Luke 13
DODDLuke 13:1-9
Christ, on the mention of some calamities which had befallen others, warns his hearers of the danger they were in if they did not repent, and illustrates it by the parable of the barren figtree. Luke XIII. 1—9.
LUKE XIII. 1.
NOW, while our Lord was thus discoursing of the necessity of being at peace with God, some who were present at that time, told him of those unhappy Galileans, the followers of Judas Gaulonites, who had rendered themselves obnoxious to the Roman power by some
LUKE XIII. 1. THERE were present at that season, some that told him of the Gal-
a Told him of those Galileans, the followers of Judas Gaulonites.] Josephus 7), § 1; cap. 17. § 8; & lib. vii. cap. 8. (al. has given us the story of this Judas 28), Havercamp.) It appears he was at Gaulonites at large, Antiq. lib. xviii. cap. 1, the head of a sect who asserted God to be
Except we repent, we shall all perish.
acts or principles of resistance to it: and whose blood Pilate the governor had in effect mingled with their sacrifices, having circumvented and slain them when they were come to worship in the temple at a public feast.
And Jesus, without making any remarks on the cause on which they were engaged, endeavoured, with his usual wisdom and piety, to lead the minds of his hearers into some profitable reflections upon the event; and, in reply, said to them, Do you think that these Galileans were notorious sinners above all the rest of the Galileans, that they suffered such sad things as these, and were cut off in so miserable a manner? If you do, you are very unfit to judge of the conduct of Providence; for, howsoever you may censure them, as shewn hereby to be the most enormous sinners, I tell you, No; you are not to conclude from hence this was the case; but, except you repent, you shall all perish thus;ᵇ vengeance will overtake you in your evil ways, and, in the desolating judgments that will shortly come on your whole nation, the blood of many of you shall be mingled with your sacrifices.
Or, to instance in another unhappy case that has lately occurred, I mean that of those eighteen men on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them,ᶜ do you think they were greater
their only Sovereign, and were so utterly averse to a submission to the Roman power, that they accounted it unlawful to pay tribute unto Cesar, and rather would endure the greatest torments than give any man the title of lord. This Judas is probably the person whom Gamaliel refers to by the name of Judas of Galilee, Acts v. 37. Josephus does not mention the slaughter of these Galileans (which, by the way, makes Zegerus’s interpretation very improbable that they were actually slain at the altar, in contempt of the temple); but he records an action of Pilate that much resembles it, of the manner of his treating the Samaritans; Antig. lib. xviii. cap. 4 (al. 5), § 1. Perhaps this story of the Galileans might now be mentioned to Christ with a design of leading him into a snare, whether he should justify or condemn the persons that were slain.
ᵇ You shall all perish thus, or not as
ἀπολύει·] Some content themselves with rendering it, You shall all perish as well as they; and possibly no more may be intended: yet the rendering I prefer appears to be more literal; and I the rather choose it, because (as Grotius, Tillotson, Whitby, and many others have observed) there was a remarkable resemblance between the fate of these Galileans and that of the whole Jewish nation; the flower of which was slain at Jerusalem by the Roman sword while they were assembled at one of their great festivals (see Joseph. Bell. Jud. lib. vi. cap. 9 (al. vii. 17), § 3, 4); and many thousands of them perished in the temple itself, and were (as their own historian represents it at large) literally buried under its ruins. Joseph. Bell. Jud. lib. vi. cap. 4 (al. vii. 10), § 6, & cap. 5 (al. vii. 11), § 1, 2.
ᶜ On whom the tower in Siloam fell, slew them.] From the fountain of Siloam,
VOL. 2.
Christ delivers the parable of the barren
offenders than all the other inhabitants of Jerusalem, that they were thus providentially singled out for destruction? I tell you, No; you would judge very rashly if you were in general to draw such conclusions; for the best of men may be involved with others in temporal calamities: but remember what I told you before, that, except you repent, you shall all perish thus; you shall be pressed under the insupportable load of the Divine vengeance, and be destroyed under the ruins of that holy city in which you trust.
