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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
L U K E.
CHAP. III.
Nothing is related concerning our Lord Jesus from his twelfth year to
his entrance on his thirtieth year. We often think it would have been a
pleasure and advantage to us if we had journals, or at least annuls, of
occurrences concerning him; but we have as much as Infinite Wisdom
thought fit to communicate to us, and, if we improve not that, neither
should we have improved more if we had had it. The great intention of
the evangelists was to give us an account of the gospel of Christ,
which we are to believe, and by which we hope for salvation: now that
began in the ministry and baptism of John, and therefore they hasten to
give us an account of that. We could wish, perhaps, that Luke had
wholly passed by what was related by Matthew and Mark, and had written
only what was new, as he has done in his two first chapters. But it was
the will of the Spirit that some things should be established out of
the mouth, not only of two, but of three witnesses; and we must not
reckon it a needless repetition, nor shall we do so if we renew out
meditations upon these things, with suitable affections. In this
chapter we have,
I. The beginning of John’s baptism, and the scope and intention of it,
His exhortation to the multitude
(ver. 7-9),
and the particular instructions he gave to those who desired to be told
their duty,
II. The notice he gave them of the approach of the Messiah
(ver. 15-18),
to which is added (though it happened after what follows) the mention
of his imprisonment,
III. Christ coming to be baptized of John, and his entrance therein
upon the execution of his prophetical office,
IV. His pedigree and genealogy recorded up to Adam,
| Ministry of John the Baptist. |
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1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar,
Pontius Pilate being governor of Judæa, and Herod being tetrarch
of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituræa and of the
region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God
came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the
baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
4 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the
prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill
shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and
the rough ways shall be made smooth;
6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
7 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized
of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from
the wrath to come?
8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin
not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father:
for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up
children unto Abraham.
9 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees:
every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn
down, and cast into the fire.
10 And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?
11 He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats,
let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let
him do likewise.
12 Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him,
Master, what shall we do?
13 And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is
appointed you.
14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what
shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man,
neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
John’s baptism introducing a new dispensation, it was requisite that we
should have a particular account of it. Glorious things were said of
John, what a distinguished favourite of Heaven he should be, and what a
great blessing to this earth
but we lost him in the deserts, and there he remains until the day
of his showing unto Israel,
ch. i. 80.
And now at last that day dawns, and a welcome day it was to them that
waited for it more than they that waited for the morning. Observe
here,
I. The date of the beginning of John’s baptism, when it was that he
appeared; this is here taken notice of, which was not by the other
evangelists, that the truth of the thing might be confirmed by the
exact fixing of the time. And it is dated,
1. By the government of the heathen, which the Jews were under, to show
that they were a conquered people, and therefore it was time for the
Messiah to come to set up a spiritual kingdom, and an eternal one, upon
the ruins of all the temporal dignity and dominion of David and
Judah.
(1.) It is dated by the reign of the Roman emperor; it was in the
fifteenth year of Tiberius Cæsar, the third of the twelve
Cæsars, a very bad man, given to covetousness, drunkenness, and
cruelty; such a man is mentioned first (saith Dr. Lightfoot), as it
were, to teach us what to look for from that cruel and abominable city
wherein Satan reigned in all ages and successions. The people of the
Jews, after a long struggle, were of late made a province of the
empire, and were under the dominion of this Tiberius; and that country
which once had made so great a figure, and had many nations tributaries
to it, in the reigns of David and Solomon, is now itself an
inconsiderable despicable part of the Roman empire, and rather trampled
upon than triumphed in.
| —-En quo discordia cives,
Perduxit miseros—- What dire effects from civil discord flow! |
The lawgiver was now departed from between Judah’s feet; and, as an
evidence of that, their public acts are dated by the reign of the Roman
emperor, and therefore now Shiloh must come.
(2.) It is dated by the governments of the viceroys that ruled in the
several parts of the Holy Land under the Roman emperor, which was
another badge of their servitude, for they were all foreigners, which
bespeaks a sad change with that people whose governors used to
be of themselves
(Jer. xxx. 21),
and it was their glory. How is the gold become dim!
[1.] Pilate is here said to be the governor, president, or procurator,
of Judea. This character is given of him by some other writers, that he
was a wicked man, and one that made no conscience of a lie. He reigned
ill, and at last was displaced by Vitellius, president of Syria, and
sent to Rome, to answer for his mal-administrations.
