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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Luke VII].</TITLE>
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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. VII.</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. Christ confirming the doctrine he had preached in the former
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chapter, with two glorious miracles--the curing of one at a distance,
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and that was the centurion's servant
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:1-10">ver. 1-10</A>),
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and the raising of one to life that was dead, the widow's son at Nain,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:11-18">ver. 11-18</A>.
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II. Christ confirming the faith of John who was now in prison, and of
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some of his disciples, by sending him a short account of the miracles
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he wrought, in answer to a question he received from him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:19-23">ver. 19-23</A>),
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to which he adds an honourable testimony concerning John, and a just
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reproof to the men of that generation for the contempt they put upon
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him and his doctrine,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:24-35">ver. 24-35</A>.
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III. Christ comforting a poor penitent that applied herself to him, all
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in tears of godly sorrow for sin, assuring her that her sins were
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pardoned, and justifying himself in the favour he showed her against
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the cavils of a proud Pharisee,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:36-50">ver. 36-50</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Lu7_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_10"> </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 Healing of the Centurion's Servant.</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 Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the
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people, he entered into Capernaum.
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2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was
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sick, and ready to die.
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3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of
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the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.
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4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly,
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saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:
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5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.
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6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from
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the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him,
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Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou
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shouldest enter under my roof:
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7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee:
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but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.
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8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under me
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soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another,
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Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth
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<I>it.</I>
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9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and
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turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I
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say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
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10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the
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servant whole that had been sick.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Some difference there is between this story of the cure of the
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centurion's servant as it is related here and as we had it in
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+8:5">Matt. viii. 5</A>,
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&c. There it was said that the centurion came to Christ; here it is
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said that he sent to him first some of the <I>elders of the Jews</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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and afterwards some other <I>friends,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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But it is a rule that <I>we are said to do that which we do by
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another--Quod facimus per alium, id ipsum facere judicamur.</I> The
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centurion might be said to do that which he did by his proxies; as a
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man takes possession by his attorney. But it is probable that the
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centurion himself came at last, when Christ said to him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+8:13">Matt. viii. 13</A>),
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<I>As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.</I></P>
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<P>
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This miracle is here said to have been wrought by our Lord Jesus
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<I>when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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What Christ said he said <I>publicly;</I> whoever would might come and
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hear him: <I>In secret have I said nothing,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+18:20">John xviii. 20</A>.
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Now, to give an undeniable proof of the <I>authority</I> of his
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<I>preaching word,</I> he here gives an incontestable proof of the
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<I>power</I> and <I>efficacy</I> of his <I>healing word.</I> He that
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had such a commanding empire in the kingdom of nature as that he could
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command away diseases, no doubt has such a sovereignty in the kingdom
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of grace as to enjoin duties displeasing to flesh and blood, and bind,
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under the highest penalties, to the observance of them. This miracle
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was wrought in Capernaum, where most of Christ's mighty works were
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done,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+11:23">Matt. xi. 23</A>.
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Now observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. The centurion's servant that was sick was <I>dear to his master,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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It was the praise of the servant that by his diligence and
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faithfulness, and a manifest concern for his master and his interest,
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as for himself and for his own, he recommended himself to his master's
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esteem and love. Servants should study to <I>endear</I> themselves to
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their masters. It was likewise the praise of the master that, when he
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had a good servant, he knew how to value him. Many masters, that are
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haughty and imperious, think it favour enough to the best servants they
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have not to rate them, and beat them, and be cruel to them, whereas
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they ought to be kind to them, and tender of them, and solicitous for
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their welfare and comfort.</P>
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<P>
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II. The master, <I>when he heard of Jesus,</I> was for making
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application to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Masters ought to take particular care of their servants when they are
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<I>sick,</I> and not to neglect them then. This centurion begged that
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<I>Christ would come and heal his servant.</I> We may now, by faithful
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and fervent prayer, apply ourselves to Christ in heaven, and ought to
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do so, when sickness is in our families; for Christ is still the great
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Physician.</P>
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<P>
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III. He sent some of the <I>elders of the Jews</I> to Christ, to
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represent the case, and solicit for him, thinking that a greater piece
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of respect to Christ than if he had come himself, because he was an
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uncircumcised Gentile, whom he thought Christ, being a prophet, would
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not care for conversing with. For that reason he sent Jews, whom he
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acknowledged to be favourites of Heaven, and not ordinary Jews neither,
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but <I>elders of the Jews,</I> persons in authority, that the dignity
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of the messengers might give honour to him to whom they were sent.
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Balak sent princes to Balaam.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The elders of the Jews were hearty intercessors for the centurion:
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<I>They besought him instantly</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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were very urgent with him, pleading for the centurion that which he
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would never have pleaded for himself, <I>that he was worthy for whom he
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should do this.</I> If any Gentile was qualified to receive such a
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favour, surely he was. The centurion said, <I>I am not</I> so much as
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<I>worthy</I> of a visit
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+8:8">Matt. viii. 8</A>),
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but the elders of the Jews thought him worthy of the cure; thus
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<I>honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. Let another man praise
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thee, and not thy own mouth.</I> But that which they insisted upon in
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particular was, that, though he was a Gentile, yet he was a hearty
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well-wisher to the Jewish nation and religion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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They thought there needed as much with Christ as there did with them to
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remove the prejudices against him as a Gentile, a Roman, and an officer
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of the army, and therefore mention this,
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1. That he was well-affected to the people of the Jews: <I>He loveth
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our nation</I> (which few of the Gentile did). Probably he had read the
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Old Testament, whence it was easy to advance to a very high esteem of
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the Jewish nation, as favoured by Heaven above all people. Note, Even
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conquerors, and those <I>in power,</I> ought to keep up an affection
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for the conquered, and those they have <I>power over.</I>
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2. That he was well-affected to their worship: <I>He built them a</I>
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new <I>synagogue</I> at Capernaum, finding that what they had was
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either gone to decay or not large enough to contain the people, and
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that the inhabitants were not of ability to build one for themselves.
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Hereby he testified his veneration for the God of Israel, his belief of
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his being the one only living and true God, and his desire, like that
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of Darius, to have an interest in the prayers of God's Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+6:10">Ezra vi. 10</A>.
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This centurion built a synagogue at his own proper costs and charges,
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and probably employed his soldiers that were in garrison there in the
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building, to keep them from idleness. Note, Building places of meeting
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for religious worship is a very <I>good work,</I> is an instance of
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love to God and his people; and those who do good works of that kind
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are <I>worthy of double honour.</I></P>
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<P>
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V. Jesus Christ was very ready to show kindness to the centurion. He
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presently <I>went with them</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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though he was a Gentile; for <I>is he the Saviour of the Jews only? Is
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he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+3:29">Rom. iii. 29</A>.
