PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2
Arthur Lukyn Williams [1853-1943] · 606,924 words · 664 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 121
.oo.ves, o.nd o. few small fishes." But " they did all eat, and were filled ; " and moreover of the fragments left there were seven hampers. The spyris was larger than the cophinus of the mirncle, It seems to ha.ve been a. loa.d for a porter (seo Acts ix. 25). .A ho.mper of fragments for every loaf. 1 III. THE 0OMPA…
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II. SUPERIORITY llAY GIVE A IUGHT To REPROACH. Superior knowledge; superior chRracter. The competent m1m may reproach us, the saintly man may reproach us. Then had these visitors from Jerusalem either of these forms of right to reproach? Wero they superiors of Christ in the knowledge of Divine things? Were they superio…
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by a mere ritual that was so comprehensive, so minute, and yet so ridiculous, that it must have made men hate the very name of religion, I. MAN-MADE RELIGIOUB RULES ARE ATTRACTIVE TO MEN, It may be said, to all men. It can with confidence be said, to some men. There are, in every age and society, persons who prefer to…
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Our Lord's illustration needs to be kept within its natural and proper limits. The Pharisees had objected to the disciples ea.ting their bread with unwashen hands their not.ion_ being th~t soi:nething causing oeremonial defilement might be upon their hands, and this taken m with the bread would make them ceremoniall…
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Ver. 26.-lmportunity and q1nck-wittedmn. Importunity: "Lord, help me." Quick-wittedneee: "Truth, Lord: yet the rloge eat of the crumbR which fall from their masters' table." The strangeness of our Lord's dealing with this woman bas often been pointed out, But the story needs to be read in the light of the fact that our…
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Ver. 31.-0ne effect of miracles of healing. "They glorified the God of Israel.'· Two points may be unfolded and illustrated. This effect was good so far as it went. This effect fell far short of what Jesus desired. l. Trus EFFEOT WAS GOOD 80 FAB AS IT WENT. In a general way they praised God, who had given such powe…
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER XVI. moon by Joshun, the lightning and thunder that came at Samuel's word, the stroke or Vere.1--4.-The Phariseea and Sadducees death on the captains who tried to arrest deeire a sign. (Mark viii. 11-13.) Elijah. They had heard of the miraculous Ver. 1.-The Pharisees also with the meal just befo…
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from heRven. Ye &Ry, It will be fair who will not see tho truth. Of his death weather (,v~la). rrobably an exclamation, and r.:;surrcotion, whereof Jonah we.a e. type, Ye tay, Fair weather 1 Rabbinice.l schools they knew e.nd un<lel'stood nothing, Per mndc a point of teaching weather-lore; haps the:y thought of Jona…
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before them. That lcnvcn, in one aspect, severely on two o.cconnts--flret, for want o1 was rego.rded o.s o. sign of impurity and cor- faith in his ea.re; and secondly, for not ruption, we lenrn .from tho strict rules which understanding the mystical allusion in the banished it from Di vino service, and especi- word " l…
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intelligently read without the light thua sequences, out of the reach of his perse- 0a11t upon them. vering opponents. Virtue.Uy, e.lao, his public Ver. 12.-Then underatood they. Jeana work in Judme. e.ud Galilee he.d reo.ohed its did not explain hie meaning further; but end. He had no ohanoe of e. bee.ring if he h…
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may he.ve ghen rise to this idea.. The rour Person and work of Christ. Herdn Pder populnr opinions here mentioned showed BCknowledges Jesue to be the true Messiah, two fo.cts-thnt Jesus hl\d a high reputntion commissioned and sent by Ood to reveal hie among his contemporaries, e.nd thnt he wna will to man, 0.nd e.ccomp…
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gospel mystery. My Father which ia in Matthew nlone records tl1e promill'l to heaven. Christ thus aooopte Peter'e defi- Peter; Mark and Luke give hie coufossion, nition of him as "the Son of the living which was the ono point which Christ God." None but the Father oould have desired to elicit, and omit thnt which is…
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makes him a shepherd." To the same of God ; ' I so.y to thee, • Thou art Peter,' purport might be quoted Hilary, Ambrose, a rock-man, ' and on thee,' 11s a rock, ' I Jerome, Gregory Nyss., Cyril, and others. will build my Church.'" As he was tho It is remorko.ble that in the Colleot from the first to acknowledge Chr…
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obvious and straightforward interpretation gates " here may ropresent th,;, evil design& or Christ's words, or suppose that papal pl111med by the powol's of hell to overthrow: claim~ a.re neoesijnrily supported thereby. the Uhurch, the wiles o.nd ml\ohine.tions of I will build my Church (p.ov .-¾,, bco:>..71ula,). t…
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lend after the effusion or the Spirit, and an item, and to llllpply" sins" fo the genernl opened the door to the J ewe. It woe his term "whatsoever" twice repeated, is barsl> action that ndmitted the Gentiles, without and nnnatural. A more reasonable expla- oomplionce with the distinctive rites of nation of the phrA…
