VII. (1) IN THE AUDIENCE OF THE PEOPLE. — Better, _in the hearing,_ or, _in the ears,_ the older sense of “audience” having become obsolete. HE ENTERED INTO CAPERNAUM. — The sequence of events is the same as that in Matthew 8:5; and, as far as it goes, this is an element of evidence against the co... [ Continue Reading ]
A CERTAIN CENTURION’S SERVANT. — See Notes on Matthew 8:5. WAS DEAR UNTO HIM. — Literally, _was precious,_ the dearness of value, but not necessarily of affection. St. Luke is here, contrary to what we might have expected, less precise than St. Matthew, who states that the slave was “sick of the pa... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SENT UNTO HIM THE ELDERS OF THE JEWS. — The noun has no article. Better, _He sent unto Him elders;_ not as the English suggests, the whole body of elders belonging to the synagogue or town. This is peculiar to St. Luke, and is obviously important as bearing on the position and character of the ce... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY BESOUGHT HIM INSTANTLY. — Better, _earnestly,_ or _urgently,_ the adverb “instantly” having practically lost the meaning which our translators attached to it.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HATH BUILT US A SYNAGOGUE. — Literally, _the synagogue,_ a well-known and conspicuous building, probably the only one in Capernaum, and so identical with that of which the ruins have been lately discovered by the Palestine Exploration Society. (See Note on Matthew 4:13.)... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN JESUS WENT WITH THEM. — Literally, _And Jesus was going with them._ THE CENTURION SENT FRIENDS TO HIM. — The precision of St. Luke’s account leads us to receive it as a more accurate record of what St. Matthew reports in outline. It is, we may add, more true to nature. The centurion was not li... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE NEITHER THOUGHT I MYSELF WORTHY. — The humility of the centurion appears in a yet stronger light than in St. Matthew’s report. Far from expecting the Prophet to come under his roof, he had not dared even to approach Him.... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE NOT FOUND SO GREAT FAITH, NO, NOT IN ISRAEL. — It is, perhaps, characteristic of both the Evangelists that St. Luke omits the warning words which St. Matthew records as to the “many that shall come from the east and the west,” and the exclusion of the children of the kingdom.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOUND THE SERVANT WHOLE. — Note St. Luke’s characteristic use, as in Luke 5:31, of a technical term for “healthy” or “convalescent.”... [ Continue Reading ]
HE WENT INTO A CITY CALLED NAIN. — The narrative that follows is peculiar to St. Luke. The name of the city has survived, with hardly any alteration, in the modern _Nein._ It lies on the north-western edge of the “Little Hermon” (the _Jebel-ed-Dâhy_) as the ground falls into the plain of Esdraelon.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ONLY SON OF HIS MOTHER, AND SHE WAS A WIDOW. — The two facts are obviously stated as enhancing the bitterness of the mother’s sorrow. The one prop of her life, the hope of her widowhood, had been taken from her. The burial, as was the invariable practice in the East, took place outside the city.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THE LORD SAW HER. — The words are noticeable as being one of the comparatively few instances in which the term “the Lord” is used absolutely instead of Jesus. As far as it goes it confirms the view suggested in the previous Note, that the narrative came from those who had a profound reveren... [ Continue Reading ]
HE CAME AND TOUCHED THE BIER. — The noun so translated is used by classical authors in various senses. Here the facts make it clear that it was after the Jewish manner of burial. It was not a closed-up coffin, like the mummy-cases of Egypt, but an open bier on which the corpse lay wrapped up in its... [ Continue Reading ]
HE DELIVERED HIM TO HIS MOTHER. — Literally, _He gave him._ The mother was, probably, following at some little distance with the other mourners. As she came up she received her son as given to her once again, “God-given,” in a higher sense then when she had rejoiced that a man-child was born into th... [ Continue Reading ]
A GREAT PROPHET. — This, we must remember, was the first instance of our Lord’s power as put forth to raise the dead, that of Jairus’s daughter following in Luke 8:40. In the history of the Old Testament there were examples of such wonders having been wrought by Elijah (1 Kings 17:22) and Elisha (2... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS RUMOUR OF HIM WENT FORTH THROUGHOUT ALL JUDÆA. — Nain itself was in Galilee, and St. Luke apparently names Judæa, as wishing to show how far the fame of the miracle had spread.... [ Continue Reading ]
(18-23) AND THE DISCIPLES OF JOHN SHEWED HIM. — See Notes on Matthew 11:2. The fact, mentioned by St. Luke only, that the “disciples of John” reported these things, suggests some interesting coincidences: (1) It implies that they had been present at our Lord’s miracles, and had heard His teaching, a... [ Continue Reading ]
TWO OF HIS DISCIPLES. — According to some MSS. of St. Matthew, which give simply, _sent through His disciples,_ St. Luke’s account is the only one that gives the number of the disciples sent. SENT THEM TO JESUS. — Some of the best MSS. give, “to the Lord.” (See Note on Luke 7:13.)... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT SHOULD COME. — Literally, as in St. Matthew, _He that cometh,_ or, _the coming One. _... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IN THAT SAME HOUR HE CURED... The statement of the facts is peculiar to St. Luke, and obviously adds much force to our Lord’s answer. He pointed to what was passing before the eyes of the questioners. PLAGUES. — See Note on Mark 3:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
GO YOUR WAY. — The exact agreement of the answer as reported in the two Gospels is significant as to the impression which they made at the time on those who heard them.... [ Continue Reading ]
