Christ foretells his death.

A. D. 28.

A. M. 402. to yonder place; and it shall remove; || he shall be raised again. And they A.M. 40.2. were exceeding sorry.

An. Olymp. and nothing shall be impossible unto

CCL. 4.

you.

24 1 And when they were come

A. D 28. An. Olymp CCI. 4.

21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by to Capernaum, they that received tribute money prayer and fasting. came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute ?

22 1 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:

25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying,

23 And they shall kill him, and the third day | What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the

Ch. 16. 21. & 20. 17. Mark 8. 31. & 9. 50, $1. & 10. 33. Luke 9. 22, 44. & 13. 31. & 24. 6, 7.

b Mark 9. 33.

Called in the original, did achma, being in value fifteen pence. See Excd. 30. 13. & 00 26.

becomes the greatest of all herbs, even a tree in whose branches the fowls of the air take shelter.--See WAKEFIELD's Comment, and the note on chap. xiii. 32.

Verse 21. This kind goeth not out but by prayer, &c.] TOUTO 10 yes, this kind, some apply to the faith which should be exercised on the occasion, which goeth not out, doth not exert etself, but by prayer and fasting; but this interpretation is, in my opinion, far from solid. However, there is great difficulty in the text. The whole verse is wanting in the famous Vatican MS. one of the most ancient and most authentic perhaps in the world; and in another one of Colbert's,|| written in the 11th or 12th century. It is wanting also in the Coptic, Ethiopic, Syriac hieros., and in one copy of the Itala. But all the MSS. acknowledge it in the parallel place, Mark ix. 29. only the Vatican MS. leaves out sua, fasting. I strongly suspect it to be an interpolation; but if it be, it is very ancient, as Origen, Chrysostom, and others of the primi - || tive Fathers, acknowledge it. But while candour obliges me to acknowledge that I cannot account for the fact here alledged, that a certain class or genus of Dæmons cannot be expelled but by prayer and fasting, while others may be ejected without them; I can give a sense to the passage, which all my readers will easily understand, viz. that there are certain evil propensities in some persons, which, pampering the flesh, tends to nourish and strengthen; and that self-denial and fasting, accompanied by prayer to God, are the most likely means, not only to mortify such propensities, but also to destroy them. For other remarkable circumstances relative to this case, see the notes on Mark ix. 17, &c.

Verse 22. They abode in Galilee] Lower Galilee, where the city of Capernaum was.

The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of mien ] Meat | -zagadidoolas us Xergas-The Son of man is about to be delivered into the hands, &c. I am fully of the mind of two eminent critics, Grotius and Wakefield, that agadidores should be here translated, delivered, or delivered up, not betrayed: and that the agency in this case, should be referred to God, not

to Judas. Jestis was delivered up, by the counsel of God, to be an atonement for the sin of the world. See Acts iv. 27 and 28. Against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast unointed, to do what thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. Herod and Pontius Pilate—were gathered together.

Verse 23. They were exceeding sorry.] Since the conversa. tion on the mount, with Moses and Elijah, Peter, James, and John could have no doubt that their Lord and Master must suffer; and that it was for this end he came into the world; but while they submitted to the counsel of God, their affection for him caused them to feel exquisite distress.

Verse 24. They that received tribute] This was not a tax to be paid to the Roman government; but a tax for the support of the temple. The Law, Exod. xxx. 13. obliged every male among the Jews to pay half a shekel yearly, for the support of the temple; and this was continued by them wherever dispersed, till after the time of Vespasian, see Josephus, WAR, book vii. c. 6. who ordered it afterwards to be paid into the Roman treasury. The word in the Text, which is generally translated tribute-ra digaxpa, signifies the dis drachma, or two drachms. This piece of money was about the value of two Attic drachms, each equal to fifteen pence of our money. The didrachma of the Septuagint, mentioned Exod. xxx. 13. was twice as heavy as the Attic, for it was equal to a whole shekel, this being the value of that piece of money at Alexandria, the place where the Septuagint translation was made; for the half shekel mentioned in the above passage, they render quiov tou didçaxμov, the half of is

didrachma.

