CONNECTION and CONTENTS. The connection is not obvious; no theory can be insisted upon. Various views: (1) No connection intended. (2) Matthew 7:7 is connected with the last chapter, while Matthew 7:1-5 were addressed directly to the Pharisees (who were showing signs of dissent), Matthew 7:6 to the... [ Continue Reading ]
GENERAL CHARACTER. The magna charta of Christ's Kingdom: the unfolding of His righteousness; the sublimest code of morals ever proclaimed on earth; the counterpart of the legislation on Mount Sinai; Christ here appears as Lawgiver and King; Moses spoke in God's name; Christ speaks in His own. Its po... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:1. JUDGE NOT. This refers to harsh, unkind judgment, not to the mere formation of private opinion, or to judicial sentences. THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED, not by other men, but by God. His judgment is more strict, and it takes special account of this harsh censorious spirit. The judgment of men... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:2. FOR WITH WHAT JUDGMENT, etc. Literally, ‘in what judgment;' the ‘measure' according to which God's judgment will take place, namely, our own severe judgment. The second clause repeats the same idea, making it more general.... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:3. AND, since the principle of Matthew 7:2 is correct, WHY BEHOLDEST THOU? The verb means to observe, to voluntarily stare at; the context shows that the one addressed could not have clear vision; the question indicates that such observing was unnecessary. The singular ‘thou' is pointed, t... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:3-5. A figurative application of the principle just laid down, showing the folly of sinners being censorious, their incapacity for forming a right judgment of others, hinting at the proportionate magnitude which our own faults and those of others should hold in our estimation.... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:5. THOU HYPOCRITE. Not necessarily the Pharisees, but any who thus act. Such action is hypocrisy before God and before the conscience also. First, before meddling with others. AND THEN SHALT THOU SEE CLEARLY. ‘See' differs from ‘behold' (Matthew 7:3). The look must be purified before it... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:6. If the preceding verses were addressed to the opposing Pharisees, our Lord now turns to the disciples. We prefer to explain: Harsh judgment and unwise correction of others were reproved (Matthew 7:1-5); now comes a warning against laxity of judgment, childish ignorance of men. The two e... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:7. The thoughts of judgment and unworthiness (Matthew 7:1-6), might discourage; encouragement is given by showing God's willingness to give. The objection to connecting this verse with chap. Matthew 5:34, is that it must then refer to temporal things. At the same time it shows that the tru... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:8. FOR EVERY ONE THAT ASKETH, etc. An invariable rule; a plain promise, not for the future, but for the present, since our Lord says: RECEIVETH, FINDETH, IT IS OPENED. This promise, several times repeated by our Lord, is limited only by the verses which follow; comp., however, James 4:3, ‘... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:9. Or, to view the matter in another light, comparing God's willingness with that of a human father. WHAT MAN IS THERE OF YOU, MORE EXACTLY, ‘who is there among you, a man,' a mere man. OF WHOM, etc. In the Greek there are two questions, one broken off: ‘Whom his son shall ask for brea... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:10. A SERPENT. A response both deceptive and hurtful. We often deem the bread a stone, and the fish a serpent, misunderstanding God's good gifts.... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:11. IF YE THEN, BEING EVIL. An argument from the less to the greater; ‘if,' equivalent to ‘since.' An incidental proof of hereditary sin and general depravity. Yet some elements of good remain, such as humanity and parental affection. GOOD GIFTS TO YOUR CHILDREN. This is the rule. HOW... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:12. THEREFORE. An inference from Matthew 7:1-11, summing up the duties to others: not censoriousness, nor laxity, but giving like God's; as He gives good things to those asking Him, even so give to others what you would have them do. The precept is the counterpart of the promise. The corre... [ Continue Reading ]
