Matthew 12
DODDMatthew 12:33-37
Parallels: Luke 11
Our Lord goes on to caution the Pharisees of the danger of such sinful words; and answers to the exclamation of the woman who extolled the happiness of his mother. Mat. XII. 33—37. Luke XI. 27, 28.
MAT. XII. 33.
WHEN our Lord had thus faithfully LXII. warned the Pharisees of the danger Mat. by blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, he proxii. 33 ceeded to enforce the admonition in the following manner: Attentively consider what I have offered to you, and either lay aside your vain and hypocritical pretences to religion, or quit that malignity and wickedness which render these pretences insolent and odious: either make the tree good, and shew it to be so by making its fruit also good; or else make, and allow, the tree to be corrupt, and its fruit also corrupt, if it in fact appear to be so: for the tree is to be known by the fruit it produces, which
Mat. XII. 33.
EITHER make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
a Make the tree good, &c.] The sense I have chosen is that which seems to agree best with what follows. I could not acquiesce in that of Mr. L’Enfant, who supposes it as if he should have said, Either allow me to be good, or prove the casting out devils to be evil; for that would suppose every one who cast out devils to be a good
man. Zegerus and Grotius understands it as if our Lord had said, “Since you cannot but allow that my life and the tendency of my doctrine are good, be not so inconsistent with yourselves as to suppose I am a confederate with Beelzebub.” And it is indeed very possible that this may be the sense.
unpro table word must be accounte or.
is an infallible proof of what quality it is. (Compare Mat. vii. 17, 18, sect. xlii.) O ye abominable brood of vipers, ye perverse, venomous, deceitful creatures, how can you, who are so wicked yourselves, speak good things? It is surely a force upon nature whenever you do it; and you will easily return to such uncharitable and impious language as we have now been hearing from you; for the mouth naturally speaks out of the overflowing abundance of the heart. And thus, on the one hand, a good man, out of the good treasure of the heart, freely and abundantly produces good things, and scatters the seeds of wisdom and piety in the minds of all with whom he converses: and, on the other hand, a wicked man, being full of corrupt affections, and a secret malignity against religion, out of the evil treasure of his heart, as naturally brings forth evil things; and, even when he labours most artfully to disguise himself and his character, breaks out like you, in some unguarded moment, into such language as betrays the shame he would conceal. (Compare Luke vi. 43—45, sect. liv.)
But take heed how you suffer your tongues to run on in this profane and licentious manner; for I solemnly declare unto you, That in the awful day of the final and universal judgment, men shall give a strict and impartial account for every unprofitable, and much more for every pernicious word, which they shall speak:
For every unprofitable, and much more for every pernicious word.] Though the terms inconvenient and unprofitable are sometimes applied to things capable of much worse epithets (compare Rom. i. 28; Eph. v. 4, 11; Tit. iii. 9; and Heb. xiii. 17,) yet I cannot think that our Lord here uses as you, idle, merely to signify mischievous. We are certainly accountable for useless as well as wicked discourses, and they will be taken into that last survey which is to determine our character and state; which they, whose life is one continued scene of whim or sneering raillery, would do well seriously to consider. And it was to our Lord’s purpose to observe it here, as it inferred, by the strongest consequence, the danger of such vile and criminal discourses as those of the Pharisees in this case. But
discourse tending, by innocent mirth, to exhilarate the spirits, is not idle discourse; as the time spent in necessary recreation is not idle time; nor does a wise and gracious God expect from men the life of angels. The Jews about Kimchi’s time had a proverb among them, That a scholar may be improved even by the idle words of his master; but I think Heinsius had no reason to value himself so much as he seems to do on his attempt to explain these words of Christ as an allusion to that. If any, of the whole, are dissatisfied with the account of things here given, I would be leave to ask them, whether unprofitable talk be not a sinful wasting of time? and whether that must not render a man in some degree criminal before God
The woman’s exclamation upon hearing Ch.
and wo be to them who have used that noble faculty of speech only to vain or to wicked purposes. For let every particular hearer apply it to himself: it is not by thine actions alone, but in some degree by thy words, thou shalt at last be justified, or by thy words thou shalt be then condemned; as by the tenor of these the disposition of thy heart is shewn, and thy true character discovered.
