The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 461

of this great Eumple? Some were; but not the most of them-not the town as a whole. "Shalt thou be exalted unto heaven?" the Lord asks sorrowfully. "No," was the solemn answer; "thou ehalt be cast down unto Hades." For the light of God's presence and love had shone in all ite glory on Capernaum; and, in the midst of light, ite people had turned their backs to the light, and had loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (2) Capernanm worse than Sodom. The men of Sodom were wicked, and sinners against the Lord exceedingly. The Jewe regarded the very name of Sodom with abhorrence and horror. But, in truth, they themselves had sinned more deeply yet; in the very presence of the Son of God they persisted in their sin and hardness. The Lord knew, in the far-reaching range of his Divine knowledge, that the men of Sodom would have repented if they had had the privileges granted to Capernaum. "Therefore," he said in Divine sorrow, "it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee." The words suggest many deep, mysterious, awful thoughts. The Lord does not satisfy our curiosity; he throws a veil over the secrets of the Divine judgment. It is enough for us to know that that judg- ment is both just and merciful. .Account will be taken of circnmstances, opportunities, privileges. The heathen will not be judged as the Christians, nor the ignorant as they that have knowledge. le there hope for them who die unblest? We read this saying of our Lord's; we compare it with other Scriptures--for instance, with the latter part of the sixteenth chapter of Ezekiel; and we feel that "the secret things belong unto the Lord our God ; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this Law." " What is that to thee?" the Lord seems to say to us (as once he said to Peter) when our restless thoughts busy themselves about the dark problems of the mysterious future. "What is that to thee? follow thou me." We have greater privileges than the people of Capemaum. We have the Word of God, his sacraments, the promise of his Spirit. We have not known Christ after the flesh; but we may know him by a holier, a more precious knowledge-the knowledge by which the true sheep know the good Shepherd. Let us fear the con- demnation of those who, living in the light, love darkness rather than light; let us use our privileges; let us strive always to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. LEssoNs. 1. The heart must be changed; excitement, privileges, will not save us. 2. Pray for that great inner change of repentance ; be satisfied with nothing less. 3. Uee the means of grace; neglect involves an awful responsibility. Vere. 25---30.-The joy of OhNt over the penitent. L TJIB TIIANKSGIVING. I. The Father's care/or the lowly minded. (I) The connection as given by St. Luke seems best to explain the Lord's thanksgiving. The seventy had just brought back tidings of _their success; the Lord gives thanks for it. But if this di!course ae recorded by St. Matthew is to be regarded as a continuous whole, we note here a transition in the Lord's thoughts from the hard-hearted and impenitent to the faithful few. He seems to: answer his own thoughts. He had grieved over the impending condemnation of those who had rejected him. In holy communion with the Father he turns to Divine joy over those to whom he had given power to become the sons of God. Such transi- tions from sorrow to joy are common in the Christian lire. (2) The Lord's joy. Ila rejoiced in spirit, St. Luke tells us. He was "a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." .An apocryphal account of hie life eays that he was often seen to weep, never to smile. But here we read of hie joy. It is very sweet and touching to think that amid the bitter eorrows of his self-sacrificing life the Lord Jesus had his hours of joy. It c:owforte ue, ae we strive in earnest meditation to sympathize with the suffering Lord, to remember that the long anguish which he endured for us was relieved by some gleams of holy gladness. It is enough for the disciple if he be as his Master. The moet afflicted, the most sorrowful life will have its joye, if it is a Christian life; for the Christian who learns of Christ will learn to share his joy. The Lord rejoices, not in earthly comforts, earthly successes, but in the salvation of sou le; he layeth the lost sheep on his shoulder, rejoicing ; he eaith unto his friends, "Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost." The true disciple rejoices in the Lord, in his presence, in communion with him, in his triumphs over evil. And the true disdple, loving the Lord above all things, strives to give him that joy in which he himself tel.la  458 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MAT'l'IIEW. [on. XI. 1-30.