CONNECTION and CONTENTS. The connection is not obvious; no theory can
be insisted upon. Various views: (1) No connection intended. (2)
Matthew 7:7 is connected with the last chapter, while Matthew 7:1-5
were addressed directly to the Pharisees (who were showing signs of
dissent), Matthew 7:6 to the... [ Continue Reading ]
GENERAL CHARACTER. The magna charta of Christ's Kingdom: the unfolding
of His righteousness; the sublimest code of morals ever proclaimed on
earth; the counterpart of the legislation on Mount Sinai; Christ here
appears as Lawgiver and King; Moses spoke in God's name; Christ speaks
in His own. Its po... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:1. JUDGE NOT. This refers to harsh, unkind judgment, not to
the mere formation of private opinion, or to judicial sentences.
THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED, not by other men, but by God. His judgment is
more strict, and it takes special account of this harsh censorious
spirit. The judgment of men... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:2. FOR WITH WHAT JUDGMENT, etc. Literally, ‘in what
judgment;' the ‘measure' according to which God's judgment will take
place, namely, our own severe judgment. The second clause repeats the
same idea, making it more general.... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:3. AND, since the principle of Matthew 7:2 is correct, WHY
BEHOLDEST THOU? The verb means to observe, to voluntarily stare at;
the context shows that the one addressed could not have clear vision;
the question indicates that such observing was unnecessary. The
singular ‘thou' is pointed, t... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:3-5. A figurative application of the principle just laid
down, showing the folly of sinners being censorious, their incapacity
for forming a right judgment of others, hinting at the proportionate
magnitude which our own faults and those of others should hold in our
estimation.... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:5. THOU HYPOCRITE. Not necessarily the Pharisees, but any
who thus act. Such action is hypocrisy before God and before the
conscience also. First, before meddling with others.
AND THEN SHALT THOU SEE CLEARLY. ‘See' differs from ‘behold'
(Matthew 7:3). The look must be purified before it... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:6. If the preceding verses were addressed to the opposing
Pharisees, our Lord now turns to the disciples. We prefer to explain:
Harsh judgment and unwise correction of others were reproved (Matthew
7:1-5); now comes a warning against laxity of judgment, childish
ignorance of men. The two e... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:7. The thoughts of judgment and unworthiness (Matthew
7:1-6), might discourage; encouragement is given by showing God's
willingness to give. The objection to connecting this verse with chap.
Matthew 5:34, is that it must then refer to temporal things. At the
same time it shows that the tru... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:8. FOR EVERY ONE THAT ASKETH, etc. An invariable rule; a
plain promise, not for the future, but for the present, since our Lord
says: RECEIVETH, FINDETH, IT IS OPENED. This promise, several times
repeated by our Lord, is limited only by the verses which follow;
comp., however, James 4:3, ‘... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:9. Or, to view the matter in another light, comparing God's
willingness with that of a human father.
WHAT MAN IS THERE OF YOU, MORE EXACTLY, ‘who is there among you, a
man,' a mere man.
OF WHOM, etc. In the Greek there are two questions, one broken off:
‘Whom his son shall ask for brea... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:10. A SERPENT. A response both deceptive and hurtful. We
often deem the bread a stone, and the fish a serpent, misunderstanding
God's good gifts.... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:11. IF YE THEN, BEING EVIL. An argument from the less to the
greater; ‘if,' equivalent to ‘since.' An incidental proof of
hereditary sin and general depravity. Yet some elements of good
remain, such as humanity and parental affection.
GOOD GIFTS TO YOUR CHILDREN. This is the rule.
HOW... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:12. THEREFORE. An inference from Matthew 7:1-11, summing up
the duties to others: not censoriousness, nor laxity, but giving like
God's; as He gives good things to those asking Him, even so give to
others what you would have them do. The precept is the counterpart of
the promise. The corre... [ Continue Reading ]
CONNECTION AND CONTENTS. The exposition of the requirements of ‘the
law and the prophets' just given, was far beyond the low morality of
the scribes and Pharisees, and men might easily be tempted by their
own hearts or by others to seek the easier way. Our Lord therefore
concludes by urging His hear... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:13. ENTER YE IN BY, OR THROUGH, THE NARROW GATE. The
‘gate' is mentioned first; the way afterwards. It is the entrance
gate at the beginning of the journey of life (the way), not the gate
of heaven at the close. Bunyan's ‘Pilgrim's Progress' is the best
commentary on all such figures. Expl... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:14. STRAITENED (lit, ‘pressed together') IS THE WAY. Even
after we pass through the gate the Christian course continues
difficult, is a constant conflict and self-denial, but it LEADETH UNTO
LIFE. Eternal life which begins in this world, but is obtained in its
fulness in eternity. The way... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:15. BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS, _i.e._., teachers. Not only is
the way straitened, but those who might leave the ‘many' to find it
are in danger from false teachers, such as would prevent them from
finding it. The warning may refer to the false teachers shortly to
arise from among the Jews,... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:16. BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM. This order is more
emphatic. This common figure is carried out in detail in Matthew
7:17-19.
