Chapter XLVIII (continued, part 23)
this Gospel was especially written, and the writer's desire
to conciliate the Jews. 4. For tliey bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders ; but tltey themselves will not move them—" touch them not" (Luke 11. 46)—with one of their fingers—referring not so much to the irksoraeness of the legal rites, though they were irksome enough (Acts 15. 10), as to the heartless rigour with which they were enforced, and by men of Shameless inconsistency. 5. But all their worUg tliey do for to be seen of men—Whatever good they do, or zeal they show, has but one motive—human applause, they make broad their phylacteries—strips of parchment with Scripture-texts on them, worn on the forehead, arm, and side, in time of prayer, and enlarge the borders of tlielr garments—fringes of their upper garments (Numbers 15. 37^0). 6. And love the uppermost rooms—The word "room" is now obsolete in the sense here intended. It should be ' the uppermost
self, but the Corban, set apart for sacred uses (see on ch. 15. 5). he is a debtor I—i. e., it is no longer his own, even tliougli the necessities of the parent might require It. We know who the successors of these men are. but wliosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, lie is guilty—Ii, should have been rendered, " he is a debtor," as in v. 16. 19. Ye fools, and blind ! for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctiAeth the gift I—(See Exodus 29. .37.) aO-3!J. W^hoso therefore sliall swear by the alt«r, &c.— See on eh. 5. 33-37. 33. Woe unto you, sci-lbes and Pharisees, hypocrites 5 for ye pay tithe of mint ajid anise rather, 'dill,' as in margin—and cummin—In Lnke(11.42)
it is "and rue, and all manner of herbs." Tliey grounded this practice on Leviticus27. 30, which they interpreted rigidly. Our Lord purposely names the most trifling products of the earth as examples of what they punctiliously exacted the tenth of. and have omitted the weiglitier matters of the law, Judgment, mercy, and faith—In Luke
place,' i. e., the place of highest honour, at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues. See on Luke 14. 7, 8. 7. And greetings In the markets, and to be called of men. Rabbi, Rabbi—It is the spirit rather-than the letter of this that must be pressed ; though tlie violation of tlie
(11. 42) it is "judgment, mercy, and the love of God"—the expression being probably varied by our Lord Himself on the two different occasions. In both His reference is to Micah 6. 6-8, where the prophet makes all acceptable religion to consist of three elements^" doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God;" which third element presupposes and comprehen<ls botl. the " faith"' of Matthew and the " love" of Luke. See on Mark
letter, springing from spiritual pride, has done incalculable evil in the Church of Christ. The reiteration of the word " Rabbi" shows how it tickled the ear and fed the spiritual pride of those ecclesiastics. 8. But be not ye called Rabbi ; for one is your Master—
' your Guide, your Teacher.' 9. And call no man your father upon the earth : for one is your Fatlier, which Is iu heaven, Ac.—To construe these Injunctions into a condemnation of every title by which Church rulers may be distinguished from the flock which they rule, is virtually to condemn that rule itself; and accordingly the same persons doboth—but against the whole strain of the New Testamentand sound Christian Judgment. But when we have guarded ourselves against these extremes, let us see to it that we retain the full spirit of this warning against that itch for ecclesiastical superiority which has been the bane and the scandal of Christ's ministers in every age. (On the use of the word " Christ" here, see on ch. 1. 1.) 11. But lie tliat la greatest among you shall be your servant—This plainly means, 'shall show that he is so by becoming your servant;' as In cli.20. 27, compared with Mark 10. 44. Iti, And wliosocver sitall exnlt himself hall be abased—See on Luke 18. 14. What follows was addressed more immediately to the scribes and Pliarisees. 13. But woe unto you, scrllies and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for yc shut up the kingdom of heaven against men—Here they are charged with shuUinij heaven against
12. 29, 32, 33. Tlie same tendency to merge greater duties in less besets even tlie children' of God; but it is the cha-
racteristic of hypocrites, tliese ought ye to have done, and not to leave tl>e otlier undone—There is no need for one set of duties to jostle out another; but it is to ho carefully noted that of the greater duties our Lord saj s, "Ye ought to have done" them, while of the lesser He merely says, "Ye ought not to leave them undone." 21. Ye l>llnd guides, which strain at a gnat—The proper rendering—as In the older Englisli translations, and perhaps our own as itcame from tlie translators" hands—evidently is, ' strain out.' It was the custom, says Tket^cH, of the stricter Jews to strain their wine, vinegar, nml other potables through linen or gauze, lest unawares they should drink down some little uncle.an insect therein and thus transgress (Leviticus 11. 20, 23, 41, 1'2)—just as the Buddhists do now in Ceylon and Hindostan—and to this custom of theirs our Lord Iiere refers, and s^ruilow n camel—the largest animal the Jews knew, as the "gnat" was the smallest; both were by tlio law unclean. JJO. within they are full of extortion—In Luke (11. 39) the
Sypocrisy and Blindness Denounced, MATTHEW XXIIl. Chrisi's Lamenlation over Jerusalem,
for in Luke (11.49) It Is "prophets and apostles." ant* the blood of Zacharlas son of Barachias, witom yc slew between the temple and the altnr—As there is no record of any fresh murder answering to this description, probably the allusion is not to any recent murder, but to 2 Chronicles 24. 20-22, as the last recorded and most suitable case for illustration. And as Zacharias' last word* were, "The Lord require it," so they are here warned that of that generation it should be required. 36. Verily I say unto you. All these things shall come upon (lila generation—As it was only in the last generation of them that " the iniquity of the Amorites was full" (Genesis 15. IB), and then the abominations of ages were at once completely and awfully avenged, so the iniquity of Israel was allowed to accumulate from age to age till in that generation it came to the full, and the whole collected vengeance of heaven broke at once over its devoted head. In the first French Revolution the same awful principle was exemplified, and Christendom has not done with if yet.
