Things Taught or Illustrated by Jesus

[airIam2worship]

Angels

Mt 13:39 "The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

Mt 13:41 "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,

Poole

Ver. 37-39. The design that Christ had in this parable was to show them, that though he laid a good foundation of a church in the world, calling some home to himself; and making them partakers of his effectual grace, laying the foundation of his gospel church in such as took his yoke upon them; yet in process of time, while those that should succeed him in his ministry slept, (not being so diligent and watchful as they ought to be), the devil (who is full of envy and malice to men's souls, and is continually going about seeking whom he may devour) would sow erroneous opinions, and find a party, even in the bosom of his church, who would hearken to him, and through their lusts comply with his temptations, both to errors in doctrine and errors in practice: and it was his will, that there should be in the visible church a mixture of good and bad, such bad ones especially as men could not purge out without a danger of putting out such as were true and sincere; but there would be a time, in the end of the world, when he would come with his fan, and thoroughly purge his floor, and take to heaven all true and sincere souls, but turn all hypocrites into hell. This appears, by our Saviour's exposition, to have been our Saviour's plain meaning in this parable. Hence he tells us, that by the sower here he meant himself, the Son of man. By the field he meant the world. By the good seed he meant the children of the kingdom; such as had a true change wrought in their hearts, were truly regenerated and converted. By the tares he meant the children of the wicked one, that is, of the devil; such as did the works of the devil, Joh 8:44. That the enemy that sowed these tares was the devil, who by his suggestions, presenting objects, &c., makes himself the father of all wicked men. Our Saviour here saith nothing to that part of the parable, where the tares are said to be sown while men slept; that was plain and intelligible enough. The devil hath a power to seduce, persuade, and allure, none to force. If particular persons kept their watch, as they might, the devil could not by his temptation force them. If magistrates and ministers kept their watches according to God's prescription, there could not be so much open wickedness in the world as there is. Neither doth our Saviour give us any particular explication of that part of the parable, which is Mt 13:28,29, where the servants say to their master, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up. And he said unto them, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Our Saviour by this teacheth us, that every passage in a parable is not to be fitted by something in the explication. It was not the point that he designed in this parable to instruct them in, how far church officers might or ought to act in purging the church; but only,
 
1. That in the visible church they must expect it mixture, till the day of judgment.
 
2. That in that day he would make a perfect separation.
 
So as those that would from this passage in the parable conclude, that all erroneous and loose persons ought to be tolerated in the church till the day of judgment, forget the common rule in divinity, that parabolical divinity is not argumentative. We can argue from nothing in a parable but from the main scope and tendency of it. However, it is bold arguing from a passage in a parable, expounded by our Saviour himself, when he hath omitted the explication of that passage; nor can any thing be concluded, but that such must not be rooted out as have such a resemblance of wheat from the outward appearance, that they cannot be rooted out without a hazard of a mistake, and a rooting up of the wheat with them. But our Saviour reserves the point of the ministerial duty in purging the church to another more proper time; he here saith, nothing of that, but of his own design to purge it at the harvest, which he interprets, the end of the world, that is, the day of judgment. By the reapers he tells us that he meaneth the angels.

JBF


     41. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom--to which they never really belonged. They usurped their place and name and outward privileges; but "the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners [abide] in the congregation of the righteous" (Ps 1:5).
 
    all things that offend--all those who have proved a stumbling-block to others
 
    and them which do iniquity--The former class, as the worst, are mentioned first.

[airIam2worship]

Anger

Mt 5:22 "But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.

Barnes

Verse 22.  But I say unto you. Jesus being God as well as man, (Joh 1:1) and, therefore, being the original Giver of the law, had a right to expound it, or change it as he pleased. Comp. Mt 12:6,8. He therefore spoke here and elsewhere as having authority, and not as the scribes. It may be added here, that no mere man ever spake as Jesus did, when explaining or enforcing the law. He did it as having a right to do it; and he that has a right to ordain and change laws in the government of God must be himself Divine.
 
  Is angry without a cause. Anger, or that feeling which we have when we are injured, and which prompts us to defend ourselves when in danger, is a natural feeling, given to us,
 
(1.) as a natural expression of our disapprobation of a course of evil conduct; and,
 
(2.) that we may defend ourselves when suddenly attacked. When excited against sin, it is lawful. God is angry with the wicked. Jesus looked on the hypocritical Pharisees with anger, Mr 3:5. So it is said, Be ye angry, and sin not, Eph 4:26. This anger, or indignation against sin, is not what our Saviour speaks of here. That is anger without a cause; that is, unjustly, rashly, hastily, where no offence had been given or intended. In that case it is evil; and it is a violation of the sixth commandment, because he that hateth his brother is a murderer, 1Jo 3:15. He has a feeling which would lead him to commit murder if it were fully acted out.
 
