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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>L U K E.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. IX.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have,
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I. The commission Christ gave to his twelve apostles to go out for some
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time to preach the gospel, and confirm it by miracles,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:1-6">ver. 1-6</A>.
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II. Herod's terror at the growing greatness of our Lord Jesus,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:7-9">ver. 7-9</A>.
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III. The apostles' return to Christ, his retirement with them into a
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place of solitude, the great resort of people to them notwithstanding,
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and his feeding five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:10-17">ver. 10-17</A>.
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IV. His discourse with his disciples concerning himself and his own
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sufferings for them, and their for him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:18-27">ver. 18-27</A>.
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V. Christ's transfiguration,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:28-36">ver. 28-36</A>.
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VI. The cure of a lunatic child,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:37-42">ver. 37-42</A>.
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VII. The repeated notice Christ gave his disciples of his approaching
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sufferings,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:43-45">ver. 43-45</A>.
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VIII. His check to the ambition of his disciples
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:46-48">ver. 46-48</A>),
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and to their monopolizing the power over devils to themselves,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:49,50">ver. 49, 50</A>.
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IX. The rebuke he gave them for an over-due resentment of an affront
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given him by a village of the Samaritans,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:51-56">ver. 51-56</A>.
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X. The answers he gave to several that were inclined to follow him,
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but not considerately, or not zealously and heartily, so inclined,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:57-62">ver. 57-62</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Lu9_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Mission of the Twelve Apostles.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them
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power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.
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2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal
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the sick.
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3 And he said unto them, Take nothing for <I>your</I> journey,
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neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither
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have two coats apiece.
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4 And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence
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depart.
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5 And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that
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city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony
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against them.
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6 And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the
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gospel, and healing every where.
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7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him: and
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he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was
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risen from the dead;
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8 And of some, that Elias had appeared; and of others, that one
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of the old prophets was risen again.
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9 And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of
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whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here,
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I. The method Christ took to spread his gospel, to diffuse and enforce
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the light of it. He had <I>himself</I> travelled about, preaching and
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healing; but he could be only in one place at a time, and therefore now
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he <I>sent</I> his twelve disciples abroad, who by this time were
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pretty well instructed in the nature of the present dispensation, and
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able to instruct others and <I>deliver to them</I> what they had
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<I>received from the Lord.</I> Let them disperse themselves, some one
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way and some another, to <I>preach the kingdom of God,</I> as it was
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now about to be set up by the Messiah, to make people acquainted with
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the spiritual nature and tendency of it, and to persuade them to come
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into the interests and measures of it. For the confirming of their
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doctrine, because it was new and surprising, and very different from
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what they had been taught by the scribes and Pharisees, and because so
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much depended upon men's receiving, or not receiving it, he empowered
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them to work miracles
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>):
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He <I>gave them authority over all devils,</I> to dispossess them, and
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cast them out, though ever so numerous, so subtle, so fierce, so
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obstinate. Christ designed a total rout and ruin to the kingdom of
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darkness, and therefore gave them power over <I>all</I> devils. He
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authorized and appointed them likewise to <I>cure disease,</I> and to
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<I>heal the sick,</I> which would make them welcome wherever they came,
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and not only convince people's judgments, but gain their affections.
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This was their commission. Now observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. What Christ directed them to do, in prosecution of this commission
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at this time, when they were not to <I>go far</I> or be <I>out
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long.</I>
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(1.) They must not be solicitous to recommend themselves to people's
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esteem by their outward appearance. Now that they begin to set up for
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themselves, they must have no dress, nor study to make any other figure
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than what they made while they followed him: they must <I>go as they
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were,</I> and not change their clothes, or so much as put on a pair of
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new shoes.
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(2.) They must depend upon Providence, and the kindness of their
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friends, to furnish them with what was convenient for them. They must
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not take with them <I>either bread or money,</I> and yet believe they
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should not want. Christ would not have his disciples <I>shy</I> of
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receiving the kindnesses of their friends, but rather to <I>expect</I>
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them. Yet St. Paul saw cause not to go by this rule, when he
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<I>laboured with his hands</I> rather than be burdensome.
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(3.) They must not change their lodgings, as suspecting that those who
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entertained them were <I>weary</I> of them; they have no reason to be
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so, for the ark is a guest that always pays well for its entertainment:
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"<I>Whatsoever house ye enter into there abide</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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that people may know where to find you, that your friends may know you
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are not backward to <I>serve</I> them, and your enemies may know you
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are not ashamed nor afraid to <I>face</I> them; <I>there abide</I> till
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you <I>depart</I> out of that city; stay with those you are used to."
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(4.) They must put on authority, and speak <I>warning</I> to those who
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<I>refused</I> them as well as comfort to those that <I>received</I>
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them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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"If there be any place that will not entertain you, if the magistrates
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deny you admission and threaten to treat you as vagrants, leave them,
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do not force yourselves upon them, nor run yourselves into danger among
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them, but at the same time bind them over to the judgment of God for
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it; <I>shake off the dust of your feet</I> for a <I>testimony against
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them.</I>" This will, as it were, be produced in evidence against them,
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that the messengers of the gospel had been among them, to make them a
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fair offer of grace and peace, for this dust they left behind there; so
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that when they perish at last in their infidelity this will lay and
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leave their blood upon their own heads. <I>Shake off the dust of your
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feet,</I> as much as to say you abandon their city, and will have no
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more to do with them.</P>
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<P>
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2. What they did, in prosecution of this commission
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>They departed</I> from their Master's presence; yet, having still
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his spiritual presence with them, his <I>eye</I> and his <I>arm</I>
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going along with them, and, thus borne up in their work, they <I>went
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through the towns,</I> some or other of them, all the towns within the
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circuit appointed them, <I>preaching the gospel, and healing every
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where.</I> Their work was the same with their Master's, doing good both
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to souls and bodies.</P>
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<P>
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II. We have here Herod's perplexity and vexation at this. The
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communicating of Christ's power to those who were sent forth in his
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name, and acted by authority from him, was an <I>amazing</I> and
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<I>convincing</I> proof of his being the Messiah, above any thing else;
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that he could not only work miracles <I>himself,</I> but empower others
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to work miracles too, this spread his fame more than any thing, and
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made the rays of this <I>Sun of righteousness</I> the stronger by the
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<I>reflection</I> of them even from <I>the earth,</I> from such mean
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illiterate men as the apostles were, who had nothing else to recommend
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them, or to raise any expectations from them, but that <I>they had been
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with Jesus,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+4:13">Acts iv. 13</A>.
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When the country sees such as these <I>healing the sick</I> in the name
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of Jesus it gives it an alarm. Now observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. The <I>various speculations</I> it <I>raised</I> among the
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<I>people,</I> who, though they thought not <I>rightly,</I> yet could
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not but think <I>honourably,</I> of our Lord Jesus, and that he was an
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extraordinary person, one come from the other world; that either John
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Baptist, who was lately persecuted and slain for the cause of God, or
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<I>one of the old prophets,</I> that had been persecuted and slain long
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since in that cause, was <I>risen again,</I> to be recompensed for his
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sufferings by this honour put upon him; or that Elias, who was taken
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alive to heaven in a fiery chariot, <I>had appeared</I> as an express
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from heaven,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. The <I>great perplexity</I> it <I>created</I> in the mind of Herod:
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<I>When he had heard of all that was done</I> by Christ, his guilty
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conscience flew in his face, and he was ready to conclude with them
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that <I>John was risen from the dead.</I> He thought he had got clear
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of John, and should never be troubled with him any more, but, it seems,
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he is mistaken; either John is come to life again or here is another in
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his spirit and power, for God will never <I>leave himself without
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witness.</I> "What shall I do now?" saith Herod. "John <I>have I
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beheaded, but who is this?</I> Is he carrying on John's work, or is he
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come to avenge John's death? John baptized, but he does not; <I>John
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did no miracle,</I> but he does, and therefore appears more formidable
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than John." Note, Those who oppose God will find themselves more and
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more <I>embarrassed.</I> However, he <I>desired to see him,</I> whether
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he resembled John or no; but he might soon have been put out of this
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pain if he would but have informed himself of that which thousands
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knew, that Jesus preached, and wrought miracles, a great while before
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John was beheaded, and therefore could not be John raised from the
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dead. He <I>desired to see him;</I> and why did he not go and see him?
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Probably, because he thought it <I>below him</I> either to go to him or
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to send for him; he had enough of John Baptist, and cared not for
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having to do with any more such reprovers of sin. He desired to see
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him, but we do not find that ever he did, till he saw him at his bar,
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and then <I>he and his men of war set him at nought,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+23:11">Luke xxiii. 11</A>.
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Had he prosecuted his convictions now, and gone to see him, who knows
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but a happy change might have ben wrought in him? But, delaying it now,
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his heart was hardened, and when he did see him he was as much
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prejudiced against him as any other.</P>
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<A NAME="Lu9_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu9_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Multitude Miraculously Fed.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>10 And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that
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they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a
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desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.
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11 And the people, when they knew <I>it,</I> followed him: and he
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received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and
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healed them that had need of healing.
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12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve,
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and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into
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the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals:
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for we are here in a desert place.
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13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said,
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We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should
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go and buy meat for all this people.
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14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his
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disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.
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15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.
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16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking
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up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the
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disciples to set before the multitude.
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17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken
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up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here,
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I. The account which the twelve gave their Master of the success of
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their ministry. They were not long out; but, <I>when they returned,
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they told him all that they had done,</I> as became servants who were
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sent on an errand. They told him <I> what they had done,</I> that, if
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they had done any thing amiss, they might mend it next time.</P>
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<P>
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II. Their <I>retirement,</I> for a little <I>breathing:</I> He <I>took
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them, and went aside privately into a desert place,</I> that they might
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have some relaxation from business and not be always upon the stretch.
