On a tour. MARK X. part of ver. 17. ver. 18. part of ver. 19, 20, 21. ver. 22. part of ver, 23. ver. 25. part of ver. 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. and ver. 31. i Matt.xix.16. k Matt. xix. 16. 1 Matt. xix.27. 17 when he was gone forth into the way, there came one-Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. 19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness,-Honour thy father and mother. 20 youth. And he and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my Then Jesus-and said unto him, One thing thou lackest-sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come-and follow me. 22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus-and saith unto his disciples 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 26-saying-Who then can be saved? 27 And Jesus-saith, With men it is impossible-for with God all things are possible. 28 Then Peter-Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. 29 and said-There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake 30 But he shall receive an hundred fold,—in this time-eternal life. 31 But many that are first shall be last; and the last first. LUKE Xviii. part of ver. 18. ver. 19. part of ver. 20. ver. 21. part of ver. 22, 23, 24. ver. 25, 26. part of ver. 27. ver. 28. and part of ver. 29, 30. 18 -k And-asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. 20-Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. 21 And he said-All these have I kept from my youth up. 22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him-sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. 23 And when he heard this-for he was very rich. 24 And he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 26 And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? 27 And he said— 28 Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee. 29 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children 30 Who shall not receive manifold—and in the world to come life everlasting. Matt. xx. 1. Matt. xx. 2. Matt. xx. 3. Matt. xx. 4. Matt. xx. 5. Matt. xx. 6. Matt. xx. 7. Matt. xx. S. Matt. xx. 9. Matt. xx. 10. Matt. xx. 11. Matt. xx. 12. Matt. xx. 13. Matt. xx. 14. Matt. xx. 15. Matt. xx. 16. SECTION XL. Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard. MATT. XX. 1-17. For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man on a tour, that is an housholder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. *The Roman penny is the And when he had agreed with the labourers for And said unto them; Go ye also into the vine- Again he went out about the sixth and hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when the even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, continued one Saying, These last + have wrought but one hour, + Or, have and thou hast made them equal unto us, which hour only. have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for m Ch. xix. 30. many be called, but few chosen 30. 30 The expression here used is supposed to refer to the manner in which the VOL. I. B b On a tour. SECTION XLI. Christ is informed of the Sickness of Lazarus ". JOHN xi. 1-17. Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of John xi. I. Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. Romans selected men for recruiting their armies. The honour of being chosen to serve their country in a military capacity was esteemed the reward of superiority. The consuls summoned to the capitol, or the Campus Martius, all citizens capable of bearing arms, from the age of seventeen to forty-five. They drew up by tribes, and lots were drawn to determine in what order every tribe should present its soldiers. That which was the first order, chose the four citizens who were judged the most proper to serve in the war; and the six tribunes who commanded the first legion, selected one of these four, whom they liked best. The tribunes of the second and third legions likewise made their choice one after another; and he that remained entered into the fourth legion. A new tribe presented other four soldiers, and the second legion chose first. The third and fourth legions had the same advantage in their turns. In this manner, each tribe successively appointed four soldiers, till the legions were complete. They next proceeded to the creation of subaltern officers, whom the tribunes chose from among the soldiers of the greatest reputation. When the legions were thus completed, the citizens who had been called, but not chosen, returned to their respective employments, and served their country in other capacities.-See Clarke's Comment. in loc. 31 The resurrection of Lazarus is placed by Archbishop Newcome after John x. and after the supplementary chapters of St. Luke. Tatian, Gerson, and some others, agree in the same arrangement. After the feast of the dedication, our Lord went to Bethabara, beyond Jordan, the place where John baptized, (John x. 40.) Archbishop Newcome supposes, that, as he remained there, and as St. John proceeds immediately to the resurrection of Lazarus, Mary and Martha sent to him while he was now at Bethabara. But this gives us no proof that many circumstances did not take place during our Lord's abode at Bethabara, and likewise, as probable, from the 13th to the 18th chapters of St. Luke, that he made another circuit through some parts of the country before he went to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead. It appears, from Matt. xix. 1, and Mark x. 1, that after our Saviour had performed many miracles, and given those evidences of his divinity which were to precede his last journey to Jerusalem, he went beyond Jordan, and, we may reasonably conclude, to Bethabara; at which place, according to Lightfoot, he received the message from the sisters of Lazarus. Lightfoot further observes, that he remained in the place where he was when he heard of Lazarus' sickness, that he might die before he came to him, that God might be the more glorified by his raising, (ver. 15.) so did he make sure to stay long enough after he was dead before he came, that the glory might be the more. Compare ver. 39, with these sayings of the Jews, Maym. in Gerushin, per ult, "If one look upon a dead man within three days after his death, he may know John xi. 2. John xi. 3 John xi. 4. John xi. 5. John xi. 6. John xi. 7. John xi. 8. John xi. 9. John xi. 10. John xi. 11. John xi. 12. John xi. 13. John xi. 14. John xi. 15. John xi. 16. ("It was that Mary which anointed the Lord on a tour. with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, ʼn Matt. xxvi. whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he was. Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judæa again. His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. These things said he and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also that we may die with him. go, him; but after three days, his visage is changed." Again, Lerus. in Moed Katon, fol. 82, col. 2. "Three days the soul flies about the body, as if thinking to return to it; but after it sees the visage of the countenance changed, it leaves it, and gets it gone for ever." Lightfoot's arrangement of the resurrection is the same as that of Bishop Richardson, and it is sanctioned by the learned Archbishop Usher, Lamy, Toinard, and others. 7. J.P. 4742. SECTION XLII. Christ again predicts his Sufferings and Death 32. MATT. XX. 17-20. MARK x. 32-35. LUKE Xviii. 31-35. V.A. 29. lem; On a tour. And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, Matt. xx. 17. took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Be- Luke xviii.31. and Jesus went before them: and they were Mark x. 32. And he took again the twelve disciples apart in the way, Matt. xx. 17. and began to tell them what things should happen Mark x. 32. unto him, and said unto them, Matt. xx. 17. Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Matt. xx. 18. man shall be betrayed and delivered unto the Chief Priests, and unto the Mark x. 33. to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: For he shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: Matt. xx. 19. Luke xviii. 32. And they shall scourge him, and put him to Lukexviii.33. death and on the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things: and Lukexviii.34. this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. 32 During our Lord's final journey to Jerusalem, he forewarns his disciples of his approaching sufferings and death, in the fullest manner. He explicitly unfolds to the twelve disciples the spiritual nature of his kingdom; but their understandings were so blinded by their own preconceived ideas of Messiah's power, that they knew not the things that were spoken. He was now about to perform one of the most convincing and stupendous of his miracles: and he embraces the opportunity to predict all that awaited him to his disciples. He declares that he was going up to Jerusalem, not to assume the pomp and robes of royalty, as they but too fondly expected, but to be betrayed, to be insulted, to be scourged, and to be put to death. His disciples at this very moment, as is evident from the conduct of the sons of Zebedee in the next section, were ambitiously anticipating their temporal honours. |