“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn’t darkness. If therefore your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining gives you light.”
Now as he spoke, a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him. He went in, and sat at the table. When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner. The Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. You foolish ones, didn’t he who made the outside make the inside also? But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you. But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them don’t know it.”
One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.”
He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute, that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. Woe to you lawyers! For you took away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.”
As he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw many things out of him; lying in wait for him, and seeking to catch him in something he might say, that they might accuse him.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv33, 37, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53 Our minds are therefore lightened with the knowledge of…
Our minds are therefore lightened with the knowledge of God, that we should give light unto others, and therefore our chiefest labor ought to be to pray for that light.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv33–54 33 No man, when he hath lighted a candle,…
33 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.
Ver. 33. No man, when he hath lighted, &c.] Our Saviour here warneth those that had given some good hope of their repentance, that they cherish their light, and walk by it.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv33, 34, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 52, 53 We met with this similitude Luk 8:16; Mat 5:15;…
We met with this similitude Luk 8:16; Mat 5:15; See Poole on "Luk 8:16", See Poole on "Mat 5:15". It was a kind of proverbial speech, and so applicable to divers subjects. Some think that our Saviour bringeth in these words as a reason why he would show the Pharisees no sign, viz. because he knew it would do them no good, it had been like the lighting of a candle and putting it under a bushel, which no man doth. Others think that by it he designs to give an account why he pronounced those blessed who heard the word and did it, Luk 11:28, because practice, and giving light to others, is the end of all hearing.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv33, 37, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47 Our Saviour in these words does these two things:
Our Saviour in these words does these two things:
1. He declares, that although his ministry had no effect upon the proud and obstinate Pharisees, yet he would not hide the light which he came into the world to bring, nor conceal that heavenly doctrine which his Father had committed to him to communicate to the children of men; teaching us that such as are enlightened by God, with the knowledge of his word and will, ought not to conceal and hide this knowledge within themselves, but communicate it to others, and improve it for the good and benefit of others: No man that lighteth a candle putteth it under a bushel.
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2. Our Saviour here discovers the reason why the Pharisees continued blind under so clear a light as that of his ministry; namely, because the eye of their understanding was darkened, not so much with ignorance as with prejudice, whereby they opposed Christ and his holy doctrine: for if the mind be clearly enlightened by the word and Spirit of God, that light will diffuse and spread itself in the soul, as the bright shining of a candle does in the house, enlightening all the inward faculties, and directing all the outward actions, and communicating its light also to the enlightening of others.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v37 Christ here says many of those things to a…
Christ here says many of those things to a Pharisee and his guests, in a private conversation at table, which he afterwards said in a public discourse in the temple (Mt. 23); for what he said in public and private was of a piece. He would not say that in a corner which he durst not repeat and stand to in the great congregation; nor would he give those reproofs to any sort of sinners in general which he durst not apply to them in particular as he met with them; for he was, and is, the faithful Witness. Here is,
I. Christ's going to dine with a Pharisee that very civilly invited him to his house (Luk 11:37); As he spoke, even while he was speaking, a certain Pharisee interrupted him with a request to him to come and dine with him, to come forthwith, for it was dinner-time. We are willing to hope that the Pharisee was so well pleased with his discourse that he was willing to show him respect, and desirous to have more of his company, and therefore gave him this invitation and bade him truly welcome; and yet we have some cause to suspect that it was with an ill design, to break off his discourse to the people, and to have an opportunity of ensnaring him and getting something out of him which might serve for matter of accusation or reproach, Luk 11:53, Luk 11:54. We know not the mind of this Pharisee; but, whatever it was, Christ knew it: if he meant ill, he shall know Christ does not fear him; if well, he shall know Christ is willing to do him good: so he went in, and sat down to meat. Note, Christ's disciples must learn of him to be conversable, and not morose. Though we have need to be cautious what company we keep, yet we need not be rigid, nor must we therefore go out of the world.
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II. The offence which the Pharisee took at Christ, as those of that sort had sometimes done at the disciples of Christ, for not washing before dinner, Luk 11:38. He wondered that a man of his sanctity, a prophet, a man of so much devotion, and such a strict conversation, should sit down to meat, and not first wash his hands, especially being newly come out of a mixed company, and there being in the Pharisee's dining-room, no doubt, all accommodations set ready for it, so that he need not fear being troublesome; and the Pharisee himself and all his guests, no doubt, washing, so that he could not be singular; what, and yet not wash? What harm had it been if he had washed? Was it not strictly commanded by the canons of their church? It was so, and therefore Christ would not do it, because he would witness against their assuming a power to impose that as a matter of religion which God commanded them not. The ceremonial law consisted in divers washings, but this was none of them, and therefore Christ would not practise it, no not in complaisance to the Pharisee who invited him, nor though he knew that offence would be taken at his omitting it.
III. The sharp reproof which Christ, upon this occasion, gave to the Pharisees, without begging pardon even of the Pharisee whose guest he now was; for we must not flatter our best friends in any evil thing.
1. He reproves them for placing religion so much in those instances of it which are only external, and fall under the eye of man, while those were not only postponed, but quite expunged, which respect the soul, and fall under the eye of God, Luk 11:39, Luk 11:40. Now observe here, (1.) The absurdity they were guilty of: "You Pharisees make clean the outside only, you wash your hands with water, but do not wash your hearts from wickedness; these are full of covetousness and malice, covetousness of men's goods, and malice against good men." Those can never be reckoned cleanly servants that wash only the outside of the cup out of which their master drinks, or the platter out of which he eats, and take no care to make clean the inside, the filth of which immediately affects the meat or drink. The frame or temper of the mind in every religious service is as the inside of the cup and platter; the impurity of this infects the services, and therefore to keep ourselves free from scandalous enormities, and yet to live under the dominion of spiritual wickedness, is as great an affront to God as it would be for a servant to give the cup into his master's hand, clean wiped from all the dust on the outside, but within full of cobwebs and spiders. Ravening and wickedness, that is, reigning worldliness and reigning spitefulness, which men think they can find some cloak and cover for, are the dangerous damning sins of many who have made the outside of the cup clean from the more gross, and scandalous, and inexcusable sins of whoredom and drunkenness. (2.) A particular instance of the absurdity of it: "Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? Luk 11:40. Did not that God who in the law of Moses appointed divers ceremonial washings, with which you justify yourselves in these practices and impositions, appoint also that you should cleanse and purify your hearts? He who made laws for that which is without, did not he even in those laws further intend something within, and by other laws show how little he regarded the purifying of the flesh, and the putting away of the filth of that, if the heart be not made clean?" Or, it may have regard to God not only as a Lawgiver, but (which the words seem rather to import) as a Creator. Did not God, who made us these bodies (and they are fearfully and wonderfully made), make us these souls also, which are more fearfully and wonderfully made? Now, if he made both, he justly expects we should take care of both; and therefore not only wash the body, which he is the former of, and make the hands clean in honour of his work, but wash the spirit, which he is the Father of, and get the leprosy in the heart cleansed.
To this he subjoins a rule for making our creature-comforts clean to us (Luk 11:41): "Instead of washing your hands before you go to meat, give alms of such things as you have" (ta enonta - of such things as are set before you, and present with you); "let the poor have their share out of them, and then all things are clean to you, and you may use them comfortably." Here is a plain allusion to the law of Moses, by which it was provided that certain portions of the increase of their land should be given to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow; and, when that was done, what was reserved for their own use was clean to them, and they could in faith pray for a blessing upon it, Deu 26:12-15. Then we can with comfort enjoy the gifts of God's bounty ourselves when we send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared, Neh 8:10. Job ate not his morsel alone, but the fatherless ate thereof, and so it was clean to him (Job 31:17); clean, that is, permitted and allowed to be used, and then only can it be used comfortably. Note, What we have is not our own, unless God have his dues out of it; and it is by liberality to the poor that we clear up to ourselves our liberty to make use of our creature-comforts.
2. He reproves them for laying stress upon trifles, and neglecting the weighty matters of the law, Luk 11:42. (1.) Those laws which related only to the means of religion they were very exact in the observance of, as particularly those concerning the maintenance of the priests: Ye pay tithe of mint and rue, pay it in kind and to the full, and will not put off the priests with a modus decimandi or compound for it. By this they would gain reputation with the people as strict observers of the law, and would make an interest in the priests, in whose power it was many a time to do them a kindness; and no wonder if the priests and the Pharisees contrived how to strengthen one another's hands. Now Christ does not condemn them for being so exact in paying tithes (these things ought ye to have done), but to think that this would atone for the neglect of their greater duties; for, (2.) Those laws which relate to the essentials of religion they made nothing of: You pass over judgment and the love of God, you make no conscience of giving men their dues and God your hearts.
