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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
M A T T H E W.
CHAP. XX.
We have four things in this chapter.
I. The parable of the labourers in the vineyard,
II. A prediction of Christ’s approaching sufferings,
III. The petition of two of the disciples, by their mother, reproved,
IV. The petition of the two blind men granted, and their eyes opened,
| The Labourers in the Vineyard. |
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1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an
householder, which went out early in the morning to hire
labourers into his vineyard.
2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day,
he sent them into his vineyard.
3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing
idle in the marketplace,
4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and
whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did
likewise.
6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others
standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day
idle?
7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith
unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right,
that shall ye receive.
8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto
his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire,
beginning from the last unto the first.
9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour,
they received every man a penny.
10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have
received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the
goodman of the house,
12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou
hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and
heat of the day.
13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no
wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto
this last, even as unto thee.
15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is
thine eye evil, because I am good?
16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be
called, but few chosen.
This parable of the labourers in the vineyard is intended,
I. To represent to us the kingdom of heaven
(v. 1),
that is, the way and method of the gospel dispensation. The laws of
that kingdom are not wrapt up in parables, but plainly set down, as in
the sermon upon the mount; but the mysteries of that kingdom are
delivered in parables, in sacraments, as here and
The duties of Christianity are more necessary to be known than the
notions of it; and yet the notions of it are more necessary to be
illustrated than the duties of it; which is that which parables are
designed for.
II. In particular, to represent to us that concerning the kingdom of
heaven, which he had said in the close of the foregoing chapter, that
many that are first shall be last, and the last, first; with
which this parable is connected; that truth, having in it a seeming
contradiction, needed further explication.
Nothing was more a mystery in the gospel dispensation than the
rejection of the Jews and the calling in of the Gentiles; so the
apostle speaks of it
that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs: nor was any thing more
provoking to the Jews than the intimation of it. Now this seems to be
the principal scope of this parable, to show that the Jews should be
first called into the vineyard, and many of them should come at the
call; but, at length, the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles,
and they should receive it, and be admitted to equal privileges and
advantages with the Jews; should be fellow-citizens with the
saints, which the Jews, even those of them that believed, would be
very much disgusted at, but without reason.
But the parable may be applied more generally, and shows us,
1. That God is debtor to no man; a great truth, which the contents in
our Bible give as the scope of this parable.
2. That many who begin last, and promise little in religion, sometimes,
by the blessing of God, arrive at greater attainments in knowledge,
grace, and usefulness, than others whose entrance was more early, and
who promised fairer. Though Cushi gets the start of Ahimaaz, yet
Ahimaaz, choosing the way of the plain, outruns Cushi. John is
swifter of foot, and comes first to the sepulchre: but Peter has
more courage, and goes first into it. Thus many that are last
shall be first. Some make it a caution to the disciples, who had
boasted of their timely and zealous embracing of Christ; they had left
all, to follow him; but let them look to it, that they keep up their
zeal; let them press forward and persevere; else their good beginnings
will avail them little; they that seemed to be first, would be
last. Sometimes those that are converted later in their lives,
outstrip those that are converted earlier. Paul was as one born out
of due time, yet came not behind the chiefest of the apostles, and
outdid those that were in Christ before him. Something of affinity
there is between this parable and that of the prodigal son, where he
that returned from his wandering, was as dear to his father as he was,
that never went astray; first and last alike.
3. That the recompence of reward will be given to the saints,
not according to the time of their conversion, but according to the
preparations for it by grace in this world; not according to the
seniority
but according to the measure of the stature of the fulness of
Christ. Christ had promised the apostles, who followed him in
the regeneration, at the beginning of the gospel dispensation,
great glory
(ch. xix. 28);
but he now tells them that those who are in like manner faithful to
him, even in the latter end of the world, shall have the same reward,
shall sit with Christ on his throne, as well as the apostles,
Sufferers for Christ in the latter days, shall have the same reward
with the martyrs and confessors of the primitive times, though they are
more celebrated; and faithful ministers now, the same with the first
fathers.
We have two things in the parable; the agreement with the
labourers, and the account with them.
(1.) Here is the agreement made with the labourers
(v. 1-7);
and here it will be asked, as usual,
[1.] Who hires them? A man that is a householder. God is the
great Householder, whose we are, and whom we serve; as a
householder, he has work that he will have to be done, and servants
that he will have to be doing; he has a great family in heaven and
earth, which is named from Jesus Christ
(Eph. iii. 15),
which he is Owner and Ruler of. God hires labourers, not because he
needs them or their services (for, if we be righteous, what do we
unto him?), but as some charitable generous householders keep poor
men to work, in kindness to them, to save them from idleness and
poverty, and pay them for working for themselves.
[2.] Whence they are hired? Out of the market-place, where, till
they are hired into God’s service, they stand idle
(v. 3),
all the day idle
(v. 6).
Note, First, The soul of man stands ready to be hired into some
service or other; it was (as all the creatures were) created to work,
and is either a servant to iniquity, or a servant to
righteousness,
Rom. vi. 19.
The devil, by his temptations, is hiring labourers into his
field, to feed swine. God, by his gospel, is hiring labourers
into his vineyard, to dress it, and keep it, paradise-work. We are
put to our choice; for hired we must be
Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. Secondly, Till we are
hired into the service of God, we are standing all the day idle; a
sinful state, though a state of drudgery to Satan, may really be called
a state of idleness; sinners are doing nothing, nothing to the
purpose, nothing of the great work they were sent into the world about,
nothing that will pass well in the account. Thirdly, The gospel
call is given to those that stand idle in the market-place. The
market-place is a place of concourse, and there Wisdom
cries
it is a place of sport, there the children are playing
(ch. xi. 16);
and the gospel calls us from vanity to seriousness; it is a place of
business, of noise and hurry; and from that we are called to retire.
“Come, come from this market-place.”
[3.] What are they hired to do? To labour in his vineyard. Note,
First, The church is God’s vineyard; it is of his planting,
watering, and fencing; and the fruits of it must be to his honour and
praise. Secondly, We are all called upon to be labourers in this
vineyard. The work of religion is vineyard-work, pruning, dressing,
digging, watering, fencing, weeding. We have each of us our own
vineyard to keep, our own soul; and it is God’s and to be kept and
dressed for him. In this work we must not be slothful, not loiterers,
but labourers, working, and working out our own
salvation. Work for God will not admit of trifling. A man may go
idle to hell; but he that will go to heaven, must be busy.
[4.] What shall be their wages? He promises, First, A penny,
v. 2.
The Roman penny was, in our money, of the value of a sevenpence
half-penny, a day’s wages for a day’s work, and the wages sufficient
for a day’s maintenance. This doth not prove that the reward of our
obedience to God is of works, or of debt (no, it is of
grace, free grace,
Rom. iv. 4),
or that there is any proportion between our services and heaven’s
glories; no, when we have done all, we are unprofitable
servants; but it is to signify that there is a reward set before
us, and a sufficient one. Secondly, Whatsoever is right,
v. 4-7.
Note, God will be sure not to be behind-hand with any for the service
they do him: never any lost by working for God. The crown set before us
is a crown of righteousness, which the righteous Judge shall
give.
