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hour when ye think not. 41 Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or " even to all?

с

C

45: xxv. 21.

47 1.

42 And the Lord said, Who then is uu that faithful and wise c Matt. xxiv. steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his house-1 Cor. iv. 2. hold, to give them their portion of meat in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 44 d Of a truth I say unto you, that he dMatt. xxiv. will make him ruler over all that he hath. 45 But [and] if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 46 the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47 And that servant, which knew fNum xv. 30. his lord's will, and prepared not [ himself], neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.

u render, also.

not expressed in the original.

his Lord, but the steward when He appears. 41.] this parable; not, the two last verses, but the whole :- Who are they that are thus to wait and watch, and to be thus honoured at the Lord's coming?' This question coming in so suddenly and unconnectedly and remaining apparently unanswered, is among the many proofs of the originality and historic reality of this discourse. 42 ff.] Our Lord does not answer the question directly, but proceeds with His discourse, so as to furnish it with an answer ;-viz. that in its highest sense it applies to his Apostles and ministers, inasmuch as to them most has been given as the stewards-but that its application is gradationally downwards through all those who know their Master's will, even to the lowest, whose measure both of responsibility and of reward is more limited. For the comment on vv. 42-46 see on Matt. xxiv. 45-51. Notice that unbelievers here is "hypocrites" in Matthew.

47, 48.] Primarily, in reference to the question in ver. 41. Those which knew represent us, the disciples: those that knew not represent all, the multitude :but the application is not limited to this: the truth is one of universal extent. prepared not-we must not supply, "himself," as A. V., but matters, according to

For unto

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Deut. xxv. 2.

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22. Acts xvii. 30.

James iv. 17.
Lev. v. 17.

xv. 27 ff.
1 Tim. i. 13.

uu read, that faithful, that wise.

Womit : see note.

his will: “prepared,” almost in the absolute sense of making ready:'-it refers back to the "be ye ready" of ver. 40; this readiness being not only preparing himself, but the matters over which he has charge, ver. 35. There is reference to Deut. xxv. 2.

But he that knew not] The case is of one (a disciple in the first reference, but then generally of all men) who bonâ fide is ignorant of his Lord's will. That such persons shall be punished, is both the sentence of the law, see Levit. v. 17-19, and an inference from the truth set forth ver. 57, and Rom. i. 19, 20, 32; ii. 14, 15,-that the natural conscience would have prevented the not doing. (Observe that the two classes, not included here, are "he that knew and did,” and "he that knew not and did," as far as that can be said [see Rom. ii. 14] ;-the reference here being only to the did not in both cases, or rather to the "did not " in the first case and its equivalent "did things worthy of stripes" in the second.) But the difficulty seems to be to assign a spiritual meaning to the words, shall be beaten with few stripes. That such will be the case, would à priori be consonant to the justice of the Judge of all the earth: and we have it here declared, that it shall be so but how, is not revealed to us. It

h ver. 51.

Mark x. 38.

whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask [the] more.

i

49 h I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will iMatt.xx.. I, if it be already kindled? 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! 51k Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on

k Matt. x. 34. ver. 49.

I omit.

y render, came.

Z render, what will I? would that it were already kindled! See note.

is in vain for the sinner to encourage him-
self in sin from such a declaration as this:
for the very knowledge of the declaration
excludes him from the exemption.
ears have heard the voice divine; We
cannot be as they." (Christian Year.)

"Our

much is given.... shall be much required] The second much is not the much that has been given, but a proportionable amount of result of diligence, a much which he is to render. more] perhaps, more than from others: but more likely more than had been deposited with him, viz. that, and the interest of it;-see Matt. xxv. 15 ff. 49-53.] The connexion appears to be this-the immense and awful difference between the faithful and unfaithful servants brings our Lord to the ground of that difference, and its necessary development in the progress of His kingdom on earth.

