much people of the city was with her. 299 Meeting the funeral of a widow's son, he raises him to life. she was a widow and procession (according to their manner of burying SECT. without the walls of their cities), and the deceased ivi. was the only son of his mother, and she was a Luke widow, which made the case so much the more VII. 12. deplorable; and this sad circumstance, together with others which attended it, so influenced the minds of many of her neighbours, that there was great multitude of the city with her. 13 And, when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and not. a And, the Lord seeing her in this afflicted con- 13 dition, was moved with tender compassion for her; said unto her, Weep so that he prevented any opportunity of solici tation on their part, and said unto her, Weep not any longer upon this occasion; for I am come 14 And he came to bring thee consolation and relief. And 14 and touched the bier, presently approaching them, he touched the bier, (and they that bare him stood still,) and on which, according to the manner of that place he said, Young man, and time, the corpse was laid, covered over with I say unto thee, Arise. a kind of mantle, or winding-sheet; and the bearers, who were carrying it upon their shoulders, stood still and with an unaffected freedom and simplicity he said, in such a manner as discovered his Divine authority, Young man, I say 15 And he that was unto thee, Arise! And, as soon as he had spo-15 to speak: and he deli-ken these astonishing words, the youth who had vered him to his mo- been dead, awakened by that almighty energy which went along with them, sat up, and began to speak: and Jesus, when he thus had shewn his power in restoring him to life, discovered too the sympathizing kindness of a friend; and, taking him by the hand, delivered him to his mother, in such a manner as to express the pleasure he found in changing her sorrow into a transport of proportionable joy. dead sat up, and began ther. 16 And there came glorified God, saying, visited his people. And a religious dread fell upon all those who 16 a fear on all: and they were present; and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet Truly a great prophet is risen up among us; and is risen up among us; God has again graciously regarded his ancient and, That God hath people, who were in former ages so often distin17 And this rumour guished by his favours. And this report of him, 17 of him went forth and of this glorious miracle which he had throughout all Judea, wrought, went forth, not only through the neighbouring parts of Galilee; but was soon spread through all Judea, and the whole region that was round about; and greatly heightened and increased the mighty expectations from him which they had long since begun to entertain. and throughout all the region round about. IMPROVEMENT. Ir surely becomes us likewise to glorify God on account of Luke this great Prophet, whom he has raised up, not only to his ancient VII. 16, people, 318 Reflections on the love we owe to God for pardoning our sins. SECT. forgiveness, without afflicting thyself for the 1x. severity with which uncharitable men would Luke treat thee. VII. 50. IMPROVEMENT. Ver. How joyful an assurance must this be to a soul thus bowed 50 down and humbled in the very dust under a sense of sin! How light did the reproaches of men sit upon her when she heard these reviving words from the mouth of the great Saviour, who alone had authority to pronounce them! Our hearts surely upbraid us with many and aggravated sins; but we hear the tidings of pardon; let us gladly embrace it; and 41 acknowledging that not five hundred pence, nor even ten thousand talents, are sufficient to express the greatness of our debt; let us retain the remembrance of it, even when we hope that God has 42, 43 forgiven it; and let us labour, that the tenderness of our love, the warmth of our zeal and the steadiness of our obedience may in some measure be proportionable to it: and, blessed Jesus, how distinguished must they then be! Let us with humble pleasure approach this compassionate Friend of sinners; who, though in one sense separate from them, yet thus freely and graciously encouraged the chief of them to apply to him, 39 though he well knew that condescension would expose him to the censure of the self-conceited Pharisees. May God preserve us from that arrogant confidence in our own righteousness, which, while it leads us to despise some, perhaps much dearer to him than 47 ourselves, would proportionably sink our value for the Saviour, and our love to him! 36 As for what remains, let the candour with which Christ accepted this invitation, and the gentleness and prudence with which he behaved at this ensnaring entertainment, teach us to mingle the wisdom of the serpent with the innocence and sweetness of the dove; and neither absolutely to refuse all favours, nor severely to resent all neglects from those, whose friendship might at best be very dubious, and their intimacy by no means safe. 39 To conclude; let us avoid that very ill temper which this Pharisee shewed in upbraiding this poor