Matthew 18

M. 1 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the Mk.33 kingdom of heaven? And being in the house, he asked them, What was it that ye 34 disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, which of them should be greatest. 35 And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and ser- vant of all: M. 2 And he called a little child unto him, and took and set him in the midst of them, and 3 said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye 4 shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And when he had 5 taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me; for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. Mk. 38 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and he followeth not us; and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us. 39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my 40 name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us, is on our part. 41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink, in my name, because ye belong 42 to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. But whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a mill- stone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into and drowned in the depth of M. 7 the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences Mk.43 come: but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! Wherefore if thy hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, to be cast into the fire that never shall

44, 45 be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into everlasting fire: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God, into life, with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell-fire: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

To know Christ is not to have seen him in the flesh; to follow Christ is not to follow his person. To know and to follow him is to recognize him as God manifest in the flesh, to rest upon his promises, to breathe his spirit. Did these men, whom Jesus had chosen, not for what they were in themselves, but in order more fully to illustrate in them his power, really follow Jesus Christ? Did they follow him, when they disputed among themselves who should occupy the first places in heaven? Did they follow him, when they besought him to bring down fire from heaven, to destroy an unbelieving city? Did they follow him, when they asked from him indemnities and pledges for a sacrifice scarcely commenced? How many times, in the midst of that company of apostles, was the Son of God alone! The sole confidant of his own high designs, the sole auditor of his own divine thoughts, how often did he seek around him in vain for a single soul that comprehended him, a single heart that loved him as he wished to be loved!

What, then, did these disciples claim when they said, “This man followeth not with us?” What difference did that establish in their favor; and how could they know that this unknown person did not follow Jesus better than they did themselves? How does intolerance here, as in all other cases, show itself the close companion of weakness, and tolerance the associate of greatness! Jesus is the most tolerant of beings, because he is the most holy. Everything which affects his person as a man disturbs him not, wounds him not. What is it to him that this man does not follow him with the twelve? He casts out demons, and casts them out in the name of the Son of God. It is enough; this man is for him. A. V.

M. 1. The kingdom of heaven. As to the nature of this kingdom, even to his closest followers, his language was most perplexing and contradictory. An unworldly kingdom, a moral dominion, a purely religious community, held together only by the bond of common faith, was so unlike the former intimate union of civil and religious polity, so opposite to the first principles of their theocracy, as to be utterly unintelligible. The real nature and design of the new religion seemed altogether beyond their comprehension. And it is not remarkable to trace it as it slowly dawned on the minds of the apostles themselves, and gradually, after the death of Jesus, extended its horizon till it comprehended all mankind within its expanding view. H. M.

Mk. 34. Which should be greatest. They had as yet no other notion of the kingdom that was shortly to appear than that it would be a temporal one; that their Master was to become a powerful prince, with places, honors, wealth, at his command. And what more natural than that they whom he had chosen to be confidential attendants in the days of his humiliation should be then signally exalted and rewarded? H.—Christ takes off his disciples from the consideration of his power, to fix their minds upon that of his humiliations; and they leave this profitable subject to think of their own greatness, and how to raise themselves above others. Q.—They seemed to realize that some strange and memorable issue of Christ’s life, accompanied by some great development of the Messianic kingdom, was at hand; and this unhappily produced the only effect in them which it should not have produced. Instead of stimulating their self-denial, it awoke their ambition; instead of confirming their love and humility, it stirred them up to jealousy and pride. F.

In his answer, Jesus gives us to understand that questions of this sort ought not to be moved at all. That the indispensable condition of entrance into the kingdom of heaven is in every case a childlike simplicity. To such an extent, indeed, does this hold good, that all ideas and questions of degree, of the great and the little, the more and the less, the wiser and the simpler, are excluded among the children of God. C. B.—His lowly meekness had led him to despise all worldly honor, and it was now bearing him, with a kingly grandeur, to the abasement of the cross, that he might open to his nation, and to mankind, the way to peace with their Father in heaven, and found a kingdom of holiness, truth, and love; to ennoble and bless the present, and expand into eternal felicity in the world to come. It was vital, therefore, for his disciples, then, as now, that they should have the same heavenly temper. Without it, they could neither be efficient instruments in spreading his kingdom, nor have any share in it themselves, for it was itself the kingdom—the reign of God in the soul. G.