[2.] The other three are called tetrarchs, some think from the
countries which they had the command of, each of them being over a
fourth part of that which had been entirely under the government
of Herod the Great. Others think that they are so called from the post
of honour they held in the government; they had the fourth
place, or were fourth-rate governors: the emperor was the
first, the pro-consul, who governed a province, the
second, a king the third, and a tetrarch
the fourth. So Dr. Lightfoot.
2. By the government of the Jews among themselves, to show that they
were a corrupt people, and that therefore it was time that the Messiah
should come, to reform them,
v. 2.
Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. God had appointed that there
should be but one high priest at a time, but here were two, to serve
some ill turn or other: one served one year and the other the other
year; so some. One was the high priest, and the other the sagan,
as the Jews called him, to officiate for him when he was disabled; or,
as others say, one was high priest, and represented Aaron, and that was
Caiaphas; Annas, the other, was nasi, or head of the
sanhedrim, and represented Moses. But to us there is but one high
priest, one Lord of all, to whom all judgment is committed.
II. The origin and tendency of John’s baptism.
1. The origin of it was from heaven: The word of God came unto
John,
v. 2.
He received full commission and full instructions from God to do what
he did. It is the same expression that is used concerning the
Old-Testament prophets
(Jer. i. 2);
for John was a prophet, yea, more than a prophet, and in him prophecy
revived, which had been long suspended. We are not told how the word
of the Lord came to John, whether by an angel, as to his father, or
by dream, or vision, or voice, but it was to his satisfaction, and
ought to be to ours. John is here called the son of Zacharias,
to refer us to what the angel said to his father, when he assured him
that he should have this son. The word of the Lord came to him in
the wilderness; for those whom God fits he will find out,
wherever they are. As the word of the Lord is not bound in a
prison, so it is not lost in a wilderness. The
word of the Lord made its way to Ezekiel among the captives by
the river of Chebar, and to John in the isle of Patmos. John was the
son of a priest, now entering upon the thirtieth year of his
age; and therefore, according to the custom of the temple, he was now
to be admitted into the temple-service, where he should have attended
as a candidate five years before. But God had called him to a more
honourable ministry, and therefore the Holy Ghost enrols him here,
since he was not enrolled in the archives of the temple: John the
son of Zacharias began his ministration such a time.
2. The scope and design of it were to bring all the people of his
country off from their sins and home to their God,
v. 3.
He came first into all the country about Jordan, the
neighbourhood wherein he resided, that part of the country which Israel
took possession of first, when they entered the land of promise under
Joshua’s conduct; there was the banner of the gospel first displayed.
John resided in the most solitary part of the country: but, when the
word of the Lord came to him, he quitted his deserts, and came into the
inhabited country. Those that are best pleased in their
retirements must cheerfully exchange them, when God calls them
into places of concourse. He came out of the wilderness into
all the country, with some marks of distinction, preaching a
new baptism; not a sect, or party, but a profession, or
distinguishing badge. The sign, or ceremony, was such as was ordinarily
used among the Jews, washing with water, by which proselytes
were sometimes admitted, or disciples to some great master; but the
meaning of it was, repentance for the remission of sins: that
is, all that submitted to his baptism,
(1.) Were thereby obliged to repent of their sins, to be
sorry for what they had done amiss, and to do so no more.
The former they professed, and were concerned to be
sincere in their professions; the latter they promised,
and were concerned to make good what they promised. He bound
them, not to such ceremonious observances as were imposed by the
tradition of the elders, but to change their mind, and change their
way, to cast away from them all their transgressions, and to
make them new hearts and to live new lives. The design of the
gospel, which now began, was to make men devout and pious, holy and
heavenly, humble and meek, sober and chaste, just and honest,
charitable and kind, and good in every relation, who had been much
otherwise; and this is to repent.
(2.) They were thereby assured of the pardon of their sins, upon their
repentance. As the baptism he administered bound them not to submit to
the power of sin, so it sealed to them a gracious and pleadable
discharge from the guilt of sin. Turn yourselves from all your
transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin; agreeing with
the word of the Lord, by the Old-Testament prophets,
III. The fulfilling of the scriptures in the ministry of John. The
other evangelists had referred us to the same text that is here
referred to, that of Esaias,
It is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet,
which he heard from God, which he spoke for God, those words of his
which were written for the generations to come. Among them it is
found that there should be the voice of one crying in the
wilderness; and John is that voice, a clear distinct voice, a loud
voice, an articulate one; he cries, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
and make his paths straight. John’s business is to make way
for the entertainment of the gospel in the hearts of the people, to
bring them into such a frame and temper as that Christ might be welcome
to them, and they welcome to Christ. Luke goes further on with the
quotation than Matthew and Mark had done, and applies the following
words likewise to John’s ministry
(v. 5, 6),
Every valley shall be filled. Dr. Hammond understands this as a
prediction of the desolation coming upon the people of the Jews for
their infidelity: the land should be made plain by the pioneers for the
Roman army, and should be laid waste by it, and there should then be a
visible distinction made between the impenitent on the one side and the
receivers of the gospel on the other side. But it seems rather to be
meant of the gospel of Christ, of which that was the introduction.
