|
Matthew Chapter 22
Commentary by Matthew Henry
This chapter is a continuation of
Christ's discourses in the temple, two or three days before
he died. His discourses then are largely recorded, as being
of special weight and consequence. In this chapter, we have,
I. Instruction given, by the parable of the marriage-supper,
concerning the rejection of the Jews, and the calling of the
Gentiles (verses 1-10), and, by the doom of the guest that
had not the wedding-garment, the danger of hypocrisy in the
profession of Christianity, verses 11-14. II. Disputes with
the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes, who opposed Christ,
1. Concerning paying tribute to Cæsar, verses 15-22. 2.
Concerning the resurrection of the dead, and the future
state, verses 23-33. 3. Concerning the great commandment of
the law, verses 34-40. 4. Concerning the relation of the
Messiah to David, verses 41-46.
The Parable of the Marriage Feast.
Matthew 22:1-14 --
1 And Jesus answered and spoke unto
them again by parables, and said,
2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a
certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3 And sent
forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the
wedding: and they would not come. 4 Again, he sent forth
other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold,
I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are
killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. 5
But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his
farm, another to his merchandise: 6 And the remnant took his
servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. 7
But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent
forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned
up their city. 8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding
is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. 9 Go
ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall
find, bid to the marriage. 10 So those servants went out
into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they
found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with
guests. 11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he
saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12 And
he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not
having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13 Then
said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and
take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called,
but few are chosen.
We have here the parable of the
guests invited to the wedding-feast. In this it is said
(verse 1), Jesus answered, not to what his opposition said
(for they were put to silence), but to what they thought,
when they were wishing for an opportunity to lay hands on
him, Chapter 21:46. Note, Christ knows how to answer men's
thoughts, for he is a Discerner of them. Or, He answered,
that is, he continued his discourse to the same purport; for
this parable represents the gospel offer, and the
entertainment it meets with, as the former, but under
another similitude. The parable of the vineyard represents
the sin of the rulers that persecuted the prophets; it shows
also the sin of the people, who generally neglected the
message, while their great ones were persecuting the
messengers.
I. Gospel preparations are here
represented by a feast which a king made at the marriage of
his son; such is the kingdom of heaven, such the provision
made for precious souls, in and by the new covenant. The
King is God, a great King, King of kings. Now,
1. Here is a marriage made for his
son, Christ is the Bridegroom, the church is the bride; the
gospel-day is the day of his espousals, Canticles 3:11.
Behold by faith the church of the first-born, that are
written in heaven, and were given to Christ by him whose
they were; and in them you see the bride, the Lamb's wife,
Revelation 21:9. The gospel covenant is a marriage covenant
betwixt Christ and believers, and it is a marriage of God's
making. This branch of the similitude is only mentioned, and
not prosecuted here.
2. Here is a dinner prepared for
this marriage, verse 4. All the privileges of
church-membership, and all the blessings of the new
covenant, pardon of sin, the favor of God, peace of
conscience, the promises of the gospel, and all the riches
contained in them, access to the throne of grace, the
comforts of the Spirit, and a well-grounded hope of eternal
life. These are the preparations for this feast, a heaven
upon earth now, and a heaven in heaven shortly. God has
prepared it in his counsel, in his covenant. It is a dinner,
denoting present privileges in the midst of our day, beside
the supper at night in glory.
(1.) It is a feast. Gospel
preparations were prophesied of as a feast (Isaiah 25:6), a
feast of fat things, and were typified by the many festivals
of the ceremonial law (1 Corinthians 5:8); Let us keep the
feast. A feast is a good day (Esther 7:17); so is the
gospel; it is a continual feast. Oxen and fatlings are
killed for this feast; no niceties, but substantial food;
enough, and enough of the best. The day of a feast is a day
of slaughter, or sacrifice, James 5:5. Gospel preparations
are all founded in the death of Christ, his sacrifice of
himself. A feast was made for love, it is a reconciliation
feast, a token of God's goodwill toward men. It was made for
laughter (Ecclesiastes 10:19), it is a rejoicing feast. It
was made for fullness; the design of the gospel was to fill
every hungry soul with good things. It was made for
fellowship, to maintain an intercourse between heaven and
earth. We are sent for to the banquet of wine, that we may
tell what is our petition, and what is our request.
(2.) It is a wedding feast. Wedding
feasts are usually rich, free, and joyful. The first miracle
Christ wrought, was, to make plentiful provision for a
wedding feast (John 2:7); and surely then he will not be
wanting in provision for his own wedding feast, when the
marriage of the Lamb is come, and the bride hath made
herself ready, a victorious triumphant feast, Revelation
19:7, 17, 18.
(3.) It is a royal wedding feast; it
is the feast of a king (1 Samuel 25:36), at the marriage,
not of a servant, but of a son; and then, if ever, he will,
like Ahasuerus, show the riches of his glorious kingdom,
Esther 1:4. The provision made for believers in the covenant
of grace, is not such as worthless worms, like us, had any
reason to expect, but such as it becomes the King of glory
to give. He gives like himself; for he gives himself to be
to them El Shaddai--a God that is enough, a feast indeed for
a soul.
II. Gospel calls and offers are
represented by an invitation to this feast. Those that make
a feast will have guests to grace the feast with. God's
guests are the children of men. Lord, what is man, that he
should be thus dignified! The guests that were first invited
were the Jews; wherever the gospel is preached, this
invitation is given; ministers are the servants that are
sent to invite, Proverbs 9:4, 5.
Now, 1. The guests are called,
bidden to the wedding. All that are within hearing of the
joyful sound of the gospel, to them is the word of this
invitation sent. The servants that bring the invitation do
not set down their names in a paper; there is no occasion
for that, since none are excluded but those that exclude
themselves. Those that are bidden to the dinner are bidden
to the wedding; for all that partake of gospel privileges
are to give a due and respectful attendance on the Lord
Jesus, as the faithful friends and humble servants of the
Bridegroom. They are bidden to the wedding, that they may go
forth to meet the bridegroom; for it is the Father's will
that all men should honor the Son.
2. The guests are called upon; for
in the gospel there are not only gracious proposals made,
but gracious persuasiveness. We persuade men, we beseech
them in Christ's stead, 2 Corinthians 5:11, 20. See how much
Christ's heart is set upon the happiness of poor souls! He
not only provides for them, in consideration of their want,
but sends to them, in consideration of their weakness and
forgetfulness. When the invited guests were slack in coming,
the king sent forth other servants, verse 4. When the
prophets of the Old Testament prevailed not, nor John the
Baptist, nor Christ himself, who told them the entertainment
was almost ready (the kingdom of God was at hand), the
apostles and ministers of the gospel were sent after
Christ's resurrection, to tell them it was come, it was
quite ready; and to persuade them to accept the offer. One
would think it had been enough to give men an intimation
that they had leave to come, and should be welcome; that,
during the solemnity of the wedding, the king kept open
house; but, because the natural man discerns not, and
therefore desires not, the things of the Spirit of God, we
are pressed to accept the call by the most powerful
inducements, drawn with the cords of a man, and all the
bonds of love. If the repetition of the call will move us,
Behold, the Spirit says, Come; and the bride says, Come; let
him that hears say, Come; let him that is athirst come,
Revelation 22:17. If the reason of the call will work upon
us, Behold, the dinner is prepared, the oxen and fatlings
are killed, and all things are ready; the Father is ready to
accept of us, the Son to intercede for us, the Spirit to
sanctify us; pardon is ready; peace is ready, comfort is
ready; the promises are ready, as wells of living water for
supply; ordinances are ready, as golden pipes for
conveyance; angels are ready to attend us, creatures are
ready to be in league with us, providences are ready to work
for our good, and heaven, at last, is ready to receive us;
it is a kingdom prepared, ready to be revealed in the last
time. Is all this ready; and shall we be unready? Is all
this preparation made for us; and is there any room to doubt
of our welcome, if we come in a right manner? Come,
therefore, O come to the marriage; we beseech you, receive
not all this grace of God in vain, 2 Corinthians 6:1.
III. The cold treatment which the
gospel of Christ often meets with among the children of men,
represented by the cold treatment that this message met with
and the hot treatment that the messengers met with, in both
which the king himself and the royal bridegroom are
affronted. This reflects primarily upon the Jews, who
rejected the counsel of God against themselves; but it looks
further, to the contempt that would, by many in all ages, be
put upon, and the opposition that would be given to, the
gospel of Christ.
1. The message was basely slighted
(verse 3); They would not come. Note, The reason why sinners
come not to Christ and salvation by him is, not because they
cannot, but because they will not (John 5:40); Ye will not
come to me. This will aggravate the misery of sinners, that
they might have had happiness for the coming for, but it was
their own act and deed to refuse it. I would, and ye would
not. But this was not all (verse 5); they made light of it;
they thought it not worth coming for; thought the messengers
made more ado than needs; let them magnify the preparations
ever so much, they could feast as well at home. Note, Making
light of Christ, and of the great salvation wrought out by
him, is the damning sin of the world. Amelesantes--They were
careless. Note, Multitudes perish eternally through mere
carelessness, who have not any direct aversion, but a
prevailing indifference, to the matters of their souls, and
an unconcern about them.
