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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
M A T T H E W.
CHAP. XI.
In this chapter we have,
I. The constant and unwearied diligence of our Lord Jesus in his great
work of preaching the gospel,
II. His discourse with the disciples of John concerning his being the
Messiah,
III. The honourable testimony that Christ bore to John Baptist,
IV. The sad account he gives of that generation in general, and of
some particular places with reference to the success, both of John’s
ministry and of his own,
V. His thanksgiving to his Father for the wise and gracious method he
had taken in revealing the great mysteries of the gospel,
VI. His gracious call and invitation of poor sinners to come to him,
and to be ruled, and taught, and saved by him,
No Where have we more of the terror of gospel woes for warning to us,
or of the sweetness of gospel grace for encouragement to us, than in
this chapter, which sets before us life and death, the blessing and the
curse.
| John’s Disciples Come to Christ. |
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1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding
his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach
in their cities.
2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he
sent two of his disciples,
3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we
look for another?
4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again
those things which ye do hear and see:
5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers
are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the
poor have the gospel preached to them.
6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
The first verse of this chapter some join to the foregoing chapter, and
make it (not unfitly) the close of that.
1. The ordination sermon which Christ preached to his disciples in the
foregoing chapter is here called his commanding them. Note, Christ’s
commissions imply commands. Their preaching of the gospel was not only
permitted them, but it was enjoined them. It was not a thing
respecting which they were left at their liberty, but necessity was
laid upon them,
1 Cor. ix. 16.
The promises he made them are included in these commands, for the
covenant of grace is a word which he hath commanded,
Ps. cv. 8.
He made an end of commanding, etelesendiatasson.
Note, The instructions Christ gives are full instructions. He goes
through with his work.
2. When Christ had said what he had to say to his disciples, he
departed thence. It should seem they were very loth to leave
their Master, till he departed and separated himself from them;
as the nurse withdraws the hand, that the child may learn to go by
itself. Christ would now teach them how to live, and how to work,
without his bodily presence. It was expedient for them, that
Christ should thus go away for awhile, that they might be prepared for
his long departure, and that, by the help of the Spirit, their own
hands might be sufficient for them
and they might not be always children. We have little account of what
they did now pursuant to their commission. They went abroad, no doubt;
probably into Judea (for in Galilee the gospel had been mostly preached
hitherto), publishing the doctrine of Christ, and working miracles in
his name: but still in a more immediate dependence upon him, and not
being long from him; and thus they were trained up, by degrees, for
their great work.
3. Christ departed, to teach and preach in the cities whither he
sent his disciples before him to work miracles
(ch. x. 1-8),
and so to raise people’s expectations, and to make way for his
entertainment. Thus was the way of the Lord prepared; John
prepared it by bringing people to repentance, but he did no
miracles. The disciples go further, they work miracles for
confirmation. Note, Repentance and faith prepare people for the
blessings of the kingdom of heaven, which Christ gives. Observe, When
Christ empowered them to work miracles, he employed himself in
teaching and preaching, as if that were the more
honourable of the two. That was but in order to do this. Healing the
sick was the saving of bodies, but preaching the gospel was to
the saving of souls. Christ had directed his disciples to preach
(ch. x. 7),
yet he did not leave off preaching himself. He set them to work, not
for his own ease, but for the ease of the country, and was not the less
busy for employing them. How unlike are they to Christ, who yoke others
only that they may themselves be idle! Note, the increase and multitude
of labourers in the Lord’s work should be made not an excuse for our
negligence, but an encouragement to our diligence. The more busy others
are, the more busy we should be, and all little enough, so much work is
there to be done. Observe, he went to preach in their cities,
which were populous places; he cast the net of the gospel where there
were most fish to be enclosed. Wisdom cries in the cities
(Prov. i. 21),
at the entry of the city
in the cities of the Jews, even of them who made light of him,
who notwithstanding had the first offer.
What he preached we are not told, but it was probably to the same
purpose with his sermon on the mount. But here is next recorded a
message which John Baptist sent to Christ, and his return to it,
We heard before that Jesus heard of John’s sufferings,
Now we are told that John, in prison, hears of Christ’s doings. He
heard in the prison the works of Christ; and no doubt he was
glad to hear of them, for he was a true friend of the Bridegroom,
Note, When one useful instrument is laid aside, God knows how to raise
up many others in the stead of it. The work went on, though John was in
prison, and it added no affliction, but a great deal of consolation, to
his bonds. Nothing more comfortable to God’s people in distress, than
to hear of the works of Christ; especially to experience them in
their own souls. This turns a prison into a palace. Some way or other
Christ will convey the notices of his love to those that are in trouble
for conscience sake. John could not see the works of Christ, but he
heard of them with pleasure. And blessed are they who have not
seen, but only heard, and yet have believed.
Now John Baptist, hearing of Christ’s works, sent two of his disciples
to him; and what passed between them and him we have here an account
of. Here is,
I. The question they had to propose to him: Art thou he that should
come, or do we look for another? This was a serious and important
question; Art thou the Messiah promised, or not? Art thou the
Christ? Tell us.
1. It is taken for granted that the Messiah should come. It was one of
the names by which he was known to the Old-Testament saints, he that
cometh or shall come,
Ps. cxviii. 26.
He is now come, but there is another coming of his which we still
expect.
2. They intimate, that if this be not he, they would look for
another. Note, We must not be weary of looking for him that is to
come, nor ever say, we will not more expect him till we come to enjoy
him. Though he tarry, wait for him, for he that shall come will come,
though not in our time.
3. They intimate likewise, that if they be convinced that this is he,
they will not be sceptics, they will be satisfied, and will look for
no other.
4. They therefore ask, Art thou he? John had said for his part,
I am not the Christ,
John i. 20.
Now,
(1.) Some think that John sent this question for his own satisfaction.
It is true he had borne a noble testimony to Christ; he had declared
him to be the Son of God
(John i. 34),
the Lamb of God
(v. 29),
and he that should baptize with the Holy Ghost
(v. 33),
and sent of God
(John iii. 34),
which were great things. But he desired to be further and more fully
assured, that he was the Messiah that had been so long promised and
expected. Note, In matters relating to Christ and our salvation by him,
it is good to be sure. Christ appeared not in that external pomp and
power in which it was expected he should appear; his own disciples
stumbled at this, and perhaps John did so; Christ saw something of this
at the bottom of this enquiry, when he said, blessed is he who shall
not be offended in me. Note, It is hard, even for good men, to bear
up against vulgar errors.
(2.) John’s doubt might arise from his own present circumstances. He
was a prisoner, and might be tempted to think, if Jesus be indeed the
Messiah, whence is it that I, his friend and forerunner, am brought
into this trouble, and am left to be so long in it, and he never looks
after me, never visits me, nor sends to me, enquires not after me, does
nothing either to sweeten my imprisonment or hasten my enlargement?
Doubtless there was a good reason why our Lord Jesus did not go to John
in prison, lest there should seem to have been a compact between them:
but John construed it into a neglect, and it was perhaps a shock to his
faith in Christ. Note,
[1.] Where there is true faith, yet there may be a mixture of unbelief.
The best are not always alike strong.
[2.] Troubles for Christ, especially when they continue long
unrelieved, are such trials of faith as sometimes prove too hard to be
borne up against.
[3.] The remaining unbelief of good men may sometimes, in an hour of
temptation, strike at the root, and call in question the most
fundamental truths which were thought to be well settled. Will the
Lord cast off for ever? But we will hope that John’s faith did not
fail in this matter, only he desired to have it strengthened and
confirmed. Note, The best saints have need of the best helps they can
get for the strengthening of their faith, and the arming of themselves
against temptations to infidelity. Abraham believed, and yet desired a
sign
so did Gideon,
But,
(3.) Others think that John sent his disciples to Christ with this
question, not so much for his own satisfaction as for theirs. Observe,
Though he was a prisoner they adhered to him, attended on him, and were
ready to receive instructions from him; they loved him, and would not
leave him. Now,
[1.] They were weak in knowledge, and wavering in their faith, and
needed instruction and confirmation; and in this matter they were
somewhat prejudiced; being jealous for their master, they were
jealous of our Master; they were loth to acknowledge Jesus to be
the Messiah, because he eclipsed John, and are loth to believe their
own master when they think he speaks against himself and them. Good men
are apt to have their judgments blessed by their interest. Now John
would have their mistakes rectified, and wished them to be as well
satisfied as he himself was. Note, The strong ought to consider the
infirmities of the weak, and to do what they can to help them: and such
as we cannot help ourselves we should send to those that can. When
thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
[2.] John was all along industrious to turn over his disciples to
Christ, as from the grammar-school to the academy. Perhaps he foresaw
his death approaching, and therefore would bring his disciples to be
better acquainted with Christ, under whose guardianship he must leave
them. Note, Ministers’ business is to direct every body to Christ. And
those who would know the certainty of the doctrine of Christ, must
apply themselves to him, who is come to give an understanding. They who
would grow in grace must be inquisitive.
