Luke 9:51 to Luke 18:31_. Rejected by the Samaritans. A lesson of Tolerance._ This section forms a great episode in St Luke, which may be called the departure for the final conflict, and is identical with the journey (probably to the Feast of the Dedication, John 10:22) which is partially Luke 9:51... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 11:1-13. The Lord's Prayer. Persistence in Prayer. 1. _And it came to pass that_, _as he was praying in a certain place_ The better order is -as he was in a certain place, praying." The extreme vagueness of these expressions shews that St Luke did not possess a more definite note of place or of... [ Continue Reading ]
_When ye pray, say, Our Father_ -The Lord's Prayer" had already been enshrined in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13), but it was now more formally delivered as a model. Various parallels for the different petitions of the Lord's Prayer have been adduced from the Talmud, nor would there be anyt... [ Continue Reading ]
_Give us day by day our daily bread_ The prayer (i) acknowledges that we are indebted to God for our _simplest_boons; (ii) asks them for _all;_(iii) asks them only day by day; and (iv) asks for no more, Proverbs 30:8; John 6:27. St Luke's version brings out the continuity of the gift (Be giving day... [ Continue Reading ]
_shall go unto him at midnight_ Orientals often travel at night to avoid the heat. Although idle repetitions in prayer are forbidden, persistency and importunity in prayer wrestling with God, and not letting Him go until He has blessed us are here distinctly taught (see Luke 18:1-8), as they also we... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have nothing to set before him_ Even the deepest poverty was not held to excuse any lack of the primary Eastern virtue of hospitality. Allegorically we may see here the unsatisfied hunger of the soul, which wakens in the midnight of a sinful life.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Trouble me not_ The answer is rough and discouraging. He does not say -friend." His phrase implies irritation. The details are of course not to be pressed. The parable is merely an illustration _a fortiori._ is now shut Literally, _"has been already shut_" with the implication -shut for the night... [ Continue Reading ]
_yet because of his importunity_ Literally, - _shamelessness_" (Vulg. _improbitas),_-impudence," i.e. unblushing persistence, which is not however _selfish_, but that he may do his duty towards another. Isaiah 62:6, "Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he e... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ask_, _and it shall be given you_ Matthew 7:7-11; Matthew 21:22; Mark 11:24; John 16:23. Doubtless these teachings were repeated more than once to different listeners. God's _unwillingness_to grant is never more than in semblance, and for our good (Matthew 15:28 _;_Genesis 32:28).... [ Continue Reading ]
_give the Holy Spirit_ St Matthew has the much more general expression "good things" (Luke 7:11). The Good Father will give to His children neither what is deadly, nor what is unfit for food.... [ Continue Reading ]
14-26. The dumb Devil. Blasphemy of the Pharisees. 14. _it was dumb_ i.e., of course, the possession by the spirit caused dumbness in the man. If this incident be the same as in Matthew 12:22, the wretched sufferer seems to have been both dumb, and blind, and mad. _the people wondered_ Exorcisms,... [ Continue Reading ]
_some of the?n said_ We learn from St Matthew (Matthew 12:24) that this notable suggestion emanated from "the Pharisees" and, as St Mark (Luke 3:20) adds, from "the scribes _which came from_Jerusalem," i.e. the spies who had been expressly sent down by the ruling hierarchs to dog the footsteps of Je... [ Continue Reading ]
_tempting him_ i.e. wanting to _try_Him, to put Him to the test. The temptation was precisely analogous to that in the wilderness a temptation to put forth a self-willed or arbitrary exertion of power for personal ends, see Luke 4:3; Luke 4:12. _a sign from heaven_ They persuaded the people that His... [ Continue Reading ]
_their thoughts_ Rather, their machinations. _Every kingdom divided against itself_&c. More briefly and graphically in St Mark "How can Satan cast out Satan?" _and a house divided against a house falletli_ The words may also be rendered -and (in that case) house falleth against house.... [ Continue Reading ]
_by whom do your sons cast them outf_ The "pupils of the wise" might be called the -sons of the Pharisees" just as the youths in the Prophetic schools were called -sons of the Prophets." The reality of the Jewish exorcisms is not here necessarily admitted (Acts 19:13). It was enough that the admitt... [ Continue Reading ]
