The great commandment.

32 which was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?' God is not the God of the God is not the God of the 33 dead, but of the living." And when the multitudes heard this, they were amazed at his doctrine.

34

But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were ga35 thered about him. Then one of them, who was a teacher of the law, asked him a question, 36 tempting him, and saying, Teacher, which is 37 the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 38 and with all thy mind.' This is the first and 39 great commandment. And the second is like to it; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy40 self.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

REFLECTIONS UPON CHAPTER XXII. 1. We are reminded of the rich provisions of the gospel, and of our unworthiness to partake of them. This is a feast of fat things; a feast becoming the bounty and majesty of the king of heaven, and the peculiar occasion on which it was made. How free is the grace which calls us poor outcast gentile sinners, to be guests of this feast! While the proud and self-righteous rejected the invitations, and thus showed that they were not worthy to partake of these blessings, the poor beggars were invited and introduced! The king will have his house filled with guests.

2. We learn that in order to enjoy the blessings of this feast, we must not only come when invited, but comply with the will of the king who has made it, by putting on the wedding-garment. This is provided; and to receive it and not put it on, shows great contempt; and whosoever thus acts, when the king comes in to see the guests, will be cast out into the outer darkness. This teaches us, that it is not every one who professes to accept the invitation, nor who talks of gospel blessings, who shall enjoy them. We must by faith receive the robe of a Saviour's righteousness, and be adorned with a humble, meek and holy temper, or we shall never be permitted to sit at the marriage. feast of the lamb, nor share in its pleasures and joys.

Christ David's Lord. While the Pharisees were gathered together, 41 Jesus asked them, Saying, "What think ye 42 of the Christ? whose son is he?" They say to him, "The son of David." He saith to them, 43 "How then doth David by the spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit 44 thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?' If David then call him 45 Lord, how is he his son ?" And no man was 46 able to answer him a word, nor durst any man from that day ask him any more questions.

CHAPTER XXIII.

A. D. 33. Our Lord commends the doctrine, but condemns the evil conduct of the Scribes and Pharisees; he foretels the destruction of Jerusalem.

THEN spoke Jesus to the multitudes, and to 1 his disciples, Saying, "The Scribes and the 2 Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses: All things 3 therefore whatsoever they command you to ob

3. We are also taught from our Lord's answer to the Pharisees, that it is our duty to render to all their due. The kingdom of Christ is not of this world, and it does not interfere with, or vacate the just claims of the civil magistrate. While we enjoy the benefits of civil government, we are bound to contribute our part towards its necessary expence. But let not civil magistrates interfere with the rights of God. For we are bound by the strongest ties to render to him the things which he demands, and we must not disobey him to please men. He, and He only, is the Lord of conscience, and when that is invaded, it is easy to judge whether man or God ought to be obeyed.

4. From our Lord's reply to the Sadducees, and to the teacher of the law, we learn the doctrines of a separate state, and of the resurrection, and in what the real principle of religion consists. When men die, their spirits still live, and when good men die, their spirits live with and unto God. They partake of the felicity and glory which he has promised; and God's relation to them as their God,' secures the resurrection of their bodies. How glorious will they be made, they will be made like the glorious body of Christ. They will become in their whole persons, equal to the angels.' How ought we then to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, for assuring us of such a state.

32. I am the God of, &c See Exod. iii. 6, 16.—God is not the God, &c. The argument is, that they must have been existing in some sense, at the time when this was spoken; otherwise God could not be then 'the God of Abraham, &c. this expression implying a relation subsisting between God and them; but there can be no relation between God and those who do not in any way exist. The Patriarchs were dead as to this life; the inference is, their souls exist in another. Or his being the God of any person, implies that he neither has, nor will suffer any such, finally to perish; and hence we may infer that their spirits exist, and that their bodies shall be raised.

35. Teacher of the law. He is called a Scribe, Markai. 8; but Lake zi. 44-46, they are distinguished, Some think the former wore teachers of the law in the synagogues, and the latter private instructors,

36. Great commandment, &c. From this question it is evident that the teachers of the law divided the precepts into greater and less, and that it was a matter of dispute among them, to which class certain belonged. Some thought that those regarding sacrifice were the greatest; while others more justly considered that which respected the object of worship, and the love of him as entitled to pre-eminence, Comp. Mark xii. 28–34.