[5.] For what term are they hired? For a day. It is but a day’s
work that is here done. The time of life is the day, in which we
must work the works of him that sent us into the world. It is a
short time; the reward is for eternity, the work is but for a
day; man is said to accomplish, as a hireling, his day,
Job xiv. 6.
This should quicken us to expedition and diligence in our work, that we
have but a little time to work in, and the night is hastening
on, when no man can work; and if our great work be undone when
our day is done, we are undone for ever. It should also encourage us in
reference to the hardships and difficulties of our work, that it is but
for a day; the approaching shadow, which the servant
earnestly desireth, will bring with it both rest, and the reward
of our work,
Job vii. 2.
Hold out, faith, and patience, yet a little while.
[6.] Notice is taken of the several hours of the day, at which the
labourers were hired. The apostles were sent forth at the first and
third hour of the gospel day; they had a first and a second
mission, while Christ was on earth, and their business was to call in
the Jews; after Christ’s ascension, about the sixth and ninth
hour, they went out again on the same errand, preaching the
gospel to the Jews only, to them in Judea first, and afterward to
them of the dispersion; but, at length, as it were about the
eleventh hour, they called the Gentiles to the same work and
privilege with the Jews, and told them that in Christ Jesus there
should be no difference made between Jew and Greek.
But this may be, and commonly is, applied to the several ages of life,
in which souls are converted to Christ. The common call is promiscuous,
to come and work in the vineyard; but the effectual call is particular,
and it is then effectual when we come at the call.
First, Some are effectually called, and begin to work in the
vineyard when they are very young; are sent in early in the morning,
whose tender years are seasoned with grace, and the remembrance of
their Creator. John the Baptist was sanctified from the womb,
and therefore great
(Luke i. 15);
Timothy from a child
Obadiah feared the Lord from his youth. Those that have such a
journey to go, had need set out betimes, the sooner the better.
Secondly, Others are savingly wrought upon in middle age; Go
work in the vineyard, at the third, sixth, or ninth hour. The power
of divine grace is magnified in the conversion of some, when they are
in the midst of their pleasures and worldly pursuits, as Paul. God has
work for all ages; no time amiss to turn to God; none can say, “It is
all in good time;” for, whatever hour of the day it is with us, the
time past of our life may suffice that we have served sin; Go ye
also into the vineyard. God turns away none that are willing to be
hired, for yet there is room.
Thirdly, Others are hired into the vineyard in old age, at
the eleventh hour, when the day of life is far spent, and
there is but one hour of the twelve remaining. None are hired at
the twelfth hour; when life is done, opportunity is done; but “while
there is life, there is hope.”
1. There is hope for old sinners; for if, in sincerity, they
turn to God, they shall doubtless be accepted; true repentance is never
too late. And,
2. There is hope of old sinners, that they may be brought to
true repentance; nothing is too hard for Almighty grace to do, it
can change the Ethiopian’s skin, and the leopard’s spots; can
set those to work, who have contracted a habit of idleness. Nicodemus
may be born again when he is old, and the old man may be put
off, which is corrupt.
Yet let none, upon this presumption, put off their repentance till they
are old. These were sent into the vineyard, it is true, at
the eleventh hour; but nobody had hired them, or offered to hire
them, before. The Gentiles came in at the eleventh hour, but it
was because the gospel had not been before preached to them. Those that
have had gospel offers made them at the third, or sixth hour,
and have resisted and refused them, will not have that to say for
themselves at the eleventh hour, that these had; No man has hired
us; nor can they be sure that any man will hire them at the ninth
or eleventh hour; and therefore not to discourage any, but to awaken
all, be it remembered, that now is the accepted time; if we will
hear his voice, it must be to-day.
(2.) Here is the account with the labourers. Observe,
[1.] When the account was taken; when the evening was come,
then, as usual, the day-labourers were called and paid. Note, Evening
time is the reckoning time; the particular account must be given up in
the evening of our life; for after death cometh the judgment. Faithful
labourers shall receive their reward when they die; it is deferred till
then, that they may wait with patience for it, but no longer; for God
will observe his own rule, The hire of the labourers shall not abide
with thee all night, until the morning. See
When Paul, that faithful labourer, departs, he is with Christ
presently. The payment shall not be wholly deferred till the morning
of the resurrection; but then, in the evening of the world, will be
the general account, when every one shall receive according to the
things done in the body. When time ends, and with it the world of
work and opportunity, then the state of retribution commences; then
call the labourers, and give them their hire. Ministers call them into
the vineyard, to do their work; death calls them out of the vineyard,
to receive their penny: and those to whom the call into the vineyard is
effectual, the call out of it will be joyful. Observe, They did not
come for their pay till they were called; we must with patience wait
God’s time for our rest and recompence; go by our master’s clock.
The last trumpet, at the great day, shall call the labourers,
1 Thess. iv. 16.
Then shalt thou call, saith the good and faithful servant,
and I will answer. In calling the labourers, they must begin
from the last, and so to the first. Let not those that come in at the
eleventh hour, be put behind the rest, but, lest they should be
discouraged, call them first. At the great day, though the
dead in Christ shall rise first, yet they which are alive and
remain, on whom the ends of the world (the eleventh hour of its
day) comes, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds;
no preference shall be given to seniority, but every man shall stand
in his own lot at the end of the days.
[2.] What the account was; and in that observe,
First, The general pay
(v. 9, 10);
They received every man a penny. Note, All that by patient
continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, honour, and immortality,
shall undoubtedly obtain eternal life
(Rom. ii. 7),
not as wages for the value of their work, but as the gift
of God. Though there be degrees of glory in heaven, yet it will be to
all a complete happiness. They that come from the east and west, and so
come in late, that are picked up out of the highways and the hedges,
shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, at the same feast,
In heaven, every vessel will be full, brimful, though every vessel is
not alike large and capacious. In the distribution of future joys, as
it was in the gathering of the manna, he that shall gather much, will
have nothing over, and he that shall gather little, will have no lack,
Those whom Christ fed miraculously, though of different sizes, men,
women, and children, did all eat, and were filled.
The giving of a whole day’s wages to those that had not done the tenth
part of a day’s work, is designed to show that God distributes his
rewards by grace and sovereignty, and not of debt.
The best of the labourers, and those that begin soonest, having so many
empty spaces in their time, and their works not being filled up before
God, may truly be said to labour in the vineyard scarcely one hour of
their twelve; but because we are under grace, and not under
the law, even such defective services, done in sincerity, shall not
only be accepted, but by free grace richly rewarded. Compare
Luke xvii. 7, 8, with Luke xii. 37.