1. The humble shall by it be enriched with grace: Every
valley that lies low and moist shall be filled
and be exalted.
2. The proud shall by it be humbled; the self-confident that
stand upon their own bottom, and the self-conceited that
lift up their own top, shall have contempt put upon them:
Every mountain and hill shall be brought low. If they repent,
they are brought to the dust; if not, to the lowest hell.
3. Sinners shall be converted to God: The crooked ways and the
crooked spirits shall be made straight; for, though
none can make that straight which God hath made crooked
yet God by his grace can make that straight which sin hath made
crooked.
4. Difficulties that were hindering and discouraging in the way to
heaven shall be removed: The rough ways shall be made smooth;
and they that love God’s law shall have great peace, and
nothing shall offend them. The gospel has made the way to heaven
plain and easy to be found, smooth and easy to be
walked in.
5. The great salvation shall be more fully discovered than ever, and
the discovery of it shall spread further
(v. 6):
All flesh shall see the salvation of God; not the Jews only, but
the Gentiles. All shall see it; they shall have it set before
them and offered to them, and some of all sorts shall see it,
enjoy it, and have the benefit of it. When way is made for the gospel
into the heart, by the captivation of high thoughts and bringing them
into obedience to Christ, by the leveling of the soul and the removing
of all obstructions that stand in the way of Christ and his grace, then
prepare to bid the salvation of God welcome.
IV. The general warnings and exhortations which he gave to those who
submitted to his baptism,
In Matthew he is said to have preached these same things to many of
the Pharisees and Sadducees, that came to his baptism
but here he is said to have spoken them to the multitude, that came
forth to be baptized of him,
v. 7.
This was the purport of his preaching to all that came to him, and he
did not alter it in compliment to the Pharisees and Sadducees, when
they came, but dealt as plainly with them as with any other of his
hearers. And as he did not flatter the great, so neither did he
compliment the many, or make his court to them, but gave the
same reproofs of sin and warnings of wrath to the multitude that
he did to the Sadducees and Pharisees; for, if they had not the same
faults, they had others as bad. Now observe here,
1. That the guilty corrupted race of mankind is become a generation
of vipers; not only poisoned, but poisonous; hateful to God, hating
one another. This magnifies the patience of God, in continuing the race
of mankind upon the earth, and not destroying that nest of
vipers. He did it once by water, and will again by fire.
2. This generation of vipers is fairly warned to flee from the wrath
to come, which is certainly before them if they continue such; and
their being a multitude will not be at all their security, for
it will be neither reproach nor loss to God to cut them
off. We are not only warned of this wrath, but are put into a way to
escape it, if we look about us in time.
3. There is no way of fleeing from the wrath to come, but by
repentance. They that submitted to the baptism of repentance
thereby evidenced that they were warned to flee from the wrath
to come and took the warning; and we by our baptism profess to
have fled out of Sodom, for fear of what is coming upon it.
4. Those that profess repentance are highly concerned to live like
penitents
(v. 8):
“Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance, else,
notwithstanding your professions of repentance, you cannot escape
the wrath to come.” By the fruits of repentance it will be known
whether it be sincere or no. By the change of our way must be evidenced
the change of our mind.
5. If we be not really holy, both in heart and life, our profession of
religion and relation to God and his church will stand us in no stead
at all: Begin not now to frame excuses from this great duty of
repentance, by saying within yourselves, We have Abraham to our
father. What will it avail us to be the children of godly parents
if we be not godly, to be within the pale of the Church if we be not
brought into the bond of the covenant?
6. We have therefore no reason to depend upon our external privileges
and professions of religion, because God has no need of us or of our
services, but can effectually secure by his own honour and interest
without us. If we were cut off and ruined, he could raise up to himself
a church out of the most unlikely,–children to Abraham even
out of stones.
