And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, Ver. 1. _Spake unto them again_] That by one discourse he might peg in another. He had but a while to be with men, and see how he bestirs him! Natural motion is more swift and violent toward the end of it. It was as pleasant to Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, Ver. 2. _Like unto a certain king_] God is a great King, and he stands upon his seniority, Malachi 1:8, will be served of the best, and curseth that cheat that does otherwise,Matthew 22:14. He scorneth to drink th... [ Continue Reading ]
And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Ver. 3. _They would, not come_] They proved recusants, and this rendered them unworthy of eternal life, Acts 13:46. God's ministers sent to call them, must turn them over to him, with a _Non converten... [ Continue Reading ]
Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and _my_ fatlings _are_ killed, and all things _are_ ready: come unto the marriage. Ver. 4. _Behold I have prepared my dinner_] Luke calleth it a supper. The kingdom of heaven is comp... [ Continue Reading ]
But they made light of _it_, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: Ver. 5. _But they made light of it_] God's rich offers are still slighted and critized; and most men turn their backs upon those blessed and bleeding embracements of his, as if heaven were not worth heark... [ Continue Reading ]
And the remnant took his servants, and entreated _them_ spitefully, and slew _them_. Ver. 6. _Entreated them spitefully and slew them_] This is that sin which brings ruin without remedy,2 Chronicles 36:16. Josiah's humiliation could not expiate Manasseh's bloodshed. Our Popish prelates in less than... [ Continue Reading ]
But when the king heard _thereof_, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Ver. 7. _But when the king heard thereof_] And kings have long ears, this King of heaven especially. _Cui etiam muta clamant cadavera.-Ut taceant homines iumenta l... [ Continue Reading ]
Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Ver. 8. _They which were bidden were not worthy_] Who were then? Such as came from the highways and hedges, Matthew 22:9, that is, such as fit and show their sores to God, as the cripple and others do b... [ Continue Reading ]
Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. Ver. 9. _Go ye therefore to the highways_] Those sinners of the Gentiles, Galatians 2:15, who wandered in their own ways, Acts 14:16, and were, till now, without God in the world,Ephesians 4:18. These are those ot... [ Continue Reading ]
So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. Ver. 10. _Both bad and good, &c._] Such a mixture there ever hath been, and will be here in the Church. Doeg sets his foot as far within the s... [ Continue Reading ]
And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: Ver. 11. _And when the king came in to see_] He is in the assemblies of his saints to observe their behavior, and to apportion to them in blessing as they do to him in preparation; he goes down into... [ Continue Reading ]
And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Ver. 12. _Friend, how camest? &c._] Not wretch, rebel, reprobate. Hard reproofs administered in soft language break the bones. See the notes above on Matthew 20:13 . _ Not having a wedding... [ Continue Reading ]
Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast _him_ into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Ver. 13. _Bind him hand and foot_] He that comes into Christ's table without a wedding garment on his back shall not go out without fetter... [ Continue Reading ]
For many are called, but few _are_ chosen. Ver. 14. _For many are called, &c._] With an outward calling; but outward privileges profit not, where the hidden man of the heart is not right, where the power and practice of godliness is wanting. Many a ship hath been called Safeguard and Goodspeed, whi... [ Continue Reading ]
Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in _his_ talk. Ver. 15. _Then went the Pharisees_] They were, as one saith, _Puncti et repuncti, minime tamen ad resipiscentiam compuncti._ They were stung with the former parables, and grew more enraged. It is a vain persuasion... [ Continue Reading ]
And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any _man_ : for thou regardest not the person of men. Ver. 16. _With the Herodians_] _i.e._ Such as were of Herod's religion, as t... [ Continue Reading ]
Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? Ver. 17. _Is it lawful_] They make it a case of conscience. Dissembled sanctity is double iniquity. Covetousness goes cloaked or coloured, 1 Thessalonians 2:5. So doth malice most times; but God will wash off i... [ Continue Reading ]
But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, _ye_ hypocrites? Ver. 18. _Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites_] Hypocrites pretend Nathaniel in the skin of a Nicodemus, saith one; of a Demas rather, who made fair weather for a while, but at length forsook Paul, and became an idolatrous... [ Continue Reading ]
Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. Ver. 19. _They brought unto him a penny_] _Monachi pecunias attingere pro piaculo ducunt._ No Capuchin among the Papists may take or touch silver. This metal is as very anathema to these, as the wedge of gold to Achan; at the offer where... [ Continue Reading ]
And he saith unto them, Whose _is_ this image and superscription? Ver. 20. _Whose is this image, &c._] Not that he knew not whose it was, but that he might refell them by their own answers, judge them out of their own mouth; and that the people (into whose hatred they thought by this captious quest... [ Continue Reading ]
They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. Ver. 21. _Render therefore unto Caesar_] Not give, but render; as who should say, Ye give him but what belongs to him; ye do him but right, ye he... [ Continue Reading ]
When they had heard _these words_, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way. Ver. 22. _They marvelled and left him, and went their way_] With a flea in their ear, as we say. " _Demitto auriculas ut iniquae mentis asellus._ " Hor. Confounded they were that they were so disappointed. Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him, Ver. 23. _The same day came to him the Sadducees_] _Vulpium capita possunt esse aversa, quorum tamen caudae in face eadem coeunt._ Heretics may differ as much from one another, as they all do from the tr... [ Continue Reading ]
Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Ver. 24. _Master, Moses said_] They pretend Scripture; so did the devil, Matthew 4:1,11. So do heretics all; _Sed sensum afferunt non auferunt, _ but they fetch not th... [ Continue Reading ]
Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother: Ver. 25. _When he had married a wife, deceased_] Thus they that will marry shall have trouble, aye, and that in the flesh, wherein they haply promised th... [ Continue Reading ]
Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. Ver. 26. _And the third unto the seventh_] Happy it was, if seeing their brethren fall so fast, themselves were warned to number their own days and provide for death's coming. But this is not easily done; for we naturally dream of an immort... [ Continue Reading ]
And last of all the woman died also. Ver. 27. _And last of all the woman, &c._] It is scarcely credible that one woman should outlive seven husbands. But grant she did, yet impartial death, that had so often times cut off her head, hit her heart at last. Death, as an archer, aiming at us, misseth u... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her. 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. Ver. 29. _Ye do err, not knowing_] Ignorance is a breeder. All sins are seminally in ignorance. St Paul thank... [ Continue Reading ]
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. Ver. 30. _For in the resurrection they neither marry_] Therefore our condition then shall be better than that of Adam's in Paradise, where he had need of a meet help, _Chenegdo, _ such ano... [ Continue Reading ]
But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, Ver. 31. _Have ye not read_] In Moses, whose writings only they received, rejecting the rest. And the superstitious Jews at this day are said in their liturgy to read two lessons, one out o... [ Continue Reading ]
I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Ver. 32. _God is not the God of the dead_] That is, in the Sadducees' sense, utterly dead and extinct for ever; but in St Paul's sense,Romans 14:9, He is the God of the dead. For... [ Continue Reading ]
And when the multitude heard _this_, they were astonished at his doctrine. Ver. 33. _They were astonished at his doctrine_] This was well; but St Luke Luk 20:39-40 adds that which was more strange: 1. That certain of the scribes said, Master, thou hast well said. No Jesuit had ever so much ingenuit... [ Continue Reading ]
But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Ver. 34. _But when the Pharisees_] _Nunquam bella bonis, nunquam certamina desunt._ Truth never lacks an adversary. Christ had many conflicts all his life long, but most and sharpest at last cast... [ Continue Reading ]
Then one of them, _which was_ a lawyer, asked _him a question_, tempting him, and saying, Ver. 35. _Then one of them which was a lawyer_] Pareus gathereth out of Mark, Mark 12:28, that this lawyer was one of them that had applauded Christ for his conquest over the Sadducees in the last conflict, Lu... [ Continue Reading ]
Master, which _is_ the great commandment in the law? Ver. 36. _Which is the great commandment_] the Rabbis reckoned up 613 commandments of the law; and distinguished them into the greater and the lesser. These later they thought might be neglected or violated with little or no guilt. The Romish Pha... [ Continue Reading ]
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Ver. 37. _Thou shalt love the Lord_] God must be loved and honoured by us, _η ολος η μη ολως_, saith one; truly, that there be no halting, and totally, that there be no halving; h... [ Continue Reading ]
This is the first and great commandment. Ver. 38. _This is the first and great commandment_] In respect of order, quantity, and dignity. The second table is fulfilied in the first, and Luther is bold to say, _Primo praecepto reliquorum omnium observantia praecipitur; _ in the first commandment is c... [ Continue Reading ]
And the second _is_ like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Ver. 39. _And the second is like unto it_] For it hath, 1. The same author, God "spake all these words." 2. The same tic. 3. The same sanction and punishment of the violation. 4. It requires the same kind of love and servic... [ Continue Reading ]
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Ver. 40. _Hang all the law and prophets_] Yea, and the gospel too; for love is both the complement of the law and the supplement of the gospel, Romans 13:10; John 13:34. It is the filling up of the law (as the word πληρωμα signifieth), fo... [ Continue Reading ]
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Ver. 41. _While the Pharisees were gathered_] _i.e._ Before the former meeting was dissolved. We should watch for and catch at all opportunities of working upon the worst. Dr Taylor preached every time he could get his people together, h... [ Continue Reading ]
Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, _The Son_ of David. Ver. 42. _What think ye of Christ?_] _Christus utramque paginam impleret._ All our search should be with those wise men for the babe of Bethlehem, who is wrapped up, as it were, in the swathing bands of both th... [ Continue Reading ]
He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, Ver. 43. _How then doth David in spirit_] The Spirit possessed David after a sort, and by his mouth uttered what he would publish to the Church concerning the Godhead of Christ. "Holy men spake of old as they were acted by the... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? Ver. 44. _The Lord said unto my Lord_] God the Father to God the Son; these two differ no otherwise than that the one is the Father, and not the Son, the other is the Son, and not the Father. _ Sit thou... [ Continue Reading ]
If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? Ver. 45. _Lord, how is he his Son?_] This is that great mystery of godliness, which angels intently look into, 1 Peter 1:12, as the cherubims did of old into the mercy seat. That Christ should be David's Lord and David's Son, God and man in one person... [ Continue Reading ]
And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any _man_ from that day forth ask him any more _questions_. Ver. 46. _And no man was able to answer_] Though they were subtle sophisters, and mighty in the Scriptures, yet they had nothing to oppose. _Magna est veritas, et valebit._ Great is t... [ Continue Reading ]