mh_parser/vol_split/42 - Luke/Chapter 11.xml

<div2 id="Luke.xii" n="xii" next="Luke.xiii" prev="Luke.xi" progress="55.96%" title="Chapter XI">
<h2 id="Luke.xii-p0.1">L U K E.</h2>
<h3 id="Luke.xii-p0.2">CHAP. XI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Luke.xii-p1">In this chapter, I. Christ teaches his disciples
to pray, and quickens and encourages them to be frequent, instant,
and importunate in prayer, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.1-Luke.11.13" parsed="|Luke|11|1|11|13" passage="Lu 11:1-13">ver.
1-13</scripRef>. II. He fully answers the blasphemous imputation of
the Pharisees, who charged him with casting out devils by virtue of
a compact and confederacy with Beelzebub, the prince of the devils,
and shows the absurdity and wickedness of it, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.14-Luke.11.26" parsed="|Luke|11|14|11|26" passage="Lu 11:14-26">ver. 14-26</scripRef>. III. He shows the honour of
obedient disciples to be greater than that of his own mother,
<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.27-Luke.11.28" parsed="|Luke|11|27|11|28" passage="Lu 11:27,28">ver. 27, 28</scripRef>. IV. He
upbraids the men of that generation for their infidelity and
obstinacy, notwithstanding all the means of conviction offered to
them, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.29-Luke.11.36" parsed="|Luke|11|29|11|36" passage="Lu 11:29-36">ver. 29-36</scripRef>. V. He
severely reproves the Pharisees and consciences of those that
submitted to them, and their hating and persecuting those that
witnessed against their wickedness, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.37-Luke.11.54" parsed="|Luke|11|37|11|54" passage="Lu 11:37-54">ver. 37-54</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Luke.xii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11" parsed="|Luke|11|0|0|0" passage="Lu 11" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Luke.xii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.1-Luke.11.13" parsed="|Luke|11|1|11|13" passage="Lu 11:1-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Luke.11.1-Luke.11.13">
<h4 id="Luke.xii-p1.8">The Disciples Taught to
Pray.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Luke.xii-p2">1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying
in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto
him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
  2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which
art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done, as in heaven, so in earth.   3 Give us day by day our
daily bread.   4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive
every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.   5 And he said unto them, Which of
you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say
unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;   6 For a friend of
mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before
him?   7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me
not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I
cannot rise and give thee.   8 I say unto you, Though he will
not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his
importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.  
9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye
shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.   10 For
every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and
to him that knocketh it shall be opened.   11 If a son shall
ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone?
or if <i>he ask</i> a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
  12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
  13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto
your children: how much more shall <i>your</i> heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p3">Prayer is one of the great laws of natural
religion. That man is a brute, is a monster, that never prays, that
never gives glory to his Maker, nor feels his favour, nor owns his
dependence upon him. One great design therefore of Christianity is
to <i>assist us in prayer,</i> to enforce the duty upon us, to
instruct us in it, and encourage us to expect advantage by it. Now
here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p4">I. We find Christ himself <i>praying in a
certain place,</i> probably where he used to pray, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.1" parsed="|Luke|11|1|0|0" passage="Lu 11:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. As God, he was <i>prayed
to;</i> as man, he <i>prayed;</i> and, though he was a Son, yet
learned he this obedience. This evangelist has taken particular
notice of Christ's <i>praying often,</i> more than any other of the
evangelists: when he was baptized (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.3.21" parsed="|Luke|3|21|0|0" passage="Lu 3:21"><i>ch.</i> iii. 21</scripRef>), he was <i>praying;</i> he
<i>withdrew into the wilderness, and prayed</i> (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.5.16" parsed="|Luke|5|16|0|0" passage="Lu 5:16"><i>ch.</i> v. 16</scripRef>); he <i>went out into a
mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer</i> (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Luke.6.12" parsed="|Luke|6|12|0|0" passage="Lu 6:12"><i>ch.</i> vi. 12</scripRef>); he was <i>alone
praying</i> (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Luke.9.18" parsed="|Luke|9|18|0|0" passage="Lu 9:18"><i>ch.</i> ix.
18</scripRef>); soon after, he <i>went up into a mountain to
pray,</i> and <i>as he prayed he was transfigured</i> (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Luke.9.28-Luke.9.29" parsed="|Luke|9|28|9|29" passage="Lu 9:28,29"><i>ch.</i> ix. 28, 29</scripRef>); and here he
was <i>praying in a certain place.</i> Thus, like a genuine son of
David, he <i>gave himself unto prayer,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.109.4" parsed="|Ps|109|4|0|0" passage="Ps 109:4">Ps. cix. 4</scripRef>. Whether Christ was now
<i>alone</i> praying, and the disciples only knew that he was so,
or whether he prayed with them, is uncertain; it is most probable
that they were joining with him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p5">II. His disciples applied themselves to him
for direction in prayer. When he was praying, they asked, <i>Lord,
teach us to pray.</i> Note, The gifts and graces of others should
excite us to covet earnestly the same. Their zeal should provoke us
to a holy imitation and emulation; why should not we do as well as
they? Observe, They came to him with this request, <i>when he
ceased;</i> for they would not disturb him when he was at prayer,
no, not with this good motion. Every thing is beautiful in its
season. <i>One of his disciples,</i> in the name of the rest, and
perhaps by their appointment, said, <i>Lord, teach us.</i> Note,
Though Christ is <i>apt to teach,</i> yet he will for this be
enquired of, and his disciples must attend him for instruction.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p6">Now, 1. Their request is, "<i>Lord, teach
us to pray;</i> give us a rule or model by which to go in praying,
and put words into our mouths." Note, It becomes the disciples of
Christ to apply themselves to him for instruction in prayer.
<i>Lord, teach us to pray,</i> is itself a good prayer, and a very
needful one, for it is a hard thing to <i>pray well</i> and it is
Jesus Christ only that can <i>teach us,</i> by his word and Spirit,
<i>how to pray.</i> "Lord, teach me what it is to pray; Lord,
excite and quicken me to the duty; Lord, direct me what to pray
for; Lord, give me praying graces, that I may serve God acceptably
in prayer; Lord, teach me to pray in proper words; give me a mouth
and wisdom in prayer, that I may speak as I ought; <i>teach me what
I shall say.</i>"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p7">2. Their plea is, "<i>As John also taught
his disciples.</i> He took care to instruct his disciples in this
necessary duty, and we would be taught as they were, for we have a
better Master than they had." Dr. Lightfoot's notion of this is,
That whereas the Jews' prayers were generally adorations, and
praises of God, and doxologies, John taught his disciples such
prayers as were more filled up with petitions and requests; for it
is said of them that they did <b><i>deeseis
poiountai</i></b>—<i>make prayers,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.5.33" parsed="|Luke|5|33|0|0" passage="Lu 5:33"><i>ch.</i> v. 33</scripRef>. The word signifies such
prayers as are properly petitionary. "Now, Lord, teach us this, to
be added to those benedictions of the name of God which we have
been accustomed to from our childhood." According to this sense,
Christ did there teach them a prayer consisting wholly of
petitions, and even omitting the doxology which had been affixed;
and the <i>Amen,</i> which was usually said in the <i>giving of
thanks</i> (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.14.16" parsed="|1Cor|14|16|0|0" passage="1Co 14:16">1 Cor. xiv.
16</scripRef>), and in the Psalms, is added to doxologies only.
This disciple needed not to have urged John Baptist's example:
Christ was more ready to teach than ever John Baptist was, and
particularly taught to pray better than John did, or could, teach
his disciples.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p8">III. Christ gave them direction, much the
same as he had given them before in his sermon upon the mount,
<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.6.9" parsed="|Matt|6|9|0|0" passage="Mt 6:9">Matt. vi. 9</scripRef>, &amp;c. We
cannot think that they had forgotten it, but they ought to have had
further and fuller instructions, and he did not, as yet, think fit
to give them any; when the Spirit should be poured out upon them
from on high, they would find all their requests couched in these
few words, and would be able, in words of their own, to expatiate
and enlarge upon them. In Matthew he had directed them to pray
<i>after this manner;</i> here, <i>When ye pray, say;</i> which
intimates that the Lord's prayer was intended to be used both as a
form of prayer and a directory.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p9">1. There are some differences between the
Lord's prayer in Matthew and Luke, by which it appears that it was
not the design of Christ that we should be <i>tied up</i> to these
very words, for then there would have been no variation. Here is
one difference in the translation only, which ought not to have
been, when there is none in the original, and that is in the third
petition: <i>As in heaven, so in earth;</i> whereas the words are
the very same, and in the same order, as in Matthew. But there is a
difference in the fourth petition. In Matthew we pray, "Give us
daily bread <i>this</i> day:" here, "Give it us <i>day by
day</i>"—<b><i>kath hemeran</i></b>. <i>Day by day;</i> that is,
"Give us <i>each day</i> the bread which our bodies require, as
they call for it:" not, "Give us <i>this day</i> bread for many
days to come;" but as the Israelites had manna, "Let us have bread
<i>to-day</i> for <i>to-day,</i> and to-<i>morrow</i> for
to-<i>morrow;</i>" for thus we may be kept in a <i>continual
dependence</i> upon God, as children upon their parents, and may
have our mercies fresh from his hand daily, and may find ourselves
under <i>fresh</i> obligations to do the work of every day in the
day, according as the <i>duty of the day requires,</i> because we
have from God the supplies of every day in the day, according as
the <i>necessity of the day requires.</i> Here is likewise some
difference in the fifth petition. In Matthew it is, <i>Forgive us
our debts,</i> as we forgive: here it is, <i>Forgive us our
sins;</i> which proves that our sins are our debts. <i>For we
forgive;</i> not that our forgiving those that have offended us can
<i>merit</i> pardon from God, or be an inducement to him to forgive
us (he forgives for his own name's sake, and his Son's sake); but
this is a very necessary qualification for forgiveness, and, if God
have wrought it in us, we may plead that work of his grace for the
enforcing of our petitions for the pardon of our sins: "Lord,
forgive us, for thou hast thyself inclined us to forgive others."
