PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1
Arthur Lukyn Williams [1853-1943] · 499,653 words · 546 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 61
Vers. 1-12.-The happy misnomer of the Wise Men ojthe East. Once on a time our Saviour warned persons of far inferior privilege to our own that men would come from. the east, and west, and north, and south, who should rise up in the judgment against them. The present passage of sacred history tells us most emphatical…
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were accustomed, in the course or the stare, to inquire for and investigate, as they thought, the course of human events. It was an ancient opinion, and one very widely spread, that great events on earth were portended often by corresponding appearances in the heavens, Thie need not be called a merely heathen fiction. …
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of that King and S:vdour must needs have been very inadequate. It ■tood ticklish too, 1'cstiug on the thin soil of dim tradition, standing on the slender footing of vague rumour. But because the footing of such knowledge, faith, and hope as they had was Bo slender, a little scanty soil on the side of the rocks the o…
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: Vers. 16--18.-.d notable instance of the vicarious in the human lot and in suffering. The great desirableness of reading Scripture and nature alike, observant of the facts of each, refusing to disguise the facts of either, attentively following them as far as may be possible, and, if this be not far enough to conduc…
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intentioned, who seek him that they may do him homage; the evilly disposed, who 1,trive to acquaint themselves sufficiently with his history to direct their assaults upon him. 'l'wo classes of critics of the Gospels-the malevolent and the divinely led; the iealous and the frankly admiring; the destructive and the re…
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vir.. that the great event eo celebrated concerns all sorts and conditions of men. We have here especially to consider the star which denoted Christ (see Rev. xxii. 16), w,hether viewed as a portent, a disturber, or a guide. I. Ae A PORTENT. 1. A star is the emblem of a 'f)'l'ince. (1) So the sign was inter- preted…
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,lcricho, intending them all to be slain at bis death, that a general mourning mM1t be ,;ecured. We should bless God for our civil and religious liberties. (3) In Jerii'salem there were those vrho cc waited for the Consolation of Israel" (Luke ii. 25, 38), To these the news of the advent of Messiah would bring joy. …
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ie ample (cf. Deut, xix. 15; eh. xviii. 16), Unbelief is as perilous as it is defence- less (see Deut. xvii. 6). 2, 'l'liey see him vei?ed in humanity. (1) His humanity was real. "The young Ohild." Born as other children, though very differently conceive~. •• With his mother." Nourished as an ordinary infant. (2) No…
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Vers. 13-15.-System in providence. It were a truism to say that there is wisdom in providence; for otherwise providence could not be Divine. In that wisdom there is what Paul describes as a manifoldness (Eph. iii. 10). And this appears in a system of developments and correspondences, evincing at the same time unity …
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premonition of the eufforings his seed were destined to rass through in the dark land of Egypt (see Gesenius, under en). 2. So i1 it seen in their ruwmplishment. (1) Joseph's dreams were prophetic sketches of what afterwards became history. (2) The folfil- ment of the dreams of Joseph was also the e.ccomplishment of t…
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\Jhrist from that land, as in the tcli.t. (4) The early and brief sojourn of Jesus in Egypt was a presage of the early but too transient Christianizing of the land of the Phamohs. As there was ~ !ery flourishing Church in Egypt in the early Ohristian ages, so may there be ag&n m the generations of the future (cf. De…
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without o.ny provocation on their part given. God never ordained or commanded that they should thus suffer. But he permitted it; for he could have hindered it. Ho the.t interposed to save Christ might e.lso have saved the lives of the infants that perished for hie sake. He might have cut short Herod's life by two ye…
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-1,hould constantly come true is incredible. The ratio of probabilities is mathematically determinable. (3) That guesses should constantly come truo when hazarded in rela- tion to things extra.ordinary and supernatural is next thing to impossible. But tho subjects of Scripture prophecy are these very things. II. TR…
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reveals the providence of knowledge, history no less truly reveals the providence of- power. V, TilE l'IIOVIDENCE OP IJISTOBY, LIKE TTIAT OJ' PROPHECY, IS ALL-COMPRISING, 1. Since God works in events necessary to the fulfilment of prOJ)hecy, he must work in all events. (1) For what events are there that are not tendin…
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Ood lellds e.'\ch one in his own way, but the way he chooses is the precisely appropriate way for <>nch one. Simple shepherds, with Scripture associations, are led by angel- testimony and angel-song from the night-skies. Wise Magi, with the astrological associations, are led by the varying appea.rances of planets an…
