but acknowledged his art and cunning. What our Lord himself observed on this parable was, that in general worldly men were wiser in conducting their temporal affairs than good men with respect to their spiritual concerns: in which remark he has ranked the unjust steward among those whose views began and ended with this life; and has opposed his character to that of men whose actions will bear the light, and who will inherit the glorious reward of the saints in light. And his exhortation to his disciples was, that they would make a prudent use of riches, which generally administered to unrighteousness, and deserved not the name of a true and solid acquisition; and would be faithful stewards of them, so as finally to gain the friendship of God by rightly dispensing them. Thus, on another orcasion, our Lord did not require of his followers that they should imitate the impious, unjust and shameless judge described by him, or that they should be overcome by mere importunity; but the moral of his parable was, that men should pray always and not faint; particularly in those times of persecution. And it is very observable that the application of these parables is made for us; and that our Lord is unusually large in explaining the uses of the former, and thus guarding it from misconstruction. "Luke xvi. 8. 1 Thess. v. 5. • Col. i. 12. P There is an opposition between the beginning of v. 9. and that of v. 8. in Luke xvi. 4 Luke xviii. 1—8. SECTION V. OF OUR LORD'S TEMPERANCE. IT is observable of Christ that he did not aim at striking the people by an austerity of appearance and conduct. He came "aeating and drinking;" in contradistinction to the solitariness and abstinence of his harbinger, John the Baptist: a conduct on which the Jews put a perverse interpretation, and were neither pleased with the rigour of the Baptist, nor with our Lord's familiar and conversible manner; though the wisdom of such a deportment, in him who 66 b came to seek and to save that which was lost,” carried its own justification with it to the well disposed and considerate. The calumny advanced by the inconsistent Jews of our Lord's time was a general one, confuted by facts: it was as groundless as their assertion, that he was a friend to publicans and sinners; when he conversed with them, only to reclaim them. It was truly remarked by d Origen that, amidst numberless accusations and falsehoods, none could object to him the least act of casual self indulgence. He appeared in a state of poverty, and endured the inconveniences incident to it: some of his followers ministered to him of their substance; and he had not where to lay his head. a Matt. xi. 19. b Luke xix. 10. f c Matt. xi. 19. Compare Luke v. 33. with Matt. ix. 14. Mark iì. 18, d Contra Cels. 1. 3. § 36. Οὗ μηδὲ οἱ μύρια κατηγορήσαντες, καὶ ψευδῆ ὅσα περὶ αὐτὸ λέγοντες, δεδύνηντα κατειπειν, ὡς κάν τὸ τυχὸν ἀκολασίας κἂν ἐπ' ὀλίγον γευσαμένω. We read that Jesus was present at a 8 marriage feast very early in his ministry; and on this occasion some objectors to his conduct have alleged that he contributed to intemperance by the first miracle which he wrought. But it is probable that the guests at this feast were many a supposition which seems agreeable to the custom of the Jews; to the appointment of a governor, as Bishop Pearce has well observed; and to the circumstance that "both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage feast :" for what was the number of his converts at that time cannot be determined. Neither can it be ascertained during how many days the marriage feast continued. We read of some which lasted seven days and thus, if Jesus was present on the third day of the feast, it might have been protracted, and much frequented, for four days onwards. Nor is it easy to fix what was the quantity of wine produced. Our translation may give too definite an idea to a word signifying any capacious m vessel in & John ii. 1-11. Judges xiv. 10. ות h Matt. xxii. 1-14. Luke xiv. 8-10. i Some have inferred from John i. 37-51. that they were only four: but during the journey into Galilee, and in that country, it is natural to think that they were increased. * Judges xiv. 12. Tobit xi. 19. Gen. xxix. 27. Schoettgen i. 338, Selden's Works, fol. ii. 629: where Rabbi Eliezer says, Quemadmodum rex utitur splendidis vestimentis, ita et sponsus etiam per septem 1 See Bishop Pearce John ii. 1. convivii nuptialis dies. But the best interpretation of this passage is, "on the third day" after Jesus's arrival in Galilee which may have been the first day of the feast. m See H. Stephens voc. μergurs. The word is used largely by ò, for the Hebrew bath, which contained more than seven general; or if a determinate measure is meant, which I think most agreeable to the evangelist's mode of expression, it may be the Syrian metretes, and not the Attic or Roman. n It has also been very properly suggested that great part of the wine provided might have been considered as a benevolent nuptial present, acceptable to persons who were probably in an humble station, and to be partly reserved for other occasions; and that "the quantity furnished, supposing it as great as any objector has stated, was both an act of exuberant goodness, and gave such magnificence to the miracle as removed it beyond all possibility of fraud." Abundance administers to the debasing and brutal act of intemperance only among the vicious: and the religious awe impressed by the miracle naturally tended to prevent it. It must likewise be observed that a lighter wine might be in ordinary use among the Jews: and we P know that the wines, now made from the grapes of Lebanon and Hermon, are not of an intoxicating quality when taken freely. Nor do the words, used by the Governor of the feast, import that the guests had been guilty of excess at that particular time. According to the usual custom, "every man at first setteth on good wine, gallons, and for the seah which was one third of the bath. 2 Chron. iv. 15. 1 Kings xviii. 32. n This, according to Bishop Cumberland, • See Bishop Pearce : contained seven pints and one eighth. 9 See Hos. xiv. 7. P Sir Edward and, when men have drunk fully, then that which is worse thou hast kept the good wine until now ;" until the present day, and the feast itself, are far advanced in which circumstance alone, I mean the lateness of time when the good wine was given, the parallel may hold, and not further though indeed the expression, övμ, does not necessarily imply intoxication, but may be understood of that abundance which temperate men on some occasions innocently partake of. It should be remarked of our Lord's attendance and conduct at this marriage, that they were a testimony from the Great Founder of our religion in favour of that state as a pure and honourable one. And though he himself led a life of celibacy, he mentioned marriage as a divine institution, subjected it to wise regulations, and expected, even at that peculiar time, that only a select " few would detach themselves from domestic ties, " on account of the kingdom of heaven," then to be extended by their means. Nor did he subject these to any insnaring restraint, but made their own prudence the rule of their conduct. Thus did our Lord display a prophetic foresight and a divine wisdom. For ecclesiastical history See in the Greek version Gen. xliii. 33, or 34. Cantic. v. 1. Haggai i. 6. Ecclus. i. 16. Psal. xxiii. 5. Heb. xxii. 5. ò. ed. Breit. xxxvi. 8. Heb. xxxv. 9. ed. Breit. Jer. xxxi. 14, 25. Heb. xxxviii. ed. Breit. Herod. 1. § 133. ed. Wess. Hippocrates de victus ratione 1. iii. p. 375. Genev. 1657. See these two latter passages, and some others referred to and discussed in Merrick's Annotations on St. John. See also Bishop Pearce on 1 Cor. xi. 21. Matt. xix. 4, 5, 6, ib. v. 32. . ib. xix. 11, 12. w See Mark x. 29. |