35. This first outbreak of selfishness and strife, among his chosen companions, was a great occasion in the sight of Jesus. It might and it did spring to a large extent from ignorance, and, with the removal of that ignorance, might be subdued; but it might and it did spring from sources which, after fullest knowledge had been conveyed of what the kingdom was and wherein its distinctions lay, might still have power to flood the Church with a host of evils. Therefore it was that Jesus would signalize this occasion by words and an act of particular impressiveness.

If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last. If any man, actuated by selfish, ambitious motives, seek to be first in my kingdom, he shall be last. But if any man would be first within that kingdom, first in usefulness, first in honor there, let him be last, willing to be the servant of others, prepared to take any place, make any sacrifice, render any service, provided only that others’ welfare be thereby advanced. In humbling himself so, that man shall be exalted. H.—

M. 2. He did not directly reprove them further; but in a few words, made impressive by a vivid illustration, he set before them the worthlessness of their contention, and its utter antagonism to the spirit which must rule in the kingdom of God. Taking a little child, he placed him in their midst, and said, “Let this child, in its unassuming ingenuousness, be your model; he among you that is most childlike and unassuming, that thinks least of himself and his own worth, he shall be greatest (shall be of most importance to the kingdom of God).” N.

3. Become as little children.** Unless ye become as unambitious and unaspiring, as meek, as humble and contented, as little concerned about worldly honors and distinctions, as the child before you, ye cannot “enter into the kingdom of heaven,” ye can never be considered as true objects of Christ’s kingdom here, or be capable of inheriting the rewards of heaven hereafter. P.

4. It shall not be the wisest, the wealthiest, the most powerful, but whosoever shall most humble himself, and in humility be likest to this little child, the same shall be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. H.—The principle thus announced by Christ struck at the root of the contention among the disciples. Their false emulation could have no place, if their actions, whether great or small, were alike in value, if alike done in the name of Christ; and to magnify themselves, or their claims, would have been absurd in view of such a rule of action. N.

5. Receive such little child in my name.** How can parents be said to receive children in the name of Christ? Plainly enough, it is not by lavishing upon them a sentimental admiration, or an indulgent fondness; not by rejoicing over them with a selfish sort of pride, as the heirs of our property or the upholders of our worldly reputation; not by carelessness of their spiritual training and neglect of their souls. I know of hardly any gloomier sight in the world than one of these homes ruled by this world’s temper, where this unsanctified pride in children’s beauty or attainments, however strong or kind, is nothing under the sun but an extension of poor self-love—the celestial quality, the divine element, of parental affection perished from it; homes where the spiritual law and life in Christ find no grateful recognition, exercise no binding control; homes where everything else is done for children except that one thing without which all else is worthless, receiving them in the name of Christ; where parents gaze into the child’s face only to see a reflection of their own personal satisfaction, and cling to the frail body all the more tenaciously and desperately because there is no tranquil looking forward beyond the bodily separation.

The spiritual obligation involved in receiving children in the name of Christ requires that we esteem them, even in childhood, as sharers with ourselves in a divine covenant. By regarding them as the lawful inheritors of Christ’s spiritual promises—as the intended members of his Church, and imitators of his life, and partakers of his redemption—as the appointed subjects of baptism, of prayer, and of inward renewal, as being born, each one, to yield the world a Christian character, and thus as being profanely and terribly wronged whenever an irreligious indifference cheats them of this immortal portion—this, Christ would teach us, is to receive children in his name. This is to take them for what they are; solemnly to take them into our hands, as out of the hand of God, and while clasping them to our breasts with natural human love, to look reverently up to their higher Father, and lift consecrating petitions that they may be saved in the life everlasting. And now, to this day, whatever Christian parent, out of a living and supreme faith in Christ, recognizes the sanctity of a child’s life, and diligently trains him up to be a disciple, receives that child in the name of Christ, and gives the surest evidence that he has received Christ himself. He helps to fulfil the final and inspiring prediction with which the prophet of the old dispensation ushered in and described the new—that the hearts of the fathers should be turned to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. F. D. H.

Mk. 38. The expression “in my name” seems to have suggested to John a sudden question, which broke the thread of Christ’s discourse. They had seen, he said, a man who was casting out devils in Christ’s name; but since the man was not one of them, they had forbidden him. Had they done right? F.—There is here an intimate connection with what our Saviour had just spoken. It is as if John had said: Was it then right for us to forbid one to cast out devils in thy name, when the receiving of even a little child in thy name is the same as receiving thee? J. J. O.

