Page images
PDF
EPUB

in heaven is perfect. VI. 1d Take heed that ye do not ealms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

your

2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret:

[blocks in formation]

the aim of Christians.

perfect] complete, in your love of others; not onesided, or exclusive, as these just mentioned, but all-embracing, and God-like, = “merciful," Luke vi. 36. ye is emphatic. No countenance is given by this verse to the ancient Pelagian or the modern heresy of perfectibility in this life. Such a sense of the words would be utterly at variance with the whole of the discourse. See especially vv. 22, 29, 32, in which the imperfections and conflicts of the Christian are fully recognized. Nor, if we consider this verse as a solemn conclusion of the second part of the Sermon, does it any the more admit of this view, asserting as it does that likeness to God in inward purity, love, and holiness, must be the continual aim and end of the Christian in all the departments of his moral life. But how far from having attained this likeness we are, St. Paul shews us (Phil. iii. 12); and every Christian feels, just in the proportion in which he has striven after

[blocks in formation]

e read, righteousness.

jected to:-not the open benevolence of the Christian who lets his light shine that men may glorify God, but the ostentation of him whose object is the praise and glory coming from man. "For," says Chrysostom, "a man may do his good deeds before men, but not in order to be seen by them; and a man may do them not before men, but in order to be seen by them."

2-4.] FIRST EXAMPLE. Almsgiving. 2. sound a trumpet] A proverbial expression, not implying any such custom of the hypocrites of that day, but the habit of self-laudation, and display of good works in general. Many Commentators, among whom are Calvin and Bengel, think that the words are to be taken literally and Euthymius mentions this view. But Lightfoot says, that he finds no trace of such a practice among the customs in almsgiving. before thee]

According to the way in which the former verse is taken, these words are variously understood to apply to the trumpet being held up before the mouth in blowing, or to another person going before.

syna

gogues] If this bears the ordinary meaning of places of worship, the literal meaning of the previous words cannot well be maintained. The synagogues, as afterwards the Christian churches, were the regular places for the collection of alms. have] literally, have in full,— exhaust: not have their due reward. 3.] thy, emphatic: see ch. v. 48. This is another popular saying, not to be pressed so as to require a literal interpretation of it in the act of almsgiving, but implying simplicity, both of intention and act. Equally out of place are all attempts to explain the right and left hand symbolically, as was once the practice. The sound sense of Chrysostom preserves the right interpretation, where even Augustine strays into symbolism.

and thy Father which seeth in secret [himself] shall reward thee [openly].

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when, thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father d Luke xiv. 14. which seeth in secret shall reward thee [openly]. 7 But e Eccles. v. 2. when ye pray, e use not vain repetitions, as the heathen 1 Kings xviii. do: f for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. 9 After this manner therefore pray ye:

g Luke xi. 2,

&c.

f omit.

some old authorities have, "ye pray, ye shall not be."

4. openly] before men and angels; at the resurrection of the just. 5-15.] SECOND EXAMPLE. Prayer.

5. standing] No stress must be laid on this word as implying ostentation; for it was the ordinary posture of prayer. See 1 Sam. i. 26: 1 Kings viii. 22. The command in Mark (xi. 25) runs, “when ye stand praying..." See also Luke xviii. 11, 13. Indeed, of the two positions of prayer, considering the place, kneeling would have been the more singular and savouring of ostentation. The synagogues were places of prayer; so that, as Theophylact, it is not the place which matters, but the manner and intent. 6. enter, &c.] Both Chrysostom and Augustine caution us against taking this merely literally: and warn us, as above, that there may be ostentation even in the secret chamber, as there may be the avoiding of it in the open church. 7.] On the original meaning of the word rendered "use vain repetitions," see in my Gr. Test. Taking the word in its largest meaning, that of saying things irrelevant and senseless, it may well include all the various senses contended for. What is forbidden is not much praying, for our Lord Himself passed whole nights in prayer: not praying in the same words, for this He did in the very intensity of His agony at Gethsemane; but the making number and length a point of observance, and imagining that prayer will be heard, not because it is the genuine expression of the