3. He reproves them for their pride and vanity, and affectations of precedency and praise of men (Luk 11:43): "Ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues" (or consistories where the elders met for government); "if you have not those seats, you are ambitious of them; if you have, you are proud of them; and you love greetings in the markets, to be complimented by the people and to have their cap and knee." It is not sitting uppermost, or being greeted, that is reproved, but loving it.
4. He reproves them for their hypocrisy, and their colouring over the wickedness of their hearts and lives with specious pretences (Luk 11:44): "You are as graves overgrown with grass, which therefore appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them, and so they contract the ceremonial pollution which by the law arose from the touch of a grave." These Pharisees were within full of abominations, as a grave of putrefaction; full of covetousness, envy, and malice; and yet they concealed it so artfully with a profession of devotion, that it did not appear, so that they who conversed with them, and followed their doctrine, were defiled with sin, infected with their corruptions and ill morals, and yet, they making a show of piety, suspected no danger by them. The contagion insinuated itself, and was insensibly caught, and those that caught it thought themselves never the worse.
IV. The testimony which he bore also against the lawyers or scribes, who made it their business to expound the law according to the tradition of the elders, as the Pharisees did to observe the law according to that tradition.
1. There was one of that profession who resented what he said against the Pharisees (Luk 11:45): "Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also, for we are scribes; and we are therefore hypocrites?" Note, It is a common thing for unhumbled sinners to call and count reproofs reproaches. It is the wisdom of those who desire to have their sin mortified to make a good use of reproaches that come from ill will, and to turn them into reproofs. If we can in this way hear of our faults, and amend them, it is well: but it is the folly of those who are wedded to their sins, and resolved not to part with them, to make an ill use of the faithful and friendly admonitions given them, which come from love, and to have their passions provoked by them as if they were intended for reproaches, and therefore fly in the face of their reprovers, and justify themselves in rejecting the reproof. Thus the prophet complained (Jer 6:10): The word of the Lord is to them a reproach; they have no delight in it. This lawyer espoused the Pharisee's cause, and so made himself partaker of his sins.
2. Our Lord Jesus thereupon took them to task (Luk 11:46): Woe unto you also, ye lawyers; and again (Luk 11:52): Woe unto you lawyers. They blessed themselves in the reputation they had among the people, who thought them happy men, because they studied the law, and were always conversant with that, and had the honour of instructing the people in the knowledge of that; but Christ denounced woes against them, for he sees not as man sees. This was just upon him for taking the Pharisee's part, and quarrelling with Christ because he reproved them. Note, Those who quarrel with the reproofs of others, and suspect them to be reproaches to them, do but get woes of their own by so doing.
(1.) The lawyers are reproved for making the services of religion more burdensome to others, but more easy to themselves, than God had made them (Luk 11:46): "You lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, by your traditions, which bind them out from many liberties God has allowed them, and bind them up to many slaveries which God never enjoined them, to show your authority, and to keep people in awe; but you yourselves touch them not with one of your fingers;" that is, [1.] "You will not burden yourselves with them, nor be yourselves bound by those restraints with which you hamper others." They would seem, by the hedges they pretended to make about the law, to be very strict for the observance of the law; but, if you could see their practices, you would find that they not only make nothing of those hedges themselves, but make nothing of the law itself neither: thus the confessors of the Romish church are said to do with their penitents. [2.] "You will not lighten them to those you have power over; you will not touch them, that is, either to repeal them or to dispense with them when you find them to be burdensome and grievous to the people." They would come in with both hands to dispense with a command of God, but not with a finger to mitigate the rigour of any of the traditions of the elders.
(2.) They are reproved for pretending a veneration for the memory of the prophets whom their fathers killed, when yet they hated and persecuted those in their own day who were sent to them on the same errand, to call them to repentance, and direct them to Christ, Luk 11:47-49. [1.] These hypocrites, among other pretences of piety, built the sepulchres of the prophets; that is, they erected monuments over their graves, in honour of them, probably with large inscriptions containing high encomiums of them. They were not so superstitious as to enshrine their relics, or to think their devotions the more acceptable to God for being offered at the tombs of the martyrs; they did not burn incense or pray to them, or plead their merits with God; they did not add that iniquity to their hypocrisy; but, as if they owned themselves the children of the prophets, their heirs and executors, they repaired and beautified the monuments sacred to their pious memory. [2.] Notwithstanding this, they had an inveterate enmity to those in their own day that came to them in the spirit and power of those prophets; and, though they had not yet had an opportunity of carrying it far, yet they would soon do it, for the Wisdom of God said, that is, Christ himself would so order it, and did now foretel it, that they would slay and persecute the prophets and apostles that should be sent them. The Wisdom of God would thus make trial of them, and discover their odious hypocrisy, by sending them prophets, to reprove them for their sins and warn them of the judgments of God. Those prophets should prove themselves apostles, or messengers sent from heaven, by signs, and wonders, and gifts of the Holy Ghost. Or, "I will send them prophets under the style and title of apostles, who yet shall produce as good an authority as any of the old prophets did; and these they shall not only contradict and oppose, but slay and persecute, and put to death." Christ foresaw this, and yet did not otherwise than as became the Wisdom of God in sending them, for he knew how to bring glory to himself in the issue, by the recompences reserved both for the persecutors and the persecuted in the future state. [3.] That therefore God will justly put another construction upon their building the tombs of the prophets than what they would be thought to intend, and it shall be interpreted their allowing the deeds of their fathers (Luk 11:45); for, since by their present actions it appeared that they had no true value for their prophets, the building of their sepulchres shall have this sense put upon it, that they resolved to keep them in their graves whom their fathers had hurried thither. Josiah, who had a real value for prophets, thought it enough not to disturb the grave of the man of God at Bethel: Let no man move his bones, Kg2 23:17, Kg2 23:18. If these lawyers will carry the matter further, and will build their sepulchres, it is such a piece of over-doing as gives cause to suspect an ill design in it, and that it is meant as a cover for some design against prophecy itself, like the kiss of a traitor, as he that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him, Pro 27:14.
[4.] That they must expect no other than to be reckoned with, as the fillers up of the measure of persecution, Luk 11:50, Luk 11:51. They keep up the trade as it were in succession, and therefore are responsible for the debts of the company, even those it has been contracting all along from the blood of Abel, when the world began, to that of Zacharias, and so forward to the end of the Jewish state; it shall all be required of this generation, this last generation of the Jews, whose sin in persecuting Christ's apostles would exceed any of the sins of that kind that their fathers were guilty of, and so would bring wrath upon them to the uttermost, Th1 2:15, Th1 2:16. Their destruction by the Romans was so terrible that it might well be reckoned the completing of God's vengeance upon that persecuting nation.
(3.) They are reproved for opposing the gospel of Christ, and doing all they could to obstruct the progress and success of it, Luk 11:52. [1.] They had not, according to the duty of their place, faithfully expounded to the people those scriptures of the Old Testament which pointed at the Messiah, which if they had been led into the right understanding of by the lawyers, they would readily have embraced him and his doctrine: but, instead of that, they had perverted those texts, and had cast a mist before the eyes of the people, by their corrupt glosses upon them, and this is called taking away the key of knowledge; instead of using that key for the people, and helping them to use it aright, they hid it from them; this is called, in Matthew, shutting up the kingdom of heaven against men, Mat 23:13. Note, those who take away the key of knowledge shut up the kingdom of heaven. [2.] They themselves did not embrace the gospel of Christ, though by their acquaintance with the Old Testament they could not but know that the time was fulfilled, and the kingdom of God was at hand; they saw the prophecies accomplished in that kingdom which our Lord Jesus was about to set up, and yet would not themselves enter into it. Nay, [3.] Them that without any guidance or assistance of theirs were entering in they did all they could to hinder and discourage, by threatening to cast them out of the synagogue, and otherwise terrifying them. It is bad for people to be averse to revelation, but much worse to be adverse to it.