same word Is rendered "ravening," t'. e., 'rapacity.' 26. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that -witich Is Within the cup and platter, tltat the outside of tliem may be clean also—In Luke (11.40) it Is, "Ye fools, did not Ho tliat made that which is without make that which
is within also?"—' He to wliom belongs the out^ life, and of right demands its subjection to Himself, is tlie Inner man less His?' A remarkable example thisof our Lord's power of drawing the most striking illustrations of great truths from the most familiar objects and Incidents in
life. Tc these words, recorded by Luke, He adds the following, involving a principle of immense value: "But rather give alms of such things as ye have, and behold,
all things are clean unto you" (Luke 11. 41). As the greed of these hypocrites was one of the most prominent features of their character (Luke 16. 14), our Lord bids them exemplify the opposite character, and then their outside, ruled by tills, would be beautiful in the eye of God, and their meals would be eaten with clean hands, though never so fouled with the business of this worky world. (See Ecelesiastes 9. 7.) 'il. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites Z for ye are like whited—or 'white-washed'—sepulchres—(Cf. Acts 23. 8.) Tlie process
Lamentation over Jerusalem, and Farewell to tlie Templf.
{v. 37-39). 37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that klllest the prophets), and stonest them which ai-e sent unto thee, &c.—How iiiefl'ably grand and melting is this apostrophe! It is the very heart of God pouring itself forth through human flesh and speech. It is this incarnation of tlie innermost life and love of Deity, pleading with men, -bleeding for them, and ascending only to open His arms to them and win them back by the power of this story of matchless love, that has conquered the world, that will yet "draw all men unto him," and beautify and ennoble Humanity itself! "Jerusalem" here does not mean the mere city or its Inhabitants; nor is it to be viewed merely as the metropolis of the nation, but as the centre of their religious life—" the city of their solemnities, whither the tril)es went up, to give thanks unto tlie name of the Lord ;" and at this moment it was Itill of them. It
Of white-washing the sepulchres, as Lightfoot sa.ys, was performed on a certain day every year, not for ceremonial cleansing, but, as tlie following words seem rather to
implj', to beautify them, -which Indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all imcleanness—What a powerful way of conveying the charge, that with all their fair show their hearts were full of corruption! (Cf. Psalm 5. 9; Romans
3. 13.) But our Lord, stripping otf the figure, next \iolda up their iniquity in naked colours. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto you rselves, that ye are tlie children of them which killed tlie proplicts—i. e., 'ye be witnesses that ye have inherited, and voluntarily served yourselves heirs to, the truth-hating, prophet-killing, spirit of your
Is the whole family of God, then, which is here apostrophlze<l by a name dear to every Jew, recalling to him
lathers.' Out of pretended respect and honour, they repaired and Ijenutified the sepulchres of tlie prophets, and with whining hypocrisy said, 'If we had been in their days, how differently should we have treated these prophets?' while all the time they were witnesses to themselves that they were the children of them that killed the prophets, convicting themselves daily of as exact a resemblance in spirit and character to the very classes over whose deeds they pretended to mourn, as child to parent. In Luke 11. 44 our Lord gives another turn to this figure of a grave: "Ye areas graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them." As one might unconsciously walk over a grave concealed from view, and thus contract ceremonial defilement, so the plausible exterior of the Pharisees kept people from perceiving the pollution they contract«d from coming in contact with such corrupt characters. 33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell 1—In thus, at the end of His min-
all that wa.s distinctive and precious In his religion. The Intense feeling that sought vent in this utterance comes out first in the redoubling of the opening word—" Jerusalem, Jerusalem !" but, next, in the picture of It which He draws—"that klllest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee!"—not content with spurning God's messages of mercy, that canst not suffer even the messengers to live ! When He adds, " How often would I have gathered thee!" He refers surely to something beyond the six or seven times that Hevisited and taught in Jerusalem whMe on earth. No doubt it points to "the prophets," whom they "killed," to "them that were sent unto her," whom they "stoned." But whom would He have gathered so often? "Thee," truth-hating, mercyspurning, prophet-killing Jerusalem—how often would I have gathered thee! Compare with this that afleoting clause in the great ministerial commission, "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jertisalem .'" (hulte
istry, recalling the words of the Baptist at the outset of
24. 47). What encouragement to the heart-broken at their own long-continued and obstinate rebellion ! But we have not yet got at the whole heart of this outburst.