7. The greater professions we make of repentance, and the greater
assistances and encouragements are given us to repentance, the nearer
and the sorer will our destruction be if we do not bring forth
fruits meet for repentance. Now that the gospel begins to be
preached, now that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, now that
the axe is laid to the root of the tree, threatenings to the
wicked and impenitent are now more terrible than before, as
encouragements to the penitent are now more comfortable. “Now that you
are upon your behaviour, look to yourselves.”
8. Barren trees will be cast into the fire at length; it is the fittest
place for them: Every tree that doth not bring forth fruit,
good fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
If it serve not for fruit, to the honour of God’s grace, let it serve
for fuel, to the honour of his justice.
V. The particular instructions he gave to several sorts of persons,
that enquired of him concerning their duty: the people, the
publicans, and the soldiers. Some of the Pharisees and
Sadducees came to his baptism; but we do not find them asking, What
shall we do? They thought they knew what they had to do as well as
he could tell them, or were determined to do what they pleased,
whatever he told them. But the people, the publicans, and
the soldiers, who knew that they had done amiss, and that they
ought to do better, and were conscious to themselves of great ignorance
and unacquaintedness with the divine law, were particularly
inquisitive: What shall we do? Note,
1. Those that are baptized must be taught, and those that
have baptized them are concerned, as they have opportunity, to teach
them,
2. Those that profess and promise repentance in general must evidence
it by particular instances of reformation, according as their place and
condition are.
3. They that would do their duty must desire to know their duty, and
enquire concerning it. The first good word Paul said, when he was
converted, was, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? These here
enquire, not, What shall this man do? but, What shall we
do? What fruits meet for repentance shall we bring forth?
Now John gives answer to each, according to their place and
station.
(1.) He tells the people their duty, and that is to be
charitable
(v. 11):
He that has two coats, and, consequently, one to spare, let him
give, or lend at least, to him that has none, to
keep him warm. Perhaps he saw among his hearers some that were
overloaded with clothes, while others were ready to perish in rags, and
he puts those who had superfluities upon contributing to the relief of
those that had not necessaries. The gospel requires mercy, and
not sacrifice; and the design of it is to engage us to do all the good
we can. Food and raiment are the two supports of life; he that
hath meat to spare, let him give to him that is destitute of
daily food, as well as he that hath clothes to spare: what we
have we are but stewards of, and must use it, accordingly, as our
Master directs.
(2.) He tells the publicans their duty, the collectors of the
emperor’s revenue
(v. 13):
Exact no more than that which is appointed you. They must do
justice between the government and the merchant, and not oppress the
people in levying the taxes, nor any way make them heavier or more
burdensome than the law had made them. They must not think that because
it was their office to take care that the people did not defraud the
prince they might therefore, by the power they had, bear hard upon the
people; as those that have ever so little a branch of power are apt to
abuse it: “No, keep to your book of rates, and reckon it enough
that you collect for Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and
do not enrich yourselves by taking more.” The public revenues must be
applied to the public service, and not to gratify the avarice of
private persons. Observe, He does not direct the publicans to quit
their places, and to go no more to the receipt of custom; the
employment is in itself lawful and necessary, but let them be just and
honest in it.
(3.) He tells the soldiers their duty,
Some think that these soldiers were of the Jewish nation and religion:
others think that they were Romans; for it was not likely either that
the Jews would serve the Romans or that the Romans would trust the Jews
in their garrisons in their own nation; and then it is an early
instance of Gentiles embracing the gospel and submitting to it.
Military men seldom seem inclined to religion; yet these submitted even
to the Baptist’s strict profession, and desired to receive the word
of command from him: What must we do? Those who more than
other men have their lives in their hands, and are in deaths often, are
concerned to enquire what they shall do that they may be found in
peace. In answer to this enquiry, John does not bid them lay down
their arms, and desert the service, but cautions them against the sins
that soldiers were commonly guilty of; for this is fruit meet for
repentance, to keep ourselves from our iniquity.
[1.] They must not be injurious to the people among whom they
were quartered, and over whom indeed they were set: “Do violence to
no man. Your business is to keep the peace, and prevent men’s doing
violence to one another; but do not you do violence to any.
Shake no man” (so the word signifies); “do not put people into
fear; for the sword of war, as well as that of justice, is to be a
terror only to evil doers, but a protection to those that do well. Be
not rude in your quarters; force not money from people by frightening
them. Shed not the blood of war in peace; offer no incivility either to
man or woman, nor have any hand in the barbarous devastations that
armies sometimes make.” Nor must they accuse any falsely to the
government, thereby to make themselves formidable, and get bribes.
