CHAPTER VIL

FROM THE FIRST TO THE SECOND MISSION OF THE APOSTLES.

Christ preaches the sermon on the plain--whether it was the same as the sermon on the mount---cures a centurion's servant in Capernaum---whether the same with the young man recorded Mat. viii.---the apostles receive their commission and instructions---the widow's son raised at Nain---publicity of the miracle---Matthew's feast---conversation between our Lord and John's disciples---cure of the woman who had the bloody issue-the resurrection of Jairus's daughter---manner of the Jewish mourning---Christ cures two blind men, and expels a demon---the Pharisees ascribe his miracles to Beelzebub--he answers the enquiries of John's messengers, and vindicates the Baptist's character--he pronounces heavy woes upon such cities as had slighted his doctrine---he dines with Simon, the Pharisee, and has his feet anointed with fragrant ointment---pious women supply Christ's necessities---Christ's miracles again ascribed to Beelzebub--the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit---the sign from heaven---Christ greater than Jonas or Solomon---his followers dearer than his mother or brethren---the sermon of parables--the parable of the sower---of the lighted lamp---why Christ taught in parables---the parable of the tares, or darnel---of the sced that sprung up imperceptibly---of the leaven ---many parables---the explanation of the parable of the tares---the parable of the treasure hid in the field--of the pearl of great price---of the net which gathered of every kind---of the householder who brings forth things new and old---Christ goes to Nazareth, but is rejected by his townsmen---the twelve apostles sent forth a second time---their commission.

THE miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ had been so numerous, public, and astonishing, that they excited very general attention, and induced many to suppose that he was a great prophet, if not the Messiah of God. It was little wonder, therefore, that the people gathered round him, from all quarters, in such vast crowds, as to tread one another down, [Luke xii. 1.] and waited for him whole nights in the fields, and followed him from place to place, even to the remotest corners of the country. He was followed, not merely by vast multitudes of the common people, but many of those who were of character and station occasionally visited him, to hear his conversation, to observe his miracles, and, in some instances, to solicit the cures of their children and servants. Therefore, the character, as well as the multitude, of our Lord's followers, and the frequent application that was made to him for cures, by persons of all

tanks and stations, in all the parts of the country, shew, beyond contradiction, how universal the persuasion was, that now prevailed, concerning the truth of his miracles; a persuasion which could be founded on nothing but the reality of those miracles, clearly evident to every spectator. Thus, when our Lord had descended from the mountain, whither he had retired with his disciples, he found a vast concourse of people collected together, out of all Judea, and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases, ano they that were vexed with unclean spirits; and they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch him; for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all. By this benignity he put the cure in the power of the diseased themselves, and wrought many more miracles than could have been done in the way of a formal application to him for a cure.

The multitude that pressed to touch Jesus, in order to be healed, being quieted, he turned to his disciples, perhaps, the twelve apostles lately chosen, and delivered a discourse, in many particulars, like that which is called the sermon on the mount. In comparing these two discourses with each other, it appears, that both of them begin with nearly similar benedictions, contain the same exhortations to the love of our enemies, to the exercise of universal benevolence, and to the carefully avoiding rash judgment; and conclude, in like manner, with the remarkable similitude, in which The that only hears the word of Christ without obeying it, is compared to a man that built his house on the sand; while he who diligently practises agreeably to the instructions he has obtained, digs deep, and builds his house upon a rock, where it opposes a firm and effectual resistance to all the fury of the contending elements. The sermon at the plain has, however, nothing answerable to Mat. v. 13..37, the whole sixth chapter, nor to that part of the seventh which is included between the sixth and fifteenth verses. But that which most deserves to be remarked is, that Luke has several additions to the discourse, as recorded by Matthew. For instance, in the latter, our Lord pronounced only blessings; but here he has also added curses. But woe unto you that are rich; for ye have received your consolation. As poverty, which is neither good nor bad in itself, does not recommend one to God, unless it is accompanied with the virtues which are suitable to an afflicted state; so riches do not. make us the objects of God's hatred, unless they be accompanied with those vices which oftentimes spring from an opulent fortune, namely, pride, luxury, love of plea sure, covetousness. Rich men, infected with such vices as these, are the objects of the woe here denounced; and not they who make a proper use of their wealth, and possess the virtues which should accompany affluence. Wherefore, though there is no restriction added to the word rich, in the malediction, as there is to the word poor, in the complete enunciation of the beatitude, [Mat. v. 3.] it is equally to be understood in both. Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Woe unto you that are rich in spirit, you who are proud, covetous, lovers of pleasure; for ye have received your consolation. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus may be considered as an illustration both of the beatitude and the malediction.

Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger: you shall experience the want of every real good, and endure pains, in the other world, more than equal to those distressing sensations which arise from famine.

Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. A modern author hath explained this well, in the following terms: "Our Lord's malediction is not inconsistent with the apostle's precepts, which commands Christians always to rejoice. Neither is the mirth, against which the woe is here denounced, to be understood of that constant cheerfulness of temper, which arises to truc Christians from the com

fortable and cheerful doctrines with which they are enlightened by the gospel, the assurance they have of reconciliation with God, the hope they have of everlasting life, and the pleasure they enjoy in the practice of piety, and the other duties of religion. But it is to be understood of that turbulent, carnal mirth, that excessive levity and vanity of spirit, which arises, not from any solid foundation, but from immoderate sensual pleasure, or those vain amusements of life, by which the giddy and the gay contrive to make away their time; that sort of mirth which dissipates thought, leaves no time for consideration, and gives them an utter aversion to all serious reflections.” Persons who continue to indulge themselves in this sort of mirth through life, shall weep and mourn eternally, when they are excluded from the joys of heaven, and banished for ever from the presence of God, by the light of whose countenance all the blessed are enlivened, and made transcendently happy.

Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. Dr. Clarke has paraphrased this malediction excellently. "Woe unto you, if, by propagating such doctrine as encourages men in sin, you shall gain to yourselves the applause and flattery of the generality of men; for thus, in old times, did the false prophets and deceivers, who, accommodating their doctrines to the lusts and passions of men, were more caressed, and better hearkened to, than the true prophets of God."

Another peculiarity of this discourse is contained in the thirty-ninth and fortieth verses. And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. This inculcates, that guides, in matters of religion, ought to be chosen with the utmost caution; since the scholar is easily tinctured with the opinions of his master, and the consequences of his embracing a false system of faith and conduct may be the utter ruin of his soul.

To those who have considered attentively the various points of similarity and dissimilarity between the two discourses which we have now been comparing, it will not appear surprising that the question has been agitated, whether they were delivered but once, and variously related by the evangelists, or whether they were preached on two different occasions.

Michaelis believed that they were two different discourses, delivered, the one in the evening, and the other on the next morning, as he endeavours to prove, in the following history of the day, in the sermon on the mount.

"On the eve of a sabbath-day, when the sabbath was just commenced, Jesus goes into a synagogue at Capernaum, delivers a discourse of the same import with that on the mount, and cures a demoniac: he then departs out of the city, and goes up into a mountain, where he passes, the whole night in prayer. On the following morning he chooses his apostles, and delivers a discourse called the sermon on the mount, in which he teaches them the morality which they were to follow, a morality directly opposite to that of the Pharisees: he then enters again into Capernaum; cures a leper, the servant of a centurion, the mother-in-law of St. Peter, and, when the sun was set, and the sabbath, therefore, ended, several other sick persons, which were brought to him; and then leaves Capernaum. The reasons why I believe that all these events happened in the same day, are the following.

"1. The cure of the demoniac, [Mark i. 21..28. Luke iv. 31..37.] and of St. Peter's mother-in-law, happened on the same day, as appears from Mark i. 29. Luke iv. 38.

2. The election of the twelve apostles took place on the morning of that day

on which the sermon on the mount was delivered. See Luke, the sixth chapter,

12..17 verses.

"3. That the sermon on the mount, recorded by St. Luke, is no other than that recorded by St. Matthew, appears from the events which immediately follow it. Both evangelists relate, that Jesus, after the sermon was ended, went into Capernaum, and healed the servant of a centurion; a cure attended with such remarkable circumstances, that I can hardly suppose it to have happened twice, and that too in the same city.

"4. The cure of the leper, according to St. Matthew's account, must have happened between the sermon on the mount and the cure of the centurion's servant, when Jesus was just returned into Capernaum. St. Mark and St. Luke relate this fact on a total different occasion, because they were unacquainted with the time; and St. Luke, even with the place in which it happened. The whole account is too circumstantial to admit the supposition, that the same cure, with all its concomitant circumstances, took place more than once.

5. It is evident from St. Matthew's relation, that the cure of St. Peter's mother.. in-law happened on the same day as the two just mentioned miracles.