Secondly, The particular pleading with those that were offended
with this distribution in gavel-kind. The circumstances of this serve
to adorn the parable; but the general scope is plain, that the last
shall be first. We have here,
1. The offence taken
(v. 11, 12);
They murmured at the good man of the house; not that there is,
or can be, any discontent or murmuring in heaven, for that is both
guilt and grief, and in heaven there is neither; but there may be, and
often are, discontent and murmuring concerning heaven and heavenly
things, while they are in prospect and promise in this world. This
signifies the jealousy which the Jews were provoked to by the admission
of the Gentiles into the kingdom of heaven. As the elder brother, in
the parable of the prodigal, repined at the reception of his younger
brother, and complained of his father’s generosity to him; so these
labourers quarrelled with their master, and found fault, not because
they had not enough, so much as because others were made equal
with them. They boast, as the prodigal’s elder brother did, of their
good services; We have borne the burthen and heat of the day;
that was the most they could make of it. Sinners are said to labour
in the very fire
(Hab. ii. 13),
whereas God’s servants, at the worst, do but labour in the sun; not in
the heat of the iron furnace, but only in the heat of the day. Now
these last have worked but one hour, and that too in the cool of
the day; and yet thou hast made them equal with us. The
Gentiles, who are newly called in, have as much of the privileges of
the kingdom of the Messiah as the Jews have, who have so long been
labouring in the vineyard of the Old-Testament church, under the yoke
of the ceremonial law, in expectation of that kingdom. Note, There is a
great proneness in us to think that we have too little, and other too
much, of the tokens of God’s favour; and that we do too much, and
others too little, in the work of God. Very apt we all are to
undervalue the deserts of others, and to overvalue our own. Perhaps,
Christ here gives an intimation to Peter, not to boast too much, as he
seemed to do, of his having left all to follow Christ; as if,
because he and the rest of them had borne the burthen and heat of the
day thus, they must have a heaven by themselves. It is hard for those
that do or suffer more than ordinary for God, not to be elevated too
much with the thought of it, and to expect to merit by it. Blessed Paul
guarded against this, when, though the chief of the apostles, he
owned himself to be nothing, to be less than the least of all
saints.
2. The offence removed. Three things the master of the house urges, in
answer to this ill-natured surmise.
(1.) That the complainant had no reason at all to say he had any wrong
done to him,
Here he asserts his own justice; Friend, I do thee no wrong. He
calls him friend, for in reasoning with others we should use
soft words and hard arguments; if our inferiors are peevish and
provoking, yet we should not thereby be put into a passion, but speak
calmly to them.
[1.] It is incontestably true, that God can do no wrong. This is the
prerogative of the King of kings. Is there unrighteousness with
God? The apostle startles at the thought of it; God forbid!
Rom. iii. 5, 6.
His word should silence all our murmurings, that, whatever God does to
us, or withholds from us, he does us no wrong.
[2.] If God gives that grace to others, which he denies to us, it is
kindness to them, but no injustice to us; and bounty to another, while
it is no injustice to us, we ought not to find fault with. Because it
is free grace, that is given to those that have it, boasting is for
ever excluded; and because it is free grace, that is withheld from
those that have it not, murmuring is for ever excluded. Thus shall
every mouth be stopped, and all flesh be silent before God.
To convince the murmurer that he did no wrong, he refers him to the
bargain: “Didst not thou agree with me for a penny? And if thou
hast what thou didst agree for, thou hast no reason to cry out of
wrong; thou shalt have what we agreed for.” Though God is a debtor to
none, yet he is graciously pleased to make himself a debtor by his own
promise, for the benefit of which, through Christ, believers agree with
him, and he will stand to his part of the agreement. Note, It is good
for us often to consider what it was that we agreed with God for.
First, Carnal worldlings agree with God for their penny in this
world; they choose their portion in this life
(Ps. xvii. 14);
in these things they are willing to have their reward
(ch. vi. 2, 5),
their consolation
(Luke vi. 24),
their good things
(Luke xvi. 25);
and with these they shall be put off, shall be cut off from spiritual
and eternal blessings; and herein God does them no wrong; they have
what they chose, the penny they agreed for; so shall their doom be,
themselves have decided it; it is conclusive against them.
Secondly, Obedient believers agree with God for their penny in
the other world, and they must remember that they have so agreed. Didst
not thou agree to take God’s word for it? Thou didst; and wilt thou go
and agree with the world? Didst not thou agree to take up with heaven
as thy portion, thy all, and to take up with nothing short of it? And
wilt thou seek for a happiness in the creature, or think from thence to
make up the deficiencies of thy happiness in God?
He therefore,
1. Ties him to his bargain
(v. 14);
Take that thine is, and go thy way. If we understand it of that
which is ours by debt or absolute propriety, it would be a dreadful
word; we are all undone, if we be put off with that only which we can
call our own. The highest creature must go away into nothing, if
he must go away with that only which is his own: but if we understand
it of that which is ours by gift, the free gift of God, it
teaches us to be content with such things as we have. Instead of
repining that we have no more, let us take what we have, and be
thankful. If God be better in any respect to others than to us, yet we
have no reason to complain while he is so much better to us than we
deserve, in giving us our penny, though we are unprofitable servants.
2. He tells him that those he envied should fare as well as he did;
“I will give unto this last, even as unto thee; I am resolved I
will.” Note, The unchangeableness of God’s purposes in dispensing his
gifts should silence our murmurings. If he will do it, it is not for us
to gainsay; for he is in one mind, and who can turn him? Neither
giveth he an account of any of his matters; nor is it fit he
should.
(2.) He had no reason to quarrel with the master; for what he gave was
absolutely his own,
As before he asserted his justice, so here his sovereignty; Is it
not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? Note,
[1.] God is the Owner of all good; his propriety in it is absolute,
sovereign, and unlimited.
[2.] He may therefore give or withhold his blessings, as he pleases.
What we have, is not our own, and therefore it is not lawful
for us to do what we will with it; but what God has, is his own;
and this will justify him, First, In all the disposals of his
providence; when God takes from us that which was dear to us, and which
we could ill spare, we must silence our discontents with this; May
he not do what he will with his own? Abstulit, sed et dedit–He hath
taken away; but he originally gave. It is not for such depending
creatures as we are to quarrel with our Sovereign. Secondly, In
all the dispensations of his grace, God gives or withholds the means of
grace, and the Spirit of grace, as he pleases. Not but that there is a
counsel in every will of God, and what seems to us to be done
arbitrarily, will appear at length to have been done wisely, and for
holy ends. But this is enough to silence all murmurs and objectors,
that God is sovereign Lord of all, and may do what he will with his
own. We are in his hand, as clay in the hands of a potter; and it
is not for us to prescribe to him, or strive with him.
(3.) He had no reason to envy his fellow servant, or to grudge at him;
or to be angry that he came into the vineyard no sooner; for he was not
sooner called; he had no reason to be angry that the master had given
him wages for the whole day, when he had idled away the greatest part
of it; for Is thine eye evil, because I am good? See here,
[1.] The nature of envy; It is an evil eye. The eye is often both the
inlet and the outlet of this sin. Saul saw that David prospered, and
he eyed him,
1 Sam. xviii. 9, 15.
It is an evil eye, which is displeased at the good of others, and
desires their hurt. What can have more evil in it? It is grief to
ourselves, anger to God, and ill-will to our neighbour; and it is a sin
that has neither pleasure, profit, nor honour, in it; it is an evil,
an only evil.