49. fire] It is extraordinary that the official announcement of the Baptist (ch. iii. 16)-" He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire"-connected with the mention of a baptism here, -with the promise Acts í. 5, and the appearance Acts ii. 3, so strikingly expressed as "cloven (divided, the very same word in the original) tongues as of fire"-have not kept the Commentators in general (Bleek is an exception) from falling into the blunder of imagining here that the fire is synonymous with, and means no more than, the discord and division which follow. The fire is, the gift of the Holy Spirit,-the great crowning result of the sufferings and triumph of the Lord Jesus. To follow this out in all its references belongs to another place :-see notes on Mark ix. 49, and Acts ii. 3. This fire, in its purifying and separating effects on the mass of mankind, causes the division afterwards spoken of. The construc

tion of the latter words in this verse has been ever a matter of dispute, while the meaning is on all hands nearly agreed. The three prevalent explanations of it are: (1) That adopted in the margin, which is ap

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parently Origen's, And what will I? would that it were already kindled! This abrupt ejaculation might seem unlike the usual character of our Lord's discourses: but we have a similar question in John xii. 27, and under corresponding circumstances, of His soul being troubled. (2) And how I wish that it were already kindled! To this, which is adopted by Theophylact, and some distinguished moderns, the chief objection is, that the words of the original will not bear it see in my Greek Test. (3) That of Euthymius, Beza, and the A. V., What will I, if it be already kindled? i. e. What more do I await in the world, seeing that it is already kindled?" But this presents a great difficulty as regards the context; for, by ver. 50, it evidently was not kindled: and even if this were overcome, the expression, evidently a deep one of personal anxiety (and be it remembered who said it), would be vapid and unmeaning in the extreme. All things then being considered, I prefer the first explanation. 50.] The symbolic nature of Baptism is here to be borne in mind. Baptism is equivalent to Death. The figure in the Sacrament is the drowning, -the burial, in the water, of the old man and the resurrection of the new man: see 1 Pet. iii. 20-22, and notes. The Lord's Baptism was His death, in which the Body inherited from the first Adam was buried, and the new Body raised again: see Rom. vi. 1-11, but especially ver. 10. And He was straitened (the best possible rendering) till this was accomplished :i. e. in anxiety and trouble of spirit. The but here implies but first, i. e. before that fire can be shed abroad. Here we have then, as Stier expresses it, a "beginning of the passion of our Lord; the first utterance of that deep anguish, which afterwards broke forth so plentifully,but coupled at the same time with holy zeal for the great work to be accomplished.

:

51-53.] The work of this fire, as it burns onward in the world, will not be peace, but division; see Mal. iii. 2, 3,

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m

Micah vii. 6.

John vii. 43: ix. 16: x. 19.

Matt. X. 35.

earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 52 m for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided; a three against two, and two against three; 53 [the] father [shall be divided] against [the] son, and [the] son against [the] father; [the] mother against the daughter, and [the] daughter against the mother; [the] mother in law against her daughter in law, and [the daughter in law against her mother in law. 54 And he said also to the people, " When ye see da cloud rise out of a Matt. xvi. 2. the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and

so it is. 55 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. 56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye dd do not discern this time? 57 Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? 58e When thou goest with thine adversary to the magis- Matt. v. 25. trate, Pas thou art in the way, give diligence that thou Pee Ps. xxxii. mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the

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54-59.] REPROACHES FOR BLINDNESS The connexion of this with the foregoing is natural and close. From henceforth (ver. 52), the distinction shall begin to be made;-the discord and division between those who discern this time (ver. 56) and those who do not. Our Lord then turns to the crowd (also. He not only said to the disciples the foregoing, but also to the crowd the following), and reproaches them (1) for their blindness, in not being able to discern it, as they did the signs in the natural heavens; and (2) for their want of prudence (vv. 57-59), in not repenting and becoming reconciled to the law of God while yet there was time. 54.] There is a somewhat similar saying of our Lord at Matt. xvi. 2 ff., but differing both in its occasion and its substance. the cloud,

TO THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

-that usually rises there; see 1 Kings
xviii. 44. The west, in Judæa, would be
the direction of the sea.
56.] the
face of the earth-perhaps referring to
other signs of rain or heat from the ap-
pearance of the hills, &c.

this

d

bomit.