his, our Lord would seem to Intimate that the onlydlflference between their condemnation now and then was, that now they were ripe for their doom, which they were not
I would have gathered thee, He says, "even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings." Was ever imagery so homely invested with such grace and such sublimity as this, at our Lord's touch? And yet how exquisite the figure itself—of protection, rest, warmth, and
then. 34. Wherefore, behold, I send unto you proph-
ets, and wise men, and scribes—The Jhere is emphatic:
'I am sending,' i. p., 'am about to send.' In Luke 11. 49 the variation is remarkable: "Therefore also, said the wisdom of God, I will send them," Ac. What precisely is meant liy "the wisdom of God" here. Is somewhat dlfllcult to determine. To us It appears to be simply an announcement of .a purpose of the Divine Wisdom, in the high style of ancient prophecy, to send a last set of messengers whom the people would reject, and rejecting, would (111 up the cup of their iniquity. But, whereas in Luke it is ' I, the Wisdom of God, will send them,' in Mattliew it is 'I, Jesus, am sending them;' language only uerttting the one sender of all the prophets, the Lord God
all manner of conscious well-being In those poor, defenceless, dependent little creatures, as they creep under and feel tliemselves overshadowed by the capacious and kindly wing of the mother-bird! If, wandering beyond hearing of her peculiar call, they are overtaken by a storm or attacked by an enemy, what can they do but In the one case droop and die, and In the other submit to be torn in pieces? But if they can reach in time their place of safety, under the mother's wing, In vain will any en«- my try to drag them thence. For rising into strength, kindling into fury, and forgetting herself entirely In her young, she will let the last drop of her blood be shed out and perish In defence of her precious charge, rather than
of Israel now in the flesh. They areevldently evangelical messengers, but called by the familiar Jewish names of
' proi)li<'ts, wls(^ men, and scribes," whoso counterparts were the Inspired and gifted servants of the Loi-d Jesus;
I7»e Destruction of the Temple. MATTHEW XXIV, XXV. Parable of the Ten Virgins.
yield them to an enemy's talons. How significant all
of the former parable In quite a new light. But let It be observed that, just as in the parable of tlie Marriage Supper, so in this—the Bride does not corae into view at all in this parable; the Virgins and the Bridegroom holding fortli all the Intended instruction: nor could believers be represented botli as Bride and Bridal Attendants without incongruity. 3. And Hve of tlkcm were wise, and Ave were foolish—They are not distinguished into good and bad, as Trench observes, but into "wise" and "foolish" —just as In c'n. 7. 25-27 those who reared their house for eternity are distinguished into "wise" and " foolish builders;" because in both cfwes a certain degree of goodwill towards the truth is assumed. To make anything of the equal number of both classes would, we think, be precarious, save to warn us how large a portion of those who, x\p to the last, so nearly resemble those that love Christ's appearing will be disowned by Him when He comes. 3. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them : 4. But the wise took oil In their vessels with their lamps—What are these "lamps" and this "oil?" Many answers have been given. But since the foolish as well as the wise took their lamps and went forth with them to meet the Bridegroom, these lighted lamps, and this advance a certain way in company with the wise, must denote that Christian profession which is common to all who bear the Christian name; while the insufficiency of this without something else, of wliich they never possessed themselves, shows that "the foolish" mean those who, with all that is common to them with real Christians, lack the essential preparation for meeting Christ. Then, since the wisdom of "the wise" consisted in their taking with their lamps a supply of oil in their vessels, keeping their lamps burning till the Bridegroom came, and so fitting them to go in with Him to the marriage, this supply of oil must mean tliat imvard reality
this of what Jesus is and does for men ! Under His great Mediatorial wing would He have "gathered" Israel. For the figure, see Deuteronomy 32. 10-12; Ruth 2. 12; Psalm
17. 8; 36. 7; 61. 4; 63. 7; 91.4; Isaiah 31. 5; Malachl 4. 2. The •ncient rabbins had a beautiful expression for proselytes from the heathen—that they had 'come under the wings Of the Shekinah.' For this last word, see on v. 38. But what was the result of all this tender and mighty love?
