The people croud about the house where Jesus was. 297 lv. In plentiful circumstances and an honourable station, how great SECT. is the humility of this worthy man! How low are the thoughts that he has of himself! And with what veneration and respect does he Mat. address himself to Christ! And, had this centurion been even a tri- VIII. 8. bune or a general, this humble address would well have become him when he was thus applying unto Christ. And how well does it become us, when entreating the blessed Jesus to exert his healing power on our hearts, to bow with deep humility before him, and to say, "Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under Luke vii. 6, 7. my roof, or worthy the honour of appearing in thy presence !" He that thus humbleth himself, shall be exalted, (Luke xviii. 14.) nor do we ever stand fairer for the praise of Christ than when we see ourselves undeserving even of his notice. Mat. viii. 10. Behold an instance of faith in a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, by which their unbelief was condemned! Oh that the virtues of heathens may not another day rise up to our condemnation, notwithstanding an higher profession and much nobler advan tages! We cannot but rejoice to hear that many shall come from the east and the west, to sit down with the pious patriarchs in the 11 kingdom of heaven: but how deplorable is the case of those 12 children of the kingdom, who, with all their towering expectations, shall be cast out, and doomed to hopeless sorrow and to everlasting darkness! May Almighty Grace awaken those who are now ignorant of the value and importance of the blessings of the gospel; and excite those holy desires after them, which may prevent that impatience and envy, that rage and despair, with which they must otherwise view them at an unapproachable distance; yea, view them possessed by multitudes, whom they are now most ready to despise ! SECT. LVI. After having quitted the multitude who crowded in upon him, and reposed himself that night at Capernaum, Jesus goes the next day to Naim, and raises the son of a poor widow from the dead. Mark III. 19-21. Luke VII. 11—17. MARK III. 19. AND they went in to an house. MARK III. 19. NOW after Jesus had performed this miracle SECT. and was prevented thus from going to the vi centurion's, before he left Capernaum with his twelve new-chosen apostles, they went into an III. 19. house, where he commonly resided while he a They went into an house.] We must conclude, from the manner in which Mark connects this with the names of the apostles, that it happened very quickly after their be was ing chosen. The other evangelists inform Mark 278 A prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in Christ. SECT. he was unwilling to give an unnecessary alarm him known. [MAT. li. to his enemies; and he always chose to avoid XII. 16.] Mat. every degree of ostentation. XII. 17. pleased: 1 will put my he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. Spirit upon him, and 19 He shall not strive, nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. So that in him it might be evidently seen to MAT. XII. 17. That be accomplished which was spoken by Isaiah the it might be fulfilled which was spoken by 18 prophet (Isa. xlii. 1-4), saying, "Behold the Esaias the prophet, great Messiah, my Servant whom I have cho- saying, sen for the great work of redeeming and saving vant whom I have 18 Behold my Sermy people; he is my Beloved, in whom my chosen, my Beloved in very soul does entirely acquiesce as every way whom my soul is well qualified to perform it: for I will put my Spirit upon him; and he shall proclaim judgment, that is, the great law of religion, righteous ness and truth, even to the most distant of 19 the heathen nations. He shall not contend with martial violence, nor cry out in a clamorous and turbulent manner; nor shall any one hear his voice in the streets, as giving a loud and dis20 quieting alarm: But he shall manage his ad- 20 A bruised reed ministration with so much gentleness and sweet- shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he ness, with so much caution and tenderness, not quench, till he that (as it is proverbially expressed) he send forth judgment shall not break even a bruised reed or cane, unto victory. which snaps asunder immediately when pressed with any considerable weight; nor shall he extinguish even the smoking flaxs, or the wick of a lamp, which, when it is first beginning to kindle, is put out by every little motion: with such kind and condescending regards to the weakest of his people, and to the first openings and symptoms of a hopeful character, shall he proceed, till he send forth judgment to victory, or till he make his righteous