Matthew 22

—which had not on a wedding garment:] The wedding garment, it is thought, was a robe, which it was usual for the master of the feast to furnish for those guests who were unable to provide themselves with it. We find traces of this custom in classical writers, and even in modern entertainments in the East. It was highly indecorous and offensive to intrude on the festivity of the feast without this garment. Bp. Porteus. By the wedding garment is here intended that purity of mind and conversation, that charity, and those good works, which are the genuine fruits and evidences of a truly Christian faith. Dean Stanhope.

Matthew 22:2

2.—sit in Moses’ seat:] Are the received interpreters of the law of Moses. Dr. Whitby. Are your lawful rulers, having authority over you, succeeding Moses and the seventy elders, Numb. xi. 16. Dr. Hammond.

Matthew 22:3

3.—but do not ye after their works:] Receive them, He says, for your instructors, but beware of taking them for your examples. Dr. Warburton.

Our Lord instructs His hearers to distinguish between the publick and private character of the teacher. He shews them, that the men, who say and do not, should never be followed for examples; yet that ministers of religion, who sit in Moses’s chair, and are invested with authority to teach the law, are to be attended to as instructors, when in their office they denounce and enforce the ordinances of God. Dr. Warburton. In the same manner, Christians are bound to observe whatever their authorized ministers and pastors shall deliver out of the word of God, and to consider every holy ordinance as valid, which they shall perform agreeably to the institution of Christ, even although their character and conduct should not be wholly conformable to the duties which they teach. Bp. Tomlins.

Matthew 22:4

4.—my oxen and my fatlings &c.] By this is conveyed a significant intimation of the invaluable mercies designed by God for His creatures in the Christian dispensation. Dean Stanhope.

4.—they bind heavy burdens] They impose many severe ordinances on others beyond what the law prescribes; but will not themselves be persuaded to perform those things which by the clear law of God are most necessary. Dr. Hammond.

Matthew 22:6

6.—entreated them spitefully.] Thus the Jews not only treated with contempt the words of eternal life, but pursued with unceasing rancour the first preachers of the Gospel, and persecuted them even unto death. Bp. Porteus.

G Parable of the marriage of the king’s son. Anno DOMINI 23.

Matthew 22:7

7.—he sent forth his armies, &c.] This points out in the plainest terms the Roman armies under Vespasian and Titus, which, not many years after this was spoken, besieged Jerusalem, and destroyed the city, with an immense number of its inhabitants. This terrible devastation our Lord here predicts in general terms, (as afterwards more particularly at chap. xxiv.) and represents, as the judgment of God on this perverse and obstinate people, for their rejection of the Christian religion, their savage treatment of the Apostles and their associates, and their many other atrocious crimes. This punishment however is here represented by anticipation, as having been inflicted during the marriage feast, though, in fact, it did not take place till after the Gospel had been for some time promulgated. Bp. Porteus.

Matthew 22:9

9. Go ye therefore into the highways, &c.] It may be thought perhaps, at first view, that our Lord has here introduced a circumstance not very natural or probable. It may be imagined that, at a magnificent royal entertainment, if any of the guests happened to fail in their attendance, a great king would never think of supplying their places by sending his servants into the highways to collect together all the travellers and strangers they could meet with, and make them sit down at the marriage feast. But, strange as this may seem, there is something that approaches very near it in the customs of the Eastern nations, even in modern times. For a traveller of great credit and reputation, Bp. Pococke, informs us, that an Arab prince will often dine in the street before his door, and call to all that pass, even to beggars, in the name of God; and they come and sit down to table, and, when they have done, retire with the usual form of returning thanks. Bp. Porteus.

