213 He openly reproves them for their pride. SECT. honour which they are fond of having repeated bi, rabbi. [MARK XII. in every sentence, and almost at every word. civii. Mat. -38. LUKE XX.46.-] S But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. 10 Neither be ye called masters: for one But as for you, my disciples, be not you called XXIII.8 Rabbi, nor value yourselves on the name, if it should ever happen to be given you; for one is your Master, even] Christ; and ye are all brethrens, and as such should treat each other with 9 a loving freedom and familiarity. And call 9 And call no man not [any one] on earth your father, nor be fond your father upon the earth: for one is your of receiving this title from men, who may be Father which is in ready to speak of themselves as but children in heaven. comparison of you, and implicitly to follow all your dictates; for one is your Father, and that of the whole family, [even] he who dwells in the highest heaven, and before whom all the most distinguished honours of the children of men disappear, as less than nothing and vanity. 10 Neither be ye called masters and guides; for one is your great Master and Instructor, [even] Christ, whose dictates you are ever to receive, and in Christ. whose name and authority alone you are to teach others. But, on the contrary, he that is, and 11 But he that is would appear in the eyes of God to be, the greatest greatest among you, shall be your servant. among you, shall be most eminent for condescension and humility, and will be ready to wait on the rest, and to behave himself on all occasions as your servant. (Compare Mat. xx. 26, 1227. p. 135) And what I have often told you will assuredly be found to be a certain truth, That whosoever shall attempt in an ambitious way to exalt himself, shall sooner or later, by one method or another, be abased; and whosoever, on the other hand, shall humble himself, shall be exalted to the highest honour. 13 Then Jesus, turning from his disciples, to Ye are all brethren.] It is observable, that not one word is said of Peter's authority over the rest, either here, or on the application made by Zebedee's children; though had such an authority been intended, nothing could have been more natural, or necessary, than to have mentioned and adjusted it. Compare note g on Mat. xx. 26. p. 135. h Call not [any one] on earth your father.] The Pharisees, no doubt, had this title given them; and Bishop Wilkins observes, that it is a title which assuming priests of all religions have greatly affected. whom is your Master, even 12 And whosoever shalexalt himself, shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself, shall be exalted. 13 But wo unto you scribes the very same words (here, and in ver. 8.) Our Lord knew how requisite it would be to attend to it, and how ready even his ministers would be to forget it. k Whosoever shall exalt himself, &c.] Christ seems by the frequent repetition of this maxim to intimate that he intended it, not only for those who were to be leachers of others, but for all his disciples without exception. And it is well worthy of our observation that no one sentence of our Lord's is so frequently repeated as this; which occurs at least ten times in the evangelists. Compare Mat. xviii. 4. xx. 26, 27. xxiii. 10, 11. Mark ix. 35. x. 43, 44. Luke xiv. 11. xviii, 14. xxii. 26. and Jolin xiii. 14. 1 Hypocrites.] And exhorts his disciples to humility. 219 clvii. scribes and Pharisees, whom he had hitherto been speaking, addressed SECT. hypocrites! for ye shut himself boldly to those crafty enemies who stood up the kingdom of heaven against men: around him, waiting for nothing but an oppor- Mat. for ye neither go in tunity of mischief, and said, Wo unto you, ye xxIII. yourselves, neither suf- scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for by the 13 fer ye them that are entering to go in. prejudices you are so zealous to propagate among the people, you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, and do all you can to prevent their regarding it; for you neither go in yourselves, nor permit them that are awakened to a desire of entering, to go in; and thus you make yourselves in some degree chargeable with their destruction as well as with your own, by the false notions you instil into their minds, and the prejudices you raise against me and my doctrine. (Compare Luke xi. 52, sect. cx.) 14 Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, therefore ye shall re 40. LUKE XX. 47.] Wo unto you, ye scribes and Pharisees, hypo- 14 hypocrites! for ye de. crites, that impose upon men by specious forms vour widows houses, of devotion! but these forms cannot impose upon and for a pretence God, nor prevent his vengeance from falling make long prayers; heavy upon you: for, by your cruel extortions ceive the greater dam- you devour the houses of widows and orphans, nation. [MARK XII. whose helpless circumstances, if you had any remains of humanity and generosity, might rather engage you to protect and vindicate them; and it is only for a pretence to cover these crying immoralities, that you make such long and seemingly earnest prayers, hoping thereby to engage the esteem and confidence of others, that you may have the greater opportunity to injure and defraud them but this complicated wickedness shall cost you dear; for therefore shall you receive greater and more dreadful damnation, than if you had never prayed at all, nor made any pretences to religion. 