[2.] The aggravation of it; “It is because I am good.” Envy is
unlikeness to God, who is good, and doeth good, and delighteth in doing
good; nay, it is an opposition and contradiction to God; it is a
dislike of his proceedings, and a displeasure at what he does, and is
pleased with. It is a direct violation of both the two great
commandments at once; both that of love to God, in whose will we should
acquiesce, and love to our neighbour, in whose welfare we should
rejoice. Thus man’s badness takes occasion from God’s goodness to be
more exceedingly sinful.
Lastly, Here is the application of the parable
(v. 16),
in that observation which occasioned it
(ch. xix. 30);
So the first shall be last, and the last first. There were many
that followed Christ now in the regeneration, when the gospel kingdom
was first set up, and these Jewish converts seemed to have got the
start of others; but Christ, to obviate and silence their boasting,
here tells them,
1. That they might possibly be outstripped by their successors in
profession, and, though they were before others in profession, might be
found inferior to them in knowledge, grace, and holiness. The Gentile
church, which was as yet unborn, the Gentile world, which as yet stood
idle in the market-place, would produce greater numbers of
eminent, useful Christians, than were found among the Jews. More and
more excellent shall be the children of the desolate than those of
the married wife,
Isa. liv. 1.
Who knows but that the church, in its old age, may be more fat and
flourishing than ever, to show that the Lord is upright? Though
primitive Christianity had more of the purity and power of that holy
religion than is to be found in the degenerate age wherein we live, yet
what labourers may be sent into the vineyard in the eleventh
hour of the church’s day, in the Philadelphian period, and what
plentiful effusions of the Spirit may then be, above what has been yet,
who can tell?
2. That they had reason to fear, lest they themselves should be found
hypocrites at last; for many are called but few chosen. This is
applied to the Jews
(ch. xxii. 14);
it was so then, it is too true still; many are called with a common
call, that are not chosen with a saving choice. All that are chosen
from eternity, are effectually called, in the fulness of time
so that in making our effectual calling sure we make sure our
election
(2 Pet. i. 10);
but it is not so as to the outward call; many are called, and
yet refuse
(Prov. i. 24),
nay, as they are called to God, so they go from him
by which it appears that they were not chosen, for the election will
obtain,
Rom. xi. 7.
Note, There are but few chosen Christians, in comparison with
the many that are only called Christians; it therefore highly
concerns us to build our hope for heaven upon the rock of an eternal
choice, and not upon the sand of an external call; and we should fear
lest we be found but seeming Christians, and so should really come
short; nay, lest we be found blemished Christians, and so should
seem to come short,
Heb. iv. 1.
| The Sufferings of Christ Predicted. |
|
|
17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples
apart in the way, and said unto them,
18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be
betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they
shall condemn him to death,
19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to
scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise
again.
This is the third time that Christ gave his disciples notice of his
approaching sufferings; he was not going up to Jerusalem to celebrate
the passover, and to offer up himself the great Passover; both must be
done at Jerusalem: there the passover must be kept
(Deut. xii. 5),
and there a prophet must perish, because there the great Sanhedrim sat,
who were judges in that case,
Observe,
I. The privacy of this prediction; He took the twelve disciples
apart in the way. This was one of those things which were told to
them in darkness, but which they were afterward to speak in
the light,
ch. x. 27.
His secret was with them, as his friends, and this particularly. It was
a hard saying, and, if any could bear it, they could. They would be
more immediately exposed to peril with him, and therefore it was
requisite that they should know of it, that, being fore-warned, they
might be fore-armed. It was not fit to be spoken publicly as yet, 1.
Because many that were cool toward him, would hereby have been driven
to turn their backs upon him; the scandal of the cross would have
frightened them from following him any longer.
2. Because many that were hot for him, would hereby be driven to take
up arms in his defense, and it might have occasioned an uproar among
the people
(ch. xxvi. 5),
which would have been laid to his charge, if he had told them of it
publicly before: and, besides that such methods are utterly
disagreeable to the genius of his kingdom, which is not of this world,
he never countenanced any thing which had a tendency to prevent his
sufferings. This discourse was not in the synagogue, or in the house,
but in the way, as they travelled along; which teaches us, in
our walks or travels with our friends, to keep up such discourse as
is good, and to the use of edifying. See
II. The prediction itself,
Observe,
1. It is but a repetition of what he had once and again said before,
This intimates that he not only saw clearly what troubles lay before
him, but that his heart was upon his suffering-work; it filled him, not
with fear, then he would have studied to avoid it, and could have done
it, but with desire and expectation; he spoke thus frequently of his
sufferings, because through them he was to enter into his glory. Note,
It is good for us to be often thinking and speaking of our death, and
of the sufferings which, it is likely, we may meet with betwixt this
and the grave; and thus, by making them more familiar, they would
become less formidable. This is one way of dying daily, and of taking
up our cross daily, to be daily speaking of the cross, and of dying;
which would come neither the sooner nor the surer, but much the better,
for our thoughts and discourses of them.
2. He is more particular here in foretelling his sufferings than any
time before. He had said
(ch. xvi. 21),
that he should suffer many things, and be killed; and
(ch. xvii. 22),
that he should be betrayed into the hands of men, and they should
kill him; but here he adds; that he shall be condemned, and
delivered to the Gentiles, that they shall mock him, and scourge
him, and crucify him. These are frightful things, and the certain
foresight of them was enough to damp an ordinary resolution, yet (as
was foretold concerning him,
he did not fail, nor was discouraged; but the more clearly he
foresaw his sufferings, the more cheerfully he went forth to meet them.
He foretels by whom he should suffer, by the chief priests and the
scribes; so he had said before, but here he adds, They shall
deliver him to the Gentiles, that he might be the better
understood; for the chief priests and scribes had no power to put him
to death, nor was crucifying a manner of death in use among the Jews.
Christ suffered from the malice both of Jews and Gentiles, because he
was to suffer for the salvation both of Jews and Gentiles; both had a
hand in his death, because he was to reconcile both by his cross,
3. Here, as before, he annexes the mention of his resurrection and his
glory to that of his death and sufferings; The third day he shall
rise again. He still brings this in,
(1.) To encourage himself in his sufferings, and to carry him
cheerfully through them. He endured the cross for the joy set before
him; he foresaw he should rise again, and rise quickly, the third
day. He shall be straightway glorified,
The reward is not only sure, but very near.
(2.) To encourage his disciples, and comfort them, who would be
overwhelmed and greatly terrified by his sufferings.
(3.) To direct us, under all the sufferings of this present
time, to keep up a believing prospect of the glory to be
revealed, to look at the things that are not seen, that are
eternal, which will enable us to call the present afflictions
light, and but for a moment.
| Ambition Corrected. |
|
|
20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her
sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him,
Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand,
and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye
able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be
baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto
him, We are able.
23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and
be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit
on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it
shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
24 And when the ten heard it, they were moved with
indignation against the two brethren.
25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the
princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they
that are great exercise authority upon them.
