Luke

Chapter 1

Ver. 1. Many have taken in hand] Or, have attempted, επεχειρησαν, but not effected. Hence some have concluded, that Luke wrote first of the four evangelists. Howbeit the common opinion is (and the most ancient copies say as much) that Matthew wrote his Gospel eight years after Christ, Mark ten, Luke fifteen, and John forty-two.

Ver. 2. Which from the beginning were eyewitnesses] Therefore it may seem his Gospel was not dictated to him by Paul (who was no eyewitness), as some ancients have affirmed. But if we can believe Tacitus or Suetonius in things that happened long before they were born, because we are confident of their diligence in inquiring, how much more should we believe St Luke upon such doubted assurance? &c.

Ver. 3. Having had perfect understanding] Or, following them close at heels, and (as we say) hot-foot, παρηκολουθηκοτι.

From the very first] Or, from above, ανωθεν, as inspired from heaven.

To write unto thee in order] καθεξης, distinctly, and yet coherently. A singular praise in a historian, for the which Ambrose much admireth this our evangelist above all the other.

Ver. 4. Wherein thou hast been instructed] Which thou hast received by hearsay, or by word of mouth; and wherein thou hast been catechised, receiving the mysteries of the faith by the ministry of the voice, κατηχηθης. And surely when we see men caring and casting how to find out this certainty here spoken of, and not be led by conjectural, suppositions, but be fully persuaded as St Luke was, and would have his Theophilus to be, then there will be some hopes that the Lord’s party will increase.

Ver. 5. In the days of Herod] Herod a stranger, upon the death of Antigonus, last of the Maccabeans, by Augustus’ favour, was made King of Judea, and reigned 34 years. After his and his son’s death, Judea was again reduced into a Roman province, and the government thereof committed unto Pontius Pilate, then to Petronius, after him to Felix, Festus, Albinus, and Florus, whose cruelty provoked the Jews to rebellion and war, to their utter overthrow.

Of the course of Abia] According to their weekly waitings at the altar, #1Ch 24:7-18. God would not have his ministers over wrought, though he require them to labour according to their strength, even to weariness. But how thankless is their labour that do wilfully overspend themselves!

Ver. 6. In all the commandments and ordinances] That is, in all the duties of both the moral and ceremonial law.

Blameless] Αμεμπροι, sine querela, saith the Vulgate, "without complaint." They neither complained about others, nor were complained about by others. As it is reported of Burleigh, Lord Treasurer in Queen Elizabeth’s reign, that he never sued any man, nor did any man ever sue him, and was therefore in the number of those few that both lived and died with glory.

Ver. 7. And they had no child] Which was then held a heavy judgment, as that which rendered them suspected of impiety, since godliness had the promise of increase both within doors and without.

Ver. 8. In the order of his course] He took but his turn, and served but his time. God never purposed to burden any of his creatures with devotion.

Ver. 9. To burn incense] In the incense of prayer, how many sweet spices are burned together, by the fire of faith, as humility, love, &c.

Ver. 10. Praying without at the time of incense] #So 3:6, the Church is said to ascend out of the wilderness of this world with pillars of smoke, elationibus fumi, that is, with affections, thoughts, desires toward heaven. And although she be black as smoke, in regard of infirmities, yet hath she a principle to carry her upwards.

Ver. 11. Standing on the right side of the altar] As Satan stood at the right hand of Joshua to molest him, #Zec 3:1, so stand the angels at our right hand, in the public assemblies especially, to withstand him. And to signify this, the curtains of the tabernacle were wrought full of cherubims within and without.

Ver. 12. He was troubled] But without cause; he should have been comforted rather, for his sins were covered. How will wicked men stand before Christ?

Ver. 13. For thy prayer is heard] Both for a son, and for a Saviour.

Ver. 14. Thou shalt have joy] This is not every father’s happiness. Many fathers are forced through grief for their untoward children to wish to die, as Elijah did when he sat under the juniper, and as Moses did when wearied out by the people, #Nu 11:15.

Ver. 15. Great in the sight of the Lord] Significatur singularis quaedam praestantia, ut #Ge 10:9. He shall be singularly qualified.

Ver. 16. Shall he turn to the Lord] A high honour to have any hand in the conversion of souls. They that wise others shall shine in heaven, #Da 12:3.

Ver. 17. In the spirit and power of Elias] There is a great agreement between the times of Elijah and John Baptist. Herod answereth to Ahab, Herodias to Jezebel, &c.

The disobedient to the wisdom of the just] i.e. By his preaching he shall turn the hearts of the Gentiles to the Jews, and by his baptism tie them up, as it were, together. He made them (according to the phrase that Josephus useth of him) to convent or knit together in baptism, εν βαπτισμω συνιεναι. (Joseph. Antiq., xviii. 7.)

Ver. 18. For I am an old man] Thus reason will be encroaching upon the bounds of faith, till she be taken captive by infidelity. Drive, therefore, Hagar out of doors.

Ver. 19. That stand in the presence of God] Ut apparitor, ab apparendo, ready pressed to any service.

Ver. 20. And behold thou shall be dumb] His tongue that so lately moved through unbelief is now tied up. God will not pass by the wellmeant weaknesses of his own, without a sensible check. He was also deaf as well as dumb: hence they made signs to him, #Lu 1:62.

Ver. 21. The people waited for Zacharias] They would not away without the blessing prescribed to the priests, #Nu 6:23-27. In the council of Agathon it was decreed that people should not presume to go out of the temples before the ministers had blessed the congregation. (Canon 32.)

Ver. 22. He could not speak unto them] Hereupon a divine thus descants: Tacuit pater vocis, et cessit in miraculum: Vox si sileat, cedit in contradictionem. Numquid aeque obmutescit pater et filius? Iohannes et Zacharias? Numquid et praeco mutus est? Let us leave to the Papists (saith another) ministrorum muta officia, populi caeca obsequia, their ministers’ dumb offices; their people’s blind obedience.

Ver. 23. As soon as the days, &c.] Zacharias, though he ceased to speak, yet he ceased not to minister. Though he were dumb, yet he was not lame, but could do sacrifice, and did it. We may not straight take occasions of withdrawing ourselves from the public services.

Ver. 24. And hid herself] Obscurum qua id fecerit ex causa. It is hard to say why she did this, saith a learned interpreter, but likely out of modesty; and that she may make no show till she was sure, as also that the miracle might appear the greater.

Ver. 25. Thus hath the Lord] She saw that all her prayers that she had haply forgotten, were not lost, but laid up with God, who now sends in the blessing that she had despaired of. The Lord often doth things for his people that they look not for, #Isa 65:1, and stays so long that when he comes he finds not faith, #Lu 18:8.

To take away my reproach among men] Barrenness was counted a dishonour, #Ge 30:23 "Their virgins were not praised," #Ps 78:63, that is, married, and commended for their fruitfulness. {See Trapp on "Lu 1:7"}

Ver. 26. Unto a city of Galilee] God and his angels can find out his hidden ones, #Ps 83:3, in what corner of the country soever.

Ver. 27. Espoused to a man] 1. The better to free her from suspicion of fornication. 2. That she might have one to provide for her when she was with child. 3. That the mystery of God manifested in the flesh might come to light by little and little, Sensim sine sensu.

Ver. 28. Hail, thou that art highly favoured] κεχαριτωμενη. A salutation and not a prayer, as Papists pervert and abuse it. And when the Ave Maria bell rings, which is at sun rising, noon, and sun setting, all men in what place soever, house, field, street, or market, do presently kneel down, and send up their united devotions to heaven by an Ave Maria. Also, where one fasteth on Friday, which they count our Lord’s day, many fast on Saturday, which they count our Lady’s day. (Sand’s Survey.)

Ver. 29. She was troubled at his saying] Affect not the vain praises of men, saith one. The blessed Virgin was troubled when truly praised by an angel. They shall be praised by angels in heaven who have eschewed the praises of men on earth.

What manner of salutation] Cuius esset (saith one interpreter) voluit enim probate spiritum. Qualis et quanta, saith another; Id est, quam honorifica et magnifica, ac proinde supra sortem suam posita. What an honourable salutation it was, and more than she could acknowledge.

Ver. 30. Fear not, Mary] We are not fit to hear till quit of carnal affections and passions. The ear which tastes words as the mouth doth meat, when killed with choler or other ill humours, can relish no comfort.

Ver. 31. Shalt call his name Jesus] {See Trapp on "Mt 1:21"} If it were such a mercy to Israel that God raised up their sons for prophets, and their young men for Nazarites, #Am 2:11, what was it to Mary, and in her to all mankind, that she should be mother to the arch-prophet, to that famous Nazarite?

Ver. 32. Son of the Highest] Answerable to the Hebrew Elion, whence ηλιος for the sun, cuius antiquissima veneratio, saith Beza, whom the ancients deify.

Ver. 33. And of his kingdom there shall be no end] St Paul saith indeed that he shall at the end of the world deliver up the kingdom to God the Father; not that his kingdom shall then cease, but that form of administration only, that he now useth in the collecting and conserving of his Church.

Ver. 34. How shall this be?] This is a speech not of unbelief, but of wonderment, as desiring also to be better informed.

Ver. 35. The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee] As once he did the confused chaos in the creation. This very expression was a great confirmation to the Virgin’s faith, and may well serve for a caution to us not to be overcurious in searching into this secret.

Ver. 36. Who was called barren] It is observed that the barren women (so called in both Testaments) had the best children, as Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Elisabeth, &c., because long held off, and much humbled. Some also have observed that the New Testament affords more store of good women than the Old. (Dr Hall’s Contemplation on the New Testament.)

Ver. 37. For with God, &c.] We never doubt God’s will, but we do in some measure doubt his power. See them both running parallel, #Job 42:2.

Ver. 38. Behold the handmaid of the Lord] Not Mall God’s maid, as a black mouthed Blatero hath blasphemed in print, that the Puritans rudely called her. (Stafford’s Female Glory.)

Ver. 39. Into the hill country] Of Judea, southward of Jerusalem, into the city of Hebron, #Jos 21:9.

Ver. 40. Saluted Elisabeth] To whom she could not rest till she had imparted the good news, and both given and received some spiritual gift for mutual confirmation and comfort, #Ro 1:11,12. Grief grows greater by concealing, joy by expression. Only the meeting of saints in heaven can parallel the meeting of these two cousins.

Ver. 41. The babe leaped in her womb] Such comfort there is in the presence of Christ (though but in the womb) as it made John to spring. What then shall it be in heaven, think we?

Ver. 42. Blessed art thou among women] So is Jael, the wife of Heber, said to be, #Jud 5:24. Who yet perhaps was hardly so good a woman as Deborah, that called her so. But it was no small confirmation to the blessed Virgin, to hear the same words from Elisabeth that she heard before from the angel.

And blessed is the fruit, &c.] Or, because blessed is the fruit of thy womb, therefore blessed art thou, &c. Yet more blessed (as Austin saith) in receiving the faith than in conceiving the flesh of Christ. She conceived Christ when she yielded her assent to the angel, and said, Be it as thou hast said, let it even be so. We also conceive Christ in our hearts when we assent to the promises of pardon, of salvation by Christ: hoping perfectly for the grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ, #1Pe 1:13. It is with us all, as it was with that captive woman, #De 21:1-14. If she consented to marry, she saved her life by it.

Ver. 43. That the mother of my Lord, &c.] That the Lord himself should come among us, as he did in the flesh, and doth still by his Spirit. Oh, what a mercy!

Ver. 44. Leaped in my womb] More like a suckling at the breast (as the word signifieth) than an embryo in the womb (βρεφος, puer recens natus the boy newly formed, #1Pe 2:2). The Spirit then worketh, even in unborn babes that are elect, some kind of saving knowledge of Christ, answerable to faith in those that are grown up. The babe’s motion here was not natural, but spiritual (saith one). Therefore John was sanctified in the womb, and did really rejoice at the presence of Christ in the Virgin. Now sanctification presupposeth justification, and that, faith. Yea, this joy was a true effect of faith in the Messiah; therefore infants are capable of faith: thus he. Seminal faith we cannot deny them.

Ver. 45. Blessed is she, &c.] Mary believed, so did not Zacharias, though a man, a priest, aged, learned, eminent, and the message to him of more appearing possibility. This, Elisabeth here seems to have an eye to.

Believed that there shall be, &c.] The same may be said of every believer. It is true also in cases ordinary. A persuasion that God will help and keep us, will indeed help and keep us, #Mr 9:23.

Ver. 46. And Mary said] See the benefit of good society, and how one Christian kindleth another. "As iron sharpeneth iron, so doth the face of a man his friend," #Pr 27:17.

Doth magnify the Lord] Μεγαλυνει. Makes room for him, enlargeth her thoughts of him, throws wide open the everlasting doors, that the King of Glory may come in, in state.

Ver. 47. My spirit rejoiceth] Tripudiat, danceth a galliard (which seemeth to come from the Greek word here used, ηγαλλιασε επι τω θεω, super Deo), danceth Levaltoes in God, or for God my Saviour, as the matter and ground of my joy.

Ver. 48. The low estate] Vilitatem, the vile and abject condition. Contra Mariae merita, quae praedicant Papicolae. Here is no mention of merit. See Beza Annot. in loc.

All generations shall call me blessed] How much more should we with one mind and one mouth bless God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! This is an honour that he much standeth upon, #Ro 15:6.

Ver. 49. He that is mighty] לאה The mighty strong God, οο δυνατος..

Hath done great things for me] No small things can fall from so great a hand. He gives like himself.

And holy is his name] God that is holy, is to be sanctified in holiness, #Isa 5:16, when men see their children especially (as here) the work of God’s hands, #Isa 29:23.

Ver. 50. From generation to generation] Personal goodness is profitable to posterity.

Ver. 51. He hath showed strength, &c.] It appears by the whole frame of this holy song, that the blessed Virgin was well versed in the Scripture, which she here makes so much use of in sundry passages. She was eruditionis pietatis et modestiae delicium, as one speaketh of the Lady Jane Grey. She had by much reading made her bosom Bibliothecam Christi, Christ’s library, as a Father saith; and may seem to have been exercised in the good word of God from her infancy, as #2Ti 3:15, and as that sweet young gentlewoman, Mrs Elizabeth Wheatenhall, daughter of Mr Anthony Wheatenhall, of Tenterden, in Kent, deceased, who not yet being ten years old when she died, yea, before she was nine years old (not much above eight), could say all the New Testament by heart, and being asked where any words were, she would presently name book, chapter, and verse. One Mr Stoughton, a minister, writeth this upon his own knowledge and examination of her.

He hath scattered the proud] He by his strong arm hath so splitted them, that they shiver into pieces, διεσκορπισε; or hath made them as darts, which, being among the enemies, are lost; or hath hurled them hither and thither, as the wind doth the dust of the mountains.

Ver. 52. He hath put down the mighty] As he did Bajazet, the proud Turk, and set up Tamerlane, a Scythian shepherd; who said that he was sent from heaven to punish Bajazet’s rashness, and to teach him that the proud are hated of God, whose promise is to pluck down the mighty, and raise up the lowly.

Ver. 53. He hath filled the hungry] {See Trapp on "Mt 5:6"}

Ver. 54. He hath holpen his servant] He hath put under his hand, and raised him prostrate, taken him up at his feet, αντελαβετο. This he will not do for an evil doer: he taketh not the ungodly by the hand, #Job 8:20.

Ver. 55. As he spake to our fathers] Who lived upon reversions, and died upon the promises, accounting them good freehold. God keeps promise with nights and days, #Jer 33:20,25. How much more will he with Abraham, and his seed for ever!

Ver. 56. And returned to her own house] An honest heart is found where its calling is. Such a one, when he is abroad, is like a fish in the air; whereinto if it leap for recreation or necessity, yet it soon returns to its own element.

Ver. 57. And she brought forth a son] The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, #Ps 29:9, though of all other brute creatures they bring forth with greatest trouble, bowing themselves bruising their young, and casting out their sorrows, #Job 39:4,6. How much more will he help his dear handmaids!

Ver. 58. The Lord had showed great mercy] And the greater, because in her old age. Births, with those that are much older, are with greater danger; so is the new birth in old sinners.

Ver. 59. To circumcise the child] Infants are no innocents, they are conceived in sin, and the first sheet or blanket wherewith they are covered is woven of sin, shame, blood, and filth, #Eze 16:4,6. They were circumcised, to signify that we had better be flayed, and have our skin quite stript off, than to have it as a skin bottle hanging in the smoke of filthy desires, and blown full of unclean motions with the breath of Satan.

Ver. 60. He shall be called John] Bucer here observeth that he that was high priest when Solomon built the temple was called John, and that there was herein a sweet suitableness. Pulchre vero convenit, saith he, ut quo nomine sacerdos Salomonis typici, hoc et veri vocaretur; that the type and truth might accord in the very name.

Ver. 61. There is none of thy kindred] There is an inbred desire in us all of immortality; we would eternize our names, and do therefore call our children, cities, lands, &c., after them, #Ps 49:11. But they do best that get assurance that their names are written in heaven. They that depart from God shall be written in the earth, #Jer 17:13, as Cain’s son, Lord Enoch of Enoch, #Ge 4:17, and those men of renown, #Ge 6:4, were.

Ver. 62. And they made signs to his father] Who, therefore, seems to have been deaf (as well as dumb) because he had not hearkened to the angel’s speech, but gainsaid it.

Ver. 63. And he asked for a writing table] Tabellam, sc. ceratam, in qua olim stil scribebatur, saith Sa. He had an excellent faculty of whom Martial reporteth,

“ Currant verba licet, manus est velocior illis;

Et vix lingua suum, dextra peregit opus.”

Ver. 64. And he spake and praised God] And had he had as many tongues as he had hairs upon his head, he could never have sufficiently praised God for his son, but especially for his Saviour. See #1Ti 1:15-17. Zacharias believeth and therefore speaks, #Ps 116:10. The tongue of the dumb sings, #Isa 35:6.

Ver. 65. And fear came on all] This was either the fear of admiration at the many strange accidents about the birth of the Baptist; or the fear of punishment, seeing so good a man as Zacharias so long to have suffered for his unbelief. (Ludoff. de Vita Christi.)

Ver. 66. And the hand of the Lord] That is, his grace and blessing. He had the honour to be Legis et gratiae fibula, as Chrysologus hath it; the buckle and boundary of the law and gospel.

Ver. 67. Was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied] This was a plentiful amends for the late loss of his speech. See here the goodness of God to all his. Quibus non solum ablata restituit, sed insperata concedit (saith Ambrose). Ille dudum mutus prophetat. God is better to his than their hopes.

Ver. 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel] This is Hymnus Evangelicissimus, say both Bucer and Pellican. A most evangelical canticle.

Redeemed his people] From the wrath of God over them; the guilt and power of sin within them; from Satan and the punishment of sin without them.

Ver. 69. An horn of salvation] A cornucopia, or a mighty Saviour, qui instar bovis cornupetae inimicos populi Dei prosternat atque deieciat (Piscater), that can bestir him much better than that he-goat, Alexander the Great, who had a notable horn between his eyes, wherewith he cast down the ram to the ground, and stamped upon him, &c., #Da 8:7. Macedones tunc temporis Aegeades, id est caprini dicti sunt. Occasionem vide. (Justin. lib. 7.) The Macedons were at that time called Goat-sprung.

Ver. 70. By the mouth] There were many prophets, yet they had all but one mouth, so sweet is their harmony.

Ver. 71. That we should be saved] Gr. Salvation from our enemies. This properly importeth the privative part of man’s happiness, but includes the positive too.

Ver. 72. To perform the mercy] God’s love moves him to promise, his truth binds him to perform. See both these, #2Sa 7:18,21 "For thy word’s sake, and according to thine own heart (that is, ex mero motu), hast thou done all these things."

Ver. 73. The oath which he sware] ορκος quasi ερκος, a hedge, which a man may not break; much less will God.

Ver. 74. Might serve him] Servati sumus ut serviamus. Christ hath therefore broke the devil’s yoke from off our necks, that we may take upon us this sweet yoke, and not carry ourselves as sons of Belial. Serve we must still, but after another manner, as the Israelites did, when brought out of the Egyptian bondage; yet thou shalt keep this service, saith Moses, #Ex 12:25.

In holiness and righteousness] These two make up one perfect pair of compasses, which can take the true latitude of a Christian heart.

Ver. 75. Before him] The sense of God’s presence makes men conscientiously obedient to both tables of the law. Cave spectat Cato, was a watchword among the Romans. Noli peccare, Deus videt, Angeli astant, &c. Take heed what thou doest, God beholds thee, angels observe thee, &c.

Ver. 76. And thou, child] scil. qui nunc tantillus es, in virum magnum evades: Though little, thou shalt prove great.

Thou shalt go before the face of the Lord] Any relation to whom ennobleth, and advanceth all worth.

Ver. 77. To give knowledge] Not by infusion, #Da 1:17, but by instruction. See the dignity and duty of ministers.

Ver. 78. Whereby the day spring] Or as Beza rendereth it, the branch (ανατολη) from on high, not from beneath, as other plants or branches. So the anchor of hope entereth not into the deep, but into that within the veil, #Heb 6:19.

Ver. 79. That sit in darkness] This imports, 1. continuance; 2. content.

To guide our feet] The superstitious pagans thought that their goddess Vibilia kept them in their right way when they travelled: but we have a better guide to God. Arnob. advers. Gent. lib, 4.

Ver. 80. And the child grew] Though his meat was but coarse, and not so nourishing. The blessing of God is the staff of bread: bread would no more nourish without it, than a piece of earth.

Chapter 2

Ver. 1. A decree from Caesar Augustus] By a sweet providence of God, that Christ might be born at Bethlehem, according to the Scriptures. Howbeit Augustus thought not so (as it is said in another case of Nebuchadnezzar, #Isa 10:1), but ambitiously sought the setting forth of his own greatness, and large command, and carried it without punishment; whereas David smarted sore for a like offence. But God will take that from others that he will not bear with in his own, #Am 3:2.

That all the world] That is, the Roman world; but such was their ambition, that though they had but a part, yet they styled themselves lords of all the world. So the Pope (the image of that beast) will needs be styled universal bishop. The great Turk (that Eastern antichrist) calls himself God on earth, sole monarch of the world, commander of all that can be commanded, &c., and by many other such like swelling titles.

Ver. 2. When Cyrenius, &c.] Quirinus, the Latin writers call him. Now that the sceptre was departed, Shiloh came.

Ver. 3. And all went to be taxed] To pay a certain small sum of money in token of fidelity. I was once at a court sermon (saith Melancthon) on the Nativity day, and this was the text: but the preacher, instead of discoursing on Christ’s incarnation, spent the whole hour, on a very cold day, in persuading the people to obey magistrates, and to give them as much money as they call for. This is the guise of court parasites, princes, trencher flies.

Ver. 4. And Joseph also went up] By a special providence of God, as is above noted, #Lu 2:1, and not only so, but that the holy virgin might still have with her the keeper and cover of her virginity; that the devil might not have occasion to raise up false reports about her great belly.

Ver. 5. Being great with child] Yet could not be excused. This was a cruelty in Augustus (not to spare great-bellied women), but a mercy of God to mankind; for what the better had it been for us, if Joseph had gone to Bethlehem, and not Mary also?

Ver. 6. The days were accomplished] Her delivery might well be hastened, or at least facilitated, by her long journey; for it was no less than four days’ journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Some say she was gravida, but not gravata; great-bellied, but not unwieldy: Lumen enim quod in se habebat, pondus habere non poterat, saith Augustine; but I am not bound to believe him.

Ver. 7. And she brought forth her firstborn] Whether she were Deipara, the mother of God, was a great controversy, and raised a great storm in the Council of Ephesus; insomuch as the emperor declared both sides heretics. But forasmuch as she was the mother of Christ, #Mt 1:23, and Christ is God; in bringing forth Christ, she was the mother of God. θεοτοκος non θεοδοχος, ut voluit Nestorius. Whether she continued after this a virgin, pie credimus sed nihil affirmamus. But that she vowed virginity, as Papists say, we deny: for how could she promise virginity to God, and marriage to Joseph? There is a story, that when the old Romans had founded Templum pacis, Temple of peace, they sent to ask Apollo how long it should stand? he answered, Until a virgin brought forth: this they took to be perpetual. But therein they were as much mistaken as those Africans, who having an oracle, that when the Romans sent an army into Africa, Mundus cum tota sua prole periret, thought that then the world should be at an end. But afterwards the Romans sent an army thither under the conduct of one Mundus, who in battle was slain, together with his sons, by the Africans; and discovered the illusion of the devil.

Wrapped him in swaddling clothes] This pains she was at (such was her love), though newly delivered, and much weakened thereby. His swaddling clothes were poor and ragged, as may be gathered out of the Greek word here used. Σπαργανοω, of σπαρασσω, to rend.

Laid him in a manger] Non in aureo reclinatorio, saith Ludolphus, not in a stately room, as the Porphyrogeniti in Constantinople; not in the best but basest place of the inn, which is counted the meanest house of a city. Oh humble Saviour, whither wilt thou descend?

Ver. 8. Keeping watch over their flock] At the tower of Edar, say some, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, where Jacob, returning from Mesopotamia, stayed with his flock, after he had buried Rachel, #Ge 35:21 Mic 4:8.

By night] Hence some gather that our Saviour was not born in the winter, because in winter they housed their cattle, and fed them not out doors, #Pr 27:25.

Ver. 9. And, lo, the angel of the Lord] Gabriel, likely, was sent, not to Zacharias or Simeon, &c., but to certain shepherds. God goes a way by himself, Had the sages of the East met with these shepherds, they had received better intelligence than they did from the learned scribes.

And the glory of the Lord] As when a king’s son is born, bonfires are made, &c.

Ver. 10. I bring you good tidings] The first preacher of the gospel was an angel. God hath now taken this honour from the angels, and put it upon the ministers, who are in Scripture called angels, #Re 2:1, and angels ministers, #Heb 1:14. The old church had επαγγελιαν, the promise, we have ευαγγελιαν, the joyful tidings.

Ver. 11. A Saviour] The Greek word is so emphatic (as Cicero witnesseth) that other tongues can hardly find a fit word to express it. The Grecians delivered by Flaminius, rang out Σωτηρ, Σωτηρ, with such a courage, that the birds, astonished, fell to the earth.