And while he was speaking these things, a certain pious woman was so transported with a mixture of pleasure at hearing his words, and indignation at the unworthy treatment he met with from his adversaries, that she could not forbear lifting up her voice, and crying out from amidst the crowd, she said unto him, O thou Divine Teacher, Happy is the womb of her that bare thee, and thrice happy the breasts which thou didst suck! With what unspeakable delight must thy blessed mother look on so illustrious a Son!
But he modestly and seriously replied, Nay, rather happy are they who hear the word of God which I preach, and keep it in their hearts as a vital principle of holy obedience; for they will be entitled to eternal blessings, infinitely more valuable than any natural relation to me could give, or any opportunities of the most intimate converse with me, separate from such a practical regard to my instructions.
IMPROVEMENT.
Luke 27 Whose heart does not echo back the exclamation of this pious woman? Yet who does not too frequently forget that weighty and important answer which succeeded it? Let us not only
Or by thy words thou shalt be condemned.] Since both the clauses in this verse cannot belong to the same person, it is plain that are here, as the Hebrew particle Ve in many places, is put for the alternative Or: and agreeably to this we find that instead of are, the particle n is here inserted in many ancient copies.
While he was speaking these things.] Luke brings in this story at the end of the parable of the relapsing demoniac, which was delivered just at the conclusion of the
discourse before related. And though it is uncertain at what exact time this exclamation was made, yet what was now said might be a proper occasion for it; or, if it be a little transposed, the reader will excuse it, as it serves for a fit appendix to this short section, and likewise prevents the more unequal length of the following.
From amidst the crowd] So in the open plainly signifies; and it may thus, I think be very properly connected with the word which follow it in the original.
Reflections on the account we must give of our words.
hear, but keep the word of Christ; and we shall thus be happy in a nearer union with him than ever could arise from any natural relation to him, and shall ere long have opportunities of more noble and more delightful converse with him than those with which the virgin Mary herself was honoured during the time of his abode on earth.
Let us especially attend to those instructions we have here received, and judge of ourselves by our fruits; never flattering ourselves that our hearts are good, if our lives are abominable and disobedient, and to every good work reprobate; (Tit. i. 16.) And in particular let us remember that not our actions only, but the fruits of our lips, are to be brought into the solemn account which we must give to the great Judge of all the earth; and that the day is coming when all our idle and unprofitable talk, which has proceeded from the evil treasure of a depraved heart, will undergo a strict examination, and we must answer not for our actions only, but shall be justified or condemned by our words. And, if foolish and wicked speeches are to be accounted for in the day of judgment, let us set a watch on the door of our lips to prevent them; and labour daily to use our tongue so that it may indeed be, as it is in scripture called, our glory. (Psal. xvi. 9; xxx. 12.)
For that purpose let it be our great care to lay up a good treasure of Christian knowledge and experience in our hearts; that while too many are poisoning those that are round about them with erroneous principles and vicious discourses, the opening of our lips may be of righteous things; and we may still be ready, upon all proper occasions, with freedom, variety, and spirit, to bring forth good and profitable things from the good treasure of our hearts; which may be edifying unto those that hear us, and may go from one heart to another. So will the Lord himself hearken with pleasure unto what we speak, and exactly record it in the book of remembrance that is written before him; and, producing it at last to our public honour, will own us for his in the day when he makes up his jewels. (Mal. iii. 16, 17.)
Matthew 12:38-45
Parallels: Luke 12
Our Lord upbraids the Pharisees with their perverseness in asking a farther sign; and delivers the parable of the relapsing demoniac. Mat. XII. 38—45. Luke XII. 16, 24—26, 29—32.