26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be
great among you, let him be your minister;
27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your
servant:
28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but
to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Here, is first, the request of the two disciples to Christ, and the
rectifying of the mistake upon which that was grounded,
The sons of Zebedee were James and John, two of the first three of
Christ’s disciples; Peter and they were his favourites; John was the
disciple whom Jesus loved; yet none were so often reproved as they;
whom Christ loves best he reproves most,
I. Here is the ambitious address they made to Christ–that they might
sit, the one on his right hand, and the other on his left, in his
kingdom,
It was a great degree of faith, that they were confident of his
kingdom, though now he appeared in meanness; but a great degree of
ignorance, that they still expected a temporal kingdom, with worldly
pomp and power, when Christ had so often told them of sufferings and
self-denial. In this they expected to be grandees. They ask not for
employment in this kingdom, but for honour only; and no place would
serve them in this imaginary kingdom, but the highest, next to Christ,
and above every body else. It is probable that the last word in
Christ’s foregoing discourse gave occasion to this request, that the
third day he should rise again. They concluded that his
resurrection would be his entrance upon his kingdom, and therefore were
resolved to put in betimes for the best place; nor would they lose it
for want of speaking early. What Christ said to comfort them, they thus
abused, and were puffed up with. Some cannot bear comforts, but they
turn them to a wrong purpose; as sweetmeats in a foul stomach produce
bile. Now observe,
1. There was policy in the management of this address, that they put
their mother on to present it, that it might be looked upon as her
request, and not theirs. Though proud people think well of themselves,
they would not be thought to do so, and therefore affect nothing more
than a show of humility
(Col. ii. 18),
and others must be put on to court that honour for them, which they are
ashamed to court for themselves. The mother of James and John was
Salome, as appears by comparing
ch. xxvii. 61, with Mark xv. 40.
Some think she was daughter of Cleophas or Alpheus, and sister or
cousin german to Mary the mother of our Lord. She was one of those
women that attended Christ, and ministered to him; and they thought she
had such an interest in him, that he could deny her nothing, and
therefore they made her their advocate. Thus when Adonijah had
reasonable request to make to Solomon, he put Bathsheba on to speak for
him. It was their mother’s weakness thus to become that tool of their
ambition, which she should have given a check to. Those that are wise
and good, would not be seen in an ill-favoured thing. In gracious
requests, we should learn this wisdom, to desire the prayers of those
that have an interest at the throne of grace; we should beg of our
praying friends to pray for us, and reckon it a real kindness.
It was likewise policy to ask first for a general grant, that he would
do a certain thing for them, not in faith, but in presumption,
upon that general promise; Ask, and it shall be given you; in
which is implied this qualification of our request, that it be
according to the revealed will of God, otherwise we ask and have
not, if we ask to consume it upon our lusts,
Jam. iv. 3.
2. There was pride at the bottom of it, a proud conceit of their own
merit, a proud contempt of their brethren, and a proud desire of honour
and preferment; pride is a sin that most easily besets us, and which it
is hard to get clear of. It is a holy ambition to strive to excel
others in grace and holiness; but it is a sinful ambition to covet to
exceed others in pomp and grandeur. Seekest thou great things for
thyself, when thou hast just now heard of thy Master’s being
mocked, and scourged, and crucified? For shame! Seek them not,
Jer. xlv. 5.
II. Christ’s answer to this address
(v. 22, 23),
directed not to the mother, but to the sons that set her on. Though
others be our mouth in prayer, the answer will be given to us according
as we stand effected. Christ’s answer is very mild; they were
overtaken in the fault of ambition, but Christ restored them with
the spirit of meekness. Observe,
1. How he reproved the ignorance and error of their petition; Ye
know not what ye ask.
(1.) They were much in the dark concerning the kingdom they had their
eye upon; they dreamed of a temporal kingdom, whereas Christ’s kingdom
is not of this world. They knew not what it was to sit on his right
hand, and on his left; they talked of it as blind men do of colours.
Our apprehensions of that glory which is yet to be revealed, are like
the apprehensions which a child has of the preferments of grown men. If
at length, through grace, we arrive at perfection, we shall then put
away such childish fancies: when we come to see face to face, we shall
know what we enjoy; but now, alas, we know not what we ask; we can but
ask for the good as it lies in the promise,
What it will be in the performance, eye has not seen, nor ear heard.
(2.) They were much in the dark concerning the way to that kingdom.
They know not what they ask, who ask for the end, but overlook
the means, and so put asunder what God has joined together. The
disciples thought, when they had left what little all they had
for Christ, and had gone about the country awhile preaching the gospel
of the kingdom, all their service and sufferings were over, and it was
now time to ask, What shall we have? As if nothing were now to
be looked for but crowns and garlands; whereas there were far greater
hardships and difficulties before them than they had yet met with. They
imagined their warfare was accomplished when it was scarcely begun, and
they had yet but run with the footmen. They dream of being in Canaan
presently, and consider not what they shall do in the swellings of
Jordan. Note,
[1.] We are all apt, when we are but girding on the harness, to
boast as though we had put it off.
[2.] We know not what we ask, when we ask for the glory of wearing the
crown, and ask not for grace to bear the cross in our way to it.
2. How he repressed the vanity and ambition of their request. They were
pleasing themselves with the fancy of sitting on his right hand, and on
his left, in great state; now, to check this, he leads them to the
thoughts of their sufferings, and leaves them in the dark about their
glory.
(1.) He leads them to the thoughts of their sufferings, which they were
not so mindful of as they ought to have been. They looked so earnestly
upon the crown, the prize, that they were ready to plunge headlong and
unprepared into the foul way that led to it; and therefore he thinks it
necessary to put them in mind of the hardships that were before them,
that they might be no surprise or terror to them.
Observe,
[1.] How fairly he puts the matter to them, concerning these
difficulties
(v. 22);
“You would stand candidates for the first post of honour in the
kingdom; but are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink
of? You talk of what great things you must have when you have done
your work; but are you able to hold out to the end of it?” Put the
matter seriously to yourselves. These same two disciples once knew not
what manner of spirit they were of, when they were disturbed with
anger,
and now they were not aware what was amiss in their spirits when they
were lifted up with ambition. Christ sees that pride in us which we
discern not in ourselves.
Note, First, That to suffer for Christ is to drink of a
cup, and to be baptized with a baptism. In this description
of sufferings,
1. It is true, that affliction doth abound. It is supposed to be a
bitter cup, that is drunk of, wormwood and gall, those waters of a full
cup, that are wrung out to God’s people
a cup of trembling indeed, but not of fire and brimstone, the portion
of the cup of wicked men,
It is supposed to be a baptism, a washing with the waters of
affliction; some are dipped in them; the waters compass them about even
to the soul
(Jonah ii. 5);
others have but a sprinkling of them; both are baptism, some are
overwhelmed in them, as in a deluge, others ill wet, as in a sharp
shower. But,
2. Even in this, consolation doth more abound. It is but a cup,
not an ocean; it is but a draught, bitter perhaps, but we shall see the
bottom of it; it is a cup in the hand of a Father
and it is full of mixture,
It is but a baptism; if dipped, that is the worst of it, not drowned;
perplexed, but not in despair. Baptism is an ordinance by which we join
ourselves to the Lord in covenant and communion; and so is suffering
for Christ,
Ezek. xx. 37; Isa. xlviii. 10.