And, in order to awaken them more effectually to such deep and serious repentance, he spake this parable to them; There was a certain man who had a figtree planted in his vineyard; and he came, for several successive seasons, searching for fruit upon it, but he found none. And at length, despairing of any better success, he said to the keeper of the vineyard, Behold, these three years togetherᵈ I have come to look for fruit upon this figtree, and still I find none; cut it down therefore immediately, as a barren tree: for why does it thus cumber the ground, filling up the place of more profitable plants with its useless bulk, and drawing away nourishment from those that grow round it? But such was the concern of the vine-dresser for its preservation, that he said to him in reply, Sir, I desire thou wouldest let it alone this year also, till I shall dig up the ground
which was without the walls of Jerusalem, a little stream flowed into the city (Isa. viii. 6), which was received in a kind of bason, which some have thought to be the same with the pool of Bethesda (see 2 Kings xx. 20; Neh. iii. 16; Isa. viii. 6; and John v. 2; ix. 7). Being near the temple it is no wonder that many frequented it for purification; but the calamity occasioned by the fall of the neighbouring tower is not, that I can find, mentioned any where but here: probably it had happened at some late feast; and some of Christ’s hearers might then have been at Jerusalem. Erasmus indeed takes this Siloam to have been Shiloh, the place where the tabernacle was first settled (Josh. xviii. 1; Psal. xxviii. 60), but without sufficient reason; see Drusius, in loc. This last instance might seem in some respects more to the purpose than the
former, as there was no human interposition attending the death of these men; so that it seemed more immediately providential than that of the Galileans whom Pilate had massacred.
ᵈ These three years.] Many have supposed that these words allude to the time of Christ’s personal ministry, which, as most have computed the chronology of the New Testament, had now lasted three years; but it is certain the patience of God bore with them much longer than another year. Grotius therefore thinks it more probable it may refer to the nature of a figtree which, if it bear at all, generally begins to do it within three years after it is planted: but might to be sure be looked upon as barren, if it had disappointed the expectation of the planter three years together after the time in which it should have yielded fruit, which was yet worse.
Re actions on the guilt and danger of unfruitfulness.
about it, and lay dung to the root of it: And then perhaps it may bear fruit, and if so, it is well, and thou preservest thy tree; but if not, after this thou shalt, if thou pleasest, cut it down, and I will say nothing farther to prevent it. By which parable our Lord did plainly represent to the Jews the Divine displeasure against them for having neglected the many opportunities they had enjoyed as planted in the vineyard of God’s church (compare Isa. v. 1, 2; xxvii. 2, 3); and in an awful manner intimated, that though they had hitherto, at his intercession, been spared, yet, if they continued unfruitful under the additional cultivation they were shortly to receive on the descent of the Spirit, and the proposal of the gospel in its full extent and evidence, they must expect nothing but speedy, irresistible, and irrecoverable ruin.
IMPROVEMENT.
WHICH of us may not learn a lesson for himself from this ver. 6 instructive parable of the figtree? Have we not long been planted in God’s vineyard, and favoured with the cultivation of his ordinances, yea, with the dews of his grace too; and yet how little fruit have we borne in proportion to those advantages? How long has he come seeking it in vain, while we have frustrated the most reasonable expectations, perhaps not only for three, but several of us for more than thirty years? Wonderful is it that the dreadful sentence has not long since gone forth against us, Cut them down, why cumber they the ground? We owe it to the intercession of our blessed Redeemer, the Great Keeper of the warden of God, that this has not long since been our case. Let us not be high minded, but fear! (Rom. xi. 20.) Let barren sinners reflect that this may be the last year, perhaps indeed the last month, or last day of their trial; for even now also is the ax laid to the root of the tree! (Mat. iii. 10.) And let them remember, that though there be hope of a tree, when it is cut down, that it may sprout again (Job xiv. 7), yet, when the doom is executed on them, their root will be as rottenness, and their blos-
Perhaps it may bear fruit: κἀγ μογ ποιητη κερανον.] It is in the original something of an abrupt way of speaking, of which Raphelius has produced many examples (Annot. ex. Xen. p. 102, 103); but I think the way of rendering the idiom I have here used would suit it in most of those instances.
