Matthew 17

Matthew 17:3

3.—Moses and Elias] The one the deliverer, the other the restorer of the Jewish law. Dr. Whitby.

3.—Except ye be converted,] From these ambitious desires. Dr. Whitby.

—and become as little children,] Unless a total change take place in the temper and disposition of your minds; unless ye become as unambitious and unaspiring, as meek, as humble and contented, as little concerned about worldly honours 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

unto him, and set him in the midst of them.

Matthew 17:4

4.—it is good for us to be here.] As if he had said, What greater happiness can we experience than to continue here in the presence of three such great and excellent persons. Here then let us for ever remain: here let us erect three tents, for Thee, for Moses, and for Elias, that you may all make this the constant place of your abode, and that we may always continue under the protection and government, under the united empire of our three great masters, whose sovereign laws and commands we are bound to obey. Bp. Porteus.

— let us make here three tabernacles.] St. Peter, it is probable, imagined that Jesus had now assumed His proper dignity; that Elias was come, according to Malachi’s prediction; and that the kingdom was at length commenced. Dr. Macknight.

4.—the same is greatest &c.] In the eye of God true humility is a most sublime virtue; and whoever shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Bp. Porteus.

Matthew 17:5

5.—a bright cloud] The Shechinah, that cloud of glory in which the Divine Majesty often appeared to the Jews. Bp. Pearce.

— hear ye him.] As ye have hitherto followed Moses and the Prophets, so from henceforward hear and obey this My beloved Son. Dr. S. Clarke. These words refer to what Moses said to the Jews at Deut. xviii. 15, “The Lord thy God will raise up a Prophet—unto Him ye shall bearken.” Hence it appears that Jesus was declared from heaven to be the Person promised to the Jews by Moses. See Acts iii. 22; vii. 37. Bp. Pearce. “This is My beloved Son;” This is My

Son, not as Moses and all the Prophets were, My servants. Him and Him only ye are now to hear; He is from henceforth to be your Lord, your Legislator, and your King. The evangelical law being established, the ceremonial law must cease, and Moses and the Prophets must give way to Christ. Bp. Porteus.

Matthew 17:6

6.—whoso shall offend one of these little ones] “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 either violence or artifice to terrify or seduce the sincere, and humble, and unsuspicious believer in Christ from his faith and obedience to his divine Master, the severest woes and the heaviest punishments are here denounced. Bp. Porteus.

It must be inferred from this text, that it is false to suppose, that those who believe in Christ, and of whom it is the will of God that they should not perish, ver. 14, cannot be so “offended” as to fall from the faith and perish. For if this were so, wherein lies the force of this pathetical discourse; and why are such dreadful punishments threatened to deter men from doing what it is impossible that they should do! Dr. Whitby.

—a milstone] The Greek expression is “a milstone turned by an ass;” that is, a millstone of the largest sort, larger than the stone of a common handmill. Dr. Doddridge.

Matthew 17:7

7.—it must needs be that offences come:] In the present state of the world, it cannot be expected but that many should be seduced from the practice of virtue and piety. But wretched is that man, who is in any way the occasion of it, either by persuasion, enticement, or bad example. Bp. Mann.

Matthew 17:8

8.—they saw no man save Jesus] One great purpose of this singular scene of the transfiguration seems to have been, to represent the cessation of the Jewish, and the commencement of the Christian dispensation. It appears to have been one very prevailing prejudice among the disciples, that the whole Mosaical law, the ceremonial as well as the moral, was to continue in full force under the Gospel, and that the authority of Moses and the Prophets was not in any respect to give way on the establishment of Christianity, but to be placed on an equal footing with that of Christ. To correct these erroneous opinions, this scene of the transfiguration was presented to three chosen disciples. Moses and Elias were undoubtedly most proper representatives of the Law and the Prophets; and, when the three disciples saw these illustrious persons conversing familiarly with Jesus, they probably were confirmed in their opinion, that they were of equal authority with Him. But the gracious words which issued from the cloud most clearly explained the meaning of what was passing before the eyes of the disciples; “Hear ye Him, My beloved Son.” The conclusion too of the whole scene harmonizes with this declaration: Moses and Elias instantly disappear, and “when the disciples lift up their eyes, they see no man, save Jesus only.” The former objects of their veneration are no more; Christ remains alone, their unrivalled and undisputed Sovereign.

But, besides this primary and immediate design of the transfiguration, that event was perhaps intended to answer other purposes of great utility. Among others, it afforded a striking additional proof of the divine mission of Christ; for here was one of the few occasions in which God Himself was pleased, as it were personally to interpose, and to make an open declaration from heaven in favour of His Son. And besides this, a particular attestation was given on the mount to two of the principal doctrines of Christianity; a general resurrection, and a day of retribution. The visible and illustrious representation of these doctrines in the glorified appearance of Christ, and Moses, and Elias, is appealed to by St. Peter, who saw it, as one convincing proof, among others, that “he had not followed cunningly devised fables, when he made known the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Bp. Porteus.

Christ healeth the lunatic. He foretelleth his passion.

Amos DOMINI 22. saying, ‘Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?

