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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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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. XIX.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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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 conversion of Zaccheus the publican at Jericho,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:1-10">ver. 1-10</A>.
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II. The parable of the pounds which the king entrusted with his
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servants, and of his rebellious citizens,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:11-27">ver. 11-27</A>.
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III. Christ's riding in triumph (such triumph as it was) into
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Jerusalem; and his lamentation in prospect of the ruin of that city,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:28-44">ver. 28-44</A>.
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IV. His teaching in the temple, and casting the buyers and sellers out
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of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:45-48">ver. 45-48</A>.</P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Conversion of Zaccheus.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And <I>Jesus</I> entered and passed through Jericho.
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2 And, behold, <I>there was</I> a man named Zacchæus, which was the
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chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
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3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the
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press, because he was little of stature.
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4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see
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him: for he was to pass that <I>way.</I>
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5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him,
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and said unto him, Zacchæus, make haste, and come down; for to
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day I must abide at thy house.
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6 And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
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7 And when they saw <I>it,</I> they all murmured, saying, That he
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was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
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8 And Zacchæus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord,
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the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any
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thing from any man by false accusation, I restore <I>him</I> fourfold.
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9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this
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house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
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10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which
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was lost.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Many, no doubt, were converted to the faith of Christ of whom no
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account is kept in the gospels; but the conversion of some, whose case
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had something in it extraordinary, is recorded, as this of Zaccheus.
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Christ passed through Jericho,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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This city was build under a curse, yet Christ honoured it with his
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presence, for the gospel <I>takes away the curse.</I> Though it ought
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not to have been built, yet it was not therefore a sin to live in it
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when it was built. Christ was now going from the other side Jordan to
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Bethany near Jerusalem, to raise Lazarus to life; when he was going to
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do one good work he contrived to do many by the way. He did good both
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to the <I>souls</I> and to the <I>bodies</I> of people; we have here an
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instance of the former. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. Who, and what, this Zaccheus was. His name bespeaks him a Jew.
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<I>Zaccai</I> was a common name among the Jews; they had a famous
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rabbi, much about this time, of that name. Observe,
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1. His calling, and the post he was in: <I>He was the chief among the
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publicans,</I> receiver-general; other publicans were officers under
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him; he was, as some think, farmer of the customs. We often read of
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publicans coming to Christ; but here was one that was <I>chief</I> of
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the publicans, was in authority, that enquired after him. God has his
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remnant among all sorts. Christ came to save even the <I>chief of
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publicans.</I>
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2. His circumstances in the world were very considerable: <I>He was
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rich.</I> The inferior publicans were commonly men of broken fortunes,
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and low in the world; but he that was <I>chief of the publicans</I> had
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raised a good estate. Christ had lately shown how <I>hard</I> it is for
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<I>rich people to enter into the kingdom of God,</I> yet presently
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produces an instance on one rich man that had been lost, and was found,
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and that not as the prodigal by being reduced to want.</P>
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<P>
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II. How he came in Christ's way, and what was the occasion of his
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acquaintance with him.
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1. He had a great <I>curiosity to see Jesus,</I> what kind of a man he
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was, having heard great talk of him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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It is natural to us to come in sight, if we can, of those whose fame
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has filled our ears, as being apt to imagine there is something
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extraordinary in their countenances; at least, we shall be able to say
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hereafter that we have seen such and such <I>great men.</I> But the eye
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is <I>not satisfied with seeing.</I> We should now <I>seek to see
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Jesus</I> with an eye of faith, to see <I>who he is;</I> we should
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address ourselves in holy ordinances with this in our eye, <I>We would
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see Jesus.</I>
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2. He could not get his curiosity gratified in this matter because he
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was <I>little,</I> and the crowd was <I>great.</I> Christ did not study
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to <I>show himself,</I> was not carried on men's shoulders (as the pope
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is in procession), that all men might see him; neither he nor his
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kingdom <I>came with observation.</I> He did not ride in an open
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chariot, as princes do, but, as <I>one of us,</I> he was <I>lost in a
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crowd;</I> for that was the day of his humiliation. Zaccheus was
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<I>low of stature,</I> and over-topped by all about him, so that he
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could not get a sight of Jesus. Many that are little of stature have
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large souls, and are lively in spirit. Who would not rather be a
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Zaccheus than a Saul, though he was <I>higher by head and shoulders</I>
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than all about him? Let not those that are little of stature <I>take
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thought</I> of adding <I>cubits</I> to it.
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3. Because he would not disappoint his curiosity he <I>forgot his
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gravity,</I> as chief of the publicans, and <I>ran before,</I> like a
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boy, and <I>climbed up into a sycamore-tree, to see him.</I> Note,
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Those that sincerely desire a sight of Christ will use the proper means
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for gaining a sight of him, and will break through a deal of difficulty
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and opposition, and be willing to take pains to see him. Those that
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find themselves <I>little</I> must take all the advantages they can get
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to <I>raise themselves</I> to a sight of Christ, and not be ashamed to
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own that they need them, and all little enough. Let not dwarfs despair,
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with good help, by aiming high to reach high.</P>
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<P>
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III. The notice Christ took of him, the call he gave him to a further
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acquaintance
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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and the efficacy of that call,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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1. Christ <I>invited himself</I> to Zaccheus's house, not doubting of
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his hearty welcome there; nay, wherever Christ comes, as he brings his
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own <I>entertainment</I> along with him, so he brings his own
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<I>welcome;</I> he opens the heart, and inclines it to receive him.
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Christ <I>looked</I> up into the tree, and <I>saw</I> Zaccheus. He came
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to look upon Christ, and resolved to take particular notice of him, but
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little thought of being taken notice of by Christ. That was an honour
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too great, and too far above his merit, for him to have any thought of.
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See how Christ <I>prevented</I> him with the blessings of his goodness,
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and <I>outdid</I> his expectations; and see how he <I>encouraged</I>
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very weak beginnings, and helped them forward. He that had a mind to
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know Christ shall be <I>known of him;</I> he that only courted to see
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him shall be admitted to converse with him. Note, Those that are
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faithful in a little shall be entrusted with more. And sometimes those
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that come to hear the word of Christ, as Zaccheus did, only for
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curiosity, beyond what they thought of, have their consciences
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awakened, and their hearts changed. Christ called him <I>by name,
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Zaccheus,</I> for he knows his chosen <I>by name; are they not in his
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book?</I> He might ask, as Nathanael did
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:48">John i. 48</A>),
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<I>Whence knowest thou me?</I> But before he climbed the sycamore-tree
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Christ saw him, and knew him. He bade him <I>make haste, and come
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down.</I> Those that Christ calls must <I>come down,</I> must humble
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themselves, and not think to climb to heaven by any righteousness of
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their own; and they must <I>make haste</I> and come down, for delays
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are dangerous. Zaccheus must not hesitate, but hasten; he knows it is
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not a matter that needs consideration whether he should welcome such a
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guest to his house. He must <I>come down,</I> for Christ intends this
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day to <I>bait at his house,</I> and stay an hour or two with him.
