Luke · Chapter 13

V. 1. The Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices-Some of the followers of Judas Gaulonites. They absolutely refused to own the Roman authority. Pilate surrounded and slew them, while they were worshipping in the temple, at a public feast.

Verse 1. At that season] At what time this happened is not easy to determine; but it appears that it was now a piece of news which was told to Christ and his disciples for the first time.

Whose blood Pilate had mingled] This piece of history is not recorded (as far as I can find) by Josephus: however, he states that the Galileans were the most seditious people in the land: they belonged properly to Herod’s jurisdiction; but, as they kept the great feasts at Jerusalem, they probably, by their tumultuous behaviour at some one of them, gave Pilate, who was a mortal enemy to Herod, a pretext to fall upon and slay many of them; and thus, perhaps, sacrifice the people to the resentment he had against the prince. Archelaus is represented by Josephus as sending his soldiers into the temple, and slaying 3000 men while they were employed in offering sacrifices. Josephus, War, b. ii. c. 1, s. 3, and ii. c. 5. Some suppose that this refers to the followers of Judas Gaulonites, (see Acts 5:37,) who would not acknowledge the Roman government, a number of whom Pilate. surrounded and slew, while they were sacrificing in the temple. See Josephus, Antiq. lib. 18: but this is not very certain.

Verses 1-3. There were present at that season — When Christ spake the foregoing words; some that told him of the Galileans — The followers of Judas Gaulonites, whose story Josephus has given us at large, Antiq., 18:1. It appears he was the head of a sect who asserted God to be their only sovereign, and were so utterly averse to a submission to the Roman power, that they accounted it unlawful to pay tribute unto Cesar, and would rather endure the greatest torments than give any man the title of lord. Perhaps this story of the Galileans might now be mentioned to Christ with a design of leading him into a snare, whether he should justify or condemn the persons that were slain. Be this as it may, the scope and connection of the passage, as well as Christ’s answer, show, that the persons who mentioned the case of these Galileans thought God had permitted them to be massacred at their devotions for some extraordinary wickedness; thus insinuating a very wrong idea of divine providence. And Jesus said, Suppose ye, &c. — Christ “not only condemned the notion now mentioned, but told them expressly that these Galileans were not to be reckoned greater sinners than others, because they had been overtaken by so severe a calamity, and exhorted them, instead of forming harsh judgments of others from such examples of sufferings, to improve them as inducements unto themselves to repent, assuring them that if they did not they should all likewise perish;” or, perish in a similar manner, as the word wsautwv implies. And, as a general and national repentance did not take place, Christ’s threatening was most awfully verified. For there was a remarkable resemblance between the fate of these Galileans, and that of the main body of the Jewish nation; the flower of which was slain at Jerusalem by the Roman sword, or by the falling of walls and towers, while they were assembled at one of their great festivals: and many thousands of them perished in the temple itself, and, as their own historian relates, were literally buried under its ruins. Many, who came from far to attend the passover, fell before their sacrifices; and when Titus took the city a multitude of dead bodies lay round the altar.

Verse 1. There were some present at that season of the passover, that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Though this might be blood for blood, yet it was a profane action, and contrary to all laws which regard the sanctity of temples. This occurrence is related at large by Josephus, in his Antiquities of the Jews, book 18. chap. 5. Judas the Gaulonite revolted against the Romans, and refused to call any man lord. He and his people were destroyed.

1. Were present—Had come with the intelligence from the metropolis. Jesus is now in eastern Judea. At that season—So as to retail the news in the hearing of Jesus at the close of his discourse. Told him—The Greek word implies that they announced it to him as news. Galileans—These importers of news from Jerusalem doubtless know that our Lord is himself a Galilean. He is “Jesus, the prophet of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:11.) If they heard his discourse, they might have recognized the Galilean traits of articulation. His twelve, whom he addressed alternately with the people, are all Galileans; and their dialect, whenever they might chance to utter anything, (as Peter did, verse 41,) would bewray them. Hence we see a reason why these news-men may have been ready to furnish Jesus a bad piece of information about his fellow Galileans. In the second place, there seems very fair reason to believe, with the best commentators, that these slaughtered Galileans were the fanatic partizans of Judas the Galilean or Gaulonite. This man was an ultra Jew, who took ground against paying tribute to any foreign power, as treason against Jehovah. Pilate would be very well disposed to improve the opportunity to aim a deadly blow at such a set of men upon very slight pretexts. These informants, be it farther noted, are on the side of Pilate, holding that the sinners in the case are undoubtedly the Galileans. They see, therefore, chance to taunt Jesus, as if implicating him in the fanaticism and treason of the Gaulonite’s followers, and warning him of a similar danger. Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices—From the tower of Antonia, which we have elsewhere described (see note on Matthew 21:12 and 26:5,) as having been so built as to command the temple, for the very purpose of instantly repressing all tumults and seditions, for which its courts rendered it a favourite and advantageous place, Pilate was able to pour a destructive volley upon the occupants of any part. These Galileans were in the court of the temple, near the great altar; and probably the process of slaying their sacrificial victims was going on. The arrowy shower of death came, and the blood of the sacrificers and of their sacrifices blended in the same stream! It was an awful omen! On the victim lies the weight of the worshipper’s sin; but here his own blood is made to mingle with the sin-atoning blood of the slain beast!

1 Christ preacheth repentance upon the punishment of the Galileans, and others. 6 The fruitless fig tree may not stand. 11 He healeth the crooked woman: 18 showeth the powerful working of the word in the hearts of his chosen, by the parable of the grain of mustard seed, and of leaven: 24 exhorteth to enter in at the strait gate, 31 and reproveth Herod and Jerusalem. CHAPTER 13. Verse 1. The Galileans whose blood, &c. — As this incident is not mentioned by Josephus, it is impossible to ascertain the occasion of this slaughter. Pilate was a severe and cruel governor, ameiliktov, as Philo describes him, and ready to take severe and indiscriminate revenge when there was any approach to tumult. Such turbulent commotions did in fact frequently take place at the great feasts at Jerusalem, and especially the passovers; and it is not unlikely that in one of these Pilate fell upon a body of Galileans. The place of the slaughter must have been Jerusalem, and in the precincts of the temple; because their blood is said to have been mingled with their sacrifices, that is, with the blood of their sacrifices. The conclusion to which the Jews probably had come was, that on account of this calamity being permitted to overtake them, they were in a peculiar sense sinners, sinners above others. They did not infer this from their tumultuous disposition; for to oppose the Roman authority was, in the estimation of the Jews, a virtue rather than a crime: but, as we may collect from the other example of the falling of the tower of Siloam, adduced by our Lord, it was the received notion that great calamities marked out the sufferers as special objects of the Divine displeasure, and therefore as eminently sinners. Our Lord corrects this uncharitable and pernicious error. He does not deny that the suffering parties were sinners, or that all calamity is generally to be considered the punishment of sin; but he discountenances the notion that they were sinners more than other inhabitants of Jerusalem, and that external sufferings are to be taken as the comparative measure of moral guilt; and further, on these circumstances he grounds the solemn warning, Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. This threat has in it the nature of a prediction; for great numbers of impenitent Jews, at the siege of Jerusalem, perished in a similar manner. The temple was often the seat of conflict, and the sacred places were drenched with the blood of the priests, and those who had come to offer sacrifices; while the fall of the tower of Siloam, one of the towers of the city walls, near the fountain of Siloam, upon the eighteen victims, might be considered as emblematical of the fall of those towers and walls of their city, amid the ruins of which the Jews perished. The parable which follows urges still farther the necessity of immediate repentance.

Verses 1-3. There were present at that season — When Christ spake the foregoing words; some that told him of the Galileans — The followers of Judas Gaulonites, whose story Josephus has given us at large, Antiq., 18:1. It appears he was the head of a sect who asserted God to be their only sovereign, and were so utterly averse to a submission to the Roman power, that they accounted it unlawful to pay tribute unto Cesar, and would rather endure the greatest torments than give any man the title of lord. Perhaps this story of the Galileans might now be mentioned to Christ with a design of leading him into a snare, whether he should justify or condemn the persons that were slain. Be this as it may, the scope and connection of the passage, as well as Christ’s answer, show, that the persons who mentioned the case of these Galileans thought God had permitted them to be massacred at their devotions for some extraordinary wickedness; thus insinuating a very wrong idea of divine providence. And Jesus said, Suppose ye, &c. — Christ “not only condemned the notion now mentioned, but told them expressly that these Galileans were not to be reckoned greater sinners than others, because they had been overtaken by so severe a calamity, and exhorted them, instead of forming harsh judgments of others from such examples of sufferings, to improve them as inducements unto themselves to repent, assuring them that if they did not they should all likewise perish;” or, perish in a similar manner, as the word wsautwv implies. And, as a general and national repentance did not take place, Christ’s threatening was most awfully verified. For there was a remarkable resemblance between the fate of these Galileans, and that of the main body of the Jewish nation; the flower of which was slain at Jerusalem by the Roman sword, or by the falling of walls and towers, while they were assembled at one of their great festivals: and many thousands of them perished in the temple itself, and, as their own historian relates, were literally buried under its ruins. Many, who came from far to attend the passover, fell before their sacrifices; and when Titus took the city a multitude of dead bodies lay round the altar.

2. Jesus answering—The two parts of Jesus’s answer at once neutralize their sneer and rebuke the false theology of these informants. These Galileans were not proved by their sad fate to be worse than other Galileans, or than people in Jerusalem, verse 4 For special misfortunes are no proof of special guilt; and the same perdition which these sinners may have incurred will be the fate of all who repent not. Because they suffered these things—Our Lord does not deny that even temporary suffering is a penalty for wickedness; or that all mankind are sufferers because they are sinners. But he denies that the greater sufferings are proof of the greater guilt. Such are the sins of all that they might suffer these same calamities without injustice being done them.

V. 3. Ye shall all likewise perish-All ye of Galilee and of Jerusalem shall perish in the very same manner. So the Greek word implies. And so they did. There was a remarkable resemblance between the fate of these Galileans and of the main body of the Jewish nation; the flower of which was slain at Jerusalem by the Roman sword, while they were assembled at one of their great festivals. And many thousands of them perished in the temple itself, and were literally buried under its ruins.

Verses 1-3. There were present at that season — When Christ spake the foregoing words; some that told him of the Galileans — The followers of Judas Gaulonites, whose story Josephus has given us at large, Antiq., 18:1. It appears he was the head of a sect who asserted God to be their only sovereign, and were so utterly averse to a submission to the Roman power, that they accounted it unlawful to pay tribute unto Cesar, and would rather endure the greatest torments than give any man the title of lord. Perhaps this story of the Galileans might now be mentioned to Christ with a design of leading him into a snare, whether he should justify or condemn the persons that were slain. Be this as it may, the scope and connection of the passage, as well as Christ’s answer, show, that the persons who mentioned the case of these Galileans thought God had permitted them to be massacred at their devotions for some extraordinary wickedness; thus insinuating a very wrong idea of divine providence. And Jesus said, Suppose ye, &c. — Christ “not only condemned the notion now mentioned, but told them expressly that these Galileans were not to be reckoned greater sinners than others, because they had been overtaken by so severe a calamity, and exhorted them, instead of forming harsh judgments of others from such examples of sufferings, to improve them as inducements unto themselves to repent, assuring them that if they did not they should all likewise perish;” or, perish in a similar manner, as the word wsautwv implies. And, as a general and national repentance did not take place, Christ’s threatening was most awfully verified. For there was a remarkable resemblance between the fate of these Galileans, and that of the main body of the Jewish nation; the flower of which was slain at Jerusalem by the Roman sword, or by the falling of walls and towers, while they were assembled at one of their great festivals: and many thousands of them perished in the temple itself, and, as their own historian relates, were literally buried under its ruins. Many, who came from far to attend the passover, fell before their sacrifices; and when Titus took the city a multitude of dead bodies lay round the altar.

3. Ye—Not Galileans only, but ye Judeans and Jerusalemites. And this neutralizes the sneer at Jesus as a Galilean. Likewise perish—This we hold to be addressed to them primarily as individuals, however true it was of the entire nation as such. The likewise does not imply that they will die by a shot from Pilate, or a fall of the tower, or by any violent death; but by death under the wrath of God, which is but the gateway to a death eternal. It was forty years later than the utterance of these words that Jerusalem was destroyed; and but very few then at years of accountability could have suffered its terrible woes. But it is a somewhat singular fact that Jewish writers say that the Emperor Trajan, in the final war with the Jews, mingled the blood of the Jews with their sacrifices!

Verse 4. The tower in Siloam] This tower was probably built over one of the porticoes near the pool, which is mentioned John 9:7. See also Nehemiah 3:15.

Debtors, ofeiletai, a Jewish phrase for sinners. Persons professing to be under the law are bound by the law to be obedient to all its precepts; those who obey not are reckoned debtors to the law, or rather to that Divine justice from which the law came. A different word is used when speaking of the Galileans: they are termed amartwloi, as this word is often used to signify heathens; see Clarke’s notes on “Luke 7:37”; it is probably used here in nearly a similar sense. “Do ye who live in Jerusalem, and who consider your selves peculiarly attached to the law, and under the strongest obligations to obey it-do ye think that those Galileans were more heathenish than the rest of the Galileans, because they suffered such things? No. It was not on this account that they perished: both these cases exhibit a specimen of the manner in which ye shall all perish, if ye do not speedily repent, and turn to God.”

Verse 4. Or those eighteen, &c. — The case here referred to seems to have occurred lately, and may seem, in some respects, more to the purpose than the former, as there was no human interposition attending the death of these men; so that their destruction appeared to be more immediately from Providence than that of the Galileans, whom Pilate had massacred: on whom the tower in Siloam fell — From the fountain of Siloam, which was without the walls of Jerusalem, a little stream flowed into the city, (Isaiah 8:6,) which was received in a kind of basin, thought by some to be the same with the pool of Bethesda. Being near the temple, it is no wonder that many frequented it for purification. And the calamity here spoken of, occasioned by the fall of a neighbouring tower, had probably happened at some late feast; and some of Christ’s hearers might then have been at Jerusalem.

4. Or those eighteen—A more striking instance, as being more purely providential. Of course history makes no mention of so ordinary an accident as the fall of a tower. The tower of Siloam—Siloam is a fountain south-east of Jerusalem, for a full account of which see John 9:7. This tower seems to have stood near the fountain, or perhaps in the locality which received its name from the fountain. Dwelt in Jerusalem—And this brings it home to those informants themselves. Not the poor Galileans alone, but the proud inhabitants of the mountain-girt capital even, must repent or perish.

The Parable of the Fig tree, 6-9.

Our Lord now completes both the discourses, namely, of the myriads and its present appendix, with a parable Which contains the substance of the a whole, and closes with the awful sentence “cut it down.” The whole discourse pointed its warnings first at the individual sinner, and then at the collective body, or the organic or governmental system. And these all unite in one; for the same warnings were applicable to each case. The nation is indeed the corporate person; the destiny of the individual is involved in the fate of the nation.

Verse 5. Ye shall all likewise perish.] ~wsautwv, omoiwv, In a like way, in the same manner. This prediction of our Lord was literally fulfilled. When the city was taken by the Romans, multitudes of the priests, &c., who were going on with their sacrifices, were slain, and their blood mingled with the blood of their victims; and multitudes were buried under the ruins of the walls, houses, and temple. See Josephus, War, b. vi. ch. iv., v., vi.; and see the notes on Matt. 24.

It is very wrong to suppose that those who suffer by the sword, or by natural accidents, are the most culpable before God. An adequate punishment for sin cannot be inflicted in this world: what God does here, in this way, is in general: 1st, through mercy, to alarm others; 2, to show his hatred to sin; 3, to preserve in men’s minds a proper sense of his providence and justice; and 4, to give sinners, in one or two particular instances, a general specimen of the punishment that awaits all the perseveringly impenitent.

Ver. 5. Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish; as Judas and his people did, who led the Jews into a revolt against the Romans. It is not doubted but the men whom Pilate massacred were of that faction. Now, our Saviour directed the relators of this transaction to repentance, the only sure way to avert impending judgments. So Ahab, Hezekiah, and Nineveh obtained mercy. And had Jerusalem embraced the truth, and been reformed of its wickedness, its inhabitants would not have been infatuated to destruction. Whenever we hear of a visitation, or of an accident which has fallen on others, let us always fly for shelter to the Lord, and not judge those who have suffered from his rod. Acts 5:37.

1-10. The assembled Myriads break up their congregation at the solemn close of the discourse of the last chapter; but a lesser circle remains round our Lord, with whom a colloquy now ensues. Some persons, who, perhaps, have arrived lately from Jerusalem, narrate a cruel slaughter which has just been committed there by Pilate. This draws from Jesus a solemn admonition, which may be considered as an appendix or afterpiece to the main discourse to the Myriads just closed.

