Verse 18
The kingdom - is like a grain of mustard seed - See on [Mat 13:31] (note).
Verse 21
Like leaven - See this explained, [Mat 13:33] (note).
Verse 22
Journeying toward Jerusalem - Luke represents all that is said, from [Luk 9:51], as having been done and spoken while Christ was on his last journey to Jerusalem. See the notes on [Luk 9:51], and [Luk 12:58] (note), and see the Preface.
Verse 23
Are there few that be saved? - A question either of impertinence or curiosity, the answer to which can profit no man. The grand question is, Can I be saved? Yes. How? Strive earnestly to enter in through the strait gate - αγωνιζεσθε, agonize - exert every power of body and soul - let your salvation be the grand business of your whole life.
Verse 24
Many - will seek - They seek - wish and desire; but they do not strive; therefore, because they will not agonize - will not be in earnest, they shall not get in. See this subject more particularly explained on [Mat 7:13], [Mat 7:14] (note).
Verse 25
And hath shut to the door - See the notes on [Mat 7:22-23] (note), and 25:10-41.
Verse 28
Abraham, and Isaac, etc. - See on [Mat 8:12] (note), where the figures and allusions made use of here are particularly explained.
Verse 29
They shall come - That is, the Gentiles, in every part of the world, shall receive the Gospel of the grace of God, when the Jews shall have rejected it.
Verse 30
There are last which shall be first - See on [Mat 19:30] (note).
Verse 31
Depart hence, etc. - It is probable that the place from which Christ was desired to depart was Galilee or Perea; for beyond this Herod had no jurisdiction. It can scarcely mean Jerusalem, though it appears from [Luk 23:7], that Herod Antipas was there at the time of our Lord's crucifixion.
Herod will kill thee - Lactantius says that this Herod was the person who chiefly instigated the Jewish rulers to put our Lord to death: Tum Pontius, et illorum clamoribus, et Herodis tetrarchae instigatione, metuentis ne regno pelleretur, victus est: - fearing lest himself should be expelled from the kingdom, if Christ should be permitted to set up his. See Lact. Inst. Div. lib. iv. c. xviii., and Bishop Pearce on [Luk 23:7].
Verse 32
Tell that fox - Herod was a very vicious prince, and lived in public incest with his sister-in-law, [Mar 6:17] : if our Lord meant him here, it is hard to say why the character of fox, which implies cunning, design, and artifice, to hide evil intentions, should be attributed to him, who never seemed studious to conceal his vices. But we may suppose that Christ, who knew his heart, saw that he covered his desire for the destruction of our Lord, under the pretense of zeal for the law and welfare of the Jewish people. A fox among the Jews appears to have been the emblem of a wicked ruler, who united cunning with cruelty, and was always plotting how he might aggrandize himself by spoiling the people. See a quotation in Schoettgen.
The following observation from the judicious Bishop Pearce deserves attention. "It is not certain," says he, "that Jesus meant Herod here; he might only have intended to call that man so, from whom the advice of departing came, (whether from the speaker himself, or the person who sent him), for it is probable, that the advice was given craftily, and with design to frighten Jesus, and, make him go from that place."
To-day and to-morrow - I am to work miracles for two days more, and on the third day I shall be put to death. But it is probable that this phrase only means, that he had but a short time to live, without specifying its duration.
Perfected - Or finished, τελειουμαι. I shall then have accomplished the purpose for which I came into the world, leaving nothing undone which the counsel of God designed me to complete. Hence, in reference to our Lord, the word implies his dying; as the plan of human redemption was not finished, till he bowed his head and gave up the ghost on the cross: see [Joh 19:30], where the same word is used. It is used also in reference to Christ's death, [Heb 2:10]; [Heb 5:9]; see also [Act 20:24], and [Heb 12:23]. The word finish, etc., is used in the same sense both by the Greeks and Latins. See Kypke.
Verse 33
I must walk, etc. - I must continue to work miracles and teach for a short time yet, and then I shall die in Jerusalem: therefore I cannot depart, according to the advice given me, ([Luk 13:31]), nor can a hair of my head fall to the ground till my work be all done.
To-day and to-morrow, etc. - Kypke contends that the proper translation of the original is, I must walk to-day and to-morrow In The Neighboring Coasts: and that εχομενη is often understood in this way: see [Mar 1:38], and his notes there. That Christ was now in the jurisdiction of Herod, as he supposes, is evident from [Luk 13:31]; that he was on his last journey to Jerusalem, [Luk 9:51]; that he had just passed through Samaria, [Luk 9:52], [Luk 9:56]; that as Samaria and Judea were under the Roman procurator, and Perea was subject to Herod Antipas, therefore he concludes that Christ was at this time in Perea; which agrees with [Mat 19:1], and [Mar 10:1], and [Luk 17:11]. He thinks, if the words be not understood in this way, they are contrary to [Luk 13:32], which says that on it Christ is to die, while this says he is to live and act.
Perish out of Jerusalem - A man who professes to be a prophet can be tried on that ground only by the grand Sanhedrin, which always resides at Jerusalem; and as the Jews are about to put me to death, under the pretense of my being a false prophet, therefore my sentence must come from this city, and my death take place in it.