Under the additional cultivation, &c.] The extraordinary means used to bring them to repentance after the resurrection of Christ, by the effusion of this Spirit, and the preaching of the apostles, might, with great propriety, be expressed by digging round the barren tree, and applying warm corn oat, or dung, to its roots.
Christ cures a crooked woman in the synagogue.
som will go up like dust (Isa. v. 24); and every tree which brings CXVII. not forth good fruit will be hewn down, and cast into the fire.
ver. 2 Let such therefore meditate terror when the judgments of God are abroad in the earth; and, when others are overwhelmed in ruin, let them not harshly censure the sufferers, as if they 3, 5 were greater sinners than any others; but let them apply that salutary, though awful, admonition to their own souls, repeating it again and again, till they are pricked to the heart by it, Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Terrible indeed was the case of those whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, and of those who were dashed to pieces 4 in a moment by the fall of Siloam’s tower; but infinitely more dreadful will be the condition of them that fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. x. 31), especially of those deceivers who, having surrounded his altars with the hypocritical forms of devotion, shall themselves be made the victims of his justice, and be crushed by the resistless weight of his almighty vengeance.
Luke 13:10-22
Christ cures a crooked woman in the synagogue, and vindicates his doing it on the sabbathday; and afterwards repeats the parables of the grain of mustardseed, and of the leaven. Luke XIII. 10—22.
LUKE XIII. 10.
THU S our Lord went on in his journey CXVII. through Galilee for a considerable time; and as he was teaching in one of the synagogues Luke on the sabbathday, Behold there was present xiii. 10 a poor disabled woman, who (as the Jews used 11 commonly to express it, and was now actually the case) had been afflicted by a spirit of weakness* no less than eighteen years, and was bowed together in so sad a manner that, from the time LUKE XIII. 10. AND he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11 And, Behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and
- Had been afflicted by a spirit of weakness.] It is very evident the Jews apprehended that all remarkable disorders of body proceeded from the operation of some malignant demon. Perhaps they might draw an argument from what is said of Satan’s agency in the affliction of Job (chap. i. and ii.), and from Psal. xci. 6 (compare Septang.) and 1 Sam. xvi. 14. They also considered Satan as having the power of Death. Heb. ii. 14. And that, in some maladies, this was indeed the case is intimated by our Lord’s reply here, ver. 16, and by St. Paul’s words, 1 Cor. v. 5, where he speaks of delivering an offender to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. The topic is very judiciously handled by that illustrious writer Mr. Howe (see his works, Vol. II. p. 360, 361); and there are some curious and entertaining remarks in Wolfius on this text.
Offence is taken at his healing on the sabbath.
it first seized her, she was utterly unable to raise herself upright, or to stand straight.
And Jesus seeing her, and intimately knowing all the sad circumstances of her affliction, and the difficulty with which she was then come to attend the solemnities of Divine worship there, called her to him, and said to her, Woman, thou art loosed from that affliction which thou hast long been under by reason of thy weakness and malady. And, as he was speaking these words, he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was strengthened, and made straight; so that she stood before them all in an erect posture, and moved with as much ease and freedom as if she had never been disabled; and, as was most reasonable, she in a very affectionate manner glorified God before the whole assembly; praising him for so signal and unexpected a favour, and declaring how long her illness had continued, and how desperate and incurable it was thought.