Baptism is “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual
grace;” and so is suffering for Christ, for unto us it is given,
Phil. i. 29.
Secondly, It is to drink of the same cup that Christ drank of,
and to be baptized with the same baptism that he was baptized with.
Christ is beforehand with us in suffering, and in that as in other
things left us an example.
1. It bespeaks the condescension of a suffering Christ, that he would
drink of such a cup
nay, and such a brook
(Ps. cx. 7),
and drink so deep, and yet so cheerfully; that he would be baptized
with such a baptism, and was so forward to it,
It was much that he would be baptized with water as a common sinner,
much more with blood as an uncommon malefactor. But in all this he was
made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and was made sin for
us.
2. It bespeaks the consolation of suffering Christians, that they do
but pledge Christ in the bitter cup, are partakers of his
sufferings, and fill up that which is behind of them; we
must therefore arm ourselves with the same mind, and go to him
without the camp.
Thirdly, It is good for us to be often putting it to ourselves,
whether we are able to drink of this cup, and to be baptized with this
baptism. We must expect suffering, and not look upon it as a hard
thing to suffer well and as becomes us. Are we able to suffer
cheerfully, and in the worst of times still to hold fast our integrity?
What can we afford to part with for Christ? How far will we give him
credit? Could I find in my heart to drink of a bitter cup, and to be
baptized with a bloody baptism, rather than let go my hold of Christ?
The truth is, Religion, if it be worth any thing, is worth every thing;
but it is worth little, if it be not worth suffering for. Now let us
sit down, and count the cost of dying for Christ rather than denying
him, and ask, Can we take him upon these terms?
[2.] See how boldly they engage for themselves; they said, We are
able, in hopes of sitting on his right hand, and on his left; but
at the same time they fondly hoped that they should never be tried. As
before they knew not what they asked, so now they knew not what they
answered. We are able; they would have done well to put in,
“Lord, by thy strength, and in thy grace, we are able,
otherwise we are not.” But the same that was Peter’s temptation, to be
confident of his own sufficiency, and presume upon his own strength,
was here the temptation of James and John; and it is a sin we are all
prone to. They knew not what Christ’s cup was, nor what his baptism,
and therefore they were thus bold in promising for themselves. But
those are commonly most confident, that are least acquainted with the
cross.
[3.] See how plainly and positively their sufferings are here foretold
(v. 23);
Ye shall drink of my cup. Sufferings foreseen will be the more
easily borne, especially if looked upon under a right notion, as
drinking of his cup, and being baptized with his baptism. Christ began
in suffering for us, and expects we should pledge him in suffering for
him. Christ will have us know the worst, that we may make the best of
our way to heaven; Ye shall drink; that is, ye shall suffer.
James drank the bloody cup first of all the apostles,
John, though at last he died in his bed, if we may credit the
ecclesiastical historians, yet often drank of this bitter cup, as when
he was banished into the isle of Patmos
(Rev. i. 9),
and when (as they say) at Ephesus he was put into a caldron of boiling
oil, but was miraculously preserved. He was, as the rest of the
apostles, in deaths often. He took the cup, offered himself to the
baptism, and it was accepted.
(2.) He leaves them in the dark about the degrees of their glory. To
carry them cheerfully through their sufferings, it was enough to be
assured that they should have a place in his kingdom. The lowest
seat in heaven is an abundant recompence for the greatest sufferings on
earth. But as to the preferments there, it was not fit there should be
any intimation given for whom they were intended; for the infirmity of
their present state could not bear such a discovery with any evenness;
“To sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, and
therefore it is not for you to ask it or to know it; but it shall be
given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.” Note,
[1.] It is very probable that there are degrees of glory in heaven; for
our Saviour seems to allow that there are some that shall sit on his
right hand and on his left, in the highest places.
[2.] As the future glory itself, so the degrees of it, are purposed and
prepared in the eternal counsel of God; as the common salvation, so the
more peculiar honours, are appointed, the whole affair is long since
settled, and there is a certain measure of the stature, both in grace
and glory,
[3.] Christ, in dispensing the fruits of his own purchase, goes exactly
by the measures of his Father’s purpose; It is not mine to give,
save to them (so it may be read) for whom it is prepared.
Christ has the sole power of giving eternal life, but then it is to
as many as were given him,
John xvii. 2.
It is not mine to give, that is, to promise now; that
matter is already settled and concerted, and the Father and Son
understand one another perfectly well in this matter. “It is not mine
to give to those that seek and are ambitious of it, but to those that
by great humility and self-denial are prepared for it.”
III. Here are the reproof and instruction which Christ gave to the
other ten disciples for their displeasure at the request of James and
John. He had much to bear with in them all, they were so weak in
knowledge and grace, yet he bore their manners.
1. The fret that the ten disciples were in
(v. 24).
They were moved with indignation against the two brethren; not
because they were desirous to be preferred, which was their sin, and
for which Christ was displeased with them, but because they were
desirous to be preferred before them, which was a reflection
upon them. Many seem to have indignation at sin; but it is not because
it is sin, but because it touches them. They will inform against a man
that swears; but it is only if he swear at them, and affront them, not
because he dishonours God. These disciples were angry at their
brethren’s ambition, though they themselves, bay because they
themselves, were as ambitious. Note, It is common for people to be
angry at those sins in others which they allow of and indulge in
themselves. Those that are proud and covetous themselves do not care to
see others so. Nothing makes more mischief among brethren, or is the
cause of more indignation and contention, than ambition, and desire of
greatness. We never find Christ’s disciples quarreling, but something
of this was at the bottom of it.
2. The check that Christ gave them, which was very gentle, rather by
way of instruction what they should be, than by way of reprehension for
what they were. He had reproved this very sin before
(ch. xviii. 3),
and told them they must be humble as little children; yet they relapsed
into it, and yet he reproved them for it thus mildly.
He called them unto him, which intimates great tenderness and
familiarity. He did not, in anger, bid them get out of his presence,
but called them, in love, to come into his presence: for
therefore he is fit to teach, and we are invited to learn of
him, because he is meek and lowly in heart. What he had to say
concerned both the two disciples and the ten, and therefore he will
have them all together. And he tells them, that, whereas they were
asking which of them should have dominion a temporal kingdom, there was
really no such dominion reserved for any of them. For,
(1.) They must not be like the princes of the Gentiles. Christ’s
disciples must not be like Gentiles, no not like princes of the
Gentiles. Principality doth no more become ministers than Gentilism
doth Christians.
Observe,
[1.] What is the way of the princes of the Gentiles
(v. 25);
to exercise dominion and authority over their subjects, and (if
they can but win the upper hand with a strong hand) over one another
too. That which bears them up in it is, that they are great, and great
men think they may do any thing. Dominion and authority are the great
things which the princes of the Gentiles pursue, and pride themselves
in; they would bear sway, would carry all before them, have every body
truckle to them, and every sheaf bow to theirs. They would have it
cried before them, Bow the knee; like Nebuchadnezzar, who slew,
and kept alive, at pleasure.
[2.] What is the will of Christ concerning his apostles and ministers,
in this matter.