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The centurion did not think himself worthy to visit Christ
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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yet Christ thought him worthy to be visited by him; for those that
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<I>humble themselves shall be exalted.</I></P>
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<P>
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VI. The centurion, when he heard that Christ was doing him the honour
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to come to his house, gave further proofs both of his humility and of
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his faith. Thus the graces of the saints are quickened by Christ's
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approaches towards them. <I>When he was now not far from the house,</I>
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and the centurion had notice of it, instead of setting his house in
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order for his reception, he <I>sends friends</I> to meet him with fresh
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expressions,
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1. Of his <I>humility: "Lord, trouble not thyself,</I> for I am
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unworthy of such an honour, because I am a Gentile." This bespeaks not
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only his low thoughts of himself notwithstanding the greatness of his
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figure; but his high thoughts of Christ, notwithstanding the meanness
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of his figure in the world. He knew how to honour a prophet of God,
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though he was despised and rejected of men.
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2. Of his <I>faith:</I> "Lord, <I>trouble not thyself,</I> for I know
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there is no occasion; thou canst <I>cure</I> my servant without coming
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<I>under my roof,</I> by that almighty power from which <I>no thought
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can be withholden. Say, in a word, and my servant shall be healed:</I>"
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so far was this centurion from Namaan's fancy, that he should come to
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him, and stand, and <I>strike his hand over the</I> patient, and so
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<I>recover</I> him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+5:11">2 Kings v. 11</A>.
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He illustrates this faith of his by a comparison taken from his own
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profession, and is confident that Christ can as easily command away the
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distemper as he can command any of his soldiers, can as easily send an
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angel with commission to cure this servant of his as he can send a
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soldier on an errand,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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Christ has a sovereign power over all the creatures and all their
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actions, and can change the course of nature as he pleases, can rectify
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its disorders and repair its decays in human bodies; for <I>all power
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is given to him.</I></P>
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<P>
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VII. Our Lord Jesus was wonderfully well pleased with the faith of the
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centurion, and the more surprised at it because he was a Gentile; and,
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the centurion's faith having thus honoured Christ, see how he honoured
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it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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<I>He turned him about,</I> as one amazed, and <I>said to the people
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that followed him, I have not found so great faith, no not in
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Israel.</I> Note, Christ will have those that follow him to observe and
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take notice of the great examples of faith that are sometimes set
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before them--especially when any such are found among those that do not
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follow Christ so closely as they do in profession--that we may be
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shamed by the strength of their faith out of the weakness and waverings
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of ours.</P>
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<P>
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VIII. The cure was <I>presently</I> and <I>perfectly</I> wrought
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>).
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<I>They that were sent</I> knew they had their errand, and therefore
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went back, and found the servant well, and under no remains at all of
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his distemper. Christ will take cognizance of the distressed case of
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poor servants, and be ready to relieve them; for there <I>is no respect
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of persons with him.</I> Nor are the Gentiles excluded from the benefit
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of his grace; nay, this was a specimen of that much greater faith which
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would be found among the Gentiles, when the gospel should be published,
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than among the Jews.</P>
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<A NAME="Lu7_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu7_18"> </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 Widow of Nain.</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>11 And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city
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called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much
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people.
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12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there
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was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she
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was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.
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13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and
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said unto her, Weep not.
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14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare <I>him</I>
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stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.
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15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he
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delivered him to his mother.
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16 And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God,
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saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God
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hath visited his people.
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17 And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judæa, and
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throughout all the region round about.
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18 And the disciples of John showed him of all these things.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here the story of Christ's raising to life a widow's son at
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Nain, that was dead and in the carrying out to be buried, which Matthew
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and Mark had made no mention of; only, in the general, Matthew had
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|
recorded it, in Christ's answer to the disciples of John, that <I>the
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dead were raised</I> up,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+11:5">Matt. xi. 5</A>.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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|
I. Where, and when, this miracle was wrought. It was the <I>next day
|
|
after</I> he had cured the centurion's servant,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Christ was doing good <I>every day,</I> and never had cause to complain
|
|
that he had <I>lost a day.</I> It was done at the gate of a small city,
|
|
or town, called <I>Nain,</I> not far from Capernaum, probably the same
|
|
with a city called <I>Nais,</I> which Jerome speaks of.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Who were the witnesses of it. It is as well attested as can be, for
|
|
it was done in the sight of two crowds that met in or near the gate of
|
|
the city. There was a crowd of <I>disciples</I> and other <I>people</I>
|
|
attending Christ
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
and a crowd of relations and neighbours attending the funeral of the
|
|
young man,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus there was a sufficient number to attest the truth of this miracle,
|
|
which furnished greater proof of Christ's divine authority than his
|
|
healing diseases; for by no power of nature, or any means, can the dead
|
|
be raised.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. How it was wrought by our Lord Jesus.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The person raised to life was a <I>young man,</I> cut off by death
|
|
in the beginning of his days--a common case; <I>man comes forth like a
|
|
flower and is cut down.</I> That he was really dead was universally
|
|
agreed. There could be no collusion in the case; for Christ was
|
|
<I>entering into the town,</I> and had not seen him till now that he
|
|
met him upon the bier. He was <I>carried out</I> of the city; for the
|
|
Jews' burying-places were without their cities, and at some distance
|
|
from them. This young man was the <I>only son of his mother,</I> and
|
|
<I>she a widow.</I> She depended upon him to be the staff of her old
|
|
age, but he proves a broken reed; every man at his best estate is so.
