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ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 k And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: Matt. ix. 22. thy faith hath made thee whole.

Mark v. 34: x. 52. ch. vii. 50: viii. 48:

xviii. 42.

20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 211 neither shall they say, Lo here! or, [nn lo] there! for, 1 ver. 23. behold, the kingdom of God is om within you. 22 And he m John i. 26. said unto the disciples, "The days will come, when ye shall see Matt. ix. desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. 23 And they shall say to you, P See here; or, p see there: go not after them, nor follow them. 24 P For

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15.

o Matt. xxiv.

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23. Mark xill. Matt. xxiv.

21. ch. xxi. 8.

27.

an omit reading, Lo here or there! P it is the same word as that rendered lo in ver. 21.

I should be inclined to think, witnessed by the narrator. 18. this stranger] literally, this foreigner by birth. The Samaritans were Gentiles;-not a mixed race, as is sometimes erroneously sup posed. They had a mixed religion, but were themselves originally from other countries: see 2 Kings xvii. 24-41. There may have been a reason for the nine Jews not returning, that they held the ceremonial duty imposed on them to be paramount, which the Samaritan might not rate so highly. That he was going to Mount Gerizim does not appear: from his being found with Jews, he probably would act as a Jew. 19.] hath made thee whole-in a higher sense than the mere cleansing of his leprosy-theirs was merely the beholding of the brazen serpent with the outward eyes,-but his, with the eye of inward faith; and this faith saved him;not only healed his body, but his soul.

20-37.] PROPHETIC ANSWER TO THE PHARISEES. In this discourse we have several sayings which our Lord afterwards repeated in His last prophetic discourse to the four apostles on Mount Olivet; but much also which is peculiar to Luke, and most precious. 20.] The question certainly is asked by the Pharisees, as all their questions were asked, with no good end in view to entangle our Lord, or draw from Him some direct announcement which might be matter of accusation. with (accompanied with) anticipation, or observation. The cognate verb is used ch. xiv. 1 of the Pharisees watching' Jesus. 21.] Its coming shall be so gradual and unobserved, that none during its waxing onward shall be able to point here or there for a proof of its

:

coming,-for behold the kingdom of God is (already) among you. The misunderstanding which rendered these words 'within you' meaning this in a spiritual sense, in your hearts,' should have been prevented by reflecting that they are addressed to the Pharisees, in whose hearts it certainly was not. Nor could the expression in this connexion well bear this spiritual meaning potentially—i. e. is in its nature, within your hearts. The words are too express

The

and emphatic for this. The kingdom of God was begun among them, and continues thus making its way in the world, without observation of men; so that whenever men can say 'lo here! or, lo there!'-whenever great revivals' or 'triumphs of the faith' can be pointed to, they stand self-condemned as not belonging to that kingdom. Thus we see that every such marked event in the history of the Church is by God's own hand as it were blotted and marred, so as not to deceive us into thinking that the kingdom has come. So it was at the Pentecostal era:-so at that of Constantine; so at the Reformation. meaning among you,' includes of course the deeper and personal one within each of you,' but the two cannot be interchanged the one for the other. ing is taken up from the last verse.-' Ĥe is among you, who is the Bridegroom,-the Son of Man;'-during whose presence ye cannot mourn, but when He shall be taken from you, you shall wish in vain for one of these days of His presence. 23. And they shall say to you] Ye shall not see one of those days;-therefore do not run after false reports of My coming.' A warning to all so-called expositors, and followers of expositors, of prophecy, who cry "see

22.] This say

q Mark viii. 31: ix. 31:

x. 33. ch. ix.

22.

r Gen. vii.

Matt. xxiv.

37.

as the lightning, 4 that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. 25 9 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. 26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they t Gen. xix. 16, sold, they planted, they builded; 29 but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man " is revealed. 31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it

8 Gen. xix.

24.

u 2 Thess. i. 7. Matt. xxiv.

17. Mark xiii. 15.

away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. y Gen. xix. 26. 32 y Remember Lot's wife. 33 z Whosoever shall seek to

z Matt. x. 39:

xvi. 25. Mark viii. 35. ch. ix. 24. John xii. 25. a Matt. xxiv. 40, 41.

1 Thess. iv.

17.

save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose this

life shall preserve it. 34 a I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; [the] one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other

¶ our two oldest MSS. have, when it lighteneth. rrender, shall have sought.

read, it.

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s render, shall have lost.

a render, quicken.

remember her who did.

33.] See on Matt. x. 39, and ch. ix. 24. In connexion here, it leads the way to vv. 34, 35. whosoever shall have sought, i. e. 'during his preceding life,'-shall lose it then: whosoever shall have lost it, by self-sacrifice, during this life, shall quicken it then.

here" and "see there," every time that ple before,-let him not return backwar breaks out, or revolutions occur. See on these verses, 23, 24, Matt. xxiv. 23-27 and notes. 25-30.] The events which must precede the coming: and (1) ver. 25, as regards the Lord Himself,-His sufferings and rejection, primarily by this generation,-but in implication, by the world;-and (2) vv. 26– 30, which unfold this implication as regards the whole world, which shall be in its state of carelessness and sensuality at that time; see notes on Matt. xxiv. 37-39. The example of the days of Lot is added here,-and thereby the sanction of the Lord of Truth given to another part of the sacred record, on which modern scepticism has laid its unhallowed hands.