_with the finger of God_ "Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, _This is the finger of God"_Exodus 8:19. _is come upon you_ The word and tense imply suddenness and surprise.... [ Continue Reading ]
_When a strong man armed keepeth his palace_ The same metaphor is used of the Christian opposing Satan, as here of Satan opposing Christ, Ephesians 6:13. The world is here Satan's palace (John 12:31; John 16:11) and men his possessions (2 Timothy 2:26).... [ Continue Reading ]
_a stronger than he_ Christ, "having spoiled principalities and powers, made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in His Cross," Colossians 2:15. _his spoils_ The spoils which Satan had won from the race of man. Bengel.... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that is not with me is against me_ Neutrality is sometimes opposition, see on Luke 9:51 (where we have the complementary truth).... [ Continue Reading ]
_he walketh through dry places_ The unclean spirits were thought to frequent ruins (_Berachoth_, f. 3 _a)_and the waterless desert, Tob 8:3; see on Luke 4:1. _seeking rest_ Not to be in possession of some human soul, is (for them) to be in torment.... [ Continue Reading ]
_swept and garnished_ The mischief and danger of the emancipated soul is that it is not occupied by a New Indweller. It has not tested the expulsive power of holy affections. It is -lying idle" (σχολάζοντα _,_Matthew 12:44), i.e. -to let.... [ Continue Reading ]
_seven other spirits_ Compare Luke 8:2; Luke 8:30. The number is figurative of complete wickedness and (in this case) final possession. _the last state of that man is worse than the first_ The most striking comment on the verse is furnished by Hebrews 6:4-6; Hebrews 10:26-29, and especially 2 Pete... [ Continue Reading ]
27-32. The Womanly Exclamation. The Peril of Privileges abused. 27. _Blessed is the womb that bare thee_ See Luke 1:28; Luke 1:48. "How many women have blessed the Holy Virgin, and desired to be such a mother as she was! What hinders them? Christ has made for us a wide way to this happiness, and no... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yea rather_, _blessed are they that hear the word of God_, _and keep it_ See Luke 8:21. Our Lord invariably and systematically discouraged all attempt to exalt the merely human relationship or intercourse with Him, and taught that the Presence of His Spirit was to be a nearer and more blessed thing... [ Continue Reading ]
_were gathered_ Rather, WERE DENSELY GATHERING.... [ Continue Reading ]
_a sign unto the Ninevites_ Jonah 1:17. __... [ Continue Reading ]
_The queen of the south_ The queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:1-13; 2 Chronicles 9:1). The visit of this queen of Yemen made a deep impression on Oriental imagination, and is found in the Koran (xxvii., &c.) "dilated with nonsense and encumbered with fables." _to hear the wisdom of Solomon_ and also "to... [ Continue Reading ]
_they repented at the preaching of Jonas_ "The people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them," Jonah 3:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
33-36. The Inward Light. 33. _in a secret place_ Rather, IN A CRYPT OR CELLAR. _under a bushel_ Rather, -under THE bushel"; i.e. the one in use in the house; and similarly -the candlestick," or rather, -lamp-stand." _that they which come in may see the light_ The comparison is the same as in Matt... [ Continue Reading ]
_The light of the body is the eye_ Rather, THE EYE IS THE CANDLE OF THE BODY, since the word is the same as in the last verse. _therefore when thine eye is single_ The eye in this clause is the -inward eye" of conscience; the -illuminated eye of the heart," Ephesians 1:17-18. -Single," i.e. unsophi... [ Continue Reading ]
_that the light which is in thee be not darkness_ It becomes so when we are -wise in our own conceit" (Proverbs 16:12) which makes us think a way right when it is the way of death (Proverbs 16:25), and makes us call evil good, and good evil, put darkness for light, and light for darkness, Isaiah 5:2... [ Continue Reading ]
_doth give thee light_ The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. "God will light my candle," Psalms 18:28. "Thy word is a lantern unto my feet." In these words we catch an echo of those thoughts on the diffusiveness and divineness of light which are so fully developed in St John's Gospel (Luke 8... [ Continue Reading ]
37-54. The Invitation of the Pharisee and the open Rupture. 37. _besought_ Rather, asked. _to dine with him_ The meal was not dinner (_deipnon_), but an earlier, lighter, and more informal meal (_ariston_). _he went in, and sat down to meat_ The words imply that immediately He entered He sat down... [ Continue Reading ]
