Uncertain. * Many anci these words, And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as Luke x. 18. lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on ser- Luke x. 19. pents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the Luke x. 20. spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, Luke x. 21. I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes : even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me of my Father: Luke x. 22. ent copies add and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the FaAnd turning ther; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. to his disciples, he said. e And he turned him unto his disciples, and said Luke x. 23. e Matt. xiii. 16. privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: For I tell you that many prophets and kings Luke x. 24. have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. dedication, as Lightfoot has done, but continues the chapters of St. Luke to chap. xviii. 14. not perceiving sufficient reason to change the order. Pilkington differs from Lightfoot, and arranges John vii. 11. to x. 22. before Luke x. 17. and continuing as far as chap. xiii. 23. he again proceeds to John x. 22. By this means he affixes the cure of the blind man to the feast of tabernacles. Michaelis seems to have laid aside, in this part of his harmony, every attempt to reconcile difficulties. He inserts these chapters of St. John in one supplement, and those of St. Luke in another. 13 The Seventy receive their commission in Galilee, some time before the feast of tabernacles. The exact period of their going out, and of their return, is uncertain; it is most probable, however, as the Jews were accustomed to go up to the feast, that they were proceeding to Jerusalem, and met our Lord returning from the feast, in consequence of the opposition of the Jewish rulers to his person and teaching. SECTION VIII. Christ directs the Lawyer how he may attain eternal Life. Luke x. 25. Luke x. 26. Luke x. 27. Luke x. 28. LUKE X. 25-29. And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and Uncertain, tempted him, saying, f Master, what shall I do to probably on a inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. tour. 35. Luke x. 29. SECTION IX. The Parable of the good Samaritan. LUKE X. 29-38. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Η Ἐν τῷ νόμω, τί γέγραπται; πῶς ἀναγινώσκεις; there seems to be some abruptness in this question. Our Saviour, in his reply to the lawyer, is supposed by Heinsius (a), to refer him to the texts (Deut. vi. 5. and Levit. xix. 18.) which were joined together by the Jews, as a compendium of the whole law, and repeated twice every day in the synagogue. Kuinoel (b), that the word wç must be rendered as rí, what; as, What readest thou in the law? and that he pointed at the same time with his finger to the lawyer's phylactery, on which the words of his answer were written. Whenever an opportunity presented itself, our Lord replied to every question proposed to him by the Jews, by an allusion to their established laws and customs. 15 In attempting to discover the sense of a parable, we are required to take into consideration the purpose for which it was delivered, and the circumstances that occasioned it. We find here that the lawyer, wishing to justify himself, and considering that he had observed this law, as far as it related to the Jews, whom only he acknowledges as his neighbours, inquires, "Who is my neighbour?" Our Lord answers the question by a parable, in which the duties we owe to our neighbour are forcibly defined, and the extent of those duties pointedly demonstrated. We are taught that not only our acquaintance, our (a) Exerc. Sacr. p. 153. (b) Kuinoel in lib. Hist. N. T. comment. vol. ii. P. 459. Uncertain, probably on a tour. And Jesus answering said, A certain man went Luke x. 30. down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain Luke x. 31. Priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the Luke x. 32. place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came Luke x. 33. friends and countrymen, are included under this term, but that our very enemies, when in distress, are entitled to our sympathy, our mercy, and our best exertions for their relief. The Jews held the Samaritans in utter abhorrence; in order therefore to impress the mind of the enquirer more fully, our Saviour obliges the lawyer to reply to his own question: for he was compelled to acknowledge that he who showed mercy on him was his neighbour. Our Lord, having represented to him the extent of the law, commands him to follow the example of the good Samaritan, and to go and do likewise. The circumstances mentioned in this parable are, by many, considered as real; the road from Jerusalem to Jericho lay through a desert infested by robbers, and which was principally frequented by Priests and Levites, in their journeyings from the latter to the former place. The parable itself has been variously interpreted, and by some commentators it is supposed to relate only to the compassionate love of Christ (who was called by the Jews a Samaritan) to mankind. In whatever way we consider it, the duty it inculcates is most evident, and the parable must