V. 6. A man had a fig tree-Either we may understand God the Father by him that had the vineyard, and Christ by him that kept it: or Christ himself is he that hath it, and his ministers they that keep it. Psalm 80:8. &c.

Verse 6. A certain man] Many meanings are given to this parable, and divines may abound in them; the sense which our Lord designed to convey by it appears to be the following:-

1. A person, tiv, God Almighty. 2. Had a fig tree, the Jewish Church. 3. Planted in his vineyard-established in the land of Judea. 4. He came seeking fruit-he required that the Jewish people should walk in righteousness, in proportion to the spiritual culture he bestowed on them.

5. The vine-dresser-the Lord Jesus, for God hath committed all judgment to the Son, John 5:22. 6. Cut it down-let the Roman sword be unsheathed against it. 7. Let it alone-Christ is represented as intercessor for sinners, for whose sake the day of their probation is often lengthened; during which time he is constantly employed in doing every thing that has a tendency to promote their salvation. 8. Thou shalt cut it down-a time will come, that those who have not turned at God’s invitations and reproofs shall be cut off, and numbered with the transgressors.

Verses 6, 7. And he spake also this parable — With a view to awaken them more effectually to a deep and serious repentance: A certain man had a fig-tree in his vineyard — And because it was planted in good soil, he came and sought fruit thereon — Having good reason to expect it. Observe, he did not send, but came himself, which manifested his great desire to find fruit. Thus God came in the person of his Son, to his vineyard, the Jewish Church, Isaiah 5:1-7, seeking the fruits of righteousness. Observe, reader, the God of heaven requires and expects fruit from those that have a place in his vineyard, that are favoured with his word and ordinances, and the various means of edification and salvation. The leaves of an outward profession will not satisfy him; the crying Lord, Lord; nor will the blossoms of beginning well and promising fair suffice: there must be fruit; fruits meet for repentance, and proper to manifest that the gospel is not heard, and the ordinances of God administered and attended, in vain. And found none — Little or no fruit did the Lord Jesus find produced by the Jewish people when he came to visit them. There was profession, indeed, in abundance, but little fruit. And it is an awful consideration still how many enjoy the privileges of the gospel, and yet bear no fruit to God’s glory; neither ceasing to do evil, nor learning to do well, perhaps in almost any one instance; but going on in their old course of sin and vanity, unchanged, unreformed, both in principle and practice. Then said he to the dresser of his vineyard — To the vine-dresser, as Dr. Campbell renders it. We may either understand God the Father by him that had the vineyard, and Christ by him that kept and dressed it; or Christ himself is he that hath it, and his ministers are the keepers and dressers of it. Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree — The length of time it has been barren, while it has been favoured with all advantages for being fruitful, shows that it is good for nothing. Cut it down — Root it out, and throw it away; why cumbereth it the ground? — That is, not only beareth no fruit, but taketh up the ground of another tree that would bear some. This is spoken either by God the Father to Christ as the dresser of the vineyard, to whom all judgment is committed, or by him to the ministers of his gospel, who are in his name to declare this doom. “Many have supposed that the three years here mentioned allude to the time of Christ’s personal ministry, which, as most have computed the chronology of the New Testament, had now lasted three years; but it is certain the patience of God bore with them much longer than another year. Grotius, therefore, thinks it more probable it may refer to the nature of a fig-tree, which, if it bear at all, generally begins to do it within three years after it is planted; but might certainly be looked on as barren, if it had disappointed the expectation of the planter three years together, after the time in which it should have yielded fruit.” — Doddridge. Or, perhaps, the years in this parable may denote the whole duration of the Jewish dispensation. God came seeking fruit of the Jews in one space of time before the Babylonish captivity; in another, after their restoration; and in another again, in and by the preaching of John the Baptist, and of Christ himself. “But though this parable was originally meant of the Jews, it may be applied to unfruitful professors of religion in every age; for it exhibits a rule observed in the divine administration which should strike terror into all who enjoy spiritual privileges without improving them. Every man is allowed a certain time of trial, during which he enjoys the means and helps necessary to piety. If he continues ignorant of God’s visitation, despises the riches of the divine mercy, and goes on obstinately in sin, these advantages are commonly taken away from him, his day of grace ends, the utmost term of God’s patience is passed for ever, the Divine Spirit, being grieved, is provoked to depart, and the man is delivered over to a hardened heart, after which his repentance and salvation become impossible.” — Macknight.

Ver. 6. A certain man had a figtree planted in his vineyard. A happy parable, luminous and striking in its figures. We learn from it that Israel perished for barrenness, having rejected and crucified the Lord of glory. We may also learn from it a series of most instructive lessons concerning the christian church.

(1) Every hearer of the gospel is compared to a tree, of whom the Lord expects fruit according to the culture bestowed on his soul.

(2) There are many barren souls in the pale of the church. Our sins are many, and our tears few. We deliver many warnings from the pulpit, but conversions seldom reward our toil. The crowd are devoted to the pleasures and cares of life, while the gleanings only seem left for the Lord.

(3) We find that God has long patience with barren souls. These three years I come seeking fruit, and find none. In every year, and in every change of circumstances, the Lord addresses the sinner with new arguments and motives to repentance, yet the sinner remains in barrenness still.

(4) The justice of God is impatient to cut down the barren soul, it urges a thousand cogent arguments for his immediate punishment. Why cumbereth he the ground? Why should he be spared; he is neither awed by chastisement, nor softened by love? Why should he enjoy the bounties of providence? He will daily turn them to occasions of sin. Why should he be indulged with wife and children? He will assuredly poison them by his principles, and corrupt them by his example. Therefore cut him down, for indulgence is but a waste of mercy.

(5) Wicked men are spared solely through the intercession of Christ. He prays that they may be spared, till he shall employ new and additional means for their conversion. But if those means shall fail also, the Lord’s longsuffering mercy as well as justice will conspire to exscind the barren soul. Hear this, oh careless and negligent hearer. The axe is laid already at the root, while the woodman takes off his clothes to lay against it the mighty blows of a vindictive arm.

6. A certain man—The man is Jehovah; the fig-tree is the Jew, national or personal; the vine-dresser is the Redeemer. This is a parable in words, as the cursing of the barren fig-tree was the same parable in action. See note on Matthew 21:18-23. He came—This He is the same as the owner in the parable of the wicked husbandman, namely, God the Father Almighty. Sought fruit—Fruit is a very common and very expressive image of men’s moral actions; springing as both do from the natural vigor of the being by which they are produced. But they differ in one important point, that the fruit is a necessary inevitable product, whereas a good or evil deed is free and responsible. Found none—In the beautiful passage of Isaiah 5:1, where the same sad truths are illustrated under the image of a vineyard, the planter not merely finds no true fruit, but he finds the opposite, namely, an evil product. There was not only omission of good, but commission of bad.

7. Behold these three years—The fig produces within this period after planting. This is applied by some to represent the period of the Lord’s ministry. If so the nation was allowed to survive near forty years after the voice of the intercessor had surrendered and ceased on earth. I come—This is a verb of continuity. During the whole three years again and again have I been coming. The visits of God are secret and unrecognized, though they be ever recurring. Our fruitfulness, our barrenness, our production of the wild poison fruit, all take place beneath his watchful but patient eye. Seeking fruit—The master seeks, and seeks from season to season. There may be no fruit; there may be leaves; there may be the leafless branch; in either case he departs in sorrowful disappointment. Cumbereth the ground—Renders the ground barren, absorbing the virtue of the soil only to abuse it. For the sinner can never sin by omission alone. He will commit positive sin, and produce positive evil and destruction.

8. Let it alone—It is the voice of the intercessor. No worth or worthiness in the sinner preserves him. He lives upon sufferance, and dies when the pleading voice becomes silent. Dig about it—Hollow the earth around the root of the tree, and then pour in the manure, keeping the soil loose and mellow to catch the nourishing dews and rains that a cherishing heaven may send. Thus from beneath and from around and from above is the sinner beset with mercies to save his soul from death.

Verses 6, 7. A fig tree planted in his vineyard. — The union of vines and fig trees in the same garden or plot of ground appears to have been quite customary; and one of the most beautiful images of rural tranquillity and prosperity is that of men “sitting under their vines and fig trees,” none making them afraid. Many of their orchards were planted with vines and fig trees in alternate rows.

Came and sought fruit thereon. — The proprietor did this for three years, reckoning, no doubt, from the time when it had become mature or capable of bearing fruit. The fig tree is said not to bring forth edible fruit until it has been planted three years; but if so, there can be no allusion to this, since the planter well enough knew that it would be useless to seek fruit upon it the first or second year, and yet he is represented as having gone three years seeking fruit. — The three years, therefore, mark his care not to condemn a tree to the axe which might become fruitful; for the easterns are peculiarly careful of their fruit trees, on which they depend for food more than we: and also his patience in waiting until the case became hopeless. Why cumbereth it the ground? — More literally, Why does it make the ground idle? that is, to cease from bearing fruit; which it would do, if the same space were occupied by a good tree. Why does it uselessly take up room? Cut it down, and plant another tree. The word is rare in heathen authors, and is used but four times in the LXX. — St. Paul, however, employs it six times; but chiefly in figurative applications. It is from kata and argov, that is, aergov, ceasing from labour.

V. 7. Three years-Christ was then in the third year of his ministry. But it may mean only several years; a certain number being put for an uncertain. Why doth it also cumber the ground?-That is, not only bear no fruit itself, but take up the ground of another tree that would.

Verse 7. Behold these three years] From this circumstance in the parable, it may be reasonably concluded that Jesus had been, at the time of saying this, exercising his ministry for three years past; and, from what is said in Luke 13:8, of letting it alone this year also, it may be concluded likewise that this parable was spoken about a year before Christ’s crucifixion; and, if both these conclusions are reasonable, we may thence infer that this parable was not spoken at the time which appears to be assigned to it, and that the whole time of Christ’s public ministry was about four years. See Bishop Pearce. But it has already been remarked that St. Luke never studies chronological arrangement. See the Preface to this Gospel.

Why cumbereth it the ground?] Or, in other words, Why should the ground be also useless? The tree itself brings forth no fruit; let it be cut down that a more profitable one may be planted in its place. Cut it down. The Codex Bezæ has added here, fere thn axinhn, Bring the axe and cut it down. If this reading be genuine, it is doubtless an allusion to Matthew 3:10: Now the axe lieth at the root of the trees. If the writer has added it on his own authority, he probably referred to the place above mentioned. See the note on the above text.

There is something very like this in the gewponika, or Deuteronomy Revelation Rustica of the ancient Greek writers on agriculture. I refer to cap. 83 of lib. x., p. 773; edit. Niclas, entitled, dendron akarpon karpoforein, How to make a barren tree fruitful. Having girded yourself, and tied up your garments, take a bipen or axe, and with an angry mind approach the tree as if about to cut it down. Then let some person come forward and deprecate the cutting down of the tree, making himself responsible for its future fertility. Then, seem to be appeased, and so spare the tree, and afterwards it will yield fruit in abundance. “Bean straw (manure of that material,) scattered about the roots of the tree, will make it fruitful.” That a similar superstition prevailed among the Asiatics, Michaelis proves from the Cosmographer Ibn Alvardi, who prescribes the following as the mode to render a sterile palm tree fruitful: “The owner, armed with an axe, having an attendant with him, approaches the tree, and says, I must cut this tree down, because it is unfruitful. Let it alone, I beseech thee, says the other, and this year it will bring forth fruit. The owner immediately strikes it thrice with the back of his axe; but the other preventing him says, I beseech thee to spare it, and I will be answerable for its fertility. Then the tree becomes abundantly fruitful.” Does not our Lord refer to such a custom?

Verses 6, 7. And he spake also this parable — With a view to awaken them more effectually to a deep and serious repentance: A certain man had a fig-tree in his vineyard — And because it was planted in good soil, he came and sought fruit thereon — Having good reason to expect it. Observe, he did not send, but came himself, which manifested his great desire to find fruit. Thus God came in the person of his Son, to his vineyard, the Jewish Church, Isaiah 5:1-7, seeking the fruits of righteousness. Observe, reader, the God of heaven requires and expects fruit from those that have a place in his vineyard, that are favoured with his word and ordinances, and the various means of edification and salvation. The leaves of an outward profession will not satisfy him; the crying Lord, Lord; nor will the blossoms of beginning well and promising fair suffice: there must be fruit; fruits meet for repentance, and proper to manifest that the gospel is not heard, and the ordinances of God administered and attended, in vain. And found none — Little or no fruit did the Lord Jesus find produced by the Jewish people when he came to visit them. There was profession, indeed, in abundance, but little fruit. And it is an awful consideration still how many enjoy the privileges of the gospel, and yet bear no fruit to God’s glory; neither ceasing to do evil, nor learning to do well, perhaps in almost any one instance; but going on in their old course of sin and vanity, unchanged, unreformed, both in principle and practice. Then said he to the dresser of his vineyard — To the vine-dresser, as Dr. Campbell renders it. We may either understand God the Father by him that had the vineyard, and Christ by him that kept and dressed it; or Christ himself is he that hath it, and his ministers are the keepers and dressers of it. Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree — The length of time it has been barren, while it has been favoured with all advantages for being fruitful, shows that it is good for nothing. Cut it down — Root it out, and throw it away; why cumbereth it the ground? — That is, not only beareth no fruit, but taketh up the ground of another tree that would bear some. This is spoken either by God the Father to Christ as the dresser of the vineyard, to whom all judgment is committed, or by him to the ministers of his gospel, who are in his name to declare this doom. “Many have supposed that the three years here mentioned allude to the time of Christ’s personal ministry, which, as most have computed the chronology of the New Testament, had now lasted three years; but it is certain the patience of God bore with them much longer than another year. Grotius, therefore, thinks it more probable it may refer to the nature of a fig-tree, which, if it bear at all, generally begins to do it within three years after it is planted; but might certainly be looked on as barren, if it had disappointed the expectation of the planter three years together, after the time in which it should have yielded fruit.” — Doddridge. Or, perhaps, the years in this parable may denote the whole duration of the Jewish dispensation. God came seeking fruit of the Jews in one space of time before the Babylonish captivity; in another, after their restoration; and in another again, in and by the preaching of John the Baptist, and of Christ himself. “But though this parable was originally meant of the Jews, it may be applied to unfruitful professors of religion in every age; for it exhibits a rule observed in the divine administration which should strike terror into all who enjoy spiritual privileges without improving them. Every man is allowed a certain time of trial, during which he enjoys the means and helps necessary to piety. If he continues ignorant of God’s visitation, despises the riches of the divine mercy, and goes on obstinately in sin, these advantages are commonly taken away from him, his day of grace ends, the utmost term of God’s patience is passed for ever, the Divine Spirit, being grieved, is provoked to depart, and the man is delivered over to a hardened heart, after which his repentance and salvation become impossible.” — Macknight.

1-10. The assembled Myriads break up their congregation at the solemn close of the discourse of the last chapter; but a lesser circle remains round our Lord, with whom a colloquy now ensues. Some persons, who, perhaps, have arrived lately from Jerusalem, narrate a cruel slaughter which has just been committed there by Pilate. This draws from Jesus a solemn admonition, which may be considered as an appendix or afterpiece to the main discourse to the Myriads just closed.

Verses 6, 7. A fig tree planted in his vineyard. — The union of vines and fig trees in the same garden or plot of ground appears to have been quite customary; and one of the most beautiful images of rural tranquillity and prosperity is that of men “sitting under their vines and fig trees,” none making them afraid. Many of their orchards were planted with vines and fig trees in alternate rows.

Came and sought fruit thereon. — The proprietor did this for three years, reckoning, no doubt, from the time when it had become mature or capable of bearing fruit. The fig tree is said not to bring forth edible fruit until it has been planted three years; but if so, there can be no allusion to this, since the planter well enough knew that it would be useless to seek fruit upon it the first or second year, and yet he is represented as having gone three years seeking fruit. — The three years, therefore, mark his care not to condemn a tree to the axe which might become fruitful; for the easterns are peculiarly careful of their fruit trees, on which they depend for food more than we: and also his patience in waiting until the case became hopeless. Why cumbereth it the ground? — More literally, Why does it make the ground idle? that is, to cease from bearing fruit; which it would do, if the same space were occupied by a good tree. Why does it uselessly take up room? Cut it down, and plant another tree. The word is rare in heathen authors, and is used but four times in the LXX. — St. Paul, however, employs it six times; but chiefly in figurative applications. It is from kata and argov, that is, aergov, ceasing from labour.