|
|
How numerous, how various, how very calamitous, are the afflictions of
|
|
the afflicted in this world! What a vale of tears is it! What a Bochim,
|
|
a place of weepers! We may well think how deep the <I>sorrow</I> of
|
|
this poor mother was for her <I>only son</I> (such sorrowing is
|
|
referred to as expressive of the greatest grief,--
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+12:10">
|
|
Zech. xii. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
and it was the deeper in that she was a <I>widow,</I> broken with
|
|
breach upon breach, and a <I>full end made of her comforts. Much people
|
|
of the city was with her, condoling</I> with her loss, to
|
|
<I>comfort</I> her.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Christ showed both his <I>pity</I> and his <I>power</I> in raising
|
|
him to life, that he might give a specimen of both, which shine so
|
|
brightly in man's redemption.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) See how <I>tender</I> his <I>compassions</I> are towards the
|
|
afflicted
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>When the Lord saw</I> the poor widow following her son to the grave,
|
|
<I>he had compassion on her.</I> Here was not application made to him
|
|
for her, not so much as that he would speak some words of comfort to
|
|
her, but, <I>ex mero motu--purely from the goodness of his nature,</I>
|
|
he was troubled for her. The case was piteous, and he looked upon it
|
|
with pity. His eye affected his heart; and he <I>said unto her, Weep
|
|
not.</I> Note, Christ has a concern for the mourners, for the
|
|
miserable, and often <I>prevents them with the blessing of his
|
|
goodness.</I> He undertook the work of our redemption and salvation,
|
|
<I>in his love and in his pity,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+63:9">Isa. lxiii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
What a pleasing idea does this give us of the compassions of the Lord
|
|
Jesus, and the multitude of his <I>tender mercies,</I> which may be
|
|
very comfortable to us when at any time we are in sorrow! Let poor
|
|
widows comfort themselves in their sorrows with this, that Christ
|
|
<I>pities them</I> and knows their souls in adversity; and, if others
|
|
despise their grief, he does not. Christ said, <I>Weep not;</I> and he
|
|
could give her a reason for it which no one else could: "Weep not for a
|
|
<I>dead son,</I> for he shall presently become a <I>living one.</I>"
|
|
This was a reason peculiar to her case; yet there is a reason common to
|
|
all that sleep in Jesus, which is of equal force against inordinate and
|
|
excessive grief for their death--that they shall rise again, shall
|
|
rise in glory; and therefore we must <I>not sorrow as those that have
|
|
no hope,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Th+4:13">1 Thess. iv. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let Rachel, that <I>weeps for her children, refrain her eyes from
|
|
tears,</I> for <I>there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy
|
|
children shall come again to their own border,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+31:17">Jer. xxxi. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
And let our <I>passion</I> at such a time be checked and claimed by the
|
|
consideration of Christ's <I>compassion.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) See how <I>triumphant</I> his <I>commands</I> are over even death
|
|
itself
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He came, and touched the bier,</I> or coffin, in or upon which the
|
|
dead body lay; for to him it would be no pollution. Hereby he
|
|
intimated to the bearers that they should not proceed; he had something
|
|
to say to the dead young man. <I>Deliver him from going down to the
|
|
pit; I have found a ransom,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+33:24">Job xxxiii. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Hereupon <I>they that bore him stood still,</I> and probably let down
|
|
the bier from their shoulders to the ground, and opened the coffin, it
|
|
if was closed up; and then with solemnity, as one that had authority,
|
|
and to whom belonged the issues from death, he said, <I>Young man, I
|
|
say unto thee, Arise.</I> The young man was <I>dead,</I> and could not
|
|
arise by any power of his own (no more can those that are spiritually
|
|
dead in trespasses and sins); yet it was no absurdity at all for Christ
|
|
to bid him <I>arise,</I> when a power went along with that word to
|
|
<I>put life</I> into him. The gospel call to all people, to young
|
|
people particularly, is, "<I>Arise,</I> arise from the dead, and Christ
|
|
shall give you light and life." Christ's dominion over death was
|
|
evidenced by the immediate effect of his word
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He that was dead sat up.</I> Have we grace from Christ? Let us show
|
|
it. Another evidence of life was that he <I>began to speak;</I> for
|
|
whenever Christ gives us spiritual life he <I>opens the lips</I> in
|
|
prayer and praise. And, <I>lastly,</I> he would not oblige this young
|
|
man, to whom he had given a new life, to go along with him as his
|
|
disciple, to minister to him (though he owed him even his own self),
|
|
much less as a trophy or show to get honour by him, but <I>delivered
|
|
him to his mother,</I> to attend her as became a dutiful son; for
|
|
Christ's miracles were miracles of mercy, and a great act of mercy this
|
|
was to this widow; now she was <I>comforted,</I> according to the time
|
|
in which she had been afflicted and much more, for she could now look
|
|
upon this son as a particular favourite of Heaven, with more pleasure
|
|
than if he had not died.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. What influence it had upon the people
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>There came a fear on all;</I> it frightened them all, to see a dead
|
|
man start up alive out of his coffin in the open street, at the command
|
|
of a man; they were all struck with wonder at his miracle, and
|
|
<I>glorified God.</I> The Lord and his goodness, as well as the Lord
|
|
and his greatness, are to be feared. The inference they drew from it
|
|
was, "<I>A great prophet is risen up among us,</I> the great prophet
|
|
that we have been long looking for; doubtless, he is one divinely
|
|
inspired who can thus breathe life into the dead, and in him <I>God
|
|
hath visited his people,</I> to redeem them, as was expected,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:68">Luke i. 68</A>.
|
|
|
|
This would be <I>life from the dead</I> indeed to all them that waited
|
|
for the consolation of Israel. When dead souls are thus raised to
|
|
spiritual life, by a divine power going along with the gospel, we must
|
|
glorify God, and look upon it as a gracious visit to his people. The
|
|
report of this miracle was carried,
|
|
|
|
1. In general, all the country over
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>This rumour of him,</I> that he was the great prophet, <I>went
|
|
forth</I> upon the wings of fame <I>through all Judea,</I> which lay a
|
|
great way off, and throughout all Galilee, which was the <I>region
|
|
round about.</I> Most had this notice of him, yet few believed in him,
|
|
and gave up themselves to him. Many have the <I>rumour</I> of Christ's
|
|
gospel in their ears that have not the <I>savour</I> and <I>relish</I>
|
|
of it in their souls.
|
|
|
|
2. In particular, it was carefully brought to John Baptist, who was now
|
|
in prison
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>His disciples came,</I> and gave him an account of all things, that
|
|
he might know that though <I>he</I> was bound yet <I>the word of the
|
|
Lord was not bound;</I> God's work was going on, though he was laid
|
|
aside.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_35"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>John's Message to Jesus; The Ministry of John and of Christ.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>19 And John calling <I>unto him</I> two of his disciples sent <I>them</I>
|
|
to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for
|
|
another?
|
|
20 When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist
|
|
hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or
|
|
look we for another?
|
|
21 And in that same hour he cured many of <I>their</I> infirmities
|
|
and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many <I>that were</I> blind
|
|
he gave sight.
|
|
22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell
|
|
John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see,
|
|
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead
|
|
are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
|
|
23 And blessed is <I>he,</I> whosoever shall not be offended in me.
|
|
24 And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to
|
|
speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the
|
|
wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
|
|
25 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft
|
|
raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live
|
|
delicately, are in kings' courts.
|
|
26 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto
|
|
you, and much more than a prophet.
|
|
27 This is <I>he,</I> of whom it is written, Behold, I send my
|
|
messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before
|
|
thee.
|
|
28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there
|
|
is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is
|
|
least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
|
|
29 And all the people that heard <I>him,</I> and the publicans,
|
|
justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.
|
|
30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God
|
|
against themselves, being not baptized of him.
|
|
31 And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of
|
|
this generation? and to what are they like?
|
|
32 They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and
|
|
calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and
|
|
ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.
|
|
33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking
|
|
wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.
|
|
34 The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say,
|
|
Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans
|
|
and sinners!