[2.] They must not be injurious to their fellow-soldiers; for
some think that caution, not to accuse falsely, has special
reference to them: “Be not forward to complain one of another to your
superior officers, that you may be revenged on those whom you have a
pique against, or undermine those above you, and get into their
places.” Do not oppress any; so some think the word here
signifies as used by the LXX. in several passages of the Old Testament.
[3.] They must not be given to mutiny, or contend with their generals
about their pay: “Be content with your wages. While you have
what you agreed for, do not murmur that it is not more.” It is
discontent with what they have that makes men oppressive and injurious;
they that never think they have enough themselves will not scruple at
any the most irregular practices to make it more, by defrauding others.
It is a rule to all servants that they be content with their
wages; for they that indulge themselves in discontents expose
themselves to many temptations, and it is wisdom to make the best of
that which is.
| Imprisonment of John the Baptist. |
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15 And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in
their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;
16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you
with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose
shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost and with fire:
17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his
floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff
he will burn with fire unquenchable.
18 And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto
the people.
19 But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias
his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had
done,
20 Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.
We are now drawing near to the appearance of our Lord Jesus publicly;
the Sun will not be long after the morning-star. We are here told,
I. How the people took occasion, from the ministry and baptism of John,
to think of the Messiah, and to think of him as at the door, as now
come. Thus the way of the Lord was prepared, and people were
prepared to bid Christ welcome; for, when men’s expectations are
raised, that which they are in expectation of becomes doubly
acceptable. Now when they observed what an excellent doctrine John
Baptist preached, what a divine power went along with it, and what a
tendency it had to reform the world,
1. They began presently to consider that now was the time for the
Messiah to appear. The sceptre was departed from Judah, for they had no
king but Cæsar; nay, and the law-giver too was gone from between
his feet, for Herod had lately slain the sanhedrim. Daniel’s seventy
weeks were now expiring; and therefore it was but three or four years
after this that they looked that the kingdom of heaven should appear
immediately,
Never did the corrupt state of the Jews more need a reformation, nor
their distressed state more need a deliverance, than now.
2. Their next thought was, “Is not his he that should come?” All
thinking men mused, or reasoned, in their hearts,
concerning John, whether he were the Christ or not. He had
indeed none of the external pomp and grandeur in which they generally
expected the Messiah to appear; but his life was holy and strict, his
preaching powerful and with authority, and therefore “why may we not
think that he is the Messiah, and that he will shortly throw off this
disguise, and appear in more glory?” Note, That which puts people upon
considering, reasoning with themselves, prepares the way for
Christ.
II. How John disowned all pretensions to the honour of being himself
the Messiah, but confirmed them in their expectations of him that
really was the Messiah,
John’s office, as a crier or herald, was to give notice that the
kingdom of God and the King of that kingdom were at hand;
and therefore, when he had told all manner of people severally what
they must do (“You must do this, and you must do that”), he tells them
one thing more which they must all do: they must expect the Messiah now
shortly to appear. And this serves as an answer to their
musings and debates concerning himself. Though he knew not
their thoughts, yet, in declaring this, he answered them.
1. He declares that the utmost he could do was to baptize them
with water. He had no access to the Spirit, nor could
command that or work upon that; he could only exhort them
to repent, and assure them of forgiveness, upon repentance; he
could not work repentance in them, nor confer remission on them.
2. He consigns them, and turns them over, as it were, to Jesus Christ,
for whom he was sent to prepare the way, and to whom he was
ready to transfer all the interest he had in the affections of the
people, and would have them no longer to debate whether John was
the Messiah or no, but to look for him that was really so.
(1.) John owns the Messiah to have a greater excellency than he
had, and that he was in all things preferable to him; he is one the
latchet of whose shoe he does not think himself worthy to
loose; he does not think himself worthy to be the meanest of his
servants, to help him on and off with his shoes. John was a
prophet, yea more than a prophet, more so than any of the
Old-Testament prophets; but Christ was a prophet more than John, for it
was both by the Spirit of Christ, and of the grace of
Christ, that all the prophets prophesied, and John among the rest,
This was a great truth which John came to preach; but the manner of his
expressing it bespeaks his humility, and in it he not only does
justice to the Lord Jesus, but does him honour too: “He is
one whom I am not worthy to approach, or draw nigh to, no not as a
servant.” Thus highly does it become us to speak of Christ, and thus
humbly of ourselves.