Verses 8, 9. And he said, Let it alone this year also — Here we have the vine-dresser’s intercession for the barren fig-tree. Thus Christ the great Intercessor interceded for the Jewish Church and people, and thus, as he ever liveth, he continues to intercede for all unfruitful professors, and other sinners. And all faithful ministers of the gospel are intercessors for their flocks. They that dress the vineyard intercede for it, and pray for those to whom they preach. Observe, reader, the vine-dresser does not pray that the barren tree might never be cut down, but that it might not be cut down immediately; that a little further space might be granted to try whether it would bear fruit. Till I shall dig about it, &c. — Here the vine-dresser promises to improve this reprieve, if it be granted, for our prayers must always be seconded by our endeavours. When we request God’s grace, it must be with an humble resolution to do our duty, otherwise we mock God, and show that we do not rightly value the mercy we pray for. He engages to dig about the tree and dung it: for unfruitful Christians must be awakened by the terrors of the law, which, as it were, break up the ground, and then encouraged by the promises of the gospel, which may be compared to the application of warming and fattening manure to a tree: both methods must be tried, the one preparing for the other, and both are found by experience to be scarce sufficient. If it bear fruit, well — There being evidently an ellipsis in the original here, (for there is nothing answering to the word well,) Mr. Wesley and Dr. Campbell render the verse, Perhaps it will bear fruit; but if not, thou mayest afterward cut it down — Though God bear long, he will not bear always with unfruitful professors: his patience, if abused, will have an end, and will give way to that wrath which will have no end. And the longer he hath waited, and the more cost, so to speak, he has been at with sinners, the greater will be their destruction when it comes. And those who now intercede for them, and take pains with them, if they persist in their unfruitfulness, will be even content to see them cut down, and will have no more to plead in their behalf. Their best friends will acquiesce in, nay, will approve of, and applaud the righteous judgment of God, in the day of the manifestation of it; Revelation 15:3, 4. Thus, in this parable, primarily intended, as we have observed, to be applied to the Jews, our Lord represented to that people God’s displeasure against them for having neglected to improve, or, to speak more properly, for having abused the many advantages and opportunities vouchsafed to them, as planted in the vineyard of his church; and in an awful manner intimated, that though they had hitherto, at his intercession, been spared, and a further time of trial afforded them; yet, if they continued unfruitful under the additional cultivation they were shortly to receive, on the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the proposal of the gospel, in its full extent and evidence; that is, under the last and best means with which they should yet be favoured, no more pains would be taken with them, nor had they any thing to expect but speedy, irresistible, and irrecoverable ruin.

1-10. The assembled Myriads break up their congregation at the solemn close of the discourse of the last chapter; but a lesser circle remains round our Lord, with whom a colloquy now ensues. Some persons, who, perhaps, have arrived lately from Jerusalem, narrate a cruel slaughter which has just been committed there by Pilate. This draws from Jesus a solemn admonition, which may be considered as an appendix or afterpiece to the main discourse to the Myriads just closed.

Verse 8. Till I shall dig about it, and dung it. — That these means were not necessary to produce fertility in fig trees, is evident from their growing and bearing fruit often by the waysides; and therefore these words of the vine-dresser denote the application of extraordinary means of conquering the barrenness. If, however, they were used in the cultivation of fig trees in enclosures, as appears from the classical quotations adduced by Wetstein, then the meaning of our Lord is, that it should be dug about and manured for another season; but still the words imply something extraordinary in the care and attention which were to be bestowed, upon it.

Verses 8, 9. And he said, Let it alone this year also — Here we have the vine-dresser’s intercession for the barren fig-tree. Thus Christ the great Intercessor interceded for the Jewish Church and people, and thus, as he ever liveth, he continues to intercede for all unfruitful professors, and other sinners. And all faithful ministers of the gospel are intercessors for their flocks. They that dress the vineyard intercede for it, and pray for those to whom they preach. Observe, reader, the vine-dresser does not pray that the barren tree might never be cut down, but that it might not be cut down immediately; that a little further space might be granted to try whether it would bear fruit. Till I shall dig about it, &c. — Here the vine-dresser promises to improve this reprieve, if it be granted, for our prayers must always be seconded by our endeavours. When we request God’s grace, it must be with an humble resolution to do our duty, otherwise we mock God, and show that we do not rightly value the mercy we pray for. He engages to dig about the tree and dung it: for unfruitful Christians must be awakened by the terrors of the law, which, as it were, break up the ground, and then encouraged by the promises of the gospel, which may be compared to the application of warming and fattening manure to a tree: both methods must be tried, the one preparing for the other, and both are found by experience to be scarce sufficient. If it bear fruit, well — There being evidently an ellipsis in the original here, (for there is nothing answering to the word well,) Mr. Wesley and Dr. Campbell render the verse, Perhaps it will bear fruit; but if not, thou mayest afterward cut it down — Though God bear long, he will not bear always with unfruitful professors: his patience, if abused, will have an end, and will give way to that wrath which will have no end. And the longer he hath waited, and the more cost, so to speak, he has been at with sinners, the greater will be their destruction when it comes. And those who now intercede for them, and take pains with them, if they persist in their unfruitfulness, will be even content to see them cut down, and will have no more to plead in their behalf. Their best friends will acquiesce in, nay, will approve of, and applaud the righteous judgment of God, in the day of the manifestation of it; Revelation 15:3, 4. Thus, in this parable, primarily intended, as we have observed, to be applied to the Jews, our Lord represented to that people God’s displeasure against them for having neglected to improve, or, to speak more properly, for having abused the many advantages and opportunities vouchsafed to them, as planted in the vineyard of his church; and in an awful manner intimated, that though they had hitherto, at his intercession, been spared, and a further time of trial afforded them; yet, if they continued unfruitful under the additional cultivation they were shortly to receive, on the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the proposal of the gospel, in its full extent and evidence; that is, under the last and best means with which they should yet be favoured, no more pains would be taken with them, nor had they any thing to expect but speedy, irresistible, and irrecoverable ruin.

9. And if… and if not—Upon these two ifs hangs eternity. God may surround and ply him with means; but he leaves it at the last to the man himself to decide, by his own free will, between these two ifs. If God has indeed predetermined the matter, if the barrenness of the tree is the secured consequent of his own previous decree, then the events of the entire parable become a farce, and the lesson becomes an enigma. Cut it down— The echo of the owner’s words in verse 7. Cut it down, says divine justice; and in due time, still more fatally, Cut it down, responds divine mercy. The nation and the man may, like Jerusalem after the crucifixion, survive a few abandoned years after the sentence has gone forth Cut it down But the day of doom without mercy at last arrives, a type and prelude of a more terrible wrath in the world of retribution.

Verse 9. If it bear fruit, well. — The well is supplied by the translators, but it properly and emphatically fills up the sense. Similar ellipses occur in the best Greek writers, as Kypke and Wetstein have shown. Euthymius supplies the ellipse by eu ecei. As to the meaning of the parable, nothing can be more obvious, or more instructive. The fig tree certainly represents the Jewish nation, planted by the hand of God himself, and favoured with special culture in his own vineyard, in order that it might yield the fruits of religion and piety. Nor does there seem any good reason why the three years, in which he is coming to seek fruit, should not have respect to the three years of our Lord’s public ministry, although some would take them for an indefinite time. Certainly, as “where much is given much is required,” the privilege of our Lord’s great and attested ministry laid the nation under additional obligation to bring forth the fruits of righteousness, and these were actually in a proportionate measure required from them. — The three years’ delay before the sentence was pronounced, shows the calm and patient manner in which God governs the world; for he is “slow to anger, though great in power.” The vine-dresser represents our great Mediator. By his intercessions a longer space was obtained for the Jewish nation, and multiplied means of salvation by the effusions of the Spirit and the preaching of the apostles; so the final execution of the sentence could no more be questioned on the ground either of justice or mercy, than the cutting down of a fig tree, after a delay of four years from the period of maturity, and the use of all means to render it fruitful. In this parable the Jews were solemnly warned of the necessity of instant repentance; and both the long suffering and righteousness of God in his dealings with them were illustrated. If this be the natural and obvious primary sense of the parable, the pious use which has often been made of it in sermons to rouse both nations and individuals to a sense of the necessity of IMMEDIATE REPENTANCE, may be fully justified against the cavils of some commentators. The PRINCIPLES involved in the parable are doubtless those on which almighty God acts in the case of all, who, like the Jews, are favoured with peculiar religious advantages. Toward them he will exercise “long suffering;” all will find a pleading, pitying Intercessor; but mercy has its limit, mediation its boundary; and persevering unfruitfulness will bring “the axe to the root of the tree.” These things were not spoken to the Jews only, but to us.

Verses 10-13. He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath — Our Lord Jesus spent his sabbaths in the synagogues, and we should make conscience of doing so; that is, of attending places of worship, as we have opportunity, and not think that we can spend our sabbaths as well at home, in praying and reading good books; for public worship is a divine institution, to which we must bear our testimony, though the congregation may consist but of two or three. And generally, when Jesus was in the synagogues, hn didaskwn, he was teaching there, knowing that the people were perishing for lack of instruction. On this occasion, to confirm the doctrine which he preached, and recommend it as important, faithful, and worthy of all acceptation, he wrought a signal miracle of mercy. For, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity — Asqeneiav, of weakness; eighteen years — During which she had been bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself — Or stand straight. The evil spirit, which possessed her, afflicted her in this manner. To many doubtless, it appeared a natural distemper. Would not a modern physician have termed it a nervous case? That by a spirit of infirmity we are to understand an infirmity produced by an evil spirit, we learn from our Lord’s own explanation of the phrase, verse 16, where he says, Satan had bound this woman eighteen years. When Jesus saw her — Knowing perfectly all the sad circumstances of her affliction, and the difficulty with which she was now come to attend the solemnity of divine worship there; he called her to him — It does not appear that she had made any application to him, or had any expectation of relief from him; but, though she did not call, he answered. She came to him to be taught, and to receive spiritual benefit, and he gave her deliverance from her bodily infirmity. Thus, those whose first and principal care is for their souls, do best promote the true interests of their bodies likewise; because they seek the kingdom of God, other things are added to them. He said, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity — Thou hast long been labouring under it, but thou art now at length released from it. Let not those despair, therefore, whose disease has been of long continuance, and is inveterate. God can relieve them, and has he not encouraged them to apply to him, and wait for him? Reader, remember, he is a present help, a help at hand in trouble, and hath said, Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee; and thou shalt glorify me. So this woman did; immediately upon Christ’s laying his hands on her, and healing her, she glorified God — Praised him before the whole assembly, for the signal and unexpected favour, declaring, doubtless, how long her affliction had continued, and how desperate and incurable it had been thought to be.

§ 88.—THE WOMAN LOOSED FROM THE SPIRIT OF INFIRMITY OF EIGHTEEN YEARS, 10-21.

10. Teaching in one of the synagogues—The last great discourse was in the open air. But the synagogue on the Sabbath is still open to our Lord’s preaching in south-eastern Palestine; although the ruler of the synagogue would, if he dare, exclude him.

V. 11. She was bowed together, and utterly unable to lift up herself-The evil spirit which possessed her afflicted her in this manner. To many doubtless it appeared a natural distemper. Would not a modern physician have termed it a nervous case?

Verse 11. A woman which had a spirit of infirmity] Relative to this subject three things may be considered:-

I. The woman’s infirmity.

II. Her cure. And

III. The conduct of the ruler of the synagogue on the occasion. I. The woman’s infirmity.

1. What was its origin? SIN. Had this never entered into the world, there had not been either pain, distortion, or death.

2. Who was the agent in it? Satan; Luke 13:16. God has often permitted demons to act on and in the bodies of men and women; and it is not improbable that the principal part of unaccountable and inexplicable disorders still come from the same source.

3. What was the nature of this infirmity? She was bowed together, bent down to the earth, a situation equally painful and humiliating; the violence of which she could not support, and the shame of which she could not conceal.

4. What was the duration of this infirmity? Eighteen years. A long time to be under the constant and peculiar influence of the devil. What was the effect of this infirmity? The woman was so bowed together that she could in no case stand straight, or look toward heaven. II. The woman’s cure.

1. Jesus saw her, Luke 13:12. Notwithstanding her infirmity was great, painful, and shameful, she took care to attend the synagogue. While she hoped for help from God, she saw it was her duty to wait in the appointed way, in order to receive it. Jesus saw her distress, and the desire she had both to worship her Maker and to get her health restored, and his eye affected his heart.

2. He called her to him. Her heart and her distress spoke loudly, though her lips were silent; and, as she was thus calling for help, Jesus calls her to himself that she may receive help.

3. Jesus laid his hands on her. The hand of his holiness terrifies, and the hand of his power expels, the demon. Ordinances, however excellent, will be of no avail to a sinner, unless he apprehend Christ in them.

4. Immediately she was made straight, Luke 13:13. This cure was-1. A speedy one-it was done in an instant. 2. It was a perfect one-she was made completely whole. 3. It was a public one-there were many to attest and render it credible. 4. It was a stable and permanent one-she was loosed, for ever loosed from her infirmity. 5. Her soul partook of the good done to her body-she glorified God. As she knew before that it was Satan who had bound her, she knew also that it was God only that could loose her; and now, feeling that she is loosed, she gives God that honour which is due to his name.

III. The conduct of the ruler of the synagogue on the occasion.

1. He answered with indignation, Luke 13:14. It would seem as if the demon who had left the woman’s body had got into his heart. It is not an infrequent case to find a person filled with rage and madness, while beholding the effects of Christ’s power upon others. Perhaps, like this ruler, he pretends zeal and concern for the honour of religion: “These preachings, prayer meetings, convictions, conversions, &c., are not carried on in his way, and therefore they cannot be of God.” Let such take care, lest, while denying the operation of God’s hand, they be given up to demonic influence.

2. He endeavours to prevent others from receiving the kind help of the blessed Jesus-He said unto the people, &c., Luke 13:14. Men of this character who have extensive influence over the poor, &c., do immense harm: they often hinder them from hearing that word which is able to save their souls. But for this also they must stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Reader, hast thou ever acted in this way?

3. Jesus retorts his condemnation with peculiar force; Luke 13:15, 16. Thou hypocrite to pretend zeal for God’s glory, when it is only the workings of thy malicious, unfeeling, and uncharitable heart. Wouldst thou not even take thy ass to water upon the Sabbath day? And wouldst thou deprive a daughter of Abraham (one of thy own nation and religion) of the mercy and goodness of God upon the Sabbath? Was not the Sabbath instituted for the benefit of man?

4. His adversaries were ashamed, Luke 13:17. The mask of their hypocrisy, the only covering they had, is taken away; and now they are exposed to the just censure of that multitude whom they deceived, and from whom they expected continual applause.

5. His indignation and uncharitable censure, not only turn to his own confusion, but are made the instruments of the edification of the multitude-they rejoiced at all the glorious things which he did. Thus, O Lord! the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder thereof thou shalt restrain.

A preacher will know how to apply this subject to general edification.

Verses 10-13. He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath — Our Lord Jesus spent his sabbaths in the synagogues, and we should make conscience of doing so; that is, of attending places of worship, as we have opportunity, and not think that we can spend our sabbaths as well at home, in praying and reading good books; for public worship is a divine institution, to which we must bear our testimony, though the congregation may consist but of two or three. And generally, when Jesus was in the synagogues, hn didaskwn, he was teaching there, knowing that the people were perishing for lack of instruction. On this occasion, to confirm the doctrine which he preached, and recommend it as important, faithful, and worthy of all acceptation, he wrought a signal miracle of mercy. For, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity — Asqeneiav, of weakness; eighteen years — During which she had been bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself — Or stand straight. The evil spirit, which possessed her, afflicted her in this manner. To many doubtless, it appeared a natural distemper. Would not a modern physician have termed it a nervous case? That by a spirit of infirmity we are to understand an infirmity produced by an evil spirit, we learn from our Lord’s own explanation of the phrase, verse 16, where he says, Satan had bound this woman eighteen years. When Jesus saw her — Knowing perfectly all the sad circumstances of her affliction, and the difficulty with which she was now come to attend the solemnity of divine worship there; he called her to him — It does not appear that she had made any application to him, or had any expectation of relief from him; but, though she did not call, he answered. She came to him to be taught, and to receive spiritual benefit, and he gave her deliverance from her bodily infirmity. Thus, those whose first and principal care is for their souls, do best promote the true interests of their bodies likewise; because they seek the kingdom of God, other things are added to them. He said, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity — Thou hast long been labouring under it, but thou art now at length released from it. Let not those despair, therefore, whose disease has been of long continuance, and is inveterate. God can relieve them, and has he not encouraged them to apply to him, and wait for him? Reader, remember, he is a present help, a help at hand in trouble, and hath said, Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee; and thou shalt glorify me. So this woman did; immediately upon Christ’s laying his hands on her, and healing her, she glorified God — Praised him before the whole assembly, for the signal and unexpected favour, declaring, doubtless, how long her affliction had continued, and how desperate and incurable it had been thought to be.