Ver. 12. Wrapped in swaddling clothes] In vilibus et veteribus indumentis, saith Ludolphus. {See Trapp on "Lu 2:7"}

Ver. 13. Praising God] Angels who have neither so much interest in Christ nor benefit by him as we, sing him into the world. And shall we be dumb? They sang when the world was created, #Job 38:7. So now, that it was repaired by Christ.

Ver. 14. Glory be to God on high] Let God have all the glory, so we may have the peace and grace or good will (for of these angels, Saint Paul learned to salute with grace and peace). Mihi placet distributio angelica, saith Bernard, gratanter accipio quod relinquis, relinquo quod retines: abiuro gloriam, ne amitterem pacem. I am well content with the angels’ distribution, I thankfully accept (Lord) what thou leavest; I meddle not with that which thou retainest. I forego the glory, so I may not miss the peace. Thus he. It was the last speech of dying Chrysostom, Glory be to God from all creatures. Let the Jesuits (saith one) at the end of their books subscribe Laus Deo et Beatae Virgini. Let this be the badge of the beast: cry we, Soli Deo gloria, Glory be to God alone.

In earth peace] Pax, quasi pactio conditionum. Ειρηνη παρα το εις εν ειρειν, a connectendo in unum. Christ is the great peace maker; but only to the elect, called here the men of God’s good will. When he was born, Cuncta atque continua totius generis humani aut pax fuit aut pactio. Flor. Hist. l. 4.

Ver. 15. Let us now go even unto Bethlehem] They did not reason nor debate with themselves (saith Bishop Hooper, martyr, in a letter to certain good people taken praying in Bow churchyard, and now in trouble) who should keep the wolf from the sheep in the mean time; but committed the sheep to him whose pleasure they obeyed. So let us do now that we be called; commit all other things to him that called us. He will take heed that all shall be well. He will help the husband, comfort the wife, guide the servants, keep the house, preserve the goods; yea, rather than it should be undone, he will wash the dishes, rock the cradle, &c.

Ver. 16. Found Mary and Joseph, &c.] They, though of the royal blood, yet lay obscured, not thrusting themselves into observation, but well content with a low condition. Beata Virgo in vili stabulo sedet, et iacet; sed quod homines negligunt, coelestes cives honorant et inquirunt, saith Stella. The humble person is like the violet, which grows low, hangs the head downwards, and hides itself with its own leaves. And were it not that the fragrant smell of his many virtues betrays him to the world, he would choose to live and die in his self-contenting secrecy. Bernard.

Ver. 17. They made known abroad] True goodness is communicative; there is no envy in spiritual things; because they may be divided in solidum: one may have as much as another, and all alike. These shepherds, as those lepers, #2Ki 7:7,9, said one to another, "We do not well; this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace," &c.

Ver. 18. Wondered at those things] Yet made little benefit of what they heard. "All the world wondered after the beast," #Re 13:3. And it was a wonder there was no more wondering at the birth of our Saviour; if that were true especially, that (besides the wise men’s star, #Mt 2:8-11, and the angelic music in the air, &c.) among the Gentiles a voice was heard, The great God is now about to be born; and that at Rome, the likeness of a woman carrying a child in her arms was seen about the sun, &c. These things are told. Polydore Virgil reports out of Orosius, that on the very day of Christ’s nativity, Augustus Caesar caused proclamation that no man should style him Lord any longer, Manifesto praesagio maioris Dominatus, qui tum in terris ortus esset; as presaging a greater than himself then born.

Ver. 19. Mary kept all these things] Her soul was a holy ark; her memory like the pot of manna, preserving holy truths and remarkable occurrences.

Ver. 20. As it was told unto them] God, to show that he respected not persons, revealed this grand mystery to shepherds and wise men; the one poor, the other rich; the one learned, the other unlearned; the one Jews, the other Gentiles; the one near, the other far off.

Ver. 21. For the circumcising of the child] Christ would be circumcised, and so become bound to fulfil the law, that he might free us that were under the law, #Ga 4:5. He shed his blood for us when he was but eight days old; he took us into his family by baptism when we hung on our mother’s breasts. Should we not then serve him betimes, remember him from our infancy?

Ver. 22. And when the days of her purification] She was rather sanctified than polluted by bearing Christ, yet wrangleth not with the law, nor claimeth an immunity. Now if she were so officious in ceremonies, what in the main duties of morality?

According to the law] This law of purification proclaims our uncleanness, whose very birth infects the mother that bare us. She might not till the seventh day converse with men, nor till the 40th day appear before God in the sanctuary, nor then without a burnt offering for thanksgiving, and a sin offering for expiation of a double sin, viz., of the mother that conceived, and of the son that was conceived.

Ver. 23. That openeth the womb] This proves that Mary brought forth Christ in a natural way, and not utero clauso, by a closed womb, by a miracle, as Papists would have it, to prove the fiction of transubstantiation.

Shall be called holy to the Lord] God requireth the firstborn, as usually best beloved; that, together with our children, he might draw to himself the best of our affections.

Ver. 24. A pair of turtledoves] Christ’s mother was not rich enough to bring a lamb. Let this comfort poor Christians. I know thy poverty, saith Christ, but that is nothing, thou art rich, #Re 2:9. Smyrna, the poorest Church, hath the highest commendation.

Ver. 25. Just and devout] Or wary and cautious, ευλαβης; one that takes heed and is fearful of being deceived in that which he takes for right and current.

Waiting for the consolation of Israel] That is, for Christ’s coming. This was the sugar wherewith they sweetened all their crosses: this was the dittany, {a} by tasting whereof (as harts do) they shook off all the piercing shafts of their afflictions. Some Jews conclude the Messiah when he comes shall be called Menahem, the Comforter, from #La 1:6.

{a} A labiate plant, Origanum Dictamnus, called also Dictamnus Creticus or dittany of Crete; formerly famous for its alleged medicinal virtues. ŒD

Ver. 26. It was revealed unto him] By an immediate oracle, κεχρηματισμενον. The idolatrous, heathen made use of this word to signify their impious and diabolical oracles. The abuse of a word taketh not away the use of it.

Ver. 27. And he came by the spirit, &c.] So still, "the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord," #Ps 37:23. He sets his Spirit as tutor, to direct and convince us into all truth Simeon, likely, had done as Daniel did, #Lu 9:2, found out by diligent search, that the fulness of time was come, and is therefore thus answered from heaven.

Ver. 28. Then took he him up in his arms] The blessedest armful that ever the old man had in his life. The patriarchs saluted him ασπασαμενοι; but afar off, #Heb 11:13.

Ver. 29. Lord, now lettest thou thy servant] In the Syriac it is, "Now thou openest the prison door"; the prisoner must not, till then, go out; nor we out of life till fairly dismissed. Simeon having laid in his heart (saith one) what he lapt in his arms, sung, Nunc dimittis; I fear no sin, I dread no death; I have lived long enough, I have my life; I have longed enough, I have my love; I have seen enough, I have my light; I have served enough, I have my saint; I have sorrowed enough, I have my joy: sweet babe, let this psalm serve for a lullaby to thee, and for a funeral for me. Oh sleep in my arms, and let me sleep in thy peace. Dying Velcurio broke out into these words, " Pater est Amator, Filius Redemptor, Spiritus Sanctus Consolator; quomodo ilaque tristitia affici possim?" Dying Deering said, " Ego omnium sanctorum minimus, credo et intueor in Christum salutem meam."

Ver. 30. For mine eyes have seen, &c.] A great satisfaction. So it was to Job, #Job 42:5, when he could say, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee." What shall it be to us when we shall see God face to face, &c., #1Co 13:12. Colamus hic Deum reverenter donec a spe ad speciem transeamus. Worship we God with reverence till we come to see him face to face. Bucholcer.

Ver. 31. Before the face of all the people] As a banner displayed, as a beacon on a hill, or as the sun in heaven, to be beheld of all; as the brazen serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, &c., #Joh 3:15, εφανη, #Tit 2:11.

Ver. 32. The glory of thy people Israel] Oh! pity their perverseness, and pray their conversion, that the Jews may call God Abba, the Gentiles Father, #Da 12:11. There is a prophecy of the Jews’ final restoration (saith Mr Case, God’s waiting to be gracious), and the time is expressed, which is 1290 years after the ceasing of the daily sacrifice, and the setting up of the abomination of desolation; which is conceived to be about Julian’s time, who assayed to rebuild the temple of the Jews, but was hindered from heaven. This was anno Dom. 360, to which if you add 1290 years, it will pitch the calculation upon the year 1650.

Ver. 33. Marvelled at those things] Saints, the more they see into the mystery of Christ, the more are they transported with admiration. But most of all at the last day, #2Th 1:10.

Ver. 34. For the fall, &c.] Being reorum scopulus, piorum rupes.

And for a sign, &c.] For a butt mark, against whom his enemies shall shoot the shafts of their gainsayings; like as at the sack of Constantinople, the image of the crucifix was taken down by the Turks, and a Turk’s cap put upon the head thereof, and so set up, and shot at with their arrows, calling it the God of the Christians.

Ver. 35. Yea, a sword shall pierce, &c.] This confutes that of Plautus: Mulier nulla cordicitis dolet ex animo. The word here rendered sword properly signifies a long Thracian dart, entering into her soul. So that she was, I doubt not (as other mothers are), ante partum onerosa, in partu dolorosa, post partum laborosa; yet so, as that she made misery itself amiable by her gracious deportment, as one saith of the Lady Jane Grey.

That the thoughts of many hearts] As they are also now in these discriminating, shedding times. Affliction trieth men who are crocodiles, spunges, chameleons, &c. Before these days came (said Master Bradford, martyr) how many thought of themselves, that they had been in God’s bosom, and so were taken, and would be taken in the world? But now we see whose they are; for to whom we obey, his servants we are, &c. In the Palatinate scarcely one man in twenty stood out; but fell to Popery, as fast as leaves in autumn.

Ver. 36. From her virginity] i.e. She was a pure virgin when married to her husband. All are not virgins that pass for such; some have their secret conveyances; They can eat stolen bread, and afterwards so wipe their lips that not the least crumb shall be seen, #Pr 30:19,20.

Ver. 37. A widow of about eighty-four years] She was now ripe, and ready, even of her own accord, to fall into God’s hand, as ripe fruits do into the hand of the gatherer. And the thoughts of death had long since forbade the banns of a second marriage. Cogita te quotidie moriturum, et de secundis nuptiis nunquam cogitabis. Think of death, and the thoughts of marrying again will die within thee.

Ver. 38. Gave thanks likewise] Succinuit Simeoni, seconded Simeon, and sang the same song. This was somewhat extraordinary, as being against that, #1Ti 2:12, and therefore occured only in troublesome and confused times of the Church; as likewise Huldah the prophetess. Our Praedicantissae have here no patronage.

Ver. 39. According to the law of the Lord] This is often recorded of them in this chapter, that they observed the law exactly, to their singular commendation. The law is to be kept as the apple of one’s eye, #Pr 7:2. Count nothing little that God commands. It is as much treason to coin pence as twenty shilling pieces. And they were commanded not to eat of the blood, as ever they looked for God’s blessing.

They returned into Galilee] After they had first fled down into Egypt, #Mt 2:12-23.

Ver. 40. And the grace of God was upon him] Without measure: so that of his overflow we have all received "grace for grace," #Joh 1:16. He had a fulness, not repletive only, but diffusive too; not of plenty only, but of bounty also; not only of abundance, but of redundance. He was anointed with the oil of gladness, not only above, but for his fellows.

Ver. 41. Now his parents went, &c.] Every male was to appear thrice a year before the Lord. In the females it was a freewill offering, and well accepted.

Ver. 42. And when he was twelve years old] What he did from his infancy hitherto, the Scripture is silent; Papists feign many idle relations, and thereby expose us to the jeers of Jewish and Turkish miscreants. Where the Scripture hath no tongue, we must have no ears.

Ver. 43. Joseph and his mother knew not] One would wonder they should be so careless of so peerless a pearl; they might well think there were enough at Jerusalem, among the Herodians especially, that would have been glad to have despatched any that should take upon them to be Messiah the Prince, as Daniel calleth him, #Da 9:25. When they fled into Egypt for fear of Herod, they lost not the child Jesus; as neither there, nor in their return from thence; but at the feast they did, and in that greatest solemnity. Hence Stella observeth, that there is far greater danger of losing Christ in time of prosperity, and worldly affluence, than in days of persecution and tribulation. In mundi faelicitate et affuentia, potius quam in persecutionibus et tribulationibus Christum amitti.

Ver. 44. Sought him among their kinsfolk] They knew him to be of a disposition not strange and stoic, but sweet and sociable. Let not us stye up ourselves in a stern austerity, but run into the company of those now, that must be our everlasting companions in heaven.

Ver. 45. And when they found him not] The best are sometimes at a loss, and hard put to it for three days, or so. And this, mostly, for their security, as the Church in the Canticles.

Ver. 46. Sitting in the midst of the doctors] Christus prius sedet in medio doctorum (ut recte distin. 36, Gratian) quam publice coepit munus Mediatoris obire.

Hearing them, and posing them] In this very year the temple was profaned, even at the passover. For the priests having opened the temple doors by night, as the manner was, found a great company of dead men’s bones in the morning thrown here and there through the whole house. This, saith Josephus, was thought to have been done by the Samaritans, in spite of the Jews. But others think God had a special hand in it, to signify that the temple services were shortly to die and determine, now that the Lord of heaven and earth had taught therein with his own lively voice.

Ver. 47. At his understanding] Which was so large, even as man, that some have affirmed it to be infinite, and uncreated; but of this, his manhood being a creature, was incapable. Howbeit here our Saviour put forth a beam of his Deity, which yet he soon drew in again, and lay long after obscured.

Ver. 48. Have sought thee sorrowing] Animo tristissimo, et afflictissimo. God often cures a lethargy of security, by a fever of perplexity.

Ver. 49. Wist ye not] Men, be they pleased or displeased, God must be obeyed.

Ver. 50. They understood not] Yet were well versed in the Scriptures. If God give us not night as well as light, we are still to seek.

Ver. 51. And was subject unto them] Labouring with his hands, &c., #Mr 6:5.

Ver. 52. Increased in wisdom] Being παιδαριογερων, as Macarius was called, while a child, for his extraordinary grace and gravity. The exercise of his wisdom, as it was more enlarged, became more lovely in the sight of God and man.

Chapter 3

Ver. 1. Pontius Pilate being governor] Tacitus calleth him procurator only of Judea. But St Luke here makes little difference between his office and the imperial honour of his master Tiberius; for he useth the same word to express both, ηγεμονευοντος ηγεμονια. The Earl of Flanders counts it a great prerogative, that he writes himself Comes Dei gratia. Others only Dei clementia. The Duke of Milan, that he is the prime duke of Europe. The deputy of Ireland, that there cometh no vicegerent in Europe more near the majesty and prerogative of a king than he, &c.

Ver. 2. Annas and Caiaphas being high priests] By turns, #Joh 11:49 Ac 4:6, contrary to the old order. Throughout the whole Turkish territories, there is but one Mufta, or high priest, and he is the supreme judge and rectifier of all actions, as well civil as ecclesiastical.

Ver. 3. Preaching the baptism of repentance] John’s note was still repentance. Christ comes not where this herald hath not been before him. Yet now it is come to that pass, that many men scorn to hear a sermon of repentance. It is a sign, say some, that the minister hath been idle that week, or that his stock is spent when he comes to preach of such a common theme as repentance. If God be not merciful, we shall quickly dispute away all our repentance, as a famous preacher justly complaineth.

Ver. 4. In the book of the words of Esaias] Called a great roll, #Isa 8:1 (because it treats of great things, maxima in minimo), and said to be written with the pen of a man, that is, clearly that the simplest of men may understand it, #De 30:11.

Ver. 5. Every valley shall be filled] Every hole, or hollow, φαραγξ (Barathrum). Fainting of heart unfits the way for Christ, as well as the swelling hills of pride. Plain things will join in every point one with another; not so, rough and hollow things: so plain spirits close with God’s truths; not so, those that are swollen, and uneven.

Ver. 6. All flesh shall see] viz. All that order their conversation aright, #Ps 50:23, which is the life of thankfulness, ibid.

Ver. 7. {See Trapp on "Mt 3:7"}

Ver. 8. {See Trapp on "Mt 3:8"} {See Trapp on "Mt 3:9"}

Ver. 9. {See Trapp on "Mt 3:10"}

Ver. 10. What shall we do?] q.d. What are those fruits worthy of repentance, that we in our places must bring forth? That we may find in ourselves that confident answer, stipulation, or interrogation, επερωτημα, rather of a good conscience toward God, mentioned by St Peter, #1Pe 3:21, in allusion (I suppose) to this text.

Ver. 11. He that hath two coats] Thus Tyre evidenced her repentance, #Isa 23:18, by feeding and clothing God’s saints with her merchandise. Thus Zaccheus, Dorcas, &c. This is all the lesson that for the present he sets them, being but young scholars in the school of Christ.

Ver. 12. Then came also publicans] These were toll takers, custom gatherers for the Romans, and most of them greedy gripers. Publicans they were called, because they took up publica, the goods of the empire. {See Trapp on "Mt 9:9"}

Ver. 13. Exact no more] πρασσετε, make no more of your places, than ye may with a good conscience. Shun that mystery of iniquity that is crept into most callings. A great part of the Turk’s civil justice to this day is grounded upon Christ’s words, "Thou shalt not do what thou wouldest not have done to thee."

Ver. 14. Do violence to no man] Διασεισητε, shake no man by the shoulders, toss no man to and fro to put him into a fright, smite no man with the fist of wickedness. Tamerlane took such order with his soldiers that none were injured by them: if any soldier of his had but taken an apple or the like from any man, he died for it. One of his soldiers having taken a little milk from a country woman, and she thereof complaining, he caused the said soldier to be presently killed, and his stomach to be ripped, where the milk that he had of late drunk being found, he contented the woman, and so sent her away, who had otherwise undoubtedly died for her false accusation, had it not so appeared.

Neither accuse any falsely] Get nothing by sycophancy, (calumnious accusation) Μηδε συκοφαντησητε. Oppress no man either by force or fraud, and forged cavillation, as it is rendered, #Lu 19:8.

Ver. 15. Whether he were the Christ] Yet John did no miracle, but he was a burning and a shining light, he thundered in his doctrine and lightened in his life. Hence was he so much admired.

Ver. 16. The latchet of whose shoes, &c.] By this expression the Baptist acknowledgeth Christ’s godhead, as did also Mary by washing his feet. But what doth the pope that holds forth his feet to be kissed? Is not this he that sits as God in the temple of God? Is not this Dominus Deus noster Papa? The Lord God our Pope. Learned he not this abominable insolence of Diocletian, that bloody persecutor? who as he was the first Roman emperor that would be worshipped as God, so he was the first that wore shoes embellished with precious stones, and held forth his feet to be kissed of his prostrate suitors. (Eutropius.)

Ver. 17. Whose fan] viz. The preaching of the gospel.

Ver. 18. And many other things preached he] Being concionator admirabilis (as Keckerman saith of Jeremiah), an admirable preacher, full of pregnant instructions and admonitions, he did no miracle indeed, but he uttered many sweet oracles, which St Luke here passeth over, that he may hasten to speak of Christ, his main design.

Ver. 19. For Herodias his brother Philip’s wife] Whom it was not lawful for Herod to have, though Philip were dead, as Josephus saith he was. This was the case so much controverted here and beyond seas in Henry VIII’s time, touching his marriage with his brother Arthur’s widow, by Papal dispensation. The king had first a scruple cast into his mind about it by the bishop of Baion, the French ambassador, who came to him to consult of a marriage between the Lady Mary and the Duke of Orleans, whether Mary were legitimate, &c. This gave occasion to the casting the pope’s authority out of England. Mary was forced, for fear of death, to renounce the bishop of Rome, and to acknowledge her mother’s marriage to have been incestuous and unjust, &c. Though afterwards she set up the pope here again, and it was her policy so to get and keep the crown upon her head.

And for all the evils which Herod, &c.] John reproved him with the same liberty that Herod committed them. So did John Chrysostom the great ones of his time. Ita quidem ut etiam Ducum, Eutropii et Gainae, imo ipsius Imperatoris errata reprehenderet: he spared not dukes, princes, nay, not the Emperor himself. (Osiand. Hist. Eccles. Cent. 5.)

Ver. 20. Added yet this] There is no stint in sin; but as one wedge makes way for another, so here. As after Jonathan and his armourbearer, came the whole host, so.

Ver. 21. And praying, the heaven was opened] Prayer is the key of God’s kingdom, and must be used, as at other times, so especially when we or ours receive the sacraments; though the most, if urged hereto, must say, if they say truly, as #1Sa 17:39, I cannot go with these accoutrements, for I am not accustomed to them.

Ver. 22. {See Trapp on "Mt 3:16"} {See Trapp on "Mt 3:17"}

Ver. 23. Being, as was supposed] But falsely: for Joseph was no more than his Pater politicus, as Postellus calleth him, his foster-father, reputed father.

Which was the son of Eli] That is, his son-in-law. For Eli was Mary’s natural father; and it is Mary’s genealogy that is here described; but put upon Joseph, because the Hebrews reckon not their genealogies by women, but by men only. {So #Ru 1:11-13}

Ver. 24. St Luke reckoneth from the last of Christ’s progenitors to the first. And first he mentioneth private men, not read of in the Scriptures. 2. Captains after the Babylonish captivity. 3. Kings and men of great name in and before the captivity. 4. Private persons again before David up to the patriarchs. 5. Lastly, the patriarchs themselves up to Adam the protoplast, the first and common parent.

Ver. 25. St Luke reckoneth from the last of Christ’s progenitors to the first. And first he mentioneth private men, not read of in the Scriptures. 2. Captains after the Babylonish captivity. 3. Kings and men of great name in and before the captivity. 4. Private persons again before David up to the patriarchs. 5. Lastly, the patriarchs themselves up to Adam the protoplast, the first and common parent.

Ver. 26. St Luke reckoneth from the last of Christ’s progenitors to the first. And first he mentioneth private men, not read of in the Scriptures. 2. Captains after the Babylonish captivity. 3. Kings and men of great name in and before the captivity. 4. Private persons again before David up to the patriarchs. 5. Lastly, the patriarchs themselves up to Adam the protoplast, the first and common parent.

Ver. 27. Which was the son of Neri] Salathiel was naturally the son of Neri, but legally, and by succession, the son of Jechoniah, #Mt 1:12, for he succeeded him in the kingdom. Neri, which signifieth my candle, seemeth to have been so named from the candle which the Lord reserved for David and his house, #2Ch 21:7.

Ver. 30. Which was the son of Simeon] Our saviour’s genealogy is here the more accurately described, because there were those who would have substituted and put false Christs upon the Church, #Ezr 2:62. The priests that could not produce their genealogies were outed.

Ver. 34. Which was the son of Thara] So there are reckoned ten generations from Abraham to Noah. And again, ten from Noah to Adam.

Ver. 35. Which was the son of Thara] So there are reckoned ten generations from Abraham to Noah. And again, ten from Noah to Adam.

Ver. 36. Which was the son of Cainan] This name crept, by some means, into the Greek copies after Jerome’s time, say Beza and Paraeus. Others say that St Luke herein followed the Septuagint’s translation, out of wisdom and charity to the Hellenists or Greek-Jews that had received it, and read it. 2. That writing for heathens, he followed the heathen’s Bible in his quotations. 3. That in his genealogies he was to be a copier, not a corrector.

Ver. 38. Which was the Son of God] Not by generation, but creation. Therefore the Syriac translator hath it Demen Elaha, A Deo, of God, not Bar Elaha, the Son of God.

Chapter 4

Ver. 1. Returned from Jordan, and was led] No sooner out of the water of baptism, but in the fire of temptation. After greatest feelings, we are to expect sharpest assaults; neither can we better quench the devil’s fiery darts, than with the water of baptism. We lead, saith Luther, of a certain holy virgin, who, whensoever solicited to sin, would stop the tempter’s mouth with this one answer, Christiana sum, I am a Christian. Intellexit enim hostis statim virtutem baptismi et fidei—et fugit ab ea. Satan could not abide the mention of baptism, but fled from her presently.

Ver. 2. Being forty days] During which time be was set upon all sorts of temptations. These three here recorded were likely the very worst, in quibus diabolus omnes astus et fraudis sum sacculos deplevit (as one saith), wherein the devil did his utmost.

Ver. 3. Command this stone] "Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel," #Pr 20:17. Compare this verse with #Pr 20:9, and see how the devil usually tempteth by extremes, to make men offend either in defect or excess. Thus he tempted master Knox upon his death bed, if not to despair, then to presume that heaven should be his, for his zeal in the Scottish Reformation. (Perkins.)

Ver. 4. {See Trapp on "Mt 4:4"}

Ver. 5. Showed unto him all the kingdoms] In a visible landscape of his own making, presented to the eye.

Ver. 6. To whomsoever I will I give it] The pope, as heir to the devil, takes upon him to be Dominus regnorum mundi, Lord of the kings of the world. Boniface VIII wrote to Philip, king of France, that he was Lord of all, both temporals and spirituals, in all countries. Os papae et culeus diaboli in eodem sunt praedicamento, saith one. But, Cui volo do illa is God’s only to say, #Da 4:22.

Ver. 7. If thou wilt worship] Papa dulia adorandus, say the Canonists.

Ver. 8. Get thee behind me] {See Trapp on "Mt 4:10"}

Ver. 9. {See Trapp on "Mt 4:5"} {See Trapp on "Mt 4:6"}

Ver. 10. {See Trapp on "Mt 4:6"}

Ver. 11. {See Trapp on "Mt 4:6"}

Ver. 12. {See Trapp on "Mt 4:7"}

Ver. 13. He departed from him for a season] We must look for the other bout, and in a calm prepare for a storm. The tempter is restless and impudent; so that a man is to expect, if he live out his days, to be urged to all sins, to the breach of every branch of the ten commandments, and to be put to it in respect of every article of the Creed.

