who sent me; I have fed the hungry, I have healed the lame, I have cured the sick, I have given sight to the blind, I have cast out devils, and I have raised the dead; for which of all these are ye going to stone me? 33. The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy, and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. We are going to punish thee with death for no good work, but for blasphemy; for though thou art a man, weak and mortal as we ourselves are, thou arrogantly assumest to thyself the power and majesty of God; and by laying claim to the incommunicable attributes of the Deity, makest thyself God. This they took to be the plain meaning of his assertion, that he and the Father were one. 34. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, (Psal. lxxxii. 6.) * I said, Ye are gods? 35. If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken: 36. Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said I am the Son of God? If in the scripture, the authority of which you all acknowledge, they to whom the commandment of ruling God's people was given, are called gods, and the sons of God, on account of their high office, and the inspiration of the Spirit which was bestowed on them but sparingly; can ye with reason say of him, whom God hath sent into the world on the grand work of saving the human race, and whom he hath set apart for that work by giving him the Spirit without measure, (John iii. 34.) Thou blasphemest, because he said, I am the Son of God? 37. If I de not Ver. 34. I said, Ye are gods?] The Jewish magistrates were God's deputies in an especial manner, because the people whom they governed were his peculiar people, and because in many instances they were expressly called by him to undertake the fatigues of government, and had an afflatus or inspiration of the Spirit for that end. Thus the high-priests derived their dignity from God, and were possessed of the Urim and Thummim, by which they inquired of the Lord. And for any of the people to rebel against the sentence of the high-priest, or judge, pronounced by Urim, was justly reckoned rebellion against God, and punished with death, Deut. xvii. 8,-13. When Moses chose the seventy elders to assist him in the distribution of justice, God put his Spirit upon them, and they prophesied, Numb. xi. 17, 25. Joshua, who succeeded Moses by divine appointment, is said to have been a man in whom the Spirit was, Numb. xxvii. 18. Many of the judges were raised up by God and had his Spirit. When Saul was anointed king, the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied, 1 Sam. x. 6, 10. † Some give the argument another turn: thus, if they to whom the word of God, or the revelation of his will, came, are called gods in scripture, how dare you say to the Word of God himself, whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, i. e. by whom all the various revelations of the divine will have been made to men, how dare you say to such a person on such an occasion, Thou blasphemest?` Knatchbull, Le Clerc, and others contend, that the translation of the words u exaves us Deus weos us o novos 85 Je tytrilo, should be, if he called them gods against whom the Word of God was [Sect. 84. not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38. But if I da, though ye believe not me, believe the works: Though ye do not believe what I say concerning my personal dignity, on my own authority, ye ought to believe it on account of my miracles, which are plainly of such a kind, that it is impossible for any deceiver to perform them; they are the works of God himself, and therefore ye ought to consider them as such; believe the works, that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him: may know that I neither do nor say any thing but by his authority; for the Father and I are so united, that every thing I say and do, is in reality said and done by him, and he approves of it accordingly. See ver. 30. * This defence was so far from pacifying the Jews, that they. were rather the more enraged. John x. 39. Therefore they sought again to take him; but he escaped out of their hand. 40.. And went away again beyond Jordan, into the place where John at first baptised; to Bethabara, John i. 28. see the end of the note on Luke iii. 3. § 14. and there he abode (survey sxsi). He remained in the country of Perea, till he came into Judea, to raise Lazarus from the dead; that being the next particular mentioned by the evangelist John. If so, the time of Christ's abode in the country beyond Jordan, must have been considerable. There is a peculiar beauty in this hypothesis; for allowing it to be just, the people dwelling on the other side of Jordan, will have enjoyed the doctrine and miracles of the Son of God, as well as the inhabitants of Judea, Samaria, the Galilees, the countries on the east side of the lake, and those lying far north about Tyre and: Sidon, and Cæsarea Philippi; whereas, according to the commonopinion, avas pronounced. They imagine their conjecture is favoured by the passage in the Old Testament, which our Lord had now in his eye, and which runs thus, Psal. lxxxii. 