Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
e li IHk Deulli. MATTHEW XVI. Peter Reproved by Him, of God, but those that be of men—'Thou art carried away by human views of the way of setting up Messiah g kingdom, quite contrary to those of God.' This was kindly said, not to take off the sharp edge of the rebuke, but to explain and justily it, as it was evident Peter knew not wl'v*- was in the bosom of his rash speech. 34. TIicu said Jesus unto his disciples—Mark (8. 'M) Siiys, " When He had called the people unto Him, with His disciples also, He said unto tlieiii try— this fXuMud play npon the word c;iii be fully seen only in langiiuKt's which have one wortl lor both. Even in llie
(ji eek it is iniptM leetly represented. In French, as WebSTEK and \ViLKi:<soN remark, it is perfect, Pierre—piei're. I will Itnlld iny CUurcli—not on the man Simon Barjona; but on him as tlie lieaveuly-tauglil confessor of a taith. "My Church," says our Lord, calling the Church His own; a magnificent expression, remarks Bkngel, regarding Himself—nowhere else occurring in
'—turning the rebuke of one into a warning to all—If any man will come after ine, let him deny himself, and lake up his cross, and follow nie. For whosoever will save—'is minded to save,' or bent on saving—liis life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it—See on ch. 10.38,39. 'A suttering and dying Messiah likuth you ill; but what if His servants shall meet the Siune tale? They may not; but who follows Me must be pri pared for the worst.' 'M. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose—or ' forfeit'—his own soul I or wliat sliall a man give in excliange for hig soul I—Instead of these weighty worils, whi<'h we find in Mark also, it is thus expressed, in Luke : "If he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away,'' or belter, 'If he gain the whole world, and destroy or forfeit himtile Gospels, and tlie gates of liell— 'of Hades,' or, the unseen world; meaning, the gates of Death: in other words, 'It sliall never perish.' Some explain it of 'the assaults of the powers of darkness;' but though that expresses a glorious trutli, probably the former is the sense here. 19. And I will give unto thee tlie keys of tlie kingdom of lieaven— tlie kingdom of God about to be set up on earth—and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven : and whatsoever thou Shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Whatever this mean, it was soon expressly extended to all the apostles (ch. 18. 18); so that the claim of supreme authority in the Church, made for Peter by the Church of Rome, and then arrogated to themselves by the popes as the legitimate successors of St. Peter, is baseless and impudent. As first in confessing Christ, Peter got this commission before the rest; and with these "keys," on the day of Pentecost, he first "opened the door of faith" to the Jews, and then, in the person of Cornelius, he was honoured to do the same to the Gentiles. Hence, in the lists of the apostles, Peter is always first named. See on eh. 18. IS. One thing is clear, that not in all the New Testament is there tlie vestige of any authority either claimed or exercised by Peter, or conceded to him, above' the rest of the apostles—a thing conclusive against the Romish claims in behalf of that apostle. 30. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no mail that he was Jesus the Clirist—Now that He had been so explicit, they might naturally think the tijne come for giving it out openly ; but here they are told self.' How awful is the stake as here set forth ! If a man makes the present world—in its various forms of riches, honours, pleasures, and such like—the object of supreme pursuit, be it that he gains the world; yet along with it he forfeits his own soul. Not that any ever did, or ever will gain the whole world—a very small portion of it, indeed, falls to the lot of the most successful of the world's votaries—but to make the extravagant concession, that by giving himself entirely up to it, a man gains the whole world ; yet, setting over against this gain the forfeiture of his soul—neces.sarily following the surrender of his whole lieart to the world—what is he profited? But, if not the whole world, yet possibly something else may be conceived as an equivalent for tlie soul. Well, what is It?—"Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Thus, in language the weightiest, because the simplest, does our Lord shut up His hearers, and all who shall read these words to the end of the world, to the priceless value to every man of his own soul. In Mark and Luke the following words are added : "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words"—'shall be ashamed of belonging to Me, and ashamed of My Gospel,' "in this adulterous and sinful generation" (see on ch. 12. :J0), "of him shall the Sou of man be ashamed when He cometh in the glory of His Father, with the holy angels" (Mark 8. 38; Luke 9. 26). He will render back to that man his own treatment, disowning him before the most august of all assemblies, and putting him to"j/ianje and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12. 2).
it had not.
Announcement of His Approaching Death, and Rebuke of Peter {v.2l-£i). Tlie occasion here is evidently the same.