39,40. “No,” Jesus answered; “let the prohibition be removed. He who could do works of mercy in Christ’s name could not lightly speak evil of that name. He who was not against them was with them.” F.—Put no check on efforts for Christ, however ill-judged, however self-willed, however imperfect as to grasp of doctrine or entire allegiance to him as others judge it. He who knows the heart, let him be judge of the heart’s intents. Aim not at, expect not, conformity. All think not alike, feel not alike, act not alike. Christ came for all, is wide enough for all, is deep enough for all: let all come to him—let all work for him. A.—Jesus here taught the disciples (and the lesson was a most weighty one for their coming labors) that they were not to require a perfect faith and an immediate attachment to their communion from men at once; that they were to recognize preparatory and intermediate stages; to drive back no one whose face was turned in the right direction; to hinder none who might wish to confess or glorify Christ among men in any way; in a word, to oppose no one who sought the same end, and thus advanced the object of their ministry, even though out of their own communion, and not seeking to glorify Christ precisely in the same sense and by the same methods as themselves. N.

In his answer, what a lesson there is to contending, narrow-minded religionists, who can see nothing good beyond their own circle! “We must not narrow,” as if he had said, “the cause of God to our own party, but rejoice in goodness wherever it appears. If we are right, it is all coming our way.” What an admonition to those who would impose their own way of work upon every other! Ker.—We know how thoroughly that spirit of fanaticism was at last subdued in the heart of the meekest and most loving of the twelve, and how he moved afterward among his fellow-men with step of Christ-like gentleness, and became the “guardian spirit of the little ones of the kingdom.” H.

42. And then, gently resuming his discourse—the child yet nestling in his arms, and furnishing the text for his remarks—he warned them of the awful guilt and peril of offending, of tempting, of misleading, of seducing from the paths of innocence and righteousness, of teaching any wicked thing, or suggesting any wicked thought to one of those little ones. F.—To “offend,” in the Scriptural use of the word, is to cause any one to fall from the faith, or to renounce his belief in Christ; and against every one who makes use of violence or artifice to terrify or seduce the sincere, humble, and unsuspicuous believer in Christ from his faith and obedience to his divine Master, the severest woes and the heaviest punishments are here denounced. P.

43-47. Their punishment is represented by two metaphors, drawn from the different ways of burying the dead, in use among the Jews. Bodies of men interred in the earth are eaten up of worms which die when their food falleth; and those that are burned, are consumed in fire which extinguishes itself, when there is no more fuel to feed it. But it shall not be so with the wicked; their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched. M.—This worm is that worm of conscience, which preys upon and stings the soul with bitter reflections, of what it might have been and of what it is, of the happiness it hath lost and the misery it hath incurred. Those corroding passions, envy, hatred, shame, rage, and despair, all shall feed and exasperate that worm which dieth not, but eats with such inward and excessive anguish, as can be expressed only by perpetual weeping and gnashing of teeth. Besides the never-dying worm, there is the unquenchable fire. Bisse.—Hell . . . hell . . . hell-fire. Thrice repeated, how awful this, of itself, tremendous word sounds from the lips of LOVE INCARNATE! But when to this he adds, thrice over in the same terms, “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched”—words enough to make both the ears of every one that heareth them to tingle—one carinot but loathe the sentimentalism which condemns all such language in the mouths of his servants, as inconsistent with what they presume to call “the religion of the meek and lowly Jesus.” It is just the apostle who breathed most of his Master’s love whose epistles express what would be thought the harshest things against vital error and those who hold it. It is love to men, not hatred, that prompts such severity against what will inevitably ruin them. B.