(2.) He owns him to have a greater energy than he had: “He is
mightier than I, and does that which I cannot do, both for the
comfort of the faithful and for the terror of hypocrites and
dissemblers.” They thought that a wonderful power went along with John;
but what was that compared with the power which Jesus would come
clothed with?
[1.] John can do no more than baptize with water, in token of
this, that they ought to purify and cleanse themselves; but Christ can,
and will, baptize with the Holy Ghost; he can give the Spirit to
cleanse and purify the heart, not only as water washes off the
dirt on the outside, but as fire purges out the
dross that is within, and melts down the metal, that it
may be cast into a new mould.
[2.] John can only preach a distinguishing doctrine, and by word
and sign separate between the precious and the vile; but Christ
hath his fan in his hand, with which he can, and will, perfectly
separate between the wheat and the chaff. He will thoroughly purge
his floor; it is his own, and therefore he will purge
it, and will cast out of his church the unbelieving impenitent Jews,
and confirm in his church all that faithfully follow him.
[3.] John can only speak comfort to those that receive the
gospel, and, like other prophets, say to the righteous that
it shall be well with them; but Jesus Christ will give them
comfort. John can only promise them that they shall be safe; but
Christ will make them so: he will gather the wheat into his
garner; good, serious, solid people he will gather now into his
church on earth, which shall be made up of such, and he will shortly
gather them into his church in heaven, where they shall be for ever
sheltered.
[4.] John can only threaten hypocrites, and tell the barren
trees that they shall be hewn down and cast into the
fire; but Christ can execute that threatening; those that are as
chaff, light, and vain, and worthless, he will burn with fire
unquenchable. John refers here to
Then, when the floor is purged, ye shall return, and discern
between the righteous and the wicked, for the day comes that
shall burn as an oven.
The evangelist concludes his account of John’s preaching with an et
cætera
(v. 18):
Many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the
people, which are not recorded. First, John was an
affectionate preacher. He was
parakalon—exhorting, beseeching; he pressed
things home upon his hearers, followed his doctrine close, as one in
earnest. Secondly, He was a practical preacher. Much of
his preaching was exhortation, quickening them to their duty,
directing them in it, and not amusing them with matters of nice
speculation. Thirdly, He was a popular preacher. Though
he had scribes and Pharisees, men of polite learning, attending his
ministry, and Sadducees, men of free thought, as they pretended,
yet he addressed himself to the people, pros ton
laon—to the laity, and accommodated himself to their
capacity, as promising himself best success among them.
Fourthly, He was an evangelical preacher, for so the word
here used signifies, euengelizeto—he preached the
gospel to the people; in all his exhortations, he directed
people to Christ, and excited and encouraged their expectations of
him. When we press duty upon people, we must direct them to
Christ, both for righteousness and strength. Fifthly, He was a
copious preacher: Many other things he preached,
polla men kai hetera—many things, and different.
He preached a great deal, shunned not to declare the whole counsel of
God; and he varied in his preaching, that those who were not
reached, and touched, and wrought upon, by one truth, might be by
another.
III. How full a stop was put to John’s preaching. When he was in the
midst of his usefulness, going on thus successfully, he was imprisoned
by the malice of Herod
(v. 19, 20):
Herod the tetrarch being reproved by him, not only for living in
incest with his brother Philip’s wife, but for the many other evils
which Herod had done (for those that are wicked in one instance are
commonly so in many others), he could not bear it, but
contracted an antipathy to him for his plain dealing, and added
this wickedness to all the rest, which was indeed above all,
that he shut up John in prison, put that burning and shining
light under a bushel. Because he could not bear his reproofs, others
should be deprived of the benefit of his instructions and counsels.
Some little good he might do to those who had access to him, when he
was in prison; but nothing to what he might have done if he had had
liberty to go about all the country, as he had done. We cannot think of
Herod’s doing this without the greatest compassion and lamentation, nor
of God’s permitting it without admiring the depth of the divine
counsels, which we cannot account for. Must he be silenced who is the
voice of one crying in the wilderness? Must such a preacher be
shut up in prison who ought to have been set up in the courts of the
temple? But thus the faith of his disciples must be tried; thus the
unbelief of those who rejected him must be punished; thus he must be
Christ’s forerunner in suffering as well as preaching; and thus, having
been for about a year and a half preparing people for Christ, he must
now give way to him, and, the Sun being risen, the morning-star must of
course disappear.