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<I>Behold, he stands at the door and knocks.</I>
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2. Zaccheus was <I>overjoyed</I> to have such an honour put upon his
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house
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>He made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully;</I> and his
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receiving him <I>into his house</I> was an indication and token of his
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receiving him <I>into his heart.</I> Note, When Christ <I>calls</I> to
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us we must <I>make haste</I> to answer his calls; and when he <I>comes
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to us</I> we must <I>receive him joyfully. Lift up your heads, O ye
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gates.</I> We may well <I>receive him joyfully</I> who brings all good
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along with him, and, when he takes possession of the soul, opens
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springs of joy there which shall flow to eternity. How often has Christ
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said to us, <I>Open to me,</I> when we have, with the spouse, made
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excuses!
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+5:2,3">Cant. v. 2, 3</A>.
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Zaccheus's forwardness to receive Christ will shame us. We have not now
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Christ to entertain in our houses, but we have his disciples, and what
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is done to them he takes as done to himself.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The offence which the people took at this <I>kind greeting</I>
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between Christ and Zaccheus. Those narrow-souled censorious Jews
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<I>murmured,</I> saying that he was <I>gone to be a guest with a man
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that is a sinner,</I> <B><I>para hamartolo andri</I></B>--<I>with a
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sinful man;</I> and were not they themselves sinful men? Was it not
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Christ's errand into the world to seek and save <I>men</I> that are
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<I>sinners?</I> But Zaccheus they think to be a sinner above all men
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that dwelt in Jericho, such a sinner as was not fit to be conversed
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with. Now this was very unjust to blame Christ for going <I>to his
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house;</I> for,
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1. Though he was a <I>publican,</I> and many of the publicans were
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<I>bad men,</I> it did not therefore follow that they were <I>all
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so.</I> We must take heed of condemning men in the lump, or by common
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fame, for at God's bar every man will be judged as he is.
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2. Though he <I>had been a sinner,</I> it did not therefore follow
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that he was now as bad as he had been; though they knew his past life
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to be bad, Christ might know his present frame to be good. God allows
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room for repentance, and so must we.
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3. Though he was <I>now a sinner,</I> they ought not to blame Christ
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for going to him, because he was in <I>no danger</I> of getting hurt by
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a sinner, but in <I>great hopes</I> of doing good to a sinner; whither
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should the physician go but to the sick? Yet see how that which is
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<I>well done</I> may be <I>ill construed.</I></P>
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<P>
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V. The proofs which Zaccheus gave publicly that, though he had been a
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<I>sinner,</I> he was now a <I>penitent,</I> and a true <I>convert,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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He does not expect to be justified by his works as the Pharisee who
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boasted of what he had done, but by his <I>good works</I> he will,
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through the grace of God, evidence the <I>sincerity</I> of his
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<I>faith</I> and <I>repentance;</I> and here he declares what his
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determination was. He made this declaration <I>standing,</I> that he
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might be seen and heard by those who murmured at Christ for coming to
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his house; <I>with the mouth confession is made</I> of repentance as
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well as faith. He <I>stood,</I> which denotes his saying it
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deliberately and with solemnity, in the nature of a vow to God. He
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addressed himself to Christ in it, not to the people (they were not to
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be his judges), but to the Lord, and he <I>stood</I> as it were at his
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bar. What we do that is good we must do <I>as unto him;</I> we must
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appeal to him, and approve ourselves to him, in our integrity, in all
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our good purposes and resolutions. He makes it appear that there is a
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change <I>in his heart</I> (and that is repentance), for there is a
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change in his way. His resolutions are of second-table duties; for
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Christ, upon all occasions, laid great stress on them: and they are
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such as are suited to his condition and character; for in them will
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best appear the truth of our repentance.</P>
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<P>
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1. Zaccheus had a good estate, and, whereas he had been in it hitherto
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laying up treasure for himself, and doing hurt to himself, now he
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resolves that for the future he will be all towards God, and do good to
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others with it: <I>Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the
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poor.</I> Not, "I <I>will</I> give it by my will when I die," but, "I
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<I>do</I> give it now." Probably he had heard of the command of trial
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which Christ gave to another rich man to sell what he had, and give to
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the poor
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+19:21">Matt. xix. 21</A>),
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and how he broke with Christ upon it. "But so will not I," saith
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Zaccheus; "I agree to it at the first word; though hitherto I have been
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uncharitable to the poor, now I will relieve them, and give so much the
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more for having neglected the duty so long, even the <I>half of my
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goods.</I>" This is a very large proportion to be set apart for works
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of piety and charity. The Jews used to say that a fifth part of a man's
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income yearly was very fair to be given to pious uses, and about that
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share the law directed; but Zaccheus would go much further, and give
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one moiety to the poor, which would oblige him to retrench all his
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extravagant expenses, as his retrenching these would enable him to
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relieve many with his superfluities. If we were but more temperate and
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self-denying, we should be more charitable; and, were we content with
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less ourselves, we should have the more to give to them that need. This
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he mentions here as a fruit of his repentance. Note, It well becomes
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converts to God to be charitable to the poor.</P>
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<P>
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2. Zaccheus was conscious to himself that he had not gotten all he had
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honestly and fairly, but some by indirect and unlawful means, and of
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what he had gotten by such means he promises to make restitution: "If
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<I>I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation,</I> or if I
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have wronged any man in the way of my business as a <I>publican,</I>
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exacting more than was appointed, I promise to restore him
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<I>four-fold.</I>" This was the restitution that a thief was to make,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+22:1">Exod. xxii. 1</A>.
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(1.) He seems plainly to own that he had <I>done wrong;</I> his office,
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as a publican, gave him opportunity to do wrong, imposing upon the
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merchants to curry favour with the government. True penitents will own
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themselves not only in general guilty before God, but will particularly
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reflect upon that which has been their own iniquity, and which, by
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reason of their business and employment in the world, has most easily
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beset them.
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(2.) That he had done wrong <I>by false accusation;</I> this was the
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temptation of the publicans, which John Baptist had warned them of
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particularly,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+3:14"><I>ch.</I> iii. 14</A>.
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They had the ear of the government, and every thing would be stretched
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in favour of the revenue, which gave them an opportunity of gratifying
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their revenge if they bore a man an ill will.
