On a tour.

n Matt. xi, 16.

o Luke x. 13.

SECTION XXIV.

Christ reproaches the Jews for their impenitence and insen

sibility 56

MATT. xi. 16–25. LUKE vii. 31-36.

And the Lord said, "Whereunto then shall I Luke vii. 31. liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?

They are like unto children sitting in the mar- Luke vii. 32. ket place, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not wept.

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread Luke vii. 33. nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.

The Son of man is come eating and drinking; Luke vii. 34. and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!

But wisdom is justified of all her children.

Luke vii. 35.

Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein Matt. xi. 20. most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not.

Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Beth- Matt. xi. 21. saida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable Matt, xi. 22. for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than

for you.

And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto Matt. xi. 23. heaven, shalt be brought down to hell for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained unto this day.

But I say unto you, That it shall be more to- Matt. xi. 24. lerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

56 This section is placed here on the united authorities of Pilkington, Newcome, Lightfoot, Doddridge, &c. The Scripture authority is derived from the evident connexion of v. 20. with v. 19. in Matt. xi. Michaelis places it after the mission of the twelve, preserving the order of St. Matthew. But Lightfoot has justly observed, that St. Matthew seems to have placed the events in the order he has adopted, on account of the similarity between the two events-the mission of the disciples of John, and that of the disciples of Christ.

MATT. xi. 16-20.

On a tour.

16 P But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sit- p Luke vii 31. ting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,

17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have

mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a

devil.

19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of Publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.

SECTION XXV.

Matt. xi. 25.

Matt. xi. 26.

Matt. xi. 27.

Matt. xi. 28.

Matt. xi. 29.1

Matt. xi. 30.

Christ invites all to come to him "7.

MATT, xi. 25. to the end.

At that time Jesus answered and said, I q Luke x. 21. thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

8

r John iii. 35.

All things are delivered unto me of my Father and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, s John vi, 46. save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find t Jer. vi, 16. rest unto your souls.

ul "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. u1 John v. 3.

SECTION XXVI.

Christ forgives the sins of a Female Penitent, at the House of a

Luke vii. 36.

* And one of the Pharisees desired him that he x Mark xiv. 3. would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat.

57 Pilkington, Newcome, Doddridge, Lightfoot, Michaelis, and Whiston, insert this section in its present place. The scriptural authority is the order of St. Matthew, ch. xi.

58 These two sections are inserted here on the joint authority of the five harVOL. I.

Р

On a tour.

And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a Luke vii. 37. sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,

monizers. The reasons from Scripture are well given by Lightfoot, who observes, the invitation of the Pharisee seems to have had some reference to the words of Christ,-"The Son of man came eating and drinking ;" and, the words, "Come unto me ye that are weary, and heavy laden," might have induced the woman sinner to kneel, and weep at his feet for mercy.

It is the opinion of Lightfoot, that the Mary, the female penitent who now addressed our Lord, was Mary Magdalene, and the sister of Lazarus. Pilkington has come to an opposite conclusion. He discusses the subject at some length. The questions he considers are,

I. Where it was that Jesus dined with the Pharisee?
II. Who it was that anointed Jesus's feet at that time?

The answer of many commentators is, that it was at Bethany, at the house of Simon the leper, where Jesus now dined; and that it was Mary Magdalene, the sister of Lazarus, who anointed his feet. And Tatian connects this account with that given by St. Matthew and St. Mark.

1. According to the present order of St. Luke's Gospel, this dining with the Pharisee is laid down between Christ's leaving Capernaum and his return thither again; and if it was so, it cannot be the same as is mentioned by St. Matthew and St. Mark, which was only two days before Jesus was put to death.

2. Toinard supposes that it was at Nain, that Jesus dined with this Simon the Pharisee: and indeed we have no account of his leaving that place, so that we may have reason to think that it was somewhere in that neighbourhood, and not at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper.

3. There is an account of a woman's anointing the feet of Jesus with ointment, and wiping them with her hair, given by St. John. But that also appears to be a different account from this; for that was in the house of Lazarus, as we may well collect from Martha's serving, &c. and this was in the house of Simon the Pharisee.

4. I can see no reason for supposing Mary Magdalene, and Mary the sister of Lazarus, and the woman here mentioned, to be one and the same person; or, indeed, for supposing that any two of them are the same: For (1.) Lazarus's sister, who lived at Bethany, could not, from any thing we can learn, properly be called Magdalene, (the city whence that appellative is derived, lying upon the sea of Galilee, and about ninety miles from Bethany) (a).-(2.) It is no where said, that Mary Magdalene anointed either the head, or the feet of Jesus, with ointment.-(3.) Lazarus's sister neither appears to have been a notorious sinner, as this woman was; nor to have been ever possessed with devils, as is recorded of Mary Magdalene. (4.) This woman appears, from this recital, to have been unknown to Christ, till she now came to him: if then this had been Mary Magdalene, we might well expect to have had an account of the casting out of the seven devils, before that of her sins being forgiven: but here is only a report of this woman's being a sinner, not of her being possessed.

Upon the whole, therefore, I think it the most reasonable to conclude, that the

(a) Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 70. § 190.

Luke vii. 38.

Luke vii. 39.

Luke vii. 40.

Luke vii. 41.

Luke vii. 42.

Luke vii. 43.

Luke vii. 44.

Luke vii. 45.

Luke vii. 46,

Luke vii. 47.

Luke vii. 48. Luke vii. 49.

Luke vii. 50.

And stood at his feet behind him, weeping, and On a tour. began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him : for she is a sinner.

And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.

There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred y pence, and the other fifty.

And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.

And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.

My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with oint

ment.

Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

matter here related was transacted at Nain, or some place thereabouts; and that the name of the woman, who now anointed Jesus's feet, is not recorded; this being neither the sister of Lazarus, nor Mary Magdalene.

y Matt. xviii.

28.

Galilee.

SECTION XXVII.

Christ preaches again throughout Galileee.

LUKE viii. 1, 2, 3.

And it came to pass afterward, that he went Luke viii. I. throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,

And certain women, which had been healed of Luke viii. 2.

evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magda

z Mark xvi, 9. lene, out of whom went seven devils.

And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, Luke viii. 3. and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.

59 This miracle is placed by St. Mark upon the return of Jesus to the house. It is inserted in its present position, in addition to this authority, upon the testimony of Lightfoot, Newcome, Pilkington, Doddridge, and Michaelis. Doddridge has observed, with great propriety, "it is one of the most important rules for settling the harmony of the Evangelists, that where any one of them has asserted expressly that he follows the order of time, we should in regard to him transpose others who do not assert equal exactness in that particular (a)."

As the minute circumstances with which the casting out of the demoniac is described by St. Luke, agree so entirely, throughout, with the relation of the same event in the other two Evangelists, I have transposed the account of St. Luke; and am supported in this arrangement by Doddridge, Newcome, and Michaelis. Compare Matt. xii. 22-50. Mark iii. 20-35. Luke xi. 14-36. St. Luke, it will be observed, relates the event as an isolated fact-as a circumstance which had taken place-but he makes no allusion to its time or order; and it can be separated from his narrative without injuring the context. It appears to have occurred to him by association. In ch. xi. 43. he mentions the Holy Spirit, and this reminded him of the blasphemy of the Scribes and Pharisees.

60 Schoetgen thus analyzes the address of our Lord to the Pharisees.

The occasion of our Lord's address was to reply to the words (Matt. xii. 24.)