PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 2
Henry Donald Maurice Spence [1836–1917] · 272,049 words · 292 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 2 — Section 61
bis future. The lesson of the Master is the debtors were carried out, &nd tho.t thoy spoken to 11\1; it is a solemn w1trning to were reo.Jly indebted to him for the release eRrh of m to see what we can do by way of a part of their indebtedness, and that the of pronding for the inevitable day when we owner of the proper…
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in ,mother place (eh. xviii. 25), the.t it we.a a portion of their bleBBedness consists in 01Laier for o. caruel to paes through the eye of this power, to which the Lord makes allusion o. needle than for e. rich man to enter the here, of 11,11sisting othe:re-the helped here kingdom of God, "Who.t the steward of bewm…
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of God, nnd of these goods we e.re bnt the 1 ing which it gave religion, contributecl not tempnrnry stewn.rds. Who shall give you a little to the ste.te of things which led t.o the.t which is your own t We have here e. the final disruption of the Jewish nntion ns V<•ry mR-gnificent promise. Although on n nation some…
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the horn it ie ,, daleth, d; without the horn , attempt to round o:fl:' the condensed, and a.t ,, resh, r. '.!.'ho heresiorch Morcion (second first sight apparently disconnected, utter- oentury) here, in his recension of St. Luke, changes the text thue: "It ie easier for ances. So here, directly after the frag- hea…
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is the book of life?" (Sermon liS. 3 of St. Gode.lone. Well was his trust, as we sho.ll .Augustine). Tradition says his no.me we.s see, justified. The ge.te at which he wo.s Nimeusis, but it is simply e. baseless tradi- daily lai_d was a stately portal (,ru~.S~). tion. Which was clothed in purple e.nd fine Lazarus 1…
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whither the blest Lazarus went ie termed he.m's bosom" is simply the well-known "Abraham's bosom." This term was usecl expression for that feast or banquet of the by the Jews indifferently, with "the garden he.ppy souls judged worthy of an entrance of Eden," or "under the throne of glory," into Pe.ro.clise. But in t…
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,vould find the reason for his present woeful him to my father's house : for I have five state. It wns no startling record of vice and brethren; that he may testify unto them ; crime, or even of folly, that the father of the lest they nlso oome into this place of tor- faithful calls attention to. He quietly re- ment. T…
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soul. "F,ven if I send," replied Abraham, the prophets (eh. xiii. 28). "All the just," " anrl L1izarue goes, they will not be per- o.e Mo.rcion gives it in hie recension of St. suaded." They would see him, listen to Luke. And while the Paradise-life for the him, perhaps, e.nd then, when the first feel- blessed dead is …
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HOMILETICS. Ycrs. I-13.-The u11}ust steward. Whereas the three preceding parables were spoken to the Pharisees, this is spoken to the disciples. It is not quite certain whether all the parables were uttered at or a.bout the same time; but the use of the word "a.lso" (ver. 1) suggests that they were. Anyhow, the say…
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word which indicates this relation. To every one of 118 is given a ch?.r"e of goods whoso Owner is God. Our own constitution-physical, mental, moral-is ; trust; all our endowments-talents, powers of whatsoever kind-are a. property of which we a.re farmers; and he who thinks that he can do as he likes with these, that h…
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to his, that occasion must speedily arise when one or other will have to be slighted, despised, and disobeyed, if the other be regarded, honoured, and served. God, for instance, will command a scattering, when mammon will urge to a further keeping and gathering ; God will require spending on others, when mammon or t…
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II. Nuw, having seen its root in moral conditions which Christ intended to lay bare, BEGABD TlIE SALIENT FEATURES OF TilE SKETCH BEJ'ORE us. 1. There is a r~ch man. No p~rticulars. as to his estate are give~; no judgment is passed on his character. It 1s not said that be had amassed bis wealth by unfair means, or that …
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"Send that begga.r t-0 serve me." To this he has r.ome; there is no thouO'ht of banquet or wines; only the tip of the erstwhile beggar's finger dipped in water a~d cooling the- tongue. A~,as ! the reply sounds t~e knell of all hope; mild, yet awful, it is, "Son, remember! What? The good tlnngs are exhausted. He had got…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-9.-Cleverness and sagacity. There is a wide difference between worldly cleverness and spiritual sagacity; of tbese two acquisitions, the former is to be ques- tioned if not avoided, the latter to be desired and attained. Christ's teaching here will be entirely misunderstood if we f…
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Ver. 5.-Our indebtedness to our Lord. "How much owest thou unto my Lord?" Taking these words quite apart from the context to which they properly belong, we may let them suggest to us the very profitable question, how much we, as individual men, owe to him who is the Lord of all I. WE OWE HIM FAR MORE THAN WE CAN ES…