Lastly, In the close of the chapter we are told how spitefully and maliciously the scribes and Pharisees contrived to draw him into a snare, Luk 11:53, Luk 11:54. They could not bear those cutting reproofs which they must own to be just; but what he had said against them in particular would not bear an action, nor could they ground upon it any criminal accusation, and therefore, as if, because his reproofs were warm, they hoped to stir him up to some intemperate heat and passion, so as to put him off his guard, they began to urge him vehemently, to be very fierce upon him, and to provoke him to speak of many things, to propose dangerous questions to him, laying wait for something which might serve the design they had of making him either odious to the people, or obnoxious to the government, or both. Thus did they seek occasion against him, like David's enemies that did every day wrest his words, Psa 56:5. Evil men dig up mischief. Note, Faithful reprovers of sin must expect to have many enemies, and have need to set a watch before the door of their lips, because of their observers that watch for their halting. The prophet complains of those in his time who make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, Isa 29:21. That we may bear trials of this kind with patience, and get through them with prudence, let us consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv33–52 Take heed therefore,.... By attending to the light of…
Take heed therefore,.... By attending to the light of the Gospel, shining in the ministration of it, and do not neglect and despise it:
that the light which is in thee be not darkness; lest being given up to a judicial blindness and hardness of heart, not only the light of nature, which the Jews had in common with the Gentiles, but even that notional light and knowledge of divine things, which they had by being favoured with an external revelation, the writings of the Old Testament, should be lost.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv33, 34, 36, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 The meaning is, God gives you this Gospel light,…
The meaning is, God gives you this Gospel light, that you may repent. Let your eye be singly fixed on him, aim only at pleasing God; and while you do this, your whole soul will be full of wisdom, holiness, and happiness. Matt. v, 15; Mark iv, 21; Luke viii, 16.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53 Verse 33. No man, when he hath lighted, &c.]…
Verse 33. No man, when he hath lighted, &c.] See Clarke on Mt 5:15. Our Lord intimates, that if he worked a miracle among such an obstinate people, who were determined to disbelieve every evidence of his Messiahship, he should act as a man who lighted a candle and then covered it with a bushel, which must prevent the accomplishment of the end for which it was lighted. See also Clarke on "Mr 4:21", &c.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv33, 37, 43, 45, 52, 53 Luk 11:33-36. No man, when he hath lighted a…
Luk 11:33-36. No man, when he hath lighted a candle — The meaning is, God gives you this gospel-light, that ye may repent. Let your eye be singly fixed on him, aim only at pleasing God; and while ye do this, your whole soul will be full of wisdom, holiness, and happiness. But when thine eye is evil — When thou aimest at any thing else, thou wilt be full of folly, sin, and misery. On the contrary, If thy whole body be full of light — If thou art filled with holy wisdom, having no part dark, giving way to no sin or folly, then that heavenly principle will, like the clear flame of a lamp in a room that was dark before, shed its light into all thy powers and faculties. For a fuller explanation of these verses, see notes on Mat 5:15; Mat 6:22-23; Mar 4:21-22.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv33, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 52, 53, 54 These verses are found in Matthew, but in a…
These verses are found in Matthew, but in a different connection. See the notes at Mat 5:15; Mat 6:22-23.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv34, 36, 38, 41, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53 If thy eye be single. As when the eyes…
If thy eye be single. As when the eyes of the body are pure, and free from the mixture of bad humours, the whole body is lightsome; so if the eyes of the mind, viz. reason, faith and understanding, are not infected with the pestiferous humours of envy, avarice, and other vices, the whole mind will be illuminated by the presence of the Holy Ghost. Take care, therefore, lest by giving way to these vices, the light which is in thee be turned into darkness. (Barradius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v37 3. Two Manner of Enemies (Luk_11:37-54)
3. Two Manner of Enemies (Luk_11:37-54)
37And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine [breakfast, ἀριστήσῃ] with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat [reclined]. 38And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. 39And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but 40your inward part is full of ravening [rapacity] and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he, 41that made that which is without, make that which is within also? But rather [om., rather] give alms of such things as ye have [the contents, τὰ ἐνόντα]; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. 42But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 43Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and10 greetings in the markets. 44Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites [om., scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! V. O.11]! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over [men in walking over] them are not aware of them. 45Then answered one of the lawyers [or, men learned in the law], and said unto him, Master [Teacher], thus saying thou reproachest [art reviling] us also. 46And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. 47Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your 48fathers killed them. Truly [So then] ye bear witness that ye allow [are witnesses and consent to] the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and [but] ye build12 their sepulchres. 49Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: 50That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 51From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple [lit., the house]: verily [yea] I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. 52Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. 53And as he said these things unto them [And when he had gone out from thence13], the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently [to be intensely embittered against him], and to provoke him to speak of many [various, πλειόνων things: 54Laying wait for him, and seeking [om., and seeking14] to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.
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EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Luk_11:37. ’Εν δὲ τῷ λαλ.—That the Pharisee’s invitation came to Jesus while He was uttering what immediately precedes, Luke does not tell us, but only that it was given while the Saviour was engaged in speaking. It is therefore not impossible that this event belongs to a later period of the Saviour’s sojourn and activity in Galilee, when the hostility against Him had risen to a still higher pitch. On the other hand, the invitation of the Pharisee just at the moment becomes doubly intelligible if we compare Mar_3:20. Perhaps this breakfast was offered the Saviour by a Pharisee dwelling in the neighborhood, who might fear that Jesus through the press of the people could not reach the dwelling of his host.
Breakfast, ἀριστήσῃ.—We are here not to understand the chief meal, but a lighter prandium, which was taken earlier and required less time. That the disposition of the entertainer towards the Saviour was not on that account by any means a friendly one, sufficiently appears from the connection.
Luk_11:38.—Had not first washed.—Respecting the washings and purifications of the Pharisees before a meal, see the detailed statements of Lightfoot on Mat_15:2; Sepp, L. J. ii. p. 343.—We have no ground for supposing that the Saviour did not commonly wash Himself before a meal. Now, perhaps, He omitted it because He had just accepted the invitation, or because He was wearied by the day’s work which He had hitherto accomplished.
Luk_11:39. And the Lord said unto Him.—Against the charge that the Saviour in the here-following conversation at table in some measure lost out of mind the requirement of courtesy towards His host, we have simply to bring to mind that “such a divine rudeness is everywhere in place” (Ebrard). If we consider that the host by his surprise had at the very beginning violated the duty of hospitality and benevolence; that they had scarcely even sat down when this injurious remark was made to the Saviour; that the Saviour had respect not merely to the matter but especially to the principle and the intention of the charge, we cannot then be in the least surprised that He emphatically vindicates Himself, and combats the hypocrisy of those who had censured Him. Every-day decorum gives place here to an infinitely higher duty. We must, however, doubtless assume that the Pharisee had expressed his astonishment in some way or other, since the Saviour would otherwise have taken a different occasion for uttering such a Philippic.
Now do ye Pharisees.—It is known how remarkable an agreement there is between this rebuke of the Saviour’s and that which Matthew, Luke 23, has given much more in detail. The question which of the two Evangelists has communicated this rebuke in the most exact connection has been alternately answered in favor of Matthew and Luke. See, e.g. the view in Meyer on Mat_23:1. It is, however, to be remarked, 1, that the first reproach which, according to Luke, the Saviour addresses to the Pharisees, Luk_11:39-40, bears internal traces of having been uttered at a meal, and that also the coming forward of the scribe, Luk_11:45-46, by which a new rebuke is called forth, has internal probability. On the ground of this it appears not to admit of doubt that the Saviour really directed against a Pharisee in Galilee, on occasion of a breakfast, several similar rebukes to those which we find in Matthew, Luke 23, directed in yet greater number against the scribes and Pharisees at Jerusalem. 2. On the other side, however, the denunciatory discourse in Matthew affords so many proofs of an internal connection and a living totality, that the originality and exactness of its redaction cannot possibly be denied. It Isaiah , 3, undoubtedly possible that the Saviour, as occasion offered, repeated several rebukes against the Pharisees in Galilee and those of like mind in Judæa, but less probable that a whole series of rebukes, with citation of the same passage of Scripture and the same denunciation at the end, was twice delivered. It is more simple, therefore, 4, to assume that Luke is indeed right in representing the Saviour during a meal as uttering a discourse of rebuke against the Pharisees and scribes, but that in this he has taken the liberty of inserting at the same time per anticipationem several similar expressions, which, as appears from Matthew, the Saviour actually uttered only in the last days of His life, which Luke, however, on account of their similar character, communicates here, while in consequence of this he does not recur to the last denunciatory discourse. As to the whole matter, the opinion that “the Evangelists have taken up elements of earlier discourses of Jesus in later ones and the reverse” (Lange) can only be rejected in principle by those whose harmonistics are controlled by a somewhat mechanical theory of inspiration.
