p ch. xxvi. 64. his a soul? 27 For P the Son of man shall come in the glory q Dan. vii. 10. Zech. xiv. ch. xxv. 31. Jude 14. r Job xxxiv. 11. every man according to his bworks. Ps. lxii. 12. Prove xxiv. C 5. of his Father 9 with his angels; and then he shall reward 28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. XVII. 1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, 10: xxxii. 19. Rom. ii. 6. 1 Cor. iii. 8. 2 Cor. v. 10. 1 Pet. i. 17. Rev. ii. 23: xxii. 12. a render, life. b work. render, ing it in the higher sense, life here and hereafter. 27.] A further revelation of this important chapter respecting the Son of Man. He is to be JUDGE OF ALLand, as in ch. xiii. 41, is to appear with His angels, and in the glory of His Father -the "glory which thou hast given me," John xvii. 22. Mark and Luke place here, not this declaration, but that of our ch. x. 33. Our Lord doubtless joined the two. Compare ch. xxiv. 30; xxv. 31. For implies, "And it is not without reason that I thus speak: a time will come when the truth of what I say will be shewn." his work, considered as a whole: his habit of action. 28.] This declaration refers, in its full meaning, certainly not to the transfiguration which follows, for that could in no sense (except that of being a foretaste: compare Peter's own allusion to it, 2 Pet. i. 17, where he evidently treats it as such) be named 'the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom,' and the expression, some... which shall not taste of death, till. indicates a distant event,-but to the destruction of Jerusalem, and the full manifestation of the Kingdom of Christ by the arnihilation of the Jewish polity; which event, in this aspect as well as in all its terrible attendant details, was a type and earnest of the final coming of Christ. See John xxi. 22, and compare Deut. xxxii. 36 with Heb. x. 30. This dreadful destruction was indeed judgment beginning at the house of God. The interpretation of Meyer, &c., that our Lord referred to His ultimate glorious coming, the time of which was hidden from Himself (see Mark xiii. 32: Acts i. 7), is selfcontradictory on his own view of the Person of Christ. That our Lord, in His humanity in the flesh, did not know the day and the hour, we have from His own lips: but that not knowing it, He should have uttered a determinate and solemn prophecy of it, is utterly impossible. His verily I say unto you always introduces His solemn and authoritative revelations of divine truth. The fact is, there is a reference back in this discourse to that in ch. x., and the coming here spoken of is the C read, of those standing. same as that in ver. 23 there. Stier well remarks that this cannot be the great and ultimate coming, on account of the terms of the announcement, which imply that they should taste of death after they had seen it, and would therefore be inapplicable to the final coming. This is denied by Wordsworth, who substitutes for the simple sense of "shall not taste of death," the far-fetched one, "shall not feel its bitterness," "shall not taste of the death of the soul," and then, thus interpreting, gives the prophecy, as it seems to me, the very opposite of its plain sense: "they will not taste of death till I come: much less will they taste of it then." CHAP. XVII. 1-13.] THE TRANSFIGURATION. Mark ix. 2-13. Luke ix. 28-36. This weighty event forms the solemn installation of our Lord to His sufferings and their result. Those three Apostles were chosen to witness it, who had before witnessed His power over death (Mark v. 37), and who afterwards were chosen to accompany Him in His agony (ch. xxvi. 37), and were (John xx. 2: Mark xvi. 7) in an especial sense witnesses of His resurrection. The Two who appeared to them were the representatives of the law and the prophets: both had been removed from this world in a mysterious manner the one without death,-the other by death indeed, but so that his body followed not the lot of the bodies of all; both, like the Greater One with whom they spoke, had endured that supernatural fast of forty days and nights: both had been on the holy mount in the visions of God. And now they came, endowed with glorified bodies before the rest of the dead, to hold converse with the Lord on that sublime event, which had been the great central subject of all their teaching, and solemnly to consign into His hands, once and for all, in a symbolical and glorious representation, their delegated and expiring power. And then follows the Divine Voice, as at the Baptism, commanding however here in addition the sole hearing and obedience of Him whose power and glory were thus and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high testified. There can arise no question of an high mountain] The situation of this mountain is uncertain. It was pro- a 2 Pet. i. 17. b ch. iii. 17. c Isa. xlii. 1. 15, 19. Acts iii. 22, 23. e 2 Pet. i. 18. d wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5a While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, "This is my beloved & Deut. xviii. Son, in whom I am well pleased; d hear ye him. 6 e And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and Dan. viii. 18: were sore afraid. 7 And Jesus came and touched them, 18. Rev. 1.17. and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. 