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Note, He that hath appointed our man-servant and maid-servant to rest
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would have his servants to rest too. Those in the most public stations,
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and that are most publicly useful, must sometimes go aside privately,
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both for the repose of their bodies, to recruit them, and for the
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furnishing of their minds by meditation for further public work.</P>
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<P>
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III. The <I>resort</I> of the people to him, and the kind
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<I>reception</I> he gave them. They <I>followed</I> him, though it was
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into a <I>desert place;</I> for that is no desert where Christ is. And,
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though they hereby disturbed the repose he designed here for himself
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and his disciples, yet he <I>welcomed</I> them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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Note, Pious zeal may excuse a little rudeness; it did with Christ, and
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should with us. Though they came unseasonably, yet Christ gave them
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what they came for.
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1. He <I>spoke unto them of the kingdom of God,</I> the laws of that
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kingdom with which they must be bound, and the privileges of that
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kingdom with which they might be blessed.
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2. He <I>healed them that had need of healing,</I> and, in a sense of
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their need, made their application to him. Though the disease was ever
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so inveterate, and incurable by the physicians, though the patients
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were ever so poor and mean, yet Christ <I>healed them.</I> There is
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healing in Christ for all that <I>need</I> it, whether for soul or
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body. Christ hath still a power over bodily diseases, and heals his
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people that <I>need healing.</I> Sometimes he sees that we need the
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<I>sickness</I> for the good of our souls, more than the <I>healing</I>
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for the ease of our bodies, and then we must be willing <I>for a
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season,</I> because <I>there is need,</I> to be in <I>heaviness;</I>
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but, when he sees that we <I>need healing,</I> we shall have it. Death
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is his servant, to heal the saints of <I>all diseases.</I> He heals
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spiritual maladies by his graces, by his comforts, and has for each
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what the case calls for; relief for every exigence.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The plentiful provision Christ made for the multitude that attended
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him. With <I>five loaves</I> of bread, and <I>two fishes,</I> he fed
|
|
<I>five thousand men.</I> This narrative we had twice before, and shall
|
|
meet with it again; it is the only miracle of our Saviour's that is
|
|
recorded by all the four evangelists. Let us only observe out of it,
|
|
|
|
1. Those who diligently attend upon Christ in the way of duty, and
|
|
therein deny or expose themselves, or are made to forget themselves and
|
|
their outward conveniences by their zeal for God's house, are taken
|
|
under his particular care, and may depend upon <I>Jehovah-jireh--The
|
|
Lord will provide.</I> He will not see those that fear him, and serve
|
|
him faithfully, want any good thing.
|
|
|
|
2. Our Lord Jesus was of a free and generous spirit. His disciples
|
|
said, <I>Send them away, that they may get victuals;</I> but Christ
|
|
said, "No, <I>give ye them to eat;</I> let what we have go as far as it
|
|
will reach, and they are welcome to it." Thus he has taught both
|
|
ministers and Christians to <I>use hospitality without grudging,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+4:9">1 Pet. iv. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that have but a little, let them do what they can with that
|
|
little, and that is the way to make it more. <I>There is that
|
|
scatters, and yet increases.</I>
|
|
|
|
3. Jesus Christ has not only physic, but food, for all those that by
|
|
faith apply themselves to him; he not only <I>heals them that need
|
|
healing,</I> cures the diseases of the soul, but feeds them too that
|
|
need feeding, supports the spiritual life, relieves the necessities of
|
|
it, and satisfies the desires of it. Christ has provided not only to
|
|
save the soul from perishing by its diseases, but to nourish the soul
|
|
unto life eternal, and strengthen it for all spiritual exercises.
|
|
|
|
4. All the gifts of Christ are to be received by the church in a
|
|
regular orderly manner; <I>Make them sit down by fifties in a
|
|
company,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Notice is here taken of the number of each company which Christ
|
|
appointed for the better distribution of the meat and the easier
|
|
computation of the number of the guests.
|
|
|
|
5. When we are receiving our creature-comforts, we must <I>look up to
|
|
heaven.</I> Christ did so, to teach us to do so. We must acknowledge
|
|
that we receive them from God, and that we are unworthy to receive
|
|
them,--that we owe them all, and all the comfort we have in them, to
|
|
the mediation of Christ, by whom the curse is removed, and the covenant
|
|
of peace settled,--that we depend upon God's blessing upon them to make
|
|
them serviceable to us, and desire that blessing.
|
|
|
|
6. The blessing of Christ will make a little go a great way. The
|
|
<I>little that the righteous man has is better than the riches of many
|
|
wicked, a dinner of herbs better than a stalled ox.</I>
|
|
|
|
7. Those whom Christ <I>feeds</I> he <I>fills;</I> to whom he gives, he
|
|
gives enough; as there is in him enough for <I>all,</I> so there is
|
|
enough for <I>each.</I> He replenishes every hungry soul, abundantly
|
|
satisfies it with the <I>goodness of his house.</I> Here were
|
|
<I>fragments taken up,</I> to assure us that in our Father's house
|
|
there is <I>bread enough, and to spare.</I> We are not straitened, or
|
|
stinted, in him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_27"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Peter's Enlightened Testimony;Self-Denial Enjoined.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples
|
|
were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people
|
|
that I am?
|
|
19 They answering said, John the Baptist; but some <I>say,</I>
|
|
Elias; and others <I>say,</I> that one of the old prophets is risen
|
|
again.
|
|
20 He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter
|
|
answering said, The Christ of God.
|
|
21 And he straitly charged them, and commanded <I>them</I> to tell
|
|
no man that thing;
|
|
22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be
|
|
rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be
|
|
slain, and be raised the third day.
|
|
23 And he said to <I>them</I> all, If any <I>man</I> will come after me,
|
|
let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
|
|
24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but
|
|
whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
|
|
25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world,
|
|
and lose himself, or be cast away?
|
|
26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him
|
|
shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own
|
|
glory, and <I>in his</I> Father's, and of the holy angels.
|
|
27 But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here,
|
|
which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In these verses, we have Christ discoursing with his disciples about
|
|
the great things that <I>pertained to the kingdom of God;</I> and one
|
|
circumstance of this discourse is taken notice of here which we had not
|
|
in the other evangelists-that Christ was <I>alone praying,</I> and his
|
|
<I>disciples with him,</I> when he entered into this discourse,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. Though Christ had much public work to do, yet he found some time to
|
|
be <I>alone</I> in private, for converse with himself, with his Father,
|
|
and with his disciples.
|
|
|
|
2. When Christ was alone he was <I>praying.</I> It is good for us to
|
|
improve our solitude for devotion, that, <I>when we are alone,</I> we
|
|
may <I>not be alone,</I> but may have <I>the Father with us.</I>
|
|
|
|
3. When Christ was alone, praying, his <I>disciples were with him,</I>
|
|
to join with him in his prayer; so that this was a family-prayer.
|
|
Housekeepers ought to pray with their households, parents with their
|
|
children, masters with their servants, teachers and tutors with their
|
|
scholars and pupils.
|
|
|
|
4. Christ <I>prayed</I> with them before he <I>examined</I> them, that
|
|
they might be directed and encouraged to answer him, by his prayers for
|
|
them. Those we give instructions to we should put up prayers for and
|
|
with. He discourses with them,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Concerning himself; and enquires,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. What <I>the people</I> said of him: <I>Who say the people that I
|
|
am?</I> Christ knew better than they did, but would have his disciples
|
|
made sensible, by the mistakes of others concerning him, how happy they
|
|
were that were led into the knowledge of him and of the truth
|
|
concerning him. We should take notice of the ignorance and errors of
|
|
others, that we may be the more thankful to him who has <I>manifested
|
|
himself to us, and not unto the world,</I> and may <I>pity</I> them,
|
|
and do what we can to help them and to teach them better. They tell him
|
|
what conjectures concerning him they had heard in their converse with
|
|
the common people. Ministers would know better how to suit their
|
|
instructions, reproofs, and counsels, to the case of ordinary people,
|
|
if they did but converse more frequently and familiarly with them; they
|
|
would then be the better able to say what is proper to rectify their
|
|
notions, correct their irregularities, and remove their prejudices. The
|
|
more conversant the physician is with his patient, the better he knows
|
|
what to do for him. Some said that he was John Baptist, who was
|
|
beheaded but the other day; others Elias, or <I>one of the old
|
|
prophets;</I> any thing but what he was.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. What <I>they</I> said of him. "Now see what an advantage you have by
|
|
your discipleship; you know better." "So we do," saith Peter, "thanks
|
|
be to our Master for it; we know that thou art <I>the Christ of
|
|
God,</I> the <I>Anointed</I> of God, the Messiah promised." It is
|
|
matter of unspeakable comfort to us that our Lord Jesus is <I>God's
|
|
anointed,</I> for then he has unquestionable authority and ability for
|
|
his undertaking; for his being <I>anointed</I> signifies his being both
|
|
appointed to it and qualified for it. Now one would have expected that
|
|
Christ should have charged his disciples, who were so fully apprized
|
|
and assured of this truth, to publish it to every one they met with;
|
|
but no, he <I>strictly charged them to tell no man that thing</I> as
|
|
yet, because there is a time for all things. After his resurrection,
|
|
which completed the proof of it, Peter made the temple ring of it, that
|
|
<I>God had made this same Jesus both Lord and Christ</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+2:36">Acts ii. 36</A>);
|
|
|
|
but as yet the evidence was not ready to be summed up, and therefore it
|
|
must be concealed; while it was so, we may conclude that the belief of
|
|
it was not necessary to salvation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Concerning his own <I>sufferings</I> and <I>death,</I> of which he
|
|
had yet said little. Now that his disciples were well established in
|
|
the belief of his being the Christ, and able to bear it, he speaks of
|
|
them expressly, and with great assurance,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
It comes in as a reason why they must not yet preach that he was <I>the
|
|
Christ,</I> because the wonders that would attend his death and
|
|
resurrection would be the most convincing proof of his being<I> the
|
|
Christ of God.</I> It was by his <I>exaltation</I> to the <I>right hand
|
|
of the Father</I> that he was fully declared to be <I>the Christ,</I>
|
|
and by the sending of the Spirit thereupon
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+2:33">Acts ii. 33</A>);
|
|
|
|
and therefore wait till that is done.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Concerning their sufferings for him. So far must they be from
|
|
thinking how to <I>prevent</I> his sufferings that they must rather
|
|
prepare for their own.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. We must <I>accustom</I> ourselves to all instances of
|
|
<I>self-denial</I> and <I>patience,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is the best preparative for martyrdom. We must live a life of
|
|
self-denial, mortification, and contempt of the world; we must not
|
|
indulge our ease and appetite, for then it will be hard to bear toil,
|
|
and weariness, and want, for Christ. We are <I>daily</I> subject to
|
|
affliction, and we must <I>accommodate</I> ourselves to it, and
|
|
<I>acquiesce</I> in the will of God in it, and must learn to endure
|
|
hardship. We frequently meet with crosses in the way of duty; and,
|
|
though we must not pull them upon our own heads, yet, when they are
|
|
laid for us, we must <I>take them up,</I> carry them after Christ, and
|
|
make the best of them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. We must <I>prefer the salvation and happiness of our souls</I>
|
|
before any <I>secular concern</I> whatsoever. Reckon upon it,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That he who to preserve his liberty or estate, his power or
|
|
preferment, nay, or to save his life, denies Christ and his truths,
|
|
wilfully wrongs his conscience, and sins against God, will be, not only
|
|
not a <I>saver,</I> but an unspeakable <I>loser,</I> in the issue, when
|
|
<I>profit</I> and <I>loss</I> come to be balanced: <I>He that will save
|
|
his life upon these terms will lose it,</I> will lose that which is of
|
|
infinitely more value, his precious soul.