Νῦν, κ.τ.λ.—Not an antithesis merely of now in opposition to an understood πάλαι (Meyer); for we have not a single proof that the Saviour considers the former generation of Pharisees as better than the present, but rather in the sense of eo jam perventum est, which, perhaps, in view of the character of holy irony borne by the whole discourse, is best translated by “full well,” equivalent to “this is the way, they are on the right way to,” &c.
Luk_11:39. But your inward part.—Not a contraction for “the inside of your cup,” to which Mat_23:25 appears to point, but the interior of the persons in contrast with the exterior of the cup. In Matthew the opposition between outer and inner side of the enjoyment of life appears more prominent. In the form given by Luke the outwardly purified cup is opposed to the inwardly corrupted heart of the drinker.
Luk_11:40. Ye fools.—Since God has created the inside as well as the outside, one as much as the other must be held holy; and it is not only evil but foolish to wish to separate, even in thought—to say nothing of act—that which in the nature of things is absolutely inseparable.
Luk_11:41. But rather give alms.—It appears to us entirely against the spirit and intent of this discourse of the Lord, to wish to find here an actual precept how alone they could bring about genuine purity. In this case certainly there would have had to follow in the future as the motive πάντα καθαρὰὑμῖν ἔσεται; and what now stands: καθ. ὑμ. ἐστιν appears to be meant to indicate to us how soon anything in their eyes was purified,—so soon, that is, as only they had lavished τὰ ἐνόντα for an ostentatious almsgiving. The Saviour said date not datis, since they already actually did it, but He will urge them in the Imperative only to continue this. We thus come spontaneously to the ironical interpretation (Erasmus, Kuinoel, a. o.) in this way: “What more would be yet necessary than to designate, set apart, the contents for alms; for thereby the whole inward impurity has at once disappeared.” That there is also a holy irony appears from Pro_1:26, and elsewhere. All attempts to find here a definite moral commandment which is meant in earnest, appear to us forced in the extreme, nor may we forget that the Saviour ends with: πάντα καθαρὰ ὑμῖν ἐστιν, that is, e vestro (perverso) judicio. Had He here wished to speak of actual objective purity, this addition would have been entirely superfluous. [This is a very doubtful interpretation. There seems no sufficient reason for doubting that our Lord means to commend practical benevolence as better than any scrupulosity about ceremonial purity. “Instead of any excessive anxiety,” He says, “about having the outside of your vessels duly purified, it would be better to give their contents to the poor. Such a spirit of beneficence will render any merely ceremonial defects of small account.”—C. C. S.]
Luk_11:42. Ye tithe.—Moses had aforetime required that they should bring the tenth of all their possessions, as an offering to the sanctuary. Num_18:21; Deu_14:23. The perverseness of the Pharisees consisted in this, that they applied the command to the most insignificant trifles, e.g. mint and rue, and on the other hand neglected inviolable requirements of the Divine law. They forgot judgment respecting themselves first of all, in the sense, that is, in which the Saviour had required it, Joh_7:24; and at the same time the love of God, considered as the genitive of object, and according to Matthew, moreover, faithfulness, τὴν πίστιν (Luk_11:23). Thus did they violate the noblest duties towards God, their neighbor, and themselves.
These ought ye to have done.—It is an admirable proof of the heavenly composure and impartiality of our Lord, that instead of abrogating the fulfilment of the minor duties, or declaring it unimportant, He on the other hand permits and commands it, but then also insists with the best right that the higher duties should at least be fulfilled not less conscientiously than the rest. Comp. Mat_23:23.
Luk_11:43. The uppermost seats … greetings.—Comp. Mat_23:6-7, and see Lange, ad loc.
Luk_11:44. Graves which appear not.—In a somewhat different form the same rebuke is expressed in Mat_23:27. There the Saviour condemns especially the ornamenting and decking out of a thing that was inwardly abominable; here the consequence of it is brought forward; the whitewashed grave as such is scarcely to be recognized any longer, and one can therefore go over it without knowing it; so may one come in contact with the Pharisees, without at once receiving an impression of their inward moral corruption. [I should here suppose that in the two passages two different classes of graves are referred to. Here the humbler grave of the common people, which in time might sink into the earth and be walked over without notice, thereby defiling the passers-by; and in the passage in Matthew, on the other hand, the more pompous sepulchres of the rich, whose magnificent decorations were so poorly in agreement with the corruption which they concealed within. The application of the two images is not essentially different.—C. C. S.].
Luk_11:45. One of the lawyers.—There is no ground for thinking that this νομικός belonged himself to the sect of the Sadducees (Paulus). On the other hand, it seems that we must assume that the learned caste of the νομικοί maintained a somewhat aristocratic position with reference to the great mass of the Pharisees, and that this man wished to remind our Lord: “If thou speakest thus, thou wilt not only raise against thee the plebs, but also the men of science; not only, so to speak, the laici, but also the clerici.” He wishes to conjure down the tempest of denunciation, and to overawe the Saviour; with what poor success will immediately appear.
Luk_11:46. Woe unto you also, ye lawyers.—Comp. Mat_23:4. “Gradus: digito uno attingere, digitis tangere, digito movere, manu tollere, humero imponere. Hoc cogebant populum, illud ipsi refugiebant.” Bengel.
Luk_11:47. Ye build the sepulchres.—Comp. Mat_23:29-31.—Not the building of the sepulchres in and of itself, but the connection which they thereby proved themselves to have with the prophet-murdering race of old, is condemned by our Lord. Fathers and children together did only one work,—the former killed the messengers of God, the latter buried them; the former incurred, the latter perpetuated, the damnable guilt of blood; and while they apparently honored the prophets, they had towards God, who had sent them, the same enmity at heart as the murderers of the prophets. For other views, see Lange, ad loc.
Luk_11:48. But ye build.—It is of course understood that it is still the graves of the prophets which are meant. If they had been of a better sort than their fathers, they would have erected no monuments of a damnable deed, which ought rather to be buried in the dust of oblivion. Now, however, when they spoke with so much ado of their fathers, they with their μνημεῖα apparently honored the prophets, but in effect their murderers, and—themselves.
Luk_11:49. Therefore also said the wisdom of God.—“Therefore, that is, because you have part of the guilt and are ripe for the punishment of your fathers; the wisdom of God has also said,” &c. The Lord appears hereby to mean that through Him the wisdom of God speaks personally to the children of men. The view that the Saviour here cites an ancient declaration of God, lost to us (Paulus, Von Hengel), is inadmissible, as “contrary to the analogy of all other citations of Jesus, as well as to the evangelical tradition itself, which attributed these words, with Mat_23:34, to Jesus.” Meyer. Perhaps we have here to understand a former declaration of the Saviour Himself, and to compare Mat_11:19. As the Son of the Father, who spoke what He had formerly seen and heard with the Father, the Saviour could with the best right name Himself ἡ σοφία τοῦ Θεοῦ, and perhaps it is the recollection of similar declarations which has given John occasion to designate Him decidedly as the λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ. That here only a ὕστερον πρότερον of form occurs (Neander, Twesten, Meyer), has no proof. It was certainly not unworthy of the Saviour to cite His own formerly-uttered word as that of the Incarnate Wisdom of God, and if He did this we cannot then assume that He understood by the prophets and apostles any one else than those of the New Covenant now soon to appear in His place, and by whose rejection the measure of wickedness should be fulfilled, and the murder of the prophets reach its culmination. The colors in which here the fate of His witnesses is depicted are probably all taken from their subsequent life. Even crucifixion is in Matthew not mentioned without ground, if the familiar tradition contains truth that Peter suffered the martyr’s death in this form, not, it is true, at the hands of the Jews, but yet after he had been condemned by the Jews and delivered to the heathen world. Persecute, ἐκδιώξ, so that it was no longer granted to them to remain quiet in the land. Comp., e.g., Act_13:50.