9 And as they came down from the mountain, & Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. 10 And his disciples asked him, saying, " Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11 And Jesus answered and said shall first come, and 'restore all ix. 21: x. 10, g ch. xvi. 20. h Mal. iv. 5. ch, xi. 14. i Mal, iv. 6. Luke i. 16, k ch. xỉ. 14 unto them, Elias truly 17. Acts iii. things. 12k But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, 1 ch. xiv. 3, 10. and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatLikewise m shall also the Son of man Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. 14 And when they m ch. xvi. 21. n ch. xi. 14 soever they listed. suffer of them. 13 d read, I will make. distinguishing it from a mere vision of It is one of those remarkable coin- Vv. 6, 7 are peculiar to Matthew. 9.] No unreality is implied in the word vision, for it is expressed by "what they had seen "" in Mark and in Luke: see Num. xxiv. 3, 4. St. Luke, without mentioning the condition of time imposed on them, remarkably confirms it by saying, "they told no man in those days 10.] The occasion of this enquiry was, that they had just seen Elias withdrawn from their eyes, and were enjoined not to tell the vision. How then should this be? Our If this was not the coming of Elias, 14-21.] HEALING OF A POSSESSED LUNATIC. Mark ix. 14-29. Luke ix. 37-42. By much the fullest account of this miracle is contained in Mark, where were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 18 And Jesus & rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him : and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have och. xxi. 21. faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. [21 i Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.] 22 P And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said pch. xvi. 21: unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the Luke xxiv. 6, hands of men: 23 and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry. 1 Cor. xiii. 2. XX. 17. 7. 24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received a tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth Exod. xxx. g render, rebuked him, and the devil departed out of him. h some old MSS. read, little faith. k render, the two drachmas. see notes. It was the next day: see Luke the house, Mark ix. 28. 22, 23.] OUR LORD'S SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT OF HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. Mark ix. 30-32. Luke ix. 43-45. This followed immediately after the miracle (Mark ix. 30). Our Lord went privately through Galilee; For he taught his disciples, &c.:-the imparting of this knowledge more accurately to His disciples, which he had begun to do in the last chapter, was the reason for his privacy. For more particulars, see Luke ver. 45: Mark ver. 32. 13. xxxviii. 26. i omitted by our two oldest MSS. 24-27.] DEMAND OF THE SACRED TRIBUTE, AND OUR LORD'S REPLY. Peculiar to Matthew. The narrative connects well with the whole chapter, the aim of the events narrated in which is, to set forth Jesus as the undoubted SON of God. 24. the two drachmas] This was a sum paid annually by the Jews of twenty years old and upwards, towards the temple in Jerusalem. Exod. xxx. 13: 2 Kings xii. 4: 2 Chron. xxiv. 6, 9. Josephus says of Vespasian, "He levied a tribute on the Jews all over the world, compelling each man to pay two drachmas yearly into the Capitol, as they formerly used to do to the temple at Jerusalem." It does not quite appear whether this payment was compulsory or not; the question here asked would look as if it were voluntary, and therefore by some declined. Many Commentators both ancient and modern, and among them no less names a Luke xxii. 24. 1 not your master pay tribute? 25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus m prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own n children, or strangers? 26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. 27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee. XVIII. 1 At a that same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, P Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and mi. e. anticipated. render, the two drachmas. n render, sons. • render, a stater. than Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Je- force of this argument depends on the fact P render, Who then is. for a fish caught with a hook), is refuted for, CHAP. XVIII. 1-35.] DISCOURSE RE SPECTING THE GREATEST IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Mark ix. 33-50. Luke ix. 46-50. 1.] In Mark we learn that this discourse arose out of a dispute among the disciples who should be the greatest. It took place soon after the last incident. Peter had returned from his fishing: see ver. 21. The dispute had taken place before, on the way to Capernaum. It had probably been caused by the mention of the Kingdom of God as at hand in ch. xvi. 19, 28, and the preference given by the Lord to the Three. In Mark it is our Lord who asks them what they were disputing about, and they are silent. At that same time need not necessarily refer to the incident last related. It may equally well be understood as indicating the presence in the mind of the querist of something that had passed in the preceding dispute. 2.] From Mark ix. 36 it appears that our Lord first |