6. "I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High, but ye shall die like men." And it must be owner, that the reasoning in this light likewise is conclusive. If the scrip ture, which cannot err, gives the title of gods to mortal men, why should you reckon me guilty of blasphemy whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world on so grand a design, because I take the title of the Son of God? Ver. 40. And event away beyond Jordan.] wigav te logdary, into Perea. Josephus, Bell. in 2. gives the following description of this country. "Perea, though much greater than Galilee, is for the most part desert and rocky, so is unfit for producing corn. Its soft land indeed is very fruitful, and the plains are planted with various sorts of trees. For the most part, however, it is used in producing olives, and vines, and palm-trees, being watered with torrents from the mountains, and perennial springs when the other happen to fail through the dog-days hear. Now the length of this. country is from Maharus to Pella; its breadth from Philadelphia to Jor dan. Moreover, the aforesaid Pella bounds it on the north, and Jordan towards the west; its southern boundary is the country of Moab; and towards the east, Arabia and Simonitis (Silbonitis) ending at the region of Philadelphia and Gerar (Gerais)." opinion, Jesus did not exercise his ministry in Perea for any length of time at all. The evangelist tells us, that Christ's ministry in Perea was attended with great success; for the people there remembering the character which John Baptist had given of him, were sensible that it was verified by his doctrine and miracles, for which reason they firmly believed him to be the Messiah. 41. And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle, but all things that John spake of this man were true. 42. And many believed on him there. Our Lord's public life was now drawing towards a close, yet he had a great deal still to do; this was the reason that he did not conceal himself, as in the beginning of his ministry, but preached constantly in the places of greatest resort, and confirmed his doctrine by many miracles, which he suffered to be published every where. Accordingly, the success of his ministry in the country beyond Jordan was answerable to the power wherewith it was accompanied. Many believed on him there. LXXXV. In Perea, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray. The parable of the importunate friend. Luke xi. 1,-13. WHILE Jesus was in the country beyond Jordan, he happened to pray publicly with such fervency, that one of his disciples, exceedingly affected both with the matter and manner of his address, begged that he would teach them to pray. Luke xi. 1. And it came to pass, that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples. It seems this disciple had not been present when our Lord, in the beginning of his ministry, gave his hearers directions concerning their devotions; or if he was present, he had forgotten what had then been said. Wherefore Jesus, who always rejoiced to find his hearers desirous of instruction, willingly embraced this opportunity, and repeated the discourse on prayer, which he had formerly delivered in his sermon on the mount, but with this difference, that he now handled the arguments which he had offered as motives to the duty, a little more fully than before. 2. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. 3. Give us day by day our daily bread. 4. And forgive us our sins; for que also forgive every one that is indebtAnd lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. See on Matt. vi. 9. § 26. ed to us. Having by this short form taught his disciples that they were not in prayer to use a multiplicity of words, with vain repetitions, he proceeded to caution them on the other hand against coldness, indifferency and slackness in their supplications. The evil of this, and the necessity of asking affectionately, with im portunity portunity and perseverence, he taught them by a parable, in which he shewed them, that importunity, i, e. earnestness and frequency in asking, are the proper natural expressions of strong de sires, and by consequence, that God very properly requires these things in men, before he bestows on them such favours as they stand in need of, just as he requires them to be earnestly desirous, of these favours before he blesses them therewith. Luke xi. 5. And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, the most unseasonable time imaginable for asking a favour, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves: do me this favour on account of our mutual friendship; 6. For a friend of mine, one to whom I am particularly indebted, in his journey is come to me: having travelled so late and long, my friend is both weary and hungry, and I have nothing to set before him, a case of all others the most urgent. 