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I. TIIE J,AW OJ' INWARD GROWTH. The Lord of our nature knew that it was "in man" to do any act more readily and easily the second time than the first, the third than the second, and Ro on continually; that every disposition, faculty, principle, grows by exercise. This is true in the physical, the mental, and also in th…
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valna hle; they provide us with shelter, with food, with rniment, with instruction, and even (in the sense of ver. 9) with friendship. But they neither supply to us nor secure for us lasting satisfaction. 1. They do not supply it in themselves. The possession of we9lth may give, at first, considerable pleasure to th…
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derided by those who were divinely instructed. The Pharisees had the Law of God in their hands. Moreover, they had it in their minds and memories; they were per- fectly familiar with it; they knew it well to the last letter. They had the great advantage of the devotional Scriptures following the legal, and the didactic…
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until a later day, and you have a contrary decision. The hero of the past generation is the criminal of the present time. And it may be that the man or the action ihe multitude are praising is the one that God is most seriously condemnino-. Of what value, then, is "the honour that cometh from man"? (1) Care nothing …
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Vers. 19, 20.-Poverty at the gate of wealth. Here is a picture which we recognize in England in this nineteenth century quite as readily as it would be recognized in Judrea in the days of our Lord; it is that of poverty and wealth in very close associa- tion. It is not only a picture to look upon but a problem to solve…
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III. 01'.: MITIGATING FEATURE. This juxtaposition of poverty and wealth provides an 01,portunity for the exercise of sincere benevolence and of the hicrhest Christian wisdom. 'l'o the Christian heart there is a plaintive plea which cannot be unhe~rd or disregarded, even though Lazarus be kept out of sight and hearin…
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the divinely true, tba.t souls were to be saved. And this doctrine is in conformity with the known facts of our human experience. Men that know their Lord's will but delay to do it will find some excuse for disobedience when the unusual or even when the supernatural is before them. The disobedient heart goes on in sinf…
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ruinous tlmn the snares into which the runners fall. ·when life's end comes and the accnmulnted hoard has to be left behind, the coodition of the soul is pitiful indeed. II. ON THE OTHER HAND, MONEY MAY BF: MADE A VERY USEFUL BEltVANT. (Vera. 1-9.) For nothing is i:i;ained by denying that money is a great power. How…
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to the striking pamble of the rich man and Lazarus. Upon the details of the story we do not tarry. It is an exquisitely powerful picture. 'fhe artist is here at his best. The rich man in his" purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day;" the poor man" laid at his gate, full of sores," and thankful for the crumb…
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER XVII. Master, while mourning over the sorrowful certainty of offences being committed in the Vere. 1-37.-The Master's teaching on the present confused and disordered state of BUfdect of the injury worked on the souls of things, yet pronounces o. bitter woe on the others by our sins. The discipl…
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rocension or St. Luke, read here, "It were necessary for a. perpetual loving j1Hlgment better for him that he had never been born, of others." The sycRmine tree h~re men- or that 11. millstone," etc. The awful sequel tioned in his comparison is not the syca- to e. life whioh apparently had given the more; he wits pr…
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the fields during the day, but also further from their fellowe, in accordance with the duties often in the eyening-tide. There is old Mosaic Law of Lev. xiii. 46, "He is un- no rest for the faithful and true servant of clean : he shall dwell e.lone; without the Jesus. and this restless work must be camp she.11 his h…
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Thie wne somothing more thnn the first cometh not in conjunction with such obser- noble gift, which he, in common with his va~ion e.nd watching for external glorious nine fellow-sufferers, ha.d received. A new thmgs as now exist among you here. Ln, it power we.s his from thu.t d11y forth. Closely will burst upon you …
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follow them. Ago.in addressed to the dis- as in the dflys when the dnrk cloud wo.s ciples in the first insto.nce, but with a far gathering over the doomed cities of the more extendC'd referenci,. In the early do.ys ple.jn 11.nd Abraham wo.s praying, will be of Christianity such false reports were ex- entirely given …
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shall be taken, the other left. How taken ? slain are, there is she" (the eagle); the bird Not, ae some scholars he.ve supposed, talcen intended being most probably the grcnt only to perish, but taken nway by tho Lord vulture, well known in Syria. It is seen, in the wo.y described by St. Paul in 1 These. for insfanc…