But a ruler of the synagogue, instead of joining in acknowledgments of the Divine power and goodness displayed in that gracious action of our Lord, was moved with indignation, which he endeavoured to disguise under the form of piety and zeal; and, as if he only had been angry because Jesus had healed her on the sabbathday, he answered and said unto the people, There are six days on which the common work of human life must be done; on some of these therefore you may surely find time to come and be healed, and should not make these applications on the sabbathday, which you know is appropriated to the sacred purposes of religious rest and worship.
raise herself upright.] ບາງຄົນອາດບໍ່ຄວນເຮັດໃຫ້ rearable to that other ເຮັດໃຫ້ rearable to that rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable to rearable
synagogue.] It is plain oral rulers of the same are Mark v. 22; Acts .) And Dr. Lightve observed that, in
every town where there was a synagogue there were at least ten men who obliged constantly to attend on the worship in it. Of these, three were rulers, who presided in directing the ship, and judged of such little dis and litigations as might be determi the synagogue; but not without a re of appeal to the several superior If of these three there was any one w a distinguished authority, and mi way of eminence be called the ruler synagogue, it is strange the Jewish w omit to mention it, which, so far as recollect, they never do; see Wo this text, and Vitringa, Synag. Vet. p.
132But Jesus vindicates himself by what they did for their beasts.
Then the Lord answered him with a just severity, and said, Thou hypocrite, who thus makest thy pretended zeal for the honour of Divine institutions a specious cloak for thy malice against me, art thou not selfcondemned? Does not every one of you, even the Pharisees and rulers of synagogues among the rest,ᵈ without any scruple or blame, loose his ox or his ass from the manger, and lead him away to drink on the sabbathday, as well as on any other; though the work be more servile than what I have done, and the occasion far less important? Now, if you have such a regard to the thirst of one of your cattle, was it not much more apparently fit, that this good woman, who is a believing daughter of Abraham, whom Satan, by the Divine permission, has bound in this cruel manner, lo, for these eighteen years together, should be loosed from this bond even on the sabbathday, especially when it might be effected without any labour, by no more than a word and a touch?
And when he had said these things, all his opposers were ashamed, and perfectly confounded by the strength of such obvious and conclusive reasoning: and all the multitude who were present rejoiced in his triumph; for they were greatly delighted with all the wonderful and glorious things that were done by him, in which there was so amiable a display of his goodness as well as his power.
Now on this occasion, for the farther encouragement of his friends, and confusion of his enemies, our Lord thought proper to intimate the great increase of his kingdom, notwithstanding the malignant opposition it should meet with, which he illustrated by two parables
ᵈ Even the Pharisees and rulers of synagogues among the rest.] Had not this been generally the case, the answer would not have been sufficient for conviction in the present circumstance. Perhaps this ruler might that very day have been performing such an office for one of his cattle with his own hands: I say, with his own hands; for it was by no means essential to it is being a ruler of the synagogue that he should be a person of wealth or dignity in common life; though probably, in large
and splendid cities (such, for instance, as Capernaum was), such persons might generally be chosen. Critics have collected passages from rabbinical writers, in which they allow it to be lawful to feed or water a beast on the sabbathday. See Lightfoot’s Hor. Hebr. on this text; where he shews they were expressly allowed even to draw water for their beasts; a much more laborious work than leading them to it. See also Wotton’s Miscell. Vol. II. p. 41—46.
The para es o t grain of mustardseed and of the leaven.
formerly delivered elsewhere: and he said, To what is the kingdom of God like, and what shall I compare it to? or how is it that I shall represent the propagation of the gospel in the world? It is like a grain of mustardseed, which a man took and sowed in his garden; and from so minute a seed it grew to a prodigious bulk, and became such a great tree, that the birds of the air came and lodged in its branches. So shall my kingdom, which in its first beginning seems to be contemptible, diffuse itself in time over the whole world, and the inhabitants of distant nations shall seek their shelter in it. (Compare Mat. xiii. 31, 32, and Mark iv. 30—32, Vol. I. p. 370, 371.)