And the reason why they made light
of the marriage feast was, because they had other things
that they minded more, and had more mind to; they went their
ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise. Note,
The business and profit of worldly employments prove to many
a great hindrance in closing with Christ: none turn their
back on the feast, but with some plausible excuse or other,
Luke 14:18. The country people have their farms to look
after, about which there is always something or other to do;
the town's people must tend their shops, and be constant
upon the exchange; they must buy, and sell, and get gain. It
is true, that both farmers and merchants must be diligent in
their business but not so as to keep them from making
religion their main business. Licitis perimus omnes--These
lawful things undo us, when they are unlawfully managed,
when we are so careful and troubled about many things as to
neglect the one thing needful. Observe, Both the city and
the country have their temptations, the merchandise in the
one, and the farms in the other; so that, whatever we have
of the world in our hands, our care must be to keep it out
of our hearts, lest it come between us and Christ.
2. The messengers were basely
abused; The remnant, or the rest of them, that is, those who
did not go the farms, or merchandise, were neither
husbandmen nor tradesmen, but ecclesiastics, the scribes,
and Pharisees, and chief priests; these were the
persecutors, these took the servants, and treated them
spitefully, and slew them. This, in the parable, is
unaccountable, never any could be so rude and barbarous as
this, to servants that came to invite them to a feast; but,
in the application of the parable, it was matter of fact;
they whose feet should have been beautiful, because they
brought the glad tidings of the solemn feasts (Nahum 1:15),
were treated as the off-scouring of all things, 1
Corinthians 4:13. The prophets and John the Baptist had been
thus abused already, and the apostles and ministers of
Christ must count upon the same. The Jews were, either
directly or indirectly, agents in most of the persecutions
of the first preachers of the gospel; witness the history of
the Acts, that is, the sufferings of the apostles.
IV. The utter ruin that was coming
upon the Jewish church and nation is here represented by the
revenge which the king, in wrath, took on these insolent
recusants (verse 7); He was wroth. The Jews, who had been
the people of God's love and blessing, by rejecting the
gospel became the generation of his wrath and curse. Wrath
came upon them to the uttermost, 1 Thessalonians 2:16. Now
observe here,
1. What was the crying sin that
brought the ruin; it was their being murderers. He does not
say, he destroyed those despisers of his call, but those
murderers of his servants; as if God were more jealous for
the lives of his ministers than for the honor of his gospel;
he that touches them, touches the apple of his eye. Note,
Persecution of Christ's faithful ministers fills the measure
of guilt more than any thing. Filling Jerusalem with
innocent blood was that sin of Manasseh which the Lord would
not pardon, 2 Kings 24:4.
2. What was the ruin itself, that
was coming; He sent forth his armies. The Roman armies were
his armies, of his raising, of his sending against the
people of his wrath; and he gave them a charge to tread them
down, Isaiah 10:6. God is the Lord of men's host, and makes
what use he pleases of them, to serve his own purposes,
though they mean not so, neither doth their heart think so,
Isaiah 10:7. See Micah 4:11, 12. His armies destroyed those
murderers, and burnt up their city. This points out very
plainly the destruction of the Jews, and the burning of
Jerusalem, by the Romans, forty years after this. No age
ever saw a greater desolation than that, nor more of the
direful effects of fire and sword. Though Jerusalem had been
a holy city, the city that God had chosen, to put his name
there, beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth;
yet that city being now become a harlot, righteousness being
no longer lodged in it, but murderers, the worst of
murderers (as the prophet speaks, Isaiah 1:21), judgment
came upon it, and ruin without remedy; and it is set forth
for an example to all that should oppose Christ and his
gospel. It was the Lord's doing, to avenge the quarrel of
his covenant.
V. The replenishing of the church
again, by the bringing in of the Gentiles, is here
represented by the furnishing of the feast with guests out
of the high-ways, verses 8-10.
Here is, 1. The complaint of the
master of the feast concerning those that were first bidden
(verse 8), The wedding is ready, the covenant of grace ready
to be sealed, a church ready to be founded; but they which
were bidden, that is, the Jews, to whom pertained the
covenant and the promises, by which they were of old invited
to the feast of fat things, they were not worthy, they were
utterly unworthy, and, by their contempt of Christ, had
forfeited all the privileges they were invited to. Note, It
is not owing to God, that sinners perish, but to themselves.
Thus, when Israel of old was within sight of Canaan, the
land of promise was ready, the milk and honey ready, but
their unbelief and murmuring, and contempt of that pleasant
land, shut them out, and their carcasses were left to perish
in the wilderness; and these things happened to them for
ensamples. See 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 3:16-4:1.
2. The commission he gave to the
servants, to invite other guests. The inhabitants of the
city (verse 7) had refused; Go into the high-ways then; into
the way of the Gentiles, which at first they were to
decline, Chapter 10:5. Thus by the fall of the Jews
salvation is come to the Gentiles, Romans 11:11, 12;
Ephesians 3:8. Note, Christ will have a kingdom in the
world, though many reject the grace, and resist the power,
of that kingdom. Though Israel be not gathered, he will be
glorious. The offer of Christ and salvation to the Gentiles
was, (1.) Unlooked for and unexpected; such a surprise as it
would be to wayfaring men upon the road to be met with an
invitation to a wedding feast. The Jews had notice of the
gospel, long before, and expected the Messiah and his
kingdom; but to the Gentiles it was all new, what they had
never heard of before (Acts 17:19, 20), and, consequently,
what they could not conceive of as belonging to them. See
Isaiah 65:1, 2. (2.) It was universal and undistinguishing;
Go, and bid as many as you find. The highways are public
places, and there Wisdom cries, Proverbs 1:20. "Ask them
that go by the way, ask any body (Job 21:29), high and low,
rich and poor, bond and free, young and old, Jew and
Gentile; tell them all, that they shall be welcome to
gospel-privileges upon gospel-terms; whoever will, let him
come, without exception."
3. The success of this second
invitation; if some will not come, others will (verse 10);
They gathered together all, as many as they found. The
servants obeyed their orders. Jonah was sent into the
high-ways, but was so tender of the honor of his country,
that he avoided the errand; but Christ's apostles, though
Jews, preferred the service of Christ before their respect
to their nation; and St. Paul, though sorrowing for the
Jews, yet magnifies his office as the apostle of Gentiles.
They gathered together all. The design of the gospel is,
(1.) To gather souls together; not the nation of the Jews
only, but all the children of God who were scattered abroad
(John 11:52), the other sheep that were not of that fold,
John 10:16. They were gathered into one body, one family,
one corporation. (2.) To gather them together to the
wedding-feast, to pay their respect to Christ, and to
partake of the privileges of the new covenant. Where the
dole is, there will the poor be gathered together.
Now the guests that were gathered
were, [1.] A multitude, all, as many as they found; so many,
that the guest-chamber was filled. The sealed ones of the
Jews were numbered, but those of other nations were without
number, a very great multitude, Revelation vii. 9. See
Isaiah 60:4, 8. [2.] A mixed multitude, both bad and good;
some that before their conversion were sober and
well-inclined, as the devout Greeks (Acts 17:4) and
Cornelius; others that had run to an excess of riot, as the
Corinthians (1 Corinthians 6:11); Such were some of you; or,
some that after their conversion proved bad, that turned not
to the Lord with all their heart, but feignedly; others that
were upright and sincere, and proved of the right class.
Ministers, in casting the net of the gospel, enclose both
good fish and bad; but the Lord knows them that are his.
VI. The case of hypocrites, who are
in the church, but not of it, who have a name to live, but
are not alive indeed, is represented by the guest that had
not on a wedding garment; one of the bad that were gathered
in. Those come short of salvation by Christ, not only who
refuse to take upon them the profession of religion, but who
are not sound at heart in that profession. Concerning this
hypocrite observe,
1. His discovery, how he was found
out, verse 11.
(1.) The king came in to see the
guests, to bid those welcome who came prepared, and to turn
those out who came otherwise. Note, The God of heaven takes
particular notice of those who profess religion, and have a
place and name in the visible church. Our Lord Jesus walks
among the golden candlesticks and therefore knows their
works. See Revelation 2:1, 2; Canticles 7:12. Let this be a
warning to us against hypocrisy, that disguises will shortly
be stripped off, and every man will appear in his own
colors; and an encouragement to us in our sincerity, that
God is a witness to it.
Observe, This hypocrite was never
discovered to be without a wedding garment, till the king
himself came in to see the guests. Note, It is God's
prerogative to know who are sound at heart in their
profession, and who are not. We may be deceived in men,
either one way or other; but He cannot. The day of judgment
will be the great discovering day, when all the guests will
be presented to the King: then he will separate between the
precious and the vile (Chapter 25:32), the secrets of all
hearts will then be made manifest, and we shall infallibly
discern between the righteous and the wicked, which now it
is not easy to do. It concerns all the guests, to prepare
for the scrutiny, and to consider how they will pass the
piercing eye of the heart-searching God.
(2.) As soon as he came in, he
presently espied the hypocrite; He saw there a man which had
not on a wedding garment; though but one, he soon had his
eye upon him; there is no hope of being hid in a crowd from
the arrests of divine justice; he had not on a wedding
garment; he was not dressed as became a nuptial solemnity;
he had not his best clothes on. Note, Many come to the
wedding feast without a wedding garment. If the gospel be
the wedding feast, then the wedding garment is a frame of
heart, and a course of life agreeable to the gospel and our
profession of it, worthy of the vocation wherewith we are
called (Ephesians 4:1), as becomes the gospel of Christ,
Philippians 1:27. The righteousness of saints, their real
holiness and sanctification, and Christ, made Righteousness
to them, is the clean linen, Revelation 19:8. This man was
not naked, or in rags; some raiment he had, but not a
wedding garment. Those, and those only, who put on the Lord
Jesus, that have a Christian temper of mind, and are adorned
with Christian graces, who live by faith in Christ, and to
whom he is all in all, have the wedding garment.