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you may, the praiees r,f cities, call them "beautiful for situation," record the strugc,les for liberty of which they may have been the centres, still you mast leave the supr.'.'me honours for "little Ilethlchem." '£he "Lamb of God," the "Saviour of the world," was born there.-R. 'l'. Ver. 8.-Man's guile anrl Goa's…
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Ver. 11.-Representing owrselves bg owr gifts. Traditions have gathered round thi'II fltory. The Magi are said to have been three. Their names are given-Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar. Their gifts were threefold; each had a symbolic meaning, and each was tbe representative gift of the individual who presented it. The d…
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of healing remediee. With these hinte the Bible story will yield abundant instances, o.nd we shall come to eee that there ie a method of Divine wisdom in this strange form of Divine dealings. I. Goo NEVER BUPEBBEDEB MAN, In the sense of doing for man what man can do for himself. An idea may prevail that God may desire…
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"!ell known. He would scheme to kill any one whom he heard of ae claiming to be a native-born prince. So Joseph feared, and let his fears decide his faith, or rather the obedience to which his faith inspired him. I. OUR FEARS MA y INTERFERE WITH OUR FAITH, Then we may refuse to do, or neglect to do, what we believe…
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flftoenth ye11r of the reign of Tiberius Cmsar; because bo.ptism w1111 the visible and external i.e. between August, A,D. 28, and August, aim and result of his preacl:iing. (2) Wh"-t WEIii there new in John's baptism? In con- A..D. 29" (Bchiirer, I. ii., p. 31). sidering this it must be :remembered that Ver. 1.-In t…
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Acts xviii. 25 ; xix. S), e.nd for the Impor- "des lieux pet1 hnbib!'s ou non cuUiv~s 11 tant position that he holds in summe.ries (Neubauer,' G1fogr. du Te.Im.,' p. 52: 1868). of the origins of Ohristianity. John's The very place in which John preached be.plism we.a trented by our Lord himself 11s wns pnrt of the s…
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or the Lord shall rest upon him.' Dy what sill'l,'ular of the original, from their inter- kind or merit does it dro.w ueo.r and come? It preting the passage, not of the return of the says, 'upon the faoe of the waters.' Dy the Lord to Palestine, bnt his coming into me.ny merit of repentance, which is compared to hearts…
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must have been moch more common before l<mgs, all well watered, and J11ll of dwellings" the gree.oor part of the timber we.a cut (John Lightfoot,' Hor. Heb.'). down (cf. Judg. xiv. 8; 1 Se.m. xiv. 25; Ps. Ver. 6.-And (they, Revised Version) were lnxi. 16). Bee-keeping we.s e. favoorite baptised. The Revised Version …
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ecioue ee.notity, were hardly likely to come to Not merely punishment. The thought ia of ooufeee their sine, or the Be.dduceee to even the feeling of e.nger against sin in him listen to so e.ecetio a teacher. He ■ a.id unto who punishes it (cf. eh. xviii. 34; xxii. 7 ; them; i.e. to the Pharisees and Be.dducees ; Ma…
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middle). In John's words, on the oontra.ry, Revised Versiou, is the au laid ; bringing we have the germ of the doctrine a.fuirwards out more emphatlially its pre1ent position. brought ont by St. Pan! (e.g. Gal. iii 9, The American Revisers propose, " the axe 29), that not natural descent, but spiritual lieth at," nv…
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passages. The duty of slaves of the lowest that was an instrument of destruction nlone. rank. The diste.nce of superiority here And he will throughly purge; cleame (Re- attributed by John to "him that cometh vised Version); permundo (Vulgate); St«Ka• after me," must be reckoned even greater 9ap,ii, the preposition i…
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Vere. 13-17.-Tlra BAI'TISH OF JEBUB. quite 'absolutely, but oh. vii. ·4 slightly (Pare.lie] paseagee: Mark i. 9-11 ; Luke favours the Revised Version me.rgin. Now, iii. 21, 22.) e.t this special season (lfpT1) ; in contrast to the more permanent relation which shall be Ver. 13.-Then; tempore.J. (ver. 5, note). reco…
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he not ho.vo come to the ba.ptism merely (tr,pun,p&); any member of the pigeon tribe; BB o.n individua.l, feeling the deepest interest chosen because a symbol of deliverance in this consecmtion to the co.nee of the (Gen. viii. 8), of purity (Lev. v. 7), of kingdom, notwithsto.nding the nniqne harmlessness (Matt. x. 16)…
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in whom," etc. (For tho expression, comp. in "Western" authorities nf Luke Iii. 22, 11lso l\lrtrk xii. 6 (not in the parallel pass11ge, "Thon art my &n; this day have I begoUeu Mott. xxi. 37); Eph. i. 6.) In whom I am thee," evidenlly with a desire to emphasize well pleased; rathor, in tohom I hat1e delight the appl…
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lasting dominion that should not pa.Bi! away. That kin<rdom came from heaven• its government, its laws, its modes or life and thought and ;orship, are those of hea;cn ; the great oommonwealth of which the saints are citizens is now (i!.,..&px.,) centred in heaven (Phil, iii. 20); it looks to heaven as its home, its …
