entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hin53 dered. - And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke 51 him to speak of many things; laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.

CHAPTER XII.

Christ teaches the Truths of his Religion to the People, and to his Disciples.

IN the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trod one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware 2 ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that 3 shall not be known. Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness, shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets, shall be proclaimed upon the house4 tops. And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that, have no more that they can do. 5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto 6 you, Fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, 7 and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very

It is said, that one of the Rabbins had his key buried with him.

53, 54. "The spirit and purposes of the enemies of Christ are here distinctly displayed. All the circumstances well suit this period of his ministry, when the Sanhedrim had already resolved to put him to death; and when scribes had come from Jerusalem obviously to watch him, and to thwart his influence. The Pharisee, at whose house he now was, appears to have invited him, in order to promote such purposes; and the severity of our Lord's language accords with the occasion." May we not conjecture, with some degree of probability, that the address in the singular number, "Thou blind Pharisee," Mat. xxiii. 26, had reference to this occasion of dining with a Phari

see, and that the imagery of the cup and platter was naturally suggested by the feast?

CHAPTER XII.

1. An innumerable multitude. Lit

erally, myriads, or tens of thousands.

First of all. These words are properly connected in almost all versions with beware; "First of all, beware," &c. Mat. xvi. 6.

2-9. Compare Mat. x. 26-33, and remarks.

4. Be not afraid of them that kill the body.

"O, fear not thou to die!
But rather fear to live; for life
Has thousand snares thy feet to try,
By peril, pain, and strife."

7. But. "Nay," as some render it.

hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God. But he that denieth 9 me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God. And 10 whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven. And when they bring you unto 11 the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say; for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what 12 ye ought to say.

speak to my 13

And one of the company said unto him, Master, brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said 14 unto him, Man, who made me a judge, or a divider over you? - And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covet- 15 ousness; for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto 16 them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully and he thought within himself, saying, What shall 17 I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And 18 he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up 19 for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But 20

9. Shall be denied, &c. Fearful words, which it becomes us seriously to lay to heart.

10. See notes on Mat. xii. 31, 32. 11, 12. Compare Mat. x. 18, 20. 13, 14. This man seeks the arbitration of Jesus in a family quarrel about the patrimony; who replies to him almost exactly in the words contained in Ex. ii. 14. His office was not a civil, but a religious one, and his kingdom was not of this world.

15. But our Lord seizes with alacrity the occasion to impress a moral lesson. He cautions the people against the inordinate love of

money, and against depending on the abundance of their possessions for life, for happiness.

16, 17. The following parable is designed to elucidate the proposition contained in verse 15. Vivacity is given to the story by using the form of a dialogue.

18, 19. Stores of wheat and other grain constitute no small part of the wealth of the rich in the east. -Take thine ease, &c. The language of an Epicurean. It is an old and true saying, " Cras serum est vivere; vive hodie," -To-morrow is too late to live; live to-day. Pyrrhus, the king of

God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast 21 provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not 22 rich toward God. And he said unto his disciples, Therefore say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; 23 neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more 24 than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the

I

ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse, nor barn; and God feedeth them. How much more are 25 ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought 26 can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do 27 that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Con

sider the lilies how they grow: They toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 28 like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to

day in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, how much 29 more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubt

Epirus, was planning to make himself master of Sicily, Africa, and other places, in the prosecution of his conquests, when his friend and chief minister, Cineas, asked him, "What shall we do when all that is accomplished?" The warrior replied, "Postea vivemus," Then we will live. "At hoc jam licet," But that we can do now, said his sage counsellor.

While

20, 21. This night, &c. indulging in bright visions of future prosperity, we are too prone to forget the awful frailty of life. We need constantly to be reminded that riches are transient at best, incapable of satisfying man's desires, when most largely amassed. We need line upon line and precept upon precept, to teach us, that the current of life is bearing us swiftly on to a world, in which a Christian character will be of more worth, than countless ingots of the finest gold. Not rich toward God, i. e. in works of mercy and benevolence, performed with a reference to God.

22-32. See notes on Mat. vi. 25-34.

23. More. A greater gift.

24. Ravens. Naturalists have remarked, that this bird is especially improvident, and takes but little care of its young, and it therefore furnishes a vivid illustration of our Saviour's lesson.

25. Stature. Life, or, age.

27. The lilies. Sir J. E. Smith says, that "the fields of the Levant are overrun with the amaryllis lutea, whose golden liliaceous flowers, in autumn, afford one of the most brilliant and gorgeous objects in nature." "Lo! the lilies of the field,

How their leaves instruction yield!
Hark to Nature's lesson given
By the blessed birds of heaven!
"Say, with richer crimson glows

The kingly mantle than the rose?
Say, have kings more wholesome fare
Than we, poor citizens of air?
Barns nor hoarded grain have we,
Yet we carol merrily.

Mortal, fly from doubt and sorrow!
God provideth for the morrow!"

29. Be ye of doubtful mind. The

ful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek 30 after; and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things 31 shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your 32 Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye 33 have, and give alms: provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure 34 is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded 35 about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men 36 that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when 37 he cometh shall find watching: verily, I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second 38 watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the good man of the 39 house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also; for the Son of man com- 40 eth at an hour when ye think not. Then Peter said unto 41 him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, 42 whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, 43 whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth 44 I say unto you, That he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth 45 his coming; and shall begin to beat the men-servants, and maid

verb in the Greek is one used to describe ships tossed by the sea, and clouds and birds fluctuating in the air. 32. Little flock. A diminutive, to express great tenderness. Better, my little flock. It adds vivacity to this figure to remember, that in pastoral countries much attachment exists between the keeper and his flock. Jesus is the good Shepherd.

33, 34. See Mat. vi. 19-21, xix. 21, and the explanations.

35, 36. Let your loins, &c. Oriental images, to express watchfulness. Compare Mat. xxv. 1-13. — Wedding. Feast.

37-48. Mat. xxiv. 42-51, where the passage is commented on at length.

46 ens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and 47 will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that ser

vant which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither 48 did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom men have 49 committed much, of him they will ask the more. I am come

to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kin50 dled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I 51 straitened till it be accomplished! Suppose ye that I am come

to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 52 for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, 53 three against two, and two against three. The father shall be

divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daugh54 ter-in-law against her mother-in-law. — And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway 55 ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it

46. Cut him in sunder. Translated by Thomson, "scourge him in the severest manner, cut him, as it were, asunder by scourging." - The unbelievers. The faithless.

47, 48. We here have a just and equitable principle of retribution laid down. Sin is punished according to its sinfulness. Much is required of him, to whom much is given, and he who has fewer means of knowing his duty, has a lighter responsibleness. Acts xvii. 30; Rom. ii. 6; 1 Cor. iii. 8.

49. I am come, &c. i. e. The result, not the aim, of my coming will be, so to speak, to set the world on fire. My religion will be established only through mighty revolutions, as it were

through a vast moral conflagration.

And what will I, &c. Or, and how I wish that it were already kindled! 50. Baptism. A baptism of blood.

How am I straitened, &c. Literally, hemmed in, distressed. Surely, as has been said, these are expressions of mortal suffering, and show that he felt the intolerable wretchedness of suspense.

51-53. See Mat. x. 34-36, and comments.

54-56. Compare Mat. xvi. 2, 3. Clouds rising in the west, from the Mediterranean Sea, prognosticated rain, 1 Kings xviii. 44, while a south or south-east wind, blowing from the great deserts of Arabia, brought heat.