The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 328

evc>r, bcvond wbieh hnm,.n mnliC'e Rn,l knowled11:e of, hie crning for, the life or enmity were utterly powerleee; he would denth of one of his proved ,m,l gnllnnt fol- have his servants tum their thoughts on lowers. These little sparrows wero sold in that serene region where men 11,11 men would the markots, strung together, or on skewers. have no power. Ver. 8.-Al.eo I ny unto you, Whosoever Ver. 5.-Bnt I will forewarn :you whom llhe.ll oonfe11 me before men, him 1hall the ye shell fear : P'ear him, whioh after he Son of man also oonfeae before the angels of bath killed hath power to out into hell ; God. The gree.t Teacher pursues the subject literally, inf.o Gehenna. This is simply of the future of his disciples. It is by no Gee-1,innom, ",alley of Hinnom," tmnslated means only to a wise fear of that God, into Greek letters. This valley was situated whose band stretches beyond this life, that in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, aud he appeals as a mighty inducement for hie originally was noted for the infamous rites servants utterly to disregard all dangers prnctised there in the worship of Moloch, in which may meet them in the course of their the times of the idolatrous kings of Judah_ service ; he tells them, too, of a splendid King Josiah, to mark his abhorrence of the recompense, which will assuredly be the idol-rites, defiled it with corpses; fires were guerdon of all his true followers. Before subsequently kindled to oonsnme the putre- that glorious throng of heavenly beinge, fying matter and prevent pestilence. The whose existence was a part of the creed of once fair valley, thus suocessi-.ely defiled every true Jew; before the mighty angels, with hid<'Ous corrupting rites, by putrefy- the awfnl seraphim ; before that countless ing corpses, and then with blazing fires lit crowd of winged and burning ouee who to consume what would otherwise have assisted at the awful mysteries of Sinai, occasioned pestilence, was taken by rab- would they who witnessed for him, and binical writers as a symbol for the place of suffered because of him, be acknowledged torment, and is used not unfrequently e.s a by him. Their sufferings in the service of Hnonvm for" hell." The translators of the the King of heaven, whom they knew on Authorized Version have done BO here. The earth as the poor Galilee Teaober, would reminder is, after all, we need not fear men. be recounted before the angels by the same When they have done their worst, they have King of heaven, when he returned to his only injured or tortured the perishable body. home of grandeur and of peace in heaven. The One whom all have good reason t-0 fear Ver. 9.-But he that denieth me before is God, whose power is not limited to this men shall be denied before the angels of life, but extends through and beyond death- God. Splendid as would the recompense be Some have strangely supposed, not God, but to the faithful and the loyal,equally shame- the demi, is intended here to be the real ful would be the guerdon meted out to the object of human fear. The devil can be no cowardly and faint-hearted. Before the object of fear to the Master's disciples. ea.me glorious throng would the King detail Yers. 6, 7.-Are not :five sparrows sold the failure, through slavish fenr, of those for two farthings, and not one of them is whom he had chosen for so royal a. service. forgotten before God ! But even the very Such an announcement as this proclamation hairs of your head a.re all numbered. Fear of glory and of shame before the holy not therefore : ye are of more value than angels, in which stupendous scene he, the many sparrows. Though persecution and poor Galilman Rabbi, was to play the part bitter suffering, even death, may be the of the Almighty Judge, could only have guerdon of the Lord's true servants here, been me.de in the last weeks preceding his none of these things can happen without Passion. All reticence was then le.id aside. the consent of God. 'fhls thonght will Before friend and foe, in publio e.nd in surely give them courage to endure. Suffer- private, in these last solemn weeks Jesus ing undergone in God's service, inflicted, tore away the veil of reticence with which too, with bis enfue consent, so that the he ha<l been pleased hitherto in great mea- suffering becomes part of the service,-wha.t sure to ah roud his lofty claims, and the an onlook is afforded to the brave, faithful Master now declared before all the.t he was servant by such a. contemplation I Oh the tl1e King of kings, the Lord a.like of angels welcome from God he is sure to meet with and of men. In the faoe of such an an- wl,en such a. death Las been endured I Three nouncement, his prosecution by the priests rxtreillt instanct:s of God's uni versa! ce.re- and the Pharisee party for blasphemy no.- LiE all-know kdge of everything, however turally follows. Ho was either a daring litlle a.ud insignificant, belonging to his illlpostor or--. In tho lo.lter case, to the creature,;-ar<, chosen to give point to the poor Galilee Re.bbi belonged tl,e Name of Maeter's words. If Le !mows of the death namea which no Jew dared to pmnounco. of these little, almost valueless, birds-ay, Ver. 10.-And whosoever shall speak a e~en of the fa.Hing of one of the many hairs word e.gawt the Bon of me.n, it shall be of your htoa.d-11urely you cawiot doubt hid for(iven him. And yet even tl,at olfouoe, cm. :u,. 1-69.) THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKF:. 333