There is another addition here; we plead not only in general, We
forgive <i>our debtors,</i> but in particular, "We profess <i>to
forgive every one that is indebted to us,</i> without exception. We
so <i>forgive our debtors</i> as not to bear malice or ill-will to
any, but true love to all, without any exception whatsoever." Here
also the doxology in the close is wholly omitted, and the
<i>Amen;</i> for Christ would leave them at liberty to use that or
any other doxology fetched out of David's psalms; or, rather, he
left a vacuum here, to be filled up by a doxology more peculiar to
the Christian institutes, ascribing glory to <i>Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p10">2. Yet it is, for substance, the same; and
we shall therefore here only gather up some general lessons from
it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p11">(1.) That in prayer we ought to come to God
as children to <i>a Father,</i> a common Father to us and <i>all
mankind,</i> but in a peculiar manner a Father to all the disciples
of Jesus Christ. Let us therefore in our requests both for others
and for ourselves, come to him with a humble boldness, confiding in
his power and goodness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p12">(2.) That at the same time, and in the same
petitions, which we address to God for <i>ourselves,</i> we should
take in with us <i>all the children of men,</i> as God's creatures
and our fellow-creatures. A rooted principle of <i>catholic
charity,</i> and of <i>Christian sanctified humanity,</i> should go
along with us, and dictate to us throughout this prayer, which is
so worded as to be accommodated to that noble principle.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p13">(3.) That in order to the confirming of the
habit of heavenly-mindedness in us, which ought to actuate and
govern us in the whole course of our conversation, we should, in
all our devotions, with an eye of faith look <i>heavenward,</i> and
view the God we pray to as our Father <i>in heaven,</i> that we may
make the <i>upper world</i> more familiar to us, and may ourselves
become better prepared for the future state.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p14">(4.) That in prayer, as well as in the
tenour of our lives, we must <i>seek first the kingdom of God and
the righteousness thereof,</i> by ascribing honour to his name, his
<i>holy</i> name, and power to his government, both that of his
providence in the world and that of his grace in the church. O that
both the one and the other may be more manifested, and we and
others more manifestly brought into subjection to both!</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p15">(5.) That the <i>principles</i> and
<i>practices</i> of the <i>upper</i> world, the <i>unseen</i> world
(which therefore by <i>faith</i> only we are <i>apprized of</i>),
are the <i>great original—the</i> <b><i>archetypon</i></b>, to
which we should desire that the principles and practices of this
<i>lower</i> world, both in others and in ourselves, may be more
conformable. Those words, <i>As in heaven, so on earth,</i> refer
to all the first three petitions: "Father, let <i>thy name be
sanctified</i> and <i>glorified,</i> and thy kingdom prevail, and
thy will be done on this earth that is now alienated from thy
service, as it is in yonder heaven that is entirely devoted to thy
service."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p16">(6.) That those who faithfully and
sincerely mind the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof,
may humbly hope that <i>all other things,</i> as far as to Infinite
Wisdom seems good, <i>shall be added to them,</i> and they may in
faith pray for them. If our first chief desire and care be that
God's name may be sanctified, his kingdom come, and his will be
done, we may then come boldly to the throne of grace for our
<i>daily bread,</i> which will <i>then</i> be sanctified to us when
we are sanctified to God, and God is sanctified by us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p17">(7.) That in our prayers for temporal
blessings we must <i>moderate</i> our desires, and confine them to
a <i>competency.</i> The expression here used of <i>day by day</i>
is the very same with our <i>daily bread;</i> and therefore some
think that we must look for another signification of the word
<b><i>epiousios</i></b> than that of <i>daily,</i> which we give
it, and that it means our <i>necessary</i> bread, that bread that
is <i>suited</i> to the craving of our nature, the fruit that is
brought out of the earth for our bodies that are made of the earth
and are earthly, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.14" parsed="|Ps|104|14|0|0" passage="Ps 104:14">Ps. civ.
14</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p18">(8.) That sins are debts which we are daily
contracting, and which therefore we should every day pray for the
forgiveness of. We are not only going behind with our rent every
day by <i>omissions</i> of duty and in duty, but are daily
incurring the penalty of the law, as well as the forfeiture of our
bond, by our <i>commissions.</i> Every day adds to the score of our
guilt, and it is a miracle of mercy that we have so much
encouragement given us to come every day to the throne of grace, to
pray for the pardon of our sins of daily infirmity. God
<i>multiplies to pardon</i> beyond seventy times seven.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p19">(9.) That we have no reason to expect, nor
can with any confidence pray, that God would forgive our sins
against him, if we do not <i>sincerely,</i> and from a truly
Christian principle of <i>charity,</i> forgive those that have at
any time affronted us or been injurious to us. Though the <i>words
of our mouth</i> be even <i>this</i> prayer to God, if the
meditation of our heart at the same time be, as often it is, malice
and revenge to our brethren, we are not accepted, nor can we expect
an answer of peace.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p20">(10.) That temptations to sin should be as
much dreaded and deprecated by us as ruin by sin; and it should be
as much our care and prayer to get the power of sin broken in us as
to get the guilt of sin removed from us; and though temptation may
be a charming, fawning, flattering thing, we must be as earnest
with God that we may not be led into it as that we may not be led
by that to sin, and by sin to ruin.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p21">(11.) That God is to be depended upon, and
sought unto, for our deliverance <i>from all evil;</i> and we
should pray, not only that we may not be left to ourselves to run
into evil, but that we may not be left to Satan to bring evil upon
us. Dr. Lightfoot understands it of being delivered <i>from the
evil one,</i> that is, the devil, and suggests that we should pray
particularly against the apparitions of the devil and his
possessions. The disciples were employed to <i>cast out devils,</i>
and therefore were concerned to pray that they might be guarded
against the particular spite he would always be sure to have
against them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p22">IV. He stirs up and encourages importunity,
fervency, and constancy, in prayer, by showing,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p23">1. That importunity will go far in our
dealings with men, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.5-Luke.11.8" parsed="|Luke|11|5|11|8" passage="Lu 11:5-8"><i>v.</i>
5-8</scripRef>. Suppose a man, upon a sudden emergency, goes to
borrow a loaf or two of bread of a neighbour, at an unseasonable
time of night, not for himself, but for his friend that came
unexpectedly to him. His neighbour will be loth to accommodate him,
for he has wakened him with his knocking, and put him out of
humour, and he has a great deal to say in his excuse. The door is
shut and locked, his children are asleep in bed, in the same room
with him, and, if he make a noise, he shall disturb them. His
servants are asleep, and he cannot make them hear; and, for his own
part, he shall catch cold if he rise to give him. But his neighbour
will have no nay, and therefore he continues <i>knocking</i> still,
and tells him he will do so till he has what he comes for; so that
he must give it to him, to be rid of him: <i>He will rise, and give
him as many as he needs, because of his importunity.</i> He speaks
this parable with the same intent that he speaks that in <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.18.1" parsed="|Luke|18|1|0|0" passage="Lu 18:1"><i>ch.</i> xviii. 1</scripRef>: <i>That men ought
always to pray, and not to faint.</i> Not that God can be wrought
upon by importunity; we cannot be troublesome to him, nor by being
so change his counsels. We prevail with men by importunity because
they are <i>displeased</i> with it, but with God because he is
<i>pleased</i> with it. Now this similitude may be of use to
us,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p24">(1.) To <i>direct</i> us in prayer. [1.] We
must come to God with <i>boldness</i> and <i>confidence</i> for
what we need, as a man does to the house of his neighbour or
friend, who, he knows, loves him, and is inclined to be kind to
him. [2.] We must come for <i>bread,</i> for that which is
<i>needful,</i> and which we cannot be without. [3.] We must come
to him by prayer <i>for others</i> as well as <i>for ourselves.</i>
This man did not come for bread for himself, but for his friend.
The Lord <i>accepted Job,</i> when he prayed for his friends,
<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.42.10" parsed="|Job|42|10|0|0" passage="Job 42:10">Job xlii. 10</scripRef>. We cannot
come to God upon a more pleasing errand than when we come to him
for grace to enable us to do good, to <i>feed many</i> with <i>our
lips,</i> to entertain and edify those that come to us. [4.] We may
come with the more boldness to God in a strait, if it be a strait
that we have not brought ourselves into by our own folly and
carelessness, but Providence has led us into it. This man would not
have wanted bread if his friend had not come in
<i>unexpectedly.</i> The care which Providence casts upon us, we
may with cheerfulness cast back upon Providence. [5.] We ought to
<i>continue instant</i> in prayer, and watch in the same with all
perseverance.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p25">(2.) To <i>encourage</i> us in prayer. If
importunity could prevail thus with <i>a man</i> who was angry at
it, much more with a God who is infinitely more kind and ready to
do good <i>to us</i> than we are <i>to one another,</i> and is not
angry at our importunity, but accepts it, especially when it is for
spiritual mercies that we are importunate. If he do not answer our
prayers presently, yet he will in due time, if we continue to
pray.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p26">2. That God has promised to give us what we
ask of him. We have not only the goodness of nature to take comfort
from, but the word which he has spoken (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.9-Luke.11.10" parsed="|Luke|11|9|11|10" passage="Lu 11:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>): "<i>Ask, and it shall be
given you;</i> either the thing itself you shall ask or that which
is equivalent; either the thorn in the flesh removed, or grace
sufficient given in."—We had this before, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.7.7-Matt.7.8" parsed="|Matt|7|7|7|8" passage="Mt 7:7,8">Matt. vii. 7, 8</scripRef>. <i>I say unto you.</i> We
have it from Christ's own mouth, who knows his Father's mind, and
in whom all promises are yea and amen. We must not only <i>ask,</i>
but we must <i>seek,</i> in the use of means, must second our
prayers with our endeavours; and, in <i>asking</i> and
<i>seeking,</i> we must continue <i>pressing,</i> still knocking at
the same door, and we shall at length prevail, not only by our
prayers in concert, but by our particular prayers: <i>Every one
that asketh receiveth,</i> even the meanest saint that asks in
faith. <i>This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him,</i>
<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.6" parsed="|Ps|34|6|0|0" passage="Ps 34:6">Ps. xxxiv. 6</scripRef>. When we ask of
God those things which Christ has here directed us to ask, that his
name may be sanctified, that his kingdom may come, and his will be
done, in these requests we must be importunate, must <i>never hold
our peace day or night;</i> we must not <i>keep silence,</i> nor
<i>give God any rest, until he establish, until he make Jerusalem a
praise in the earth,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.62.6-Isa.62.7" parsed="|Isa|62|6|62|7" passage="Isa 62:6,7">Isa. lxii.
