the Son of God; thou art the our blessed Redeemer esteems this

King of Israel.

50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.

51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, 'Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

y ver. 29.-1 Or, abideth. That was two hours before night.-z Mat. iv. 18.- Or, the anointed.-a Mat. xvi. 18. Or, Peter.- ch. xii. 21.-c ch. xxi. 2.-d Gen. iii. 15; & xlix. 10. Det. xviii. 18. See on Luke xxiv. 27.els. iv. 2; & vii. 14; & ix. 6; & liii. 2. Mic. v. 2. Zech. vi. 12; & ix. 9. See more on Luke xxiv. 27.— f Mat. ii. 23. Luke ii. 4.-g ch. vii. 41, 42, 52.-h Ps. xxxii. 2; & lxxiii. 1. ch. viii. 39. Rom. ii. 28, 29; & ix. 6.- Mat. xiv. 33.-k Mat. xxi. 5; & xxvii. 11, 42. ch. xviii. 37; & xix. 3.- Gen. xxviii. 12. Mat. iv. 11. Luke ii. 9, 13; & xxii. 43; & xxiv. 4. Acts. i. 10.

simplicity, we may learn from the earnestness with which he inculcates should be "simple as doves;" Mat. it upon his disciples, that they x. 16. We may also learn it from the honourable testimony he bears to this character in Nathanael, when he pronounces him, "an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile," John i. 47; and especially from his own perfect example, as it is said of him, 1 Pet. ii. 22, "he did no sin,

neither was guile found in his

mouth."-LEIGHTON.

When thou wast under the fig tree I saw thee.-God is a spiritual being, and therefore is invisible to the dull eyes

of flesh; but the quick eye of faith can see "him who is invisible," as it was said of Moses, Heb. ii. 27. It READER.-Jesus saith unto him, fixeth its eye upon the all-seeing eye of God, and fills the soul with awful

Follow me! See Commentary on Matthew IV. thoughts of God's omnipresence and 19. § XIII.

Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.-Freedom from guile, that fair simplicity of which the Psalmist speaks, is deservedly reckoned among the chief endowments of a pure soul, and is here named instead of all the rest, as nothing is more like to that God who inspects the very heart, in nothing do we so much resemble him; and therefore it is most agreeable to him, because most like him. He is the most simple of all beings, and is indeed truth itself, and therefore he "desires truth in the inward parts," and hates a heart and a heart, as the Hebrew phrase is to express those that are double hearted. And how much

omniscience; that all things are naked and bare before him, in whose company we are wherever we are, and with whom we have to do whatever we are doing. Now consider with yourselves; would you commit such or such a sin, to which possibly you are tempted, if some grave person were in the room with you, whom you did much respect? And what! shall the presence of a mortal man keep you from sinning, and shall not the presence of a great God much more? shall we dare to sin, when God's eye is fixed upon us; when he views not only our outward actions, but also our inward thoughts, more clearly than we can see the faces of one another? It was the wise counsel

that a heathen man gave to a scholar of his, that if he would preserve himself from doing anything that was unbecoming, he should suppose some sober and reverend man present with him, and this would keep him from doing that which he would be ashamed to do before him. Truly, we need not make any such supposition: the great and holy God is present with us in reality; and the eye of faith discovers him so to be: he is always looking on us, yea, always looking into us: and, certainly, this, to one that can exercise the discerning eye of faith, will be a more effectual means to keep a man from sin, than if all the eyes of men and angels were upon him.-HOPKINS.

Nathanael answered and said unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel!—As we are to believe God the Father, so likewise God the Son, to be always with us, even the eternal Son of God, who was pleased to become the Son of man too, by assuming our human nature into his Divine person, so as to be both God and man in one and the same person: by which means, although the human nature which he assumed never was or can be in any more than one place at once, yet the same Divine person, to which that nature is united, always was, and is, and ever will be, in all places, and know all things in heaven and earth. And therefore we read, that when he was in his mortal body upon earth, he was at the same time in heaven, John iii. 13, and everywhere, Matt. xviii. 20. He knew

the very thoughts of the Scribes and Pharisees, Matt. ix. 4; xii. 25. He saw Nathanael under the fig tree, and knew his heart so well as to say he was an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile, John i. 47. He knew that the woman of Samaria that talked with him had had “five husbands," although she herself said, she "had no husband." John iv. 17, 18. He knew that Lazarus was dead before any body had told him

So.

John xi. 14. He knew which of his disciples intended to betray him, for all that he endeavoured to keep it from him as much as he could. John xiii. 11. Yea, St. Peter appealed to his Omniscience, whether he did not love him, saying to our Saviour, "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee." John xxi. 17. And as Christ was thus in all places, and knew all things, whilst his human nature was still upon earth; so when he was to ascend in that to heaven, he promised notwithstanding, that he himself would still continue with his church upon earth, saying to his disciples, "Lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matt. xxviii. 20.-BEVERIDGE.

HYMN.

My song shall bless the Lord of all;
My praise shall climb to his abode :
Thee, Saviour, by that name I call,
The Great, Supreme, Almighty God.
Without beginning or decline,

Object of faith and not of sense;
Eternal ages saw Him shine;-

He shines eternal ages hence.
As much when in the manger laid
Almighty ruler of the sky;