'Zl. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples— i.e., with an explicitness and frequency He had never observed before—how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things ("and be rejected," Matt liew and Mark) of tlie elders and chief priests and Borlbcs—not as before, merely by not receiving Him, but by formal deeds—and be killed, and be raised again the third clay—Mark (8. 32) atlds, that "He spake that saying openly"-' explicitly,' or 'without disguise.' 3'4. Then Peter took him—[asidej, apart from the rest; presuming
' O sh.tme,' exclaims Bengki,, ' to be put to shame before God, Christ, and angels!" The sense of shame is founded on our love of reputation, which causes instinctive aversion to what is fitted to lower it, and was given us as a preservative from all that is properly shameful. To be lost to shane is to be nearly past hope. (Zcplianiah 3.5; Jeremiah 0.15; 3.3.) But when Christ and " His words" are unpopular, thesanie Instinctive desire to stand well irith others begets that temptation to be ashamed of Him which only the 'expulsive powi'r* of a higher aH'ectlon can ell'ectually counteract. iiT. For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels—in the splendour of ilis Father's authority and with all His angelic ministers, ready to execute His pleasure—and then he shall rewartl, Ac. Verily I say un)o you, There be some standing here—'.some of those standing here'—which shall not taste of deatli,
(M1 the distinction just conferred on him; showing how unexpected and distasteful to them all was the announcement—and began to rebuke him—af Tectionately, yet with a certain generous indignation, to chide him. saying, lie it far from thee : this shall not be unto thee— i. e., ' If I can help it:' tlie same spirit that prompted him ill tlie garden todraw the sword in His behalf (John 18. lU). 23. But he turned, and said—in the hearing of the rest; for Mark (8.3.?) expressly says, "When lie had turne(l about and looked on His disciples. He rebuked Peter;" perceiving that he had but boldly uttered what others felt, and that the check was needed by them also—Get thee behind me, Satan—the same words as He had addressed to the Tempter (Luke -1. 8); for He felt iti It asatanic lure, a whisper from hell, to move Him from His purpose to sufli r. So He shciok ofl" the Serpent, then coiling around Him, and " lelt no harm" (Acts 28.5). How quickly has the "rock" turned to a devil 1 The fruit of Divine till they see the Son «f man coming in his kingdom or, as in Mark (9.1), "till they .see the kingdom of God come with power;" or, as in Luke (9»27), more simply ti'acliing the Lord delighted to honour in Peter; but the mouthpiece of hell, which he had in a moment of fol-getfulness become, the Lord shook oil" with horror, thou art an offence— ' a stumbling-blo(d('—unto inei "I'hou plnycst the Tempter, casting a stumbling-block In my way to the Cross. Could it succeed, where wert thou ? and bow should the Serjx'.it's head be iiruised ?' for thou Wtvourcat not— ' thou Ihinkest uut'-'-tiie things that be still, " tin they see the kingdom of God." The reference, beyond doubt, is to the firm establishment and victorious progress, in the lifetime of some then present, of that new kingdom of Christ, which was destined to work the greatest of all changes on this earth, and be Che graud pledge of His final coming lu glory.
ForeteUeth His Passion. MATTHEW XVII, XVIII. The Tribute Money.
not your master pay tribute t—The question seems to imply that the payment of this tax was voluntary, but ei-
CHAPTER XVII.
or what, in modern phrase, would be called a'voluntary assessment.' 35. He saitlt. yes—7. rf., ' To be sui'e He does;' as if eager to remove even the suspicion of the contrary. If Peter knew—ius surely he did—that there was at this time no money in the biig, this reply must be regarded as a great act of faith in his Master. Andtvhcn he was come into the house—Peter's—Jesus prevcjtled l»lm—'anticipated him;' according to the old sense of tlie word " prevent"—saying, Wliat tliinkest thou, Simon T —using his family name for familiarity, ofwhom do tlie kings of tine earth take custom—meaning custom on goods exported or impoited—or tribute—meaning the poll-tax, payable to the Romans by every one whose name was in the 'census.' This, therefore, it will be observed, was strictly a civil tax. of tlieir own cliililren, or of strangers—This cannot mean 'foreigners,' from whom sovereigns certainly do not raise taxes, but 'those who are not of their own family,' i. e., their subjects. 36. Peter saith unto him. Of strangers—or, 'Of those not their children.' Jesus saitli unto liim, Tlien are the citildren free—Bj' "the children" our Lord cannot here nie.an Himself and the Twelve together, in some loose sense of their near relationship to God as their common Father. For besides that our Lord never once mixes Himself up with His disciples in speaking of their relation to God, but ever studiously keeps His relation and
Ver. 1-13. Jesus is Transfigured—Conversation ABOUT Eli.vs. (=Mark 9. 2-13; Luke 9. 28-36.) Fortheexpositioii, see on Luke 9. 28-36.