Ver. 11. There was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. She had laboured under a severe nervous depression all those years, sorely assaulted by the wicked one; yea, her body as well as her mind was bowed down under it. Oh what charity, what grace dwelt in the Redeemer, that after preaching the word of life he would not leave this poor abject creature a prey to the extreme of mental misery and bodily pain. May the same spirit of compassion rest on all his ministers.

11. Spirit of infirmity—Not perhaps a case of complete possession, but of bodily debility produced under Satanic influence. Stier denies that subjection to Satanic influence is any proof of wickedness, and claims that this woman was afflicted by Satan in spite of her piety, like Job of old. She is found in the synagogue on the Sabbath to hear the words of life; not a word is said of the pardon of her sins; when she is healed she breaks forth in devout songs of praise to God, and she is pronounced by the Saviour, with manifest tenderness, a “daughter of Abraham.” Eighteen years—For that long period Satan had been destroying, but God had been keeping her alive. She had lived and suffered to some purpose; for she had survived to prove, by the very length and obstinacy of her disorder, the true power of Jesus to heal. Bowed together… lift up herself—Her body, if not her soul, bowed to the earth. So does the power of Satan bind the souls of sensual men to the earth. They are unable to look up to the God above them. It is the power of the Redeemer that can loosen their bonds if they apply to him, and give them power to raise themselves up and to use their tongues in praise of his strange mercy.

Verse 11. A spirit of infirmity. — That is, an evil spirit producing infirmity, for this follows from what is stated verse 16, “This woman whom Satan hath bound;” so that the pneuma asqeneiav is not, as some pretend, a Hebrew idiom for the disease. She had been contracted or bent double by Satan; and, at the healing touch of our Lord, she was made straight, stood upright, and glorified God. This is a fine emblem of his raising the souls of men bent to earth, and fixed only on worldly pursuits, inspiring them with heavenly affections, teaching them to look upward, and thus to glorify God. On our Lord’s healing on the Sabbath day, see the notes on Matthew 12:1-12.

Verses 10-13. He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath — Our Lord Jesus spent his sabbaths in the synagogues, and we should make conscience of doing so; that is, of attending places of worship, as we have opportunity, and not think that we can spend our sabbaths as well at home, in praying and reading good books; for public worship is a divine institution, to which we must bear our testimony, though the congregation may consist but of two or three. And generally, when Jesus was in the synagogues, hn didaskwn, he was teaching there, knowing that the people were perishing for lack of instruction. On this occasion, to confirm the doctrine which he preached, and recommend it as important, faithful, and worthy of all acceptation, he wrought a signal miracle of mercy. For, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity — Asqeneiav, of weakness; eighteen years — During which she had been bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself — Or stand straight. The evil spirit, which possessed her, afflicted her in this manner. To many doubtless, it appeared a natural distemper. Would not a modern physician have termed it a nervous case? That by a spirit of infirmity we are to understand an infirmity produced by an evil spirit, we learn from our Lord’s own explanation of the phrase, verse 16, where he says, Satan had bound this woman eighteen years. When Jesus saw her — Knowing perfectly all the sad circumstances of her affliction, and the difficulty with which she was now come to attend the solemnity of divine worship there; he called her to him — It does not appear that she had made any application to him, or had any expectation of relief from him; but, though she did not call, he answered. She came to him to be taught, and to receive spiritual benefit, and he gave her deliverance from her bodily infirmity. Thus, those whose first and principal care is for their souls, do best promote the true interests of their bodies likewise; because they seek the kingdom of God, other things are added to them. He said, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity — Thou hast long been labouring under it, but thou art now at length released from it. Let not those despair, therefore, whose disease has been of long continuance, and is inveterate. God can relieve them, and has he not encouraged them to apply to him, and wait for him? Reader, remember, he is a present help, a help at hand in trouble, and hath said, Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee; and thou shalt glorify me. So this woman did; immediately upon Christ’s laying his hands on her, and healing her, she glorified God — Praised him before the whole assembly, for the signal and unexpected favour, declaring, doubtless, how long her affliction had continued, and how desperate and incurable it had been thought to be.

12. Saw her… called—While Jesus is teaching, the debilitated cripple is descried by him in the women’s part of the synagogue, and she comes forth at his command, apparently so bowed down that she could scarce have seen the face of her benefactor if he stood in the pulpit. Loosed—For Satan’s grasp had fastened and tied her down with her own stiffened sinews and muscles. Jesus lays his hand upon her, through which a heavenly power is poured, and the Satanic spell disappears.

Verses 10-13. He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath — Our Lord Jesus spent his sabbaths in the synagogues, and we should make conscience of doing so; that is, of attending places of worship, as we have opportunity, and not think that we can spend our sabbaths as well at home, in praying and reading good books; for public worship is a divine institution, to which we must bear our testimony, though the congregation may consist but of two or three. And generally, when Jesus was in the synagogues, hn didaskwn, he was teaching there, knowing that the people were perishing for lack of instruction. On this occasion, to confirm the doctrine which he preached, and recommend it as important, faithful, and worthy of all acceptation, he wrought a signal miracle of mercy. For, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity — Asqeneiav, of weakness; eighteen years — During which she had been bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself — Or stand straight. The evil spirit, which possessed her, afflicted her in this manner. To many doubtless, it appeared a natural distemper. Would not a modern physician have termed it a nervous case? That by a spirit of infirmity we are to understand an infirmity produced by an evil spirit, we learn from our Lord’s own explanation of the phrase, verse 16, where he says, Satan had bound this woman eighteen years. When Jesus saw her — Knowing perfectly all the sad circumstances of her affliction, and the difficulty with which she was now come to attend the solemnity of divine worship there; he called her to him — It does not appear that she had made any application to him, or had any expectation of relief from him; but, though she did not call, he answered. She came to him to be taught, and to receive spiritual benefit, and he gave her deliverance from her bodily infirmity. Thus, those whose first and principal care is for their souls, do best promote the true interests of their bodies likewise; because they seek the kingdom of God, other things are added to them. He said, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity — Thou hast long been labouring under it, but thou art now at length released from it. Let not those despair, therefore, whose disease has been of long continuance, and is inveterate. God can relieve them, and has he not encouraged them to apply to him, and wait for him? Reader, remember, he is a present help, a help at hand in trouble, and hath said, Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee; and thou shalt glorify me. So this woman did; immediately upon Christ’s laying his hands on her, and healing her, she glorified God — Praised him before the whole assembly, for the signal and unexpected favour, declaring, doubtless, how long her affliction had continued, and how desperate and incurable it had been thought to be.

13. Straight and glorified God—So that she was doubly straight, namely, in body and in soul.

Verses 14-17. And the ruler of the synagogue — Instead of joining in acknowledgments of the divine power and goodness, displayed in this gracious action of our Lord; answered — The woman’s praises, with indignation — As if Christ had committed some heinous crime in healing this poor woman! He endeavoured, however, to disguise his wrath under the form of piety and zeal; as if he was angry only because the cure was wrought on the sabbath day; saying unto the people, There are six days, &c., in them therefore come and be healed — See how light he makes of the miracles which Christ wrought, as if they were things of course, which might be done by any one any day of the week. One would have thought, that the extraordinary miracle now wrought might have been sufficient to convince him that Jesus was a divinely-commissioned teacher, who spoke and acted by authority from God; and that the circumstance of the miracle’s being done on the sabbath day could not have served to enable him to evade the conviction. But what light can shine so clearly or strongly against which a spirit of bigotry and enmity to Christ, and his gospel, will not serve to shut men’s eyes? Never was such honour done to the synagogue of which he was ruler, as Christ had now done to it; and yet he had indignation at it! The Lord then answered him, Thou hypocrite, &c. — Our Lord gives him this appellation, because the real motive of his speaking was envy, not (as he pretended) pure zeal for the glory of God. Ought not this woman — Ought not any human creature, which is far better than an ox or an ass: much more this daughter of Abraham — Probably in a spiritual as well as a natural sense; to be loosed? Thus the Lord soon put this hypocritical ruler to silence, by placing the action with which he found fault in the light of their own avowed practice. They loosed and led their cattle on the sabbath to water, and thought the mercy of the work justified them in so doing. He, by uttering a word only, had loosed a woman, a reasonable creature, and a daughter of Abraham, that had been bound with an incurable distemper, not for a single day, but so long a time as eighteen years. Without doubt the far greater mercy of this and the other godlike works which Jesus did, justified his performing them on the sabbath day, as the ruler might easily have seen, had he not been wholly blinded by his superstition. When he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed, &c. — The folly even of the men of learning among the Jews, conspicuous in this and some other instances mentioned in the gospels, shows the malignant nature of superstition. It is capable of extinguishing reason, of banishing compassion, and of eradicating the most essential principles and feelings of the human mind.

14. The ruler of the synagogue—Who is so great as your little great man, who imitates, of course, the prejudices and follies of his superiors? This official had not dared, for reasons which may appear, to withhold from Jesus the pulpit or the synagogue for preaching. But he understands that the doctors and lawyers maintain that for Jesus to perform miracles on the Sabbath is a desecration of that holy day. He will therefore protest, in the name of the decalogue, against such work. Answered—It is not clear to what he gave answer; but it was most probably to the woman’s praise to God for her release from Satan. With indignation—Which he meant to have considered a holy indignation, prompted by his soul, for God and Moses. Said unto the people—He has not the courage to face Jesus. He therefore falls foul of the innocent congregation, because he dare berate them, being, as he is, ruler of the synagogue, while they are only the synagogue itself. There are six days—The man quotes, without intending a verbal exactness, a very important item in the fourth commandment; namely, that men should work six days, and that that should be the limit of their week’s work. Come and be healed—The coming to the synagogue was Sabbath duty; but the being healed was no work which the people or the woman had done. This man, then, when he whips the people, means the blow for Jesus. He commits the contradiction of supposing that the miracle is really and divinely performed, but wicked on the Sabbath; as if God was breaking his own Sabbath and must be prevented by the people.

V. 15. Thou hypocrite-For the real motive of his speaking was envy, not (as he pretended) pure zeal for the glory of God.

Verses 14-17. And the ruler of the synagogue — Instead of joining in acknowledgments of the divine power and goodness, displayed in this gracious action of our Lord; answered — The woman’s praises, with indignation — As if Christ had committed some heinous crime in healing this poor woman! He endeavoured, however, to disguise his wrath under the form of piety and zeal; as if he was angry only because the cure was wrought on the sabbath day; saying unto the people, There are six days, &c., in them therefore come and be healed — See how light he makes of the miracles which Christ wrought, as if they were things of course, which might be done by any one any day of the week. One would have thought, that the extraordinary miracle now wrought might have been sufficient to convince him that Jesus was a divinely-commissioned teacher, who spoke and acted by authority from God; and that the circumstance of the miracle’s being done on the sabbath day could not have served to enable him to evade the conviction. But what light can shine so clearly or strongly against which a spirit of bigotry and enmity to Christ, and his gospel, will not serve to shut men’s eyes? Never was such honour done to the synagogue of which he was ruler, as Christ had now done to it; and yet he had indignation at it! The Lord then answered him, Thou hypocrite, &c. — Our Lord gives him this appellation, because the real motive of his speaking was envy, not (as he pretended) pure zeal for the glory of God. Ought not this woman — Ought not any human creature, which is far better than an ox or an ass: much more this daughter of Abraham — Probably in a spiritual as well as a natural sense; to be loosed? Thus the Lord soon put this hypocritical ruler to silence, by placing the action with which he found fault in the light of their own avowed practice. They loosed and led their cattle on the sabbath to water, and thought the mercy of the work justified them in so doing. He, by uttering a word only, had loosed a woman, a reasonable creature, and a daughter of Abraham, that had been bound with an incurable distemper, not for a single day, but so long a time as eighteen years. Without doubt the far greater mercy of this and the other godlike works which Jesus did, justified his performing them on the sabbath day, as the ruler might easily have seen, had he not been wholly blinded by his superstition. When he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed, &c. — The folly even of the men of learning among the Jews, conspicuous in this and some other instances mentioned in the gospels, shows the malignant nature of superstition. It is capable of extinguishing reason, of banishing compassion, and of eradicating the most essential principles and feelings of the human mind.

15. Hypocrite—He belongs to that class whom Jesus has stamped with that terrible name. This man might well have withered, had he known and felt the awfulness of that epithet, pronounced from such lips. It is applied to this man as his share of the name, as applied by our Lord to the whole class of his teachers and masters. Early in his ministry our Lord gave out that there was such a standing class. See Matthew 6:2, 5, 16. Later he began to tell who and which they generally were, (Luke 15:7; 16:3; 22:18.) Later to denounce woes upon them, (Luke 23:14, 15,) and finally to assign them their portion, (Luke 24:51.) This cavilling at healing on the Sabbath day was one of the stereotype tests of the hypocrite. See note on Matthew 12:1-9.

Verse 15. Thou hypocrite. — This affectation of regard to the Sabbath, to the neglect of the exercise of mercy when they had no interest at stake, and yet practising it when their property was concerned, as in the case of the care they took of their beasts on the Sabbath, was manifest hypocrisy, as being done under the influence of mercenary motives.

V. 16. And ought not this woman?-Ought not any human creature, which is so far better than an ox or an ass? Much more, this daughter of Abraham-probably in a spiritual as well as natural sense, to be loosed?

Verses 14-17. And the ruler of the synagogue — Instead of joining in acknowledgments of the divine power and goodness, displayed in this gracious action of our Lord; answered — The woman’s praises, with indignation — As if Christ had committed some heinous crime in healing this poor woman! He endeavoured, however, to disguise his wrath under the form of piety and zeal; as if he was angry only because the cure was wrought on the sabbath day; saying unto the people, There are six days, &c., in them therefore come and be healed — See how light he makes of the miracles which Christ wrought, as if they were things of course, which might be done by any one any day of the week. One would have thought, that the extraordinary miracle now wrought might have been sufficient to convince him that Jesus was a divinely-commissioned teacher, who spoke and acted by authority from God; and that the circumstance of the miracle’s being done on the sabbath day could not have served to enable him to evade the conviction. But what light can shine so clearly or strongly against which a spirit of bigotry and enmity to Christ, and his gospel, will not serve to shut men’s eyes? Never was such honour done to the synagogue of which he was ruler, as Christ had now done to it; and yet he had indignation at it! The Lord then answered him, Thou hypocrite, &c. — Our Lord gives him this appellation, because the real motive of his speaking was envy, not (as he pretended) pure zeal for the glory of God. Ought not this woman — Ought not any human creature, which is far better than an ox or an ass: much more this daughter of Abraham — Probably in a spiritual as well as a natural sense; to be loosed? Thus the Lord soon put this hypocritical ruler to silence, by placing the action with which he found fault in the light of their own avowed practice. They loosed and led their cattle on the sabbath to water, and thought the mercy of the work justified them in so doing. He, by uttering a word only, had loosed a woman, a reasonable creature, and a daughter of Abraham, that had been bound with an incurable distemper, not for a single day, but so long a time as eighteen years. Without doubt the far greater mercy of this and the other godlike works which Jesus did, justified his performing them on the sabbath day, as the ruler might easily have seen, had he not been wholly blinded by his superstition. When he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed, &c. — The folly even of the men of learning among the Jews, conspicuous in this and some other instances mentioned in the gospels, shows the malignant nature of superstition. It is capable of extinguishing reason, of banishing compassion, and of eradicating the most essential principles and feelings of the human mind.

§ 88.—THE WOMAN LOOSED FROM THE SPIRIT OF INFIRMITY OF EIGHTEEN YEARS, 10-21.

10. Teaching in one of the synagogues—The last great discourse was in the open air. But the synagogue on the Sabbath is still open to our Lord’s preaching in south-eastern Palestine; although the ruler of the synagogue would, if he dare, exclude him.

Verses 14-17. And the ruler of the synagogue — Instead of joining in acknowledgments of the divine power and goodness, displayed in this gracious action of our Lord; answered — The woman’s praises, with indignation — As if Christ had committed some heinous crime in healing this poor woman! He endeavoured, however, to disguise his wrath under the form of piety and zeal; as if he was angry only because the cure was wrought on the sabbath day; saying unto the people, There are six days, &c., in them therefore come and be healed — See how light he makes of the miracles which Christ wrought, as if they were things of course, which might be done by any one any day of the week. One would have thought, that the extraordinary miracle now wrought might have been sufficient to convince him that Jesus was a divinely-commissioned teacher, who spoke and acted by authority from God; and that the circumstance of the miracle’s being done on the sabbath day could not have served to enable him to evade the conviction. But what light can shine so clearly or strongly against which a spirit of bigotry and enmity to Christ, and his gospel, will not serve to shut men’s eyes? Never was such honour done to the synagogue of which he was ruler, as Christ had now done to it; and yet he had indignation at it! The Lord then answered him, Thou hypocrite, &c. — Our Lord gives him this appellation, because the real motive of his speaking was envy, not (as he pretended) pure zeal for the glory of God. Ought not this woman — Ought not any human creature, which is far better than an ox or an ass: much more this daughter of Abraham — Probably in a spiritual as well as a natural sense; to be loosed? Thus the Lord soon put this hypocritical ruler to silence, by placing the action with which he found fault in the light of their own avowed practice. They loosed and led their cattle on the sabbath to water, and thought the mercy of the work justified them in so doing. He, by uttering a word only, had loosed a woman, a reasonable creature, and a daughter of Abraham, that had been bound with an incurable distemper, not for a single day, but so long a time as eighteen years. Without doubt the far greater mercy of this and the other godlike works which Jesus did, justified his performing them on the sabbath day, as the ruler might easily have seen, had he not been wholly blinded by his superstition. When he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed, &c. — The folly even of the men of learning among the Jews, conspicuous in this and some other instances mentioned in the gospels, shows the malignant nature of superstition. It is capable of extinguishing reason, of banishing compassion, and of eradicating the most essential principles and feelings of the human mind.

