] "It ought to take this, not as an excuse was not unusual for a master to kiss for torpor, but as an incentive to his disciple; but for a disciple to watchfulness." Bengel. " An aban- kiss his master was more rare. donment to sorrow and its sequent Whether, therefore, Judas did this emotions, diminishes the dominant under pretence of respect, or out energy of the spirit, and thus facili- of open contempt and derision, let tates the victory of indwelling sin; it be inquired." Lightfoot. whilst to struggle against the beset- 50. Friend] companion. ting disposition, and to give our- See xx. 13, " Friend, I do thee no selves to praver, which supplies wrong." The word must have come man with fresh energy from the home sharply to the heart of Judas. spiritual world, secure us against "' Friend, wherefore art thou come? " temptation." Olshausen. "B3etrayest thou the Son of man MATTHEW XXVI. 471 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 highwith a kiss?" The latter half of live, and shalt serve thy brother," the appeal is from Luke. We sup- the word may be rendered as a pose that both the expressions were knzife to be used by the hunter, used by Jesus, and not, with Alford, rather than as a sword to be used that the meaning of the words re- only in war. In lx. xv. 9, " The ported by Luke is involved in the enemy said, I will pursue, I will expression recorded by Matthew. overtake, I will divide the spoil, I It may have been thus: When will fill my soul, I will destroy with Jesus saw Judas coming near, he the machaira, my hand shall premay have said, " Friend, why art vail," the word is used to designate thou coming? " and then after the a weapon of war; as it also is in kiss was given, he may in a dif- Gen. xxxi. 26, "and carried away ferlent tone have addled, "Judas, my daughters as captives taken betrayest thou the Son of man with with the nmachaira." On the other a kiss? " 51. aind drew hand, in Gen. xxii. 6, 10, mzachaira his sword] What wasthe weapon is the instrument (properly transor instrument here denoted? The lated knife) which Abraham took word used by all the Evangelists is with him: " And he took the fire in PdaXatpa, macheaira, of which the his hand, and a knife." " And Abrai)rimnary meaning is a 7nife, a lryge ham stretched forth his hand, and cn'fes, a slau//ldter-]knife. Among the took the knife to slay his son." Greeks in the heroic ages it was And in 1 Kings xviii. 28, the worn suspended in a sheath by the seachairai were the knives with sword on the left side of the body, which and with lancets the priests and was used on all occasions as a of Baal cut themselves, " till the knife. (See Smith's Greek and blood gushed outupon them." Now Roman Antiquities; Homer's Iliad, the language of the Septuagint was III. 271- 273; Herod. II. 61.) It was evidently as familiar to the Evanused either as a weapon or a knife. gelists as that of the Hebrew ScripIn the Septuagint version of the tures. Their quotations are often Old Testament the word is used to made from it, and its use of Greek designate just such an instrument, words would have great influence and whether it is to be rendered with them. As far as that influence knmife or ssrord must be determined was concerned, they may have used by the accompanying circum- the word mnachanirc in either sense; stances. For example, in Ezekiel but its prinary meaning was that xxvi. 15, " Thus saith the Lord of knife, and they had at least one God to Tyre, Shall not the islands other word, ~polvrala (Luke ii. 35; be shaken at the sound of thy fell, Rev. i. 16; ii. 12, 16; vi. 8; xix. 15, when the wounded groan, when the 21) by which to denote a sword martchaira is drawn in the midst of without ambiguity. We must then thee?" In our English version this be guided by the circlustances of last clause is rendered, " When the the case in the construction that we slaughter is made in the midst of put upon the word in any particular thee," and the word snachairs, an instance in which it is used by them. instrument employed not only in There is no doubt that narcheaira war, but primarily in slaughtering would properly designate the knives cattle, may have been used in this used by the Jews in killing, dressits primary sense, to describe the ing, and dividing sacrifices, in prebutchery of an effeminate and help- paring animal food before it was less people at the hands of their cooked, and in carving it afterwards. enemies. In Genesis xxvii. 40, When carried, they were, for safety "'And by thy msachaira shalt thou and convenience, secured in a 472 MATTHEW XXVI. priest, and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus unto him, 52 Put up again thy sword into his place; for all they that take sheath. Except in the passage be- imaginations of the heart." The fore us, and those connected with inachairn, as a knife, was used to it, the word is found in the Gospels separate the joints, to take out the only twice. " I came not to send marrow, and to divide and open the peace, but a n mchairca; for I am animal offered for sacrifice, so that come to divide a man fiom (or the priest could inspect all its inagainst) his father, and a daughter ward parts. Thus it might be said against her mother." (Matt. x. 34, to be a discerner (the idea of divis35.) Here, as opposed to peace, ion lying at the root of the expresthe warlike use of the weapon is sion) of the thoughts and inmaginafirst suggested; but in the explana- tions of the heart. In the Apocation which follows, dividing one lypse the word occurs three times. against another, or separating one (Rev. vi. 4, xiii. 10, 14), and in each from another, the other use of the case as a destructive weapon. The instrument may possibly be indi- result of this examination goes to cated. "And they shall fIll by the show that the word gnciclhtira, priedge of the machcira, and shall be malrily signifying an instrument led away captive into all nations." which was used both us a weapon (Luke xxi. 24.) In this case it is of war and as a knife, was employed spoken of as a weapon of war. In by the writers in the New Testathe Acts it occurs twice: " And lie mlent to denote an instrument which killed James the brother of John might be used for either of these with the sword" (xii. 2), the exe- purposes, but which was most fiecutioner's sword. "And the keeper quently named in reference to its of the prison, awaking out of his warlike uses. In which capacity sleep, and seeing the prison doors is the instrument spoken of in the open, he drew out his nachai'ra and connection before us? We give would have killed himself." (xvi. the reply nearly in the words of 27.) In both these cases the word a very intelligent and painstaking is rightly translated sword, though student of the Scriptures, who has the instrument spoken of may have kindly favored us with his views: - been used both as a knife and a " About sunset Peter and John, sword. In the Epistles of Paul the in obedience to the coimrmanld,' Go -word occurs twice. " Who shall and prepare for us the Passover," separate us from the love of Christ? (Luke xxii. 8,) had killed and preShall tribulation or distress,.... pared the paschal lamb. In doing or peril, or smachaira?" (IRom. viii. this, and in dividing the roasted 35.) " For lie [the ruler] beareth not lamb for those who partook, they the naschaira in vain." (Rom. xiii. nmust have had knives. Those now 4.) In both these cases the warlike -used by the Jews for such purposes use of the instrument is what is vary from six to eighteen ilnclies first suggested by the connection. in length, and when carried a're In the Epistle to the Hebrews (xi. seculed in a belt, girdle, or sheath. 34, 37), "escaped the edge of the _3l,(chaira is unquestionably a word caCian," "a wNere slain with the which might well be used to denote Tmechaira," the same idea evidently such an instrument. Between the lies uppermost. But Heb. iv. 12 Paschal feast and the institution of appears to describe the other and the Lord's Supper, soon after Judas peaceful uses of the instrument. had left the chamber, while warln" For the word of God is living and ing his disciples of the inhospitality effective, sharper thanl any two- for which they must now be preedged zmachaira, penetrating even pared (Luke xxii. 35 - 38), Jesus to the dividino asunder of soul and inquired of them if, when he had spirit, both of joints and marrow, sent them without ally provision and a discerner of the thoughts and for their physical wants,' without MATTHEW XXVI. 473 53 the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me purse andI scrip aLnd shoes,' they knives, and these were in common use had lacked anything; and they amn-ong travellers in those regions.' answered,'Nothinig.' JBut 2oW,' Life of Jesus, Am. Version (New he said, as if circumstances had York, 1848), p. 393. changed, and they must do some- "Later in that night, Judas came thing to provide for themselves, - and with him a great multitude,' But now he that hath a purse let with esochairoi and staves, - not lim tlake it, likewrise also a hbag; spears, the more appropriate weapon and he who has not [one], let him of war'rio', blt staves or clubs, and sell his cloak and buy a smachaira. s.uch other weapons, most likely For I say unto you that this which knives, as were at hand, to be is written, " Adcl he was reckoned hastily seized by the multitude. among the transgressors," must Alexander, in his Comm. on Mark now be accomplished [reAeo'~vlt] xiv. 43 - 48, sugogests the renderinwg in me. And indeed the things'knives and sticks.' Some of the [written] concerniing me are hay- multitude laicd hands on Jesus.'And iosg their accomplishmnent ireXosr. when his followers saw what was And they said,'Lord, behold, here about to take place, they said to are two scschairai.' And he said to him, Lord, shall we smite with the them,' It is enoou gh.' Were not these machlaisa? And one of them smote the?zachaCiri wrhich had been used the servant of the high-priest, and late in the afternoon by Peter and stlirck off his right ear.' (Luke xxii. John in killing and dressing the 49, 50.) Thlen Jesus saith unto him, pashal hlamb, and later still,It the' Put up angain thy mcrachairae into its table in dividing the lamb among pl'ce; for all thley who take the those who partook? Chrysostom, sword shall perish by the sword.' coimmenting on Matt. xxvi. 51, says: (Matt. xxvi. 52.) In his rebuke to But whence were these szachai raic Petel, Jesus evidently implied that They [the disciples] had come from the disciple, in making the use of supper and from the table. Where- the nzcchicrao which he did as a fore it is probable that the zctcha^ivi weapon of war and violence, had were there on account of the lamb, misunderstood and peirverted his and that they [the disciples] hear- mneaning in the conversation reing that an attack would be made specting it at the paschal table. But upon their Master, took them for aid were they who put the question, against those who should assail him.''Lord, shall we smite with the In hIatt. Hom. lxxxiv. al. lxxxv. sword?' Peter and John, or one of Opp. VII. 797, 798, ed. Montfaucon. tllem for both? There were but Theophylact, on the same passage two mrchairaci among the disciples, of Matthew, says:' He [Peter] had the same, we suppose, which had 2ia sstchotirna because lhe had just been used by Peter and John in slain the lamb which they ate.' killini, preparinig, and dividing the Opp. (Venet. 1754, fol.) I. 151. Cor- pasclhal lamb. One of these disnelius a Lapide, in his note on MIatt. ciples who had a amaclhoiea was xxvi. says:' That this swvord of St. Peter, a fact which we learn only Peter was a knife which the Apost.les from John (xviii. 10). He was had used in slaving and eating the wiiarned by his Master not to use it lamb, is maintalined by Toletus on in that way, and probably escaped John xviii. 10. This view is fa- unklnowvn while Jesus ans healing vored also by Chrvsostom, Theo- the wound which had been inflicted. phlylact, Jonaines Maior, Janselius Was John heard to ask the question, on Matt. xxvi.' Comm. in Matt.' Shall we smite with the d mrctc'rto.?' p. 494. Neander says:'The word Or was he seehn to draw, or to have (qaechairoi) may'be translated such a weapon, and was le thece40 474 MATTHEW XXVI. more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the 54 scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? - In that same 55.foure' laid hold of' so that he could give us a glimpse into the vast escape only with the loss of his gar- economy of God's kingdom and the ment? It was like John to inquire multitudes of the heavenly hosts eand wait for his Lord's reply (Luke who act as his spiritual agents. But ix. 51 - 56), and it was like Peter to alwayvs in our prayers for help, " Not rush into action without waiting as Icvill, but as thou wilt," must unfor advice. If such were the facts, derlie our petitions. We must not then the narrative relating to' a ask for the intervention even of certain young man' (Mark xiv. 51, God's angels, except as it mllay be 52), given after the general state- in accordance with his highler purmenlt,'they all forsook him and poses. " The cup which my Father fled,' is a recurrence back, such as hath given me, shall I not drink is' natural and common in all nar- it? " is given (John xviii. 11) as the rative style,' to state what had qualifying clause here, where Peter happened to one of their number is forbidden to use the weapon. In before they fled." Matthew, however, 54, the same Thus a careful review of the oc- idea is conveyed by the words, " Beut casion and related facts does not, we how then shtll the Scrip)tures be f.ulthink, authorize a departure from Lfilled, that thus it esmust be?" which the primary meaning of the word are thus explained by Mr. Norton: ezachairea in these passages, by " Your prophets and you have antranslating it sword. We have no ticipated a great mlessenger froim reason to suppose that the disciples, God; what they and you have in procuring the two which they anticipated, I am; but what is now possessed, had reference to anything taking place is necessary in order further than the peaceful uses to that I may fully sustain the characwhich they might be applied. We ter and perform the offices of such may not be able to show why it was a messenger." Inver. 53 Jesus disthat Jesus should think it so im- tinctly implies his own free agency. portant for his disciples to have a It lies within his choice to live or knife of that sort after the supper. die. And knowing this, he cheerBut that lie did not mean to com- fully bows to the higher purposes for mand them to arm themselves with which he had come into the world. it as a weapon of war, is a supposi- The same idea is repeated in ver. 56, tion consistent with the use of the and brought out still more forcibly word rozachairla, and with the uses in John xii. 27. Jesus asserts man's to which the instrument itself was freedom, but he quite as distinctly put; while the other supposition, recognizes the overruling Provithat he did mean to command them deance and all-pervanding designs of thus to arm themselves with it as a the Divine mind. He asserts them sword, is at variance with the gen- both as facts, and shows how we eral spirit of his life and his religion, practically are to act in regard to and is directly contradicted by his them, though he does not show on words to Peter after he had so used metaphysical grounds how the two it. 52, 53. Here Jesus are to be reconciled; especially contrasts the aid which comes from when the purposes of God have man's violence with that which been revealed in prophecies which may come from God. Thinklest thou are to be fulfilled by men. Good that [czannot now proay to my Father, men will choose to work for their and he shall presently give me more fulfilment, and whatever bad men thaen twelve legions of angels? A in their fieedom may choose, their le(gion consisted of about 6,000. The actions in the orderings of the language may be figurative; but it Almnighty and Omniscient mind will seems to us much more reasonable help on to the fulfilment of his purto suppose that it was intended to poses, as contrary winds, while they MATTHEW XXVI. 475 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; 56 but all this was done, that the scriptures of the'prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled. 57 And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high-priest, where the scribes and the elders were 5s assembled. But Peter followed him afar off, unto the highpriest'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 Josus, 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 62 to build it in three days. And the high-priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these 63 witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high-priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee, by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, 64 the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless, I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sittinllg on the right hand of' power, and conining in the 65 clouds of heaven. Then the high-priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. are left to blow where they list, are of expression to say, that while by the art of man made to propel Jesus was in the room with the the ship on against their current. high-priest, Peter was down (Karro) 57. to Caiaphas] "The in the court. 64. sitting palace of the high-priest.... o n the right hand of power9 was situated between Millo and the and comingc in thfe clouds of Armory, on the northeastern slope heavens] hllese remarkable words of Mount Zion. As thus situated are intended to describe the power on the declivity, a story below the and majesty of Christ as it shall chief suite of rooms was very nat- at length appear, even to those who ural, and indeed almost unavoida- nowrejecthim. The words "Christ ble: and this circumstance enables'eomins,' coming in the clouds,' us the better to understand the & t onl idite his advent at &e., not only indicate his adven t a t expression (Mark xiv. 66), Peter a far distant period, but also his was beineath in the avXn," i. e. spiritual world-historical manifesthe court or hall. Barclay, p. 171. tation." Neander. 65. Without regard to this deciivity, the Then the high-priest rent his court would be a few steps below clothes] " They that judge a the floor of the surrounding roonis, bl.sphemer first ask the witness so that it would be a natural mode and bid him speak plainly what he 476 MATTHEW XXVI. Wlhat think ye? They answered and said, Ite is guilty of 66 death. Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and 67 others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, Proph.- 68 esy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee? 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 71 him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I 72 do not know the man. And after a while came unto him they 73 that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou art also one of them, for thy speech bewrayeth thee. Then began he to curse 74 hath heard; and when he speaks it, 70. But he denied] We plaice the judges, standing on their feet, the different accounts of Peter's rend their garments and do not sew denials side by side, that our readthlen up again." Lightfoot. Jose- ers may compare them: — phus, Jewish Wars, II. 15. 4. FIRST DENIAL. MATTHEW. MARK XIV. LUKE XXII. JOHN XVII. And Peter sat And as Peter was And when they John, who was without in the hall, down in the hall, had kindled a fire in known to the highand a maid came to there cometh one thermidstofthehall, priest, came into him, saying, " Thou of the maids of and were set down the hall, leaving Pealso wast with Jesus I the high-priest; and together, Peter sat ter at the gate withof Galilee." But he when she saw Peter down among them. out. John spoke to denied before thern warming himself, 13ut a certain nlaid' the maid who kept all, saying, " I know she looked upon him beheld him as he sat, the gate, and she not what thou say- and said, " Thou by the fire, and ear- brought Peter in, est." And when he also wast with Jesus nestly looked upon i. e. to the hall. And had gone out into theNazarene." But him,andsaid, "This she saith to Peter, the porch, he denied, saying, man was also with "Art not thou also "I know not, nei- him." And he de- oneofthis man'sdisther understand I nied, saying, " Wo- ciples?" He saith, what thou sayest."' man, I know him "I am not." And And he went out not." the servants and offiinto the porch, and cers, having made the cock crew. a fire of coals because it was cold, stood there warming themselves, and Peter was with them, standing, and warming himself SECOND DENIAL. another damsel saw And a maid saw Anid after a short They said, therehim, and saith to him, and began to time another [mas- fore to him, "'Art those who were say to those stand- culine gender] saw not thou also one of there, " This one ing by,'"Thisisone him andsaid, "Thou his disciples?;' He also was with Jesus of them." But he art also of them.' denied it, and said, the Nazarene." And again denied it. And Peter said, i I am not." again he denied with' Man, I am not." an oath, "' I do not know the man." M-ATT-IIEW XXVI. 477 and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately 75 the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, THIRD DENIAL. MATTHEW. MIARK. LUXE. JOHN. And after a while And a little while And about the One of the sercame unto him they after, they that space of one hour rants of the highthat stood by, and stood by said again after, another [-6- priest (being his said to Peter, "'Sure- to Peter,'" Surely,;os, masculine] con- kinsman whose ear ly thou also art one thou art one of fidently affirmed, Peter cut off), saith of them; for thy them; for thou art saying,;Of a truth, to him, "Did not I speech makes theelaGalile[an' [andtthy this man also was see thee in the garmanifest. " Then speech ag-reeth there- with him; for he is den with him? " began he to curse to, is not in Tischen- a Galilean." And Again, therefore, and to swear, say- dorf]. And he be- Peter said. "Man, I Peter denied; and ing, "I know not gan to curse and to know not what thou immediately a cock the man." Andiim- swear, saying, " I sayest." And im- crew. mediately the cock know not this man mediately, while he crew. And Peter re- of whom ye speak." was yet speaking, membered the word And the second time the cock crew. And of Jesus which said a cock crew. And the Lord turned and unto him. "Before Peter called to mind looked at Peter, and the cock crow, thou the word that Jesus Peter remembered shalt deny me said unto him,'"Be- the word of the thrice." And he fore the cock crow Lord, how he had went out and wept twice, thou shalt said unto him, "Bebitterly. deny me thrice." fore the cock crow, And rushing out, he thou shalt deny me wept. thrice." And