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the remission of sins. John baptized with water; Christ, with the Holy Ghost and with fire. John's baptism was a preparatory rite; Christ's baptism was a sacrament. ot regeneration, the one baptism (Eph. iv. 6). John's baptism was unto repentance; Christ's baptism was into Christ. John's baptism was incomplete; it w…
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the very pebbles that lay in the bed of Jordan. He would gather Gentile believers in crowcis into his Church. They would become heirs of the faith of Abraham, true ehildren of that father of many nations, in whose seed all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. We must always be on our guard against pntting our t…
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was conceived by the Iloly Ghost. The Holy Ghost was with him alwn.ys; for in the indissoluble union of the Divine Persons, the Holy Three arc One. But this was a consecration of the incarnate Bon, Gc-0 and Man, to his sacred office-a grand and heavenly anointing, visible to himself and to the Baptist. "I saw the Spiri…
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stars. The work of Christ is not associated with that of John. The Baptist is but tho forerunner-the pioneer opening up the wo.y for the glorious King. I. l'Ill,PARATION FOR CHRIST IS NEEDED. The Jews were not fit to receive their Messiah ; they needed the preliminary work of the prophet of the wildemese to make them …
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somo results appearing in his behaviour. He will not immediately step on to the pedestal of the saint. He will be still down in tho darkness, feeble, depreased, guilty, and conscious of guilt. But every action will show that he is trying to reach after better things, even though they may be still far beyond his gras…
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ue of God's judgment. 3. Its me1·ciful warning. Why is the axe laid at the root of the tree? why is it not used at once? Here is mercy in the midst of judgment. 'l'he Baptist points to the axe that he may drive his hearers to repentance. Our attention is drawn to it that we may escape-though at the eleventh hour.-W. F.…
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is a dedicntion, an net of eelf-consecration. Jeane bad no sins of the past to wa~b out; but there was a great future to which he would dedicate himself in baptism. Then be wns a M11n, and he was humbling himself to the whole round of human duties. It was not in accordanr,e with hie mission that he should abandon th…
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Vers. 1-15.-The appearance of John the BapUst. The interval between the last verse of the second chapter and the first verse of this chapter measures the period of the life of Christ stretching from his earliest childhood to bis entrance on his public ministry, or close _th~reupon. Meantime we are here brought to th…
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3. The particular burden of the ministry of John the Baptist rlirl Rimply demand a faithfully correspandiog, practical illustration, in the presence of hi~ audience, so to say. Otherwise nothing would have been, in this ca.se, e:i.sier than for the whole con"re- gation of the people to observe, to think, and to utter i…
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Vers. 16, 17.-The heavenly attestation of the Sonship of Jesus. The singular and thrilling event recorded in these verses is recorded also by St. Mark (i. 9-11) and by St. Luke (iii. 21, 22) in an equally full manner, while it is distinctly alluded to by St. John (i. 32, 33). It is remarkable that, though nothing is sa…
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the grandest apparatus of Heaven ie brought into use I 2. What a testimony of real consideration to the world I Is a great trust committed to eartl,ly vessels? ls it a trust of critical and tremendous responsibility? .Are men, not angels, the ministers of truth, of life, of salvation to their fellow-men, in the name of…
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classes. The very sight of an old prophet of the extinct type was worth a day's journey to the wildcrne~s. It became the fashion to see John and be baptized. The 11.utliorities paid him a compliment they can have pa.id to very few-thEy sent a deputation to ask him if he was the Messiah. But a public character or a p…
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guilty race, he felt that baptism was for him. He was so t111Jy one with us that he felt ash1Lwed of our sins, grieved because of them, felt as if they were his. The father hangs his head, sickens and dies when tbo son is disgraced. The wife cannot persuade herself she need not be ashamed when the husband commits a fra…
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prophet before the coming of the great nnd dreadful day of the Lord : and he shall turn the heart of the fathC'rs to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers," etc. (Mai. iv. 5, 6). (3) "Elijah," in these passages, comes in two senses, and on the i;ame principle it is evident that the place in Is…
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not the coming of the kingdom in visible glory. (2) The spiritual kingnom is enterecl by faith. Believers do not pass out of it at death. In that "article" Jesus, however, comes in Person, though invisibly, to receive them to himself (John xiv. 1-3). 3. IIe therefore preached repentance. (1) "The voice," etc. The image…
