The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 398

ing themselves from the guilt of their fore- Thi.a i■ the only means to eeoape the damna- fathel'II wu by hearkening to those who tion of hell; but how rare is thl.a grace after now pree.ohed the gospel of aalvation-the a phe.risaical life I" (Quesnel). Hypooriay very last thing which they were pnrposed is a bar to repente.nce. to do. Ver. 34.-Wherefore; 11,c\ .-oii,-o. Beoause Ver. 81.-Ye be witnessee 11llto your- ye are rosolved on imitating your forefathen' ■elve1. By busying yonNelves about adorn- iniquities, you will also reject the messengera ing the tombs of the prophets slain by your that are sent to you, and ahall sntfer right• ancestoni, yon show your descent and the eous oondemnation. I send ( i-y@ li.-rotrrl:>..• spirit which animates yon. Ye a.re the "°') unto you. The sending had already ohildren ; ye are so,u,, They were true sons begun. In the po.rallel passage of St. of their fathers, inheriting their murderous Luke (xi. 49) we read, "Therefore also iustino~, following their steps. Like father, sa.id the wisdom of God, I will send." Obrist like son. They inherited and pnt in practice is the Wisdom of God, and by his own the aame false principles which led their authority gives mission to his messengers. ancestol'II astray. "As the Father hath sent me, even so send I Ver. 32.-Fill ye up then; r<al l,µ,.,s ,..,._,,_ yon" (John xx. 21), he sa11 to his apostlea; ~CTllT<: do ye also (as well 88 they) fill, up. and to such he is referring in the worda An imperative, expressive of Divine irony, which follow. Prophets. The apostle& oonto.ining virtne.lly a prophecy. Complete were of like oha.raoter, inspiration, and in- your evil work, finish the.t which yonr 11uence as the prophets under the old fe.thel'II began (comp. John xiii. 27). The dispensation, and succeeded in their place measure. There is e. certe.in limit to ini- as exponents of God's will and heralds of quity; when this is reached, punishment the covenant. Wise men. Men full of the falls. The meto.phor is deriTed from e. full Holy Ghost and heavenly wisdom. Soribe11, cup, which a single drop more will make Not in the then Jewish sense, but instructor& overflow. This added drop would be the in the new law of life, the law of Ohrist'a dee.th of Christ and the persecntion of his religion (oh. xiii. 52). All the means of followers. Then vengee.nce mnst follow teaching and edification employed aforetim& (comp. Gen. xv. Hl; 1 Thess. ii 16) were abundantly and more etfcctually sup- Vers. 33--39.-Declaration of the aentence plied under the gospel. St. Luke has, " prophets 1md apostles." Kill; as Stephen. on th.ese Phariseu and their generation. (Acts vii 59), J amea (Acts xii. 2). Crucify• Ver. 33.-Ye serpents, ye generation ot as Peter (John xxi. 18, 19; 2 Pet. i 14); vipers ; -yEWTJ,urr« lx,6vt»" : offspring of Simeon (EUBebius, 'Hist. Eccl.,' iii 82); vipen. Our Lord repeat. the Baptist's and probably Andrew. Soourge (see Acts denunciation (eh. iii 7). They were of v. 40; :uii 19; xxvi 11; 2 Cor. xi. 24, 25). devilish ne.ture, inherited from their very Perseouted (see Acts xiii. 50; xiv. 5, 6, 19, birth the dispasition and che.re.cter of Sate.n. 20; xxvi 11; and comf.are Christ's pre- So Christ se.id on another occasion, " Ye a.re diction, eh. x. 17, 18). '.Ihe passage in the of your fe.ther the devil, and the lusts of Second (Fourth) Book of Esdms i. 82, your fa.ther it is your will to do. He was a wh:ch is atrikingly parallel to our Lord's murderer from the beginning, and stood not denunciation, mo.y possibly be a. Christian in the truth " (John viii 44 ). Row oan ye interpolation, "I sent unto you my ser- eecape t Ilios <1>{,y,rr• ; the deliberative con- vants the prophets, whom ye have taken junctive, Bo,,o aha1l fie eecape f Quo modo and slain, and torn their bodies in pieoes, /vgi.eti.ef (Vulgate). There is no emphasis whose blood I will require of yonr hands, on" can" in the Authorized Version. Whe.t 1ailh the Lord." hope is there now of your repentance? Can Ver. 35.-That upon you m.6Y oome (IJ,,.,,,, anything soften the hardneH of your hearts? l>..Bp). This phrase does not express a simple The Bo.ptist had spoken more hopefully, consequence, neither can it mean " in such " Who bath warned you to dee from the a way that "-explanations which have been wrath to come?" But now the day of grace given by some commentator■ to avoid a is past; the sin against the Holy Ghost is seeming difficulty in the final sense; but it committed; there remaineth only the fearful is to be tmnslated, as 11B11ally, in ,ml.er that, looking for of judgment. The damnation of td 11eniat. God, foreseeing the issue■ of hell ; literally, the ju,d,gment of Gehenna; their evil heart, puts in their way oocasious jvdicw Gehemue (V ulgate) ; i.e. the sentence which will aid hlB vengeance and e.co,,lerate that condemns to eternal death (eh. v. 22). the time of their punishment. He lets them The plirase is common in the rabbinical work out their own destruotion by com- writings (see Lightfoot). "Before sinning, miUing an unpardonable sin. He doe• not we ought to fear lest it be the filling tip; force them into thia course of conduct; they after sinning, we should trust in a. truly can resist the opportunity if they will; but Chrietiau hope that it is not, and repent. he k11ow1 they will not do so, and the visi- OH. xim. 1-39.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTIIEW. .«>3