fat down, and called the

Twelve, and faith unto them, If any Man defire to

be firft, the fame fhall be laft of all, and Servant of all. [LUKE IX. 47.-]

19

Mark IX.

35.

CHRIST taking up a little Child, exhorts them to Humility. and obferving the fame Carnality and Emulation Sect. 93. to be ftill working there, when he was fate down, called all the Twelve about him (b), and fays unto them with great Seriousness and Earneftness, It is Humility that is the Way to Honour in my Kingdom; and therefore if any one would be Chief there, let him in all the Offices of condefcending Friendship to his Brethren, be as the laft of all, and the Servant of all.

MAT. XVIII. 1. At the

fame Time came the Difciples unto Jefus, faying, Who is the greatest in the King.

dom of Heaven?

2 And Jefus called a little Child unto him, and [took and] fet him [LUK. by him] in the Midst of them, [and when he had taken him in his Arms, he faid unto them,] [MARK IX. 36. LUKE IX. -47.]

3 Verily I fay unto you, Except ye be converted, and ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

become as little Children,

I.

And at the fame Time (c), when the Difciples Mat.XVIII.
were thus called, they came to Jefus, and finding
that he knew the Subject of their late Debate,
some of them at length took the Liberty of fay-
ing, Lord, decide this Queftion, and tell us plainly,
who is intended to be the greatest in the Kingdom
of Heaven, and to whom wilt thou commit the
chief Management of Affairs in it?

And when he had answered the Enquiry in the 2
Manner related above, Jefus, in order to impress
the important Maxim yet deeper on their Minds,
having called to him a little Child, that happened
then to be in the Houfe where they lodged, took
and fet him by him in the Midft of them; and taking
bim up, and embracing him in his gracious Arms,
in Token of his tender Regard, he said unto them,
I affuredly declare it to you as a moft folemn and 3
important Truth, that except ye be converted and
turned from these ambitious and carnal Views, and
become like little Children in Lowlinefs and Meek-
nefs, in a candid teachable Temper, and an In-
difference to the great Things of the present Life,
(Pfal. cxxxi. 1, 2.) you will be fo far from having
any distinguished Rank among my Subjects, that ye
fhall by no Means fo much as enter at all into the

King

(b) Called all the Twelve about him.] It is natural to fuppofe, that twelve Perfons travelling together on Foot would form themselves into two or three little Companies, while fome of them, no doubt, would be attending Chrift, and difcourfing with him: But our Lord judged it proper, as he was now in the House, that all the Twelve fhould hear this Admonition, tho' they might not all have been engaged in the Dispute which occafioned it.

(c) At the fame Time.] By thefe Words Matthew exprefsly fixes the Connection between this Story, and that which concluded his xviith Chapter. But Clarius feems to refine too much, when he fuppofes, that Chrift's having thus miraculoufly provided for paying Peter's Tribute with his own, gave Umbrage to the reft: Yet this precarious Turn ferves the Church af Rome, as an Argument for the Supremacy of the Pope; nor is it wonderful, that in fo weak a Cause they should catch at fuch a Shadow. C 2

(d) Enter

20.

Mat. XVIII.

4.

Whofoever therefore

fhall humble himself as this greateft in the Kingdom of Heaven.

little Child, the fame is

5 And [LUK. whosoever

fhall receive this Child,] [or in my Name, receiveth me; one of fuch] little [Children] [and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that fent me :] [Lux. for he that is least among you all, the fame fhall be great.] [MARK IX. 37. LUKE IX. 48.]

