32 But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. 33 And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said. 34 While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. my 35 And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is beloved Son: hear him. 36 And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen. 37 And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met him. 38 And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child. 39 And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him. 40 And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not. 41 And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither. 42 And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, 1 Matt. xvii. 14. for what could he derive of knowledge or the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. Verse 32. And when they were awake. -They had been heavy with sleep; but now they were thoroughly awake, as the word signifies. Verse 38. A man of the company cried out, &c.-See the notes on Matt. xvii. 14, 15, and Mark ix. 14. and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father. 43 God. And they were all amazed at the mighty power of But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples, 44 m Let these sayings sink down into your ears for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men. 45 But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying. n 46 Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. 47 And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him, 48 And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. 49° And John answered and said, Master, we saw one Verses 44, 45. These sayings sink down into your ears. A mode of solemnly enforcing a truth upon the attention; and such was the continual tendency of the disciples to expect that their Master would throw off the veil, and manifest himself in the glory of his regal character, that it was necessary again and again to repeat to them the unwelcome truth of his approaching sufferings and death. The effect of this might be to check in a great measure those extravagant hopes which they were prone to indulge, and hold them in some degree of suspense; but it is added, they understood not this saying. They could not indeed mistake the import of the words used; but they probably thought that Christ was speaking in a kind of parable, and was not to be understood literally. The true sense of his words was therefore hid from them, that they perceived it not. It was hidden, not by any act of God, but by the force of their own prejudices, their wishes o Mark ix. 38. being the misleading interpreters. And they feared to ask him of that saying: either as remembering the severe reproof which Peter had received, and all of them through him, when he said, on a similar occasion, "This be far from thee;" or rather, perhaps this expresses the deception which they practised upon themselves in reference to a subject on which they were most reluctant to be convinced. They hoped that he used figurative language when he so often and so emphatically spoke of his death; and they feared to ask him, lest this pleasing delusion should be dissipated,—a very natural feeling when all the circumstances in which they were placed are considered. We have the key to the great mystery of our Lord's humiliations, which at that time they had not. Verse 46. Which of them should be greatest.-See the notes on Matt. xviii. 1, &c., and Mark ix. 36. Verse 49. And John answered, saying, casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. 50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us. 51 ¶ And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, 52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. Master, we saw one casting out devils, &c. virtue of his omniscience the whole scene -See notes on Mark ix. 38. Verse 51. When the time was come that he should be received up.-There can be no question, but that avaλŋyıs here signifies, not the elevation on the cross; nor his going up to Jerusalem, which is afterwards expressed; but his being received up to God; for the verb is used of the ascension of Christ in several places. The word συμπληρούσθαι is not always used absolutely, for the completion of a period within which an event was to take place, but sometimes, as here, the commencement of it, as in Gen. xxv. 24, LXX. Now that period had arrived for the commencement of a series of transactions which was to terminate in Christ's being received up into his glory. The expression also takes its rise from St. Luke's plan, which was not to follow so much the order of time, as to class events; and he now enters upon his last class, namely, that series which comprehends this last journey of Christ to Jerusalem, and various discourses and actions, ending with the death, resurrection, and receiving up of Christ into his glory. He steadfastly set his face to go, &c.—A Hebrew phrase to denote a firm and resolved purpose, and not indeed wholly peculiar to Jewish writers. Such expressions, though brief, open to us large and interesting views. They show that our Lord was not, by virtue of his being divine, exempted from the most serious anxieties, and painful anticipations, respecting his approaching sufferings. By was opened before him; but, under its impression, the humanity felt that which required the renewal and repetition of strong and holy resolutions to overcome. It was this which called forth his earnest prayers, continued through whole nights; and this which rendered it necessary to him as "his hour" approached, steadfastly to set his face, to compose himself into a firm and settled resolve, to go up to Jerusalem, and to meet that malignity of all his enemies to which he knew he must fall a victim. Such was the strength of that love which engaged him in the work of our salvation, the intensity of his desire to complete his glorious work, that he hastened to meet a torturing and an accursed death, to pay the AUT Our REDEMPTION PRICE, and then to