Luk_11:50. The blood of all the prophets—See Lange on the parallel in Matthew. The view of Hug, Sepp, and others, that the Saviour here predicted the murder of Zacharias, the son of Baruch, shortly before the destruction of the temple (comp. Josephus, De Bell. Jud. iv 5, 4,) belongs already to the history of exegesis. We too cannot see anything else in it than that the Saviour has in mind 2Ch_24:21, and in this way brings together the murder of the prophets from the first to the last book of the Old Testament canon. He mentions therefore the ancient, as yet unatoned-for blood-guiltiness, which soon, augmented by new, will reach its fearful culmination. As respects finally the well-known difficulty that Zacharias was not the son of Barachias, but of Jehoiada, we prefer on the whole the view (Ebrard, pp. 5, 6,) that Zacharias according to the Old Testament also was a grandson of Jehoiada, and that the Saviour here correctly states Barachias, who is not mentioned in the Old Testament, as his father. Respecting this whole passage the Essay of Müller deserves to be compared, Stud. u. Krit., 1841, 3.
Luk_11:51. Yea, I say unto you.—It belongs to the fearful earnestness of the Divine retributive righteousness, that when a generation concurs in heart with the wickedness of an earlier generation, it receives, in the final retribution of the accumulated guilt, as well the punishment for its own, as also for the former sins which it had inwardly made its own.
Luk_11:52. Woe unto you, lawyers!—Comp. Mat_23:14. Here is said definitely to the νομικοί what had there been said to the scribes and Pharisees in general. The position of this saying in Luke, after the fearful denunciation of the previous verse, breaks more or less the climax of the discourse, and may perhaps with other things serve as a proof that he on this occasion has inserted single sayings which were actually not uttered till afterwards. By the key of knowledge we can, as to the rest, understand nothing else than the way of the knowledge of Divine truth which had been revealed and manifested in Christ. By their hierarchical influence upon the people they barred them from access thereto, and by their disposition towards the Saviour, they closed the access to it against themselves.
Luk_11:53. And when He had gone out from thence.—See the note on the text. It may be plainly noticed that either anger or conscience made immediate answer impossible to the host and the scribes. In silence therefore did they permit the Saviour to depart from the prandium, but remained together in order to consult what attempts were now further to be made. They soon seek Him again, in order to interrogate Him about all manner of things (ἀποστοματίζειν), apparently trifling sophistical questions which Luke does not even account worthy the honor of mention. In case of necessity they are even ready to suffer even new castigations, by the answer which the Saviour certainly is not to be supposed to have forborne giving them, if only they could at last succeed in drawing something from Him which should in some way give them the right of denouncing Him either before the secular or before the spiritual authorities.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The holy anger of the Saviour at the breakfast of the Pharisee (Mar_3:5, comp. Eph_4:26), far from being below His dignity, or standing at all in conflict with His character, is on the other hand a striking revelation of His heavenly greatness. It is well known that He towards all that had deeply fallen was affectionate and forbearing, and only towards hypocrites was inexorably severe. The cause of this lies in His character as King of truth, with which no sin stands in so direct opposition as hypocrisy, because it vaunts itself of the guise of a virtue, of the essence of which it is entirely destitute. [So far have we, in our mawkish theories of universal good-nature, sunk below the understanding of this divine severity of our Lord against unworthy teachers of religion, that I have actually seen the declaration attributed to a leading religious journal, that “no man who respects religion will speak ill of a clergyman.” Such an impudent identifying of religion with its teachers is hardly credible. How does it consist with the tremendous rebukes of our passage, directed against clergymen?—C. C. S.]
2. Pharisaism, far from being a merely accidental form of the Judaism of that time, is on the other hand the natural revelation of the sinful condition of the heart when men will not give up the hope of becoming righteous before God by their virtue and merits. They are proud of that which they imagine themselves to possess, and continually inclined to assume the guise of that which they well know they do not possess. The enmity of the flesh towards the immutable declarations and contents of the law (Rom_8:7), they seek to conceal behind respect for outward forms, and in each case they make a compromise with themselves, in order to conceal the transgression of the great commandment by exact fulfilment of the less. But this whole web of self-deceit is penetrated by the sun-like glance of the King of truth, and whoever, like the scribe, Luk_11:45, takes part with the cause of unrighteousness, receives his righteous proportion of the sharp chastisement.
3. When the Saviour combats the temptations of the Pharisaical hierarchy, it is by no means His intention entirely to forbid all distinctions of offices of honor in His kingdom. The same one who wills not that one of His people should be called Rabbi, has placed some as apostles, &c. Eph_4:11. But this He censures, that the office is desired for the title’s sake, instead of the title for the office’s sake; that men take honor one of another instead of seeking the honor which is of God alone, Joh_5:44. How sadly is the Catholic Church, following the Pharisees, gone astray both as to the letter and the spirit of this word of the Lord!
4. Men judge the heart according to the deed; the Saviour judges the deed according to the heart. Therefore He adduces the building of the sepulchres of the prophets, that in and of itself might be permitted and laudable, as a new ground of accusation, inasmuch as He discovers the same temper of mind in the buriers of the dead, as had once dwelt in the murderers. What they undertake against earlier and later messengers of God, is to Him so far from being surprising and unexpected that He, as the personal Wisdom of God, has already seen it beforehand and predicted it, and yet He has not permitted Himself to be held back by this mournful prospect an instant from His uninterrupted labor of love.
5. That the judgment of the Lord, severe as it was, was not at all too hard, appears at once from this fact alone, that the Pharisees have not the most distant thought of humbling themselves under the rod of this word, but only forge new attacks, and therefore fall out of one sin into another and yet worse sin.
6. There is one wisdom which shuts up the kingdom of God from one’s self and others, and another which shows and helps to find the entrance. The former is revealed in the Pharisees and scribes, the latter in the Saviour. The appellation σοφία τοῦ Θεοῦ is one of those points of contact which occur in so manifold ways between the Synoptical and the Johannean Christology. Comp. also Pro_8:23. An Ebionitic or Socinianistic Christ could not possibly have spoken in such a way.
7. Inasmuch as the Saviour takes the two examples of unrighteously-shed blood from the first and last book of the Old Testament canon, He gives testimony for the Scriptures of the Old Testament as being a whole.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The Saviour’s pleasure at table embittered by the malice of man. Pro_17:1. The free Humanity of the Saviour in contrast with the restrictions of a dry Legalism.—The severity of love.—Outward purifying without inward purity.—The mournful opposition between seeming and being, in the religious sphere: 1. The seeming an anxious copy of the being; 2. the being, the mournful contrast of the seeming.—The compromise between conscientiousness and the lust of sin.—Beneficence not seldom a cloak for the exercise of gross sins.—Faithfulness in much and little. There are men who are, 1. Neither the one nor the other; 2. who are conscientious in little and not in much; 3. conscientious in much and on the contrary neglectful in little; 4. who unite both qualities.—The Saviour Himself a noble type of faithfulness as well in the highest as in the lowest duty in His calling.—The striving after vain honor a genuinely Pharisaic vice.—How little do men often conjecture how it is with our hearts!—The principle of solidarity.—Whoever perpetuates the mention of damnable deeds which might better fall into forget-fulness, renders thereby a testimony against himself.—No rejection of the word of God which had not been already predicted.—The blood-stream in Israel’s history, the length, the breadth, the depth, the height.—The wisdom of God over against the folly of man. Luk_11:49. Comp. Luk_11:40.—The blood-guiltiness of Israel: 1. An ancient guilt; 2. an accumulated guilt; 3. a righteously visited guilt.—This whole discourse a proof of the truth of the prophetical word: The Lord is patient, yet of great might, Nah_1:3.—Hostility against the truth even where it is clearly recognized.
Veritas odium parit, Act_9:5 b.
Starke:—Osiander:—It is not a sin to eat and converse with people of another religion, if only we do nothing that is contrary to our profession.—Majus:—We should give offence to no one, but if he will without it take offence, he does it on his own responsibility.—Often do men make side-work the main work and the reverse.—Bibl. Wirt.:—To please men, one must not conceal the truth, but, when time and place require, confess it, without regard to private gain or loss.—Quesnel:—Sometimes to address the sinner severely is very necessary in order that he be roused and brought to the knowledge of sin.—Brentius:—Without faith it is impossible to please God, let one give as many alms as he will.—Hypocrisy and avarice, where they coexist, are almost incurable.—Everything in its due order and measure.—Quesnel: To be first or chief is not pride, but to strive after it is a sign of haughtiness.—The discovery of hypocrisy a hard work.—Canstein:—The evil conscience accuses itself when sin and vices are only rebuked in general terms.—It is the greatest hypocrisy to wish to honor departed teachers with monuments, but persecute living ones, Act_7:52.—Anton:—Evangelical preachers are appointed for this that they suffer tribulation—why do we wonder at that?—The Lord regards and inquires after His servants’ blood, Psa_9:12.—Canstein:—From one sin into another, from hypocrisy to murder of prophets.—Hedinger:—It is one thing to think we understand the Scriptures, another thing to be certain of it.—Though children of the world are otherwise at variance, yet they join together when Christ’s truth is to be opposed.—The longer, the worse, they mislead and are misled. Isa_26:10.