Verse 25. He saith, Yes.] From this reply of Peter, it is evident that our Lord customarily paid all taxes, tributes, &c. , which were common among the people wherever he cane. The children of God are subject to all civil laws in the places where they live-and should pay the taxes levied on them by public authority: and though any of these should be found unjust, THEY rebel not, as their business is not to reform the politics of nations, but the morals of the world.

Verse 26. Then are the children free.] As this money is levied for the support of that temple, of which I am Lord, then I am not obliged to pay the tax ; and my disciples, like the priests that minister, should be exempted from the necessity of paying.

engaged, the animal spirits of the disciples were overcome by watching and fatigue, and they fell asleep-in this sleep they dreamed, or Peter only dreamed, that he saw his Master encompassed with a glorious light, and that Moses and Elijah were conversing with him. That early in the morning, just Verse 27. Lest we-offend them] Be a stumbling-block to as the sun was rising, there happened some electric or thunthe priests, or rulers of the Jews, I will pay the tribute,-der-like explosions, (a thing not unfrequent near some moungo thou to the sea-cast a hook, and take the first fish-thoutains) by which the disciples were suddenly awoke; that shalt find a piece of money, oraτnga, a stater. This piece of Peter, whose mind was strongly impressed with his dream, money was equal in value to four drachins, or two shekels, seeing the rising sun shine gloriously upon his Master, and (five shillings of our money) and consequently was sufficient his strongly impressed senses calling to remembrance his to pay the tribute for our Lord and Peter, which amounted late vision, he for a moment imagined, he saw, not only the to about half-a-crown each. If the stater was in the mouth or glory of which he had dreamed, but the persons alsobelly of the fish before, who can help admiring the wisdom Moses and Elijah, still standing on the mount with Christ; of Christ, that discovered it there? If it was not before, in the that not being as yet sufficiently awake, finding the images mouth of the fish, who can help admiring the power of impressed on his imagination fleeting away with his returning Christ, that impelled the fish to go where the stater had been exercise of reason, he cried out, before he was aware, Lord! lost in the bottom of the sea, take it up, come towards the it is good for us to be here, let us make three tabernacles, &c. shore where Peter was fishing, and, with the stater in its but in a short time, having recovered the regular use of his mouth, or stomach, catch hold of the hook that was to draw it out senses, he perceived that it was a dream; and having told it of the water? But suppose there was no stater there, which is to our Lord and his brother disciples, lest the Jews might as likely as otherwise, then Jesus created it for the purpose, take occasion of jealousy from it, he was desired to tell the and here his Omnipotence was shewn; for to make a thing vision to no man." This is the substance of that strange exist that did not exist before, is an act of unlimited power, explanation given by those learned men, to this extraordinary however small the thing itself may be. transaction; a mode of interpretation only calculated to support that system, which makes it an important point to deny, and decry all supernatural and miraculous influence, and to explain away all the spirituality of the New Testament. Whatever ingenuity may be in this pretended elucidation, every unprejudiced person must see that it can never be brought to accord with the letter, and concomitant circumstances of this most remarkable case.

The account of the Transfiguration, the peculiar case of the lunatic, with his cure, and the miracle wrought to pay the tribute money, render this one of the most interesting and instructive chapters in the New Testament.

1. To what has already been said on the subject of the Transfiguration, nothing need be added: I have given that sense to it which the circumstances of the case, the construc- 2. The cure of the deaf and dumb lunatic, has been treated tion of the words, and the analogy of Faith warrant. That by the same critics, in nearly the same way, and for the others have understood the whole transaction differently, is same obvious design, namely, to exclude from the world, readily granted. Some of the foreign critics, who are all supernatural agency; and could they succeed in this, of also called Divines, have stripped it, by their mode of in- | what value, or, indeed, utility, could the whole New Testaterpretation, of all its strength, use, and meaning. With mente to mankind? We might be well astonished to find them, it is thus to be understood:-" Jesus, with his dis- || such a history, with such a great variety of curious, and apciples Peter, James, and John, went by night into a moun-parently interesting circumstances:—a wondrous person, latain, for the purpose of prayer and meditation; while thus bouring, preaching, suffering, dying, &c. &c. without raving

scarcely any thing in view, but a sort of merely moral reformation of the outward man! Truly, this

"Is like an ocean into tempest toss'd,

To waft a feather, or to drown a fly." But the truth of God's miraculous interpositions, the miracles of the New Testainent, damoniacal possessions and influence, the atonement, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the regeneration of the corrupted human heart, &c. &c. must not be given up to please a certain description of persons, who have no commerce with God themselves, and cannot bear that others should either have or pretend to it.