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6. Isa. lv. 6.

some ancient authorities read, the. The ancient MSS. are divided.

time] The signs of this time were very plain;-the sceptre had departed from Judah;-the general expectation of the coming of the Messiah is testified even by profane authors ;-the prophets had all spoken of Him, and the greatest of them, the Baptist, had announced His arrival.

57.] In what follows, our Lord takes occasion from the request about the inheritance, which had begun this discourse, to pass to infinitely more solemn matters. There is, I think, no denying that the "judging what is right" and the "thine adversary" have a reference to that request, in the ability and duty of every man to judge what is right:'-but the sense of the words far outruns that reference, and treats of loftier things. Why do ye not discern of yourselves your true state that which is just the justice of your case as before God? You are going (the course of your life is the journey) with your adversary (the just and holy law of God) before the magistrate (God Himself); therefore by the way take pains to be delivered from Him (by repentance, and faith in the Son of God, see Ps. ii. 12), lest he drag thee to the judge (who adjudges the case and inflicts the fine; that is, the Son to whom all judgment is committed), and the judge deliver thee to the

judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. 59 I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.

XIII. 1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilæans, whose blood Pilate [g had] mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And 88 Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilæans were sinners above all the Galilæans, because they h suffered hh such things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all i likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were j sinners above all jj men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all i likewise Matt. xxi. 19. perish. 6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had

a Isa. v. 2.

h

a

hh

or, these.

f render, There came some at that season, telling him. 88 read, He. render, have suffered. j literally, debtors. jj read, the men.

gomit.

i render, perish in like manner.

exactor (see Matt. xiii. 41), and the exactor cast thee into prison' (ditto, ver. 42). 59.] See on Matt. v. 25, and, on the word mite, Mark xii. 42.

CHAP. XIII. 1-9.] ANSWER TO INTELLIGENCE OF THE MURDERED GALILEANS, AND PARABLE THEREUPON.. Peculiar to Luke. 1.] The words at that season may mean at that very time-viz. as He finished the foregoing discourse: but it is not necessary to interpret thus ;-for, Matt. xii. 1; xiv. 1, the similar expression is certainly indefinite. The opening

the

words do not mean, as A. V., that these
persons were in the crowd, and remarked
to the Lord concerning these Galilæans,
in consequence of what He had said ch. xii.
57:-such a finding of connexion is too
fine-drawn. It is obvious that no con-
nexion is intended between this incident
and the foregoing discourse.
Galilæans] The historical fact is other-
wise unknown. The way of speaking here
shews that it was well known to the writer.
It must have occurred at some feast in
Jerusalem, on which occasions riots often
took place, and in the outer court of the
temple. Such slaughters were frequent,
and would not be particularly recorded by
the historians. This mingling of their blood
with their sacrifices seems to have been
thought by the narrators evidence that
they were very depraved sinners: for this
was their argument, and is unconsciously
that of many at this day,-'the worse
the affliction, the more deserved :' see
Gen. xlii. 21: Acts xxviii. 4. 2.] Our

Lord perceives this to be their reasoning

-they did not express it, as is plain by the suppose ye. ... He does not deny that all the Galilæans were sinners, and deserved God's judgments, but that these were pre-eminently so. 3. in like manner]

The force of this is lost in the A. V., likewise.' It is strictly in like manner, as indeed the Jewish people did perish by the sword of the Romans. 4, 5.] Our Lord introduces this incident as shewing that whether the hand of man or (so-called) accidents, lead to inflictions of this kind, it is in fact but one Hand which doeth it all— Amos iii. 6. There is also a transference from the Galilæans- a despised people-to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, on whom the fulness of God's wrath was to be poured out in case of impenitence. Of the incident itself, or of the tower in Siloam (the word here meaning probably the district in which the fountain, John ix. 7, was situated, though on the whole matter, and the situation of the fountain itself, there is considerable uncertainty), we know nothing. See also Neh. iii. 15. debtors, i. e. sinners,see Matt. vi. 12;-perhaps the same thought may be traced as pervading the saying, as in vv. 58, 59, of the last chapter. No such idea as that the tower was a prison for debtors is for a moment to be thought of.

