2._Do you imagine? etc. _This passage is highly useful, were it for no other reason than that this disease is almost natural to us, to be too rigorous and severe in judging of others, and too much disposed to flatter our own faults. The consequence is, that we not only censure with excessive severit... [ Continue Reading ]
6._He spoke also this parable. _The substance of it is, that many are endured for a time who deserve to be cut off; but that they gain nothing by the delay, if they persist in their obstinacy. The wicked flattery, by which hypocrites are hardened, and become more obstinate, arises from this cause, t... [ Continue Reading ]
I have resolved to place in immediate connection some events which are detailed by Luke alone, without a direct reference to dates; for on that point, as we have formerly mentioned, the Evangelists did not care much about exactness. We shall afterwards find a more suitable time for returning to the... [ Continue Reading ]
11._And, lo, a woman _Here is related a miracle performed on a woman who was cured, and the offense which the malignity of the Jews led them to take up, because our Lord had cured her on a _Sabbath _-day Luke says that the _woman _was held by a _spirit of infirmity, _so that her body was bent by the... [ Continue Reading ]
12._Woman, thou art delivered _In this miracle, as well as in others, Christ exhibited a proof both of his power and of his grace; for in this manner he testified that he had come for the purpose of granting relief to the wretched. His power is expressed in these words, _Woman, thou art delivered; _... [ Continue Reading ]
13._And glorified God. _As to the people _glorifying God, _it is mentioned in order to inform us, that this was distinctly perceived to be a heavenly blessing. It was not some doubtful work which allowed room for argument on either side, but one which afforded ample and undoubted grounds for praisin... [ Continue Reading ]
14._There are six days. _This reprover does not venture to pass censure openly on Christ, but points the venom of his dislike to another quarter, and indirectly condemns Christ in the person of the multitude. What an astonishing display of furious malice! _Six days, _he tells them, were set apart fo... [ Continue Reading ]
15._Doth not every one of you? etc _Such a combination of malice and stupidity might easily have been exposed in many ways, but Christ satisfied himself with this single argument. If it be lawful _on the Sabbath, _to perform the offices of humanity to cattle, it is ridiculous to imagine that the due... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 13:22._Journeying towards Jerusalem. _It is uncertain whether Luke speaks only of one journey, or means that, while Christ walked throughout Judea, and visited each part of it for the purpose of teaching, he was wont to _go up to Jerusalem _at the festivals. The former clause, certainly, appear... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 13:23._And one saith to him _Although Matthew relates this answer, as if it were immediately connected with other sentences taken out of our Lord’s sermons, yet I rather think that the occasion of its being spoken arose out of the present question. The reason why the question was put appears to... [ Continue Reading ]
24._For many will seek to enter _This was added, that we might not be deceived by a vain hope, as if the multitude of our companions would be of any avail to us. The flesh is willing to flatter itself, and many who now give themselves every indulgence, promise to themselves an easy entrance into lif... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 13:25._And when the master of the house shall have arisen _Though these words, as I hinted a little before, were spoken on a different and later occasion, I have chosen to pay more regard to the doctrine than to the time: for it is no slight assistance to the understanding to read, in immediate... [ Continue Reading ]
26._Thou hast taught in our streets _Christ expressly states, that it will be of no advantage to the Jews, that he approached near to them, and permitted them to enjoy familiar intercourse with him, if, when called, they do not answer at the appointed day. But he does not follow out his comparison:... [ Continue Reading ]
28._When you shall see Abraham _The Jews bore no resemblance to the holy fathers, and had no right to boast of being descended from them: yet nothing was more customary than to abuse the title of the Church. (474) Christ here assures them, that a bastard race, which has departed from the faith and p... [ Continue Reading ]
29._And they shall come from the east _He now draws a larger illustration from the fact, that the Jews, who reckoned themselves the only lawful heirs of God, were to be rejected, and that the Gentiles were to be substituted in their room, and obtain the life which was promised to Abraham and his pos... [ Continue Reading ]
30._And, lo, they are last who shall be first _The same words, as we shall elsewhere see, were frequently employed by Christ, but in a different sense, (Matthew 19:30; Mark 10:31.) All that he intended here was, to throw down the vain confidence of the Jews, who, having been chosen by God in prefere... [ Continue Reading ]
It deserves our attention, that Christ gives the designation, _daughter of Abraham, _to one whose body had been _enslaved by Satan during eighteen years. _She was so called, not only in reference to her lineage, as all the Jews without exception gloried in this title, but because she was one of the... [ Continue Reading ]
32._Go, tell that fox _It is certain, that the person here spoken of is Herod Antipas. Though he had throughout the character of a _fox, _and was as remarkable for servility as for cunning, I do not think that the term, _fox, _is intended to refer generally to the cunning of his whole life, but rath... [ Continue Reading ]
33._It does not usually happen, etc. _He next adds, that it is an idle bugbear, which is held out by false and hypocritical advisers; because there is no danger of death _anywhere else than at Jerusalem. _In this second clause he sharply attacks the Pharisees. “Is it you, who — I foresee — will be m... [ Continue Reading ]