6, 7</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p27">V. He gives us both instruction and
encouragement in prayer from the consideration of our relation to
God as a Father. Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p28">1. An <i>appeal</i> to the <i>bowels</i> of
<i>earthly fathers:</i> "Let any of you that <i>is a father,</i>
and knows the heart of a father, a father's affection to a child
and care for a child, tell me, if his son <i>ask bread</i> for his
breakfast, <i>will he give him a stone</i> to breakfast on? <i>If
he ask a fish</i> for his dinner (when it may be a fish-day),
<i>will he for a fish give him a serpent,</i> that will poison and
sting him? Or, <i>if he shall ask an egg</i> for his supper (an egg
and to bed), <i>will he offer him a scorpion?</i> You know you
could not be so unnatural to your own children," <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.11-Luke.11.12" parsed="|Luke|11|11|11|12" passage="Lu 11:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p29">2. An <i>application</i> of this to the
<i>blessings</i> of our <i>heavenly Father</i> (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.13" parsed="|Luke|11|13|0|0" passage="Lu 11:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): <i>If ye then, being evil,</i>
give, and know how to <i>give, good gifts to your children, much
more shall God give you the Spirit.</i> He shall give <i>good
things;</i> so it is in Matthew. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p30">(1.) The direction he gives us what to
<i>pray for.</i> We must ask for the <i>Holy Spirit,</i> not only a
necessary in order to our <i>praying well,</i> but as inclusive of
all the good things we are to pray for; we need no more to make us
happy, for the Spirit is the worker of spiritual life, and the
earnest of eternal life. Note, The gift of the Holy Ghost is a gift
we are every one of us concerned earnestly and constantly to pray
for.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p31">(2.) The <i>encouragement</i> he gives us
to hope that we shall speed in this prayer: <i>Your heavenly Father
will give.</i> It is <i>in his power</i> to give the Spirit; he has
all good things to bestow, wrapped up in that one; but that is not
all, it is <i>in his promise,</i> the gift of <i>the Holy Ghost</i>
is in the covenant, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p31.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.33 Bible:Acts.2.38" parsed="|Acts|2|33|0|0;|Acts|2|38|0|0" passage="Ac 2:33,38">Acts ii. 33,
38</scripRef>, and it is here inferred from parents' readiness to
<i>supply</i> their children's <i>needs,</i> and <i>gratify</i>
their <i>desires,</i> when they are natural and proper. If the
child ask for a <i>serpent,</i> or a <i>scorpion,</i> the father,
in kindness, will deny him, but not if he ask for what is
<i>needful,</i> and will be <i>nourishing.</i> When God's children
ask for the Spirit, they do, in effect, ask for <i>bread;</i> for
the Spirit is the staff of life; nay, he is the Author of the
soul's life. If our earthly parents, though <i>evil,</i> be yet so
kind, if they, though <i>weak,</i> be yet so <i>knowing,</i> that
they not only give, but give with discretion, give what is best, in
the best manner and time, much more will our <i>heavenly
Father,</i> who infinitely excels the fathers of our flesh both in
wisdom and goodness, give us his <i>Holy Spirit.</i> If earthly
parents be willing to lay out for the education of their children,
to whom they design to leave their estates, much more will our
heavenly Father give the spirit of sons to all those whom he has
predestinated to the inheritance of sons.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Luke.xii-p31.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.14-Luke.11.26" parsed="|Luke|11|14|11|26" passage="Lu 11:14-26" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Luke.11.14-Luke.11.26">
<h4 id="Luke.xii-p31.3">Christ Accused of Leaguing with Satan;
Watchfulness Inculcated.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Luke.xii-p32">14 And he was casting out a devil, and it was
dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb
spake; and the people wondered.   15 But some of them said, He
casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.
  16 And others, tempting <i>him,</i> sought of him a sign
from heaven.   17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto
them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to
desolation; and a house <i>divided</i> against a house falleth.
  18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his
kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through
Beelzebub.   19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom
do your sons cast <i>them</i> out? therefore shall they be your
judges.   20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils,
no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.   21 When a
strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:  
22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome
him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and
divideth his spoils.   23 He that is not with me is against
me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.   24 When
the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry
places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return
unto my house whence I came out.   25 And when he cometh, he
findeth <i>it</i> swept and garnished.   26 Then goeth he, and
taketh <i>to him</i> seven other spirits more wicked than himself;
and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last <i>state</i> of
that man is worse than the first.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p33">The substance of these verses we had in
<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p33.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.12.22" parsed="|Matt|12|22|0|0" passage="Mt 12:22">Matt. xii. 22</scripRef>, &amp;c.
Christ is here giving a general proof of his divine mission, by a
particular proof of his power over Satan, his conquest of whom was
an indication of his great design in coming into the world, which
was, to <i>destroy the works of the devil.</i> Here too he gives an
earnest of the success of that undertaking. He is here casting out
<i>a devil</i> that made the poor possessed man <i>dumb:</i> in
Matthew we are told that he was <i>blind</i> and <i>dumb.</i> When
the devil was forced out by the word of Christ, the <i>dumb</i>
spoke immediately, echoed to Christ's word, and the lips were
opened to show forth his praise. Now,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p34">I. Some were <i>affected</i> with this
miracle. The people <i>wondered;</i> they admired the power of God,
and especially that it should be exerted by the hand of one who
made so small a figure, that one who did the work of the Messiah
should have so little of that pomp of the Messiah which they
expected.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p35">II. Others were <i>offended</i> at it, and,
to justify their infidelity, suggested that it was by virtue of a
league with Beelzebub, the prince of the devils, that he did this,
<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p35.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.15" parsed="|Luke|11|15|0|0" passage="Lu 11:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. It seems, in
the devil's kingdom there are chiefs, which supposes that there are
subalterns. Now they would have it <i>thought,</i> or <i>said</i>
at least, that there was a correspondence settled between Christ
and the devil, that the devil should have the advantage in the main
and be victorious at last, but that in order hereto, in particular
instances, he should yield Christ the advantage and retire by
consent. Some, to <i>corroborate</i> this suggestion, and
<i>confront</i> the evidence of Christ's miraculous power,
challenged him to <i>give them a sign from heaven</i> (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p35.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.16" parsed="|Luke|11|16|0|0" passage="Lu 11:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>), to confirm his
doctrine by some appearance in the <i>clouds,</i> such as was upon
mount Sinai when the law was given; as if a <i>sign from
heaven,</i> not disprovable by any sagacity of theirs, could not
have been given them as well by a compact and collusion with <i>the
prince of the power of the air, who works with power and lying
wonders,</i> as the <i>casting out of a devil;</i> nay, that would
not have been any present prejudice to his interest, which this
manifestly was. Note, Obstinate infidelity will never be at a loss
for something to say in its own excuse, though ever so frivolous
and absurd. Now Christ here returns a full and direct answer to
this cavil of theirs; in which he shows,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p36">1. That it can by no means be imagined that
such a subtle prince as Satan is should ever agree to measures that
had such a direct tendency to his own overthrow, and the
undermining of his own kingdom, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p36.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.17-Luke.11.18" parsed="|Luke|11|17|11|18" passage="Lu 11:17,18"><i>v.</i> 17, 18</scripRef>. What they objected they
kept to themselves, afraid to speak it, lest it should be answered
and baffled; but Jesus <i>knew their thoughts,</i> even when they
industriously thought to conceal them, and he said, "You yourselves
cannot but see the groundlessness, and consequently the
spitefulness, of this charge; for it is an allowed maxim, confirmed
by every day's experience, that no interest can stand that is
divided against itself; not the more <i>public</i> interest of a
<i>kingdom,</i> nor the <i>private</i> interest of a house or
family; if either the one or the other be <i>divided against
itself,</i> it cannot stand. Satan would herein act against
himself; not only by the miracle which turned him out of possession
of the bodies of people, but much more in the doctrine for the
explication and confirmation of which the miracle was wrought,
which had a direct tendency to the ruin of Satan's interest in the
minds of men, by mortifying sin, and turning men to the service of
God. Now, if Satan should thus be <i>divided against himself,</i>
he would hasten his own overthrow, which you cannot suppose an
enemy to do that acts so subtlely for his own establishment, and is
so solicitous to have his kingdom stand."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p37">2. That was a very partial ill-natured
thing for them to impute that in him to a compact with Satan which
yet they applauded and admired in others that were of their own
nation (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p37.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.19" parsed="|Luke|11|19|0|0" passage="Lu 11:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>):
"<i>By whom do your sons cast them out?</i> Some of your own
<i>kindred,</i> as Jews, nay, and some of your own
<i>followers,</i> as Pharisees, have undertaken, in the name of the
God of Israel, to cast out devils, and they were never charged with
such a hellish combination as I am charged with." Note, It is gross
hypocrisy to <i>condemn</i> that in those who <i>reprove</i> us
which yet we <i>allow</i> in those that <i>flatter</i> us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p38">3. That, in opposing the conviction of this
miracle, they were enemies to themselves, stood in their own light,
and put a bar in their own door, for they thrust from them the
kingdom of God (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p38.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.2" parsed="|Luke|11|2|0|0" passage="Lu 11:2"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>): "<i>If I with the finger of God cast out
devils,</i> as you may assure yourselves I do, <i>no doubt the
kingdom of God is come upon you,</i> the kingdom of the Messiah
offers itself and all its advantages to you, and, if you receive it
not, it is at your peril." In Matthew it is <i>by the Spirit of
God,</i> here <i>by the finger of God;</i> the Spirit is the <i>arm
of the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p38.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.53.1" parsed="|Isa|53|1|0|0" passage="Isa 53:1">Isa. liii.