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[JeaUB] the Chriet. The received text in- to learn thnt tho Wl\Y to glory, both for' eerb! the word "Jesus," but very many good him and them, led through suffering a.nil manuscripts omit it; and it seems to have death. Conscious of Christ's Divinity, they, been receh-ed by initdvertence, the point could now more pat…
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!be dark aa hie follow-11,postlee; of that ce.rne.l un,lershnrling, thou wouldst know which was riot specially revealed to him he that this of all thinga rnoA becomcth me. knew nothing. It was the carnal mind that For thou indeed supposest that to suffer is here influenced him, not the spiritnaJly unworthy of me; but I…
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tei71s tn) eave his lire (1/tux/iv).Here are set not be able, by paying down e.11 earthly forth the high-:,st motives for courage, en- goods, together witb the ee.rth itself, to d_ursnoo, and perseverance in the way of redec1n even.one soul" (Ohrys., 'Hom.,' lv.). nghteonsnellB. The word translated "life" The value …
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How could Ohrist assert in the most solemn was when the overthrow of Jerusalem and mo.nner, Verily, I say unto you, tho.t some of its temple made way for the full establish- his hearers woulcl live to witness an event ment and development of the gospel, putting which was to occur only a week hence? an end to the first …
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The ~(111.risees wei:e n~rrow-minded fana.~ical zealots ; the Sadducean priests were worldly 11nspmtu11l cccles111st1cs. The two parties hated one another with all the bitterness of party spirit; b~t ~hey hated th~ Lord J'.Ct more; and this common hatred now brought them together m 111-omened ~mon a.ga.mst the most …
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of the Lord's earlier ministry. They felt, too, that their Master's popularity wiis passing away. The influence of the scribes and Pharisees had undermined it. N'ow the Sadducee&, who wielded all the power of the priesthood, had joined them in opposing him. The disciples continued faithful. They followed Christ in his …
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associated with snd thoughts of idolatry and sin. Dan was near at hand-the sent ?f the old worship of the golden calf. The city itself was more than half heathen; its name told of the Roman ~uprem~cy; it had its great templo dedicated by the first Herod to Augustus Cmsar; 1t had its famous cave sacred to the Grecian…
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as the forerunner of the Messiah. Buch were the various opinions current among tho veople. None, e.s far e.s the apostles knew, then recognized his Messiahship. It had not boon so e.lwe.ye. From the time when John bare record that he was the Son .of God, when Andrew said," We hnve found the Messias," there had been …
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recognize their Mnster as the Christ, the time for the first founding of the Christion Church. II. Tf;E RATIFICATION OF TnE co~EBSION, 1. TM blessing. The Lord repeats the word which he had so often used on the Mount of the Deatitudes in describin" the children of the kingdom; he applies it now to St. Peter. "Blessed…
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was an outrage in the eyes of the holy Bon or God; the temple which he would rear was wholly different, built on a Rock more stable, more abiding far. "My Church "- it was a wondrous prophecy. All seemed to have forsaken him save only the twelve; one we.e a traitor· even in that little company; yet the Lord looked forw…
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Let us learn of our dear Lord to be indifferent to titles, not to ea.re to make known things that. may bring us earthly honour. The Lord had received, as his due, thel homage of St. Peter; he was the Christ, the Son of the liviug God. But while he accepted, as his by right, those loftiest of all conceivable titles, …
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coneoienoe answere, "H ie wrong," then we must take part with conscience, which bears in itself tho evidence of authority, and deny that lower self which would dietnrb the harmony of our nature by usurping the position of comU1and which does not belong to it. The precopt is one of paramount importance. The Lord repeat…
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and, ble~sed be hie holy Name, in infinite mercy. He bids us to look ever forward to !he coming ~: that grel\t day, and to estiml\te things in reference to the coming 3udgment.. l he glory of the w~rld seems now, to our short-sighted eyes, very great and magnificent and overpowenng. But look at it in the fierce li"h…
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cast before swine. Abraham refuses the prayer of Dives that Lazarus, risen from the dead, should be sent to his brothers, telling the miserable man that no good would come of such an errand. IV. CHRIST GIVES THE BIGN THAT IS REALLY NEEDED. He never disappoints the honest seeker after truth, although he does not always…
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Vers. 13-17.-TM great confession. Jesus had now reached a crisis in his ministry. A way from the scenes of his earlier labours, at the beautiful Roman colony by the foo~ of Mount Hermon, close to the famous altar of Pan, where the Jordin springs from the mountain-side, he suddenly called upon his disciples to give a do…