2. His trial (verse 12); and here we
may observe,
(1.) How he was arraigned (verse
12); Friend, how came thou in hither, not having a wedding
garment? A startling question to one that was priding
himself in the place he securely possessed at the feast.
Friend! That was a cutting word; a seeming friend, a
pretended friend, a friend in profession, under manifold
ties and obligations to be a friend. Note, There are many in
the church who are false friends to Jesus Christ, who say
that they love him while their hearts are not with him. How
came thou in hither? He does not chide the servants for
letting him in (the wedding garment is an inward thing,
ministers must go according to that which falls within their
cognizance); but he checks his presumption in crowding in,
when he knew that his heart was not upright; "How durst thou
claim a share in gospel benefits, when thou had no regard to
gospel rules? What has thou to do to declare my statutes?"
Psalm 1:16, 17. Such are spots in the feast, dishonor the
bridegroom, affront the company, and disgrace themselves;
and therefore, How came thou in hither? Note, The day is
coming, when hypocrites will be called to an account for all
their presumptuous intrusion into gospel ordinances, and
usurpation of gospel privileges. Who hath required this at
your hand? Isaiah 1:12. Despised Sabbaths and abused
sacraments must be reckoned for, and judgment taken out upon
an action of waste against all those who received the grace
of God in vain. "How came thou to the Lord's table, at such
a time, un-humbled and unsanctified? What brought thee to
sit before God's prophets, as his people do, when thy heart
went after thy covetousness? How came thou in? Not by the
door, but some other way, as a thief and a robber. It was a
tortuous entry, a possession without color of a title."
Note, It is good for those that have a place in the church,
often to put it to themselves, "How came I in hither? Have I
a wedding-garment?" If we would thus judge ourselves, we
should not be judged.
(2.) How he was convicted; he was
speechless: ephimothe--he was muzzled (so the word is used,
1 Corinthians 9:9); the man stood mute, upon his
arraignment, being convicted and condemned by his own
conscience. They who live within the church, and die without
Christ, will not have one word to say for themselves in the
judgment of the great day, they will be without excuse;
should they plead, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence,
as they do, Luke 13:26, that is to plead guilty; for the
crime they are charged with, is thrusting themselves into
the presence of Christ, and to his table, before they were
called. They who never heard a word of this wedding feast
will have more to say for themselves; their sin will be more
excusable, and their condemnation more tolerable, than
theirs who came to the feast without the wedding garment,
and so sin against the clearest light and dearest love.
3. His sentence (verse 13); Bind him
hand and foot, & context.
(1.) He is ordered to be pinioned,
as condemned malefactors are, to be manacled and shackled.
Those that will not work and walk as they should, may expect
to be bound hand and foot. There is a binding in this world
by the servants, the ministers, whose suspending of persons
that walk disorderly, to the scandal of religion, is called
binding of them, Chapter 18:18. "Bind them up from partaking
of special ordinances, and the peculiar privileges of their
church-membership; bind them over to the righteous judgment
of god." In the day of judgment, hypocrites will be bound;
the angels shall bind up these tares in bundles for the
fire, Chapter 13:41. Damned sinners are bound hand and foot
by an irreversible sentence; this signifies the same with
the fixing of the great gulf; they can neither resist nor
outrun their punishment.
(2.) He is ordered to be carried off
from the wedding feast; Take him away. When the wickedness
of hypocrites appears, they are to be taken away from the
communion of the faithful, to be cut of as withered
branches. This bespeaks the punishment of loss in the other
world; they shall be taken away from the king, from the
kingdom, from the wedding feast, Depart from me, ye cursed.
It will aggravate their misery, that (like the unbelieving
lord, 2 Kings 7:2), they shall see all this plenty with
their eyes, but shall not taste of it. Note, Those that walk
unworthy of their Christianity, forfeit all the happiness
they presumptuously laid claim to, and complimented
themselves with a groundless expectation of.
(3.) He is ordered into a doleful
dungeon; Cast him into utter darkness. Our Savior here
insensibly slides out of this parable into that which it
intimates--the damnation of hypocrites in the other world.
Hell is utter darkness, it is darkness out of heaven, the
land of light; or it is extreme darkness, darkness to the
last degree, without the least ray or spark of light, or
hope of it, like that of Egypt; darkness which might be
felt; the blackness of darkness, as darkness itself, Job
10:22. Note, Hypocrites go by the light of the gospel itself
down to utter darkness; and hell will be hell indeed to
such, a condemnation more intolerable; there shall be
weeping, and gnashing of teeth. This our Savior often uses
as part of the description of hell-torments, which are
hereby represented, not so much by the misery itself, as by
the resentment sinners will have of it; there shall be
weeping, an expression of great sorrow and anguish; not a
gush of tears, which gives present ease, but constant
weeping, which is constant torment; and the gnashing of
teeth is an expression of the greatest rage and indignation;
they will be like a wild bull in a net, full of the fury of
the Lord, Isaiah 51:20; 8:21, 22. Let us therefore hear and
fear.
Lastly, The parable is concluded
with that remarkable saying which we had before (Chapter
20:16), Many are called, but few are chosen, verse 14. Of
the many that are called to the wedding feast, if you set
aside all those as un-chosen that make light of it, and
avowedly prefer other things before it; if then you set
aside all that make a profession of religion, but the temper
of whose spirits and the tenor of whose conversation are a
constant contradiction to it; if you set aside all the
profane, and all the hypocritical, you will find that they
are few, very few, that are chosen; many called to the
wedding feast, but few chosen to the wedding garment, that
is, to salvation, by sanctification of the Spirit. This is
the strait gate, and narrow way, which few find.
The Question Respecting Tribute.
Matthew 22:15-22 --
15 Then went the Pharisees, and took
counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. 16 And they
sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians,
saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teach the
way of God in truth, neither care thou for any man: for thou
regard not the person of men. 17 Tell us therefore, What
think thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or
not? 18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said,
Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? 19
show me the tribute money. And
they brought unto him a penny. 20 And he said unto them,
Whose is this image and
superscription? 21 They say
unto him, Caesar's. Then said he unto them,
Render therefore unto Caesar the
things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are
God's. 22 When they had heard
these words, they marveled, and left him, and went their
way.
It was not the least grievous of the
sufferings of Christ, that he endured the contradiction of
sinners against himself, and had snares laid for him by
those that sought how to take him off with some pretence. In
these verses, we have him attacked by the Pharisees and
Herodians with a question about paying tribute to Cæsar.
Observe,
I. What the design was, which they
proposed to themselves; They took counsel to entangle him in
his talk. Hitherto, his encounters had been mostly with the
chief priests and the elders, men in authority, who trusted
more to their power than to their policy, and examined him
concerning his commission (Chapter 21:23); but now he is set
upon from another quarter; the Pharisees will try whether
they can deal with him by their learning in the law, and in
casuistical divinity, and they have a tentamen novum--a new
trial for him. Note, It is in vain for the best and wisest
of men to think that, by their ingenuity, or interest, or
industry, or even by their innocence and integrity, they can
escape the hatred and ill will of bad men, or screen
themselves from the strife of tongues. See how unwearied the
enemies of Christ and his kingdom are in their opposition!
1. They took counsel. It was
foretold concerning him, that the rulers would take counsel
against him (Psalm 2:2); and so persecuted they the
prophets. Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah.
See Jeremiah 18:18; 20:10. Note, The more there is of
contrivance and consultation about sin, the worse it is.
There is a particular woe to them that devise iniquity,
Micah 2:1. The more there is of the wicked wit in the
contrivance of a sin, the more there is of the wicked will
in the commission of it.
2. That which they aimed at was to
entangle him in his talk. They saw him free and bold in
speaking his mind, and hoped by that, if they could bring
him to some nice and tender point, to get an advantage
against him. It has been the old practice of Satan's agents
and emissaries, to make a man an offender for a word, a word
misplaced, or mistaken, or misunderstood; a word, though
innocently designed, yet perverted by strained innuendos:
thus they lay a snare for him that reproves in the gate
(Isaiah 29:21), and represent the greatest teachers as the
greatest troublers of Israel: thus the wicked plot against
the just, Psalm 37:12, 13.
There are two ways by which the
enemies of Christ might be revenged on him, and be rid of
him; either by law or by force. By law they could not do it,
unless they could make him obnoxious to the civil
government; for it was not lawful for them to put any man to
death (John 18:31); and the Roman powers were not apt to
concern themselves about questions of words, and names, and
their law, Acts 18:15. By force they could not do it, unless
they could make him obnoxious to the people, who were always
the hands, whoever were the heads, in such acts of violence,
which they call the beating of the rebels; but the people
took Christ for a Prophet, and therefore his enemies could
not raise the mob against him. Now (as the old serpent was
from the beginning more subtle than any beast of the field),
the design was, to bring him into such a dilemma, that he
must make himself liable to the displeasure either of the
Jewish multitude, or of the Roman magistrates; let him take
which side of the question he will, he shall run himself
into a premunire; and so they will gain their point, and
make his own tongue to fall upon him.
II. The question which they put to
him pursuant to this design, verses 16, 17. Having devised
this iniquity in secret, in a close cabal, behind the
curtain, when they went abroad without loss of time they
practiced it. Observe,
1. The persons they employed; they
did not go themselves, lest the design should be suspected
and Christ should stand the more upon his guard; but they
sent their disciples, who would look less like tempters, and
more like learners. Note, Wicked men will never want wicked
instruments to be employed in carrying on their wicked
counsels. Pharisees have their disciples at their beck, who
will go any errand for them, and say as they say; and they
have this in their eyes, when they are so industrious to
make proselytes.
