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workman is worthy of his

meat.

11 And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and

there abide till ye go thence. 12 And when ye come into a house, salute it.

13 And if the house be wor

thy, let your peace come upon

who should welcome them, as the Messiah's heralds, their wants would be freely supplied. There was no need of their embarrassing themselves with a variety of articles, as they might on an ordinary journey. They were going forth as messengers of the Messiah; they might trust in God, that all their wants would be supplied, and no time need be occupied, and no perplexity endured, and no expense incurred, in preparing for their mission.

There abide; that is, in the house of such a person, partaking of his hospitality. || Thence; out of the city or town. On a similar occasion, namely, when Jesus was sending forth the seventy disciples, he said (Luke 10: 7), Go not from house to house. To abide in the same house, and share the hospitalities of the same person, would show contentment and gratitude, and would more comport with the object for which they were sent, than to be perpetually changing their place of temporary abode.

sandals. Take the sandals, or shoes, you have on; care not to provide another pair. There was probably no difference, in meaning, between the word which is translated shoes, and that which is translated sandals. If there was a difference, as some have maintained, and the shoes were a more costly article than the sandals, then there was an additional reason for prohibiting the shoes, on account of the moderate circumstances of the apostles and of their Master, and in order to prevent an erroneous impres- 11. Worthy; deserving of your consion by any approach to splendid ap-fidence, pious, well-disposed. Compearance. Nor yet staves; that is, pare Luke 7: 4, 5. Acts 10: 1, 2. no other staves than what you now have. Mark (68) mentions that one staff was permitted. Luke (9: 3) mentions the staff as not to be taken. The circumstances of the case show how the sacred writers, on this occasion, are to be understood. For in Mark (6: 8), and Luke (9: 3), a general direction is given, that the apostles "should take nothing for their journey;" that is, they should make no special preparation for their journey; they should not furnish themselves with any additional articles of wearing-apparel; but such as they had at the time, they might take. If they had a covering for the feet, they might wear it; but if not, they were not to spend time in procuring shoes; if any one of them had a staff, or if each had a staff, he might take it; but those that had none, let them go without. The various particulars mentioned, then, are merely the filling up of the general expression, Make no preparations for your journey, but go just as you are. Worthy of his meat; that is, of his sustenance. Thus the Saviour led his apostles to an entire trust in the providence of God, and gave them an intimation that they would meet, in many instances, with a kind reception, and that by those

12. House. This word is here to be taken as equivalent to family, or as containing the additional idea of the family which dwelt in the house. || Salute it; that is, the family. Among the Jews, the expressions used at salutation and at parting, were of a more serious character than those which prevail among us. They implied that the person who employed them prayed for a blessing on the other. 5: 47.

See on

Compare Judges 19:20. Ruth

2: 4. Ps. 129: 8.

13. The house; the family. | Worthy; of suitable character to receive the blessings implied in your salutation, well-disposed, and ready to welcome your message. Your peace, the blessings invoked ir your saluta

it but if it be not worthy, let | as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

your peace return to you.

14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.

16 Behold, I send you forth tion. The form of salutation most usual was, Peace be to thee. Let your peace come; a familiar way of expressing, It shall come; that is, The blessing you have invoked shall rest upon that family. The same thought is expressed in the future tense, in Luke 10: 6. || Let your peace return to you; the blessing you have invoked shall not rest upon the family; your good wishes will not be accomplished, but will return to yourselves void, so far as that family is concerned.

14. Shake off the dust of your feet; as an expression of disapprobation, and of having no fellowship with persons thus disposed. The Jews felt themselves defiled by the very dust of a heathen city, while their own soil they regarded as holy. As a Jew, then, would express his separation from Gentiles, and his disapprobation of their wickedness, by shaking off the dust which he might have contracted, so the apostles were to express their separation, in feelings and conduct, from those who refused to give a welcome reception to their message. Mark (6: 11) adds the expression, "for a testimony against them;" that is, Thus you will bear testimony to the criminality of their conduct. For a specimen of complying with this direction, see Acts 13: 50, 51. A similar instance also occurs in Acts 18: 6. 15. Sodom and Gomorrah. See Gen. 13:13. 18: 20, 21, 32. 19: 24, 25.