1</scripRef>. His greatest and most mighty works were wrought by
<i>his Spirit;</i> but, if the Spirit in this work is said to be
the <i>finger of the Lord,</i> it perhaps may intimate how
<i>easily</i> Christ did and could conquer Satan, even with the
<i>finger of God,</i> the exerting of the divine power in a less
and lower degree than in many other instances. He needed not make
bare his <i>everlasting arm;</i> that roaring lion, when <i>he</i>
pleases, is crushed, like a moth, with a touch of <i>a finger.</i>
Perhaps here is an allusion to the acknowledgment of Pharaoh's
magicians, when they were run aground (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p38.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.8.19" parsed="|Exod|8|19|0|0" passage="Ex 8:19">Exod. viii. 19</scripRef>): This is <i>the finger of
God.</i> "Now if the <i>kingdom of God</i> be herein <i>come to
you,</i> and you be found by those cavils and blasphemies fighting
against it, it will come <i>upon you</i> as a victorious force
which you cannot stand before."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p39">4. That his casting out devils was really
the destroying of them and their power, for it confirmed a doctrine
which had a direct tendency to the ruining of his kingdom,
<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p39.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.21-Luke.11.22" parsed="|Luke|11|21|11|22" passage="Lu 11:21,22"><i>v.</i> 21, 22</scripRef>.
Perhaps there had been some who had cast out the inferior devils by
compact with Beelzebub their chief, but that was without any real
damage or prejudice to Satan and his kingdom, what he lost one way
he gained another. The devil and such exorcists <i>played
booty,</i> as we say, and, while the forlorn hope of his army
<i>gave ground,</i> the main body thereby <i>gained ground;</i> the
interest of Satan in the souls of men was not weakened by it in the
least. But, when Christ cast out devils, he needed not do it by any
compact with them, for he was <i>stronger than they,</i> and could
do it <i>by force,</i> and did it so as to ruin Satan's power and
blast his great design by that doctrine and that grace which break
the power of sin, and so rout Satan's main body, take from him
<i>all his armour,</i> and <i>divide his spoils,</i> which no one
devil ever did to another or ever will. Now this is applicable to
Christ's victories over Satan both in the world and in the hearts
of particular persons, by that power which went along with the
preaching of his gospel, and does still. And so we may observe
here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p40">(1.) The miserable condition of an
unconverted sinner. In his heart, which was fitted to be a
habitation of God, the devil has his palace; and all the powers and
the faculties of the soul, being employed by him in the service of
sin, are <i>his goods.</i> Note, [1.] The heart of every
unconverted sinner is the <i>devil's palace,</i> where he
<i>resides</i> and where he <i>rules;</i> he <i>works</i> in the
<i>children of disobedience.</i> The heart is a <i>palace,</i> a
noble dwelling; but the unsanctified heart is the <i>devil's
palace.</i> His will is obeyed, his interests are served, and the
militia is in his hands; he <i>usurps</i> the throne in the soul.
[2.] The devil, as a <i>strong man armed, keeps</i> this palace,
does all he can to secure it to himself, and to fortify it against
Christ. All the prejudices with which he hardens men's hearts
against truth and holiness are the <i>strong-holds</i> which he
erects for the <i>keeping of his palace;</i> this palace is his
<i>garrison.</i> [3.] There is a kind of <i>peace</i> in the palace
of an unconverted soul, while the devil, as a <i>strong man
armed,</i> keeps it. The sinner has a good opinion of himself, is
very secure and merry, has no doubt concerning the goodness of his
state nor any dread of the judgment to come; he flatters himself in
his own eyes, and cries peace to himself. Before Christ appeared,
all was quiet, because all <i>went one way;</i> but the preaching
of the gospel disturbed the peace of the devil's palace.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p41">(2.) The wonderful change that is made in
conversion, which is Christ's victory over this usurper.
<i>Satan</i> is a <i>strong man armed;</i> but our Lord Jesus is
<i>stronger than he,</i> as God, as Mediator. <i>If we speak of
strength, he is strong:</i> more are <i>with</i> us than <i>against
us.</i> Observe, [1.] The manner of this victory: <i>He comes upon
him</i> by surprise, when his <i>goods are in peace</i> and the
devil thinks it is all <i>his own</i> for ever, and
<i>overcomes</i> him. Note, The conversion of a soul to God is
Christ's victory over the devil and his power in that soul,
restoring the soul to its liberty, and recovering his own interest
in it and dominion over it. [2.] The evidences of this victory.
<i>First,</i> He <i>takes from him all his armour wherein he
trusted.</i> The devil is a <i>confident</i> adversary; he
<i>trusts</i> to his <i>armour,</i> as Pharaoh to his rivers
(<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p41.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.29.3" parsed="|Ezek|29|3|0|0" passage="Eze 29:3">Ezek. xxix. 3</scripRef>): but Christ
disarms him. When the power of sin and corruption in the soul is
broken, when the mistakes are rectified, the eyes opened, the heart
humbled and changed, and made serious and spiritual, then Satan's
<i>armour</i> is <i>taken away. Secondly,</i> He <i>divides the
spoils;</i> he <i>takes possession</i> of them for himself. All the
endowments of mind and body, the estate, power, interest, which
before were made use of in the service of sin and Satan, are now
converted to Christ's service and employed for him; yet this is not
all; he <i>makes a distribution</i> of them among his followers,
and, and having conquered Satan, gives to all believers the benefit
of that victory. Hence Christ infers that, since the whole drift of
his doctrine and miracles was to break the power of the devil, that
great enemy of mankind, it was the duty of all to join with him and
to follow his guidance, to receive his gospel and come heartily
into the interests of it; for otherwise they would justly be
reckoned as siding with the enemy (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p41.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.23" parsed="|Luke|11|23|0|0" passage="Lu 11:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>): <i>He that is not with me is
against me.</i> Those therefore who rejected the doctrine of
Christ, and slighted his miracles, were looked upon as adversaries
to him, and in the devil's interest.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p42">5. That there was a vast difference between
the devil's <i>going out</i> by compact and his being <i>cast
out</i> by compulsion. Those out of whom Christ <i>cast him</i> he
never entered into again, for so was Christ's charge (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p42.1" osisRef="Bible:Mark.9.25" parsed="|Mark|9|25|0|0" passage="Mk 9:25">Mark ix. 25</scripRef>); whereas, if he had
<i>gone out,</i> whenever he saw fit he would have made a re-entry,
for that is the way of the unclean spirit, when he voluntarily and
with design <i>goes out of a man,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p42.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.24-Luke.11.26" parsed="|Luke|11|24|11|26" passage="Lu 11:24-26"><i>v.</i> 24-26</scripRef>. The prince of the devils
may <i>give leave,</i> nay, may <i>give order,</i> to his forces to
retreat, or make a feint, to draw the poor deluded soul into an
<i>ambush;</i> but Christ, as he gives a <i>total,</i> so he gives
a <i>final,</i> defeat to the enemy. In this part of the argument
he has a further intention, which is to represent the state of
those who have had fair offers made them,—among whom, and in whom,
God has begun to break the devil's power and overthrow his
kingdom,—but they reject his counsel against themselves, and
relapse into a state of subjection to Satan. Here we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p43">(1.) The condition of a <i>formal
hypocrite,</i> his <i>bright side</i> and his <i>dark side.</i> His
heart still remains the <i>devil's house;</i> he calls it his own,
and he retains his interest in it; and yet, [1.] The <i>unclean
spirit is gone out.</i> He was not <i>driven out</i> by the power
of converting grace; there was none of that <i>violence</i> which
the kingdom of heaven suffers; but he <i>went out,</i> withdrew for
a time, so that the man seemed not to be under the power of Satan
as formerly, nor so followed with his temptations. Satan is
<i>gone,</i> or has <i>turned himself into an angel of light.</i>
[2.] The <i>house is swept</i> from common pollutions, by a forced
confession of sin, as Pharaoh's—a feigned contrition for it, as
Ahab's,—and a partial reformation, as Herod's. There are those
that have <i>escaped the pollutions of the world,</i> and yet are
still under the power of the <i>god of this world,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p43.1" osisRef="Bible:2Pet.2.20" parsed="|2Pet|2|20|0|0" passage="2Pe 2:20">2 Pet. ii. 20</scripRef>. The house is
<i>swept,</i> but it is not <i>washed;</i> and Christ hath said,
<i>If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me;</i> the house
must be <i>washed,</i> or it is <i>none of his.</i> Sweeping takes
off only the loose dirt, while the sin that <i>besets</i> the
sinner, the beloved sin, is untouched. It is swept from the filth
that lies open to the eye of the world, but it is not searched and
ransacked for secret filthiness, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p43.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.25" parsed="|Matt|23|25|0|0" passage="Mt 23:25">Matt.