He fhews the Danger of offending any of his Little Ones. Sect. 93. Kingdom of Heaven, or be entitled to any of its final Bleffings. Whoever therefore shall humble himself even as this little Child, and act with fuch Candor, Simplicity, and Modefty, as you fee in him, He is the Perfon, that hereafter will be regarded as the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, 5 and will ftand high in its final Glories. And whosoever cordially fhall entertain this Child, [or] fhall discover an affectionate Regard to any one of fuch little Children, in my Name, and for my Sake, as one whom I love, and recommend to his Care, entertaineth me; for I fhall take the Kindness as done to myself: And I would have you to remember, that it fhall not terminate even there, but (as I have formerly told you, Mat. x. 40. Vol. i. pag. 471.) whoever thus fhall entertain and fhew a Regard to me, entertains not me alone, but bim that fent me (d), even my Heavenly Father, who is honoured or affronted, as I am refpected or flighted. And this Regard to the meanest of my Servants, I must urge upon you, as of the utmost Importance; for (as I just now told you,) be that by fuch a Condefcenfion is as the leaft among you all, He fhall be eminently great in my Efteem, and be distinguished by peculiar Marks 6 of the Divine Favour. But whoever shall deliberately do any Thing to offend, and to occafion the Fall of one of thefe Little Ones who believe in me (e), or of any Difciple of mine, tho' he may feem as weak as this Infant, will expofe himself thereby to fuch Guilt and Punishment, that it were better for him he should undergo the moft certain and terrible Deftruction one can imagine, even that a huge Mill-ftone (f) fhould be hanged about his

Neck,

6 But [whofoever] fhall'

Ones which believe in me,

offend one of thefe Little it were better for him, that a Mill-ftone were hanged about his Neck, and that he were [caft into the Sea, and] drowned in the Depth of the Sea. [MARK IX. 42.]

(d) Entertains not me alone, but bim that fent me.] Here Chrift was interrupted by a Speech of John, related Mark ix. 38,-41. which is paraphrased and explained below, in Sect. 96. See Note (a) there, pag. 34.

(e) Shall offend one of thefe Little Ones, &c.] To offend a Perfon generally fignifies, (as was. obferved before, Vol. i. pag. 234. Note (c),) laying a Stumbling-block in his Way; fo that any, who should by a fcandalous Life lead others to think ill of the Chriftian Profeffion in general, or fhould by Perfecution difcourage the Weak, or by Sophiftry, bad Example, or otherwife, pervert them from the Way of Truth and Goodnefs, would fall under the Weight of this terrible Sentence.

(f) A huge Mill-ftone.] So I render unos ovos, which (as Erafmus, Grotius, Raphelius, and many others obferve,) properly fignifies a Mill-ftone too large to be turned, as fome were,

by

7

Woe unto the World, because of Offences.

Wo unto the World

because of Offences: for it come: but Wo to that Man by whom the Offence com

muft needs be, that Offences

eth.

8-Wherefore if thy Hand-offend thee, [cut it off,] and caft it from thee:

it is better for thee to enter

into Life-maimed, rather than having two Hands, [to

go into Hell, into the Fire

that never fhall be quenched:] [MARK IX. 43.1

21

Neck, and he should be thrown headlong into the Sect. 93.
Sea (g), [and] drowned in the Depth of [it.]

Woe to the World, because of fuch Offences, or Mat. XVII.
Scandals as thefe; for they will bring upon it the 7
moft dreadful Judgments: Indeed confidering the
Corruption, and Weakness of Mankind, and the
various Temptations with which they are fur-
rounded, it is humanly speaking neceflary, or un-
avoidable, that Offences come; but I may well fay,
Woe to that Man, by whom the Offence cometh, who-
ever he be, that by Avarice, Ambition, or any
other vicious Affection, lays a Stumbling-block in
Men's Way, and makes himself acceffary to the
Ruin of immortal Souls, tempting them either to
renounce, or to defpife the Gofpel; for the Time
will come, when he fhall bitterly repent it.

Wherefore let me renew the Exhortation, which 8 I formerly gave you, rather to fubmit to the fevereft Mortifications, than to indulge your finful Inclinations, to the Scandal of others, and to your own. Ruin: And as I then told you in my Sermon on the Mount (b), (fee on Mat. v. 30. Vol. i. pag. 234.) If thy Right Hand offend thee, that is, if any Thing dear unto thee as a Right Hand, should be the Means of leading thee into Sin, rather than. indulge it, cut it off, and caft [it] from thee, whatever Pain or Deformity, or other Detriment, might follow from fuch a Lofs; for it is much better for thee to enter maimed into Eternal Life, than having two Hands, to go down into the Prison of Hell, even into that Fire which shall never be exMARK IX. 44. Where tinguished: Where their corroding and Mark IX

their

up

braiding 44.

