The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 167

[th- leMl oorum&ndrneuta foUowlngl him• in tho I.Aw (of. N&gen) are horo plaocd In MI.C, &nd then teaoh other, and eot ail hi■ one oln~s(.,.o\v -ypo.,.14a..,./o,v 1ta.l ♦ a.p,rrmlo,v), Ye atudy to the furtheranoe 11.nd maintaining lh&ll ln no oa11; Rovl.iied Version, m no of them, tl.u,t doctor 11hall all they of the we. " Tho omph11.tio negative oil ,.;, ie kingdom of heaven l.iavo in prioe, and follow not elsewhero so rondrred in tho Authorized him and 100k him on\, o.s doth an eaglo hor Version. The proviou1 venlons have in thil prev, and clenve to him as burr■." pla.oe simply • yo shall not,' following the Ver. 20.-1\faUhew only. The veree from Vulgato, non in!rabiti•" (Humphry). Enter "ei:oopt " to tho t1nd is 4. uotod vorbally in Into the kingdom of he&Von (of. oh. xviii. 8: Jru,t.in llforlyr ~• Trypho,' § 105), os being in vii. 21). A ruuoh slrongor staternont than "the Memoirs. For I ay. So far from yon th&t of ver. 10, though somo would identify my di,oiploe (vcr. 18) boing right in doapie- the two. Thoro Obrist WM compnrlng one ing any of the oommanda oontained in the disoiplo with another; here hie dlsciplea Law, they are all t.o bo specially honoured with non-dieoiplos. " Suoh a relai:ing for by you; for yov righteolllll- (i.e.. the yourselves and others of the 0omm11ndment1 righteowmeu yon show in oblervin~ I.hem: will ,et 1,1011 loto in the true kingdom of thero i11 no thought here of the imputed obodienoe 11.nd holineBB ; but thia of b&ving righteonsnessof Christ) must farexoeed that a rightoouaness so utterly false and hollow of the IIClribcs and PhariB888; otherwiae there as that of the soribes and Pharisees will ii no entrnnoe f~ yon into the kingdom of not merely set you low, but will ei:oludo liMvcn. But wherein lny the snporiority of you from thnt kingdom nHogcther (vor. 20): the righteollllll088 which tho disoiple11 wero for while that marks an impaired spiritual to have ? Did oar Lord n1can that hie vision, this mnrks a vision utterly dnrk• cwmiples were to painfully toil through the oned and destroyod" (Trenoh, • Sermon on varioua e111LCtmenta, ooremonial and other, the Mount'). d the Law 11& the scribes and Phariaeea did, only with more aerious and earnest purpose Ver. 21-ch. 'ri. 18.-(2) Their relation than they ? Th&t were in the oue of many further dejvn«l. IICribea and Pba.riseel hardly pOBBible. For Vera. 21--48.-(a) Our Lord Is still oon- notwithstanding our Lord' ■ oocaaional cle- nunciAtioDB, many of tLem were men of the oerned with the relation of hlmsolf and hill severest earncstneu and the deepest con- followers to tho religion of the dny, of which acientiousness, e.g. Gam&liel 11.nd Saul of the Old Teatamont (ver. 17), and more espeoi- T&nlllL Our Lord must refer to the Law 1,lly the Law (ver. 18), waa the aocepted otherwiae than aa a 1ylliem of ennctmeuta. standard. But after having 1poken of the His thought ill llimilar to that of hill word■ need of careful attention to (vera.17,18), and addressed to Nicodemus (John iii 5), where be aay1 that change of heart evidenced by obse"ance of (ver. 10), even the least com• public profe1111ion (o( Rom. L 10) ia neceasary mands of the Law, he goes on to point out for cntranoe into th& kingdom of God the far-reaching character of those com- :cf. also eh. :uili. S). So here; while mands, whether thoy are such e.s we abould the righteoumea of the eoribes and Pba- call more (ver1. 21, 27, 81) or leaa (vers. 88, riaeee, even when joined to earnestneaa of pnrpoee, neverthelcsa con.list■ iii the ob- ae, {3) important. 1ervance of extsmal rules, there ii a higher n ia euential to notice that onr Lord re- principle in the Law, by obaer'fing which fers to these command&, not merely u ate.te- a higher righteoma8118 OIID be attained. mente contained in the Law, but 118 part of Christ point.II, that ill to •Y, away from the the religion of the day, and that he eoutrastl Law aa & sy■ tem of e:ltern&l rule11 to the Law in ita deeper meaning, affecting the relation their tzue bearing on life and conduct with of tbe bee.rt to God (cf. further Weiaa,' Life,' that fa.lee bearing on thia which was oom• ii. 147). llhail aeeed; rather, ,1,aU abwnd monly predica.terl of them. By thia it ia not ,tiU r,wre tnan. The r<tatement ia not merely meant that our Lord was only opposing euoh cornpa.rat.ive, but impl.iea an abundance (cf. l no.rrow glos6cs o.nd interpretations e.s had '.l'Lf>I& iv. 10) even in the righteousneaa of a.risen at vo.riou1 times during the centnriee tLe IJCribtw and l'hari■eel. The Jewilh spirit rookone up good aotiona u producing after the promulgation of the I.&w (for thele iu many caaee even a ■ uperBuity ofright.eoue- were for the moat part perfeotly natural and nell8. But the rlghteouHne88 which Obrist'• logitimat.e developmente of the earliest diaciplea must have need■ to be ltl.11 more poBBible interpretationa of it), still leH that abundant. TM rlgliteoumu, ; omitted ln the he we., thinking only of tho worst of I.be Greek (Woooott aDd Hort) by OODdematlon. The IOrlb11 an4 l'hartlNI. •'fho mo■t learned mi11rep181entatiolll of it■ commands, oompi.- (scribes) and the IDOlli r.-lou■ (Pharileel) rati,ely recently made by the Pharlleel; but  OJI, v.1-48.J 'fHE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO s·r. MA'J"rflF.W. 159