which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful out ward, but are with They are compared to whited sepulchres. 223 cleanse the inside of the cup and of the dist, that SECT. thus the outside of them may be clean also, for the civil. life will of course be reformed when the heart is Mat. purified. XXIII. Wo unto you, ye scribes and Pharisees, hypo-27 crites! for ye resemble whited sepulchres, which indeed appear fair and beautiful without, but within are full of the bones of the dead, and of all that uncleanness which arises from their putrein full of dead men's fying bodies. Even so you also do indeed out- 28 bones, and of all un- wardly appear righteous unto men, who view nothing more than the external part of your character; but in the sight of an heart-searching God, who has a clear and perfect view of all that lies within, you are full of that hypocrisy and iniquity which is infinitely more loathsome to him than the most disagreeable objects can be to the human eye. cleanness. 28 Even so ye al so outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29 Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, Wo unto you, ye scribes and Pharisees, hypo- 29 crites! for, under a pretence of your regard and veneration for their characters, you sumptuously build up the sepulchres of the ancient prophets, and adorn the monuments of the other righteous men of former generations, as desirous to pre30 And say, if we serve and honour their memories: of our fathers, And ye 30 had been in the days say, If we had been living in the days of our fa would not have been thers, we would not have been partakers with partakers with them in them in the blood of the holy prophets which they the blood of the pro- shed, but would have treated them in another 31 Wherefore be ye manner than our fathers did. So that you 31 witnesses unto your really bear witness to yourselves, that you are the phets. selves Whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful without.] Though the first intention of whitening sepulchres might be only to mark them out, that they might be avoided; and so (as some Jewish writers, and particularly Maimonides, have observed) a heap of lime laid upon the grave might answer the end; it is evident they were sometimes adorned (ver. 29), probably not only with plaistering and white-washing, but with marble and other stone monuments: and notwithstanding all the applause which Vitringa (Observ. Sacr. lib. i. p. 201) gives to the interpretation which Dr. Lightfoot (Hor. Heb. in loc.) and Dr. Pocock (Port. Mos. cap. v. p. 73) have advanced, I conclude that such ornaments were here referred to; for I cannot think Christ would have called these sepulchres beautiful if they had been nothing but heaps of earth covered with grass. Compare note e, on Luke xi. 44. sect. cx. d You build the sepulchres of the prophets, sons &c.] I can by no means think, with Mar- e How 224 clviii. They were filling up the measure of their fathers' sins, the children of them SECT. sons of those that murdered the prophets; and in- selves, that ye are the measure of your 31 which you pretend to condemn in them. (Com32 pare Luke xi. 47, 48. sect. cx.) And do you 32 Fill ye up then [then] fill up, as soon as you think fit, what yet fathers. remains to be completed of the measure of your fathers' sins, that wrath may come upon this guilty land to the uttermost. 33 Fe painted and deceitful serpents, ye brood of specious, but venomous and mischievous, vipers, how artfully soever you may evade human censures, how can you so much as hope, by any of these vain pretences, to escape what is infinitely more dreadful, that righteous sentence of the unerring Judge which will consign you over to the damnation of hell? (Compare Mat. iii. 7. Vol. VI. p. 99.) 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city; some of them shall ye 34 Therefore, behold I send unto you prophets, 34 Wherefore, beand wise men, and scribes instructed to the king-hold, I send unto you prophets, and wise dom of heaven, to try you once more, and to men, and scribes; and give you the last call to repentance and reformation which you must ever expect: but I know that this last attempt will, with regard to the generality of you, be entirely in vain; and that [some of them ye will kill, and carry your malice so far as to crucify them like common slaves; and when ye cannot effect that, [some] of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute 35 [them] from city to city. For thus will God in righteous judgment permit you to act, that ye righteous blood shed may become the distinguished trophies of his upon the earth, from displeasure, as if he were reckoning with you for the blood of righteous the guilt of all former ages; so that upon you may seem to come the vengeance due for all the righteous blood which has been poured forth on the earth from the beginning of the world; even from the blood of Abel, that eminently righteous man, whom his brother Cain then slew, to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, one of • How can you hope by any of these vain pretences to escape that sentence, &c.] Raphelius has abundantly proved that a Quy xpia (which is the same in sense with the original) properly signifies to evade conviction in a court of judicature, which is often done by the artifice of the criminal. Annot. ex. Xen. p. 50, 51. 1 Therefore.] Though Olearius here the 35 That upon you come all may the Abel, unto the blood of would render dia relo in the mean time, the And should answer for all the righteous blood that had been shed. 225 of Zecharias, son of the last of the prophets, whom ye murdered while SECT. Barachias, whom ye he was ministering between the temple and the al- clviii. ple and the altar. tars, impiously presuming to intrude into the slew between the tem 36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. Mat. court of the priests, to perpetrate that most hor- XXIII. 