Ver. 14. In the power of the Spirit] Without which the word is preached to no purpose. Cathedram in coelo habet, qui corda docet, saith Augustine. It is with the word and spirit, as with the veins and arteries; as the veins carry the blood, so the arteries carry the spirits to quicken the blood.

Ver. 15. Glorified of all] Envy itself was throttled, which yet usually waits upon virtue. Every Zopyrus hath his Zoilus. Lipsius complaineth ( an Iustus ipse viderit) that today men have left off, not only to do things praiseworthy, but also to praise those that do so.

Ver. 16. Where he had been brought up] The Jews were to be kind to the Egyptians, and to pray for the prosperity of Babylon, where they had been bred and fed. "Be ye thankful," #Col 3:15, viz. to your friends and benefactors.

And stood up for to read] In honour of the word that he read. So #Ne 8:5, a commendable custom.

Ver. 17. He found the place] Whether he looked for it, or it so happened by a providence, it is uncertain. Origen, after his fall, lighting on that text, #Ps 50:16. "What hast thou to do to take my words," &c., fell into a passion of weeping, and came out of the pulpit, as not able to speak to the people. Augustine hearing from heaven, Tolle, lege, and happening upon that place, #Ro 13:14 "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ," &c., was presently converted thereby. So was Cyprian, by reading the prophecy of Jonah.

Ver. 18. He hath anointed me to preach] Therefore the gospel is a sure saying, and worthy of all acceptation, since it is an effect of the Holy Spirit: doubt not its excellence, authority, certainty, sufficiency. See my "True Treasure."

Ver. 19. The acceptable year of the Lord] A joyful jubilee. Let us not stand out the time, lest we be bored in the ear by the devil.

Ver. 20. Were fastened on him] A good help against distractions. Our hearts are fickle and fugitive, if not hard held to it.

Ver. 21. This day is this scripture, &c.] This the sum of his sermon, as were also the prophecies we read, the heads only and short notes of the prophets’ larger discourses. Brevity breeds obscurity.

Ver. 22. Is not this Joseph’s son?] And what of that? But it is still the course of our hearers, to look round about us, if possibly they may find any hole in our coat, through which to slight and slip the cords of our doctrine, though they cannot but admire it.

Ver. 23. Physician, heal thyself] That is, thy country. So that for a man to cure his country is to cure himself.

Ver. 24. No prophet is accepted] {See Trapp on "Mt 13:57"}

Ver. 25. Many widows were in Israel] q.d. God hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, &c. He is a free agent, and may do with his own as he pleaseth. If the prophets, by the Spirit’s direction, healed and helped foreigners sooner than Israelites, what so great wonder that Christ did not for his own country that which he did for others?

Ver. 26. That was a widow] A calamitous name, #2Sa 14:5. The Hebrews call her Almanah, a dumb woman, because either she dare not or may not speak for herself: but God professeth himself the patron of such; and he can speak for them in the hearts of their greatest adversaries. Happy they in such an advocate.

Ver. 27. Naaman the Syrian] Nor he neither so long as he looked upon God’s Jordan with Syrian eyes.

Ver. 28. And all they in the synagogue] Though but plain rustics, yet they soon understood this saying of preaching to the Gentiles: which put them into an anger, and our Saviour into a danger.

Ver. 29. Thrust him out of the city] As unworthy to tread on their pavement. And so mad they were, that they could neither stay till the business were brought to a judicial trial, nor forbear execution till the sabbath were over.

Ver. 30. But he passing, &c.] Like a second Samson; his own arm saved him. This might have convinced his adversaries, except they were mad with malice.

Ver. 31. And came down to Capernaum] Contempt drives away Christ. And woe be unto you if I forsake you, #Ho 9:12. Contend earnestly for the faith, since it is but once delivered to the saints, #Jude 3. You must never expect another edition of it.

Ver. 32. For his word was with power] He preached not frigide et trepide, as the scribes; but uttered oracles, and did miracles.

Ver. 33. And in the synagogue] {See Trapp on "Mr 1:23"}

Ver. 34. The Holy One of God] The pope will needs be called "Most Holy"; and so lifts up himself above Christ.

Ver. 35. {See Trapp on "Mt 8:16"} {See Trapp on "Mr 1:25"} {See Trapp on "Mr 1:26"}

Ver. 36. {See Trapp on "Mr 1:27"}

Ver. 37. {See Trapp on "Mt 8:16"} {See Trapp on "Mr 1:28"}

Chapter 5

Ver. 1. As the people pressed upon him] This was both an argument of the truth of his humanity (that he was thronged and thrust together by the unmannerly multitude) and a part of his passion.

Ver. 2. Were washing their nets] Though they laboured last night, and had taken nothing. Ferendum et sperandum. Hope beguiles calamity, as good company doth the way.

Ver. 3. He prayed him] Gr. He gently asked him, ηρωτησεν, will you be pleased to thrust out a little? See #Php 2:8,9. Posse el nolle, nobile est.

Taught the people out of the ship] Any place served him for a pulpit. So if men be desirous to hear, they will make a mat a seat, a pair of legs a seat.

Ver. 4. Let down your nets] This is the fare he pays them, for the use of their ship. No man loseth by Christ.

Ver. 5. We have toiled all night, &c.] Omnia feci, et nihil expedit, said Severus the emperor. (Spartian.) See #Heb 2:13 Hag 2:6. if God stop not that hole in the bottom of the bag, all will run through.

And have taken nothing] If ministers be put so to complain, it is to be feared that Satan caught the fish ere they came to their net.

Ver. 6. And their net brake] Yet the fishes got not out, which some note for another miracle.

Ver. 7. Filled both the ships] Here the dumb fishes do clearly preach Christ to be the Son of God.

Ver. 8. For I am a sinful man] Gr. A man a sinner, ανηρ αμαρτωλος, a very mixture and compound of dirt and sin. See the like phrase, #Nu 32:14.

Ver. 9. And he was astonished] Gr. Fear seized upon him, and surrounded him, περιεσχεν, as Tacitus saith, Induere pavores.

Ver. 10. Thou shalt catch men] {See Trapp on "Mt 4:19"}

Ver. 11. They forsook all, and followed him] They had given their names to him before, #Joh 1:43; but now they see by this miracle his power to provide for them, they leave all to live with him. We love to see how we shall subsist.

Ver. 12. If thou wilt, thou canst] It is a ready way to speed, to found our prayers upon the power of God.

Ver. 13. I will, be thou clean] So ready is Christ to gratify his suppliants, yea, to be commanded by them, #Isa 45:11.

Ver. 14. For a testimony unto them] For a Bill of Indictment against them. Reprobates shall give a heavy account to God of all the means and offers of grace.

Ver. 15. But so much the more] Fame follows them that comes from it, and the contrary: as the crocodile doth.

Ver. 16. And he withdrew] Pray, if you mean to prosper.

Ver. 17. And the power of the Lord] So it is, when any ordinance is afoot.

Ver. 18. And, behold, men brought] {See Trapp on "Mt 9:2"} {See Trapp on "Mt 9:3"} {See Trapp on "Mr 2:3"} {See Trapp on "Mr 2:4"} {See Trapp on "Mr 2:5"}

Ver. 19. They went upon the housetop] Which (according to the custom of building in those Eastern countries) was flat laid, and surrounded with battlements, #De 22:8.

Ver. 20. Thy sins are forgiven thee] Let our sicknesses mind us of our sins, that we soon seek pardon.

Ver. 23. Whether is easier] q.d. Neither of either: for both are equally hard, and feasible to God alone.

Ver. 24. {See Trapp on "Mt 9:2"} {See Trapp on "Mt 9:3"} {See Trapp on "Mr 2:5"}

Ver. 25. {See Trapp on "Mt 9:8"} {See Trapp on "Mr 2:12"}

Ver. 26. Strange things] Gr. παραδοξα, paradoxes, things that we never thought to have seen; and above belief, had we not seen them.

Ver. 29. And Levi made him a great feast] Epulum splendidum, a sumptuous feast; so St Luke’s word δοχην here signifieth. But when St Matthew himself speaks of it, he saith only that Christ came home and ate bread with him: to teach us, saith one, that another man’s mouth should praise us, and not our own, #Pr 27:2. {See Trapp on "Pr 27:2"}

Ver. 33. {See Trapp on "Mt 9:14"} {See Trapp on "Mr 2:18"}

Ver. 34. {See Trapp on "Mt 9:15"} {See Trapp on "Mr 2:19"}

Ver. 35. And then shall they fast] This is fulfilled, saith Bellarmine, in our Lent fasts. But this was fulfilled, say we, when Christ was crucified, and the apostles mourned. Papists’ set fasts are mere mock fasts.

Ver. 39. The old is better] That is, milder, and so more pleasant. Vetustate enim vina mitescunt, quia velustas igneum calorem, acerbitatem, et faeces e vino tollit. (Piscator.) Age clarifies wine, and ripens it.

Chapter 6

Ver. 1. On the second sabbath after the first] Jerome saith that he asked Nazianzen what this second sabbath after the first was. Nazianzen answered, I’ll tell you that when I come next into the pulpit, for there you cannot contradict me. Ita per iocum dixit (saith Melancthon) quod hodie serio multi imitantur. {See Trapp on "Mt 12:1"}

Ver. 2. That which is not lawful] Our Saviour grants that it had not been lawful indeed, but in case of hard hunger.

Ver. 3. Have ye not read] Yes, over and over, but either understood not, or, through malice, dissembled it. Quilibet nostrum de lege interrogatus facilius quam nomini suo respondet, saith Josephus. The Jews were all very well versed in the Scriptures.

Ver. 4. See #Mt 12:3,4 Mr 2:24.

Ver. 5. See #Mt 12:3,4 Mr 2:24.

Ver. 6. And it came to pass] {See Trapp on "Mt 12:9"} {See Trapp on "Mt 12:10"} {See Trapp on "Mt 12:11"}

Ver. 11. They were filled with madness] That is, with extreme rage and anger, which is a short madness— Et rectam tollit de cardine mentem.

Ver. 12. He went out into a mountain to pray] He premiseth prayer, being to make choice of the twelve. If Eliezer prayed when to seek a wife for Isaac, #Ge 24:12-14; if Solomon prayed for wisdom, ere he set upon the temple work; if Ezra fasted and prayed ere he committed the golden and silver vessels to them that kept them, #Ezr 8:21,30; should there not prayer be made for ministers ere they be set over God’s house and people?

Ver. 13. And of them he chose] {See Trapp on "Mt 10:1"}

Ver. 14. {See Trapp on "Mt 10:2"} {See Trapp on "Mt 10:3"} {See Trapp on "Mt 10:4"} {See Trapp on "Mr 3:14"} {See Trapp on "Mr 6:7"}

Ver. 15. {See Trapp on "Mt 10:2"} {See Trapp on "Mt 10:3"} {See Trapp on "Mt 10:4"} {See Trapp on "Mr 3:14"} {See Trapp on "Mr 6:7"}

Ver. 16. {See Trapp on "Mt 10:2"} {See Trapp on "Mt 10:3"} {See Trapp on "Mt 10:4"} {See Trapp on "Mr 3:14"} {See Trapp on "Mr 6:7"}

Ver. 17. And stood in the plain] And yet he delivered the same sermon (in effect) that he delivered at another time, sitting on the mount, #Mt 5:2, δις και τρις τα καλα.

Ver. 18. And they that were vexed] This was more uncomfortable and incurable than other natural diseases. Sed omnipotenti medico nullus insanabilis occurrit morbus, saith Isidore; to an Almighty physician no disease can be incurable.

Ver. 20. Blessed be ye poor] Here we have a repetition of that famous sermon on the mount, #Mt 5:6,7. {See Trapp on "Mt 5:6"} {See Trapp on "Mt 5:7"}

Ver. 21. {See Trapp on "Mt 5:4"} {See Trapp on "Mt 5:6"}

Ver. 22. And cast out your name] Ubicunque invenitur nomen Calvini, deleatur, saith the Index Expurgatorius. Persecutors proscribe true professors, tanquam nequissiraos et lucis huius usura indignos. After John Huss was burnt, his adversaries got his heart, which was left untouched by the fire, and beat it with their staves. A friar preaching to the people at Antwerp, wished that Luther were there, that he might bite out his throat with his teeth, as Erasmus testifieth. (Ep. xvi. ad obtrectat.)

Ver. 23. See #Mt 5:12. {See Trapp on "Mt 5:12"}

Ver. 24. But woe unto you that are rich] sc. In this world only, and not to Godward. {See Trapp on "Jas 5:1"} {See Trapp on "Jas 5:3"} {See Trapp on "Jas 5:3"} Every grain of riches hath a vermin of pride and ambition in it.

Ver. 25. Woe unto you that laugh now] Worldlings’ jollity is but as a book fairly bound, which, when it is opened, is full of nothing but tragedies.

Ver. 26. When all men shall speak well] What evil have I done, said Aristides, when one told him he had every man’s good word. Male de me loquunlur, sed mali, saith Seneca. Malis displicere, laudari est. When Doeg blasted Darid, he thinks the better of himself, #Ps 52:8. Latimer says he was glad when any objected indiscretion against him in his sermons; for by that he knew the matter was good, else they would soon have condemned that.

Ver. 27. See #Mt 5:44 Ro 12:20.

Ver. 28. See #Mt 5:44 Ro 12:20.

Ver. 29. That smiteth thee on the one cheek] Socrates, when one gave him a box on the ear in the market place, said, Quam molestum est nescire homines quando prodire debeant cam galea? What an odd thing it is to go abroad without a helmut.

Ver. 30. Give to every man, &c.] General Norrice never thought he had that which he gave not away. It is not lack, but love of money, that maketh men churls. Men believe not that of Martial,

“ Extra fortunam est quicquid donatur egenis;

Quas dederis solas semper habebis opes.”

Ask them not again] Or if thou take the benefit of the law to recover them, do it without hate or heat; as tilters break their spears on each other’s breasts, yet without wrath or intention of hurt.

Ver. 31. And as ye would that men, &c.] The most part of the Turk’s civil justice is grounded upon this rule, as is above noted.

Ver. 32. See #Mt 5:46. {See Trapp on "Mt 5:46"}

Ver. 34. See #Mt 5:42. {See Trapp on "Mt 5:42"}

Ver. 35. Lend, hoping for nothing] No, not the principal, in case thy brother be not able to repay it. Thomas Tomkins, martyr, a weaver, dwelling in Shoreditch, whensoever any had come to borrow money of him, would show them such money as he had in his purse, and bid them take it; and when they came to repay it again, so far was he from usury, that he would bid them keep it longer till they were better able. (Acts and Mon.) The usurer breeding money of money to the third and fourth generation, prove like the butler’s box (saith one), which at length draws all the counters to it. Our Saviour, in the former verse, maketh him worse than other sinners, who lend to receive the like; but he lends to receive the more.

To the unthankful and to the evil] An unthankful man is a naughty man; nay, he is an ugly man, #Ps 147:1.

Ver. 36. {See Trapp on "Mt 5:48"}

Ver. 37. See #Mt 7:1.

Ver. 38. Into your bosom] The Jews wore large and loose garments, so that they could bear away much in their bosoms. Hence this expression.

Ver. 39. See #Mt 15:14.

Ver. 40. See #Mt 10:24.

Ver. 41. See #Mt 7:3.

Ver. 43. See #Mt 7:16.

Ver. 44. See #Mt 12:33-35.

Ver. 45. See #Mt 12:33-35.

Ver. 46. See #Mt 7:21 Mal 1:6.

Ver. 47. See #Mt 7:24.

Ver. 48. When the flood arose] Every man is that in truth which he is in a temptation.

Ver. 49. And immediately it fell] Want of due humiliation, at first conversion, is the ground of apostasy; unless there be care to do it better afterwards, and to make up that which is yet lacking; to cast up the loose earth, ut in solido extruat, as Vitruvius adviseth his builder. (Architect, i. 5.)

Chapter 7

Ver. 1. See #Mt 8:5.

Ver. 2. And a certain centurion’s servant] Piscator thinks that this history is not the same with that #Mt 8:5. His reasons may be read in his Scholia on that place.

Ver. 3. He sent unto him] St Matthew saith, he went unto him, sc. by his messengers.

Ver. 4. That he was worthy] So they held him: but he held himself unworthy, #Lu 7:6. God in like manner saith that Jerusalem had received double for her sins, #Isa 40:2. But Jerusalem herself saith, Our God hath punished us less than our sins, #Ezr 9:13. Too much, saith God; Too little, saith she; and yet how sweetly and beautifully doth this kind of contradiction become both!

Ver. 5. Built us a synagogue] Antiochus had burned the synagogues in various places. This man, new converted, is content to be at cost for God and his people. So the Israelites, received to favour again after their foul fall in setting up the golden calf, brought enough and to spare toward the work of the tabernacle.

Ver. 6. For I am not worthy] So saith Jacob of himself, #Ge 32:10; so Paul, #1Co 15:8-10; so the Baptist, #Mt 3:11; so Augustine, Non sum dignus quem tu diligas, Domine, I am not worthy of thy love, Lord.

Ver. 7. But say in a word] Send thy Mandamus, as #Ps 44:4.

Ver. 8. For I also] {See Trapp on "Mt 8:9"}

Ver. 9. He marvelled] {See Trapp on "Mt 8:10"}

Ver. 10. See #Mt 8:13.

Ver. 11. A city called Nain] A fair town not far from Tiberias, and watered by that ancient river, the river Kishon, #Jud 5:21, as saith Jerome.

Ver. 12. There was a dead man] Though a young man. Our decrepit age both expects death and solicits it, but vigorous youth looks strangely upon that grim sergeant of God. Senibus mors in ianuis, adolescentibus in insidiis, (Bern.) Death seizeth on old men, and lays wait for the youngest.

Carried out] sc. Out of the city, for without the gates were the burying places of old, for fear of annoyance by ill air. Hence harlots were called moechae bustuariae, sluts of the tombs, because they were thrust out of the city to play their pranks, where the dead were buried, as being dead while they lived. (Turneb. Advarsar.)

Ver. 13. He had compassion on her] Of his own free accord, and unrequested, he raised him. Christ had a most tender heart. How shall he not pity and provide for his praying people?

Ver. 14. Young man, I say unto thee, Arise] Had he said as much to all the dead (as once he shall, Surgite, mortui, venite in iudicium) they had certainly all risen immediately.

Ver. 15. Delivered him to his mother] To be a Scipio to her; the staff and stay of her old age.

Ver. 16. And there came a fear upon all] This was timor amicalis, a fear of reverence, for it produced thankfulness.

Ver. 17. And this rumour] Here the Sun of righteousness, that hath healing in his wings, shone forth in his strength, and drew all eyes to him.

Ver. 18. And the disciples of John] Having a zeal for their master, but not according to knowledge, see #Mt 11:2.

Ver. 19. Art thou he that should come] The soul resteth not till it pitch upon Christ. {See Trapp on "Mt 11:2"} {See Trapp on "Mt 11:3"}

Ver. 20. {See Trapp on "Mt 11:3"}

Ver. 21. {See Trapp on "Mt 11:4"} {See Trapp on "Mt 11:5"}

Ver. 22. {See Trapp on "Mt 11:4"} {See Trapp on "Mt 11:5"}

Ver. 23. And blessed is he] This is check to them for their preposterous zeal for John, their master. Therefore, also, our Saviour commends not John till they were departed.

Ver. 28. But he that is least] This is no small comfort to the ministers of the gospel, against the contempts cast upon them by the world. They are somebodies in heaven, whatever men make of them.

Ver. 29. Justified God] i.e. They glorified his word, #Ac 13:48, and acknowledged, his righteousness, repenting of their sins, and believing John’s and Christ’s testimony, which the Pharisees so pertinaciously rejected, and so deservedly perished. For as wine, a strong remedy against hemlock, yet mingled with it doubleth the force of the poison; so it is with the word when mingled with unbelief, and cast away with contempt.

Ver. 30. Rejected the counsel of God] Being ingrati gratiae Dei, as Ambrose speaketh, and so much the further off, for having seen the people so forward.

Ver. 31. See #Mt 11:16,17, &c.

Ver. 33. Neither eating bread] But locusts and wild honey.

Ver. 35. Of all her children] That is, her disciples, #Ps 34:11.

Ver. 36. Sat down to meat] It was fit he should feast sometimes, that fared so hard mostly.

Ver. 37. A woman] Not that woman, say some, mentioned #Mt 26:6 Joh 11:2, but some other.

A sinner] A strumpet, a she-sinner, as their mates call such.

Ver. 38. To wash his feet] They that make their eyes a fountain to wash Christ’s feet in, shall have his side for a fountain to wash their souls in.

Kissed his feet] But how many now refuse those kisses of his mouth, #So 1:2, by despising the word preached, that sweet pledge of his love!

Ver. 39. This man, if he were a prophet] See the picture of a hypocrite, slighting and censuring his betters.

What manner of woman this is] Syr. What an ill name she hath, for a light hussy.

Ver. 40. I have somewhat to say to thee] He that receives a courtesy, we say, sells his liberty. But so did not Christ at Simon’s, at Martha’s, &c., table. His mouth was not stopped with good cheer. He entertains the Pharisees with as many menaces as they do him with messes of meat.

Ver. 41. There was a certain creditor] Christ tells the supercilious and self-conceited Pharisee by this parable, that himself was a sinner also as well as the woman, and as a debtor to God’s judgment, had as much need of his grace in Christ for remission of sin and removal of wrath.

Ver. 42. And when they had nothing to pay] We are all non-solvents, stark beggars, and bankrupts, having nothing of our own but sin and hell; nothing to say for ourselves why we should not to prison, but that of Augustine, Ego admisi, Domine, unde tu damnare potes me, sed non amisisti, unde tu salvare potes me; Lord, I have done enough to undo me for ever, but thou hast yet enough to make me happy for ever. I acknowledge the debt, that is all I can do. Oh cross the book, and draw the red lines of Christ’s blood over the black lines of my sins.

Ver. 43. Thou hast rightly judged] See here and imitate our Saviour’s candour: cui virtuti per se pulcherrimae grande pretium raritas addidit, nostro quidem aevo, saith one, this is a rare and rich virtue.

Ver. 44. She hath washed my feet with tears] Her heart was a sacred alembic, {a} out of which those tears were distilled. Never did any man read his pardon with dry eyes.

Washed my feet with tears, &c.] We read not that the Virgin Mary ever did as this greater sinner did. Repentance is the fair child of that foul mother, sin, as the Romans said of Pompey, Εχθρου πατρος φιλτατον τεκνον. And it is question whether more glorifies God, innocence or penitence?

{a} An apparatus formerly used in distilling, consisting of a cucurbit or gourd-shaped vessel containing the substance to be distilled, surmounted by the head or cap, or alembic proper, the beak of which conveyed the vaporous products to a receiver, in which they were condensed. It is now superseded by the retort and worm still. ŒD

Ver. 45. Thou gavest me no kiss] Which yet was their usual way of salutation, #1Pe 5:14.

Ver. 46. Mine head with oil] Which yet was ordinary at solemn feasts. But Simon was too short, as not understanding the worth of his present guest.

Ver. 47. For she loved much] Nam, notificativum est, non impulsivum. Her love was an argmnent (not a cause) that her sins were forgiven her.

Ver. 48. Thy sins are forgiven thee] Melancthon makes mention of a godly woman, who having upon her death bed been much conflicted, and afterwards much comforted, brake out into these words, Now, and not till now, I understand the meaning of those words, Thy sins are forgiven. It is reported about another, that courting a courtesan, and understanding that her name was Mary; he remembered Mary Magdalen, and forbearing to commit that act of filthiness that he intended, became a sound convert.

Ver. 49. Who is this that forgiveth sins also?] Ignorance of Christ and his office bred this offence, as it doth many others. It is easy to stumble in the dark.

Ver. 50. Go in peace] Faith hath virtutem pacativam, #Ro 5:1. It lodgeth a blessed calm in the conscience, and fortifies the heart against all discouragements. Men may mutter, as here they did, but the answer, or rather demand of faith is, Who shall condemn? it is Christ that justifieth, #Ro 8:34. Better be envied than pitied.

Chapter 8

Ver. 1. He went through every city] To teach us unweariableness in God’s work. He went about doing good: so should we, waiting all opportunities.

Ver. 2. Which had been healed] #Ex 30:10. After sickness they were to offer to God the ransom of their lives. Hezekiah testified his thankfulness for recovery by a song; these good women, by following Christ; when they might have staid at home with more ease to themselves, and more thank of their friends. Nay, very heathens, after a fit of sickness, would consecrate something to their gods.

Mary, called Magdalen, out of whom went seven devils] Which some interpret of seven deadly sins.

Ver. 3. Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward] Or treasurer, as the Arabic calleth him, his vicar-general, or protetrarch. This court lady followeth Christ: so did Serena the empress, who was therefore martyred by her husband Diocletian. So Elizabeth, Queen of Denmark; of whom Luther testifieth (in Epist. ad Jo. Agrieol.) that she died a faithful professor of the reformed religion; and addeth, Scilicet Christus etiam aliquando voluit Reginam in coelum vehere. Christ would once save a queen: which he doth not often.

Ver. 4. And when much people, &c.] {See Trapp on "Mt 13:2"} &c

Ver. 11. See #Mt 13:18.

Ver. 12. Taketh away the word] Lest, if it should lie long upon their hard hearts, it should break through them with its weight, as being able to save their souls, #Jas 1:21.

Ver. 13. With joy] Which yet was but a flash.

Ver. 14. Go forth, &c.] viz. About their worldly businesses; which, as the lean kine in Pharaoh’s dream, devour the fat, and it is nothing seen by them. After awhile they remember no more than the man in the moon doth, what they had heard delivered.

Ver. 15. In an honest] Referred to the end and intent in the action.

And good heart] In respect of inward renewed qualities.

Having heard the word, keep it] As food or physic, which if not kept, profiteth not. They incorporate it into their souls, so as it becomes an ingrafted word; they are transformed into the same image, conformed to the heavenly pattern.

With patience] Or, with tarriance for the fit season, εν υπομονη. Not as that first ripe fruit, #Lu 8:13 Ps 129:6,7

Ver. 16. No man, when he hath lighted, &c.] q.d. Though to you it is given to know mysteries, &c., as #Lu 8:10, yet not for your own use only, but that your light may shine before men.