49,50. The persecutions, struggles, and sufferings of the disciples were to be as salt to preserve and freshen the divine life in them; to make them more and more fit sacrifices to be consecrated to God. But (verse 50) the salt must be there, the spirit of self-sacrifice, springing from the divine life within, before outward trials can serve to purify the heart. The disciples were, therefore, exhorted to keep it within them. “Have salt in yourselves.” N.—Have peace one with another. The disciples not merely conversed as to their preëminence in the kingdom of God, but fell into a sharp contest on the point. In the altercation, they not only wounded each other’s feelings, but gave such offence to any individuals who might be present, that their faith might be shaken alike in the reality of any higher life as existing among the Saviour’s companions, and in his own exalted character and destination. This explains why Christ successively discoursed of humility, of offences, of grace toward sinners, and of reconciliation. He teaches his disciples that in the divine kingdom the power of self-sacrificing, devoted, self-abasing love (which, in the Saviour himself, is seen in its glorious perfection) is the one turning-point on which all preëminence depends; while, conversely in the world, he who rules is wont to make use of the governed simply for himself, his own benefit, his reputation, his glory.

The fleshly minds of the disciples, therefore, mistaking the idea of God’s kingdom, had induced them in the future manifestation of Christ’s glory to look for the gratification of selfish hopes. These the Lord overthrows by intimating that only he who has divested himself of all self-seeking, and who lives in pure love and lowly self-renunciation, shall there reign, or exert commanding influence. O.—43-50. The meaning of the passage may be paraphrased thus: Cut off the right hand or the right foot, or pluck out the right eye, i. e., sacrifice what is dearest to you, rather than suffer it to lead you or others into sin; for every one of my disciples must be salted in the fire of trial, i. e., prepared to become a living sacrifice by fiery trial, even as, under the O. T. dispensation, every sacrifice is required to be salted with salt. Ye are, as I have before told you, the salt of the earth. But if the salt hath lost its saltness, i. e., the Christian the spirit of voluntary self-sacrifice, by which alone his purifying influence is exerted, whence shall it derive its moral power? Have salt in yourselves, have, that is, this spirit of self-sacrifice, and you will have peace one with another, there will be an end to unseemly strife as to which shall be the greatest. L. A.

Section 80.—Tenderness toward his Own. Offences among Christians. Promises to Two or Three.

Capernaum.

10. TAKE heed that ye despise not one of these little ones: for I say unto you, That in 11 heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. For 12 the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? if a man have 13 an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the 14 ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. 15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault be- 16 tween thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of 17 two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be 18 unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth, as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Our Lord teaches that association in prayer is so exceedingly profitable, that even if two only should embark in it, there would be grand results. Let three, four, or a hundred and twenty, of one accord, of one mind, seek to utilize the promises; commensurate fruits shall appear in some early day of Pentecost. The great thing is not the numbers, but the agreement. The prayer of two whose souls are attuned to exactly the same key, and who have learned to merge their separate interests in one common interest, shall prevail more than the prayer of tens of thousands, whose minds are occupied, more or less, with lingering considerations of purely personal good. The little companies that come together in upper chambers and by-places, in the name of Christ, remembering his promises, seeking his presence, cherishing his spirit, honoring his word—in these little companies Christ is to be found. He is present in the word which they read, hearken to, believe. He is the subject of their conversation. They dwell upon his life, sufferings, and love. He is present by the Spirit, that takes of him and shows unto them. They are convinced of sin, confess it, and forsake it. They behold his glory, and rejoice greatly in him. Such effects of Christ’s words and glances often take place in these meetings, as greatly surpass what took place when he was visibly present with those twelve disciples of old. He is present as a righteous advocate and intercessor. They are his plenipotentiaries. He gives them their instructions, and clothes them with power. If Christ be in these assemblies, then are they the true centres from whence the mightiest influences flow abroad over the world. G. B.

10,11. Take heed that ye despise not.

Take care that ye do not treat with scorn or contempt such little children as ye now see before you, or those believers in me who resemble these children in docility, meekness, humility, and indifference to all that the world calls great and honorable; for your heavenly Father condescends to take them under his protection; he sends even his angels, those ministers of his that do his pleasure, to guard and watch over these little children, and these humble Christians who are like them in innocence of mind. One thing is most clearly proved by this text, as it is confirmed by a multitude of others; namely, the doctrine of a particular providence, which, either by ministering angels, or by the all-comprehending and omnipotent eye of God himself, watches over those true disciples of Christ, who approach most nearly to the humility, the meekness, the innocence, and the simplicity of a child. P.—Not only, he adds, are the angels thus employed, but it was the very purpose for which even the Son of God came into the world, to seek and bring back those who had strayed away. Mann.—The fundamental idea is, that the highest angels of God in heaven represent the smallest subjects of his kingdom on earth. The eye of God rests in special protection on the young seed in his kingdom (Matt. 19). But as Christ is the Angel of his presence in a unique sense, while here we read of angels of the presence in the plural, it follows, that Christ himself, as the great Advocate and Intercessor, is himself the central point of this angelic guardianship. Lange.