  His brother. By a brother here seems to be meant a neighbour, or perhaps any one with whom we may be associated. As all men are descended from one Father, and are all the creatures of the same God, so they are all brethren; and so every man should be regarded and treated as a brother.
 
  Raca. This is a Syriac word, expressive of great contempt. It comes from a verb signifying to be empty, vain; and hence, as a word of contempt, denotes senseless, stupid, shallow-brains. Jesus teaches here, that to use such words is a violation of the sixth commandment. It is a violation of the spirit of that commandment, and, if indulged, may lead to a more open and dreadful infraction of that law. Children should learn that to use such words is highly offensive to God, for we must give an account of every idle word which we speak in the day of judgment.
 
  In danger of the council. The word translated council is, in the original, sanhedrim, and there can be no doubt that he refers to the Jewish tribunal of that name. This was instituted in the time of the Maccabees, probably about 200 years before Christ. It was composed of seventy-two judges; the high priest was the president of this tribunal. The seventy-two members were made up of the chief priests and elders of the people, and the scribes. The chief priests were such as had discharged the office of the high priest, and those who were the heads of the twenty-four classes of priests, who were called in an honorary way high or chief priests. See Mt 2:4. The elders were the princes of the tribes, or heads of the family associations. It is not to be supposed that all the elders had a right to a seat here, but such only as were elected to the office. The scribes were learned men of the nation, elected to this tribunal, being neither of the rank of priests nor elders. This tribunal had cognizance of the great affairs of the nation. Till the time when Judea was subjected to the Romans, it had the power of life and death. It still retained the power of passing sentence, though the Roman magistrate held the right of execution. It usually sat in Jerusalem, in a room near the temple. It was before this tribunal that our Saviour was tried. It was then assembled in the palace of the high priest, Mt 26:3-57; Joh 18:24.
 
  Thou fool. This term expressed more than want of wisdom. It was expressive of the highest guilt. It had been commonly used to denote those who were idolaters, (De 22:21) and also one who is guilty of great crimes, Jos 7:15; Ps 14:1.
 
  Hellfire. The original of this is, "the GEHENNA of ore." The worn GEHENNA, commonly translated hell, is made up of two Hebrew words, and signifies the valley of Hinnom. This was formerly a pleasant valley, near to Jerusalem, on the south, [or south- east.] A small brook or torrent usually ran through this valley, and partly encompassed the city. This valley the idolatrous Israelites devoted formerly to the horrid worship of Moloch, 2Ki 16:3; 2Ch 28:3. In that worship the ancient Jewish writers inform us that the idol of Moloch was of brass, adorned with a royal crown, having the head of a calf, and his arms extended, as if to embrace any one. When they offered children to him, they heated the statue within by a great fire; and when it was burning hot, they put the miserable child into his arms, where it was soon consumed by the heat; and, in order that the cries of the child might not be heard, they made a great noise with drums and other instruments about the idol. These drums were called Toph; and hence a common name of the place was TOPHET, Jer 7:31,32.
 
The following cut may furnish a useful illustration of this idol.
 
After the return of the Jews from captivity, this place was held in such abhorrence, that, by the example of Josiah, (2Ki 23:10) it was made the place where to throw all the dead carcases and filth of the city; and was not unfrequently the place of executions. It became, therefore, extremely offensive; the sight was terrific; the air was polluted and pestilential; and to preserve it in any manner pure, it was necessary to keep fires continually burning there. The extreme loathsomeness of the place; the filth and putrefaction; the corruption of the atmosphere, and the lurid fires blazing by day and by night, made it one of the most appalling and terrific objects with which a Jew was acquainted. It was called the GEHENNA of fire; and was the image which our Saviour often employed to denote the future punishment of the wicked.
 
In this verse it denotes a degree of suffering higher than the punishment inflicted by the court of seventy, or the sanhedrim; and the whole verse may therefore mean, "He that hates his brother, without a cause, is guilty of a violation of the sixth commandment, and shall be punished with a severity similar to that inflicted by the court of judgment. He that shall suffer his passions to transport him to still greater extravagances, and shall make him an object of derision and contempt, shall be exposed to still severer punishment, corresponding to that which the sanhedrim, or council, inflicts. But he who shall load his brother with odious appellations and abusive language, shall incur the severest degree of punishment, represented by being burnt alive in the horrid and awful valley of Hinnom."
 