Tiio answer is, "And ye would not." O mysterious word
mysterious the resistance of such patient Love—mysterious the liberty of self-undoing! The awful dignity of the will, as here expressed, might make the ears to tingle. 38. Bebold, your house—the Temple, beyond all doubt
but their house now, not the Lord's. See on ch. 22. 7. U left unto y ou desolate—
' deserted ;' t. e., of its Divine Inhabitant. But who is that? Hear the next words: 39. For I say uato you—and these were His last words to the impenitent nation, se? opening remarks on Mark 13. Ye glial I not see me henceforth—What? Does Jesus mean that He was Himself the Lord of the temple, and that it became "deserted" when He finally left it? It is even so. Now is thy fate sealed, O Jerusalem, for the glory is departed from thee! That glory, once visible in the holy of holies, over the mercy-seat, when on the day of atonement the blood of typical expiation was sprinkled on it and Tn front of it—called by the Jews the Shekinah, or the DwUing, as being the visible pavilion of Jehovah —that gloiy, which Isaiah (ch. 6.) saw In vision, the beloved disclDle says was the glory of Christ (John 12. 41). Though it was never visible In the second temple, Haggal foretold that " the glory of thai latter house should be greater than of the former" (ch. 2. 9), because " the Lord whom they sought was suddenly to come to His temple" (Malachi 3.
1), not In .a mere bright cloud, but enshrined in living Humanity ! Yet brief as well as " sudden" was the manifestation to be : for the words He was now uttering were to be His VERY LAST within its precincts, till ye shall •ay, Blessed. Is he that cometh In the name of the liord i. e., till those "Hosannas to the Son of David" with which the multitude had welcomed Him inw the city—Instead of "sore displeasing the chief priests and scribes" (ch. 21. 1.5)—should break forth from the whole nation, as their glad acclaim to their once pierced but now acknowledged Messiah. That such a time will come
of grace which alone will stand when He appeareth whose eyes are as a flame of fire. But this is too general ; for it cannot be for nothing that this inward grace is here set forth by the familiar symbol of oil, by whicli the Spirit of all grace is so constantly represented in Scripture. Beyond all doubt, this was what was symbolized by that precious anointing oil with which Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the priestly office (Exodus 30. 2;3-25,
30); by "the oil of gladness above His fellows" with which Messiah was to be anointed (Psalm 45. 7; Hebrews
1. 9), even as it is expressly said, that " God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him" (John 3. 34) ; and by the bowl
Is clear from Zechariah 12.10; Romans 11.26; 2 Corinthians 3. 15, 16, &c. In what sense they shall then " see Him" may be gathered from Zechariah 2. 10-13; Ezeklel 37. 23-28; 39. 28, 29, &c.
full of golden oil, in Zecharlah's vision, wliich, receiving
its supplies from the two olive trees on either side of it, poured it through seven golden pipes into the golden lamp-stand to keep it continually burning bright {Zechariah 4.)—for the prophet is expressly told that it was to proclaim the great truth, "Not by mlglit, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts [shall this temple be built]. Who art thon, O great mountain [of opposition to this issue]? Before Zerubbabel thou shall become a plain [or, be swept out of the way], and he shall bring forth the head-stone [of the temple], with shoutings [crying], Grace, grace unto it." This supply of oil, then, representing that Inward grace which distinguishes the wise, must denote, more particularly, that "supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ," which, as it is the source of the new spiritual 11 at the first, is the secret of its enduring character. Everything short of this may be possessed by "the foolish;" while it is the possession of tliis that makes "the wise" to be "ready" when the Bridegroom appears, and fit to " go In with Him to the marriage." Just so In the parable of the Sower, the stony-grounj hearers, "having no deepness of earth" and "no root In themselves," though they spring up and get even into ear, never ripen, while they In the good ground bear the precious grain. 4. While the bridegroom tarried—So In ch. 24.48, "My Lord delayeth His coming;" and so Peter says sublimely of the ascended Saviour, "Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things" (Acts 3. 21, and cf. Luke 19. 11, 12). Christ "tarries," among other reasons, to try the faith and patience of H'» people—they all ulambcred and slept—the wise as wet