3. The miracle wrought for the paying of the temple tribute money, is exceedingly remarkable. The note on ver 27. brings this particularly to view. To what is there said, it may be added, that our Lord seems to have wrought this miracle, for the following purposes: 1. More forcibly to impress the minds of his di-ciples, and his followers in general, with the necessity and propriety of being subject to all the laws of the different states, kingdoms, &c. wheresoever the providence of God might cast their lot.

be the greatest among them.

2. To shew forth his own unlimited power and knowledge, that they might be fully convinced that he knew all things, even to the most minute; and could do whatsoever he pleased, and that both his wisdom and power were continually interested in behalf of his true disciples.

3. To teach all believers a firm trust and reliance on Divine Providence, the sources of which can never be exhausted; and which, directed by infinite wisdom and love, will make every provision essentially requisite for the comfort, and support of life. How many of the poor followers of Christ have been enabled to discern his kind hand even in the means furnished them to discharge the taxes laid on them by the State! The profane and the unprincipled may deride, and mock on, but the people of God know it to be their duty and their interest to be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake; and while his grace and providence render this obedience in things both spiritual and secular, possible, his love, which their hearts feel, renders their duty their delight. The accomplishment of such ends as these, is worthy both of the wisdom and benevolence of Christ.

CHAP. XVIII.

The disciples enquiring who should be greatest in Christ's kingdom, 1. He takes occasion to recommend humility, simplicity, and disinterestedness, 2—6. Warns them against offences, 7. Recommends mortification and selfdenial, 8, 9. Charges them to avoid giving offence, 10, 11. Parable of him who has lost one sheep out of his flock consisting of one hundred, 12-14. How to deal with an offending brother, 15—18. A gracious promise to social prayer, 19, 20. How often an offending brother who expresses sorrow, and promises amendment, is to be forgiven, 21, 22. The parable of the king, who calls his servants to account, and finds one who owed him ten thousand talents, who, being unable to pay, and imploring mercy, is forgiven, 23-27. Of the same person, who treated his fellow servant unmercifully, who owed him but a small sum, 28-30. Of the punishment inflicted on this unmerciful servant, 31-35.

A. M. 4032.

A. D. 28. An Olymp. CCI, 4.

b

A. M.

A. D. 8. An. Olymp. CCI 4.

Tthe same time came the Who is the greatest in the kingdom AM, 4052. disciples unto Jesus, saying, of heaven?

A

Mark 9. 33. Luke 9. 46. & 22. 24.

b Ch. 24. 45. ch. 20. 20, &c. Mark 10. 37. Acts 1. 6.

NOTES ON CHAP. XVIII. Verse 1. At the same time] Or hour; but wea is frequently scd to signify some particular time: however, instead of , three MSS. all the Itala, but four, and Origen, read nurga day. Origen says both readings were extant in MSS. in his

thy disciple, or he who is thy nearest relative, or he who has most frequently entertained thee, or he who is the oldest, merely as to years? Could this enquiry have proceeded from any but the nine disciples, who had not witnessed our Lord's Transfiguration? Peter, James, and John, were surely more spiritual in their views! And yet how soon did even these Who is the greatest] Could these disciples have viewed forget that his kingdom was not of this world! See Mark x. the kingdom of Christ in any other light than that of a tem-35, &c. John xviii. 10, &c. The disciples having lately seen. poral onc? Hence they wished to know whom he would make his the keys delivered to Peter, and found that he, with James and prime minister-whom his general-whom his chief chancel- John, had been privileged with being present at the Transfigurlor-whom supreme judge, &c. &c. Is it he who first became | ation, it is no wonder if a measure of jealousy and suspicion be

time.

ST. MATTHEW.