|
|
|
|
(2.) We must firmly believe also that, if we lose our life for cleaving
|
|
to Christ and our religion, we shall <I>save</I> it to our unspeakable
|
|
advantage; for we shall be abundantly recompensed in the resurrection
|
|
of the just, when we shall have it again a new and an eternal life.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That the gain of all the world, if we should forsake Christ, and
|
|
fall in with the interests of the world, would be so far from
|
|
countervailing the eternal loss and ruin of the soul that it would bear
|
|
no manner of proportion to it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
If we could be supposed to gain all the wealth, honour, and pleasure,
|
|
in the world, by denying Christ, yet when, by <I>so doing,</I> we
|
|
<I>lose ourselves</I> to all eternity, and are <I>cast away</I> at
|
|
last, what good will our worldly gain do us? Observe, In Matthew and
|
|
Mark the dreadful issue is a man's <I>losing his own soul,</I> here it
|
|
is <I>losing himself,</I> which plainly intimates that <I>our souls</I>
|
|
are <I>ourselves. Animus cujusque is est quisque--The soul is the
|
|
man;</I> and it is well or ill with us according as it is well or ill
|
|
with our souls. If they perish for ever, under the weight of their own
|
|
guilt and corruption, it is certain that <I>we</I> are undone. The body
|
|
cannot be happy if the soul be miserable in the other world; but the
|
|
soul may be happy though the body be greatly afflicted and oppressed in
|
|
this world. If a man be himself <I>cast away,</I> <B><I>e
|
|
zemiotheis</I></B>--<I>if he be damaged,</I>--or if he be punished,
|
|
<I>si mulctetur--if he have a mulct put upon his soul</I> by the
|
|
righteous sentence of Christ, whose cause and interest he has
|
|
treacherously deserted,--if it be adjudged a forfeiture of all his
|
|
blessedness, and the forfeiture be taken, where is his gain? What is
|
|
his hope?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. We must therefore <I>never be ashamed</I> of Christ and his gospel,
|
|
nor of any disgrace or reproach that we may undergo for our faithful
|
|
adherence to him and it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall
|
|
the Son of man be ashamed,</I> and justly. When the service and honour
|
|
of Christ called for his testimony and agency, he denied them, because
|
|
the interest <I>of Christ</I> was a <I>despised</I> interest, and
|
|
<I>every where spoken against;</I> and therefore he can expect no other
|
|
than that in the great day, when his case calls for Christ's appearance
|
|
on his behalf, Christ will be ashamed to own such a cowardly, worldly,
|
|
sneaking spirit, and will say, "He is none of mine; he belongs not to
|
|
me." As Christ had a state of <I>humiliation</I> and of
|
|
<I>exaltation,</I> so likewise has his cause. They, and they only,
|
|
that are willing to suffer with it when it suffers, shall reign with it
|
|
when it reigns; but those that cannot find in their hearts to share
|
|
with it in its <I>disgrace,</I> and to say, <I>If this be to be vile, I
|
|
will be yet more vile,</I> shall certainly have no share with it in its
|
|
<I>triumphs.</I> Observe here, How Christ, to support himself and his
|
|
followers under present disgraces, speaks <I>magnificently</I> of the
|
|
lustre of his second coming, in prospect of which he <I>endured the
|
|
cross, despising the shame.</I>
|
|
|
|
(1.) He shall come <I>in his own glory.</I> This was not mentioned in
|
|
Matthew and Mark. He shall come in the glory of the Mediator, <I>all
|
|
the glory</I> which the Father <I>restored to him,</I> which he had
|
|
with God before the worlds were, which he had <I>deposited</I> and
|
|
<I>put in pledge,</I> as it were, for the accomplishing of his
|
|
undertaking, and demanded again when he had gone through it. <I>Now, O
|
|
Father, glorify thou me,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+17:4,5">John xvii. 4, 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
He shall come in <I>all that glory</I> which the Father <I>conferred
|
|
upon him</I> when <I>he set him at his own right hand,</I> and <I>gave
|
|
him to be head over all things to the church;</I> in all the glory that
|
|
is due to him as the assertor of the glory of God, and the author of
|
|
the glory of all the saints. This is <I>his own glory.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He shall come <I>in his Father's glory.</I> The Father will judge
|
|
the world by him, having committed all judgment to him; and therefore
|
|
will publicly own him in the judgment as the <I>brightness of his
|
|
glory</I> and the <I>express image</I> of his person.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He shall come in <I>the glory of the holy angels.</I> They shall
|
|
all <I>attend</I> him, and <I>minister</I> to him, and add every thing
|
|
they can to the lustre of his appearance. What a figure will the
|
|
blessed Jesus make in that day! Did we believe it, we should never be
|
|
ashamed of him or his words now.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Lastly,</I> To encourage them in suffering for him, he assures them
|
|
that <I>the kingdom of God</I> would now <I>shortly be set up,</I>
|
|
notwithstanding the great opposition that was made to it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Though the second coming of the Son of man is at a great distance, the
|
|
kingdom of God shall come in its power in the present age, while some
|
|
here present are alive." They <I>saw the kingdom of God</I> when the
|
|
Spirit was poured out, when the gospel was preached to all the world
|
|
and nations were brought to Christ by it; they saw the kingdom of God
|
|
triumph over the Gentile nations in their <I>conversion,</I> and over
|
|
the Jewish nation in its <I>destruction.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_36"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Transfiguration.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>28 And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings,
|
|
he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to
|
|
pray.
|
|
29 And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was
|
|
altered, and his raiment <I>was</I> white <I>and</I> glistering.
|
|
30 And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses
|
|
and Elias:
|
|
31 Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he
|
|
should accomplish at Jerusalem.
|
|
32 But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep:
|
|
and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men
|
|
that stood with him.
|
|
33 And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said
|
|
unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make
|
|
three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for
|
|
Elias: not knowing what he said.
|
|
34 While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed
|
|
them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud.
|
|
35 And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my
|
|
beloved Son: hear him.