by the Hand, and which would require the Force of Affes to move it; as it feems thofe Ani-
mals were generally ufed by the Jews on this Occafion. See Raphel. Annot. ex Xen. p. 46.
(g) Thrown headlong into the Sea.] Cafaubon, and Elfner, (Obferv. Vol. i. pag. 85.) not to
mention others, have fhewn at large, that Drowning in the Sea was a Punishment frequently
ufed among the Antients, and that the Perfons condemned had fometimes heavy Stones tied'
about their Necks, or were rolled up in Sheets of Lead. It seems to have grown into a Pro-
verb, for dreadful and inevitable Ruin.

(b) As I told you in my Sermon on the Mount.] It will, I hope, be obferved; that Matthew, who had. before fo largely recorded that Sermon, gives us again this Paffage of it on the prefent Occafion; which is one Proof, among many others, that our Lord did not think it improper or unneceffary, fometimes to repeat what he had then faid: (See Vol. i. pag. 296. Note (e).) And confidering the Importance of thefe Maxims, and how little many of bis Hearers were difpofed to receive and retain them, it was a valuable Inftance of his Compaffion and Wifdom..

(i) Where:

22

Mark IX. 44.

Better to lose a Foot or an Eye, than fuffer them to offend us.

Sect. 93. braiding Confcience is as a Worm, which never their Worm dieth not, and the Fire is not quenched. dies (i), but with unutterable Anguish still gnaws upon the Heart; and where the Fire of Divine Wrath, which shall penetrate into the very Soul of the Sinner, is not, and shall not, be quenched throughout all the endless Ages of Eternity.

45

And again, if thy Foot offend thee, cut it off with as much Refolution, as thou wouldst part with a gangrened Member for the Prefervation of thy Life; for fomething yet more important is here concerned, and it is better for thee to enter lame into the Regions of Eternal Life and Bleffedness, tho' thou waft ever to continue fo (k), than having two Feet to be caft into the inextinguishable 46 Fire of Hell : Where their tormenting Worm dieth not, and where the Fire is not quenched, nor the Violence of its Heat abated thro' all the Ages of Eternity.

47

And, to repeat fo wholesome and necessary an Admonition a third Time, if thine Eye offend thee, or would neceffarily be the Means of leading thee into Sin, chufe rather with thine own Hands to tear it out of its Socket, and to caft it away from thee as an abhorred Thing, than by complying with the Temptation, to hazard thy far more precious Soul; for it is far better for thee to enter into the Kingdom of GOD, [or] into Everlasting Life and Bleffednefs, with but one Eye, even tho the other were not to be restored at the Refurrection, but the Blemish were to continue for ever, than having two Eyes, and all the other

Members

45 And if thy Foot ofbetter for thee to enter halt fend thee, cut it off: it is into Life, than having two Feet, to be caft into Hell, into the Fire that never shall be quenched:[MAT.XVIII. -8.]

46 Where their Worm

dieth not, and the Fire is

not quenched.

47 And if thine Eye offend thee, pluck it out, [and caft it from thee:] it is betKingdom of GOD, [or into Life,] with one Eye, [rather] caft into Hell-Fire: [MAT. than having two Eyes to be XVIII. 9.]

ter for thee to enter into the

(i) Where theirConfcience is as a Worm, which never dies.] There may indeed be an Allufion here to Ifa. Ixvi. 24. (compare Ecclus' vii. 17. and Judith xvi. 17.) but the Expreffion had been juft and proper without it: And it is obfervable, that fome of the Antients expreffed the fame Thought by faying, that the Marrow of the Back-Bone did in a wicked Man turn into a huge and fierce Serpent; thereby intimating, (by a much finer Figure, than Elian, who reports it, understood,) that their own Thought fhould be their Torment, and they should be unable to difarm it by thofe Artifices, which had prevailed in the prefent Life. See Ælian. Hift. Anim. lib. i. cap. 51. and Gataker. Antonin. lib. viii. §. 58. (k) Tho' thou wait ever to continue fo.] It is certain, no Man will enter into Life halt, maimed, or blind, as the Bodies of the Saints will be restored in the greatest Perfection. I know indeed, that, with fome Latitude in the Expreffion, he may be faid to enter halt, or maimed, into Life, whofe Spirit paffes from a difmembered Body into the Regions of the Bleffed; but it feems to me, that the Propriety of the Phrafe is moft exactly preferved, by taking it as in the Paraphrafe, and the Spirit of the Thought is greatly increased by that Interpretation.