Peter went out and wept bitterly. At the first recognition and denial the woman, looking earnestly at him, of Peter, all the Evangelists agree so as to satisfy herself that it was in stating that he was in the hall, he, may have said, as in Luke, to and that he was accosted by a maid. those around he' " This man cerHer manner of speaking, though tainly was with him;" and Peter differing slightly in the words used, in reply might say, " Woman, I is substantially the same. Thevari- know him not." All the expresations are only such as we should sionus would thus belong to one act expect to find in the honest report of recognition and denial. Such of the same transaction by differ- repeated assertions and denials are ent witnesses. All the different ex- in themselves more probable than a pressions here assigned by the dif- single one, under the circumstances. ferent writers to her and to him Luke says that Peter was sitting by may have been used. She may the fire; John says that he was have asked, as in John, "Art not standing. Both the accounts may thou also one of this man's dis- have been true, as nothing is more ciples? " and when he answered, " I probable than that the parties should am not," she may have added, as in have changed their place and pos-:Matthew, " Surely thou wast with ture during the altercation. At the Jesus of Galilee." When Peter second recognition and denial Matdenied, saying, " I know not what thew and Mark both speak of Peter thou sayest," she may have repeated as being in the porch or passage-way. her assertion, with the slight vnri- Matt., 7rvXwa, a gateway. Mark, tion in Mark, " Thou surely wast with Jesus the Natzarene; " and he 7poavXtov, which exactly describes would naturally meet the charge the passage leading from the street to thus repeated, with the still stronger the hall.. Luke and Johi say nothing denial, "I kinoev not, neither under- of Peter's having left the hall. Acstand I what thou sayest." Then cording to Matthew al Mar, it was 478 MATTHEW XXVI. which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly. a?voman who recognized and spoke lowance for what is left out in each tohim (" another maid," Matthew); of the Gospel narratives. We unaccording to Luke, it was a different justly charge the Evangelists with person from the one who at first contradicting one another, when in spoke to him, and a man. John, fact they are only giving different in using the plural number, " they incidents connected with one comsaid," intimates that the charge moen event. In this instance we against Peter was made by more think of three distinct charges each than one person, and thus authorizes made by one person in a single us to suppose that both the other short sentence, and each replied to accounts are true, and that he was by Peter in one single expression addressed both by a woman and a of denial. But it is far more likely man. In the account of the third that each case of recoonition would denial, no one of the writers tells lead to a considerable altercation, in where Peter was; but it is not ilr- which the original charge would be probable that, after he was dis- repeated, as it would also be denied, covered in the passage-wvay, lie re- in different words, and that different turned to the hall, and remained persons as they recognized Peter there during the considerable time would add their testimony to that (Luke says " about an hour ") that already given. Each of the writings, intervened. Then those who wvere which are drawn from independent standing by (Mattllhew and Mark) sources, and none of them giving recognized him by his Galilanii an account of all the particulars, dialect. Luke says, that a different would be likely to bring out difperson fronm the one who spoke to ferent persons and expressions. him before, a mansi, charged him Each one, therefore, may be regardwith being one of the party who ed as supplying what is vanting in had been with Jesus; and John the others. By bringing together says, that a servant of the high- the different accounts in this way, priest, the kinsman of him whose we are able, at least in the case ear Peter cut off, said to him, " Did before us, to give a much more not I see thee in the garden with life-like and probable narrative of him?" There is no reason to sup- events than in the way which is pose that this servant of the high- usually adopted either by the friends priest is the same person mentioned or the enemies of the Gospels. The by Luke, especially as the plural variations in the accounts show that numllber used by Matthew and Mitlrk the writers draw their statements intimates that several persons were friom independent sources, and with engaged in ma'king the charge. such writers it must often happen Peter replied to them, one after that, in our ignolrance of the details another, growing more excited as familiar to them, we mmay find it imthe charge was repeated, till at possible to reconcile, as we can in length his loud and earnest impre- this case, incidents which did nevcations attracted the attention of ertheless truly occur. These apJesus, who was in a room that parent differences, says Alford, to was open towards the hall or whom we are indebted for imporcourt, and just after the cock crew talnt suggestions here, we value " as turned and looked on Peter, who, testinmonies to independence: and thus reminded of the Lord's words, are sure, that if for one moment rushed out and wept bitterly. In we could be put in complete posthis way the different accounts are session of all the details as they perfectly harmoniized, except for hlappened, each account would findd those who are " slavishly bound to its justification), cmnu the reasons of the inspiration of the letter." We all the variations would appear." do not usually make sufficient al MATTHEW XXVII. 479 CHAPTER X XVII. PRELIMINARY TRIAL OF JESUS BEFORE TIHE SANITEDRIiM. IT is impossible even for the ablest scholars, with the scanty means of information which are now within their reach, to speak with any confidence concerning the precise forms of judicial proceeding which were held to be necessary among the Jews in a case like this. "From the time when Archelaus was deposed," A. D. 6 or 7, says Alford, " and Judaea became a Roman province, it would follow by the Roman law that the Jews lost the power of life and death." From Josephus (Ant. XX. 9. 1) it would appear that the high-priest had no right to assemble the Sanhedrim in a capital case without permission from the Roman governor or Procurator. In John xviii. 31, the Jewish elders and high-priests say to Pilate, that they have no legal right to put any one to death. Still, in order to accomplish their designs against Jesus, it was important that the Sanhedrim should go through the customary forms of judicial investigation, and secure his condemnation before the highest Jewish tribunal, with such a weight of authority on their side that they might be able to extort from the Roman ruler the assent, without which their own judicial decisions could not be carried into effect. The examination at the house of the high-priest was only for the purpose of seeing what charges and witnesses could be used against him most effectively at his trial. WVhen, therefore, the morning (7rpolav - -Mark xiii. 35the watch of three hours which ended at six o'clock in the morning) had come, and the elders of the people, the highpriests, and scribes were gathered together, so as to form a 480 MATTHEW XXVII. 3- 10. legal Sanhedrim at their room in the vicinity of the temple, Jesus was taken up (Luke xxii. 66) from the house of Caiaphas to the council-chamber. It is not improbable that they had been' in session for a considerable time, and had already determined on the course which they were to pursue, when Jesus was brought before them. Luke (xxii. 66-71) is the only one of the Evangelists who gives any account of the proceedings here, which were little more than a repetition of what had already taken place, and resulted in a more formal act of condemnation. Being thus by the highest judicial tribunal of his own nation condemned to death, Jesus was bound and taken before Pilate. 3-10. - REPENTANCE AND DEATH OF JUDAS. This account is found only in Matthew. When Judas saw Jesus condemned to death, and delivered over to the Roman power, he was smitten with sudden remorse, and brought back to the Jewish rulers the thirty pieces of money, with an acknowledgment of his guilt in his fatal treachery against innocent blood. But driven to desperation by their cold and contemptuous reply, he threw down the money in the midst of the temple, and went off and hanged himself, or was choked to death (strangled) by the intensity of his anguish. MIany attempts have been made to reconcile this account of the death of Judas with that which is given in Acts i. 18. BMatthew says, he "strangled himself," the natural meaning of which is, that he "hanged himself," though the words may possibly be construed as implying that he died of suffocation from the intensity of his emotions. In the Acts (i. 18) it is said, "falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." In the notes may be found some of the explanations by which commentators have tried to harmonize these two passages. No one of them seems to us perfectly satisfactory. We know too little of the circumstances and of the language used, to MIATTI-IEW XXVII. 11-31. 481 assert with confidence that the two accounts directly contradict one another, or that any explanation given is certainly the true one. The consultation among the priests, and the purchase of the potter's field, probably took place at a later period, and not on the day of the crucifixion. 11-31. JEsus BEFORE PILATE. It is necessary to compare the Evangelists carefully with one another to get a clear and full account of these transactions. Matthew alone, 19, speaks of the message sent to Pilate by his wife, and of his washing his hands, 24, in token of his innocency. Luke alone (xxiii. 7-12) mentions the fact that Jesus was sent away to Herod. John (xix. 1 - 13) enters more fully into the state of Pilate's mind, his conversations with Jesus, and his repeated efforts to induce the Jews to set him free. While it was yet early in the morning (John xviii. 28) Jesus was taken to the Pretorium, or hall of judgment, in the tower of Antonia, a little north of the temple, where he stood before the governor. This Pra3torium is the same as the hall (Mark xv. 16) or open court in the centre of the building, while in front of the palace was apparently a wide open space with a tessellated pavement, where Pilate on that day placed his judgment-seat (John xix. 13). The Jews on account of their religious scruples could not enter the court, lest it should make them unclean, and unfit for the feast. Pilate, therefore, several times during the trial passed back and forth between the Jews in front of the palace and Jesus, who, with the Roman soldiers, was in the Prmetorium. Two or three times Jesus was taken out into the presence of the Jews. Bearing these things in mind, we may get a clear view of the transactions of the morning. Jesus is brought into the Prmetorium (John xviii. 28- 32). Pilate comes out and asks the chief priests and rulers what their accusation against him is? They reply, "Cf he were 41 EE 482 MATTHEW XXVII. 11-31. not a malefactor, we should not have delivered him up unto thee." This vague form of accusation did not suit the Roman governor's ideas of a judicial trial, and he told them that they had better take him and condemn him according to their law. They said, in reply, what he undoubtedly knew perfectly all the time, that they had no legal authority to put any man to death. Then they began (Luke xxiii. 2) to accuse him of perverting the nation, of forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and of making himself to be Christ a king, or an anointed king. Then Pilate went back into the Prsetorium, and had with Jesus the conversation which is most fully recorded in John xviii. 33 - 38, - a conversation which evidently produced a very strong impression upon his mind. He then went out to the Jews, probably taking Jesus with him, to declare that he found no fault in him. And when they, growing more urgent, spoke of Jesus as beginning his work of insurrection in Galilee (Luke xxiii. 5 - 12), Pilate sent him to Herod, who probably occupied the magnificent palace built by Herod the Great, in the western part of the city, near the Tower of Hippicus. More than an hour probably intervened before Jesus was brought back to the Praetorium. Pilate then called the Jewish rulers together again, and after asserting that neither he nor TIerod found any fault in Jesus, he proposed to set him free, since it had been his custom always to set some prisoner free at this festival. Just at this time, while he was sitting on the judgment-seat outside the palace, he received a message from his wife, warning him to have nothing to do "with that righteous man;" "for," she said,'"I have suffered many things this day in a dream, because of him." Her language shows that she must have known the reputation which Jesus had for purity and sanctity. Her message must have added to the perplexity and awe of Pilate. For dreams were regarded by many of the Greeks and Romans as sent from the gods. The classical reader will call to mind the expression of Homer, "for dreams are from Jupiter," and the IMATTHIEW XXVII. 32 - 61. 483 warning dream by which Cesar's wife endeavored to keep him at home on the day when he was assassinated in the Capitol. Pilate redoubled his efforts to release Jesus. But the multitude had been already persuaded by the chief priests and elders, and only became the more clamorous for the blood of their victim. He then, to express in the strongest and most solemn terms his sense of the prisoner's innocence, took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, " I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; see ye to. it." And all the people answered, "His blood be on us, and on our children;" —an imprecation fearfully and terribly fulfilled in the manifold sufferings and slaughters which attended the destruction of Jerusalem before that generation had passed away. Pilate now gave him up to his soldiers to scourge and mock him; but even then (John xix. 4- 12) he tried again and again to awaken their compassion. The majestic and mysterious bearing of his prisoner, the message from his wife, and the character of the charges against the prisoner created in him a sentiment of awe, and perhaps of superstitious fear. Whether any, however distant, perception of the truth touched him, is not shown by either of the narratives. We have no right to judge him by the Christian standard, and condemn him because he did not receive Christ as the Son of God. But we have a right to judge him by his own law, and to condemn him, because, in spite of the warnings and misgivings which he had, he weakly and wickedly, against his own convictions, consented to condemn the prisoner, in violation of the law by which he was to be judged. 32 - 61. - THE CRUCIFIXION. We come now to the most solemn, the most affecting, the most significant and majestic event in the history of our race. Here is the deepest and most touching expression of God's love, stooping with infinite compassion to save man 484 MATTHEW XXVII. 32-61. from sin and the misery consequent upon it. We shrink from interrupting the account by any critical remarks, and give the narrative as we find it in the four Evangelists, reserving our comments for the notes at the end of the chapter. Jesus, being worn down by the sorrows and watchings of the night, and the indignities and sufferings to which he was subjected after his apprehension, especially the scourging which had just been administered, the cross was bound upon his shoulders, and a little before the third hour, or nine o'clock in the morning, he went bearing his own cross with pain, as the expression (John xix. 17) seems to intimate, towards a place called Golgotha. A man named Simon, a Cyrenian, who had come in from the country, having shown probably some marks of pity for the sufferer, was compelled to lift up the end of the cross, and, perhaps without materially lightening the Saviour's burden, was made to share the insults and mockery that were heaped upon him. This Cyrenian, however, was not the only one who sympathized with him in his sorrows. In the midst of that scoffing multitude who were howling after him, and making him the butt of their impious jests, was a great number of people, especially of women, who were lamenting and bewailing him. Jesus turned towards them, and, thinking of the terrible calamities which were to fall on them and their children (Luke xxiii. 28), he said, c" Daughters of Jerusalem! weep not for me; but weep for yourselves and for your children." In a short time their mournful journey was finished, and they reached the spot whose name must always be sacred in the thoughts and affections of the Christian world. There they crucified him, having previously stripped him of his garments and offered him a stupefying potion, which, when he had tasted it, he refused to drink. Either at the moment when they were driving the nails through his hands and his feet, or at the moment of excruciating anguish when the cross, with his body nailed to it, reaching an upright position, sunk down with a shock into the hole prepared for it in the iMATTIIEW XXVII. 82 - 61. 485 earth, the sharp and sudden agony wrenched from him, as in a shriek, the cry, his first utterance on the cross, " Father! forgive them; for they know not what they are doing." [Now the cruel and blasphemous acts of mockery and scorn were renewed, Jewish priests and Roman soldiers, rulers and people alike, wagging their heads as they passed by, and scoffing at him and his sufferings. Even one of the two malefactors who were crucified with him, one on either side, joined in the revilings, and said scoffing (Luke xxiii. 39), " If thou art the Christ, save thyself and us." But the other, subdued by what he had seen of divine benignity in Jesus, after rebuking his companion, said to Jesus,'" Remember me, when thou comest'in thy kingdom." Jesus, moved with compassion towards him, said, and this was his second utterance on the cross, "Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." The long hours of torture passed. Near the cross where he hung helpless and submissive in his agony stood (John xix. 25) a:ary, the mother of Jesus, and her sister, and 3Iary the wife of Clopas, and Miary Magdalene. When Jesus, therefore, saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by her, he said to his mother (this was his third utterance on the cross), " Woman, behold thy son," and to the disciple, "Behold thy mother."'Everything which she had experienced in the happiest part of her life had now become darkened to her; doubts agitated her," and unable to bear longer a sight so full of anguish, which, turning her hopes into despair, pierced as a sword through her soul, she allowed herself to be taken away, " and from that hour the disciple took her to his own home." It was noonday, when darkness overspread all the land, and continued for three hours. The sufferings on the cross now reached their sharpest and most dreadful extremity. There is no record of any word that was spoken, or of any act or sound to break the terrible stillness of the scene. For three hours forward from that awful moment when at 41 * 486 MATTHEW XXVII. 32- 61. noonday the unearthly darkness began, so far as we can learn, " not a word of derision is heard all around the cross. All is hushed into absolute silence." The angry passions of men subside. They gaze through the darkness in fear and wonder. "Jesus is silent: the sufferings he endured at the hands of men now give place to more painful inward sufferings. The darkening of the heavens accompanies and expresses the dreadful darkness that prevails in the soul itself of the suffering Saviour," when those around are suddenly startled by the agonizing cry, "M y God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? " But why this cry as of utter desolation and despair? How could God leave his beloved Son so unsustained in the moment of his keenest anguish? It is not for us to comprehend all the wonders and mysteries of the Divine mercy in the great work of our redemption. The sufferings of the righteous at all times, but most of all the sufferings of the Son of God, in their relation to the sins of the world, are, so far as we are concerned, among the secret things of the Most High. They have indeed a most affecting significance. They show the personal sympathy of Jesus with the keenest pangs of conflict, or of pain and despair, that can ever rend our hearts, and indicate to us how we, through the victory which he has gained, may triumph over them. But we cannot tell how far his sufferings were essential to our salvation in their influence on the counsels of God. The mighty train of causes and effects in God's spiritual kingdom, reaching up through the highest heavens and down through all the depths of sin and its attendant sorrows, must be involved in mystery to us. We cannot comprehend in all the fulness of their meaning these highest moments in God's dealings with man, when in the hidings of his power lie is bringing to a crisis those vast designs, which, in working out the redemption of our race, reach, we know not how far, into the infinite realms of being. Such a moment it was that heard from the cross the cry of anguish and desolation which has pierced the heart of the world, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? " MATTHEW XXVII. 32 - 61. 487 These words of Jesus, his fourth utterance upon the cross, were misunderstood by those around him. But there were no marks of levity or contempt. It would seem as if even those who came to scoff at his sufferings had been subdued, or at least silenced, by the solemnity of the scene. Immediately afterwards Jesus, moved by what is said to be the severest physical suffering of those who die by that painful death, said, "II thirst." A sponge filled with vinegar was raised to his mouth, and when he had received it, he said, "It is finished." The great work which he came into the world to accomplish was now done. He had drained to its dregs the cup which his Father had given him to drink. The agony was over. And with his seventh and last utterance, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit," he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. "And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection." And " when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake and those things that were done, they feared greatly, and said,'Truly this was a son of God'" (literally,' a God's son'). " Certainly, this was a righteous man." And all the multitudes who had come out with angry and revengeful feelings, demanding his life, and making a mock of his sufferings, when they saw the things which had come to pass (Luke xxiii. 