First, “It shall not be so among you. The constitution of the
spiritual kingdom is quite different from this. You are to teach the
subjects of this kingdom, to instruct and beseech them, to counsel and
comfort them, to take pains with them, and suffer with them, not to
exercise dominion or authority over them; you are not to lord it
over God’s heritage
(1 Pet. v. 3),
but to labour in it.” This forbids not only tyranny, and abuse of
power, but the claim or use of any such secular authority as the
princes of the Gentiles lawfully exercise. So hard is it for vain men,
even good men, to have such authority, and not to be puffed up with it,
and do more hurt than good with it, that our Lord Jesus saw fit wholly
to banish it out of his church. Paul himself disowns dominion over the
faith of any,
The pomp and grandeur of the princes of the Gentiles ill become
Christ’s disciples. Now, if there were no such power and honour
intended to be in the church, it was nonsense for them to be striving
who should have it. They knew not what they asked.
Secondly, How then shall it be among the disciples of Christ?
Something of greatness among them Christ himself had intimated, and
here he explains it; “He that will be great among you, that
will be chief, that would really be so, and would be found to be
so at last, let him be your minister, your servant,”
Here observe,
1. That it is the duty of Christ’s disciples to serve one another, for
mutual edification. This includes both humility and usefulness. The
followers of Christ must be ready to stoop to the meanest offices of
love for the good one of another, must submit one to another
and edify one another
(Rom. xiv. 19),
please one another for good,
The great apostle made himself every one’s servant; see
2. It is the dignity of Christ’s disciples faithfully to discharge
this duty. The way to be great and chief is to be humble and
serviceable. Those are to be best accounted of, and most respected, in
the church, and will be so by all that understand things aright; not
those that are dignified with high and mighty names, like the names of
the great ones of the earth, that appear in pomp, and assume to
themselves a power proportionable, but those that are most humble and
self-denying, and lay out themselves most to do good, though to the
diminishing of themselves. These honour God most, and those he will
honour. As he must become a fool that would be wise, so he must become
a servant that would be chief. St. Paul was a great example of this;
he laboured more abundantly than they all, made himself (as some
would call it) a drudge to his work; and is not he chief? Do we not by
consent call him the great apostle, though he called himself
less than the least? And perhaps our Lord Jesus had an eye to
him, when he said, There were last that should be first;
for Paul was one born out of due time
(1 Cor. xv. 8);
not only the youngest child of the family of the apostles, but a
posthumous one, yet he became greatest. And perhaps he it was for whom
the first post of honour in Christ’s kingdom was reserved and prepared
of his Father, not for James who sought it; and therefore just before
Paul began to be famous as an apostle, Providence ordered it so that
James was cut off
(Acts xii. 2),
that in the college of the twelve Paul might be substituted in his
room.
(2.) They must be like the Master himself; and it is very fit that they
should, that, while they were in the world, they should be as he was
when he was in the world; for to both the present state is a state of
humiliation, the crown and glory were reserved for both in the future
state. Let them consider that the Son of Man came not to be
ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for
many,
v. 28.
Our Lord Jesus here sets himself before his disciples as a pattern of
those two things before recommended, humility, and usefulness.
[1.] Never was there such an example of humility and condescension as
there was in the life of Christ, who came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister. When the Son of God came into the world, his
Ambassador to the children of men, one would think he should have been
ministered to, should have appeared in an equipage agreeable to his
person and character; but he did not so; he made no figure, had no
pompous train of state-servants to attend him, nor was he clad in robes
of honour, for he took upon him the form of a servant. He was
indeed ministered to as a poor man, which was a part of his
humiliation; there were those that ministered to him of their
substance
but he was never ministered to as a great man; he never took state upon
him, was not waited on at table; he once washed his disciples’ feet,
but we never read that they washed his feet. He came to minister help
to all that were in distress; he made himself a servant to the sick and
diseased; was as ready to their requests as ever any servant was at the
beck of his master, and took as much pains to serve them; he attended
continually to this very thing, and denied himself both food and rest
to attend to it.
[2.] Never was there such an example of beneficence and usefulness as
there was in the death of Christ, who gave his life a ransom for
many. He lived as a servant, and went about doing good; but he died
as a sacrifice, and in that he did the greatest good of all. He came
into the world on purpose to give his life a ransom; it was first in
his intention. The aspiring princes of the Gentiles make the lives of
many a ransom for their own honour, and perhaps a sacrifice to their
own humour. Christ doth not do so; his subjects’ blood is precious to
him, and he is not prodigal of it
but on the contrary, he gives his honour and life too ransom for his
subjects. Note, First, Jesus Christ laid down his life for a
ransom. Our lives were forfeited into the hands of divine justice by
sin. Christ, by parting with his life, made atonement for sin, and so
rescued ours; he was made sin, and a curse for us, and died, not
only for our good, but in our stead,
Acts xx. 28; 1 Pet. i. 18, 19.
Secondly, It was a ransom for many, sufficient for all,
effectual for many; and, if for many, then, saith the poor doubting
soul, “Why not for me?” It was for many, that by him many may be made
righteous. These many were his seed, for which his soul travailed
for many, so they will be when they come all together, though now they
appear but a little flock.
Now this is a good reason why we should not strive for precedency,
because the cross is our banner, and our Master’s death is our life. It
is a good reason why we should study to do good, and, in consideration
of the love of Christ in dying for us, not hesitate to lay down our
lives for the brethren,
1 John iii. 16.
Ministers should be more forward than others to serve and suffer for
the good of souls, as blessed Paul was,
The nearer we are all concerned in, and the more we are advantaged by,
the humility and humiliation of Christ, the more ready and careful we
should be to imitate it.
| Sight Given to the Blind. |
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29 And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude
followed him.
30 And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when
they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on
us, O Lord, thou Son of David.
31 And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold
their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O
Lord, thou Son of David.
32 And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will
ye that I shall do unto you?
33 They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.
34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes:
and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.
We have here an account of the cure of two poor blind beggars; in which
we may observe,
I. Their address to Christ,
And in this,
1. The circumstances of it are observable. It was as Christ and his
disciples departed from Jericho; of that devoted place, which was
rebuilt under a curse, Christ took his leave with this blessing, for he
received gifts even for the rebellious. It was in the presence of a
great multitude that followed him; Christ had a numerous, though
not a pompous, attendance, and did good to them, though he did not take
state to himself. This multitude that followed him for loaves, and some
for love, some for curiosity, and some in expectation of his temporal
reign, which the disciples themselves dreamed of, very few with desire
to be taught their duty; yet, for the sake of those few, he confirmed
his doctrine by miracles wrought in the presence of great multitudes;
who, if they were not convinced by them, would be the more inexcusable.
Two blind men concurred in their request; for joint-prayer is pleasing
to Christ,
These joint-sufferers were joint-suitors; being companions in the same
tribulation, they were partners in the same supplication. Note, It is
good for those that are labouring under the same calamity, or infirmity
of body or mind, to join together in the same prayer to God for relief,
that they may quicken one another’s fervency, and encourage one
another’s faith. There is mercy enough in Christ for all the
petitioners. These blind men were sitting by the way-side, as
blind beggars used to do. Note, Those that would receive mercy from
Christ, must place themselves there where his out-goings are; where he
manifests himself to those that seek him. It is good thus to way-lay
Christ, to be in his road.