With them they sent the Herodians, a
party among the Jews, who were for a cheerful and entire
subjection to the Roman emperor, and to Herod his deputy;
and who made it their business to reconcile people to that
government, and pressed all to pay their tribute. Some think
that they were the collectors of the land tax, as the
publicans were of the customs, and that they went with the
Pharisees to Christ, with this blind upon their plot, that
while the Herodians demanded the tax, and the Pharisees
denied it, they were both willing to refer it to Christ, as
a proper Judge to decide the quarrel. Herod being obliged,
by the charter of the sovereignty, to take care of the
tribute, these Herodians, by assisting him in that, helped
to endear him to his great friends at Rome. The Pharisees,
on the other hand, were zealous for the liberty of the Jews,
and did what they could to make them impatient of the Roman
yoke. Now, if he should countenance the paying of tribute,
the Pharisees would incense the people against him; if he
should discountenance or disallow it, the Herodians would
incense the government against him. Note, It is common for
those that oppose one another, to continue in an opposition
to Christ and his kingdom. Samson's foxes looked several
ways, but met in one firebrand. See Psalm 83:3, 5, 7, 8. If
they are unanimous in opposing, should not we be so in
maintaining, the interests of the gospel?
2. The preface, with which they were
plausibly to introduce the question; it was highly
complimentary to our Savior (verse 16); Master, we know that
thou art true, and teach the way of God in truth. Note, It
is a common thing for the most spiteful projects to be
covered with the most specious pretences. Had they come to
Christ with the most serious enquiry, and the most sincere
intention, they could not have expressed themselves better.
Here is hatred covered with deceit, and a wicked heart with
burning lips (Proverbs 26:23); as Judas, who kissed, and
betrayed, as Joab, who kissed, and killed.
Now, (1.) What they said of Christ
was right, and whether they knew it or no, blessed be God,
we know it.
[1.] That Jesus Christ was a
faithful Teacher; Thou art true, and teach the way of God in
truth. For himself, he is true, the Amen, the faithful
Witness; he is the Truth itself. As for his doctrine, the
matter of his teaching was the way of God, the way that God
requires us to walk in, the way of duty, that leads to
happiness; that is the way of God. The manner of it was in
truth; he showed people the right way, the way in which they
should go. He was a skilful Teacher, and knew the way of
God; and a faithful Teacher, that would be sure to let us
know it. See Proverbs 8:6-9. This is the character of a good
teacher, to preach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth, and not to suppress, pervert, or stretch, any
truth, for favor or affection, hatred or good will, either
out of a desire to please, or a fear to offend, any man.
[2.] That he was a bold Reprover. In
preaching, he cared not for any; he valued no man's frowns
or smiles, he did not court, he did not dread, either the
great or the many, for he regarded not the person of man. In
his evangelical judgment, he did not know faces; that Lion
of the tribe of Judah, turned not away for any (Proverbs
30:30), turned not a step from the truth, nor from his work,
for fear of the most formidable. He reproved with equity
(Isaiah 11:4), and never with partiality.
(2.) Though what they said was true
for the matter of it, yet there was nothing but flattery and
treachery in the intention of it. They called him Master,
when they were contriving to treat him as the worst of
malefactors; they pretended respect for him, when they
intended mischief against him; and they affronted his wisdom
as Man, much more his omniscience as God, of which he had so
often given undeniable proofs, when they imagined that they
could impose upon him with these pretences, and that he
could not see through them. It is the grossest atheism, that
is the greatest folly in the world, to think to put a cheat
upon Christ, who searches the heart, Revelation 2:23. Those
that mock God do but deceive themselves. Galatians 6:7.
3. The proposal of the case; What
thinks thou? As if they had said, "Many men are of many
minds in this matter; it is a case which relates to
practice, and occurs daily; let us have thy thought freely
in the matter, Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar or
not?" This implies a further question; Has Cæsar a right to
demand it? The nation of the Jews was lately, about a
hundred years before this, conquered by the Roman sword, and
so, as other nations, made subject to the Roman yoke, and
became a province of the empire; accordingly, toll, tribute,
and custom, were demanded from them, and sometimes
poll-money. By this it appeared that the scepter was
departed from Judah (Genesis 49:10); and therefore, if they
had understood the signs of the times, they must have
concluded that Shiloh was come, and either that this was he,
or they must find out another more likely to be so.
Now the question was, Whether it was
lawful to pay these taxes voluntarily, or, Whether they
should not insist upon the ancient liberty of their nation,
and rather suffer themselves to be placed in debtor's prison? The
ground of the doubt was, that they were Abraham's seed, and
should not by consent be in bondage to any man, John 8:33.
God had given them a law, that they should not set a
stranger over them. Did not that imply, that they were not
to yield any willing subjection to any prince, state, or
potentate, that was not of their own nation and religion?
This was an old mistake, arising from that pride and that
haughty spirit which bring destruction and a fall. Jeremiah,
in his time, though he spoke in God's name, could not
possibly beat them off it, nor persuade them to submit to
the king of Babylon; and their obstinacy in that matter was
then their ruin (Jeremiah 27:12, 13): and now again they
stumbled at the same stone; and it was the very thing which,
in a few years after, brought final destruction upon them by
the Romans. They quite mistook the sense both of the precept
and of the privilege, and, under color of God's word,
contended with his providence, when they should have kissed
the rod, and accepted the punishment of their iniquity.
However, by this question they hoped
to entangle Christ, and, whichever he resolved it, to expose
him to the fury either of the jealous Jews, or of the
jealous Romans; they were ready to triumph, as Pharaoh did
over Israel, that the wilderness had shut him in, and his
doctrine would be concluded either injurious to the rights
of the church, or hurtful to kings and provinces.
III. The breaking of this snare by
the wisdom of the Lord Jesus.
1. He discovered it (verse 18); He
perceived their wickedness; for, surely in vain is the net
spread in the sight of any bird, Proverbs 1:17. A temptation
perceived is half conquered, for our greatest danger lies
from snakes under the green grass; and he said, Why tempt ye
me, ye hypocrites? Note, Whatever visage the hypocrite puts
on, our Lord Jesus sees through it; he perceives all the
wickedness that is in the hearts of pretenders, and can
easily convict them of it, and set it in order before them.
He cannot be imposed upon, as we often are, by flatteries
and fair pretences. He that searches the heart can call
hypocrites by their own name, as Ahijah did the wife of
Jeroboam (1 Kings 14:6), Why feign thou thyself to be
another? Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Note, Hypocrites
tempt Jesus Christ; they try his knowledge, whether he can
discover them through their disguises; they try his holiness
and truth, whether he will allow of them in this church; but
if they that of old tempted Christ, when he was but darkly
revealed, were destroyed of serpents, of how much sorer
punishment shall they be thought worthy who tempt him now in
the midst of gospel light and love! Those that presume to
tempt Christ will certainly find him too hard for them, and
that he is of more piercing eyes than not to see, and more
pure eyes than not to hate, the disguised wickedness of
hypocrites, that dig deep to hide their counsel from him.
2. He evaded it; his convicting them
of hypocrisy might have served for an answer (such captious
malicious questions deserve a reproof, not a reply): but our
Lord Jesus gave a full answer to their question, and
introduced it by an argument sufficient to support it, so as
to lay down a rule for his church in this matter, and yet to
avoid giving offence, and to break the snare.
(1.) He forced them, ere they were
aware, to confess Cæsar's authority over them, verses 19,
20. In dealing with those that are captious, it is good to
give our reasons, and, if possible, reasons of confessed
cogency, before we give our resolutions. Thus the evidence
of truth may silence gainsayers by surprise, while they only
stood upon their guard against the truth itself, not against
the reason of it; Show me the tribute-money. He had none of
his own to convince them by; it should seem, he had not so
much as one piece of money about him, for our sakes he
emptied himself, and became poor; he despised the wealth of
this world, and thereby taught us not to over-value it;
silver and gold he had none; why then should we covet to
load ourselves with the thick clay? The Romans demanded
their tribute in their own money, which was current among
the Jews at that time: that therefore is called the
tribute-money; he does not name what piece but the tribute
money, to show that he did not mind things of that nature,
nor concern himself about them; his heart was upon better
things, the kingdom of God and the riches and righteousness
thereof, and ours should be so too. They presently brought
him a penny, a Roman penny in silver, in value about seven
pence half-penny of our money, the most common piece then in
use: it was stamped with the emperor's image and
superscription, which was the warrant of the public faith
for the value of the pieces so stamped; a method agreed on
by most nations, for the more easy circulation of money with
satisfaction. The coining of money has always been looked
upon as a branch of the prerogative, a flower of the crown,
a royalty belonging to the sovereign powers; and the
admitting of that as the good and lawful money of a country
is an implicit submission to those powers, and an owning of
them in money matters. How happy is our constitution, and
how happy we, who live in a nation where, though the image
and superscription be the sovereign's, the property is the
subject's, under the protection of the laws, and what we
have we can call our own!
Christ asked them, Whose image is
this? They owned it to be Cæsar's, and thereby convicted
those of falsehood who said, We were never in bondage to
any; and confirmed what afterward they said, We have no king
but Cæsar. It is a rule in the Jewish Talmud, that "he is
the king of the country whose coin is current in the
country." Some think that the superscription upon this coin
was a memorandum of the conquest of Judea by the Romans,
anno post captam Judæam--the year after that event; and that
they admitted that too.