(24-35) AND WHEN THE MESSENGERS OF JOHN WERE DEPARTED. — See Notes on Matthew 11:7. The two narratives agree very closely. The few variations will be noticed as they occur.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY WHICH ARE GORGEOUSLY APPARELLED, AND LIVE DELICATELY. — The words are more vivid than those in St. Matthew (“they that wear soft clothing”), and bring out the idea of ostentatious display and extravagant excess of luxury, as well as effeminate self-indulgence. Such forms of selfishness were com... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE IS NOT A GREATER PROPHET. — St. Matthew’s report is somewhat more emphatic, “there has not been raised up.”... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL THE PEOPLE THAT HEARD HIM... — Here the reports begin to vary, St. Luke omitting what we find in St. Matthew as to “the kingdom of heaven suffering violence;” and St. Luke interposing a statement, probably intended for his Gentile readers, as to the effect produced by the preaching of the Ba... [ Continue Reading ]
REJECTED THE COUNSEL OF GOD AGAINST THEMSELVES. — The English is unhappily ambiguous, admitting the construction that the counsel which the Pharisees rejected had been “against” them. Better, as in Galatians 2:21, _frustrated for themselves the counsel of God._ BEING NOT BAPTIZED... — We read in Ma... [ Continue Reading ]
(31-35) WHEREUNTO THEN SHALL I LIKEN... — See Notes on Matthew 11:16. Some of the better MSS. omit the introductory words, “and the Lord said.”... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR JOHN THE BAPTIST CAME... — The substantives “bread” and “wine” are not found in St. Matthew’s report.... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE OF THE PHARISEES... — We may reasonably infer that this was one of the better class of Pharisees who had a certain measure of respect for our Lord’s teaching, and was half-inclined (comp. Luke 7:39) to acknowledge Him as a prophet. Of such St. John tells us (John 12:42) there were many among the... [ Continue Reading ]
A WOMAN IN THE CITY, WHICH WAS A SINNER. — The word is clearly used as pointing to the special sin of unchastity. The woman was known in the city as plying there her sinful and hateful calling. The question who she was must be left unanswered. Two answers have, however, been given. (1) The widesprea... [ Continue Reading ]
AND STOOD AT HIS FEET BEHIND HIM. — The common usage of the East left the court-yard of the house open while such a feast as that described was going on, and there was nothing to hinder one who had not been invited from coming even into the guest-chamber. It is possible, indeed, that the feast may h... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS MAN, IF HE WERE A PROPHET. — The words show that the Pharisee had had a half-feeling of respect for our Lord as a teacher, that he at least knew that He was looked upon by the people as a prophet. There is traceable in what he says a tone of satisfaction at having detected what seemed to him in... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JESUS ANSWERING SAID... — The answer was, as the context shows, to the unspoken thoughts of the Pharisee. SIMON, I HAVE SOMEWHAT TO SAY UNTO THEE. — The name of the Pharisee is thus given to us, but it was too common to suggest any identification. It is a somewhat singular coincidence that the... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE WAS A CERTAIN CREDITOR... — The parable has some points of resemblance to that of the Two Debtors in Matthew 18:23. Here, however, the debts, though different, are not separated by so wide an interval as are the ten thousand talents and the hundred pence. The debts are both within the range of... [ Continue Reading ]
I SUPPOSE THAT HE.... — The same word occurs in the same sense as Acts 2:15. As used here, it seems to carry with it a tone partly of indifference, partly of uneasiness and perplexity as to what the drift of the parable might be.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU GAVEST ME NO WATER FOR MY FEET. — There had, then, been no real respect or reverence in the Pharisee’s invitation. It was hardly more than an act of ostentatious patronage. It was honour enough for the carpenter’s son to be admitted into the house. The acts of courtesy which were due to well-ni... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU GAVEST ME NO KISS. — This also, as we see in the case of Judas (see Note on Matthew 26:49), was a customary mark of respect to one who claimed the character of a Rabbi. So the disciples of Ephesus kissed St. Paul on parting (Acts 20:37). So the “holy kiss,” the “kiss of peace,” became part of t... [ Continue Reading ]
MY HEAD WITH OIL THOU DIDST NOT ANOINT. — This also, though not so common as the kiss and the washing of the feet, was yet a mark of courtesy due to an honoured guest. For one who had journeyed to a feast under the burning sun of Syria, it brought with it a sense of comfort and refreshment which mad... [ Continue Reading ]
HER SINS, WHICH ARE MANY, ARE FORGIVEN. — Grammatically, the words admit of two interpretations, equally tenable. (1) Love may be represented as the ground of forgiveness, existing prior to it, and accepted as that which made forgiveness possible; or (2) it may be thought of as the natural consequen... [ Continue Reading ]
THY SINS ARE FORGIVEN. — Better, as before, _Thy sins have been forgiven._ The words throw light upon the meaning and force of all like formulæ of absolution. It is, perhaps, matter for regret that any other formula, such as the _Absolvo te,_ which dates, be it remembered, from the thirteenth centur... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO IS THIS THAT FORGIVETH SINS ALSO? — Better, _Who is this that even forgiveth sins?_ The thought that underlay the question, though apparently the questioners were different, was the same as that which had found utterance when like words were spoken in the synagogue at Capernaum. (See Luke 5:21;... [ Continue Reading ]
THY FAITH HATH SAVED THEE. — From the merely controversial point of view these words have a value in ascribing the justification or salvation of the woman to faith, and not to love. Those who go deeper than controversy will find in them the further lesson that love pre-supposes faith. We cannot love... [ Continue Reading ]