They heard that Jesus passed by. Though they were blind, they
were not deaf. Seeing and hearing are the learning senses. It is a
great calamity to want either; but the defect of one may be, and often
is, made up in the acuteness of the other; and therefore it has been
observed by some as an instance of the goodness of Providence, that
none were ever known to be born both blind and deaf; but that, one way
or other, all are in a capacity of receiving knowledge. These blind men
had heard of Christ by the hearing of the ear, but they desired that
their eyes might see him. When they heard that Jesus passed by,
they asked no further questions, who were with him, or whether he was
in haste, but immediately cried out. Note, It is good to improve
the present opportunity, to make the best of the price now in the hand,
because, if once let slip, it may never return; these blind men did so,
and did wisely; for we do not find that Christ ever came to Jericho
again. Now is the accepted time.
2. The address itself is more observable; Have mercy on us, O Lord,
thou Son of David, repeated again,
Four things are recommended to us for an example in this address; for,
though the eye of the body was dark, the eye of the mind was
enlightened concerning truth, duty, and interest.
(1.) Here is an example of importunity in prayer. They cried out as men
in earnest; men in want are earnest, of course. Cold desires do but beg
denials. Those that would prevail in prayer, must stir up themselves to
take hold on God in duty. When they were discountenanced in it, they
cried the more. The stream of fervency, if it be stopped, will rise and
swell the higher. This wrestling with God in prayer, and makes us the
fitter to receive mercy; for the more it is striven for, the more it
will be prized and thankfully acknowledged.
(2.) Of humility in prayer; in that word, Have mercy on us, not
specifying the favour, or prescribing what, much less pleading merit,
but casting themselves upon, and referring themselves cheerfully to,
the Mediator’s mercy, in what way he pleases; “Only have mercy.” They
ask not for silver and gold, though they were poor, but mercy, mercy.
This is that which our hearts must be upon, when we come to the
throne of grace, that we may find mercy,
Heb. iv. 16; Ps. cxxx. 7.
(3.) Of faith in prayer; in the title they gave to Christ, which was in
the nature of a plea; O Lord, thou Son o David; they confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, and therefore had authority to
command deliverance for them. Surely it was by the Holy Ghost that they
called Christ Lord,
1 Cor. xii. 3.
Thus they take their encouragement in prayer from his power, as in
calling him the Son of David they take encouragement from his goodness,
as Messiah, of whom so many kind and tender things had been foretold,
particularly his compassion to the poor and needy,
It is of excellent use, in prayer, to eye Christ in the grace and glory
of his Messiahship; to remember that he is the Son of David, whose
office it is to help, and save, and to plead it with him.
(4.) Of perseverance in prayer, notwithstanding discouragement. The
multitude rebuked them, as noisy, clamorous, and impertinent, and
bid them hold their peace, and not disturb the Master, who
perhaps at first himself seemed not to regard them. In following Christ
with our prayers, we must expect to meet with hindrances and manifold
discouragements from within and from without, something or other that
bids us hold our peace. Such rebuke are permitted, that faith and
fervency, patience and perseverance, may be tried. These poor blind men
were rebuked by the multitude that followed Christ. Note, the sincere
and serious beggars at Christ’s door commonly meet with the worst
rebukes from those that follow him but in pretence and hypocrisy. But
they would not be beaten off so; when they were in pursuit of such a
mercy, it was no time to compliment, or to practise a timid delicacy;
no, they cried the more. Note, Men ought always to pray, and
not to faint; to pray with all perseverance
to continue in prayer with resolution, and not to yield to
opposition.
II. The answer of Christ to this address of theirs. The multitude
rebuked them; but Christ encouraged them. It were sad for us, if the
Master were not more kind and tender than the multitude; but he loves
to countenance those with special favour, that are under frowns, and
rebukes, and contempts from men. He will not suffer his humble
supplicants to be run down, and put out of countenance.
1. He stood still, and called them,
v. 32.
He was now going up to Jerusalem, and was straitened till his work
there was accomplished; and yet he stood still to cure these blind men.
Note, When we are ever so much in haste about any business, yet we
should be willing to stand still to do good. He called them, not
because he could not cure them at a distance, but because he would do
it in the most obliging and instructive way, and would countenance weak
but willing patients and petitioners. Christ not only enjoins us to
pray, but invites us; holds out the golden sceptre to us, and bids us
come touch the top of it.
2. He enquired further into their case; What will ye that I shall do
unto you? This implies,
(1.) A very fair offer; “Here I am; let me know what you would have,
and you shall have it.” What would we more? He is able to do for us,
and as willing as he is able; Ask, and it shall be given you.
(2.) A condition annexed to this offer, which is a very easy and
reasonable one–that they should tell him what they would have him do
for them. One would think this a strange question, any one might tell
what they would have. Christ knew well enough; but he would know it
from them, whether they begged only for alms, as from a common person,
or for a cure, as from the Messiah. Note, It is the will of God that we
should in every thing make our requests known to him by prayer and
supplication; not to inform or move him, but to qualify ourselves for
the mercy. The waterman in the boat, who with his hook takes hold of
the shore, does not thereby pull the shore to the boat, but the boat to
the shore. So in prayer we do not draw the mercy to ourselves, but
ourselves to the mercy.
They soon made known their request to him, such a one as they never
made to any one else; Lord, that our eyes may be opened. The
wants and burthens of the body we are soon sensible of, and can readily
relate; Ubi dolor, ubi digitus–The finger promptly points to the
seat of pain. O that we were but as apprehensive of our spiritual
maladies, and could as feelingly complain of them, especially our
spiritual blindness! Lord, that the eyes of our mind may be opened!
Many are spiritually blind, and yet say they see,
Were we but sensible of our darkness, we should soon apply ourselves to
him, who alone has the eye-salve, with this request, Lord, that our
eyes may be opened.
3. He cured them; when he encouraged them to seek him, he did not say,
Seek in vain. What he did was an instance,
(1.) Of his pity; He had compassion on them. Misery is the
object of mercy. They that are poor and blind are wretched and
miserable
(Rev. iii. 17),
and the objects of compassion. It was the tender mercy of our God, that
gave light and sight to them that sat in darkness,
We cannot help those that are under such calamities, as Christ did; but
we may and must pity them, as Christ did, and draw out our soul to
them.
(2.) Of his power; He that formed the eye, can he not heal it?
Yes, he can, he did, he did it easily, he touched their eyes; he did it
effectually, Immediately their eyes received sight. Thus he not
only proved that he was sent of God, but showed on what errand he was
sent–to give sight to those that are spiritually blind, to turn them
from darkness to light.
Lastly, These blind men, when they had received sight,
followed him. Note, None follow Christ blindfold. He first by
his grace opens men’s eyes, and so draws their hearts after him. They
followed Christ, as his disciples, to learn of him, and as his
witnesses, eye-witnesses, to bear their testimony to him and to his
power and goodness. The best evidence of spiritual illumination is a
constant inseparable adherence to Jesus Christ as our Lord and
Leader.
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