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(3.) He promises to restore <I>four-fold,</I> as far as he could
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recollect or find by his books that he had <I>wronged any man.</I> He
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does not say, "If I be sued, and compelled to it, I will make
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restitution" (some are <I>honest</I> when they cannot help it); but he
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will do it <I>voluntarily:</I> It shall be <I>my own act and deed.</I>
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Note, Those who are convinced of having done wrong cannot evidence the
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|
sincerity of their repentance but by <I>making restitution.</I>
|
|
Observe, He does not think that his giving half his estate to the poor
|
|
will atone for the wrong he has done. God <I>hates robbery for
|
|
burnt-offerings,</I> and we must first <I>do justly</I> and then
|
|
<I>love mercy.</I> It is no charity, but hypocrisy, to give that which
|
|
is <I>none of our own;</I> and we are not to reckon that our own which
|
|
we have not come honestly by, nor that our own which is not so when all
|
|
our debts are paid, and restitution made for wrong done.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. Christ's <I>approbation</I> and <I>acceptance</I> of Zaccheus's
|
|
conversion, by which also he cleared himself from any imputation in
|
|
going to be a guest with him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Zaccheus is declared to be now a <I>happy man.</I> Now he is turned
|
|
from sin to God; now he has bidden Christ welcome to his house, and is
|
|
become an honest, charitable, good man: <I>This day is salvation come
|
|
to this house.</I> Now that he is <I>converted</I> he is in effect
|
|
<I>saved,</I> saved from his sins, from the guilt of them, from the
|
|
power of them; all the benefits of salvation are his. Christ is come
|
|
<I>to his house,</I> and, where Christ comes, he brings salvation along
|
|
with him. He is, and will be, the <I>Author of eternal salvation</I> to
|
|
all that own him as Zaccheus did. Yet this is not all. Salvation this
|
|
day <I>comes to his house.</I>
|
|
|
|
(1.) When Zaccheus becomes a convert, he will be, more than he had
|
|
been, a <I>blessing to his house.</I> He will bring the means of grace
|
|
and salvation to his house, for he is a <I>son of Abraham</I> indeed
|
|
now, and therefore, like Abraham, will teach his household to <I>keep
|
|
the way of the Lord. He that is greedy of gain troubles his own
|
|
house,</I> and brings a curse upon it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:9">Hab. ii. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
but he that is charitable to the poor does a kindness to his own house,
|
|
and brings a blessing upon it and salvation to it, temporal at least,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+112:3">Ps. cxii. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) When Zaccheus is brought to Christ himself his <I>family</I> also
|
|
become related to Christ, and his children are admitted members of his
|
|
church, and so <I>salvation comes to his house,</I> for that he is <I>a
|
|
son of Abraham,</I> and therefore interested in God's covenant with
|
|
Abraham, that <I>blessing</I> of Abraham which comes upon the
|
|
publicans, <I>upon the Gentiles,</I> through faith, that God will be a
|
|
God <I>to them and to their children;</I> and therefore, when he
|
|
believes, <I>salvation comes</I> to his house, as the gaoler's to whom
|
|
it was said, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, <I>and thou shalt be
|
|
saved, and thy house,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+16:31">Acts xvi. 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
Zaccheus is by birth a son of Abraham, but, being a publican, he was
|
|
deemed a heathen; they are put upon a level,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+18:17">Matt. xviii. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
And as such the Jews were shy of conversing with him, and expected
|
|
Christ should be so; but he shows that, being a true penitent, he is
|
|
become <I>rectus in curia--upright in court,</I> as good a son of
|
|
Abraham as if he had never been an publican, which therefore ought not
|
|
to be mentioned against him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. What Christ had done to make him, in particular, a happy man, was
|
|
consonant to the great design and intention of his coming into the
|
|
world,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
With the same argument he had before justified his conversing with
|
|
publicans,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+9:13">Matt. ix. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
There he pleaded that he came to <I>call sinners to repentance;</I> now
|
|
that he came to <I>seek and save that which was lost,</I> <B><I>to
|
|
apololos</I></B>--<I>the lost thing.</I> Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The <I>deplorable case</I> of the <I>sons of men:</I> they were
|
|
<I>lost;</I> and here the whole race of mankind is spoken of as <I>one
|
|
body.</I> Note, The whole world of mankind, by the fall, is become a
|
|
<I>lost world:</I> lost as a city is lost when it has revolted to the
|
|
rebels, as a traveller is lost when he has missed his way in a
|
|
wilderness, as a sick man is lost when his disease is incurable, or as
|
|
a prisoner is lost when sentence is passed upon him.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The <I>gracious design</I> of the <I>Son of God:</I> he came to
|
|
<I>seek and save,</I> to seek in order to saving. He came from heaven
|
|
to earth (a long journey), to <I>seek</I> that which was <I>lost</I>
|
|
(which had <I>wandered and gone astray</I>), and to bring it back
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+18:11,12">Matt. xviii. 11, 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
and to <I>save</I> that which was lost, which was perishing, and in a
|
|
manner destroyed and cut off. Christ undertook the cause when it was
|
|
given up for <I>lost:</I> undertook to bring those to themselves that
|
|
were <I>lost</I> to God and all goodness. Observe, Christ <I>came</I>
|
|
into this lost world to seek and save it. His design was to
|
|
<I>save,</I> when <I>there was not salvation in any other.</I> In
|
|
prosecution of that design, he <I>sought,</I> took all probable means
|
|
to effect that salvation. He seeks those that were not worth seeking
|
|
to; he seeks those that sought him not, and asked not for him, as
|
|
Zaccheus here.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_27"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Nobleman and His Servants.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a
|
|
parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they
|
|
thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
|
|
12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far
|
|
country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
|
|
13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten
|
|
pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
|
|
14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him,
|
|
saying, We will not have this <I>man</I> to reign over us.
|
|
15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having
|
|
received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be
|
|
called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might
|
|
know how much every man had gained by trading.
|
|
16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten
|
|
pounds.
|
|
17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou
|
|
hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten
|
|
cities.
|
|
18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained
|
|
five pounds.
|
|
19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
|
|
20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, <I>here is</I> thy pound,
|
|
which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
|
|
21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou
|
|
takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst
|
|
not sow.
|
|
22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge
|
|
thee, <I>thou</I> wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere
|
|
man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not
|
|
sow:
|
|
23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that
|
|
at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?
|
|
24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the
|
|
pound, and give <I>it</I> to him that hath ten pounds.
|
|
25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
|
|
26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be
|
|
given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be
|
|
taken away from him.