Matthew 22:10

10.—and gathered together all &c.] Allusion is here made to the calling in of the Gentiles or heathens to the privileges of the Gospel, after they had been haughtily rejected by the Jews. This was first done by St. Peter in the instance of Cornelius, (Acts x.) and afterwards extended to the Gentiles at large by him and the other Apostles. And in this gracious invitation, no exceptions, no distinctions were to be made. The servants gathered together all that they found, both good and bad; men of all characters and descriptions were to have the offers of mercy and salvation made to them, even the very worst of sinners; for it was these chiefly that our Saviour came to call to repentance, Matt. ix. 12; xxi. 31. Bp. Porteus.

Matthew 22:11

11.—when the king came into the guests,] By the king being represented as coming in to see whether the guests were prepared with proper garments, it is intended to set forth how absolutely and indispensably God expects and requires that every man, who hopes to be admitted into the kingdom of heaven, should have

Matthew 22:12

12.—And he was speechless.] Meaning, that he had nothing to say in exculpation of himself.

Matthew 22:13

13.—cast him into outer darkness; &c.] He was driven from the blaze and splendour of the feast to the darkness and gloom of the street without, where he was left to unavailing grief and remorse for his offence, and for the loss of his enjoyments. The man without the wedding garment is every one that is not clothed with the “robe of righteousness;” every one that pretends to be a Christian without possessing the true evangelical temper and disposition of mind, without the virtues of a holy life; every one that expects to be saved by Christ, yet regards not the conditions on which that salvation depends; every profane, every unjust, every dissolute man; every one that presumes to say, Lord, Lord, yet doeth not the will of his heavenly Father; all these shall be excluded from the privileges of the Gospel, and cast into outer darkness: for many (ver 14.) are called upon and invited to embrace the Gospel, but few, comparatively speaking, receive it, or at least, conduct themselves in a manner suitable to their high and heavenly calling, so as to be chosen or deemed worthy to inherit the kingdom of heaven. Bp. Porteus.

Considered in a moral and practical light, this parable should teach us the necessity of adorning the soul with all Christian graces and virtues, that we may always be in a due state of preparation to approach God in any act of religion, and also to stand before Him with humble confidence in the day of judgment. Bp. Mann.

Matthew 22:14

14. For many are called, but few are chosen.] By these concluding words, our Lord expressly declares that the chosen or elect of God are not persons originally and unconditionally from the beginning decreed to be saved; but all such as shall at the end be found to have the wedding garment; that is, to be clothed with righteousness, having led a holy and a virtuous life. Dr. S. Clarke.

The Pharisees question Jesus on the payment of tribute. Anno DOMINI took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.

Matthew 22:16

16.—with the Herodians,] Respecting the Herodians nothing is known with certainty; but there is great reason to assent to the judicious conjectures of Dean Prideaux and others, who consider the Herodians, not as a religious sect, but a political party, who began to grow eminent in the days of Herod the Great, as favouring his claims, and those of his patrons, the Romans, to the sovereignty of Judas. Some of these, no doubt, might be weak enough to imagine that Herod was the Messiah, or wicked enough to pretend that they did, in order to serve his cause; and would be ready to vindicate his conduct, when, the better to pay his court to the Romans, he consecrated temples to some of their false deities. This party, having begun in the time of Herod, may well be supposed to have continued long afterwards in favour and power, by the indulgence of the Herods, and influence of the Romans. Bp. Percy.

— neither carest thou for any man.] Thou wilt not be restrained, by fear or respect for any man, from declaring to us plainly the will of God. Dr. S. Clarke.

Matthew 22:17

17.—Is it lawful to give tribute &c.] May we do this without a breach of our duty to God? Bp. Pearce. In order to understand the insidious nature of the question here proposed to Jesus, it must be observed, that the Jews at this time, being under the dominion of the Romans, paid them an annual tribute in money, as an acknowledgment of their subjection. The Pharisees however were adverse to the payment of this tribute; and contended that, as they were the peculiar people of God, and He their only rightful Sovereign, they ought not to pay tribute to any foreign prince whatever. There were many others who maintained a contrary opinion, and it was a question much agitated among different parties. The Herodians, as is plain from their name, were in some way or other attached to Herod; and, as he was a friend to the Roman government, they probably maintained the propriety of paying the tribute. Bp. Porteus.