37 O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [thou] that killest the 37 Jerusalem, thou that prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee killest the prophets, and stonest them which by God for thy conversion and salvation; thou are sent unto thee, how unhappy city, who hast so often been stained often would I have ga- with the blood of the martyrs, that it is grown thered thy children to. gether, even as a hen into a proverb, That a prophet can hardly perish gathereth her chickens any where else (Luke xiii. 33.) how often would under her wings, and I have gathered thy children together unto me, even with as much tenderness as a hen gathereth her chickens together under her wings, to protect them from the assaults of any bird of prey, or whatever else might threaten their safety, and ye would not! To the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, &c.] Though very learned men have interpreted this of four different persons, I do not, with the learned and candid Witsius (Misc. Vol. I. p. 269), think it an inexplicable difficulty which of these is referred to. I scruple not, with Grotius, Drusius, Casaubon, Erasmus, and many more, to explain it of that Zechariah who is expressly said to have been slain in that remarkable manner between the temple and the altar (2 Chron. xxiv. 20, 21), though I take not upon me to determine whether (as Chrysostom asserts) Jehoiada his father was also called Barachiah, which signifies one that blesses the Lord, as Jehoiada does one that confesses him; or whether the original reading was different from ours, as Jerom says he found in the gospel of the Nazarenes, or the Hebrew version of Matthew. It is by no means necessary, with Cappellus, to allow that it was a slip in the evangelist's memory; but much more decent to suppose it an officious addition of some early transcriber, who might confound this martyr with Zechariah, one of the twelve minor prophets, who was indeed the son of Bahiah, but who does not by any means appear to have been murdered; nor is there any reason to imagine the Jews, so soon after their return from captivity, yet would have attempted so flagitious an act. 226 clviii. Mat. Reflections on the iniquity of the Pharisees. 38 Behold, your desolate. 39 For I say unto ECT. yet ye would not hearken to my compassionate calls, but have hardened your hearts against my love, and repaid me with contempt, hatred, and XXIII. persecution? Behold, the time is coming 38 when you will see your folly, though too late; house is left unto you for your sacred house, in which you vainly trust, even this magnificent temple in which you now stand, is so near being utterly destroyed, that it may be said to be even already left desolate to you, so that the few who survive the general carnage shall be forced to sit down and weep over its 39 ruins. For I am now making my last visit here, and I say unto you, That henceforth, since you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye you treat me so ill, ye shall not see me any more, shall say, Blessed is he till even ye shall say, as the multitudes lately did, that cometh in the but with sublimer passions and nobler views, name of the Lord, Blessed [is] he that cometh in the name of the Lord; that is, till your calamities have taught you eagerly to wish for the Messiah, and Divine grace shall have inclined you, as a nation, gladly to receive me under that character; but you little think through what scenes of desolation, exile, and misery, you must pass for succeeding ages, before that happy time comes. (Compare Luke xiii. 34, 35, p. 18, 19.) And when he had thus spoken he went out of the temple. Mat. xxiii. 23 IMPROVEMENT. MAY we ever remember how necessary it is that our righte ousness should exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, if we desire to enter into the kingdom of heaven! (Mat. v. 20.) May our zeal be employed on the great essentials of religion, justice, mercy, and fidelity, and not be laid out merely or chiefly on the circumstantials of it! 25, 26 May we be concerned about the purity of our hearts, and not merely attend to the decency of our external behaviour! May we h Till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh, &c.] This was doubtless spoken after Christ's triumphant entrance into Jerusalem (though Heinsius most unnaturally supposes it transplaced), which shows the necessity of giving the words some such turn as they have in the paraphrase.-If we might be allowed, with Grotius, to translate wG av ule, till ye would be glad to say, or wish you had said, Blessed is he that cometh, &c. this would give a very plain and easy sense, nearly parallel to Mat. xxvi. 64, where 'aph is perhaps used in the same sence. be, And thus the words might be explained as if our Lord had said, "From the time of my present appearance at this passover, you shall not see me any more, till that awful hour of judgment, in which I shall appear in such pomp and power, that the proudest of you all shall have reason to wish you had cordially joined in those Hosannahs which you lately rebuked." This interpretation, could the version be justified, I should vastly prefer to any other. a The Jesus commends the liberality of the poor widow. 227 clviii. be, not like painted sepulchres, fair and beautiful without, and full SECT. of all uncleanness within; but rather like the vessel laid up before the Lord, whose outside shone with polished gold, while within it was replenished with heavenly manna! (Heb. ix. 4.) How many, like these Pharisees, condemn persecution, and yet 29--32 themselves are chargeable with the guilt of it! May that never be our character, lest we be judged out of our own mouths, and lest we thereby fill up the measure of our iniquities! Behold the repeated tenderness of our compassionate Redeemer 37--39 even towards that guilty city that killed the prophets, and stoned the messengers of God! He would with the gentlest and most solicitous care have gathered them, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings! Thus does he still call and invite perishing sinners. Oh that the obstinancy of their own perverse and rebellious wills may not finally withstand all the overtures of his grace; lest eternal desolations be their portion, and they in vain wish for the repetition of those calls which they once so wantonly despised! SECT. CLIX. Christ applauds the liberality of the poor widow whom he saw casting her two mites into the treasury. Mark XII. 41, to the end. Luke XXI. 1—4. A MARK XII. 41. ND Jesus sat overagainst the treasury: [and he looked MARK XII. 41. AND clix. Mark course to the scribes and Pharisees, as he up]: and beheld how was going out of the temple, sat down at a the people cast money little distance, over-against that part of it which XII. 41. [and their gifts] into the treasury: and ma- was called the treasury, because there the chests ny that were rich cast for collecting the contributions of the people in much. [LUKE stood, and in the chambers over that cloyster XXI. 1.] 42 And there came the sacred stores were kept; and he looked up, And there came among the rest a certain poor 42 a certain poor widow, widow, whose character and circumstances he well knew; and she cast in there two of the smallest and money thrown into it was employed to buy wood for the altar, salt and other necessa ries, not provided for in any other way. Ff a The treasury. This treasury received the voluntary contributions of the worshippers who came up to the feasts; and the VOL. VII. |