cause gloriously triumphant f By Isaiah the prophet.] I refer the learned reader to Grotius and Heinsius for the difference between the original and the quotation here, which chiefly lies in the clause of sending forth judgment unto victory. g He shall not break a bruised reed, nor extinguish the smoking flax.] The immense pains Zegerus and some other commentators have taken to shew on what accounts either the Pharisees or the multitudes, or the Jews or Gentiles, might be compared to a bruised reed or smoking flax, seem very wide of the purpose, They seem to be only proverbial expressions to signify a person of a most gentle character (as I illustrate them above), and something resemble the proverb among the Spanish Jews to the same purpose; If such a one were to walk on a pavement of eggs he would not break them: (see Pol. Synops. in loc. To suppose, with Dr. Lightfoot, it signifies be shall not make so much noise as breaking a bruised reed does, or pount, water on smoking flar, sinks the idea too low. h Till he send forth judgment to victory.] Isaiah says to truth: and we may take the words to signify till he make the cause of righteousness and truth completely victorious; or, till at length he take a righteous and speedy vengeance on the Jews for rejecting him, to verify and fulfil the truth of his predictions. I have expressed it in a manner which may suit either; but I think the former much preferable, since then the words describe the general character of Christ's administration in all ages, and especially as it best agrees with the sense of the original, He shall bring forth judgment unto truth; He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till he have sel, or established, judgment in the earth: which phrases explain each other, and the sense of each is abridged here. Reflections on the modesty and gentleness of Christ. 21 And in his name triumphant over all opposition. And this genshall the Gentiles trust. tle and gracious administration shall charm man 279 SECT. li. Mark kind in so sensible and irresistible a manner, IMPROVEMENT. XI. 17 SURELY face does not more exactly answer to face in water Mat. than the character of Christ drawn by the prophet to his temper and conduct as described by the evangelists. How should Zion rejoice, and the daughter of Jerusalem shout, that such a King cometh unto her, meek and having salvation! (Zech. ix. 9.) Let us with pleasure trace his gentle administration, and with a cheerful confidence commit our souls to so kind and so faithful a hand : far from breaking, he will strengthen the bruised reed; far from 20 quenching the smoking flax, he will rather blow it up into a flame. How well does it become the disciples of Christ, and especially how well does it become his ministers, to imitate what was so amiable in their Lord, and not to despise the day of small things! Let us not strive nor cry; but, laying aside all unnecessary con- 19 tentions and angry debates, let us receive one another as Christ hath received us (Rom. xv. 7), and, avoiding all vain ostentation, let us silently and meekly attend, each of us, to the discharge of his proper office. So may we hope that the cause of religion will go on successfully around us, and that rightcousness will in Mat. due time be brought forth to complete victory over all opposition, XII. 20 and, by its own genuine influences, be happily established in the earth. The Gentiles trust in a Redeemer's name, and the British Isles are numbered among those that wait for his law. May our souls with humble submission bow themselves to receive it, and observe it with such faithful care and obedient regards, that our example, wherever it is seen, may promote the reception of it among those that as yet are strangers to it! And the Gentiles shall confide in his name.] Isaiah's saying, chap. xlii. 4. The istes shall wait for his law, is illustrated SECT. and explained by this correspondent phrase, Kk 2 a In 300 John the Baptist sends two of his disciples to Jesus. SECT. people Israel, but to be for salvation to the ends of the earth. (Acts lvi. xii. 47.) Welcome, thou Messenger of the Father's love! Luke How illustrious thy miracles! how important thy doctrine! how VII. 16. beneficent and amiable the whole of thy behaviour. II He went from Capernaum, to Naim, still on the same blessed errand, to do good to the bodies and the souls of men. Oh that our lives, in their humbler sphere, might be such a circle of virtues and graces that we might thus go about doing good; and might learn, by the happiest of all arts, to make the close of one useful and pious action the beginning of another! 