MAT. XII. 38. THEN certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees an- THEN some of the scribes and Pharisees who were present, hearing how plainly Christ admonished and how severely he rebuked them, answered him, by diverting the discourse to
The Pharisees desire a sign from heaven.
another topic ; [and] with a view to try him, demanded of him a sign from heaven, saying, Master, thou professest thyself a teacher of extraordinary authority, and we may justly expect some proportionable proof of it : now these supposed dispossessions which we have lately seen or heard of, are so liable to fraud and collusion, that we cannot fully acquiesce in them ; but would gladly see a more remarkable and convincing sign from thee, and particularly some such celestial appearance as several of our ancient prophets gave.
But when the multitude was gathered in a crowd about him, eager to hear what Jesus would reply to this demand, and ready to conclude that he would now perform some wondrous and peculiar kind of miracle, he answered and said to them, This is an evil and adulterous generation, a very perverse and degenerate people, [that] amidst such convincing miracles as I am daily performing in the most public manner, still seeks after a farther sign : but no such sign as their bold curiosity prescribes shall be given them, unless [it be] that one yet greater miracle, which I may not improperly call the sign of the prophet Jonah, because it bears so great a resemblance to that miraculous occurrence that will be seen hereafter with respect to me. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, and was miraculously sent among them
some such celestial appearance.] The s of Luke expressly fix it to this ; and Matthew, in another story of kind (Mat. xvi. 1. sect. lxxxvii,) exly tells us they demanded a sign from . (Compare also Mark viii. 11.) It therefore to be understood of a sign of deliverance from the Roman yoke, or the erection of the Messiah’s temporal on, as some have supposed, but er of some miracle performed in the heavens, where, they seem to have ght, impostors had less power than on . (Compare John vi. 30.) And they it probably conclude they had the betexcuse from making such a proposal, loses (Exod. ix. 22-24;) Joshua x. 12; Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 9, 10;) Elijah (1 Kings xviii. 36-38; and 2 i. 10;) had given such signs. (Com- Isa. vii. 11; and xxxviii. 8.) See Gorev. sacr. lib. ii. cap. 16.
b Adulterous genera signifies a spurious ra the piety of their anc lvii. 3, 4; Psal. cxli 39, & seq.
c Unless it be the s nah.] As the resu attended with the ap ing angel, it was wi than is generally obs that these Pharise from heaven.
d For as Jonah was tentive reader may some passages of the Luke are transposed i will not insist on the since it is very possi might be repeated a very small a variatio so long, that I chose evangelists, as far as
The Ninevites will condemn the Jews.
by means of an unparalleled deliverance from the most imminent danger; so also shall the Son of man, by a yet more surprising Divine interposition in his favour, be made a very illustrious sign to this generation. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish that swallowed him, and yet afterwards came out alive and unhurt; so shall the Son of man, after he has been slain by the infidelity and cruelty of those to whom he comes, be part of three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, and on the third day shall, with the ministry of an angel in a visible form descending from heaven, burst the bands of death, and come forth from the tomb living and triumphant. And, by a natural consequence, the men of Nineveh shall rise up in the final judgment with this generation, and, by the circumstances of their case when viewed together, shall plead against it, and condemn it, as far more inexcusable than they; for they repented in the very dust at the preaching of Jonah, though he made them but a transient visit, and wrought no miracle in their presence to
pound text. The reader who chooses to follow Luke’s order exactly will find a memorandum (Vol. II. sect. cx. note 1) of the place where this paragraph comes in according to that; and I must, on the whole, leave it among some other passages in the evangelists, where it is neither possible nor important to determine the exact series.