17. His adversaries were ashamed—For of course this ruler of the synagogue is not without his party to hold to the great doctrine that divine power must not break the Sabbath. But they were at this time ashamed; for the falsity of their excuse was shown by the Saviour so clearly as to be perceived, not only by their own consciences, but by the listening multitude. All the people who had no self-interests in the way; no pride of belonging to the hierarchical party; nothing to prevent their looking at things as they are. Rejoiced—Joined to all these things was the fact of Jesus’s deeds of mercy. These poor people know what it is to suffer, and can realize what blessedness it is to be relieved, and how blessed the relieving power. They cannot see easily that miracles of mercy are works of Beelzebub. Glorious things—Their eyes can see the glory of the things done by him. How happy would it have been for them if no later influence from the malign power of the rulers had ever warped these men so as to prevent their uniting in the cry at the fatal hour, Crucify him, crucify him.

V. 18. Matthew 13:31; Mark 4:30.

Verses 18. - 19. The kingdom-is like a grain of mustard seed] See Clarke on “Matthew 13:31”.

Verses 18-21. Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? — After the Lord had thus silenced the ruler of the synagogue, and while he observed the rejoicings of the people, he reflected with pleasure on the reason and truth which so effectually supported his kingdom. For he delivered a second time the parables of the grain of mustard-seed, and of the leaven, to show the efficacious operation of the gospel upon the minds of men, and its speedy propagation through the world in spite of all opposition. See notes on Matthew 13:31-33.

18-21. Our Lord, in view of the spirit of faith and joy produced in the hearts of the people in consequence of this miracle, and its triumphant justification, instructs them now, by two parables, in the mysteries of his kingdom. The scene is still within the synagogue; and the continuance of Jesus in discourse shows the effect of his favour with the people in spite of the subdued hostility of the ruler. The two parables occur in Matthew, chapter 13, where see our notes.

THE PERAEAN MINISTRY, BETWEEN THE FEAST OF DEDICATION AND THE RETIREMENT TO EPHRAIM. Luke 13:22-17:10.

See Harmony, p. 101.

Jesus went to the Feast of Dedication, John 10:22-40. After which, according to John 10:40, he went to beyond Jordan, (Peraea,) where John at first baptized, and there abode. Many, as John assures us, who had the original testimony of the Baptist, were convinced of its fulfilment in him, and became believers on him. Of this PERAEN MINISTRY Luke here gives an account; covering apparently, however, but the two or three closing days. Jesus, then, as we learn from John, departed to raise Lazarus, and then retired to Ephraim.

A marked fact in this brief account of the Peraean ministry is the conversion of many Jewish publicans and [Gentile] sinners, and the Lord’s defences of them against the malignity of their Phariseean assailants. This contest draws out from Jesus a series of most striking discourses and parables. Jericho and the Jordan region probably abounded in Publicans and a Gentile population.

Verses 18. - 19. The kingdom-is like a grain of mustard seed] See Clarke on “Matthew 13:31”.

Verses 18-21. Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? — After the Lord had thus silenced the ruler of the synagogue, and while he observed the rejoicings of the people, he reflected with pleasure on the reason and truth which so effectually supported his kingdom. For he delivered a second time the parables of the grain of mustard-seed, and of the leaven, to show the efficacious operation of the gospel upon the minds of men, and its speedy propagation through the world in spite of all opposition. See notes on Matthew 13:31-33.

Ver. 19. A grain of mustard seed. See Matthew 13:32.

18-21. Our Lord, in view of the spirit of faith and joy produced in the hearts of the people in consequence of this miracle, and its triumphant justification, instructs them now, by two parables, in the mysteries of his kingdom. The scene is still within the synagogue; and the continuance of Jesus in discourse shows the effect of his favour with the people in spite of the subdued hostility of the ruler. The two parables occur in Matthew, chapter 13, where see our notes.

THE PERAEAN MINISTRY, BETWEEN THE FEAST OF DEDICATION AND THE RETIREMENT TO EPHRAIM. Luke 13:22-17:10.

See Harmony, p. 101.

Jesus went to the Feast of Dedication, John 10:22-40. After which, according to John 10:40, he went to beyond Jordan, (Peraea,) where John at first baptized, and there abode. Many, as John assures us, who had the original testimony of the Baptist, were convinced of its fulfilment in him, and became believers on him. Of this PERAEN MINISTRY Luke here gives an account; covering apparently, however, but the two or three closing days. Jesus, then, as we learn from John, departed to raise Lazarus, and then retired to Ephraim.

A marked fact in this brief account of the Peraean ministry is the conversion of many Jewish publicans and [Gentile] sinners, and the Lord’s defences of them against the malignity of their Phariseean assailants. This contest draws out from Jesus a series of most striking discourses and parables. Jericho and the Jordan region probably abounded in Publicans and a Gentile population.

V. 20. Matthew 13:33.

Verses 18-21. Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? — After the Lord had thus silenced the ruler of the synagogue, and while he observed the rejoicings of the people, he reflected with pleasure on the reason and truth which so effectually supported his kingdom. For he delivered a second time the parables of the grain of mustard-seed, and of the leaven, to show the efficacious operation of the gospel upon the minds of men, and its speedy propagation through the world in spite of all opposition. See notes on Matthew 13:31-33.

18-21. Our Lord, in view of the spirit of faith and joy produced in the hearts of the people in consequence of this miracle, and its triumphant justification, instructs them now, by two parables, in the mysteries of his kingdom. The scene is still within the synagogue; and the continuance of Jesus in discourse shows the effect of his favour with the people in spite of the subdued hostility of the ruler. The two parables occur in Matthew, chapter 13, where see our notes.

THE PERAEAN MINISTRY, BETWEEN THE FEAST OF DEDICATION AND THE RETIREMENT TO EPHRAIM. Luke 13:22-17:10.

See Harmony, p. 101.

Jesus went to the Feast of Dedication, John 10:22-40. After which, according to John 10:40, he went to beyond Jordan, (Peraea,) where John at first baptized, and there abode. Many, as John assures us, who had the original testimony of the Baptist, were convinced of its fulfilment in him, and became believers on him. Of this PERAEN MINISTRY Luke here gives an account; covering apparently, however, but the two or three closing days. Jesus, then, as we learn from John, departed to raise Lazarus, and then retired to Ephraim.

A marked fact in this brief account of the Peraean ministry is the conversion of many Jewish publicans and [Gentile] sinners, and the Lord’s defences of them against the malignity of their Phariseean assailants. This contest draws out from Jesus a series of most striking discourses and parables. Jericho and the Jordan region probably abounded in Publicans and a Gentile population.

V. 21. Covered up-So that, for a time, nothing of it appeared.

Verse 21. Like leaven] See this explained, Matthew 13:33.

Verses 18-21. Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? — After the Lord had thus silenced the ruler of the synagogue, and while he observed the rejoicings of the people, he reflected with pleasure on the reason and truth which so effectually supported his kingdom. For he delivered a second time the parables of the grain of mustard-seed, and of the leaven, to show the efficacious operation of the gospel upon the minds of men, and its speedy propagation through the world in spite of all opposition. See notes on Matthew 13:31-33.

18-21. Our Lord, in view of the spirit of faith and joy produced in the hearts of the people in consequence of this miracle, and its triumphant justification, instructs them now, by two parables, in the mysteries of his kingdom. The scene is still within the synagogue; and the continuance of Jesus in discourse shows the effect of his favour with the people in spite of the subdued hostility of the ruler. The two parables occur in Matthew, chapter 13, where see our notes.

THE PERAEAN MINISTRY, BETWEEN THE FEAST OF DEDICATION AND THE RETIREMENT TO EPHRAIM. Luke 13:22-17:10.

See Harmony, p. 101.

Jesus went to the Feast of Dedication, John 10:22-40. After which, according to John 10:40, he went to beyond Jordan, (Peraea,) where John at first baptized, and there abode. Many, as John assures us, who had the original testimony of the Baptist, were convinced of its fulfilment in him, and became believers on him. Of this PERAEN MINISTRY Luke here gives an account; covering apparently, however, but the two or three closing days. Jesus, then, as we learn from John, departed to raise Lazarus, and then retired to Ephraim.

A marked fact in this brief account of the Peraean ministry is the conversion of many Jewish publicans and [Gentile] sinners, and the Lord’s defences of them against the malignity of their Phariseean assailants. This contest draws out from Jesus a series of most striking discourses and parables. Jericho and the Jordan region probably abounded in Publicans and a Gentile population.

Verse 22. Journeying toward Jerusalem.] Luke represents all that is said, from Luke 9:51, as having been done and spoken while Christ was on his last journey to Jerusalem. See Clarke’s notes on “Luke 9:51”, and see Clarke on “Luke 12:58”, and see the Preface.

Verses 22-24. And he went through the cities and villages, &c. — Being on his way to Jordan from the northeast parts of Peræa; teaching — Wheresoever he came; journeying toward Jerusalem — To which he had now begun to steer his course, intending to be there at the approaching feast of dedication, (John 10:22,) and to spend the little remainder of his time, during his continuance upon earth, in that city, or in the neighbouring parts, no more returning to these northern regions, till he should appear there after his resurrection. Then said one unto him — Somewhere on the road, probably soon after he had described the success of the gospel by the parables of the mustard-seed and the leaven: Lord, are there few that be saved — That is, shall but few be saved eternally? For the whole context, and especially our Lord’s answer, evidently shows, that no temporal preservation, but salvation from the wrath to come, and the enjoyment of eternal life, are intended. It is uncertain what motive induced this person to make this inquiry at this time, or what gave occasion to his making it. Perhaps the strictness of Christ’s doctrine made him apprehensive, that, according to it, few would be saved; and as this might be a stumbling-block in his way, therefore he wished for satisfaction on that head, in order to the removal of it. And his motive might be, not mere curiosity, as most commentators have supposed, but a desire to receive that information which might at once solve a difficulty with which he was perplexed, and minister in other respects to his spiritual profit: namely, that if the Lord Jesus (of whom, as a teacher, he seems to have formed a high opinion) should inform him but few would be saved, he might strive to be of those few; or if he should give him reason to think that the generality of his countrymen were in a safe state, and should attain eternal life, he might give himself no further unnecessary alarm, but might content himself with resembling them, and living as they did. From whatever motive the person here spoken of made the inquiry, and whatever gave occasion to his making it, our Lord thought proper, in his answer, to give him that advice upon it which might tend to his own salvation, it being not our concern to know how many will be saved, but how we may be saved. Our Lord therefore replied, Strive, &c. — As if he had said, By inquiring thus into the condition of others, you seem to be at ease with respect to yourselves. I must therefore advise you, instead of occupying your minds, and spending your time in such inquiries, with relation to others, to attend rather to what more nearly concerns yourselves, and be solicitous to secure your own salvation. For I must assure you, that though, as Jews, you have great advantages, the gate leading to eternal life is still strait; and that if you would be saved you must exert yourselves to the utmost. Though our Lord does not here positively say, whether few or many would be saved; yet, in terming the gate strait, whereby the way leading unto eternal life is entered, he certainly intimates what he had elsewhere plainly declared, (see on Matthew 7:13, 14,) that but few of the adult Jews, of that generation, would be saved, whatever might be the case with that people in some future age. And is the Christian Church in general in a much better state than the Jewish Church was then in? Can professing Christians enter heaven without being conformed in principle and practice to the doctrine of Christ, any more than the Jews could enter it without a conformity to that of Moses and the prophets? But our Lord’s exhortation here implies another thing, namely, that the few that do enter in at this gate, do not enter without much opposition and difficulty. For this reason, also, he terms the gate strait, and exhorts us to strive, or rather to agonize, as the word agwnizesqe properly signifies, that is, to contend and strive as in an agony, or, to exert our utmost strength to enter in, as Doddridge renders it, a sense which the word certainly very fully expresses; importing the act of contending in the most ardent and resolute manner, as with antagonists in games or in war; and may well be considered as intimating that the strait gate is beset with a variety of enemies, through which, if we aspire to a crown of eternal glory, we must force our way; a representation equally just and awakening. Compare 1 Corinthians 9:25; Colossians 1:29; 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7. “Here,” says Dr. Whitby, “Christ shows, that the number of them who may be saved is not defined by any decree of God, excluding all others from salvation, or rendering them unable to attain it; for, in that case, Christ must in vain have exhorted them to use their diligence to enter in at this strait gate; and yet, by saying, strive as in an agony to do it, he shows, that to do this requires great constancy, zeal, diligence, and courage, and a strong conflict with the devil, the world, and the flesh and therefore, that those only who thus strive will obtain it.” For many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able — Trusting in their privileges as descendants of Abraham, in circumcision, in being favoured with the oracles and ordinances of God, and, in the mean time, living in neglect of faith, love, and obedience, of the mediation of the Messiah, of reconciliation with God through him, and the influences of the Divine Spirit; of the justification of their persons, and the renovation of their nature, and all the blessed fruits thereof. But not only many brought up Jews, but many Christians, so called, shall seek to enter in at this strait gate, and shall not be able: 1st, Because they seek in a wrong way, a way different from that which God hath prescribed, not bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance; not believing in Christ, and in the truths and promises of the gospel, with a faith working by love, and with their heart unto righteousness, or not following after holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, or doing this in their own strength, and not in due dependence on the grace of the Divine Spirit. Or, 2d, They barely seek, and do not strive, or, agonize; do not seek with all their hearts, and with all diligence in the use of means. Or, 3d, as is implied in the next verse, they seek when it is too late, using, perhaps, importunate entreaties, (like the foolish virgins in the parable, Matthew 25.,) after the period of their trial is concluded, and their state is finally and irreversibly determined.

22. He went through their cities and villages—This is Luke’s general heading for the Peraean ministry of Jesus. The cities and villages were those of the Transjordanic region, including Bethabara and the localities generally of John’s baptisms. See map.

But Luke really gives the teachings of Jesus for the closing two days of the Peraean ministry. See note on verse 31.

§ 89.—ARE THERE FEW SAVED?—HEROD’S MESSAGE TO JESUS, 22-35.

Verse 23. Are there few that be saved?] A question either of impertinence or curiosity, the answer to which can profit no man. The grand question is, Can I be saved? Yes. How? Strive earnestly to enter in through the strait gate-agwnizesqe, agonize-exert every power of body and soul-let your salvation be the grand business of your whole life.