42-46, What think ye of the Christ? Or the Messiah. Whose son is he? They readily answer that he was the son of David; but when our Lord quotes the first verse of Ps. cx, and reasons-upon it, they could make no reply. I conceive that by the question, If David by the spirit call him Lord, how is he his son? Jesus intimated strongly his claim to a higher character than that of son of David,

Ye blind

guides, who strain off a gnat, and swallow a 25 camel. Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within they are full of 26 extortion and injustice. Thou blind, Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup and dish, 27 that their outside may be clean also. Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye Tare like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful, but are within full of 28 dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29 Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and 30 adorn the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, } ́ we would not have been partakers with them in 31 the blood of the prophets.' Wherefore ye bear witness to yourselves, that ye are the sons of 32 those who killed the prophets. Fill ye up then

REFLECTIONS UPON CHAPTER XXIII. J. Ministers and preachers of righteousness are taught how much they disgrace their holy office, when they impose heavy burdens on others, and spend all their zeal and ardour, in external services, and especially when they do this to be seen of men. Nothing can more incontestibly prove by

Ruin of Jerusalem lamented, the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye 33 offspring of vipers, how can ye escape the ри nishment of hell?

1

"Wherefore, behold, I send to you prophets, 34 and wise men, and Scribes; and some of them ye will kill and crucify; and some of them ye. will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: So that upon you shall 35 come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, [son of Berachiah,] whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily 36 I say to you, that" all these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 37 that killest the prophets, and stonest them who are sent to thee, how often would I have gather-i ed thy children together, even as a hen gathereth :: her chickens under her wings; but ye would not! Behold, your house shall be left by you 38 desolate. For I say to you; Ye shall not see 39 me henceforth, till ye shall say, 'Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

36. Griesbach.

pocrisy, maliciousness, and a heart alienated from God. Such men labour not to be approved of God, but to be approved of men, that by their good opinion they may strengthen their party, and thus be more able to persecute and oppress others. If they make proselytes, it is only for this purpose, that they may instil their own false and perni

and so all the latin versions have rendered. Undone. As far as the law of Moses required it; for they were bound only to do what this enjoined.

24. Strain off a gnat, &c. That is, to strain off their liquor, lest they should swallow a gnat. The expression is clearly proverbial, and denotes, that while they were scrupulous about trifles, they without scruple practised the greatest sins.

26. Make clean the inside, &c. If the inside were clean, if the heart were upright and pure, the outside, the life and conduct would be so too. In the former verse, our Lord states that their cup and dish were filled with rapine, &c.; that is, their repasts were furnished by means of rapine and injustice.

27. Whited sepulchres. They appear to have whited the sepulchres, lest they should touch them aud thereby be defiled.

29-33. Ye build the tombs, &c. Grotius considered these as one sentence; and Doddridge, with Bishop Pearce, regards the 31st as parenthetic. It is usual for the Mahometans to ornament the tombs of their saints; and if they have none, to build them. Such was the custom of the Jews; and Josephus informs us, that Herod repaired in a splendid manner the sepulchre of David.

31. Are the sons of, &c. Ye acknowledge those murderers to be your fathers; and imitate therefore their wickedness, or rather exceed it in destroying me and the prophets whom I shall send! This is the language of great indignation.

35. So that upon you, &c. The national punishment of all the blood

shed in the land, because ye take pleasure in the works of your fathers, and imitate them. The words included in brackets are omitted Luke xi. 51, and have probably been interpolated. Who this Zechariah was, is not absolutely certain. Most refer to him whom Joash put to death: 2 Chron, xxiv. 20; others to the Prophet Zech. i. 1; and others to Zechariah the father of the Baptist. I refer it to the first, and consider son of Berachiah,' added by some early Scribe. With Doddridge, I regard it as a proverb, to mean the blood of all the Martyrs from Abel, who was the first, down to Zechariah, who is the last expressly mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures.

37. As a hen gathereth, &c. This beautiful similitude is found, 2 Esdras i. 30. I gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings; but now what shall I do with you? I will cast you out from my face.' Our Lord expresses the design of his repeatedly visiting Jerusalem, and of his instructions given to the people.