II. Here is Christ’s answer to this question,
It was not so direct and express, as when he said, I that speak unto
thee am he; but it was a real answer, an answer in fact. Christ
will have us to spell out the convincing evidences of gospel truths,
and to take pains in digging for knowledge.
1. He points them to what they heard and saw, which they must tell
John, that he might from thence take occasion the more fully to
instruct and convince them out of their own mouths. Go and tell him
what you hear and see. Note, Our senses may and ought to be
appealed to in those things that are their proper objects. Therefore
the popish doctrine of the real presence agrees not with the truth
as it is in Jesus; for Christ refers us to the things we hear
and see. Go and tell John,
(1.) What you see of the power of Christ’s miracles; you
see how, by the word of Jesus, the blind receive their sight,
the lame walk, &c. Christ’s miracles were done openly, and in
the view of all; for they feared not the strongest and most impartial
scrutiny. Veritas no quærit angulos–Truth seeks not
concealment. They are to be considered,
[1.] As the acts of a divine power. None but the God of nature
could thus overrule and outdo the power of nature. It is particularly
spoken of as God’s prerogative to open the eyes of the blind,
Ps. cxlvi. 8.
Miracles are therefore the broad seal of heaven, and the doctrine they
are affixed to must be of God, for his power will never contradict his
truth; nor can it be imagined that he should set his seal to a lie;
however lying wonders may be vouched for in proof of false
doctrines, true miracles evince a divine commission; such Christ’s
were, and they leave no room to doubt that he was sent of God, and that
his doctrine was his that sent him.
[2.] As the accomplishment of a divine prediction. It was
foretold
that our God should come, and that then the eyes of the blind should
be opened. Now if the works of Christ agree with the words of the
prophet, as it is plain they do, then no doubt but this is our God whom
we have waited for, who shall come with a recompence; this is he
who is so much wanted.
(2.) Tell him what you hear of the preaching of his
gospel, which accompanies his miracles. Faith, though confirmed by
seeing, comes by hearing. Tell him,
[1.] That the poor preach the gospel; so some read it. It proves
Christ’s divine mission, that those whom he employed in founding his
kingdom were poor men, destitute of all secular advantages, who,
therefore, could never have carried their point, if they had not been
carried on by a divine power.
[2.] That the poor have the gospel preached to them. Christ’s
auditory is made up of such as the scribes and Pharisees despised, and
looked upon with contempt, and the rabbies would not instruct,
because they were notable to pay them. The Old-Testament
prophets were sent mostly to kings and princes, but Christ preached to
the congregations of the poor. It was foretold that the poor
of the flock should wait upon him,
Zech. xi. 11.
Note, Christ’s gracious condescensions and compassions to the
poor, are an evidence that it was he that should bring to the world
the tender mercies of our God. It was foretold that the Son of
David should be the poor man’s King,
Ps. lxxii. 2, 4, 12, 13.
Or we may understand it, not so much of the poor of the world,
as the poor in spirit, and so that scripture is fulfilled,
He hath anointed me to preach glad tidings to the meek. Note, It
is a proof of Christ’s divine mission that his doctrine is gospel
indeed; good news to those who are truly humbled in sorrow for their
sins, and truly humble in the denial of self; to them it is
accommodated, for whom God always declared he had mercy in store.
[3.] That the poor receive the gospel, and are wrought upon by
it, they are evangelized, they receive and entertain the gospel, are
leavened by it, and delivered into it as into a mould. Note, The
wonderful efficacy of the gospel is a proof of its divine original. The
poor are wrought upon by it. The prophets complained of the
poor, that they knew not the way of the Lord,
Jer. v. 4.
They could do no good upon them; but the gospel of Christ made its way
into their untutored minds.
2. He pronounces a blessing on those that were not offended
in him,
v. 6.
So clear are these evidences of Christ’s mission, that they who are not
wilfully prejudiced against him, and scandalized in him (so the word
is), cannot but receive his doctrine, and so be blessed in him.
Note,
(1.) There are many things in Christ which they who are ignorant and
unthinking are apt to be offended at, some circumstances for the sake
of which they reject the substance of his gospel. The meanness of his
appearance, his education at Nazareth, the poverty of his life, the
despicableness of his followers, the slights which the great men put
upon him, the strictness of his doctrine, the contradiction it gives to
flesh and blood, and the sufferings that attend the profession of his
name; these are things that keep many from him, who otherwise cannot
but see much of God in him. Thus he is set for the fall of many,
even in Israel
(Luke ii. 34),
a Rock of offence,
1 Pet. ii. 8.
(2.) They are happy who get over these offences. Blessed are
they. The expression intimates, that it is a difficult thing to
conquer these prejudices, and a dangerous thing not to conquer them;
but as to those, who, notwithstanding this opposition, to believe in
Christ, their faith will be found so much the more, to praise, and
honour, and glory.
| Christ’s Testimony of John. |
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7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes
concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A
reed shaken with the wind?
8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft
raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’
houses.
9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto
you, and more than a prophet.
10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my
messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before
thee.
11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women
there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist:
notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is
greater than he.
12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom
of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to
come.
15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
We have here the high encomium which our Lord Jesus gave of John the
Baptist; not only to revive his honour, but to revive his work. Some of
Christ’s disciples might perhaps take occasion from the question John
sent, to reflect upon him, as weak and wavering, and inconsistent with
himself, to prevent which Christ gives him this character. Note, It is
our duty to consult the reputation of our brethren, and not only to
remove, but to obviate and prevent, jealousies and ill thoughts of
them; and we must take all occasions, especially such as discover any
thing of infirmity, to speak well of those who are praiseworthy, and to
give them that fruit of their hands. John the Baptist, when he
was upon the stage, and Christ in privacy and retirement, bore
testimony to Christ; and now that Christ appeared publicly, and John
was under a cloud, he bore testimony to John. Note, They who have a
confirmed interest themselves, should improve it for the helping of the
credit and reputation of others, whose character claims it, but whose
temper or present circumstances put them out of the way of it. This is
giving honour to whom honour is due. John had abased himself to honour
Christ
(John iii. 20, 30, ch. iii. 11),
had made himself nothing, that Christ might be All, and now Christ
dignifies him with this character. Note, They who humble themselves
shall be exalted, and those that honour Christ he will honour; those
that confess him before men, he will confess, and sometimes before
men too, even in this world. John had now finished his
testimony, and now Christ commends him. Note, Christ reserves
honour for his servants when they have done their work,
John xii. 26.
Now concerning this commendation of John, observe,
I. That Christ spoke thus honourably of John, not in the hearing of
John’s disciples, but as they departed, just after they were
gone,
He would not so much as seem to flatter John, nor have these praises of
him reported to him. Note, Though we must be forward to give to all
their due praise for their encouragement, yet we must avoid every thing
that looks like flattery, or may be in danger of puffing them up. They
who in other things are mortified to the world, yet cannot well bear
their own praise. Pride is a corrupt humour, which we must not feed
either in others or in ourselves.
II. That what Christ said concerning John, was intended not only for
his praise, but for the people’s profit, to revive the remembrance of
John’s ministry, which had been well attended, but which was now (as
other such things used to be) strangely forgotten: they did for a
season, and but for a season, rejoice in his light,
John v. 35.
“Now, consider, what went ye out into the wilderness to see? Put
this question to yourselves.”
1. John preached in the wilderness, and thither people flocked
in crowds to him, though in a remote place, and an
inconvenient one. If teachers be removed into corners, it is
better to go after them than to be without them. Now if his preaching
was worth taking so much pains to hear it, surely it was worth taking
some care to recollect it. The greater the difficulties we have broken
through to hear the word, the more we are concerned to profit by it.
2. They went out to him to see him; rather to feed their eyes with the
unusual appearance of his person, than to feed their souls with his
wholesome instructions; rather for curiosity than for conscience. Note,
Many that attend on the word come rather to see and be seen, than to
learn and be taught, to have something to talk of, than to be made wise
to salvation. Christ puts it to them, what went ye out to see?
Note, They who attend on the word will be called to an account, what
their intentions and what their improvements were. We think when the
sermon is done, the care is over; no, then the greatest of the care
begins. It will shortly be asked, “What business had you such a time at
such an ordinance? What brought you thither? Was it custom or
company, or was it a desire to honour God and get good? What have
you brought thence? What knowledge, and grace, and comfort? What
went you to see?” Note, When we go to read and hear the word, we
should see that we aim right in what we do.
III. Let us see what the commendation of John was. They know not what
answer to make to Christ’s question; well, says Christ, “I will tell
you what a man John the Baptist was.”
1. “He was a firm, resolute man, and not a reed shaken with the
wind; you have been so in your thoughts of him, but he was
not so. He was not wavering in his principles, nor uneven in his
conversation; but was remarkable for his steadiness and constant
consistency with himself.” They who are weak as reeds will be
shaken as reeds; but John was strong in spirit,
Eph. iv. 14.