|
|
35 But wisdom is justified of all her children.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
All this discourse concerning John Baptist, occasioned by his sending
|
|
to ask whether he was the Messiah or no, we had, much as it is here
|
|
related,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+11:2-19">Matt. xi. 2-19</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. We have here the message John Baptist sent to Christ, and the return
|
|
he made to it. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The great thing we are to enquire concerning Christ is whether he be
|
|
he that should come to redeem and save sinners, or whether we are to
|
|
look for another,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:19,20"><I>v.</I> 19, 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
We are sure that God has promised that a Saviour shall come, an
|
|
anointed Saviour; we are as sure that what he has promised he will
|
|
perform in its season. If this Jesus be that promised Messiah, we will
|
|
receive him, and will look for no other; but, if not, we will continue
|
|
our expectations, and, though he tarry, will wait for him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The faith of John Baptist himself, or at least of his disciples,
|
|
wanted to be <I>confirmed</I> in this matter; for Christ had not yet
|
|
publicly declared himself to be indeed the Christ, nay, he would not
|
|
have his disciples, who knew him to be so, to speak of it, till the
|
|
proofs of his being so were completed in his resurrection. The great
|
|
men of the Jewish church had not owned him, nor had he gained any
|
|
interest that was likely to set him upon the throne of his father
|
|
David. Nothing of that power and grandeur was to be seen about him in
|
|
which it was expected that the Messiah would appear; and therefore it
|
|
is not strange that they should ask, <I>Art thou the Messiah?</I> not
|
|
doubting but that, if he was not, he would direct them what
|
|
<I>other</I> to <I>look for.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Christ left it to his own works to praise him in the gates, to tell
|
|
what he was and to prove it. While John's messengers were with him, he
|
|
wrought many miraculous cures, <I>in that same hour,</I> which perhaps
|
|
intimates that they staid but <I>an hour</I> with him; and what a deal
|
|
of work did Christ do in a little time!
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>He cured many of their infirmities and plagues</I> in body, and of
|
|
<I>evil spirits</I> that affected the mind either with frenzy or
|
|
melancholy, and <I>unto many that were blind he gave sight.</I> He
|
|
multiplied the cures, that there might be no ground left to suspect a
|
|
fraud; and then
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>)
|
|
|
|
he bade them <I>go and tell John what they had seen.</I> And he and
|
|
they might easily argue, as even the common people did
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+7:31">John vii. 31</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this
|
|
man hath done?</I> These cures, which they saw him work, were not only
|
|
confirmations of his commission, but explications of it. The Messiah
|
|
must come to cure a diseased world, to give light and sight to them
|
|
that sit in darkness, and to restrain and conquer evil spirits. You see
|
|
that Jesus does this to the bodies of people, and therefore must
|
|
conclude this is he that should come to do it to the souls of people,
|
|
and you are to <I>look for no other.</I> To his miracles in the kingdom
|
|
of nature he adds this in the kingdom of grace
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>To the poor the gospel is preached,</I> which they knew was to be
|
|
done by the Messiah; for he was anointed to <I>preach the gospel to the
|
|
meek</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+61:1">Isa. lxi. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
and to <I>save the souls of the poor and needy,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+72:13">Ps. lxxii. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Judge, therefore, whether you can look for any other that will more
|
|
fully answer the characters of the Messiah and the great intentions of
|
|
his coming.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He gave them an intimation of the danger people were in of being
|
|
prejudiced against him, notwithstanding these evident proofs of his
|
|
being the Messiah
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me,</I> or
|
|
<I>scandalized</I> at me. We are here in a state of trial and
|
|
probation; and it is agreeable to such a state that, as there are
|
|
sufficient arguments to <I>confirm the truth</I> to those that are
|
|
<I>honest</I> and <I>impartial</I> in searching after it, and have
|
|
their minds prepared to receive it, so there should be also objections,
|
|
to <I>cloud the truth</I> to those that are careless, worldly, and
|
|
sensual. Christ's education at Nazareth, his residence at Galilee, the
|
|
meanness of his family and relations, his poverty, and the
|
|
despicableness of his followers--these and the like were
|
|
stumbling-blocks to many, which all the miracles he wrought could not
|
|
help them over. He is <I>blessed,</I> for he is wise, humble, and well
|
|
disposed, that is not overcome by these prejudices. It is a sign that
|
|
God has <I>blessed</I> him, for it is by his grace that he is helped
|
|
over these stumbling-stones; <I>and he shall be blessed</I> indeed,
|
|
blessed in Christ.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. We have here the high encomium which Christ gave of John Baptist;
|
|
not while his messengers were present (lest he should seem to flatter
|
|
him), but <I>when they were departed</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
to make the people sensible of the advantages they had enjoyed in
|
|
John's ministry, and were deprived of by his imprisonment. Let them now
|
|
consider <I>what they went out into the wilderness to see,</I> who that
|
|
was about whom there had been so much talk and such a great and general
|
|
amazement. "Come," saith Christ, "I will tell you."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He was a man of unshaken <I>self-consistence,</I> a man of
|
|
steadiness and constancy. He was not a <I>reed shaken with the
|
|
wind,</I> first in one direction and then in another, shifting with
|
|
every wind; he was <I>firm</I> as a <I>rock,</I> not <I>fickle</I> as a
|
|
<I>reed.</I> If he could have bowed like a <I>reed</I> to Herod, and
|
|
have complied with the court, he might have been a favourite there; but
|
|
<I>none of these things moved him.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He was a man of unparalleled <I>self-denial,</I> a great example of
|
|
mortification and contempt of the world. He was not <I>a man clothed in
|
|
soft raiment,</I> nor did he <I>live delicately</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>);
|
|
|
|
but, on the contrary, he lived in a wilderness and was clad and fed
|
|
accordingly. Instead of adorning and pampering the body, he brought it
|
|
under, and kept it in subjection.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He was <I>a prophet,</I> had his commission and instructions
|
|
immediately from God, and not of man or by man. He was by birth a
|
|
<I>priest,</I> but that is never taken notice of; for his glory, as a
|
|
prophet, eclipsed the honour of his priesthood. Nay, he was