Ver. 17. See #Mt 16:26 Mr 4:22 Lu 12:2.

Ver. 18. Take heed therefore how ye hear] For else ye shall neither bear good fruits, nor be borne with for your barrenness. All shall out, and you shall smart for it.

Even that which he seemeth to have] There is a great deal of seemingness abroad; and every grace hath its counterfeit. Simia quam similis, turpissima bestia, nobis, saith Ennius. But God strips men of common gifts; and counterfeit complexion will not long hold.

Ver. 19. See #Mt 12:46 Mr 3:31.

Ver. 20. See #Mt 12:46 Mr 3:31.

Ver. 21. See #Mt 12:46 Mr 3:31.

Ver. 22. See #Mt 8:23 Mr 4:36.

Ver. 23. See #Mt 8:23 Mr 4:36.

Ver. 24. See #Mt 8:23 Mr 4:36.

Ver. 25. Where is your faith?] It is not having faith, but living by it, the actuating of it, that helps us in an exigence.

Ver. 26. See #Mt 8:28 Mr 5:2.

Ver. 27. A certain man which had devils] All Pharaoh’s cruelty exercised over the Israelites was nothing to this. Oh then the inexpressible torments of the damned! Utinam ubique de Gehenna dissereretur! saith a Father (Chrysostom). I could wish men would discourse much and often of hell.

Ver. 29. And was driven of the devil] As a horse is by his rider (so the word ηλαυνετο signifieth) or a ship with oars. All wicked men are acted and agitated by the devil, #Eph 2:2, persecutors especially. Quod si videris aliquando persecutorem tuum nimis saevientem, scito quia ab ascensore sue diabolo perurgetur. If persecutors sometimes be more moderate, it is because the devil spurs not so hard. (Bernard.)

Ver. 30. And he said, Legion] We must be ready and well-appointed to resist; for the devil sets upon us not without military discipline and singular skill. Cataphractus incedit Satan, saith Luther. The devil marcheth well armed and in good array.

Ver. 31. To go out into the deep] i.e. Hell, that bottomless deep, #Re 20:3 2Pe 2:4, where they could do no more hurt: which would be another hell unto them. Augustus, consulting Apollo’s oracle, was told, that a Hebrew child had stopped his mouth, and sent him with a mittimus {a} to hell, &c. (Pucer de Orac.)

{a} A warrant under the hand and seal of a justice of the peace or other proper officer, directed to the keeper of a prison, ordering him to receive into custody and hold in safe-keeping, until delivered in due course of law, the person sent and specified in the warrant. ŒD

Ver. 33. And the herd ran violently] So would the possessed man soon have done, but that God preserved him.

Ver. 35. Sitting at the feet of Jesus] As fearing lest, if he departed, he should be repossessed. So we see it is an old error and weakness for men to be too strongly conceited of Christ’s corporeal presence.

Ver. 36. See #Mt 8:33,34.

Ver. 37. See #Mt 8:33,34.

Ver. 38. Sent him away] Christ would not have him depend upon his bodily presence, but upon his Almighty power.

Ver. 39. Show how great things] This was all the fee Christ called for for all his cures. He is content that we have the benefit, so he may have the glory of what he does for us.

Ver. 40. When Jesus was returned] viz. Into Galilee, where he was highly honoured.

Ver. 41. See #Mt 9:18 Mr 5:22.

Ver. 42. See #Mt 9:18 Mr 5:22.

Chapter 9

Ver. 1. See #Mt 10:1 Mr 3:13 6:7.

Ver. 2. See #Mt 10:1 Mr 3:13 6:7.

Ver. 3. Take nothing for your journey] But preach the gospel, and depend upon divine providence. Look you to your work, and God will take care for your wages. This the disciples might do, but this was no warrant to those maleferiati among us, who (if fame belie them not) pretending to an immediate call from God to go and preach the gospel in Galilee, sold their estates, set forward for that place, taking neither scrip nor scrap with them; resolving to trust God for their necessary sustentation. Is not this the efficacy of error? Are not these a diabolo dementatis, besotted by the devil?

Ver. 5. See #Mt 10:14 Mr 6:11 Lu 10:11 Ac 13:51.

Ver. 6. And healing everywhere] Those miracles of healing ascribed to Vespasian by heathen historians (Dio et alii), but falsely, do belong properly and alone to Christ’s disciples.

Ver. 7. And he was perplexed] Pendebat, animi dubius. He stood amused and amazed: he stuck in the mud, as it were, and could find no way out. This is the import of the Greek word διηπορει. Thus the wicked in the fulness of his sufficiency is in straits, as Zophar hath it, #Job 15:22.

Ver. 8. See #Mt 14:1,2.

Ver. 9. And he desired to see him] With a faint and fruitless desire: for he never stirred out-of-doors to see Christ, though he believed that God had raised him from the dead. So true is that of Abraham, #Lu 16:31. Perhaps he desired to see whether it were John or not.

Ver. 10. See #Mt 14:13 Mr 6:30,32.

Ver. 11. And he received them] Weary though he were, yet never weary of well doing.

Ver. 12. See #Mt 14:15 Mr 6:35 Joh 6:5.

Ver. 13. Except we should go, &c.] Which is a thing not only improbable, but impossible. They held it an absurd notion.

Ver. 14. {See Trapp on "Lu 9:13"}

Ver. 15. {See Trapp on "Lu 9:13"}

Ver. 16. {See Trapp on "Lu 9:13"}

Ver. 17. {See Trapp on "Lu 9:13"}

Ver. 18. As he was alone praying] Examinationi preces praemittendae. All our sacrifices should be salted with this salt.

Ver. 19. But some say Elias] This Pythagorean transanimation is held by the Jews to this day, viz. ( ut singuli tertio renascantur) against so many clear testimonies of Scripture to the contrary.

Ver. 20. See #Mt 16:13,14 Mr 8:28.

Ver. 22. See #Mt 17:22.

Ver. 23. See #Mt 10:38 Mr 8:34 Lu 14:27 17:33.

Ver. 24. See #Mt 10:38 Mr 8:35 Lu 14:27 17:33.

Ver. 25. See #Mt 16:26 Mr 8:36.

Ver. 26. See #Mt 10:33 Mr 8:38 Lu 12:9 2Ti 2:12.

Ver. 27. See #Mt 16:28 Mr 9:1.

Ver. 28. About eight days] Putting the two utmost days also into the reckoning. {See Trapp on "Mt 17:1"}

Ver. 29. And as he prayed] Dum ipsius mens tota Deo se immergeret, saith one (Luc. Burgens.). Christians, while they are praying, are often times carried out and beyond themselves. See #Mt 17:2,3. {See Trapp on "Mt 17:2"} {See Trapp on "Mt 17:3"}

Ver. 31. And spake of his decease] Gr. of his exodus; in reference to that expedition or departure of Israel out of Egypt (την εξοδον). It signifieth a translating from a condition and state of hardship; and is also used by St Peter, #2Pe 1:15. Death to the saints is but an out going to heaven, #Php 1:21, a loosing from the shore of life, and launching out into the main of immortality.

Ver. 34. There came a cloud] {See Trapp on "Mt 17:5"}

Ver. 37. See #Mt 17:14 Mr 9:17 &c.

Ver. 39. And bruising him] As in the falling sickness, it happens.

Ver. 44. Let these sayings sink, &c.] Ponite, reponite, lay up (θεσθε) the sayings of my sufferings, notwithstanding this people’s vain applauses. The best balm cast into water sinks to the bottom; the baser sort floats on the top.

Ver. 45. They understood not this saying] So besotted they were with that carnal conceit of an earthly kingdom, still retained by the Jews to this day.

Ver. 46. See #Mt 18:1 Mr 9:34.

Ver. 49. See #Mr 9:38.

Ver. 51. That he should be received up] The word αναληψεως (Poly. Lyser.) implies a metaphor from fathers owning and acknowledging their children after long absence.

He set his face] He steeled his forehead against all discouragements, εστηριξε.

Ver. 53. And they did not receive him] Such is the hatred that idolaters bear against all God’s true worshippers. Illam domum in qua inventus fuerit haereticus diruendam decernimus: It was a decree of the Council of Toulouse against the Albigenses.

Ver. 54. And when his disciples] These two brethren, sons of thunder, how soon was their choler up! they had quick and hot spirits.

Wilt thou that we command] It were to be wished that we would first consult with Christ in his word, ere we stir hand or foot to revenge.

Ver. 55. But he turned and rebuked them] He did it not slightly, and by-the-by, but seriously, and on set purpose; so must we rebuke and rebate our vindictive spirits, our unruly lusts, when like kine in a strait they rush and ride one upon the back of another.

Ye know not what manner of spirits ye are of] Not of Elias’s spirit, as ye imagine; this wildfire was never kindled on God’s hearth, as his zeal was; you are men of another mould than Elias. He was a minister of indignation, you of consolation; his actions fit not you, because your persons are not like his. It is a rare thing to be of a heroic spirit, saith the moralist, Σπανιον το θειον ανδρα ειναι (Aristot.). Every man cannot be an Elias or a Phineas, #Nu 25:8. To that height of heat ordinary men’s tempers are not raised.

Ver. 57. See #Mt 8:19.

Ver. 58. And Jesus said unto them] Christ had felt his pulse and found his temper, that he looked after outward things only; and therefore he lets him know what to trust unto.

But the Son of man] Ezekiel with the Septuagint is, υιος ανθρωπου, the son of man, but Christ is ο υιος του ανθρωπου, , that is, the son of that man, of that first man Adam. He was the next and only other common person.

Ver. 59. See #Mt 8:21.

Ver. 62. No man having put his hand] Christ here happily alludeth to that which Elisha did, #1Ki 19:19. Ploughmen that look back cannot but make baulks. {a}

{a} A ridge left in ploughing; a miss, slip. ŒD

Chapter 10

Ver. 1. Other seventy also] As his heralds, to foreshow his coming to Jerusalem, and to proclaim the true Jubilee.

Ver. 2. See #Mt 9:37.

Ver. 3. Go your ways] Christ had no sooner bidden them pray, but he answers their prayers. When we bid our children ask us for this or that, it is because we mean to give it to them.

As lambs among wolves] Sed sollicitudo pastoris boni effici ut lupi in agnos audere nil possint saith Ambrose. The care of the good shepherd is the safety of the flock.

Ver. 4. Salute no man] For that your task is long, your time is little.

Ver. 5. See #Mt 10:11-15.

Ver. 6. See #Mt 10:11-15.

Ver. 7. See #Mt 10:11-15.

Ver. 8. Such things as they set before you] Not seeking after dainties. It becomes not a servant of the Highest to be a slave to his palate. Epicurei, dum palate prospiciunt, coeli palatium non suspiciunt, saith the heathen. (Cicero).

Ver. 9. See #Mt 3:2 4:17.

Ver. 10. See #Mt 10:14 Ac 13:51

Ver. 11. That the kingdom of God] There is in unbelief an odious unthankfulness; such judge themselves unworthy of eternal life, #Ac 13:44; they are condemned already, #Joh 3:18.

Ver. 12. See #Mt 11:24.

Ver. 13. See #Mt 11:21.

Ver. 16. He that despiseth you] Julius Pflugius, complaining to the emperor of wrong done to him by the duke of Saxony, received this answer from him, Tua causa erit mea causa; so saith Christ to all his servants. Causa ut sit magna, magnus est actor et author eius; neque enim nostra est, saith Luther to Melancthon.

Ver. 17. And the seventy returned again with joy] We are all naturally ambitious, and desirous of vain glory. A small wind blows up a bubble. Pray down this vanity.

Ver. 18. Fall from heaven] That is, from men’s hearts, which he accounts his heaven; but is cast out by the mighty gospel.

Ver. 19. To tread on serpents] {See Trapp on "Mr 16:18"} Good ministers tread so hard on the old serpent’s head, that it is no wonder he turns again, and nibbleth at their heels.

Ver. 20. That your names are written] That you are enrolled burgesses of the new Jerusalem. Paul by his privilege of being a Roman escaped whipping; we by this escape damnation. The sinner engrosseth his name in the book of perdition.

Ver. 21. I thank thee, O Father, &c.] With this prayer the Anabaptists of Germany usually began their sermons, thinking thereby to excuse their lack of learning. (Scultet. Annal.) And then protested that they would deliver nothing but what was revealed to them from above.

Ver. 22. See #Mt 28:18 Joh 3:35.

Ver. 23. Blessed are the eyes, &c.] How blessed, then, are they that hear this arch-prophet in heaven. Moses and Elias, conversing with Christ on the mount, could much better discourse about his decease, and other divine doctrines, than ever they could while here upon earth. An infant of one day there is much beyond the deepest doctor here.

Ver. 24. Many prophets and kings] Many righteous, saith Matthew, #Mt 13:17. Righteous persons are kings.

Ver. 25. See #Mt 22:35.

Ver. 27. With all thy heart, and, &c.] Serviendum Deo toto corde; id est, amore summo, more vero, ore fideli re omni: Hoc non sit verbis. Marce, ut ameris, ama. (Martial.)

Here some weak Christians are troubled, as conceiting that they love their children, friends, &c., better than God. But it is answered, 1. When two streams run in one channel (as here nature and grace do) they run stronger than one stream doth. When a man loves God and the things of God, grace is alone; nature yields nothing to that. 2. We must not judge by an indeliberate passion. (Dr Sibbs on #1Co 2:9) The love of God is a constant stream; not a torrent, but a current, that runs all our lifetime, but runs still, and without noise, as the waters of Shiloh and of Nile, nullas confessus murmure vires, that runs smoothly. (Claudian.)

With all thy strength] That is, saith a divine, in our particular places. A magistrate must execute justice for God’s sake, &c.

Ver. 28. See #Mt 19:17.

Ver. 29. Who is my neighbour?] They counted no man their neighbour but their near friends.

Ver. 30. And Jesus answering] Gr. υπολαβων. Taking the tale out of his mouth, being ready with his answer. For he is that Palmoni Hammedabber, in #Da 8:13, that prime prolocutor.

Ver. 31. And by chance] Indeed by the providence of God overruling the matter, as it doth in things that to us are merely casual and contingent.

Ver. 32. Passed by on the other side] Αντιπαρηλθεν. For fear of legal pollution. But two duties never meet so as to cross one another; the one of them yields, and the execution of the yielding duty for the present hath reason of an offence. This Levite’s legal strictness was here a vice; he should rather have showed mercy to his brother in misery. So that the rule, negatives always bind, intends not that they are of an indispensable nature; but that every particular instant of time is to be observed for their obedience, while and where they stand of force. (Huet. of Cons.)

Ver. 33. A certain Samaritan] Turnebus dictos putat Parabolanos, quasi aemulos Samaritani. Hoc autem nomine vocabantur, qui curandis debilium corporibus deputabantur. Those who looked to sick people were hence called Parabolanes, or Samaritans. This Samaritan is Christ. So they called him, #Joh 8:48, but in a worse sense. {See Trapp on "Joh 8:48"}

Ver. 34. Pouring in oil and wine] Wine to search, and oil to supple. Wine signifies the sharpness of the law (saith Melancthon), oil the sweetness of the gospel. Now, so great is the natural sympathy and harmony between the vine and the olive; that the olive being grafted into the vine, brings forth both grapes and olives.

Ver. 35. Two pence] The Old and New Testament, say Optatus and Ambrose.

Ver. 36. {See Trapp on "Lu 10:29"} God delights to make men their own judges, that they may be self-condemned, αυτοκατακριτοι.

Ver. 37. Go, and do thou likewise] Help him that hath need of thee, though he be a stranger; yea, or an enemy.

Ver. 38. A certain village] viz. Bethany, #Joh 11:1. {See Trapp on "Joh 11:1"}

Ver. 39. Sat at Jesus’ feet] As his disciples, #Ac 22:3. So the children of the prophets of old, whence that expression, "Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today?" #2Ki 2:3.

Ver. 40. Martha was cumbered] Diversely distracted, περιεσπατο. In multitude of worldly business, the soul is like a mill, where one cannot hear another, the noise is such as taketh away all intercourse. We should look at the world but only cut at the eye’s end, as it were.

Ver. 41. Thou art careful] Christ prefers attention before attendance. To hearken is better than the fat of rams, #1Sa 15:22.

Ver. 42. But one thing is necessary] That bonum hominis, good of humanity, #Mic 6:8, that totum hominis, #Ec 12:13; the happiness, the whole of a man, viz. to hear the word of God and keep it. The original hath it thus, there is need of one thing; that is, say some, of one dish only: but the other sense is the better.

That good part] Non tu malam, sed illa meliorem, saith Augustine. Thou hast done well, but she better.

Chapter 11

Ver. 1. When he ceased] Or, rested, ως επαυσατο; for he had been tugging hard with God in prayer, and labouring even to lassitude (waeriness).

Ver. 2. See #Mt 6:9-13.

Ver. 3. Our daily bread] Our super-substantial bread, τον επιουσιον: so Erasmus rendereth it, and interpreteth it of Christ; for he thought that in so heavenly a prayer there should have been no mention of earthly things; wherein he was greatly deceived. For temporals also must be prayed for.

Day by day] That we may from day to day depend upon thy providence for provisions, and, as a grave man of God once said, whereas many others have and eat their bread stale, let us receive it and eat it daily new from thine hand.

Ver. 4. For we also forgive] So that our forgiving of others seemeth, for God’s promise’ sake, to be as it were the intervenient cause, or the sine qua non, of God’s forgiving us, saith learned Beza.

And lead us not, &c.] One argument that we shall persevere, is, the prayers of the whole church, offering up this daily sacrifice, lead us not, &c.

Ver. 5. Three loaves] He asketh no more, but receiveth as many as he needeth. So do all God’s suitors. His ears are not only open to their prayers; but his eyes also are upon their necessities, to give them more than they ask or think.

Ver. 6. For a friend] See #Pr 17:17. {See Trapp on "Pr 17:17"}

Ver. 7. Trouble me not] The carnally secure, cast into Jezebel’s bed, unworthily answer Christ on this sort, when he stands at the door and knocks by the hammer of his word and the motions of his Spirit, which they slight and withstand.

Ver. 8. Because of his importunity] Gr. His impudency, αναιδειαν; a metaphor from beggars, that will not be said nay, but are impudently importunate.

Ver. 9. Ask and it shall be given] Ask, seek, knock. It is not a simple repetition of the same thing, but an emphatic gradation, and shows instantissimam necessitatem, saith Augustine. Nec dicitur quid dabitur, saith he, to show that the gift is a thing supra omne nomen, above all name.

Ver. 10. See #Mt 7:7.

Ver. 11. For every one, &c.] Sozomen saith of Apollonius, that he never asked anything of God that he obtained not. Hic homo potuit apud Deum quod voluit, said one concerning Luther; he could have what he would of God.

Ver. 12. See #Mt 7:9-11.

Ver. 13. See #Mt 7:9-11.

Ver. 14. And it was dumb] So it was a double miracle. God’s favours seldom come single; there is a series, a concatenation of them, and every former draws on a future.

Ver. 15. See #Mt 9:34 12:24.

Ver. 16. See #Mt 12:38 16:1 Mr 3:24.

Ver. 17. See #Mt 12:38 16:1 Mr 3:24.

Ver. 18. See #Mt 12:38 16:1 Mr 3:24.

Ver. 19. See #Mt 12:38 16:1 Mr 3:24.

Ver. 21. When a strong man armed] Qui se dedebant, arma tradebant. (Caesar de Bell. Gall. lib. 3.) They that yielded threw down their arms.

Ver. 24. Seeking rest] His only rest is to molest and mischief men.

Ver. 25. Swept and garnished] By a little formal repentance, and a few faint resolutions of reformation.

Ver. 26. Seven other spirits] As the jailor lays a load of iron on him that had escaped. None are worse than those that have been good, and are naught; and might be good, but will be naught.

Ver. 27. Blessed is the womb that bare thee] So the heathen poet,

—“ qui te genuere beati,

Et mater faelix, et quae dedit ubera nutrix.”

(Ovid, Metam. lib. 4.)

Ver. 28. Yea, rather, blessed] His disciples were more blessed in hearing Christ than his mother in bearing him.

Ver. 29. Were gathered thick together] All on a heap, επαθροιζομενων, either to see a sign, or to hear what he would say to the motion.

Ver. 30. So also shall the Son of man be] sc. A sign, not of confirmation, but of condemnation.

Ver. 31. See #Mt 12:41,42.

Ver. 32. See #Mt 12:41,42.

Ver. 33. No man, when he hath lighted, &c.] Our Saviour here warneth those that had given some good hope of their repentance, that they cherish their light, and walk by it.

Ver. 34. When thine eye is single] A single eye is that which looks on God singly, abstracted from all other things.

Ver. 35-36. See #Mt 6:22,23

Ver. 36. Having no part dark] The regenerate man is totus diaphanus, like a crystal glass, with a lamp in the midst.

Ver. 37. Sat down to meat] And yet, at their own tables, he sets the Pharisees forth in their colours, and entertaineth them with as many menaces as they do him with messes of meat.

Ver. 38. That he had not washed] This the Pharisees deemed as great a sin as to commit fornication. (Godw. Antiq. Heb 49)

Ver. 39. See #Mt 23:25.

Ver. 40. Did not he that made, &c.] Ought he not, therefore, to be served with both? It is the hidden man of the heart that he most regardeth; the law of the mind that he would have chiefly observed.

Ver. 41. But rather give alms] So Daniel counsels Nebuchadnezzar, #Da 4:27. Ralph, Bishop of Chichester, A. D. 1070, drawing towards his end, delivered unto the poor with his own hands whatsoever he had in the world (I inquire not with what intention), leaving himself scarcely clothes to cover him. Alexander V, Bishop of Rome, was liberal to the poor (saith the historian), that he left nothing for himself, so that he would merrily say that he was a rich bishop, a poor cardinal, and a beggarly pope.

Of such things as ye have] Gr. As are within, τα ενοντα, either within the platter (send morsels to the hungry) or within your hearts; for riches get within their owners many times, and do more possess them than are possessed by them;

“ difficile est opibus non tradere mentem.”

Ver. 42. But woe unto you] Notwithstanding your tithing of potted herbs, wherein you think you take course that all things may be clean to you, #Lu 11:41. Or woe unto you, for that through covetousness you exact the utmost of your tithes, &c. So some sense this text.

Ver. 43. See #Mt 23:6.

Ver. 44. For ye are as graves] As the deep grave keeps the stinking carcase from offending any one’s smell, so doth the dissembling hypocrite so cleanly carry the matter that hardly the sharpest nose, &c.

Ver. 45. Thou reproachest us also] Who meddled with them, but that their own consciences accused them? It is a rule of Jerome, Ubi generalis de vitiis disputatio est, ibi nullius personae est iniuria; neque carbone notatur quisquam, quasi malus sit, sed omnes admonentur ne sint mali. Where the discourse is of all, there is no personal intimation of any.

Ver. 46. See #Mt 23:4.

Ver. 47. See #Mt 23:29.

Ver. 48. And ye build their sepulchres] And so ye set up the trophies of your fathers’ cruelty.

Ver. 49. Therefore also said the wisdom of God] That is, Christ himself, the essential wisdom of his Father, #Mt 23:34.

Ver. 50. See #Mt 23:35.

Ver. 51. See #Mt 23:35.

Ver. 52. Woe unto you, lawyers] I see well, said father Latimer, that whosoever will be busy with Vae vobis, woe to you, he shall shortly after come coram nobis, face to face to us, as Christ did. (Acts and Mon.)

For ye have taken away the key of knowledge] By taking away the Scriptures, and all good means of knowledge; as do also the Jesuits to this day. At Dole, a university in Burgundy, they have not only debarred the people of the Protestant books, but especially also forbid them to talk of God, either in good sort or bad. In Italy they not only prohibit the books of the reformed writers, but also hide their own treatises, in which the tenet of the Protestants is recited, only to be confuted; so that you shall seldom there meet with Bellarmine’s works, or any of the like nature, to be sold.

Ver. 53. To urge him vehemently] ενεχειν. Out of deep displeasure to bear an aching tooth towards him (as Herodias did toward the Baptist, #Mr 6:19), waiting him a shrewd turn.

And to provoke him to speak] αποστοματιζειν. Not to stop his mouth about many things, as the Rhemists falsely render it. They asked him captious questions to make him an offender for a word, #Isa 29:21.

Ver. 54. Seeking to catch something] But there was no guile or gall found in his mouth, saith St Peter, intimating that they sought it.

Chapter 12

Ver. 1. Beware of the leaven] Which our eyes cannot discern from dough by the colour, but only our palate, by the taste. Such is hypocrisy, which also, as leaven, is: 1. spreading; 2. swelling; 3. souring the meal; 4. impuring and defiling the house where it is, though it be but as much as a man’s fist.

Ver. 2. {See Trapp on "Mt 10:26"}

Ver. 3. {See Trapp on "Mt 10:27"}

Ver. 4. {See Trapp on "Mt 10:28"}

Ver. 5. {See Trapp on "Mt 10:28"}

Ver. 6. {See Trapp on "Mt 10:29"}

Ver. 7. {See Trapp on "Mt 10:29"}

Ver. 8. Whosoever shall confess me] Cyprian, reproving the rashness of those Christians that would go on their own accord to the heathen magistrates, professing themselves Christians, whereby they were put to death, hath a good and elegant speech: Confiteri nos magis voluit, quam profiteri. Christ would have us confess him; he saith not profess him. Now he confesseth that doth it being asked, as he professeth that doth it of his own free accord.

Ver. 10. See #Mt 12:31,32 Mr 3:28.

Ver. 11. Take ye no thought] See the note on #Mt 10:19, and #Mr 13:11. Alice Driver, martyr, at her examination, put all the doctors to silence, so that they had not a word to say, but one looked upon another. Then she said, Have ye no more to say? God be honoured; you be not able to resist the Spirit of God in me, a poor woman. I was an honest poor man’s daughter, never brought up in the university as you have been. But I have driven the plough many a time before my father, I thank God; yet notwithstanding in the defence of God’s truth, and in the cause of my Master, Christ, by his grace I will set my foot against the foot of any of you all, in the maintenance and defence of the same. And if I had a thousand lives it should go for payment thereof. So the chancellor condemned her, and she returned to the prison as joyful as the bird of the day. (Acts and Mon.)