11-23. Healing of a Demoniac Boy—Second Explicit Announcement by our Ix)rd of His approaching Death and Resurrection. (=Mark 9. 14-32; Luke 9. 37-
The time of this section is sufficiently denoted by the events which all the narratives show to have immediately preceded it—the first explicit announcement of His death, and the transfiguration—both being between His tliird and His fourth and last Passover.
Healing of the Demoniac and Lunatic Boy (v. 11-21). For the e-xpo.sition of this portion, see on Mark 9. 14-32.
Second Announcement of His Death {v. 22, 23). 33. And while they abode In Galilee, Jesus said unto them Mark (.t. 30), a.s usual, is very precise here : "And they departed thence"—!, e., from the scene of the last miracle "and passed through Galilee; and He would not that any man should know it." So this was not a preaching, but n private, journey through Galilee. Indeed, His public ministry in Galilee was now all but concluded. Tliough He sent out the Seventj' after this to preach and heal. Himself was little more in public there, and He was soon to bid it a final adieu. Till this hour arrived He was chiefly occupied with the Twelve, preparing them for the coming events. The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men . . . And they were exceeding sorry —Though the shock would not be so great as at the first announcement (ch. 16. 21. 22), their "sorrow" would not be the less, but probably the greater, the deeper the iiitellieence went down into their hearts, and a new wave dashing upon them by this repetition of the heavy tidings. Accordingly, Luke (9. 13, 44), connecting It with the scene of tile niiraclejust recorded, and the teaching which arose outof it—or possibly with all His recent teaching-says our Lord forewarned the Twelve that they would soon fland in need of all that teaching: "But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did. He said unto His disciples. Let these sayings sink down into your t'leirs apart (see, for example, on the last words of this chapter)— this would be to teach the right of believers to exemption from the dues required for sacred services, in the teeth of all that Paul teaches and that He Himself indicates tliroughout. He can refer here, then, only to Himself; using the word "children" evidently in order to express the general principle observed by sovereigns, who do not draw taxes from their own children, and thus convey the truth respecting His own exemption the more strikingly: q. d., ' If the sovereign's own familj' be exempt, you know the inference in My case:' or to express it more nakedly than Jesus thought needful and fitting: 'This is a tax for upholding My Fatlior's House: As His Son, then, that tax is not due bj' Me—I am free.' 37. Notwitlistanding, lest we sliould ol Tend — or e:ir8; for the .Son of man shall be delivered," &c. : * Be not csirried off your feet by the grandeur you have lately seen In Me, but remember what I have told you, and now tell you again, that that Suu in whose beams ye now rejoice is soon to set in midnight gloom.' Remarkable Is the antithesis in those words of our Lord preserved in all the three Narratives —" The Son of man shall be betrayed Into the hands of men." He adds (r. 45) that "they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not"—for the plainest statements, when they encounter long-continued and obstinate prejudices, are seen through a distorting and dulling medium—"and wer afraid to ask Him ;" deterred partly by the air of
' stumble'—them—all ignorant as they are of My relation to the Lord of the Temple, and should misconstrue a claim to exemption into indifference to His honour who dwells in it^—go thou to tlie sea—Capernaum, it will be remembered, lay on the Sea of Galilee—and cast an hook, and take up tlie iish that first coiiietli up ; and when tliou Iiast opened his mouth, thou slialt And a piece of money—'a stater.' So it should have been rendered, and not indefinitely, as in our version, for the coin was an Attic silver coin equal to two of the forementioned "didrachms" of half a shekel's value, and so, was the exact sum required for both. Accordingly, the Lord adds—tliat tAke, and give unto them tor me and thee —HI., 'instead of Me and thee;' perhaps because the payment was a redemption of the person paid for (Exodus 30. 12)—in which view Jesus certainly was "free." If the house was Peter's, this will account for payment being provided on this occasion, not for all the Twelve, but only for him and His Lord. Observe, our Lord does not say "for us," but "for Me and thee;" thus distinguishing the Exempted One and His non-exempted disciple.
lofty sadness with which doubtless these sayings were uttered, and on which thej' would be reluctant to break in, and partly by the fear of laying themselves open to rebuke for their shallowness and timidity. How artless l8 all this!