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truths in which we declare our belief, and the affections and attitudes of our minds, there is a sa<l disproportion; that whilst we say," Lord, I believe," we have need of the addition," Help our unbelief; add to us faith"? 2. Reflect again, how constantly we are reminded that the words of Ohrist are "too <ieep, too…
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Vere, 11-19.-The ten lepers. Our minds have been so occupied by the fulness of teaching contained in the three last chapters, that we have almost lost sight of the progress of our Lord to the capital. Now the evangelist recalls our attention. He presents the little party, followed no doubt by many who were attracted fr…
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Vere. 20-37 .-The 1.ingdom and the day of the Son of man. This passage is not to be isolated as if it were a definition complete in itself of Christ's view of tne kin,zdom of God. Some, doing this, have found in it a justification of the teaching that God'i1 kingdom has no external character, that the coming of the Lor…
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may be nt any moment, it will be, as was prefigured in the days of Noah and Lot, wbrn me~ are least expecting it," the balancing thought is added, that a testimony must he given to all the nations. And the right kind of waiting is that which seeks to fill up what remains of his sufferings, so that, when he shall app…
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purpose and earnestness of spirit that is born of pure devotedness to a Divine Saviour, and that is sustained by intimacy of fellowship with him. (3) Strength in God- tho.t strength which comes from God's own indwelling in the soul and direct action upou it (lea. xl. 29-31). II. OuR LORD'S REGARD FOR HIS DISCIPLES …
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neighbours would expect; it is inevitable that we should occasiollfllly ditrer ns to what is due from 0110 to another. II. OuR DANGER UNDER A SE:KSE OF INJURY. 1. The mistake we are likely to fall into when we have a sense of injury is that of instantly concludin'-' that we have been wronged; we are apt to hmry to the…
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its fulness and in its power; (2) would have evoked a profounder reverence and a more fervent affection, and thus have led to a nearer likeness to him in spirit and in chnructer; (3) would have given them power over the forces of evil outside them, and made them equal to the emergencies to which they were unequal (see …
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II. THE UN00UNTED DEBT DUE TO JESUS CHRYST. The~e nine men having received the greatest goml one man could receive from another---deliverance from a living :lealh-failed to recognize their obligation, did not stop to consider it. They were not thu last to be guilty in this respect. 1. How much more do many owe to Chris…
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Vers. 22-25.-The brief day of opportunity. The thought of our Master in this passage (as I understand it) is this:" 1 have been asked when the kingdom of God will come: my reply is that it has come already; that you have not to look about in this and that direction; here, in the midst of you, impersonated in him that…
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The rocks and even the trees look down on many generations. And in all the bnstle and battle, in all the pursuits and pleasures of our life, the little time we have hastens away and is gone far sooner than we thought it would go. It is not only our poetry th,1t sings, hut our experience that testifies of the swiftness …
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I. THE LARGE AMOUNT OF AC0IDENT which enters into the fabric of human life. Take, for example, a bad railway accident. How accidental it seems that one man should just miss that train and be saved, and that another should just catch it and be killed; that one should take a seat in the carriage which is crushed, and …
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one who, like him, throws stumbling-blocks in his brother's way. The ruin of the innocent, through exposing them to temptation, will be visited by God's most terrible indignation. II. 'J.'HE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST MUST GUARD AGAINST AN UNRELENTING AND UNFOR- GIVING TEMPER. (Vera. 3, 4.) The disciples are t-0 take heed to…
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Rs to ~RY, "l'.re have heard of it long; we should like to see it." 1 This leads our Lord to unfol<l the nature of his kingdom's advent and of his own. I. Hr~ KrNGDOM COMES IN THE HEARTS OF MEN. (Vers. 20, 21.) Tho characteristic of worldly kingdoms has always been ostentation. They try to impress the senses by noi…
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EXPOSITION. to neglect, if not to oppress these helpless CHAPTER xvm. widow-women, sternly commented upon. So Vere. 1-14.-The Lord speaks the tioo in Isaiah we read (i. 23), "They judge not parables on prayer-the importunate widow, the fatherless, neither doth the cause of tbe and the Pharisee and publican. widow co…
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the v11l_g11r sense is what the widow prayed onlook in his parable of the virgins, when for; that would be of no use to her; all she he said, "they all slumbered nnd slept," wanh•d wae that the judge should deliver wise virgins as well as foolish (lllatt. xxv. 5)? her from the oppression which her adversary "It is o…