be regarded as a beautiful exemplification of the law "loving our neighbour as ourselves," without any distinction of person, country, or party. Jones, with other commentators, has given a fanciful illustration of this parable; and several of the primitive Fathers have adopted similar accommodations. They suppose the certain man, to signify Adam-went down from Jerusalem, his fall—thieves, sin and Satan-half-dead, dead in the spirit, his better part—the priest, the moral-the Levite, the ceremonial law, which could not afford reliefa certain Samaritan, Christ—the inn, the Church—the two-pence, the law and the Gospel; or, (as others conjecture, the two Sacraments,) the Host, the Ministers of the Gospel, with this promise, that whatever they shall spend more in health, or life, or exertion, shall be amply repaid, when Christ, the good Samaritan, shall come again in glory. Lightfoot has given the same interpretation. It is necessary here to remark, by way of caution, in the words of Glassius, in his fifth rule for the interpretation of parables, "non est opus nimia cura in singulis verbis anxium esse, neque in singulis partibus adaptatio, et accommodatio ad rem spiritualem nimis àкpib quærenda est." Philolog. Sacra. lib. ii. part i. tr. 2. sect. 5. p. 336, &c. See also, on the interpretation of Scripture, Van Mildert's Bampton Lectures, with the valuable notes.-Marsh's Lectures, part iii. Lectures 17, 18.-Glassii, Philologia Sacra, lib. ii. part ii. sect. 1. p. 263–288.—Lightfoot's Works. Luke x. 31. Lukex. 35. Luke x. 36. Luke x. 37. probably on a tour. where he was: and when he saw him, he had Uncertain, Which of these three, thinkest thou, was neigh- And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. g Luke x. 38. Luke x. 39. Luke x. 40. Luke x. 41. Luke x. 42. SECTION X 16. Christ in the House of Martha. LUKE X. 38. to the end. Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her ". 16 This section is placed by Archbishop Newcome before the account of the resurrection of Lazarus. As his arguments for so doing do not appear satisfactory, I have followed the authority of Lightfoot, Pilkington, Doddridge, and Michaelis, and have preserved the order of St. Luke's Gospel. 17 The excellence of our Lord's manner of teaching, and the wisdom of his lessons, are so evident, in the present and the following sections, that there can be no necessity for entering into any discussion on this portion of the arrangement. The tenth section affords us a complete picture of the admirable manner in which our Lord deduced the most impressive lessons, from the most common occurrences. In the eleventh, he gives to his disciples the same perfect and Uncertain, probably on a tour. SECTION XI. Christ teaches his Disciples to pray. LUKE xi. 1-14. And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in Luke xi. 1. a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Luke xi. 2. h Matt. vi. 9. Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. * Or, for the day. +Or, out of his way. * Give us day by day our daily bread. Luke xi. 3. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive Luke xi. 4. every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. And he said unto them, Which of you shall Luke xi. 5. have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine + in his journey is come to Luke xi. 6. me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Luke xi. 7. beautiful form of prayer which he had previously made known to assembled crowds. And it is probable he was requested to do so at this time, by a new convert. In the twelfth, we hear his severe and just reproof to the Pharisees, who regarded only the externals of religion, and were pleased with the homage of the multitude, and their own outward sanctity. He also encourages his disciples to acknowledge Him, to fear God rather than man, who has no power over the soul; and he warns them, that if they deny him against the witness of their conscience before men, they shall be denied before the angels of God—and that to blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, which was to impute the actions of Christ to an evil 'spirit, was an unpardonable offence, never to be forgiven. That he might not excite the indignation of the Pharisees, by the exercise of temporal authority, he refuses (sect. 14.) to decide a controversy, when applied to for that purpose; but takes advantage of the opportunity to reprove covetousness, and, by a most beautiful and appropriate parable, proves the vanity and helpless insufficiency of earthly possessions, and the uncertainty of this life, in which alone we can enjoy them. In the 16th section, he especially charges his disciples not to be of uncertain, anxious, wandering, unsettled, distracted mind; (Luc. xii. 29. μ μerewρizeσde, vide Kuinoel in h. v.) but to place their faith and confidence in Him who provides even for the birds of the air, and lilies of the field. The 16th section is a continuation of the same address, exhorting to the punctual performance of every duty, as we know not when the Son of man cometh. In the 17th he again reproves the fastidious and absurd manner of keeping the sabbath, when an act of mercy was considered a violation of the law. |