| The Genealogy of Christ. |
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21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that
Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove
upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my
beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age,
being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of
Heli,
24 Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi,
which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna,
which was the son of Joseph,
25 Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of
Amos, which was the son of Naum, which was the son of Esli,
which was the son of Nagge,
26 Which was the son of Maath, which was the son of
Mattathias, which was the son of Semei, which was the son of
Joseph, which was the son of Juda,
27 Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa,
which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of
Salathiel, which was the son of Neri,
28 Which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Addi,
which was the son of Cosam, which was the son of Elmodam,
which was the son of Er,
29 Which was the son of Jose, which was the son of Eliezer,
which was the son of Jorim, which was the son of Matthat,
which was the son of Levi,
30 Which was the son of Simeon, which was the son of Juda,
which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Jonan,
which was the son of Eliakim,
31 Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan,
which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan,
which was the son of David,
32 Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed,
which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which
was the son of Naasson,
33 Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of
Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of
Phares, which was the son of Juda,
34 Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac,
which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara,
which was the son of Nachor,
35 Which was the son of Saruch, which was the son of Ragau,
which was the son of Phalec, which was the son of Heber,
which was the son of Sala,
36 Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of
Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe,
which was the son of Lamech,
37 Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of
Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of
Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan,
38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth,
which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
The evangelist mentioned John’s imprisonment before Christ’s being
baptized, though it was nearly a year after it, because he would finish
the story of John’s ministry, and then introduce that of Christ. Now
here we have,
I. A short account of Christ’s baptism, which had been more fully
related by St. Matthew. Jesus came, to be baptized of John, and he was
so,
1. It is here said that, when all the people were baptized, then
Jesus was baptized: all that were then present. Christ would be
baptized last, among the common people, and in the rear of them; thus
he humbled himself, and made himself of no reputation, as one of the
least, nay, as less than the least. He saw what multitudes were hereby
prepared to receive him, and then he appeared.
2. Notice is here taken of Christ’s praying when he was
baptized, which was not in Matthew: being baptized, and
praying. He did not confess sin, as others did, for he
had none to confess; but he prayed, as others did, for he would
thus keep up communion with his Father. Note, The inward and spiritual
grace of which sacraments are the outward and visible signs must be
fetched in by prayer; and therefore prayer must always accompany them.
We have reason to think that Christ now prayed for this manifestation
of God’s favour to him which immediately followed; he prayed for the
discovery of his Father’s favour to him, and the descent of the Spirit.
What was promised to Christ, he must obtain by prayer: Ask of me and
I will give thee, &c. Thus he would put an honour upon prayer,
would tie us to it, and encourage us in it.
3. When he prayed, the heaven was opened. He that by his power
parted the waters, to make a way through them to Canaan, now by his
power parted the air, another fluid element, to open a correspondence
with the heavenly Canaan. Thus was there opened to Christ, and by him
to us, a new and living way into the holiest; sin had shut up
heaven, but Christ’s prayer opened it again. Prayer is an ordinance
that opens heaven: Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
4. The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon
him; our Lord Jesus was now to receive greater measures of the
Spirit than before, to qualify him for his prophetical office,
When he begins to preach, the Spirit of the Lord is upon him.
Now this is here expressed by a sensible evidence for his encouragement
in his work, and for the satisfaction of John the Baptist; for he was
told before that by this sign it should be notified to him which was
the Christ. Dr. Lightfoot suggests that the Holy Ghost descended in a
bodily shape, that he might be revealed to be a personal substance, and
not merely an operation of the Godhead: and thus (saith he) was made a
full, clear, and sensible demonstration of the Trinity, at the
beginning of the gospel; and very fitly is this done at Christ’s
baptism, who was to make the ordinance of baptism a badge of the
profession of that faith in the doctrine of the Trinity, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost.
5. There came a voice from heaven, from God the Father, from the
excellent glory (so it is expressed,
Thou art my beloved Son. Here, and in Mark, it is expressed as
spoken to Christ; in Matthew as spoken of him: This is
my beloved Son. It comes all to one; it was intended to be a
notification to John, and as such was properly expressed by, This is
my beloved Son; and likewise an answer to his prayer, and so it is
most fitly expressed by. Thou art. It was foretold concerning
the Messiah, I will be his Father, and he shall be my Son,
2 Sam. vii. 14.
I will make him my First-born,
Ps. lxxxix. 27.
It was also foretold that he should be God’s elect, in whom his soul
delighted
(Isa. xlii. 1);
and, accordingly, it is here declared, Thou art my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased.