|
|
27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign
|
|
over them, bring hither, and slay <I>them</I> before me.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Our Lord Jesus is now upon his way to Jerusalem, to his last passover,
|
|
when he was to suffer and die; now here we are told,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. How the expectations of his friends were <I>raised</I> upon this
|
|
occasion: <I>They thought that the kingdom of God would immediately
|
|
appear,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Pharisees expected it about this time
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+17:20"><I>ch.</I> xvii. 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, it seems, so did Christ's own disciples; but they both had a
|
|
mistaken notion of it. The Pharisees thought that it must be introduced
|
|
by some other temporal prince or potentate. The disciples thought that
|
|
their Master would introduce it, but with temporal pomp and power,
|
|
which, with the power he had to work miracles, they knew he could
|
|
clothe himself with in a short time, whenever he pleased. Jerusalem,
|
|
they concluded, must be the seat of his kingdom, and therefore, now
|
|
that he is going directly thither, they doubt not but in a little time
|
|
to see him upon the throne there. Note, Even good men are subject to
|
|
mistakes concerning the kingdom of Christ, and to form wrong notions of
|
|
it, and are ready to think that will <I>immediately</I> appear which is
|
|
reserved for hereafter.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. How their expectations were <I>checked,</I> and the mistakes
|
|
<I>rectified</I> upon which they were founded; and this he does in
|
|
three things:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. They expected that he should appear in his glory now
|
|
<I>presently,</I> but he tells them that he must not be publicly
|
|
installed in his kingdom for a great while yet. He is like <I>a certain
|
|
nobleman</I> <B><I>anthropos tis eugenes</I></B>--<I>a certain man of
|
|
high birth</I> (so Dr. Hammond), for he is the Lord from heaven, and is
|
|
entitled by birth to the kingdom; but he <I>goes into a far country, to
|
|
receive for himself a kingdom.</I> Christ must go to heaven, to sit
|
|
down at the right hand of the Father there, and to receive from him
|
|
<I>honour and glory,</I> before the Spirit was poured out by which his
|
|
kingdom was to be set up on earth, and before a church was to be set up
|
|
for him in the Gentile world. He must receive the kingdom, and then
|
|
<I>return.</I> Christ returned when the Spirit was poured out, when
|
|
Jerusalem was destroyed, by which time that generation, both of friends
|
|
and enemies, which he had personally conversed with, was wholly worn
|
|
off by death, and gone to give up their account. But his chief return
|
|
here meant is that at the great day, of which we are yet in
|
|
expectation. That which they thought would <I>immediately appear,</I>
|
|
Christ tells them will not appear till this same Jesus who is taken
|
|
into heaven shall <I>in like manner come again;</I> see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+1:11">Acts i. 11</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. They expected that his apostles and immediate attendants should be
|
|
advanced to dignity and honour, that they should all be made princes
|
|
and peers, privy-counsellors and judges, and have all the pomp and
|
|
preferments of the court and of the town. But Christ here tells them
|
|
that, instead of this, he designed them to be <I>men of business;</I>
|
|
they must expect no other preferment in this world than that of the
|
|
trading end of the town; he would set them up with a stock under their
|
|
hands, that they might employ it themselves, in serving him and the
|
|
interest of his kingdom among men. That is the true honour of a
|
|
Christian and a minister which, if we be as we ought to be truly
|
|
ambitious of it, will enable us to look upon all temporal honours with
|
|
a holy contempt. The apostles had dreamed of <I>sitting on his right
|
|
hand and on his left in his kingdom,</I> enjoying ease after their
|
|
present toil and honour after the present contempt put upon them, and
|
|
were pleasing themselves with this dream; but Christ tells them that
|
|
which, if they understood it aright, would fill them with care, and
|
|
concern, and serious thoughts, instead of those <I>aspiring</I> ones
|
|
with which they filled their heads.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) They have a <I>great work</I> to do now. Their Master leaves them,
|
|
to receive his kingdom, and, at parting, he gives each of them a
|
|
<I>pound,</I> which the margin of our common bibles tells us amounts in
|
|
our money to <I>three pounds</I> and <I>half a crown;</I> this
|
|
signifies the same thing with the talents in the parable that is
|
|
parallel to this
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+25:1-46">Matt. xxv.</A>),
|
|
|
|
all the gifts with which Christ's apostles were endued, and the
|
|
advantages and capacities which they had of serving the interests of
|
|
Christ in the world, and others, both ministers and Christians, like
|
|
them in a lower degree. But perhaps it is in the parable thus
|
|
represented to make them the more humble; their honour in this world is
|
|
only that of <I>traders,</I> and that not of first-rate merchants, who
|
|
have vast stocks to begin upon, but that of poor traders, who must take
|
|
a great deal of care and pains to make any thing of what they have. He
|
|
gave these pounds to his servants, not to buy rich liveries, much less
|
|
robes, and a splendid equipage, for themselves to appear in, as they
|
|
expected, but with this charge: <I>Occupy till I come.</I> Or, as it
|
|
might much better be translated, <I>Trade till I come,</I>
|
|
<B><I>Pragmateusasthe</I></B>--<I>Be busy.</I> So the word properly
|
|
signifies. "You are sent forth to preach the gospel, to set up a church
|
|
for Christ in the world, to bring the nations to the obedience of
|
|
faith, and to build them up in it. <I>You shall receive power to do
|
|
this,</I> for you shall be filled with the <I>Holy Ghost,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+1:8">Acts i. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
When Christ <I>breathed on</I> the eleven disciples, saying, <I>Receive
|
|
ye the Holy Ghost,</I> then he delivered them <I>ten pounds.</I> "Now,"
|
|
saith he, "mind your business, and make a business of it; set about it
|
|
in good earnest, and stick to it. Lay out yourselves to do all the good
|
|
you can to the souls of men, and to gather them in to Christ." Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] All Christians have <I>business</I> to do for Christ in this
|
|
world, and ministers especially; the former were not <I>baptized,</I>
|
|
nor the latter <I>ordained,</I> to be <I>idle.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] Those that are called to business for Christ he furnishes with
|
|
gifts necessary for their business; and, on the other hand, from those
|
|
to whom he gives power he expects service. He delivers the
|
|
<I>pounds</I> with this charge, Go work, go trade. <I>The manifestation
|
|
of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+12:7">1 Cor. xii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
And <I>as every one has received the gift,</I> so let him <I>minister
|
|
the same,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+4:10">1 Pet. iv. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
[3.] We must continue to mind our business <I>till our Master
|
|
comes,</I> whatever difficulties or oppositions we may meet with in it;
|
|
those only that <I>endure to the end</I> shall <I>be saved.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) They have a <I>great account</I> to make shortly. These servants
|
|
are <I>called to him,</I> to show what use they made of the gifts they
|
|
were dignified with, what service they had done for Christ, and what
|
|
good to the souls of men, <I>that he might know what every man had
|
|
gained by trading.</I> Note,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] They that trade diligently and faithfully in the service of Christ
|
|
shall be <I>gainers.</I> We cannot say so of the business of the world;
|
|
many a labouring tradesman has been a loser; but those that trade for
|
|
Christ shall be <I>gainers;</I> though <I>Israel be not gathered,</I>
|
|
yet they <I>will be glorious.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] The conversion of souls is the <I>winning</I> of them; every true
|
|
convert is clear gain to Jesus Christ. Ministers are but factors for
|
|
him, and to him they must give account what fish they have enclosed in
|
|
the gospel-net, what guests they have prevailed with to come to the
|
|
wedding-supper; that is, what they have <I>gained by trading.</I> Now
|
|
observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>First,</I> The <I>good account</I> which was given by <I>some</I> of
|
|
the servants, and the master's approbation of them. Two such are
|
|
instanced,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:16,19"><I>v.</I> 16, 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. They had both made considerable improvements, but not both
|
|
<I>alike;</I> one had gained <I>ten pounds</I> by his trading, and
|
|
another <I>five.</I> Those that are diligent and faithful in serving
|
|
Christ are commonly blessed in being made blessings to the places where
|
|
they live. They shall <I>see the travail of their soul,</I> and not
|
|
<I>labour in vain.</I> And yet all that are alike <I>faithful</I> are
|
|
not alike <I>successful.</I> And perhaps, though they were both
|
|
faithful, it is intimated that one of them took more pains, and applied
|
|
himself more closely to his business, than the other, and sped
|
|
accordingly. Blessed Paul was surely this servant that gained <I>ten
|
|
pounds,</I> double to what any of the rest did, for he <I>laboured more
|
|
abundantly than they all,</I> and <I>fully preached the gospel of
|
|
Christ.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. They both acknowledged their obligations to their Master for
|
|
entrusting them with these abilities and opportunities to do him
|
|
service: Lord, it is not <I>my</I> industry, but <I>thy</I> pound, that
|
|
has gained <I>ten pounds.</I> Note, God must have all the glory of all
|
|
our gains; <I>not unto us,</I> but unto him, must be <I>the praise,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+115:1">Ps. cxv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Paul, who gained the <I>ten pounds,</I> acknowledges, "<I>I
|
|
laboured, yet not I. By the grace of God, I am what I am,</I> and do
|
|
what I do; and <I>his grace was not in vain,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:10">1 Cor. xv. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
He will not speak of what he had done, but of what God <I>had done by
|
|
him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+15:18">Rom. xv. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. They were both commended for their fidelity and industry: <I>Well
|
|
done, thou good servant,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
And to the other he <I>said likewise,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, They who do that which is good shall have <I>praise of the same.