When the wind of popular applause on the one hand blew fresh and fair,
when the storm of Herod’s rage on the other hand grew fierce and
blustering, John was still the same, the same in all weathers. The
testimony he had borne to Christ was not the testimony of a
reed, of a man who was of one mind to-day, and of another
to-morrow; it was not a weather-cock testimony; no, his constancy in it
is intimated
(John i. 20);
he confessed and denied not, but confessed, and stood to it
afterwards,
And therefore this question sent by his disciples was not to be
construed into any suspicion of the truth of what he had formerly said:
therefore the people flocked to him, because he was not as a reed.
Note, There is nothing lost in the long run by an unshaken resolution
to go on with our work, neither courting the smiles, nor fearing the
frowns of men.
2. He was a self-denying man, and mortified to this
world. “Was he a man clothed in soft raiment? If so, you would
not have gone into the wilderness to see him, but to the
court. You went to see one that had his raiment of camel’s
hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; his mien and
habit showed that he was dead to all the pomps of the world and the
pleasures of sense; his clothing agreed with the wilderness he
lived in, and the doctrine he preached there, that of repentance. Now
you cannot think that he who was such a stranger to the pleasures of a
court, should be brought to change his mind by the terrors of a prison,
and now to question whether Jesus be the Messiah or not!” Note, they
who have lived a life of mortification, are least likely to be driven
off from their religion by persecution. He was not a man clothed in
soft raiment; such there are, but they are in kings’
houses. Note, It becomes people in all their appearances to be
consistent with their character and their situation. They who are
preachers must not affect to look like courtiers; nor must they whose
lot is cast in common dwellings, be ambitious of the soft clothing
which they wear who are in kings’ houses. Prudence teaches us to be
of a piece. John appeared rough and unpleasant, yet they flocked
after him. Note, The remembrance of our former zeal in attending on the
word of God, should quicken us to, and in, our present work: let it not
be said that we have done and suffered so many things in vain,
have run in vain and laboured in vain.
3. His greatest commendation of all was his office and ministry, which
was more his honour than any personal endowments or qualifications
could be; and therefore this is most enlarged upon in a full
encomium.
(1.) He was a prophet, yea, and more than a prophet
(v. 9);
so he said of him who was the great Prophet, to whom all the prophets
bear witness. John said of himself, he was not that prophet,
that great prophet, the Messiah himself; and now Christ (a very
competent Judge) says of him, that he was more than a prophet.
He owned himself inferior to Christ, and Christ owned him superior to
all other prophets. Observe, The forerunner of Christ was not a king,
but a prophet, lest it should seem that the kingdom of the Messiah had
been laid in earthly power; but his immediate forerunner was, as such,
a transcendent prophet, more than an Old-Testament
prophet; they all did virtuously, but John excelled them
all; they saw Christ’s day at a distance, and their vision was
yet for a great while to come; but John saw the day dawn, he saw the
sun rise, and told the people of the Messiah, as one that stood among
them. They spake of Christ, but he pointed to him; they said, A
virgin shall conceive: he said, Behold the Lamb of God!
(2.) He was the same that was predicted to be Christ’s forerunner
(v. 10);
This is he of whom it is written. He was prophesied of by the
other prophets, and therefore was greater than they. Malachi prophesied
concerning John, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face.
Herein some of Christ’s honour was put upon him, that the
Old-Testament prophets spake and wrote of him; and this honour
have all the saints, that their names are written in the
Lamb’s book of life. It was great preferment to John above all the
prophets, that he was Christ’s harbinger. He was a messenger
sent on a great errand; a messenger, one among a thousand,
deriving his honour from his whose messenger he was: he is my
messenger sent of God. His business was to prepare
Christ’s way, to dispose people to receive the Saviour, by
discovering to them their sin and misery, and their need of a Saviour.
This he had said of himself
and now Christ said it of him; intending hereby not only to put an
honour upon John’s ministry, but to revive people’s regard to it, as
making way for the Messiah. Note, Much of the beauty of God’s
dispensations lies in their mutual connection and coherence, and the
reference they have one to another. That which advanced John above the
Old-Testament prophets was, that he went immediately before
Christ. Note, The nearer any are to Christ, the more truly honourable
they are.
(3.) There was not a greater born of women than John the
Baptist,
Christ knew how to value persons according to the degrees of their
worth, and he prefers John before all that went before him, before all
that were born of women by ordinary generation. Of all that God
had raised up and called to any service in his church, John is the most
eminent, even beyond Moses himself; for he began to preach the gospel
doctrine of remission of sins to those who are truly penitent; and he
had more signal revelations from heaven than any of them had; for he
saw heaven opened, and the Holy Ghost descend. He also
had great success in his ministry; almost the whole nation flocked to
him: none rose on so great a design, or came on so noble an errand, as
John did, or had such claims to a welcome reception. Many had been born
of women that made a great figure in the world, but Christ prefers John
before them. Note, Greatness is not to be measured by appearances and
outward splendour, but they are the greatest men who are the greatest
saints, and the greatest blessings, who are, as John was, great in
the sight of the Lord,
Luke i. 15.
Yet this high encomium of John has a surprising limitation,
notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is
greater than he.
[1.] In the kingdom of glory. John was a great and
good man, but he was yet in a state of infirmity and
imperfection, and therefore came short of glorified saints, and the
spirits of just men made perfect. Note, First, There are
degrees of glory in heaven, some that are less than others there;
though every vessel is alike full, all are not alike large and
capacious. Secondly, The least saint in heaven is
greater, and knows more, and loves more, and does more in
praising God, and receives more from him, than the greatest in this
world. The saints on earth are excellent ones
(Ps. xvi. 3),
but those in heaven are much more excellent; the best in this world are
lower than the angels
(Ps. viii. 5),
the least there are equal with the angels, which should make us
long for that blessed state, where the weak shall be as David,
Zech. xii. 8.
[2.] By the kingdom of heaven here, is rather to be understood
the kingdom of grace, the gospel dispensation in the perfection
of its power and purity; and ho mikroteros–he that is less in
that is greater than John. Some understand it of Christ himself,
who was younger than John, and, in the opinion of some, less than John,
who always spoke diminishingly of himself; I am a worm, and no
man, yet greater than John; so it agrees with what John the Baptist
said
(John i. 15),
He that cometh after me is preferred before me. But it is rather
to be understood of the apostles and ministers of the New
Testament, the evangelical prophets; and the comparison between
them and John is not with respect to their personal sanctity, but to
their office; John preached Christ coming, but they preached Christ not
only come, but crucified and glorified. John came to the
dawning of the gospel-day, and therein excelled the foregoing prophets,
but he was taken off before the noon of that day, before the rending of
the veil, before Christ’s death and resurrection, and the pouring out
of the Spirit; so that the least of the apostles and evangelists,
having greater discoveries made to them, and being employed in a
greater embassy, is greater than John. John did no miracles; the
apostles wrought many. The ground of this preference is laid in the
preference of the New-Testament dispensation to that of the
Old Testament. Ministers of the New Testament therefore excel,
because their ministration does so,
&c. John was a maximum quod sic–the greatest of his order; he
went to the utmost that the dispensation he was under would allow; but
minimum maximi est majus maximo minimi–the least of the highest
order is superior to the first of the lowest; a dwarf upon a
mountain sees further than a giant in the valley. Note, All the true
greatness of men is derived from, and denominated by, the gracious
manifestation of Christ to them. The best men are no better than he is
pleased to make them. What reason have we to be thankful that our lot
is cast in the days of the kingdom of heaven, under such
advantages of light and love! And the greater the advantages, the
greater will the account be, if we receive the grace of God in
vain.
(4.) The great commendation of John the Baptist was, that God owned his
ministry, and made it wonderfully successful for the breaking of the
ice, and the preparing of people for the kingdom of heaven. From the
days of the first appearing of John the Baptist, until now
(which was not much above two years), a great deal of good was done; so
quick was the motion when it came near to Christ the Centre; The
kingdom of heaven suffereth violence—biazetai–vim
patitur, like the violence of an army taking a city by storm, or of
a crowd bursting into a house, so the violent take it by force.
The meaning of this we have in the parallel place,
Since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man
presseth into it. Multitudes are wrought upon by the ministry of
John, and become his disciples. And it is
[1.] An improbable multitude. Those strove for a place in this
kingdom, that one would think had no right nor title to it, and so
seemed to be intruders, and to make a tortuous entry, as our law
calls it, a wrongful and forcible one. When the children of the
kingdom are excluded out of it, and many come into it from the
east and the west, then it suffers violence. Compare this
with
The publicans and harlots believed John, whom the scribes and Pharisees
rejected, and so went into the kingdom of God before them, took it
over their heads, while they trifled. Note, It is no breach of good
manners to go to heaven before our betters: and it is a great
commendation of the gospel from the days of its infancy, that it has
brought many to holiness that were very unlikely.
