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CHAPTER XII.

SECTION 36.-1. At that time. Luke says on the second Sabbath after the first," or, more literally, "on the secondfirst Sabbath;" probably the first Sabbath after the second day of the Passover. From this second day, seven Sabbaths were counted to the Pentecost. Lev. 23:15. Thus the interval of time from the first day of the Passover to the Pentecost was one day and seven weeks, or fifty days; hence the word pentecost, i. e. the fiftieth. The Sabbath referred to was probably the next after the healing at Bethesda. John 5: I. - Corn; fields of wheat or barley. Maize or dian corn was then unknown. -To pluck; they plucked the heads and rubbed out the kernels in their hands. Luke 6: I. This was expressly permitted by the Mosaic law. Deut. 23:25.

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2. Not lawful. The Jewish traditions held that plucking ears of grain was harvest work, and therefore forbidden by the fourth commandment.

was ahungered, and they that were with him;

4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shew-bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath-days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

7 But if ye had known what this

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was renewed every Sabbath morning, and that which was removed was to be eaten by the priests only. Lev. 24: 5-9. From the narrative (1 Sam. 21: 6) it appears that warm bread had been put on the day of David's arrival, which therefore was the Sabbath; showing a double. impropriety in David, according to the rule now urged against Christ. He does not say whether David did right or not; he only says if they condemn him they must also condemn their great pattern of piety.

5. Profane the temple. The priests baked the bread, killed and dressed animals for sacrifice, doubled the regular offering on the Sabbath (Num. 28: 9, 10), performed circumcision, and many other things, which in outward act were work, yet not only did they not break the law in so doing, but exactly obeyed it.

meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath-day.

37. HEALING OF THE WITHERED HAND.

Mark 3: 1-6; Luke 6:6-11.

9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their syna

gogue.

10 And behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath-days? that they might accuse him.

II And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath-day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out ?1

12 How much then is a man bet

1 Deut. 22: 4.

6. One greater; literally, a greater thing, viz. Christ, the true temple, in whom God dwelleth with man. John 2:19, 21.

7. What this meaneth. Hos. 6: 6. This is an exposure of the motive which prompted their censure, -a spirit of ritualism rather than charity. God would rather have his people's wants supplied than any outward rites performed. Jesus adds, according to Mark, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath;" i. e. the Sabbath is valuable because it subserves man's necessities; it has no intrinsic value for the sake of which his happiness is to be sacrificed. The guiltless; viz., my disciples.

8. Lord of the Sabbath. Having vindicated his disciples by the Scripture and by reason, Christ now turns upon his opponents with a claim which must have astounded them, and which was wholly indefensible, if he were not the divine Lawgiver. "I am the Lord and Proprietor of the Sabbath, it is my work that must be done on that day, and my directions that must be observed."

ter than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbathdays.2

13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

14 Then the Pharisees went out,

and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

38. MIRACLES BY THE SEA-SHORE. Mark 3:7-12.

15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;

16 And charged them that they should not make him known :

17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

18 Behold my servant, whom I 2 Luke 13: 15.

SECTION 37.-9. Their synagogue. This was probably on the next Sabbath after the above. See Luke. His claim to divine authority over the Sabbath excited the enmity of the scribes and Pharisees, and they now watched him to see if he would repeat it. See other particulars related by Mark and Luke.

10. Withered. It was his right hand, and not merely paralyzed, but shriveled up. Compare 1 Ki. 13:4.

13. Stretch forth. Christ performed no outward act which his enemies could complain of. The man stretched out his hand, and, lo! it was well. It was manifest that Jesus did it, but in a way that they could not torture into a violation of law.

14. Held a council; to devise a formal prosecution for heresy and blasphemy.

SECTION 38.-15. Withdrew himself; his "time" had not yet come.

16. Charged them; lest the object for which he sought retirement for the time being should be defeated.

have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.

19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.1

47. THE BLIND AND DUMB DE-
MONIAC.

Mark 3: 19-30; Luke 11: 14-23.

22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb; and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.

23 And all the people were amazed,

1 Isa. 42: I. 17. Fulfilled. A free translation of Isa. 42: I-4.

2 Ps. 139: 2; Jno. 2: 24, 25.

18. Shew judgment; announce the reign of the Messiah as King and Judge. Psalms 2 and 72.

19. Strive nor cry; and yet, notnotwithstanding his exaltation, he shall not be boastful or noisy.

20. A bruised reed. "A proverbial expression for He will not crush the contrite heart nor extinguish the slightest spark of repentant feeling in the sinner." Alford. Judgment. This word often denotes the divine purposes or statutes. Compare Ps. 119. The meaning is, Till God's purposes for the salvation of man are fulfilled.

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and said, Is not this the son of David?

24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

25 And Jesus knew their thoughts,2 and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself, is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself, shall not stand.

26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.

28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.3

29 Or else, how can one enter

3 Dan. 2: 44; Luke 17: 21; Rom. 14: 17.

if the power and resources of any community are turned against the very objects for which it exists, it must perish.