6. The circumstance mentioned by all three evangelists, that several sick persons were brought in the evening, and after sun-set, to the house where Jesus was, is a proof that the day in question was a sabbath-day. For the Jews, on account of their over-strict observance of the sabbath, would not permit any cure to be exercised on that day; but as soon as the sun was set, the sabbath was ended, and then they could bring their sick, without scruple, to the house where Jesus was, and likewise St. Peter's mother-in-law could prepare for him a repast.

"7. That Jesus immediately afterwards left Capernaum, is evident from the accounts of all the three evangelists."

On the other side, Dr. Macknight observes "that the evangelist Matthew, having recorded the former sermon in its place, judged it unnecessary to give this repetition of it here. But, if the reader is of opinion that the two sermons are the same, because this, in Luke, comes immediately after the election of the twelve apostles, and is followed by the cure of the centurion's servant in Capernaum, as that in Matthew comes after the calling of the four disciples, Simon, Andrew, James, and John, and is followed by the cure of a centurion's son, living also in Capernaum, let him consider, in the first place, that the two miracles following these sermons, viz. the curing of the centurion's son and slave are, in several respects, different; and, for that reason, must have been performed on different persons and at different times. In the next place, the calling of the four disciples, which precedes the sermon in Matthew, is, without doubt, a fact entirely different from the election of the twelve apostles, preceding the sermon in Luke, and happened long before it. Besides the sermon in Luke was preached immediately after the election of the twelve; whereas, a large tour through Galilee, which may have taken up some months, intervened between the calling of the four disciples and the sermon in Matthew. And, to name no more differences, the sermon recorded by Matthew was delivered on a mountain, in a sitting posture; for he went up into a mountain, and sat down to pronounce it [Mat. v..I.]; and, after he had finished it, came down to the plain [Mat. viii. 1.]: whereas, when he pronounced this which Luke speaks of, he was in a plain, or valley, where he could not sit because of the multitude which surrounded him, but stood with his disciples.' [Luke vi. 17.] But though there was not such evident disagreement in the fact preceding and following these two sermons, the reader may easily have allowed that they wore pronounced at different times: because he will find other instances of things

really different, notwithstanding, in their nature, they be alike, and were preceded and followed by like events. For instance, the commission and instructions given to the seventy, were, in substance, the same with the commission and instructions given to the twelve, [Mat. xii.] and were introduced after the same manner. The harvest is plenteous, &c. [Mat. ix. 37.] Yet, from Luke himself, it appears they were dif ferent, that evangelist having related the mission of the twelve as a distinct fact. [chap. ix. 1.] So, likewise, the man in Samaria, who offered to follow Jesus whithersoever he should go, was evidently a different person from the scribe, who offered the same thing at the sea of Galilee, notwithstanding the answer returned to both was precisely the same. The foxes have holes, &c.; and, notwithstanding, immediately after both occurrences, we find a disciple excusing himself from following Christ, on pretence of burying his father, to whom our Lord returned the same answer, let the dead bury their dead. And, to give no more examples, the two miraculous dinners were not only like each other in their natures, but in their circumstances also; for they were introduced by the same discourses and followed by like events, particularly at the conclusion of both, Jesus passed over the sea of Galilee. Nevertheless, both being found in the same evangelist, no reader can possibly think them the same.'

Then

Immediately after the concluding of this discourse, Luke introduces a miracle, in many respects similar to one which has been already related. [Luke vii. 1..10.] Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum. And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die. And, when he had heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. And, when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: For he loveth our nation, aud hath built us a synagogue. Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself; for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee; but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick. That this miracle is not the same with that recorded in the eighth chapter of Matthew, appears probable from the following considerations. 1. The word which is made use of by Matthew does not affirm that the subject of that miracle was not one that necessarily signifies a servant, but only a young man; whereas, the expression made use of by Luke, can be no otherwise rendered than servant, or slave. 2. Matthew's centurion came in person, being, perhaps, to ask the favour of Jesus for his son; whereas, Luke's centurion, considering with himself that he was to petition Jesus in behalf of a slave, first prevailed with the elders of the town to present his petition; afterwards, on second thoughts, he deputed some intimate friends to hinder Jesus from coming. 3. There is not the smallest hint given in Matthew, that the centurion of whom he speaks was a proselyte. On the contrary, there is an insinuation that he was not in the declaration which our Lord was pleased to make on this occasion, viz. that many should come from the east and west, i. e. from all countries, and sit down in the kingdom of God; while the children of the kingdom, who looked on themselves as having the only natural right to it, should be excluded for ever; whereas, the centurion Luke