p Mark xii. 18. 54 laying wait for him [°, and seeking] to P catch something out of his mouth [0, that they might accuse him]. Mark viii. 15. e Matt. x. 26, Mark iv. 22. ch. viii. 17. d Isa. li. 7. 8, 12, 13. Jer. x. 28. e John xv. 14, b e a Matt. xvi. 6. XII. In the mean time, when there were gathered together P an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto b Matt. xvi. 12. his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 c For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. 3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in a closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. 4d And I say unto you my friends, Matt. Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that 5 But I will forewarn have no more that they can do. you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? and not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not [* therefore] ye are of more value than many sparrows. 8fs Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me Jom before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: 9 but he that denieth me before men 8 Matt. xii. 81, shall be denied before the angels of God. 10 And who28. 1 John soever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall 15. f Matt. x. 32. Mark viii. 88. 1 John ii. 23. 82. Mark iii. v. 16. • omitted by some of the most ancient authorities. P literally, the ten thousands of the multitude. 4 render, the closets. romitted by some ancient authorities. trender, hath denied. spirit of the discourse which He has just completed, and cautions His disciples against that part of the character of the Pharisees which was most dangerous to them. The connexion of these twelve verses may be thus enunciated :-Beware of hypocrisy (ver. 1), for all shall be made evident in the end (ver. 2), and ye are witnesses and sharers in this unfolding of the truth (ver. 3). In this your work, ye need not fear men; for your Father has you in His keeping (vv. 4-7)—and the confession of my name is a glorious thing (ver. 8), but the rejection of it (ver. 9), and especially the ascription of my works to the evil one (ver. 10), a fearful one. And in this confession ye shall be helped by the Holy Spirit in the hour of need (vv. 11, 12). 4.] my friends: see John xv. Mark xiii. 11. ch. xxi. 14. be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. 11 And when Matt: 10: they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: 12 for the Holy Ghost shall teach you ▾ in the same hour what ye ought to say. k &c. 13 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14 And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or i Exod. ii. 14. a divider over you? 15 And he said unto them, Take 1 Tim. vi. 7, heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life conX sisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 and he y thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he ■ render, hath blasphemed. W read, all covetousness. V render, at the time itself. render, for not, because a man hath abundance, doth his life consist in the things which he possesseth. y render, questioned. 13-15. 10.] See on Matt. xii. 31. 11, 12.] See on Matt. x. 19, 20. 13-21.] ANSWER TO ONE WHO SOUGHT Pe13.] The man was evidently not a disciple, nor preparing to be one, but some hearer in the crowd, whose mind had been working in him during our Lord's last sayings about the care of Providence for His friends, and he thought this was just the care his circumstances wanted; being, as appears, oppressed by his brother in the matter of his patrimony. Possibly too he had an idea that the Messias, or the great Rabbi to whom he was listening, was come to set all things right;-and with that feeling which we all have of the surpassing injustice of our own wrongs, broke out with this inopportune request. 14.] Man. a word of solemn reproof; see Rom. ii. 1; ix. 20. The man also forms a definite subject for you to refer to,... men,' i. c. mankind in general. This question is expressed in almost the very words of the Egyptian rejecting the arbitration of Moses, Exod. ii. 14;-and may shew us the essential difference of the two offices of Moses and Christ. 15.] them, i. e. the multitude. He saw into the covetousness of the man's disposition, and made it an instructive warning for His hearers. A DIVISION OF HIS INHERITANCE. culiar to Luke. not, all covetousness] There is a meaning in all-every kind of covetousness. This kind, of which they had an example before them, was by no means one of the worst ; but all kinds must be avoided. because a man hath abundance, doth his life (therefore) consist in the things which he possesseth. That is, no man's life consists in what he possesses; (“man shall not live by bread alone"). nor by his having abundance, can this be made to be the case. Man's life is of God, not of his goods, however abundant they may be. And this is the lesson conveyed by the following parable, and lying at the foundation of the still higher lesson conveyed in ver. 21. The word life is used in the pregnant sense, emphatically his life; including time and eternity. This is selfevident from the parable and its application. 16.] Our Lord in this parable sets before us one arrived at the very height of worldly prosperity, and that by no unfair means; but, as Augustine says, "not by removing landmarks, not by robbing the poor, not by overreaching the simple." It was by God's blessing that he became thus rich, which might have been a real blessing, if he had known how to use it. 17.] "The character of a mind at ease without being at rest is admirably expressed," Bengel. I 1 Cor. xv. 32. James v. 5. z 1 said, This will I do : I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my 1 Eccles. xl. 9, goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast a much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou m Job xx. 32. fool, this night mb thy soul shall be required of thee: then Janies whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? Jer. xvii 11 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, xxvii. 8. Ps. iv. 14. n Ps. xxxix. 6. o Matt. vi. 20. ver. 33. 1 Tim. vi. 18, rich toward God. 19. James ii. 5. p Matt. vi. 25. and is not 22 And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, pd Take no thought for your life, z render, my produce and my good things. d render, they require thy soul of thee. render, Take not anxious thought. ee read, For the. 8 render, the raiment. have no room where to bestow my fruits] "Thou hast barns-the bosoms of the poor, the houses of widows, the mouths of infants. these are the barns which will last for ever." Ambrose. 