xxiii. 25</scripRef>. It is <i>swept,</i> but the <i>leprosy is in
the wall,</i> and will be till something more be done. [3.] The
house is <i>garnished</i> with common gifts and graces. It is not
<i>furnished</i> with any true grace, but <i>garnished</i> with the
pictures of all graces. Simon Magus was <i>garnished</i> with
faith, Balaam with good desires, Herod with a respect for John, the
Pharisees with many external performances. It is garnished, but it
is like a <i>potsherd covered with silver dross,</i> it is all
paint and varnish, not real, not lasting. The house is
<i>garnished,</i> but the property is not altered; it was never
surrendered to Christ, nor inhabited by the Spirit. Let us
therefore take heed of resting in that which a man may have and yet
come short.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p44">(2.) Here is the condition of a <i>final
apostate,</i> into whom the devil returns after he had <i>gone out:
Then goes he, and takes seven other spirits more wicked than
himself</i> (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p44.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.26" parsed="|Luke|11|26|0|0" passage="Lu 11:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>);
a certain number for an uncertain, as <i>seven devils</i> are said
to be cast out of Mary Magdalene. <i>Seven wicked spirits</i> are
opposed to the <i>seven spirits of God,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p44.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.3.1" parsed="|Rev|3|1|0|0" passage="Re 3:1">Rev. iii. 1</scripRef>. These are said to be more wicked
than himself. It seems, even devils are not all alike wicked;
probably, the degrees of their wickedness, now that they are
<i>fallen,</i> are as the degrees of their holiness were while they
stood. When the devil would do mischief most effectually, he
employs those that are more mischievous than himself. These
<i>enter in</i> without any difficulty or opposition; they are
welcomed, and they <i>dwell there;</i> there they <i>work,</i>
there they <i>rule;</i> and the <i>last state of that man is worse
than the first.</i> Note, [1.] Hypocrisy is the high road to
apostasy. If the heart remains in the interest of sin and Satan,
the shows and shadows will <i>come to nothing;</i> those that have
not set that right will not long be stedfast. Where secret haunts
of sin are kept up, under the cloak of a visible profession,
conscience is debauched, God is provoked to withdraw his
restraining grace, and the <i>close</i> hypocrite commonly proves
an <i>open</i> apostate, [2.] The last state of such is <i>worse
than the first,</i> in respect both of sin and punishment.
Apostates are usually the worst of men, the most vain and
profligate, the most bold and daring; their consciences are seared,
and their sins of all others the most aggravated. God often sets
marks of his displeasure upon them in <i>this</i> world, and in the
other world they will <i>receive the greater damnation.</i> Let us
therefore hear, and fear, and hold fast our integrity.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Luke.xii-p44.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.27-Luke.11.28" parsed="|Luke|11|27|11|28" passage="Lu 11:27-28" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Luke.11.27-Luke.11.28">
<h4 id="Luke.xii-p44.4">Praise and a Blessing.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Luke.xii-p45">27 And it came to pass, as he spake these
things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and
said unto him, Blessed <i>is</i> the womb that bare thee, and the
paps which thou hast sucked.   28 But he said, Yea rather,
blessed <i>are</i> they that hear the word of God, and keep it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p46">We had not this passage in the other
evangelists, nor can we tack it, as Dr. Hammond does, to that of
Christ's mother and brethren desiring to speak with him (for this
evangelist also has related that in <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p46.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.8.19" parsed="|Luke|8|19|0|0" passage="Lu 8:19"><i>ch.</i> viii. 19</scripRef>), but it contains an
interruption much like that, and, like that, occasion is taken from
it for instruction.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p47">1. The applause which an affectionate,
honest, well-meaning woman gave to our Lord Jesus, upon hearing his
excellent discourses. While the scribes and Pharisees despised and
blasphemed them, this good woman (and probably she was a person of
some quality) admired them, and the wisdom and power with which he
spoke: <i>As he spoke these things</i> (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p47.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.27" parsed="|Luke|11|27|0|0" passage="Lu 11:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>), with a convincing force and
evidence, a <i>certain woman of the company</i> was so pleased to
hear how he had confounded the Pharisees, and conquered them, and
put them to shame, and cleared himself from their vile
insinuations, that she could not forbear crying out, "<i>Blessed is
the womb that bore thee.</i> What an admirable, what an excellent
man is this! Surely never was there a greater or better born of a
woman: happy the woman that has him for her son. I should have
thought myself very happy to have been the mother of one that
<i>speaks as never man spoke,</i> that has so much of the grace of
heaven in him, and is so great a blessing to this earth." This was
<i>well said,</i> as it expressed her high esteem of Christ, and
that for the sake of his doctrine; and it was not amiss that it
reflected honour upon the virgin Mary his mother, for it agreed
with what she herself had said (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p47.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.48" parsed="|Luke|1|48|0|0" passage="Lu 1:48"><i>ch.</i> i. 48</scripRef>), <i>All generations shall
call me blessed;</i> some even of this generation, bad as it was.
Note, To all that believe the word of Christ the person of Christ
is precious, and he is <i>an honour,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p47.3" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.2.7" parsed="|1Pet|2|7|0|0" passage="1Pe 2:7">1 Pet. ii. 7</scripRef>. Yet we must be careful, lest, as
this good woman, we too much magnify the honour of his natural
kindred, and so <i>know him after the flesh,</i> whereas we must
now henceforth <i>know him so no more.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p48">2. The occasion which Christ took from this
to pronounce <i>them</i> more happy who are his faithful and
obedient followers than she was who bore and nursed him. He does
not deny what this woman said, nor refuse her respect to him and
his mother; but leads her from this to that which was of higher
consideration, and which more concerned her: <i>Yea, rather,
blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it,</i>
<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p48.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.28" parsed="|Luke|11|28|0|0" passage="Lu 11:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>. He thinks
them so; and his saying that they are so makes them so, and should
make us of his mind. This is intended partly as a <i>check</i> to
her, for doting so much upon his bodily presence and his human
nature, partly as an <i>encouragement</i> to her to hope that she
might be as happy as his own mother, whose happiness she was ready
to envy, if she would <i>hear the word of God and keep it.</i>
Note, Though it is a great privilege to hear the word of God, yet
those only are truly blessed, that is, blessed of the Lord, that
hear it and <i>keep</i> it, that keep it in memory, and keep to it
as their way and rule.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Luke.xii-p48.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.29-Luke.11.36" parsed="|Luke|11|29|11|36" passage="Lu 11:29-36" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Luke.11.29-Luke.11.36">
<h4 id="Luke.xii-p48.3">The Sign of the Prophet
Jonah.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Luke.xii-p49">29 And when the people were gathered thick
together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a
sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas
the prophet.   30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites,
so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.   31 The
queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of
this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost
parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a
greater than Solomon <i>is</i> here.   32 The men of Nineve
shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall
condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and,
behold, a greater than Jonas <i>is</i> here.   33 No man, when
he hath lighted a candle, putteth <i>it</i> in a secret place,
neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come
in may see the light.   34 The light of the body is the eye:
therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of
light; but when <i>thine eye</i> is evil, thy body also <i>is</i>
full of darkness.   35 Take heed therefore that the light
which is in thee be not darkness.   36 If thy whole body
therefore <i>be</i> full of light, having no part dark, the whole
shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth
give thee light.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p50">Christ's discourse in these verses shows
two things:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p51">I. What is the <i>sign</i> we may
<i>expect</i> from God for the <i>confirmation</i> of our
<i>faith.</i> The great and most convincing proof of Christ's being
sent of God, and which they were yet to wait for, after the many
signs that had been given them, was the resurrection of Christ from
the dead. Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p52">1. A reproof to the people for demanding
other signs than what had already been given them in great plenty:
<i>The people were gathered thickly together</i> (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p52.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.29" parsed="|Luke|11|29|0|0" passage="Lu 11:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>), a vast crowd of them,
expecting not so much to have their consciences informed by the
doctrine of Christ as to have their curiosity gratified by his
miracles. Christ knew what brought such a multitude together; they
came <i>seeking a sign,</i> they came to gaze, to have something to
talk of when they went home; and it is an <i>evil generation</i>
which nothing will awaken and convince, no, not the most sensible
demonstrations of divine power and goodness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p53">2. A promise that yet there should be
<i>one sign</i> more given them, different from any that had yet
been given them, even the <i>sign of Jonas the prophet,</i> which
in Matthew is explained as meaning the <i>resurrection of
Christ.</i> As Jonas being cast into the sea, and lying there three
days, and then coming up alive and preaching repentance to the
Ninevites, was a sign to them, upon which they turned from their
evil way, so shall the death and resurrection of Christ, and the
preaching of his gospel immediately after to the Gentile world, be
the last warning to the Jewish nation. If they be provoked to a
<i>holy jealousy</i> by this, well and good; but, if this do not
work upon them, let them look for nothing but utter ruin: <i>The
Son of Man shall be a sign to this generation</i> (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p53.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.30" parsed="|Luke|11|30|0|0" passage="Lu 11:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>), a sign speaking to
them, though a sign spoken against by them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p54">3. A warning to them to improve this sign;
for it was at their peril if they did not. (1.) The <i>queen of
Sheba</i> would <i>rise up in judgment against them,</i> and
condemn <i>their unbelief,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p54.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.31" parsed="|Luke|11|31|0|0" passage="Lu 11:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>. She was a stranger to the
commonwealth of Israel, and yet so readily gave credit to the
report she heard of the glories of a king of Israel, that,
notwithstanding the prejudices we are apt to conceive against
foreigners, she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to
<i>hear his wisdom,</i> not only to satisfy her curiosity, but to
inform her mind, especially in the knowledge of the true God and
his worship, which is upon record, to her honour; and, behold, a
<i>greater than Solomon in here,</i> <b><i>pleion
Solomontos</i></b>—<i>more than a Solomon is here;</i> that is,
says Dr. Hammond, more of wisdom and more heavenly divine doctrine
than ever was in all Solomon's words or writings; and yet these
wretched Jews will give no manner of regard to what Christ says to
them, though he be in the midst of them. (2.) The Ninevites would
rise up in judgment against them, and condemn their impenitency
(<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p54.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.32" parsed="|Luke|11|32|0|0" passage="Lu 11:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>): They
<i>repented at the preaching of Jonas;</i> but here is preaching
which far exceeds that of Jonas, is more powerful and awakening,
and threatens a much sorer ruin than that of Nineveh, and yet none
are startled by it, to turn <i>from their evil way,</i> as the
Ninevites did.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p55">II. What is the <i>sign</i> that God
<i>expects</i> from us for the <i>evidencing</i> of our faith, and
that is the serious practice of that religion which we profess to
believe, and a readiness to entertain all divine truths, when
brought to us in their proper evidence. Now observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p56">1. They had <i>the light</i> with all the
advantage they could desire. For God, having <i>lighted the
candle</i> of the gospel, did not put it in a <i>secret place,</i>
or <i>under a bushel;</i> Christ did not preach in corners. The
apostles were ordered to preach the gospel to every creature; and
both Christ and his ministers, Wisdom and her maidens, cry in the
<i>chief places of concourse,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p56.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.33" parsed="|Luke|11|33|0|0" passage="Lu 11:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>. It is a great privilege that
the light of the gospel is put on a <i>candlestick,</i> so that all
that come in may <i>see it,</i> and may <i>see by it</i> where they
are and whither they are going, and what is the true, and sure, and
only way to happiness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p57">2. Having the <i>light,</i> their concern
was to have the <i>sight,</i> or else to what purpose had they the
light? Be the <i>object</i> ever so <i>clear,</i> if the
<i>organ</i> be not <i>right,</i> we are never the better: <i>The
light of the body is the eye</i> (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p57.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.34" parsed="|Luke|11|34|0|0" passage="Lu 11:34"><i>v.</i> 34</scripRef>), which receives the light of
the candle when it is brought into the room. So the light of the
soul is the understanding and judgment, and its power of discerning
between good and evil, truth and falsehood. Now, according as this
is, so the light of divine revelation is to us, and our benefit by
it; it is a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death. (1.)