|
|
Do well,</I> and Christ will say to thee, <I>Well done:</I> and, if he
|
|
says <I>Well done,</I> the matter is not great who says otherwise. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+4:7">Gen. iv. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
4. They were <I>preferred</I> in proportion to the improvement they
|
|
had made: "<I>Because thou hast been faithful in a very little,</I> and
|
|
didst not say, 'As good sit still as go to trade with one pound, what
|
|
can one do with so small a stock?' but didst humbly and honestly apply
|
|
thyself to the improvement of that, <I>have thou authority over ten
|
|
cities.</I>" Note, Those are in a fair way to rise who are content to
|
|
begin low. <I>He that has used the office of a deacon well purchaseth
|
|
to himself a good degree,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+3:13">1 Tim. iii. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Two things are hereby promised the apostles:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) That when they have taken pains to <I>plant</I> many churches they
|
|
shall have the satisfaction and honour of presiding in them, and
|
|
governing among them; they shall have great respect paid them, and have
|
|
a great interest in the love and esteem of good Christians. <I>He that
|
|
keepeth the fig-tree shall eat the fruit thereof;</I> and he that
|
|
<I>laboureth in the word and doctrine</I> shall be <I>counted worthy of
|
|
double honour.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) That, when they have served their generation, according to the
|
|
will of Christ, though they pass through this world despised and
|
|
trampled upon, and perhaps pass out of it under disgrace and
|
|
persecution as the apostles did, yet in the other world they shall
|
|
reign as kings with Christ, shall sit with him on his throne, shall
|
|
have <I>power over the nations,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+2:26">Rev. ii. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
The happiness of heaven will be a much greater advancement to a good
|
|
minister or Christian than it would be to a poor tradesman, that with
|
|
much ado had cleared ten pounds, to be made governor of ten cities. He
|
|
that had gained but <I>five pounds</I> had dominion over <I>five
|
|
cities.</I> This intimates that there are <I>degrees of glory</I> in
|
|
heaven; every vessel will be alike <I>full,</I> but not alike
|
|
<I>large.</I> And the degrees of glory there will be according to the
|
|
degrees of usefulness here.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> The <I>bad account</I> that was given by <I>one</I> of
|
|
them, and the sentence passed upon him for his slothfulness and
|
|
unfaithfulness,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.
|
|
|
|
1. He owned that he had not <I>traded</I> with the pound with which he
|
|
had been entrusted
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Lord, behold, here is thy pound;</I> it is true, I have not made it
|
|
<I>more,</I> but withal I have not made it <I>less;</I> I have kept it
|
|
safely <I>laid up in a napkin.</I>" This represents the carelessness of
|
|
those who have gifts, but never lay out themselves to do good with
|
|
them. It is all one to them whether the interests of Christ's kingdom
|
|
sink or swim, go backward or forward; for their parts, they will take
|
|
no care about it, no pains, be at no expenses, run no hazard. Those are
|
|
the servants that lay up their pound <I>in a napkin</I> who think it
|
|
enough to say that they have done no hurt in the world, but <I>did no
|
|
good.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. He justified himself in his omission, with a plea that made the
|
|
matter worse and not better
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I feared thee, because thou art an austere man,</I> rigid and
|
|
severe, <B><I>anthropos austeros ei</I></B>. <I>Austere</I> is the
|
|
Greed word itself: a <I>sharp</I> man: <I>Thou takest up that which
|
|
thou laidst not down.</I> He thought that his master put a hardship
|
|
upon his servants when he required and expected the improvement of
|
|
their pounds, and that it was <I>reaping where he did not sow;</I>
|
|
whereas really it was reaping where he <I>had sown,</I> and, as the
|
|
husbandman, expecting in proportion to what he had sown. He had no
|
|
reason to <I>fear</I> his master's austerity, nor blame his
|
|
expectations, but this was a mere sham, a frivolous groundless excuse
|
|
for his idleness, which there was no manner of colour for. Note, The
|
|
pleas of slothful professors, when they come to be examined, will be
|
|
found more to their <I>shame</I> than in their <I>justification.</I>
|
|
|
|
3. His excuse is turned upon him: <I>Out of thine own mouth will I
|
|
judge thee, thou wicked servant,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
He will be <I>condemned</I> by his crime, but <I>self-condemned</I> by
|
|
his plea. "If thou didst look upon it as hard that I should expect the
|
|
profit of thy trading, which would have been the greater profit, yet,
|
|
if thou hadst had any regard to my interest, thou mightest have put my
|
|
money <I>into the bank,</I> into some of the funds, that I might have
|
|
had, not only <I>my own,</I> but my own <I>with usury,</I> which,
|
|
though a <I>less</I> advantage, would have been <I>some.</I>" If he
|
|
durst not <I>trade</I> for fear of <I>losing</I> the principal, and so
|
|
being made accountable to his lord for it though it was lost, which he
|
|
pretends, yet that would be no excuse for his not setting it out to
|
|
interest, where it would be sure. Note, Whatever may be the pretences
|
|
of slothful professors, in excuse of their slothfulness, the true
|
|
reason of it is a reigning indifference to the interests of Christ and
|
|
his kingdom, and their coldness therein. They care not whether
|
|
religion gets around or loses ground, so they can but live at ease.