|
|
36 And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they
|
|
kept <I>it</I> close, and told no man in those days any of those
|
|
things which they had seen.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the narrative of Christ's transfiguration, which was
|
|
designed for a specimen of that glory of his in which he will come to
|
|
judge the world, of which he had lately been speaking, and,
|
|
consequently, an encouragement to his disciples to suffer for him, and
|
|
never to be ashamed of him. We had this account before in Matthew and
|
|
Mark, and it is well worthy to be repeated to us, and reconsidered by
|
|
us, for the <I>confirmation of our faith</I> in the Lord Jesus, as
|
|
<I>the brightness of his Father's glory</I> and the light of the world,
|
|
for the <I>filling</I> of our minds with <I>high</I> and
|
|
<I>honourable</I> thoughts of him, notwithstanding his being clothed
|
|
with a body, and <I>giving</I> us <I>some idea</I> of the <I>glory</I>
|
|
which he entered into at his <I>ascension,</I> and in which he now
|
|
<I>appears</I> within the veil, and for the <I>raising</I> and
|
|
<I>encouraging</I> of our <I>hopes</I> and <I>expectations</I>
|
|
concerning the glory reserved for all believers in the future
|
|
state.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Here is one circumstance of the narrative that seems to differ from
|
|
the other two evangelists that related it. They said that it was <I>six
|
|
days</I> after the foregoing sayings; Luke says that it was <I>about
|
|
eight days after,</I> that is, it was that day sevennight, six whole
|
|
days intervening, and it was the eighth day. Some think that it was
|
|
<I>in the night</I> that Christ was transfigured, because the disciples
|
|
were sleepy, as in his agony, and <I>in the night</I> his appearance in
|
|
splendour would be the more illustrious; if in the night, the
|
|
computation of the time would be the more doubtful and uncertain;
|
|
probably, in the night, between the seventh and eighth day, and so
|
|
about eight days.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Here are divers circumstances added and explained, which are very
|
|
material.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. We are <I>here</I> told that Christ had this honour put upon him
|
|
when he was <I>praying:</I> He <I>went up into a mountain to pray,</I>
|
|
as he frequently did
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>),
|
|
|
|
and <I>as he prayed</I> he was <I>transfigured.</I> When Christ
|
|
<I>humbled</I> himself to pray, he was thus <I>exalted.</I> He knew
|
|
before that this was designed for him at this time, and therefore seeks
|
|
it by prayer. Christ himself must <I>sue out</I> the favours that were
|
|
purposed for him, and promised to him: <I>Ask of me, and I will give
|
|
thee,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:8">Ps. ii. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
And thus he intended to put an <I>honour</I> upon the duty of prayer,
|
|
and to <I>recommend</I> it to us. It is a transfiguring, transforming
|
|
duty; if our hearts be elevated and enlarged in it, so as in it to
|
|
<I>behold the glory of the Lord,</I> we shall be <I>changed into the
|
|
same image from glory to glory,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+3:18">2 Cor. iii. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
By prayer we fetch in the wisdom, grace, and joy, which <I>make the
|
|
face to shine.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Luke does not use the word
|
|
<I>transfigured</I>--<B><I>metamorphothe</I></B> (which Matthew and Mark
|
|
used), perhaps because it had been used so much in the Pagan theology,
|
|
but makes use of a phrase equivalent, <B><I>to eidos tou prosopou
|
|
heteron</I></B>--<I>the fashion of his countenance was another thing
|
|
from what it had been:</I> his face shone far beyond what Moses's did
|
|
when he came down from the mount; and <I>his raiment</I> was <I>white
|
|
and glistering:</I> it was <B><I>exastrapton</I></B>--<I>bright like
|
|
lightning</I> (a word used only here), so that he seemed to be arrayed
|
|
all with light, to <I>cover himself with light as with a
|
|
garment.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. It was said in Matthew and Mark that Moses and Elias <I>appeared to
|
|
them;</I> here it is said that they <I>appeared in glory,</I> to teach
|
|
us that saints departed are <I>in glory,</I> are in a <I>glorious</I>
|
|
state; they shine in glory. He being in glory, they <I>appeared with
|
|
him in glory,</I> as all the saints shall shortly do.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. We are here told what was the subject of the discourse between
|
|
Christ and the two great prophets of the Old Testament: <I>They spoke
|
|
of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.</I>
|
|
<B><I>Elegon ten exodon autou</I></B>--<I>his exodus, his departure;</I>
|
|
that is, <I>his death.</I>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The death of Christ is here called his <I>exit,</I> his <I>going
|
|
out,</I> his <I>leaving the world.</I> Moses and Elias spoke of it to
|
|
him under that notion, to reconcile him to it, and to make the
|
|
foresight of it the more easy to his human nature. The death of the
|
|
saints is their <I>exodus,</I> their departure out of the Egypt of this
|
|
world, their release out of a <I>house of bondage.</I> Some think that
|
|
the ascension of Christ is included here in his departure; for the
|
|
departure of Israel out of Egypt was a departure in <I>triumph,</I> so
|
|
was <I>his</I> when he went from earth to heaven.
|
|
|
|
(2.) This departure of his he <I>must accomplish;</I> for thus it was
|
|
determined, the matter was immutably fixed in the counsel of God, and
|
|
could not be altered.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He must accomplish it at Jerusalem, though his residence was
|
|
mostly in Galilee; for his most spiteful enemies were at Jerusalem, and
|
|
there the sanhedrim sat, that took upon them to judge of prophets.
|
|
|
|
(4.) Moses and Elias spoke of this, to intimate that the
|
|
<I>sufferings</I> of Christ, and his <I>entrance into his glory,</I>
|
|
were what Moses and <I>the prophets</I> had <I>spoken of;</I> see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+24:26,27,1Pe+1:11">Luke xxiv. 26, 27; 1 Pet. i. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
(5.) Our Lord Jesus, even in his transfiguration, was willing to enter
|
|
into a discourse concerning his death and sufferings, to teach us that
|
|
meditations on death, as it is our departure out of this world to
|
|
another, are never unseasonable, but in a special manner season able
|
|
when at any time we are <I>advanced,</I> lest we should be <I>lifted up
|
|
above measure.</I> In our greatest glories on earth, let us remember
|
|
that here <I>we have no continuing city.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. We are here told, which we were not before, that the disciples were
|
|
<I>heavy with sleep,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
When the vision first began, Peter, and James, and John were drowsy,
|
|
and inclined to sleep. Either it was late, or they were weary, or had
|
|
been disturbed in their rest the night before; or perhaps a charming
|
|
composing air, or some sweet and melodious sounds, which disposed them
|
|
to soft and gentle slumbers, were a preface to the vision; or perhaps
|
|
it was owing to a sinful carelessness: when Christ was at prayer with
|
|
them, they did not regard his prayer as they should have done, and, to
|
|
punish them for that, they were left to <I>sleep on now,</I> when he
|
|
began to be <I>transfigured,</I> and so lost an opportunity of seeing
|
|
how that work of wonder was wrought. These three were now asleep, when
|
|
Christ was in <I>his glory,</I> as afterwards they were, when he was in
|
|
<I>his agony;</I> see the <I>weakness</I> and <I>frailty</I> of human
|
|
nature, even in the best, and what need they have of the grace of God.
|
|
Nothing could be more affecting to these disciples, one would think,
|
|
than the <I>glories</I> and the <I>agonies</I> of their Master, and
|
|
both in the highest degree; and yet neither the one nor the other would
|
|
serve to <I>keep them awake.</I> What need have we to pray to God for
|
|
quickening grace, to make us not only <I>alive,</I> but <I>lively!</I>
|
|
Yet that they might be competent witnesses of <I>this sign from
|
|
heaven,</I> to those that demanded one, after awhile they <I>recovered
|
|
themselves,</I> and became perfectly awake; and then they took an exact
|
|
view of all those glories, so that they were able to give a particular
|
|
account, as we find one of them does, of all that passed when they were
|
|
with Christ <I>in the holy mount,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+1:18">2 Pet. i. 18</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. It is here observed that it was when Moses and Elias were now about
|
|
to <I>depart</I> that Peter said, <I>Lord, it is good to be here, let
|
|
us make three tabernacles.</I> Thus we are often not sensible of the
|
|
worth of our mercies till we are about to lose them; nor do we covet
|
|
and court their continuance till they are upon the departure. Peter
|
|
said this, <I>not knowing what he said.</I> Those know not what they
|
|
say that talk of making tabernacles on earth for glorified saints in
|
|
heaven, who have better mansions in the temple there, and long to
|
|
return to them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
7. It is here added, concerning the <I>cloud</I> that <I>overshadowed
|
|
them,</I> that they <I>feared as they entered into the cloud.</I> This
|
|
cloud was a token of God's more peculiar presence. It was in a cloud
|
|
that God of old took possession of the tabernacle and temple, and, when
|
|
the cloud <I>covered the tabernacle, Moses was not able to enter</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+40:34,35">Exod. xl. 34, 35</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, when it filled the temple, the <I>priests could not stand to
|
|
minister by reason of it,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+5:14">2 Chron. v. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Such a cloud was this, and then no wonder that the disciples were
|
|
<I>afraid to enter into it.</I> But never let any be afraid to enter
|
|
into a cloud with Jesus Christ; for he will be sure to bring them
|
|
safely through it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
8. The <I>voice</I> which came from heaven is here, and in Mark,
|
|
related not so fully as in Matthew: <I>This is my beloved Son, hear
|
|
him:</I> though those words, <I>in whom I am well pleased,</I> which we
|
|
have both in Matthew and Peter, are not expressed, they are implied in
|
|
that, <I>This is my beloved Son;</I> for whom he <I>loves,</I> and in
|
|
whom he is <I>well pleased,</I> come all to one; we are <I>accepted in
|
|
the Beloved.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Lastly,</I> The apostles are here said to have kept this vision
|
|
private. They <I>told no man in those days,</I> reserving the
|
|
discovery of it for another opportunity, when the evidences of Christ's
|
|
being the Son of God were completed in the pouring out of the Spirit,
|
|
and that doctrine was to be published to all the world. As there is a
|
|
time <I>to speak,</I> so there is a time to <I>keep silence.</I> Every
|
|
thing is beautiful and useful in its season.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_40"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_41"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_42"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec5"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>An Evil Spirit Expelled.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>37 And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were
|
|
come down from the hill, much people met him.
|
|
38 And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master,
|
|
I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child.
|
|
39 And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out;
|
|
and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly
|
|
departeth from him.
|
|
40 And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could
|
|
not.
|
|
41 And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse
|
|
generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring
|
|
thy son hither.