48), smote. their breasts and turned sorrowfully away from what. their own malice or excited passions had helped to accomplish. Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, went hastily to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. He then, with the assistance of ZNicodemus, who brought about a hundred pounds of a mixture of myrrh and aloes (John xix. 39), prepared the body for burial, and interred it in his own new sepulchre, which he had hewn out in a garden adjoining the spot where Jesus had been crucified. And the women who had come from 488 MATTHEW XXVII. 62- 66. Galilee, Mary Mlagdalene and the other Mary, were there, over against the sepulchre, seeing the tomb and how the body was laid. "And now in the tomb lay the holiest being the earth had ever seen - dead, - a terrible symbol of the universal death of man, — an image of utter, remediless despair, - a scene to darken the earth. Then the powers of darkness seemed to have triumphed. Selfish ambition, cruelty, rage, hate, still remained on the earth; but the Holy One was gone from it. Then might the powers of darkness have looked out from the clouds, and proclaimed,'It is the hour of our triumph; henceforth the earth is ours."' E. Peabody. 62- 66. -PRECAUTIONS AGAINST HIS RESURRECTION. There is a little difficulty in this passage. If the Apostles so utterly failed to understand the words of Jesus that they had no expectation of his resurrection, how could his enemies have had any such idea in their minds? The words announcing his resurrection after three days, had been spoken by him, and repeated by his disciples. The greatness of the fact foretold prevented their understanding the plain and literal meaning of the words they had heard and reported. But when the priests and rulers saw that the body of Jesus was in the hands of his friends, they recalled to mind these words, and seeing what their obvious and literal meaning was, they, with the keenness of religious bigots, suspected some trick on the part of the disciples, and therefore applied to the governor to allow them to take the precautions which would render any such imposition as they feared impracticable. The stone, therefore, was sealed, and a guard was set. But the very precautions which they had taken turned against them. The very measures which they had adopted to expose the cheat which they suspected, served only to confirm the truth, against which they had set themselves. MATTHEW XxVII. 489 NOTES. WVIIEN the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus, to put him to death. 2 And when they had bound him, they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty 4 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And theyr 5 said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and 6 hanged himself. - And the chief priests took the silver 2. and delivered him to came the avenger, as it seemed, of Pontias Pilate the governa the divine justice which at no disor] Very little is known of Pilate taut interval followed after him." beyond what we find in the Gos- 4. have betrayed the ina pels. He was not properly gov- inocent blood] This means, not ernor of Judna, but only the Pro- merely that he had betrayed an incurator or deputy-governor, ald nocent man, but that lie had betrayed was subject to the Proconsul of him to death. What is that to Syria, who resided at Cusarea. In us? see thou to that.] Nothing the thirteenth year of Tiberius, could be more cool and contemptuA. D. 26, he came to Judcea as the ous. They had used the traitor, and successor of Valerius Gratus. Jo- now had nothing more to do with him. sephus, Ant. XVIII. 2. 2. He is bare- His guilt and anguish were his conly mentioned by Tacitus as Procu- cern, not theirs. The fewness of the rator when Christ was punished. words that they were willing to (Ann. XV. 44.) Josephus speaks of spend upon him added to the fatal him, Ant. XVIII. 3. 1, in a way that poignancy of their sting. 5. shows the weakness of his charac- And he cast doan the pieces ter, anid afterwards, in that and the following chapters, he speaks of ofsilver in the temple] fv r5 him as engaged in transactions vau). This word does not apply to which indicate the timidity and the temple enclosures, but to the rashness, the sensibility and clu- holy temple itself, into which none elty, which are not unfrequently but the priests were permitted to combined in the same person. enter. It is then an indication of After having been in Judma ten the utter confusion and desperation vears he was sent to Rome by into which the mind of Judas was Vitellius, governor of Syria, to an- thrown, that he should rush in there swer for his conduct to the Emperor to throw down from his guilty hands Tiberius, but that crafty and malig- the price of blood. and nant tyrant was dead before he went and hanged himself ] reached Rome. According to Euse- Alford, in his commentary on Acts bius (Hist. Eccl. II. 7), the tradition i. 18, says: "It is obvious that, was that in the reign of Caligula while the general term used by Pilate fell into such misfortunes Matthew points mainly at selfthat he " from necessity destroyed murder, the account given here [in himself, and with his own hand be- Acts] does not preclude the catas 490 MATTHEW XXVII. pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took 7 counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury trophe related having happened, in have struck, in his fall, upon some some way, as a Divine Judgment, pointed rock, which entered the during the, seicidal attempt. Further body, and caused his bowels to than this, with our present knowT- gush out." Lightfoot's summary edge, we cannot go. An accurate method of dealing with the matter acquaintance with the actual circumn- may interest rather than instruct stances would account for the dis- the reader. "Interpreters," says crepamlcy, but nothing else." Ols- le, " take a great deal of pains to hausen, after speaking with sever- make these words agree with his ity of the forced interpretations byut, indeed, all hanging himself; but, indeed, all which the two passages have been will not do. I know the word reconciled, adds: "Yet we must o is com confess that the accounts may be so ry i commonly applied to connected ass to penrmit the coljec- aa man's hanging himself, but not to exclcntde some other way of stranture that Judas hanged himself, and, exclude soe other way of stra falling down, was so injured that his gling. And I cannot but tae the bowels gushed out." Prof. Hackett, story (with good leave of antiquity) in this sense: After Judas had whose learning and candor cannot in this sense: After Judas had whose leariiing and candor cannot thrown down the money, the price easily be called in question, adopts of hs treason the money, the price this conjecture as not unreasonable. of his treason, he temple, ad In his "Illustrations of Scripture," was now returning again to his pp. 266, 267, he says: " We have no mates, the devil, who dwelt in certain knowledge as to the mode in him, caught him up on high, stranwhich we are to combine the two gled him, and threw him down statements, so as to connect the act headlong, so that, dashing upon the of suicide with what happened to ground, ie burst in the midst..... to This agrees very well with the the body. Interpreters have suggestebd that JucIas may hayve llsg~ deserts of the wicked wretch, and wgested that Judas may have hung ith the title of Iscariot [i. e. one himself on a tree near a precipice who perished by strangling]. The over the valley of Hinnom, and that wicperishe hy strad comming. The the limb or rope breaking, he fell all examle; and the punishto the bottom, and was dashed to ment he sufferaen as beyon ill pieces by the fall. For myself, I pmecedent." 6. iw to thell felt, as I stood in the valley, and looked up to the rocky terraces treasury] a, Kopl3avas; is the sacred which hang over it, that the pro- treasure of the temple, which was posed explanation was a perfectly kept in seven chests, called trumnatural one..... I measured the pets. Comp. Mark vii. 11." Olsprecipitous, almost perpendicular hausen. 7. to bury walls, in different places, and found strangers iin] Not foreigners, but the height to be, variously, forty, Jews who were strangers there. thirty-six, thirty-three, thirty, and the potter9s field] " The twenty-five feet. Olive-trees still Aceldama, or field of blood, which grow quite near the edge of these was purchased with his money, rocks, and, no doubt, in former tradition has placed on the Hill of times they were still more numer- Evil Council. It mav have been in ous in the same place. A rocky that quarter, at least, for the field pavement exists also at the bottom belonged originally to a potter, and of the precipices; and hence, on argillaceous clay is still found in that account, too, a person whho the neighborhood. A workman in should fall from above would be lia- a pottery which I visited at Jerusable to be crushed andi mangled, as lem said tfht all their clav was well as killed. The traitor may obtilled fiomn tile lill over the val MATTHEW XXVII. 491 8 strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of 9 blood, unto this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, 1" And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom o10 they of the children of Israel did value, and gave them Ior the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me." 11 And Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus 12 said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of 13 the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then saith Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they wit14 ness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; 15 insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. Now at that feast, the governor was wont to release unto the people a pris16 oner, whom they would. And they had then a notable pris16 oner, called Barabbas. Therefore, when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release is unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus, which is called Christ? For 19 he knew that for envy they had delivered him.- -When he ley of Hinnom." Hackett's Il1. of falsely; or perhaps that there was no Scrip., p. 267. 8. The name at all there at first, and that field of blood9 unto this day] some transcriber supplied its want This indicates that the Gospel wvas erroneously." The passage in Zechwritten a considerable time after- ariah, very different fiom that which wards. Matthew says it was called is here quoted, is thus rendered by " the field of blood " because it had Dr. Noyes: "' And they weighedfor been bought with the price of blood; my wages thirty shekels of silver. while in Acts it is said to have been And Jehovah said to me, Cast it into so called on account of the wretch- the treasury, the goodly price at ed death of Judas, - not a contra- which I was valued by them. And dictory, "but a concurrent reason, I took the thirty shekels of silver, showing that the ill-omened name and cast them into the house of could be used with a double em- Jehovah, into the treasury." It is phasis." 9. Then wias impossible for us to see in this acfulfilled that which was spo- count anything more than an inciken by Jeremy the prophet] dental similarity to some of the No such passage as the one here facts connected with the treachery quoted is to be found in Jeremiah. of Judas. It can in no sense be reA passage, not identical, but bear- garded as a prophecy of the events ing a strong resemblance to it, is described by Matthew. 16, found in Zechariah xi. 13, 14. 17. According to Tischendorf, these fowv is this to be accounted for? verses should read tllus: "And they " The simplest solution of the had then a notable prisoner, called difficulty," says Olshausen, "is to Jesus Barabbas. Therefore, when suppose that the Evangelist mistook they were gathered together, Pilate the name of the prophet, or that said unto them, " Which shall I rethe earliest transcribers might have lease unto you, Jesus Barabbas, or read gome contraction for the name Jesus who is called Christ?" The 492 MATTHEW XXVII. was set down on the judgment-seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man; for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. - But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude 20 that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. The 21 governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus, 22 which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why? what evil hath he 23 done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. W~hen Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but 24 that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person; see ye to it. Then answered all the peo- 25 ple, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. Then 26 released he Barabbas unto them; and when he had scourged best critics, however, do not approve in this light, for it was inflicted beof this as the true reading. 19. fore the sentence was pronounced, when he was set down on the and was done by Pilate with the judgment-seat] This judgment- hl'ep, of thus satisfying the venseat (John xix. 13) was outside of geance of the Jews without the erathe palace or fortress, on the pave- cifixion which they had demanded. ment. The tower or fortress of An- The criminal was next stripped of tonia, where Pilate sat in judgment, his clothes, and nailed or bound to was situated on the north side of the cross. The latter was the more the grounds occupied by the temple, painful method, as the sufferer was and took up a space nearly or quite left to die of hunger. The body as large as that which was set apart, was not supported by the nails, but within the sacred enclosures, for by a piece of wood which passed the temple. The Antonia enclosure between the legs. Instances are measured, south, 975 feet; east, 710; recorded of persons who survived north, 1030; west, 730. Barclay, nine days. Smith's Greek and Rop. 245. 23. Let him be man Ant. 24. he took crucified] This punishment was water, and washed his hands] chiefly inflicted on slaves and the " The washing of hands, to betoken worst kind of malefactors. (Juv. VI. innocence from blood-guiltiness, is 219; Hor. Sat. I. 3. 82.) The crim- prescribed Dent. xxi. 6- 9, and inal, after sentence pronounced, car- Pilate uses it here as intelligible to ried his cross to the place of execu- the Jews." Alford. Pilate, having tion; a custom mentioned by Plu- now resided in Judma seven years, tarch (De Tard. Dei Vind.) and must have become well acquainted Artemidorus (Oneir. II. 61) as well with Jewish customs. 26. as in the Gospels. From Livy Then released he Barabbas] (XXXIII. 36) and Valerius Maximus " One who was moreover guilty of (I. 7) scourging appears to have that very crime (treason) of which formed a part of this as of other Jesus was accused; nay, even guilty capital punishments among the Ro- of a worse crime. However, it was mans. The scourging of our Sayv- by the death of Him who was the iour, however, is not to be regarded Just One, that those very persons MATTHEW XXVII. 493 27 Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered 2s unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, 29 and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked 30 him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon 31 him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him; and led him away to crucify him. 32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon who had deserved death are set with many small and sharp spines; free." Bengel. anad whesn soft, round, and pliant branches; he had scourged Jesus, he de; leaves much resemlbling ivy, of a livered him to lbe crucified] very deep green, as if in designed This passage may be taken as a mockery of a victor's wreath." specimen of the manner in which and m ocked him] This events, which were in fact sepa- mockery and personal abuse were rated by intervening incidents, are three times inflicted: 1. at the exbrought together in a condensed amination before the Sanhedrim narrative, as if one had growli im- (xxvi. 67); 2. when he was sent to mediately out of the other. Be- Herod(Lukexxiii. 11); and, 3. here tween the scourging of Jesus and'by the Roman soldiers. his being given up to be crucified, 32. " Jesus is led towards Golgotha. according to John xix. 4 - 16, Pilate St. 4-6 Plate St. Matthew gives the outline only: hlid a private interview with Jesus, Tlteyjbulzd a( man of CyUrene, Siison and more than once tried to per- by mmnze: Mins they compelled to bear suade the Jews to release him. his cross. St. Mark (xv. 21) adds 27. the whole band] to this a word which seems to put orwrepav, a cohort, the tenth part of the living scene before your eyes: a a legion, about 600. The word man swho was p]assing by (that very w/hole is not to be pressed. Alford. place); and then a particular cir28. a scarlet robe] Mark curmstance which St. Luke (xxiii. (xv. 17) and John (xix. 2) say pur- 26) adopts from him: conzinq oust of pie. The two words were probably the cosmntry; finally, another also, used indiscriminately to express the which is mentioned by none but St. color adapted to royalty. In Rev. Mark, and bears upon the person of xvii. 4, the two words are used to- this Cyrenian: he ewas the father of gether. " And the woman was ar- Alexander and Rszfsms, men in Mark's rayed in purple and scarlet color." time well known in the Church, and.29. a crown of thorns] particularly in that of Rome. We " The acanthus itself," says Alford, are not, however, so to understand " with its large succulent leaves, is the matter, as if the cross were singularly unfit for such a purpose; taken off' our Lord's shoulders and as is the plant with very long sharp transferred to those of this Simon; thorns, commonly known as Spina much less, as we see it sometimes Christi, being a brittle acacia. Some represented in Bible prints and pic-.fexile shrub or plant must be under- tures, as if the men who were stood. Hasselquist, a Swedish nat- leading away Jesus, on seeing him iralist, supposes a very common sink under the weight, had thereplant, naba or nubka of the Arabs, fore thought of laying it on Simon 42 494 1MATTHIEW XXVII. by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. And when 33 they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a as he was passing lby. The im- been seriously questioned whether probability of this will be per- this was really the place where ceivecl at once, by attending to the Jesus was crucified. Dr. Robinson circumstance, that among the Ro- has shown, we think, quite conclumans the cross was ordinarily fas- sively that the site of the Church of tened to the shoulders of the con- the Holy Sepulchre lies within the demned person, and could not, ac- space which was enclosed by the cordingly, have been first unloosed walls of Jerusalem at the time of by the soldiers, as this supposition the Crucifixion, and it is admitted requires. No! the Saviour's cross on all hands that no public execuwas taken off his shoulders by no tion would at that time have been one. But the soldiers must in irony allowed within the city walls. Dr. have compelled Simon, who in pass- Robinson has also shown that there ing had expressed his compassion is no historical testimony on the for the adorable sufferer, to lift the subject which is to be relied upon cross, and (as St. Luke expresses it) now, and that there was none when to bec(r it oifter hiss. Thus Simon the church was erected, three hunpresents us here with an image of dred years after the crucifixion. the true disciple of our Lorcl, sha- Stanley, in his able and scholarly inu in his cross and in his igno- work on Palestine, admits the force miny. In perfect accordance with of the objection to the historical this we find the expressive state- testimony, but does not think Dr. ment of St. John xix. 1v7: Jesus, Robinson's view of the topographibearing Swith paiin (i3ax cio v) his cal question wholly free from diffibearing with pain~ (Oao'r7raiCav) his cltits. Binrclay, in his City of the cross, went forth, &c." Da Costa's his City of the Great King, adopts Dr. Robinson's Four Witnesses,pp. 414,415. It may Great ingadopts D. Robinso's view, and supports it with great have been, nevertheless, that Jesus, earnestness, though with no addibearing his cross with pain, sunk tionalane uments which ar enttled beneath it by the way, and that it tonal algments which are entitled was then taken from him and put on to. e even goes so Simon, though we prefer Da Costa's far as to suggest as the scene of the view. 33. An d when crucifixion a spot lying nearly in the opposite direction from the,judgcalled Golgotha, thlast is to ement-hall. After speaking of the called Golgotha, that is to Crani, as beiog applicable say, a place of a skul] Cra- nameapplicable rnot onlyvto the head of an anim-al, ninm. Luke, xxiii. 33, says: "And not onl to te head of a animal when they were come to e plce but eqlually so to a head or cape of when they were come to the place land, in which we find him suswmxhich is called 6nisrsa,"> not Cal- hlanu, in which we find him suswhich is called Cranium," not Cal- tained by the authority of Tischenr ained by the authority of Tischenvary. Kpavlov is the Greek word, dorf, he adds, p. 79: "Now there is meaning a skull, and Calvary is a kind of head, cape, or promontory formed from the corresponding Latin of land projectiing southeastwardly word, Calvaria. The term was prob- into the Kedron valley, a short disably given in consequence of some tance above Gethsemane, to which natural feature of the place resem- such a term seems quite applicable, bling a skull, rather than because just as the low spur of Lebanon on the place was used for burial. The which Beirtlt reposes is called Cape situation of the place is unknown. or Head of Beirftt. May not this The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, similar spur of an unnamed ridge be which is five or six hundred yards, the site of that awful scene,- the in a direction nearly west, from the crucifixion of the Son of God?" northern extremity of Mt. Moriah, This may have been the spot, but was built by order of the Emperor the arguments adduced by Barclay Constantine, and dedicated A. D. are not sufficient to prove it. Nor 335, to commemorate the spot. It has do we attach any great importance MATTHEW XXVII. 495 34 place of a skull, they gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall; and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. 