The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 401

multiplication of mere units. More than mere "hands." He viewed them as multi- tudes of rational, capable, responsible, immortal beings. 2. His compasswn, was moved by the condition in which he found them. (1) They were "distressed" physically and spiritually. (a) By disease and sickness. (b) By demoniacal possession. The demoralization of the nation a.a described by Josephus was fearful. (2) They were 11 scattered, as sheep not having a shepherd" (cf. 1 Kings uii. 17). (a) Not that they were without synagogues. It was in visiting synagogues Jesus saw the multitudes. In the abounding of Churches there may yet be a famine of the Word of God. (b) Not that they were without scribes. These were in every city, yet they despised and neglected the flock (cf. Jer. xxiii. 1, etc.; John vii. 49). (c) Human traditions were substituted for the Divine Word. To this day Jewish teachers combine to make void the Word of God through their traditions. So do apostate Christian teacters. (3) The multitudes were like the harvest ready for the reapers, but no reapers were there to gather in the precious grain. It was "plenteous," but ready to shed and spoil and rot upon the ground. 3. Eis compassioo moved him to prayer. (1) Jesus spent the whole night in prayer for the lost sheep of the houso of Israel. (2) He moved his disciples also to pray. They were too modest to record whether they also had spent the whole night in prayer. (3) The burden of the prayer was that the Lord of the harvest would send forth labourers into his harvest. Note: It is the purest compas- sion to benefit the souls of men. Other things will follow ( cf. 1 Kings iii. 13 ; Ps. uxvii. 35; eh. vi. 33; 1 Tim.iv. 8). Does a truly human, dhriet-like compassion so intensely move us as to lead us to pray and labour for souls? II. THE DIVINITY OIi' THE COMPASSION OIi' J.e:sus. 1. This brought him down from heaven. (1) Hie incamation was in pursuance of the anti-mundane covenani (see Heb, x. 5-7). (2) Compassion moved him (see Isa. lix. 16; John iii. 16, 17; xv. 13). 2. It ia manifest here in the authority of his preaching. (1) He preached the" g;ospel or the kingdom." His own kingdom. That kingdom in which he himself is King. (2) The authority of his preaching was from himself. For he spake " not as the scribes." Not even as the inspired prophets. As the Fountain of all holy inspiration. (3) In the Divine sense the compassionate JesUB is still going through cities and villages preaching his gospel. 3. Jn the miracles by which he attested it. (1) They were Divine. (a) Evincing power over visible nature. (b) Dominion over the invisible world. (2) They were wrought immediately by him. In his own Name. 4. In his delegation to his disciples of authority to preach. (1) He instructed them first to "pray the Lord of the harvest that he send forth labourers into his harvest.'' In which note: (a) That the harvest is the Lord's. (b) That he only can qualify and commission true labourere--labourere worthy of the work. (2) Then he acted himself as Lord of the harvest, calling and commissioning the twelve (cf. eh. x. 1; Eph. iv. 11). (3) Christ sent forth tho&e whom he moved to pray. Prayerfulness is a prepara- tion for the ministry. How earnestly should the flock pray for true pastors I 5. In his delegation to his disciples of miracle-working power. (1) He made them masters of disease and sickness. Also of evil spirits. Note: (a) "Unclean spirits" are dis- tinguished here from "all manner of disease and all manner of sickness." (b) The design of the gospel is to vanquish the devil and cure the maladies of the world. (2) The mastery with which the disciples were invested WWI not to be exercised in their own, but in their Master's Name. (3) There is, therefore, no comparison between the sense in which Jesus commissioned his disciples, and that in which Moses appointed Joshua or Elijah called Elisha to be their successors. (4) Though the call to the ministry is Divine, to despise human learning is fanaticism.-J. A. M. Ver. 2.-The claim to forgive sin. "'fhy sins be forgiven thee." 'l'here is an important distinction between the claim to forgivo sin, and the claim to declare sins forgiven. The Christian priest does not claim the power to forgive siu; he does claim the authority to declare sins forgiven. Which of these Christ claimed may be disputed, but it is clear that the scribes present understood him to claim "power to forgive;" such a claim alone could be regarded as "blasphemy." But, strictly treated, our Lord's words do no more than declare a/act. Jesus treated the powers he possessed as Divine powers entrusted to his charge; what he asserts ie that these powers concern two 11pheres, that of the body and that of the soul ; that of sickness and that of sin, which  898 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MA'l''l'HEW, [oH. ll, 1-38.