Ver. 13. Master, speak to my brother] While Christ was busily discoursing about the best things, this importunate fellow interrupts him with this unpleasing, and, therefore, unreasonable request, το ακαιρον πανταχου λυπηρον (Isoc.). But our Saviour soon rejects it, as out of the compass of his calling, and so cuts off from his adversaries all occasion of cavilling at him as a usurper of the magistrate’s office.

Ver. 14. A judge or a divider over you] It is work enough for a minister rightly to judge of the estate of his flock, and to divide the word of God unto them daily and duly. "What is that to thee?" said Christ to Peter when he meddled with that which belonged not to him, #Joh 21:21. Age quod tui muneris est, said Valentinian to Ambrose: Do thine own business. And Verbi minister es, hoc age, was Mr Perkins’ motto. Clericus in foro est piscis in arido.

Ver. 15. Take heed, and beware of covetousness] This our Saviour adds after "who made me a judge?" to teach us not to go to law with a covetous mind; but as Charles the French king made war with our Henry VII, more desiring peace than victory.

For a man’s life consisteth not, &c.] He can neither live upon them nor lengthen his life by them. Queen Elizabeth once wished herself a milk maid. Bajazet envied the happiness of a poor shepherd that sat on a hillside merrily reposing himself with his homely pipe. Therein showing, saith the historian, that worldly bliss consisteth not so much in possessing of much, subject to danger, as enjoying in a little contentment, void of fear. Covetous men by gaping after more lose the pleasure of that which they possess, as a dog at his master’s table swalloweth the whole meat he casteth him without any pleasure, gaping still for the next morsel.

Ver. 16. The ground of a certain rich man] Gr. η χωρα. The country; for he had laid field to field till he was the only landholder thereabouts, and had a country of grain, #Isa 58:11

Ver. 17. And he thought within himself] He was up with the more and down with the less; he cast up his reckonings, as covetous men’s manner is, and after long debate to and fro, concluded what to do.

He talked to himself, &c.] διελογιζετο. A marvellous proper word for the purpose.

Ver. 18. My barns] So my fruits, and my goods, all was his; God came not into this epicure’s thoughts. Hic Deus nihil fecit, Here God does nothing, one wittily twitted Pope Adrian, talking after the same rate.

Ver. 19. Eat and drink, and be merry] A right epicure, one that had made his gut his god; another Sardanapahs, that did eat that in earth which he digested in hell, as Augustine hath it. How many, alas, are there, that having one foot in the grave and the other in hell, do yet put far away thoughts of either! These, when they should be building their tombs, are building their tabernacles, Donec mors vitae studiura praevertat, longa conantes opprimat. (Sen. Consol. ad Marc. xi.)

Ver. 20. Thou fool, this night, &c.] This rich fool, when, like a jay, he was pruning himself in the boughs, came tumbling down with the arrow in his side; his hourglass had run out, when he thought it to be but recently turned. He chopped into the earth before he was aware: like as one that, walking in a field covered with snow, falleth into a pit suddenly. He was shot as a bird with a bolt, while he gazed at the bow. And this may be any man’s case. Which made Austin say he would not for the gain of a world be an atheist for one half hour; because he knew not but God might in that time call him.

Then whose shall those things be? &c.] As thy friends are scrambling for thy goods, worms for thy body, so devils for thy soul. We read of Henry Beaufort, that rich and wretched cardinal, bishop of Winchester, and chancellor of England in the reign of King Henry VI, that perceiving he must needs die, he murmured that his riches could not reprieve him. Fie, quoth he, will not death be hired? will money do nothing? No; it is righteousness only that delivereth from death. (Fox, Martyrol.)

Ver. 21. Rich to God] That is, rich in faith, #Jas 2:5; rich in good works, #1Ti 6:18.

Ver. 22. See #Mt 6:25-27.

Ver. 23. See #Mt 6:25-27

Ver. 24. See #Mt 6:25-27

Ver. 25. See #Mt 6:25-27

Ver. 26. For the rest] For superfluities, when ye cannot provide yourselves of necessaries.

Ver. 27. Consider the lilies, &c.] Women and children use herbs and flowers to look on and smell to; apothecaries and others use them for food and physic; divines and all good people, for information and instruction in the best things; this being the chief use and end of all the creatures, ut scalae nobis, et alae fiant, that they help us on towards heaven.

Ver. 29. Neither be ye of doubtful mind] μη μετεωριζεσθε. Hang not in suspense, as meteors do in the air, not certain whether to hang or fall to the ground. Meteora dicta volunt quod animos hominum suspensos, dubios, et quasi fluctuantes faciant. Aristotle himself confesseth, that of some meteors he knew not what to say, though of some other he could say somewhat. One interpreter renders this word, "make not discourses in the air," as the covetous man doth, when his head is tossed with the cares of getting or fears of losing commodity; or it may note his endless framing of projects for the compassing of his desires. The Syriac rendereth it, "Let not your thoughts be distracted about these things." Surely as a clock can never stand still, so long as the plummets hang thereat; so neither can a worldling’s heart, for cares and anxieties. These suffer him not to rest night nor day; being herein like unto the flies of Egypt, or those tyrants, #Isa 16:10.

Ver. 32. Fear not, little flock] Gr. little, little flock. There is in the original a double diminutive. If we divide the known parts of the world into three equal parts, the Christians’ part is but as five, the Mahometans’ as six, and the idolaters’ as nineteen. Among the best Churches, the most are the worst, as #Php 3:18. Chrysostom could not find a hundred in Antioch that he could be well persuaded that they should be saved.

Ver. 33. A treasure in the heavens] As a merchant being to travel into a far country, doth deliver his money here upon the exchange that so he may be sure to receive it again at his arrival in that country; so let us that are passing into another country lay up something that may stand us in stead in that day.

Ver. 34. There will your heart be] Your most inward affection, your chief joy and trust.

Ver. 35. Let your loins be girded] It implies, 1. readiness; 2. nimbleness, handiness, and handsomeness. A loose, discinct, and diffluent mind is unfit to serve God. Here it is ungirt, unblest.

Ver. 36. And knocketh] sc. By the hammer of his word and Spirit, or by the hand of death, summoning you thereto by some sickness, death’s harbinger.

Ver. 37. Blessed are those servants] So #Lu 12:38,43. They are three times said to be blessed that watch. Terque quaterque beati: Faelices ter et amplius. Horat.

Ver. 38. In the second watch] For serius aut citius, death will be upon us; neither is it sure that he will knock or give warning. Watch, therefore; since at the next puff of breath thou mayest blow away thy life. Fablus Senator, poto in lactis haustu uno pilo, strangulatus est, saith Pliny. Fabius was choked with a hair in a draught of milk.

Ver. 39. See #Mt 24:43.

Ver. 40. Be ye therefore ready] See #Mt 24:46; {See Trapp on "Mt 24:46"}

Ver. 41. Lord, speakest thou, &c.] The disciples ever dreamed of some singular happiness, some immunity and privilege, that they should have above others. Hence this question, that gave occasion to the ensuing parables.

Ver. 42. See #Mt 24:46-51.

Ver. 43. See #Mt 24:46-51.

Ver. 44. See #Mt 24:46-51.

Ver. 45. See #Mt 24:46-51.

Ver. 46. See #Mt 24:46-51.

Ver. 47. Which knew his Lord’s will] None are so filled with God’s wrath as knowing men. Sapientes sapienter descendunt in infernum, The wise wisely go down into hell, saith Bernard. The devil is too hard for them.

Ver. 48. Much is given] To know our Master’s will is the great talent of all other. There is a "much" in that. There is a special depositum, as the word here used importeth. (παρεθεντο. here παρακαταθηκη, #1Ti 1:18 6:20)

Ver. 49. To send fire on the earth] That is, that persecution that is evangelii genius, guardian of the gospel, as Calvin wrote to the French king, and dogs at the heels the preaching of the truth.

And what will I if it be already kindled?] As if he should say, Let it kindle as soon as it will, I am contented; I know much good will come of it.

Ver. 50. And how am I staitened] This painful preconceit of his passion was a part of our Saviour’s passion. This made him spend many a night in prayer, bewailing our sins, and imploring God’s grace, and he was heard in that which he requested, #Heb 5:7.

Ver. 51. See #Mt 10:34.

Ver. 52. See #Mt 10:34.

Ver. 53. See #Mt 10:34.

Ver. 54. See #Mt 16:2.

Ver. 57. Yea, and why even of yourselves] By consulting with your own consciences, which would, if rightly dealt with, tell you, that I am that Messiah you have so long looked for.

Ver. 58. Give diligence] δος εργασιαν, Purus Putus Latinismus, saith Drusius. Da operam Id eat, festina, et labora, omnesque modos cogita quomodo ab eo libereris, as Theophylact expounds it. Be at utmost pains to get freed from him.

Ver. 59. Till thou hast paid the very last mite] It is good to compound quickly with the Lord, and to take up the suit before it come to execution and judgment, lest we be forced to pay, not only the main debt, but the arrearages too, that is, the time of God’s longsuffering and patience, here and hereafter.

Ver. 59. Till thou hast paid the very last mite] It is good to compound quickly with the Lord, and to take up the suit before it come to execution and judgment, lest we be forced to pay, not only the main debt, but the arrearages too, that is, the time of God’s longsuffering and patience, here and hereafter.

Chapter 13

Ver. 1. Told him of the Galileans] So called from Judas Gaulonites, or Galilaeus, their captain; to whose faction also belonged those four thousand murderers, #Ac 21:38. For Pilate had not authority over the Galileans properly so called. See Josephus, xviii. 2.

Ver. 2. Because they suffered such things] None out of hell ever suffered more than those worthies, #Heb 11. Shall any therefore condemn that generation of God’s children? #Ps 73:15. See #La 4:6 Da 9:12.

Ver. 3. Except ye repent] Aut poenitendum, aut pereundum. Either repent or perish. Men must either turn from sin or burn in hell.

Ver. 4. The tower of Siloam] A tower, belike, upon the wall of Jerusalem, which stood by the fish pool of Siloam, mentioned #Joh 9:17.

Ver. 5. But except ye repent] Except the best of you all repent more and more when ye see the examples of God’s wrath, &c. God would not have the wounds of godly sorrow so healed up in his own children, but that they should bleed afresh upon every good occasion. De aliorum plagis faciamus medicamenta vulneribus nostris. Make best use of others’ miseries.

Ver. 6. A vineyard] So the Church is frequently called. {See Trapp on "Mt 21:33"}

Ver. 7. Cut it down] Trees that are not for fruit are for the fire. God will lay down his basket and take up his axe. He will not always serve men for a sinning stock.

Ver. 8. Lord, let it alone this year] Happy that people that have praying vinedressers to intercede for them! God will yield somewhat to prayer, when he is bitterly bent against a people or person.

Till I shall dig, &c.] Donec eam ablaqueavero et stercoravero. (Beza.) Ministers must try their utmost to fulfil their ministry that they have received of the Lord, #Col 4:17.

Ver. 9. Then after that thou shalt cut it down] The fig tree, they say, if it bear not the fourth year after it is planted, will never bear at all. If good be not done at first coming of the gospel to any place, seldom is any good ever done there.

Ver. 10. On the sabbath] The soul’s marketday, on which the Lord Christ sells to his people "gold tried in the fire, white raiment, eye salve," &c., #Re 3:18.

Ver. 11. And was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself] This infirmity might proceed from the gonorrhoea; but, besides that, the devil had a hand in it, for she was bound by Satan, #Lu 13:16. Novi quandam mulierem (saith Dr Garenceires) quae adhuc in vivis est—quae cum tribus abhinc annis gonorrhaea simplici laboraret, ea neglecta, tantam seminis iacturam intra annum passa est, ut quae prius erectae et firmae staturae fuerat, luxatis vertebris non solum gibbosa facta est, verum etiam in tantum κυβωσιν incidit, ut mentum umbilico (stupendum dictu) ferme insideat: vicinis interea illud pro miraculo habentibus. (De Tabe Anglicana.)

Ver. 12. Thou art loosed] For she had been bound by Satan, #Lu 13:16. All wicked worldlings are worse bound, and go grovelling, but feel it not, look not out for help, look not up to heaven, till laid upon their backs by death, as swine ready to be stuck.

Ver. 13. And he laid his hands upon her] Both to show his charity, and to signify that his quickening flesh is that ordinary instrument whereby he maketh us partakers of his saving grace.

Ver. 14. Answered with indignation] He that will be angry and not sin must be angry at nothing but at sin.

Ver. 15. Thou hypocrite] The Syriac rendereth it Assumens vultum, thou that settest a good face upon it, thou that impersonate a better man than thou art; thou picture of piety, &c.

Ver. 16. Whom Satan hath bound] So he held Job in captivity, #Job 42:10, by afflicting his body, buffeting his soul for a year together, say the Hebrews; for seven years, saith Suidas.

Ver. 17. For all the glorious things] Which yet his adversaries sought to deprave and denigrate, as if done by I know not what superstitious abuse of the name Jehovah.

Ver. 18. See #Mr 4:30,31.

Ver. 19. See #Mt 13:31.

Ver. 20. See #Mt 13:33.

Ver. 21. See #Mt 13:33.

Ver. 22. See #Mt 9:35 Mr 6:6.

Ver. 23. Are there few, &c.] Few received Christ in the flesh, #Joh 1:12: he wondered at one good Nathanael. They are Methe mispar that look towards heaven. Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto. The most rest on that old popish rule, To follow the crowd.

Are there few?] A curious question, and therefore not vouchsafed an answer: whereas otherwhere, in things needful to be known, the Scripture often answers the questions and objections of men’s hearts only. "Jesus knowing their thoughts," &c.

Ver. 24. Strive to enter] Strive even to an agony; or as they did for the garland in the Olympic games, to the which the word αγωνιζεσθε, here used, seemeth to allude. All would come to heaven, but all like not the way; they would not per angusta ad augusta pervenire: come through the narrow way to paridise, they like well of Abraham’s bosom, but not of Dives’ door. But let none think to live in Delilah’s lap, and then to rest in Abraham’s bosom; to dance with the devil all day, and then to sup with Christ at night; to fly to heaven with pleasant wings, to pass a deliciis ad delicias, e caeno ad coelum, &c., from pleasure to pleasure, out of the mud to heaven, to go to heaven in a feather bed.

Ver. 25. And hath shut to] God is not always with men in the opportunities of grace. He hath his season, his harvest for judgment, #Mt 13:30, when troops of those that forget God are turned into hell, #Ps 9:17.

Ver. 26. We have eaten and drunk, &c.] These pretenders to Christ perish by catching at their own catch, hanging on their own fancy, making a bridge of their own shadow, &c.; they verily believe that Christ is their sweet Saviour, &c., when it is no such matter; they trust to Christ, as the apricot tree that leans against the wall, but is fast rooted in the earth: so are these in the world, &c.

We have eaten and drunk in thy presence] Even at thy table, but it became a snare to them.

Ver. 27. See #Mt 7:23 25:40. {See Trapp on "Mt 7:23"} {See Trapp on "Mt 25:40"}

Ver. 28. See #Mt 8:12 13:42 24:51.

Ver. 29. And shall sit down] As at a sumptuous supper. When, therefore, we are invited to a full feast, think of heaven: as Fulgentius beholding at Rome the majesty of the emperor, the glory of the senate, the lustre of the nobility, cried out, How beautiful is Jerusalem the celestial, since Rome the terrestrial appeareth with such splendour. So Master Esty, when he sat and heard a sweet concert of music, seemed upon this occasion carried up for the time beforehand to the place of his rest, saying very passionately, What music may we think there is in heaven? (Dr Hall’s Art of Divine Meditation.)

Ver. 30. See #Mt 19:30 20:16 Mr 10:31.

Ver. 31. For Herod will kill thee]

“ Tu vero Herodes sanguinolente timo.” (Beza, Ep.)

If Herod or these Pharisees had been as wise as Pilate’s wife, they would never have meddled with that just man.

Ver. 32. Today and tomorrow] i.e. As long as I wish, without his leave. Faith makes a man walk about the world as a conqueror.

I shall be perfected] Or, I shall be sacrificed, as Pareus rendereth it, τελειουμαι, In sacrificium offerar.

Ver. 33. Out of Jerusalem] That slanghterhouse of the saints, that bloody city, #Isa 1:21 Eze 24:6.

Ver. 34. See #Mt 23:37.

Ver. 35. See #Mt 23:38,39.

Chapter 14

Ver. 1. They watched him] Gr. παρατηρουμενοι, They superstitiously and maliciously observed him. (Aristot. lib. ii. Rhet.) Accipit pro eo quod est ulciscendi tempus captare. They watched as intently as a dog doth for a bone; they pried as narrowly into his actions as Laban did into Jacob’s stuff.

Ver. 2. A certain man before him] A fit object, and that was sufficient to move him to mercy, who himself, by sympathy, took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses.

Ver. 3. And Jesus answering] viz. Their thoughts, which were naked and open; naked (for the outside) and dissected, quartered, and, as it were, cleft through the backbone (for the inside), before him with whom they had to deal, #Heb 4:13.

Ver. 4. And he took him] Good must be done, however it be taken.

Ver. 5. Pull him out on the sabbath day] The Jew of Tewkesbury, that would not be pulled out of the outhouse whereinto he fell on their sabbath day, perished deservedly.

Ver. 6. And they could not answer] Yet ran away with the bit in their mouths.

Ver. 7. When he marked] Ministers, though they may not be time servers, yet they must be time observers, and sharply reprove what they meet with amiss in their people.

Ver. 8. When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding] When should a man rather feast than at the recovery of his lost rib?

Ver. 9. Thou begin with shame] As passing for a proud fool: a style good enough for a self-exalter.

Ver. 10. Then shalt thou have worship] Honor est in honorante, therefore to be the less esteemed, because without us, and mostly but a puff of stinking breath, not once to be valued.

Ver. 11. For whosoever] {See Trapp on "Mt 23:12"}

Ver. 12. Nor thy rich neighbour] Laudent te esurientium viscera, non ructantium opulenta convivia, saith Jerome. Bishop Hooper had his board of beggars, who were daily served by four at a mess, with wholesome meats, before himself sat down to dinner. (Acts and Mon.)

Ver. 13. Call the poor] Christ prefers charity before courtesy.

Ver. 14. At the resurrection of the just] Called theirs, because they only shall have joy of that day. It were well for the wicked if they might never rise to judgment, or trot directly to hell, and not be brought before the Lamb to be sentenced.

Ver. 15. Blessed is he, &c.] This man seems to have "tasted of the good word of God, and of the powers of the world to come," #Heb 6:5. Happy he, if he fed heartily thereon. This, saith Luther, is sancta crapula.

Ver. 16. Made a great supper] Δειπνον, παρα το δειν πονειν. They are happy that get to heaven; they rest from their labours. The ancients dined frugally, supped liberally. Be of good cheer, said that martyr to her husband that suffered with her; for though we have but an ill dinner, we shall sup with Christ.

Ver. 17. See #Mt 22:3.

Ver. 18. I have bought, &c.] Licitis perimus omnes. It is ordained that all die. More die by food than by poison. Cavete, latet anguis in herba. Beware, a snake lies hidden in the food.What more lawful than a farm? what more honourable of all pleasures than marriage? But these men had not so much bought their farms, &c., as were sold to them: not so much married wives, as were married to them. Uxori nubere nolo meae, I refuse to be married to my wife. Martial.

Ver. 19. I have bought five yoke of oxen] This answers those that plead their necessities, and that they seek not superfluities (as farm upon farm, &c.), but only a sufficiency. What could be more necessary than oxen, since without them he could not follow his husbandry? Worldliness is a great hindrance to heaven, though a man cannot be charged with any great covetousness. These all excused themselves out of heaven, by bringing apologies why they could not go to heaven. Never yet any came to hell but had some pretence for their coming thither. Our vile hearts will persuade us that there is some sense in sinning, and some reason to be mad.

Ver. 20. And therefore I cannot come] Note that the voluptuary is peremptory, and saith flatly he "cannot come." Sensual hearts are void of the Spirit, #Jude 18,19. Miry places could not be healed by the sanctuary waters, #Eze 47:11; fleshly lusts fight against the soul, #1Pe 2:11. Those that dance to the timbrel and harp, say, "Depart from us," #Job 21:11. Better be preserved in brine than rot in honey.

Ver. 21. Then the master of the house being angry] And good reason he had: for, Non modo pluris putare quod utile videatur, quam quod honestum, sed haec etiam inter se comparare et in his addubitare, turpissimum est, saith the honest heathen (Cicero de Officiis). Surely as Pharaoh said of the Israelites, "They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in," #Ex 14:3, so may we say of many, They are entangled in the creature, the world hath shut them in, they cannot come to Christ: they are shut up in a cave, as those five kings, #Jos 10:16-18; and have hardness of heart, as a great stone, rolled to the mouth, and honours, riches, and pleasures as so many keepers, &c.

Ver. 22. See #Mt 22:9,10.

Ver. 23. Compel them] This may be meant (saith Mr Perkins) of the Christian magistrate; for that is the magistrate’s duty in respect of the outward profession.

Ver. 24. None of those men] Since they thus judge themselves "unworthy of eternal life," #Ac 13:46, and are miserable by their own election, #Jon 2:8.

Ver. 25. And there went great multitudes with him] Expecting great things from him, and gaping after an earthly felicity. These he strives to undeceive in the following verses.

Ver. 26. And hate not his father, &c.] {a} Much more his farm and his oxen. It was not these, but the inordinate love of these, that detained them, as Christ here intimateth. Your house, home, and goods, yea, life, and all that ever ye have (saith that martyr), God hath given you as love tokens, to admonish you of his love, to win your love to him again. Now will he try your love, whether ye set more by him or by his tokens.

{a} μισει, ex סאמ ex odio reprobavit, respuit.

Ver. 27. See #Mt 10:38 16:24.

Ver. 28. Intending to build a tower] Rodulphus Gualther being in Oxford, and beholding Christchurch College, said, Egregium opus: Cardinalis iste iustituit collegium, et absolvit popinam. A pretty business! a college begun and a kitchen finished.

Counteth the cost] Let him that intendeth to build the tower of godliness sit down first and cast up the cost, lest, &c.

Ver. 29. Begin to mock him, saying, &c.] Of all things, men love not to be jeered; for there is none but thinks himself worthy of some regard, and is therefore impatient of reproaches. If neither fear of God nor shame of men prevail with us, actum est.

Ver. 31. Sitteth not down first] To consult, and so with good advice to make war. Romani sedendo vincunt, The Romans conquer by sitting, saith Varro. Thou shalt help us out of the city, #2Sa 18:3.

Ver. 32. He sendeth an embassage] Mittamus preces et lachrymas cordis legatos, Let us send envoys the prays and tears of our heart, saith Cyprian. Currat poenitentia, ne praecurrat sententia, saith Chrysologus. Repent, ere it be too late.

Ver. 33. That forsaketh not] Gr. αποταξαμενος, that bids not farewell to all.

Ver. 34. Salt is good] This was a sentence much in our Saviour’s mouth, #Mt 5:13 Mr 9:50; and is here used to set forth the desperate condition of apostates.

Ver. 35. He that hath ears to hear] This is usually added by our Saviour in matters of greatest consequence and nearest concernment. {See Trapp on "Mt 13:9"} {See Trapp on "Mt 13:43"}

Chapter 15

Ver. 1. All the publicans and sinners] Christ familiarized himself with these despised persons, and thereby much won upon them. Affability easily allureth, austerity discourageth; as it did that honest citizen, which having in himself a certain conflict of conscience, came to Master Hooper the martyr’s door for counsel; but being abashed at his austere behaviour, dared not come in, but departed, seeking remedy of his troubled mind at other men’s hands.

Ver. 2. But the scribes and Pharisees] Being sick of the devil’s disease, and doing his lusts, #Joh 8:44.

Ver. 3. See #Mt 18:12.

Ver. 4. See #Mt 18:13.

Ver. 5. See #Mt 18:13.

Ver. 6. See #Mt 18:13.

Ver. 7. Joy shall be in heaven] Would we then put harps into the angels’ hands, ditties into their mouths? repent.

Ver. 8. If she lose once piece] One Tester. Drachma enim valebat septem denarios cum dimidio. (Breerwood de Num.) #Jude 1:1. See the margin of our new translation.

And sweep the house] σαροι, everrit, not evertit, as the Vulgate hath it corruptly: and Gregory with others were deceived by it in their descants and glosses, nothing to the purpose.

Ver. 9. Rejoice with me] What greater joy than to have had a hand in the conversion of a sinner from the error of his way?

Ver. 10. See #Lu 15:7. The tears of sinners are the wine of angels, saith Bernard: who himself, for a certain time after his conversion, remained as it were deprived of his senses, by the excessive consolations he had from God.

Ver. 11. And he said] A third parable to the same purpose: and all to persuade us of God’s readiness to receive returning sinners. This is not so easily believed, indeed, as most men imagine.

Ver. 12. He divided unto them his living] Gr. τον βιον, his life. Our life is called the "life of our hands," #Isa 57:10, because it is upheld by the labour of our hands.

Ver. 13. Gathered all together] Convasatis veluti omnibus.

With riotous living] Ασωτως {a} Not caring to save any part, sibi nihil reservaus, imo seipsum non servans, being such as safety itself could not save; whence the Latins call such a man perditum, an undone person. Such were those of whom Seneca saith, that singulis auribus bina aut terna dependent patrimonia, hanged two or three good lordships at their ears. And such are those among us that turn lands into laces, great rents into great ruffs, &c. The expenses of Apicus’ kitchen amounted to more than two millions of gold. {b} He having eaten up his estate, and finding by his account that he had no more than 200,000 crowns remaining, thought himself poor, and that this sufficed not to maintain his luxury; whereupon he drank down a glass of poison.

{a} ασωτος quasi ασωστος, unsavable.

{b} H. S. millies in culinam coniecisset. {Seneca, Moral Essays, l. 12. c. 10. (8-10) 2:453}

Ver. 14. And when he had spent all] And left himself nothing at all, praeter coelum et coenum, but air to breathe in and earth to tread on, as that Roman prodigal boasted; who had made his own hands his executors, and his own eyes his overseers, drawing much of his patrimony through his throat, and spending the rest upon harlots, who left him as bare as crows do a dead carcase. Ruin follows riot at the heels.