31.] refers immediately to the example of Sodom just related. In Matt. xxiv. 16-18, it finds its place by a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem, see there. 32.] A solemn caution is here added, binding the warning to the exam

shall quicken it] "The verb in the original is an expressive word, derived from animal parturition, bringing forth to air and life what was before concealed in the womb. That day shall come as the pains of labour on a woman in travail (Matt. xxiv. 8): but to the saints of God it shall be the birth of the soul and body to life and glory_everlasting." Wordsw.

34-36.] See on Matt. xxiv. 40, 41. Here, there are two references (1) to the servants of the Lord in the midst of the world out of which they shall be separated (2) to the separation of the faithful and unfaithful among themselves. 34.] indicates a closer relationship than

b

left. [ 36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.] 37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, w thither will the eagles be 28. gathered together.

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b Job xxxix. 30. Matt. xxiv.

36. Rom.

Eph. vi. 18. Col. iv. 2.

XVIII. 1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; a ch.xi.5: xxi. 2 saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 3 and there was a widow in 1 Thess. v.17. that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God,

:

▾ omitted in most of the ancient authorities. It was probably inserted here from Matt. xxiv. 40.

W render and read, there will also.

that of mere fellow-workmen, and sets forth the division of even families in that day. 37.] Where, Lord? i. e. where shall this happen? The disciples know not the universality of this which our Lord is announcing to them, and which His dark and awful saying proclaims; see note on it, Matt. xxiv. 28. Observe, there

is not a word, except so far as the greater Coming includes the lesser, in all this, of the destruction of Jerusalem. The future coming of the Lord is the only subject: and thus it is an entirely distinct discourse from that in Matt. xxiv., or in our ch. xxi. CHAP. XVIII. 1-8.] THE UNJUST JUDGE. This parable, though not perhaps spoken in immediate unbroken sequence after the last discourse, evidently arose out of it: - perhaps was the fruit of a conversation with the disciples about the day of His coming and the mind with which they must expect it. For observe, that in its direct application it is ecclesiastical; and not individual, but by a legitimate accommodation. The widow is the Church; the judge, her God and Father in heaven. The argument, as in the parable of the steward of injustice (so literally), so in this of the judge of injustice (so literally), is "à fortiori, from the stronger to the weaker:" If such be the power of earnest entreaty, that it can win right even from a man sunk in selfishness and fearing neither God nor men, how much more will the right be done by the just and holy God in answer to the continued prayers of his elect;' even though, when this very right is asserted in the world by the coming of the Son of Man,

I read, they.

He may hardly find among his people the power to believe it-though few of them will have shewn this unweariedness of entreaty which the poor widow shewed.

1. always] See 1 Thess. v. 17. The mind of prayer, rather than, though of course including, the outward act, is here intended. The earnest desire of the

heart, is prayer. to faint;-to languish,-to give up through the weight of overpowering evil. 2.] See Deut.

...

xvi. 18 and Matt. v. 21, 22. 3.] Avenge me of or perhaps, deliver me from-the justice of her cause being presupposed-this adversary being her oppressor on account of her defenceless situation, and she wanting a sentence from the judge to stop his practices.

4.] The point of this part of the parable is, the extortion of right from such a man by importunity. His act was not an act of justice, but of injustice; his very avenging was injustice, because he did it from self-regard and not from a sense of duty. He, like the steward above, was a man of injustice,-belonging to, being of, the iniquity which prevails in the world.

5.] The word rendered weary is a remarkable one. It properly signifies to smite in the face;-and proverbially (see reff.), to mortify or incessantly annoy. It is the same verb as that in 1 Cor. ix. 27 rendered "keep under." Meyer interprets it literally-Test at last she should become desperate, and come and strike me in the face.' It has been observed that the Apostles acted from this very motive when they besought the Lord to send away the Syrophoenician woman,

b ch. xi. 8.

c Rev. vi. 10.

d Heb. x. 37.

2 Pet. iii. 8,

9.

15.

me.

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nor regard man; 5b yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest y by her continual coming she weary 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7 And shall not God avenge his [a own] elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? 9d And he spake this parable unto

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e ch. x. 29: xvi. certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast

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b render and read, and he is long-suffering over them.

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d better, as in the original, And he spake also unto certain which trust in themselves that they are righteous and despise others, this parable.

'for she cried after them. Matt. xv. 23.