If this eye of the soul be <i>single,</i> if it see <i>clear,</i>
see things as they are, and judge impartially concerning them, if
it aim at <i>truth</i> only, and seek it for its own sake, and have
not any sinister by—looks and intentions, the <i>whole body,</i>
that is, the whole soul, is <i>full of light,</i> it receives and
entertains the gospel, which will bring along with it into the soul
both <i>knowledge</i> and <i>joy.</i> This denotes the same thing
with that of the good ground, <i>receiving the word</i> and
<i>understanding</i> it. If our understanding admits the gospel in
its full light, it fills the soul, and it has enough to <i>fill</i>
it. And if the soul be thus <i>filled</i> with the light of the
gospel, <i>having no part dark,</i>—if all its powers and
faculties be subjected to the government and influence of the
gospel, and none left unsanctified,—then <i>the whole soul shall
be full of light,</i> full of holiness and comfort. <i>It was
darkness</i> itself, but now light in the Lord, <i>as when the
bright shining of a candle doth give thee light,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p57.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.36" parsed="|Luke|11|36|0|0" passage="Lu 11:36"><i>v.</i> 36</scripRef>. Note, The gospel will
come into those souls whose doors and windows are thrown open to
receive it; and where it comes it will bring light with it. But,
(2.) If the <i>eye of the</i> soul be <i>evil,</i>—if the judgment
be <i>bribed</i> and <i>biassed</i> by the corrupt and vicious
dispositions of the mind, by pride and envy, by the love of the
world and sensual pleasures,—if the understanding be
<i>prejudiced</i> against divine truths, and resolved not to admit
them, though brought with ever so convincing an evidence,—it is no
wonder that the <i>whole body,</i> the whole soul, should be
<i>full of darkness,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p57.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.34" parsed="|Luke|11|34|0|0" passage="Lu 11:34"><i>v.</i>
34</scripRef>. How can they have instruction, information,
direction, or comfort, from the gospel, that wilfully shut their
eyes against it? and what hope is there of such? what remedy for
them? The inference hence therefore is, <i>Take heed that the light
which is in thee be not darkness,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p57.4" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.35" parsed="|Luke|11|35|0|0" passage="Lu 11:35"><i>v.</i> 35</scripRef>. Take heed that the eye of the
mind be not blinded by partiality, and prejudice, and sinful aims.
Be sincere in your enquiries after truth, and ready to receive it
in the light, and love, and power of it; and not as the men of
<i>this generation</i> to whom Christ preached, who never sincerely
<i>desired</i> to know God's will, nor <i>designed</i> to do it,
and therefore no wonder that they <i>walked on in darkness,</i>
wandered <i>endlessly,</i> and perished <i>eternally.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Luke.xii-p57.5" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.37-Luke.11.54" parsed="|Luke|11|37|11|54" passage="Lu 11:37-54" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Luke.11.37-Luke.11.54">
<h4 id="Luke.xii-p57.6">Woes Denounced on That Generation; The
Pharisees and Lawyers Reproved.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Luke.xii-p58">37 And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought
him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat.  
38 And when the Pharisee saw <i>it,</i> he marvelled that he had
not first washed before dinner.   39 And the Lord said unto
him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the
platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.
  40 <i>Ye</i> fools, did not he that made that which is
without make that which is within also?   41 But rather give
alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean
unto you.   42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint
and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the
love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the
other undone.   43 Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the
uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.
  44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over
<i>them</i> are not aware <i>of them.</i>   45 Then answered
one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou
reproachest us also.   46 And he said, Woe unto you also,
<i>ye</i> lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be
borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your
fingers.   47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the
prophets, and your fathers killed them.   48 Truly ye bear
witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed
killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.   49 Therefore
also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and
apostles, and <i>some</i> of them they shall slay and persecute:
  50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from
the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
  51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which
perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you,
It shall be required of this generation.   52 Woe unto you,
lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered
not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.
  53 And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and
the Pharisees began to urge <i>him</i> vehemently, and to provoke
him to speak of many things:   54 Laying wait for him, and
seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse
him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p59">Christ here says many of those things to a
Pharisee and his guests, in a <i>private</i> conversation at table,
which he afterwards said in a <i>public</i> discourse in the temple
(<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p59.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.1-Matt.23.39" parsed="|Matt|23|1|23|39" passage="Mt 23:1-39">Matt. xxiii.</scripRef>); for what
he said in public and private was <i>of a piece.</i> He would not
say that in a corner which he durst not repeat and stand to in the
great congregation; nor would he give those reproofs to any sort of
sinners in general which he durst not apply to them in particular
as he met with them; for he was, and is, the <i>faithful
Witness.</i> Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p60">I. Christ's going to dine with a Pharisee
that very civilly invited him to his house (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p60.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.37" parsed="|Luke|11|37|0|0" passage="Lu 11:37"><i>v.</i> 37</scripRef>); <i>As he spoke,</i> even while
he was speaking, a <i>certain Pharisee</i> interrupted him with a
request to him to come and <i>dine with him,</i> to come
<i>forthwith,</i> for it was dinner-time. We are willing to hope
that the Pharisee was so well pleased with his discourse that he
was willing to show him respect, and desirous to have more of his
company, and therefore gave him this invitation and bade him truly
welcome; and yet we have some cause to suspect that it was with an
<i>ill design,</i> to break off his discourse to the people, and to
have an opportunity of ensnaring him and getting something out of
him which might serve for matter of accusation or reproach,
<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p60.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.53-Luke.11.54" parsed="|Luke|11|53|11|54" passage="Lu 11:53,54"><i>v.</i> 53, 54</scripRef>. We
know not the mind of this Pharisee; but, whatever it was, Christ
knew it: if he meant ill, he shall know Christ does not fear him;
if well, he shall know Christ is willing to do him good: so <i>he
went in, and sat down to meat.</i> Note, Christ's disciples must
learn of him to be <i>conversable,</i> and not <i>morose.</i>
Though we have need to be <i>cautious</i> what company we keep, yet
we need not be <i>rigid,</i> nor must we therefore <i>go out of the
world.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p61">II. The offence which the Pharisee took at
Christ, as those of that sort had sometimes done at the disciples
of Christ, for not <i>washing before dinner,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p61.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.38" parsed="|Luke|11|38|0|0" passage="Lu 11:38"><i>v.</i> 38</scripRef>. He wondered that a man of his
sanctity, a prophet, a man of so much devotion, and such a strict
conversation, should sit down to meat, and not first <i>wash his
hands,</i> especially being newly come out of a mixed company, and
there being in the Pharisee's dining-room, no doubt, all
accommodations set ready for it, so that he need not fear being
<i>troublesome;</i> and the Pharisee himself and all his guests, no
doubt, <i>washing,</i> so that he could not be <i>singular;</i>
what, and yet not wash? What harm had it been if he had washed? Was
it not strictly commanded by the canons of their church? It was so,
and <i>therefore</i> Christ would not do it, because he would
witness against their assuming a power to impose that as a matter
of religion which <i>God commanded them not.</i> The ceremonial law
consisted in <i>divers washings,</i> but this was none of them, and
therefore Christ would not practise it, no not in
<i>complaisance</i> to the Pharisee who invited him, nor though he
knew that offence would be taken at his omitting it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p62">III. The sharp reproof which Christ, upon
this occasion, gave to the Pharisees, without begging pardon even
of the Pharisee whose guest he now was; for we must not flatter our
best friends in any evil thing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p63">1. He reproves them for placing religion so
much in those instances of it which are only external, and fall
under the eye of man, while those were not only <i>postponed,</i>
but quite <i>expunged,</i> which respect the soul, and fall under
the eye of God, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p63.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.39-Luke.11.40" parsed="|Luke|11|39|11|40" passage="Lu 11:39,40"><i>v.</i> 39,
40</scripRef>. Now observe here, (1.) The absurdity they were
guilty of: "<i>You Pharisees make clean the outside</i> only, you
wash your hands with water, but do not <i>wash your hearts from
wickedness;</i> these are full of covetousness and malice,
<i>covetousness</i> of men's goods, and malice against good men."