[2.] An importunate multitude. This violence denotes a strength,
and vigour, and earnestness of desire and endeavour, in those who
followed John’s ministry, else they would not have come so far to
attend upon it. It shows us also, what fervency and zeal are required
of all those who design to make heaven of their religion. Note, They
who would enter into the kingdom of heaven must strive to
enter; that kingdom suffers a holy violence; self must be denied,
the bent and bias, the frame and temper, of the mind must be altered;
there are hard sufferings to be undergone, a force to be put upon the
corrupt nature; we must run, and wrestle, and fight, and be in an
agony, and all little enough to win such a prize, and to get over
such opposition from without and from within. The violent take it by
force. They who will have an interest in the great salvation are
carried out towards it with a strong desire, will have it upon any
terms, and not think them hard, nor quit their hold without a
blessing,
They who will make their calling and election sure must give diligence.
The kingdom of heaven was never intended to indulge the ease of
triflers, but to be the rest of them that labour. It is a blessed
sight; Oh that we could see a greater number, not with an angry
contention thrusting others out of the kingdom of heaven, but with a
holy contention thrusting themselves into it!
(5.) The ministry of John was the beginning of the gospel, as it
is reckoned,
This is shown here in two things:
[1.] In John the Old Testament dispensation began to die,
So long that ministration continued in full force and virtue, but then
it began to decline. Though the obligation of the law of Moses was not
removed till Christ’s death, yet the discoveries of the Old Testament
began to be superseded by the more clear manifestation of the
kingdom of heaven as at hand. Because the light of the
gospel (as that of nature) was to precede and make way for its
law, therefore the prophecies of the Old Testament came to an
end (finis perficiens, not interficiens–an end of
completion, not of duration), before the precepts of it; so that
when Christ says, all the prophets and the law prophesied until
John, he shows us, First, How the light of the Old Testament
was set up; it was set up in the law and the prophets, who
spoke, though darkly, of Christ and his kingdom. Observe, The
law is said to prophesy, as well as the prophets,
concerning him that was to come. Christ began at Moses
Christ was foretold by the dumb signs of the Mosaic work, as well as by
the more articulate voices of the prophets, and was exhibited, not only
in the verbal predictions, but in the personal and real types. Blessed
be God that we have both the New-Testament doctrine to explain the
Old-Testament prophecies, and the Old-Testament prophecies to confirm
and illustrate the New-Testament doctrine
(Heb. i. 1);
like the two cherubim, they look at each other. The law was given by
Moses long ago, and there had been no prophets for three hundred years
before John, and yet they are both said to prophecy until John,
because the law was still observed, and Moses and the prophets still
read. Note, The scripture is teaching to this day, though the penmen of
it are gone. Moses and the prophets are dead; the apostles and
evangelists are dead
(Zech. i. 5),
but the word of the Lord endures for ever
(1 Pet. i. 25);
the scripture is speaking expressly, though the writers
are silent in the dust. Secondly, How this light was laid
aside: when he says, they prophesied until John, he
intimates, that their glory was eclipsed by the glory which excelled;
their predictions superseded by John’s testimony, Behold the Lamb of
God! Even before the sun rises, the morning light makes candles to
shine dim. Their prophecies of a Christ to come became out of date,
when John said, He is come.
[2.] In him the New-Testament day began to dawn; for
(v. 14)
This is Elias, that was for to come. John was as the loop that
coupled the two Testaments; as Noah was Fibula utriusque mundi–the
link connecting both worlds, so was he utriusque Testamenti–the
link connecting both Testaments. The concluding prophecy of the Old
Testament was, Behold, I will send you Elijah,
Mal. iv. 5, 6.
Those words prophesied until John, and then, being turned into a
history, they ceased to prophecy. First, Christ speaks of it as
a great truth, that John the Baptist is the Elias of the New Testament;
not Elias in propria persona–in his own person, as the carnal
Jews expected; he denied that
(John i. 21),
but one that should come in the spirit and power of Elias
(Luke i. 17),
like him in temper and conversation, that should press repentance with
terrors, and especially as it is in the prophecy, that should turn
the hearts of the fathers to the children. Secondly, He speaks of
it as a truth, which would not be easily apprehended by those whose
expectations fastened upon the temporal kingdom of the Messiah, and
introductions to it agreeable. Christ suspects the welcome of it,
if ye will receive it. Not but that it was true, whether they
would receive it or not, but he upbraids them with their prejudices,
that they were backward to receive the greatest truths that were
opposed to their sentiments, though never so favourable to their
interests. Or, “If you will receive him, or if you will receive
the ministry of John as that of the promised Elias, he will be an Elias
to you, to turn you and prepare you for the Lord,” Note, Gospel truths
are as they are received, a savour of life or death. Christ is a
Saviour, and John an Elias, to those who will receive the truth
concerning them.
Lastly, Our Lord Jesus closes this discourse with a solemn demand of
attention
(v. 15):
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear; which intimates, that
those things were dark and hard to be understood, and therefore needed
attention, but of great concern and consequence, and therefore well
deserved it. “Let all people take notice of this, if John be the Elias
prophesied of, then certainly here is a great revolution on foot, the
Messiah’s kingdom is at the door, and the world will shortly be
surprised into a happy change. These are things which require your
serious consideration, and therefore you are all concerned to hearken
to what I say.” Note, The things of God are of great and common
concern: every one that has ears to hear any thing, is concerned
to hear this. It intimates, that God requires no more from us but the
right use and improvement of the faculties he has already given us. He
requires those to hear that have ears, those to use their reason that
have reason. Therefore people are ignorant, not because they want
power, but because they want will; therefore they do not hear, because,
like the deaf adder, they stop their ears.
| Christ Reproaches Chorazin, &c.. |
|
|
16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto
children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced;
we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He
hath a devil.
19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say,
Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans
and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his
mighty works were done, because they repented not:
21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if
the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre
and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and
ashes.
22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and
Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.
23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be
brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been
done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained
until this day.
24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the
land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.
Christ was going on in the praise of John the Baptist and his ministry,
but here stops on a sudden, and turns that to the reproach of those who
enjoyed both that, and the ministry of Christ and his apostles too, in
vain. As to that generation, we may observe to whom he compares
them
(v. 16-19),
and as to the particular places he instances in, we may observe with
whom he compares them,
v. 20-24.
I. As to that generation, the body of the Jewish people at that
time. There were many indeed that pressed into the kingdom of heaven;
but the generality continued in unbelief and obstinacy. John was a
great and good man, but the generation in which his lot was cast was as
barren and unprofitable as could be, and unworthy of him. Note, The
badness of the places where good ministers live serves for a foil to
their beauty. It was Noah’s praise that he was righteous in his
generation. Having commended John, he condemns those who had him
among them, and did not profit by his ministry. Note, The more
praise-worthy the people are, if they slight him, and so it will be
found in the day of account.
This our Lord Jesus here sets forth in a parable, yet speaks as if he
were at a loss to find out a similitude proper to represent this,
Whereunto shall I liken this generation? Note, There is not a
greater absurdity than that which they are guilty of who have good
preaching among them, and are never the better for it. It is hard to
say what they are like. The similitude is taken from some common
custom among the Jewish children at their play, who, as is usual with
children, imitated the fashions of grown people at their marriages and
funerals, rejoicing and lamenting; but being all a jest, it made
no impression; no more did the ministry either of John the Baptist or
of Christ upon that generation. He especially reflects on the scribes
and Pharisees, who had a proud conceit of themselves; therefore to
humble them he compares them to children, and their behaviour to
children’s play.
The parable will be best explained by opening it and the illustration
of it together in these five observations.
Note,
1. The God of heaven uses a variety of proper means and methods for the
conversion and salvation of poor souls; he would have all men to be
saved, and therefore leaves no stone unturned in order to it. The
great thing he aims at, is the melting of our wills into
a compliance with the will of God, and in order to this the affecting
of us with the discoveries he has made of himself. Having various
affections to be wrought upon, he uses various ways of working upon
them, which though differing one from another, all tend to the same
thing, and God is in them all carrying on the same design. In the
parable, this is called his piping to us, and his
mourning to us; he hath piped to us in the precious
promises of the gospel, proper to work upon hope, and mourned to us in
the dreadful threatenings of the law, proper to work upon fear, that he
might frighten us out of our sins and allure us to himself. He had
piped to us in gracious and merciful providences, mourned to
us in calamitous, afflicting providences, and has set the one over
against the other. He has taught his ministers to change their
voice
(Gal. iv. 20);
sometimes to speak in thunder from mount Sinai, sometimes in a
still small voice from mount Sion.
In the explanation of the parable is set forth the different temper of
John’s ministry and of Christ’s, who were the two great lights of that
generation.