The amount, then, of this difficult and important verse is this: The Jews considered but one crime a violation of the sixth commandment, viz., actual murder, or wilful, unlawful, taking life. Jesus says that the commandment is much broader. It relates not only to the external act, but to the feelings and words. He specifies three forms of such violation:
 
(1.) Unjust anger.
 
(2.) Anger accompanied with an expression of contempt.
 
(3.) Anger, with an expression not only of contempt, but wickedness. Among the Jews there were three degrees of condemnation: that by the "judgment," the "council," and the "fire of Hinnom." Jesus says, likewise, there shall be grades of condemnation for the different ways of violating the sixth commandment. Not only murder shall be punished by God; but anger, and contempt, shall be regarded by him as a violation of the law, and punished according to the offence. As these offences were not actually cognizable before the Jewish tribunals, he must mean that they will be punished hereafter. And all these expressions relate to degrees of punishment, proportionate to crime, in the future world--the world of justice and of woe.

[airIam2worship]

Anxiety

Lu 12:22 ¶ Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.

Lu 12:23 "Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

Lu 12:24 "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?

Lu 12:25 "And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

Lu 12:26 "If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?

Lu 12:27 "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Lu 12:28 "If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?

Lu 12:29 "And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.

Lu 12:30 "For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.

Lu 12:31 "But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

WBN

 
There is a twofold sense and interpretation given of these verses.
 
1. Some take them as spoken only to the apostles, directing them absolutely to cast off all care for the things of this life, that so they might attend upon Christ's person, and wholly give up themselves to that work to which he had called them: and therefore St. Luke here takes notice, that after he had cautioned his hearers in general against covetousness, he applies himself particularly to his disciples, and tells them, that he would have them so far from this sin of covetousness, that they should not use that ordinary care, and common industry about the things of this life, which is not only lawful but necessary for men in all ordinary cases, verse 22.  And he said unto his disciples, therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or drink. But if we understand the words in this sense, we must look upon it only as a temporary command, given to the apostles for that time only; like that in St. Matthew Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass, in your purses: neither coat nor scrip; Mt 10:9 which no man ever understood as a general law to all Christians, but as a particular precept to the apostles at that time.
 
2. Others understand these injunctions of our Saviour to be consistent with a prudent and provident care of the things of this life, not forbidding a regular industry and diligence for the obtaining of them, but condemning only an anxious, vexatious, tormenting care, and an over solicitious diligence for the things of this life; and taking our Saviour's words for a general and standing rule to all Christians, they only forbid distrustful thoughfulness, distracting cares, which drive a man's mind this way and that way, (like meteors or clouds in the air, as the word signifies.)
 
Now against this vexatious care, and solicitious thoughfulness, our Saviour propounds many weighty arguments or considerations; four especially.  He tells us, such cares are needless, fruitless, heathenish, and brutish.
 
1. It is needless: Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things, and will certainly provide for you; and what need you take care, and God too?  Cast your care upon him.
 
2. It is fruitless: Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?  We may sooner by our carping care add a furlong to our grief, than a cubit to our comfort.  All our own care, without God's help, will neither feed us when we are hungry, nor nourish us when we are fed.
 
3. It is heathenish: After all these things do the Gentiles seek, Mt 6:32 The ends and objects of a Christian's thoughts ought to be higher and more sublime than that of heathens.
 
4. Lastly, it is brutish, no, worse than brutish.  The birds of the air, the beasts of the field, the ravens of the valley, all are fed and sustained by God, without any care of their own; much more shall his children.  Has God a breakfast ready for every little bird that comes chirping out of its nest, and for every beast of the field that comes leaping out of its den; and will he not much more provide for you?  Surely, that God that feeds the ravens when they cry, will not starve his children when they pray.

cont

[airIam2worship]

MHCC


22-40 Christ largely insisted upon this caution not to give way to disquieting, perplexing cares, Mt 6:25-34. The arguments here used are for our encouragement to cast our care upon God, which is the right way to get ease. As in our stature, so in our state, it is our wisdom to take it as it is. An eager, anxious pursuit of the things of this world, even necessary things, ill becomes the disciples of Christ. Fears must not prevail; when we frighten ourselves with thoughts of evil to come, and put ourselves upon needless cares how to avoid it. If we value the beauty of holiness, we shall not crave the luxuries of life. Let us then examine whether we belong to this little flock. Christ is our Master, and we are his servants; not only working servants, but waiting servants. We must be as men that wait for their lord, that sit up while he stays out late, to be ready to receive him. In this Christ alluded to his own ascension to heaven, his coming to call his people to him by death, and his return to judge the world. We are uncertain as to the time of his coming to us, we should therefore be always ready. If men thus take care of their houses, let us be thus wise for our souls. Be ye therefore ready also; as ready as the good man of the house would be, if he knew at what hour the thief would come.