21-27. The Tribute Money. The time of this section
(s evidently in immediate succession to that of the prewding one. The brief but most pregnant incident which
It records is given by our Evangelist alone—for whom, no doubt, it would have a peculiar interest, from its relation to his own town and his own familiar lake. 3*. And when they were fM>me to Capernaum, they tliat received tribute money—'the double drachma;' a sum equal to two Attic drachma.s, and corresponding to the Jewish "half-shekel," payable, towards the maintenance of the temple and its services, by every male Jew of twenty years old and upward. For the origin of this annual t<ix, see Exodus 30. 13, 14 ; 2 Chronicles 24. 6, 9. Thus,
CHAPTEK XVIII.
Ver. 1-0. Strife among the Twelve Who should bk Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, with Relative Teaching. (—Mark 9. 33-^50; Luke 9.46-50.) For the exposition, see on Mark 9. .33-50.
10-35. Further Teaching on the same Subject, including the Parable of the Unmerciful Debtor.
It will be observed, it was not a civil, but an ecclesiastical
Same Subject (v. 10-20). 10. Take heed that ye despise— lax. The tax mentioned in the next verse was a civil one. The whole teaching of this very remarkable scene de-
' stumble'—not one of these little ones ; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is In heaven—A difficult verse ; but perhaps the following may be more than an 11- pends upon this distinction, came to Peter—at whose honse Jesus probably resided while at Capernaum. This (Kplains several things in the narrative, and said, Doth
The Disciples Warned to be Humble. MATTHEW XVIII. The Parable of the Unmaxiful Debtor.
lustration:—Among men, those wl)f> nurse and rear the royal eliildreu, however humble in themselves, are allowed tree entrance with their charge, and a degree of familiarity which even the highest state ministers dare not assume. Probably our Lord means that, in virtue of their charge over His disciples (Hebrews 1. 13; John 1.51), the angels have errands to the throne, a welcome there, number. He gives the utmost conceivable er-couragement to union in this exercise. But what kind of union? Not an agreement merely to pray in concert, but to pray for some definite thing. "As touching anytliing which they shall ask," says our Lord—anything they shall agree to ask in concert. At the same time, it is plain He had certain things at that moment in His eye, as most fitting aud needful sulyects for such concerted prayei'. The Twelve had l)een "falling out by the way" about the miserable question of precedence in their Master's kingdom, and this, as it stirred their corruptions, had given rise—or aJ iuid a dear familiarity in dealing with "His Fatlier which is in lieaveu," which on their own matters they could not assume. 11. For tbe Sou of man Is come to save tUat
-wliicli was—or 'is'—lost—A golden saying, once and again repeated in different forms. Here the connection seems to be, 'Since the whole object and errand of the Sou of man into the world is to save the lost, take hoed least was in danger of giving rise—to " offences" perilonn to their souls. The Lord Himself had been directing them how to deal with one another about such matters. " Bui now shows He unto them a more excellent way." Lei them bring all such jnatters—yea, and everything whatsoever by wliicli either their own loving relationship to eacli other, or the good of His liingdom at large, might be affected—to their Father in heaven; and if they be but agreed in petitioning Him about that thing, it shall be done for them of His Fatlier which is in heaven. But further, it is not merely union in prayer for the same thing—for that might be with very jarring ideas of the thing to be desired—but it is to symphonious prayer, to prayer by kindred spirits, members of one family, servants of one Lord, constrained by the same love, fighting under one banner, cheered by assurances of the .same victory; a living and loving union, whose voice in the Divine ear is as the sound of many waters. Accordingl.y, what they ask " on earth" is done for them, says Jesus, "of my Father which is in heaven." Not for nothing does He say, "of my Father"—not "Youii Fatheb;" as is evident from what follows: "For where two or three are gathered together unto mi> na)ne"—the "My" is emphatic, "there ayn I in the midst of them." As His name would prove a spell to draw together many clusters of His dear disciples, so if there should be but two or three, that will attract Himself down into the midst of them ; and related as He is to both the parties, the petitioners and tlie Petitioned—to the one on earth by the tie of His assumed lest, by causing offences, ye lose the saved.' That this is tlie idea intended we may gather from v. 14. 13, 13. How tltliik yeT If a man have an Iiuiidi-ecl sUeep, ami one of tlieiu be gone astray, &c.—This is auotlier of those pregnant sayings which our Lord uttered more than once. See on the delightful parable of tlie lost sheep in Luke 15. 4-7. Only the object there is to show what the good Shepherd will do, when even one of His sheep is lost, toflnd it; here the object is to show, when found, how reluctant He is to lose it. Accordingly, it is added—w. 14. Even so it is not tUe will of your Father which is in heaven that one of tlkese little ones should perish How, then, can He but visit for those "offences" which whit-h endanger the souls of these little ones? 15. Moreover, if thy brotlier shall trespass against thee, go asid tell liim liis fault between tliee and