[ocr errors]

g Our

desire of faith, but because it is of such a
length, has been such a number of times
repeated. The repetitions of Paternosters
and Ave Marias in the Romish Church, as
practised by them, are in direct violation
of this precept; the number of repetitions
being prescribed, and the efficacy of the
performance made to depend on it. But
the repetition of the Lord's Prayer in the
Liturgy of the Church of England is not
a violation of it, nor that of the Kyrie
Eleison, because it is not the number of
these which is the object, but each has its
appropriate place and reason in that
which is pre-eminently a reasonable ser-
vice. Our Lord was also denouncing a
Jewish error. Lightfoot quotes from the
Rabbinical writings, Every one who
multiplies prayer, is heard."
9-13.] THE LORD'S PRAYER.
9.] There is very slender proof of what is
often asserted, that our Lord took nearly
the whole of this prayer from existing
Jewish formulæ. Not that such a view of
the matter would contain in it any thing
irreverent or objectionable; for if pious
Jews had framed such petitions, our Lord,
who came to fulfil every thing that was
good under the Old Covenant, might, in a
higher sense and spiritual meaning, have
recommended the same forms to His dis-
ciples. But such does not appear to have
been the fact. Lightfoot produces only the
most general common-place parallels for
the petitions, from the Rabbinical books.
With regard to the prayer itself

Father which art in 10 Thy kingdom come.

heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

a

Thy will be done in earth, as it ach: xxvi x

we may remark, 1. The whole passage, vv. 7-15, is digressive from the subject of the first part of this chapter, which is the discouragement of the performance of religious duties to be seen of men, and is resumed at ver. 16. Neander therefore supposes that this passage has found its way in here as a sort of accompaniment to the preceding verses, but is in reality the answer of our Lord to the request in Luke xi. 1, more fully detailed than by that Evangelist. But to this I cannot assent, believing our Lord's discourses as given by this evangelist to be no collections of scattered sayings, but veritable reports of continuous utterances. That the request related in Luke should afterwards have been made, and similarly answered, is by no means improbable. (That he should have thus related it with this gospel before him, is more than improbable.) 2. It has been questioned whether the prayer was regarded in the very earliest times as a set form delivered for liturgical use by our Lord. The variations in Luke have been regarded as fatal to the supposition of its being used liturgically at the time when these Gospels were written. But see notes on Luke xi. 1. It must be confessed, that we find very few traces of such use in early times. Tholuck remarks, "It does not occur in the Acts, nor in any writers before the third century. In Justin Martyr we find, that the minister prays 'according to his power'. . . Cyprian and Tertullian make the first mention of the prayer as a lawful and ordinary prayer."" An allusion to it has been supposed to exist in 2 Tim. iv. 18, where see note. 3. The view of some that our Lord gave this, selecting it out of forms known and in use, as a prayer ad interim, till the effusion of the Spirit of prayer, is inadmissible, as we have no traces of any such temporary purpose in our Saviour's discourses, and to suppose any such would amount to nothing less than to set them entirely aside. On the contrary, one work of the Holy Spirit on the disciples was, to bring to their mind all things whatsoever He had said unto them, the depth of such sayings only then first being revealed to them by Him who took of the things of Christ and shewed them to them, John xiv. 26. After this manner] thus. Considering that other manners of praying have been spoken of above, the "vain repetition" and the "much speaking," the word, especially in its present position of

42. Acts xxi. 14.

primary emphasis, cannot well be otherwise understood than in these words,' as a specimen of the Christian's prayer (the ye holds the second place in emphasis), no less than its pattern. This, which would be the inference from the context here, is decided for us by Luke xi. 2, when ye pray, say-. Our Father] This was a