|
|
<I>more,</I> he was <I>much more than a prophet</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
than any of the prophets of the Old Testament; for they spoke of Christ
|
|
as at a distance, he spoke of him as at the door.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He was the harbinger and forerunner of the Messiah, and was himself
|
|
prophesied of in the Old Testament
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>This is he of whom it is written</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+3:1">Mal. iii. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Behold, I send my messenger before thy face.</I> Before he sent the
|
|
Master himself, he sent a messenger, to give notice of his coming, and
|
|
prepare people to receive him. Had the Messiah been to appear as a
|
|
<I>temporal prince,</I> under which character the carnal Jews expected
|
|
him, his <I>messenger</I> would have appeared either in the <I>pomp</I>
|
|
of a <I>general</I> or the <I>gaiety</I> of a <I>herald at arms;</I>
|
|
but it was a <I>previous</I> indication, plain enough, of the
|
|
<I>spiritual</I> nature of Christ's kingdom, that the messenger he sent
|
|
before him to <I>prepare his way</I> did it by preaching repentance and
|
|
reformation of men's hearts and lives. Certainly that kingdom was not
|
|
of this world which was thus ushered in.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. He was, upon this account, so great, that really there was not a
|
|
<I>greater prophet</I> than he. <I>Prophets</I> were the
|
|
<I>greatest</I> that were <I>born of women,</I> more honourable than
|
|
kings and princes, and John was the <I>greatest</I> of all the
|
|
<I>prophets.</I> The country was not sensible what a <I>valuable,</I>
|
|
what an <I>invaluable,</I> man it had in it, when John Baptist went
|
|
about preaching and baptizing. And yet <I>he that is least in the
|
|
kingdom of God is greater than he.</I> The least gospel minister, that
|
|
has obtained mercy of the Lord to be <I>skilful</I> and <I>faithful</I>
|
|
in his work, or the meanest of the <I>apostles</I> and first preachers
|
|
of the gospel, being <I>employed</I> under a more <I>excellent</I>
|
|
dispensation, are in a more honourable office than John Baptist. The
|
|
meanest of those that <I>follow the Lamb</I> far excel the greatest of
|
|
those that went before him. Those therefore who live under the gospel
|
|
dispensation have so much the more to answer for.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. We have here the just censure of the men of that generation, who
|
|
were not wrought upon by the ministry either of John Baptist or of
|
|
Jesus Christ himself.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Christ here shows what contempt was put upon John Baptist, while he
|
|
was preaching and baptizing.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Those who did show him any respect were but the common ordinary
|
|
sort of people, who, in the eye of the gay part of mankind, were rather
|
|
a disgrace to him than a credit,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The people</I> indeed, the vulgar herd, of whom it was said, <I>This
|
|
people, who know not the law, are cursed</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+7:49">John vii. 49</A>),
|
|
|
|
and the publicans, men of ill fame, as being generally men of bad
|
|
morals, or taken to be so, these were <I>baptized with his baptism,</I>
|
|
and became his disciples; and these, though glorious monuments of
|
|
divine grace, yet did not <I>magnify John</I> in the eye of the world;
|
|
but by their repentance and reformation they <I>justified God,</I>
|
|
justified his conduct and the wisdom of it in appointing such a one as
|
|
John Baptist to be the forerunner of the Messiah: they hereby made it
|
|
to appear that it was the best method that could be taken, for it was
|
|
not in vain to <I>them</I> whatever it was to others.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The great men of their church and nation, the <I>polite</I> and
|
|
the <I>politicians,</I> that would have done him some credit in the eye
|
|
of the world, did him all the dishonour they could; they heard him
|
|
indeed, but they were not <I>baptized of him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Pharisees, who were most in reputation for religion and devotion,
|
|
and the lawyers, who were celebrated for their learning, especially
|
|
their knowledge of the scriptures, <I>rejected the counsel of God
|
|
against themselves;</I> they <I>frustrated it,</I> they <I>received the
|
|
grace of God,</I> by the baptism of John, in <I>vain.</I> God in
|
|
sending that <I>messenger</I> among them had a kind <I>purpose</I> of
|
|
good to them, <I>designed</I> their salvation by it, and, if they had
|
|
closed with the counsel of God, it had been <I>for themselves,</I> they
|
|
had been made for ever; but they <I>rejected it,</I> would not comply
|
|
with it, and it was <I>against themselves,</I> it was to their own
|
|
ruin; they came short of the benefit intended them, and not only so,
|
|
but forfeited the grace of God, put a bar in their own door, and, by
|
|
refusing that discipline which was to fit them for the kingdom of the
|
|
Messiah, shut themselves out of it, and they not only excluded
|
|
themselves, but hindered others, and stood in their way.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He here shows the strange perverseness of the men of that
|
|
generation, in their cavils both against John and Christ, and the
|
|
prejudices they conceived against them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) They made but a jesting matter of the methods God took to do them
|
|
good
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Whereunto shall I liken the men of this generation?</I> What can I
|
|
think of absurd enough to represent them by? They are, then, <I>like
|
|
children sitting in the market-place,</I> that mind nothing that is
|
|
serious, but are as full of play as they can hold. As if God were but
|
|
in jest with them, in all the methods he takes to do them good, as
|
|
children are with one another in the market-place
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>),
|
|
|
|
they turn it all off with a banter, and are not more affected with it
|
|
than with a piece of pageantry." This is the ruin of multitudes, they
|
|
can never persuade themselves to be <I>serious</I> in the concerns of
|
|
their souls. Old men, sitting in the sanhedrim, were but as <I>children
|
|
sitting in the market-place,</I> and no more affected with the things
|
|
that belonged to their everlasting peace than people are with
|
|
children's play. O the amazing stupidity and vanity of the blind and
|
|
ungodly world! The Lord awaken them out of their security.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) They still found something or other to carp at.
|
|
|
|
[1.] John Baptist was a reserved austere man, lived much in solitude,
|
|
and ought to have been admired for being such a humble, sober,
|
|
self-denying man, and hearkened to as a man of thought and
|
|
contemplation; but this, which was his praise, was turned to his
|
|
reproach. Because he came <I>neither eating nor drinking,</I> so
|
|
freely, plentifully, and cheerfully, as others did, <I>you say, "He has
|
|
a devil;</I> he is a melancholy man, he is possessed, as the demoniac
|
|
whose dwelling was <I>among the tombs,</I> though he be not quite so
|
|
wild."