(1.) On the one hand, John came mourning to them, neither eating nor
drinking; not conversing familiarly with people, nor ordinarily
eating in company, but alone, in his cell in the wilderness, where
his meat was locusts and wild honey. Now this, one would think,
should work upon them; for such an austere, mortified life as this, was
very agreeable to the doctrine he preached: and that minister is most
likely to do good, whose conversation is according to his doctrine; and
yet the preaching even of such a minister is not always effectual.
(2.) On the other hand, the Son of man came eating and drinking,
and so he piped unto them. Christ conversed familiarly with all
sorts of people, not affecting any peculiar strictness or austerity; he
was affable and easy of access, not shy of any company, was often at
feasts, both with Pharisees and publicans, to try if this would win
upon those who were not wrought upon by John’s reservedness: those who
were not awed by John’s frowns, would be allured by Christ’s smiles;
from whom St. Paul learned to be come all things to all men,
1 Cor. ix. 22.
Now our Lord Jesus, by his freedom, did not at all condemn John, any
more than John did condemn him, though their deportment was so very
different. Note, Though we are never so clear in the goodness of our
own practice, yet we must not judge of others by it. There may be a
great diversity of operations, where it is the same God that
worketh all in all
and this various manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man
to profit withal,
v. 7.
Observe especially, that God’s ministers are variously gifted: the
ability and genius of some lie one way, of others, another way: some
are Boanerges–sons of thunder; others, Barnabeses–sons of
consolation; yet all these worketh that one and the self-same
Spirit
and therefore we ought not to condemn either, but to praise both, and
praise God for both, who thus tries various ways of dealing with
persons of various tempers, that sinners may be either made pliable or
left inexcusable, so that, whatever the issue is, God will be
glorified.
Note,
2. The various methods which God takes for the conversion of sinners,
are with many fruitless and ineffectual: “Ye have not danced, ye
have not lamented; you have not been suitably affected either with
the one or with the other.” Particular means have, as in medicine,
their particular intentions, which must be answered, particular
impressions, which must be submitted to, in order to the success of the
great and general design; now if people will be neither bound by laws,
nor invited by promises, nor frightened by threatenings, will neither
be awakened by the greatest things, nor allured by the
sweetest things, nor startled by the most terrible
things, nor be made sensible by the plainest things; if they
will hearken to the voice neither of scripture, nor reason, nor
experience, nor providence, nor conscience, nor interest, what more can
be done? The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed, the founder
melteth in vain; reprobate silver shall men call them,
Jer. vi. 29.
Ministers’ labour is bestowed in vain
(Isa. xlix. 4),
and, which is a much greater loss, the grace of God received in
vain,
2 Cor. vi. 1.
Note, It is some comfort to faithful ministers, when they see little
success of their labours, that it is no new thing for the best
preachers and the best preaching in the world to come short of the
desired end. Who has believed our report? If from the blood
of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of those
great commanders, Christ and john, returned so often empty
(2 Sam. i. 22),
no marvel if ours do so, and we prophecy to so little purpose upon dry
bones.
Note,
3. That commonly those persons who do not profit by the means of grace,
are perverse, and reflect upon the ministers by whom they enjoy those
means; and because they do not get good themselves, they do all the
hurt they can to others, by raising and propagating prejudices against
the word, and the faithful preachers of it. Those who will not comply
with God, and walk after him, confront him, and walk contrary to him.
So this generation did; because they were resolved not to
believe Christ and John, and to own them, as they ought to have done,
for the best of men, they set themselves to abuse them, and to
represent them as the worst.
(1.) As for John the Baptist, they say, He has a devil. They
imputed his strictness and reservedness to melancholy, and some kind or
degree of a possession of Satan. “Why should we heed him? he is a poor
hypochondriacal man, full of fancies, and under the power of a crazed
imagination.”
(2.) As for Jesus Christ, they imputed his free and obliging
conversation to the more vicious habit of luxury and flesh-pleasing:
Behold a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber. No reflection could
be more foul and invidious; it is the charge against the rebellious son
He is a glutton and a drunkard; yet none could be more false and
unjust; for Christ pleased not himself
(Rom. xv. 3),
nor did ever any man live such a life of self-denial, mortification,
and contempt of the world, as Christ lived: he that was undefiled,
and separate from sinners, is here represented as in league with
them, and polluted by them. Note, The most unspotted innocency, and the
most unparalleled excellency, will not always be a fence against the
reproach of tongues: nay, a man’s best gifts and best actions,
which are both well intended and well calculated for edification, may
be made the matter of his reproach. The best of our actions may become
the worst of our accusations, as David’s fasting,
It was true in some sense, that Christ was a Friend to publicans and
sinners, the best Friend they ever had, for he came into the
world to save sinners, great sinners, even the chief; so he said
very feelingly, who had been himself not a publican and sinner,
but a Pharisee and sinner; but this is, and will be to eternity,
Christ’s praise, and they forfeited the benefit of it who thus turned
it to his reproach.
Note,
4. That the cause of this great unfruitfulness and perverseness of
people under the means of grace, is that they are like children
sitting in the markets; they are foolish as children, froward as
children, mindless and playful as children; would they but show
themselves men in understanding, there would be some hopes of them.
The market-place they sit in is to some a place of idleness
(ch. xx. 3);
to others a place of worldly business
(James iv. 13);
to all a place of noise or diversion; so that if you ask the reason why
people get so little good by the means of grace, you will find it is
because they are slothful and trifling, and do not love to take pains;
or because their heads, and hands, and hearts are full of the world,
the cares of which choke the word, and choke their souls at last
Ezek. xxxiii. 31; Amos viii. 5);
and they study to divert their own thoughts from every thing that is
serious. Thus in the markets they are, and there they
sit; in these things their hearts rest, and by them they resolve
to abide.
Note,
5. Though the means of grace be thus slighted and abused by many, by
the most, yet there is a remnant that through grace do improve them,
and answer the designs of them, to the glory of God, and the good of
their own souls. But wisdom is justified of her children. Christ
is Wisdom; in him are hid treasures of wisdom; the saints
are the children God has given him,
The gospel is wisdom, it is the wisdom from above: true
believers are begotten again by it, and born from above too; they are
wise children, wise for themselves, and their true interests;
not like the foolish children that sat in the markets. These
children of wisdom justify wisdom; they comply with the designs
of Christ’s grace, answer the intentions of it, and are suitably
affected with, and impressed by, the various methods it takes, and so
evidence the wisdom of Christ in taking these methods. This is
explained,
The publicans justified God, being baptized with the baptism of
John, and afterwards embracing the gospel of Christ. Note, The
success of the means of grace justifies the wisdom of God in the choice
of these means, against those who charge him with folly therein. The
cure of every patient, that observes the physician’s orders, justifies
the wisdom of the physician: and therefore Paul is not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, because, whatever it is to others, to them
that believe it is the power of God unto salvation,
Rom. i. 16.
When the cross of Christ, which to others is foolishness
and a stumbling-block, is to them that are called the wisdom
of God and the power of God
so that they make the knowledge of that the summit of their ambition
(1 Cor. ii. 2),
and the efficacy of that the crown of their glorying
(Gal. vi. 14),
here is wisdom justified of her children. Wisdom’s children are
wisdom’s witnesses in the world
and shall be produced as witnesses in that day, when wisdom,
that is now justified by the saints, shall be
glorified in the saints, and admired in all them that
believe,
2 Thess. i. 10.
If the unbelief of some reproach Christ by giving him the lie, the
faith of others shall honour him by setting to its seal that he is
true, and that he also is wise,
1 Cor. i. 25.
Whether we do it or not, it will be done; not only God’s equity, but
his wisdom, will be justified when he speaks, when he
judges.
Well, this is the account Christ gives of that generation, and
that generation is not passed away, but remains in a succession
of the like; for as it was then, it has been since and is still;
some believe the things which are spoken, and some believe not,
Acts xxviii. 24.
II. As to the particular places in which Christ was most
conversant. What he said in general of that generation, he
applied in particular to those places, to affect them. Then
began he to upbraid them,
v. 20.
He began to preach to them long before
(ch. iv. 17),
but he did not begin to upbraid till now. Note, Rough and
unpleasing methods must not be taken, till gentler means have first
been used. Christ is not apt to upbraid; he gives liberally, and
upbraideth not, till sinners by their obstinacy extort it from him.
Wisdom first invites, but when her invitations are slighted,
then she upbraids,
Prov. i. 20, 24.