form of address almost unknown to the Old Covenant: now and then hinted at, as reminding the children of their rebellion (Isa. i. 2: Mal. i. 6), or mentioned as a last resource of the orphan and desolate creature (Isa. Ixiii. 16); but never brought out in its fulness, as indeed it could not be, till He was come by whom we have received the adoption of sons. "The prayer is a fraternal one; He saith not, My Father, as if prayed for himself only: but Our Father, as embracing in one prayer all who are known as brethren in Christ." Aug. which art in heaven] These opening words of the Lord's Prayer set clearly before us the state of the Christian, as believing in, depending upon, praying to, a real objective personal GOD, lifted above himself; to approach whom he must lift up his heart, as the eye is lifted up from earth to heaven. This strikes at the root of all pantheistic error, which regards the spirit of man as identical with the Spirit of God,-and at the root of all deism, testifying as it does our relation to and covenant dependence on our heavenly Father. The local heavens are no further to be thought of here, than as Scripture, by a parallelism of things natural and spiritual deeply implanted in our race, universally speaks of heaven and heavenly, as applying to the habitation and perfections of the High and Holy One who inhabiteth Eternity. Hallowed

be thy name] De Wette observes: 'God's Name is not merely His appellation, which we speak with the mouth, but also and principally the idea which we attach to it,

[ocr errors]

His Being, as far as it is confessed, revealed, or known.' The Name of God' in Scripture is used to signify that revelation of Himself which He has made to men, which is all that we know of Him: into the depths of His Being, as it is, no human soul can penetrate. See John xvii. 6: Rom. ix. 17. Hallow here is in the sense of keep holy, sanctify in our hearts, as in ref. 1 Pet. 10. Thy kingdom come] Thy kingdom here is the fulness of the accomplishment of the kingdom of God, so often spoken of in prophetic Scripture;

b ch. xviii. 21,

&c.

c ch. xxvi. 41.

2 Tim. iv. 18.

is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

b forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
h

с

12 And

13 And

d John xvii. 15. lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: [for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for i omit.

h read, have forgiven.

and by implication, all that process of events which lead to that accomplishment. Meyer, in objecting to all ecclesiastical and spiritual meanings of Thy kingdom,' forgets that the one for which he contends exclusively, the Messianic kingdom, does in fact include or imply them all. Thy will be done] i. e. not, may our will be absorbed into thy will;' but may it be conformed to and subordinated to thine. The literal rendering is, Let thy will be done, as in heaven, (so) also on earth.

[ocr errors]

These last words, "as in heaven, so also on earth," may be regarded as applying to the whole of the three preceding petitions, as punctuated in the text. A slight objection may perhaps be found in the circumstance, that the kingdom of God cannot be said to have come in heaven, seeing that it has always been fully established there, and thus the accuracy of correspondence in the particulars will be marred. It is true, this may be escaped by understanding, May thy kingdom come on earth, so as to be as fully established, as it is already in heaven. So that I conceive we are at liberty to take the prayer either way. 11. our daily bread] our-as 'created for us,' provided for our use by Thee.' The word rendered daily has been very variously explained. For a discussion of the probable derivations and meanings, I must refer to my Gr. Test. I have there seen reason to prefer the sense required for our subsistence-proper for our sustenance. So that the expression will be equivalent to St. James's "things which are needful for the body" (ii. 16), and the expressions are rendered in the Syriac version by the same word. Thus only, this day has its proper meaning. The "day by day" in Luke xi. 3 is different; see there. It is a question, how far the expression may be understood spiritually-of the Bread of Life. The answer is easy viz. that we may safely thus understand it, provided we keep in the foreground its primary physical meaning, and view the other as involved by implication in that. To understand the expression of the Eucharist primarily, or even of spiritual feeding on Christ, is to miss the plain reference of the petition to our daily physical wants. But not to re

cognize those spiritual senses, is equally to miss the great truth, that the "we" whose bread is prayed for, are not mere animals, but composed of body, soul, and spirit, all of which want daily nourishment by Him from whom all blessings flow. 12. our debts] i. e. sins, short-comings, and therefore 'debts:' answers to "trespasses," ver. 14. Augustine remarks, that those sins are not meant which are remitted in the regeneration of baptism, but those which are contracted day by day from the bitter fruits of worldly contact by our infirmity. as we] Not for

we also,' &c. (as in Luke), nor in the same measure as we also,' &c., but like as we also, &c.; implying similarity in the two actions, of kind, but no comparison of degree. Augustine uses the testimony of this prayer against all proud Pelagian notions of an absolutely sinless state in this life' (Trench); and answers the various excuses and evasions by which that sect escaped from the conclusion. have

forgiven here implies that (see ch. v. 23, 24) the act of forgiveness of others is completed before we approach the throne of grace. 13.] The sentiment is not in any way inconsistent with the Christian's joy when he "falls into divers temptations,' James i. 2, but is a humble self-distrust and shrinking from such trial in the prospect. The leading into temptation must be understood in its plain literal sense: so will make with the temptation also a way to escape, 1 Cor. x. 13. There is no discrepancy with James i. 13, which speaks not of the providential bringing about of, but the actual solicitation of, the