In the belly of the great fish.] It is no where said in the Old Testament that Jonah was swallowed by a whale; and it is the less probable, as whales are seldom found in the Mediterranean, and as the gullet of a whale is said to be so small as not to be capable of receiving even the head of a man. It is therefore much more probable it was a shark, or some other great fish, which, it is said, the Lord had prepared to swallow up Jonah: (Jonah i. 17.) And the word κητες in Greek, (as well as TANIM in Hebrew,) may signify any large fish, as some of the Greek lexicographers have observed.
Part of three days and three nights.] It is of great importance to observe (as many good writers have done) that the easterns reckoned any part of a day of twenty four hours for a whole day; and say a thing was
done after three or seven days, &c. if it was done on the third or seventh day from that last mentioned. (Compare 1 Kings xx. 29; 2 Chron. x. 5, 12; and Luke ii. 21.) And as the Hebrews had no word exactly answering to the Greek νυχθημερον to signify a natural day of twenty four hours, they use night and day, or day and night, for it. So that to say a thing happened after three days and three nights, was the same as to say it happened after three days, or on the third day. (Compare Esth. iv. 16, with v. 1; Gen. vii. 4—12; Exod. xxiv. 18; and xxxiv. 28.) See the Miracles of Jesus Vindicated, p. 6—8.
Rise up in judgment with this generation.] Some think there is a reference in this expression to the custom of witnesses rising up to give their testimony; but it was not properly on the testimony of the Ninevites that these sinners would be condemned. The plain meaning is, that the remembrance of their case would be considered as illustrating the guilt of those that rejected Christ; so that here those are said condemn others who furnish out matter for their condemnation.
The para le o the relapsing demoniac.
confirm his mission; and, behold, one much greater than Jonah is here, and you reject him, though he has been so long among you, and has performed a great variety of most surprising miracles before you.
And much more may it be concluded that the queen of Sheba, in the south country, shall rise up in judgment with this generation, and, by the signal instance that she gave of her great desire to improve in knowledge, shall plead against the obstinacy and perverseness of this wicked age, and condemn it; since, great as her rank and her affairs in life were, she came from the extreme boundaries of the earth, even from the remotest parts of the Arabian coast, to hear the wisdom of Solomon, that she might improve by his learned conversation (see 1 Kings x. 1. & seq.) and, behold, however contemptible he may appear in your eyes, one much greater than Solomon, both in dignity and wisdom, is here before you, and is daily conversant among you.ʰ
Take heed therefore how you behave to me, lest all your inquiries after the kingdom of heaven, and all your converse with me, serve only to aggravate your guilt and ruin. For, if speedy repentance does not prevent it, I foresee that (to borrow a simile from the late subject of our discourse) your case will be like that of a demoniac, who, after a little respite, falls into a more violent relapse: for as it sometimes happens that an unclean spirit, when he has gone out of a man, goes about, in a roaming discontented manner, through dry deserts and wild uncultivated places,ⁱ seeking some rest
ʰ One greater than Solomon is here.] Our Lord speaks of himself in such sublime language with the utmost reason, and with perfect modesty and decorum. The humble form of his appearance, and his necessary reserve in declaring himself the Messiah in so many words, made it yet more expedient that by such phrases as these he should sometimes intimate it: and indeed his saying he was greater than Solomon, that most illustrious of all the royal descendants of David, was as plain an initiation as could well be given. Here is another undoubted instance in which Luke has plainly inverted the order of our Lord’s
words; for the connection cannot be secured without transposing the verses as they stand in him. The attentive reader will observe many more instances of the same kind, and see from hence how little ground there is for what some have supposed, that Luke’s account is so exact that all the gospels should be regulated by his order. See note 5 on Luke i. 3. p. 22.