[airIam2worship]

Appearance

WBN

The next duty which our Saviour instructs his disciples in, is that of religious fasting; which is, a devoting of the whole man, soul and body, to a solemn and extaordinary attendance upon God, in a particular time set apart for that purpose; in order to the deprecating of his displeasure, and for the supplicating of his favour, accompanied with an abstinance from bodily food and sensual delights, and from all secular affairs and worldly business.  Now our Saviour's direction, as to this duty of fasting, is double:
 
1. He cautions us to beware of an abuse in fasting:  Be not as the hypocrites are, of a sad countenance; that is, do not affect a sullen sadness, ghastliness, and unpleasantness of countenance, like the hypocritical Pharisees, who vitiate and discolour their faces, who mar and abolish their native complexion.  Hypocrisy can paint the face black and sable, as well as pride with red and white.
 
2. He counsels us to take the right way in fasting; to anoint the head and wash the face: that is, to look as at other times, using our ordinary garb and attire, and not to affect anything that may make us look like mourners, when really we are not so.
 
Where we may note, That though hypocrites by their dejected countenances and mortified habits do seek to gain an extraordinary reputation for piety and devotion, yet the sincere Christian is to be abundantly satisfied with God's approbation of his services, and with the silent applause of his own conscience.

cont

[airIam2worship]

Barnes

 
Verse 16.  Moreover when ye fast, etc. The word fast literally signifies to abstain from food and drink, whether from necessity or as a religious observance. It is, however, commonly applied in the Bible to the latter. It is, then, an expression of grief or sorrow. Such is the constitution of the body, that in a time of grief or sorrow we are not disposed to eat; or, we have no appetite. The grief of the soul is so absorbing as to destroy the natural appetites of the body. Men in deep affliction eat little, and often pine away and fall into sickness, because the body refuses, on account of the deep sorrow of the mind, to discharge the functions of health. Fasting, then, is the natural expression of grief. It is not arbitrary; it is what every person in sorrow naturally does. This is the foundation of its being applied to religion as a sacred rite. It is because the soul, when oppressed and burdened by a sense of sin, is so filled with grief, that the body refuses food. It is, therefore, appropriated always to scenes of penitence, of godly sorrow, of suffering, and to those facts connected with religion that are fitted to produce grief, as the prevalence of iniquity or some dark impending calamity, or storm, or tempest, pestilence, plague, or famine. It is also used to humble us, to bring us to reflection, to direct the thoughts away from the comforts of this world to the bliss of a better. It is not acceptable except it be the real expression of sorrow, the natural effect of feeling that we are burdened with crime.
 
The Jews fasted often. They had four annual fasts, in commemoration of the capture of Jerusalem, (Jer 52:7) of the burning of the temple, (Zec 7:3) in memory of the death of Gedaliah, (Jer 41:4,) and in memory of the commencement of the attack on Jerusalem, Zec 8:19. In addition to these, they had a multitude of occasional fasts. It was customary, also, for the Pharisees to fast twice a week, Lu 17:12.
 
  Of a sad countenance. That is, sour, morose, assumed expressions of unfelt sorrow.
 
  They disfigure their faces. That is, they do not anoint and wash themselves as usual; they are uncombed, filthy, squalid, and haggard. It is said that they were often in the habit of throwing ashes on their heads and faces; and this mixing with their tears, seemed still farther to disfigure their faces. So much pains will men take, and so much suffering will they undergo, and so much that is ridiculous will they assume, to impose on God and men. But they deceive neither. God sees through the flimsy veil. Human eyes can pierce a disguise so thin. Hypocrites overact their part. Not having the genuine principles of piety at heart, they know not its proper expression, and hence appear supremely contemptible and abominable. Never should men exhibit outwardly more than they feel; and never should they attempt to exhibit anything for the mere sake of ostentation.
 
{e} "appear unto men to fast" Isa 57:3,5