II. A long account of Christ’s pedigree, which had been more briefly
related by St. Matthew. Here is,
1. His age: He now began to be about thirty years of age. So old
Joseph was when he stood before Pharaoh
(Gen. xli. 46),
David when he began to reign
(2 Sam. v. 4),
and at this age the priests were to enter upon the full execution of
their office,
Dr. Lightfoot thinks that it is plain, by the manner of expression
here, that he was just twenty-nine years old complete, and entering
upon his thirtieth year, in the month Tisri; that, after this,
he lived three years and a half, and died when he was thirty-two years
and a half old. Three years and a half, the time of Christ’s
ministry, is a period of time very remarkable in scripture. Three
years and six months the heavens were shut up in Elijah’s time,
This was the half week in which the Messiah was to confirm the
covenant,
This period is expressed in the prophetical writings by a time, times,
and half a time
and by forty-two months, and a thousand two hundred and threescore
days,
It is the time fixed for the witnesses’ prophesying in sackcloth, in
conformity to Christ’s preaching in his humiliation just so long.
2. His pedigree,
&c. Matthew had given us somewhat of this. He goes no higher than
Abraham, but Luke brings it as high as Adam. Matthew designed to show
that Christ was the son of Abraham, in whom all the families of the
earth are blessed, and that he was heir to the throne of David; and
therefore he begins with Abraham, and brings the genealogy down to
Jacob, who was the father of Joseph, and heir-male of the house of
David: but Luke, designing to show that Christ was the seed of the
woman, that should break the serpent’s head, traces his pedigree
upward as high as Adam, and begins it with Ei, or Heli, who was the
father, not of Joseph, but of the virgin Mary. And some suggest that
the supply which our translators all along insert here is not right,
and that it should not be read which, that is, which
Joseph was the son of Heli, but which Jesus; he was
the son of Joseph, of Eli, of Matthat, &c., and he, that is,
Jesus, was the son of Seth, of Adam, of God,
v. 38.
The difference between the two evangelists in the genealogy of Christ
has been a stumbling-block to infidels that cavil at the word, but such
a one as has been removed by the labours of learned men, both in the
early ages of the church and in latter times, to which we refer
ourselves. Matthew draws the pedigree from Solomon, whose natural line
ending in Jechonias, the legal right was transferred to Salathiel, who
was of the house of Nathan, another son of David, which line Luke here
pursues, and so leaves out all the kings of Judah. It is well for us
that our salvation doth not depend upon our being able to solve all
these difficulties, nor is the divine authority of the gospels at all
weakened by them; for the evangelists are not supposed to write these
genealogies either of their own knowledge or by divine inspiration, but
to have copied them out of the authentic records of the genealogies
among the Jews, the heralds’ books, which therefore they were obliged
to follow; and in them they found the pedigree of Jacob, the father of
Joseph, to be as it is set down in Matthew; and the pedigree of Heli,
the father of Mary, to be as it is set down here in Luke. And this is
the meaning of hos enomizeto
(v. 23),
not, as it was supposed, referring only to Joseph, but uti
sancitum est lege–as it is entered into the books, as we find it
upon record; by which is appeared that Jesus was both by father and
mother’s side the Son of David, witness this extract out of their own
records, which any one might at that time have liberty to compare with
the original, and further the evangelists needed not to go; nay, had
they varied from that, they had not gained their point. Its not being
contradicted at that time is satisfaction enough to us now that it is a
true copy, as it is further worthy of observation, that, when those
records of the Jewish genealogies had continued thirty or forty years
after these extracts out of them, long enough to justify the
evangelists therein, they were all lost and destroyed with the Jewish
state and nation; for now there was no more occasion for them.
One difficulty occurs between Abraham and Noah, which gives us some
perplexity,
Sala is said to be the son of Cainan, and he the son of
Arphaxad, whereas Sala was the son of Arphaxad
and there is no such man as Cainan found there. But, as to that, it is
sufficient to say that the Seventy Interpreters, who, before our
Saviour’s time, translated the Old Testament into Greek, for reasons
best known to themselves inserted that Cainan; and St. Luke, writing
among the Hellenist Jews, was obliged to make use of that
translation, and therefore to take it as he found it.
The genealogy concludes with this, who was the son of Adam, the son
of God.
(1.) Some refer it to Adam; he was in a peculiar manner the son of
God, being, more immediately than any of his offspring, the
offspring of God by creation.
(2.) Others refer it to Christ, and so make the last words of this
genealogy to denote his divine and human nature. He was both the Son
of Adam and the Son of God that he might be a proper
Mediator between God and the sons of Adam, and might bring the sons of
Adam to be, through him, the sons of God.
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