|
|
|
|
4. His pound is taken from him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is fit that those should <I>lose</I> their gifts who will not
|
|
<I>use</I> them, and that those who have dealt falsely should be no
|
|
longer trusted. Those who will not serve their Master with what he
|
|
bestows upon them, why should they be suffered to serve themselves with
|
|
it? <I>Take from him the pound.</I>
|
|
|
|
5. It is given to him that had the <I>ten pounds.</I> When this was
|
|
objected against by the standers-by, because he had so much already
|
|
(<I>Lord, he has ten pounds,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
it is answered
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Unto every one that hath shall be given.</I> It is the rule of
|
|
justice,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That those should be most encouraged who have been most
|
|
industrious, and that those who have laid out themselves most to do
|
|
good should have their opportunities of doing good <I>enlarged,</I> and
|
|
be put into a higher and more extensive sphere of usefulness. To him
|
|
that hath gotten shall more be given, that he may be in a capacity to
|
|
get more.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That those who have their gifts, as if they had them not, who have
|
|
them to no purpose, who do no good with them, should be deprived of
|
|
them. To those who endeavour to increase the grace they have, God will
|
|
impart more; those who neglect it, and suffer it to decline, can expect
|
|
no other than that God should do so too. This needful warning Christ
|
|
gives to his disciples, lest, while they were gaping for honours on
|
|
earth, they should neglect their business, and so come short of their
|
|
happiness in heaven.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Another thing they expected was, that, when the kingdom of God
|
|
should appear, the body of the Jewish nation would immediately fall in
|
|
with it, and submit to it, and all their aversions to Christ and his
|
|
gospel would immediately vanish; but Christ tells them that, after his
|
|
departure, the generality of them would persist in their obstinacy and
|
|
rebellion, and it would be their ruin. This is shown here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) In the message which his citizens sent after him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
They not only opposed him, while he was in obscurity; but, when he was
|
|
gone into glory, to be invested in his kingdom, then they continued
|
|
their enmity to him, protested against his dominion, and said, <I>We
|
|
will not have this man to reign over us.</I>
|
|
|
|
[1.] This was fulfilled in the prevailing infidelity of the Jews after
|
|
the ascension of Christ, and the setting up of the gospel kingdom. They
|
|
would not submit their necks to his yoke, nor touch the top of his
|
|
golden sceptre. They said, <I>Let us break his bands in sunder,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:1-3,Ac+4:26">Ps. ii. 1-3; Acts iv. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] It speaks the language of all unbelievers; they could be content
|
|
that Christ should <I>save them,</I> but they will not have him to
|
|
<I>reign over them;</I> whereas Christ is a Saviour to those only to
|
|
whom he is a prince, and who are willing to obey him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) In the sentence passed upon them at his return: <I>Those mine
|
|
enemies bring hither,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
When his faithful subjects are preferred and rewarded, then he will
|
|
take vengeance on his enemies, and particularly on the Jewish nation,
|
|
the doom of which is here read. When Christ had set up his gospel
|
|
kingdom, and thereby put reputation upon the gospel ministry, then he
|
|
comes to <I>reckon with</I> the Jews; then it is remembered against
|
|
them that they had particularly disclaimed and protested against his
|
|
kingly office, when they said, <I>We have no king but Cæsar,</I>
|
|
nor would own him for their king. They appealed to Cæsar, and to
|
|
Cæsar they shall go; Cæsar shall be their ruin. Then the
|
|
<I>kingdom of God appeared</I> when vengeance was taken on those
|
|
irreconcileable enemies to Christ and his government; they were
|
|
<I>brought forth and slain before him.</I> Never was so much slaughter
|
|
made in any war as in the wars of the Jews. That nation lived to see
|
|
Christianity victorious in the Gentile world, in spite of their enmity
|
|
and opposition to it, and then it was <I>taken away as dross.</I> The
|
|
wrath of Christ came upon them to the uttermost
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Th+2:15,16">1 Thess. ii. 15, 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
and their destruction redounded very much to the honour of Christ and
|
|
the peace of the church. But this is applicable to all others who
|
|
<I>persist</I> in their infidelity, and will undoubtedly perish in it.
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Utter ruin will certainly be the portion of all Christ's enemies;
|
|
in the day of vengeance they shall all be brought <I>forth,</I> and
|
|
<I>slain before him. Bring them hither,</I> to be made a spectacle to
|
|
saints and angels; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+10:22,24">Josh. x. 22, 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Bring them hither,</I> that they may see the glory and happiness of
|
|
Christ and his followers, whom they hated and persecuted. <I>Bring
|
|
them hither,</I> to have their frivolous pleas overruled, and to
|
|
receive sentence according to their merits. Bring them, and <I>slay
|
|
them before me,</I> as Agag before Samuel. The Saviour whom they have
|
|
slighted will stand by and see them slain, and not interpose on their
|
|
behalf.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Those that <I>will not have Christ to reign over them</I> shall be
|
|
reputed and dealt with as his enemies. We are ready to think that none
|
|
are Christ's enemies but persecutors of Christianity, or scoffers at
|
|
least; but you see that those will be accounted so that dislike the
|
|
terms of salvation, will not submit to Christ's yoke, but will be their
|
|
own masters. Note, Whoever will not be <I>ruled</I> by the grace of
|
|
Christ will inevitably be ruined by the wrath of Christ.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_40"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Christ's Entry into Jerusalem.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>28 And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to
|
|
Jerusalem.
|
|
29 And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and
|
|
Bethany, at the mount called <I>the mount</I> of Olives, he sent two
|
|
of his disciples,
|
|
30 Saying, Go ye into the village over against <I>you;</I> in the
|
|
which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet
|
|
never man sat: loose him, and bring <I>him hither.</I>
|
|
31 And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose <I>him?</I> thus shall ye
|
|
say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.
|
|
32 And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he
|
|
had said unto them.
|
|
33 And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said
|
|
unto them, Why loose ye the colt?
|
|
34 And they said, The Lord hath need of him.
|
|
35 And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments
|
|
upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.
|
|
36 And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way.
|
|
37 And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the
|
|
mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to
|
|
rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works
|
|
that they had seen;
|
|
38 Saying, Blessed <I>be</I> the King that cometh in the name of the
|
|
Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
|
|
39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto
|
|
him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
|
|
40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if
|
|
these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry
|
|
out.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the same account of Christ's riding in some sort of
|
|
triumph (such as it was) into Jerusalem which we had before in Matthew
|
|
and Mark; let us therefore here only observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Jesus Christ was forward and willing to suffer and die for us. He
|
|
went forward, <I>bound in the spirit, to Jerusalem,</I> knowing very
|
|
well the <I>things</I> that should <I>befal him there,</I> and yet
|
|
<I>he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
He was the foremost of the company, as if he longed to be upon the
|
|
spot, longed to engage, to take the field, and to enter upon action.
|
|
Was he so forward to suffer and die for us, and shall we draw back from
|
|
any service we are capable of doing for him?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. It was no ways inconsistent either with Christ's humility or with
|
|
his present state of humiliation to make a <I>public entry</I> into
|
|
Jerusalem a little before he died. Thus he made himself to be the more
|
|
taken notice of, that the ignominy of his death might appear the
|
|
greater.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Christ is entitled to a dominion over all the creatures, and may
|
|
use them when and as he pleases. No man has a property in his estate
|
|
against Christ, but that <I>his</I> title is prior and superior. Christ
|
|
sent to fetch an <I>ass</I> and her <I>colt</I> from their
|
|
<I>owner's</I> and <I>master's crib,</I> when he had occasion for their
|
|
service, and might do so, for all the <I>beasts of the forest are
|
|
his,</I> and the tame beasts too.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. Christ has all men's hearts both under his eye and in his hand. He
|
|
could influence those to whom the ass and the colt belonged to consent
|
|
to their taking them away, as soon as they were told that the Lord had
|
|
occasion for them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. Those that go on Christ's errands are sure to speed
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They that were sent found</I> what he told them they should find,
|
|
and the owners willing to part with them. It is a comfort to Christ's
|
|
messengers that they shall bring what they are sent for, if indeed the
|
|
Lord has occasion for it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. The disciples of Christ, who fetch that for him from others which
|
|
he has occasion for, and which they have not, should not think that
|
|
enough, but, whatever they have themselves wherewith he may be served
|
|
and honoured, they should be ready to serve him with it. Many can be
|
|
willing to attend Christ at other people's expense who care not to be
|
|
at any charge upon him themselves; but those disciples not only fetched
|
|
the ass's colt for him, but <I>cast their</I> own <I>garments upon the
|
|
colt,</I> and were willing that they should be used for his
|
|
trappings.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VII. Christ's triumphs are the matter of his disciples' praises. When
|
|
Christ came nigh to Jerusalem, God put it of a sudden into the hearts
|
|
of the <I>whole multitude of the disciples,</I> not of the twelve only,
|
|
but abundance more, that were disciples at large, <I>to rejoice and
|
|
praise God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:37"><I>v.</I> 37</A>),
|
|
|
|
and the <I>spreading of their clothes in the way</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>)
|
|
|
|
was a common expression of joy, as at the feast of tabernacles.
