THE MISSION OF THE SEVENTY. Peculiar to Luke. The labors of this large body of disciples were brief, their mission temporary. The incident has no bearing upon questions of ecclesiastical position. Our Lord certainly had enough followers to admit of this appointment Luke mentions both the sending out... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:1. THESE THINGS. The events related in the last chapter. This opposes the view that the mission of the Seventy _preceded_ the rejection in the Samaritan village. OTHER SEVENTY, or, ‘seventy others,' either in addition to the Twelve, or to the messengers spoken of in chap. Luke 9:52. The for... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS division of the Gospel of Luke, embracing nearly one third of the whole, contains for the most part matter peculiar to this Evangelist. A number of the incidents probably belong to an earlier period of the history. A few of these are mentioned by Matthew and Mark, though the greater number even... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:2. See on Matthew 9:37, where the same thought precedes the sending out of the Twelve. SEND FORTH. Literally ‘cast forth,' implying urgency.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:3. GO YOUR WAYS. This, too, implies urgency. The Seventy are not forbidden to go to the Gentiles and Samaritans (Matthew 10:5). Possibly they did visit the latter; and besides their route was made known to them in advance, which was not the case when the Twelve were sent out.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:4. SALUTE NO MAN BY THE WAY. Peculiar to this discourse. It simply expresses the urgency of their errand, since such salutations in the East would involve great loss of time.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:5. The previous inquiry (Matthew 10:11), is not mentioned here.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:6. A SON OF PEACE, _i.e.,_ one ‘worthy,' one whose heart was ready to receive the message of peace they brought. UPON HIM, or, ‘it,' as in E. V. The original may refer either to the man or the house, the former is the more natural sense.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:7. IN THAT HOUSE, _i.e.,_ in the house where they had been received. SUCH THINGS AS THEY GIVE. Lit. ‘the things from them,' sharing what they have. There is not the slightest reference to eating heathen dishes (as in 1 Corinthians 10:27), for they were not sent among the heathen. GO NOT... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:9. HEAL THE SICK. A less extended commission than that of Matthew 10:8. THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS COME NIGH UNTO YOU. This indicates a later message than Matthew 10:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:10-11. In case of rejection, the Seventy were bidden, even more distinctly than the Twelve (Matthew 10:14), to renounce by symbolical act, all intercourse and responsibility. BUT KNOW THIS, despite your rejection, THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS COME NIGH. This word of love (Luke 10:9) becomes now a... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:13-15. See Matthew 11:21-23. The connection here is different. It is highly probable that our Lord uttered such words twice. In this case these towns furnished an example of the rejection spoken of in Luke 10:10-11. This was His solemn farewell of these favored places, and the connection imp... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:16. See on Matthew 10:40. Here the connection of thought is: woes on the Galilean cities which had rejected our Lord, would fall on those also that would reject the Seventy. The verse states a principle of general validity, and forms a solemn conclusion.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:17. THE RETURN OF THE SEVENTY. RETURNED WITH JOY. They were probably not absent long. It is unlikely, though not impossible, that they all returned at the same time and place, unless a time and place of rendezvous had been previously appointed. The Evangelist gives a summary account. How muc... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:18. I WAS BEHOLDING, i.e.. while you were thus exercising power over demons. Of course the vision was a spiritual one. SATAN, the personal prince of darkness. FALL AS LIGHTNING, _i.e.,_ suddenly. FROM HEAVEN. This seems to be figurative, implying the pride and height of Satan's power. T... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:19. I HAVE GIVEN. The correct reading expresses an abiding fact. The Lord augments by a new promise the joy He has just confirmed. AUTHORITY, delegated power here. TO TREAD ON SERPENTS AND SCORPIONS. The promise is doubtless literal, so far as necessary to manifest higher spiritual power... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:20. REJOICE NOT IN THIS. This is an absolute prohibition of rejoicing _solely_ in the power spoken of. The power is great, and joy in such delegated power is _dangerous,_ may be joined with pride and self-seeking. Besides the power over evil is a negative blessing, and does not furnish so pr... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:21. IN THAT HOUR. This definite mark of time joins this utterance of our Lord (Luke 10:21-22) with the return of the Seventy. JOYED. A strong word, applied to our Lord only here. The one hour of joy was in sympathy with His faithful preachers. IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. This is the sense, accor... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:22. Some older manuscripts and versions insert: ‘And turning to the disciples He said' This would give what follows the character of a direct address. In Luke 10:23 the same form occurs, but ‘privately' is added. The statements of Luke 10:21-22, very appropriate in their connection with the... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:23. PRIVATELY. Observe ‘here the gradual narrowing of the circle to which our Lord addresses Himself' (Alford). See notes on the similar saying in Matthew 13:16-17. The occasion and connection are different there, but just such a beatitude would be likely to be repeated at important points i... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:25. A CERTAIN LAWYER. A kind of scribe whose business it was to teach the law. AND TEMPTED, or, ‘trying,' HIM. This implies a cold, self-righteous spirit, rather than a hostile one. He probably wished to see whether our Lord would teach anything in conflict with the law of Moses, or simply... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS incident, peculiar to Luke, must be distinguished from a later one, mentioned by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, namely, that of the rich young ruler whom Jesus loved. A similar question was put in that case, receiving at first a similar answer. But otherwise the occurrences differ, especially in the... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:26. IN THE LAW. These words are emphatic; as if our Lord would say, the answer to your question is in the law you teach. HOW READEST THOU? This form was used by the Rabbins to call out a quotation from Scripture. ‘How' means ‘to what purport.'... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:27. This answer of the lawyer showed intelligence; he gives the sum of the whole law. But his knowledge of the-law exceeded his self-knowledge. In fact he shows, by adding from Leviticus 19:18: AND THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF, that he had some conception of our Lord's teachings. For in addition... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:28. THIS DO AND THOU SHALT LIVE. True in all cases: any one who can and does love God and his neighbor thus, has already begun to live, has an earnest of eternal life. The parable which follows is but an explanation of how much is meant by ‘this.' But the next verse shows that the lawyer und... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:29. BUT HE, WISHING TO JUSTIFY HIMSELF, to declare himself righteous, over against the implied charge. He would defend himself by claiming that he had fulfilled the command in the sense which the Jews attached to the term ‘neighbor' a very narrow one, excluding Samaritans and Gentiles. WHO... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:30. MAKING REPLY. Lit, ‘taking up,' _i.e.,_ making his question the basis of an extended reply. A CERTAIN MAN. A Jew is meant; but this is not made prominent, since the main lesson of the parable is not love to enemies, but _love to man as such,_ humanity, philanthropy. WAS GOING DOWN FR... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:31. BY CHANCE. In the language of common life. As a fact, most opportunities of doing good come as it were ‘by chance,' though providentially ordered of God. A CERTAIN PRIEST WAS GOING, etc. The naturalness of the parable is remarkable. Jericho was a priestly city, and the priests would go... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:32. IN LIKE MANNER A LEVITE ALSO. An inferior minister of the law, engaged in the service of the temple. CAME TO THE PLACE, etc. The nearest English equivalent for both the Levite's office and conduct would probably be found in the word ‘beadle.'... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:33. A CERTAIN SAMARITAN. The choice of a Samaritan to represent this character shows that the wounded man was a Jew, but this is a secondary thought. The Samaritans were Gentiles by extraction, but with the Pentateuch in their possession. HE WAS MOVED WITH COMPASSION. From this feeling all... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:34. POURING ON THEM OIL AND WINE. The usual remedies for wounds in the East. ON HIS OWN BEAST. So that he walked himself. True philanthropy involves self-sacrifice. AN INN. Evidently an inn, in our sense of the word, and not a caravanserai.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:35. He TOOK OUT. Vivid narration. TWO PENCE. Roman _denarii._ The value of the ‘denarius' has been variously estimated, from seven and a half to eight and a half pence English (fifteen to seventeen cents). The sum was sufficient to meet the man's necessities for some days at least I. Thi... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:36. WHICH BECAME NEIGHBOR TO HIM THAT FELL AMONG THE ROBBERS? The original implies a permanent condition; the result of what had been done. Our Lord takes the matter out of the reach of previous circumstances of nationality and religion, and compels a reply on the ground of what had been don... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:37. HE THAT SHEWED MERCY ON HIM. The conclusion is irresistible, but the lawyer does not call him ‘the Samaritan.' GO, AND DO THOU LIKEWISE. The lawyer was taught how one really becomes the neighbor of another, namely, by active love, irrespective of nationality or religion. His question,... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:38. AS THEY JOURNEYED. During the great journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, spoken of in this part of the Gospel. A CERTAIN VILLAGE. Luke does not say Bethany. The name is Tar more familiar to us than it would have been to Theophilus. MARTHA. The name means ‘lady,' answering to the Greek... [ Continue Reading ]
CIRCUMSTANCES. There can be little doubt that the persons here spoken of were the _sisters of Lazarus,_ that the place was _Bethany,_ and the time near the feast of Dedication. The two persons have not only the same names but the same characters, as the two sisters described in John 11:12. It is no... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:39. MARY. The woman, whose subsequent act of love was promised a memory as wide as the spread of the gospel (Matthew 26:13). SAT DOWN AT THE LORD'S FEET. Not as He reclined at table, for the meal was not yet ready, but as a willing disciple.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:40. BUT MARTHA WAS HARASSED ABOUT RANCH SERVING. This was an honored guest, and Martha did what most women of her character do in such circumstances, bustled to prepare an entertainment, overdoing the matter, no doubt. The application of this incident to spiritual things, made afterwards by... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:41. MARTHA, MARTHA. The repetition indicates reproof, but the tone is still one of affection. THOU ART ANXIOUS AND TROUBLED. The first word refers more to internal anxiety, the second to the external bustle; both together describe the habit of such a character. ABOUT MANY THINGS. This ma... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 10:42. BUT THERE IS NEED OF ONE THING. A few authorities omit: ‘and troubled about many things' and this clause also; a number of others read here: ‘of few things, or of one.' We vary the order from that of the E. V., since ‘but one thing,' etc., is usually wrongly taken to mean: ‘ _only_ one t... [ Continue Reading ]