— unto Cesar,] Cesar was the general title given to all the Roman emperours. Bp. Mann.

Matthew 22:18

18.—Why tempt ye me,] They conceived it impossible that He could extricate Himself from the dilemma into which they had brought Him; being persuaded that, in answering this question, He must either render Himself odious to the Jewish people, by opposing their popular notions of liberty; or, on the other hand, give offence to the emperour, and expose Himself to the charge of disaffection to the Roman government, by denying their right to the tribute they had imposed. Bp. Porteus.

Matthew 22:19

19.—a penny.] A Roman denarius, about sevenpence half-penny of our money.

Matthew 22:21

21. They say unto him, Cesar’s.] By admitting that this was Cesar’s coin, and by consenting to receive it as the current coin of their country, they in fact ac-

knowledged their subjection to his government. Bp. Porteus. The inserting a prince’s name in the Khootba, (or publick prayer for the king,) and the inserting it on the current coin, are reckoned in the East the most certain acknowledgments of sovereignty. Elphinstone.

— Render therefore &c.] There is scarcely any thing which proves both wisdom and rightness of mind more fully than proper behaviour on sudden occasions, and proper answers to unforeseen questions: for what a man shews himself to be at such times, we have in general great cause to believe he really is. To this trial our Saviour, living a publick life, in the midst of persons taking every advantage to enmure Him, was perpetually exposed; and His character not only did not suffer, but was exalted by every such occasion of shewing His wisdom and sedateness, insomuch that His enemies were amazed, and paid Him the unwilling tribute of publick approbation. Abys. Decker and Newcome.

— unto Cesar the things which are Cesar’s.] Our Saviour in this answer not only shewed admirable wisdom and discretion in disengaging Himself from the difficulties in which the question was intended to involve Him; but, without entering into any political discussion, He laid down a doctrine of the first importance to the peace and happiness of mankind, as a fundamental rule of His religion; namely, that we should always pay obedience to lawful authority, and submit to that acknowledged and established government under which we live. Here then we see the whole weight of the Gospel, and of its Divine Author, thrown into the scale of lawful authority. Here we see that the Christian religion comes in as a most powerful auxiliary to the civil magistrate, and lends the entire force of its sanctions to the established government of every country; an advantage of infinite importance to the peace and welfare of society. Bp. Porteus. Amongst the peculiar qualities of our holy religion is to be reckoned its complete abstraction from all views of civil policy. Christianity, while it declines every question relating to particular forms of government, is alike friendly to them all, by tending to make men virtuous, and therefore easier to be governed; by stating obedience to government, in ordinary cases, to be not merely a submission to force, but a duty of conscience; by inducing dispositions favourable to publick tranquillity; and by recommending prayers for communities and governours, of every description, with a solicitude and fervency, proportioned to the influence they possess upon human happiness. Archdeacon Paley.

The manner in which our Saviour points out in this sentence the perfect consistency between civil obedience to men, and pious homage to God, is truly admirable. Enthusiasts, exalted as they have conceived themselves to be by the peculiar favour of God, have sometimes scorned to pay homage to man; and the extravagances

G 2 Christ confuteth the Sadducees for the resurrection. Anno DOMINI 33. e Mark 12. 18. Luke 20. 27. f Acts 23. 5. g Deut. 23. 5. words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.

Matthew 22:24

24.—Master, Moses said, &c.] See Deut. xxv. 5. The object of the Sadducees here is to shew the absurdity and the falsehood of these doctrines of a resurrection and a future state, by stating a difficulty respecting them, which they conceive to be insuperable. Bp. Porteus.

Matthew 22:28

28.—in the resurrection] In that state which shall be after the resurrection has taken place, supposing that there is one. Bp. Pearce.