Verses 22-24. And he went through the cities and villages, &c. — Being on his way to Jordan from the northeast parts of Peræa; teaching — Wheresoever he came; journeying toward Jerusalem — To which he had now begun to steer his course, intending to be there at the approaching feast of dedication, (John 10:22,) and to spend the little remainder of his time, during his continuance upon earth, in that city, or in the neighbouring parts, no more returning to these northern regions, till he should appear there after his resurrection. Then said one unto him — Somewhere on the road, probably soon after he had described the success of the gospel by the parables of the mustard-seed and the leaven: Lord, are there few that be saved — That is, shall but few be saved eternally? For the whole context, and especially our Lord’s answer, evidently shows, that no temporal preservation, but salvation from the wrath to come, and the enjoyment of eternal life, are intended. It is uncertain what motive induced this person to make this inquiry at this time, or what gave occasion to his making it. Perhaps the strictness of Christ’s doctrine made him apprehensive, that, according to it, few would be saved; and as this might be a stumbling-block in his way, therefore he wished for satisfaction on that head, in order to the removal of it. And his motive might be, not mere curiosity, as most commentators have supposed, but a desire to receive that information which might at once solve a difficulty with which he was perplexed, and minister in other respects to his spiritual profit: namely, that if the Lord Jesus (of whom, as a teacher, he seems to have formed a high opinion) should inform him but few would be saved, he might strive to be of those few; or if he should give him reason to think that the generality of his countrymen were in a safe state, and should attain eternal life, he might give himself no further unnecessary alarm, but might content himself with resembling them, and living as they did. From whatever motive the person here spoken of made the inquiry, and whatever gave occasion to his making it, our Lord thought proper, in his answer, to give him that advice upon it which might tend to his own salvation, it being not our concern to know how many will be saved, but how we may be saved. Our Lord therefore replied, Strive, &c. — As if he had said, By inquiring thus into the condition of others, you seem to be at ease with respect to yourselves. I must therefore advise you, instead of occupying your minds, and spending your time in such inquiries, with relation to others, to attend rather to what more nearly concerns yourselves, and be solicitous to secure your own salvation. For I must assure you, that though, as Jews, you have great advantages, the gate leading to eternal life is still strait; and that if you would be saved you must exert yourselves to the utmost. Though our Lord does not here positively say, whether few or many would be saved; yet, in terming the gate strait, whereby the way leading unto eternal life is entered, he certainly intimates what he had elsewhere plainly declared, (see on Matthew 7:13, 14,) that but few of the adult Jews, of that generation, would be saved, whatever might be the case with that people in some future age. And is the Christian Church in general in a much better state than the Jewish Church was then in? Can professing Christians enter heaven without being conformed in principle and practice to the doctrine of Christ, any more than the Jews could enter it without a conformity to that of Moses and the prophets? But our Lord’s exhortation here implies another thing, namely, that the few that do enter in at this gate, do not enter without much opposition and difficulty. For this reason, also, he terms the gate strait, and exhorts us to strive, or rather to agonize, as the word agwnizesqe properly signifies, that is, to contend and strive as in an agony, or, to exert our utmost strength to enter in, as Doddridge renders it, a sense which the word certainly very fully expresses; importing the act of contending in the most ardent and resolute manner, as with antagonists in games or in war; and may well be considered as intimating that the strait gate is beset with a variety of enemies, through which, if we aspire to a crown of eternal glory, we must force our way; a representation equally just and awakening. Compare 1 Corinthians 9:25; Colossians 1:29; 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7. “Here,” says Dr. Whitby, “Christ shows, that the number of them who may be saved is not defined by any decree of God, excluding all others from salvation, or rendering them unable to attain it; for, in that case, Christ must in vain have exhorted them to use their diligence to enter in at this strait gate; and yet, by saying, strive as in an agony to do it, he shows, that to do this requires great constancy, zeal, diligence, and courage, and a strong conflict with the devil, the world, and the flesh and therefore, that those only who thus strive will obtain it.” For many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able — Trusting in their privileges as descendants of Abraham, in circumcision, in being favoured with the oracles and ordinances of God, and, in the mean time, living in neglect of faith, love, and obedience, of the mediation of the Messiah, of reconciliation with God through him, and the influences of the Divine Spirit; of the justification of their persons, and the renovation of their nature, and all the blessed fruits thereof. But not only many brought up Jews, but many Christians, so called, shall seek to enter in at this strait gate, and shall not be able: 1st, Because they seek in a wrong way, a way different from that which God hath prescribed, not bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance; not believing in Christ, and in the truths and promises of the gospel, with a faith working by love, and with their heart unto righteousness, or not following after holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, or doing this in their own strength, and not in due dependence on the grace of the Divine Spirit. Or, 2d, They barely seek, and do not strive, or, agonize; do not seek with all their hearts, and with all diligence in the use of means. Or, 3d, as is implied in the next verse, they seek when it is too late, using, perhaps, importunate entreaties, (like the foolish virgins in the parable, Matthew 25.,) after the period of their trial is concluded, and their state is finally and irreversibly determined.

Ver. 23, 24. Are there few that be saved? Some of the jews presumptuously contended that every Israelite should be saved, and they most grossly wrested the sense of scripture to support so absurd a notion. They affirmed in substance, that an absolute promise of salvation was made to the third part of their nation then alive; for two parts perished by the sword and the pestilence when the city was destroyed by the Chaldeans. Rabbin Johanan, in Lightfoot, affirms, that although a man had learned [and practised] only one statute of the law, yet he should escape hell. On the other hand, some of the rabbins said that few should be saved. 2 Esdras 8:3. On this subject Resh Lachish was as much deranged as the late Mr. Johnson of Liverpool. They both affirmed that but one of a city, and two of a family or tribe, shall be saved. Hence the question here put to our Lord was a matter of debate in the schools; and the great wisdom of his answer reproves debates about nonessentials, especially about the final destiny of men, which does not belong to human decision. The injunction to strive to enter in at the strait gate, fully implies the possibility of every man’s salvation. If otherwise, our miseries are treated with derision. Nay, he said what was truly wise and proper. Agwnizesqe, agonize, fight, or labour to enter in at the strait gate, as explained in Matthew 7:13. “Christ has here obviously shown,” says Grotius, “that the number to be saved is nowhere so definitely decreed as to exclude the efforts of the human will, seeing all are invited to walk in the good way.” Poli. Synop. in loc. But no man can enter who does not mortify the flesh, renounce his own righteousness, and trust in Christ alone.

23. Lord—The respectful address, and the confidence of the inquirer in our Lord’s ability to furnish an authoritative answer, show that he is a believer. The question was much debated by the Jewish doctors, some maintaining that all Israelites are saved by birthright, others asserting that the saved will be few; just as but two of the original Israelites arrived in Canaan. We may remark that there can be no reasonable doubt that the word saved in such discourses refers, contrary to most Universalist interpretations, to salvation from hell in a future world. Such was its meaning among the debaters of our Lord’s day.

V. 24. Strive to enter in-Agonize. Strive as in an agony. So the word signifies Otherwise none shall enter in. Barely seeking will not avail. Matthew 7:13.

Verse 24. Many-will seek] They seek-wish and desire; but they do not strive; therefore, because they will not agonize-will not be in earnest, they shall not get in. See this subject more particularly explained on Matthew 7:13, 14.

Verses 22-24. And he went through the cities and villages, &c. — Being on his way to Jordan from the northeast parts of Peræa; teaching — Wheresoever he came; journeying toward Jerusalem — To which he had now begun to steer his course, intending to be there at the approaching feast of dedication, (John 10:22,) and to spend the little remainder of his time, during his continuance upon earth, in that city, or in the neighbouring parts, no more returning to these northern regions, till he should appear there after his resurrection. Then said one unto him — Somewhere on the road, probably soon after he had described the success of the gospel by the parables of the mustard-seed and the leaven: Lord, are there few that be saved — That is, shall but few be saved eternally? For the whole context, and especially our Lord’s answer, evidently shows, that no temporal preservation, but salvation from the wrath to come, and the enjoyment of eternal life, are intended. It is uncertain what motive induced this person to make this inquiry at this time, or what gave occasion to his making it. Perhaps the strictness of Christ’s doctrine made him apprehensive, that, according to it, few would be saved; and as this might be a stumbling-block in his way, therefore he wished for satisfaction on that head, in order to the removal of it. And his motive might be, not mere curiosity, as most commentators have supposed, but a desire to receive that information which might at once solve a difficulty with which he was perplexed, and minister in other respects to his spiritual profit: namely, that if the Lord Jesus (of whom, as a teacher, he seems to have formed a high opinion) should inform him but few would be saved, he might strive to be of those few; or if he should give him reason to think that the generality of his countrymen were in a safe state, and should attain eternal life, he might give himself no further unnecessary alarm, but might content himself with resembling them, and living as they did. From whatever motive the person here spoken of made the inquiry, and whatever gave occasion to his making it, our Lord thought proper, in his answer, to give him that advice upon it which might tend to his own salvation, it being not our concern to know how many will be saved, but how we may be saved. Our Lord therefore replied, Strive, &c. — As if he had said, By inquiring thus into the condition of others, you seem to be at ease with respect to yourselves. I must therefore advise you, instead of occupying your minds, and spending your time in such inquiries, with relation to others, to attend rather to what more nearly concerns yourselves, and be solicitous to secure your own salvation. For I must assure you, that though, as Jews, you have great advantages, the gate leading to eternal life is still strait; and that if you would be saved you must exert yourselves to the utmost. Though our Lord does not here positively say, whether few or many would be saved; yet, in terming the gate strait, whereby the way leading unto eternal life is entered, he certainly intimates what he had elsewhere plainly declared, (see on Matthew 7:13, 14,) that but few of the adult Jews, of that generation, would be saved, whatever might be the case with that people in some future age. And is the Christian Church in general in a much better state than the Jewish Church was then in? Can professing Christians enter heaven without being conformed in principle and practice to the doctrine of Christ, any more than the Jews could enter it without a conformity to that of Moses and the prophets? But our Lord’s exhortation here implies another thing, namely, that the few that do enter in at this gate, do not enter without much opposition and difficulty. For this reason, also, he terms the gate strait, and exhorts us to strive, or rather to agonize, as the word agwnizesqe properly signifies, that is, to contend and strive as in an agony, or, to exert our utmost strength to enter in, as Doddridge renders it, a sense which the word certainly very fully expresses; importing the act of contending in the most ardent and resolute manner, as with antagonists in games or in war; and may well be considered as intimating that the strait gate is beset with a variety of enemies, through which, if we aspire to a crown of eternal glory, we must force our way; a representation equally just and awakening. Compare 1 Corinthians 9:25; Colossians 1:29; 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7. “Here,” says Dr. Whitby, “Christ shows, that the number of them who may be saved is not defined by any decree of God, excluding all others from salvation, or rendering them unable to attain it; for, in that case, Christ must in vain have exhorted them to use their diligence to enter in at this strait gate; and yet, by saying, strive as in an agony to do it, he shows, that to do this requires great constancy, zeal, diligence, and courage, and a strong conflict with the devil, the world, and the flesh and therefore, that those only who thus strive will obtain it.” For many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able — Trusting in their privileges as descendants of Abraham, in circumcision, in being favoured with the oracles and ordinances of God, and, in the mean time, living in neglect of faith, love, and obedience, of the mediation of the Messiah, of reconciliation with God through him, and the influences of the Divine Spirit; of the justification of their persons, and the renovation of their nature, and all the blessed fruits thereof. But not only many brought up Jews, but many Christians, so called, shall seek to enter in at this strait gate, and shall not be able: 1st, Because they seek in a wrong way, a way different from that which God hath prescribed, not bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance; not believing in Christ, and in the truths and promises of the gospel, with a faith working by love, and with their heart unto righteousness, or not following after holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, or doing this in their own strength, and not in due dependence on the grace of the Divine Spirit. Or, 2d, They barely seek, and do not strive, or, agonize; do not seek with all their hearts, and with all diligence in the use of means. Or, 3d, as is implied in the next verse, they seek when it is too late, using, perhaps, importunate entreaties, (like the foolish virgins in the parable, Matthew 25.,) after the period of their trial is concluded, and their state is finally and irreversibly determined.

Ver. 23, 24. Are there few that be saved? Some of the jews presumptuously contended that every Israelite should be saved, and they most grossly wrested the sense of scripture to support so absurd a notion. They affirmed in substance, that an absolute promise of salvation was made to the third part of their nation then alive; for two parts perished by the sword and the pestilence when the city was destroyed by the Chaldeans. Rabbin Johanan, in Lightfoot, affirms, that although a man had learned [and practised] only one statute of the law, yet he should escape hell. On the other hand, some of the rabbins said that few should be saved. 2 Esdras 8:3. On this subject Resh Lachish was as much deranged as the late Mr. Johnson of Liverpool. They both affirmed that but one of a city, and two of a family or tribe, shall be saved. Hence the question here put to our Lord was a matter of debate in the schools; and the great wisdom of his answer reproves debates about nonessentials, especially about the final destiny of men, which does not belong to human decision. The injunction to strive to enter in at the strait gate, fully implies the possibility of every man’s salvation. If otherwise, our miseries are treated with derision. Nay, he said what was truly wise and proper. Agwnizesqe, agonize, fight, or labour to enter in at the strait gate, as explained in Matthew 7:13. “Christ has here obviously shown,” says Grotius, “that the number to be saved is nowhere so definitely decreed as to exclude the efforts of the human will, seeing all are invited to walk in the good way.” Poli. Synop. in loc. But no man can enter who does not mortify the flesh, renounce his own righteousness, and trust in Christ alone.

24. Strive—The common remark that Jesus evades the question, as being a query of idle curiosity, is hardly correct. In Matthew 7:14, he says of the narrow way, “Few there be that find it.” And this word strive, while it gives the reply in practical form, still asserts that salvation is of difficult attainment, and consequently obtained by the few. See notes on Matthew 7:13, 14. Will seek—It is one thing to strive and another to seek. And it is to be supposed that the failure arises from seeking to enter otherwise than by the strait gate; and to enter the strait gate is to strive.

V. 25. And even agonizing will not avail, after the door is shut. Agonize, therefore, now by faith, prayer, holiness, patience.

And ye begin to stand without-Till then they had not thought of it! O how new will that sense of their misery be? How late? How lasting? I know not whence ye are-I know not, that is, I approve not of your ways.

Verse 25. And hath shut to the door] See the notes on Matthew 7:22, 23, and Matthew 25:10-41.

Verses 25-27. When once the master of the house is risen up — Christ is the master of the house, that will take cognizance of the character and conduct of all that belong to it, or occasionally have a place in it. It now seems as if he left things at large, and made no distinction between his faithful servants and those who falsely pretend to be such. But the time is coming when he will rise up and shut to the door — Namely, a door of distinction and separation between hypocrites and true believers; between formalists, who have only a name to live, and such as are truly alive to God. Now in the temple of the church there are carnal professors, who worship in the outer court, and spiritual worshippers, who worship within the veil; between these the door is now open, and they meet promiscuously in the same external performances; but when the master of the house is risen up, the door will be shut between them, and those who are in the outer court shall be kept out, and remain excluded for ever. Alas! how many that were very confident they should be saved, will be rejected in the day of trial! And ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door — Then, neither asking, nor seeking, nor knocking, nay, nor agonizing, will avail any thing. Let us now, therefore, strive and agonize, by faith, prayer, holiness, patience. Observe, reader, many are ruined by an ill-grounded hope of heaven, which they never once distrusted or called in question; and they conclude their state as good, because they never doubted the goodness of it. They call Christ, Lord, as if they were his servants; nay, in token of their confidence and importunity, they double the expression, Lord, Lord; and are now desirous to enter in by that door which they formerly slighted, and would now gladly have a place among those serious Christians whom they formerly despised! And he shall answer and say, I know you not, &c. — I know my sheep, and am known of mine; but I know not you; you do not belong to my family; you are neither my servants nor my subjects; I have neither employed nor governed you. Alas! how new, how late, how lasting will be the sense which they will now have of their misery! Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, &c. — Over and above the privileges which you have enjoyed by the Mosaic dispensation, you shall plead, on that occasion, the peculiar favour which I showed you in the days of my flesh, by exercising my ministry among you, and by conversing familiarly with you. But he shall say, &c. — He will persist in disowning you, whatever acquaintance with him you may pretend to; declaring again, I know you not whence ye are — All the former relations to which you refer, are, as it were, blotted from my remembrance, since your hearts were still insincere, or unchanged, and your lives unsuitable to your fair professions; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity — For none like you can ever be admitted here. In the character which he here gives them, we have the reason of their doom: they were, and continued to be, workers of iniquity, and under a pretence of piety, persisted, though perhaps secretly, in the practice of sin.

25. When once—Once for all and forever. The master of the house—The hospitable entertainer of his friends for the night. Is risen up—From his evening divan to close the house for the night. Hath shut to the door— Locked for the night’s safety and repose. Ye—Our Lord gives his reply to the question in the most admonitory form of the second person plural. Lord, Lord, open—These are not members of his family. They only claim acquaintance Nor is there any intimation of its being a feast. On the contrary, all they ask is an open door and a refuge. Know you not whence—Ye are straggling night-walkers, from I know not what quarter. I cannot recognize you as part of my family or as guests.

Verses 25-27. When once the master of the house is risen up — Christ is the master of the house, that will take cognizance of the character and conduct of all that belong to it, or occasionally have a place in it. It now seems as if he left things at large, and made no distinction between his faithful servants and those who falsely pretend to be such. But the time is coming when he will rise up and shut to the door — Namely, a door of distinction and separation between hypocrites and true believers; between formalists, who have only a name to live, and such as are truly alive to God. Now in the temple of the church there are carnal professors, who worship in the outer court, and spiritual worshippers, who worship within the veil; between these the door is now open, and they meet promiscuously in the same external performances; but when the master of the house is risen up, the door will be shut between them, and those who are in the outer court shall be kept out, and remain excluded for ever. Alas! how many that were very confident they should be saved, will be rejected in the day of trial! And ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door — Then, neither asking, nor seeking, nor knocking, nay, nor agonizing, will avail any thing. Let us now, therefore, strive and agonize, by faith, prayer, holiness, patience. Observe, reader, many are ruined by an ill-grounded hope of heaven, which they never once distrusted or called in question; and they conclude their state as good, because they never doubted the goodness of it. They call Christ, Lord, as if they were his servants; nay, in token of their confidence and importunity, they double the expression, Lord, Lord; and are now desirous to enter in by that door which they formerly slighted, and would now gladly have a place among those serious Christians whom they formerly despised! And he shall answer and say, I know you not, &c. — I know my sheep, and am known of mine; but I know not you; you do not belong to my family; you are neither my servants nor my subjects; I have neither employed nor governed you. Alas! how new, how late, how lasting will be the sense which they will now have of their misery! Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, &c. — Over and above the privileges which you have enjoyed by the Mosaic dispensation, you shall plead, on that occasion, the peculiar favour which I showed you in the days of my flesh, by exercising my ministry among you, and by conversing familiarly with you. But he shall say, &c. — He will persist in disowning you, whatever acquaintance with him you may pretend to; declaring again, I know you not whence ye are — All the former relations to which you refer, are, as it were, blotted from my remembrance, since your hearts were still insincere, or unchanged, and your lives unsuitable to your fair professions; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity — For none like you can ever be admitted here. In the character which he here gives them, we have the reason of their doom: they were, and continued to be, workers of iniquity, and under a pretence of piety, persisted, though perhaps secretly, in the practice of sin.