(2.) From thence he inferred the
lawfulness of paying tribute to Cæsar (verse 21); Render
therefore to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's; not, "Give
it him" (as they expressed it, verse 17), but, "Render it;
Return," or "Restore it; if Cæsar fill the purses, let Cæsar
command them. It is too late now to dispute paying tribute
to Cæsar; for you are become a province of the empire, and,
when once a relation is admitted, the duty of it must be
performed. Render to all their due, and particularly tribute
to whom tribute is due." Now by this answer,
[1.] No offence was given. It was
much to the honor of Christ and his doctrine, that he did
not interpose as a Judge or a Divider in matters of this
nature, but left them as he found them, for his kingdom is
not of this world; and in this he hath given an example to
his ministers, who deal in sacred things, not to meddle with
disputes about things secular, not to wade far into
controversies relating to them, but to leave that to those
whose proper business it is. Ministers that would mind their
business, and please their master, must not entangle
themselves in the affairs of this life: they forfeit the
guidance of God's Spirit, and the convoy of his providence
when they thus to out of their way. Christ discusses not the
emperor's title, but enjoins a peaceable subjection to the
powers that be. The government therefore had no reason to
take offence at his determination, but to thank him, for it
would strengthen Cæsar's interest with the people, who held
him for a Prophet; and yet such was the impudence of his
prosecutors, that, though he had expressly charged them to
render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, they laid the
direct contrary in his indictment, that he forbade to give
tribute to Cæsar, Luke 23:2. As to the people, the Pharisees
could not accuse him to them, because they themselves had,
before they were aware, yielded the premises, and then it
was too late to evade the conclusion. Note, Though truth
seeks not a fraudulent concealment, yet it sometimes needs a
prudent management, to prevent the offence which may be
taken at it.
[2.] His adversaries were reproved.
First, Some of them would have had him make it unlawful to
give tribute to Cæsar, that they might have a pretence to
save their money. Thus many excuse themselves from that
which they must do, by arguing whether they may do it or no.
Secondly, They all withheld from God his dues, and are
reproved for that: while they were vainly contending about
their civil liberties, they had lost the life and power of
religion, and needed to be put in mind of their duty to God,
with that to Cæsar.
[3.] His disciples were instructed,
and standing rules left to the church.
First, That the Christian religion
is no enemy to civil government, but a friend to it.
Christ's kingdom doth not clash or interfere with the
kingdoms of the earth, in any thing that pertains to their
jurisdiction. By Christ kings reign.
Secondly, It is the duty of subjects
to render to magistrates that which, according to the laws
of their country, is their due. The higher powers, being
entrusted with the public welfare, the protection of the
subject, and the conservation of the peace, are entitled, in
consideration thereof, to a just proportion of the public
wealth, and the revenue of the nation. For this cause pay we
tribute, because they attend continually to this very thing
(Romans 13:6); and it is doubtless a greater sin to cheat
the government than to cheat a private person. Though it is
the constitution that determines what is Cæsar's, yet, when
that is determined, Christ bids us render it to him; my coat
is my coat, by the law of man; but he is a thief, by the law
of God, that takes it from me.
Thirdly, When we render to Cæsar the
things that are Cæsar's, we must remember withal to render
to God the things that are God's. If our purses be Cæsar's,
our consciences are God's; he hath said, My son, give me thy
heart: he must have the innermost and uppermost place there;
we must render to God that which is his due, out of our time
and out of our estates; from them he must have his share as
well as Cæsar his; and if Cæsar's commands interfere with
God's we must obey God rather than men.
Lastly, Observe how they were
nonplussed by this answer; they marveled, and left him, and
went their way, verse 22. They admired his sagacity in
discovering and evading a snare which they thought so
craftily laid. Christ is, and will be, the Wonder, not only
of his beloved friends, but of his baffled enemies. One
would think they should have marveled and followed him,
marveled and submitted to him; no, they marveled and left
him. Note, There are many in whose eyes Christ is marvelous,
and yet not precious. They admire his wisdom, but will not
be guided by it, his power, but will not submit to it. They
went their way, as persons ashamed, and made an inglorious
retreat. The stratagem being defeated, they quitted the
field. Note, There is nothing got by contending with Christ.
The Question Respecting Marriage.
Matthew 22:23-33 --
23 The same day came to him the
Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and
asked him, 24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die,
having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and
raise up seed unto his brother. 25 Now there were with us
seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife,
deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his
brother: 26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto
the seventh. 27 And last of all the woman died also. 28
Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the
seven? for they all had her. 29 Jesus answered and said unto
them, Ye do err, not knowing
the scriptures, nor the power of God. 30 For in the
resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage,
but are as the angels of God in heaven. 31 But as touching
the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which
was spoken unto you by God, saying, 32 I am the God of
Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is
not the God of the dead, but of the living.
33 And when the multitude heard this,
they were astonished at his doctrine.
We have here Christ's dispute with
the Sadducees concerning the resurrection; it was the same
day on which he was attacked by the Pharisees about paying
tribute. Satan was now more busy than ever to ruffle and
disturb him; it was an hour of temptation, Revelation 3:10.
The truth as it is in Jesus will still meet with
contradiction, in some branch or other of it. Observe here,
I. The opposition which the
Sadducees made to a very great truth of religion; they say,
There is no resurrection, as there are some fools who say,
There is no God. These heretics were called Sadducees from
one Sadoc, a disciple of Antigonus Sochæus, who flourished
about two hundred and eighty-four years before our Savior’s
birth. They lie under heavy censures among the writers of
their own nation, as men of base and debauched
conversations, which their principles led them to. They were
the fewest in number of all the sects among the Jews, but
generally persons of some rank. As the Pharisees and Essenes
seemed to follow Plato and Pythagoras, so the Sadducees were
much of the genius of the Epicureans; they denied the
resurrection, they said, There is no future state, no life
after this; that, when the body dies, the soul is
annihilated, and dies with it; that there is no state of
rewards or punishments in the other world; no judgment to
come in heaven or hell. They maintained, that, except God,
there is not spirit (Acts 23:8), nothing but matter and
motion. They would not own the divine inspiration of the
prophets, nor any revelation from heaven, but what God
himself spoke upon mount Sinai. Now the doctrine of Christ
carried that great truth of the resurrection and a future
state much further than it had yet been revealed, and
therefore the Sadducees in a particular manner set
themselves against it. The Pharisees and Sadducees were
contrary to each other, and yet confederates against Christ.
Christ's gospel hath always suffered between superstitious
ceremonious hypocrites and bigots on the one hand, and
profane deists and infidels on the other. The former
abusing, the latter despising, the form of godliness, but
both denying the power of it.
II. The objection they made against
the truth, which was taken from a supposed case of a woman
that had seven husbands successively; now they take it for
granted, that, if there be a resurrection, it must be a
return to such a state as this we are now in, and to the
same circumstances, like the imaginary Platonic year; and if
so, it is an invincible absurdity for this woman in the
future state to have seven husbands, or else an insuperable
difficulty which of them should have her, he whom she had
first, or he whom she had last, or he whom she loved best,
or he whom she lived longest with.
1. They suggest the law of Moses in
this matter (verse 24), that the next of kin should marry
the widow of him that died childless (Deuteronomy 25:5); we
have it practiced Ruth 4:5. It was a political law, founded
in the particular constitution of the Jewish commonwealth,
to preserve the distinction of families and inheritances, of
both which there was special care taken in that government.
2. They put a case upon this
statute, which, whether it were a case in fact or only a
moot case, is not at all material; if it had not really
occurred, yet possibly it might. It was of seven brothers,
who married the same woman, verses 25-27. Now this case
supposes,
(1.) The desolations that death
sometimes makes in families when it comes with commission;
how it often sweeps away a whole fraternity in a little
time;: seldom (as the case is put) according to seniority
(the land of darkness is without any order,) but heaps upon
heaps; it diminishes families that had multiplied greatly,
Psalm 107:38, 39. When there were seven brothers grown up to
man's estate, there was a family very likely to be built up;
and yet this numerous family leaves neither son nor nephew,
nor any remaining in their dwellings, Job 18:19. Well may we
say then, Except the Lord build the house, they labor in
vain that build it. Let none be sure of the advancement and
perpetuity of their names and families, unless they could
make a covenant of peace with death, or be at an agreement
with the grave.
(2.) The obedience of these seven
brothers to the law, though they had a power of refusal
under the penalty of a reproach, Deuteronomy 25:7. Note,
Discouraging providences should not keep us from doing our
duty because we must be governed by the rule, not by the
event. The seventh, who ventured last to marry the widow
(many a one would say) was a bold man. I would say, if he
did it purely in obedience to God, he was a good man, and
one that made conscience of his duty.
But, last of all, the woman died
also. Note, Survivorship is but a reprieve; they that live
long, and bury their relations and neighbors one after
another, do not thereby acquire an immortality; no, their
day will come to fall. Death's bitter cup goes round, and,
sooner or later, we must all pledge in it, Jeremiah 25:26.
3. They propose a doubt upon this
case (verse 28); "In the resurrection, whose wife shall she
be of the seven? You cannot tell whose; and therefore we
must conclude there is no resurrection." The Pharisees, who
professed to believe a resurrection, had very gross and
carnal notions concerning it, and concerning the future
state; expecting to find there, as the Turks in their
paradise, the delights and pleasures of the animal life,
which perhaps drove the Sadducees to deny the thing itself;
for nothing gives greater advantage to atheism and
infidelity than the carnality of those that make religion,
either in its professions or in its prospects, a servant to
their sensual appetites and secular interests; while those
that are erroneous deny the truth, those that are
superstitious betray it to them. Now they, in this
objection, went upon the Pharisees' hypothesis. Note, It is
not strange that carnal minds have very false notions of
spiritual and eternal things. The natural man receives not
these things, for they are foolishness to him. 1 Corinthians
2:14. Let truth be set in a clear light, and then it appears
in its full strength.