Those can never be reckoned <i>cleanly</i> servants that wash only
the <i>outside of the cup</i> out of which their master drinks, or
<i>the platter</i> out of which he eats, and take no care to make
clean the <i>inside,</i> the filth of which immediately
<i>affects</i> the meat or drink. The frame or temper of the mind
in every religious service is as the <i>inside</i> of the cup and
platter; the impurity of this <i>infects</i> the services, and
therefore to keep ourselves free from scandalous enormities, and
yet to live under the dominion of spiritual wickedness, is as great
an affront to God as it would be for a servant to give the cup into
his master's hand, clean wiped from all the dust on the outside,
but <i>within</i> full of cobwebs and spiders. <i>Ravening and
wickedness,</i> that is, <i>reigning worldliness</i> and
<i>reigning spitefulness,</i> which men think they can find some
cloak and cover for, are the dangerous damning sins of many who
have made the <i>outside of the cup</i> clean from the more gross,
and scandalous, and inexcusable sins of whoredom and drunkenness.
(2.) A particular instance of the absurdity of it: "<i>Ye fools,
did not he that made that which is without make that which is
within also?</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p63.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.40" parsed="|Luke|11|40|0|0" passage="Lu 11:40"><i>v.</i>
40</scripRef>. Did not that God who in the law of Moses appointed
divers ceremonial washings, with which you justify yourselves in
these practices and impositions, appoint also that you should
cleanse and purify your hearts? He who made laws for that which is
<i>without,</i> did not he even in those laws further intend
something within, and by other laws show how little he regarded the
<i>purifying of the flesh,</i> and the <i>putting away of the
filth</i> of that, if the heart be not made clean?" Or, it may have
regard to God not only as a <i>Lawgiver,</i> but (which the words
seem rather to import) as a Creator. Did not God, who made us these
bodies (and they <i>are fearfully and wonderfully made</i>), make
us <i>these souls</i> also, which are more fearfully and
wonderfully made? Now, if he made both, he justly expects we should
take care of both; and therefore not only wash the <i>body,</i>
which he is the <i>former</i> of, and make the hands clean in
honour of his work, but wash the spirit, which he is the Father of,
and get the leprosy in the heart cleansed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p64">To this he subjoins a rule for making our
creature-comforts clean to us (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p64.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.41" parsed="|Luke|11|41|0|0" passage="Lu 11:41"><i>v.</i> 41</scripRef>): "Instead of <i>washing your
hands</i> before you go to meat, <i>give alms of such things as you
have</i>" (<b><i>ta enonta</i></b>—<i>of such things as are set
before you, and present with you</i>); "let the poor have their
share out of them, and then <i>all things are clean to you,</i> and
you may use them comfortably." Here is a plain allusion to the law
of Moses, by which it was provided that certain portions of the
increase of their land should be given <i>to the Levite, the
stranger, the fatherless, and the widow;</i> and, when that was
done, what was reserved for their own use was <i>clean to them,</i>
and they could in faith pray for a blessing upon it, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p64.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.12-Deut.26.15" parsed="|Deut|26|12|26|15" passage="De 26:12-15">Deut. xxvi. 12-15</scripRef>. <i>Then</i> we
can with comfort enjoy the gifts of God's bounty ourselves when we
<i>send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared,</i>
<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p64.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.8.10" parsed="|Neh|8|10|0|0" passage="Ne 8:10">Neh. viii. 10</scripRef>. <i>Job ate
not his morsel alone,</i> but <i>the fatherless ate thereof,</i>
and so it was <i>clean to him</i> (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p64.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.17" parsed="|Job|31|17|0|0" passage="Job 31:17">Job xxxi. 17</scripRef>); <i>clean,</i> that is,
permitted and allowed to be used, and then only can it be used
comfortably. Note, What we have is not our own, unless God have his
dues out of it; and it is by <i>liberality to the poor</i> that we
clear up to ourselves our <i>liberty</i> to make use of our
creature-comforts.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p65">2. He reproves them for laying stress upon
trifles, and neglecting the weighty matters of the law, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p65.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.42" parsed="|Luke|11|42|0|0" passage="Lu 11:42"><i>v.</i> 42</scripRef>. (1.) Those laws which
related only to the <i>means of religion</i> they were very exact
in the observance of, as particularly those concerning the
maintenance of the priests: <i>Ye pay tithe of mint and rue,</i>
pay it in kind and to the full, and will not put off the priests
with a <i>modus decimandi</i> or <i>compound</i> for it. By this
they would gain reputation with the people as strict observers of
the law, and would make an interest in the priests, in whose power
it was many a time to do them a kindness; and no wonder if the
priests and the Pharisees contrived how to strengthen one another's
hands. Now Christ does not condemn them for being so exact in
paying tithes (<i>these things ought ye to have done</i>), but to
think that this would atone for the neglect of their greater
duties; for, (2.) Those laws which relate to the <i>essentials of
religion</i> they made nothing of: <i>You pass over judgment and
the love of God,</i> you make no conscience of giving men their
<i>dues</i> and God your <i>hearts.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p66">3. He reproves them for their pride and
vanity, and affectations of precedency and praise of men (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p66.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.43" parsed="|Luke|11|43|0|0" passage="Lu 11:43"><i>v.</i> 43</scripRef>): "<i>Ye love the
uppermost seats in the synagogues</i>" (or consistories where the
elders met for government); "if you have not those seats, you are
ambitious of them; if you have, you are proud of them; and <i>you
love greetings in the markets,</i> to be complimented by the people
and to have their cap and knee." It is not sitting uppermost, or
being greeted, that is reproved, but <i>loving it.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p67">4. He reproves them for their hypocrisy,
and their colouring over the wickedness of their hearts and lives
with specious pretences (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p67.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.44" parsed="|Luke|11|44|0|0" passage="Lu 11:44"><i>v.</i>
44</scripRef>): "<i>You are as graves</i> overgrown with grass,
which therefore <i>appear not,</i> and <i>the men that walk over
them are not aware of them,</i> and so they contract the ceremonial
pollution which by the law arose from the <i>touch of a grave.</i>"
These Pharisees were <i>within</i> full of <i>abominations,</i> as
a grave of putrefaction; full of covetousness, envy, and malice;
and yet they concealed it so artfully with a profession of
devotion, that it did not appear, so that they who conversed with
them, and followed their doctrine, were defiled with sin, infected
with their corruptions and ill morals, and yet, they making a show
of piety, suspected no danger by them. The contagion
<i>insinuated</i> itself, and was <i>insensibly</i> caught, and
those that caught it thought themselves never the worse.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p68">IV. The testimony which he bore also
against the lawyers or scribes, who made it their business to
<i>expound</i> the law according to the tradition of the elders, as
the Pharisees did to <i>observe</i> the law according to that
tradition.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p69">1. There was one of that profession who
resented what he said against the Pharisees (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p69.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.45" parsed="|Luke|11|45|0|0" passage="Lu 11:45"><i>v.</i> 45</scripRef>): "<i>Master, thus saying thou
reproachest us also,</i> for we are scribes; and we are therefore
hypocrites?" Note, It is a common thing for unhumbled sinners to
call and count reproofs reproaches. It is the wisdom of those who
desire to have their sin mortified to make a <i>good use</i> of
reproaches that come from <i>ill will,</i> and to turn them into
reproofs. If we can in this way hear of our faults, and amend them,
it is well: but it is the folly of those who are wedded to their
sins, and resolved not to part with them, to make an <i>ill use</i>
of the faithful and friendly admonitions given them, which come
from love, and to have their passions provoked by them as if they
were intended for <i>reproaches,</i> and therefore fly in the face
of their reprovers, and justify themselves in rejecting the
reproof. Thus the prophet complained (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p69.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.6.10" parsed="|Jer|6|10|0|0" passage="Jer 6:10">Jer. vi. 10</scripRef>): <i>The word of the Lord is to
them a reproach; they have no delight in it.</i> This lawyer
espoused the Pharisee's cause, and so made himself partaker of his
sins.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p70">2. Our Lord Jesus thereupon took them to
task (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p70.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.46" parsed="|Luke|11|46|0|0" passage="Lu 11:46"><i>v.</i> 46</scripRef>): <i>Woe
unto you also, ye lawyers;</i> and again (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p70.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.52" parsed="|Luke|11|52|0|0" passage="Lu 11:52"><i>v.</i> 52</scripRef>): <i>Woe unto you lawyers.</i>
They blessed themselves in the reputation they had among the
people, who thought them happy men, because they studied the law,
and were always conversant with that, and had the honour of
instructing the people in the knowledge of that; but Christ
denounced <i>woes</i> against them, for he sees not as man sees.