(1) Shall

Offenders fhall be falted with Fire, and not be confumed.

23

Members of thy Body in the greatest Perfection, Sect. 93.
to be caft into Hell, where they will all be full of
unutterable Anguish, being tormented with ever-
lafting Fire,

In that dreadful Prison of Divine Mark IX.

Vengeance, where (as I have told you again and 48.
again,) their Worm dieth not, and the Fire is not
quenched nor abated, but preys perpetually on the
miferable Sinner that is condemned to it. For 49
as the Flesh burnt on the Altar has Salt rubbed
upon it, in Confequence of which it burns fo
much the more fiercely, fo every one of those un-
happy Creatures, the Victims of Divine Justice,
hall be (as it were) falted with Fire (1), and in-
ftead of being confumed by it, fhall in those
wretched Abodes continue immortal in the Midft
of their Flames; whereas every acceptable Sacri-
fice fhall be feafoned with another Kind of Salt (m),
even that of Divine Grace, which purifies the
Soul, and preferves it from Corruption.

In Allufion to this, I have formerly called you, 50 my Disciples, the Salt of the Earth; (Mat. v. 13.

Vol.

(1) Shall be falted with Fire.] Grotius, Spanheim, Gataker, Le Clerc, and Dr. Mill, have abundantly anfwered the favourite Criticism of Scaliger, by which he would here read upc inftead of aug, that it might be rendered, Every Offering made by Fire fhall be falted. The learned and laborious Wolfius has propofed a multitude of Interpretations on this Text. He, and Monf. L'Enfant, think it refers to the fiery Trial, thro' which Chriftians must expect to pafs: But this neither feems a natural Senfe of the Phrase itself, nor does it fo well fuit the Context, by which it should seem to be a Reafon why the Infernal Fire is never quenched. I know it may be answered, that it is however a Reason why the Difciples should practife the Mortification required above: But it seems defirable, where it can be done, to interpret: the Particles in their most usual Senfe, tho' fometimes it is neceffary (as we have elsewhere obferved, Vol. i. pag. 307. Note (i),) to recede from it. To fuppofe, as Dr. Clarke, and fome others do, that here is a Reference to the Ambiguity of the Hebrew Word nin, which fignifies either to be falted, or confumed, feems very unwarrantable; fince anclass has no fuch Ambiguity; not to fay, how much it would impair the Force of the Sentence, leading to an Idea, the very contrary to what Chrift had fuggefted above, no less than threeTimes.

(m) Every Sacrifice fhall be feafoned with Salt.] It is well known, that the Mofaic Law required this. See Lev. ii. 13.Heinfius thinks, that as Salt contracts and binds, it was therefore used as an Emblem of Friendship, which he fuppofes our Lord afterwards to refer to; and that it was the Foundation of the Figure, by which a perpetual Engagement is called a Covenant of Salt. Numb. xviii. 19. I fhould rather think it intended, as a Circumftance of Decency, that the Meat of GoD's Table should be falted; and conclude, that if it had any Emblematical Meaning, it was to recommend to the Worshipper an incorrupt Heart seasoned with favoury Sentiments of Wisdom and Piety. Sinners are elsewhere reprefented, as the Victims of Divine Juftice: (Ifa. xxxiv. 6. Jer. xii. 3. xlvi. 10. Ezek. xxi. 9, 10. and xxxix. 17.) And good Men, (as in the End of this Verfe,) are represented in another View, with regard to their Confecration to GOD, as acceptable Sacrifices. Rom, xii. 1. xv. 16.. Compare 1 Pet. ii. 5.