III. Christ's answer to this
objection; by reproving their ignorance, and rectifying
their mistake, he shows the objection to be fallacious and
un-concluding.
1. He reproves their ignorance
(verse 29); Ye do err. Note, Those do greatly err, in the
judgment of Christ, who deny the resurrection and a future
state. Here Christ reproves with the meekness of wisdom, and
is not so sharp upon them (whatever was the reason) as
sometimes he was upon the chief priests and elders; Ye do
err, not knowing. Note, Ignorance is the cause of error;
those that are in the dark, miss their way. The patrons of
error do therefore resist the light, and do what they can to
take away the key of knowledge; Ye do err in this matter,
not knowing. Note, Ignorance is the cause of error about the
resurrection and the future state. What it is in its
particular instances, the wisest and best know not; it doth
not yet appear what we shall be, it is a glory that is to be
revealed: when we speak of the state of separate souls, the
resurrection of the body, and of eternal happiness and
misery, we are soon at a loss; we cannot order our speech,
by reason of darkness, but that it is a thing about which we
are not left in the dark; blessed be God, we are not; and
those who deny it are guilty of a willing and affected
ignorance. It seems, there were some Sadducees, some such
monsters, among professing Christians, some among you, that
say, There is no resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians
15:12) and some that did in effect deny it, by turning it
into an allegory, saying, The resurrection is past already.
Now observe,
(1.) They know not the power of God;
which would lead men to infer that there may be a
resurrection and a future state. Note, The ignorance,
disbelief, or weak belief, of God's power, is at the bottom
of many errors, particularly theirs who deny the
resurrection. When we are told of the soul's existence and
agency in a state of separation from the body, and
especially that a dead body, which had lain many ages in the
grave, and is turned into common and undistinguished dust,
that this shall be raised the same body that it was, and
live, move, and act, again; we are ready to say, How can
these things be? Nature allows it for a maxim, A privatione
ad habitum non datur regressus--The habits attaching to a
state of existence vanish irrecoverably with the state
itself. If a man die, shall he live again? And vain men,
because they cannot comprehend the way of it, question the
truth of it; whereas, if we firmly believe in God the Father
Almighty, that nothing is impossible with God, all these
difficulties vanish. This therefore we must fasten upon, in
the first place, that God is omnipotent, and can do what he
will; and then no room is left for doubting but that he will
do what he has promised; and, if so, why should it be
thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise
the dead? Acts 26:8. His power far exceeds the power of
nature.
(2.) They know not the scriptures,
which decidedly affirm that there shall be a resurrection
and a future state. The power of God, determined and engaged
by his promise, is the foundation for faith to build upon.
Now the scriptures speak plainly, that the soul is immortal,
and there is another life after this; it is the scope both
of the law and of the prophets, that there shall be a
resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the
unjust, Acts 24:14, 15. Job knew it (Job 19:26), Ezekiel
foresaw it (Ezekiel 37.), and Daniel plainly foretold it,
Daniel 12:2. Christ rose again according to the scriptures
(1 Corinthians 15:3); and so shall we. Those therefore who
deny it, either have not conversed with the Scriptures, or
do not believe them, or do not take the true sense and
meaning of them. Note, Ignorance of the scripture is the
rise of abundance of mischief.
2. He rectifies their mistake, and
(verse 30) corrects those gross ideas which they had of the
resurrection and a future state, and fixes these doctrines
upon a true and lasting basis. Concerning that state,
observe,
(1.) It is not like the state we are
now in upon earth; They neither marry, nor are given in
marriage. In our present state marriage is necessary; it was
instituted in innocence; whatever intermission or neglect
there has been of other institutions, this was never laid
aside, nor will be till the end of time. In the old world,
they were marrying, and giving in marriage; the Jews in
Babylon, when cut off from other ordinances, yet were bid to
take them wives, Jeremiah 24:6. All civilized nations have
had a sense of the obligation of the marriage covenant; and
it is requisite for the gratifying of the desires, and
recruiting the deficiencies, of the human nature. But, in
the resurrection, there is no occasion for marriage; whether
in glorified bodies there will be any distinction of sexes
some too curiously dispute (the ancients are divided in
their opinions about it); but, whether there will be a
distinction or not, it is certain that there will be no
conjunction; where God will be all in all, there needs no
other meet-help; the body will be spiritual, and there will
be in it no carnal desires to be gratified: when the
mystical body is completed, there will be no further
occasion to seek a godly seed, which was one end of the
institution of marriage, Malachi 2:15. In heaven there will
be no decay of the individuals, and therefore no eating and
drinking; no decay of the species, and therefore no
marrying; where there shall be no more deaths (Revelation
21:4), there need be no more births. The married state is a
composition of joys and cares; those that enter upon it are
taught to look upon it as subject to changes, richer and
poorer, sickness and health; and therefore it is fit for
this mixed, changing world; but as in hell, where there is
no joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the
bride shall be heard no more at all, so in heaven, where
there is all joy, and no care or pain or trouble, there will
be no marrying. The joys of that state are pure and
spiritual, and arise from the marriage of all of them to the
Lamb, not of any of them to one another.
(2.) It is like the state angels are
now in heaven; They are as the angels of God in heaven; they
are so, that is, undoubtedly they shall be so. They are so
already in Christ their Head, who has made them sit with him
in heavenly places, Ephesians 2:6. The spirits of just men
already made perfect are of the same corporation with the
innumerable company of angels, Hebrews 12:22, 23. Man in his
creation was made a little lower than the angels (Psalm
8:5); but in his complete redemption and renovation will be
as the angels; pure and spiritual as the angels, knowing and
loving as those blessed seraphim, ever praising God like
them and with them. The bodies of the saints shall be raised
incorruptible and glorious, like the uncompounded vehicles
of those pure and holy spirits (1 Corinthians 15:42, &
context.), swift and strong, like them. We should therefore
desire and endeavor to do the will of God now as the angels
do it in heaven, because we hope shortly to be like the
angels who always behold our Father's face. He says nothing
of the state of the wicked in the resurrection; but, by
consequence, they shall be like the devils, whose lusts they
have done.
IV. Christ's argument to confirm
this great truth of the resurrection and a future state; the
matters being of great concern, he did not think it enough
(as in some other disputes) to discover the fallacy and
sophistry of the objection, but backed the truth with a
solid argument; for Christ brings forth judgment to truth as
well as victory, and enables his followers to give a reason
of the hope that is in them. Now observe,
1. Whence he fetched his
argument--from the scripture; that is the great magazine or
armory whence we may be furnished with spiritual weapons,
offensive and defensive. It is written is Goliath's sword.
Have ye not read that which was spoken to you by God? Note,
(1.) What the scripture speaks God speaks. (2.) What was
spoken to Moses was spoken to us; it was spoken and written
for our learning. (3.) It concerns us to read and hear what
God hath spoken, because it is spoken to us. It was spoken
to you Jews in the first place, for to them were committed
the oracles of God. The argument is fetched from the books
of Moses, because the Sadducees received them only, as some
think, or, at least, them chiefly, for canonical scriptures;
Christ therefore fetched his proof from the most
indisputable fountain. The latter prophets have more express
proofs of a future state than the law of Moses has; for
though the law of Moses supposes the immortality of the soul
and a future state, as principles of what is called natural
religion, yet no express revelation of it is made by the law
of Moses; because so much of that law was peculiar to that
people, and was therefore guarded as municipal laws used to
be with temporal promises and threatening, and the more
express revelation of a future state was reserved for the
latter days; but our Savior finds a very solid argument for
the resurrection even in the writings of Moses. Much
scripture lies under ground, that must be dug for.
2. What his argument was (verse 32);
I am the God of Abraham. This was not an express proof,
totidem verbis-in so many words; and yet it was really a
conclusive argument. Consequences from scripture, if rightly
deduced, must be received as scripture; for it was written
for those that have the use of reason.
Now the drift of the argument is to
prove,
(1.) That there is a future state,
another life after this, in which the righteous shall be
truly and constantly happy. This is proved from what God
said; I am the God of Abraham.
[1.] For God to be any one's God
supposes some very extraordinary privilege and happiness;
unless we know fully what God is, we could not comprehend
the riches of that word, I will be to thee a God, that is, a
Benefactor like myself. The God of Israel is a God to Israel
(1 Chronicles 17:24), a spiritual Benefactor; for he is the
Father of spirits, and blesses with spiritual blessings: it
is to be an all-sufficient Benefactor, a God that is enough,
a complete Good, and an eternal Benefactor; for he is
himself an everlasting God, and will be to those that are in
covenant with him an everlasting Good. This great word God
had often said to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and it was
intended as a recompense for their singular faith and
obedience, in quitting the country at God's call. The Jews
had a profound veneration for those three patriarchs, and
would extend the promise God made them to the uttermost.
