There is a parallel case to this mentioned in [Num 11:26-29], which, for the elucidation of this passage, I will transcribe. "The Spirit rested upon Eldad and Medad, and they prophesied in the camp. And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. And Joshua, the servant of Moses, said, My lord Moses, forbid them! And Moses said unto him, Enviest Thou for My sake? Would God, that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them." The reader will easily observe that Joshua and John were of the same bigoted spirit; and that Jesus and Moses acted from the spirit of candour and benevolence. See the notes on [Num 11:25-29] (note).
Verse 41
A cup of water to drink - See the notes on [Mat 10:42]; [Mat 18:6-8].
Verse 43
Thy hand - foot - eye - cause thee to offend; - See the notes on [Mat 5:29-30] (note).
The fire that never shall be quenched - That is, the inextinguishable fire. This clause is wanting in L, three others, the Syriac, and later Persic. Some eminent critics suppose it to be a spurious reading; but the authorities which are for it, are by no means counterbalanced by those which are against it. The same clause in [Mar 9:45], is omitted in BCL, seven others, Syriac, later Persic, Coptic, and one Itala. Eternal fire is the expression of Matthew.
Verse 49
For every one shall be salted with fire - Every one of those who shall live and die in sin: but there is great difficulty in this verse. The Codex Bezae, and some other MSS., have omitted the first clause; and several MSS. keep the first, and omit the last clause - and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. There appears to be an allusion to [Isa 66:24]. It is generally supposed that our Lord means, that as salt preserves the flesh with which it is connected from corruption, so this everlasting fire, το πυρ το ασβεστον, this inconsumable fire, will have the property, not only of assimilating all things cast into it to its own nature, but of making them inconsumable like itself.
Scaliger supposes, that instead of πας πυρι, πασα πυρια, every sacrifice (of flour) should be read, "Every sacrifice (of flour) shall be salted, and every burnt offering shall be salted." This, I fear, is taking the text by storm. Some take the whole in a good sense, as referring to the influence of the Spirit of God in the hearts of believers, which shall answer the same end to the soul, in preserving it from the contagion that is in the world, as salt did in the sacrifices offered to God to preserve them from putrefaction. Old Trapp's note on the place pleases me as much as any I have seen: - "The Spirit, as salt, must dry up those bad humours in us which breed the never-dying worm; and, as fire, must waste our corruptions, which else will carry us on to the unquenchable fire." Perhaps the whole is an allusion to the purification of vessels, and especially such metallic vessels as were employed in the service of the sanctuary. Probably the following may be considered as a parallel text: - Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shalt make go through the fire, and it shall be clean; and all that abideth not the fire, ye shall make go through the water, [Num 31:23]. Ye, disciples, are the Lord's sacrifice; ye shall go through much tribulation, in order to enter into my kingdom: but ye are salted, ye are influenced by the Spirit of God, and are immortal till your work is done; and should ye be offered up, martyred, this shall be a means of establishing more fully the glad tidings of the kingdom: and this Spirit shall preserve all who believe on me from the corruption of sin, and from eternal perdition. That converts to God are represented as his offering, see [Isa 66:20], the very place which our Lord appears to have here in view.
If this passage be taken according to the common meaning, it is awful indeed! Here may be seen the greatness, multiplicity, and eternity, of the pains of the damned. They suffer without being able to die; they are burned without being consumed; they are sacrificed without being sanctified - are salted with the fire of hell, as eternal victims of the Divine Justice. We must of necessity be sacrificed to God, after one way or other, in eternity; and we have now the choice either of the unquenchable fire of his justice, or of the everlasting flame of his love. Quesnel.
Verse 50
If the salt have lost his saltness - See on [Mat 5:13] (note).
Have salt in yourselves - See that ye have at all times the preserving principle of Divine grace in your hearts, and give that proof of it which will satisfy your own minds, and convince or silence the world: live in brotherly kindness and peace with each other: thus shall all men see that you are free from ambition, (see [Mar 9:34]), and that you are my disciples indeed. That it is possible for the salt to lose its savor, and yet retain its appearance in the most perfect manner, see proved on the note on [Mat 5:13] (note).
Introduction
The Pharisees question our Lord concerning divorce, [Mar 10:1-12]. Little children are brought to him, [Mar 10:13-16]. The person who inquired how he might inherit eternal life, [Mar 10:17-22]. How difficult it is for a rich man to be saved, [Mar 10:23-27]. What they shall receive who have left all for Christ and his Gospel, [Mar 10:28-31]. He foretells his death, [Mar 10:32-34]. James and John desire places of pre-eminence in Christ's kingdom, [Mar 10:35-41]. Christ shows them the necessity of humility, [Mar 10:42-46]. Blind Bartimeus healed, [Mar 10:46-52].
Verse 1
He arose - Κακειθεν αναϚας may be translated, he departed thence. The verb ανιϚημι has this sense in some of the purest Greek writers. See Kypke. Many transactions took place between those mentioned in the preceding chapter, and these that follow, which are omitted by Matthew and Mark; but they are related both by Luke and John. See Lightfoot, and Bishop Newcome.
Verse 2
Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? - See this question about divorce largely explained on [Mat 19:3-12] (note).