Ver. 15. To feed swine] Which to a Jew, that held swine an abomination, must needs be grievous.

Ver. 16. And he would fain have filled his belly] The stomach of man is a monster (saith one), which, being contained in so little a bulk as his body, is able to consume and devour all things.

And no man gave him] A swinish life he had led, and now would have been glad of swine’s meat.

Ver. 17. And when he came to himself] For till then he had been beside himself, and not his own worthy. Nebulo rascal (saith one) cometh of Nabal; fool of φαυλος: ανοια et ανομια are of near affinity. Evil is Hebrew for a fool, &c. Wickedness is called the "foolishness of madness," #Ec 7:25.

Ver. 18. Against heaven and before thee] That is, I have not only thee, but the whole heaven for a swift witness against me of mine offences and outbursts. "The heaven doth declare mine iniquity, and the earth riseth up against me," #Job 20:27.

Ver. 19. I am not worthy] So Austin, Domino, non sum dignus quem tu diligas. So another, Non sum dignus, Domino, sod sum indigens. Sense of misery must precede sense of mercy. Let God but hear such words as these fall from his Ephraims, and he will soon melt over them, #Jer 31:19,20 Ho 11:8. Henry the son of our Henry II, crowned by his father, and rebelling against him, died before his father at Martel in Normandy, where his father lay at siege. His father refusing to visit him (as fearing his own life), but sending his ring in sign of forgiveness, the dying prince most humbly with floods of tears kissing the same, made a most sorrowful confession of his sins: and feeling death approach, would needs be drawn (as an unworthy sinner) out of his own bed, and laid upon another strewed with ashes, where he died; which being related, the old king fell upon the earth, and weeping bitterly (like another David for his Absalom) mourned very sore. (Speed, 522.)

Ver. 20. When he was yet a great way off] Tantum velis et Deus tibi praeoccurret, You may be so will and God will run to you, saith a Father. The prodigal was but conceiving a purpose to return, and God met him, #Isa 65:24.

And kissed him] One would have thought he should have kicked him, or have killed him rather, but God is Pater miserationum, father of mercy, he is all heart. The prodigal came, the father ran; God is slow to anger, swift to show mercy.

Ver. 21. Father, I have sinned] Confess, and the mends is made. Homo agnoscit, Deus ignoscit. Acknowledge but the debt, and he will cross the book.

And am no more worthy, &c.] Infernus sum, Domine, said that holy martyr, Mr Hooper, at his death. Lord, I am hell, but thou art heaven I am soil, and a sink of sin, but thou a gracious God.

Ver. 22. The best robe] That white raiment of Christ’s righteousness, #Re 3:18; that rich and royal array, #Ps 45:14, the righteousness (δικαιωματα) of the saints, #Re 19:8.

Ver. 23. And bring hither the fatted calf] Christ is that fatted calf, saith Mr Tyndale martyr, slain to make penitent sinners good cheer withal, and his righteousness is the goodly raiment to cover the naked deformities of their sins.

Ver. 24. For this my son was dead, &c.] So fareth it with every faithful Christian. He was dead, but now lives, and cannot be insensible or ignorant of such a change.

Ver. 25. His elder son] The self-justiciary, that is good in his own eyes, and needs no repentance.

Ver. 26. What these things meant] Hypocrites understand not the just man’s joys, nor the sweet intercourse that is between God and his people.

Ver. 27. Safe] Gr. υγιαινοντα, in health. Quod sanitas in corpore, id sanctitas in corde. The sanctified man is the only sound man.

Ver. 28. And he was angry] Christi consilium est ostendere, iniquum esse qui fratri in gratiam recepto obtrectat, etiamsi sanctitate Angelis non cedat. Calvin.

Ver. 29. And yet thou never gavest me a kid] Much less a calf. Hypocrites hold God to be in their debt, and through discontent weigh not his favours, as being never without some ailment.

Ver. 30. But as soon as this thy son] He saith not, this my brother; he would not once own him, because in poverty.

Which hath devoured thy living] q.d. which you were so hasty to give unto him before your death (which you need not have done), and now he hath made a fair hand of it.

Ver. 31. All that I have is thine] In thy conceit at least. Thou holdest thyself happy howsoever, and seemeth to have one foot already in the porch of paradise. Self-deceivers will needlessly set up their counter for a thousand pounds, and will not believe but their penny is very good silver. They lay claim to all, as the madman of Athens did to all the ships that came into that harbour, as his.

Ver. 32. Was lost, and is found] Of himself he left his father; yet is he called the lost son.

Chapter 16

Ver. 1. A certain rich man which had a steward] Masters had need look well, 1. To the choosing of their servants. Solomon saw Jeroboam, that he was industrious, and therefore, without any respect at all to his religion, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph, but to his singular disadvantage. #1Ki 11:28 cf. Lu 12:3 2. To the using of them; most men make no other use of their servants than they do of their beasts; while they may have their bodies to do their service, they care not if their souls serve the devil. Hence they so often prove false and perfidious.

Ver. 2. Give an account of thy stewardship] Villicus rationem cum Domino suo crebro putet, said Cato. Stewards should often account with their masters.

Ver. 3. I cannot dig, &c.] They that will get wisdom must both dig and beg, #Pr 2:3,4.

Ver. 4. They may receive me] This is that wit he showed for himself, and for the which he is here commended: teaching us by all lawful means (not by any unlawful, as he) to provide for ourselves, and to preserve our reputation.

Ver. 5. How much owest thou?] Some are ever owing; and may say of debt, as the strumpet Quartilla did of her virginity, Iunonem meam iratam habeam, si unquam me meminerim virginem fuisse. Petron.

Ver. 6. Take thy bill] The scope of this parable is, ut profusionem charitate erga pauperes compensemus, saith Beza, that we expiate, as it were, our prodigality, by showing mercy to the poor, #Da 4:27.

Ver. 7. See #Lu 16:5.

Ver. 8. And the lord commended] Gr. ο κυριος, that lord, viz the steward’s lord, not the Lord Christ who relateth this parable. Or if we understand it of Christ (as the Syriac here doth), yet he herein no more approveth of this steward’s false dealing than he doth of the usurer’s trade, #Mt 5:27; or the thieves, #1Th 5:2; or the dancers, #Mt 11:17; or the Olympic games, #1Co 9:24.

Because he had done wisely] The worldling’s wisdom serves him (as the ostrich’s wings) to make him outrun others upon earth, and in earthly things; but helps him never a wit toward heaven.

Are in their generation wiser] A swine that wanders can make better shift to get home to the trough than a sheep can to the fold. We have not received the spirit of this world, #1Co 2:12, we cannot shift and plot as they can; but we have received a better thing. The fox is wise in his generation, the serpent subtle, so is the devil too. When he was but young, he outwitted our first parents, #2Co 11:3.

Than the children of light] As the angels are called angels of light, #2Co 11:14. God’s children are the only earthly angels, have a Goshen in their bosoms, can lay their hands on their hearts with dying Oecolampadius, and say, Hic sat lucis, Here is enough light. (Melch. Adam.)

Ver. 9. Make unto yourselves friends] Quibus officia praestita fidem defuncti apud Deum testificentur, illa comprobantem, et gratis coronantem (Beza.) Testify your faith by your works, that God of his free grace may commend and crown you.

Of the mammon of unrighteousness] The next odious name to the devil himself. This mammon of iniquity, this wages of wickedness, is not gain, but loss.

They may receive you] That is, that either the angels, or thy riches, or the poor, may let you into heaven.

Ver. 10. He that is faithful] Mr Diodati’s note here is, "The right use of riches in believers is a trial of their loyal use of their spiritual graces and gifts. And, on the contrary, the abuse of the one showeth the abuse of the other. God likewise taketh away his spiritual graces from them, who do not use the temporal ones well."

Ver. 11. In the unrighteous mammon] Or the uncertain, vain, deceitful wealth of this world, which yet most rich men trust in, as if simply the better or safer for their abundance. Hence Drusius derives mammon from amans, which signifieth to trust.

Ver. 12. In that which is another man’s] Riches are not properly ours, but God’s, who hath intrusted us, and who doth usually assign them to the wicked, those men of his hand, for their portion, #Ps 17:14, for all the heaven that they are ever to look for. Better things abide the saints, who are here but foreigners, and must do as they may.

Who shall give you that which is your own?] Quod nec eripi nec surripi potest. Aristotle relateth a law like this made by Theodectes, that he that used not another man’s horse well should forfeit his own.

Ver. 13. See #Mt 6:24.

Ver. 14. And they derided him] Gr. εξεμυκτηριζον, they blew their noses at him in scorn and derision. They fleered and jeered, when they should have feared, and fled from the wrath to come. Naso suspendere adunco. Horat.

Ver. 15. For that which is highly esteemed, &c.] A thing that I see in the night may shine, and that shining proceed from nothing but rottenness. There may be malum opus in bona materia, as in Jehu’s zeal. Two things make a good Christian, good actions and good aims. And though a good aim doth not make a bad action good (as in Uzzah), yet a bad aim makes a good action bad (as in Jehu, #Ho 1:4, whose justice was approved, but his policy punished).

Ver. 16. See #Mt 11:11.

Ver. 17. See #Mt 5:18.

Ver. 18. See #Mt 5:32 19:9 Mr 10:5

Ver. 19. There was a certain rich man] Not once named, as Lazarus was, though never so little esteemed of men. God knew him by name, as he did Moses; when the rich man’s name is written in the earth, rots above ground, is left for a reproach.

Which was clothed in purple, &c.] Gr. ενεδιδυσκετο, was commonly so clothed. It was his every day’s wear, as the word implieth. ( Verbum est quasi frequentativum. Pasor.)

Ver. 20. A certain beggar named Lazarus] Or Eleazar (as Tertullian and Prudentius call him), who having been Abraham’s faithful servant, now resteth in his bosom.

Ver. 21. And desiring to be fed with the crumbs] Many poor folk have but prisoners’ pittances, which will neither keep them alive nor suffer them to die.

The dogs came and licked his sores] When Sabinus was put to death for whispering against Sejanus, his dog lay down by his dead body, brought to his mouth the bread that was cast to him; and when Sabinus was thrown into the river Tiber, the dog leapt after him, endeavouring to keep him up, that he might not sink into the bottom. Pliny.

Ver. 22. Into Abraham’s bosom] A metaphor from feasts, say some; from fathers, say others, who imbosom and hug their children when wearied with long running about, or have met with a knock, and come crying unto them.

And was carried by the angels] Through the air, the devil’s region, do the angels conduct the saints at death; who may therefore call death, as Jacob did the place where he met the angels, Mahanaim, #Ge 32:2. For like as the palsyman was let down with his bed through the tiling before Jesus, #Lu 5:18, so is every good soul taken up in a heavenly couch through the roof of his house, and carried into Christ’s presence by these heavenly courtiers; who as in life they are our supporters, #Ps 91:10,11, so after death our porters, as here, by the angels; as if they had striven which should have a part.

And was buried] Possibly with as much noisome stench and hurry in the air, as at Cardinal Wolsey’s burial. A terrible example there is in the Book of Martyrs of one Christopher Landsdale, an unmerciful courtier, who suffering a poor lazar {a} to die in a ditch by him, did afterwards perish himseff in a ditch.

The rich man also died] Perhaps he was choked, as Hardicanutus (noted for epicurism, A.D. 1041) was at a marriage at Lambeth, most men rejoicing to be rid of him; in memory whereof Hocktide (a feast of scorning) was a long time after continued in this kingdom, saith our chronicler.

{a} A poor and diseased person, usually one afflicted with a loathsome disease; esp. a leper. ŒD

Ver. 23. Being in torments] Having punishment without pity, misery without mercy, sorrow without succour, crying without compassion, mischief without measure, torments without end, and past imagination.

And Lazarus in his bosom] Which more vexed him than his own torments, saith Chrysostom.

He lifted up his eyes] So often lifted up (saith one) in a false devotion.

Ver. 24. And cool my tongue] In his tongue he was most tortured, quia plus lingua peccaverat, saith Cyprian. So Nestorius the heretic had his tongue eaten up with worms. {a} So Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester (two notorious persecutors), died with their tongues thrust out, big swollen, and black with inflammation of their bodies. A spectacle worthy to be noted of all such bloody burning persecutors.

{a} Nestorii lingua vermibus exesa. Evang.

Ver. 25. Son, remember, &c.] Son he calls him, with respect either ad procreationem carnis, aut ad aetatem, saith Piscator. But as it was but cold comfort to Dives in flames that Abraham called him son, so those that have no more to shroud themselves under than a general profession, shall find that an empty title yields but an empty comfort at last.

That thou in thy lifetime] Gregory the Great could never read these words without horror: lest himself, having such honours here, should be shut out of heaven. #Jas 5:5 "Ye have lived in pleasure upon earth"; which is a purgatory, not a paradise.

Receivedst thy good things] Wicked men then have not only a civil title, but a right before God to earthly things. It is their portion, #Ps 17:14. And what Ananias had was his own, #Ac 5:4, while he had it. God gave Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar for his pains at Tyre. It is hard to say they are usurpers. They shall not (saith one) be called to an account at the last day for possessing what they had, but for abusing that possession. As when the king gives a traitor his life, he gives him food and drink that may maintain his life. So here God deals, not as that cruel d’Alva did, who starved some prisoners after he had given them quarter, saying, Though I promised you your lives, I promised not to find you food. (Grimst. Hist. of the Netherl.).

Ver. 26. There is a great gulf fixed] viz. By the unmovable and immutable decree of God, called mountains of brass, #Zec 6:1, from between which all effects and actions come forth as so many chariots. εστηρικται. Firmissimum Dei statutum. Jansen.

Ver. 27. I pray thee therefore] Are not the Popish doctors hard driven, when they allege this text to prove that the dead do take care of the living, and pray for them?

Ver. 28. Lest they also come into this place] This he wisheth, not for their good, but for his own. For he knew that if they were damned, he should be double damned, because they were brought thither partly by his lewd and loose example.

Ver. 29. Let them hear them] Hell is to be escaped by hearing the word read and preached, #Joh 5:25 Isa 55:3.

Ver. 30. They will repent] Bellarmine is of the opinion that one glimpse of hell were enough to make a man not only turn Christian and sober, but anchorite and monk; to live after the strictest rule that might be. Such a sight or report might work much upon the judgment, but it is the gospel only that works upon the affections, and produceth repentance never to be repented of.

Ver. 31. Though one rose from the dead] As Lazarus did, and yet they listened as little to him as to Christ, #Joh 12:10; but sought to kill him also.

Chapter 17

Ver. 1. {See Trapp on "Mt 18:6"} {See Trapp on "Mt 18:7"}

Ver. 2. {See Trapp on "Mt 18:6"} {See Trapp on "Mt 18:7"}

Ver. 3. {See Trapp on "Mt 18:15"}

Ver. 4. See #Mt 18:21.

Ver. 5. Lord, increase our faith] A most necessary request in this case. For the more any man believeth that God for Christ’s sake hath pardoned him, the readier he will be to pardon others.

Ver. 6. If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed] Faith as a grain of mustard seed is parva, humilis, sed et acris, fervida, small and low, but also sharp and lively; it must have acrimony and vivacity, and then it may remove mountains.

Ye might say unto this sycamine tree, &c.] That was a senseless slander of the Jews, that Christ stole the true name of God out of the holy of holies, by which means he wrought all his miracles; and that, lest he should lose it, he cut a hole in his thigh, and sewed it therein. Get we but the true faith of God closed up in our hearts (that most holy faith, as St Jude {#Jude 20} calleth it), and you may work wonders. {See Trapp on "Mt 17:20"}

Ver. 7. But which of you, &c.] Whereas the disciples, having begged increase of faith, might presume to obtain it as having deserved it; Christ shows here that God is debtor to none; and that they must do their utmost in duty, and expect God’s leisure and pleasure for the reward. It is a mercy in God (so David accounteth it) "to render to a man according to his works," #Ps 62:12.

Ver. 8. Gird thyself and serve me] It implies, first, readiness; secondly, nimbleness, handiness, and handsomeness. A loose, discinct, and diffluent mind is unfit to serve God. The deacons cried of old in the Church meetings, Oremus, attendamus, Let us pray, let us attend to prayer, &c.

Ver. 9. Doth he thank that servant] God owes us no thanks; and yet of his grace he even thanks us, and thinks himself beholden to us. See #1Pe 2:19. {See Trapp on "1Pe 2:19"} See also #Lu 6:34. This is dignatio stupenda, a wonderful condescension.

Ver. 10. We have done that was our duty] Or, our debt; and it is no matter of merit to pay debts. This made William Wickam, founder of New College, &c., profess he trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation: Charles V did the like, when he came to die. {a} And in times of Popery, the ordinary instruction appointed to be given to men upon their death beds, was, that they should look to come to glory, not by their own merits, but by the virtue and merit of Christ’s passion, that they should place their whole confidence in his death only, and in no other thing; and that they should interpose his death between God and their sins, between them and God’s anger. (Dr Usheir in a sermon on #Eph 4:13)

{a} Cade of the Church, Parei Medul. 883.

Ver. 11. He passed through Samaria and Galilee] Albeit he had forbidden his apostles to pass into those parts till after his death; yet he manifested by many arguments that the gospel belonged, and should shortly be preached, to those poor pagans, that as yet sat in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Ver. 12. Stood afar off] For so they were charged, #Le 13:45,46, as also to cover their lips, for fear of infecting others.

Ver. 13. And they lifted up their voices] These sought themselves only in their prayers, as do hypocrites; and nought esteemed the love of Christ. So did those that fasted to themselves, #Zec 7:6; more to get off their chains than their sins. Ephraim "is an empty vine, he beareth fruit to himself," #Ho 10:1. The Church keeps her fruit for her Beloved.

Ver. 14. Go show yourselves unto the priests] As if ye were already cleansed. They did so though they saw no sense for it; and before they came to the priests they were cleansed indeed. Make your "requests known to God with thanksgiving," #Php 4:6. As who should say, Make account to speed, and be ready with your thanks, as if you had what you ask of God.

Ver. 15. And one of them] It is ten to one if any return to give thanks. Men make prayer their refuge, but not their recompense. Hezekiah returned not according to his receipts.

And with a loud voice] He was as earnest in praises as be had been in prayers. Our thanks should be larger and louder than our requests, because God prevents us with many mercies, and denies nothing; we have it either in money or money’s worth.

Ver. 16. Giving him thanks] A thankful man is worth his weight in gold. Sed perraro grati homines reperiuntur, saith Cicero ( pro Planc.). Plerique ut accipiant importuni, donec acceperint, inquieti; ubi acceperint, ingrati, saith the father. Most pray, but pay not.

Ver. 17. Were there not ten cleansed?] Christ keeps count how many favours men receive from him, and will call them to a particular account thereof. He is an austere man this way.

But where are the nine?] Erasmus tells of a Popish dolt, that thought he could prove that there were ten worlds from those words of Christ, Nonne decem facit sunt mundi? Are there not ten created worlds? Another presently disproved him with the words following, Sed ubi sunt novem? But where are the nine?

Ver. 18. There are not found] The Syriac and some others read these words question wise, and so it is more emphatic. Are there not found that returned? &c. q.d. That is admirable, that is abominable.

Ver. 19. Thy faith hath made thee whole] Whole on both sides. Thus gratitude ingratiates with Christ, and gets more grace.

Ver. 20. When the kingdom of God, &c.] This they asked in scorn: q.d. You tell us often of the kingdom of God, and that it is at hand; but when comes it once? All things continue as they did, &c.

Cometh not with observation] That is, with outward pomp or superstitious seeking after.

Ver. 21. The kingdom of God is within you] It is spiritual, #Ro 14:17. Or, it is among you, but that you cannot see wood for trees. You seek me as absent, whom you reject present.

Ver. 22. And he said unto his disciples] q.d. This doctrine concerns you also, as well as the perverse Pharisees. You shall be ere long at a great loss for me; look to it, therefore, and bestir you.

Ver. 23. See #Mt 24:23 Mr 13:21.

Ver. 24. For as the lightning] q.d. From mine ascension, and so forwards, you are not to look for me again till I come to judgment; and then I come on a sudden. Many devices there are in the minds of some, to think that Jesus Christ shall come from heaven again, and reign here upon earth a thousand years. But they are, saith a good divine, but the mistakes of some high expressions in Scripture, which describe the judgments poured out upon God’s enemies, in making a way to the Jews’ conversion, by the pattern of the last judgment. (Mr Cotton upon the Seven Vials.)

Ver. 25. But first must he suffer] He must, because God would have it so. Voluntas Dei, necessitas rei.

Ver. 26. {See Trapp on "Mt 24:27"} {See Trapp on "1Pe 3:20"}

Ver. 27. They did eat, they drank] An elegant assyndeton. For the reason whereof, {See Trapp on "Mt 24:38"}

Ver. 28. They did eat, they drank] It is not said here, as #Lu 17:27, they married wives; they affected rather those odious concubitus, qui non utrinque resolvunt (Ovid). The Turkish pashas have their catamites, {a} which are their serious loves; for their wives are used but to dress their meat, to laundress, and for reputation, saith one that had been among them. Sodomy (saith he) in the Levant is not held a vice. (Blount’s Voyage.)

{a} A boy kept for unnatural purposes. ŒD

Ver. 29. But the same day] A fair sunshine morning had a foul dismal evening. Nescis quid serus vesper vehat. Thou knowest not what a great bellied day may bring forth. Omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum. Think every day thy last day. (Horat.)

Ver. 30. Even thus shall it be] Security ushereth in destruction. The Judge standeth before the door, as is easy to foresee: watch, therefore, #Jas 5:9.

Ver. 31. He which shall be on the housetop] A hyperbolic expression, usual among the Jews, to denote matter of haste.

Ver. 32. Remember Lot’s wife] Who either out of curiosity or covetousness turned her back, and she was turned. We are as hardly drawn off the world as a dog from a fat morsel. {a} Those who set forth of Italy with Galeacius, Marquis of Vicum (who left all for the liberty of conscience at Geneva), many of them when they came to the borders of Italy, and considering what they forsook, first looked back, afterward went back again, and were taken by the Spanish Inquisition, and made publicly to abjure the Christian religion. Remember the horrible history of Julian of old, and the lamentable case of Spira of late, said the Lady Jane Grey, prisoner, to Harding, the apostate. Lege historiam (saith one), ne fias historia; lege iudicia, ne fias exemplum iudicii.

{a} Ut canis ab uncto corio.

Ver. 33. {See Trapp on "Mt 16:25"} {See Trapp on "Mt 10:39"}

Ver. 34. See #Mt 24:40,41. {See Trapp on "Mt 24:40"} {See Trapp on "Mt 24:41"}

Ver. 35. See #Mt 24:40,41. {See Trapp on "Mt 24:40"} {See Trapp on "Mt 24:41"}

Ver. 36. See #Mt 24:40,41. {See Trapp on "Mt 24:40"} {See Trapp on "Mt 24:41"}

Ver. 37. Where, Lord?] Or, whither, Lord, viz. shall they be taken of whom thou speakest? To heaven, saith he. See the notes on #Mt 24:28.

There the eagles] Those vulturine eagles that are said to fly two or three days before to the place where armies are to meet and carcases shall be.

Chapter 18

Ver. 1. Always to pray and not to faint] Gr. εκκακειν, not shrink back, as sluggards in work or cowards in war. Prayer should be redoubled and reinforced, as those arrows of deliverance, #2Ki 13:19. The woman of Canaan prays on when denied; and Jacob holds with his hands when his thigh is lamed. He wrestled with slight and might, he raised dust, as the word signifies, and would not away without a blessing. {a} James, surnamed the Just (Christ’s kinsman), had his knees made as hard as camel’s knees with much praying, as Eusebius writes. Father Latimer, during his imprisonment, was so constant and instant in prayer, that often times he was not able to rise off his knees without help. Yea, Paulus Aemilius, being to fight with Perses, king of Macedonia, would not give up sacrificing to his god Hercules, till he saw certain arguments of a victory. As loathing of meat (saith a divine) and painfulness of speaking are two symptoms of a sick body, so irksomeness of praying and carelessness of hearing, of a sick soul.

{a} Etiam post naufragium tentantur maria.

Ver. 2. Which feared not God, nor regarded man] These two, fear of God and shame of the world, God hath given to men as curbs to restrain them from outrage. But sin hath loaded such an impudency in some men’s faces that they dare do anything.

Ver. 3. Avenge me of mine adversary] A downright request, without either logic or rhetoric to set it forth or enforce it; to teach us that though our prayers be but blunt or broken language, if importunate, they shall prevail nevertheless.

Ver. 4. And he would not for awhile] There is a passive injustice. Non faciendo nocens, sed patiendo fuit, saith Ausonius of Claudius: Not to do justice is injustice.

Ver. 5. She weary me] Gr. υπωπιαζη, she buffet me, or club me down. God must be pressed in prayer till we put him (as you would say) to the blush, or leave a blot in his face, unless we may be masters of our requests. Vota fundimus, coelos tangimus, Deum tangimus, misericordiam extorquemus. (Tertul. Apol.)

Ver. 6. Hear what the unjust judge saith] Hic paria non inter se conferuntur, sed minus cum maiore, saith Beza.

Ver. 7. Though he bear long with them] When they are at the utmost under. When their enemies are above fear, and they below hope; when there is not faith in earth to believe, then are there bowels in heaven to relieve and restore them.

Ver. 8. Shall he find faith upon earth?] God often stays so long till the saints have done looking for him, when they have forgotten their prayers, and he comes, as it were, out of an engine.

Ver. 9. That they were righteous, and despised others.] Pray to be preserved from this perilous pinnacle of self-exaltation.

Ver. 10. The one a Pharisee] A Doeg may set his foot as far and farther within the sanctuary as a David. The Pharisee and publican went both of them up to private prayer.