The general sense is plain, that if the highest angels do not disdain to perform services of protection and friendship for the meanest Christian, much less should fellow-disciples disdain to do it. To behold the face of God may signify waiting near his throne, and be an allusion to the office of chief ministers in earthly courts who have nearest access to their princes. The argument enforcing the precept is twofold: First, the highest angels do not disdain to minister unto such; secondly, even the Son of man came, not to reign and triumph upon earth, but by all the offices of humility and endearment to save such, and he takes a constant oversight of the least as well as the greatest of his redeemed ones. D.—The whole object and errand of the Son of man into the world is to “save the lost.” Take heed that ye, by causing “offences,” do not lose the saved. B.

13. Rejoiceth more. Rejoiceth rather; i. e., at the recovery and restoration of the one lost sheep, his joy is rather directed to that particular sheep than to all the rest; and why? Because that particular sheep is now delivered from that condition of misery over which he had so much grieved, and because it is restored to the company and condition of the other sheep who have not strayed and in whom he joys so much. W.—The shepherd does not set a greater value on the lost sheep than he does on those that are safe: but his joy for the moment, at the recovery of the lost sheep, is greater than he receives from all the rest, because he has regained that, and is sure of all the rest. The meaning therefore of this parable is, that God’s parental tenderness extends to all, even to the sinner that goes astray, and that he rejoices at the recovery and conversion of every the meanest individual, and most grievous offender. P.—So much does he long to draw souls in, that he opens gates in all the walls, on the four sides of the city, which lies four-square to all the points of the compass—the city of holiness and rest. He never shuts them. If they ever seem “strait,” and the way to them “narrow,” it is only because, without obedience and a likeness to the self-denying Lord of the place, they that enter would not be at home there, but uneasy prisoners at the court of a goodness which judges them. His heavenly economy is not to bar out but to invite in. He suffers ten thousand stammering tongues, of scanty wisdom, to teach and preach him, if only they will heartily repeat his name. If there are not ordained and official hands to baptize new-born children into his family, they shall not be left outcasts and homeless for want of outward and inward water, and a welcome. The Son of man is come to save the lost! F. D. H.

15-17. After having, in what goes before, warned believers against offending weaker brethren, the discourse brings to view the opposite point of the contrast, and describes how a believer should conduct himself if injury be inflicted upon him, and specially if it be done by a fellow-believer. O.—With those who have ill-treated and injured us, we should first try the effect of private, gentle, and friendly admonition; if that fail, then call in two or three persons of character and reputation, to add weight to our remonstrances; and, if that has no effect, we are then justified in bringing the offender before the proper tribunal. P.

17. The fundamental principle of the Christian community is, that there shall be no other subordination than that of its members to God and Christ, and that this shall be absolute; while, in regard to each other, they are to be upon the footing of complete equality. Christ himself drew a striking contrast between his own community and all political organizations in this respect. Christ only prepared the way for the foundation of the Church, according to its inner essence and its outward form; as he gave no complete doctrinal system, so he erected no Church fabric that was to stand through all time; his work was rather to implant in humanity the new spirit, which was to adapt to itself such outward forms as would meet the wants of human progress in successive ages. N.—The Church, the ecclesia, is the body of Christ’s followers, called out from the unspiritual world, from the kingdom of darkness, and brought into spiritual obedience to him as their head. Matthew represents Jesus as identifying the Church with the kingdom of heaven, and giving it his divine authority. And the kingdom of heaven, as manifested in the Church, is thus seen to be a spiritual organization, independent of all temporal and worldly organizations. D. S. G.

19. It shall be done for them.** All that is really a part of the divine gospel is in the form of promise. I will give. I come to do this or that. Ask of me, and I will grant. Nothing is thrown upon us, but that which the weakest and the humblest can best perform; to believe, to ask, to wait, and to accept. V.

Section 81.—How to forgive. The Unmerciful Servant.

Capernaum.

21. THEN came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, 22 and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until 23 seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven 24 likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife 26 and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee 27 all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and 28 forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him 29 by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellow-servant fell down at his 30 feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he 31 would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto

32 their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O

33 thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee?