18.] "His folly is fourfold:- he forgets the Giver, (my fruits, my goods,')—he greedily reserves all for himself,-he imagines such things to be food for his soul-he forgets death, which is every day possible." Stier. A very striking similarity is found in Ecclesiasticus xi. 18, 19, "There is that waxeth rich by his wariness and pinching, and this is the portion of his reward: whereas he saith, I have found rest, and now will eat continually of my goods: and yet he knoweth not what time shall come upon him, and that he must leave these things to others, and die." Stier thinks this a convincing proof that our Lord did occasionally refer to the Apocrypha. 20.] God said unto him,-perhaps it is meant, by some unmistakeable judgment; but more likely, as occurring in a parable, the words are to be literally taken. By supposing merely a divine decree to be meant, without personal communication, as Grotius, Kuinoel, and Trench do, we lose the impressive part of the parable, where the man's selfishness and folly is brought into immediate contact with the solemn truth of his approaching death, which certainly our Lord intends us to contemplate. Thou fool, opposed to his worldly prudence; - this night, to the the ravens for they c render, and. e render, your. f render, the meat. h better, the ravens, that they. many years; the soul in the one case, at its ease, eating, drinking, and making merry, to the soul in the other, demanded, rendered up, judged. they require thy soul] Not strictly equivalent to "Thy soul shall be required," as A.V.; there are those whose business it is, even the angels, the ministers of the divine purposes: see ch. vi. 38 and note. The merely impersonal sense may be defended: but this saying seems so solemn, as to require something more. which thou hast provided; or, madest ready; but not for thyself. 21.] So: so, in utter confusion, and sudden destitution of all help and provision for eternity. for himself.... toward God...] The meaning of these expressions will be brought out thus: He who is rich for himself, laying up treasure for himself, is by so much robbing his real inward life, his life in and toward God, of its resources: he is laying up store for, providing for, the flesh; but the spirit, that which God looketh into and searcheth, is stripped of all its riches. These words may also, as remarked on ch. vi. 20, shew that St. Luke does not, as supposed by some recent critics, use 'riches' as merely this world's wealth, but with a deeper spiritual meaning. 22-31.] LESSONS OF TRUST IN GOD. In the closest connexion with the preceding;-Therefore . since worldly riches are of so little real use, &c.: see Matt. vi. 25-33, and notes. 24.] the ravens, 41. l's. neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye q Job xxxviii. better than the fowls? 25 And which of you with taking exlvii. 9. thought can add to his i stature one cubit? 1 26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye i thought for the rest? 27 Consider the lilies how [they grow:] kk they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? 29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. 30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. 31 But n m 20. Matt. xi. 25, tMatt. xix. 21. Acts ii. 45: [ rather] seek ye the kingdom of God; and [Pall] these r Matt. vi. 28. things shall be added unto you. 32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; "provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 35 x Let your loins bex Eph. vi. 14. i render, age. kk u Matt. vi. 20. ch. xvi. 9. 1 Tim. vi. 19. 1 Pet. i. 13. j render, anxious thought. inserted from Matt. vi. 28. komitted by some ancient authorities: probably : m render, in suspense. read, his kingdom. I render, purses, as in ch. x. 4: xxii. 35, 36. who are elsewhere spoken of in Scripture as the objects of the divine care: see Job xxxviii. 41, Ps. cxlvii. 9. 26.] that thing which is least: this shews the truth of the interpretation age (not "stature") given in the note on Matthew. A cubit would not be the least of things to add to the stature, but a very large increase whereas, as Trench observes, "a cubit would be infinitesimally small when compared to his length of life, that life being contemplated as a course, or race, which he may attempt, but ineffectually, to prolong." 32-34.] Our Lord gives to his own disciples an assurance of the Father's favour as a ground for removing all fear from them, and shews them the true riches, and how to seek them. 32. little flock] Thus He sets himself forth as their Shepherd (John x. 1 ff.), and them (as in Isa. xli. 10—14) as a weak and despised people. 33.] Meyer endeavours to evade the force of this, by supposing it addressed only to the Apostles and then existing disciples. But it is said to the little flock, who are all the elect people of God. Sell that ye have, &c.] This is the true way of investing worldly wealth-He that giveth to the poor, lendeth to the Lord.' See on Matt. vi. 19-21. 35-48.] EXHORTATIONS TO WATCHFULNESS. The attitude and employment of the little flock is carried on, even to their duty of continual readiness for their Lord's coming. These verses are connected with ver. 32-'since your Father hath seen fit to give you the kingdom, be that kingdom, and preparation for it, your chief care.' There are continual points of &c. z Matt. xxiv. 40. y y Matt. xxv. 1, girded about, and your lights burning; 36 and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. 37 z Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. 38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39 a And this 10. Rev. know, that if the t goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and MXIV. 13. not have suffered his house to be broken through. 40b Be a Matt. xxiv. 43. 1 Thess. v. 2. 2 Pet. iii. 8: xvi. 15. b Matt. xxiv. Mark xiii. ch. xxi. 34, 36. 1 Thess. v. 6. ye [tt therefore] ready also for the Son of man cometh at an 2 Pet. iii. 12. : some of the most ancient authorities read, they. tt omit. similarity, in this part of the discourse, to 4. come forth] more probably is the allusion to His coming in turn to each. Compare the washing of the disciples' feet in John xiii. 1 ff., which was a foreshewing of this last great act of self-abasing love. 38.] Olshausen ob. |