Those do not go in Christ’s method, who begin with upbraidings. Now
observe,
1. The sin charged upon them; not any against the moral law, then an
appeal would have lain to the gospel, which would have relieved, but a
sin against the gospel, the remedial law, and that is impenitency: this
was it he upbraided them with, or reproached them for, as the most
shameful, ungrateful thing that could be, that they repented
not. Note, Wilful impenitency is the great damning sin of
multitudes that enjoy the gospel, and which (more than any other)
sinners will be upbraided with to eternity. The great doctrine that
both John the Baptist, and Christ, and the apostles preached, was
repentance; the great thing designed, both in the piping and in
the mourning, was to prevail with people to change their minds
and ways, to leave their sins and turn to God; and this they would not
be brought to. He does not say, because they believed not (for
some king of faith many of them had) that Christ was a Teacher come
from God; but because they repented not: their faith did not
prevail to the transforming of their hearts, and the reforming of their
lives. Christ reproved them for their other sins, that he might lead
them to repentance; but when they repented not, He upbraided
them with that, as their refusal to be healed: He upbraided
them with it, that they might upbraid themselves, and might at
length see the folly of it, as that which alone makes the sad case a
desperate one, and the wound incurable.
2. The aggravation of the sin; they were the cities in which most of
his mighty works were done; for thereabouts his principal residence
had been for some time. Note, Some places enjoy the means of grace in
greater plenty, power, and purity, than other places. God is a free
agent, and acts so in all his disposals, both as the God of nature and
as the God of grace, common and distinguishing grace. By Christ’s
mighty works they should have been prevailed with, not only to
receive his doctrine, but to obey his law; the curing of bodily
diseases should have been the healing of their souls, but it had not
that effect. Note, The stronger inducements we have to repent, the more
heinous is the impenitency and the severer will the reckoning be, for
Christ keeps account of the mighty works done among us, and of
the gracious works done for us too, by which also we should be led
to repentance,
Rom. ii. 4.
(1.) Chorazin and Bethsaida are here instanced
(v. 21, 22),
they have each of them their woe: Woe unto thee, Chorazin, woe unto
thee, Bethsaida. Christ came into the world to bless us; but
if that blessing be slighted, he has woes in reserve, and his woes are
of all others the most terrible. These two cities were situate upon
the sea of Galilee, the former on the east side, and the latter
on the west, rich and populous places; Bethsaida was lately advanced to
a city by Philip the tetrarch; out of it Christ took at least three of
his apostles: thus highly were these places favoured! Yet because they
knew not the day of their visitation, they fell under these
woes, which stuck so close to them, that soon after this they decayed,
and dwindled into mean, obscure villages. So fatally does sin ruin
cities, and so certainly does the word of Christ take place!
Now Chorazin and Bethsaida are here compared with Tyre and Sidon, two
maritime cities we read much of in the Old Testament, that had been
brought to ruin, but began to flourish again; these cities bordered
upon Galilee, but were in a very ill name among the Jews for idolatry
and other wickedness. Christ sometimes went into the coasts of Tyre
and Sidon
(ch. xv. 21),
but never thither; the Jews would have taken it very heinously if he
had; therefore Christ, to convince and humble them, here shows,
[1.] That Tyre and Sidon would not have been so bad as Chorazin and
Bethsaida. If they had had the same word preached, and the same
miracles wrought among them, they would have repented, and that
long ago, as Nineveh did, in sackcloth and ashes. Christ,
who knows the hearts of all, knew that if he had gone and lived among
them, and preached among them, he should have done more good there than
where he was; yet he continued where he was for some time, to encourage
his ministers to do so, though they see not the success they desire.
Note, Among the children of disobedience, some are more easily wrought
upon than others; and it is a great aggravation of the impenitency of
those who plentifully enjoy the means of grace, not only that there are
many who sit under the same means that are wrought upon, but that there
are many more that would have been wrought upon, if they had enjoyed
the same means. See
Our repentance is slow and delayed, but theirs would have been speedy;
they would have repented long ago. Ours has been slight and
superficial; theirs would have been deep and serious, in sackcloth
and ashes. Yet we must observe, with an awful adoration of the
divine sovereignty, that the Tyrians and Sidonians will justly perish
in their sin, though, if they had had the means of grace, they would
have repented; for God is a debtor to no man.
[2.] That therefore Tyre and Sidon shall not be so miserable as
Chorazin and Bethsaida, but it shall be more tolerable for them
in the day of judgment,
v. 22.
Note, First, At the day of judgment the everlasting state
of the children of men will, by an unerring and unalterable doom, be
determined; happiness or misery, and the several degrees of each.
Therefore it is called the eternal judgment
(Heb. vi. 2),
because decisive of the eternal state. Secondly, In that
judgment, all the means of grace that were enjoyed in the state of
probation will certainly come into the account, and it will be
enquired, not only how bad we were, but how much better we might have
been, had it not been our own fault,
Thirdly, Though the damnation of all that perish will be
intolerable, yet the damnation of those who had the fullest and
clearest discoveries made them of the power and grace of Christ, and
yet repented not, will be of all others the most intolerable. The
gospel light and sound open the faculties, and enlarge the capacities
of all that see and hear it, either to receive the riches of divine
grace, or (if that grace be slighted) to take in the more plentiful
effusions of divine wrath. If self-reproach be the torture of
hell, it must needs be hell indeed to those who had such a fair
opportunity of getting to heaven. Son, remember that.
(2.) Capernaum is here condemned with an emphasis
(v. 23),
“And thou, Capernaum, hold up thy hand, and hear they doom,”
Capernaum, above all the cities of Israel, was dignified with Christ’s
most usual residence; it was like Shiloh of old, the place which he
chose, to put his name there, and it fared with it as with Shiloh,
Christ’s miracles here were daily bread, and therefore, as the
manna of old, were despised and called light bread. Many a sweet and
comfortable lecture of grace Christ had read them to little purpose,
and therefore he reads them a dreadful lecture of wrath: those who will
not hear the former shall be made to feel the latter.
We have here Capernaum’s doom,
[1.] Put absolutely; Thou which art exalted to heaven shalt be
brought down to hell Note, First, Those who enjoy the gospel
in power and purity, are thereby exalted to heaven; they have
therein a great honour for the present, and a great advantage for
eternity; they are lifted up toward heaven; but if,
notwithstanding, they still cleave to the earth, they may thank
themselves that they are not lifted up into heaven. Secondly,
Gospel advantages and advancements abused will sink sinners so much
lower into hell. Our external privileges will be so far from saving us,
that if our hearts and lives be not agreeable to them, they will but
inflame the reckoning: the higher the precipice is, the more fatal is
the fall from it: Let us not therefore be high-minded, but fear;
not slothful, but diligent. See
[2.] We have it here put in comparison with the doom of Sodom–a place
more remarkable, both for sin and ruin, than perhaps any other; and yet
Christ here tells us,
First, That Capernaum’s means would have saved Sodom. If these
miracles had been done among the Sodomites, as bad as they were, they
would have repented, and their city would have remained unto this
day a monument of sparing mercy, as now it is of destroying
justice,
Note, Upon true repentance through Christ, even the greatest sin shall
be pardoned and the greatest ruin prevented, that of Sodom not
excepted. Angels were sent to Sodom, and yet it remained not; but if
Christ had been sent thither, it would have remained; how well
is it for us, then, that the world to come is put in subjection to
Christ, and not to angels!
Heb. ii. 5.
Lot would not have seemed as one that mocked, if he had wrought
miracles.
Secondly, That Sodom’s ruin will therefore be less at the great
day than Capernaum’s. Sodom will have many things to answer for, but
not the sin of neglecting Christ, as Capernaum will. If the gospel
prove a savour of death, a killing savour, it is doubly so; it
is of death unto death, so great a death
Christ had said the same of all other places that receive not his
ministers nor bid his gospel welcome
(ch. x. 15);
It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for that
city. We that have now the written word in our hands, the gospel
preached, and the gospel ordinances administered to us, and live under
the dispensation of the Spirit, have advantages not inferior to those
of Chorazin, and Bethsaida, and Capernaum, and the account in the great
day will be accordingly. It has therefore been justly said, that the
professors of this age, whether they go to heaven or hell, will be the
greatest debtors in either of these places; if to heaven, the greatest
debtors to divine mercy for those rich means that brought them thither;
if to hell, the greatest debtors to divine justice, for those rich
means that would have kept them from thence.
| Christ’s Invitation to Burthened Souls. |
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25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these
things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto
babes.
26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.
27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man
knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the
Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal
him.
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
In these verses we have Christ looking up to heaven, with thanksgiving
to his Father for the sovereignty and security of the covenant of
redemption; and looking around him upon this earth, with an offer to
all the children of men, to whom these presents shall come, of the
privileges and benefits of the covenant of grace.
I. Christ here returns thanks to God for his favour to those
babes who had the mysteries of the gospel revealed to
them
(v. 25, 26).
Jesus answered and said. It is called an answer, though no other
words are before recorded but his own, because it is so comfortable a
reply to the melancholy considerations preceding, and is aptly set in
the balance against them. The sin and ruin of those woeful cities, no
doubt, was a grief to the Lord Jesus; he could not but weep over
them, as he did over Jerusalem
(Luke xix. 41);
with this thought therefore he refreshes himself; and to make it the
more refreshing, he puts it into a thanksgiving; that for all this,
there is a remnant, though but babes, to whom the things
of the gospel are revealed. Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall
he be glorious. Note, We may take great encouragement in looking
upward to God, when round about us we see nothing but what is
discouraging. It is sad to see how regardless most men are of their own
happiness, but it is comfortable to think that the wise and faithful
God will, however, effectually secure the interests of his own glory.