CONNECTION AND CONTENTS. The exposition of the requirements of ‘the law and the prophets' just given, was far beyond the low morality of the scribes and Pharisees, and men might easily be tempted by their own hearts or by others to seek the easier way. Our Lord therefore concludes by urging His hear... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:13. ENTER YE IN BY, OR THROUGH, THE NARROW GATE. The ‘gate' is mentioned first; the way afterwards. It is the entrance gate at the beginning of the journey of life (the way), not the gate of heaven at the close. Bunyan's ‘Pilgrim's Progress' is the best commentary on all such figures. Expl... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:14. STRAITENED (lit, ‘pressed together') IS THE WAY. Even after we pass through the gate the Christian course continues difficult, is a constant conflict and self-denial, but it LEADETH UNTO LIFE. Eternal life which begins in this world, but is obtained in its fulness in eternity. The way... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:15. BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS, _i.e._., teachers. Not only is the way straitened, but those who might leave the ‘many' to find it are in danger from false teachers, such as would prevent them from finding it. The warning may refer to the false teachers shortly to arise from among the Jews,... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:16. BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM. This order is more emphatic. This common figure is carried out in detail in Matthew 7:17-19. DO MEN GATHER GRAPES OF THORNS, OR FIGS OF THISTLES? The fruits most highly prized in the East. From teachers we are to look for valuable fruit; but false t... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:17. The general law of nature is here laid down positively: As the tree, so is the fruit. The principle holds good in the moral world. Matthew 7:18 repeats the same truth, asserting the impossibility of its being otherwise. But while Matthew 7:16 refers to kinds of plants, these verses sp... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:19. The figure is carried further to show the awful destiny of the false teachers. EVERY TREE, irrespective of its kind in this case, THAT BRINGETH NOT FORTH GOOD FRUIT, is entirely barren. All is here made dependent on the fruitfulness. Is hewn down and cast into the fire. Such trees ca... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:20. WHEREFORE BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM. Resumption of the thought of Matthew 7:16, which has been further illustrated. ‘Fruits,' If in this case not ‘actions,' as usually, the actions of the false teachers were decisive as to their character, there would be little danger of their... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:21. A natural transition from false teachers to false profession and self-deception. NOT EVERY ONE. The really pious profess Christ, but not all who profess are really pious. This answers a common objection urged against public profession from the number of hypocrites. LORD, LORD, the... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:22. MANY. The number of ‘false teachers' is large, much more that of hypocrites. IN THAT DAY. ‘The great day of the Lord;' whether it be one day of account for all, or the particular day for each. LORD, Lord. The confession (Matthew 7:21) now becomes a cry for help. DID WE NOT PROPHE... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:23. AND THEN, at once, WILL I PROFESS UNTO THEM. They make false professions, but ‘I will tell them the plain truth.' I NEVER KNEW YOU. They had not fallen away, they had never been called by Christ, though called by His name, and calling on His name. Intimate knowledge of persons implie... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:24. THEREFORE. In view of all that precedes, especially the warnings just given, to which a further warning is here added. THESE SAYINGS OF MINE, coming from me, with a hint as to His authority. This expression does not favor the view that this discourse is a summary made by the Evangeli... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:25. A picture of the sudden violent storms so common in the East, as indeed the definite articles indicate. No distinct meaning need be assigned to RAIN, FLOODS, and WINDS, but THE ROCK means Christ. The definite article points to this, and the figure is thus applied so frequently in the S... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:26. DOETH THEM NOT. Life is the test, not _knowledge_, or profession, which may be included here under the word ‘heareth.' FOOLISH, _i.e.,_ senseless, singularly imprudent THE SAND. The transitory teachings and works of man. For moral results, science itself is shifting sand compared t... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:27. The description of a storm is repeated, but the result is different; the winds SMOTE UPON THAT HOUSE; AND IT FELL. Instead of adding, ‘for it had been founded on the sand,' our Lord closes the illustration, and at the same time the discourse, which began with the word, ‘blessed,' by sa... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:28. AND IT CAME TO PASS WHEN, etc. A summary of our Lord's sayings would not be thus referred to. THE MULTITUDES, as in Matthew 7:1. They must have heard Him. WERE ASTONISHED. A strong word; ‘driven from their customary state of mind by something new and strange.' TEACHING, rather th... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:29. FOR HE TAUGHT THEM. This may refer to His habitual mode of teaching. AS HAVING AUTHORITY. ‘One' is not only unnecessary, but incorrect Christ is not ‘one' among others ‘having authority,' but the only one having authority, in this highest sense, as the one coming directly from God, a... [ Continue Reading ]