Heubner:—If there is a heavenly nobility, this has another character than the earthly.—How dangerous the position of the teacher of religion is!—The easy conscience is none.—The human heart may be a temple and a grave, the best and the worst may conceal itself therein.—There is for every man a measure of sin, he cannot stand half-way, comp. Rev_22:11.—There is a degree of corruption when man cannot escape destruction, but we can never determine that in the concrete.—Rieger:—A sermon upon the imputation of others’ sins in his Herzens-Postille, p. 91. Comp. Plutarchus, De sera numinis vindicta, ed. Reichii, viii. p. 213–217.—Saurin:—Les grands et les petits devoirs dans la Religion, Sermon sur Math. Luk_23:23 (parallel to Luk_11:42), tom. 10.—A Sermon by Arndt upon Jesus’ denunciation of woe in the temple, Matthew 23, in his sermons on the Life of Jesus, iv., deserves also to be compared here.
Footnotes:
[10][Luk_11:43.—Τοὺς ἀσπασμοὺς. Those to which they were accustomed, from the reverence of the people.—C. C. S.]
[11]Luk_11:44.—The Rec. has here γραμματεῖς καὶ φαρισαῖοι, ὑποκριταί; in all probability taken from the similar passage in Matthew. [Om., Tischendorf, Tregelles, Meyer, Bleek, Alford with B., C., L., Cod. Sin.—C. C. S.]
[12]Luk_11:48.—The following words of the Rec.: αὐτῶν τὰ μνημεῖα, are wanting in B., L., [Cod. Sin.,] Copt., Cantabrig., and other authorities, and are therefore bracketed by Lachmann, and rejected by Griesbach, Tischendorf, [Meyer, Tregelles, Alford. But Bleek vindicates their genuineness and necessity.—C. C. S.] It is supposed with reason that they contain an interpolated supplement, as οἰκοδομεῖτε can stand very well alone.
[13]Luk_11:53.—The reading κἀκεῖθεν ἐξελθόντος αὐτοῦ, approved by Tischendorf, [Meyer, Tregelles,] on the authority of B., C., L., [Cod. Sin.,] has internal probability. The Recepta varies, and it is much easier to assume that this complot took place after the Saviour’s departure than in His presence.
[14]Luk_11:54.—The additional words of the Recepta, ζητοῦντες ἵνα κατηγορήσωσιν αὐτοῦ, are in all probability spurious. See Meyer, ad locum. [The text, as Van Oosterzee accepts it, is Tischendorf’s. Supported by B., L., Cod. Sin.—C. C. S.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv33, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53 (See on Mat 5:14-16; Mat 6:22-23.) But Luk 11:36…
(See on Mat 5:14-16; Mat 6:22-23.) But Luk 11:36 here is peculiarly vivid, expressing what pure, beautiful, broad perceptions the clarity of the inward eye imparts.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv33, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 45, 47, 49, 53 33-36. See notes on Mat_5:15-16; Mat_6:22-23.
33-36. See notes on Mat_5:15-16; Mat_6:22-23.
Our Lord here repeats the images and illustrations used in the parallel passages of the Sermon on the Mount. The connection here is clear. If his hearers’ light had not been darkened, they would have seen that he was a greater than Jonah.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54 33-36. The Inward Light.
33-36. The Inward Light.
33. in a secret place] Rather, in a crypt or cellar.
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under a bushel] Rather, ‘under the bushel’; i.e. the one in use in the house; and similarly ‘the candlestick,’ or rather, ‘lamp-stand.’
that they which come in may see the light] The comparison is the same as in Mat_5:14, Mar_4:21; but the application in the next verse is different. The light is here used for inward enlightenment, not to be seen afar.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv33–54 (33, 34) No man, when he hath lighted a…
(33, 34) No man, when he hath lighted a candle, . . .—See Note on Mat_5:15. Here also it seems, on the whole, more probable that we have a portion of our Lord’s previous teaching repeated by Him in almost identical terms, than that a fragment of that teaching has either been torn from its proper context by St. Luke, or artificially woven into a discourse to which it did not belong by St. Matthew. Better, as in St. Matthew, lighted a lamp . . . under the bushel. . . on the lampstand.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth…
No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The Lord continues his reply to those who asked him to support his claims by a visible sign from heaven, "Do not think for a moment that the sign I speak about, and which was prefigured in the story of the Prophet Jonah, will be an obscure or secret thing. No man lights a lamp to hide: so will it be with that sign which will be given to you." Jesus was speaking all the while of the mighty sign of his resurrection.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv33, 37, 41, 42, 45, 47, 52 The light of the body is the eye
Luk_11:33-36
The light of the body is the eye
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The single eye
The eye is evil when the vision is incorrect, double; is single when it lays hold of one object with clearness and firmness.
Shut the eye, or if the eye is diseased so as not to be able to see any one object distinctly, and we have the body full of darkness. This is true in the moral universe.
1. Intellectually. He whose judgment is uncertain, &c. He who has clear plans, &c.
2. Morally. He who has clear conceptions of right and wrong; with what freedom and strength he walks forward. There is light in him; there is light before him.
3. Spiritually. What does it mean to have a single eye in the religious world? It means more than supreme love to God. It means that the whole mental and moral nature of the man must be right in its conceptions of religious truths. This may be summed up in five points.
(1) Man must live for ever. The eternal, vital principle is in him. Suicide is not possible.
(2) Man, as a sinner, needs transformation into Gods character.
(3) Christ has come from heaven to work the transformation--the atonement.
(4) The necessity for a personal, affectionate faith.
(5) The only way of safety is the exercise of this faith at once. (R. S.Storrs, D. D.)
Singleness of heart
Whatever a man regards as his chief good, on that, his heart--his supreme affections--will be fixed; and by that will all his specific opinions, affections, desires, purposes, and actions be regulated and controlled. What, then, the eye is to the body, the practical estimate and regard which a man forms of his chief good is to the whole moral character. If the eye be incapable of vision, the whole body is doomed to all the evils of utter darkness. So, if the practical estimate which men form of their good be not according to the truth and reality of things, the whole moral man is doomed to error, to sin, and to ruin. To illustrate and confirm this truth I re-mark--
I. THE PRACTICAL ESTIMATE WHICH EVERY MAN FORMS OF HIS CHIEF GOOD RESPECTS EITHER GOD OR THE WORLD AS ITS OBJECT. These are the only sources of good, of any kind or degree, which are opened to man.
II. THIS PRACTICAL ESTIMATE DETERMINES ON WHICH OF THE TWO OBJECTS THE HEART IS FIXED. Here, it is necessary to distinguish carefully between a speculative estimate or judgment, and that which is practical. Let us consider the influence of this state of mind:
1. On a mans knowledge and belief of the truth. No one can have attentively considered human nature, without seeing how much the opinions of men are affected by the state of the heart; and how much more perfectly they understand those subjects which it is for their interest to understand, than any others. If a mans heart, then, be right with God, the great truths which God has revealed to influence man to act up to this end of his being will be truths which he will especially wish to understand. It is on this principle that our Saviour has declared that if any man will do His will he shall know of the doctrine.
2. This state of mend, described in the text, decides the nature of all specific and subordinate affections. Light and darkness cannot be in the same place at the same instant. God and mammon cannot reign in the same heart. And when the glory of God is the light of the soul, like the splendours of the sun, it extinguishes the lesser lights which glitter before a worldly mind. The Lord and Creator of the heart there fixes His throne, and all the affections of the inner man bow to Him as their supreme Lord.