And again he said, To what else shall I liken the kingdom of God, of which I have now been speaking? or how shall I describe the efficacy of its doctrine? It is like a little quantity of leaven, which a woman took and covered up in a mass of dough, consisting of no less than three measures of meal; and yet it insinuated and diffused itself throughout till the whole lump was leavened. So shall the gospel make its way, and, by a secret influence, shall spread its efficacy through the hearts of men, till it has changed them into a likeness to itself. (Compare Mat. xiii. 33, Vol. I. p. 371.)
And thus he went through all the principal cities and villages of Galilee, teaching them wheresoever he came, and travelling on toward Jerusalem; to which he had now begun to steer his course, as he intended to be there at the approaching feast of the dedication, (John x. 22, sect. cxxxiv.) and to spend the little remainder of his time during his continuance upon earth in that city, or the neighbouring parts; no more returning to these northern regions till he appeared here after his resurrection.
IMPROVEMENT.
AGAIN do we see, in a very instructive instance, the power ver.1 and goodness of Christ. It wrought on a poor despised creature; but our Lord considered her as a daughter of Abraham, 16 and honoured, even in her, whatever traces of her father Abraham’s faith and piety his penetrating eye might discern.
Reflections on the cure of the crooked woman.
Her zeal and willingness to attend on public worship brought her out, though she could not stand upright, and had probably in that respect a much better excuse for staying at home than many could make who now often absent themselves from the much nobler services of the Christian sanctuary.
10, 13 She met with Christ in the synagogue, and returned with a cure. And oh, how many, as the effect of such a pious zeal, though they have not been loosed from their infirmities, have at least been greatly strengthened to bear them.
Our Lord says that Satan had bound her. That malignant enemy to our bodies and souls rejoices in any opportunity of hurting either. But it is pleasing to think that his power is always under the controul of Christ; and therefore shall never be exercised on his people any farther than their gracious Redeemer sees it consistent with their good, and will take care to render it subservient to it.
How gravely does this ruler of the synagogue instruct the people in a point of ceremony, while his heart was full of enmity to Christ, and hardened against every sentiment of human compassion! Justly was his hypocrisy confounded and exposed.
We should with pleasure see this Sun of Righteousness thus victoriously breaking through those clouds which envy and malice had raised to obscure him, and diffusing his sacred light from one end of the heavens to the other. With pleasure should we view the accomplishment of these parables which represent the success of his gospel as so great; and we should daily pray, with increasing earnestness, that all the remaining nations and kingdoms of this world may at length become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ; and sincere converts flock to him from every side, even as doves to their windows! (Rev. xi. 15, and Isa. lx. 8.)
Luke 13:23
Parallels: Galatians 49
Christ warns his hearers of the difficulty and importance of entering into the kingdom of heaven; and is not intimidated by the fear of Herod from pursuing his work. Luke XIII. 23, to the end.
LUKE XIII. 23. AND, as Jesus was proceeding in his journey towards Jerusalem, where he designed to be present at the feast of the dedication, being THEN said one unto him, Lord,
a Where he designed to be present at sages in a different order, and introduce the feast of the dedication.] Mr. Whiston them after this feast: but it does not appear that Christ was ever in Galilee be-
Heaven should be sought with great and ear care.
attended by several of his disciples, in a pretty large compass which he took by the way, one of them said to him, Lord, are there [but] few that shall be saved? Surely, if thy kingdom be so extensive as these parables intimate, (see ver. 19, 21) the number must be very considerable.
But he said to them, Instead of amusing yourselves with such curious inquiries with relation to others, attend to what more nearly concerns you, and be solicitous to secure your own safety: And let me urge it upon you, that you exert your utmost strength to enter in at the strait gate, which I formerly mentioned as leading to eternal life (Mat. vii. 14, Vol. I. p. 246), and strain, as it were, every nerve to break your way through those enemies who are always ready to oppose your passage: for I seriously tell you the time is coming when many will importunately seek to enter in, and shall not be able to do it.