|
|
|
|
[2.] Our Lord Jesus was of a more free and open conversation; he
|
|
<I>came eating and drinking,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
He would go and dine with Pharisees, though he knew they did not care
|
|
for him; and with publicans, though he knew they were no credit to him;
|
|
yet, in hopes of doing good both to the one and the other, he conversed
|
|
familiarly with them. By this it appears that the ministers of Christ
|
|
may be of very different tempers and dispositions, very different ways
|
|
of preaching and living, and yet all good and useful; <I>diversity of
|
|
gifts,</I> but each given to <I>profit withal.</I> Therefore none must
|
|
make themselves a standard to all others, nor judge hardly of those
|
|
that do not do just as they do. John Baptist bore witness to Christ,
|
|
and Christ applauded John Baptist, though they were the reverse of each
|
|
other in their way of living. But the common enemies of them both
|
|
reproached them both. The very same men that had represented John as
|
|
<I>crazed in his intellects,</I> because he came <I>neither eating nor
|
|
drinking,</I> represented our Lord Jesus as <I>corrupt in his
|
|
morals,</I> because he came <I>eating and drinking; he is a gluttonous
|
|
man, and a wine-bibber.</I> Ill-will never speaks well. See the malice
|
|
of wicked people, and how they put the worst construction upon every
|
|
thing they meet with in the gospel, and in the preachers and professors
|
|
of it; and hereby they think to depreciate <I>them,</I> but really
|
|
destroy <I>themselves.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He shows that, notwithstanding this, God will be glorified in the
|
|
salvation of a chosen remnant
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Wisdom is justified of all her children.</I> There are those who are
|
|
given to wisdom <I>as her children,</I> and they shall be brought by
|
|
the grace of God to submit to wisdom's conduct and government, and
|
|
thereby to justify wisdom in the ways she takes for bringing them to
|
|
that submission; for to them they are effectual, and thereby appear
|
|
well chosen. Wisdom's children are herein unanimous, one and all, they
|
|
have all a complacency in the methods of grace which divine wisdom
|
|
takes, and think never the worse of them for their being ridiculed by
|
|
some.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_40"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_41"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_42"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_43"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_44"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_45"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_46"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_47"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_48"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_49"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu7_50"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Christ in the House of the Pharisee.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>36 And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with
|
|
him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat.
|
|
37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when
|
|
she knew that <I>Jesus</I> sat at meat in the Pharisee's house,
|
|
brought an alabaster box of ointment,
|
|
38 And stood at his feet behind <I>him</I> weeping, and began to
|
|
wash his feet with tears, and did wipe <I>them</I> with the hairs of
|
|
her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed <I>them</I> with the
|
|
ointment.
|
|
39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw <I>it,</I> he
|
|
spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet,
|
|
would have known who and what manner of woman <I>this is</I> that
|
|
toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
|
|
40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to
|
|
say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
|
|
41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one
|
|
owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
|
|
42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them
|
|
both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
|
|
43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that <I>he,</I> to whom he
|
|
forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
|
|
44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou
|
|
this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water
|
|
for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped
|
|
<I>them</I> with the hairs of her head.
|
|
45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came
|
|
in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
|
|
46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath
|
|
anointed my feet with ointment.
|
|
47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are
|
|
forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven,
|
|
<I>the same</I> loveth little.
|
|
48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
|
|
49 And they that sat at meat with him began to say within
|
|
themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?
|
|
50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in
|
|
peace.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
When and where this passage of story happened does not appear; this
|
|
evangelist does not observe order of time in his narrative so much as
|
|
the other evangelists do; but it comes in here, upon occasion of
|
|
Christ's being reproached as <I>a friend to publicans and sinners,</I>
|
|
to show that it was only for their good, and to bring them to
|
|
repentance, that he conversed with them; and that those whom he
|
|
admitted hear him were reformed, or in a hopeful way to be so. Who this
|
|
woman was that here testified so great an affection to Christ does not
|
|
appear; it is commonly said to be Mary Magdalene, but I find no ground
|
|
in scripture for it: she is described
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:2,Mk+16:9"><I>ch.</I> viii. 2 and Mark xvi. 9</A>)
|
|
|
|
to be one <I>out of whom Christ had cast seven devils;</I> but that is
|
|
not mentioned here, and therefore it is probable that it was not she.
|
|
Now observe here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The civil entertainment which a Pharisee gave to Christ, and his
|
|
gracious acceptance of that entertainment
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>One of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him,</I>
|
|
either because he thought it would be a reputation to him to have such
|
|
a guest at his table or because his company would be an entertainment
|
|
to him and his family and friends. It appears that this Pharisee did
|
|
not believe in Christ, for he will not own him to be a <I>prophet</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>),
|
|
|
|
and yet our Lord Jesus accepted his invitation, <I>went into his house,
|
|
and sat down to meat,</I> that they might see he took the same liberty
|
|
with Pharisees that he did with publicans, in hopes of <I>doing them
|
|
good.</I> And those may venture further into the society of such as are
|
|
prejudiced against Christ, and his religion, who have wisdom and grace
|
|
sufficient to instruct and argue with them, than others may.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The great respect which a poor penitent sinner showed him, when he
|
|
was at meat in the Pharisee's house. It was a woman in the city <I>that
|
|
was a sinner,</I> a Gentile, a <I>harlot,</I> I doubt, known to be so,
|
|
and infamous. She <I>knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's
|
|
house,</I> and, having been converted from her wicked course of life by
|
|
his preaching, she came to acknowledge her obligations to him, having
|
|
no opportunity of doing it in any other way than by <I>washing</I> his
|
|
feet, and anointing them with some sweet ointment that she brought with
|
|
her for that purpose. The way of sitting at table then was such that
|
|
their feet were partly <I>behind them.</I> Now this woman did not look
|
|
Christ in the face, but came <I>behind him,</I> and did the part of a
|
|
<I>maid-servant,</I> whose office it was to <I>wash the feet</I> of the
|
|
guests
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:41">1 Sam. xxv. 41</A>)
|
|
|
|
and to prepare the ointments.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now in what this good woman did, we may observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Her <I>deep humiliation</I> for sin. She stood behind him
|
|
<I>weeping;</I> her eyes had been the inlets and outlets of sin, and
|
|
now she makes them fountains of tears. Her face is now foul with
|
|
weeping, which perhaps used to be covered with paints. Her hair now
|
|
made a towel of, which before had been plaited and adorned. We have
|
|
reason to think that she had before sorrowed for sin; but, now that she
|
|
had an opportunity of coming into the presence of Christ, the wound
|
|
bled afresh and her sorrow was renewed. Note, It well becomes
|
|
penitents, upon all their approaches to Christ, to renew their godly
|
|
sorrow and shame for sin, <I>when he is pacified,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+16:63">Ezek. xvi. 63</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Her <I>strong affection</I> to the Lord Jesus. This was what our
|
|
Lord Jesus took special notice of, that she <I>loved much,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:42,47"><I>v.</I> 42, 47</A>.
|
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She <I>washed his feet,</I> in token of her ready submission to the
|
|
meanest office in which she might <I>do him honour.</I> Nay, she washed
|
|
them with <I>her tears,</I> tears of joy; she was in a transport, to
|
|
find herself so near her Saviour, whom her soul loved. She <I>kissed
|
|
his feet,</I> as one unworthy of the kisses of his mouth, which the
|
|
spouse coveted,
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+1:2">Cant. i. 2</A>.
