XIV. (1) INTO THE HOUSE OF ONE OF THE CHIEF PHARISEES. — Better, _of the rulers of the Pharisees._ The meaning of the phrase is probably more definite than that suggested by the English. The man was either a “ruler” in the same sense as Nicodemus (John 3:1), or the rich young man in Luke 18:18 - i.... [ Continue Reading ]
A CERTAIN MAN BEFORE HIM WHICH HAD THE DROPSY. — This is the only miracle of the kind recorded in the Gospels. The term which St. Luke uses is strictly technical (_hydropikos_)_,_ and we may fairly see in the narrative another illustration of his professional character. He, more than others, had bee... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO THE LAWYERS. — See Note on Matthew 22:35. The teaching of our Lord is identical in substance, and nearly so in form, with that in Luke 6:6; Matthew 12:9; Mark 3:1. Here, however, it will be noticed, our Lord takes the initiative in the controversy, whereas before the scribes and Pharisees had a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE TOOK HIM. — Better, _he laid hold on him._ The healing was, in this instance, effected by actual contact.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH OF YOU SHALL HAVE AN ASS OR AN OX... — The line of thought is all but identical with that of Luke 13:15. Here, as there, the outward features of Jewish life are the same as they had been in Exodus 20:17, and Isaiah 1:3. The “ox and the ass” are the beasts which common men use and value. The ho... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY COULD NOT ANSWER HIM AGAIN. — The Greek is, perhaps, a little more emphatic — “They _had no power,_ they were _powerless_ to answer him.”... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE PUT FORTH A PARABLE. — The passage has the interest of being, in conjunction with Luke 11:43, the germ of the great invective of Matthew 23:6, and the verses that follow. (See Notes there.) CHIEF ROOMS. — Better, _chief places,_ or _chief couches;_ literally, the chief places to recline in a... [ Continue Reading ]
SIT NOT DOWN. — Literally, _recline not._ LEST A MORE HONOURABLE MAN THAN THOU... — The words imply that the common practice was for the guests to seat themselves; then, as in the parable of the wedding garment (Matthew 22:11), the host came in “to see the guests.”... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THOU BEGIN WITH SHAME TO TAKE THE LOWEST ROOM. — At first sight the words seem to suggest lower motives than those by which the disciples of Christ should regulate their lives — an artificial and calculating rather than a real humility. Three explanations may be given of what is a very real diff... [ Continue Reading ]
SIT DOWN IN THE LOWEST ROOM. — Better, as before, _recline_ for the verb, and _place,_ or _couch,_ for the noun. FRIEND. — The Greek word is not the same as in Matthew 20:13 (where see Note), Matthew 22:12; Matthew 26:50, but is the same as in John 11:11; John 15:14. The difference is suggestive. T... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOSOEVER EXALTETH HIMSELF SHALL BE ABASED. — The reproduction of the teaching in words which are almost an echo of these, in 1 Peter 5:5, is interesting as showing the impression which it had made on the minds of the disciples.... [ Continue Reading ]
A DINNER OR A SUPPER. — The two words were used respectively for the morning and the evening meal — the former, like the Continental _déjeûner,_ being taken commonly a little before noon, the latter, about sunset. THY FRIENDS, NOR THY BRETHREN. — The words were clearly chosen as including the class... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THOU MAKEST A FEAST. — Literally, as in Luke 5:29, _a reception._ In practice, it need hardly be said, the form of obedience to the precept must, of necessity, vary with the varying phases of social life, and with the lessons of experience. Relief given privately, thoughtfully, discriminatively... [ Continue Reading ]
AT THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST. — The passage has the interest of being the first occurrence of the word “resurrection” in our Lord’s teaching. On this point our Lord, while rebuking the pride and hypocrisy of the Pharisees, accepted the fundamental doctrine of their system, and so furnished a prec... [ Continue Reading ]
BLESSED IS HE THAT SHALL EAT BREAD... — The form of the exclamation was obviously determined by the words which our Lord had just spoken. It may have been a more or less familiar formula among devout Jews who expected the coming of the Christ. It may have embodied some recollections of the great dis... [ Continue Reading ]