3. This state of heart will have the same influence on the external conduct. The man who has not the love of God in him may indeed be faultless in many points, but his conduct will be greatly deficient and erroneous in externals. He will do and he will neglect to do many things which it were impossible should be done or neglected, did he carry with him a continual sense of Gods presence. But where the heart--the governing aim--is right, there is a principle which tends to bring everything right. There may indeed be some occasional deviation; but deviation will be an interruption in the general course of conduct. There will be a principle of correction within, which will discover, regret, and reform what is amiss. For the principle is a universal principle; a supreme regard to God will lead to one duty as well as to another--to acts of kindness as well as to acts of devotion. It will resist and correct little sins as well as great sins; for the same authority reaches to one as to the other, and that authority is Gods. It is also a uniform principle. It allows of no intermission of duty--sanctions no neglect of duty--admits of no indulgence of a beloved sin. For the authority which controls the man is Gods authority, and it is ceaseless and eternal like Himself. It is a pure and holy principle. It tolerates no iniquity--no moral imperfections. It points to the highest purity; it aims at Gods perfect likeness. Concluding remarks:
1. Those whose hearts are supremely devoted to the world have reason to suspect that they embrace some serious practical error.
2. Our subject shows us the substantial difference between the saint and the sinner, and how great that difference.
3. Our subject shows the necessity of maintaining a right state of heart.
4. Our subject shows those who are destitute of true religion what they must do to obtain it. They must settle it with themselves that their false views of the world must be corrected, and their hearts taken from it and be fixed on God. Cost what it may, this must be done. (N. W. Taylor, D. D.)
Self-deceit
As the bodily eye is of great use and importance to the animal life, to the direction of its powers, and to the enjoyment of it; so there is an interior eye of the mind of equal importance and usefulness to the direction of our highest capacity, and to the chief ends of our beings, which is the sense of good and evil, both natural and moral; or, the judgment of the soul concerning their difference, and the methods of pursuing the one, and avoiding the other. Now we must remember, to begin with, that there is a great disparity between the case of the external sight and the distempers to which it is liable, and the judgment of the mind with which it is compared. External vision does not depend upon our own choice; nor are we either to be praised or blamed for it; an obstruction in the eye-sight may be a mans infelicity, it is not his fault; but in the other case we are strictly and properly agents, charged with the care of ourselves, and with the improvement of our own powers and faculties, so that be may attain their true ends. Here, by the single eye, is meant the virtue of simplicity, without reserve or hesitation hearkening to, and following the pure voice of conscience, not using any artifice, colouring, or false disguise, nor suffering any bias or prejudice to rest on the mind whereby it may be imposed upon or misled. The evil eye is disease of the mind, very malignant, and extremely dangerous; what less can be meant by total and most deplorable darkness? but it is a voluntary contracted distemper.
I. THE DANGER OF SELF-DECEIT.
1. This is plainly taught in Scripture (see Pro_16:2; Isa_5:20).
2. We can see instances of it within the range of our own observation. How common is it for men to make solemn professions of religion, and declare their confident hopes of acceptance with God, while yet it is notorious that they continue in a vicious course of life? And how shall this be accounted for, without supposing the grossest self-deceit?
II. THE CAUSE OF SELF-DECEIT. In general, it is some prevailing corrupt affection or passion. The immediate result of vicious affections and unruly passions thoroughly possessing the hearts of men, is an unfairness in all their inquiries concerning their duty.
III. THE MEANS whereby this fatal disease of the mind and error of the judgment is contracted and confirmed.
1. A false imagination.
2. Wrong notions respecting sin.
3. Feeble ineffectual purposes of future amendment and obedience.
IV. THE EXTENT of this self-deceit. In some it affects the whole character and life. Such is the case described in the text, where the eye is supposed to be evil, the judgment totally perverted, the light turned into darkness which has got entire possession of the mind, and misled it in its chief concerns, its moral integrity and its future happiness. But, in some lower degree it is common to mankind; and scarcely is there any one altogether free from it, that is, who is not in some particular instances misled in judging of himself and his own conduct, through remaining self-partiality and self-ignorance. (Bishop Abernethy.)
I. SHOW THE INFLUENCE WHICH MENS PRINCIPLES HAVE UPON THEIR PRACTICE. The judgment of the mind is the guide of life and for the most part, mens outward actions are governed by their inward sentiments and opinions. They form to themselves some design, and lay down some principle or other; and this, whatever it be, gets the ascendant of everything else, is most of all in their minds, and has the prevailing sway in their actions. And thus it must needs be, as long as men do not act by any natural necessity, by any blind instinct or impulse, nor are under the power of giddy chance, or overruling fate and destiny, but are rational and free agents, and left to their own liberty and choice: they cannot but be determined by their judgment and opinion of things, and square their actions according to the notions and principles they have imbibed.
The effects of good and bad principles
II. CONSIDER THE DIFFERENT EFFECTS OF GOOD AND BAD PRINCIPLES.
1. Of the good effect and influence of good principles. If our eye be single; if we are free from all false notions and corrupt opinions; if we have a true judgment of what is our chief happiness, and wherein it consists; what is the great end of life, and what are the ways which lead to that end; our whole body will be full of light. Discretion will then guide us, and understanding will keep us; and our whole life and all our actions will be ordered right and have an uniform tendency to promote our true interest. We shall then be steady and constant in the pursuit of the one thing needful, without ever standing still, or diverting to any other end. This will prove our best security both against the enticements of our own lusts, and the allurements of the world.
2. The ill influence and effect which bad principles have upon us. It is necessary for us to have some principles or other, if we would have our life answer any purpose. Without this, we are like the double-minded man, whom St. James describes, who is unstable in all his ways (Jam_1:8), who has no particular interest to serve, but is divided between several; between the interest of this world, and of the other. Such a man is always weak and wavering, unstable and inconstant in all his actions. He has several ends to serve, which many times cross one another; and so he pursues none of them vigorously; but while he is moving towards one, inclines to another; and like a needle between two loadstones, is ever in a trembling posture, and doubtful state of mind. This is the condition of a man that has no principles at all. Next to this, it is as bad to have no good principles, no true principles of religion and virtue; for without these we shall be exposed to every temptation, and liable to change with every wind.
Having no fixed principle within us, we shall adhere to nothing upon any firm grounds; but shall be ever varying, as the complexion of our body, or the temper of our mind, or the circumstances of external affairs happen to alter. We shall be superstitious at one time, careless or profane at another; now a sceptic, and then a dogmatist; of one religion to-day, and of another to-morrow, and the next day of neither; and at last, perhaps, of no religion at all. As long as the world goes well with such a man as this, and he finds his interest in his duty, he will be loyal to his prince, true to his country, and faithful to his friend; but whenever the times alter, and these virtues are out of fashion, and become the object of scorn and reproach, and cannot be practised without apparent hazard to his own private interest, he will basely desert them, and will be sure to save himself, whatever becomes of everybody else. And this will put him upon any acts of treachery and injustice, of force or fraud, which are necessary to compass his self ends.
III. HOW MUCH IT CONCERNS US TO FURNISH OUR MINDS WITH GOOD PRINCIPLES, and to take care that no ill principle whatever prevails over us. Application:
1. Hence appears the great usefulness and necessity of knowledge and understanding, especially in religion and matters of a moral nature.
2. From what has been said, it appears how cautious we should be in the choice of our principles; as much as we should be in the choice of a guide to conduct us through an unknown and difficult way.
3. Hence appears the great evil and mischief, both the sin and the guilt, of imposing upon mens understandings, misinforming their judgments, and instilling false notions and principles into their minds, since this is to betray them to a guide that will assuredly mislead them, and instead of conducting them to heaven, will bring them into the pit of destruction.
4. And lastly, what has been said, should excite us to endeavour after this single eye, not only as it means in general a sound and impartial judgment, but in that literal sense which has already been hinted, as it imports singlemindedness, the having but one grand purpose and design, one ruling principle and affection, and that is serving God, and saving our own souls. (Dr. Ibbot.)
The universal influence of Christian principles
Consider the extensive influence of the state of heart described by the expression--If thine eye be single.
1. As it respects a mans religious opinions. I do not assert, that if the state of a mans heart be right with God, his belief will be always right; but this I maintain, that the state of his heart will very much influence his faith: so that if his heart be not upright with God he will be greatly disposed to error; and, on the other hand, if the state of his heart be right it will tend gradually to correct what was erroneous in his creed, and to give him just views of religious doctrines.
2. The state of the heart will greatly influence the state of the affections. I mean, that if a mans real aim is to serve God, this will tend to bring all his affections and dispositions into a right state. For let a man be truly desirous of pleasing God, the tendency of this desire will be first to lead him to a better acquaintance with the character and perfections of that Being whom he now honours as his Supreme Master. And where the heart is thus turned to the frequent contemplation of Him whose attributes are infinitely glorious, what must be the result but an increasing conviction that He alone ought to be feared, and loved, and trusted?
