6 the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief 7 seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, 8 Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your master even Christ; and all ye are 9 brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth; for one is your Father, who is in 10 heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for 11 one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 For whosoever shall exalt himself, shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself, shall be exalted. 13 But wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are 14 entering to go in. Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye devour widow's houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive the greater damna15 tion. Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell 16 than yourselves. Wo unto you, ye blind That is, Master, Master. + Christians ought not then to call themselves after any man, however learned or celebrated. The doctrines of the gospel are their only rule of faith., Christ is their only master. Humility is a distinguishing virtue of the gospel; and it is a most estimable and lovely quality. 17 or. guides, who say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtYe fools, and blind for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth 18 the gold? And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth 19 by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools, and blind for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, 21 sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by 22 it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 23 Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypo, crites for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave 24 the other undone. Ye blind guides, who 25 strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.* Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye make clean the outside of the cup, and of the platter, but within they are full of extor26 tion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. This was truly characteristic of them. They condemned Christ for eating with unwashen hands, and for plucking ears of corn on the sabbath, yet disregarded the moral precepts of their law, devoured the widow, and allowed of profane oaths. 27 Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypo- 34 Wherefore behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and 35 persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple 36 and the altar.† Verily I say unto you, all these In the original Gee Henna, the place of misery, so called from the valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, where the dead bodies of malefactors were burnt. † See 2 Chron. xxiv. 20. It is supposed Jehoida was also called Barachiah. 37 things shall come upon this generation.* Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!† 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39 For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. 1 CHAP. XXIV. AND Jesus went out and departed from the temple and his disciples came to him, to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end 4 of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no mandeceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I * And in truth the most awful judgments were inflicted upon the Jewish people within a few years from this period; Josephus, the Jewish historian, gives a most lively and affecting account of their sufferings. + The character of our Savior was ever compassionate and benevolent. 6 am Christ; and shall deceive many.* And ye shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet, 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in 8 divers places. All these are the beginning of Then shall they deliver you up to 9 sorrows. be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.† 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall be tray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall 12 deceive many. And because iniquity shall 13 abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same 14 shall be saved. And this gospel of the king dom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the 15 end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso 16 readeth, let him understand.) Then let them who be in Judea flee into the mountains. There was at that time a general expectation among the Jews of the coming of Christ, and many persons appeared, pretending to be the Messiah. + Before the final triumph of Christianity, about the year 320, the followers of Christ were subjected to the most eruel persecutions. See. 3d verse-also xvi. 28. x. 23. "The end" here spoken of, seems to mean the end of the Jewish nation and polity; which took place soon after the gospel was preached by the apostles through the civilized world. |