[2.] It is manifest that these good
men had no such extraordinary happiness, in this life, as
might look any thing like the accomplishment of so great a
word as that. They were strangers in the land of promise,
wandering, pinched with famine; they had not a foot of
ground of their own but a burying-place, which directed them
to look for something beyond this life. In present
enjoyments they came far short of their neighbors that were
strangers to this covenant. What was there in this world to
distinguish them and the heirs of their faith from other
people, any whit proportionate to the dignity and
distinction of this covenant? If no happiness had been
reserved for these great and good men on the other side of
death, that melancholy word of poor Jacob's, when he was old
(Genesis 47:9), Few and evil have the days of the years of
my life been, would have been an eternal reproach to the
wisdom, goodness, and faithfulness, of that God who had so
often called himself the God of Jacob.
[3.] Therefore there must certainly
be a future state, in which, as God will ever live to be
eternally rewarding, so Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, will ever
live to be eternally rewarded. That of the apostle (Hebrews
11:16), is a key to this argument, where, when he had been
speaking of the faith and obedience of the patriarchs in the
land of their pilgrimage, he adds, Wherefore God is not
ashamed to be called their God; because he has provided for
them a city, a heavenly city; implying, that if he had not
provided so well for them in the other world, considering
how they sped in this, he would have been ashamed to have
called himself their God; but now he is not, having done
that for them which answers it in its true intent and full
extent.
(2.) That the soul is immortal, and
the body shall rise again, to be united; if the former point
be gained, these will follow; but they are likewise proved
by considering the time when God spoke this; it was to Moses
at the bush, long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were dead
and buried; and yet God says, not, "I was," or "have been,"
but I am the God of Abraham. Now God is not God of the dead,
but of the living. He is a living God, and communicates
vital influences to those to whom he is a God. If, when
Abraham died, there had been an end of him, there had been
an end likewise of God's relation to him as his God; but at
that time, when God spoke to Moses, he was the God of
Abraham, and therefore Abraham must be then alive; which
proves the immortality of the soul in a state of bliss; and
that, by consequence, infers the resurrection of the body;
for there is such an inclination in the human soul to its
body, as would make a final and eternal separation
inconsistent with the bliss of those that have God for their
God. The Sadducees' notion was, that the union between body
and soul is so close, that, when the body dies, the soul
dies with it. Now, upon the same hypothesis, if the soul
lives, as it certainly does, the body must some time or
other live with it. And besides, the Lord is for the body,
it is an essential part of the man; there is a covenant with
the dust, which will be remembered, otherwise the man would
not be happy. The charge which the dying patriarchs gave
concerning their bones, and that in faith, was an evidence
that they had some expectation of the resurrection of their
bodies. But this doctrine was reserved for a more full
revelation after the resurrection of Christ, who was the
first-fruits of them that slept.
Lastly, We have the issue of this
dispute. The Sadducees were put to silence (verse 34), and
so put to shame. They thought by their subtlety to put
Christ to shame, when they were preparing shame for
themselves. But the multitude was astonished at this
doctrine, verse 33. 1. Because it was new to them. See to
what a sad pass the exposition of scripture was come among
them, when people were astonished at it as a miracle to hear
the fundamental promise applied to this great truth; they
had sorry scribes, or this had been no news to them. 2.
Because it had something in it very good and great. Truth
often shows the brighter, and is the more admired, for its
being opposed. Observe, Many gainsayers are silenced, and
many hearers astonished, without being savingly converted;
yet even in the silence and astonishment of unsanctified
souls God magnifies his law, magnifies his gospel, and makes
both honorable.
The Substance of the Commandments.
Matthew 22:34-40 --
34 But when the Pharisees had heard
that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered
together. 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him
a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is
the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great
commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets.
Here is a discourse which Christ had
with a Pharisee-lawyer, about the great commandment of the
law. Observe,
I. The combination of the Pharisees
against Christ, verse 34. They heard that he had put the
Sadducees to silence, had stopped their mouths, though their
understandings were not opened; and they were gathered
together, not to return him the thanks of their party, as
they ought to have done, for his effectually asserting and
confirming of the truth against the Sadducees, the common
enemies of their religion, but to tempt him, in hopes to get
the reputation of puzzling him who had puzzled the
Sadducees. They were more vexed that Christ was honored,
than pleased that the Sadducees were silenced; being more
concerned for their own tyranny and traditions, which Christ
opposed, than for the doctrine of the resurrection and a
future state, which the Sadducees opposed. Note, It is an
instance of Pharisaical envy and malice, to be displeased at
the maintaining of a confessed truth, when it is done by
those we do not like; to sacrifice a public good to private
piques and prejudices. Blessed Paul was otherwise minded,
Philippians 1:18.
II. The lawyer's question, which he
put to Christ. The lawyers were students in, and teachers
of, the law of Moses, as the scribes were; but some think
that in this they differed, that they dealt more in
practical questions than the scribes; they studied and
professed casuistical divinity. This lawyer asked him a
question, tempting him; not with any design to ensnare him,
as appears by St. Mark's relation of the story, where we
find that this was he to whom Christ said, Thou are not far
from the kingdom of God, Mark 12:34, but only to see what he
would say, and to draw on discourse with him, to satisfy his
own and his friends' curiosity.
1. The question was, Master, which
is the greatest commandment of the law? A needless question,
when all the things of God's law are great things (Hosea
8:12), and the wisdom from above is without partiality,
partiality in the law (Malachi 2:9), and hath respect to
them all. Yet it is true, there are some commands that are
the principles of the oracles of God, more extensive and
inclusive than others. Our Savior speaks of the weightier
matters of the law, Chapter 23:23.
2. The design was to try him, or
tempt him; to try, not so much his knowledge as his
judgment. It was a question disputed among the critics in
the law. Some would have the law of circumcision to be the
great commandment, others the law of the Sabbath, others the
law of sacrifices, according as they severally stood
affected, and spent their zeal; now they would try what
Christ said to this question, hoping to incense the people
against him, if he should not answer according to the vulgar
opinion; and if he should magnify one commandment, they
would reflect on him as vilifying the rest. The question was
harmless enough; and it appears by comparing Luke 10:27, 28,
that it was an adjudged point among the lawyers, that the
love of God and our neighbor is the great commandment, and
the sum of all the rest, and Christ had there approved it;
so the putting of it to him here seems rather a scornful
design to catechize him as a child, than spiteful design to
dispute with him as an adversary.
III. Christ's answer to this
question; it is well for us that such a question was asked
him, that we might have his answer. It is no disparagement
to great men to answer plain questions. Now Christ
recommends to us those as the great commandments, not which
are so exclusive of others, but which are therefore great
because inclusive of others. Observe,
1. Which these great commandments
are (verses 37-39); not the judicial laws, those could not
be the greatest now that the people of the Jews, to whom
they pertained, were so little; not the ceremonial laws,
those could not be the greatest, now that they were waxen
old, and were ready to vanish away; nor any particular moral
precept; but the love of God and our neighbor, which are the
spring and foundation of all the rest, which (these being
supposed) will follow of course.
(1.) All the law is fulfilled in one
word, and that is, love. See Romans 13:10. All obedience
begins in the affections, and nothing in religion is done
right, that is not done there first. Love is the leading
affection, which gives law, and gives ground, to the rest;
and therefore that, as the main fort, is to be first secured
and garrisoned for God. Man is a creature cut out for love;
thus therefore is the law written in the heart, that it is a
law of love. Love is a short and sweet word; and, if that be
the fulfilling of the law, surely the yoke of the command is
very easy. Love is the rest and satisfaction of the soul; if
we walk in this good old way, we shall find rest.
(2.) The love of God is the first
and great commandment of all, and the summary of all the
commands of the first table. The proper act of love being
complacency, good is the proper object of it. Now God, being
good infinitely, originally, and eternally, is to be loved
in the first place, and nothing loved beside him, but what
is loved for him. Love is the first and great thing that God
demands from us, and therefore the first and great thing
that we should devote to him.
Now here we are directed,
[1.] To love God as ours; You shall
love the Lord thy God as yourself. The first commandment is,
Thou shall have no other God; which implies that we must
have him for our God, and that will engage our love to him.
Those that made the sun and moon their gods, loved them,
Jeremiah 8:2; Judges 18:24. To love God as ours is to love
him because he is ours, our Creator, Owner, and Ruler, and
to conduct ourselves to him as ours, with obedience to him,
and dependence on him. We must love God as reconciled to us,
and made ours by covenant; that is the foundation of this,
Thy God.
[2.] To love him with all our heart,
and soul, and mind. Some make these to signify one and the
same thing, to love him with all our powers; others
distinguish them; the heart, soul, and mind, are the will,
affections, and understanding; or the vital, sensitive, and
intellectual faculties. Our love of God must be a sincere
love, and not in word and tongue only, as theirs is who say
they love him, but their hearts are not with him. It must be
a strong love, we must love him in the most intense degree;
as we must praise him, so we must love him, with all that is
within us, Psalm 103:1. It must be a singular and
superlative love, we must love him more than any thing else;
this way the stream of our affections must entirely run. The
heart must be united to love God, in opposition to a divided
heart. All our love is too little to bestow upon him, and
therefore all the powers of the soul must be engaged for
him, and carried out toward him. This is the first and great
commandment; for obedience to this is the spring of
obedience to all the rest; which is then only acceptable,
when it flows from love.
(3.) To love our neighbor as
ourselves is the second great commandment (verse 39); It is
like unto that first; it is inclusive of all the precepts of
the second table, as that is of the first. It is like it,
for it is founded upon it, and flows from it; and a right
love to our brother, whom we have seen, is both an instance
and an evidence of our love to God, whom we have not seen, 1
John 4:20.