35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, " They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture 36 did they cast lots." And sitting down, they watched him there; 37 and set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS to the question. The grave of Moses scene of the greatest events of was unknown, in order that the peo- the world's history." Wherever pie might never have an opportuni- the place was situated, the name of ty to indulge their idolatrous pro- Calvary can never lose its powpensity by any superstitious observ- er with the followers of Christ. ances connected with it. In the Among the traditions respecting writers of the New Testament we Golgotha is one that Adam, or at find nowhere the slightest mark of least Adam's skull, was buried veneration for the places connected there, and the precise spot is still with our Saviour's life. They had pointed out and believed in as the imbibed too much of the spirit of "entombment of Adam's head "! him to whom Jerusalem and Geri- l34. they gave him zim were alike unimportant as vinegar to drink mingled places of worship, to dwell with with gall] Just before crucifixreverence on things so purely exter- ion the Romans were accustomed nal. It was not till the spiritual life to give to the convicts a stupefying which he came to awaken and im- drink, wine mingled with myrrh, in part had begun to mingle with baser order to deaden their sensibility to elements, and the worship of the the awful agonies of this dreadful Father " in spirit and in truth" had punishment. Mark (xv. 23) says been alloyed by something very like wine mingled with nsyrrh; Matthew, idolatrous ingredients, that the pas- vineyaer mingled iwith gall. But vinesion for relics and sacred places gar was nothing else than the comwas excited in the Church, and mon sour wine, and the word gall pilgrimages began to be performed, was used to denote bitters of any and idolatrous substitutes for a kind. "They gave me also gall devout and holy life began to exer- for my meat; and in my thirst they cise their degrading and demoraliz- gave me vinegar to drink." (Ps. ing influence on the souls of men. lxix. 21.) It was undoubtedly inStill there is a reasonable curiosity tended by the Romans as an act of in such matters; and there are as- mercy, yet it was here administered sociations which ought not to be in an insulting way. "And the disregarded. No true follower of soldiers also mocked him, coming Christ could visit the scenes of his to him, and offering him vinegar." earthly ministry, - Nazareth, the (Luke xxiii. 36.) When Jesus had Lake of Tiberias, the hills of Gali- tasted it, he refused to drink, for lee, the banks of the Jordan, or the "he did not wish to meet death Mount of Olives,- without strong otherwise than in the full possesemotion. We even agree with Stan- sion of his consciousness." ley, when he says, " Glrantin to the 35. that it might be ful. full the doubts which must always filled] These words, and what folhang. over the highest claims of low in this verse, are not found in the Church of the Sepulchre, no the best manuscripts. They were thoughtful man can look unmoved probably copied in here by tranon what has from the time of Con- scribers from John xix. 24. stantine been revered by the larger 37. And set up ever hias head part of the Christian world as the his accusation written, This 496 MATTHEW XXVII. JESUS, THE KING OF TIHE JEWS. Then were there 38 two thieves crucified with him; one on the right hand, and another on the left. ~ And they that passed by reviled him, 39 wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the 40 temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself; if thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the 41 chief priests, mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others, himself he cannot save; if he be the King 42 of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, 43 is Jesus the lKing of the that here in the original Hebrew or Jews] Li. Mark it is, TI-IE KING Araimaic was a taunting play upon OF THE JEWS; in Luke, TE KING the Saviour's name. OF THE JEWS THIS; in John, JEsuS 39. And they that passed by OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE reviled him, waggiag their JEWS. " On the difference in the heads] 41. " Likewise also the chief four Gospels as to the words of priests, mocking him, weith the scribes the inscription itself it is hardly and elders, said," 43, " lie trusted worth while to comment, except to in God; let him deliver hin now if remark that the advocates for the hEe will have him; for he said, I a055 verbal and literal exactness of each the Son of God." The correspondGospel may here find an undoubted ence between this and the seventh example of the absurdity of their and eighth verses of the twentyview, which may serve to guide second Psalm is very remarkable. them in less plain and obvious " Allthat see me laugh me to scorn: cases. A title was written, con- they shoot out the lip, they shake taining certain words; not four the head, saying, He trusted on the titles, all different, but one, differ- Lord that he would deliver him: let ing probably from all of these four, him deliver him, seeing he delighted but certainly from three of them." in him." In this Psalm are the Alford. Da Costa, who holds to other expressions: "l My God, my a literal or verbal exactness, ex- God, why hast thou forsalken me? " plains the differences thus. Ac- " They pierced my hands and amy cording to John xix. 20, the super- feet." " They part my garments scription was written in Hebrew, among them, and cast lots upon my Greek, and Latin. It may therefore vesture." Are these accidental cohave been written with variations, incidences, or were they thrown in and each of the Evangelists may through the superintending and prohave given it according to the lan- phletic spirit of God, that they mi glht guage and the form best suited to his associate themselves with the scelne own plan or style. In St. Luke, he upon the cross as a prediction of says, it is probably the Latin super- that event in some of its minute parscription; in St. Marlk, the Hebrew, ticulars? Undoubtedly the Psalm, while St. John gives it to us in the as Dr. Noves says, is one in which fullest form, which is the Greek, a pious Israelite makes his suppliand " St. Matthew gives us a kind of cation to God in the midst of great co7ezbination." What is this " kind distress, and enumerates the cirof combination," but a giving up of cumstances which aggravate his the literal and verbal exactness? distress, and the faith by which he 40. save thyself. 42. He may triumph over it. But may it saved others - himself he can= not also be in some of its parts a not save] The word Jessus means type of the sufferings of Christ? Saviour; and it has been supposed. To this question we would apply MATTHEW XXVII. 497 44 if he will have him; for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also which were crucified with him cast the same in his 45 teeth.- Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over 46 all the land, unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour the remarks of Dr. Noyes. "As to have so often yielded, and men the typical or mystical sense which taken note of, that the great of has been assigned to this and other this world do not come or go withpsalms, it seems to be beyond the out warning....... At no time province of the interpreter. There does nature put on a careless, unare no human means by which to meaning face, when aught that ascertain it. None but the Divine intimately concerns her foster-child Spirit can be sure what it is. As man is being done, nor make as has been well observed by Ernesti, though this was nothing unto her. in his Principles of Biblical Inter- On the contrary, her history runs pretation,-' Nor, in searching for parallel, and is subordinate, to his, this typical sense, is there need of — the great moments in the life of the care and talents of an inter- nature concurring with the great preter. For it is revealed by the moments in the life of man, and information and testimony of the therefore most of all with the great Holy Spirit, beyond whose showing crises of the kingdom of God, which we should not in this matter at- concerns him the nearest of all. tempt to advance.'" 44. Thus, during all those hours that The thieves also which were the Son of God hung upon the crucified with him cast the cross, there was darkness over the same into his teeth] It may be whole earth [land?]; nature shudthat both at first reviled Jesus, and dered to her very centre, at the that afterwards one of them, im- moment when he expired; for it pressed and subdued by his bearing was her king, as well as man's, on the cross, may have spoken as that died." Trench, Star of the in Luke xxiii. 40-43. It is diffi- Wise Men, p. 23. " The sublimity cult, however, to suppose that the of this moment seems to have been writer here was acquainted with symbolically solemnized even by the facts narrated there. 45. nature herself." " How deep lies Now from the sixth hour its foundation in human nature to there was darkness over all1 regard natural events symbolically the lan d, unto the niarth hour] as manifesting a symnpitily between From 12 M. to 3 P. M. This could the life of nature and the incidents not have been an eclipse of the sun, of humanity, is shown by parallel for it was then the time of the full passages from the profane writers." moon; nor does the language imply "In tile history of Immanuel apthat the darkness extended to any pear in their complete and actual great distance beyond the vicinity truth what were but erroneous, and of Jerusalem. We know not how diversely distracted, suppositions of close and strong may be the sym- mankind." Olshausen. "The wise pathy between the spiritual and the men from the East were led to the physical universe, nor how far the Redeemer by the remarkable plhephenomena of the outward world nomena which attended his birth may be affected by the life and and similar wonders accompanied conduct of men. The greatest po- his death. As the unity of the ets have recognized intimate rela- world as a whole [the world of tions between the two; nor call we nature and of spirit] is seen in " set to the account of accident or natural signs accompanying epochimaogination all those remarkable making events in history, so we coincidences between heaven and need not marvel to find the greatest earth, all those testimonies which event in history - shown ais such the signs and tokens of heaven by its fruits in the spiritual renova42 * F: 498 MATTHEW XXVII. Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou fortion of mankind, even to those who uttered by Christ as when uttered cannot comprehend its internal im- by the Psalmist. They should not port - attended by similar mani- be interpreted as the deliberate refestations. At the moment of suit of calm reflection, but as an Christ's death there was an earth- outburst of strong involuntary emoquake; and at the same time, and tion, forced from our Saviour by perhaps from the same cause, a anguish of body and mind, in the darkness spread over the sky. The words which naturally occurred to veil of the Holy of Holies in the him, implying 7momenstary expostuTemple was rent asunder, signify- lation, or even complaint. But that ing that the Holy of Holies in the interruption of the consciousness Heaven is opened to all men of God's presence and love was only through the finished worli of momentary, both in the case of the Christ; the wall of partition be- Psalmist and the Saviour, is evitween the Divine and the human dent, first, from the expression, 4My broken down, and a spiritual wor- God! my God! repeated with earship substituted for an outward and nestness; secondly, from the exsensible one." Neander, Life of pressions of confidence in the Jesus, pp. 421, 422. " Those whose course of the Psalm, which might belief leads them to reflect vwho it follow in the mind of Christ as well was then suffering, will have no as in that of the Psallist; and difficulty in accounting for these thirdly, from the usage of language, signs of sympathy in nature, nor according to which the expression in seeing their applicability. The'to be jborsaken by God' merely consent, in the same words, of all means'not to be delivered from three Evangelists, must silence all actual or impending distress.' The question as to the universal belief very parallel line in the verse under of this darkness as a fact; and the consideration,' Why art thou so early fathers (Tertull. Apol. c. 21; far from helping me?' is, accordOrigen c. Cels. 2. 33; Euseb. in ing to the laws of Hebrew parallelChronicon) appeal to profane testi- ism, a complete exposition of the mony for its truth." Alford. language,'Why hast thou for46. Eli, Eli, lama sabach. saken me?' So Ps. xxxviii. 21, thanil that is to say, My 22." Theological Essays, p. xviii. Godil my God9 why hast In confirmation of this view Dr. thou forsaken me?] It is one Noyes quotes Ieyer on Matt. xxvii. of the incidental proofs of the gen- 46, as follows: "By the words uineness of the Gospels that these' Why hast thou forsaken me?' extraordinary words should be pre- Jesus expressed what he personally served in the language in which they felt, his consciousness of communion were spoken. They may be found with God having been for a moment in the first verse of the twenty-sec- interrupted by his sufferings. But ond Psalm. Dr. Noyes says in re- this momentary subjective feeling galrd to them: "I cannot agree with is not to be confounded with an those who find in them no expres- actual objective abandonment by sion of anguish or tone of expostu- God (against Olshausen and the lation, and who suppose them to older commentators), which at be cited by our Saviour merely in least in the case of Jesus would order to suggest the confidence and have been a physical and moral triumph with which the Psalm ends, impossibility... To find, with but which do not begin before the older do(gmatic theologians, the the twenty-second verse. Under vicarious feeling of Divine wrath in the circumstances of the case, the the cry of anguish,' Why hast thou words appear to have had sub- forsalken me?' is to go beyond the stantially the same meaning when New Testament view of the atoning MATTHEW XxvII. 499 47 saken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard 48 that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and 49 put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let death of Christ, as also that of the ing upon himself their sorrows and agony in Gethsemane. On the oth- their sins. We can hardly do more er hand, the opinion of some inter- than guess at the amount of anpreters, that Jesus, when he quoted guish thus forced upon him. the first verse of the Psalm, had in "An enigma indeed," says Neanhis mind the whole of it, is arbitra- der, "must this exclamation apry, and bilngs into his condition of pear..... to those who forget immediate feeling the heterogenous that Christ suffered and died for element of reflection and citation." mankind, -for mankind laid up in For our view of the state of Christ's his heart; an enigma to all, in a mind here, and the overpoweriiin-g word, who are strangers to the nature of his sufferings, we refer to Christian life. But the Christian what we have said of the agony in sees in this feature of his Master's Gethsemane, xxvi. 36-46. His history a type of the life of indicapacity for suffering was on the vidual believers, and of the whole same vast scale as his other facul- Church; for both must be led ties, and therefore far transcending through all stages of suffering, and anything that we can know of hu- even through moments of apparent man anguish. What there may abandonment by God. to perfection have been bevond this, what rela- and glorification." Life of Jesus, tion his sufferings may have had p. 420. 47. Some of to the redemption of man in the them that stood there, whean infinite counsels of God, and be- they heard that, said, This yond the limits of this world, has man eaHleth for Elias] We not been revealed in the Scriptures, see no evidence that these words, or and therefore cannot be known by those in v. 49, " Let us see whether us. To assert that they had no Elias will come to save him," were such far-reaching influence would spoken in derision. The spectators, be as unauthorized a piece of dog- we suppose, had been deeply immatism, as to assert that their prin- pressed by the darkness and the cipal efficacy lies in that direction. silence, and now that the silence We cannot fathom the depth of our was broken by the remarkable Saviour's sufferings, because we words of Jesus, they misundercannot comprehend the greatness stood their meaning, and were of his mind, his nature, or his mis- waiting with awe to see what the sion. We can no more explain all result might be. 48. Anid the sources of his grief, than we straightway one of themn iraa, can the sources of his knowledge or and took a sponge, and filled his power. When we can analyze it with vinegar] " We have no the process by which he revealed to reason for assuming that the soldiers us the mysteries of the kingdom of oJfering vinegar in Luke xxiii. 36, heaven, or raised Lazarus from the 37 is the same incident as this. dead, or talked in open vision, face to Since then the bodily state of the. face, with Moses and Elias, then we Redeemer had greatly changed; and may hope to analyze the sufferings what was then offered in mockery of Gethsemane and Calvary. Un- might well be now asked for in the doubtedlyv his sufferings were ter- agony of death, and received when ribly aggravrated bhy the intense presented, as in our text. The oh'or and perfect sympathy with masn, is the posca, sour wine, or vinegar through which he became the rep- add water, the ordinary drlinl of resentative of the whole race, tak- the Roman soldiers." Alfocl. The the Roman soldiers." A[lford. The 500 MATTHEW XXVII. be; let us see whether Elias will come to save him. - Jesus, 50 when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. - And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in 51 twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened, and many 52 bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the 53 graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that 54 were with him watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things which were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.- And many women were there, 55 beholding afar off; which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him; among which was Mary Magdalene, and 56 drink is given in reply to the re- culties in the way, and are obliged quest of Jesus, "I 1 thirst," in John to say, with Adam Clarke, that " the xix. 28. 51, 52. An~, place is extremely obscure." There beholds the veil of the temple. is but one other passage in Matwas rent in twaain] This imust thew (xvii. 27) which seems to us have been the veil or curtain before to bear such internal marks of the Holy of Holies. See note on being a mnythical accretion. 45. And many bodies of the saints 54. Truly this was the Son of which slept arose, and cname ozt of God] The expression in Luke, the graves after his resurrection., caid xxiii. 47, is, " Certai'?ly this was a went into the holy city, and aclppeared righteous man,." The two expresto nmany. This passage is rejected sions, we suppose, were actually by Mr. Norton as an interpolation. used by the centurion. They may, IBut it is found in all the best man- however, be only different translauscripts. The events are of a most tions of the same words, and meanextraordinary character; but that ing substantially the same thing. alone will hardly justify us in ex- They were spoken by one who becluding the passage from the Gos- lieved in the Gods. The exact verpels. There is nothing in the ac- sion of the words recorded by Matcount which should be incredible to thew is, " Truly this was a God's those who believe in the miracles of son," i. e." cc (livine," or, as St. Luke Jesus. It is only as accessory or has it, " a righteosts, mans." It is posdependent incidents arranging tlhem- sible that he used the words in the selves around the one great fact of Jewish sense, as indicated in our Christ's death and resurrection that common version. 56. lMary these extraordinary events can be lMagdalene] " See ch. xv. 39. regarded in their true aspect and She is not to be confounded relations. When thls regarded, they with Mary who anointed our Lord may appear as the natural and fit- (John xii. 1), nor with the woman ting accompaniments of that death who did the same, Luke vii. 86; which broke down the powers of see Luke viii. 2." Alford. There the grave, and which became a is no evidence except what is indidoor or gateway of life to all be- cated by the disease of which Jesus lievers, and thus brought life and cured her (Luke viii. 2), that she immortality to light. But when we hadl been a dissolute woman. Her undertake to explain the events, and name probably came from Magdala. to show precisely how they may and 3iary the mother of have occurred, we find many difi- James and Joses] The mother of MATTHEW XXVII. 501 Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children. 57 When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple. 5s He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate 59 commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had 60 taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and 61 departed. And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre. James the less, or the yozunger, says have his grave "with the rich in Mark, to distinguish him from James his death." Had he been placed the son of Zebedee, and the wife of with others in the common buryingAlphueus or Clopas; see John xix. ground for malefactors, it would have 25, and coun. on Matt. xiii. 53 - 58. been impossible to obtain the cirand thle mother of Zebe= cumstantial evidence that we now dee9s children] = Salome, Alark have of his resurrection. The chief xv. 40. 57. there came priests would not have thought of a rich man of Arimathea, sealing the stone, or setting a watch named Joseph] "A disciple of there. 59. Wrapped it Jesus," says John (xix. 38), "but in a clean linen cloth] " The secretly, through fear of the Jews." Jews, as well as the Egyptians, "Acounsellor," i. e. amemberofthe added spices to keep the body Sanhedrim, says Luke (xxiii. 50, from putrefaction, and the linen 51), " and he was a good and right- was wrapped about every part to eous man (this man had not con- keep the aromatics in contact with sented to their counsel and their the flesh. From John xix. 389, 40, deed) from Arimathen, a city of the we learn that a mixture of myrrh Jews, who also himself was waiting and aloes, of one hundred pounds' for the kingdom of God." This is weight, had been applied to the all that is known, nor can it be body of Jesus when he was buried. determined now precisely where And that a second embalmment Arimathea was. He was evidently was intended, we learn from Luke a man (Mark xv. 43) of great re- xxiii. 