DO MEN GATHER GRAPES OF THORNS, OR FIGS OF THISTLES? The fruits most
highly prized in the East. From teachers we are to look for valuable
fruit; but false t... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:17. The general law of nature is here laid down positively:
As the tree, so is the fruit. The principle holds good in the moral
world.
Matthew 7:18 repeats the same truth, asserting the impossibility of
its being otherwise. But while Matthew 7:16 refers to kinds of plants,
these verses sp... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:19. The figure is carried further to show the awful destiny
of the false teachers.
EVERY TREE, irrespective of its kind in this case, THAT BRINGETH NOT
FORTH GOOD FRUIT, is entirely barren. All is here made dependent on
the fruitfulness. Is hewn down and cast into the fire. Such trees ca... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:20. WHEREFORE BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM. Resumption
of the thought of Matthew 7:16, which has been further illustrated.
‘Fruits,' If in this case not ‘actions,' as usually, the actions
of the false teachers were decisive as to their character, there would
be little danger of their... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:21. A natural transition from false teachers to false
profession and self-deception.
NOT EVERY ONE. The really pious profess Christ, but not all who
profess are really pious. This answers a common objection urged
against public profession from the number of hypocrites.
LORD, LORD, the... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:22. MANY. The number of ‘false teachers' is large, much
more that of hypocrites.
IN THAT DAY. ‘The great day of the Lord;' whether it be one day of
account for all, or the particular day for each.
LORD, Lord. The confession (Matthew 7:21) now becomes a cry for help.
DID WE NOT PROPHE... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:23. AND THEN, at once, WILL I PROFESS UNTO THEM. They make
false professions, but ‘I will tell them the plain truth.'
I NEVER KNEW YOU. They had not fallen away, they had never been
called by Christ, though called by His name, and calling on His name.
Intimate knowledge of persons implie... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:24. THEREFORE. In view of all that precedes, especially the
warnings just given, to which a further warning is here added.
THESE SAYINGS OF MINE, coming from me, with a hint as to His
authority. This expression does not favor the view that this discourse
is a summary made by the Evangeli... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:25. A picture of the sudden violent storms so common in the
East, as indeed the definite articles indicate. No distinct meaning
need be assigned to RAIN, FLOODS, and WINDS, but THE ROCK means
Christ. The definite article points to this, and the figure is thus
applied so frequently in the S... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:26. DOETH THEM NOT. Life is the test, not _knowledge_, or
profession, which may be included here under the word ‘heareth.'
FOOLISH, _i.e.,_ senseless, singularly imprudent
THE SAND. The transitory teachings and works of man. For moral
results, science itself is shifting sand compared t... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:27. The description of a storm is repeated, but the result
is different; the winds SMOTE UPON THAT HOUSE; AND IT FELL. Instead of
adding, ‘for it had been founded on the sand,' our Lord closes the
illustration, and at the same time the discourse, which began with the
word, ‘blessed,' by sa... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:28. AND IT CAME TO PASS WHEN, etc. A summary of our Lord's
sayings would not be thus referred to.
THE MULTITUDES, as in Matthew 7:1. They must have heard Him.
WERE ASTONISHED. A strong word; ‘driven from their customary state
of mind by something new and strange.'
TEACHING, rather th... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:29. FOR HE TAUGHT THEM. This may refer to His habitual mode
of teaching.
AS HAVING AUTHORITY. ‘One' is not only unnecessary, but incorrect
Christ is not ‘one' among others ‘having authority,' but the only
one having authority, in this highest sense, as the one coming
directly from God, a... [ Continue Reading ]