days of Christ. Christ was the first and | only philanthropist that ever announced a scheme intended and calculated to promote the moral and religious welfare of every rank and condition of men. If he paid peculiar attention to any, it was to those who were despised by the haughty and domineering philosophers" the poor have the gospel preached unto them." Some would render this" the poor preach the gospel," but however true this statement might have been, it is neither the natural nor probable rendering of the passage. Others would translate it" the poor are evangelized," but this does not convey any very distinct idea. The present translation is the preferable one, as it is more consistent with the statement of the prophet Isaiah, to which it evidently refers. 6. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. This is part of the message which John's disciples were to bring back to him, and therefore it had a special reference to him. It is evidently a mild reproof of John's unbelief. But such is the Saviour's courtesy and kindness, that he conveys his reproof, not in the form of a direct and positive censure, but in an assertion of the happiness connected with the opposite state. Instead of saying "cursed is he, whosoever shall be offended in me," he says- "blessed, or happy, is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me," or "who shall not stumble at me." 7. And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 8. But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in king's houses. John's former testimony to Christ in consequence of his now wavering in his belief of Christ being in reality the promised Saviour. The object of these questions is to vindicate the prophetic character of John, and this is done by an appeal to the judgment which the people themselves entertained of the Baptist at the time of his public ministry. They recognised him, at that time, to be a prophet, and no subsequent declension of his faith should weaken their persuasion upon this point. Jesus asks them-" What they went out into the wilderness to see? was it to see a reed shaken with the wind ?" This may either mean-a person who wavered in his testimony, which was far from being the correct description of John's character at the time of his baptizing in the wilderness; or, it may simply stand here for anything that is common and easily seen; as if the Saviour had asked them—"Did you go out into the wilderness to see what is so frequent and ordinary an occurrence in nature that it might have been seen any where, without your taking the trouble of going so far?" And the question is evidently proposed with the view of leading to this reflection, that the very circumstance of their going out into the wilderness was, in itself, a proof that they expected to see an unusual and extraordinary sight. Christ proceeds in his object by another question" What went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment ?" by which expressions we may understand one who is acting the part of a courtier, and whose testimony in Christ's favour was nothing more than flattery, based upon selfish and interested grounds. Such could not have been the character of John, or else he would have flattered Herod rather than Christ; he would have been a visitor in palaces, and not a dweller in the desert. He thus prepares the way for the people assenting at once to the assertion that John was a prophet, and having arrived at this conclusion by an appeal to the opinions of the people themselves, he adds" Yea I say unto you and more than a prophet." The office and dignity of John was higher than that of any one of the ancient prophets. He had not only to foretell the coming of the Messias, but to prepare for his actual re-arrival. His office was, indeed, peculiar ; he stood upon the turning point of sacred history when all the prophecies of a Saviour were beginning to receive their accomplish 9. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea I say unto you and more than a prophet. As soon as the disciples of John had turned to him, Jesus proceeded to correct the effect of his message upon the people. They were likely to question the truth of ment. Other messengers from Heaven had | tion. Such have higher privileges and adpointed out Christ in prophecy; He was the vantages than even John enjoyed. They first who pointed to the fulfilment of pro- have a fuller discovery of Christ's character phecy in Christ. He was appointed to di- presented to them; they do not merely look rect the people to the Lamb of God, who forward to what he is to do, but they see was in himself the personification of all the what he actually has done. 2dly, These predictions of a Saviour, the end of the law words may refer to the Saviour himself. He for righteousness to every one that believeth. may be intended by the phrase "He that is least in the kingdom of Heaven," or rather 10. For this is he of whom it is" He that is less." Christ was "less" than John because he "made himself of no rewritten, Behold, I send my mes-putation and took upon him the form of a senger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. servant." He says of himself" I am a worm 11. Verily I say unto you, A- Another point of view in which John was tion here is from Mal. iii. 1" Behold I the way will send my messenger and he will prepare character in order to avail himself of the testimony which John gave of him. John was greater than all the prophets; his mission was divine, and, therefore, he to whom John pointed as the promised Messias, must really have been so. And the Jews who attended upon John's preaching, regarding him to be a prophet, were inconsistent in not receiving his testimony in reference to Jesus. 12. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. By "the violent" in this verse we may understand the soldiers and publicans, but The words "among them that are born especially the latter, who were amongst the of women," are a usual phrase to denote the foremost to attend upon the preaching of John, human race, Job xiv. 1; xv. 14; xxv. 4. and of Christ. We shall find this mentioned Here it is asserted that John was the greatest in Luke iii. 12-14, and also in Matth. xxi. person who was born up to his time, for it 31, 32, where Christ is represented as adwas his privilege to see him of whom all the dressing the people thus" Verily I say prophets spake. John enjoyed that great unto you, that the publicans and the harlots privilege which Abraham could only look enter into the kingdom of God before you. forward to in prospect and anticipate in hope. For John came unto you in the way Yet, it is added, he that is least in the king-righteousness, and ye believed him not; but dom of Heaven is greater than he." These the publicans and the harlots believed him;" words may be explained in two ways:- 1st, and also in the parallel passage to this in the We may understand the word " least" in Gospel of Luke, we find the following verse the same sense in which it is used in Matth. x. 42, as referring to the most insignificant of those who live under the gospel dispensa of "And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God; being baptized with the baptism of John." The publicans had the character of being violent and rapa- | of Elias, and in this sense bears the same cious in the prosecution of their worldly name. He himself denies his having been calling, and when their attention was arrested the literal Elias, John i. 21. But as Elias by the preaching of John and of the Saviour, is to precede the second advent of the Lord, they manifested an analogous eagerness in Mal. iv. 5, 6, so John the Baptist appeared taking up a profession of the doctrines which before the first advent, "in the spirit and they preached. Thus we often find that men power of Elias:" and thus the prophecy of retain as Christians the same characteristic Malachi which still remains to receive its qualities which they displayed in their un- literal fulfilment, has already received a tyconverted state, though these are sanctified pical fulfilment in John. He bore a reand improved by divine grace. markable resemblance to Elias in his office, his zeal, his fidelity, and his great austerity of life. There is, probably, an allusion here to the manner in which cities were taken. The besiegers pressed upon them violently, demolished the walls and took them "by force" or by storm. Such was the eagerness with which publicans and sinners flocked to hear the preaching of John and of Christ, as if they would take the kingdom of Heaven by storm. The fifteenth verse contains a kind of proverbial declaration frequently used by the Saviour, in order to engage the highest possible degree of attention on the part of his hearers. The subject of his discourse was extremely important, as his own claims rested to a great degree upon the testimony of John, and therefore, from his anxiety to be 13. For all the prophets and the received by men as their promised Saviour, law prophesied until John. he is desirous that the prophetic character of John should be completely acknowledged. If they believed John they would believe Jesus, for he testified of Jesus. 16. But whereunto shall I liken 17. And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; and you, From this verse we learn that the legal and prophetical dispensation terminated with the ministry of John, and that it was his office to introduce another dispensation. The word rendered in this passage-" prophe- this generation? it is like unto chilsied" may signify, more generally, "in-dren sitting in the markets, and structed." The only information which the people had with regard to a Saviour, until calling unto their fellows, the time of John, was derived from types and prophecies: but when John came he pointed to the Lamb of God that taketh the sin of the world. But if we retain away the word "prophesied," we learn from this verse that the law was prophetic: its types and sacrifices were so many practical pre-ing nor drinking, and they say, He dictions of a Saviour. In reading the books of Moses, which contain the law, we should keep this principle in mind, for it will explain many difficulties and throw a light upon every ceremony and ordinance which it could not otherwise possess. 14. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 15. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. The former part of the 14th verse might be rendered "if ye will receive him;" and the latter should certainly be rendered "this is Elias who is to come." John was the type we have mourned unto have not lamented. ye 18. For John came neither eat hath a devil. 19. The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children. These verses are evidently connected with those which went before, as the 16th verse commences with the word "but." In the 14th verse Jesus intimated the unwillingness of the people to receive the doctrine of John, and in the 15th verse he solemnly and may simply mean, that though the Jews censured the conduct both of John and of Jesus, yet there was wisdom in it, which those who would receive the instructions of the Baptist and of the Saviour would fully approve and justify. The words may be rendered" this wisdom is justified of her children." Others understand by the "children of wisdom" its fruits or effects, as sparks are said in Job v. 7 to be the children of the coal, and then by the entire sentence, they consider the Saviour to mean that wisdom is vindicated and asserted by her fruits. Others, again, understand the Saviour as speaking ironically, as if he had said—“ Absurd and contradictory as the conduct of this generation is, in thus censuring John and me, yet those who adopt it are ready enough to defend and to justify it as the very essence of wisdom." The first interpretation, however, is probably the best. As there was wisdom on the part of those who did not join in the foolish play of the children, so was there wisdom in John and the Saviour not complying with the inconsistent complaints and demands of the people, which all who received their doctrines would do full justice to. True wisdom has no enemies, except amongst those who are fools. In our unconverted state we are like children, -we speak as children, we understand as children, we think