Ver. 11. God, I thank thee] Non vulnera, sed munera ostendit, he shows not his want, but his worth, and stands not only upon his comparisons, but upon his disparisons,—I am not as this publican. No, for thou art worse; yea, for this, because thou thinkest thee better. But of Pharisees it might be said, as Arnobius did of the Gentiles, Apud vos optimi censentur, quos comparatio pessimorum sic facit. They are very good that are not very bad. Αντιπροσωπος βλεπων τω θεψ διελεγετο. (Basil.) Velut dignus qui cum Deo colloqueretur. (Erasm.)

I am not as other men are] Pride wears a triple crown with this motto, Transcendo, Non obedio, Perturbo. This Pharisee held himself the whole piece, and all others a remnant only, as Basil of Seleucia hath it; he takes his poor counter and sets it down for a thousand pounds; he priceth himself above the market.

Ver. 12. I fast twice a week] Cardinal Bellarmine did more, for he fasted thrice a week, saith he that writes his life. John, Archbishop of Constantinople, he who first affected the style of Universal Bishop, was surnamed Nesteutes, from his frequent fasting. Monday and Thursday were the Pharisees’ fasting days, because Moses went up to the mount on a Thursday, and came down on a Monday, saith Drusius. The Manichees fasted on the sabbath, from whence the whole week here taketh its denomination in the original.

I give tithes] He braggingly made a gift of that which he was bound to pay.

Ver. 13. Smote upon his breast] In token of indignation, and that he would have smitten his sin so hard if he could have come at it.

God be merciful, &c.] Here was much in few. The Publican prayed much though he spake little. As a body without a soul, much wood without fire, a bullet in a gun without powder, so are words in prayer without spirit. Oratio brevis penetrat coelum. Short prayer penetrates heaven. The hottest springs send forth their waters by ebullitions. Prayer is called a charm, #Isa 26:16. Now, in a charm or enchantment, in three or four words there is much efficacy.

To me, a sinner] This prayer was often in Mr Bradford’s mouth, and likewise in Mr Samuel Crook’s. See his Life, page 32.

Ver. 14. Justified rather than the other] The Pharisee was not at all justified; neither is there more or less in justification. But our Saviour here useth a popular kind of expression.

Ver. 15. {See Trapp on "Mt 19:13"}

Ver. 16. {See Trapp on "Mt 19:14"}

Ver. 17. {See Trapp on "Mt 19:14"}

Ver. 18. And a certain ruler] St Mark, #Mr 10:17, saith that this ruler came running, which argues his earnestness, and in a man of quality was unusual, for such walk softly for most part, and in state, Gressu grallatorio.

Ver. 19. See #Mt 19:16,17.

Ver. 20. See #Mt 19:17-19.

Ver. 21. See #Mt 19:20.

Ver. 22. Yet lackest thou one thing] Yea, all things. But our Saviour speaketh thus by a holy irony.

Ver. 23. See #Mt 19:22.

Ver. 24. See #Mt 19:23.

Ver. 25. It is easier for a camel] Caveant ergo divites (saith an interpreter) et solicite; mane, vesperi, interdiu, noctu, secum de periculosa vitae suae ratione commententur. Let rich men therefore weigh their danger, and beware.

Ver. 26. See #Mt 19:26.

Ver. 27. See #Mt 19:26.

Ver. 28. See #Mt 19:27.

Ver. 29. See #Mt 19:28.

Ver. 30. See #Mt 19:30.

Ver. 31. See #Mt 20:17 Mr 10:32.

Ver. 32. See #Mt 20:17 Mr 10:32.

Ver. 33. See #Mt 20:17 Mr 10:32.

Ver. 34. And they understood none, &c.] Prejudicate opinions of Christ’s earthly kingdom hung as so many bullets at their eyelids, that they could not perceive so plain a truth.

Ver. 35. See #Mt 20:29 Mr 10:46.

Ver. 36. See #Mt 20:29 Mr 10:46.

Chapter 19

Ver. 1. And passed through Jericho] "An accursed city," #Joh 6:26 1Ki 16:34; and yet Christ hath here a plentiful harvest, poor blind men, rich Zacchaeus; to show the truth of what he had affirmed in the former chapter, that a rich man also might possibly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Ver. 2. And behold] This "behold" one compareth to a hand in the margin of a book, pointing to some notable matter. Another, to me sounding of a trumpet before some proclamation.

There was a man named Zacchaeus] He should by his name have been a puritan (in the best sense), but, he was an arch-publican, a public sinner, not simple, but subtle, a griping extortioner, a rich but wretched sycophant. {a}

{a} An informer, tale-bearer, malicious accuser; a calumniator, traducer, slanderer. Obs. ŒD

Ver. 3. Because he was little of stature] τυτθος ανηρ: Homer. St Paul was but a little man (say some, and thence had his name) but of a notable spirit. Deus maximus est in minimis, saith one, et saepe compensat defectus corporis ingenii dotibus. God is much seen in small things; and he many times recompenseth defects in the body with gifts of the mind. Hence that of the poet,

“ In parvo regnat corpore virtus.”

Ver. 4. And he ran before] Forgetful of his rank and quality. Rich men and rulers use not to run, much less to climb trees, as boys do for birds’ nests. But his earnest desire to see his Saviour, and especially a gracious impulse of the Holy Spirit, made him thus seemingly immodest, and unmindful of keeping a decorum.

Ver. 5. Zacchaeus, make haste] Christ is that good shepherd that knoweth all his sheep, and calleth them by name.

Make haste, and come down] Heaven is a matter of greatest haste: we must not adjourn, as he did once, In crastinum seria, more weighty businesses till tomorrow.

Today I must abide at thy house] Christ not only invites but even obtrudes himself as it were upon Zacchaeus: it is happy having such guests. He doth the same to us, when he sends unto us his poor servants to press upon our charity. Unworthy we are surely to give an alms to poor Christ, &c.

Ver. 6. And he made haste and came down] Gilbert Foliot, Bishop of London, A. D. 1161, misliking much Archbishop Becket’s pride and obstinace, would often exhort him to humility in these words, Ad Zacchaeum non divertisset Dominus, nisi de sycomoro iam descendisset, i.e. Christ had never dined with Zacchaeus, had he not first yielded to come down from the sycamore tree.

Ver. 7. They all murmured] So corrupt was their judgment concerning the offices and condition of the Messiah; so ill set were their affections, that themselves neglecting the grace of God that was offered, they take it ill that any other should partake of it.

By false accusation] After the manner of sycophants, εσυκοφαντησα. It seems it was his practice, that if any had spoken aught against him; he accused them as wrongers of the law, and that he did nothing to them but what he had law for.

{a} An informer, tale bearer, malicious accuser; a calumniator, traducer, slanderer. Obs. ŒD

Ver. 8. The half of my goods] See the like in Tyre converted, #Isa 23:17,18.

I restore him fourfold] Which was the law for things stolen. Fraud is no better than theft. Restitution is necessary to remission of sin. God hates holocaustum ex rapina, burnt offerings from stolen goods, as Sultan Selymus could tell his counsellor Pyrrhus, who persuaded him to bestow the great wealth he had taken from the Persian merchants, upon some notable hospital for relief of the poor. The dying Turk commanded it rather to be restored to the right owners, which was done accordingly; to the great shame of many Christians, who mind nothing less than restitution, &c. When Henry III of England had sent the friar Minors a load of frieze {a} to clothe them, they returned the same with this message, that he ought not to give alms of what he had rent from the poor, neither would they accept of that abominable gift. Master Latimer saith, "If ye make no restitution of goods detained, ye shall cough in hell, and the devils will laugh at you." Henry VII in his last will and testament, after the disposition of his soul and body, he devised and willed restitution should be made of all such monies as had unjustly been levied by his officers. Queen Mary restored again all ecclesiastical livings assumed to the Crown, saying, that she set more by the salvation of her own soul than she did by 10 kingdoms. A bull came also from the pope at the same time, that all others should do the like, but none did. Latimer tells us that the first day that he preached about restitution, one came and gave him 20 lib. to restore. The next day another brought him 30 lib. Another time another gave him 200 lib. Mr Bradford hearing Latimer on that subject was struck in the heart for one dash of a pen which he had made without the knowledge of his master, and could never be quiet till, by the advice of Mr Latimer, restitution was made, for which he did willingly forego all the private and certain patrimony which he had on earth. I myself (saith Mr Burroughs) knew one man that had wronged another but of five shillings, and fifty years after could not be quiet till he had restored it.

{a} A kind of coarse woollen cloth, with a nap, usually on one side only; now esp. of Irish manufacture. ŒD

Ver. 9. He also is a son of Abraham] That is, freely elected, #Ro 9:1, a follower of Abraham’s faith, #Ro 4:12, and a doer of his works, #Joh 8:39. Who then can say but he is his son, and shall rest in his bosom?

Ver. 10. See #Mt 18:11.

Ver. 11. That the kingdom of God] A temporal earthly kingdom, such as they expected by the Messiah. And it should seem that hearing our Saviour say he came "to seek and to save that which was lost," they mistook him so far as to think that he meant the Jewish kingdom, the public liberty, &c. This misconceit he confuteth in the following parable.

Ver. 14. Sent a message] Instead of sending a lamb to this ruler of the earth, #Isa 16:1, of the covering his altar with the calves of their lips, #Ho 14:3. Such masterless monsters are rife everywhere, such dust heaps are found in every corner.

Ver. 15. And when he was returned] He went at his ascension, and returns at the general resurrection. At what time he will first reckon with his servants, and then with his enemies. Judgment shall then also begin at God’s own house.

Ver. 16. Thy pound hath gained] Not my pains, but thy pound hath done it. "By the grace of God I am that I am," saith Paul, that constantissimus gratiae praedicator, as Austin calleth him.

Ver. 17. See #Mt 25:21,22, &c.

Ver. 18. See #Mt 25:21,22, &c.

Ver. 19. See #Mt 25:21,22, &c.

Ver. 20. See #Mt 25:21,22, &c.

Ver. 21. See #Mt 25:21,22, &c.

Ver. 22. See #Mt 25:21,22, &c.

Ver. 23. Into the bank] Gr. Unto the table, er (according to some copies) "unto the usurers," τοις τραπεζιταις, whom Beza here rightly calleth humani certe generis perniciosissimas pestes, the most pernicious pests of mankind.

Ver. 27. Slay them before me] Howbeit "the beast and the false prophet," that is, the pope and his escorts, shall not have the favour to be slain as the common sort of Christ’s enemies are, but shall be "cast alive into the burning lake," tormented more exquisitely, #Re 19:20,21.

Ver. 28. He went before] To meet death in the face. This was true magnanimity. Herein he showed himself the Captain of our salvation, though perfected by sufferings.

Ver. 29. Bethphage and Bethany] Bethphage was one mile out of Jerusalem, Bethany two.

Ver. 30. Go ye into the village] Into Bethphage, that was in their view as they went from Bethany.

Ver. 31. {See Trapp on "Mt 21:1"} {See Trapp on "Mt 21:2"} {See Trapp on "Mt 21:3"}

Ver. 32. {See Trapp on "Mt 21:1"} {See Trapp on "Mt 21:2"} {See Trapp on "Mt 21:3"}

Ver. 41. He beheld the city] That common slaughter house of the prophets. Our Lord is said to have been slain at Rome, #Re 11:8, because crucified at Jerusalem by the Roman authority.

And wept over it] Shall not we weep over the ruins of so many fair and flourishing churches, that now lie in the dirt? Christ wept in this day of his solemn inauguration. It shall be in our last triumph only that all tears shall be wiped from our eyes; till then our passions must be mixed, according to the occasions.

Ver. 42. Oh, if thou hadst known] They had cognitionem historicam non mysticam, speculativam non affectivam, apprehensionis non approbationis, discursivam non experimentalem.

At least in this thy day] The time of grace is fitly called a day in regard of, 1. Revelation. 2. Adornation; 3. Consolation; 4. Distinction; 5. Speedy pretrition. Amend before the drawbridge be taken up. No man can say he shall have 12 hours to his day.

But now they are hid from thine eyes] Yet they lived under the ministry long after, and no outward change to be discerned. As Plutarch writes of Hannibal, that when he could have taken Rome, he would not; when he would, he could not: so the procrastinators.

Ver. 43. For the days shall come] God hath his days for vengeance, as man hath his day for repentance. There is a prime of every man’s life and of every man’s ministry. The Levite lingered so long that he lost his concubine, she came short home; so doth many a man’s soul for like reason.

Shall cast a trench about thee] Because, like the wild ass, thou wouldest not otherwise be tamed and kept within compass of God’s commandments.

Ver. 44. One stone] See #Mt 24:2 Mr 13:2.

Because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation] Though thou be called the valley of vision, and the notation of thy name be the vision of peace, yet thou neither knowest the things of thy peace nor the time of thy visitation, as being blinded with malice and obstinance.

Ver. 45. See #Mt 21:12,13, &c.; {See Trapp on "Joh 2:14"}

Ver. 46. See #Mt 21:12,13, &c.; {See Trapp on "Joh 2:14"}

Ver. 47. He taught daily] The nearer he drew to his end the more intent he was upon the work, that he might say, as afterwards he did in that heavenly prayer of his, "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do," #Joh 17:4.

But the chief priests] Wild beasts cannot endure fire; no more can wicked men away with zeal. Tigers are enraged with sweet odours; beat up a drum to them and they will tear themselves for anger.

Ver. 48. Were very attentive to hear him] Gr. εξεκρεματο, hanged on him, as the bee doth on the flower, the babe on the breast, or the little bird on the bill of her dam. Christ drew the people after him, as it were, by the golden chain of his heavenly eloquence.

Chapter 20

Ver. 1. The chief priests and scribes came] Gr. επεστησαν, "came suddenly upon him." As an unexpected storm; the devil drove them.

Ver. 2. {See Trapp on "Mt 21:23"} See #Mr 11:27.

Ver. 3. {See Trapp on "Mt 21:23"} See #Mr 11:27.

Ver. 4. The baptism of John, &c.] q.d. If John were sent by God to testify, as he did, there is no colour of cause why ye should question mine authority.

Ver. 8. Neither tell I you, &c.] God’s servants should be ready with their answer upon sudden assaults, and not to seek such arguments as may stop the mouth of an adversary. When a nimble Jesuit asked, Where was your religion before Luther? answer was presently returned, In the Bible, where your religion never was.

Ver. 9. See #Mt 21:33 Mr 12:1.

Ver. 16. God forbid] viz. that they should ever kill the Son of God sent unto them. We cannot get men to believe that their hearts are half so bad or their ways so dangerous as the preacher makes of them.

Ver. 17. What is this then that is written, &c.] q.d. If it be not so as I say, that you shall kill the Messiah, how is it that the Scripture saith as much? Press men with Scripture testimonies; that is the readiest way of sound conviction. It was a good speech of Augustine to Manichaeus, contesting with him for audience: Hear me, hear me, said the heretic. Nay, saith Augustine, Nec ego te, nec tu me, sed ambo audiamus apostolum dicentem, peccatum non cognovi, &c. It is not what I say, or what thou sayest, but what the Scripture saith, that we must stand to.

Ver. 19. They perceived] Conscience, their domestic chaplain, told them so much. God hath a witness to his truth in every man’s bosom.

Ver. 20. They sent forth spies] Gr. εγκαθετους, fishers, that with net and bait catch the silly fish and feed on them; such were these emissaries, these catchpoles. {a}

Which should feign themselves just men] Hypocrites only act religion, play devotion; as stage players they act a sultan, when they are but so many shoemakers; as ferrymen, they look one way and row another; they have holiness written upon their outsides, as Vorstius’ book had De Deo in the front and blasphemy in the text. They cry out Templum Domini, the temple of the Lord, but care not for the Lord of the temple. But religion, as it is the best armour, so it is the worst cloak; and will serve hypocrites as the disguise Ahab put on and perished, or as Absalom’s mule served her master, &c.

{a} A petty officer of justice; a sheriff’s officer or sergeant, esp. a warrant officer who arrests for debt, a bum-bailiff. ŒD

Ver. 21. See #Mt 22:16 Mr 12:14.

Ver. 27. See #Mt 22:23, &c.; #Mr 12:18.

Ver. 28. See #Mt 22:23, &c.; #Mr 12:18.

Ver. 35. Nor are given in marriage] Hence some collect, that the difference of sexes shall continue after the resurrection: wherefore else should our Saviour say, that they shall then neither marry nor be given in marriage? Sed hic επεχω. Haymo is over confident, I suppose, in that gloss he gives here, Quod viri in suo sexu resurgent, feminae in sexu muliebri. Erunt habentes membra genitalia, non autem voluntatem coeundi.

Ver. 36. Die any more] That there should be any further use of matrimony, for the propagation of mankind.

Ver. 38. For all live to him] Even in their bodies also, which he now by rotting refineth; and shall as certainly raise, as if they were already raised, since all things are present with him.

Ver. 39. Thou hast well said] Because he had set down the Sadducees, who were their counterfactionists.

Ver. 41. See #Mt 22:42 Mr 12:35.

Ver. 45. See #Mt 23:1-5 Mr 12:38 Lu 11:43.

Ver. 47. Greater damnation] Shall be double damned, because dissembled sanctity is double iniquity.

Chapter 21

Ver. 1. {See Trapp on "Mr 12:41"}

Ver. 2. Casting in thither two mites] That is, two eighth parts of a half-penny, saith the Syriac. {See Trapp on "Mr 12:41"} {See Trapp on "Mr 12:42"}

Ver. 5. {See Trapp on "Mt 24:1"}

Ver. 6. {See Trapp on "Mt 24:2"}

Ver. 7. {See Trapp on "Mt 24:3"}

Ver. 8. See #Mt 24:4,5, &c.

Ver. 9. See #Mt 24:6, &c.

Ver. 12. See #Mt 24:9 Mr 13:9.

Ver. 13. And it shall turn to you, &c.] While the valour of the martyrs and the savageness of the persecutors strove together, till both, exceeding nature and belief, bred wonder and astonishment in beholders and hearers.

Ver. 14. See #Mt 10:19 Mr 13:11; {See Trapp on "Mt 10:19"} {See Trapp on "Mr 13:11"}

Ver. 18. See #Mt 10:30; {See Trapp on "Mt 10:30"} See also for explication, #1Sa 14:45 2Sa 14:11 Ac 27:34.

Ver. 19. In your patience possess] That is, enjoy yourselves, however the world goes with you. He that cannot have patience had need made up his pack and get out of the world, for here is no being for him. Burleigh, lord treasurer, was wont to say that he overcame envy more by patience than pertinace.

Ver. 20. Jerusalem compassed with armies] By Cestius Gallus, a little before that fatal siege by Titus. So God gave his people this sign, to take best course for their own safety.

Ver. 21. See #Mt 24:16 Mr 13:14.

Ver. 22. See #Mt 24:15-17.

Ver. 23. See #Mt 24:15-17.

Ver. 24. Until the times of the Gentiles] The Gentiles then shall not always tread down Jerusalem. Those kings of the East, the Jews, may, likely, have their way prepared to it, through Euphrates, #Re 16:12, and Jerusalem be again inhabited by them, even in Jerusalem, #Zec 12:6. But this will be not long before the last day, #Lu 21:25.

Ver. 25. See #Mt 24:29 Mr 13:24 2Pe 3:10.

Ver. 26. Men’s hearts failing them] What marvel though wicked men be dispirited, and even ring their bells backwards, when they shall see all on a light fire? Moses himself may tremble at the terror of the mount, and Abraham show some trepidation in such a fright.

Ver. 27. Coming in a cloud] As on a chariot. See #Re 1:7.

Ver. 28. Look up] You that shall then be found alive shall soon be caught up, #1Th 4:14-18, and fully freed from all evils and enemies.

Ver. 29. See #Mt 24:32 Mr 13:28

Ver. 33. See #Mt 5:18.

Ver. 34. Take heed that your hearts] The disciples themselves had in them the common poison of nature, and so were obnoxious even to the most reproachful evils. That, πανσπερμια, if watered with the temptation of Satan, what sin may it not produce in the best, unless God prevent? Let the best take heed that they be not irregulares gulares, making the corpse a cloak bag, the gut a gulf, &c. A full belly makes a foul heart: the rankest weeds grow out of the fattest soil.

Ver. 35. As a snare] See #Ec 9:12. {See Trapp on "Ec 9:12"}

Ver. 36. That ye may be accounted worthy] Great is the emphasis of this word, καταξιωθητε (saith learned Beza), for it gives us to understand that we owe all to the free election of God, who loved us first, and so accepted us for worthy, #Re 3:4.

Ver. 37. And in the day] So he divided his time between preaching and praying; as did also his apostles, #Ac 6:4. {See Trapp on "Ac 6:4"}

Ver. 38. Came early in the morning] Mancabat, saith the Vulgate, imitating the Greek, ωρθριζε. Let our people look upon their forwardliness, and be ashamed of their long lying, tardy coming to hear the word.

Chapter 22

Ver. 1. Now the feast of unleavened bread, &c.] It is good to bring Bibles to church. Socrates relates of one Sabbatius, a Novatian bishop, that, reading this text, added such things of his own as carried away many simple people from the faith.

Ver. 2. How they might kill him] Not put him to death as judges, but kill him as cutthroats, ανελωσι. So #Ac 2:23.

Ver. 3. Then entered Satan] He stood but at the door till now, that the business was concluded on.

Ver. 4. And communed with the chief priests] Suopte ingenio, ut reprobi angeli, saith an interpreter.

Ver. 5. And covenanted] Judas sold his salvation, and they bought their damnation, saith one. He made a match with mischief, and soon had enough of it.

Ver. 6. And he promised] εξωμολογησε, by mutual stipulation (saith Beza), wherein the one asketh, Dost thou promise to do such a thing the other answereth, I do promise. Like as of old it was, Credis? Credo. Abrenuncias? Abrenuncio. Believest thou? I do believe. Forsakest thou? I do forsake.

Ver. 7. The day of unleavened bread, when, &c.] It must be our care to cast out all filthiness of flesh and spirit (that old leaven) before we communicate, #1Co 5:7. First throw the baggage into the brook Kidron (the town ditch), and then "kill the Passover," #2Ch 30:14.

Ver. 8. See #Mt 26:17,18, &c.; #Mr 14:12.

Ver. 9. See #Mt 26:17,18, &c.; #Mr 14:12.

Ver. 10. See #Mt 26:17,18, &c.; #Mr 14:12.

Ver. 15. With desire have I desired] How much more should we come with strong affections and lusty appetites to this holy supper! It is a virtue here to be a holy glutton, and to drink hearty draughts; that we may go from the table, as Christ from Jordan, full of the Holy Ghost. For this end consider what is before thee, as #Pr 23:1, not to restrain appetite, but to provoke it. And the rather because Christ thus earnestly thirsted after our salvation, though he knew it should cost him so dear. See #Lu 12:50.

Ver. 16. Until it be fulfilled] Until the old passover he abolished, and the new brought in place by my death and resurrection.

Ver. 17. And he took the cup] The cup of the common supper, #Joh 13:2,3.

Ver. 18. See #Mt 26:29 Mr 14:25.

Ver. 19. See #Mt 26:26 Mr 14:22.

Ver. 23. And they began to inquire] Therefore the Lord had not perfectly pointed out the traitor to them; or if he did, they either heard not, or heeded not.

Ver. 24. There was also a strife] This was so much the worse in them, because immediately after the sacrament, and before the passion, which our Saviour had told them should fall out within two days after. Neither was this the first time that they had thus faulted, and were reproved for it.

Ver. 25. The kings of the Gentiles, &c.] In striving for precedence, the disciples showed themselves but Gentiles, who stand upon their birth and privileges.

Exercise lordship over them] As he did with a witness (of whom Melancthon writeth) that wrung money from his miserable subjects, by knocking out their teeth, one by one, till he had what he would. (Joh. Maulii, loc. com.)

Are called benefactors] Nedibim, bountiful princes, #Ps 47:9 83:12. Such a one was Titus, son of Vespasian, who never sent away any suitor sorrowful; and was the author of this brave speech, Hodie non regnavimus, quia neminem affecimus beneficio: We seem not to have reigned this day, because we have done no man a good turn today.

Ver. 26. See #Mt 20:25 Mr 10:42.

Ver. 27. I am among you as he that serveth] i.e. Not as a master, but rather as your fellow disciple. The prophets had their scholars to wait upon them, and to minister to them. God’s Levite had one man to ride with him, #Jud 19:11; Balaam had two, #Nu 22:22.

Ver. 28. Ye are they which have continued, &c.] Agrippa having suffered imprisonment for wishing Gaius emperor, the first thing Gaius did after he came to the empire, was to prefer Agrippa to a kingdom. He gave him also a chain of gold as heavy as the chain of iron that was upon him in prison. And shall not Christ richly reward all those his suffering servants?

Ver. 29. And I appoint] Gr. διατιθεμαι, I bequeath as by my last will and testament. See #Heb 9:17.

Ver. 30. That ye may eat and drink, &c.] As Mephibosheth and Chimham at David’s table which was a high favour.

Ver. 31. Simon, Simon] q.d. Mi charissimo Simon. Piscat.

Satan hath desired, &c.] As a challenger desireth to have one of the other side to combat with, as Goliath did. He cannot harm us without leave. So he desired to have Job, and had him.

That he may sift you] Cribratione Satanae non perditur, sed purgatur frumentum, saith Zanchy {See Trapp on "Mt 3:12"}

Ver. 32. But I have prayed] So the plaster is ready made before the wound be given; for else the patient might perish, as those do that are stung with scorpions, if not presently anointed with oil of scorpions.

That thy faith fail not] It is our faith that Satan chiefly assaulteth: he knows that nihil retinct qui fidem perdidit. (Seneca.)

Strengthen thy brethren] So he doth notably, in both his Epistles, dooming apostates most severely, #2Pe 2.

Ver. 33. Lord, I am ready] Thus Peter overweened his own abilities; being melius semper animatus quam armatus, better affected than appointed.

Ver. 34. See #Mt 26:34 Mr 14:30 Joh 13:38.

Ver. 35. See #Mt 10:9 Lu 10:4.

Ver. 36. But now he that hath, &c.] Here the Captain of our salvation cries, Arm, arm; and under the name and notion of corporal weapons he intends all manner of spiritual preparations.

Ver. 37. For the things concerning me] i.e. Concerning my state of humiliation.