15 Wo unto you, hypocrites! for ye : scribes and Pharisees, crites as you are! for with indefatigable industry Wo natural custom of the ancients, acted a m Who 220 SECT. clvii. Mat. 16 Wo unto you, ye blind guides! which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but who soever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. 17 Ye fools, and : greater, the gold, or Their folly is discovered with respect to oaths. Wo unto you, ye blind guides, who have invented so many nice distinctions, to make men easy in their sins, and subservient to your secuXXIII. lar interests! who say, for instance, Whosoever 16 shall swear only by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, whether by that with which a part of it is overlaid, or by that which is laid up in its trea17 sures, he is obliged by it. Ye foolish and blind [creatures], is not the stupid sophistry of this blind for whether is distinction apparent to the weakest understand- the temple that sancing for which of these is greater, the gold, or the tifieth the gold? temple that sanctifies the gold, which without its relation to the temple would have nothing in it 18 more sacred than any common metal? And ye shall swear by the alalso say, just with the same degree of sense and tar, it is nothing: but piety as before, Whosoever shall swear only by whosoever sweareth by the altar of God, it is nothing; but whoever the gift that is upon shall swear by the gift which is upon it, he is ob- it, he is guilty. 19 liged to the performance of his oath. Fe foolish 19 Ye fools, and and blind [wretches], what an idle and senseless blind: for whether is distinction is this? for which can you suppose altar that sanctifieth greater the gift, or the is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the the gift? gift, which, before it was brought thither, was only a common thing, and might be used to any 18 And whosoever shall swear by the al 21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 29 And he that shall swear by heaven sweareth by the throne 20 of the ordinary purposes of human life? The 20 Whoso therefore truth of the case is therefore plain and obvious: tar sweareth by it and he that swears by the altar, swears in effect by it, by all things thereon. and by all the things that are offered upon it to 21 him whose altar it is: And he that swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him also that dwells in it, even the eternal and ever-blessed Jehovah, who honours it in a special manner with the 22 tokens of his presence: And he that swears by heaven, which some of you are foolish enough to I think a little oath, swears by the throne of the most high God, and by him who sits upon it, and fills all the train of attendant angels with the humblest reverence and prostration of mind. Now did you and your disciples consider this, that every oath by a creature is an implicit appeal to God, you could not surely talk of such expressions in so light and dangerous a manner as you commonly do. m Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing.] It seems the Pharisees taught, that oaths by the creatures might be used on trifling occasions, and violated without any great guilt (see noteh on Mat. v. 34, Vol. VI. p. 213. But they excepted oaths by the corban, and by sacrifices; in which IMPROVE of God, and by him that sitteth thercon. it is plain that, without any regard to common sense or decency, they were influenced merely by a view to their own interest; and therefore represented these to the people as things of more eminent sanctity than even the temple or altar itself. Reflections on the pride, &c. of the scribes and Pharisees. 221 IMPROVEMENT. clvii. As an ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise sECT. reprover upon an obedient ear (Prov. xxv. 12). Christ was indeed a wise and faithful Reprover; but the ears of these Pharisees were Mat. disobedient and uncircumcised. Let us, however, who are his xxiii. 1, & seq. disciples, attend to these instructions of our heavenly Master, and avoid every thing which has the remotest tendency to what he here condemns with so just a severity. Let not our zeal spend itself upon the externals of religion. 