8. Wherefore if thy hand &c.] See chap. v. 29, 30. If any thing as dear to thee even as a right hand, or a right eye, be the occasion of thy injuring the cause

DANNE DOMINI 33. b Chap. 10. 14. Cor. 14. 36. c Mark 9. 42. Luke 17. 1, 2. d. Chap. 8. 30. Mark 9. 45.

Matthew 17:10

10.—Why then say the scribes &c.] That is, If we are not to declare that we have seen Elias till that time, why are we taught by the scribes that Elias must first come. Bp. Pearce. It had indeed been prophesied that Elias was to come before the Messiah, to prepare the way for Him, Issi. xl. 3; Mal. iv. 5. Bp. Mann.

Matthew 17:11

11.—shall first come, and restore all things.] Was to come first and restore all things. The expression here for ‘restore’ is the same as at Malachi, chap. iv. 6, ‘He shall turn the heart’ &c. it is meant, that he shall set all things right in regard to religion. This John the Baptist, the Elias spoken of by Malachi, did, by preaching repentance with the success which attended him. Bp. Pearce.

Matthew 17:12

12.—Elias is come already, &c.] Elias is come, as it is written of him in Malachi; and they, the Scribes and Pharisees, ‘have done unto him whatsoever they listed,’ rejecting his baptism, (Luke vii. 30,) and refusing to believe his doctrine, Matt. xxi. 25. Dr. Whitby.

Matthew 17:15

15.—he is lunatic.] The symptoms mentioned at Luke ix. 39, seem to show that this disease was an epilepsy, caused by the power of an evil spirit. Dr. Hammond.

Matthew 17:17

17.—O faithless and perverse generation, &c.] It is related by St. Mark, chap. ix. 14, 16, that ’the scribes were then questioning with Christ’s disciples,’ and perhaps insulting over them, as having found out a distemper which could not be cured by his name and power, and Christ asked them what it was, about which they disputed. It seems therefore most probable, that Christ spoke these words with reference to those scribes, to whom He at other times used similar language, Matt. xx. 39; Luke xi. 29. Dr. Whitby.

Or, we may consider this reproach as addressed to all who were then present, in the degree in which it ap-

plied to them; to the disciples, whose incredulity was blamed at ver. 20; to the father, who according to St. Mark, chap. ix. 21—23, seems to doubt; but principally to the Jewish nation, which is represented precisely under this character at Deut. xxxii. 5, 20. Beausole.

Matthew 17:20

20.—faith as a grain of mustard seed.] A degree, however small, of active growing faith. Buxtorl informs us, that ‘a grain of mustard seed’ was used proverbially by the Jews to express the least thing. Dr. Whitby.

—ye shall say unto this mountain.] Ye shall find nothing too hard for you to effect for the glory of God, and in confirmation of My doctrine; ye shall even be able to do things as apparently impossible as removing mountains and throwing them into the sea. Dr. S. Clarke. Removing mountains and levelling them into plains, are proverbial expressions to denote the overcoming of the greatest difficulties and the removing of all obstructions. See Issi. xl. 4. Matt. xxi. 21. W. Lowth.

Matthew 17:21

21. Howbeit this kind &c.] Howbeit, ye must remember that God does not grant the power of working these greater miracles, such as casting out devils and the like, except to those whose faith is strengthened by earnest prayer and fasting, and accompanied with great devotion and purity of mind. Dr. S. Clarke.

Matthew 17:23

23. And they shall kill him.] This is the second time that we read of our Saviour forewarning His disciples of His death and resurrection. Dean Stanhope.

Matthew 17:24

24.—tribute money] Meaning the half shekel which was paid every year by all Jews above twenty years of age to the temple, for buying the daily sacrifice, and other things necessary for the public worship, Exod. xxx. 13. Dr. Whitby.

F 2 Christ warneth his disciples to be humble, and to avoid offences

of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?

Matthew 17:25

25.—of their own children, or of strangers?] By “children” is here meant, natural offspring; by “strangers,” the children of others their subjects.

Matthew 17:26

26.—Then are the children free.] Our Lord’s argument is this; I fearfully kings do not receive tribute-money from their children, then am I, who am the Son of God, excused by their custom from paying any to God. Bp. Pewee.

Matthew 17:27

27.—lest we should offend them,] That is give them an opportunity of saying that I despise the temple and its service, and teach My disciples so to do. By this example, Christ teaches us to avoid the scandal and evil suspicions of men, however groundless they may be. Dr. Whitby.

Chap. XVIII. ver. 1.—came the disciples unto Jesus,] It appears from the parallel passage of St. Mark, chap. ix. 34, that they had been disputing by the way “who should be the greatest” &c. meaning, who among the twelve Apostles then was, or should afterwards be, the superiour in Jesus’s kingdom. It is evident that our Lord’s disciples were for a considerable time possessed with the imagination, which prevailed universally among the Jews with respect to their Messiah, that their Master’s kingdom was to be a temporal one; that He was at some time or other to become a Prince of great power and splendour, and that they of course should enjoy the largest share in His favour, and be placed in situations of great distinction. Bp. Porteus.