And, howsoever they may now despise and trifle with the means of grace, this will hereafter be the case, even with the most stupid and negligent of mankind, as soon as ever the great Lord and Master of the family shall, as it were, have risen up from his seat, and with his own authoritative hand shall have shut and barred the door; and you, among the rest, shall begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, with great earnestness, Lord, Lord, we beseech thee, open to us: but you will cry in vain, and
fore his resurrection, after this journey. He was indeed at Ephraim, or Ephrem, (John xi. 54, sect. cxli); but, as that city lay on the confines of the tribe of Benjamin, at no great distance from Jerusalem (Lightfoot’s Disquisit. Chorogr. in Joan. cap. vii. § 1), the argument which Mr. Whiston draws from thence in favour of his order must be very inconclusive. See Whiston’s Harmony, p. 385 and 304.
b Exert your utmost strength to enter in at the strait gate.] The original word ἀγαπίζεσθαι fully expresses this. It imports the act of contending in the most ardent and resolute manner with antagonists in games or in war; and may well intimate that the strait gate is beset with a variety of enemies, through which, if we
aspire to a crown of eternal glory, we must break and force our way: a representation equally just and awakening! Compare 1 Cor. ix. 25; Col. i. 29; 1 Tim. vi. 12; and 2 Tim. iv. 7.
c Many will seek to enter in.] The Prussian version renders it, shall try, or attempt: but I apprehend from the context, that it refers to importunate entreaties when they were actually excluded, rather than to feeble attempts now; though it is an awful truth that these likewise will be unsuccessful.
d The master of the family, &c.] There is a majesty and pathos in this passage, as in many others, which no paraphrase can retain, in which the very words of our Lord do not make a part.
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Many at last shall cry in vain to e adn
he who now so graciously invites and waits upon you, shall then reply to you, I know you not, who you are, or from whence you are come; but determine to treat you as strangers, for whom I have no friendship or regard, and who have never been approved by me.
Some of you may perhaps then plead an intimate acquaintance and professed friendship, and urge the privileges that you once enjoyed, and the conspicuous figure you made in his church: but if any of you can carry it so far as that you shall begin to say, Lord, we have eaten and drank in thy presence in a familiar manner, and thou hast thyself lived among us, and often taught in our streets and houses, so that thou canst not sure have forgot us: Nevertheless, he will persist in disowning you, and say, I tell you again, I know you not, and, whatsoever you pretend to, I regard not whence you are; all the former relation to which you refer is (as it were) blotted from my remembrance, since your hearts were still insincere, and your lives unsuitable to your fair professions; and therefore depart from me, all ye that habitually practise iniquity; for none of your character shall ever be admitted here. (Compare Mat. vii. 22, 23, Vol. I. p. 249, 250.)
This awful word, how little soever you may now regard it, shall wound you to the heart, and throw you into agonies of everlasting despair: and there shall be the bitterest weeping and gnashing of the teeth for madness and rage, when you shall see your holy ancestors, Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets of the succeeding ages, in actual possession of the kingdom of God; and shall find yourselves cast out with contempt, and thrust back with just indignation. Yea, they shall come from the most distant heathen lands, even from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, and shall sit down in joyful mul-
We have eaten and drank in thy presence. Perhaps some of the nine thousand whom he had fed by miracle may at last be in this miserable number. (Compare John vi. 26.) Brennius refers it to their having eaten the sacrifices presented to God according to the Mosaic constitution. But different
persons may use this plea in different senses; and they who, while their hearts were hardened in impenitence and unbelief, have profaned the Lord’s supper by an unworthy participation of it, will find a sad sense peculiar to themselves, though it might not be chiefly intended.
Some think to terrify him with a threatening from Herod;
titudes, to partake of the heavenly banquet with your pious ancestors in the kingdom of God, while you are utterly excluded from it. (Compare Mat. viii. 11, 12, and notef, Vol. I. p. 309.)