as children; but when by divine grace we become the recipients of heavenly wisdom, we put away childish things. emphatically called upon the people to attend | prophets which existed amongst the Jews, to what he had declared, and in these verses in which those who received instruction were he proceeds to show that so far from the called "the Sons of the Prophets," 2 Kings, people being ready and willing to receive vi. 1. So here, those who devote themselves the testimony of John, or to hearken to his to the cultivation of wisdom may be called own statements, they were rather disposed" her children." This declaration, then, to complain and censure those who were sent to teach them. He compares them to children sitting in the market places, or rather in the places of public concourse and resort, where children were in the habit of collecting for amusement and play. Part of their play consisted in imitating marriage and funeral solemnities, and in allusion to the former they are represented as saying unto their fellows or companions-"We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced," and in reference to the latter-"We have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented," or ye have not struck your breasts, Luke xviii. 13; xxiii. 48. The fickleness and frivolity of these children, engaging in such quick succession in such opposite amusements, and peevishly complaining that others would not join them in their sport, is here employed by Jesus as an illustration of the capricious and inconsistent conduct of the Jews, who complained of John that he did not feast with them, and of Jesus that he did not fast with them. John came neither eating nor drinking, and refused to join in their feastings; Jesus, on the other hand, entered into social life, as he found it, though without sin, and refused to sanction or join in the odious hypocrisy of their fastings. Yet these two directly opposite courses were found fault with by the Jewish people, who hated the doctrine of both, and thought to evade the reception of it, by censuring the practices of those who preached it. Such is the custom of the world in every age, they condemn unjustly the habits and conduct of those who preach the truth, because they do not wish to receive the truth itself: and they care not thereby to involve themselves in the absurdity of condemning in one, that which they censure another minister of the gospel for not possessing. They hate the light, and therefore their great aim is to keep it at a distance from them, and to effect this they care not to sacrifice their rationality and consistency. The latter clause of the 19th verse"but wisdom is justified of her children”has been variously interpreted. There is probably an allusion to the schools of the Some persons explain the 16th verse differently, by considering that Jesus intended to denote himself and the Baptist by the children who "called unto their fellows, saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented;" and that the others who refused to join in their play are, in the comparison, the representatives of "this generation." According to this view the verse should be thus paraphrased — “We have spoken comfortable things unto you, but you have not attended; we have bewailed and lamented your miserable condition, but this has not affected you; neither the terrors of the law can alarm you, nor the soothing in vitations of the Gospel attract you." This interpretation should be decidedly rejected. It is inconsistent with the grammatical construction of the passage, which clearly proves that the object of Jesus is to "liken this generation to children sitting in the market place." If the question by which he introduced the similitude had been-"Whereunto shall I liken John and myself?" then we might have received this interpretation, as it would not in that case interfere so much with the consistency and parallelism of the entire passage. Besides, does it not attach a kind of light and ludicrous aspect to a very solemn subject, to represent the Saviour as illustrating the earnest and impressive appeals which he and the Baptist made to a careless and licentious generation, by the sports and plays of thoughtless children? Whereas a more apt and striking illustration of the folly, caprice, and inconsistency of unconverted men could scarcely have been employed. Christ upbraids the Cities which repented not. 20. Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: any per He did not find fault with them for viour did not go, as his commission was to xxiii. 1, 4; Jer. xxv. 22; xlvii. 4; Ezek. 26 and 28; Zech. ix. 2-4; and the Saviour been accompanied by such wonderful works here asserts, that had these denunciations as he himself had performed, they would have repented, as Nineveh did at the preaching of Jonas, Matth. xii. 40, 41. Sackcloth was a 21. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented kind of very coarse linen, worn by persons long ago in sackcloth and ashes. in grief, and in times of great calamities, 22. But I say unto you, It shall pestilence, and national trouble, 2 Sam. iii. be more tolerable for Tyre and Si-31; 1 Kings xxi. 27; Esther iv. 1-3. It don at the day of judgment than for you. When Jesus had spoken of his own ministry and that of the Baptist, in connection with the treatment they had received from the Jews, it was natural and just that he should break out into this lamentation over their impenitence. He did not commence his preaching in this manner, but withheld his censures until the obstinacy and impenitence of the people absolutely required them. was the outward indication of mourning, in the same way as the wearing of black is in modern times. It was probably used for enwrapping the dead when about to be buried; so that its being worn by the living, was a kind of acknowledgment on their part that they deserved death as the wages of their sin. It was also customary for those in grief to sit down amongst ashes, Job ii. 8. The Saviour's meaning, therefore, is, that had the inhabitants of the heathen cities of Tyre and Sidon, whom the Jews held in such contempt, witnessed those miracles |