56 and xxiv. 1, as the hurry spectability of character as well as to get the body interred before the a man of wealth. 58. He Sabbath did not permit them to fwent to Pilate, and begged complete the embalming in the first the body of Jesus] The Roman instance." Adam Clarke. custom was to leave the bodies ex- 60. And laid it in his own posed on the crosses till devoured new tomb] Matthew alone reby birds of prey. Horace, Epis. I. lates that it was Joseph's own tomb. 16. 48. The Jewish custom, on the John relates that it was in a garother hand, (Josephus, Jewish Wars, den, and in the place where he was IV. 5. 2,) was to take them down crucified. " All that we can deterbefore sunset and bury them. If no mine respecting the sepulchre from one had come to ask for the body the data here furnished is: - 1. That of Jesus, it would have been buried it was not a natural cave, but an in the common place appointed for artificial excavation in the rock. the burial of executed criminals. 2. That it was not cut dozenwards, He has been " numbered with the after the manner of a grave with transgressors," and now he is to us, but horizontally, or nearly so, 502 MATTHEW XXVII. Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, 62 the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, say- 63 ing, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while- he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command 64 therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen fiom the dead; so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have 65 a watch; go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they 66 went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. into the face of the rock...... fxion. Sir] Kv'pLE, Lord. 3. That it was in the spot where the The title of respect usually applied crucifixion took place." Alford. to Jesus, and to persons of distinc62. the next day, tion, but not implying the homage that followed the day of the or.reverence due to a divine being. preparation] IMVore exactly, On 66. sealling the stone, the next day, i. e. the day that and setting a watch] "The came after the preparation. The sealing was by means of a cord or preparation was the day before the string passing across the stone at Jewish Sabbath. Why should it the mouth of the sepulchre, and be mentioned here? Because to fastened at either end to the rock Matthew, when he recorded these by sealing-clay." The watch or events, that preparation day on guard was probably a small detachwhich Jesus had been crucified ment of Roman soldiers which the was the day from which to reckon governor placed at the disposal of even the Sabbath which came im- the priests, and of course subject to mediately after it. It was as if he their orders. had said, The day after the cruci MATTHEW XXVIII. 503 CHAPTER XXVIII. TiiE GOSPEL NARRATIVES OF THE RESURRECTION. "TIIHE independence and distinctness of the four narratives in this part," says Alford, "have never been questioned, and indeed herein lie its principal difficulties. With regard to them, I refer to what I have said in the Prolegomena, that supposing us to be acquainted with everything said and done, in its order and exactness, we should doubtless be able to reconcile, or account for, the present forms of the narratives: but not having this key to the harmonizing of them, all attempts to do so in minute particulars must be full of arbitrary assumptions, and carry no certainty with them. And I may remark, that, of all harmonies, those of the incidents of these chapters are to me the most unsatisfactory." After a very careful comparison of the different narratives, without reference to any commentator or harmonist, we do not find the difficulties so great as Alford supposes them to be. The result to which we have been led by our own independent inquiries agrees substantially with the conclusions of Dr. Carpenter, and is in most particulars nearly the same as that in Dr. Robinson's Harmony, which we did not read till after we had satisfied our minds in regard to the true succession of events. In order to study the matter to advantage, it is necessary that the reader should thoroughly master the different accounts, so as to carry clearly and distinctly in his mind all the details as they are given by each separate Evangelist. In the first place, we have no reason to suppose that all the women mentioned by the Evangelists set out from the same place or at the same moment. It is not improbable 504 MATTHEW' XXVIII. that Alary Magdalene and A" the other Mary " had spent the Sabbath at Bethany, and there prepared the spices with which to anoint the body of Jesus. Salome, on the other hand, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza (Luke viii. 3), were probably in the city. It would appear also, from Luke xxiv. 33, that the eleven had a place of meeting in the city, and from John xx. 2, that Peter and John at least had their places of abode in Jerusalem. We may suppose then that " very early in the morning" (Mark xvi. 2), " while it was yet dark" (John xx. 1), TMary Magdalene and the women who were with her set out from Bethany, which was nearly two miles from Jerusalem, talking by the way of what had taken place, and questioning among themselves how they should roll away the heavy stone from the mouth of the sepulchre. When they reached the spot, the sun had already risen (Mark xvi. 2). Mary Magcdalene, the moment she saw that the stone had been removed, supposing that the body had been taken away, ran swiftly into the city to Peter and John, who, excited by her words, ran as rapidly as possible to the sepulchre. During this interval, which must have taken up from fifteen to thirty minutes, the other women come nearer to the tomb, see the angel (one angel, Matthew and Mark), and hear from him that Jesus has risen, and that he would meet his disciples in Galilee. They depart to find the disciples, and while on their way are met by Jesus, who has already shown himself to Mary Magdalene at the sepulchre. They tell what they have heard and seen to the disciples, but are not believed. Immediately after they had left the sepulchre, the women from the city, Salome, Joanna, and perhaps others, came with their spices, as by previous agreement, and while they stood there amazed and perplexed (Luke xxiv. - 7), two men stood by them in shining garments, and said, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? HIe is not here, but is risen" (is raised). They hastily departed, and now, or perhaps before their arrival, Peter and MATTHEW XXVIII. 505 John reached the spot, and having entered the tomb, and seen precisely how the grave-clothes were laid, they went away, leaving Mary Magdalene behind. She stood weeping by the sepulchre (John xx. 11 - 18) when two angels appeared to her, and afterwards Jesus himself addressed her. There is no certain evidence that this was the precise order of events. Nor is there any necessity for supposing that any of the women came from Bethany that morning. They may all of them have been spending the Sabbath in Jerusalem, and by a previous agreement may have left their homes in different parts of the city at about the same time to go to the sepulchre. In reading such narratives we should not forget the haste, surprise, and astonishment which must have characterized the transactions of that morning, and prevented any one person from getting at all the details in their precise order of succession or their exact relations to one another. Traces of this state of mind and the apparent inconsistencies growing out of it must be expected, and are to be found, in the Gospels. THE DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS NOT CONTRADICTORY. But are there any important contradictions? 1. As to the persons. According to Matthew, -Mary 3Magdalene and the other Mary came very early, &c. Mark mentions Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. Luke speaks of 3Mary Magdalene, lMary the mother of James, and Joanna, and the other women who were with them, while John makes mention only of Ilary Magdalene. But no one professes to mention all the women who were there, and it would be natural for each writer to call by name only those who were uppermost in his own mind. John does not say that Mary Magdalene was the only woman. On the contrary, the words which he represents her as using, "w~e know not where they have laid him," imply that others had been with her, especially as after her return 43 506 MATTHEW XXVIII. to the sepulchre, when she was left alone, she, in the same form of expression (John xx. 13), says, "and I know not where they have laid him." This is one of the out-of-theway coincidences which go to establish the authority of truthful writings, because they cannot be counterfeited. 2. As to the angels. Matthew speaks of one angel, whose appearance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow, and who was sitting on the stone that had been rolled from the sepulchre. Mark (xvi. 5) says, that when they entered or came to the sepulchre, for the Greek word may have either meaning, they saw a young man sitting on the right clothed in a long white garment. One of the two writers may speak of an angel outside, and the other of an angel within the sepulchre; but the language of both may equally well apply to the same angel in the same position, i. e. sitting on the right hand, outside of the sepulchre. Luke, who at the end of his account mentions Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, as the women who told these things to the Apostles, would naturally confine his narrative of occurrences at the sepulchre to what particularly concerned that portion of the company from whom his information was derived, and they may have been Joanna and the women from Galilee who were with her. These women may have come a little later than the others. They saw not one, but two angels, and them not sitting, but standing, and speaking to them in language very different from that which the angel had spoken to the other women (Luke xxiv. 5, 6, 22). According to John, Mlary Magdalene saw no angel when she first came to the sepulchre, and Peter and John, who came with her, or rather a little before her, on her return to the sepulchre, saw none, though they entered the sepulchre. But after they had gone, she, stooping down to look into the sepulchre, saw there two angels in white, one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. This is plainly a different MATTHEW XXVIII. 507 transaction from that which is described by the other Evangelists. The inference from' all this is, that Matthew and M3!/ark describe one appearance, Luke another to a different party, and John still a third. Where, then, is the contradiction or inconsistency? 3. As to the first manifestation of Jesus. According to John xx. 15-17, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene; according to Matthew, he appeared to the women as they were hastening away from the sepulchre. Matthew may have generalized the occurrence which John has given in detail, and represented Jesus as appearing to the women, when as a literal fact he appeared to only one of their number. This is no unusual form of speech. We rather infer, however, from the narrative, that Jesus appeared twice, viz. 1. to Mary Magdalene, and 2. to the women who had been with her when she first came to the tomb. In the accounts of what occurred in the morning there are no contradictions. The whole period taken up by these events probably was not more than an hour, and may not have been half that time. Yet how have the disclosures of those few moments revolutionized the world, changing its great currents of thought and inaugurating a new and momentous era in its history! Leaving the events of the morning, the writers go on in very different ways. After a paragraph relating to the soldiers, and without anything to indicate the time or events that had intervened, Matthew hastens to give an account of the meeting which Jesus had appointed with his disciples in Galilee. Luke details in full the meeting of Jesus with two disciples [not Apostles] on their way to Emmaus in the afternoon, and his appearance to the Apostles in Jerusalem in the evening. This evening appearance of Jesus to the Apostles is mentioned by John (xx. 19- 23) in a narrative which is remarkably distinct from Luke's account, and yet strikingly corroborates it. Mark, in a passage (xv. 12 - 20) which Tischendorf rejects as not belonging to the Gospel, 508 MIATTHEW XXwVII. says that Jesus appeared in another form to two disciples as they were going into the country; that they announced it to the rest, - their associates, and probably not the Apostles, — and were not believed; and that afterwards he appeared to the eleven as they were at meat, and reproached them for their want of faith. This part of Mark's Gospel is very much condensed, and evidently crowds into a few sentences sayings and events which were separated by considerable intervals of time. THE DIFFERENT TIMES OF HIS APPEARANCE. From all the accounts we gather that Jesus appeared, — 1. to Mary iMagdalen (John xx. 13 - 17); 2. to the [other] women (MIatt. xxviii. 9, 10); 3. to Peter (Luke xxiv. 34, 1 Cor. xv. 5); 4. to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus (Luke xxiv. 15), which may possibly have been before his appearance to Peter; 5. to the Apostles (Thomas being absent) at supper in Jerusalem (Luke xxiv. 36 - 42, John xx. 19, 20, 1 Cor. xv. 5); 6. on the next Sunday at Jerusalem to the Apostles, and particularly to Thomas (John xx. 26); 7. to above five hundred of the brethren at once, probably, in Galilee (1 Cor. xv. 6); 8. to James, probably also in Galilee (1 Cor. xv. 7); 9. to all the Apostles (1 Cor. xv. 7), probably the same meeting as that described in John xxi.; 10. to the Apostles on a mountain in Galilee (Matt. xxviii. 16, 17), which may be the same as his appearance to " above five hundred." 11. There is the charge given to the Apostles (Matt. xxviii. 18 - 20, Mark xvi. 15 - 18) with nothing to mark the time or place. 12. There is the last interview, ending with his Ascension (Luke xxiv. 44 - 50, 3Mark xvi. 19, 20, Acts i. 4- 10). But as Jesus was seen of the Apostles from time to time for forty days (Acts i. 3), " speaking to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God," we have no reason to suppose that these were the only occasions on which he was seen by them. 3IATTHEW XXVIII. 509 Matthew (xxviii. 7, 10) says that both the angel and Jesus directed the women to announce a meeting of the disciples with him in Galilee. " Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me." "Then," verse 16, "the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted." If Matthew, one of the Apostles, knew, as he must have known, of the meeting of Jesus with the Apostles more than once in Jerusalem, how could he fail to leave some record of the fact in his narrative? His Gospel is only a sketch of portions of our Saviour's life, and nowhere professes to give a full account of everything that took place in a single instance. HIis whole account of the resurrection, and the sayings and events connected with it, contains only a few more words than it requires to fill one of these pages. A dry summary of facts, such as would be required in order to bring the various particulars within such limits, was not at all after his manner of writing. He gives the salient acts and words as they lie most prominent in his mind, often without reference to the intervening or accompanying circumstances. He belonged to Galilee, and may have gone thither before the other Apostles to call the disciples who were there together to meet their risen Lord. In this way the meeting there may, after an interval of some years, have been the one which he remembered most distinctly, and which he therefore selected to be preserved in his brief narrative. The points which he relates are all connected together. On the morning of the resurrection, both the angel and Jesus speak of the meeting which was to take place in Galilee, and after stating this, and inserting by way of parenthesis a short account of the bargain between the elders and the soldiers in regard to the events of that morning, Matthew passes over all that took place in Jerusalem, and hastens on to the meeting in Galilee. But he says that at the meeting in Galilee " some doubt43 * 510 MATTHEW XXVIII. ed." If the meetings spoken of as taking place in Jerusalem had really taken place, how could there have been this element of doubt? There is nothing to show that the meeting in Galilee was confined to the Eleven. The direction, 6" Go, tell my brethren," indicates a wider circle. St. Paul speaks of Jesus being seen by above five hundred at once. And it certainly would not be strange if some of these five hundred came in an unbelieving state of mind. The honesty of the writer who recorded the doubt is more renmarkable than that the doubt should exist under such circumstances. The great and important omissions which must, from the nature of the case, belong to so brief a narrative, should make us slow to infer that even important facts connected with the events which he relates either did not take place, or were unknown to the writer, because they are not mentioned by him. This consideration has had too little weight both with those who defend and those who would break down the authenticity of the Gospel narratives. In accounts which from their very nature and design are necessarily so incomplete and fragmentary, the omission of any fact, however important in itself, is no evidence that it did not take place, or that it was unknown to the writer. 5With so many facts of the greatest significance and weight pressing upon him for admission, and yet obliged as he was by the necessities of the case to exclude most of them from his narrative, it ought not to seem strange to us if we should find wanting in his brief account circumstances as interesting and important as those which he has retained. An accomplished writer in these times would probably fill a hundred pages where St. Matthew did one with the account of what transpired between the Crucifixion and the Ascension. One closely written half-sheet of our letterpaper is more space than he had to spare for his record of all the circumstances connected with the most momentous event in the history of our race. IIATTHEAV XXVIII. 511 EACII ACCOUNT INDEPENDENT OF THE RESTo We have examined in their relation to the Resurrection of Jesus four distinct and independent narratives. Neither of them could have been drawn from one or from all the rest; for each has some characteristic feature of its own, not only characteristic forms of expression, but statements of fact which are not found in either of the others. Each of the writers must therefore have had his own independent sources of information; and from these separate sources of information they all testify to the same great and wonderful event, not in general terms, but each one in his own way, by facts, and incidental shadings, and colorings of facts, peculiar to himself. These variations are in some cases so great, that superficial or hostile readers have sometimes supposed them to be utterly irreconcilable. But a thorough examination shows, in almost every case, that these apparent discrepancies may be harmoniously adjusted, and thus made to corroborate the truthfulness of the whole account. For example, Mark (xvi. 5) says that the women entered into the sepulchre. Matthew says nothing about their entering into it, but he says (xxviii. 8) "' they went quickly out from the sepulchre." Or, to take another of the many instances that might be given, Matthew, Mark, and Luke speak of the women - more thanm one - who came to the sepulchre early on the morning of the resurrection; John speaks of Mary Magdalene alone. Here is an apparent inconsistency. But on looking carefully into John's account, we find Mary saying to Peter and John, "They have taken away the Lord from the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him," - implying the presence of others with them at the tomb, and thus undesignedly corroborating the accounts of the other Evangelists. Now, unless Jesus did actually rise fiom the dead, and meet his disciples, and talk with them, how could writings so independent of one an 512 MIATTHEW XXVIII. other, and apparently so inconsistent with one another, bring forward such a variety of facts, which bear upon the same point, presenting different sides and features of the same case, and which, notwithstanding their apparent inconsistencies, are found, on a minute and exact investigation, to harmonize entirely in their accounts? THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS. But we do not like to dwell on this great and life-giving event as critics. It comes to us in a more living form, and has higher lessons to teach. 7When the disciples saw that their Master was really dead, their most dearly cherished hopes and expectations died within them. They must have been like men stunned by a violent blow, or walking in some terrible dream, hardly knowing where they went or what they did. The women, less mindful of consequences and more true to the loving instincts of their nature, followed after the body to see where it was laid, when it was hastily embalmed and entombed. They then prepared spices and gums, that, when the Sabbath was ended, they might come back again and complete the rites of burial. There is no word to show how the Sabbath was spent, -that first day of sharp and hopeless grief, whose heavens encircled them like the wall of a tomb out of which all joy and hope were gone, and when there was nothing left to them but a shuddering sense of dreariness and death. The Sabbath interposed its merciful release from care and toil, till they had recovered somewhat from the first benumbing shock of misery. But with the first day of the week, the first Christian Sunday, they are up before the earliest dawn. Their grief must find expression and relief in some act of grateful remembrance, though only to the body of him whom they had followed with such intensity of love and reverence. While it is yet dark, from Bethany, from different parts of Jeru MATTHEW XXVIII. 