26. We have eaten and drunk—They had perhaps partaken of his miraculous feedings with the five thousand. In thy presence—At the same table, so as to be acquaintances. Taught in our streets—We have heard thee preach. Our Lord here slightly changes the man from householder to preacher; that is, from his parabolic to his real self.

V. 27. Matthew 7:23.

Verses 25-27. When once the master of the house is risen up — Christ is the master of the house, that will take cognizance of the character and conduct of all that belong to it, or occasionally have a place in it. It now seems as if he left things at large, and made no distinction between his faithful servants and those who falsely pretend to be such. But the time is coming when he will rise up and shut to the door — Namely, a door of distinction and separation between hypocrites and true believers; between formalists, who have only a name to live, and such as are truly alive to God. Now in the temple of the church there are carnal professors, who worship in the outer court, and spiritual worshippers, who worship within the veil; between these the door is now open, and they meet promiscuously in the same external performances; but when the master of the house is risen up, the door will be shut between them, and those who are in the outer court shall be kept out, and remain excluded for ever. Alas! how many that were very confident they should be saved, will be rejected in the day of trial! And ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door — Then, neither asking, nor seeking, nor knocking, nay, nor agonizing, will avail any thing. Let us now, therefore, strive and agonize, by faith, prayer, holiness, patience. Observe, reader, many are ruined by an ill-grounded hope of heaven, which they never once distrusted or called in question; and they conclude their state as good, because they never doubted the goodness of it. They call Christ, Lord, as if they were his servants; nay, in token of their confidence and importunity, they double the expression, Lord, Lord; and are now desirous to enter in by that door which they formerly slighted, and would now gladly have a place among those serious Christians whom they formerly despised! And he shall answer and say, I know you not, &c. — I know my sheep, and am known of mine; but I know not you; you do not belong to my family; you are neither my servants nor my subjects; I have neither employed nor governed you. Alas! how new, how late, how lasting will be the sense which they will now have of their misery! Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, &c. — Over and above the privileges which you have enjoyed by the Mosaic dispensation, you shall plead, on that occasion, the peculiar favour which I showed you in the days of my flesh, by exercising my ministry among you, and by conversing familiarly with you. But he shall say, &c. — He will persist in disowning you, whatever acquaintance with him you may pretend to; declaring again, I know you not whence ye are — All the former relations to which you refer, are, as it were, blotted from my remembrance, since your hearts were still insincere, or unchanged, and your lives unsuitable to your fair professions; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity — For none like you can ever be admitted here. In the character which he here gives them, we have the reason of their doom: they were, and continued to be, workers of iniquity, and under a pretence of piety, persisted, though perhaps secretly, in the practice of sin.

27. Workers of iniquity—The word workers here signifies hired operatives. He charges them, therefore, with being the paid fabricators and labourers of wickedness. The householder has entirely disappeared; and in the following verse the house has become a kingdom, the kingdom of heaven.

V. 28. Matthew 8:11.

Verse 28. Abraham, and Isaac, &c.] See Clarke on “Matthew 8:12”, where the figures and allusions made use of here are particularly explained.

Verses 28-30. There shall be weeping, &c. — Here he repeats what he had said when he commended the centurion’s faith. See on Matthew 8:11,

12. As if he said, How little soever you may now regard it, the awful word, Depart from me, &c., will wound you to the heart, and throw you into agonies of everlasting despair, attended with the bitterest weeping and gnashing of teeth — For madness and rage; when you shall see Abraham, &c. — Your holy ancestors; and all the prophets — Of the succeeding ages; in the kingdom of God — Actually possessed of God’s kingdom of glory; and shall find yourselves thrust out — Rejected and excluded with just contempt and indignation. And they shall come from the east, &c. — From the most distant heathen lands; and shall sit down in the kingdom of God — In rejoicing and admiring multitudes, to partake of the heavenly banquet with your pious ancestors, while you are utterly and for ever excluded from it. Here, therefore, as well as in Matthew, our Lord plainly affirms that many others, besides Jews, shall be saved. And there are last — There are many who are now last in point of religious advantages, that shall then be first in honour and happiness; and there are first, &c. — Many who now appear first in the enjoyment of privileges, which, on account of the abuse thereof, shall be last — Shall appear as the most infamous and miserable of mankind. See on Matthew 19:30; 20:16.

25-30. The exclusion of sinners from heaven is here compared to the exclusion of night wanderers from a hospitable house.

V. 29. They shall sit down in the kingdom of God-Both the kingdom of grace and of glory.

Verse 29. They shall come] That is, the Gentiles, in every part of the world, shall receive the Gospel of the grace of God, when the Jews shall have rejected it.

Verses 28-30. There shall be weeping, &c. — Here he repeats what he had said when he commended the centurion’s faith. See on Matthew 8:11,

12. As if he said, How little soever you may now regard it, the awful word, Depart from me, &c., will wound you to the heart, and throw you into agonies of everlasting despair, attended with the bitterest weeping and gnashing of teeth — For madness and rage; when you shall see Abraham, &c. — Your holy ancestors; and all the prophets — Of the succeeding ages; in the kingdom of God — Actually possessed of God’s kingdom of glory; and shall find yourselves thrust out — Rejected and excluded with just contempt and indignation. And they shall come from the east, &c. — From the most distant heathen lands; and shall sit down in the kingdom of God — In rejoicing and admiring multitudes, to partake of the heavenly banquet with your pious ancestors, while you are utterly and for ever excluded from it. Here, therefore, as well as in Matthew, our Lord plainly affirms that many others, besides Jews, shall be saved. And there are last — There are many who are now last in point of religious advantages, that shall then be first in honour and happiness; and there are first, &c. — Many who now appear first in the enjoyment of privileges, which, on account of the abuse thereof, shall be last — Shall appear as the most infamous and miserable of mankind. See on Matthew 19:30; 20:16.

29. They shall come—At the final consummation. For few as the Lord finds the number of the saved now to be, yet when the earthly history of the race closes, immense will be the number gathered from all points of the compass, constituting, perhaps, the vast majority of mankind. The points of the compass are given in their usual order; but it is something of a coincidence that they follow the course in which the Gospel seems in human history to proceed.

V. 30. But there are last-Many of the Gentiles who were latest called, shall be most highly rewarded; and many of the Jews who were first called, shall have no reward at all. Matthew 19:30.

Verse 30. There are last which shall be first] See Clarke on “Matthew 19:30”.

Verses 28-30. There shall be weeping, &c. — Here he repeats what he had said when he commended the centurion’s faith. See on Matthew 8:11,

12. As if he said, How little soever you may now regard it, the awful word, Depart from me, &c., will wound you to the heart, and throw you into agonies of everlasting despair, attended with the bitterest weeping and gnashing of teeth — For madness and rage; when you shall see Abraham, &c. — Your holy ancestors; and all the prophets — Of the succeeding ages; in the kingdom of God — Actually possessed of God’s kingdom of glory; and shall find yourselves thrust out — Rejected and excluded with just contempt and indignation. And they shall come from the east, &c. — From the most distant heathen lands; and shall sit down in the kingdom of God — In rejoicing and admiring multitudes, to partake of the heavenly banquet with your pious ancestors, while you are utterly and for ever excluded from it. Here, therefore, as well as in Matthew, our Lord plainly affirms that many others, besides Jews, shall be saved. And there are last — There are many who are now last in point of religious advantages, that shall then be first in honour and happiness; and there are first, &c. — Many who now appear first in the enjoyment of privileges, which, on account of the abuse thereof, shall be last — Shall appear as the most infamous and miserable of mankind. See on Matthew 19:30; 20:16.

30. Last… first—The Gentiles, which were last, have become first; the reverse has been the history of the Jews. And so in the following chapters (14-16) the Pharisees and Publicans are reversed from first to last. Herod’s malignant warning, and the Lord’s reply, 31-34.

V. 31. Herod is minded to kill thee-Possibly they gave him the caution out of good will.

Verse 31. Depart hence, &c.] It is probable that the place from which Christ was desired to depart was Galilee or Perea; for beyond this Herod had no jurisdiction. It can scarcely mean Jerusalem, though it appears from Luke 23:7, that Herod Antipas was there at the time of our Lord’s crucifixion.

Herod will kill thee.] Lactantius says that this Herod was the person who chiefly instigated the Jewish rulers to put our Lord to death: Tum Pontius, et illorum clamoribus, et Herodis tetrarchæ instigatione, metuentis ne regno pelleretur, victus est:-fearing lest himself should be expelled from the kingdom, if Christ should be permitted to set up his. See LACT. Inst. Div. lib. iv. c. xviii., and Bishop Pearce on Luke 23:7.

Verses 31, 32. The same day there came certain of the Pharisees — Who pretended friendship, and a great concern for his safety; saying, Get thee out and depart hence — Withdraw from this country into the territories of some other prince; for Herod — In whose dominions thou now art; will kill thee — Greek, qelei se apokteinai, intends, or rather, is determined to kill thee. The term will, in our translation of this clause, is a mere sign of the future time, and declares no more than that the event spoken of would take place. But this is not what is declared by the evangelist. His expression denotes that, at that very time, it was Herod’s purpose to kill him. It is much to be doubted whether these Pharisees had any ground at all for making this declaration respecting Herod’s resolution. From the known disposition of the Pharisees, who were always Christ’s enemies, it seems not improbable that their concern for his safety was reigned, and that their real design was to intimidate him, and make him flee into Judea, not doubting that the haughty priests at Jerusalem would fall upon some method of putting him to death. Herod, too, might possibly be in the plot, for it seems he now began to take umbrage at Christ’s fame and authority, fearing that they might occasion him some embarrassment, either with his people or with the Romans. But he dreaded to make an attempt on his life, remembering the agonies of mind he had suffered on account of the Baptist’s murder. He therefore, probably, sent the Pharisees to him with the message above mentioned. In this view there was a peculiar propriety in our Lord’s calling him a fox, rather than a lion, wolf, or bear; to which savage beasts the prophets had sometimes, with a plainness becoming their character, compared wicked princes. And he said, Go ye, and tell that fox, &c. — That crafty, wicked, and murderous prince; behold, I cast out devils and do cures — In thy dominions. With what majesty does he speak to his enemies! With what tenderness to his friends! to-day and to-morrow — And carry on my work a little while longer; and the third day I shall be perfected — For the appointed time will quickly come when I shall have finished my course, and have done all that I intend to do here. It is probable our Lord is not to be understood here as speaking exactly of three days, but of a short period of time: for in many places of the Old Testament similar expressions, such as yesterday, and the third day, signify lately, or a little while ago; and, on this interpretation, the word teleioumai, I shall be perfected, may refer to his finishing the work of redemption, and being by death consecrated to his office, as the great High-Priest and Captain of our salvation, as the same word is used Hebrews 2:10; 5:9; 7:28. It is proper to observe here, with regard to our Lord’s terming Herod a fox, that we must carefully distinguish between those things wherein Christ is our pattern, and those which were peculiar to his office. His extraordinary office justified him in using that severity of language, when speaking of wicked princes and corrupt teachers, to which we have no call: and by which we should only bring scandal on religion, and ruin on ourselves, while we irritated, rather than convinced or reformed, those whom we so indecently rebuked.

31. The same day—The day on which the question of verse 23 was answered; namely, the first of the two closing days of the Peraean ministry. Certain of the Pharisees—Herodian partizans among the Jews, flatterers and tools at the court of Herod Antipas. (See note on Matthew 22:16.) They were Pharisees in profession, but Sadducees in life and practice. It is this same sort of men, if not this very set, who appear in Luke 20:19,

20. They appear here as emissaries sent from Herod to Jesus. For Herod— Jesus in Peraea was within the dominions of Herod, and not far from that very fortress of Machaerus where John had been beheaded by this same Herod Antipas. For the life and character of Herod Antipas, and for the superstitious dread he entertained of Jesus, consult our notes on Matthew 14:1, 2. Will kill thee—It is evident that Antipas, equally infidel and superstitious, was actually at the present time afraid of Jesus; equally dreading to have him in his dominions, or to touch him with violence, so as to incur the odium of murdering a second holy man. He therefore sends these spies to frighten Jesus out of his dominions.

V. 32. And he said, Go and tell that fox-With great propriety so called, for his subtilty and cowardice. The meaning of our Lord's answer is, Notwithstanding all that he can do, I shall for the short time I have left, do the works of him that sent me. When that time is fulfilled, I shall be offered up. Yet not here, but in the bloody city.

Behold, I cast out devils-With what majesty does he speak to his enemies! With what tenderness to his friends!

The third day I am perfected-On the third day he left Galilee, and set out for Jerusalem, to die there.

But let us carefully distinguish between those things wherein Christ is our pattern, and those which were peculiar to his office. His extraordinary office justified him in using that severity of language, when speaking of wicked princes, and corrupt teachers, to which we have no call; and by which we should only bring scandal on religion, and ruin on ourselves, while we irritated rather than convinced or reformed those whom we so indecently rebuked.

Verse 32. Tell that fox] Herod was a very vicious prince, and lived in public incest with his sister-in-law, Mark 6:17: if our Lord meant him here, it is hard to say why the character of fox, which implies cunning, design, and artifice, to hide evil intentions, should be attributed to him, who never seemed studious to conceal his vices. But we may suppose that Christ, who knew his heart, saw that he covered his desire for the destruction of our Lord, under the pretence of zeal for the law and welfare of the Jewish people. A fox among the Jews appears to have been the emblem of a wicked ruler, who united cunning with cruelty, and was always plotting how he might aggrandize himself by spoiling the people. See a quotation in Schoettgen.

The following observation from the judicious Bishop Pearce deserves attention. “It is not certain,” says he, “that Jesus meant Herod here; he might only have intended to call that man so, from whom the advice of departing came, (whether from the speaker himself, or the person who sent him,) for it is probable, that the advice was given craftily, and with design to frighten Jesus, and, make him go from that place.”

To-day and to-morrow] I am to work miracles for two days more, and on the third day I shall be put to death. But it is probable that this phrase only means, that he had but a short time to live, without specifying its duration. Perfected.] Or finished, teleioumai. I shall then have accomplished the purpose for which I came into the world, leaving nothing undone which the counsel of God designed me to complete. Hence, in reference to our Lord, the word implies his dying; as the plan of human redemption was not finished, till he bowed his head and gave up the ghost on the cross: see John 19:30, where the same word is used. It is used also in reference to Christ’s death, Hebrews 2:10; 5:9; see also Acts 20:24, and Hebrews 12:23. The word finish, &c., is used in the same sense both by the Greeks and Latins. See KYPKE.