Matthew 22:29

29.—Ye do err, &c.] He tells them, that their error arises from their not attending to the Scriptures, (see note at ver. 23,) and duly considering the power of God, which could effect with the utmost ease, what appeared to them impossible; and from their ignorance of the state of human beings in heaven, which resembles that of angels, and in which the relation of marriage is unknown. Bp. Porteus.

Matthew 22:30

30.—are as the angels of God] It is worthy of observation, that our Lord’s discourses exhibit no particular description of the invisible world. He affirms generally the happiness of the good, and the misery of the bad; but maintains a solemn reserve as to anything further. The question concerning the woman who had been married to seven brothers, was of a nature calculated to draw from Him a more circumstantial account of the state of men in their future existence; but He cut short the inquiry by an answer which at once rebuked intruding curiosity, and is agreeable to the best apprehensions we can form on the subject, that they will be “as the angels of God in heaven.” This reserve of our Saviour should be well observed, because it repels all suspicion of enthusiasm; for enthusiasm is wont to expatitate on the condition of the departed, above all other subjects, and with a wild particularity. The Koran of Mahomet is half made up of such enthusiastic descriptions. Archdeacon Paley.

Matthew 22:32

32.—God is not the God of the dead, &c.] By a clear inference from the words of Scripture, our Saviour here shows that, although the bodies of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had long been in their graves, yet their souls had survived and were at that moment in existence. Hence it necessarily followed that the soul did not perish with the body, as the Sadducees believed, but that it continued in being after death. Bp. Porteus. “I am the God of Abraham,” &c. not “I was the God;” intimating that Abraham, Isaac, &c. were still living, and that He was still their God, in their present separate state of existence. Dr. Hales.

Matthew 22:35

35.—a lawyer,] A scribe or expounder of the law, Mark xii. 28. Bp. Pearce. The office of the scribes consisted of two parts, the interpreting of the law in the synagogues, and the explaining of the traditions. Dr. Whitby.

Matthew 22:36

36.—which is the great commandment &c.] This was a famous question among the Jews, some contending that the precept of sacrifice was greatest, as is insinuated, Mark xii. 33; others contending for that of wearing phylacteries, to which Christ answers by stating as “the great commandment” the precept for the love of God, which they always wore on their phylacteries. Dr. Whitby. It seems to have been a maxim received among the Scribes and Pharisees, that such a multiplicity of precepts, as the law contained, was too great for any one to observe; and therefore all that could be required was, that each should select to himself one or two great and important duties, on account of which, if inviolably observed, his transgressions in other respects would be overlooked. Bp. Porteus.

Matthew 22:37

37.—Thou shalt love the Lord—with all thy heart, &c.] Whether these three terms, the “heart,” the “soul,” The two great commandments. Anno DOMINI 33.

Matthew 22:38

38. This the first &c.] The love of our Maker is confessedly the first and great commandment, and stands at the head of every Christian virtue. For it is conformable to all our ideas of order and propriety, that the Supreme Lord of all, the first and greatest and best of beings, should have the first place in our regards, and that those duties which respect Him as their immediate object should have the precedency and command over every other. Besides, among all the incentives to virtue, the love of God is the only one, whose operation is sufficiently effectual and extensive, the only one that can reach to every instance of duty, and produce an uniform consistent character of goodness. It is the grand leading principle of right conduct, the original source and fountain from which all Christian graces flow; from which the living waters of religion take their rise, and branch out into all the various duties of life. A man without any religion may act laudably by chance; his virtue may break out sometimes in sudden temporary gleams; but whoever wishes to be habitually and uniformly good, must have the vital principle of piety working at his heart, and by a constant regular warmth producing constant and regular fruits of righteousness. Bp. Porteus. The love of God is properly styled the first commandment, in respect to God who is the object of the love, and because it is indeed the foundation of all religion, even of that commandment which is styled the second. But by our Saviour’s saying that the love of God is the first commandment, we must by no means infer that it ever is or can be inconsistent with the second: for in fact, the love of our neighbour is deducible from the love of God. No man, who thinks himself bound to love and obey God, can deem himself at liberty to hurt or oppress those whom God has taken under the care and protection of His common providence. No man, who believes it to be his interest as well as his duty to please God, can fail of being kind and tender towards those who are the children of God, and in whose happiness He is not an unconcerned spectator. For this reason, the love of God is called the first and great commandment, and for this reason it never can be inconsistent with the love of our neighbour, which is the second. In all cases where our duty towards our neighbour is clear and plain, we may be certain that our duty is God concurs with it. Bp. Sherlock.