A. M. 4032. 2 And Jesus called a little child 5 And whoso shall receive one such An. Olymp unto him, and set him in the midst of little child in my name, receiveth me. them, 6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Verse 4. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself] So great is the disparity between the kingdom of Christ and the king-Trgov 9oy. We find also that it was a positive institute doms of this world, that there is no way of rising to honours in the former, but by humility of mind, and continual selfabasement.

Necessity of self-denial.

A. M. 4052.
A. D. 93.

a

CHAP. XVIII.

с

Parable of the lost sheep.

A. D. 28.
CCI. 4.

woe to that man by whom the of- little ones; for I say unto you, That AM4432 An. Olymp. fence cometh! in heaven their angels do always An Olymp. "behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

CCT. 4.

b

Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

9 And if thine cye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these

Because of offences] Scandals, stumbling-blocks, persecu tions, &c.

For it must needs be that offences come] Avayan yag si e sv sa cardana, for the coming of offences is unavoidable. Such is the wickedness of men, such their obstinacy, that they will not come unto Christ that they may have life, but desperately continue deceiving and being deceived. In such a state of things, offences, stumbling-blocks, persecutions, &c. are unavoidable.

second reason, why no injury should be done to his followers. "The Son of man has so loved them, as to come into the world to lay down his life for them."

waste.

That which was lost] Anoλwhos. In Rev. ix. 11. Satan is called Amour, Apolluon, the destroyer, or, him who lays This name bears a near relation to that state in which our Lord tells us he finds all mankind,-lost, desolated, ruined. So it appears that Satan and men have the nearest affinity to each other—as, the destroyer and the destroyed,—the desolator

Woe to that man] He who gives the offence, and he who and the desolated,—the loser and the lost. But the Son of receives it, are both exposed to ruin.

Verses 8 and 9. If thy hand, &c.] See the notes on chap. v. 29, 30.

Verse 10. One of these little ones] One of my simple, loving, humble disciples.

Their angels—always behold] Our Lord here not only alludes to, but, in my opinion, establishes the notion received by almost all nations, viz. That every person has a guardian angel, and that these have always access to God, to receive orders relative to the management of their charge. See Psal. Xxxiv. 8. Heb. i. 14.

Always behold the face] Hence, among the Jews, the angels were stiled —'ɔ ɔɔz, malakey panim, angels of the face, and Michael is said to be, sar ha-panim, the prince of the face. This is an allusion to the privilege granted by eastern monarchs to their chief favourites; a privilege which others were never permitted to enjoy. The seven princes of Media and Persia, who were the chief favourites, and privy-counsellors of Ahasuerus, are said to see the king's face. Esth. i. 14.; see also 2 Kings xxv. 19. and Jerem. li. 25. Our Lord's words give us to understand, that humble hearted, child-like disciples, are objects of his peculiar care, and constant attention. The clause, ougaros, in the heavens, is wanting in several MSS. Versions and Fathers.

man came to save the lost. Glorious news! may every lost soul feel it! This verse is omitted by five MSS. two Versions, and three of the Fathers; but of its authenticity there can be no doubt, as it is found in the parallel place, Luke xix. 10. on which verse there is not a single various reading found in any of the MSS. that have ever been discovered, nor in any of the ancient Versions.

Verse 12. Doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and geeth into the mountains] So our common translation reads the verse; others, Doth he not leave the ninety and nine UPON THE MOUNTAINS, and go, &c. This latter reading appears to me to be the best; because in Luke xv. 4 it is said, he leaveth the ninety and nine IN THE DESART. The allusion, therefore, is to a shepherd feeding his sheep on the mountains, in the desart; not seeking the lost one on the mountains.

Leaving the ninety and nine, and seeking the ONE strayed sheep:-This was a very common form of speech among the Jews, and includes no mystery, though there are some who imagine that our Lord refers to the angels who kept not their first estate, and that they are in number to men, as NINETYNINE are to ONE. But it is likely that our Lord in this place, only alludes to his constant solicitude to instruct, heal, and save those simple people of the sea coasts, country villages, &c. who were scattered abroad, as sheep without a Verse 11. For the Son of man, &c.] This is added as a shepherd, (ch. ix. 36.) the Scribes and Pharisees paying no