This was just upon him for taking the Pharisee's part, and
quarrelling with Christ because he reproved them. Note, Those who
quarrel with the reproofs of others, and suspect them to be
reproaches to them, do but get <i>woes of their own</i> by so
doing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p71">(1.) The lawyers are reproved for making
the services of religion more <i>burdensome</i> to others, but more
<i>easy</i> to themselves, than God had made them (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p71.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.46" parsed="|Luke|11|46|0|0" passage="Lu 11:46"><i>v.</i> 46</scripRef>): "<i>You lade men with
burdens grievous to be borne,</i> by your traditions, which <i>bind
them out from</i> many liberties God has allowed them, and <i>bind
them up</i> to many slaveries which God never enjoined them, to
show your authority, and to keep people in awe; <i>but you
yourselves touch them not with one of your fingers;</i>" that is,
[1.] "You will not <i>burden</i> yourselves with them, nor be
yourselves bound by those restraints with which you hamper others."
They would seem, by the hedges they pretended to make about the
law, to be very strict for the observance of the law; but, if you
could see their practices, you would find that they not only make
nothing of those hedges themselves, but make nothing of the law
itself neither: thus the confessors of the Romish church are said
to do with their penitents. [2.] "You will not <i>lighten</i> them
to those you have power over; <i>you will not touch them,</i> that
is, either to repeal them or to dispense with them when you find
them to be burdensome and grievous to the people." They would come
in with <i>both hands</i> to dispense with a command of God, but
not with a <i>finger</i> to mitigate the rigour of any of the
traditions of the elders.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p72">(2.) They are reproved for pretending a
veneration for the memory of the prophets whom their fathers
killed, when yet they hated and persecuted those in their own day
who were sent to them on the same errand, to call them to
repentance, and direct them to Christ, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p72.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.47-Luke.11.49" parsed="|Luke|11|47|11|49" passage="Lu 11:47-49"><i>v.</i> 47-49</scripRef>. [1.] These hypocrites,
among other pretences of piety, <i>built the sepulchres of the
prophets;</i> that is, they erected monuments over their graves, in
honour of them, probably with large inscriptions containing high
encomiums of them. They were not so superstitious as to enshrine
their relics, or to think their devotions the more acceptable to
God for being offered at the <i>tombs of the martyrs;</i> they did
not burn incense or pray to them, or plead their merits with God;
they did not add that iniquity to their hypocrisy; but, as if they
owned themselves the <i>children of the prophets,</i> their heirs
and executors, they <i>repaired</i> and <i>beautified</i> the
monuments sacred to their <i>pious memory.</i> [2.] Notwithstanding
this, they had an inveterate <i>enmity</i> to those in their <i>own
day</i> that came to them in the <i>spirit</i> and <i>power</i> of
those prophets; and, though they had not yet had an opportunity of
carrying it far, yet they would soon do it, for the <i>Wisdom of
God said,</i> that is, Christ himself would <i>so order</i> it, and
did <i>now foretel</i> it, that they would <i>slay</i> and
<i>persecute</i> the prophets and apostles that should be sent
them. The <i>Wisdom of God</i> would thus make trial of them, and
discover their odious hypocrisy, by sending them prophets, to
reprove them for their sins and warn them of the judgments of God.
Those prophets should prove themselves apostles, or messengers sent
from heaven, by signs, and wonders, and gifts of the Holy Ghost.
Or, "<i>I will send them prophets</i> under the style and title of
apostles, who yet shall produce as good an authority as any of the
old prophets did; and these they shall not only contradict and
oppose, but <i>slay</i> and <i>persecute,</i> and put to death."
Christ foresaw this, and yet did not otherwise than as became the
<i>Wisdom of God</i> in sending them, for he knew how to bring
glory to himself in the issue, by the recompences reserved both for
the <i>persecutors</i> and the <i>persecuted</i> in the future
state. [3.] That therefore God will justly put another construction
upon their <i>building</i> the <i>tombs</i> of the prophets than
what they would be thought to intend, and it shall be interpreted
their <i>allowing the deeds of their fathers</i> (<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p72.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.45" parsed="|Luke|11|45|0|0" passage="Lu 11:45"><i>v.</i> 45</scripRef>); for, since by their
present actions it appeared that they had no true value for their
prophets, the <i>building of their sepulchres</i> shall have this
sense put upon it, that they resolved to keep them in their graves
whom their fathers had hurried thither. Josiah, who had a real
value for prophets, thought it enough not to disturb the grave of
the <i>man of God at Bethel: Let no man move his bones,</i>
<scripRef id="Luke.xii-p72.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.23.17-2Kgs.23.18" parsed="|2Kgs|23|17|23|18" passage="2Ki 23:17,18">2 Kings xxiii. 17, 18</scripRef>.
If these lawyers will carry the matter further, and will build
<i>their sepulchres,</i> it is such a piece of <i>over-doing</i> as
gives cause to suspect an ill design in it, and that it is meant as
a cover for some design against prophecy itself, like the kiss of a
traitor, as <i>he that blesseth his friend with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to
him,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p72.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.27.14" parsed="|Prov|27|14|0|0" passage="Pr 27:14">Prov. xxvii.
14</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p73">[4.] That they must expect no other than to
be reckoned with, as the <i>fillers up</i> of the <i>measure</i> of
persecution, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p73.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.50-Luke.11.51" parsed="|Luke|11|50|11|51" passage="Lu 11:50,51"><i>v.</i> 50,
51</scripRef>. They keep up the trade as it were in succession, and
therefore are responsible for the <i>debts of the company,</i> even
those it has been <i>contracting</i> all along from <i>the blood of
Abel,</i> when the world began, to that of Zacharias, and so
forward to the end of the Jewish state; it shall all be <i>required
of this generation,</i> this last generation of the Jews, whose sin
in persecuting Christ's apostles would exceed any of the sins of
that kind that their fathers were guilty of, and so would bring
<i>wrath</i> upon them <i>to the uttermost,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p73.2" osisRef="Bible:1Thess.2.15-1Thess.2.16" parsed="|1Thess|2|15|2|16" passage="1Th 2:15,16">1 Thess. ii. 15, 16</scripRef>. Their destruction by
the Romans was so terrible that it might well be reckoned the
completing of God's vengeance upon that persecuting nation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p74">(3.) They are reproved for opposing the
gospel of Christ, and doing all they could to obstruct the progress
and success of it, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p74.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.52" parsed="|Luke|11|52|0|0" passage="Lu 11:52"><i>v.</i>
52</scripRef>. [1.] They had not, according to the duty of their
place, faithfully expounded to the people those scriptures of the
Old Testament which pointed at the Messiah, which if they had been
led into the right understanding of by the lawyers, they would
readily have embraced him and his doctrine: but, instead of that,
they had perverted those texts, and had cast a mist before the eyes
of the people, by their corrupt glosses upon them, and this is
called <i>taking away the key of knowledge;</i> instead of
<i>using</i> that key for the people, and helping them to use it
aright, they <i>hid it</i> from them; this is called, in Matthew,
<i>shutting up the kingdom of heaven against men,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p74.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.13" parsed="|Matt|23|13|0|0" passage="Mt 23:13">Matt. xxiii. 13</scripRef>. Note, those who take
away the key of knowledge shut up the <i>kingdom of heaven.</i>
[2.] They themselves did not embrace the gospel of Christ, though
by their acquaintance with the Old Testament they could not but
know that the <i>time was fulfilled,</i> and the <i>kingdom of God
was at hand;</i> they saw the prophecies accomplished in that
kingdom which our Lord Jesus was about to set up, and yet would not
themselves <i>enter into it.</i> Nay, [3.] Them that without any
guidance or assistance of theirs were <i>entering in</i> they did
all they could to <i>hinder</i> and discourage, by threatening to
<i>cast them out of the synagogue,</i> and otherwise terrifying
them. It is bad for people to be averse to revelation, but much
worse to be adverse to it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Luke.xii-p75"><i>Lastly,</i> In the close of the chapter
we are told how spitefully and maliciously the scribes and
<i>Pharisees</i> contrived to draw him into a snare, <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p75.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.53-Luke.11.54" parsed="|Luke|11|53|11|54" passage="Lu 11:53,54"><i>v.</i> 53, 54</scripRef>. They could not
bear those cutting reproofs which they must own to be just; but
what he had said against them in particular would not <i>bear an
action,</i> nor could they ground upon it any <i>criminal</i>
accusation, and therefore, as if, because his reproofs were warm,
they hoped to stir him up to some intemperate heat and passion, so
as to put him off his guard, they <i>began to urge him
vehemently,</i> to be very fierce upon him, and to <i>provoke him
to speak of many things,</i> to propose dangerous questions to him,
<i>laying wait</i> for something which might serve the design they
had of making him either <i>odious</i> to the people, or
<i>obnoxious</i> to the government, or both. Thus did they seek
occasion against him, like David's enemies that did <i>every day
wrest his words,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p75.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.56.5" parsed="|Ps|56|5|0|0" passage="Ps 56:5">Ps. lvi.
5</scripRef>. <i>Evil men dig up mischief.</i> Note, Faithful
reprovers of sin must expect to have many enemies, and have need to
set a watch before the door of their lips, because of <i>their
observers</i> that watch for their halting. The prophet complains
of those in his time who <i>make a man an offender for a word, and
lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate,</i> <scripRef id="Luke.xii-p75.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.29.21" parsed="|Isa|29|21|0|0" passage="Isa 29:21">Isa. xxix. 21</scripRef>. That we may bear
trials of this kind with patience, and get through them with
prudence, let us <i>consider him who endured such contradiction of
sinners against himself.</i></p>
</div></div2>