ON THE HABIT OF CRITICISING OTHERS (Luke 6:37). St. Luke's account is here the fuller, and he places the section in a more satisfactory relation to what goes before. Our Lord condemns all forms of censoriousness. He calls censorious persons hypocrites, and says that they are worse than the people th... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT (CONCLUDED) The connexion of thought in this chapter is less close than in the earlier part of the sermon, and the whole chapter bears the appearance of an appendix of miscellaneous practical maxims, many of which, however, may have really formed part of the sermon. The word... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDGE NOT] cp. Romans 2:1. Unkind and frivolous criticism is what is meant. Judgment as a serious and solemn act is not forbidden by Christ. It is indeed often the Christian's duty to judge and severely to condemn things which the world never thinks of judging: cp. Matthew 18:15; 1 Corinthians 5:12;... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH WHAT MEASURE YE METE (i.e. 'measure')] A Jewish proverb. The rabbis said, 'In the measure that a man measureth, others measure to him.'... [ Continue Reading ]
MOTE] lit. 'a small dry twig or stalk.' Here it stands for a relatively small fault. THE BEAM] i.e. the great roof-beam of a house, something a thousand times larger than the eye itself. Here it stands for 'want of love,' the most monstrous, under Christ's law, of all vices. Here Christ again adopt... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THE MOST HOLY THINGS OUGHT NOT TO BE OFFERED INDISCRIMINATELY TO ALL PERSONS. The earliest comment on this v. is in the 'Teaching' (Didache): 'And let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist, except those who have been baptised in the name of the Lord. For it is concerning this that the Lord hath... [ Continue Reading ]
ASK.. SEEK.. KNOCK] A climax of increasing urgency. We are to wrestle with God in prayer, as Jacob wrestled with the angel (perhaps with God Himself), and said, 'I will not let thee go, except thou bless me' (Genesis 32:26). The lesson is, 'That men ought always to pray and not to faint' (Luke 18:1)... [ Continue Reading ]
ON URGENCY IN PRAYER, AND HOW GOD REWARDS IT (Luke 11:9). God always answers urgent prayer. Every asker receives, every seeker finds. Yet not every asker receives what he asks, nor every seeker finds what he seeks. As an earthly father gives good gifts to his children, so God gives good things to th... [ Continue Reading ]
BEING EVIL] Christ took no roseate view of the characters of men, even after their profession of faith in Him.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GOLDEN RULE (Luke 6:31). This v. ought to form a distinct paragraph. Our Lord looks back to what He has been saying in Matthew 5 about the fulfilling of the Law, and sums up His teaching on the whole subject with this important practical maxim. As originally spoken, it probably formed part of ou... [ Continue Reading ]
THE STRAIT GATE] RV 'the narrow gate.' St. Matthew's word means a city gate, St. Luke's a small gate or door. Even city gates are exceedingly narrow in the East. FOR WIDE _is_ THE GATE] Several modern editors omit the words 'is the gate.'... [ Continue Reading ]
STRAIT] RV 'narrow.' NARROW] RV 'straitened.' FEW THERE BE THAT FIND IT] lit. 'few be they who are finding it.' In St. Luke the disciples definitely ask, 'Lord, are they few that be saved?' but Jesus avoids a direct answer, bidding them look to themselves, and take care that they themselves enter by... [ Continue Reading ]
FALSE PROPHETS] Not the Pharisees, but Christian false prophets and teachers, as is clear from Matthew 7:22 : cp. also Matthew 24:11; Matthew 24:24; 1 John 4:1. SHEEP'S CLOTHING] Not the official rough garb of prophets, as in Hebrews 11:37, but the disguise of those who wish to pass for sheep, i.e.... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW TO DETECT FALSE PROPHETS AND HYPOCRITES IN GENERAL (Luke 6:43). The gift of prophecy was widely diffused in the Apostolic Church, so that the warning against false prophets was needed, but the word is intended to include hypocritical Christian teachers of all kinds. How can they be known? Not al... [ Continue Reading ]
FRUITS] Not doctrines, but works, or moral character, as always in NT. 17-19. Our Lord echoes and reinforces the Baptist's teaching: see on Matthew 3:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PUNISHMENT OF FALSE PROPHETS, AND OF ALL HYPOCRITES. Our Lord carries us forward in thought to the day of judgment. Even then the false prophets will pretend to be sheep. They will say, 'Lord, Lord,' and plead their successful ministerial labours. But our Lord will say, I NEVER KNEW YOU: DEPART... [ Continue Reading ]
CAST OUT DEVILS.. WONDERFUL WORKS] There is no reason to suppose that this claim to successful ministerial work is unfounded. It is a fact that God does sometimes, for the sake of the flock, condescend to bless the work of evil shepherds, whose lives are not openly scandalous, and in general, we may... [ Continue Reading ]
I NEVER KNEW YOU] i.e. as true disciples: cp. Luke 13:27. The divinity of Christ appears not only from His office of judge, but from His power to read the heart. He claims that the most secret thoughts of the millions of the human race are naked and open before Him, and this is in effect, a claim to... [ Continue Reading ]
DOETH] Again the stress upon 'doing': see James 1:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TRUE FOUNDATION FOR ALL PERMANENT SPIRITUAL BUILDING (Luke 6:46). The great sermon concludes with a parable. Two men built houses near a watercourse. One dug deep and reached the rock, the other built upon the sand (i.e. the alluvial deposit of the watercourse). In the winter there was a flood,... [ Continue Reading ]
FLOODS] There are hardly any rivers in Palestine except the Jordan, but there are many watercourses or winter-torrents (Heb. _nahal,_ AV 'brook,' Arab. _wâdy_). These are mostly quite dry in the summer, but in the winter are full of muddy torrent-water, which descends with great violence, and often... [ Continue Reading ]