Iiiin alone : if lie sliall hear thee, thou hast gained tliy brot Jier, etc.—Probably our Lord had reference still to tiie hue dispute. Who should be the greatest? After the rebuke—so gentle and captivating, yet so dignified and Divine—under which they would doubtless be smarting, perhaps uach would be saying. It was not / that began it, it was not I that threw out unworthy and irritating insinuations against my brethren. Be it so, says our Lord ; but as such things will often arise, I will direct you how to proceed. First, Neither harbour a grudge against your offending brother, nor break forth upon him in presence of the unbelieving, but take him aside, show him his fault, and if lie own and make reparation flesli, and to the other in heaven by the tie of His eternal Spirit—their symphonious prayers on earth would thrill upward through Him to heaven, be carried by Him into the holiest of all, and so reach the Throne. Thus will Ke for it, you have done more service to hiui than even justice to yourself. Next, If this fail, take two or three to witness how just your complaint is, and how brotherly your spirit in dealing with him. Af/ain, If this fail, bring him before the Church or congregation to which both belong. Lastly, If even this fail, regard him as no longer a, brother Christian, but as one "without"—as the Jews did Gentiles and publicans. 18. Verily X say unto you, Whntsoever ye shall hind on earth sitall be bound in Iieaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on eartli sl>nll be loosed iii heaven—Hei-e, what had been granted but a short time before to Peter only (see on ch.
1)6 the living Conductor of the prayer upward, and the answer downward.
Parable of tlie Unmerciful Debtor [v. 21-^5). ai. Tlien came Peter to liim, and said, Lord, how oft sliall my brotlier sin against me, and I forgive him ! In the recent dispute, Peter had probably been an object of special envy, and his forwardness in continually answering fo all the rest would likel.y be cast up to him—and if so, probably by Judas—notwithstanding his Master's commendations. And as such insinuations were perhaps made once and again, he wished to know how often and how long he was to stand it. till seven times! This being the sacred and complete number, perhaps his meaning was. Is there to be a limit at wliich the needful forbearance will be ftillf Hi. .Jesus snith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times | but. Until seventy times seven i. e., so long as it shall be needed and
16. 19) is plainly extended to all the Twelve; so that whatever it means, it means nothing peculiar to Peter, far less to his pretended successors at Rome. It has to do with admission to and rejection from the membership of the Church. Hut see on John 20. 'iS. 19. Again I say unto you, Tiiat if two of you sliall agree on earth as tonclitng anything tliat they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father witicit is in Itenven. 30. For where two orthree are gathered togetlier in—or 'unto' —my name, iiierc am I in tlie midst of tliein — On this passage— so full of sublime encouragement to Christian union in action and prayer—observe, rtrst, the connection in rvliich it stands. Our Lord had been speaking of church-meetings before which the obstinate perversity of a brotlier was in the last resort to be brought, and whose decision was to be flnal—such honour does the Lord of the ClTurch put upon its lawful assemblies. But not these assemblies only does He deign to countenance and lionour. For even two uniting to bring any matter before Him sliall find that they are not alone, for My Father is with tliem, says Jesus. Next, observe thejwe-.souglit: you are never to come to the point of refusing forgiveness sincerely asked, (See on Luke 17. 3, -1.) 23. Therefore—
' witli reference to this matter'—is the Uingdom of heaven Ilht ned unto a eertniu king, which would take aeeount «i.f his servants—or, would scrutinize tlie accomils of his revenue-collectors. 31. And when he had begtaii to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand tnlents— If Attic talents are here meant, 10,000 of them would amount to above (7. million and a. half sterling; if Jewish talents, to a much larger sum. '35. Hint forasmucli as he had not to pay, his lonl coinmaiide<l him to be sold, and his wll'j aud children, and all that he had, and payment to b« made—(See 2 Kings 4. I; Nehemiah 5.8; Levi tic is 25. 39 l 30. The sei-vaiit therefore fell down, and worshipped him—or did hiniible obeisance to him—snylng, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all —Tins viiuni here put upon union in prayer. As this cannot exist With few(>r tlian two, so by letting it down so low as that m