|
|
42 And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and
|
|
tare <I>him.</I> And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the
|
|
child, and delivered him again to his father.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
This passage of story in Matthew and Mark follows immediately upon that
|
|
of Christ's transfiguration, and his discourse with his disciples after
|
|
it; but here it is said to be <I>on the next day, as they were coming
|
|
down from the hill,</I> which confirms the conjecture that Christ was
|
|
transfigured <I>in the night,</I> and, it should seem, though they did
|
|
not <I>make tabernacles</I> as Peter proposed, yet they found some
|
|
shelter to repose themselves in all night, for it was not till next day
|
|
that they <I>came down from the hill,</I> and then he found things in
|
|
some disorder among his disciples, though not so bad as Moses did when
|
|
he came down from the mount. When wise and good men are in their
|
|
beloved retirements, they would do well to consider whether they are
|
|
not wanted in their <I>public stations.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In this narrative here, observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How forward the people were to receive Christ at his return to them.
|
|
Though he had been but a little while absent, <I>much people met
|
|
him,</I> as, at other times, much people <I>followed</I> him; for so it
|
|
was foretold concerning him, that <I>to him should the gathering of the
|
|
people be.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. How importunate the father of the lunatic child was with Christ for
|
|
help for him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I beseech thee, look upon my son;</I> this is his request, and it is
|
|
a very modest one; one compassionate look from Christ is enough to set
|
|
every thing to rights. Let us bring ourselves and our children to
|
|
Christ, to be <I>looked upon.</I> His plea is, <I>He is my only
|
|
child.</I> They that have many children may balance their affliction in
|
|
one with their comfort in the rest; yet, if it be an only child that is
|
|
a grief, the affliction in that may be balanced with the love of God in
|
|
giving his only-begotten Son for us.
|
|
|
|
3. How <I>deplorable</I> the case of the <I>child</I> was,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>.
|
|
|
|
He was under the power of an evil spirit, that <I>took him;</I> and
|
|
diseases of that nature are more frightful than such as arise merely
|
|
from natural causes: when the fit seized him without any warning given,
|
|
he suddenly <I>cried out,</I> and many a time his shrieks had pierced
|
|
the heart of his tender father. This malicious spirit <I>tore him,</I>
|
|
and <I>bruised</I> him, and <I>departed not from him</I> but with great
|
|
difficulty, and a deadly gripe at parting. O the afflictions of the
|
|
afflicted in this world! And what mischief doth Satan do where he gets
|
|
possession! But happy they that have access to Christ!
|
|
|
|
4. How defective the disciples were in their faith. Though Christ had
|
|
given them <I>power over unclean spirits,</I> yet they <I>could not</I>
|
|
cast out this <I>evil spirit,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>.
|
|
|
|
Either they distrusted the power they were to fetch in strength from,
|
|
or the commission given to them, or they did not exert themselves in
|
|
prayer as they ought; for this Christ reproved them. O <I>faithless and
|
|
perverse generation.</I> Dr. Clarke understands this as spoken to his
|
|
disciples: "<I>Will ye be</I> yet so faithless and full of distrust
|
|
that ye cannot execute the commission I have given you?"
|
|
|
|
5. How effectual the cure was, which Christ wrought upon this child,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:42"><I>v.</I> 42</A>.
|
|
|
|
Christ can do that for us which his disciples cannot: <I>Jesus rebuked
|
|
the unclean spirit</I> then when he raged most. The devil <I>threw the
|
|
child down, and tore him,</I> distorted him, as if he would have pulled
|
|
him to pieces. But one word from Christ <I>healed the child,</I> and
|
|
made good the damage the devil had done him. And it is here added that
|
|
he <I>delivered him again to his father.</I> Note, When our children
|
|
are recovered from sickness, we must receive them as delivered to us
|
|
again, receive them as life from the dead, and as when we first
|
|
received them. It is comfortable to receive them from the hand of
|
|
Christ, to see him delivering them to us again: "Here, take this child,
|
|
and be thankful; take it, and bring it up for me, for thou hast it
|
|
again from me. Take it, and do not set thy heart too much upon it."
|
|
With such cautions as these, parents should receive their children
|
|
<I>from Christ's hands,</I> and then with comfort put them again
|
|
<I>into his hands.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_43"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_44"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_45"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_46"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_47"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_48"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_49"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_50"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec6"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Ambition of the Disciples Reproved.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>43 And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But
|
|
while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he
|
|
said unto his disciples,
|
|
44 Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of
|
|
man shall be delivered into the hands of men.
|
|
45 But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from
|
|
them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of
|
|
that saying.
|
|
46 Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them
|
|
should be greatest.
|
|
47 And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a
|
|
child, and set him by him,
|
|
48 And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my
|
|
name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him
|
|
that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall
|
|
be great.
|
|
49 And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out
|
|
devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not
|
|
with us.
|
|
50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid <I>him</I> not: for he that is
|
|
not against us is for us.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We may observe here,
|
|
|
|
I. The impression which Christ's miracles made upon all that beheld
|
|
them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They were all amazed at the mighty power of God,</I> which they
|
|
could not but see in all the miracles Christ wrought. Note, The works
|
|
of God's almighty power are amazing, especially those that are wrought
|
|
by the hand of the Lord Jesus; for he is <I>the power of God,</I> and
|
|
his name is <I>Wonderful.</I> Their wonder was universal: they wondered
|
|
<I>every one.</I> The causes of it were universal: they wondered at
|
|
<I>all things which Jesus did;</I> all his actions had something
|
|
uncommon and surprising in them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The notice Christ gave to his disciples of his approaching
|
|
sufferings: <I>The Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of
|
|
men,</I> wicked men, men of the worst character; they shall be
|
|
permitted to abuse him at their pleasure. That is here <I>implied</I>
|
|
which is <I>expressed</I> by the other evangelists: <I>They shall kill
|
|
him.</I> But that which is peculiar here is,
|
|
|
|
1. The connection of this with what goes next before, of the admiration
|
|
with which the people were struck at beholding Christ's miracles
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>While they all wondered at all things which Jesus did, he said this
|
|
to his disciples.</I> They had a fond conceit of his temporal kingdom,
|
|
and that he should reign, and they with him, in secular pomp and power;
|
|
and now they thought that this <I>mighty power</I> of his would easily
|
|
effect the thing, and his interest gained by his miracles in the people
|
|
would contribute to it; and therefore Christ, who knew what was in
|
|
their hearts, takes this occasion to tell them again, what he had told
|
|
them before, that he was so far from having men <I>delivered into his
|
|
hands</I> that he must be <I>delivered into the hands of men,</I> so
|
|
far from living in honour that he must die in disgrace; and all his
|
|
miracles, and the interest he has by them gained in the hearts of the
|
|
people, will not be able to prevent it.
|
|
|
|
2. The solemn preface with which it is introduced: "<I>Let these
|
|
sayings sink down into your ears;</I> take special notice of what I
|
|
say, and mix faith with it; let not the notions you have of the
|
|
temporal kingdom of the Messiah stop your ears against it, nor make you
|
|
unwilling to believe it. Admit what I say, and submit to it." <I>Let it
|
|
sink down into your hearts;</I> so the Syriac and Arabic read it. The
|
|
word of Christ does us no good, unless we let it sink down into our
|
|
heads and hearts.
|
|
|
|
3. The unaccountable stupidity of the disciples, with reference to this
|
|
prediction of Christ's sufferings. It was said in Mark, <I>They
|
|
understood not that saying.</I> It was plain enough, but they <I>would
|
|
not</I> understand it in the literal sense, because it agreed not with
|
|
their notions; and they <I>could not</I> understand it in any other,
|
|
<I>and were afraid to ask him</I> lest they should be undeceived and
|
|
awaked out of their pleasing dream. But it is here added that <I>it was
|
|
hidden from them, that they perceived it not,</I> through the weakness
|
|
of faith and the power of prejudice. We cannot think that it was <I>in
|
|
mercy</I> hidden from them, lest they should be swallowed up with
|
|
overmuch sorrow at the prospect of it; but that it was a paradox,
|
|
because they <I>made it so</I> to themselves.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The rebuke Christ gave to his disciples for their disputing among
|
|
themselves which should be greatest,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:46-48"><I>v.</I> 46-48</A>.
|
|
|
|
This passage we had before, and, the more is the pity, we shall meet
|
|
with the like again. Observe here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Ambition of honour, and strife for superiority and precedency, are
|
|
sins that most easily beset the disciples of our Lord Jesus, for which
|
|
they deserve to be severely rebuked; they flow from corruptions which
|
|
they are highly concerned to subdue and mortify,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:46"><I>v.</I> 46</A>.
|
|
|
|
They that expect to be <I>great</I> in this world commonly aim high,
|
|
and nothing will serve them short of being <I>greatest;</I> this
|
|
exposes them to a great deal of temptation and trouble, which they are
|
|
safe from that are content to be <I>little,</I> to be <I>least,</I> to
|
|
be <I>less than the least.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Jesus Christ is perfectly acquainted with the thoughts and intents
|
|
of our hearts: He <I>perceived their thoughts,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:47"><I>v.</I> 47</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thoughts are <I>words</I> to him, and <I>whispers</I> are loud cries.