7. And he from within, being of a churlish disposition, shall answer and say, Trouble me not, what you ask will put me to a great deal of trouble, the door is now shut, and must have its locks and bolts opened, and my children are with me in bed; so saidia us MET2 Ex 615. TAY ZOITny wow, my servants, together with me, are in bed; so zaidia signifies, 1 Sam. xxi. 5. My servants are in bed as well as myself, and very probably they are fast asleep, so that there is no body at hand to give you what you want. I can not rise and give thee: You cannot expect that I will rise and give you loaves. 8. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth: This man," though he be of so surly a disposition as not to yield to the calls and influence of friendship, yet will he be prevailed upon by the force of importunity, bec use it shews both the greatness. of the supplicant's distress, and the earnestness of his desire. 9. And I sa unto you, ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you: Pray frequent, ly, and be most earnest and importunate in your prayers, because thus you shall obtain whatsoever you ask agreeable to the will of God; see on Luke xviii. 1. § 101. 10. For every one that ask-, eth receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened; see on Matth. vii. 7. § 26. 1. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, wild he give him a stone in the shape of a loaf? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent, which hath some resemblance of a fish? 12. Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? These * different * Ver. 12. If he shall ask an egg, will be offer him à scorpion ?] Naturalists tell us, that the body of a scorpion is very like an egg, especially if the scorpion is of the white kind, which is the first species mentioned by Alian, Avicenna, and others. Bochart has produced testimonies to prove that the scorpions ** 1 different instances are mentioned by Jesus, in order that the doctrine which he is here inculcating might make the stronger impression upon his hearers. 13. If ye then being evil, know how to give goed gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? See on Matt. vii. 11. § 26.2-1 scorpions in Judea were about the bigness of an egg. And therefore in Judea, a white scorpion being very like an egg, might to children, who were not capable of distinguishing the one from the other, be offered in place thereof, if the person so doing meant that it should sting them to death: ATTE § LXXXVI. In Perea, our Lord cures a dumb demoniac. His miracles are ascribed to Beelzebub a third time; see § 36, 48. The Pharisees a third time demand the sign from heaven; see 48, 68. The sign of the prophet Jonas is promised a third time; see § 48, 68. The parable of the lighted candle. Luke xi. 14,-36. ABOUT this time our Lord happened to cast out a devil; but some who were present ascribed the miracle to Beelzebub, others demanded a sign from heaven. Luke x1. 14. And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. A like miracle our Lord had performed some time ago in Capernaum. See on Matt. ix. 32. § 37. And it came to pass when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake, and the people wondered. See on Matt. xv. 30. § 67. 15. But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the chief 1 Ver. 15. He casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils.] The Pharisees affirmed that Jesus performed his miracles, particularly on possessed persons, by the assistance of Beelzebub, for two reasons: 1. Jesus had all along been at great pains to oppose those superstitions, which most of the teachers and people of that age looked upon as the essentials of religion, and extolled as the principal branches of piety. Hence, they took him who descried them to be a very flagitious person And because it is supposed, Deut. xiii. 1,-3. that a false prophet might work signs and wonders with an intention to turn men from the worship of God, they thought our Lord was a deceiver of that kind, affirming that he performed all his miracles by the assistance of evil spirits, and with a view to seduce the people from their obedience to God. 2. The demons in addressing Jesus, honoured him with the title of the Messiah. This, it is probable, his enemies said, the devils never would have done, had he not been in compact with them. Hence, we see the reason why our Lord, on several occasions, strictly charged the devils not to make him known; he would not have their testimony, because it was a real defamation of him intended; and because he foresaw that it would be made a bad use of by men of evil minds. The account which the Pharisees gave of Christ's miracles, and which they endeavoured to propagate, in order to prevent the effect which they might have had upon the people, though it was altogether false and malicious, and even absurd in the eye of impartial judges, yet placed in the light just now mentioned, had some shew of argument in it, at least VOL. II. Hh to |