13 Of him may we also learn the most engaging manner of conferring benefits; that lovely mixture of freedom and tenderness, which heightens the sweetness, and doubles the value of every favour! May our hearts imbibe the same temper, and it will diffuse 14, 15 on our actions some proportionable gracefulness! May our bowels, like his, yearn over the afflicted, and our hand be ever ready thus gently to wipe away their tears! But, O gracious Redeemer, how impotent is our pity when compared with thine! with thine, which could call back lamented children from the grave, and turn the sorrows of a weeping parent into a torrent of joy! We are sometimes ready fondly to say, "Oh that thou hadst been near when the darlings of our hearts were snatched away from us, and we left them in the dust!" But thou indeed wast near; for thou hast the keys of death and the unseen world! And this we know, that, if our beloved children are sleeping in thee, thy voice shall at length awaken them; and thou wilt deliver them to us, to die no more; and wilt thyself graciously take part in that mutual and lasting joy which thou shalt give to us and to them. SECT. lvii. Luke SECT. LVII. John the Baptist sends two of his disciples to Jesus, to inquire whether he was the Messiah; and Jesus answers them in a convincing, though oblique manner. Luke VII. 18-23. Mat. XI. 2—6. WE LUKE VII. 18. LUKE VII. 18. of Jesus shewed E have before mentioned the imprison- AND the disciples ment of John the Baptist, and given some him of all these things. account of the occasion of it. (Sect. xxviii. VII. 18. p. 156, & seq.) Now the disciples of John had the courage to resort to him where he was confined, and informed him of what passed and they particularly gave him an account of all these things which had now lately been performed by Jesus ; how he had cured the centurion's a All these things which had now lately been performed by Jesus.] This is a plain servant, argument that this message from John hap. pened quickly after the miracles which Luke had John the Baptist sends two of his disciples to Jesus. 19 And John [when he had heard in the prison the works of look we for another? MAT. XI. 2, 3. servant at a distance, and raised the 301 SECT. Ivii. Luke And when John had thus heard in his prison VII. 19. the works of Christ, as the very persons that Christ,] calling unto brought him the news of them seem to have him two of his disci- entertained some doubt concerning Jesus, wheples, sent them unto Jesus, saying [unto ther he was the promised Messiah or no; for him,] Art thou he their satisfaction therefore, rather than his own", that should come, or he called two of his disciples to him, and sent them in his own name to Jesus, saying unto him, What dost thou say to this plain question, Art thou the great expected Messiah, whom we have so long been used to speak of by the emphatical title of He that cometh, or are we to expect another under that character? Answer the question as expressly as I formerly bore my testimony to thee. 20 When the men were come unto him, And when the men who were employed by John 20 they said, John Baptist to be his messengers to Jesus upon this important hath errand were come to him,they delivered their message with great exactness; and said, John the celebrated had recorded in the preceding part of this chapter. And therefore, though Matthew has mentioned many other facts and discourses before he relates this message, yet because he asserts nothing at all as to the order and connection of it, (see Mat. xi. 2,) I have, with most other harmonizers, thought myself obliged to follow Luke, on the principles laid down above. See note a, p. 244. b For their satisfaction therefore, rather than his own.] Mr. L'Enfant, with some others, thinks as Justin Martyr and Tertullian did, that John was so discouraged by his own long imprisonment, that he began himself to doubt whether Jesus was the Messiah: and, agreeably to this, he supposes that when our Lord afterwards says, Happy is he that is not offended in me. be meant it as a caution to John, that he should be upon his guard against so dangerous a temptation. But, considering what clear evidence John had before received by a miraculous sign from heaven, and what express and repeated testimonies he himself had borne to Jesus, I cannot imagine this to have been possible; especially as he foresow, and foretold, that he must himself quickly be laid aside. (John iii. 30, p. 153.-Bat his disciples might very probably be offended at this circumstance, as well as at the freedom of Christ's conversation, so different from the austerity used among them; and therefore he might think it necessary to put them in the way of farther satisfaction: not to say, that the warmth of John's temper might render him c He that cometh o povos.] It seems & Of |