27.

Your children. Sons, in Jewish use, often meant disciples. 2 Ki. 2:3. Here it means "those who follow your doctrines.” The Pharisees taught in their schools a species of magic by which evil spirits were to be expelled. Compare Tobit 6:17; Acts 19:13; Josephus, Ant. viii. 2, 5. The argument of Christ is, You deny that I have any power to cast out demons which is not given by Satan himself. But your followers profess to do the same; where do they get their power? I refer you to them for an answer to your allegation. Observe, Christ does not say they actually did such cufes; it was enough for the purposes of his argument that they professed to do them.

29. A strong man's; literally "the strong one's house," i. e. of Satan. Spoil his goods; make a spoil or booty of them. Compare Col. 2: 8, 15.

30. Gathereth not; an expression taken from the gleaners in the harvest

into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods,' except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

30 He that is not with me, is against me; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad.

31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.1

33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree

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field. There is a fixed antagonism between Satan's kingdom and mine. If he does not truly aid me in my holy and beneficent aims, he is my enemy, and I am his. There can be no such league between us as you aver.

31. Wherefore; because this is the case. - -Shall not be forgiven. The Pharisees had said that Christ's act in casting out the demon was done in the borrowed power of Satan. This was a gross and wanton insult of the Holy Spirit, which had been shed on Jesus at his baptism, and in whose divine strength he had wrought that deed of mercy. Such an act, he declares, shall never be forgiven; not, probably, so much because of the special magnitude of the sin, as because of its peculiar nature. To attribute the manifest power of the Holy Spirit, working through Christ, to Satan, was to turn the Saviour's credentials against him. What evidence was left in such a case? So now, if the very hand which is reached forth to snatch sinners from death is insultingly rejected, what agency remains to do it? Compare Heb. 10:26-30. No one has the right to infer from this passage that that

corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit."

34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.'

35 A good man, out of the good treasure of the heart, bringeth forth good things: and an evil man, out of the evil treasure, bringeth forth evil things.

36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they will give account thereof in the day of judgment.

37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

48. A SIGN DEMANDED OF Jesus. Luke 11: 24-36.

38 Then certain of the scribes 5 Ch. 7:16. 6 Ch. 7 Luke 6:45. 3:7. 12: 14; Eph. 54, 6; Jude 15.

8 Eccl.

is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, or, as it is commonly called, "the unpardonable sin," which does not involve, 1. Malignant hostility to the work of the Holy Spirit; 2. Willful insult to him, by word or act, in respect to his office or his operations.

32. This world-world to come. The Jews were accustomed to speak of duration as divided into two grand periods, called aions, one before, the other after, the coming of the Messiah. The period preceding, which was that of the Mosaic dispensation or economy, they called "the aion that now is." The period following, under the Messiah's reign, they called "the aion that is coming." The two therefore together would cover the whole duration of human existence. To say that a thing should not be in this aion (age or world) nor in the aion to come, was to say that it should never be. For examples of the former, see ch. 13: 22; Mark 4:19; Luke 16:8; 20:34; Rom. 12:2; I Cor. 1:20; 3:18; 2 Cor. 4:4; Gal. 1:4; Eph. 1:21; 2:2; 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:10; Tit. 2:12. Of the latter, see Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30; Eph. 1: 21; Heb. 6:5.

and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.1

39 But he answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.

40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

1 Ch. 16: 1; Jno. 6:30; 1 Cor. 1: 22. 2 Jonah

1:17.

33. Make the tree. The meaning is similar to that of the 29th verse. Be consistent with yourselves. If the expulsion of a demon (the "fruit") is good, then I (the "tree") am not Satan's ally. 34. Vipers; deceitful and malicious

Viper.

persons. Ch. 3: 7.-Evil; corrupt and wicked in heart.-Abundance; the overflowing.

36. Idle word; literally, empty; that has no meaning; implying, however, a malicious and injurious intent.

37. Justified; because words come from the inner treasury of the heart, and are a true indication of what the heart is.

SECTION 48.-38. A sign. Jesus having declared that he wrought his miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit, they ask some decisive proof of it by

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a sign from heaven. These were not the same persons that had attributed his works to Satan. Luke II: 16.

39. Adulterous. The idolatry and wickedness of God's chosen people are often represented by the prophets as adultery, or a violation of the solemn covenant between him and them. Jer. 3: 1, 6: Ezek. 16:38; Hos. 3: I. - - Jonas; i. e. Jonah. His deliverance was a symbolic prophecy of Christ's resurrection. Note ch. 16:4.

40. Heart of the earth; i. e. hades, the world of the dead. Note Luke 16: 23. The resurrection of Christ would be to them and to all the world the most decisive possible sign of his divine character and mission.

42. Queen of the South; viz. of Sheba. 1 Kings 10: 1-13. Probably the kingdom of Yemen in Southern Arabia. Gen. 10:28.

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