38. Your house, &c. That is, the temple in which our Lord was teaching, and Jerusalem, the city in which they dwelt. Campbell renders, ‘ habitation,' and Wakefield, 'temple. Our Lord made use of a term which might be applied either to the temple or the city.

3

And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came near to him privately, saying, privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? and what will be the sign of thy coming, and of the end 4 of this state?" And Jesus answered and said to them, "Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many will come assuming my name, each saying, I am the Christ,' and will deceive 6 many. And ye will hear of wars and rumours of wars see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is 7 not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and

CHAP. XXIV.

1

cious maxims, and spread the leaven of their own doctrines. O let the stewards of God be faithful. Let them do nothing through vain glory! Let them show uncorruptness, gravity, sound speech, which cannot be condemned,

2. We learn that we should study internal purity. Of what importance is it, to make clean the outside, to appear to men serious and devout, and yet be only like whited sepulehres, full of all uncleanness! To pretend to condemn others for their persecuting spirit, and at the

dren, saying, 'Blessed be he that cometh, &c.' Pearce would render the participle in the past time, Blessed is he who came. Eusebius informs us, that many Jews became christians after the destruction of Jerusalem.

CHAP. XXIV. 2. One stone left upon, &e. This may only refer to the general destruction, without implying that every stone should be actually subverted at one time; yet I think the words contain a prediction that the very foundations of the temple would one day be razed..

3. On the mount of Olives. The foot of this mount extended near to Jerusalem; and on it were the villages of Bethpage and Bethany. The brook Cedron ran in the valley between it and Jerusalem. An eye witness informs us, that from the mount of Olives all Jerusalem may be distinctly seen, especially mount Moriah, the temple and its spacious area;' so that the scene was adapted to the discourse.This state. Comp, Chap. xii. 32. and Note. 5. Assuming my name. To come in the name of another, most naturally signifies to come by his authority or order. Thus Christ came in the name of the Father, and the Apostles in his name. This cannot be the sense of the words here, but that which I, after Campbell and others, have given. 6. The end is not yet. That is, of the Jewish state and polity.

and calamities of the people,

kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in All these are the beginning 8 many places. of sorrows.

I

"Then will men deliver you up to "affliction," 9 and will kill you; and ye will be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then will many 10 fall off, and will betray one another, and will hate one another. And many false prophets 11 will arise, and will deceive. many. And be- 12 cause iniquity will abound, the love of many will become cold. But whosoever endureth to 13 the end, he shall be saved. And these glad 14 tidings of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a testimony to all nations; and then will the end come.

"When ye therefore see the desolating abomin- 15 ation spoken of by: Daniel the prophet, stand... in the holy place, (let him who readeth attend.) 16 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains: Let not him who is on the housetop go 17 down to take any thing out of his house: Nor 18 let him who is in the field turn back to take his 03

9. Griesbach.

same time to indulge it; how contrary to all sense of propriety! Surely a day of righteous retribution must come upon all such. Long had God borne with Jerusalem, with her defilements, her cruelty and injustice, but at length the measure of her iniquities was filled up by her unbelief, and persecution of the Saviour! She was destined to become a heap of ruins. Every pretender to religion, will find in the day of trial, that he has deceived himself to his own destruction; his hypocrisy will be exposed, and himself finally condemned.

8. Beginning of sorrows. These calamities will be succeeded by much heavier, when Jerusalem is besieged and taken.

9. Of all nations. As the name of the Jew will become an execration; and especially will ye my followers, as opposing, the sins and corruptions of men, be thus hated.

10-13. Fall off Some will be scandalized, and renounce their christian profession; others will betray their brethren to save their own lives, while pretending prophets will deceive numbers, and christian love and affection shall decay. Yet some will endure this time of trial; and such shall be saved. 鼻

14. Glad tidings of, &c. It is most certain that before the destruction of Jerusalem, the gospel had been preached, not only in the Roman Empiro, but among remote and distant nations. Comp. Rom. x. 18. Col. i. 6-23. 15. Desolating abomination, &c., Dan. ix. 27. The Roman armies are meaut. They were an abomination to the Jews, because they bore images on their standards. Let him who readeth, &c. Our Lord, or the Evangelist, warns the reader to attend to what Daniel had said, as being a remarkable circumstance.

~1.17%. House top, go down, &c. They had stairs from the roofs of their