The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 516

Ohri,t. Jude.s we.s one of those who hu.d sinnera we mity sgitin quote At. Chrysf)st0m done eo, The foot of ee.ting together made, (' Hom. lxxxi. in Matt.'),"' What, then,'""~ 111 the Eaatarna' view, the trau.cbory more may say,' th0u,;h Judas had not betraye,t monstrous, "Mina own fe.miliar friend, in him, would not another have betrayed him? whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, ... Because if Uhrist must needs be cruci- bath lifted up his heel 0,gainst me" (Pa. fied, it must be by the mee.ns of some one, xii. 9). The dish we.a 000 of large dimen- e.n<i if by some one, surely by such " person eiona, from which each gue.t took his por- as this. But if all bad been good, the ,li,- tion with his fingers. It we.a truly a common pensation in our behalf had been impeded.' meal in which all shared. Our Lord'H words Not so. For the All wise knows how he shall were spoken in answer to John's question, bring about our benefits, even bad thi3 "Lord, who iB it?" (John xiii. 25). The happened. For his wisdom is rich in con- beloved apoatlo'a position at table, "lying trive.nee, and incomprehensible. So for thi3 on Jesus' breast," enabled him lo e.ek this reason, that no one might suppose that J ud.,s without being overheard. There is e. mis- had become a minister of the dispensation, take commonly made concerning the shape he declares the wretchedness of tbe.t ma,1. of the table used on snob occasions. It waa But some one will se.y again,• Aud if it harl not of a horseshoe form, but oblong. The been good if he he.d never been born, where- couches were arranged round tllree of its fore did he suffer both this man and e.11 the sides, and it extended e. little way beyond wicked to come into the world?' Wilen the divans. The Master's seat was not at thou ougbtest to blame the wicked, for that, the top or middle couch, but at the side ; having the power not to become suoil as and from what occurred we should infer they are, they have become wicked, tho11 that John sat on the right of Jesus at the lea.vest this, and busiest thyself an,! art end of the couch, and J ode.a on the left of curious about the th.i.ngs of Go<l, althongl1 .Jesus, the strife about preoedcnoy having knowing that it is not by necessity that any been thus settled. (The correct she.pa of one is wicked." the table, and the places of Jesus, John, Ver. 25.-Answered e.nd said, Master, i; it .Judas, e.nd Peter, a.re delineated in Eder- I 1 Mi).,., e-yd, ,iµ.,; It ui not I, ia it t e.e ver. sheim's work, vol ii. p. 494.) 22. Judae probably bad not been one of Ver. 24.-The Son of m&n goath ( vir&y.,, those ,vho put this qnestion before, e.nd now, departeth). It iB thus that Christ 1<lludes availing himseli of his proximity to Je;ill.i to his approaching death (John vii. 33; viii (see on ver. 23), he has tile inconceivable 21, 22; xiii. 8, etc.), declaring thus the ei"rontery to make this inquiry privately, voluntary nature of his sufferings. As it is as if to assure himself whether Christ was written of him, Every minute detail of conscious of his treachery or not. It is re- Christ's Passion enunciated by the prophets marked the.t be does not call Jesus" Lord," was fulfilled. "The prescience of God," as the other apostles, but "Rabbi," e. oolclly ea.ye Chrysostom, "is not the cause of men's ceremonious title (so in the garden, ver. ,19 ), wickedness, nor does it involve any neces- The gentle JedUS reproaches him not, but sity of it; Judas we.s not a traitor because answers him in low tones unheard by the God foresaw it, but he foresaw it because rest (John xiii. 28, 29). Thou hast said. A Judas would be so." Woe nnto that man by common formula, equivalent to "yes." So (through) whom the Bon of man is betrayed! ver. 64. ,r11p116(60T11<, is being betrayed. Judas could hear this and the following sentence, and Vere. 26-29.-The institution of the Lord's yet retain his iniquitous purpose I It had Supper. (Ma.rk xiv. 22-25; Luke xxii.15- been good for that man if he had not been 20; 1 Cor. xi. 23-25.) The endless coo.- born; literally, it u,ere good for him if that man had not been born. Jesus says this, troversies which have gathered rou.ncl the knowing what the fate of Judas would be iu Holy Euohe.rist, for oppoaite views of the the other world. There is no hope here meaning and purpose of which men ha.ve held out of alleviation or end of suJfering, fearlessly met death, render it e. difficult or of ultimate restoration. It is a rayless matter to expound the text succinctly nnd darkness of despoir. Had there been any expectation of relief or of recovery of God's ytl_ with due regard to clearness oucl pre- favour, existence would be a blessing even cision. If I do not e:s:po.tiate upon the to the worst of sinners ; for they would he.ve di verse opinions whioh ha. ve been held on eternity still before them in which to enjoy this momentous subject, it is not because I their pardon and purification ; and in such have neglected to weigh and examine them, ease it could not be said of them tho.t it were better for them never to have been but because it is more conducive to ediiicu.- bom. On one side of the mysterious pro- tion to have a pie.in statement of what np- ~lem connected with Judas uncl such-like peare to the writer to be the truth, tlta.u to  522 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [orr. xxvr. 1--7.'.i.