5 Let us not impose heavy burdens upon each other; nor lay down 4 rules for the conduct of others, by which we do not in like circumstances think fit to govern ourselves. Let us not impose our own decisions in a magisterial manner on our fellow Christians, nor affect to be called fathers, masters, and teachers; remembering 8-10 that Christ alone is our Master, and God our Father, and that it is a dangerous presumption and folly to set ourselves in the place of either. Let us be upon our guard against that vain ostentation 6, 7 that would lead us to place any part of our happiness in precedence, and to value ourselves upon our rank, or upon any airy titles of 7 honour, by which, perhaps rather by accident than merit, we are distinguished from others; and which to a truly wise man, and especially to a humble follower of Jesus, will appear to be a very little matter. Let us desire that honour which arises from con-11, 12 descending to others, and serving them in love; that honour which springs from the Divine approbation, which it will be impossible to secure without unaffected piety. (John v. 44.) God forbid that our devotions should ever be intended as a 14 cloak of maliciousness, or as the instrument of serving any mean and vile purpose! Such prayers would return in curses on our own heads, and draw down on them aggravated damnation. God 15 forbid that we should spend that time, and that ardency of spirit, in making proselytes to our own peculiar notions and party, which ought to be laid out in making them the servants of God through Christ! God forbid that we should delude ourselves or 16 others by such idle distinctions in matters of conscience, as these which our blessed Redeemer has with so much reason and spirit exposed! Let us retain the greatest reverence for an oath, and not accus-17--22 tom ourselves to trifle with any thing which looks like it. Let us consider heaven as the throne of God, and often think of the majesty and glory of that illustrious Being that sits thereon; for a sense of his continual presence will form us to a better temper, and engage us with a righteousness far exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees, to walk before him in all his commandments and ordinances blameless. 222 The Pharisees reproved for their hypocrisy. SECT. clviii. Mat. SECT. CLVIII. Christ continues his discourse with the Pharisees, reproving them for their hypocrisy, and threatening them with approaching judgments. Mat. XXIII. 23, to the end. MAT. XXIII. 23. MAT. XXIII. 23. and Pharisees, hy anise, and cummin, OUR UR Lord farther proceeded in his discourse, Wo unto you scribes and said, Wo unto you, ye scribes and Pha- pocrites! for ye pay risees, hypocrites! you may justly expect the se- tithe of mint, and XXIII. verest vengeance; for ye are careful to tithe mint, and have omitted the 23 and anise, and cummin, and every other com- weightier matters of mon herb which grows in your gardens; and vet the law, judgment, have wholly neglected the weightier matters of the these ought ye to have mercy, and faith: law, justice, and mercy, and fidelity: these done, and not to leave should chiefly have been regarded by you as the other undone. what ye ought more especially to have practised, and indeed not to have omitted the other, as a reverent observance is due even to the least of God's commandments. (Compare Luke xi, 24 42, sect. cx.) Ye blind guides of blind and wretched followers, who do (as it is proverbially said) carefully strain out a gnat from the liquor you are going to drink, and yet can swallow down a camel; you affect to scruple little things, and disregard those of the greatest mo ment. 24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25 Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, make clean the outhypocrites! for ye side of the cup, and of the platter, but extortion and excess, within they are full of 25 Wo unto you, ye scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, and are mighty exact in the observance of external rites and washings of the body; but are regardless of the inner parts, and unconcerned about your hearts and consciences, which are full of uncleanness, and of all kinds of rapine and intemperance. (Compare Luke xi. 39, 26 sect. cx.) Thou blind and senseless Pharisee first begin with the heart, and thereby, as it were, risee, cleanse first that a Fidelity. The word wigs has undoubtedly this signification in many places (compare Tit. ii. 10; Gal. v. 22; and Rom. iii. 3). But there are many more in which it signifies the confidence reposed in another; and it is of great importance to observe this. See Col. i. 4; and 1 Pet. i. 21. b Strain out a gnat, and swallow down a camel.] In those hot countries, as Serrarius well observes. (Trikæres. p. 51), cleanse 26 Thou blind Pha which guats were apt to fall into wine, if it were not carefully covered; and passing the liquor through a strainer, that no gnat, or part of one, might remain, grew into a proverb for exactness about little matters.-Could any authority be produced in which xaunhor signifies a large insect, I should with great pleasure follow the translation of 1727, in rendering the latter clause, swallow a beetle. c Whited |