And, behold, this shall be the case, not only of a few, but of great numbers; for there are many who are now last in point of religious advantages, that shall then be first in honour and happiness; and there are many who now appear first, that shall then be found last; and, on account of their abused privileges, shall appear as the most infamous and miserable of mankind. (Compare Mat. xix. 30, and Mark x. 31, sect. cxxxvii.)
These things our Lord said in his journey through Galilee towards Jerusalem; making many pauses in his way, that, in consequence of the shortness of his stages, he might have an opportunity of greater usefulness. And it came to pass on that day, when he uttered these discourses, some of the Pharisees came, and that they might, if possible, intimidate and drive him to a distance, they said to him, Go forth, and depart from hence, with all possible speed into the territories of some other prince; for Herod the tetrarch, in whose dominions thou art, is at this very time determined to kill thee, as he did John the Baptist, thy friend and associate, and seeks but an opportunity to effect it.
But Jesus was so far from being at all alarmed at this intimation, that he said to them with great steadiness, Go, and tell that fox, that crafty, wicked, and voracious prince, Behold, I cast out demons, and perform cures in thy dominions today and tomorrow, and carry on my work a little while longer, and the third day I shall be
ed to kill thee: Says the force of this phrase John vii. 17, sect. xcix. i. 43, Vol. I. p. 131. Considering both the and suspicious temper which he had a curiosity (Luke ix. 9, xxiii. 8), is spending so much that he should occasion assessment either with or the Romans; yet
fearing, after all the anxiety which murder of John the Baptist had given to make any attempt on his life, he think fit thus to endeavour to terrify with an empty threatening. In this there would be a peculiar propriety calling him fox, rather than lion, a bear; to which savage beasts the p had sometimes, with a plainness because their character, compared wicked (Compare Zephaniah iii. 3; Ezekiel 27; and Prov. xvii. 12.
But he is not afraid of his design against his
perfected;ᵍ for the appointed time will quickly come when I shall finish my course, and have done all that I intend here. In the mean while he may well allow me a license to stay in his territories so long, at least on such kind and gracious designs: or howsoever he may be unwilling to allow it, yet, nevertheless, I must go on in this leisurely progress (as I just now said) today, and tomorrow, and the third day, till the determined season comes in which my ministry shall be fulfilled: nor do I fear the effects of Herod’s malice; for it cannot be supposed that a prophet should perish, or be put to death, any where out of Jerusalem;ʰ that unhappy city, the seat of the supreme court, challenging, as it were, to itself the sad prerogative of being the slaughterhouse of the messengers of God.
And upon this, turning in thought at least towards Jerusalem, though it lay at the distance of so many miles, he took up a most affectionate lamentation over it, and said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou guilty and miserable city! who, though thou hast been distinguished by Divine favours beyond any place on earth, yet with the utmost ingratitude and cruelty slayest the prophets, and stonest, as the vilest malefactors, those who are sent unto thee as the ambassadors of God! How often would I have gathered thy children together unto myself, with all the tenderness of parental love, and have sheltered, comforted, and cherished them, even as a hen [gathers] her little brood of chickens under her wings? yet you were still regardless of the offers of my grace, and would not be persuaded to harken to my call,
ᵍ And the third day I shall be perfected.] Many suppose, and I think very reasonably, that our Lord is not to be understood as speaking exactly of three days, but of a little period of time: see Hos. vi. 2; and compare the original of Gen. xxxi. 2; Exod. iv. 10; Deut. xix. 4; Josh. iii. 4; 1 Sam. xix. 7; and 1 Chron. xi. 2: in all which places yesterday and the third day signifies lately, or a little while ago. On this interpretation the word πυαμας, I shall be perfected, may refer to Christ’s finishing the work of redemption, and being by death consecrated to his office as the
great High Priest and Captain of our Salvation; as the word is used Heb. ii. 10; v. 8, 9, 10; vii. 27, 28.
