Luke 12:5._Yea, I say to you, Fear Him _This is an emphatic, (596) repetition of the statement. Christ must be viewed as saying, that when we give way to the dread of men, we pay no respect to God; and that if on the contrary we _fear _God, we have an easy victory in our hands, so that no efforts of... [ Continue Reading ]
13._Bid my brother divide _Our Lord, when requested to undertake the office of _dividing an inheritance, _refuses to do so. Now as this tended to promote brotherly harmony, and as Christ’s office was, not only to reconcile men to God, but to bring them into a state of agreement with one another, wha... [ Continue Reading ]
15._Take heed and beware of covetousness. _Christ first guards his followers against _covetousness, _and next, in order to cure their minds entirely of this disease, he declares, that _our life consisteth not in abundance. _These words point out the inward fountain and source, from which flows the m... [ Continue Reading ]
16._And he spoke a parable to them _This parable presents to us, as in a mirror, a lively portrait of this sentiment, that men _do not live by their abundance. _Since the life even of the richest men is taken away in a moment, what avails it that they have accumulated great wealth? All acknowledge i... [ Continue Reading ]
17._What shall I do? _Wicked men are driven to perplexity in their deliberations, because they do not know how any thing is to be lawfully used; (269) and, next, because they are intoxicated with a foolish confidence which makes them forget themselves. Thus we find that this _rich man _lengthens out... [ Continue Reading ]
19._Take thine ease, eat, drink, enjoy thyself. _When he exhorts himself to _eat and drink, _he no longer remembers that he is a man, but swells into pride by relying on his abundance. We daily perceive striking instances of this disdainful conduct (270) in irreligious men, who hold up the mass of t... [ Continue Reading ]
20._Fool, this night they will demand thy soul from thee. _The word _soul _carries an allusion. Formerly, the _rich man _addressed his _soul _as the seat of all the affections: but now, he speaks of the life itself, or the vital spirit. The words, _they will demand, ( _ ἀπαιτοῦσιν _) _though in the... [ Continue Reading ]
21._So is he that layeth up for himself. _As the two clauses are evidently contrasted, the one must be taken into account for the exposition of the other. Let us ascertain, therefore, what is meant by being _rich in God, _or, “towards God” or, “with respect to God.” Those who are tolerably acquainte... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 12:29._And be not lifted on high _(460) This clause corresponds to the last sentence in the passage taken from Matthew, Be _not anxious about tomorrow _Our Lord now charges them with another fault. When men wish to make arrangements in their own favor, they would willingly embrace five centurie... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 12:32._Fear not, little flock _By this declaration our Lord strengthens the confidence to which he had exhorted his people: for how would God refuse worthless and perishing food to those whom he has adopted as heirs of his _kingdom? _And he expressly calls his own people _a little flock, _to hi... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 12:36._And you yourselves like men that wait for their master. _He uses another parable not mentioned by Matthew, who writes more briefly on this subject; for he compares himself to _a householder _who, while he is joining in the festivities of the marriage feast, or in other respects indulging... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 12:47._But that servant. _There is great weight in this circumstance, which is mentioned by Luke alone, that, in proportion as any man knowingly and willingly takes pleasure in despising the Lord, he deserves severer punishment. A comparison is made between the greater and the less to this effe... [ Continue Reading ]
48._To whomsoever much hath been given. _Christ shows by another circumstance, that the more highly favored disciples ought to be visited with severer punishment, if they despise their calling, and abandon themselves without reserve to every kind of licentiousness; because the more eminent a man is,... [ Continue Reading ]
49._I am come to send fire on the earth. _From these concluding words it may easily be inferred, that this was one of Christ’s latest discourses, and is not related by Luke at the proper place. But the meaning is, that Christ has introduced into the world the utmost confusion, as if he had intended... [ Continue Reading ]
50._But I have a baptism to be baptized with. _By these words our Lord asserts that there remains nothing but his last act, that by his death he may consecrate the renovation of the world. For since the shaking which he mentioned was appalling, and since that conflagration of the human race was terr... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 12:51._Do you suppose that I came to send peace on the earth? _What Christ has now demanded from his disciples any one of them would reckon it an easy matter to give, if the whole world, with one consent, embraced the doctrine of the Gospel. But as a considerable part of the world not only oppo... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 12:57._And why even of yourselves, etc.? _Here Christ opens up the source of the evil, and, as it were, applies the lancet to the ulcer. He tells them that they do not descend into their consciences, and there examine with themselves, as in the presence of God, what is right. The reason why hyp... [ Continue Reading ]