6. the unjust judge] literally (see above) the judge of injustice-i. e. who was of, belonged to, the unrighteousness which is in the world. 7.] The poor widow in this case (the forsaken Church, contending with her adversary the devil, 1 Pet. v. 8) has this additional claim, in which the right of her cause consists,that she is the Elect of God,-His Beloved.

day and night] This answers to the always in ver. 1, but is an amplification of it. and he is long-suffering over them] or, . . . . . . and He delays his vengeance in their case:-and He, in their case, is long-suffering, i. e. He is long-suffering to those who oppress them: which though it is merciful to the oppressors, yet may be taken in the light of a hardship to the oppressed. 8. Nevertheless....] This can hardly be, as Meyer interprets it, that the painful thought suddenly occurs to the Lord, how many there will be even at His coming who will not have received Him as the Messiah: for the faith, though it includes 'faith' generally, is yet here, strictly speaking, faith in reference to the object of the parable— faith which has endured in prayer without fainting. Or the meaning may be general: the faith in Him, who is the hearer and answerer of prayer.

e render, the rest of men.

The

9-14. THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. This parable is spoken not to the Pharisees, for our Lord would not in their presence have chosen a Pharisee as an example; nor concerning the Pharisees, for then it would have been no parable-but to the people, and with reference to some among them (then and always), certain, who trust in themselves that they are righteous, and despise other men. parable describes an every-day occurrence: the parabolic character is given by the concurrence and grouping of the two, and by the fact that each of these represents psychologically a class of persons. 10, 11.] The Pharisee stood (in the ordinary place) and prayed thus with himself: - such a prayer he would not dare to put up aloud. The Church has admirably fitted to this parable the declaration of thankfulness in 1 Cor. xv. 9, 10 (the two being the Epistle and Gospel for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity), also made by a Pharisee, and also on the ground

that he was not as other men :'-but how different in its whole spirit and effect! There, in the deepest humility, he ascribes it to the grace of God that he laboured more abundantly than they all ;yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 12. I fast twice in the week] This was a voluntary fast, on the

twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me 8 a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: f for every one that exalteth himself shall be Job xxii. 29. abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Matt. xxiii. 12. ch. xiv. 11. James iv. 6. 1 Pet.

15 And they brought unto him also infants, that he W., 6. i would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid

f render, acquire.

h better, the (or, their) infants.
k render, for perspicuity, the infants.

Mondays and Thursdays; the only prescribed fast in the year being the great day of atonement, see Levit. xvi. 29: Num. xxix. 7. So that he is boasting of his works of supererogation. I give tithes of all] Here again, the law perhaps (but compare Abraham's practice, Gen. xiv. 20; and Jacob's, Gen. xxviii. 22) only required tithe of the fruit of the field and the produce of the cattle: see on Matt. xxiii. 23.

Not all that I possess, which is an incorrect rendering: but of all that I acquire;-of all my increase; see Deut. xiv. 22. His speech shews admirably what his trusting in himself was. 13.] afar off -far from the Pharisee;-a contrast in spirit to the other's thanks that he was not as other men, is furnished by the poor Publican in his humility acknowledging this by an act. would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven-another contrast, for we must here suppose that the Pharisee prayed with all significance of gesture, with eyes and hands uplifted (see Matt. vi. 5). There is a slight but true difference also in the original, in the word rendered stood of the Pharisee'being put in position' (answering to being seated of the other usual posture) and standing of the publican, coming in merely and remaining, in no studied place or posture. smote upon his breast] See ch. xxiii. 48, "for sorrow of mind. Where the pain is, there is the hand." Bengel. The original is, to me the sinner. But probably the article is only generic, pointing him out as one of a class. It seems to me that any emphatic comparison here would somewhat detract from the solemnity and simplicity of the prayer. The definite article rather implies, not comparison

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gliterally, the sinner. i render, might.

1 render, the little children.

with others, but intense self-abasement : "sinner that I am." Nor are we to find any doctrinal meanings in the word be merciful (or, be propitiated). We know of one only way, in which the prayer could be accomplished: but the words here have no reference to that, nor could they have. 14.] The sense is, One returned home in the sight of God with his prayer answered, and that prayer had grasped the true object of prayer,—the forgiveness of sins (so that justified is in the usual sense of the Epistles of St. Paul, justified before God-see reff.), the other prayed not for it, and obtained it not. Therefore he who would seek justification before God must seek it by humility and not by self-righteousness. every one that exalteth himself has been illustrated in the demeanour of the Pharisee ;-shall be abased, in his failure to obtain justification from God:-he that humbleth himself, in that of the Publican;-shall be exalted, in his obtaining the answer to his prayer, which was this justification. Thus the particular instance is bound up with the general truth.

15-17.] LITTLE CHILDREN BROUGHT TO CHRIST. Here the narrative of St. Luke again falls in with those of St. Matthew and St. Mark, after a divergence of nearly nine chapters, see note on ch. ix. 51.-Matt. xix. 13-15: Mark x. 13-16. The narrative part of our text is distinct from the two; the words of our Lord are verbatim as Mark; see notes on Matthew. The place and time indicated here are the same as before, from ch. xvii. 11. 15.] also their infants; not the people came only, but also brought their children. Or, the article may be merely generic, as

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