[ocr errors]

temptation. Some have attempted to fix on leading into and entering into temptation, the meaning of bringing into the power of, and entering into, so as to be overcome by, temptation. But this surely the words will not bear. But must not be taken as equivalent to but if thou dost, deliver,' &c.; but is rather the opposition to the former clause, and forms in this sense, but one petition with it,-bring us not into conflict with evil, nay rather deliver (rid) us from it altogether.' In another view, however, as expressing the deep desire of all Christian hearts to be delivered from all evil (for the adjective is here certainly

e ch xviii, 35.

ever. Amen.] 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 but if ye James ii. 13. forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father

forgive your trespasses.

16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, f Isa. Iviii. 5. of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 8 Dan. 1. 8. 18 that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee [j openly].

j omit.

neuter; the introduction of the mention of the evil one' would seem here to be incongruous. Besides, compare the words of St. Paul, 2 Tim. iv. 18, which look very like a reminiscence of this prayer: see note there) these words form a seventh and most affecting petition, reaching far beyond the last. They are the expression of the yearning for redemption of the sons of God (Rom. viii. 23), and so are fitly placed at the end of the prayer, and as the sum and substance of the personal petitions.

The doxology must on every ground of sound criticism be omitted. Had it formed part of the original text, it is absolutely inconceivable that almost all the ancient authorities should with one consent have omitted it. They could have had no reason for doing so; whereas the habit of terminating liturgical prayers with ascriptions of praise would naturally suggest some such ending, and make its insertion almost certain in course of time. And just correspondent to this is the evidence. We find, absolutely no trace of it in early times, in any family of MSS. or in any expositors. The ancient Syriac version has it, but whether it always had, is another question. It is quite open for us to regard it with Euthymius as "a solemn ending, added by the holy lights and leaders of the Church," and to retain it as such in our liturgies; but in dealing with the sacred text we must not allow any à priori considerations, of which we are such poor judges, to outweigh the almost unanimous testimony of antiquity. The inference to be drawn from the words of St. Paul, 2 Tim. iv. 18, is rather against, than for the genuineness of the doxology. The fact that he there adds a doxology, different from that commonly read here, seems to

testify to the practice, begun thus early, of concluding the Lord's prayer with a solemn ascription of glory to God. This eventually fell into one conventional form, and thus got inserted in the sacred text.

14, 15.] Our Lord returns (for) to explain the only part of the prayer which peculiarly belonged to the new law of love, and enforces it by a solemn assurance. On the sense, see Mark xi. 25, and the remarkable parallel, Ecclesiasticus xxviii. 2 : "Forgive thy neighbour the hurt that he hath done unto thee, so shall thy sins also be forgiven when thou prayest.”

16-18.] THIRD EXAMPLE. Fasting. Another department of the spiritual life, in which reality in the sight of God, and not appearance in the sight of man, must be our object. While these verses determine nothing as to the manner and extent of Christian fasting, they clearly recognize it as a solemn duty, ranking it with almsgiving and prayer; but requiring it, like them, (see ch. ix. 14-17,) to spring out of reality, not mere formal prescription. 16. disfigure] The word literally means make to disappear. Hence some have explained it, hide, cover up, viz. in mourning costume. But in later Greek the meaning was to disfigure. One writer uses it of women who paint their faces. The allusion is therefore not to covering the face, which could only be regarded as a sign of mourning, but to the squalor of the uncleansed face, and hair of the head and beard, as the contrast of washing and anointing shews. 17.] i. e. appear

as usual:' 'seem to men the same as if thou wert not fasting.' It has been observed that this precept applies only to voluntary and private fasts, (such as are mentioned Luke xviii. 12,) not to public and enjoined ones. But this distinction

« PreviousContinue »