surround himself with the trophies of his own mercy in the number which no man can number, rescued by his conquering arm from the power of Satan, and raised to the joys and immortality of heaven. , Verses 52-56. Sent messengers before his face. They were sent to prepare necessary accommodations for him and his disciples for the night, in this Samaritan village. One of the ways from Galilee up to Jerusalem was through the country of the Samaritans. It is not probable that those Jews who regularly went up to Jerusalem at their great festivals would ordinarily spend a night in a country to the inhabitants of which they bore SO great a hatred, and 53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as P Elias did? 55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. p 2 Kings i. 10. who returned it in equal measure; for they not only showed them no hospitality, but, because of the rivalry existing between their temple on Mount Gerizim, and that at Jerusalem, they were particularly provoked at the multitudes who flocked to Jerusalem at the passover, and, as Josephus states, sometimes endeavoured to hinder their progress. Our Lord probably chose that this bigoted churlishness of the Samaritans should, on this occasion be made manifest, that he might teach his disciples a most important lesson as to their behaviour in similar circumstances. They did not receive him,—they would not suffer him to lodge in their village; because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem,-because it was plain from the direction he was taking, that he was travelling up to the metropolis to celebrate the passover. And James and John said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven to consume them, as Elias did? What was the reply of our Lord? Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. Perhaps they knew not that in truth there was much more of Jewish hatred in their hearts to the Samaritans, than of zeal for the vindication of their Master's honour; but, however that might be, they were obviously ignorant of the spirit and genius of the gospel, which allows no retaliation of injuries, and inculcates the spirit of meekness, and forgiveness of injuries; and perceived not that their zeal was evil, and that they were unworthy disciples of Him who came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And having so said, he went to another village. They were not far from the place where Elijah called down fire from heaven upon the two captains and their fifties, sent to apprehend him; and they might there wish to be revenged upon the Samaritans, justified by his example. But the cases were not in the least parallel. The Jews, under their theocracy, were subject to a system of temporal rewards and punishments immediately inflicted or bestowed by Jehovah, their governor. In this case the king had sent to apprehend God's prophet and representative, and had been guilty of a crime against the divine Majesty, which was thus publicly punished. It was a case in which God himself interposed to defend his servant by a sig nal vengeance upon a wicked prince and his servants. But, in the case of these erring disciples, the matter was one of national prejudice and personal resentment; and into such hands God would not put his thunderbolts. The genius of the gospel is also essentially different from that of the law. In the latter civil government was blended with religion, and God acted as Judge; but under the gospel we stand only in spiritual relations, and the time of judgment is deferred to one day, to be executed by that one man whom God hath appointed. "Now is the appointed time, now is the day of salvation ;" and, after the example of Christ, all his followers ought to be occupied only in the work of saving and blessing men, leaving vengeance to Him to whom 57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. r 59 And he said unto another, Follow me. Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But he said, 60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. q Matt. viii. 19. it belongs, and to that future time when He who only can be an infallible judge in the case shall "give to every man according as his work shall be." The clause, For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them, is rejected by Griesbach and some other editors, as an interpolation from a marginal gloss, and it is not found in many Mss. The context, however, appears to require it; and it bears strong internal evidence of being the genuine words of our blessed Saviour. They are equivalent to, "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost." Verse 57. A certain man, &c.--See notes on Matt. viii. 19, 20. Verse 59. Suffer me to go first and bury, &c. See notes on Matt. viii. 21. Verse 62. No man, having put his hand to the plough.-To put the hand to the plough is a proverbial expression for undertaking any work, and is used also by Greek writers. A man engaged in plough ing, if he looks back or behind, being care. r Matt. viii. 21. less at his work, is unfit for the occupation of ploughing. He must look steadily down upon his plough and the soil, that he may make straight furrows, and effectually turn up the ground. The allusion teaches that all worldly regards turn the attention of ministers from their proper work, on which they ought to be intently fixed, as a good ploughman upon the direction of his plough, and the course of his furrow. He who has observed how constantly the attention is fixed in the act of ploughing, so that nothing diverts the ploughman from his occupation, will perceive the force of this powerful and admonitory comparison. The minister of Christ must be a man of one business; and he that looks back, either from carelessness or love of the world, in other words, he that suffers his attention and affections to be distracted, is not fit for the kingdom of God, not fit for its service, not fit to preach it; for the words were spoken to one whom our Lord had called to follow him, that he might employ him in preaching. |