513 salem, by previous agreement, or with the spontaneous movement prompted by a common impulse, they are on their way, talking sadly as they go, and asking who shall remove for them the heavy stone which had been placed against the mouth of the sepulchre. But it had been removed. Mary Magdalene, the most ardent and impetuous of -their number, having come first within sight of the sepulchre and seen the stone rolled away, ran to Peter and John, with a fresh outburst of grief, to say that even the consolation of paying the last sad rites of burial had been taken from them. "They have taken away the Lord, and we know not where they have laid him." The other women, who were a little behind her, went to the tomb, and saw an angel clothed in white, sitting on the stone which had been rolled away. He asked them, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen." They fly with the intelligence. Other women, from other parts of the city, come, and see two angels. Then Peter and John come running to the tomb, which they enter, and seeing how the grave-clothes are laid, one of them at least believes that he is risen from the dead. Mary Magdalene returns, and, as she stands weeping by the tomb, two angels appear to her. Then, her eyes blinded with tears, she perceives some one whom she supposes to be the gardener. He asks her why she is weeping, and whom she seeks. She says to him, in the sharpness of her grief; "If thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away." Then, in tones which could not be mistaken, he called her by name. She turned to him with an exclamation of surprise and reverence, and went away bearing with her to the disciples the wonderful intelligence. But it seemed to them as an idle tale, and they believed her not. They ran from one to another, telling and hearing, — not believing what they heard, yet repeating it to others, and impatient with those who did not believe,- thrilled with expectation and wonder. GG 514 MATTHEW XXVIII. But the truth breaks upon them. "The Lord is risen indeed." It is the creation of a new heaven and a new earth to them. The tomb has given up its dead, and Death himself, discrowned and disarmed, leaves its terrors at the foot of the cross, and through the gate which it has opened points upward to the realms of eternal life. What occurred to Jesus while he was among the dead is unknown, beyond what may be inferred from his words upon the cross: " This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." If the Evangelists had been unscrupulous men, earnest to make the most of their subject, by ministering to the diseased taste for prying into the things which have been wisely hidden from us, what tales of wonder would they have told of his experience there! But there is nothing of this. And there is the same reserve in regard to all the details which could only serve to excite and gratify an idle or a dangerous curiosity. The great fact of the resurrection of Him who is the resurrection and the life to all who live and believe in him, is set forth in language which cannot be explained away. HeI-I came forth, a new sun, from the dark and universal night of death, to throw the radiance of a triumphant morning over the tombs of the world, to drive away the shadows that pressed everywhere so heavily on human hearts, to unfold to them the joy and gladness of the eternal life, to revolutionize the religious ideas of the world, and create a new life in the souls of men. It was so with the Apostles of Jesus Christ. It has been so with his followers since, from generation to generation. New hopes, new principles of thought and life, new aspirations and desires, have been awakened and cherished. No earthly gloom can overshadow the light. They whose plans and expectations here are all broken up, to whom this life, devoted to the highest ends, has sometimes seemed an utter failure, behold now, in that world beyond, a new sphere of activity and power, where plans here broken up shall be renewed, where hopes here dead shall live again, where aspirations doomed MATTHEW XXVIII. 19. 515 here to a perpetual disappointment shall find their fulfilment, and visions of holiness and joy and blessed companionship with others, which were here mocked with a perpetual rebuff, shall embody themselves in the glorious realities which live around them. And most of all, the sinful and rejected, alienated from God and wandering away from their own happiness and rest, dead to all the best hopes and instincts of the soul, may find in him newness of life, reconciliation, atonement through his death and resurrection from the dead, if they come with penitent and trusting hearts to him. " But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept." (I Cor. xv. 20.) "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." (Col. iii. 1.) "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." (Rev. iii. 21.) If the Lord is risen within us, we have passed already from death unto life, and death can have dominion over us no more. Let not the greatness of his promises overwhelm and confound and oppress us as revealing too bright a glory and too great a joy for us to bear; but through our faith in him, and our fidelity to him, may his immortal energies unfold themselves within us. 19. - THE FORMULA OF BAPTISM. " Go ye, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Sectarian writers generally maintain that their peculiar views of the Trinity, whatever they may be, and they are many and various, are taught in this formula. There can be no doubt, we think, that the words were intended by our Saviour to indicate the broad outlines of Christian belief, as distinguished from every other system of religious faith. They teach not merely a belief in God, but 516 MATTHEW XXVIII. 19. in God as he is revealed to us in Christ, and as he acts upon us by his sanctifying influences, or his Holy Spirit. The religion which Jesus came into the world to teach, and into which those who would be his disciples are to be initiated, is not a more elevated form of Deism, or a refinement on Judaism. It has elements, implied in the baptismal form, which are peculiar to itself, and which deeply affect the character of its disciples, and the nature of their worship. If the New Testament should be divested of all that is said in it about Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, leaving to us only what is revealed of the Infinite Father, our religion would lose much of what most commends it to our hearts. God would be thrown back into the distant heavens. Our conceptions of him would become remote, and our feelings towards him chilled. He would not connect himself as he now does with the loving reverence that draws us towards him, and makes us look up to him, not with awe alone, but with tears of trusting gratitude and affection. As we follow Jesus, in the Gospels, through his ministry, and hear his words and imbibe his spirit, we feel that he is to us the manifestation of the Father, that he brings God in all his gentle and endearing attributes home to our hearts, connecting him with our fireside affections, and giving warmth and tenderness, and a sense of trust and nearness to us in our devotions. So likewise our feelings towards God are modified by what is taught of the Holy Spirit, which dwells a sanctifying presence and influence in the soul, subduing our hearts, forming them anew through a divine life into the image of God, till his love pervades all our affections, purges away all bitterness, and is breathed out from us in our daily thoughts and acts. Here is a type of character and of piety altogether unlike those which proceed from any other religious dispensation. And the influences under which it is formed are in some way or other connected with the formula of Christian baptism. All the agencies — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost — MATTHEW XXVIII. 19. 517 unite to create in us the highest type of Christian worship and the Christian life. They who cherish that worship and that life feel themselves bound together by a powerful bond of sympathy and union. They are drawn to one another, and feel that wherever two or three are gathered together in his name, there is Jesus in the midst of them. They are brought into communion with him and with heavenly things. Inward life, strength, peace, is imparted to them, and a nearer intimacy with heaven. Now, why cannot the whole Christian world fall back on the great Scriptural expressions which address themselves with such power to the imagination and the heart, and feed the inmost springs of thought and life? Why not be satisfied with the way in which the doctrine has been taught by Jesus and his disciples? WThy refine upon their words, or cover them over with our metaphysical distinctions, or tie them up by our definitions, till the simplicity, the power, and the freedom of the divine revelation is lost? Those living words, which come to us always in the perennial greenness of a divine creation, with thought enough to exhaust the intellect of the profoundest philosopher, while they come home also to the heart and apprehension of a child, the moment they are stript of their freedom, and drawn up into a creed, lose their charm, and become unsatisfactory, barren, and dead. Whatever the doctrine of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost may be in its last analysis, — a point which no mind of mortal man will ever be able to reach, -it does not in the Scriptures offer itself to us under any metaphysical formula. We find a part of it used by Peter as a heartfelt expression of grateful trust: A" Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matt. xvi. 16.) It was breathed out in a promise of unspeakable tenderness: "I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.... Because I live, ye shall live also." (John xiv. 18, 19.) "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that 44 518 MATTHEW XXVIII. 19. he may abide with you forever." (John xiv. 16.) And in the prayer after the last Supper, " And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." (John xvii. 3.) It was uttered more fully in the baptismal service. It revealed itself to the first martyr, when at his death he saw the glory of God, and cried, " Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." (Acts vii. 56.) It came as a benediction from St. Paul, when, yearning towards his converts with desires which no other language could express, he said, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all." (2 Cor. xiii. 13.) And in the Apocalypse it appears as a solemn ascription in the triumphal scene, where " a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying,' Salvation to our God who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb."' (Rev. vii. 9, 10.) These were the earliest expressions of the doctrine, —not metaphysical abstractions, or subtile distinctions, or articles of faith, - but a promise full of tenderness, a prayer, a benediction, or an anthem. And so it continued to be at least for three centuries after Christ. The early Christians had too deep an interest in him, and were bound to him by affections too strong and full of life, to attempt by any poor refinements or definitions of theirs to analyze and set forth the mysteries of his nature. Least of all did they attempt to bind them up in articles of faith. They were guided by a higher wisdom than that. And herein let us learn of them. Man's thoughts respecting God change. Words lose their power. "The words of that creed, for example, which we read last Sunday (the Athanasian), were living words a few centuries ago. They have changed their meaning, and are, to ninety-nine out of every hundred, only dead MATTHEW XXVIII. 519 words. Yet men tenaciously hold to the expressions of which they do not understand the meaning, and which have a very different meaning now from that they had once, - Person, Procession, Substance; and they are almost worse with them than without them, - for they conceal their ignorance, and place a barrier against the earnestness of inquiry." (Robertson's Sermons, First Series, p. 73.) But worse than this, they oppress humble, sensitive, and conscientious souls, and often either bind them to forms of belief which they cannot accept, or drive them away from a communion which their religious instincts crave, and to which they are bound by the dearest and most sacred associations.'"It is a remarkable and indisputable fact, that if Christ were to come on earth unknown, and say anything or everything which he is recorded to have said while on earth, that and no more, it would not be sufficient for his admission into any [so-called] Evangelical church: no bishop could lay hands on him without violating his rubric; no synod ordain him as a preacher." We quote this extraordinary statement from an abstract of a sermon by Rev. George Putnam, D. D. Its truth cannot be denied. And it is a fact of terrible significance to those who hold, as essential to church-membership here and to salvation hereafter, terms of intellectual belief which would exclude from their communion the Saviour himself, unless he should consent to add some new and more explicit articles of faith to those which the Evangelists and Apostles have left on record. CONCLUDING REMARIKS. The Gospel of St. Matthew begins with an account of the human and the divine parentage of Christ, his earthly humiliation, though descended from patriarchs and kings, and his more than earthly dignity and greatness, though placed in the lowliest walks of life. This twofold aspect of his life appears throughout the Gospel. His humility shows 520 MATTHE W XXVIII. itself amidst his mightiest works, and even when he assumes an authority beyond all that man has ever claimed. And wherever his humiliation and helplessness are most apparent, there his majesty shines forth. This humility and grandeur, the most difficult combination in the life and character, are easily and harmoniously combined and carried out from beginning to end. There is no one act or word to mar the beautiful and always living consistency of the portraiture. Except in the other Gospels, no other such narrative, nor anything which makes any approach to it, is to be found in the literature of the world. Those who have followed us through our work, reading the Gospel itself more than our comments upon it, who have entered into the marvellous depth and elevation of its thought, and of the-life in which, more than by any words, its thought is revealed, must, we think, see in them the workings of a power more wonderful than any miracles that were wrought, though on the side of its active manifestation it would find in miracles only its natural forms of expression. But with all this exhibition of power, there is nothing strained, and nowhere any appearance of effort. The language, even when charged with the weightiest burden of meaning, or rising to the sublimest heights, is, in its naturalness and simplicity, fitted to be the reading of a child. When we go into the Epistles, especially those of St. Paul, we are conscious of a change. The same ideas come up to be applied under new circumstances, or carried out into their more distant results. But we feel the strain that is put upon the language, and the efforts that are made by the writer to keep up with the greatness of his theme. Christ came to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth. Perhaps we may say that this is the central idea of the Evangelist. The Baptist came to announce it, and its near approach was the burden of his preaching. It was the key-note to the ministry of Jesus. "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say,'Repent, for the kingdom of MATTHEW XXVIIJ. 521 Heaven is at hand."' In his Sermon on the Mount, he unfolded the nature of that kingdom; and, beginning with the Beatitudes, showed how it was to absorb into itself the Law and the Prophets, and refine their precepts into the principles of a spiritual and divine life. From time to time, as his disciples could bear, and beyond what they could bear, he brought forward the graces and charities which were peculiarly his own, and established a sincere and childlike humility of soul as the one essential condition of preeminence in his kingdom. "Whosoever wishes to be great among you, let him be your servant; and whosoever wishes to be first among you, let him be your slave." Only he who, unmindful of his own interests, binds himself by the severest obligations to serve others, can hope for the highest place in the kingdom of God. This heavenly kingdom, or kingdom of Heaven on earth, is explained and illustrated by precept and parable and symbolical act. It is represented as already here, a divine influence and agency in the world. HIe speaks of the time, then not far removed, when he should "come in his kingdom" (xvi. 28), " on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (xxiv. 30). He speaks of it, at other times, as reaching above and beyond this world in its acts and retributions (xvi. 19, xxv. 31-46). In the last words of the Gospel, he speaks of its final consummation, - whether on earth or in worlds beyond, he does not say; for time and space are only occasional, and, as it were, accidental accompaniments to his thought, which reaches through and beyond all that belongs to them. But in the closing words of the Gospel, taken in connection with all that has gone before, we have indicated to us the great Mediatorial office and kingdom of Christ, for which, as its head and king, all authority on the earth and in heaven has been given to him, and for the advancement of which he sends forth his messengers into every land, promising himself to be always with them until the whole 44 * 522 MATTHEW XXVIII. shall be fulfilled. Here in this world are its beginnings, and, to a certain extent, its progress with each individual soul, and with the race from generation to generation. It is a spiritual kingdom in which Christ reigns, coming down into this sphere of human interests and souls, dispensing its divine influences more and more, as men are prepared to receive them from age to age, taking up into itself whatever is highest and holiest in man's thought, to infuse into it a diviner life, to lay upon it the hand of a holier ordination, and set it apart for a higher purpose, using present attainments, never as ends, but always as instruments and helps to a further progress, translating its faithful subjects as the ransomed of the Lord from earthly experience to heavenly fruition in what is to each one of them " the end of the world." Christ came to establish this kingdom among men. He has revealed to us its nature, its agencies, and its design, in words of calmness and power. He has promised to be always with us while we are laboring to unfold its truths, to enforce its precepts, and establish its authority on the earth. His words (xiii. 41, xxv. 34) point also to an influence and a kingly office which he is to have beyond this mortal life and world. But the idea which he introduced is taken up by St. Paul, and carried on into its remote and final results with all the enthusiasm of his fervid and powerful mind. Perhaps we cannot give a more striking example of the difference between Christ's method of instruction, as shown in the Gospel of St. Matthew, and Paul's, as shown in his Epistles, than is furnished by what they have taught on this subject. The teachings of Christ we have already considered. St. Paul delights to enlarge and expatiate upon them. With him this idea of the Mediatorial kingdom of Christ reaches we know not how high into the realms of light, or how far below into the realms of darkness, extending back in its preparation before the foundation of the world, and forward through we know not what succession MATTHEW XXVIII. 523 of ages upon ages, till at length, working out its mighty evolutions, every opposing rule and authority and power is subdued and overthrown, and it has accomplished its design as one of the aeons of eternal love and wisdom, and Christ in triumph shall give back into his Father's hands the kingdom and the authority which are now intrusted to him. In looking to the new worlds of spiritual life and joy which have been created in the advent and progress of that kingdom, through every part of which Christ's influence extends as a redeeming, creative, and sustaining presence, he thus speaks: " Giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have the redemption [" through his blood" is omitted by Tischendorfj, the forgiveness of sins; who is an image of God, first-bors of all creation; because in him were all created that are in the heavens and upon the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominations or principalities or authorities,- all were created through him and to him, and he is before all, and all stand together in him, and he is the head of the body, the Church, who is first, being first born from the dead, that he might be preeminent in all." (Col. i. 12 - 18.) Carrying his thoughts on into other worlds, respecting which there is a sacred reserve in our Saviour's communications, St. Paul delights to speak of the homage which was there paid to his Redeemer, when God " raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand among the heavenly ones, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world [eon], but in that which is to come, and bath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." (Eph. i. 20 - 23.) His language glows with a new intensity, and rises into a more majestic grandeur and a loftier har 524 MATTHEW XXVIII. mony, as he catches from beyond this world glimpses of the active power of Christ, the still advancing progress of his victorious kingdom, or its last and crowning triumph. " Finally," - we quote from the translation of Conybeare and Howson, —" the end shall come, when he shall give up his kingdom to God his Father, having destroyed all other powers which claim rule and sway. For his kingdom must last'till he hath put all enemies unzder his feet.' And last of his enemies, death also shall be destroyed. For' God hath puet all things under his feet.' But in that saying,'all things are put under him,' it is manifest that God is exceptedl, who put all things under him. And when all things are made subject to him, then shall the Son also subject himself [himself be made subject] to Him who made them subject, that God may be all in all." (1 Cor. xv. 24- 28.) There is a singular grandeur and a far-reaching grasp of thought in these views which St. Paul has given of the Mediatorial kingdom and office of Christ. But we see in his language marks of effort and excitement, the strugglings of a mind, however great and inspired it may have been, to master his vast theme, and to find language in which to embody his conceptions. But the words of Jesus come to us as the unexcited and easy utterances of one who is speaking without effort, and by no means above the level of his daily and familiar thought. They lie before us in the calm sunlight of God's truth and the bosom of his love. Great as they are, they plainly come from one who is greater than they, and in whom it is an act of condescension rather than of exaltation to set them forth, and to illustrate, explain, and enforce them, as a Mlaster to his disciples, while an air of divine authority and of unspeakable tenderness distinguishes alike his words to them and all his deportment towards them. Whatever we may find in the language of the Apostles, - and no other writers have ever approached them in richness of spiritual thought or loftiness of conception and of speech, - when we read the words and the life MATTHEW XXVIII. 