thought that the wages which Christ will give to His believing people will be far out of proportion to any- thing they have done for Him. Their tears will be found in His bottle. Their least desires to do good will be found recorded. Their weakest efforts to glorify Him will be found written in His book of remembrance. Not a cup of cold water shall miss its reward.
Notes. Luke XXII. 24—30.
[ There teas a strife among them, dc.} Let it be noted that this is the second instance of contention for pre-eminence among the apostles, recorded by St. Luke. On the first occasion it was a "reasoning," (Luke ix. 46) ; here it was a "strife."
It is impossible to reconcile this twice-recorded contention with the Roman Catholic theory, that Peter was the recognized head of the apostles. Neither here nor elsewhere is there any intimation of such primacy being known in our Lord's times ! If our Lord had really appointed Peter the chief of the apostles, the stiife before us in this passage could not have taken place.
U'}. — [Benefactors.] The Greek word so translated, (" euergetes,") was a title often assumed by heathen monarchs, who prided themselves on being special benefactors of their subjects. — One of the Ptolemies, king of Egypt, was so called.
ifti. — [He that is greatest.] This expression here may perhaps mean "greatest in age,'* the oldest. It is so translated in Kom. ix. 12. In the following verse it clearly means "greater in dignity."
27. — [As he that serveth.] There is an evident reference here to the act of washing the disciples' feet, recorded by St. John, which had taken place a very short time before the conversation we are now considering. At the same time the expression describes the whole tenor of our Lord's course on earth. " He took on Him the form of a servant." "He came not to be ministered to, but to minister."
In making a practical use of our Lord's words in this place, we must carefully draw a distinction between a genuine, and a «flelf-imposed, voluntary, ostentatious humility. It would be absurd and profane to compare the Pope's annual practice of publicly washing the feet of a certain number of poor people with the "serving" to which our Lord refers. Cornelius a Lapide, in his commentary on the passage before us, gives a Melancholy list of instances of self-imposed humility.
408 KXPOsrroRT thoughts.
28. — [Im mff UmptaiioH*.] Tbis expressioo probably includes the whole course of our Lord's earthly ministry. It was a period of almost uninterrupted trial and suffering. It would be manifestly impossible to confine the word to the special temptations of Satan to which our Lord was subjected.
29. — [/ appoint.] The Greek word so rendered seems to bear a stronger sense than our translators have put upon it. It might be translated, **I appoint unto you by covenant." It is the root of the words used in the welMmown passage in Hebrews : '' Where a testament is, there must be the death of the testator" (Heb. ix. 16.)
[A kingdom.] The meaning of this phrase must probably not be pressed too closely. It signifies honour, dignity, reward, majesty, of which a king's position in this world fiunishes the only emblem. Christ will have a real kingdom, covenanted to Him from all eternity. In that kingdom of Christ, the apostles will have a principal place. They will be like kings within a kingdom.
.*)0. — [Eat and drink at my table.] This expression admits of two interpretations. We must eitlier interpret it literaUy, as re- ferring to the marriage supper of the Lamb, when the Lamb's wife shall have made herself ready, (Rev. xix. 7 — 9,) to which our liord seems to refer in Matt. xxvi. 29. Or else we must interpret it figuratively, as signifying that complete satisfaction of every want, which the saints in glory shall enjoy, when they shall " awake up after Christ's likeness and be satisfied."
[Sit on thrones judging,., Israel.] This remarkable expression is differently interpreted by common tatoi*s.
1. Some think, with Brentius, that our Lord only meant that the doctrine of the Gospel preached by the apostles, should be the rule by which not only Israel, but all the Church should be judged at the last day.
2. Some tliink, with GuaJter, that the words mean that the apostles shall rise in the judgment and condemn the Jews at the last day, because they believed the Gospel, while Israel remained unbelieving. Like the Ninevites and the queen of Sheba, they shall deprive the Jews of all excuse.
3. Some think that the word "judging," means that the apostles shall literally be assessors with Christ in the judgment day, just as St. Paul says to the Corintliians, " we shall judge angeis." (1 Cor. vi. 3.)
4. Some think that the word "judging," means that the apostles shall have a pre-eminent place in the government of Israel, after Christ has come again and the Jews have been restored to their own land. It is clear that the word "judge " in many places in the Bible, means nothing more than " ruling