Second announcement And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee : of sufferings and he would not that any man should know it. For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, Let these sayings sink down into your ears, for the Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they shall kill him, and the third day after he is killed he shall rise again. And they were exceeding sorry. But they understood not that saying, and it was hid from them that they perceived it not: and they were afraid to ask him of that saying. Instructions SECT. VI. THE TRIBUTE MONEY PROVIDED.*-THE CONTENTION FOR SUPERIORITY. (MATT. xvii., xviii. MARK ix. LUKE ix.) CAPERNAUM. And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money; that take, and give unto them for me and thee. Then there arose among the disciples a reasoning which in humility. of them should be greatest. And being in the house, he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, *The tribute money here demanded was, we doubt not, the half shekel-probably about half-a-crown of our money-which every male Israelite above the age of twenty had annually to pay for the service of the temple. Jesus could claim exemption from a tax levied for the support of his own Father's house. he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me. For he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences ! for it must need be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! Wherefore, if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched : where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another. : Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold Parable of the lost sheep. Parable of the two debtors. the face of my Father which is in heaven. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. : : Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him an hundred pence:* and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. SECT. VII. JESUS GOES UP TO THE FEAST OF Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand.† His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. For neither did his brethren believe in him. Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come but your time is alway ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. Go ye up unto this feast: I It is computed that "ten thousand talents" are about £7,000,000 of our money, and "an hundred pence" about £3 2s. 6d. ; which shows how great was the compassion of the king, and how base was the ingratitude and conduct of the servant. †This feast was one of the three great festivals appointed to Israel under the law. It was instituted to commemorate the dwelling of the Israelites in tents while they wandered in the desert. (Lev. xxiii. 34, 43.) It was observed also as a season of thanksgiving for the past harvest, and, on this account, was sometimes termed "the feast of ingathering." It continued eight days, from the 15th to the 22nd of October inclusive. Jesus had now been a year and a half absent from Jerusalem-two pentecosts, one passover, and one feast of tabernacles having been observed in the interval. He now, however, during the last six months of his ministry, lingers near to Jerusalem, and attends regularly every estival that occurs. This is a remarkable and suggestive circumstance. go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come. When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee. But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.* And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before his face and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.† And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.‡ *We have assumed, with many harmonists and chronologers of the sacred narrative, that in John vii. and Luke ix. we have a description of the same journey to Jerusalem. There is certainly considerable doubt as to the position in which the 300 isolated verses given us by Luke, from the end of chapter ix. to the middle of chapter xix., should be placed; but the arguments of Lightfoot, of Wieseler, and of Ellicott, have determined us to the arrangement here followed. Jesus, instead of taking the usual caravan road from Capernaum to Jerusalem, through Perea, and by Jericho, went with his disciples through Samaria, his relatives having already gone by the ordinary route. The Samaritans, knowing that the feast of tabernacles was soon to be celebrated in Jerusalem, and inferring Christ's intention to be present, did not receive him so cordially and openly as they might otherwise have done. We cannot be quite sure, however, that this display of bigotry occurred during the journey now being recorded; and some authorities refer it to a later period. During Christ's ministry many incidents similar to these probably took place, and we are not to wonder, though similar answers were returned. We do not hesitate, therefore, to repeat what has been already given. |