Ver. 38. It is enough] q.d. You speak absurdly: I mean not such kind of swords; let me hear no more of them.

Ver. 39.] See #Mt 26:36 Mr 14:32 Joh 14:4.

Ver. 40. See #Mt 26:41 Mr 14:38.

Ver. 41. And he was withdrawn] For privacy’ sake to pray, though loth to leave their company, through extreme perplexity, which made him return so often to them, calling upon them to watch with him.

Ver. 42. lf thou be willing] He was so astonished with the greatness of his present pressures, that he seems for a time to suffer some kind of forgetfulness of his office.

Ver. 43. And there appeared] To show that he had made himself lower than the angels, #Heb 2:7, he received comfort from an angel that was his servant. So in his agony he was glad of his apostles’ company, and the help of their poor prayers.

Ver. 44. And being in an agony] Μη δια τουτο ατιμος, οτι δια σε ταπεινονος, saith a Greek father. Alphonsus is honoured in histories for this, that he abased himself so far as to help one of his subjects out of a ditch. Shall not Christ much more be honoured that helped all his out of the ditch of damnation.

He prayed more earnestly] εκτενεστερον, he bent, as it were, all his nerves, he intended the utmost activity of his spirit and of his speech; to make atonement for our dull and drowsy devotions.

Great drops of blood] Clotty blood (θρομβους αιματος) issuing through flesh and skin in great abundance. Oecolampadius tells of a certain poor man, who being kept hanging in the truss of the cord (which is a certain hanging by the hands behind, having a weighty stone fastened at their feet) the space of six hours, the sweat that dropped from his body for very pain and anguish, was almost blood. But here was no "almost" in our Saviour’s bloody sweat: while without any external violence, merely by the force of his own saddest thoughts working upon him, sanguinem congelatum quasi extruserit. (Bucholcer.) So great was Scanderbeg’s ardour in battle, that the blood burst out of his lips. But from oar Champion’s, not lips only, but whole body burst out a bloody sweat. Not his eyes only were fountains of tears, or his head waters, as Jeremiah wished, #Jer 9:1, but his whole body was turned, as it were, into rivers of blood: a sweet comfort to such as are cast down for that, that their sorrow for sin is not so deep and soaking as they could desire.

Falling down to the ground] Through clothes and all, in a cold night; so great was the pressure of his passion here begun. He wept with his members; a strange kind of watering of a garden, as one saith.

Ver. 45. He found them sleeping] Who should have waked, and wiped off his sweat (as the angel did Theodorus the martyr’s), but they rather added to it by their security. (Socrates, Theodoret.)

Ver. 46. See #Mt 26:47 Mr 14:43 Joh 18:3.

Ver. 47. See #Mt 26:47 Mr 14:43 Joh 18:3.

Ver. 48. Judas, betrayest thou, &c.] Sic Iudaei, sub praetextu pietatis maxime delinquebant; et Deo osculum sine amore praebebant. (Bucholcer.) Julian the Apostate was no friend to Basil, though he wrote to him, φιλος φιλω και αδελφος αδελοω. Nor was Libanius the more to be believed for saying (in Epist. ad Basilium), βασιλειου με επαινησαντος κατα παντων εχω τα νικητηρια. If Basil commend me, I despise other men’s worse censures.

Ver. 49. Lord, shall we smite?] But before he could answer, Peter smote, which might easily have cost him his life. Quod dubites, ne feceris, is a safe rule.

Ver. 50. See #Mt 26:51 Mr 14:47 Joh 18:10.

Ver. 51. And he touched his ear, &c.] After he had laid them flat on the ground. So he tried them both ways; but nothing would do.

Ver. 52. Captain of the temple] {See Trapp on "Ac 4:1"}

Ver. 53. And the power of darkness] The "dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty," #Ps 74:20. Creatures kept in the dark are fierce and furious. Had they known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory, #1Co 2:8 "I did it ignorantly," saith Paul concerning his persecuting the saints, #1Ti 1:13.

Ver. 54. See #Mt 26:57.

Ver. 55. See #Mt 26:69 Joh 18:25.

Ver. 56. Vide ibidem eum notis.

Ver. 57. Vide ibidem eum notis.

Ver. 58. Vide ibidem eum notis.

Ver. 59. Vide ibidem eum notis.

Ver. 60. Vide ibidem eum notis.

Ver. 61. And looked upon Peter] A stroke from guilt broke Judas’ heart into despair: but a look from Christ broke Peter’s heart into tears.

Ver. 62. See #Mt 26:75. Titubatio Petri, omnium petra.

Ver. 63. See #Mt 26:27 Mr 14:65 Joh 18:22 Isa 50:6. They scoffed him, not so much with their tongues as hands; plucking his beard, and pulling away hair and skin too, as the word δερειν importeth.

Ver. 65. And many other things] Shooting their sharpest arrows at him, even bearded arrows, which being once got into the flesh, cannot easily be pulled out but by tearing the flesh round about: and far worse than those shot by the Turks at the crucifix, when they sacked Constantinople, railing also, and spitting at it, and calling it the God of the Christians.

Ver. 66. See #Mt 27:1.

Ver. 67. Here the president of the council examineth him, as #Lu 22:70 the assessors.

Ver. 68. Christ’s answer is partly reprehensory, partly concessory and comminatory; for it is a confession of the truth mixed with menaces of condign punishment.

Ver. 69. Christ’s answer is partly reprehensory, partly concessory and comminatory; for it is a confession of the truth mixed with menaces of condign punishment.

Ver. 70. Ye say that I am] Or, as Mark hath it more plainly, "I am," #Mr 14:62. Christ here useth a common kind of speech, to consent to what another saith.

Ver. 71. See #Mt 26:65.

Chapter 23

Ver. 1. See #Mt 27:2 Joh 18:28.

Ver. 2. Perverting the people] Gr. διαστρεφοντα, turning them upside down, wreathing them from their right minds. So #Lu 23:5 "He stirreth up the people," Gr. ανασειει, he maketh an earthquake in them; rectum tollit de cardine mentem, he throws them off the hinges.

Ver. 3. See #Mt 27:11 Mr 15:2 Joh 18:33.

Ver. 4. See #Joh 18:38.

Ver. 5. He stirreth up the people] In the present tense, q.d. He doth nothing else; he maketh it his whole trade and constant practice, Mendacium putidum. decietful and rotten.

Ver. 6. He asked] As desirous to rid his hands of him.

Ver. 7. He sent him] So seeking to ingratiate with Herod.

Ver. 8. He was exceeding glad] As if he had gotten some magician or enchanter, that would show him some pleasant sight.

Ver. 9. But he answered him nothing] Princes use to correct the indecencies of ambassadors by denying them audience, as if silence were the way royal to revenge a wrong. Christ spoke not a word to Herod (saith one), because Herod had taken away his voice by beheading the Baptist, who was vox clamantis a shouting voice.

Ver. 10. Vehemently accused him] Gr. ευτονως, with great intention of spirit, and contention of speech. Clamant, ut Stentora vincant.

Ver. 11. Set him at nought] Gr. εξουθενησας, made nobody of him.

Arrayed him in a gorgeous robe] Or a white robe, as the old interpreter hath it, λαμπραν. Pilate’s soldiers clad our Saviour in purple (a colour more affected by the Romans), Herod in white, as more affected by the Jewish nobility.

Mocked him] Gr. εμπαιξας, handled him like a boy, or made a baby of him, made sport with him.

Ver. 12. Pilate and Herod were made friends] Two dogs that are fighting can easily agree to pursue the hare that passeth by them. Martial brings in the hare thus complaining:

“ In me omnis terraeque, aviumque, marisque rapina est:

Forsitan et coeli, si canis astra tenet.”

In littore Siculo cum lepus canum venaticorum vim evasisset, a cane marino captus dicitur: est enim voracissima maris bellua, saith Bodin. The wicked can easily unite against the saints.

Ver. 13. See #Mt 27:23 Joh 18:38.

Ver. 14. See #Mt 27:23 Joh 18:38.

Ver. 15. No, nor yet Herod] Nor any man alive, though he had the devil to help him. The poets bring in Momus finding fault with the creaking of Venus’ slipper. But Christ was αμνος αμωμος, as St Peter calleth him, #1Pe 1:19, the spotless Lamb of God, in whom Momus himself could find nothing amiss, after long seeking. See #Joh 14:30.

Ver. 16. I will therefore chastise him] And so he did, purposely to move pity, #Joh 19:1, but all in vain: yea, though he afterwards presented him a pitiful spectacle, with "Behold the man."

Ver. 17. For of necessity] Tyrannus ille trium literarum Mos, would needs have it so. See #Joh 18:29 Mt 27:15.

Ver. 18. Release unto us] What marvel though murderers desire a murderer? Similis similem sibi quaerit.

Ver. 19. See #Joh 18:40. {See Trapp on "Joh 18:40"}

Ver. 20. Pilate therefore willing, &c.] I read of one that did verily think that Pilate was an honest man, because he was so unwilling to crucify Christ. But this arose only from the restraint of natural conscience against so foul a fact.

Ver. 21. Crucify him, crucify him] As if they should say, Do it twice over, rather than fail. The modern Jews, as mad as their forefathers, say that rather than we Gentiles should have benefit by their expected Messiah, they would crucify him a hundred times over.

Ver. 22. The third time] It is well observed here, that Peter for fear denied Christ three times, and yet repented; Pilate three times justified Christ, and yet for popular favour condemned him. It may teach us neither to despair if we repent, nor presume because we have begun well.

Ver. 23. And they were instant with loud voices] It is said of Nestorius the heretic, that he was homo superbus, et indoctus, sed audax, et magnae loquentiae; qua unica fretus, nihil non audebat; et quidem saepenumero faeliciter, quod volebat, obtinebat; a proud dunce, but bold and loud spoken, whereby he had what he would many times. (Zanchius.)

Ver. 24. See #Mt 27:26 Mr 15:15.

Ver. 25. Him that for sedition] The Jews, before they were banished out of this kingdom, threw bags of poison into the wells and fountains that the people were to drink of; and so endeavoured to poison them all. So deal those that sow sedition; these are the pests, the botches of human society.

Ver. 26. See #Mt 27:32 Mr 15:21.

Ver. 27. Which also bewailed] This was all they could do, and it was much they dared do it in so evil a time. In the reign of Tiberius, one Vitia was punished with death for that she had lamented Geminus her son, executed as friend to Sejanus. And because they could not accuse women for attempting against the State, their tears were criminal, saith Tacitus.

Ver. 28. Weep not for me] We are not so much to lament Christ’s dolorous sufferings (as Papists use to do in their stage playing descriptions of his passion) as to lay to heart and lament our sins, the cause of all. When a Papist came to Master Hooper at the stake, and said, "Sir, I am sorry to see you thus," "Be sorry for thyself, man," said hearty Hooper, "and lament thine own wickedness, for I am well, I thank God, and death to me for Christ’s sake is welcome." (Acts and Mon.)

Ver. 29. Blessed are the barren] Better be so than bring forth children to the murderer. Hence Hosea prays for barrenness as a blessing on his people, #Ho 9:14.

Ver. 30. See #Re 6:16. {See Trapp on "Re 6:16"}

Ver. 31. What shall be done in the dry?] Lo, little sucklings also are here called dry trees, dry wood, such as God’s wrath will soon kindle upon.

Ver. 32. See #Mt 27:38.

Ver. 33. Which is called Calvary] As sad a sight to our Saviour, as the bodies of his slain wife and children were to Mauricius the emperor, who was soon after to be slain also by the command of the traitor Phocas. Let us learn to consider the tyranny and deformity of sin as often as we pass through churchyards and charnelhouses. Historians tell us that the way whereby Christ went bearing his cross to Calvary is to this day called The Dolorous Way.

There they crucified him] Christ’s cross, with his naked and bloody body, being lift up on high, was let fall with violence into a mortise, that his joints were dissolved, said Origen to Alexander Severus the emperor.

Ver. 34. Father, forgive them] See the sweet mercy of Christ, mindful and careful of his enemies when the pains of hell had taken hold of him, and they, like so many breathing devils, were tormenting him. Pendebat et tamen petebat, saith Augustine. He was slain by them, and yet he begged for them.

Ver. 35. Derided him] Gr. εξεμυκτηριζον, blew their noses at him.

Ver. 36. Offered him vinegar] Instead of wine, which kings drink much of.

Ver. 37. See #Mt 27:42.

Ver. 38. Greek, Latin, and Hebrew] This venerable eulogy and epitaph, set upon our Saviour’s cross, proclaimed him King of all religion, having reference to the Hebrews; of all wisdom, to the Greeks; of all power, to the Latins.

Ver. 39. Which were hanged, railed, &c.] Sic plectimur a Deo, nec flectimur tamen (saith Salvian), corripimur, sed non corrigimur. There are many, quos multo facilius fregeris, quam flexeris, saith Buchanan. Monoceros interimi potest, capi non potest. The wicked are the worse for that they suffer, and will sooner break than bend.

Ver. 40. But the other answering] Silent he was for a while, and therefore seemed to consent; till hearing Christ’s prayers and the enemies’ outrages, he brake out into this brave confession, worthy to be written in letters of gold.

Ver. 41. See #Mt 27:38. This good thief, like the olive tree, bore fruit late, but great store of that which was excellent.

Ver. 42. Lord, remember me] By this penitent prayer he made his cross a Jacob’s ladder, whereby the angels descended to fetch up his soul. So did Leonard Caesar, burnt at Rappa in Bavaria, whose last words were these, "Lord Jesus, suffer with me, support me, give me strength: I am thine, save me," &c. (Scultet. Annal.) {See Trapp on "Mt 27:38"}

Ver. 43. Verily I say unto thee] See the infinite love of Christ to penitent sinners, in that when he hung upon the tree, and was paying dear for man’s sin, he rejected not this malefactor’s petition. Shall he not hear us now that all is paid and finished?

Today shalt thou be with me] This is not every man’s happiness. A pardon is sometimes given to one upon the gallows; but whoso trusts to that, the rope may be his hire. It is not good to put it upon the psalm of Miserere Sorrow and the neck verse (saith one), for sometimes he proves no clerk. Most deal with repentance as country people do with physicians,—love not to have to do with them till they fear they are gasping the last breath. The mole begins not to see till he be at point of death: Oculos incipit aperire moriendo, quos clausos habuit vivendo, saith Pliny. The serpent stretcheth not himself out straight till he hath received his death’s wound. But what if God should say to such lingerers, as the crab in the fable did to the dying serpent, At oportuit sic vixisse, "It is too late now, you should have lived so?"

Ver. 44. See #Mt 27:25 Mr 15:33.

Ver. 45. See #Mt 27:51 Mr 15:38.

Ver. 46. See #Mt 27:50.

Ver. 47. Certainly this was a righteous man] Bennet the martyr, in King Henry VIII’s days, being brought to execution, the most part of the people (he exhorted them with such gravity and sobriety), as also the scribe who wrote the sentence of condemnation against him, did pronounce and confess that he was God’s servant, and a good man. So when Wiseheart and March the martyrs went toward the stake, they were justified by the beholders, as innocent and godly persons. (Acts and Mon.)

Ver. 48. See #Mt 27:54.

Ver. 49. See #Mt 27:55.

Ver. 50. See #Mt 27:57 Mr 15:43 Joh 19:38.

Ver. 51. The same had not consented] This proved him to be a good man and a just, as #Ps 1:1. Sir John Cheek was drawn in for fear of death to be present at the condemnation of some of the martyrs. The remorse whereof so mightily wrought upon his heart, that not long after he left this mortal life; whose fall, though it was full of infirmity, yet his rising again by repentance was great, and his end comfortable, saith Master Fox. So by the malice and subtilty of Stephen Gardiner, Cromwell was commanded by King Henry VIII to read the sentence of condemnation against Mr Lambert the martyr, for the which Cromwell afterwards asked him forgiveness.

Waited for the kingdom of God] Gr. προσεδεχετο, entertained and embraced it.

Ver. 52. See #Mt 27:58-60.

Ver. 53. See #Mt 27:58-60.

Ver. 55. See #Mt 27:61.

Ver. 56. And rested the seventh day] From all servile work, yea, that (otherwise most honourable) work of embalming Christ’s dead body.

Chapter 24

Ver. 1. Very early in the morning]. About which time, probably, our Saviour rose.

Ver. 2. See #Mt 27:60,66.

Ver. 3. Found not the body] But the grave clothes only, #Joh 20:6. As Samson, shut up in Gaza, took the gates on his shoulders, and went his way in despite of his enemies; so did Christ here. These women came first, by a wonderful providence, before the apostles, to confute that impudent lie made by the priests, that the disciples had stolen away the body.

Ver. 4. Two men stood] Two angels in the guise of men.

Ver. 5. See #Mt 28:5,6.

Ver. 6. See #Mt 28:5,6.

Ver. 7. See #Mt 17:23 Mr 9:31 Lu 9:22.

Ver. 8. And they remembered his words] Which at first hearing they understood not, heeded not. So the new birth of some is like the birth of the elephant, fourteen years after the seed injected into the womb.

Ver. 9. And told all these things] Per os mulieris mors ante processerat, per os mulieris vita reparatur, saith Ambrose. So, #Lu 1:28-37, an angel of light communeth with a woman about man’s salvation, as an angel of darkness had done {#Ge 3:1-7} about his fall and destruction.

And told all these things] For it was a day of good tidings, as those lepers said in another case, #2Ki 7:9, the sum of all the good news in the world.

Ver. 10. And other women] Who were to be Apostolorum Apostolae, apostles of the mesasge, as the ancients speak.

Ver. 11. As idle tales] Set on with great earnestness, ληρος α λα, particula intensiva, et ερω, valde dico.

Ver. 12. And stooping down] Obstipo capite et propenso collo. We need not doubt therefore about the certainty of this history of Christ’s resurrection.

Ver. 13. About threescore furlongs] About six miles.

Ver. 14. And they talked together] So did Elias and Elisha, when the heavenly chariot came to sunder them. Christ is still with two or three met for such a holy purpose.

Ver. 15. Jesus himself] He made the third among them, as Dionysius, the king of Sicily, wished that he might be admitted into fellowship of friendship with those two fast friends, Damon and Pythias. (Cic. de Offic.) Christ still delights to be one among those that meet to confer about the things of his kingdom.

Ver. 16. But their eyes were held] Ut ulcus suum discipuli detegerent, ac pharmacum susciperent, saith Theophylact. That they may tell their own disease and receive healing.

Ver. 17. That ye have one to another] Gr. that ye toss one to another, as a ball is tossed between two or more. αντιβαλλετε, tu cum duo pila lusitaut.

And are sad] Christ loves not to see his saints sad; he questions them as Joseph did his prisoners, "Wherefore look ye so sadly today?" #Ge 40:7, and as the king did Nehemiah, #Lu 2:2.

Ver. 18. And one of them, whose name was Cleophas] They that hold the other of these two to have been St Luke, are refuted by the preface he hath set before the Acts, saith Beza.

Art thou only a stranger, &c.] Tragedies have no prologues, as comedies have, because it is supposed that all men take knowledge of public calamities. (Natal. Comes.)

Ver. 19. Which was a prophet] Yea, and more than a prophet. But the disciples were wondrously ignorant, till the Spirit came down upon them, #Ac 2:1-4.

Ver. 20. Delivered him] viz. to the Roman governor. Hence he is said to have been crucified at Rome, #Re 11:8.

Ver. 21. But we trusted] q.d. Indeed now we cannot tell what to say to it. Here their hope hangs the wing extremely, their buckler is much battered, and needs beating out again. Ferendum et sperandum, speaking and hoping, said the philosopher. (οιστεον και ελπιστεον. Epictet.) And good men find it more easy to bear evil than to wait for good, #Heb 10:36.

Ver. 22. Made us astonished] When they should rather have believed without sciscitation; but that their hearts were yet still stupefied.

Ver. 23. Saying that they had seen a vision] But you (wisely) thought that they had dreamed a dream rather, that they had doted and dreamed waking, #Lu 24:11.

Ver. 24. Certain of them] viz. Peter and John. See #Joh 20:6, {See Trapp on "Joh 20:6"}

Ver. 25. O fools,. &c.] Those in a lethargy must have double the quantity of medicine that others have. Some slow bellies must be sharply rebuked, that they may be sound in the faith #Tit 1:12,13.

Ver. 26. Ought not Christ] Ne Iesum quidem audias gloriosum, nisi videris crucifixum, saith Luther in an epistle to Melancthon. Agentem fortiter oportet aliquid pati, It is proper that acting bravely and to suffer somewhat, said a Theban soldier, out of Pindarus, to Alexander, when he had received a wound in battle. For the which sentence he liberally rewarded him. τον δρωντα δεινα και παθειν δει..

Ver. 27. The things concerning himself] Christ is author, object, matter, and mark of Old and New Testament: the babe of Bethlehem is bound up (as I may so say) in these swathing bands. Turn we the eyes of our minds to him, as the cherubims did their faces toward the mercy seat. The angels do, #1Pe 1:12.

Ver. 28. And he made as though he would, &c.] So did the angels to Lot, #Ge 19:2. See the like, #Jos 8:5,6 1Ki 3:24. If Solomon might make as though he would do an act that was unlawful, we may surely do the like in things indifferent. Yet this was never done, as is well observed, but, 1. By those that had authority over others; 2. For some singular good to them with whom they thus dealt.

Ver. 29. But they constrained him] Though they had been sharply rebuked by him, whom they knew to be no other than a mere stranger to them.

For it is toward evening] Cry we, now if ever, ere it be too late,

“ Vespera iam venit, nobiscum Christe maneto.

Extingui lucem nec patiare tuam.”

Ver. 30. And blessed it] It is thought they knew him by his ordinary form of giving thanks before meat.

Ver. 31. Their eyes were opened] The free and entire use of their inward and outward senses was restored unto them.

Ver. 32. Did not our hearts burn] By that spirit of burning {#Isa 4:4} that kindleth the fire of God {#So 8:6} on the hearth of his people’s hearts, while the mystery of Christ is laid open unto them. Ego vero illius oratione sic incendebar, saith Senarclaeus, concerning Darius the martyr, ut cum eum disserentem audirem, Spiritus Sancti verba me audire existimarem. Methought when I heard him, I heard the Holy Ghost himself speaking to me.

While he opened] Preaching then is the key of the Scripture.

Ver. 33. The same hour] Late though it were, and they weary, yet they return the same night, not sparing themselves to do good to others.

Ver. 34. Appeared to Simon] #1Co 15:5. To Peter Christ appeared individually; because as he offended more heinously than the rest of the disciples, so he was more grievously troubled.

Ver. 35. {See Trapp on "Lu 24:30"} Ex benedictionis forma solemni ipsi Christo antequam panem frangeret, saith Calvin here.

Ver. 36. See #Mr 16:14 Joh 20:19.

Ver. 37. But they were terrified and affrighted] Tam meticulosa est incredulitas. Ut etiam tutissima et maxime tranquilla timeat, saith Brentius here.

Ver. 38. Why do thoughts arise] How easily can the Lord trouble us, by turning our own thoughts loose upon us.

Ver. 39. Behold my hands, &c.] With those stamps of dishonour that the Jews did me with wicked hands. These he retained even after his resurrection, as for the confirmation of his apostles, so for our instruction, not to think much to suffer loss of honour for our brethren’s good and comfort.

Ver. 40. He showed them his hands, &c.] For their better assurance and settlement; that they might both remember his resurrection, {#2Ti 2:8} and with greater power give witness to it, #Ac 4:33.

Ver. 41. Believed not for joy] This was partly the joy of faith; and yet through mixture of the flesh, it became some hindrance to their faith. So Abraham laughed, and yet said in his heart, "Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old?" &c., #Ge 17:17. Strong affections, though from good principles, may possibly miscarry us. Watch therefore.

Ver. 42. Broiled fish] Left of last night’s supper, prandium quasi perendium.

Ver. 43. And did eat] Not out of any natural necessity or desire after meat, as once before his passion; but for confirmation of their faith.

Ver. 44. And in the Psalms] When a book is set forth, verses of commendation are often set before it. Christ by this one sentence hath more honoured and authorized the Book of Psalms, than all men could have done by their prefaces and eulogies prefixed thereunto. The Turks disclaim both Testaments, yet swear as solemnly by the Psalms of David as by the Koran of Mahomet.

Ver. 45. Then opened he their understanding] He enlightened both organ and object, as #Ac 16:14.

Ver. 46. Thus it is written, &c.] All things done and suffered by our Saviour were punctually and exactly foretold and foreshown by Moses and the prophets; and especially by Isaiah, who writes more like an evangelist than a prophet; and is therefore called the Evangelical Prophet. (Jerome.)

Ver. 47. And that repentance, &c.] Blessed be God, saith one, that after our shipwreck by Adam, there is such a plank as repentance for a poor sinner to swim to heaven upon. It is a mourning for sin, as it is offensivum Dei, et aversivum a Deo. It is commissa plangere, et plangenda non committere, as Ambrose hath it; to bewail what is done amiss, and to do so no more.

Ver. 48. And ye are witnesses] Therefore prepare to preach the Gospel to every creature. And take it for a singular seal of my love, that notwithstanding your late shameful defection and deserting of me, I shall yet employ you as my witnesses, and make use of your ministry.

Ver. 49. Until ye be endued] Gr. ενδυσησθε, clothed. Carnal men are naked men; when the saints are arrayed with that fine white linen and shining, #Re 19:8.

Ver. 50. As far as to Bethany] Where his three dear friends dwelt, Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. From hence he went to his cross, and from hence he would go to his crown.

He lift up his hands] As a good householder; or rather as the high priest of the New Testament: benedixit, id est, valedixit, he blessed them, and so bade them farewell.

Ver. 51. And it came to pass] See #Mr 16:19 Ac 1:9.

Ver. 52. With great joy] Yet could they not hear of his ascending to the Father without great sorrow, John 14 and 16. We grieve for that sometimes which we have great cause to take comfort in; such is our weakness and waywardness.

Ver. 53. Praising and blessing God] Inter laudam devotiones, promissum Spiritus Sanct adventure, promptis per omnia paratisque cordibu exspectant. (Beda.) So putting themselves into fit posture to receive the comfort that Christ had promised them.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24