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. What was the matter or occasion of their joy and praise. They
|
|
praised God <I>for all the mighty works they had seen,</I> all the
|
|
miracles Christ had wrought, especially the <I>raising of Lazarus,</I>
|
|
which is particularly mentioned,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+12:17,18">John xii. 17, 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
That brought others to mind, for fresh miracles and mercies should
|
|
revive the remembrance of the former.
|
|
|
|
2. How they expressed their joy and praise
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Blessed be the king that cometh in the name of the Lord.</I> Christ
|
|
is <I>the king;</I> he <I>comes in the name of the Lord,</I> clothed
|
|
with a divine authority, commissioned from heaven to <I>give law</I>
|
|
and treat of <I>peace. Blessed be he.</I> Let us <I>praise him,</I> let
|
|
God <I>prosper him.</I> He is <I>blessed</I> for ever, and we will
|
|
speak well of him. <I>Peace in heaven.</I> Let the God of heaven send
|
|
peace and success to his undertaking, and then there will be <I>glory
|
|
in the highest.</I> It will redound to the glory of the most high God;
|
|
and the angels, the glorious inhabitants of the upper world, will give
|
|
him the glory of it. Compare this song of the saints on earth with that
|
|
of the angels,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+2:14"><I>ch.</I> ii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
They both agree to give glory to God in the highest. There the praises
|
|
of both centre; the angels say, <I>On earth peace,</I> rejoicing in the
|
|
benefit which men on earth have by Christ; the saints say, <I>Peace in
|
|
heaven,</I> rejoicing in the benefit which the angels have by Christ.
|
|
Such is the communion we have with the holy angels that, as <I>they</I>
|
|
rejoice in the <I>peace on earth,</I> so <I>we</I> rejoice in the
|
|
<I>peace in heaven,</I> the <I>peace</I> God <I>makes in his high
|
|
places</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+25:2">Job xxv. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
and both in Christ, who hath reconciled all things to himself, whether
|
|
<I>things on earth or things in heaven.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VIII. Christ's triumph's, and his disciples' joyful praises of them,
|
|
are the vexation of proud Pharisees, that are enemies to him and his
|
|
kingdom. There were some Pharisees among <I>the multitude</I> who were
|
|
so far from joining with them that they were enraged at them, and,
|
|
Christ being a famous example of humility, they thought that he would
|
|
not admit such acclamations as these, and therefore expected that he
|
|
should <I>rebuke his disciples,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>.
|
|
|
|
But it is the honour of Christ that, as he despises the contempt of the
|
|
proud, so he accepts the praises of the humble.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IX. Whether men praise Christ or no he will, and shall, and must be
|
|
praised
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>If these should hold their peace,</I> and not speak the praises of
|
|
the Messiah's kingdom, <I>the stones would immediately cry out,</I>
|
|
rather than that Christ should not be praised. This was, in effect,
|
|
literally fulfilled, when, upon men's reviling Christ upon the cross,
|
|
instead of praising him, and his own disciples' sinking into a profound
|
|
silence, the <I>earth did quake and the rocks rent.</I> Pharisees would
|
|
silence the praises of Christ, but they cannot gain their point; for as
|
|
God can <I>out of stones raise up children unto Abraham,</I> so he can
|
|
out of the mouths of those children perfect praise.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_41"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_42"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_43"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_44"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_45"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_46"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_47"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu19_48"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Doom of Jerusalem Lamented; The Doom of Jerusalem Foretold.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over
|
|
it,
|
|
42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy
|
|
day, the things <I>which belong</I> unto thy peace! but now they are
|
|
hid from thine eyes.
|
|
43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall
|
|
cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee
|
|
in on every side,
|
|
44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children
|
|
within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon
|
|
another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
|
|
45 And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that
|
|
sold therein, and them that bought;
|
|
46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of
|
|
prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.
|
|
47 And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and
|
|
the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,
|
|
48 And could not find what they might do: for all the people
|
|
were very attentive to hear him.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The great Ambassador from heaven is here making his public entry into
|
|
Jerusalem, not to be <I>respected</I> there, but to be <I>rejected;</I>
|
|
he knew what a nest of vipers he was throwing himself into, and yet see
|
|
here two instances of his love to that place and his concern for
|
|
it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The <I>tears he shed</I> for the <I>approaching ruin</I> of the
|
|
<I>city</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:41"><I>v.</I> 41</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>When he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it.</I>
|
|
Probably, it was when he was coming down the descent of the hill from
|
|
the <I>mount of Olives,</I> where he had a full view of the city, the
|
|
large extent of it, and the many stately structures in it, and his eye
|
|
affected his heart, and his heart his eye again. See here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. What a tender spirit Christ was of; we never read that he laughed,
|
|
but we often find him in tears. In this very place his father David
|
|
wept, and those that were with him, though he and they were <I>men of
|
|
war.</I> There are cases in which it is no disparagement to the
|
|
stoutest of men to melt into tears.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. That Jesus Christ <I>wept</I> in the midst of his triumphs,
|
|
<I>wept</I> when all about him were <I>rejoicing,</I> to show how
|
|
little he was elevated with the applause and acclamation of the people.
|
|
Thus he would teach us to <I>rejoice with trembling,</I> and <I>as
|
|
though we rejoiced not.</I> If Providence do not stain the beauty of
|
|
our triumphs, we may ourselves see cause to sully it with our
|
|
sorrows.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. That he <I>wept over Jerusalem.</I> Note, There are cities to be
|
|
wept over, and none to be more lamented than Jerusalem, that had been
|
|
the holy city, and the joy of the whole earth, if it be degenerated.
|
|
But why did Christ weep at the sight of Jerusalem? Was it because
|
|
"Yonder is the city in which I must be betrayed and bound, scourged and
|
|
spit upon, condemned and crucified?" No, he himself gives us the reason
|
|
of his tears.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Jerusalem has not improved the day of her opportunities. He wept,
|
|
and said, <I>If thou hadst known, even thou at least in this thy
|
|
day,</I> if thou wouldst but yet know, while the gospel is preached to
|
|
thee, and salvation offered thee by it; if thou wouldest at length
|
|
bethink thyself, and understand <I>the things that belong to thy
|
|
peace,</I> the making of thy peace with God, and the securing of thine
|
|
own spiritual and eternal welfare--but thou <I>dost not know the day of
|
|
thy visitation,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:44"><I>v.</I> 44</A>.
|
|
|
|
The manner of speaking is abrupt: <I>If thou hadst known! O that thou
|
|
hadst,</I> so some take it; like that <I>O that my people had hearkened
|
|
unto me,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+81:13,Isa+48:18">Ps. lxxxi. 13; Isa. xlviii. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or, <I>If thou hadst known, well;</I> like that of the <I>fig-tree,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+13:9"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
How happy had it been for thee! Or, "If thou hadst known, thou wouldest
|
|
have wept for thyself, and I should have no occasion to weep for thee,
|
|
but should have rejoiced rather." What he says lays all the blame of
|
|
Jerusalem's impending ruin upon herself. Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] There are things which <I>belong to our peace,</I> which we are
|
|
all concerned to <I>know</I> and <I>understand;</I> the way how peace
|
|
is made, the offers made of peace, the terms on which we may have the
|
|
benefit of peace. The things that belong to our peace are those things
|
|
that relate to our present and future welfare; these we must know with
|
|
application.