ⁱ Through dry deserts and wild uncultivated places.] Here is a plain reference to the common notion that evil demons had their haunts in deserts and desolate places. (Compare Isa. xiii. 21, and Rev. xviii. 2.) Some may think that a desire of doing
nt nature; and, through the sect. of Divine providence, he lxiii. he saith, I will return to Mat. whence I came out; and xii. 44 another attack on the person ed: and it may be, when he nds, as it were, an habitation er guest, and even swept and him; that is, he finds the naffected with his late afflic- ce, and still a slave to those or him an agreeable dwelling then, by the just judgment of 45 corrigible wretch, he goes, and self seven other spirits which d and mischievous than him- in, they dwell together there; dition of that man is much rmer. Thus also will it be to tion; instead of growing row seven times worse than adorned, the demon could not enter in with- out a confederacy of seven yet more potent than he. But this is quite wide from the meaning of our Lord, who hereby strongly suggests that indulging sinful habits is like weeping and furnishing the house, to invite the abode of Satan there; in the same man- ner as purity, devotion, and love, are else- where represented as consecrating the soul for a temple to the Holy Ghost. (See 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17; vi. 19, 20; Eph. ii. 21, 22; and 1 Pet. ii. 1-5.) I know some judicious writers have glossed more minutely on these words, as if the meaning were, “empty of true grace, swept from gross sin, and garnished or adorned with seeming vir- tues and selfrighteousness.” But, with all due submission, especially to one very great name by which this interpretation is patronized, I think that in this connec- tion it enervates rather than illustrates the sense and spirit of this fine passage. Nor should I be forward to say that a reforma- tion of life, without a thorough change o heart, though utterly unavailing as to his future state, brings a man more under the power of Satan than he was before, or makes him worthy of the punishment of being given over to seven demons instead of one. Thus also will it be to this wicked genera- tion.] They who have read the sad account Josephus gives of the temper and conduct of the Jews after the ascension of Christ.
Reflections on the danger of abusing the light we enjoy.
before, as both the natural and the judicial conlxiii. sequence of their rejecting the methods of Mat. Divine Grace for their recovery; till, as if xii. 45 they were possessed by a multitude of devils, they are madly hurried on to their irrecoverable ruin in this world and the next.
IMPROVEMENT.
Mat. Let us, to whom the revelation of the gospel is so clearly xii. made, fear lest these dreadful things should come upon us, and 43-45 the abuse of our advantages should render us an easy prey to Satan, and a fit habitation for the powers of darkness. Let those particularly fear it, who, having been brought to some serious impressions and some external reformation, are tempted to relapse into former vices, which would render their latter end far worse than their beginning; (2 Pet. ii. 20.) God has permitted some such awful instances to occur; and unhappy wretches, perhaps some of them the children of religious parents too, who were once not far from the kingdom of God, have so abandoned every principle of religion, and every sentiment of wisdom and virtue, that it seems as if seven devils had possessed them, and were driving them headlong to destruction.
May we, instead of demanding farther evidence of Christianity than the wisdom of God has seen fit to give us, make it our care to hear and obey, and diligently improve the light we have received! May we be brought to a sincere and lasting repentance 41 by the preaching of Christ and his apostles, lest the Ninevites rise up in judgment against us, and condemn us! May we own the 42 superior wisdom of this Divine Teacher, this better Solomon; and say, as the queen of Sheba to the Jewish prince (1 Kings x. 8,) Happy are these thy servants, who stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom! for thou speakest as never man spake (John vii. 46;) and in thee all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid. (Col. ii. 3.) But oh, how many are curious to know what little concerns them, and are fond of improving their own wit, and trying that of others, by hard questions, while the far more obvious and important points of wisdom are neglected as beneath their regard; as if every thing were more necessary than being wise to salvation! We need not travel to distant climates to learn this heavenly philosophy; no, it is nigh us, even
and just before their final destruction by the vilest that can be conceived, and they the Romans, must acknowledge that no pressed on to their own ruin as if they had emblem could have been more proper to been possessed by legions of devils, and describe them. Their characters were wrought up to the last degrees of madness.
Where there is light it must not be concealed.
in our mouth; and we are, on that account, so much the more inexcusable, if it be not also in our heart. (Rom. x. 8.)