|
|
It is a good reason why we should keep up a strict government of our
|
|
thoughts because Christ takes a strict cognizance of them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Christ will have his disciples to aim at that honour which is to be
|
|
obtained by a quiet and condescending humility, and not at that which
|
|
is to be obtained by a restless and aspiring ambition. Christ <I>took a
|
|
child, and set him by him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:47"><I>v.</I> 47</A>
|
|
|
|
(for he always expressed a tenderness and kindness for little
|
|
children), and he proposed <I>this child</I> to them for an example.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Let them be of the <I>temper</I> of this child, <I>humble</I> and
|
|
<I>quiet,</I> and <I>easy</I> to itself; let them not affect worldly
|
|
pomp, or grandeur, or high titles, but be as dead to them as this
|
|
child; let them bear no more malice to their rivals and competitors
|
|
than this child did. Let them be willing to be <I>the least,</I> if
|
|
that would contribute any thing to their usefulness, to stoop to the
|
|
meanest office whereby they might <I>do good.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Let them assure themselves that this was the way to preferment;
|
|
for this would recommend them to the esteem of their brethren: they
|
|
that loved Christ would <I>therefore receive</I> them <I>in his
|
|
name,</I> because they did most resemble him, and they would likewise
|
|
recommend themselves to his favour, for Christ would take the
|
|
kindnesses done to them as done to himself: <I>Whosoever shall receive
|
|
one such child,</I> a preacher of the gospel that is of such a
|
|
disposition as this, he placeth his respect aright, and <I>receiveth
|
|
me;</I> and <I>whosoever receiveth me,</I> in such a minister,
|
|
<I>receiveth him that sent me;</I> and what greater honour can any man
|
|
attain to in this world than to be received by men as a messenger of
|
|
God and Christ, and to have God and Christ own themselves received and
|
|
welcomed in him? This honour have all the humble disciples of Jesus
|
|
Christ, and thus they shall be truly great that are least among
|
|
them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The rebuke Christ gave to his disciples for discouraging one that
|
|
honoured him and served him, but was not of their communion, not only
|
|
not one of the twelve, nor one of the seventy, but not one of those
|
|
that ever associated with them, or attended on them, but, upon
|
|
occasional hearing of Christ, believed in him, and made use of his name
|
|
with faith and prayer in a serious manner, for the casting out of
|
|
devils. Now,
|
|
|
|
1. This man they <I>rebuked and restrained;</I> they would not let him
|
|
pray and preach, though it was to the honour of Christ, though it did
|
|
good to men and weakened Satan's kingdom, because he did not <I>follow
|
|
Christ with them;</I> he separated from their church, was not ordained
|
|
as they were, paid them no respect, nor gave them the right hand of
|
|
fellowship. Now, if ever any society of Christians in this world had
|
|
reason to silence those that were not of their communion, the twelve
|
|
disciples at this time had; and yet,
|
|
|
|
2. Jesus Christ chid them for what they did, and warned them not to do
|
|
the like again, nor any that profess to be successors of the apostles:
|
|
"<I>Forbid him not</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:50"><I>v.</I> 50</A>),
|
|
|
|
but rather encourage him, for he is carrying on the same design that
|
|
you are, though, for reasons best known to himself, he does not follow
|
|
<I>with you;</I> and he will meet you in <I>the same end,</I> though he
|
|
does not accompany you in <I>the same way.</I> You <I>do well</I> to do
|
|
as you do, but it does not therefore follow that he <I>does ill</I> to
|
|
do as he does, and that you do well to put him under an interdict, for
|
|
<I>he that is not against us is for us,</I> and therefore ought to be
|
|
countenanced by us." We need not lose any of our friends, while we have
|
|
so few, and so many enemies. Those may be found faithful followers of
|
|
Christ, and, as such, may be accepted of him, though they do not follow
|
|
<I>with us.</I> See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+9:38,39">Mark ix. 38, 39</A>.
|
|
|
|
O what a great deal of mischief to the church, even from those that
|
|
boast of relation to Christ, and pretend to <I>envy for his sake,</I>
|
|
would be prevented, if this passage of story were but duly
|
|
considered!</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_51"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_52"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_53"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_54"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_55"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_56"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec7"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Samaritans Refuse to Receive Christ; Mistaken Zeal of James and John.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should
|
|
be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
|
|
52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and
|
|
entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
|
|
53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though
|
|
he would go to Jerusalem.
|
|
54 And when his disciples James and John saw <I>this,</I> they said,
|
|
Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven,
|
|
and consume them, even as Elias did?
|
|
55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what
|
|
manner of spirit ye are of.
|
|
56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but
|
|
to save <I>them.</I> And they went to another village.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
This passage of story we have not in any other of the evangelists, and
|
|
it seems to come in here for the sake of its affinity with that next
|
|
before, for in this also Christ rebuked his disciples, because they
|
|
envied for his sake. There, under colour of zeal for Christ, they were
|
|
for silencing and restraining separatists: here, under the same colour,
|
|
they were for putting infidels to death; and, as for <I>that,</I> so
|
|
for <I>this</I> also, Christ reprimanded them, for a spirit of bigotry
|
|
and persecution is directly contrary to the spirit of Christ and
|
|
Christianity. Observe here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The <I>readiness</I> and <I>resolution</I> of our Lord Jesus, in
|
|
prosecuting his great undertaking for our redemption and salvation. Of
|
|
this we have an instance,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:51"><I>v.</I> 51</A>:
|
|
|
|
<I>When the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly
|
|
set his face to go to Jerusalem.</I> Observe
|
|
|
|
1. There was a time fixed for the sufferings and death of our Lord
|
|
Jesus, and he knew well enough when it was, and had a clear and certain
|
|
foresight of it, and yet was so far from keeping out of the way that
|
|
then he appeared most publicly of all, and was most busy, knowing that
|
|
his time was short.
|
|
|
|
2. When he saw his death and sufferings approaching, he looked through
|
|
them and beyond them, to the glory that should follow; he looked upon
|
|
it as the time when he should be <I>received up into glory</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+3:16">1 Tim. iii. 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
received up into the highest heavens, to be enthroned there. Moses and
|
|
Elias spoke of his death as his departure out of this world, which made
|
|
it not <I>formidable;</I> but he went further, and looked upon it as
|
|
his translation to a better world, which made it very <I>desirable.</I>
|
|
All good Christians may frame to themselves the same notion of death,
|
|
and may call it their being <I>received up,</I> to be with Christ where
|
|
he is; and, when the <I>time</I> of their being <I>received up</I> is
|
|
at hand, let them lift up their heads, knowing that <I>their redemption
|
|
draws nigh.</I>
|
|
|
|
3. On this prospect of the joy set before him, he <I>stedfastly set his
|
|
face to go to Jerusalem</I> the place where he was to suffer and die.
|
|
He was fully <I>determined</I> to go, and would not be dissuaded; he
|
|
went <I>directly</I> to Jerusalem, because there now his business lay,
|
|
and he did not go about to other towns, or fetch a compass, which if he
|
|
had done, as commonly he did, he might have avoided going through
|
|
Samaria. He went cheerfully and courageously thither, though he knew
|
|
the things that should befal him there. He <I>did not fail nor was
|
|
discouraged,</I> but <I>set his face as a flint, knowing</I> that he
|
|
should be not only <I>justified,</I> but glorified
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+50:7">Isa. l. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
not only not <I>run down,</I> but <I>received up.</I> How should this
|
|
shame us <I>for,</I> and shame <I>us out of,</I> our backwardness to do
|
|
and suffer for Christ! We draw back, and turn our faces another way
|
|
from his service who stedfastly set his face against all opposition, to
|
|
go through with the work of our salvation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The <I>rudeness</I> of the Samaritans in a <I>certain village</I>
|
|
(not named, nor deserving to be so) who would not <I>receive him,</I>
|
|
nor suffer him to bait in their town, though his way lay through it.
|
|
Observe here,
|
|
|
|
1. How <I>civil</I> he was to them: <I>He sent messengers before his
|
|
face,</I> some of his disciples, that went to take up lodgings, and to
|
|
know whether he might have leave to accommodate himself and his company
|
|
among them; for he would not come to give <I>offence,</I> or if they
|
|
took any umbrage at the number of his followers. He sent some to
|
|
<I>make ready</I> for him, not for state, but convenience, and that his
|
|
coming might be no surprise.
|
|
|
|
2. How <I>uncivil</I> they were to him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:53"><I>v.</I> 53</A>.
|
|
|
|
They did not <I>receive him,</I> would not suffer him to come into
|
|
their village, but ordered their watch to keep him out. He would have
|
|
<I>paid</I> for all he <I>bespoke,</I> and been a generous guest among
|
|
them, would have done them good, and preached the gospel to them, as he
|
|
had done some time ago to another city of the Samaritans,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+4:41">John iv. 41</A>.
|
|
|
|
He would have been, if they pleased, the greatest blessing that ever
|
|
came to their village, and yet they forbid him entrance. Such treatment
|
|
his gospel and ministers have often met with. Now the reason was
|
|
<I>because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem;</I> they
|
|
observed, by his motions, that he was steering his course that way. The
|
|
great controversy between the Jews and the Samaritans was about the
|
|
place of worship--whether Jerusalem or mount Gerizim near Sychar; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+4:20">John iv. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
And so hot was the controversy between them that the <I>Jews would have
|
|
no dealings with the Samaritans,</I> nor they with them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+4:9">John iv. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Yet we may suppose that they did not deny other Jews lodgings among
|
|
them, no, not when they went up to the feast; for if that had been
|
|
their constant practice Christ would not have attempted it, and it
|
|
would have been a great way about for some of the Galileans to go to
|
|
Jerusalem any other way than through Samaria. But they were
|
|
particularly incensed against Christ, who was a celebrated teacher, for
|
|
owning and adhering to the temple at Jerusalem, when the priests of
|
|
that temple were such bitter enemies to him, which, they hoped, would
|
|
have driven him to come and worship at <I>their</I> temple, and bring
|
|
that into reputation; but when they saw that he would go forward to
|
|
Jerusalem, notwithstanding this, they would not show him the common
|
|
civility which probably they used formerly to show him in his journey
|
|
thither.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The <I>resentment</I> which James and John expressed of this
|
|
affront,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:54"><I>v.</I> 54</A>.