525 of Jesus, we feel, as did the officers who were sent to apprehend him, that " never man spake [or lived] like this man." But in studying the Gospels we must beware of placing ourselves too much in the attitude of critics and judges, even though it be to confirm their authority. The word that Christ hath spoken shall judge us, and not be judged by us. Our posture is that of loving, trusting, inquiring, and believing disciples. We come with no theories of our own to establish, but with a single purpose and desire to learn the true meaning of his words of eternal life, and what he would have us to do. It is sad to think with what " a veil upon their hearts " the great majority of the Christian world come when they would study the Gospel of Christ. They can receive from the boundless affluence of his instructions only so much as may be in accordance, not only with their present moral, intellectual, and spiritual culture, but with formulas of faith drawn up and established by the authority of man. Christ speaks to the individual soul, and holds each one of us to a severe and solemn sense of accountability to himself, from which no authority on earth can ever absolve us. The one distinguishing feature of his Gospel is the way in which it addresses itself to the individual consciousness, and demands from each one a direct and personal allegiance to him. The more universal the truths which he proclaimed, the more directly should they come home to each heart and draw it towards himself. Almost every word that he spoke, whether for doctrine, reproof, correction, or instruction and encouragement in righteousness, comes to us, not only as a truth on which our minds should dwell, but as a precept which we should take home to our hearts and carry with us in our lives. In this way his words may become spirit and life to us. And his last directions to his followers, instead of furnishing matter for theological disputations, may be dwelt upon and cherished and obeyed as if addressed to each one of us with all the weight of his commandment, with all the fulness of his in 526 MATTHEW XXVIII. struction, with all the tenderness of his love, and with the certainty that to every one of us his promise will be fulfilled. "All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commancled you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." NO TES. IN the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great 2 earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment 3 1. In the end of the sab. raiment of celestial light, worthy of bath, as it began to dawn investing the king of the world of toward the first day of the light. Even so, no human eye, at week] The Jewish Sabbath, it that moment when the energies of will be remembered, corresponds life flowed into it, beheld how the with our Saturday. The day body of the Holy One arose." ended at sunset. The passage "The resurrection was the great may be rendered, After the Sab- act which the Apostles published, bath, as it begean, &c. " No mortal and that peculiarly and alone." eye," says Dr. Carpenter, "wit- 2. And, behold, there nessed the glorious moment when wras a great earthquaake] " A the Son of God came forth from the shalking or comzmotion of any kind; tomb, the first-fruits of a resurrec- probably the word means no more tion to an immortal life; and the than the confilsion caused among narratives of the Evangelists merely the guards by the angel's appearrespect the disclosszres of the great ance; all this had taken place beevent. Their close adherence to fore the women reached the sepulwhat alone was kcnown is very chre." Adam Clarke. for striking." "The writers of the the angel of the ]Lord] an angel New Testament," says Olshausen, of the Lord. " Like the commence" make mention of what they saw ment of the Lord's life upon earth, only, as' that the sepulchre was this beginning of his glorified life already empty.' The creative en- was also adorned with kindred anergies operated in silence and unob- gel visions." 8. Ihis counnteservedly, and wove for the sublime nance] his formo or cppearance seas person of the Lord, as it were, a likce liyhtnsing. The comszsotion, what MATTHEWV XXVIII. 527 4 white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers did shake, s and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus, 6 which was crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, as lie 7 said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre, with fear and great joy, and did run to bring his 9 disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail! And they came and held -ever it may have been, and the tory, and heralded the victory of opening of the tomb by rolling the Son of God over death and the back the stone from the door, must grave." It is well to have the pichave occurred before the Twomene ture of these scenes distinctly bereached the place. The manifesta- fore us. We have no doubt of the tion of the angel is probably de- fact that angels were then seen; but scribed as it appeared to them in the precise mode of the angelic dazzling whiteness and splendor. manifestation, whether by an imlWhether the angel appeared to their pression on the bodily senses or a bodily eyes, or only to their spiritu- quickening of the spiritual percepal perceptions, is a speculative ques- tions, is not clearly revealed. The tion which hardly falls within the effect produced on the soldiers rwhlo province of a work like this. The were guarding the sepulchre must, reader who may be curious in such we think, have been througlh the matters will find it ably discussed bodily senses. 7. and, in " Foregleams of Immortality," by behold, he goeth before you the Rev. E. HI. Sears. "All the into Galilee] This was foredifficulties, or seeming discrepan- told by Jesus (Matt. xxvi. 32) cies," it is there said, (p. 191,) "in in almost exactly the words here the four narratives, have grown out used. The object in going into Galof the most absurd assumption that ilee may have been to secure retirethe angels appeared in bodies like menlt, and also that Jesus lligilt ours, and to the mortal senses. show himself to the more numerous The variations are just what they body of his disciples who resided would be to the variant perceptions there. But while that was to be of the half-opened spiritual vision. the scene of his most important John and Peter saw nothing, some interviews with the Apostles after of the women probably saw noth- his resurrection, he may have ing, and doubtless none of them shown himself to them first.in saw all. We do not imagine that Jerusalem, that they might thus the divine messengers had been ab- be led so far to dismiss their doubts sent from any part of that scene of as to go and meet him with the sorrow and dismay on Friday after- larger company of his followers at ternoon, as they certainly were not the appointed place in Galilee. absent from Gethsemane the night 8. with fear and great before. True, the Roman soldiers joy] "Rejoice with trembling." might not know it till the gleaming (Ps. ii. 11.) The two emotions in terrors dispersed them; and the the proportions here indicated may women saw but one or two among be united. It is one of those touches the divine powers that engirded and of nature which help to bring the guarded to its sure accomplishment whole scene before us. 9. the central fact in the world's his- And they came and held him 528 IMATTHIEY XXVrIIT. him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said( Jesus nnto lo them, Be not afraid: go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came ii into the city, and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the 12 elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, 13 and stole him away, while we slept. And if this come to 14 by the feet9 and worshipped fected until the period of his ascenhim] A not unusual mark of rev- sion to heaven." It becomes us to erence in the East to persons of su- be diffident in regard to any speperior dignity. With what body cific views that we may entertain Christ rose, is a question which it in this matter. It is enough for us is more difficult than profitable to to know Christ did rise from the discuss. The body which was laid dead, whatever may have been the in the tomb had risen. But what changes which his body underwent changes it had undergone is nowhere in death, and before the ascension. intimated. From the fact that the 12. And when they women clung to his feet, that were assembled with the elThomas was asked to thrust his ders, and had taken counsel] hand into his side (John xx. 27), Here was a meeting, a hasty and and that he asked the disciples to probably an informal one, of the handle him and see, "for a spirit Jewish Sanhedrim. It may seem hath not flesh and bones as you see strange that the soldiers should me have " (Luke xxiv. 39), we can- have gone first to the priests, rather not well escape the conviction that than to their own superior officers. he rose in a body which acted on But it is plain, from Matt. xxvii. 64, those he met, as other bodies do, 65, that the guard of soldiers had through the physical organs of not only been granted at the request sense. On the other hand, his not of the priests and Pharisees, but being recognized by the two disci- had been placed under their charge. ples with whom he conversed on " Ye have a guard," [or watch,] the way to Emnmaus would seem to said Pilate; "go, make it as sure as show that he had then undergone ye know how." It would therefore some remarkable change in his per- be proper and natural for them to sonal appearance; and his disap- make their report in the first inpearance from them the moment stance to their immediate employhe was known (Luke xxiv. 31), ers. 13. Say ye, His and his appearance in the midst of disciples came by night9 anrd the Apostles more than once while stole him away, while we they were assembled with closed slept] This whole incident, it is doors (John xx. 19, 26), seenm to said, is unhistorical and improbable. imply a facility of movement of But the ablest scholars cannot transwhich the Gospels furnish no pre- fer themselves to Jerusalem, as it vious instances, unless perhaps in was during those three days, with the account of his walking upon such a minute knowledge of the prewater. We cannot tell when his vailing customs, and all the special body became spiritual and immortal. interests then acting, as to be able to Olshausen supposes that " the pro- say precisely what would or what cess of glorification went on ent on during would not be historical in a litthe forty days after the resurrec- tie incidental occurrence like this. tion, and was not thorougllly per- Even in an army under the most MATTHEW XXVIII. 529 the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. is So they took the money, and did as they were taught. And rigid discipline, directly before an than that the Jewish leaders, lookenemy, there are constantly coming ing everywhere for a plot, and up little exceptional cases, which never quite secure of having acseem inconsistent with the stately complished their guilty purpose, march of history, but of which no even in the death of their victim, man after the lapse of two thousand should, in calling to mind this decyears can know enough of the at- laration, apprehend and provide tendant circumstances to pronounce against some such design as that them unhistorical or improbable. vwhich is recorded at the close of It would be inconsistent, it is said, the previous chapter? And when with the dignity of the Sanhedrim, their precautions, as the most subto make such a bargain as this with tie devices of such men often do, the Roman soldiers. But the his- had failed, and turned against themtory of the world shows plainly selves, what more natural than for enough, that where political or re- them to adopt the only expedient ligious bigotry has an important then possible, and bribe the soldiers end to gain, it is not accustomed to to misrepresent the facts? But stand much on its dignity in the then, it is asked, how would the means which it uses. They who in soldiers dare to confess that they their pride assume the loftiest airs, had fallen asleep on their watch? and claim for themselves the great- Would it not expose them to the est show of respect, are often the severest punishment for a serious very persons who stoop to the violation of the rules of military meanest and most dishonorable discipline? In reply to this, it may arts. But then, how could they be said, that their employers —the know that Jesus had predicted that very men to whom they were dihe should rise from the dead on the rectly accountable for any remissthird day? Even his own disciples ness in their watch, and who alone did not understand him; how then would have an opportunity to comcould they, his enemies? There is plain of them - were the men who nothing in the world so suspicious proposed the bargain with them, as the malignant spirit of such men, whose interest it was that no seriwhen confronted with an ingen- ous accusation should be brought Uous and powerful mind, that sees against them, and who promised to through and exposes their subter- interfere in their behalf if by any fuges and pretensions. Having no chance the report of their remisshonesty of their own, they cannot ness in duty should reach the ears conceive of such a thing as an hon- of the governor. " To affirm," says est purpose in those who stand in Davidson, (Introduction to the New their way. They distrust them at Testament, Vol. I. pp. 82, 83,) " that every turn. They subject their the falsehood could not have esacts and words to every unfavora- caped Pilate, is to assume that he ble construction that is possible. took more interest in the matter They see a plot or an intrigue in than his whole character justifies. the simplest declaration. What All his anxiety must have coinwonder, then, if the chief priests cided with the measures already should have heard the distinct taken against the person of Christ, and reiterated declarations of our in which he had reluctantly inSaviour respecting his death and volved himself. And as the story resurrection on the third day? The told him by the chief priests and disciples could not understand the scribes must have been more welwords of their Master, but they come than the real account of the must have repeated them again and case would have been, he naturally again, with strange perplexity of believed it, and took no further heart. And what more natural trouble. Iad lie heard the true 45 HH 530 MATTHEW XXVIII. this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. circumstances attendant on Jesus's night and stole his body away rising from the dead, his fears while the guards slept. The effect would have been excited, and his of this single exception is to conconscience rendered doubly uneasy. firm the argument derived from the Such tidings must have been disa- general characteristics of the Gosgreeable to his agitated spirit. But pels before mentioned. Here we when he learned that the body had are told by the Evangelist, that the been stolen by the disciples at most important miracle which he nigfht, his fears had not to be al- records was treated as an imposlayed, nor were his superstitious ture. We may fairly conclude, feelings to be quieted. He felt that therefore, that with the same honthe part he had taken in putting esty, or the same indifference, or Christ to death was unattended by the same incapacity for deception, the guilt and impiety in which it he would, in some way, have given must have presented itself, had Je- us information of the fact, if the sus proved himself the Son of God truth of the other miracles recorded by rising from the dead. Thus the by him had been called in question. information given by the Sanhe- What he here expressly states condrim to Pilate, false though it was, firms most strongly the correctness found a welcome reception. Had of those accounts which isjply that he even suspected its truth, he their truth was not disputed. But would not have instituted a process in what manner does he mention of inquiry. Whether Joseph of this particular story of the unbeArinmathea, Nicodemus, and Ga- lieving Jews? He merely states it, maliel wvere present at the meet- without any attempt at refutation, ing of the Sanhedrim, is a point without even a formal denial of it, that cannot be ascertained..... without a single remark respecting And if they were present, had it. He could not have treated it they the moral courage to object? with more indifference, or with......And suppose they did protest more appearance of regarding it as against the unworthy resolution, destitute equally of plausibility and was it incumbent on the historian of truth, and wholly unlikely to to relate the fact? The decision of obtain credit. If the story had the majority is the decision of a been urged with any confidence, if council..... Hence the record is it had been in fact believed by perfectly consistent with the idea of those who brought it forward, it a few persons refusing to sanction would hardly have been passed the open dissemination of a false- over with such slight." hood." On the whole, this little 15. until this day] i. e. until the episode, instead of appearing unhis- time when the Gospel was written. torical and improbable, seems to us There is no decisive evidence when to bear upon its face the marks of that was, but the probabilities, we truth. We agree entirely with think, rather point to a period eight what Mr. Norton has said on this or ten years after the death of matter in his Internal Evidences of Christ, or about A. D. 42 or 43. the Genuineness of the Gospels (pp. 16. Then the eleven diseci 233,234): "The remark that the ples went away into Galilee] miracles of Christ appear from the There is no then in the Greek. Gospels to have been unquestioned, Matthew not unfiequently passes is true of what may be more strict — from one event to another, which ly called his miracles. But it is not took place at a different period, true of the fact of his resurrection. without one wvord to indicate the IRespecting this, St. Matthew re- time that intervened between them. lates that there was a story in cir- The natural inference from his lanculation that his disciples came by guage here would be that the Apeos MATTHEW XXVIII. 531 16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into 17 a mountain, where Jesus had appointed them. And when ties went to Galilee immediately reign of Constantine. "Nor yet," after the resurrection. But, in ac- he says, " did fidelity [virtus] recordance with his method of speak- main equally in the breasts of all ing in other cases, we may suppose [who were assembled to meet him a week or a month to have inter- on the Galilsaan mountain]; for a vened between the two events. part of them doubted." Grotius into a mountain] to "the moun- and some others render the verse, tain, where Jesus had appointed." " but some had doubted," giving to the eleven] Matthew men- the aorist the force of the plupertions only the eleven; but this does feet. The interpretation that we not imply that they were the only have adopted is more in accordance persons who met Jesus at the ap- with the language of Matthew. pointed mountain. The " Go, tell 18. All power is given unto zuy bsethren," of ver. 10, indicates a me in heaven and in earth] largler circle of disciples. Probably Literally in heaven and on earth. All notice had been extensively given powver, or authority, indicating the inamong the more intimate and trust- fluence which it is given him to execd followers of Jesus that they should ercise over the souls of men in this meet him at some particular place world and the world to come. Inl which he had specified. The clefi- Col. i. 11, St. Paul says, that ye, nite article, which our translators " stsengthened wilh all povuer," &c. omit before mountain, proves this, But Christ's authority is not conthough Matthew does not mention fined to the earth, but diffuses itself where it was. This may have been through earth and heaven. See lEph. the occasion when he was seen of i. 19-23; Col. i. 12-18; 1 Pet. iii. "above five hundred brethren at 22. We suppose that St. Paul (Rom. once." (1 Cor. xv. 6.) 