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Lord spoke of the confession as being itself the foundation. We mnst have faith Ill Obrist before we can profit by him, and we must have courage to confess him if we would po~sess a robust Christian life. II. TIIE Crruncn ON THIS BOCK WILL BE SECURE, 1. It is "bui1t by (Jl.rist. There- fore the superstructure will b…
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Ver. 24-.-The gre,a,t conditwn. The heart-searching truths of this verse are too often neglected in popular presentations of the gospel. We have a Christianity made easy as an accommodation to an age which loves personal comfort. Not only is this unfaithful to the truth, no part of which we have any right to keep ba…
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what is tbe uso of a life preserved at the cost of honour and fidelity? It is not really saved, for it is so degraded that it has become a wcdhless thin". Thus it is a wasted life, a lost life. The same is true to-day under other circumstances. The man who denies Christ for his own convenience lowers himself to the lev…
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significance, therefore, of t-his moment cannot be exa.g-gerated, tbo Jgh it bas been mi&• understood. ~hen ou~ Lord says, "0~ this rock will I build my Church," he intro• duces to the mmds of his hearers a new idea. They see their future associates in the faith forming together an edifice or spiritual temple in whi…
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cieath, anrl to fix in their minds that in following him to Jerusalem they were going to i;ee him die. Again and again we find him solemnly assuring tbP-m that he must be taken and put to death, e.nd that he would rise e.gain. And yet when he was crucified they were entirely disheartened, and had no expectation of his …
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m~rest al_lusion to t~at 'l'ery sign, as "t~o Son of man." But why, then, did he not gmt1fy their expecta.t1ons? The answer 1s: 2. They sought that sign too soon. (1) It is a 6ign of a second advent of Messiah. A second advent there must needs he for Messiah is described in prophecy in two distinct characters, which…
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fuvour of Israel." But what sense is there in this unless the "sacrificial binding" of Isaac be accepted as typical of the only Son of God, the Seed of Isaac, in whom all tho families of the earth ere blessed? (3) The sign of a sufficient sacrifice for the expiation of sin is, of all others, to be desired by a wicked g…
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Herod" (cf. Mark viii. 15). Herod's courtiers, of course, were Sadducees. The con- ceited amongst the vulgar would sympathize with boasted intelliuence, that they might, in turn, be credited with an intelligence which they did not p~ssess. 3. Those ro"!mon to both. (1) Failure to· discern the signs of the times. The…
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disastrous. (1) Christ cannot abide with perversity. After suitably replying to the Pharisees and Sadclucees at Ma;:;adan, "he left them, and departed" (vcr. 4). A sinncr abandoned by tho only Saviour is in a melancholy case. Thereupon he warned his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducee…
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thee." (3) It is immediately from God. "No m11n can say Jeaus is Lord 1 but by the Hol1· Spirit." III._ 'l'HAT _H~Pl'Y IS HE TTIAT ~~"FESSES ~HRIST FROI! TIIE HEART, ]. He is a living ~to11e in t~e lw,ng temple.. (1) Simon, at his call,_ rece1ved_this patronymic (see John 1. 42). Literally, Peter 1~ a "stone;" meta…
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·•• begnn to ehow unto hie disciples how that he muet go unto Jerusalem, and suffer:' ThiH intelligence roused o.11 the devil in Peter, eo that he took that Bles8ed One whom ho hod just acknowledged to be the "Son of the Jiving God," and began to rebuke him. Simon was not innocent of selfishness in his concern for t…
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Vers. 25-28.-Profit and loss. As the time of the brief ministry of Jesus drew to its close, he began to show his disciples how he must go to Jerusalem and suffer and• be killed, and rise again the third day. The sombre part of this anticipation was a- terrible shock to the strong Jewish prejudices of Peter; and he l…
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arc prosUtuted, wasted, blighted, damned I 2. It is evident in its capalJt1Uy of God. 1) Powers to contemplo.te his being and attributes; his government and hie claims. 2) Enjoying bis friendship. Reciprocating his love. Working out his purposes. ,~3) Hoping in bis promises of heaven. (4) But all this capability is c…
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aga.in." The sign of the Divine origin, Divine mission and Divine nature of Ohris~ is his resurrection from the dead.-R. T. ' Ver. 6.-Pharisaic leaven. In their short journeyings atnong the villages, and when they 'Yent ~~t _of the lake for the_ sake of retirement, the disciples were accustomed to carry m their htt…
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II. A BETTER OPINION CONOEBNING JESUS, "Some, Elias; and others Jeremia~ or on? of the prophets." Elijah was a ~ guess; for Jesus was in no .:ray like him Elisha would have been better. Jerem1as was not a bad guess. And it was al'J advance to liken Christ to one of the spiritual, teachin" prophets. It should be borne i…