Verse 12
And if a woman shall put away her husband - From this it appears that in some cases, the wife assumed the very same right of divorcing her husband that the husband had of divorcing his wife; and yet this is not recorded any where in the Jewish laws, as far as I can find, that the women had such a right. Indeed, were the law which gives the permission all on one side, it would be unjust and oppressive; but where it is equally balanced, the right being the same on each side, it must serve as a mutual check, and prevent those evils it is intended to cure. Among the Jews there are several instances of the women having taken other men, even during the life of their own husbands. Nor do we find any law by which they were punished. Divorce never should be permitted but on this ground - "The parties are miserable together, and they are both perfectly willing to be separated." Then, if every thing else be proper, let them go different ways, that they may not ruin both themselves and their hapless offspring.
Verse 13
And they brought young children - See on [Mat 19:13-15] (note).
Verse 16
And he took them up in his arms - One of the Itala reads in sinu suo - "in his bosom." Jesus Christ loves little children; and they are objects of his most peculiar care. Who can account for their continual preservation and support, while exposed to so many dangers, but on the ground of a peculiar and extraordinary providence?
And blessed them - Then, though little children, they were capable of receiving Christ's blessing. If Christ embraced them, why should not his Church embrace them? Why not dedicate them to God by baptism? - whether that be performed by sprinkling, washing, or immersion; for we need not dispute about the mode: on this point let every one be fully persuaded in his own mind. I confess it appears to me grossly heathenish and barbarous, to see parents who profess to believe in that Christ who loves children, and among them those whose creed does not prevent them from using infant baptism, depriving their children of an ordinance by which no soul can prove that they cannot be profited, and, through an unaccountable bigotry or carelessness, withholding from them the privilege of even a nominal dedication to God; and yet these very persons are ready enough to fly for a minister to baptize their child when they suppose it to be at the point of death! It would be no crime to pray that such persons should never have the privilege of hearing, My father! or, My mother! from the lips of their own child. See on [Mat 3:6] (note), and on [Mar 16:16] (note).
Verse 17
There came one running - See the case of this rich young man largely explained on [Mat 19:16] (note), etc.
Verse 21
Then Jesus, beholding him - Looking earnestly, εμβλεψας, or affectionately upon him, loved him, because of his youth, his earnestness, and his sincerity.
One thing thou lackest - What was that? A heart disengaged from the world, and a complete renunciation of it and its concerns, that he might become a proper and successful laborer in the Lord's vineyard. See [Mat 19:21]. To say that it was something else he lacked, when Christ explains here his own meaning, is to be wise above what is written.
Verse 22
And he was sad at that saying - This young man had perhaps been a saint, and an eminent apostle, had he been poor! From this, and a multitude of other cases, we may learn that it is oftentimes a misfortune to be rich: but who is aware of this? - and who believes it?
Verse 29
And the Gospel's - Read, for the sake of the Gospel. I have with Griesbach adopted ἑνεκεν, for the sake, on the authority of BCDEGHKMS, V, sixty others, and almost all the versions.
Verse 30
In this time - Εν τῳ καιρῳ τουτῳ, In this very time. Though Jews and Gentiles have conspired together to destroy both me and you, my providence shall so work that nothing shall be lacking while any thing is necessary.
And fathers. This is added by K, upwards of sixty others, Ethiopic, Gothic, Slavonic, Saxon, Armenian, Coptic, and in one of my own MSS. of the Vulgate.
Some have been greatly embarrassed to find out the literal truth of these promises; and, some in flat opposition to the text, have said they are all to be understood spiritually. But thus far is plain, that those who have left all for the sake of Christ do find, among genuine Christians, spiritual relatives, which are as dear to them as fathers, mothers, etc.; yet they have the promise of receiving a hundredfold often literally fulfilled: for, wherever a Christian travels among Christians, the shelter of their houses, and the product of their lands, are at his service as far as they are requisite. Besides, these words were spoken primarily to the disciples, and pointed out their itinerant manner of life; and how, travelling about from house to house, preaching the Gospel of the grace of God, they should, among the followers of Christ, be provided with every thing necessary in all places, as if the whole were their own. I have often remarked that the genuine messengers of God, in the present day have, as noted above, this promise literally fulfilled.
With persecutions - For while you meet with nothing but kindness from true Christians, you shall be despised, and often afflicted, by those who are enemies to God and goodness; but, for your comfort, ye shall have in the world to come, αιωνι τῳ ερχομενῳ, the coming world, (that world which is on its way to meet you), eternal life.
Verse 32
And he took again the twelve - Or thus: For having again taken the twelve, etc. I translate και for, which signification it often bears; see [Luk 1:22]; [Joh 12:35], and elsewhere. This gives the reason of the wonder and fear of the disciples, For he began to tell them on the way, what was to befall him. This sense of και, I find, is also noticed by Rosenmuller. See on [Mat 20:17-19] (note).
Verse 35
And James and John - come unto him - The request here mentioned, Matthew says, [Mat 20:20], was made by Salome their mother; the two places may be easily reconciled thus: - The mother introduced them, and made the request as if from herself; Jesus knowing whence it had come, immediately addressed himself to James and John, who were standing by; and the mother is no farther concerned in the business. See the note on [Mat 20:20].