17. but xiv. 9) explains what is meant by some doubted] Of course, the the expression on earth ancld in heavApostles who had met Jesus in Je- en; " For to this end Christ both rusalem more than once since his died, and rose, and revived, that he resurrection, could have had no might be Lord both of the dead and doubts. Either Matthew has trans- living." The living, and the dead ferred to this meeting the doubts who live in a yet higher sense, which the Apostles had shown in make one great community of souls, Jerusalem, or, as is more probable, over whom God has given to Christ he speaks here of doubts entertained all authority or power on earth and by some of the followers of Jesus in heaven. " Wherefore God also who had not met their risen Lord hath highly exalted him, and given before, and who in the excitement him a name which is above every of a first interview could hardly name, that at [literally ini] the overcome their doubts so as to be- namle of Jesus every knee should lieve their own eyes. It was pre- bow of those in heaven, and those cisely the same state of mind which in earth, and those under the earth; the Apostles had shown wvhen they and that every tongue should conwere first told of the resurrection, fess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to and which Thomas persisted in till the glory of God the Father." lie had the opportunity to see and (Phil. ii. 9-11.) It will be obexamine for himself. It is a strong served, that every one of these pasproof of the truthfulness of the sages which unite with that before writers, that they should so fear- us in ascribing to Jesus such aulessly insert this in their narratives, thority, agrees also with his asserwithout one word of explanation tion here, and Matt. xi. 27, in deor apology. Our view of the claring that however vast his power doubters is that given by Juven- may be, it is all given to him by the cus, a Latin- writer who lived in the Father. It is a derived, and not an 532 MATTHEW XXVIII. they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And is Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given original authority. We must be consequence; viz. that you are a caireful in our dogmatic theology man, and that Jesus Christ islest we forcibly inject our ideas into more." Bushnell, " Nature and our Saviour's language, and, by in- the Supernatural," pp. 289-292. corporating them into his instruc- 19. Go ye, therefore, and tilns, give his words a meaning teach all nations] Therejbre wholly foreign to his intention. All does not belong to the text. Teach; authzoity is gliven to me in heaven and the original word means maake dison erlth. "'Was there ever a man ciples, and it is unfortunate that it that dared put himself on the world was not so translated in our conin such pretensions? — as if all light mon version. " Go ye and make was in him, as if to follow him, and disciples of all nations, bacptizing be worthy of him, was to be the con- them into the name of the Father elusive or chief excellence of man- and of the Son, and of the Holy kind! But no one is offended with Ghost, and teaching them to obJesus on this account, and, what is serve all things whatsoever I have a sure test of his success, it is re- commanded you." That is, they markable that, of all the readers of are to make all men disciples, bapthe Gospel, it probably never even tizing them as the initiatory rite, occurs to one in a hundred thou- and teaching them to observe all sand, to blame his conceit, or the things whatsoever that Christ had egregious vanity of his pretensions. commanded them. baptizing..... Come now, all ye that tell us them in the name of the Faa in your wisdom of the mere natural ther, and of the Son, and of humanity of Jesus, and help us to the Holy Ghost] "After all that find how it is, that he is only a nat- has been written," says Davidson, ural development of the human; (Introduction to the New Testaselect your best and wisest charac- ment, I. 93, 94,) " it is exceedingly ter; take the range, if you will, difficult to settle the precise meanof all the great philosophers and ing of the expression to baptize into saints, and choose out one that is the name of the Father, 9c. Permost competent; or if, perchance, haps De Wette assigns it too much some one of you may imagine that meaning, when it is made to inhe is himself about on a level with volve an express obligation to reJesus (as we hear that some of you ceive the doctrine of a Triune God do), let him come forward in this as a direct object of faith. The trial and say,'Follow me,'' Be primary idea of it, as far as we can worthy of me,''I am the light of gather from similar phrases in the the world,''Ye are from beneath, New Testament, seems to be this I am from above,''Behold a great- that the person baptized is super than Solomon is here;' take on posed to adopt the system of religall these transcendent assumptions, ion in which the Father, Son, and and see how soon your glory will Holy Ghost occupy the pre-eminent be sifted out of you by the de- position, -to come into a state of tective gaze, and darkened by the subordination to the laws of Chriscontempt of mankind!.....Do tianity...... Those who submityou not tell us that you can say as ted to baptism virtually professed, divine things as he?..... Are you by their desire for initiation into a not in the front rank of human Christian church, to adopt the redevelopments? Do you not rejoice ligious system, and to be subject to in the power to rectify many mis- the laws of the Son of God. This takes and errors in the words of is probably all that the Apostles and Jesus? Give us then this one ex- their companions inculcated on the periment, and see if it does not baptized, or that they would have prove to you a truth that is of some required from them had they reason MATTHEW XXVIII. 533 19 unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, to think that any desiring to be says Stanley in his "Canterbury admitted within the pale of Christi- Sermons," (pp. 111 - 114,) "beset anity were not proper subjects of more or less by the sophistries, the baptism." It certainly could not systems, the schools, the parties, have been without design that our which time and circumstance, which Saviour left this form of introduc- past ages and our own age, have tion into his Church with so wide a cast up around us and beside us, margin for differences of individual before us and behind us. We are thought and belief. If he had involved in their meshes, we walk in wished to establish the doctrine of the grooves which they have made a Trinity of three equal persons in for us..... Yet still there is enthe Godhead as a fundamental and couragement and consolation in the essential article of faith, he could thought, that none of these things of easily have so expressed it in this themselves constitute the whole, or formula as to put his view of the the essence of Christianity; that in matter beyond all possibility of this respect our Lord is still the patdoubt. He would have only to say, tern of his Church..... There is " baptizing them into the name of a true middle way of religion, which God the Father, of God the Son, rot from weakness not from indoand of God the Holy Ghost, three lence, not from halting between two equal persons, and one God." But opinions, but from sincere love of if we shrink, as we do almost with Christ, and from desire to conform a shudder, from putting these words ourselves to his image2 we may into his mouth, or adding them to humbly desire to walk. No those which lie has spoken, why one of us can embrace at a glance should we not also shrink with equal the whole of Christian truth.... earnestness from imposing upon his It is both a confirmation and ilIuswords a meaning which he has tration of this character of Evannowhere expressly authorized, and, gelical doctrine, that, if we look contrary to his example, insisting into some of the earthly representaon that as an essential condition of tions of it which have met with Christian fellowship! Why not be most universal acceptance, they content to let the terms of admis- also share in this freedom fiom the sion to his Church stand as he and bonds in which the world is anxious his Apostles left them? It will to confine them..... Not benot do to narrow down a great cause their genius is irreligious, not central statement like this into because it is weak and faltering. an expression of any one form of No; but because it transcends the doctrine which man has been able limits of our ordinary thoughts, beto work out of his own brain. It cause it approaches by another way does not follow that, if any one view to something like the loftiness of of the Divine nature is false, the op- Him, whose image and superscripposite view is therefore true, and the tion it bears." As we stand before one which our Saviour meant to a great and comprehensive saying teach here. No human mind is of our Lord, like the baptismal able to exhaust his meaning. The words, we must remember this, aIld more minutely we endeavor to ex- not attempt to measure it by any plore and explain the nature of the speculative opinions or dogmatic asFather, and of the Son, and of the sumptions of ours. 20. unto Holy Ghost, the further we shall be, the end of the world] EcO) rTlJ in all probability, from the tlruth. We must beware of allowing any (TvvrEXeLa rov ata&vov- This form hunman standard of opillions to of expression occurs five times in the measure its capacity or extent. Gospel of Matthew, and nowhere else "We are all of us, old and young," in tlie New Testament. Asisilar ex45* a 34 MATTHEW XXVIII. and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to 20 observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And, pression is found, Heb. ix. 26: " But dispensation of this mortal life, is now once in the end of the world enlded. It is the same at xiii. 49. (o-vvrYTEXE roiv atcvov, end of So in the passage before us, the end the ages), hath he appeared to put of the world may possibly referl to away sin by the sacrifice of him- the great event which Jesus has self." In this instance the word described with such prophetic maatefycov, or teons, in the plural, re- jesty of speech (Matt. xxiv.), and fers to a series of dispensations which, while it should destroy the which had their consummation in old dispensation as a national religthe religion of Jesus. In Matt. ion ill the overthrow of the nation xxiv. 3, " Tell us when these things itself, was to free the new dispensashall be, and what shall be the tion and its supporters from a most sign of thy coming, and of the end galling tyranny. In this case he of' the world?" the expression prob- promises his disciples, that during ably has the same meaning. Jesus their trials, until that event, he will has been announcing the destructive every day be personally present retribution that is soon to fall upon with them. It is much more probthe Jewish people and their city. able, however, that his promise has The disciples ask when these things a more universal application, and is shall be, and what shall be the for all his followers, in all ages of sign of his coming, and of the end the world, luntil to each one of them of the world? The language has in the fulness of time the end of' the a characteristic of Hebrew poetry, world shall come. It is impossible repeating substantially the same to give in English the precise meanidea in different words. The esnd ing of the expression. The word of' the world there is the same as translated world has nothing to do the end of the Jewish dispensation, with the material universe which though it may also foreshadow the we call the world, but means an agye end of life, i. e. of this present or dispensation, or consdition of being. earthly dispensation to each indi- E. g. the care of the world (Matt. vidual soul. This higher meaning xiii. 22), i. e. of this present conof the expression in its more uni- dition of being. The words transversal application is plainly, we lated the end mean rather the conthink, implied in Matt. xiii. 39, 40: suenmmation, conzpletion, or Jilfilnzent. " The harvest is the end of the So that the end of the world means, world [of this present earthly dis- as nearly as our language can give pensation]; and the reapers are the its meaning, the end or fsfilfinent of angels. As therefore the tares are a dispensation, as in Heb. ix. 26, and gathered and burned in the fire; so Matt. xxiv. 3, or the completion or shall it be in the end of this iworld." consummation of ousr present conThis world or dispensation may pos- dition of being, as Matt. xiii. 39, 40, sibly there, as in chapter xxiv., 49; and xxviii. 20. Th/e end of the refer to the Jewish dispensation, world, as used by Matthew, in both and the process by which the good of its significatiols, is nearly synonyand bad among the Israelites should, mons with the coming of the Son of like wheat and tares, be separated man. They both imply the passing from one another at the destruction away of all old, and the coming of of Jerusalem, and the overthrow of a new order of things, the first of the old religion. But the language, which is directly indicated by the taken in its connection with what end of the sworld, and the second by goes before and after, seems to us to the cominzg of' the Son of man. Both foreshadow a mightier event, even the terms imply far more than they the retribution which meets every directly express. They have done man, when to him this age, i. e. the so nmuch in the development of the IMATTHEW XXVIII. 535 lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Christian consciousness, and have escapes in the process, and leaves so bound themselves up in the most the words which we use in their solemn and endearing associations, stead poor and meagre substitutes. that no other words can ever take "And, lo, I ans with you aClwCy, their place, or have the power which even unto the end of the world1." they have over the Christian heart "For then we shall be with the and imagination. No attempt to Lord, as he is even now with us. analyze such words, or to define To him, therefore, reader, commit them precisely, can ever be sue- thyself, and remain in him; so will cessful. The fine aroma of senti- it be best for thee in time and in ment, which fills them as a holy eternity." Bengel. incense, and makes them sacred, INDEX. Agony of Gethsemane, 450 - 458, Eternal, 229, 254, 255, 344, 443,. 468, 469. Evenings, two, 170, 269, 270. Ambition, Christian, 359. Existence of evil, 240 - 242. Angels, 152-156, 327, messengers, 428, 429. Faith, 169, 176, 278, 279. Apostles, 195, 196. Fasting, 179. Article, the Greek, 342. First last and last first, 348 - 354. Forgiveness of sin, 176, 177. Baptism, 67, 69, 336, 358. Formula Fulfilled, that it might be, 43, 44, of, 515- 519, 532, 533. 252, 366, 367. Bearing our infirmities, 143 - 146, 498, 499. Genealogy of Jesus, 34, 35. Beatitudes, the, 87, 88. Good, One alone, 344. Bethlehem, 48. Gospels, to be studied in their own Bethphage, 366. light, 11 - 14. With preparation of heart, 14, 15. Without preCenturion, 169. conceptions, 15 - 30. Church, 289-292, 298, 320 - 326, Guilt, national, cumulative, 394, 328 - 330, 359. 395. Coincidences, 29, 30, 444, 445, 511, 512. Hell, 95, 208, 214. Coming of the Son of Man, 186 -188, Herod Antipas, 260 - 264. 302 - 304, 346, 347, 399, 400, 407- Herod the Great, 46, 47, 55. 418, 418 - 422, 534. Herodians, 386. Conception, miraculous, 35- 39 382, Holy Ghost, the, 68, 697 80. 383, 519. Hypocrites, 282, 295. Creeds, 15 - 17, 517- 519., Crucifixion, 483 - 488, 492. Place Inspiration, 21, 22, 388. of, 494, 495. Jerusalem, destruction of, 407- 418. Darkness, outer, 142, 170. Jews, why Jesus confined his rminDay, That, 124, 429, 430. istry to them, 284. Death, Christ's view of, 174, 175. John the Baptist, 60 - 65, 268. Death of Christ, 199, 292 - 294, 357. Jonah, 296. Demoniacs, 160 - 168, 172, 212. Jordan, 68, 356. Devil, the, 76, 77, 82. See Satan. Judas, 444, 445, 458, 465, 480. Discrepancies, 58, 359, 360, 373, 467, Judgment, day of, 437, 438. 468, 470, 471, 489, 490, 505 - 508, Just, righteous or justified, 178, 212. 508 - 510, 511. Double sense, 79, 140, 144 - 146, 274 Kingdom of heaven, or of God, 66, -277, 374, 376, 377, 422, 423. 116, 211, 253, 303, 344, 346, 520526. Elijah, 66, 312, 313, 315, 316. End of the world, 254, 255, 533 - 535. Lake of Galilee, 148, 149. 538 INDEX. Law fulfilled in Christ's teachings, Publicans, 99, 196. 88 - 93, 94. Leprosy, 136 - 138. Regeneration, the, 346, 347. Lord, 169. Repent, 66. Resurrection, 879-381, 437, 438. Of Marriage, 42, 97, 332 - 335, 342, 343. Jesus, 503 - 508, 512 - 515, 526, Mary, the mother of Jesus, 224- 527, 528. 226. Retribution, 121, 193, 207, 208, 243, Matthew's Gospel, peculiarities of, 244, 331, 340, 341, 373, 374, 386, 32, 34. When written, 31, 32. 407 - 422, 432, 434 - 436, 440, 441. Miracles, 35- 39, 126 - 134, 497, 498, Rich, 338, 339. 500. Murder of the Innocents, 50 - 52. Sabbath, Christ's view of, 217, 218. Mysteries, 251. Sadducees, 67, 295. Salvation, 43. Name, 112. My, 197, 829. Sanhedrim, 56. Satan, 219 - 222, 245 - 250,255 - 257, Oaths, 97. 293, 442. See Devil. Offend, 210, 327. Scribes, 95,170, 273. Olives, Mount of, 466. Self-renunciation, 340. Omnipresence of Jesus, 329, 330. Sign from heaven, 288. Spirits, evil, 157 -168, 230, 442, 456. Palm Sunday, 362, 364 - 366. Son of David, the, 34, 41. Of God, Parables, 232. Why Jesus taught 35-39, 297, 319, 461. Of Man, in, 238- 240. 170, 171, 226, 227, 296, 519, 520. Parallelism, 122, 123, 397. Star in the east, 48, 49, 56, 57. Passover, 464, 465. Supper, the Lord's, 445-449, 466. Peter's denial, 461, 462, 476 - 478. Sword, 471 - 474. Pharisees, 67, 226, 295. Synagogue, 83. Portents, 426, 427. Prayer, the Lord's, 102-107. Ef- Temptation, the, 70- 78, 293. ficacy of, 371. Tempting God, 81. Predictions made by Jesus, 357, 376, Time, Jewish mode of reckoning, 401 -406, 407 - 418. 355, 361- 363. Priests, Chief, 356. Tithes, 398. Prophecy, 39 -41, 43, 44, 52 - 55, 82, Tomb of Jesus, 501, 502, 528-530. 83, 211, 213, 214, 274 - 277, 388 - Transfiguration, 305 - 311, 315, 316. 390, 401 - 406, 467, 491. Trial of Jesus, 479, 480, 481- 483. Professions, danger of, 396. Tribute-money, 318, 386. Providence, 107- 110, 271. Types, 419 - 422. TvX7i, life or soul, 115, 191-193, 199, 301, 302. Wise men, the, 45 - 50. THE END. WALKER, WISE, & CO.'S JUVENILESm HYMNS FOR MOTHERS AND THEIR CHILDREN. Compiled by one of the compilers of the "Hymns of the Ages." (Published in November.) Price 75 cts. The favor with which the "' Hymns of the Ages " was received, induces the publishers to believe that the same principles of selection applied to the mass of Children's Poetry must result in a collection worthy of a place in every family in the land. It will be published in the best manner, with choice illustrations. PICTURES AND FLOWERS FOR CHILD-LOVERS. A charming and unique selection,- from an immense range of authors, - of Prose and Poetry about Children. Its selections are humorous, descriptive, serious, &c. By a Mother. 16mo. 216 pp. lllustrated. 60 cts. New Edition of FREl1D. FR~lEEELAND; or, The Chain of Circumstances. A really good book for Boys. Illustrated. 75 cts.' We cordially recommend this finely written and instructive tale." —Philadelphia National Argus. ":Exceedingly interesting and instructive." - Dover Gazette. "Cannot fail to interest and improve." - Burlington Sentinel.' Attractive in style, and unexceptionable in matter." - Woodstock Spirit of the Age. " Well conceived and happily executed." - Boston Christian Era. " An excellent volume."- Greenfield Gazette. "We can, with much pleasure, commend it." — Fall River News. "A good book." - Haverhill Banner. " Inculcating an excellent moral." - Peterson's Magazine. "Quite spirited, and will be read with interest." - Northampton Gazette. " The general tendency of the book is wholesome." - Salem Observer. 2'WALKER, WISE, & CO.'S JUVENILES. LITTLE BENNY had no notion of any other sort of money than copper money; all his juvenile receipts had been in pennies, which, from his love of reading, he always spent for little penny books, till he had quite a library of them. One day, a gentleman visiting at Benny's father's house, seeing how Benny spent his money, gave him a bright new quarter of a dollar. This " silver penny," as Benny called it, was soon spent for a nice twenty-five cent book, the first of a long shelf full of "quarter-dollar" books, which he called his " SILVER PENNY LIBRARY." To supply the demand for attractive but cheap books for little folks, we have commenced this new series, to which additions will be made from time to time; and, in remembrance of LITTLE BENNY, we call it (For titles, see next page.) WALKER, WISE, & CO.'S JUVENILES. 3 SILVER PENNY SERIES. Patty Williams9s Voyage. Sunny-eyed Tim, the Observant Little Boy. By the Author of The Story of the Princess Na=- Faith and Patience," &c. rina and her Silver-feathered J Shoes. ~ ralJuthoo and his Sunday rSchool. A Tale of Child-Life in India. By Nobody's Child; and other Sto- the Brahmin, J. G. Gangooly. ries. Edited by the Author of Theda and the Mountain. By " Violet," " Daisy," " Noisy Her- the Author of " Summer with the bert," &c. Little Grays." ALICE'S DREA~M. A Christmas Story. By Ins.M.A. WHITTAKER. Two beautiful illustrations by BILLINGS. 16mo. 50 cts. "This is an exquisite little book for the family circle." — Philadelphia Press. "It is written in a lively and sensible manner, and is as good as it is attractive." - Iartford Religious Herald. "' An interesting and profitable Story for Children." - Lowell Vox Populi. " The story is one of much pathos; is written in a chaste and interesting style; the moral lessons it teaches are of the highest and purest character." - New Covenant ( Chicago). " Is calculated to exercise a good and refining influence upon the hearts of the young." -.Bangor (Me.) Whig. "It teaches many useful lessons." - New York Evening Post. "Takes hold of the mind of childhood, while excellent moral lessons are conveyed." -Providence (R. I.) Post. THE BOY INVENTOR; or, Memoir of Matthew Edwards. By the Author of " The Age of Fable," &c. 16mo. Illustrated. 50 cts. " Every boy, especially every poor boy, should read this very entertaining lifestory. It is practically and importantly suggestive." - Philadelphia City Item. " We commend it to every ingenuous youth, who would merit an elevated position of usefulness and honor by his own efforts. - Christian Observer. " The author's narrative is written in a style which engages the attention of the general reader, and the work will have an excellent effect wherever read. - Norfolk County Journal. " Every one who has high aims, or who is burdened by the restraints of poverty or want of education, can nerve himself by the perusal of this book." - Worcester Transcript. "Decidedly an interesting and readable book." - Christian Freeman. 4 WALKER, WISE, & CO.'S JUVENILES. "ALL THE CHILDREN'S"' LIBRARY. An entirely new and original set of Juveniles on a new plan. The six books composing the set are divided into three grades, - the first two are for young children, and are simple stories in short words, and printed in large print. The next two are more advanced, and the last two may be read with interest and profit -by the oldest children, and even by adults. All are printed in the best manner, upon superior paper, fully illustrated, with original designs, and tastefully and substantially bound. Each volume is by a different author, ahd they are sold separately. NOISY HERBE RT, and other Stories, for Small Children. By the Author of " Daisy," " Violet," &c. 50 cts.'The R. B. R.'s: 1My Little Neighbors. A Story for the i" Younger Members "' 50 cts. -BESSSIE GRANIT'"S TREASURE. By AUNT DoRA. 50 cts. A SUMIMER WITH TIE LITTLE GRAYS. By H. W. P. 50 cts. MODESTY AND MIERIT; or, The Gray-Bird's Story of Little May-Rose and John. From the German. 75 cts. ~FlAITI-H AlND PATIENCE. A Story- and something more-for Boys. 75 cts. " These books may be unreservedly recommended." - Daily Advertiser. For lessons of truth, honesty, generosity, courtesy, and all of manliness (not more) that should be found in the ingenuous boy, -and these lessons, not in a didactic form, but insinuated in the natural course of a graceful and charming story, - we have seldom seen' Faith and Patience' paralleled, never surpassed, in juvenile literature. Its morality is that of the Sermon on the Mount, and it is redolent throughout of the spirit of the Divine Teacher." - North American Review.' This charming Library, for variety and adaptation to meet the wants of the various ages of a family group, is certainly unsurpassed." - Christian Register. " These six volumes, enclosed in their neat box, form a very rich entertainment for children of various ages, beginning with the youngest. We commend the series to parents." - Monthly Religious Magazine. " Very pretty, useful, and amusing, admirably adapted to instruction and amusement." - Boston Post. " We can recommend these books as particularly adapted to the amusement and instruction of children. The plots of the stories are unexceptionable, and they are made the vehicle of imparting valuable information on general subjects. "' Faith and Patience' is a capital story, and no child can read it through without receiving with the pleasure a great many interesting facts." - Greenfield Gaz.' We cordially recommend them." - Sunday School Advocate. WALKER, WISE, AND COMPANY, PUBLISHERS AND BOOKSELLERS, 245 Washington St., Boston.