[1.] It is implied, that we do, and
should, love ourselves. There is a self-love which is
corrupt, and the root of the greatest sins, and it must be
put off and mortified: but there is a self-love which is
natural, and the rule of the greatest duty, and it must be
preserved and sanctified. We must love ourselves, that is,
we must have a due regard to the dignity of our own natures,
and a due concern for the welfare of our own souls and
bodies.
[2.] It is prescribed, that we love
our neighbor as ourselves. We must honor and esteem all men,
and must wrong and injure none; must have a good will to
all, and good wishes for all, and, as we have opportunity,
must do good to all. We must love our neighbor as ourselves,
as truly and sincerely as we love ourselves, and in the same
instances; nay, in many cases we must deny ourselves for the
good of our neighbor, and must make ourselves servants to
the true welfare of others, and be willing to spend and be
spent for them, to lay down our lives for the brethren.
2. Observe what the weight and
greatness of these commandments is (verse 40); On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets; that is,
This is the sum and substance of all those precepts relating
to practical religion which were written in men's hearts by
nature, revived by Moses, and backed and enforced by the
preaching and writing of the prophets. All hang upon the law
of love; take away this, and all falls to the ground, and
comes to nothing. Rituals and ceremonials must give way to
these, as must all spiritual gifts, for love is the more
excellent way. This is the spirit of the law, which animates
it, the cement of the law, which joins it; it is the root
and spring of all other duties, the compendium of the whole
Bible, not only of the law and the prophets, but of the
gospel too, only supposing this love to be the fruit of
faith, and that we love God in Christ, and our neighbor for
his sake. All hangs on these two commandments, as the effect
doth both on its efficient and on its final cause; for the
fulfilling of the law is love (Romans 13:10) and the end of
the law is love, 1 Timothy 1:5. The law of love is the nail,
is the nail in the sure place, fastened by the masters of
assemblies (Ecclesiastes 12:11), on which is hung all the
glory of the law and the prophets (Isaiah 22:24), a nail
that shall never be drawn; for on this nail all the glory of
the new Jerusalem shall eternally hang. Love never fails.
Into these two great commandments therefore let our hearts
be delivered as into a mould; in the defense and evidence of
these let us spend our zeal, and not in notions, names, and
strivings of words, as if those were the mighty things on
which the law and the prophets hung, and to them the love of
God and our neighbor must be sacrificed; but to the
commanding power of these let every thing else be made to
bow.
The Pharisees Silenced.
Matthew 22:41-46 --
41 While the Pharisees were gathered
together, Jesus asked them, 42 Saying,
What think ye of Christ? whose son is
he? They say unto him, The Son
of David. 43 He saith unto them,
How then doth David in spirit call him
Lord, saying, 44 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my
right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? 45 If
David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
46 And no man was able to answer him a
word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any
more questions.
Many questions the Pharisees had
asked Christ, by which, though they thought to pose him,
they did but expose themselves; but now let him ask them a
question; and he will do it when they are gathered together,
verse 41. He did not take some one of them apart from the
rest (ne Hercules contra duos--Hercules himself may be
overmatched), but, to shame them the more, he took them all
together, when they were in confederacy and consulting
against him, and yet puzzled them. Note, God delights to
baffle his enemies when they most strengthen themselves; he
gives them all the advantages they can wish for, and yet
conquers them. Associate yourselves, and you shall be broken
in pieces, Isaiah 3:9, 10. Now here,
I. Christ proposes a question to
them, which they could easily answer; it was a question in
their own catechism; "What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is
He? Whose Son do you expect the Messiah to be, who was
promised to the fathers?" This they could easily answer, The
Son of David. It was the common periphrasis of the Messiah;
they called him the Son of David. So the scribes, who
expounded the scripture, had taught them, from Psalm 89:35,
36, I will not lie unto David; his seed shall endure for
ever (Isaiah 9:7), upon the throne of David. And Isaiah
11:1, A rod out of the stem of Jesse. The covenant of
royalty made with David was a figure of the covenant of
redemption made with Christ, who as David, was made King
with an oath, and was first humbled and then advanced. If
Christ was the Son of David, he was really and truly Man.
Israel said, We have ten parts in David; and Judah said, He
is our bone and our flesh; what part have we then in the Son
of David, who took our nature upon him?
What think ye of Christ? They had
put questions to him, one after another, out of the law; but
he comes and puts a question to them upon the promise. Many
are so full of the law, that they forget Christ, as if their
duties would save them without his merit and grace. It
concerns each of us seriously to ask ourselves, What think
we of Christ? Some think not of him at all, he is not in
all, not in any, of their thoughts; some think meanly, and
some think hardly, of him; but to them that believe he is
precious; and how precious then are the thoughts of him!
While the daughters of Jerusalem think no more of Christ
than of another beloved; the spouse thinks of him as the
Chief of ten thousands.
II. He starts a difficulty upon
their answer, which they could not easily solve, verses
43-45. Many can so readily affirm the truth, that they think
they have knowledge enough to be proud of, who, when they
are called to confirm the truth, and to vindicate and defend
it, show they have ignorance enough to be ashamed of. The
objection Christ raised was, If Christ be David's son, how
then doth David, in spirit, call him Lord? He did not hereby
design to ensnare them, as they did him, but to instruct
them in a truth they were loath to believe--that the
expected Messiah is God.
1. It is easy to see that David
calls Christ Lord, and this in spirit being divinely
inspired, and actuated therein by a spirit of prophecy; for
it was the Spirit of the Lord that spoke by him, 2 Samuel
23:1, 2. David was one of those holy men that spoke as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost, especially in calling Christ
Lord; for it was then, as it is still (1 Corinthians 12:3)
that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy
Ghost. Now, to prove that David, in spirit, called Christ
Lord, he quotes Psalm 110:1, which psalm the scribes
themselves understood of Christ; of him, it is certain, the
prophet there speaks, of him and of no other man; and it is
a prophetical summary of the doctrine of Christ, it
describes him executing the offices of a Prophet, Priest,
and King, both in his humiliation and also in his
exaltation.
Christ quotes the whole verse, which
shows the Redeemer in his exaltation; (1.) Sitting at the
right hand of God. His sitting denotes both rest and rule;
his sitting at God's right hand denotes superlative honor
and sovereign power. See in what great words this is
expressed (Hebrews 8:1); He is set on the right hand of the
throne of the Majesty. See Philippians 2:9; Ephesians 1:20.
He did not take this honor to himself, but was entitled to
it by covenant with his Father, and invested in it by
commission from him, and here is that commission. (2.)
Subduing his enemies. There he shall sit, till they be all
made either his friends or his footstool. The carnal mind,
wherever it is, is enmity to Christ; and that is subdued in
the conversion of the willing people that are called to his
foot (as the expression is, Isaiah 41:2), and in the
confusion of his impenitent adversaries, who shall be
brought under his foot, as the kings of Canaan were under
the feet of Joshua.
But that which this verse is quoted
for is, that David calls the Messiah his Lord; the Lord,
Jehovah, said unto my Lord. This intimates to us, that in
expounding scripture we must take notice of, and improve,
not only that which is the main scope and sense of a verse,
but of the words and phrases, by which they Spirit chooses
to express that sense, which have often a very useful and
instructive significance. Here is a good note from that
word, My Lord.
2. It is not so easy for those who
believe not the Godhead of the Messiah, to clear this from
an absurdity, if Christ b David's son. It is incongruous for
the father to speak of his son, the predecessor of his
successor, as his Lord. If David call him Lord, that is laid
down (verse 45) as the magis notum--the more evident truth;
for whatever is said of Christ's humanity and humiliation
must be construed and understood in consistency with the
truth of his divine nature and dominion. We must hold this
fast, that he is David's Lord, and by that explain his being
David's son. The seeming differences of scripture, as here,
may not only be accommodated, but contribute to the beauty
and harmony of the whole. Amicæ scripturarum lites, utinam
et nostræ--The differences observable in the scriptures are
of a friendly kind; would to God that our differences were
of the same kind!
III. We have here the success of
this gentle trial which Christ made of the Pharisees'
knowledge, in two things.
1. It puzzled them (verse 46); No
man was able to answer him a word. Either it was their
ignorance that they did not know, or their impiety that they
would not own, the Messiah to be God; which truth was the
only key to unlock this difficulty. What those Rabbis could
not then answer, blessed be God, the plainest Christian that
is led into the understanding of the gospel of Christ, can
now account for; that Christ, as God, was David's Lord; and
Christ, as Man, was David's son. This he did not now himself
explain, but reserved it till the proof of it was completed
by his resurrection; but we have it fully explained by him
in his glory (Revelation 22:16); I am the root and the
offspring of David. Christ, as God, was David's Root;
Christ, as Man, was David's Offspring. If we hold not fast
this truth, that Jesus Christ is over all God blessed for
ever, we run ourselves into inextricable difficulties. And
well might David, his remote ancestor, call him Lord, when
Mary, his immediate mother, after she had conceived him,
called him, Lord and God, her Savior, Luke 1:46, 47.
2. It silenced them, and all others
that sought occasion against him; Neither durst any man,
from that day forth, ask him any more such captious,
tempting, ensnaring questions. Note, God will glorify
himself in the silencing of many whom he will not glorify
himself in the salvation of. Many are convinced, that are
not converted, by the word. Had these been converted, they
would have asked him more questions, especially that great
question, What must we do to be saved? But since they could
not gain their point, they would have no more to do with
him. But, thus all that strive with their Master shall be
convinced, as these Pharisees and lawyers here were, of the
inequality of the match.
Friday Study Ministries
www.FridayStudy.org
Ron@FridayStudy.org
|