See on in like manner above ;-here, the similarity will be-in the ruin of your whole city. This does not render it necessary that these words should have been spoken to actual dwellers in Jerusalem : for nearly the whole nation was assembled there at the time of the siege.

6-9.] This Parable has perhaps been in

a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7 Then said he unto the dresser of the vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him, 1 Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 and if it m bear fruit, [a well] : 。 and if not, [P then after that] thou shalt cut it down. krender, why moreover.

1

m read, bear fruit hereafter. • read, but.

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terpreted with hardly enough reference to its own peculiar context, or to the symbolic language of Scripture in other places. Ordinarily the owner of the vineyard is explained to be the Eternal Father: the dresser and intercessor, the Son of God: the fig-tree, the whole Jewish people: the vineyard, the world. But it may be objected to this, that the owner comes to seek the fruit, which can be properly said only of Him who " came unto His own"-who is even in Matthew "the heir"- and by implication there, the possessor of the vineyard "when he shall come (for that destruction He universally represents as His coming). The other objections will come out in the direct exposition of the Parable, which I take to be this:-The link which binds it to the foregoing is Except ye repent...; and it is addressed rather to individuals than to the whole nation-though of course to the whole nation as made up of individuals. The vineyard is not the world, which would be wholly inconsistent with Scripture symbolism (for Matt. xiii. 24 the comparison is to "the kingdom of heaven "—the Gospel dispensation, in which the fieldnot the vineyard-is the whole world); but, as in Isa. v. 7, the house of Israel and the men of Judah (see notes on Matt. xxi. 33 ff.). The fig-tree planted in the vineyard among the vines-(a usual thing) denotes an individual application, fixing each man's thought upon one tree-and that one, himself; just as the guest without the wedding-garment in Matt. xxii. He who had the tree planted in His vineyard (All things that the Father hath, are Mine'-John xvi. 15), came seeking fruit, and found it not: see Matt. xxi. 19 and note. (The vine-dresser, see below.) He commands it to be cut down, as encumbering the soil (exhausting it, rendering it inactive); three years has He been coming and seeking fruit in this tree, and he findeth none. Then, at the intercession of the vine-dresser, He consents

1 better, perhaps, Sir.

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at the matter of fact. Who were the vinedressers of God's vineyard? They were many. Moses, the Prophets, the Baptist, the Lord Himself, the Apostles and Teachers after Him. But what one Personality might be set forth as pervading all these, 'striving with man' in them all—as being the vine-dresser? Clearly it seems to me, the Holy Spirit of God. In the passage just alluded to, Gen. vi. 3, we can hardly but recognize the main features of our present parable; especially when the days of Noah are compared by the Lord Himself to His own coming to vengeance. The intercessory office of the Spirit (" the Advocate," see on John xiv. 16), pleading with man and for man, and resigning that blessed conflict when met with inveterate obduracy, is often set before us in Scripture. See the whole history of Saul; Zech. vii. 12-14: Prov. i. 23-32: Isa. lxiii. 10: Neh. ix. 20: Rom. viii. 26, 27. 7. three years] I have little doubt that an allusion is intended to the three years of our Lord's ministry. The objection to this, that the cutting down ought then to have taken place at the end of this year, does not apply; for all is left indefinite in the request and the implied answer. In the individual application, many thousands did bear fruit this very year; and of those who did not, who shall say when the Spirit ceased pleading with them, and the final sentence went forth? why moreover

cumbereth it the ground?] i. e. Why, besides bearing no fruit, is it impoverishing the soil-rendering the neighbouring ground useless? 8. i. e. till I dig holes about the root, and cast in manure, as is done to orange-trees in the south of Italy, and to hops in England. 9.1 After fruit there is a breaking off, and well is to be supplied: but not without

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