A CERTAIN MAN MADE A GREAT SUPPER. — Historically this has the interest of being the first occurrence of the “feast” imagery in our Lord’s teaching. Here, as with so many of His parables, it is suggested by the occasion. Afterwards, as in Matthew 22:1, it is reproduced in an altered and expanded for... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SENT HIS SERVANT. — The servant stands in this parable as the representative of the whole order of prophets and apostles — of all who, like the Baptist and the Twelve, had been sent to invite men to the Kingdom. “The time of supper” is, in the primary application, the time of our Lord’s coming,... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY ALL WITH ONE CONSENT... — The Greek phrase, as the italics show, is elliptical; but the English idiom expresses its meaning whether we take the omitted noun to be “voice,” or “consent” or “mind.” TO MAKE EXCUSE. — To _beg off_ would, perhaps, be too colloquial, but it exactly expresses the for... [ Continue Reading ]
FIVE YOKE OF OXEN. — The number was one which came within the reach of any peasant farmer of moderate competence. (Comp. Elisha’s twelve yoke of oxen, 1 Kings 19:19.)... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE MARRIED A WIFE. — It may be noted that the Law of Moses allowed men to plead this, and the building of a house, or planting of a vineyard, as a ground for exemption from military service (Deuteronomy 20:5). The sin of the invited guests was that they treated the invitation to the feast as tho... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MASTER OF THE house being angry... — The element of righteous indignation is more strongly emphasised in the analogous parable of Matthew 22:6, where the mere apathy of those who were invited passes into scornful outrage. THE STREETS AND LANES... — See Note on Matthew 6:2. The former word includ... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS DONE AS THOU HAST COMMANDED. — Literally, _What thou didst command is come to pass. _... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HIGHWAYS AND HEDGES. — In the frame-work of the parable, this points to a yet lower class of the population of an Eastern country — to the tramps and the squatters who had no home, and who were content to sleep under the shelter of a hedge or fence. For the most part, these were low walls or pal... [ Continue Reading ]
NONE OF THOSE MEN WHICH WERE BIDDEN... — Here again we may not press a literal interpretation of the parable. The absolute exclusion of the whole company of the first-invited guests has its anti-type in the general rejection of Israel from fellowship with the Church of Christ. It lies in the very na... [ Continue Reading ]
IF ANY MAN COME TO ME, AND HATE NOT HIS FATHER. — Like words had been spoken before, as in Matthew 10:37, where see Notes. Here they appear in a yet stronger form, “not hating” taking the place of “loving more,” and they are spoken, not to the Twelve only, but to the whole multitude of eager would-b... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOSOEVER DOTH NOT BEAR HIS CROSS... — See Note on Matthew 10:38. As now uttered, however, the words had a fresh significance as interpreted by what the disciples had heard from their Master’s lips between Peter’s confession and the Transfiguration (Luke 9:22). That “bearing of the cross” was becomi... [ Continue Reading ]
(28-30) WHICH OF YOU, INTENDING TO BUILD A TOWER..? — The words do not depend for their meaning on any local or personal allusion, but it is quite possible that their force may have been heightened for those who heard them by the memory of recent facts. Pilate had begun to build — certainly an aqued... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT KING, GOING TO MAKE WAR AGAINST ANOTHER KING..? — Here also there may have been a side-glance at contemporary history. The Tetrarch’s divorce of his first wife had involved him in a war with her father Aretas, an Arabian king or ethnarch (see Note on Luke 3:14), in which his army was destroyed,... [ Continue Reading ]
DESIRETH CONDITIONS OF PEACE. — Literally, _the things that make for peace._ The phrase is the same as that in Luke 19:42, “the things that belong unto thy peace.” Are we to see any special significance in this addition to the general teaching of the previous verse, and if so, what is it? The answer... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOSOEVER HE BE OF YOU THAT FORSAKETH NOT... — Better, _that renounceth not._ This, then, was the immediate lesson which the company of eager disciples had to learn: to say good-bye to their “all,” whatever that might be. Fishing-nets and hired servants, or great possessions, or ease and safety, or... [ Continue Reading ]
SALT IS GOOD. — The words are all but identical with those of Matthew 5:13, and resemble those of Mark 9:50. (See Notes on those passages.) They appear now, however, in a very different context, and the train of thought is not at first sight so clear. The common element in all three instances is tha... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS NEITHER FIT FOR THE LAND, NOR YET FOR THE DUNGHILL. — The illustration, differing as it does from that in Matthew 5:13 and Mark 9:50, proves the independence of the saying as here recorded. A new use of salt, distinct from that of preserving food, or its symbolic meaning in sacrifice, is broug... [ Continue Reading ]