|
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It was a kiss of adoration as well as affection. <I>She wiped them with
|
|
her hair,</I> as one entirely devoted to his honour. Her eyes shall
|
|
yield water to wash them, and her hair be a towel to wipe them; and she
|
|
<I>anointed</I> his feet <I>with the ointment,</I> owning him hereby to
|
|
be the Messiah, the <I>Anointed.</I> She anointed his feet in token of
|
|
her consent to God's design in anointing his head with the <I>oil of
|
|
gladness.</I> Note, All true penitents have a dear love to the Lord
|
|
Jesus.</P>
|
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<P>
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III. The offence which the Pharisee took at Christ, for admitting the
|
|
respect which this poor penitent paid him
|
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|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>):
|
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<I>He said within himself</I> (little thinking that Christ knew what he
|
|
thought), <I>This man, if he were a prophet,</I> would then have so
|
|
much <I>knowledge</I> as to perceive that <I>this woman is a
|
|
sinner,</I> is a Gentile, is a woman of ill fame, and so much
|
|
<I>sanctity</I> as <I>therefore</I> not to suffer her to come so near
|
|
him; for can one of such a character approach a prophet, and his heart
|
|
not rise at it? See how apt proud and narrow souls are to think that
|
|
others should be as haughty and censorious as themselves. Simon, if she
|
|
had touched him, would have said, <I>Stand by thyself, come not near
|
|
me, for I am holier than thou</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+65:5">Isa. lxv. 5</A>);
|
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|
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and he thought Christ should say so too.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
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IV. Christ's justification of the woman in what she did to him, and of
|
|
himself in admitting it. Christ knew what the Pharisee spoke <I>within
|
|
himself,</I> and made answer to it: <I>Simon, I have something to say
|
|
unto thee,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though he was kindly entertained at his table, yet even there he
|
|
reproved him for what he saw amiss in him, and would not <I>suffer sin
|
|
upon him.</I> Those whom Christ hath <I>something against</I> he hath
|
|
something to <I>say to,</I> for his <I>Spirit</I> shall <I>reprove.</I>
|
|
Simon is willing to give him the hearing: <I>He saith, Master, say
|
|
on.</I> Though he could not believe him to be a prophet (because he was
|
|
not so nice and precise as he was), yet he can compliment him with the
|
|
title of <I>Master,</I> among those that cry <I>Lord, Lord,</I> but
|
|
<I>do not the things which he saith.</I> Now Christ, in his answer to
|
|
the Pharisee, reasons thus:--It is true this woman has been a sinner:
|
|
he knows it; but she is a <I>pardoned</I> sinner, which supposes her to
|
|
be a <I>penitent</I> sinner. What she did to him was an expression of
|
|
her <I>great love</I> to her Saviour, by whom her sins were forgiven.
|
|
If she was pardoned, who had been <I>so great a sinner,</I> it might
|
|
reasonably be expected that she should love her Saviour more than
|
|
others, and should give greater proofs of it than others; and if this
|
|
was the fruit of her love, and flowing from a sense of the pardon of
|
|
her sin, it became him to accept of it, and it ill became the Pharisee
|
|
to be offended at it. Now Christ has a further intention in this. The
|
|
Pharisee doubted whether he was a <I>prophet</I> or no, nay, he did in
|
|
effect deny it; but Christ shows that he was more than a prophet, for
|
|
he is one that has <I>power on earth to forgive sins,</I> and to whom
|
|
are due the affections and thankful acknowledgments of penitent
|
|
pardoned sinners. Now, in his answer,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He by a parable forces Simon to acknowledge that the greater sinner
|
|
this woman had been the greater love she ought to show to Jesus Christ
|
|
when her <I>sins</I> were <I>pardoned,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:41-43"><I>v.</I> 41-43</A>.
|
|
|
|
A man had <I>two debtors</I> that were both insolvent, but one of them
|
|
owed him <I>ten times</I> more than the other. He very freely
|
|
<I>forgave them both,</I> and did not take the advantage of the law
|
|
against them, did not order them and their children to be sold, or
|
|
<I>deliver them to the tormentors.</I> Now they were both sensible of
|
|
the great kindness they had received; but <I>which of them will love
|
|
him most?</I> Certainly, saith the Pharisee, he to <I>whom he forgave
|
|
most;</I> and herein he rightly judged. Now we, being obliged to
|
|
<I>forgive,</I> as we are and hope to be <I>forgiven,</I> may hence
|
|
learn the duty between debtor and creditor.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The <I>debtor,</I> if he have <I>any thing to pay,</I> ought to
|
|
make satisfaction to his <I>creditor.</I> No man can reckon any thing
|
|
<I>his own</I> or have any comfortable enjoyment of it, but that which
|
|
is so when <I>all his debts are paid.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) If God in his providence have disabled the debtor to pay his debt,
|
|
the creditor ought not to be severe with him, nor to go to the utmost
|
|
rigour of the law with him, but <I>freely to forgive him. Summum jus
|
|
est summa injuria--The law stretched into rigour becomes unjust.</I> Let
|
|
the unmerciful creditor read that parable,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+18:23">Matt. xviii. 23</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c., and tremble; for <I>they</I> shall have judgment without mercy
|
|
that show no mercy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) The debtor that has found his creditors merciful ought to be very
|
|
grateful to them; and, if he cannot otherwise recompense them, ought to
|
|
love them. Some insolvent debtors, instead of being <I>grateful,</I>
|
|
are <I>spiteful,</I> to their creditors that lose by them, and cannot
|
|
give them a good word, only because they complain, whereas losers may
|
|
have leave to speak. But this parable speaks of God as the Creator (or
|
|
rather of the Lord Jesus himself, for he it is that forgives, and is
|
|
beloved by, the debtor) and sinners are the debtors: and so we may
|
|
learn here,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That <I>sin is a debt,</I> and <I>sinners are debtors</I> to God
|
|
Almighty. As creatures, we owe a debt, a debt of obedience to the
|
|
precept of the law, and, for non-payment of that, as sinners, we become
|
|
liable to the penalty. We have not paid our rent; nay, we have wasted
|
|
our Lord's goods, and so we become debtors. God has an action against
|
|
us for the injury we have done him, and the omission of our duty to
|
|
him.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That some are deeper in debt to God, by reason of sin, than others
|
|
are: <I>One owed five hundred pence and the other fifty.</I> The
|
|
Pharisee was the less debtor, yet he a debtor too, which was more than
|
|
he thought himself, but rather that God was his debtor,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+18:10,11">Luke xviii. 10, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
This woman, that had been a scandalous notorious sinner, was the
|
|
<I>greater debtor.</I> Some sinners are in themselves greater debtors
|
|
than others, and some sinners, by reason of divers aggravating
|
|
circumstances, greater debtors; as those that have sinned most openly
|
|
and scandalously, that have sinned against greater light and knowledge,
|
|
more convictions and warnings, and more mercies and means.