Verses 31, 32. The same day there came certain of the Pharisees — Who pretended friendship, and a great concern for his safety; saying, Get thee out and depart hence — Withdraw from this country into the territories of some other prince; for Herod — In whose dominions thou now art; will kill thee — Greek, qelei se apokteinai, intends, or rather, is determined to kill thee. The term will, in our translation of this clause, is a mere sign of the future time, and declares no more than that the event spoken of would take place. But this is not what is declared by the evangelist. His expression denotes that, at that very time, it was Herod’s purpose to kill him. It is much to be doubted whether these Pharisees had any ground at all for making this declaration respecting Herod’s resolution. From the known disposition of the Pharisees, who were always Christ’s enemies, it seems not improbable that their concern for his safety was reigned, and that their real design was to intimidate him, and make him flee into Judea, not doubting that the haughty priests at Jerusalem would fall upon some method of putting him to death. Herod, too, might possibly be in the plot, for it seems he now began to take umbrage at Christ’s fame and authority, fearing that they might occasion him some embarrassment, either with his people or with the Romans. But he dreaded to make an attempt on his life, remembering the agonies of mind he had suffered on account of the Baptist’s murder. He therefore, probably, sent the Pharisees to him with the message above mentioned. In this view there was a peculiar propriety in our Lord’s calling him a fox, rather than a lion, wolf, or bear; to which savage beasts the prophets had sometimes, with a plainness becoming their character, compared wicked princes. And he said, Go ye, and tell that fox, &c. — That crafty, wicked, and murderous prince; behold, I cast out devils and do cures — In thy dominions. With what majesty does he speak to his enemies! With what tenderness to his friends! to-day and to-morrow — And carry on my work a little while longer; and the third day I shall be perfected — For the appointed time will quickly come when I shall have finished my course, and have done all that I intend to do here. It is probable our Lord is not to be understood here as speaking exactly of three days, but of a short period of time: for in many places of the Old Testament similar expressions, such as yesterday, and the third day, signify lately, or a little while ago; and, on this interpretation, the word teleioumai, I shall be perfected, may refer to his finishing the work of redemption, and being by death consecrated to his office, as the great High-Priest and Captain of our salvation, as the same word is used Hebrews 2:10; 5:9; 7:28. It is proper to observe here, with regard to our Lord’s terming Herod a fox, that we must carefully distinguish between those things wherein Christ is our pattern, and those which were peculiar to his office. His extraordinary office justified him in using that severity of language, when speaking of wicked princes and corrupt teachers, to which we have no call: and by which we should only bring scandal on religion, and ruin on ourselves, while we irritated, rather than convinced or reformed, those whom we so indecently rebuked.

Ver. 32. Go and tell that fox, behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and to-morrow. On the third day I shall finish my work in his dominions of Galilee. But the words are especially understood of our Lord’s resurrection, as in the next verse. Ministers must not desist from the work of the Lord because of the frowns of men.

32. Go ye and tell—These men did not claim really to have come from Herod Antipas. They do not pretend to report Herod’s own words as from him. But Jesus does, in his reply, recognize the fact which they leave unexpressed. He assumes that they came from Herod as with a murderous message, and he sends back his reply to Antipas by them. Our Lord thus unmasks the whole deceit, and holds Antipas responsible for at once his cunning and his cruelty. That fox—Who conceals himself, yet threatens my life through you. Those who charge our Lord here with improper disrespect to his human sovereign, ought to see that the term fox is a just rebuke for Herod’s sin of artfulness.

Though our Lord uses this epithet to rebuke the present duplicity of Herod Antipas, yet fox-like cunning was one of the permanent qualities which he either possessed or affected. Wetstein says: “He, like many other princes of his time, shaped his manners after the model of the Emperor Tiberius, who, among all traits of character, prided himself upon his own dissimulation. Then Herod was an old fox, since he had held the government now thirty years and had played the most diverse characters. He played the slave to Tiberius, the master to Galilee, the friend to the Emperor’s prime favourite Sejanus, and to his own three brothers, Archelaus, Philip, and Herod II.; all whose dispositions were most opposite to each other, and to the temper of Antipas himself.” To-day and to-morrow—The method of Wieseler, as we have remarked, (p. 101,) furnishes here a very apt adjustment. Most commentators have been obliged to explain this phrase of time to be indefinite. This arises from their inability to indicate any particular period of two or three days which it can be applied to measure. But turn to John 11:6, and we find that after he received, at this very locality, the message of Lazarus’s death from the sisters of Bethany, he abode two days, and then said, Let us go into Judea. Let us suppose that the spies of Herod and the messenger of the sisters arrived at about the same hour, and the two days of John are just these two days of Jesus. Starting on the third day, Jesus would reach Bethany on the fourth, and find Lazarus four days dead. John 11:39. And so, too, if a message touching Lazarus and Herod Antipas arrived at the same time, we see how it happens that in a parable delivered a few hours afterwards a Lazarus and an infidel Rich Man present themselves to view. (See note on Luke 21:19-31.) And we may add that, keeping Antipas in view, we may, perhaps, discover a connection in the passage Luke 16:13-18, which commentators have been so puzzled to find. The third day I shall be perfected—The Greek for I shall be perfected) teleioumai, (being, as Van Oosterzee maintains, a present middle,) signifies, I complete or finish; namely my Peraean work. So fearless and calm was the Saviour’s reply to the despot. Spite of the bloody threat, he will remain his full appointed time; he will perform those cures and dispossessions of demons that excite the tetrarch’s anxiety; he will then leave his work, not half done, but complete and perfected. This period of two or three days covers, all our Lord’s discourse to Luke 17:10. How should we divide the matter into the days? It is not easy to say. We suggest that on the first day Jesus attends the feast, Luke 14:1-24; and 25-35 is delivered to the crowd that followed him as he returned from the feast to his abode. On the second day are the assemblage and discourse, Luke 15:1-16:31; while Luke 17:1-10 is uttered to the disciples on his way to Bethany.

V. 33. It cannot be, that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem-Which claims prescription for murdering the messengers of God. Such cruelty and malice cannot be found elsewhere.

Verse 33. I must walk, &c.] I must continue to work miracles and teach for a short time yet, and then I shall die in Jerusalem: therefore I cannot depart, according to the advice given me, (Luke 13:31,) nor can a hair of my head fall to the ground till my work be all done.

To-day and to-morrow, &c.] Kypke contends that the proper translation of the original is, I must walk to-day and to-morrow IN THE NEIGHBOURING COASTS: and that ecomenh is often understood in this way: see Mark 1:38, and his notes there. That Christ was now in the jurisdiction of Herod, as he supposes, is evident from Luke 13:31; that he was on his last journey to Jerusalem, Luke 9:51; that he had just passed through Samaria, Luke 9:52, 56; that as Samaria and Judea were under the Roman procurator, and Perea was subject to Herod Antipas, therefore he concludes that Christ was at this time in Perea; which agrees with Matthew 19:1, and Mark 10:1, and Luke 17:11. He thinks, if the words be not understood in this way, they are contrary to Luke 13:32, which says that on it Christ is to die, while this says he is to live and act.

Perish out of Jerusalem.] A man who professes to be a prophet can be tried on that ground only by the grand Sanhedrin, which always resides at Jerusalem; and as the Jews are about to put me to death, under the pretence of my being a false prophet, therefore my sentence must come from this city, and my death take place in it.

Verses 33-35. Nevertheless, I must walk to-day, &c. — Notwithstanding all that he can do, I shall, for the short time I have left, do the works of Him that sent me, without being afraid of any man; because my life cannot be taken from me till the time come, which is appointed of God. When that period is arrived, I shall be offered up, yet not here, but in the bloody city. For it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem — That unhappy city, which claims prescription for murdering the messengers of God. Such cruelty and malice cannot be found elsewhere. If a true prophet was put to death, he was prosecuted as a false prophet. Now the supreme court, whose prerogative it was to judge prophets, had its seat at Jerusalem. Inferior courts did not take cognizance of such causes; and therefore, if a prophet was put to death, it must be at Jerusalem. So Dr. Lightfoot here. Our Lord, “in saying a prophet could not perish out of that city, insinuated, that he knew the intentions of the Pharisees too well to pay any regard to their advice respecting departing from Galilee for fear of Herod. Or, in making this observation, his design may have been to display the wickedness of that city, the inhabitants of which had been, in every age, the chief enemies of the messengers of God: and to this agrees what our Lord says of Jerusalem in the pathetic lamentation which he now utters concerning it, on account of its crimes, its obstinacy, and its punishment.” O Jerusalem, Jerusalem — Thou guilty and miserable city, which, though thou hast been distinguished by divine favours beyond any place on earth, yet, with the utmost ingratitude and cruelty, killest the prophets, and stonest, as the vilest malefactors, them that are sent unto thee — As the ambassadors of God. How often would I have gathered thy children — Unto myself, with all the tenderness of paternal love; as a hen her brood under her wings — To cherish and defend them. Three solemn visits he had made to Jerusalem, since his baptism, for this very purpose. And ye would not — You were still regardless of the offers of my grace, and would not be persuaded to hearken to my call, and to accept my favour. And now, behold, with awful dread, and mark the prediction and event: your house is left unto you desolate — Is now irrevocably consigned to desolation and destruction. For verily I say unto you — I will quickly cease my labours among you, and withdraw from you in such righteous displeasure, that ye shall not see me until the time come when, taught by your calamities, ye shall be ready and disposed to say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord — Wishing in vain for the succour of him whom you now despise. See on Matthew 23:37-39. This does not imply that they should then or ever see Jesus at all; but only that they would earnestly wish for the Messiah, and, in the extremity of their distress, be ready to entertain any one who might offer himself under that character. Compare Luke 17:22, 23.

33. I must—It is the divine order, and no tetrarch’s threats can disturb it. He repeats the allotted time with firm emphasis, that these Herodian Pharisees may see that he utters a fixed fact. It cannot be—Literal, It is not admissible. A rebuking irony upon guilty Jerusalem. That a prophet be martyred elsewhere than in Jerusalem breaks a rule of uniformity. It was indeed done in the case of John and some others: but the exceptions are only sufficient to illustrate the striking uniformity to the rule.

V. 34. How often would I have gathered thy children together-Three solemn visits he had made to Jerusalem since his baptism for this very purpose. Matthew 23:37.

Verse 34. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem] See notes on Matthew 23:37-39, where the metaphor of the hen is illustrated from the Greek Anthology.

Verses 33-35. Nevertheless, I must walk to-day, &c. — Notwithstanding all that he can do, I shall, for the short time I have left, do the works of Him that sent me, without being afraid of any man; because my life cannot be taken from me till the time come, which is appointed of God. When that period is arrived, I shall be offered up, yet not here, but in the bloody city. For it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem — That unhappy city, which claims prescription for murdering the messengers of God. Such cruelty and malice cannot be found elsewhere. If a true prophet was put to death, he was prosecuted as a false prophet. Now the supreme court, whose prerogative it was to judge prophets, had its seat at Jerusalem. Inferior courts did not take cognizance of such causes; and therefore, if a prophet was put to death, it must be at Jerusalem. So Dr. Lightfoot here. Our Lord, “in saying a prophet could not perish out of that city, insinuated, that he knew the intentions of the Pharisees too well to pay any regard to their advice respecting departing from Galilee for fear of Herod. Or, in making this observation, his design may have been to display the wickedness of that city, the inhabitants of which had been, in every age, the chief enemies of the messengers of God: and to this agrees what our Lord says of Jerusalem in the pathetic lamentation which he now utters concerning it, on account of its crimes, its obstinacy, and its punishment.” O Jerusalem, Jerusalem — Thou guilty and miserable city, which, though thou hast been distinguished by divine favours beyond any place on earth, yet, with the utmost ingratitude and cruelty, killest the prophets, and stonest, as the vilest malefactors, them that are sent unto thee — As the ambassadors of God. How often would I have gathered thy children — Unto myself, with all the tenderness of paternal love; as a hen her brood under her wings — To cherish and defend them. Three solemn visits he had made to Jerusalem, since his baptism, for this very purpose. And ye would not — You were still regardless of the offers of my grace, and would not be persuaded to hearken to my call, and to accept my favour. And now, behold, with awful dread, and mark the prediction and event: your house is left unto you desolate — Is now irrevocably consigned to desolation and destruction. For verily I say unto you — I will quickly cease my labours among you, and withdraw from you in such righteous displeasure, that ye shall not see me until the time come when, taught by your calamities, ye shall be ready and disposed to say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord — Wishing in vain for the succour of him whom you now despise. See on Matthew 23:37-39. This does not imply that they should then or ever see Jesus at all; but only that they would earnestly wish for the Messiah, and, in the extremity of their distress, be ready to entertain any one who might offer himself under that character. Compare Luke 17:22, 23.

34. O Jerusalem—Jesus reiterated the same apostrophe, in fuller terms, at a later moment, in Jerusalem itself, as his closing sentence before his retirement to the sacrifice of himself for the sins of the world. See notes on Matthew 23:37-39, and cut on opposite page.

V. 35. Your house is left to you desolate-Is now irrecoverably consigned to desolation and destruction:

And verily I say to you, after a very short space, ye shall not see me till the time come, when taught by your calamities, ye shall be ready and disposed to say,

Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. It does not imply, that they should then see Jesus at all; but only that they would earnestly wish for the Messiah, and in their extremity be ready to entertain any who should assume that character.

Verse 35. Your house] ~o oikov, the temple-called here your house, not my house-I acknowledge it no longer; I have abandoned it, and will dwell in it no more for ever. So he said, 2 Chronicles 36:17, when he delivered the temple into the hands of the Chaldeans-the house of YOUR sanctuary. A similar form of speech is found, Exodus 32:7, where the Lord said to Moses, THY people, &c., to intimate that he acknowledged them no longer for his followers. See the notes on Matthew 23:21, 38. But some think that our Lord means, not the temple, but the whole commonwealth of the Jews.

The principal subjects it this chapter may be found considered at large, on the parallel places in Matthew and Mark, to which the reader is referred. As to the account of the woman with the spirit of infirmity, which is not mentioned by any other of the evangelists, see it largely illustrated in the notes on Luke 13:11, &c.

ST. LUKE

Verses 33-35. Nevertheless, I must walk to-day, &c. — Notwithstanding all that he can do, I shall, for the short time I have left, do the works of Him that sent me, without being afraid of any man; because my life cannot be taken from me till the time come, which is appointed of God. When that period is arrived, I shall be offered up, yet not here, but in the bloody city. For it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem — That unhappy city, which claims prescription for murdering the messengers of God. Such cruelty and malice cannot be found elsewhere. If a true prophet was put to death, he was prosecuted as a false prophet. Now the supreme court, whose prerogative it was to judge prophets, had its seat at Jerusalem. Inferior courts did not take cognizance of such causes; and therefore, if a prophet was put to death, it must be at Jerusalem. So Dr. Lightfoot here. Our Lord, “in saying a prophet could not perish out of that city, insinuated, that he knew the intentions of the Pharisees too well to pay any regard to their advice respecting departing from Galilee for fear of Herod. Or, in making this observation, his design may have been to display the wickedness of that city, the inhabitants of which had been, in every age, the chief enemies of the messengers of God: and to this agrees what our Lord says of Jerusalem in the pathetic lamentation which he now utters concerning it, on account of its crimes, its obstinacy, and its punishment.” O Jerusalem, Jerusalem — Thou guilty and miserable city, which, though thou hast been distinguished by divine favours beyond any place on earth, yet, with the utmost ingratitude and cruelty, killest the prophets, and stonest, as the vilest malefactors, them that are sent unto thee — As the ambassadors of God. How often would I have gathered thy children — Unto myself, with all the tenderness of paternal love; as a hen her brood under her wings — To cherish and defend them. Three solemn visits he had made to Jerusalem, since his baptism, for this very purpose. And ye would not — You were still regardless of the offers of my grace, and would not be persuaded to hearken to my call, and to accept my favour. And now, behold, with awful dread, and mark the prediction and event: your house is left unto you desolate — Is now irrevocably consigned to desolation and destruction. For verily I say unto you — I will quickly cease my labours among you, and withdraw from you in such righteous displeasure, that ye shall not see me until the time come when, taught by your calamities, ye shall be ready and disposed to say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord — Wishing in vain for the succour of him whom you now despise. See on Matthew 23:37-39. This does not imply that they should then or ever see Jesus at all; but only that they would earnestly wish for the Messiah, and, in the extremity of their distress, be ready to entertain any one who might offer himself under that character. Compare Luke 17:22, 23.

Ver. 35. Ye shall not see me until ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. These words are confessedly difficult. If we apply them, as some do, to our Saviour’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, it is obvious that Christ spake them after he had entered the city. Compare Matthew 21. and 23:39. They cannot refer to the day of judgment, but they may refer to Zechariah 14:4, when he shall stand in an explicable manner on mount Olivet. He shall come out of Zion as the deliverer from Gog and Magog, Ezekiel 38., and he shall then turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

35. Your house is left—Our Lord speaks as from a future standpoint; namely, his departure by death at the crucifixion. The word desolate is here spurious; but is used in the later utterance of the apostrophe as the sign of utter giving over of the city to its fate. Not see me—In the later utterance Jesus adds ye shall not see me henceforth; as the standpoint of his abandonment, was then already assumed. That sad abandonment still continues, for the vail is still on Israel’s heart. But though Jerusalem be desolate and Israel scattered, His unseen person is still on Zion, and His unseen feet still stand on Olivet. His ever preserving care perpetuates the race in its vicissitudes, waiting for the day when devoted Israel shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of Jesus the Lord. Through what ages his spirit shall thereafter watch over restored and millennial Israel until He shall appear to gather his elect into his kingdom, we cannot say. For in the dim perspective of prophecy distant events and ages are reduced in size; time is almost dropped from the account, and events far asunder are visually made to touch. See notes on Matthew 24:14-29. See, also, Supplementary Note on Matthew 25. But when at the consummation of the time he shall appear, every eye shall see him; the guilty shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn; and the true Jerusalem shall say, Blessed is he that COMETH.