humble penitent with the scandals of her former life. Where we have reason to believe that sin has been lamented and forsaken, and consequently that God has forgiven it, let us cheerfully receive those whom our holy Master has not rejected; and if the remembrance of former irregularities cannot be entirely lost, let it only engage us to magnify the riches of Divine grace towards such persons, and to rejoice with them in the display of it. SECT. John the Baptist sends two of his disciples to Jesus. ples, sent them unto young man servant at a distance, and raised the 301 SECT. lvii. Luke 19 And John [when And when John had thus heard in his prison VII. 19. he had heard in the prison the works of 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, wheJesus, 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 look we for another? MAT. XI. 2, 3. 20 When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist thee. And when the men who were employed by John 20 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 2, 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. he meant it as a caution to John, that he should be upon his guard against so dange rous 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 foresaw, and foretold, that he must himself quickly be laid aside. (John iii. 30, p. 153.-But 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 epxoμevos.] It seems d Of 302 Jesus refers them to his miracles for an answer to their question. lvii. Luke saying, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? SECT. lebrated Baptist, whose courage and faithfulness hath sent us unto thee, in his ministerial office have been the occasion of his imprisonment, has sent us to thee, saying, VII. 20. Art thou he that cometh, and dost thou own thyself to be indeed the great Messiah, or are we to expect another under that character? 21 Now Jesus was deterinined to return an answer to their question, by actions rather than by words; and therefore in that very hour, while they were present with him, and were eye-witnesses of what he did (as the message was on purpose delivered before a large assembly of people, in which, as usual, there were many who came to be healed of various incurable distempers) he exercised the power that he had of working miracles, and cured many that were then before him of their diseases and plagues, and delivered them from the possession of evil spirits, and graciously bestowed sight on many that were blinde. 21 And in that same hour he cured many of plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. their infirmities and said swering, unto the blind see, the lame 22 And then Jesus, answering their demand, said 22 Then Jesus an- Of their diseases and plagues.] Magiyes, plagues or scourges, may probably signify some of the most grievous distempers, such as leprosies, palsies, inveterate fluxes, &c. (compare Mark iii. 10. and v. 29-34.) and may allude to their being supposed to be such corrections as intimated the great displeasure of God against the persons on whom they were sent. Compare John v. 14, and ix. 2 ← And graciously bestowed sight, &c.] The for 23 And blessed is he whosoever shall not [Mat. XI. 6.] be offended in me. Reflections on the message that John sent to Jesus. 303 Ivii. for he must be singularly wise and religious, who SECT. IMPROVEMENT. WE have here in John the Baptist a very edifying instance of Ver. a most candid and pious temper. How solicitous was he to remove 18 those scruples from the minds of his disciples which, perhaps, their excessive fondness for him might have occasioned? He wisely sends them to converse with Jesus themselves and surely they 19 who most accurately inquire into the credentials he brings, will be most effectually convinced and impressed by them. Let us, when tempted to doubt of the truth of Christianity, re- 22 collect the various and unanswerable proofs of it, which are summed up in these comprehensive words; arising from the miracles and character of our Redeemer, and the prophetic testimony that was borne to him. Let us particularly rejoice that the poor have the gospel preached; and that the blessings of it are offered to enrich the souls of those, whose bodily necessities we often pity, without having it in our power to relieve them. be determined by the regards they should pay to him, as well as that these prejudices should generally prevail to men's ruin. See note c on Mat. v. 29, p. 211. g Compare them with those prophecies.] Archbishop Tillotson has largely shewn the correspondence between the prophecies and events here referred to; see Tillotson's works, Vol. II. p. 451, & seq.-Dr. Thomas Jackson has laboured the point yet more largely in the second part of his curious discourse on this text. See his Works, Vol. II. p. 470, & seq. And, their master made no pretences (see John x. h Without any more express declaration from me.] Nothing could be more apposite, natural and convincing, than such an answer as this, which took its rise from what Christ was then doing, and rested on the most apparent testimony of God himself in astonishing miracles, to which they knew |