Verse 34
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem - See the note on [Mat 23:37-39] (note), where the metaphor of the hen is illustrated from the Greek Anthology.
Verse 35
Your house - Ὁ οικος, the temple - called here your house, not my house - I acknowledge it no longer; I have abandoned it, and will dwell in it no more for ever. So he said, [2Chr 36:17], when he delivered the temple into the hands of the Chaldeans - the house of Your sanctuary. A similar form of speech is found, [Exo 32:7], where the Lord said to Moses, Thy people, etc., to intimate that he acknowledged them no longer for his followers. See the notes on [Mat 23:21], [Mat 23:38]. But some think that our Lord means, not the temple, but the whole commonwealth of the Jews.
The principal subjects it this chapter may be found considered at large, on the parallel places in Matthew and Mark, to which the reader is referred. As to the account of the woman with the spirit of infirmity, which is not mentioned by any other of the evangelists, see it largely illustrated in the notes on [Luk 13:11] (note), etc.
Introduction
Christ heals a man ill of the dropsy, on a Sabbath day, [Luk 14:1-6]. He inculcates humility by a parable, [Luk 14:7-11]. The poor to be fed, and not the rich, [Luk 14:12-14]. The parable of the great supper, [Luk 14:15-24]. How men must become disciples of Christ, [Luk 14:25-27]. The parable of the prudent builder, who estimates the cost before he commences his work, [Luk 14:28-30]. And of the provident king, [Luk 14:31], [Luk 14:32]. The use of these parables, [Luk 14:33]. The utility of salt while in its strength and perfection; and its total uselessness when it has lost its savor; [Luk 14:34], [Luk 14:35].
Verse 1
Chief Pharisees - Or, one of the rulers of the Pharisees. A man who was of the sect of the Pharisees, and one of the rulers of the people.
To eat bread on the Sabbath day - But why is it that there should be an invitation or dinner given on the Sabbath day? Answer: The Jews purchased and prepared the best viands they could procure for the Sabbath day, in order to do it honor. See several proofs in Lightfoot. As the Sabbath is intended for the benefit both of the body and soul of man, it should not be a day of austerity or fasting, especially among the laboring poor. The most wholesome and nutritive food should be then procured if possible; that both body and soul may feel the influence of this Divine appointment, and give God the glory of his grace. On this blessed day, let every man eat his bread with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God. In doing this, surely there is no reason that a man should feed himself without fear. If the Sabbath be a festival, let it be observed unto the Lord; and let no unnecessary acts be done; and avoid that bane of religious solemnity, giving and receiving visits on the Lord's day.
They watched him - Or, were maliciously watching, παρατηρουμενοι - from παρα, intens. or denoting ill, and τηρεω, to observe, watch. Raphelius, on [Mar 3:2], has proved from a variety of authorities that this is a frequent meaning of the word: - clam et insidiose observare, quid alter agat - to observe privately and insidiously what another does. The context plainly proves that this is the sense in which it is to be taken here. The conduct of this Pharisee was most execrable. Professing friendship and affection, he invited our blessed Lord to his table, merely that he might have a more favorable opportunity of watching his conduct, that he might accuse him, and take away his life. In eating and drinking, people feel generally less restraint than at other times, and are apt to converse more freely. The man who can take such an advantage over one of his own guests must have a baseness of soul, and a fellness of malice, of which, we would have thought, for the honor of human nature, that devils alone were capable. Among the Turks, if a man only taste salt with another, he holds himself bound, in the most solemn manner, never to do that person any injury. I shall make no apology for inserting the following anecdote.
A public robber in Persia, known by the name of Yacoub, ibn Leits Saffer, broke open the treasury of Dirhem, the governor of Sistan. Notwithstanding the obscurity of the place, he observed, in walking forward, something that sparkled a little: supposing it to be some precious stones, he put his hand on the place, and taking up something, touched it with his tongue, and found it to be salt. He immediately left the treasury, without taking the smallest article with him! The governor finding in the morning that the treasury had been broken open, and that nothing was carried off, ordered it to be published, that "Whoever the robber was who had broke open the treasury, if he declared himself, he should be freely pardoned, and that he should not only receive no injury, but should be received into the good graces of the governor." Confiding in the promise of Dirhem, Yacoub appeared. The governor asked; How it came to pass that, after having broken open the treasury, he took nothing away? Yacoub related the affair as it happened, and added, "I believed that I was become your Friend in eating of your Salt, and that the Laws of that friendship would not permit me to touch any thing that appertained to you." D'Herbelot. Bib. Orient. p. 415. How base must that man be, who professes Christianity, and yet makes his own table a snare for his friend!
Verse 2
The dropsy - Ὑδρωπικος, dropsical; from ὑδωρ, water, and ωψ, the countenance, because in this disorder the face of the patient is often very much bloated. Probably the insidious Pharisee had brought this dropsical man to the place, not doubting that our Lord's eye would affect his heart, and that he would instantly cure him; and then he could most plausibly accuse him for a breach of the Sabbath. If this were the case, and it is likely, how deep must have been the perfidy and malice of the Pharisee!