|
|
|
|
When these two heard this message brought, they were all in a flame
|
|
presently, and nothing will serve them but Sodom's doom upon this
|
|
village: "Lord," say they, "give us leave to command fire to come down
|
|
from heaven, not to <I>frighten</I> them only, but to <I>consume</I>
|
|
them."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Here indeed was something commendable, for they showed,
|
|
|
|
(1.) A great confidence in the power they had received from Jesus
|
|
Christ; though this had not been particularly mentioned in their
|
|
commission, yet they could with a word's speaking fetch <I>fire from
|
|
heaven.</I> <B><I>Theleis eipomen</I></B>--<I>Wilt thou that we speak
|
|
the word,</I> and the thing will be done.
|
|
|
|
(2.) A great zeal for the honour of their Master. They took it very ill
|
|
that he who did good wherever he came and found a hearty welcome should
|
|
be denied the liberty of the road by a parcel of paltry Samaritans;
|
|
they could not think of it without indignation that their Master should
|
|
be thus slighted.
|
|
|
|
(3.) A submission, notwithstanding, to their Master's good will and
|
|
pleasure. They will not offer to do such a thing, unless Christ give
|
|
leave: <I>Wilt thou</I> that we do it?
|
|
|
|
(4.) A regard to the examples of the prophets that were before them. It
|
|
is doing <I>as Elias did?</I> they would not have thought of such a
|
|
thing if Elijah had not done it upon the soldiers that came to take
|
|
him, once and again,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+1:10,12">2 Kings i. 10, 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
They thought that this <I>precedent</I> would be their <I>warrant;</I>
|
|
so apt are we to misapply the examples of good men, and to think to
|
|
justify ourselves by them in the irregular liberties we give ourselves,
|
|
when the case is not parallel.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. But though there was something right in what they said, yet there
|
|
was much more amiss, for
|
|
|
|
(1.) This was not the first time, by a great many, that our Lord Jesus
|
|
had been thus affronted, witness the Nazarenes thrusting him out of
|
|
their city, and the Gadarenes desiring him to depart out of their
|
|
coast; and yet he never called for any judgment upon them, but
|
|
patiently put up with the injury.
|
|
|
|
(2.) These were Samaritans, from whom better was not to be expected,
|
|
and perhaps they had heard that Christ had forbidden his disciples to
|
|
<I>enter into any of the cities of the Samaritans</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+10:5">Matt. x. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
and therefore it was not so bad in them as in others who knew more of
|
|
Christ, and had received so many favours from him.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Perhaps it was only some few of the town that knew any thing of
|
|
the matter, or that sent that rude message to him, while, for aught
|
|
they knew, there were many in the town who, if they had heard of
|
|
Christ's being so near them, would have gone to meet him and welcomed
|
|
him; and must the whole town be laid in ashes for the wickedness of a
|
|
few? Will they have the righteous destroyed with the wicked?
|
|
|
|
(4.) Their Master had never yet upon any occasion called for <I>fire
|
|
from heaven,</I> nay, he had refused to give the Pharisees any <I>sign
|
|
from heaven</I> when they demanded it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+16:1,2">Matt. xvi. 1, 2</A>);
|
|
|
|
and why should they think to introduce it? James and John were the two
|
|
disciples whom Christ had called <I>Boanerges--sons of thunder</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+3:17">Mark iii. 17</A>);
|
|
|
|
and will not that serve them, but they must be <I>sons of lightning</I>
|
|
too?
|
|
|
|
(5.) The example of Elias did not reach the case. Elijah was sent to
|
|
display the terrors of the law, and to give proof of that, and to
|
|
witness as a bold reprover against the idolatries and wickednesses of
|
|
the court of Ahab, and it was agreeable enough to him to have his
|
|
commission thus proved; but it is a dispensation of grace that is now
|
|
to be introduced, to which such a terrible display of divine justice
|
|
will not be at all agreeable. Archbishop Tillotson suggests that their
|
|
being now near Samaria, where Elijah called for fire from heaven, might
|
|
help to put it in their heads; perhaps at the very place; but, though
|
|
the <I>place</I> was the same, the <I>times</I> were altered.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The <I>reproof</I> he gave to James and John for their fiery,
|
|
furious zeal
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:55"><I>v.</I> 55</A>):
|
|
|
|
He <I>turned</I> with a just displeasure, and <I>rebuked them;</I> for
|
|
<I>as many as he loves he rebukes and chastens,</I> particularly for
|
|
what they do, that is irregular and unbecoming them, under colour of
|
|
zeal for him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He shows them in particular their mistake: <I>Ye know not what
|
|
manner of spirit ye are of;</I> that is,
|
|
|
|
(1.) "You <I>are not aware</I> what an <I>evil spirit</I> and
|
|
disposition you are of; how much there is of pride, and passion, and
|
|
personal revenge, covered under this pretence of zeal for your Master."
|
|
Note, There may be much corruption lurking, nay, and stirring too, in
|
|
the hearts of good people, and they themselves not be sensible of it.
|
|
|
|
(2.) "You <I>do not consider</I> what a <I>good spirit,</I> directly
|
|
contrary to this, you <I>should be of.</I> Surely you have yet to
|
|
learn, though you have been so long learning, what the spirit of Christ
|
|
and Christianity is. Have you not been taught to <I>love your
|
|
enemies,</I> and to <I>bless them that curse you,</I> and to call for
|
|
grace from heaven, not fire from heaven, upon them? You know not how
|
|
contrary your disposition herein is to that which it was the design of
|
|
the gospel you should be <I>delivered</I> into. You are not now under
|
|
the dispensation of bondage, and terror, and death, but under the
|
|
dispensation of love, and liberty, and grace, which was ushered in with
|
|
a proclamation of <I>peace on earth</I> and <I>good will toward
|
|
men,</I> to which you ought to accommodate yourselves, and not by such
|
|
imprecations as these oppose yourselves."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He shows them the general design and tendency of his religion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:56"><I>v.</I> 56</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The Son of man</I> is not himself come, and therefore does not send
|
|
you abroad <I>to destroy men's lives, but to save them.</I> He designed
|
|
to propagate his holy religion by love and sweetness, and every thing
|
|
that is inviting and endearing, not by fire and sword, and blood and
|
|
slaughter; by miracles of healing, not by plagues and miracles of
|
|
destruction, as Israel was brought out of Egypt. Christ came to
|
|
<I>slay</I> all <I>enmities,</I> not to foster them. Those are
|
|
certainly destitute of the spirit of the gospel that are for
|
|
anathematizing and rooting out by violence and persecution all that are
|
|
not of their mind and way, that cannot in conscience say as they say,
|
|
and do as they do. Christ came, not only to save men's <I>souls,</I>
|
|
but to save their <I>lives</I> too--witness the many miracles he
|
|
wrought for the healing of diseases that would otherwise have been
|
|
<I>mortal,</I> by which, and a thousand other instances of beneficence,
|
|
it appears that Christ would have his disciples do good to all, to the
|
|
utmost of their power, but hurt to none, to draw men into his church
|
|
with the <I>cords of a man and the bands of love,</I> but not think to
|
|
drive men into it with a <I>rod of violence</I> or the <I>scourge of
|
|
the tongue.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. His <I>retreat</I> from this village. Christ would not only not
|
|
punish them for their rudeness, but would not insist upon his right of
|
|
travelling the road (which was as free to him as to his neighbours),
|
|
would not attempt to force his way, but quietly and peaceably <I>went
|
|
to another village,</I> where they were not so stingy and bigoted, and
|
|
there refreshed himself, and went on his way. Note, When a stream of
|
|
opposition is strong, it is wisdom to get out of the way of it, rather
|
|
than to contend with it. If some be very rude, instead of revenging it,
|
|
we should try whether others will not be more civil.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_57"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_58"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_59"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_60"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_61"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu9_62"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec8"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Every Thing to Be Left for Christ.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a
|
|
certain <I>man</I> said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee
|
|
whithersoever thou goest.
|
|
58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the
|
|
air <I>have</I> nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay <I>his</I>
|
|
head.
|
|
59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord,
|
|
suffer me first to go and bury my father.
|
|
60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go
|
|
thou and preach the kingdom of God.
|
|
61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me
|
|
first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
|
|
62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the
|
|
plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here an account of three several persons that offered
|
|
themselves to follow Christ, and the answers that Christ gave to each
|
|
of them. The two former we had an account of in
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+19:21">Matt. xix. 21</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Here is one that is extremely forward to follow Christ immediately,
|
|
but seems to have been too rash, hasty, and inconsiderate, and not to
|
|
have set down and counted the cost.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He makes Christ a very large promise
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:57"><I>v.</I> 57</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>As they went in the way,</I> going up to Jerusalem, where it was
|
|
expected Christ would first appear in his glory, one said to him,
|
|
<I>Lord, I will follow thee withersoever thou goest.</I> This must be
|
|
the resolution of all that will be found Christ's disciples indeed;
|
|
they <I>follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+14:4">Rev. xiv. 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
though it be through fire and water, to prisons and deaths.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Christ gives him a necessary caution, not to promise himself great
|
|
things in the world, in following him, but, on the contrary, to count
|
|
upon poverty and meanness; for <I>the Son of man has not where to lay
|
|
his head.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We may look upon this,
|
|
|
|
(1.) As <I>setting forth</I> the <I>very low condition</I> that our
|
|
Lord Jesus was in, in this world. He not only wanted the delights and
|
|
ornaments that great princes usually have, but even such accommodations
|
|
for mere necessity as the <I>foxes</I> have, and the <I>birds of the
|
|
air.</I> See what a <I>depth of poverty</I> our Lord Jesus submitted to
|
|
for us, to increase the worth and merit of his satisfaction, and to
|
|
purchase for us a larger <I>allowance of grace, that we through his
|
|
poverty might be rich,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+8:9">2 Cor. viii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that made all did not make a dwelling-place for himself, not a house
|
|
of his own to put his head in, but what he was beholden to others for.