ʰ It cannot be supposed that a prophet, &c.] John the Baptist had lately perished in Galilee; so that the expression καυδύχω can import no more than this version expresses, which Elsner has shewn to be it proper sense (Elsner. Observ. Vol. I. p. 242). Drusius, Grotius, Knatchbull, an many other eminent critics refer this to the right which the sanhedrim alone had to punish a person as a false prophet.
Christ laments over Jerusalem.
and to accept my favour. And now, alas, behold with awful dread, and remark the prediction and event, your house is left unto you desolate; and the hour is just at hand, when your children, whom I would have gathered to myself, shall perish, and your temple shall be utterly destroyed: and, in the mean time, I assuredly say unto you, That I will quickly cease my labours among you, and retire in such righteous displeasure, that you shall see me no more, till the time come when, taught by your calamities, you shall be ready and disposed to say, Blessed [be] he that cometh in the name of the Lord,¹ and shall in vain wish for the succour of him whom you now despise. (Compare Mat. xxiii. 37—39, sect. clviii.
IMPROVEMENT.
AND who would not welcome such a Saviour, when he appears verse n so kind a design! who would not bless him that cometh in the 35 ame of the Lord, to gather our souls with the tenderest care, nd to shelter us from wrath and ruin! that Saviour whose owels yearned over us, and whose heart poured forth its blood 34 or us! Too many reject him, and will not hearken to the indest calls of his compassionate voice. Unhappy creatures! the time will come when they too late will be convinced of their atal error.
Let each of us be solicitous for himself. Away with those 23 ain curiosities which serve only to amuse and distract our houghts. Let us call, and fix them down to the great concerns of our own salvation: and, if we would secure it, let us prepare 24 o encounter difficulties, and strive as for our lives, to break through all the opposition of our enemies, and resolutely to enter in at the strait gate. How many have sought it when the door
¹ You shall see me no more, till—you shall say, Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord.] Some supposing these words refer to the congratulations which Christ received on his entrance into Jerusalem, (Mat. xxi. 9; Mark xi. 10; Luke xix. 38; and John xii. 13; sect. cxlvi) urge them as a reason for placing this section after the ixᵗʰ and xᵗʰ chapters of John, or between the feast of the dedication and his last passover. But, as our Lord repeats these words again, after his trium hant
entry, (Mat. xxiii. 39, sect. clviii.) they must be capable of another interpretation, and therefore can afford no such argument; nor is there any intimation of his return into Galilee between these two feasts. It does not imply they should ever see Jesus at all; but only that they should earnestly wish for the Messiah, and, in the extremity of their distress, be ready to entertain any one who might offer himself under that character. Compare Luke xvii. 22. 23, sect. cxxviii.
Reflections on the necessity of striving for heaven.
has been barred? and how soon may the great Master of the house arise and shut it for ever against those who are yet trifling!
Let not hypocrites trust in vain words. The workers of iniquity shall be disowned by Christ at last, though they may have eaten and drank in his presence. But oh, who can express the disappointment, the rage, and despair, of those who fall from such towering hopes, and plunge, as from the very gates of heaven, into the lowest abyss of darkness and horror! Their hearts will endeavour to harden themselves in vain; their doleful cries shall be distinguished in that region of universal horror! but they shall not penetrate the regions of the blessed, nor interrupt the delight with which even the dearest of their pious relatives shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
31, 33 If we, through grace, have more substantial hopes, let us imitate the zeal and courage of our Divine Leader; and, whatever threatenings or dangers may oppose us, let us go on day after day, till our work be done, and our souls at length perfected in glory. But let us carefully distinguish between those things in which our Lord meant himself as our Pattern, and those which were peculiar to his office as a Prophet sent from God. That extraordinary office justified him in using that severity of language, when speaking of wicked princes and corrupt teachers, to which we have no call; and by which we should only bring scandal on religion, and ruin on ourselves, while we irritated, rather than convinced or reformed, those whom we undertook so indecently to rebuke.