Jesus answered and said, I thank thee. Note, Thanksgiving is a
proper answer to dark and disquieting thoughts, and may be an effectual
means to silence them. Songs of praise are sovereign cordials to
drooping souls, and will help to cure melancholy. When we have no
other answer ready to the suggestions of grief and fear, we may have
recourse to this, I thank thee, O Father; let us bless God that
it is not worse with us than it is.
Now in this thanksgiving of Christ, we may observe,
1. The titles he gives to God; O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth. Note,
(1.) In all our approaches to God, by praise as well as by prayer, it
is good for us to eye him as a Father, and to fasten on that relation,
not only when we ask for the mercies we want, but when we give thanks
for the mercies we have received. Mercies are then doubly sweet, and
powerful to enlarge the heart in praise, when they are received as
tokens of a Father’s love, and gifts of a Father’s hand; Giving
thanks to the Father,
Col. i. 12.
It becomes children to be grateful, and to say, Thank you,
father, as readily as, Pray, father.
(2.) When we come to God as a Father, we must withal remember, that he
is Lord of heaven and earth; which obliges us to come to him
with reverence, as to the sovereign Lord of all, and yet with
confidence, as one able to do for us whatever we need or can desire; to
defend us from all evil and to supply us with all good. Christ, in
Melchizedec, had long since blessed God as the Possessor, or
Lord of heaven and earth; and in all our thanksgivings for
mercies in the stream, we must give him the glory of the
all-sufficiency that is in the fountain.
2. The thing he gives thanks for: Because thou has hid these things
from the wise and prudent, and yet revealed them to babes. These
things; he does not say what things, but means the great things of
the gospel, the things that belong to our peace,
Luke xix. 42.
He spoke thus emphatically of them, these things, because they
were things that filled him, and should fill us: all other things are
as nothing to these things.
Note
(1.) The great things of the everlasting gospel have been and are hid
from many that were wise and prudent, that were eminent for
learning and worldly policy; some of the greatest scholars and the
greatest statesmen have been the greatest strangers to gospel
mysteries. The world by wisdom knew not God,
1 Cor. i. 21.
Nay, there is an opposition given to the gospel, by a science
falsely so called,
1 Tim. vi. 20.
Those who are most expert in things sensible and secular, are commonly
least experienced in spiritual things. Men may dive deeply into the
mysteries of nature and into the mysteries of state, and yet be
ignorant of, and mistake about, the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, for want of an experience of the power of them.
(2.) While the wise and prudent men of the world are in the dark
about gospel mysteries, even the babes in Christ have the
sanctifying saving knowledge of them: Thou hast revealed them unto
babes. Such the disciples of Christ were; men of mean birth and
education; no scholars, no artists, no politicians, unlearned and
ignorant men,
Thus are the secrets of wisdom, which are double to that which is
(Job xi. 6),
made known to babes and sucklings, that out of their mouth
strength might be ordained
(Ps. viii. 2),
and God’s praise thereby perfected. The learned men of
the world were not made choice of to be the preachers of the gospel,
but the foolish things of the world
(3.) This difference between the prudent and the babes is
of God’s own making.
[1.] It is he that has hid these things from the wise and
prudent; he gave them parts, and learning, and much of human
understanding above others, and they were proud of that, and rested in
it, and looked no further; and therefore God justly denies them the
Spirit of wisdom and revelation, and then, though they hear the sound
of the gospel tidings, they are to them as a strange thing. God
is not the Author of their ignorance and error, but he leaves them to
themselves, and their sin becomes their punishment, and the Lord is
righteous in it. See
Rom. xi. 7, 8; Acts xxviii. 26, 27.
Had they honoured God with the wisdom and prudence they had, he would
have given them the knowledge of these better things; but because they
served their lusts with them, he has hid their hearts from this
understanding.
[2.] It is he that has revealed them unto babes. Things revealed
belong to our children
and to them he gives an understanding to receive these things,
and the impressions of them. Thus he resists the proud, and
gives grace to the humble,
Jam. iv. 6.
(4.) This dispensation must be resolved into the divine sovereignty.
Christ himself referred it to that; Even so, Father, for so it
seemed good in thy sight. Christ here subscribes to the will of his
Father in this matter; Even so. Let God take what ways he
pleases to glorify himself, and make us of what instruments he pleases
for the carrying on of his own work; his grace is his own, and he may
give or withhold it as he pleases. We can give no reason why Peter, a
fisherman, should be made an apostle, and not Nicodemus, a Pharisee,
and a ruler of the Jews, though he also believed in Christ; but so
it seemed good in God’s sight. Christ said this in the hearing of
his disciples, to show them that it was not for any merit of their own
that they were thus dignified and distinguished, but purely from God’s
good pleasure; he made them to differ.
(5.) This way of dispensing divine grace is to be acknowledged by us,
as it was by our Lord Jesus, with all thankfulness. We must thank God,
[1.] That these things are revealed; the mystery hid from
ages and generations is manifested; that they are revealed, not
to a few, but to be published to all the world.
[2.] That they are revealed to babes; that the meek and humble
are beautified with this salvation; and this honour put upon those whom
the world pours contempt upon.
[3.] It magnifies the mercy to them, that these things are
hid from the wise and prudent: distinguishing favours are the
most obliging. As Job adored the name of the Lord in taking
away as well as in giving, so may we in hiding these
things from the wise and prudent, as well as in revealing them
unto babes; not as it is their misery, but as it is a method by
which self is abased, proud thoughts brought down, all flesh silenced,
and divine power and wisdom made to shine the more bright. See
II. Christ here makes a gracious offer of the benefits of the gospel to
all, and these are the things which are revealed to babes,
v. 25,
&c. Observe here,
1. The solemn preface which ushers in this call or invitation, both to
command our attention to it, and to encourage our compliance with it.
That we might have strong consolation, in flying for refuge to
this hope set before us, Christ prefixes his authority, produces
his credentials; we shall see he is empowered to make this offer.
Two things he here lays before us,
(1.) His commission from the Father: All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. Christ, as God, is equal in power and glory with
the Father; but as Mediator he receives his power and glory from the
Father; has all judgment committed to him. He is authorized to
settle a new covenant between God and man, and to offer peace and
happiness to the apostate world, upon such terms as he should think
fit: he was sanctified and sealed to be the sole Plenipotentiary, to
concert and establish this great affair. In order to this, he has
all power both in heaven and in earth,
power over all flesh
(John xvii. 2);
authority to execute judgment,
This encourages us to come to Christ, that he is commissioned to
receive us, and to give us what we come for, and has all things
delivered to him for that purpose, by him who is Lord of
all. All powers, all treasures are in his hand. Observe, The Father
has delivered his all into the hands of the Lord Jesus; let us but
deliver our all into his hand and the work is done; God has made him
the great Referee, the blessed Daysman, to lay his hand upon us both;
that which we have to do is to agree to the reference, to submit to the
arbitration of the Lord Jesus, for the taking up of this unhappy
controversy, and to enter into bonds to stand to his award.
(2.) His intimacy with the Father: No man knoweth the Son but the
Father, Neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son. This gives
us a further satisfaction, and an abundant one. Ambassadors use to have
not only their commissions, which they produce, but their instructions,
which they reserve to themselves, to be made use of as there is
occasion in their negotiations; our Lord Jesus had both, not only
authority, but ability, for his undertaking. In transacting the great
business of our redemption, the Father and the Son are the parties
principally concerned; the counsel of peace is between them,
Zech. vi. 13.
It must therefore be a great encouragement to us to be assured, that
they understood one another very well in this affair; that the Father
knew the Son, and the Son knew the Father, and both perfectly (a mutual
consciousness we may call it, between the Father and the Son), so that
there could be no mistake in the settling of this matter; as often
there is among men, to the overthrow of contracts, and the breaking of
the measures taken, through their misunderstanding one another. The Son
had lain in the bosom of the Father from eternity; he was à
secretioribus–of the cabinet-council,
John i. 18.
He was by him, as one brought up with him
so that none knows the Father save the Son, he adds, and he
to whom the Son will reveal him. Note,
[1.] The happiness of men lies in an acquaintance with God; it is
life eternal, it is the perfection of rational beings.
[2.] Those who would have an acquaintance with God, must apply
themselves to Jesus Christ; for the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God shines in the face of Christ,
We are obliged to Christ for all the revelation we have of God the
Father’s will and love, ever since Adam sinned; there is no comfortable
intercourse between a holy God and sinful man, but in and by a
Mediator,
2. Here is the offer itself that is made to us, and an invitation to
accept of it. After so solemn a preface, we may well expect something
very great; and it is a faithful saying, and well worthy of
all acceptation; words whereby we may be saved. We are here invited
to Christ as our Priest, Prince, and Prophet, to be saved, and, in
order to that, to be ruled and taught by him.