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the foundation on which all Christ taught of God rests; refuse to be satisfied until you ban <lisc?rnred its primary truth, its absolutely first and essential principle, and you will _fin~ 1t to be the Fatherhood of God-the permission to think of God through the associations of our human fatherhood. But direct revel…
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failure. If they still held their material hopes, the very mention of failure and a cross wouhl be to them an offence indeed. Compare the record, in John vi., of Christ's test- ing bis disciples by declaring high mystical tr-1ths. "Many went back, and walked no more with him." lie even appealed unto the twelve, saying,…
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Ver. 28.-The coming of the Son of man. "Not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." This is immediately suggested. "Christ's coming," and " Christ's coming in his kingdom," must be phrases used with a variety of meanings and with a variety of references. We begin to feel that it must be …
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lust announoed his future sufferings and zeal, ancl Jove, and the part he was to ple.y deoth. T.his prediction hod been a grievous in the founding of the Church; John, blow to Peter, and doubtless to the others because he was beloved by Cliri.;t, and was to be the recipient of Divine re~elation; olso. He had stumbl…
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he 11.IJ uckil to it, cR!leil it merely "the holy but a real, objective occurrence, which wna mount" (2 Pet. i. 18); 11.nd we may oon- beheld by ruorl11l eyes endued with no clu,k that we arc nut intended to know ~upornatural or ahnormo.l powers, exoept more nbout it, lest we s!Jonld be tempted m so far as they were…
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anco would have lost its significance, and the kind of habitation. Like a chil,I, he woul,t ocm6rmation which they were intended to fa.in prolong inrlefinitely the joy of this afford would foil to be given. la there great vision; and with a. Jew's ha.nkaring bore an intimation that in hellVCn the for a conquering Messi…
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the most Rncient trndition. "God, having of righteousness" (' More.I.,' uxii. 8). Un- of old spoken nn to the fatlicrs in the pro- belief has endeavourl'd to throw discredit flh<'ts, hnth 11.t the end of the~e days spoken on the historical accuracy of the aocounta unto us in his Son" (Heb. i. I). The com- of this gr…
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the objcotive specta.cle.) The complle.nca the eternal principles of jastice 1tnd right- with the injunction shows tha.t they under- eousness, to a reformation of religion anrl stood something of the spiritual ne.ture of more.ls; but he could not be said to have the trunsa.ction. We me.y e,lso note the.t reconstituted,…
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in Rppr£'£'fating the full signification of their a ola88 oalled lunatics, distinct frnm the Mneter•~ instructions. paralytic and posecssed. It is by no moans Vere. 14-21.-Hooling o/ tlu! demoniaa an exploded fBllRcy that the moon lms som11 1,oy. (Mark ix. 16-29; Luke ix. 87-42.) mysterious influence on certain cons…
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ability; nnd the conaolona wenlmese in and ia at once obeyed. After a final act of thoir exorcism nullified its power, and they defeated m11.lice, the demon quitted his hold oould do no mighty work. of the child. WBB cured from that very Vor. 17.-Jems anawered. Jeans did hour. Never more to fall under the devil'a n…
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1ile.ycd that perfect oonfidence and trust are more difficult of MCOmplishment than which alone can win enoc-088 e.nd me.kC) all others. Thu kind oa.n mean only this kind thing,, possible. Vorily I ae.y unto yon. of evil spirit, or demons generally. Dut the The Lord proceeds to give that lesson oon- latter interpretati…
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Ver. 23,-Shall be raiaed again (1-y•pB~- an aoknowledgment e.nd e. thank-offering, a. ' a-•Tci<): be waT,ened. This was al wo.ys a sub- re.nsom, as it were, for the lives rescued joct of perplexity: and indeod, o.ccording to from Egypt, it he.d been need in the wilder- the other synoptiats, " they underst.ood not nes…
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thnt Jesus was at the bend or a band of dis- teach himself. What thinkeat thou, Simon t oiplcs, who would be influenced by his ex- By such familiar addrcse he claim& hia ample. We may in this inquiry see other attention. The kings of the earth. He motives besides the obvious one. If Jesus contrasts these wil.h the K…
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1ee In it dishonour to the temple. Suspicion ,roii). The form of expression recalls th0 o.nd animosity would be arousecl ; ill feeling, original cleeign of the institntion, as e. injurious both to themeelna who encouraged ransom of sonls (comp. eh. xx. 28 in th0 it and to the cause of Christ, woulcl weaken Greek). He…
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Cresarea Philippi. That conver~ation must have filled the hearts of the apostles with. strange, awful thoughts. He with whom they had lived so long in the intercourso of familiar friendship was indC'ed the Christ, the Son of the living God. They had marked the dignity of his Person, the anthority of his words, the p…
1,762 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.