Matthew 22:39

39.—is like unto it,] In excellence and dignity. Dr. S. Clarke. Resembles it in its comprehensive nature, and in its applying to the inward feelings as well as to the outward actions. Grotius. Our Saviour had already sufficiently answered the question proposed to Him, by saying that the love of God was the great commandment in the law. But most of the Jews, to whom He spake, thought the

Matthew 22:40

40. On these two commandments hang &c.] Importing that in these two commandments is compendiously contained all that the Law and the Prophets require, in reference to our duty to God and man. Dr. Whitby. If any teacher of morality had been asked for a general principle of conduct, and for a short rule of life; and if he had instructed the person who had consulted him, constantly to refer his actions to what he believed to be the will of his Creator, and constantly to have in view, not his own interest and gratification only, but the happiness and comfort of those about him; he would have been thought, we cannot doubt, in any age to have delivered a most judicious answer: because, by the first direction, he suggested the only motive which acts steadily and uniformly, in sight and out of sight, in familiar occurrences, and under pressing temptations; and, in the second, he corrected that which, of all tendencies in the human character, stands most in need of correction, selfishness, or a contempt of other men’s convenience and satisfaction. Now what, in the most applauded philosopher of any, even the most enlightened, age of the world, would have been deemed worthy of his wisdom and his character, to say, our Saviour has said, and upon just such an occasion as has been supposed. Nor does it detract from the merit of His answer, that the precepts which He gives existed before in the code of Moses. For it was entirely our Saviour’s own, that he singled these precepts out from the rest of that voluminous institution; that He stated them, not simply amongst the number, but as the greatest and the sum, of all the others; in a word, that He proposed them to His hearers for the great rule and principle of their conduct. Archdeacon Paley. If our Saviour could truly say, that the sum of the Jewish religion, as it was delivered by Moses and the Prophets, did consist in those two things, the love of God, and the love of our neighbour, much greater reason have we to say, that the religion, which He taught, may be summed up in these two duties. For in the Jewish law there were many precepts, which concerned indifferent matters, and did not seem to have any immediate reference to the business of loving God and our neighbour: but in our Saviour’s institution there is hardly one thing recommended to us, that doth not directly relate to this matter; that is not either an instance, wherein we are to express our love to God and our neighbour, or a means, whereby we may be furthered in the practising of those duties or an argument, and motive, and encourage- Christ poseth the Pharisees. He admonisheth the people

Matthew 22:43

43.—in spirit] Rather, “By the Spirit,” that is, by the Holy Ghost (as in Mark xii. 36) inspiring him. Bp. Pearce.

Matthew 22:45

45. [If David then call him Lord, &c.] Their proper answer would have been, that, though Jesus in His human nature was the Son of David, yet, as He was the Son of God and the Christ, He was the Lord of David. Bp. Pearce.

Matthew 22:46

46. And no man was able &c.] In their answer they must either have contradicted this declaration of David, or else they must have condemned themselves for their unbelief. Bp. Mann.

— neither durst any man &c.] That is, no man durst any more ask Him any captious questions for the publick trial of His wisdom. Abp. Newcome.

Chap. XXIII. ver. 1. Then spake Jesus &c.] Our Saviour now proceeds, in a finished model of Divine eloquence, to utter his last most animated, dignified,

scribes and Pharisees. 8 His disciples must beware of their ambition. 13 He denounceth eight woes against their hypocrisy and blindness: 34 and prophesieth of the destruction of Jerusalem.

THEN spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,