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schools of their own rabbis. Two extreme wo.s free? He gloried in his miserable tithA& instances are here chosen-a rigid, exclusive, and offerings: did he remember how really self-so.tisfled member of the religious society mean and selfish he was? did he think of of Ierael; o.nd a Jewish officer of the hoted his lnxury…
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infants, that he would touoh them. Our blessings then, they are so now. It is Lord's not:cing children is ~evoral times noticeable that these children were not alluded to in the Gospels. There was some- brought to the Lord to be taught but "that thing eddently in his look and manner he should put his hands upon 'the…
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Teaoher." 'fhe great Heart-reader was all to the poor, and come, take up the cross reading the young man's thoughts, thoughts (Mark I. 21), and follow me, the home- whioh soon crystallized, as we shall see, less, land less Teacher whom you call by the into the refusal to do what he, whom he Divine title 'good.'" The "c…
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The p0or, indceJ, with all their trials, stand also there may have been rea.sons for sup- fairer for the ldngdom thn,n do their envied pressing in the reoorde n name which wa.s richer hr0thers 11nd sisters. familiar to the na.rra.tor. Whnt if the young Yer. 25.-For it is euier for a oamel to ruler were Lazarus himse…
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tion of Peter, evidently acting as spokes- ones this spirit wonld in the end be over- man of the twelve, is repeated by the first come (at least in eleven of them) that he three cvo.ngelists. Strangely faithful in made the grand and mysterious promise of their o.ccounts of their own dealings with Matt. xix. 28. their o…
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noun~,,nwnt tl,nt he wn,s going up to face and St. Matthew mentions thnt two blind his C'nemi,·s at the great feast in Jerusalem; mrn received their sight at the bidding of and now al,1ne and silent be walked at their Jesus. Several solutions of this little difll.- !wad. ""hat. was coming? thought the culty have bee…
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much from, seemed e. great presumption: power in "What wilt thou that I shall do hence these rebukes. onto thee?" and to give him, o.s it were, Vers. 40, 41.-And J'esus stood, and com- carte blanche. And he said, Lord, that I manded him to be brought unto him. St. may receive my Bight. There is a curious Murk here add…
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Vers. 9-14.-The Pharisee and the publican. The lesson as to prayer is continued. The parable which follows exhibits the spirit and conditions of effectual prayer. Mark the two features of the audience specially addressed. He speaks to certain (1) who trusted in them.selves as being righteous ; (2) who, as the outcom…
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is overpowered with the conviction of sin. His only refuge is the mercy of the Eternal. "I tell you" (ver. 14), concludes Christ, "this man is manifested to be one of God's elect. He, not the other, returns to his house the one accepted a.nd justified." 'l'ha parable is most suggestive. l. IT IS THE EXPOSURE OF SPIRIT…
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Vers. 18-25.-The ruler who refused the crown. It is a certain ruler, a young man, who _accosts our Lord. And the que~tion w~ich he asks represents one of the deepest cra_nngs of ~he human br~ast. ~s 1t only m the Gospels t_hat we_ find this question? It 1s written mto all the religions, mto the best of all the ph1lo…
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th11t he wnA; to be 11ffianced to him as the Lord and Friend and Brother of our perfect choice; and have his flesh as meat indeed, and bis blood as drink indeed ;-this is the WRY to the eternal life. But what is this life whose way is thus defined? H must be kept always in view that eternal is not merely another name f…
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,vorld's ,rnyside? Even the mind most richly endowed, the heart moat wenlthy in love and irnaginati?n, needs "the life _more ~n~ fuller." Is there no begging from h~aven? no consciousness of a fountam of hvmg. waters? This Bnrtimreus, taking Ins place day by day on the thoroughfare and askmg an alms, is only too fai…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vere. 1-7.-Continua,nce in prayer: Divine delay. We have first to consider what is- I. THE ARGUMENT IN THE TEXT. It is one from the less to the greater, or ratl,er from the unworthy to the worthy. If a bad man will, for a poor reason, accede to the request of one for whom be cares nothing…
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to the condition of the world at the" second coming" of Christ. In order to under- stand Rnd appreciate them, we must consider- I. 1'HAT IS THE FOROE AND RANGE OF THIS EXPRESSION, "the comincr of the Son of mnn." And it will be found on investigation that it signities any speciaf manifesttition of God's power or an…
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appreciated the privilege of prayer; both came to the same building, and, using the same invocation, each uttered the uppermost thought in bis mind. 2. In some aspects the Pharisee seemed to have the advantage. (1) He had the respect of the public, the good and God-fearing public, of the respectable people of his day; …
816 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.