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hell, and does not permit any Israelite, however wicked, to go down there." John preached a different doctrine. Visible Church-membership will not save. (b) "Think not to say within yourselves," etc. Do not attempt secretly to justify impenitence by things that you have not the courage to announce. Hide no lie that …
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of the Pharisees and lawyers (cf. eh. xxi. 25; Luke vii. 27-30). There are still those who join Churches for worldly ends.-J. A. M. Vera. 13-15.-The baptism ef Jesus by John. The ba.ptisms of Jesus at the Jordan were two, viz. that ministered by John and that ministered by the Holy Ghost. The former now claims atten…
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V~rs. 16, 17.-.T?ie baptism of Jesus by the Holy Ghost. After receiving John's baptism, Jesus" went up straightway from the water." He did not remain to make confession of sin, and for the obvious reason that he had none. He went up" from the water," or ascended the outer bank of the Jordan; for John appears to have…
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Ver. 1.-77ie mission "of preaching. "Preaching in the wilderness of Judma." John Baptist was not a teacher; he was precisely a preacher, in the first and proper sense of that word. Everywhere in the New 'l'estament it implies proclaiming after the manner of a herald. It is the term used in the Old Testament of the witn…
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of being misunderstood by others, as accomplishing nothing. God will say," Well done, preparere I " I. 'l'HINGS THAT SEEM BUDDEN AND ISOLATED ARE ALWAYIS ISSUES, AND ALWAYS STAND IN 00NNE0TI0NB, Illustrate by the coming of Messiah as prepared for by John and connected with hie ministry, Take any event that ever has ha…
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Ver. 9.-The subtlety of self-deceptions. '!'he Jews always were, and still are, remarkable for their pride of race; for their confidence of acceptance with God on the simple ground of their Abrahamic relations. .And there we.s a certain amount of reasonable ground for such pride. The Abrahamic we.s e. privileged race; …
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suggesUon helps us to a more precise view of the distinction between the two baptismii,. nnd the relation of one to the other. J. WATED-BAPTIBM 18 THE TYPE OF PUTTING OFF BURFACII ACTS OF SIN. Attentio• should be fixed on the ministry of water. It washes off; it cleanses surfaces. "The result of John's baptism, even f…
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Ver. 16.-The dove-Spirit on Ohrist. "Descending like a dove, and lighting upon him." Comparing the accounts given by the evangelists, it still remains uncertain whether what was seen by John actually had the form of a dove, or hovered or brooded as a descending bird does. But for our fixed associations, and the fami…
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So.to.n I" (ver. 10) seems conclnsive. At any 11, H is much Iese definite, and paasa"'cs ro.te, for St Matthew's aim in this Gospel the in. Ezekiel, e.g. iii. 12-H, interpret th;m. temptation tho.t he places third is the crncial selves by Ezek. i. 21. To St. Matthew him- self the Personality of the Holy Ghost must, on…
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Ver. 8.-The tempter (1 Thess. iii. 5 only; ont, but [e.g. eh. xiv. 19) broken" (Thayer). cf. 2 Oor. xi. S). Came; oame up to him In Luke tho devil points to one stone only, (,rpocr•ll.6@11). 'l'he word expresse11 local e.nd tempts him to bid it become e. loaf. nee.moss, and suggests, though we cannot Ver. 4.-It is w…
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Jay (El-Kuds), And setteth; and he 1et mtmion with God (Pa. xci. 1), bids him (Revised Version, with manuscripts). The enjoy to the foll the promise of God's pro- right reading (ln11u•11, as in Luke) is pro- tection. There is no thought here of a bably B tt'Bce of the basis common to the "miracle of display" to the …
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thern&elvee and their oanse together to (cf. Gen. xxiii. 7; 1 Sam. xx. 41; 2 Se.m. f. shame, dishononr, and defeat; with all those 2; ix. 6). Tl1e exprcBBion does not mean who presnmptuously draw drafts on the "worship me as God" (for this surely we.a faithfulness of God, whioh they have no far too coarse a temptati…
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before both by the presence of the evil one, into prilon ; "wBB delivered up" (Revised and by the need for the God-Mnn to contend Version and Authorized Version margin); alone, they now came np to him and minis- -rap,3&1h,, absolately ( cf. Mark i. 14 ; R,,m. tered to him so long BB they could be holp- iv. 25; also i…
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hand, Sepp supposes that the name of the the Four Gospels,' p. 104). Zabnlon and , . , llfi11im (Jewish Christians), who are known Nephthalim, equivalent to the later Upper t,, have been numerous nt Capernaum down and Lower Galilee. By the way of the sea ; to the time of Constantine, has beon pre- toward the sea (Re…
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Vor. 17-ch. xvi. 20.-Tm: FrnBT STAG• Ce.ating e. net j {Jd.>.>.,,v.-as &µ1>£f31•cri,npov (no 01' OnmsT'B Wonx AND TEACHING, '11a.-. led.). Probably later than and explana- tory of the form found in the pare.lie! passa"e Ver. 17 -The proclamation. From that !"fark L 1_6, &µ1>,fJ&J..~ov.-as (alone). A ~t; time; ,bro .-…
1,003 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.