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17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or

16. While some would give the apostles a welcome reception, others, and those not a few, would cherish towards them feelings of malignity.

17. The councils; that is, tribunals, courts of justice. Some will accuse you and arraign you for trial. Scourge you in their synagogues. The punishment of scourging was allowed by the laws of Moses, and the number of stripes was not to exceed forty. See Deut. 25: 2, 3. The more recent Jews, in order to be sure of not exceeding this number, fixed the limit at thirty-nine. 2 Cor. 11: 24. This punishment was inflicted in the synagogues. See Matt. 23: 34. Acts 22: 19. 26: 11.

18. Governors; the Roman rulers of the provinces; such as Pilate (Matt. 27: 2); Felix and Festus (Acts 23: 24. 24: 27). || Kings; either such as the Roman emperors (Acts 25: 10-12), or the dependent and merely nominal kings, that is, tetrarchs, in Palestine (Acts 12: 1. 25: 24, 26). || Against them and the Gentiles; or, as the pas sage might be rendered, to them and the Gentiles. By being arraigned, an opportunity would be afforded for publicly defending the Messiah's cause, and making widely known among the Gentiles the principles of the new religion. Such, for instance, was the case with Paul, as related in Acts 17: 19-34. Compare, also, Phil. 1: 12, 13.

19. Take no thought; be not solicitous.

what ye shall speak; for it shall | to be put to death.
be given you in that same hour
what ye shall speak.

20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them

21. In these trying circumstances, their nearest connections would even become hostile to them on account of their persevering attachment to the Messiah. Rise up; as witnesses and opponents.

22. Hated of all men; very generally disregarded and abused. In these circumstances, how important that they should keep in view the end; the end of their sufferings and the end of life, and the reward to which their labors and sufferings were tending, if they adhered faithfully to their Master! In many instances, their sufferings would end only with their lives. A perseverance through all sufferings, even till death, would be necessary. Saved; from the displeasure of God and from condemnation. In the trying circumstances in which the apostles would be placed, the temptation to apostasy might sometimes be very strong; but they were to keep in view the bright prospects of another life, and to be sustained by the hope of salvation.

23. Flee ye into another. Contend not with persecutors, nor unreasonably urge your claims on those who oppose. Waste no time in fruitless endeavors to get an advantage over them, but pass away to another city. Have gone over; that is, in order to instruct the people and maintain the cause of your Master. A mere passing through the cities would not be sufficient; but time must be occupied in making known and explaining the object of the Messiah. And when once repulsed from a city, they ought not

22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake; but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

entirely to abandon the design of
making known the gospel there, but
to return at a favorable time. Thus
they were to go over the cities; and
they would have too much occasion
to flee from city to city. || Till the
Son of man be come.
There is some
difficulty in deciding the precise mean-
ing of this expression, as here used.
But as the instructions in the context
refer to a period subsequent to the
death of Jesus, rather than to the im-
mediate mission before the apostles, it
is most probable that the Saviour refers
to his coming, by divine providence,
for the destruction of Jerusalem and
the dissolution of the Jewish state.
This great event took place between
thirty and forty years after the time
when these instructions were deliv-
ered. The Roman army besieged and
took Jerusalem, and the Jews, as a na-
tion, lost their existence. To this event
a similar expression refers in other
places. Matt. 16: 28. Mark 9: 1. Luke
9:27. The Saviour, then, was cau-
tioning his disciples to lose no time in
prosecuting their mission. In fact,
they had no time to lose; soon the
Son of man was to come for the de-
struction of the nation; and before
this event should occur, the tidings
of the Messiah, and the urging of the
claims of Jesus, and the explanation
of his objects, were to be distinctly
communicated to the nation. And
there was not too much time for ac-
complishing these things, before he
would come in judgment upon the
nation. The territory, though small,
was filled with cities and villages;

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from some they would be repelled, and they must go back again at a favorable opportunity. In all they must spend some time. And to gain a lodgment for the gospel would not be a short work.

24. Jesus proceeded to caution them against any vain expectations that might arise as to their message being universally received, and respect being universally paid to them. The disciple is not above his master. They knew how their Master had often been treated, and they must not calculate upon better treatment.