|
|
He here calls himself the <I>Son of man,</I> a Son of Adam, partaker of
|
|
flesh and blood. He glories in his condescension towards us, not only
|
|
to the meanness of our nature, but to the meanest condition in that
|
|
nature, to testify his love to us, and to teach us a holy contempt of
|
|
the world and of great things in it, and a continual regard to another
|
|
world. Christ was thus poor, to sanctify and sweeten poverty to his
|
|
people; the apostles had not certain dwelling-place
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+4:11">1 Cor. iv. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
which they might the better bear when they knew their Master had not;
|
|
see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:11">2 Sam. xi. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
We may well be content to fare as Christ did.
|
|
|
|
(2.) As proposing this to the consideration of those who intend to be
|
|
his disciples. If we mean to follow Christ, we must lay aside the
|
|
thoughts of great things in the world, and not reckon upon making any
|
|
thing <I>more than heaven</I> of our religion, as we must resolve not
|
|
to take up with any thing <I>less.</I> Let us not go about to compound
|
|
the profession of Christianity with secular advantages; Christ has
|
|
<I>put them asunder,</I> let us not think of <I>joining them
|
|
together;</I> on the contrary, we must expect to enter into the kingdom
|
|
of heaven through many tribulations, must <I>deny ourselves,</I> and
|
|
<I>take up our cross.</I> Christ tells this man what he must count upon
|
|
if he followed him, to lie cold and uneasy, to fare hard, and live in
|
|
contempt; if he could not submit to this, let him not pretend to follow
|
|
Christ. This word sent him back, for aught that appears; but it will be
|
|
no discouragement to any that know what there is in Christ and heaven
|
|
to set in the scale against this.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Here is another, that seems <I>resolved</I> to follow Christ, but
|
|
he <I>begs a day,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:59"><I>v.</I> 59</A>.
|
|
|
|
To this man Christ first gave the call; he said to him, <I>Follow
|
|
me.</I> He that proposed the thing of himself fled off when he heard of
|
|
the difficulties that attended it; but this man to whom Christ gave a
|
|
call, though he hesitated at first, yet, as it should seem, afterwards
|
|
yielded; so true was that of Christ, <I>You have not chosen me, but I
|
|
have chosen you,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+15:16">John xv. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is not of <I>him that willeth,</I> nor <I>of him that runneth</I>
|
|
(as that forward spark in the foregoing verses), but of God that
|
|
showeth mercy, that <I>gives</I> the call, and <I>makes</I> it
|
|
<I>effectual,</I> as to this man here. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The excuse he made: "<I>Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my
|
|
father.</I> I have an aged father at home, who cannot live long, and
|
|
will need me while he does live; let me go and attend on him until he
|
|
is dead, and I have performed my last office of love to him, and then I
|
|
will do any thing." We may here see three temptations, by which we are
|
|
in danger of being drawn and kept from following Christ, which
|
|
therefore we should guard against:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) We are tempted to <I>rest</I> in a <I>discipleship at large,</I>
|
|
in which we may be <I>at a loose end,</I> and not to come <I>close,</I>
|
|
and give up ourselves to be <I>strict</I> and <I>constant.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) We are tempted to <I>defer</I> the doing of that which we know to
|
|
be our duty, and to put if off to some other time. When we have got
|
|
clear of such a care and difficulty, when we have despatched such a
|
|
business, raised an estate to such a pitch, then we will begin to think
|
|
of being religious; and so we are cozened out of all our time, by being
|
|
cozened out of the present time.
|
|
|
|
(3.) We are tempted to think that our duty to our relations will excuse
|
|
us from our duty to Christ. It is a plausible excuse indeed: "<I>Let me
|
|
go and bury my father,</I>--let me take care of my family, and provide
|
|
for my children, and then I will think of serving Christ;" whereas the
|
|
<I>kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof</I> must be sought ad
|
|
minded <I>in the first place.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Christ's answer to it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:60"><I>v.</I> 60</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Let the dead bury their dead.</I> Suppose (which is not likely)
|
|
that there are none but the dead to bury their dead, or none but those
|
|
who are themselves aged and dying, who are <I>as good as dead,</I> and
|
|
fit for no other service, yet thou hast other work to do; <I>go thou,
|
|
and preach the kingdom of God.</I>" Not that Christ would have his
|
|
followers or his ministers to be <I>unnatural;</I> our religion teaches
|
|
us to be kind and good in every relation, to <I>show piety at home,</I>
|
|
and to <I>requite our parents.</I> But we must not make these offices
|
|
an excuse from our duty to God. If the nearest and dearest relation we
|
|
have in the world stand in our way to keep us from Christ, it is
|
|
necessary that we have a zeal that will make us forget <I>father and
|
|
mother,</I> as Levi did,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:9">Deut. xxxiii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
This disciple was called to be a minister, and therefore must not
|
|
<I>entangle himself</I> with the <I>affairs of this world,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ti+2:4">2 Tim. ii. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
And it is a rule that, whenever Christ calls to any duty, we must not
|
|
<I>consult with flesh and blood,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+1:15,16">Gal. i. 15, 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
No excuses must be admitted against a present obedience to the call of
|
|
Christ.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Here is another that is willing to follow Christ, but he must have
|
|
a <I>little time</I> to <I>talk with his friends</I> about it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. His request for a dispensation,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:61"><I>v.</I> 61</A>.
|
|
|
|
He said, "<I>Lord, I will follow thee;</I> I design no other, I am
|
|
determined to do it: but <I>let me first go bid them farewell that are
|
|
at home.</I>" This seemed reasonable; it was what Elisha desired when
|
|
Elijah called him,<I>Let me kiss my father and my mother;</I> and it
|
|
was allowed him: but the ministry of the gospel is <I>preferable,</I>
|
|
and the service of it more urgent than that of the prophets; and
|
|
therefore here it would not be allowed. Suffer me <B><I>apotaxasthai
|
|
tois eis ton oikon mou</I></B>--<I>Let me go and set in order my
|
|
household affairs,</I> and give direction concerning them; so some
|
|
understand it. Now that which was amiss in this is,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That he looked upon his following Christ as a melancholy,
|
|
troublesome, dangerous thing; it was to him as if he were <I>going to
|
|
die</I> and therefore he must take <I>leave</I> of all his friends,
|
|
never to <I>see them again,</I> or never <I>with any comfort;</I>
|
|
whereas, in following Christ, he might be more a comfort and blessing
|
|
to them than if he had continued with them.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That he seemed to have his worldly concerns more upon his heart
|
|
than he ought to have, and than would consist with a close attendance
|
|
to his duty as a follower of Christ. He seemed to hanker after his
|
|
relations and family concerns, and he could not part easily and
|
|
suitably from them, but they stuck to him. It may be he had bidden them
|
|
<I>farewell</I> once, but <I>Loth to depart bids oft farewell,</I> and
|
|
therefore he must bid them <I>farewell</I> once more, for they are
|
|
<I>at home at his house.</I>
|
|
|
|
(3.) That he was willing to enter into a temptation from his purpose of
|
|
following Christ. To go and bid them <I>farewell</I> that were <I>at
|
|
home at his house</I> would be to expose himself to the strongest
|
|
solicitations imaginable to alter his resolution; for they would all be
|
|
against it, and would <I>beg</I> and <I>pray</I> that he would not
|
|
<I>leave them.</I> Now it was presumption in him to thrust himself into
|
|
such a temptation. Those that resolve to walk with their Maker, and
|
|
follow their Redeemer, must resolve that they will not so much as
|
|
parley with their tempter.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The rebuke which Christ gave him for this request
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:62"><I>v.</I> 62</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>No man, having put his hand to the plough,</I> and designing to
|
|
make good work of his ploughing, will <I>look back,</I> or look behind
|
|
him, for then he makes balks with his plough, and the ground he ploughs
|
|
is <I>not fit</I> to be sown; so thou, if thou hast a design to follow
|
|
me and to reap the advantages of those that do so, yet if thou
|
|
<I>lookest back</I> to a worldly life again and hankerest after that,
|
|
if thou <I>lookest back</I> as Lot's wife did to Sodom, which seems to
|
|
be alluded to here, <I>thou art not fit for the kingdom of God.</I>"
|
|
|
|
(1.) "Thou art not <I>soil</I> fit to receive the <I>good seed</I> of
|
|
the kingdom of God if thou art thus <I>ploughed</I> by the
|
|
<I>halves,</I> and not gone through with."
|
|
|
|
(2.) "Thou art not a <I>sower</I> fit to <I>scatter</I> the good seed
|
|
of the kingdom if thou canst <I>hold the plough</I> no better."
|
|
Ploughing is in order to sowing. As those are not fit to be <I>sown</I>
|
|
with divine comforts whose <I>fallow ground</I> is not first <I>broken
|
|
up,</I> so those are not fit to be employed in sowing who know not how
|
|
to break up the fallow ground, but, when they have <I>laid their hand
|
|
to the plough,</I> upon every occasion look back and think of quitting
|
|
it. Note, Those who begin with the work of God must resolve to <I>go
|
|
on</I> with it, or they will make nothing of it. Looking back inclines
|
|
to <I>drawing back,</I> and <I>drawing back</I> is to <I>perdition.</I>
|
|
Those are not fit for heaven who, having set their faces heavenward,
|
|
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