_he marvelled that he had not first washed_ Literally, "_bathed."_ No washing was necessary to eat a few dates or figs. At the chief meal of the day, where all dipped their hands into a common dish, it was a matter of cleanliness. But the duty of cleanliness had been turned by the Oral Law into a ri... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now do ye Pharisees_ Doubtless other circumstances besides the mere supercilious astonishment of the Pharisee led to the vehement rebuke. The eightfold woe in Matthew 23 is fuller than here. Jesus denounces their frivolous scrupulosity (39), combined with gross insincerity (42), their pride (43), a... [ Continue Reading ]
_that which is within also_ See Mark 7:18-19, which contains our Lord's distinctest utterance in abrogation of the Levitic Law "This He said _...making all meats clean._... [ Continue Reading ]
_give alms_ See Luke 12:33; Luke 16:14; Matthew 6:3. Almsgiving is only mentioned as one typical form of Charity, which was in that state of society preeminently necessary. Indeed -alms" is the same word as _eleemosune,_which involves the idea of Mercy. The general lesson that God does _not_care for... [ Continue Reading ]
_ye tithe mint and rue_ Deuteronomy 14:22. In the Talmud there are elaborate discussions whether in tithing the seeds of potherbs one ought also to tithe the stalk, &c. _pass over judgment and the love of God_ Because the love of God is best shewn by love to men, and the Pharisees were filled with i... [ Continue Reading ]
_uppermost seats_ These were places in the synagogue in a conspicuous semicircle facing the congregation, and round the _bema_of the reader, Luke 14:7-11; Matthew 23:6. _greetings in the markets_ in which they addressed one another by extravagant titles, and required from their followers an exagger... [ Continue Reading ]
_hypocrites_ The first meaning of the word is -actors." _as graves which appear not_ Any contact with sepulchres involved Levitical uncleanness. Hence graves and tombs were whitewashed that none might touch them unawares. Perhaps our Lord was alluding to Tiberias, which when it was being built was... [ Continue Reading ]
_one of the lawyers_ See on Luke 7:30; Luke 10:25. This Scribe thought that Jesus could not possibly mean to reflect on the honoured class who copied and expounded the Law. _reproachest_ Literally, "_insultest_." There was a difference between Pharisees and lawyers; the position of the latter invo... [ Continue Reading ]
_burdens grievous to be borne_ These burdens of the Oral Law became yearly more and more grievous, till they were enshrined in the boundless pedantry of ceremonialism which fills the Talmud. But even at this period they were an intolerable yoke (Acts 15:10), and the lawyers had deserved the Woe pron... [ Continue Reading ]
_your fathers killed them_ This is holy sarcasm. They boasted that they would _not_have done as their fathers had done to the Prophets (Matthew 23:30), yet they rejected John, the greatest of the Prophets, and crucified the Just One, Acts 7:51-52.... [ Continue Reading ]
_bear witness...allow_ We find the same two words used of St Paul in Acts 7:58; Acts 8:1. Allow means -approve after trial," and is derived from _allaudare._"The Lord _alloweth_the righteous," Psalms 11:6 (Prayer-Book Version).... [ Continue Reading ]
_the wisdom of God_ There is an allusion to 2 Chronicles 24:20-22 (comp, 2 Chronicles 36:14-21), but as the exact passage nowhere occurs in the O. T. some suppose that our Lord quotes (1) from a _lost book_called -The Wisdom of God" (Ewald, Bleek, &c.); or (2) from previous words of His own; or (3)... [ Continue Reading ]
_unto the blood of Zacharias_ His murder by Joash is described in 2 Chronicles 24:20-21, and also filled a large place in Jewish legends. The words "the son of Barachiah," in Matthew 23:35, are probably an erroneous gloss which has crept from the margin into the text. The murdered Zacharias was the... [ Continue Reading ]
_ye have taken away the key of knowledge_ A key was the regular symbol of the function of a scribe (Matthew 13:52; Matthew 16:19), which was to open the meaning of the Holy Books. The crime charged against them here is their selfish exclusiveness. They declared that only rich and well-born people co... [ Continue Reading ]
_And as he said these things_ Rather (with א, B, C, L), WHEN HE HAD GONE FORTH FROM THENCE. The Pharisees in their anger followed Him. _to urge him vehemently_ It is clear from this and the following verse that the Pharisee's feast had been a base plot to entrap Jesus. None of His disciples seem to... [ Continue Reading ]
_to catch_ Literally, "_to hunt."_They were members of a body of a sort of -commission of enquiry" which had been sent from Jerusalem for this express purpose, Mark 12:13.... [ Continue Reading ]