25. Beelzebub. This was originally the name of a heathen god; worshipped in Ekron among the Philistines (see 2 Kings 1: 2), which was afterwards ascribed by the Jews, on account of their abhorrence of idolatry, to Satan. See Luke 11: 15. It meant, originally, Lord of flies, as it was esteemed the office of this deity to protect his worshippers from the gnats and flies with which their region abounded. The word was sometimes written Beelzebul; the original meaning of which latter word was, either Lord of the dwelling, that is, of evil spirits; or Lord of the dunghill. In the mouth of a Jew, it was a most opprobrious epithet.

26. Fear them not. However much they might be abused and maligned, they ought not to be disheartened, nor induced to retire from their work. For there is nothing covered, &c. This seems to have been a proverbial

that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.

27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.

28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

saying, the purport of which was, Truth will not always be covered up; it will be displayed, and its claims and honors vindicated. The time is coming, when the truth respecting my object, and respecting your character and teaching as my apostles, will be brought to light, and justice will be done both to my cause and to you. Though you may now be assailed with most opprobrious epithets, yet desist not from your purpose, for, by and by, the hidden truth respecting my religion will be gloriously made known. The encouragement thus furnished related both to the gradual development of the excellence of Christianity, as it has been unfolding itself in successive ages, and to the disclosures which will be made in connection with the day of judgment. See 1 Cor. 4: 5.

27. Hence the apostles were publicly to proclaim what Jesus had taught them in private. Preach ye; proclaim. || House-tops. The roofs of houses in the East were not fashioned like ours, but were nearly flat, were surrounded with a balustrade, and were often resorted to on public occasions. To proclaim on the housetop, then, would mean to proclaim openly.

cau

28-31. The apostles were tioned in general not to indulge the fear of man, but to let a salutary fear of God's displeasure, and a confidence in his care, dwell in them. || A farthing. The word thus translated

29 Are not two sparrows also deny before my Father sold for a farthing? and one of which is in heaven. them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows.

34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the 32 Whosoever, therefore, daughter-in-law against her shall confess me before men, mother-in-law. him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I was the name of a brass coin equal to a cent and a half of our money. Without your Father; without his knowledge or will.

32, 33. Having thus inculcated the fear of God, and affectionate confidence in his care, Jesus next pointed out the result of a firm adherence to his cause on the one hand, and of renouncing him on the other; thus, by various arguments, strengthening the purposes of his apostles against the dangers and allurements which would beset them. Confess me; acknowledge me in the character which I claim, as the Messiah. || Him will I confess also; him will I acknowledge in the character which he professes, as a follower of the Messiah.

33. Deny me; refuse to acknowledge me as the Messiah. Will I also deny; refuse to acknowledge as my follower.

34. The Saviour wished to prepare his apostles for all the circumstances which would attend them as his heralds. They must, then, not be disappointed if commotion should be excited by the proclaiming of his doctrines, and if those who might be supposed to cherish hearty union with one another should rather be at variance. Come to send peace. The Saviour was not here speaking of the design for which he came, but only of some results that would attend the prosecution of his design. We often speak

36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

37 He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not

in the same manner: A missionary, we say, went to such a place to die.

A sword; an emblem of contention. I came not to send peace, but a sword; as a result of my coming, and occasioned by my coming, there will be contention. Those who refuse to receive my doctrine will cherish unfriendly feelings towards those who do receive it. How often has this been the case even in Christian lands! In families where harmony reigned, but where religion was not possessed by any member, it has often happened, when a parent or a child has become religious, the other members of the family have felt as if a separation had taken place, and they have permitted unfriendly feelings to predominate. This, however, is not the design, nor the direct tendency of religion. It is rather a manifestation of the improper feelings of impenitent persons towards religion, or towards those who possess it. Such consequences are not to be ascribed to religion, but to sin.

35, 36. These verses contain the same idea as the preceding, more particularly detailed.

37. Since, now, there would be this commotion in families, and some members of families might come to cherish hostility towards other members, who should receive the teaching of the apostles, it was necessary to know and to teach, that a supreme

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