_OF ZACCHEUS A PUBLICAN. THE TEN PIECES OF MONEY. CHRIST RIDETH INTO JERUSALEM WITH TRIUMPH: WEEPETH OVER IT: DRIVETH THE BUYERS AND SELLERS OUT OF THE TEMPLE, AND TEACHETH DAILY IN IT. THE RULERS WOULD HAVE DESTROYED HIM, BUT FOR FEAR OF THE PEOPLE._ _Anno Domini 33._... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JESUS ENTERED, &C.— After conferring sight on the beggars, (see Matthew 9:27; Matthew 9:38.) Jesus entered Jericho attended by them, by his disciples, and by the multitude: he made no stay however in this town, because he hastened to be at Jerusalem eight or ten days before the passover, intendi... [ Continue Reading ]
ZACCHEUS, MAKE HASTE,— Jesus had never seen him before; yet he called him by his name, and by what he said insinuated, that he knew his house to be further on the road. What a strange mixture of passions must Zaccheus have felt, upon hearing one speak, as knowing both his heart and life!... [ Continue Reading ]
GONE TO BE GUEST WITH A MAN— Or, _To a man._ The phrase καταλυσαι παρα τινι, properly signifies, "to bait at a person's house on a journey;" referring to the laying down their own burdens, or loosening them from theirbeasts, at such times and places.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ZACCHEUS STOOD,— _Stood forth;_—in order to make the noble declaration following. By _the half of his goods,_ he probably meant _his income._ Εσυκοφαντησα, which we render _taken by false accusation,_ properly signifies any kind of oppression, especially under any pretence of law; and therefore... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JESUS SAID UNTO HIM,— _And Jesus spake concerning him,_ that is, to the guests; as is evident from the speech itself. The proposition προς is used in this sense, ch. Luke 20:19. Hebrews 1:7; Hebrews 4:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE SON OF MAN IS COME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE, &C.— Farther to convince the people that our Lord acted agreeably to his character, in keeping company withpublicans and sinners, he told them, that the great design of his coming into the world was to _save such;_ alluding to the parables of the _lost... [ Continue Reading ]
HE—SPAKE A PARABLE, &C.— Because his followers were accompanying him to the royal city, in expectation that the _kingdom of God would immediately appear,_ and with a resolution to assist him in erecting it; he spake a parable, wherein he shewed them their duty, describing the true nature of the king... [ Continue Reading ]
A CERTAIN NOBLEMAN, &C.— A certain noble lord took a long journey into another country, to be vested with and confirmed in his kingdom, and then to return, with all his honour and authority, to distribute proper rewards to his subjects: so Christ is of high and noble birth, as the Lord from heaven;... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE CALLED HIS TEN SERVANTS,— By the _ten servants_ we may understand the apostles and first preachers of the gospel; to whom Jesus gave endowments, fitting them for their work, and from whom he expected a due improvement of those endowments, in the propagation of the gospel. This was their parti... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HIS CITIZENS HATED HIM,— His natural subjects hated him without a cause, as appears from the message or embassy which they sent after him to the potentate, from whom he sought, what in the latter times has been called _investiture._ For, in that message they alleged no crime against him, but onl... [ Continue Reading ]
THY POUND* HATH GAINED TEN POUNDS.— The modesty of these servants is remarkable: they do not say, that, _they themselves_ have gained the _ten_ or _five_ pounds, but _Thy pound hath gained,_ &c. attributing their success, not to themselves, but to the gifts of his grace. It is observable, that in Ma... [ Continue Reading ]
LORD, BEHOLD HERE IS THY _POUND,_ &C.— We have in these verses a proverbial description of an unjust rigorous character. The slothful servant, by applying it to his lord, aggravated his crime not a little: he imprudently told him, that, knowing his severe and griping disposition, he thought it prude... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU KNEWEST THAT I WAS AN AUSTERE MAN,— _Didst thou know,_ &c.? "Thou hast been slothful in the highest degree;—for, to argue with thee, on thine own base principles,—if thou really hadst believed me to be the rigorous person thou sayest I am, thou wouldst certainly have been at the pains to _lend... [ Continue Reading ]
LORD, HE HATH TEN POUNDS.— So far as this seems to express any thing of envy in the fellow-servants, it is not, I think, to be regarded as a significant circumstance, but only as an incidental one, to intimate to us, that his lord gave to the diligent servant what he had gained, for himself.... [ Continue Reading ]
I SAY UNTO YOU,— _I assure you;_ as much as to say, "You may take it on my authority.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THOSE MINE ENEMIES,— "Those who are guilty of rebellion against me, by doing all in their power to hinder my obtaining the kingdom, bring hither, and put them to death this instant." Κατασφαξατε, is literally, _slay them with the sword;_ and it properly expresses the dreadful slaughter of the im... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN HE HAD THUS SPOKEN, HE WENT BEFORE,— Or, _He went forward._ Having finished the parable, our Lord left the house of Zaccheus, and proceeded onward to Jerusalem, shewing by his alacrity in the journey, how willing he was to undergo those heavy sufferings, which he knew were to befal him at Jerus... [ Continue Reading ]
THE OWNERS THEREOF SAID— Perhaps had not the owners of the beasts happened to be by, and had not St. Luke expressly mentioned them, the malice of ancient or modern infidels would have found some occasion for raising an outcry on the ambiguity of the words, _The Lord hath need of him._ Its being a we... [ Continue Reading ]
THE STONES WOULD IMMEDIATELY CRY OUT.— This may signify either that God would by miracle raise up others to glorify his name; rather than silence should be kept on this occasion; or that it was a thing altogether impossible, without the exercise of irresistible power, to make the multitude hold thei... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THOU HADST KNOWN,— _O that thou hadst known!_ It is certain, as we have before observed, that the particle ει is sometimes used to express an ardent wish; and the connection here will very well bear it. But if our translation be retained, it must be acknowledged that the broken manner of speaking... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL CAST A TRENCH ABOUT THEE,— Jesus here foretold particularly the principal circumstances of the siege of Jerusalem, and with his prophesy the event corresponded most exactly; for when Titus attacked the city, the Jews defended themselves so obstinately, that he found there was no way to gain hi... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE THOU KNEWEST NOT THE TIME, &C.— Our Lord here assigns the cause of the destructionof Jerusalem, and her children; it was because that when God visited them by his Son,—the Seed of Abraham and David,—the Messiah,—they did not know it, but rejected and crucified him, being blinded through the... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE PEOPLE WERE VERY ATTENTIVE TO HEAR HIM.— _They hung as it were on his lips while he spake,_ is the literal import of the original. _Inferences_ drawn from the history of Zaccheus, Luke 19:1.—In this pleasing narrative Zaccheus the publican sets an example particularly of two great and impor... [ Continue Reading ]