|
|
|
|
[2.] There is a <I>time of visitation</I> when those things which
|
|
<I>belong to our peace</I> may be <I>known by us,</I> and known to good
|
|
purpose. When we enjoy the means of grace in great plenty, and have the
|
|
word of God powerfully preached to us--when the Spirit strives with us,
|
|
and our own consciences are startled and awakened--then is the <I>time
|
|
of visitation,</I> which we are concerned to improve.
|
|
|
|
[3.] With those that have long neglected the time of their visitation,
|
|
if at length, if at last, in this their day, their eyes be opened, and
|
|
they bethink themselves, all will be well yet. Those shall not be
|
|
refused that come into the vineyard <I>at the eleventh hour.</I>
|
|
|
|
[4.] It is the amazing folly of multitudes that enjoy the means of
|
|
grace, and it will be of fatal consequence to them, that they do not
|
|
improve the day of their opportunities. The <I>things of their
|
|
peace</I> are revealed to them, but are not minded or regarded by them;
|
|
they <I>hide their eyes</I> from them, as if they were not worth taking
|
|
notice of. They are not aware of the <I>accepted time</I> and the
|
|
<I>day of salvation,</I> and to let it slip and perish through mere
|
|
carelessness. None are so <I>blind</I> as those that will not
|
|
<I>see;</I> nor have any the things of their peace more certainly
|
|
hidden from their eyes than those that turn their back upon them.
|
|
|
|
[5.] The sin and folly of those that persist in a contempt of gospel
|
|
grace are a great grief to the Lord Jesus, and should be so to us. He
|
|
looks with weeping eyes upon lost souls, that continue impenitent, and
|
|
run headlong upon their own ruin; he had rather that they would <I>turn
|
|
and live</I> than <I>go on and die,</I> for he is not willing that any
|
|
should perish.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Jerusalem cannot escape the day of her desolation. The <I>things
|
|
of her peace</I> are now in a manner hidden from her eyes; they will be
|
|
shortly. Not but that after this the gospel was preached to them by the
|
|
apostles; <I>all the house of Israel</I> were called to <I>know
|
|
assuredly</I> that Christ was their <I>peace</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+2:36">Acts ii. 36</A>),
|
|
|
|
and multitudes were convinced and converted. But as to the body of the
|
|
nation, and the leading part of it, they were sealed up under unbelief;
|
|
God had <I>given them the spirit of slumber,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:8">Rom. xi. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were so prejudiced and enraged against the gospel, and those few
|
|
that did embrace it then, that nothing less than a miracle of divine
|
|
grace (like that which converted Paul) would work upon them; and it
|
|
could not be expected that such a miracle should be wrought, and so
|
|
they were justly given up to <I>judicial</I> blindness and hardness.
|
|
The <I>peaceful things</I> are not <I>hidden from the eyes</I> of
|
|
particular persons; but it is too late to think now of the nation of
|
|
the Jews, <I>as such,</I> becoming a Christian nation, by embracing
|
|
Christ. And therefore they are marked for ruin, which Christ here
|
|
foresees and foretels, as the certain consequence of their rejecting
|
|
Christ. Note, Neglecting the great salvation of ten brings temporal
|
|
judgments upon a people; it did so upon Jerusalem in less than forty
|
|
years after this, when all that Christ here foretold was exactly
|
|
fulfilled.
|
|
|
|
[1.] The Romans besieged the city, <I>cast a trench about it, compassed
|
|
it round,</I> and <I>kept their</I> inhabitants in <I>on every
|
|
side.</I> Josephus relates that Titus ran up a wall in a very short
|
|
time, which surrounded the city, and cut off all hopes of escaping.
|
|
|
|
[2.] They <I>laid it even with the ground.</I> Titus commanded his
|
|
soldiers to <I>dig up the city,</I> and the whole compass of it was
|
|
levelled, except three towers; see Josephus's history of the wars of
|
|
the Jews, 5. 356-360; 7.
|
|
|
|
1. Not only the city, but the citizens were laid even with the ground
|
|
(<I>thy children within thee),</I> by the cruel slaughters that were
|
|
made of them: and there was scarcely one stone <I>left upon
|
|
another.</I> This was for their crucifying Christ; this was because
|
|
they <I>knew not the day of their visitation.</I> Let other cities and
|
|
nations take warning.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The <I>zeal he showed</I> for the <I>present purification of the
|
|
temple.</I> Though it must be destroyed ere long, it does not therefore
|
|
follow that no care must be taken of it in the mean time.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Christ cleared it of those who profaned it. He went straight to the
|
|
temple, and <I>began to cast out the buyers and sellers,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:45"><I>v.</I> 45</A>.
|
|
|
|
Hereby (though he was represented as an enemy to the temple, and that
|
|
was the crime laid to his charge before the high priest) he made it to
|
|
appear that he had a truer love for the temple than they had who had
|
|
such a veneration for its corban, its treasury, as a sacred thing; for
|
|
its purity was more its glory than its wealth was. Christ gave reason
|
|
for his dislodging the temple-merchants,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:46"><I>v.</I> 46</A>.
|
|
|
|
The temple is a <I>house of prayer,</I> set apart for communion with
|
|
God: the <I>buyers</I> and <I>sellers</I> made it a <I>den of
|
|
thieves</I> by the fraudulent bargains they made there, which was by no
|
|
means to be suffered, for it would be a distraction to those who came
|
|
there to pray.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He put it to the best use that ever it was put to, for he <I>taught
|
|
daily in the temple,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:47"><I>v.</I> 47</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, It is not enough that the corruptions of a church be purged out,
|
|
but the preaching of the gospel must be encouraged. Now, when Christ
|
|
preached in the temple, observe here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) How spiteful the church-rulers were against him; how industrious
|
|
to seek an <I>opportunity, or pretence</I> rather, to do him a mischief
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:47"><I>v.</I> 47</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The chief priests and scribes, and the chief of the people,</I> the
|
|
great sanhedrim, that should have attended him, and summoned the people
|
|
too to attend him, <I>sought to destroy him,</I> and put him to death.
|
|
|
|
(2.) How respectful the common people were to him. They were <I>very
|
|
attentive to hear him.</I> He spent most of his time in the country,
|
|
and did not then preach in the temple, but, when he did, the people
|
|
paid him great respect, attended on his preaching with diligence, and
|
|
let no opportunity slip of hearing him, attended to it with care, and
|
|
would not lose a word. Some read it, <I>All the people as they heard
|
|
him, took his part;</I> and so it comes in very properly as a reason
|
|
why his enemies <I>could not find what they might</I> do against him;
|
|
they saw the people ready to fly in their faces if they offered him any
|
|
violence. Till his hour was come his interest in the common people
|
|
protected him; but, when his hour was come, the chief priests'
|
|
influence upon the common people delivered him up.</P>
|
|
|
|
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