|
|
|
|
[3.] That, whether our debt be more or less, it is <I>more</I> than we
|
|
are able to pay: <I>They had nothing to pay,</I> nothing at all to make
|
|
a composition with; for the debt is great, and we have nothing at all
|
|
to pay it with. Silver and gold will not pay our debt, nor will
|
|
sacrifice and offering, no, not <I>thousands of rams.</I> No
|
|
righteousness of our own will pay it, no, not our repentance and
|
|
obedience for the future; for it is what we are already bound to, and
|
|
it is God that works it within us.
|
|
|
|
[4.] That the God of heaven is <I>ready</I> to forgive, <I>frankly</I>
|
|
to <I>forgive,</I> poor sinners, upon gospel terms, though their debt
|
|
be ever so great. If we repent, and believe in Christ, our iniquity
|
|
shall not be our ruin, it shall not be laid to our charge. God has
|
|
proclaimed his name gracious and merciful, and ready to forgive sin;
|
|
and, his Son having purchased pardon for penitent believers, his gospel
|
|
promises it to them, and his Spirit seals it and gives them the comfort
|
|
of it.
|
|
|
|
[5.] That those who have their sins <I>pardoned</I> are obliged to
|
|
<I>love him</I> that pardoned them; and the more is forgiven them, the
|
|
more they should love him. The <I>greater sinners</I> any have been
|
|
before their conversion, the <I>greater saints</I> they should be
|
|
after, the more they should study to do for God, and the more their
|
|
hearts should be enlarged in obedience. When a <I>persecuting Saul</I>
|
|
became a preaching Paul he <I>laboured more abundantly.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He applies this parable to the different temper and conduct of the
|
|
Pharisee and the sinner towards Christ. Though the Pharisee would not
|
|
allow Christ to be a prophet, Christ seems ready to allow him to be in
|
|
a justified state, and that he was one <I>forgiven,</I> though to him
|
|
<I>less was forgiven.</I> He did indeed show some love to Christ, in
|
|
inviting him to his house, but nothing to what this poor woman showed.
|
|
"Observe," saith Christ to him, "she is one that has much forgiven her,
|
|
and therefore, according to thine own judgment, it might be expected
|
|
that she should love much more than thou dost, and so it appears.
|
|
<I>Seest thou this woman?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:44"><I>v.</I> 44</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thou lookest upon her with contempt, but consider how much kinder a
|
|
friend she is to me than thou art; should I then accept thy kindness,
|
|
and refuse hers?"
|
|
|
|
(1.) "Thou didst not so much as order a basin of water to be brought,
|
|
to wash my feet in, when I came in, wearied and dirtied with my walk,
|
|
which would have been some refreshment to me; but she has done much
|
|
more: <I>she has washed my feet with tears,</I> tears of affection to
|
|
me, tears of affliction for sin, and has <I>wiped them with the hairs
|
|
of her head,</I> in token of her great love to me."
|
|
|
|
(2.) "Thou didst not so much as kiss my cheek" (which was a usual
|
|
expression of a hearty and affectionate welcome to a friend); "but
|
|
<I>this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:45"><I>v.</I> 45</A>),
|
|
|
|
thereby expressing both a humble and an affectionate love."
|
|
|
|
(3.) "Thou didst not provide me a little common oil, as usual, to
|
|
anoint my head with; but she has bestowed a box of precious
|
|
<I>ointment</I> upon <I>my feet</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:46"><I>v.</I> 46</A>),
|
|
|
|
so far has she outdone thee." The reason why some people blame the
|
|
pains and expense of zealous Christians, in religion, is because they
|
|
are not willing themselves to come up to it, but resolve to rest in a
|
|
<I>cheap</I> and <I>easy</I> religion.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He silenced the Pharisee's cavil: <I>I say unto thee,</I> Simon,
|
|
<I>her sins, which are many, are forgiven,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:47"><I>v.</I> 47</A>.
|
|
|
|
He owns that she had been guilty of <I>many sins:</I> "But they are
|
|
<I>forgiven</I> her, and therefore it is no way unbecoming in me to
|
|
accept her kindness. They <I>are forgiven, for she loved much.</I>" It
|
|
should be rendered, <I>therefore she loved much;</I> for it is plain,
|
|
by the tenour of Christ's discourse, that the loving much was not the
|
|
<I>cause,</I> but the <I>effect,</I> of her pardon, and of her
|
|
comfortable sense of it; for <I>we love God</I> because <I>he first
|
|
loved us;</I> he did not forgive us because we first loved him. "But
|
|
<I>to whom little is forgiven,</I> as is to thee, <I>the same loveth
|
|
little,</I> as thou dost." Hereby he intimates to the Pharisee that his
|
|
love to Christ was so little that he had reason to question whether he
|
|
loved him at all in sincerity; and, consequently, whether indeed his
|
|
sin, though comparatively <I>little,</I> were forgiven him. Instead of
|
|
grudging greater sinners the mercy they find with Christ, upon their
|
|
repentance, we should be stirred up by their example to examine
|
|
ourselves whether we be indeed forgiven, and do love Christ.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He silenced her fears, who probably was discouraged by the
|
|
Pharisee's conduct, and yet would not so far yield to the
|
|
discouragement as to fly off.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Christ said unto her, <I>Thy sins are forgiven,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:48"><I>v.</I> 48</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, The more we express our sorrow for sin, and our love to Christ,
|
|
the clearer evidence we have of the forgiveness of our sins; for it is
|
|
by the experience of a <I>work of grace</I> wrought <I>in us</I> that
|
|
we obtain the assurance of an <I>act of grace</I> wrought <I>for
|
|
us.</I> How well was she paid for her pains and cost, when she was
|
|
dismissed with this word from Christ, <I>Thy sins are forgiven!</I> and
|
|
what an effectual prevention would this be of her return to sin again!
|
|
|
|
(2.) Though there were those present who quarrelled with Christ, in
|
|
their own minds, for presuming to forgive sin, and to pronounce sinners
|
|
absolved
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:49"><I>v.</I> 49</A>),
|
|
|
|
as those had done
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+9:3">Matt. ix. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet he <I>stood to what he had said;</I> for as he had there proved
|
|
that he had <I>power to forgive sin,</I> by curing the man sick of the
|
|
palsy, and therefore would not here take notice of the cavil, so he
|
|
would now show that he had <I>pleasure in forgiving sin,</I> and it was
|
|
his delight; he loves to speak pardon and peace to penitents: <I>He
|
|
said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:50"><I>v.</I> 50</A>.
|
|
|
|
This would confirm and double her comfort in the forgiveness of her
|
|
sin, that she was <I>justified by her faith.</I> All these expressions
|
|
of sorrow for sin, and love to Christ, were the effects and products of
|
|
faith; and therefore, as faith of all graces doth most honour God, so
|
|
Christ doth of all graces put most honour upon faith. Note, They who
|
|
know that their faith hath saved them may go in peace, may go on their
|
|
way rejoicing.</P>
|
|
|
|
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