34. And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all

35 that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

1. And it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee.

THERE was a fundamental error in Peter’s question, for in proposing a limit beyond which forgiveness should not extend, there was evidently implied the notion, that a man in forgiving gave up a right which he might, under certain circumstances, exercise. The purpose of our Lord’s answer—in other words, of the parable—is to make clear that when God calls on a member of his kingdom to forgive, he does not call on him to renounce a right, but that he has now no right to exercise in the matter: asking for and accepting forgiveness, he has implicitly pledged himself to show it. T.

God, rich in mercy, shows it more abundantly than we ask, when we ask it as we ought. He cannot, as one may say, withstand humility: this disarms his justice, and opens the treasures of his mercy. God never grants anything short of a full pardon; he forgives the greatest debts as easily as the least. Q.

21,22. Then came Peter to him.** For further instruction as to the duty of forgiveness inculcated in the preceding verses. He wanted a specific rule limiting the obligation of forgiveness. The rabbis limited it to three repetitions of an offence. Peter, with a glimmering idea that the rule should be enlarged, proposed seven as the limit. Christ’s reply “seventy times seven” refuses to assign any limit. Living in a kingdom of grace, we are to exercise it as we depend upon it, without limitation. L. A.—The duty of forgiving injuries has no limit: however frequently you are injured, if real penitence and contrition follow the offence, a Christian is always bound to forgive. P.—It is one excellency of our Saviour’s rules, that they are either never mistaken, or never so mistaken as to do harm. Notwithstanding our Lord bade his followers “forgive their enemies seventy times seven times,” the Christian world has hitherto suffered little by too much placability or forbearance. Paley.

23. Take account.** This is not, as is plain, the final reckoning, not identical with that of M. 25:19; 2 Cor. 5:10; but rather such a reckoning as that of L. 16:2. T.—Servants. Not slaves, but ministers or stewards. The individual example is one of high trust, or his debt could not have reached the enormous sum mentioned.

24. Ten thousand talents.** This is the sum at which Haman reckons the revenue derivable from the destruction of the whole Jewish people. David prepared for the temple 3,000 talents of gold, and the princes 5,000; the Queen of Sheba presented to Solomon 120 talents; and the King of Assyria laid on Hezekiah 30 talents of gold. A.

—The sum here is immense, whatever talents we suppose these to have been; if the Hebrew, it would be perfectly enormous; yet only therefore the fitter to express the greatness of every man’s transgression in thought, word, and deed, against his God.

28. An hundred pence.** This sum is so small as the other was so large, to show how little man can offend against his brother, compared with the amount in which every man has offended against God, so that, in Chrysostom’s words, these offences to those are as a drop of water to the boundless ocean. T.—The moment of close dealing between God and the soul has passed. The man goes out from that solemn and searching communion. He has not been converted; he has only been frightened. Arnot.

34. Before he had dealt with him as a creditor with a debtor, now as a judge with a criminal. “The tormentors” are not merely the keepers of the prison as such; but those who also, as the word implies, shall make the life of the prisoner bitter to him. T.

35. So likewise.** In this spirit, for God cannot mistake the character of those he pardons, as men often do. In this beautiful parable it is presupposed that God’s forgiveness of us precedes our forgiveness of each other, begets the forgiving disposition in us, and furnishes the grand model of mercy which we are to copy. B.—The description given of the servant who owed the talents can with no propriety be applied to a true child of God, but applies only to a professing Christian. Our Lord, in this parable, urges not the bare duty of forgiveness, but the forgiving from the heart. It shows his utter want of heart in not forgiving, and represents him as utterly insensible of the benefit the master had conferred upon himself. D. K. D.

And thus the last lesson which our Lord taught in Galilee reëchoes the first with which he opened the Sermon on the Mount. Indeed, the whole discourse (Sections 79-81) forms a most impressive climax to the teaching which was so begun. Christ’s own example, in coming to seek and save the lost, is held forth as the great motive to compassionate love and mutual forgiveness. The power of binding and loosing is now extended to all the apostles; his presence is promised in all their assemblies; and his Father’s answer to all their prayers. Once more the solemn warning is repeated, concerning resistance to sin, and decision between the Master and the world; and the note of future judgment, already struck in the Sermon on the Mount, concludes the whole. S.

Section 82.—Instructing and sending out the Seventy.

Capernaum.