(1.) We must come to Jesus Christ as our Rest, and repose ourselves in
him
(v. 28),
Come unto me all ye that labour. Observe,
[1.] The character of the persons invited; all that labour, and are
heavy laden. This is a word in season to him that is weary,
Those who complain of the burthen of the ceremonial law, which was an
intolerable yoke, and was made much more so by the tradition of the
elders
(Luke xi. 46),
let them come to Christ, and they shall be made easy; he came to free
his church from this yoke, to cancel the imposition of those carnal
ordinances, and to introduce a purer and more spiritual way of worship;
but it is rather to be understood of the burthen of sin, both the guilt
and the power of it. Note, All those, and those only, are invited to
rest in Christ, that are sensible of sin as a burthen, and groan under
it; that are not only convinced of the evil of sin, of their own sin,
but are contrite in soul for it; that are really sick of their sins,
weary of the service of the world and of the flesh; that see their
state sad and dangerous by reason of sin, and are in pain and fear
about it, as Ephraim
the prodigal
(Luke xv. 17),
the publican
Peter’s hearers
(Acts ii. 37),
Paul
the jailor
This is a necessary preparative for pardon and peace. The Comforter
must first convince
(John xvi. 8);
I have torn and then will heal.
[2.] The invitation itself: Come unto me. That glorious display
of Christ’s greatness which we had
(v. 27),
as Lord of all, might frighten us from him, but see here how he holds
out the golden sceptre, that we may touch the top of it and may
live. Note, It is the duty and interest of weary and heavy laden
sinners to come to Jesus Christ. Renouncing all those things
which stand in opposition to him, or in competition with him, we must
accept of him, as our Physician and Advocate, and give up ourselves to
his conduct and government; freely willing to be saved by him, in his
own way, and upon his own terms. Come and cast that burden
upon him, under which thou art heavy laden. This is the
gospel call, The Spirit saith, Come; and the bride saith,
Come; let him that is athirst come; Whoever will, let him come.
[3.] The blessing promised to those that do come: I will give you
rest. Christ is our Noah, whose name signifies rest, for
this same shall give us rest.
Gen. v. 29; viii. 9.
Truly rest is good
especially to those that labour and are heavy laden,
Eccl. v. 12.
Note, Jesus Christ will give assured rest to those weary souls, that by
a lively faith come to him for it; rest from the terror of sin,
in a well-grounded peace of conscience; rest from the power of
sin, in a regular order of the soul, and its due government of itself;
a rest in God, and a complacency of soul, in his love.
This is that rest which remains for the people of God
(Heb. iv. 9),
begun in grace, and perfected in glory.
(2.) We must come to Jesus Christ as our Ruler, and submit ourselves to
him
(v. 29).
Take my yoke upon you. This must go along with the former, for
Christ is exalted to be both a Prince and a Saviour, a Priest
upon his throne. The rest he promises is a release from the
drudgery of sin, not from the service of God, but an obligation to the
duty we owe to him. Note, Christ has a yoke for our necks, as
well as a crown for our heads, and this yoke he expects
we should take upon us and draw in. To call those who are weary
and heavy laden, to take a yoke upon them, looks like
adding affliction to the afflicted; but the pertinency of it
lies in the word my: “You are under a yoke which makes
you weary: shake that off and try mine, which will make you easy.”
Servants are said to be under the yoke
(1 Tim. vi. 1),
and subjects,
To take Christ’s yoke upon us, is to put ourselves into the
relation to servants and subjects to him, and then of conduct ourselves
accordingly, in a conscientious obedience to all his commands, and a
cheerful submission to all his disposals: it is to obey the gospel
of Christ, to yield ourselves to the Lord: it is Christ’s
yoke; the yoke he has appointed; a yoke he has
himself drawn in before us, for he learned obedience, and which
he does by his Spirit draw in with us, for he helpeth our
infirmities,
Rom. viii. 26.
A yoke speaks some hardship, but if the beast must draw, the
yoke helps him. Christ’s commands are all in our favour: we
must take this yoke upon us to draw in it. We are yoked to
work, and therefore must be diligent; we are yoked to submit, and
therefore must be humble and patient: we are yoked together with our
fellow-servants, and therefore must keep up the communion of saints:
and the words of the wise are as goads, to those who are thus
yoked.
Now this is the hardest part of our lesson, and therefore it is
qualified
(v. 30).
My yoke is easy and my burden is light; you need not be afraid
of it.
[1.] The yoke of Christ’s commands is an easy yoke; it is
chrestos, not only easy, but gracious, so the word
signifies; it is sweet and pleasant; there is nothing in it to gall the
yielding neck, nothing to hurt us, but, on the contrary, must to
refresh us. It is a yoke that is lined with love. Such is the
nature of all Christ’s commands, so reasonable in themselves, so
profitable to us, and all summed up in one word, and that a sweet word,
love. So powerful are the assistances he gives us, so suitable the
encouragements, and so strong the consolations, that are to be found in
the way of duty, that we may truly say, it is a yoke of
pleasantness. It is easy to the new nature, very easy to him that
understandeth,
Prov. xiv. 6.
It may be a little hard at first, but it is easy afterwards; the love
of God and the hope of heaven will make it easy.
[2.] The burden of Christ’s cross is a light burden, very
light: afflictions from Christ, which befal us as men;
afflictions for Christ, which befal us as Christians; the latter are
especially meant. This burden in itself is not joyous, but
grievous; yet as it is Christ’s, it is light. Paul knew as
much of it as any man, and he calls it a light affliction,
2 Cor. iv. 17.
God’s presence
Christ’s sympathy
(Isa. lxxiii. 9, Dan. iii. 25),
and especially the Spirit’s aids and comforts
(2 Cor. i. 5),
make suffering for Christ light and easy. As afflictions
abound, and are prolonged, consolations abound, and are prolonged too.
Let this therefore reconcile us to the difficulties, and help us over
the discouragements, we may meet with, both in doing work and suffering
work; though we may lose for Christ, we shall not lose by
him.
(3.) We must come to Jesus Christ as our Teacher, and set ourselves to
learn of him,
Christ has erected a great school, and has invited us to be his
scholars. We must enter ourselves, associate with his scholars, and
daily attend the instructions he gives by his word and Spirit. We must
converse much with what he said, and have it ready to use upon all
occasions; we must conform to what he did, and follow his steps,
Some make the following words, for I am meek and lowly in heart,
to be the particular lesson we are required to learn from the example
of Christ. We must learn of him to be meek and lowly, and
must mortify our pride and passion, which render us so unlike to him.
We must so learn of Christ as to learn Christ
(Eph. iv. 20),
for he is both Teacher and Lesson, Guide and Way, and All in All.
Two reasons are given why we must learn of Christ.
[1.] I am meek and lowly in heart, and therefore fit to teach
you.
First, He is meek, and can have compassion on the
ignorant, whom others would be in a passion with. Many able
teachers are hot and hasty, which is a great discouragement to those
who are dull and slow; but Christ knows how to bear with such, and to
open their understandings. His carriage towards his twelve disciples
was a specimen of this; he was mild and gentle with them, and made the
best of them; though they were heedless and forgetful, he was not
extreme to mark their follies. Secondly, He is lowly in heart.
He condescends to teach poor scholars, to teach novices; he chose
disciples, not from the court, nor the schools, but from the seaside.
He teaches the first principles, such things as are milk for babes; he
stoops to the meanest capacities; he taught Ephraim to go,
Who teaches like him? It is an encouragement to us to put ourselves to
school to such a Teacher. This humility and meekness, as it qualifies
him to be a Teacher, so it will be the best qualification of those who
are to be taught by him; for the meek will he guide in judgment,
Ps. xxv. 9.
[2.] You shall find rest to your souls. This promise is borrowed
from
for Christ delighted to express himself in the language of the
prophets, to show the harmony between the two Testaments. Note,
First, Rest for the soul is the most desirable rest; to have the
soul to dwell at ease. Secondly, The only way, and a sure way to
find rest for our souls is, to sit at Christ’s feet and hear his
word. The way of duty is the way of rest. The understanding
finds rest in the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, and
is there abundantly satisfied, finding that wisdom in the gospel
which has been sought for in vain throughout the whole creation,
The truths Christ teaches are such as we may venture our souls upon.
The affections find rest in the love of God and Jesus Christ, and meet
with that in them which gives them an abundant satisfaction; quietness
and assurance for ever. And those satisfactions will be perfected and
perpetuated in heaven, where we shall see and enjoy God immediately,
shall see him as he is, and enjoy him as he is ours. This rest is to be
had with Christ for all those who learn of him.
Well, this is the sum and substance of the gospel call and offer: we
are here told, in a few words, what the Lord Jesus requires of us, and
it agrees with what God said of him once and again. This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him.
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