3. The general conduct will be under a right influence wherever the heart is sincere towards God; that is, if a mans grand aim is to please and serve God, it will produce a course of moral conduct worthy of a religious profession.
4. And lastly, the right state of the heart will influence, in a very remarkable degree, the future progress in religion. (J. Venn, M. A.)
The eye, the light of the body
What is the world, says one, without the sun, but a dark melancholy dungeon? What is a man without eyes, but monstrous and deformed? The two eyes are two luminaries, that God hath set up in the microcosm, mans little world. When God would express His tender love unto His people, He calls them the apple of His eye. He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of His eye. And the like phrase St. Paul makes use of, when he speaks of the love of the Galatians unto himself: I bear you record, that if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your eyes, and have given them to me. The Emperor Adrian, with an arrow, by accident, put out one of his servants eyes; he commanded him to be brought to him, and bade him ask what he would that he might make him amends. The poor man was silent; he pressed him again, when he said he would ask nothing, but he wished he had the eye which he had lost, intimating that an emperor was not able to make satisfaction for the loss of an eye. So the light of Divine truth is infinitely more valuable than all other blessings. If we come short of this, there can be no substitute found. If the soul should be lost, the whole world can afford us no relief. The Latin verses Adrian addressed to his soul, and translated by Pope (Vital Spark, &c.) are well known. (C. Buck.)
Intensified light
Fresnel, by forming one vast reflector from many small ones, produced a glare eight times as intense as had previously been known. Shining out from a lighthouse, it could be seen as far as the earths curvature would permit. Buffon, by collocating several hundred small mirrors, and causing the flame of a galvanic battery to play upon their focal centre, melted, in two minutes, the hardest metals, and set wood on fire at a distance of two hundred feet. The hostile ships of Rome, lying in the harbour of Syracuse, were wrapped in flames, we are told, by the fierce power of a compound sun-glass which Archimedes made. These facts are suggestive. If we unite in reflecting the rays of Him who is the Sun of Righteousness, stirring scenes will follow. It can but cause a sweeping revival; and the more flames there are, thus joined, the intenser will be the effect. Candles long hidden under bushels should, therefore, be uncovered. Their proper place is on a candlestick. Ye are the light of the world, and should help illumine it. Candles should also be trimmed. Many smoke. They need snuffing. The wick of formality is too long. The flame is feeble, and flickers. It looks like a rushlight, and ought to flash like a star. It is dimly lighting a single home, and might brighten a whole street. With every blaze clear, and every candle in its place, uniting their light, as flame plays with flame, a tremendous religious disturbance would speedily be heard of in all directions. Light never fails to make a stir. As sunrise rouses a sleepy world, so would a burst of spiritual brilliancy awaken the unconverted. (J. S.Breckenridge.)
Uncovering the light
Mrs. Godolphin testified to the truth at the corrupt Court of Charles II., and thus proved herself to be the worthy successor of the three Hebrew children and the saints in the household of Caesar. Lady Huntingdon was a brave witness-bearer in the aristocratic circles of the eighteenth century. William Wilberforce carried his convictions with him whithersoever he went--whether to the drawing-room, to Parliament, or to the hustings. To Thomas Carlyle, in our own generation, a drawing-room meant only so many square feet of infinite space, and he was just as ready to speak forth the truth that was in him, and to protest against shams and make-believes, in the gilded saloons of nobles and princes as when he was seated in his own arm-chair. (R. Abererombie, M. A.)
Seeing double
Be not like the foolish drunkard, who, staggering home one night, saw his candle lit for him. Two candles! said he, for his drunkenness made him see double, I will blow out one; and as he blew it out, in a moment he was in the dark. Many a man sees double through the drunkenness of sin. He thinks that he has one life to sow his wild oats in, and then the last part of life in which to turn to God; so, like a fool, he blows out the only candle that be has, and in the dark he will have to lie down for ever.
Peacefulness resulting from having a single eye
A South Sea Island preacher said: In the olden time I had two wives; and what was the result? There was no peace for me, day or night, on account of the jealousy and scolding of these women. Christianity came, and I put away one of my wives. Now peace reigned in my home. It is even thus with a heart divided between Christ and the world. Choose one or the other. Dont strive to keep both. Be Christs wholly; and then, as a spouse united to one Lord, you will dwell in perfect peace. (Jottings from the Pacific, by
W. Wyatt Gill, B. A.)
Take heed of unillumined darkness
In France, every carriage, or cart, or waggon, must, after sundown, carry a light; and quite right too. On our mountain-roads, where should we be if our carriage encountered a hay-cart just at the turn of a road or at the edge of a precipice? It is very curious to see a little lantern gleaming out from a moving hill of hay, but it is in every way the correct thing. How we wish that all our acquaintances carried a light! Be they good or bad, we are glad to know where they are, and where they are going, for then we know how to deal with them. Your dark men are dreadful men. They seem to be afraid of discovering their own whereabouts, and we know not whether they are friends or foes. We are bound to drive warily when these people are about; and we should in their neighbourhood be doubly careful to keep our own lamp burning brightly. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
Light in every part
We went one cold, windy day to see a poor young girl, kept at home by a lame hip. Her room was on the north side of a bleak house. It did not look pleasant without or cheerful within. Poor girl, I thought, what a cheerless life is yours, and what a pity your room is on the north side of the house. You never have any sun, I said; not a ray comes in at these windows. Its too bad. Sunshine is everything. I love the sun. Oh! she answered, with the sweetest of smiles, my Sun pours in at every window and through every crack. I looked surprised. The Sun of Righteousness, she said, softly. Jesus--He shines in here, and makes everything bright to me. Yes! Jesus shining in can make any spot beautiful, and make even one bare room a happy home.
A fountain of light
Mens experiences are too often like illuminated houses when a great victory or a great peace is celebrated. On such occasions men buy candies two or three inches long, and put them into little bits of tin sockets, and stick them up at every pane of glass, and light them, so that they may be seen by everybody that goes by in the street. And was there ever anything more beautiful? That is just like folks under preaching, and often in revivals of religion. They have little bits of enthusiasm, little bits of candles, that will not burn an hour. And after they have gone out how much tallow there is on the window, and on the carpet, and all about! Now, if men, instead of having these petty illuminations, would establish in themselves a fountain of light, how much better it would be! (H. W. Beecher.)
Take heed.
Cautions
1. Take heed of the great leading error of the worldly, who, in their practical judgment, prefer earthly to heavenly things, and thus are involved in spiritual darkness. Take eternity into account, if you would estimate things according to their real value, and would think and act as well-informed persons.
2. Take heed of shutting your eyes altogether against the light, of averting your thoughts altogether from the truth, and of resolving to persist wilfully in ignorance. There are none so blind as those who will not see.
3. Take heed of leaning to your own understanding. There are some persons who, being naturally uncommonly sagacious, or who, fancying themselves so, are so wrapped up in self-conceit as to undervalue the true light. Take heed of trusting in human learning, if you have had an opportunity of becoming learned. It is very melancholy that there are so many who rest in this to the neglect of the wisdom which is from above. Take heed of infidel and irreligious philosophy, falsely called philosophy. Reason is a noble endowment, and its right exercise is incumbent, but there are false reasonings of which you should be aware.
4. Take heed of the pride of self-righteousness; for it will blind you to your own demerit, and to the glory of Christs finished work, and to the way of pardon and acceptance by faith alone.
5. Take heed and beware of coveteousness; for it perverts the judgment and the affections. The love of money causes many to err from the faith.
6. Take heed of the love of sin in general, and the indulgence of any particular sin. There can be no doubt that the love of sin exerts a fatal influence in perverting the understanding, and keeping men in darkness. There are many who love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.
7. Take heed of a spirit of envy, malice, and uncharitableness. This is called in Scripture an evil eye: Is thine eye evil, because I am good? said our Lord. The indulgence of this spirit shows that the true light has not entered the soul, and tends still to keep it out.
8. Take heed of unfounded prejudice and partiality; such a bias will lead you astray, and render your understanding as incapable of judging of truth as a jaundiced eye is of colours. Take heed of every sinister end, every improper design. This is, perhaps, peculiarly intended by an evil eye. See that you have an honest, sincere, upright, single design. (James Foote, M. A.)
The light which is in thee
Of the light within us
I. THE EVIL WE ARE WARNED AGAINST. Turning the light within us into darkness. To help our understanding of this, let us consider with ourselves those intolerable evils which bodily blindness, deafness, stupefaction, and an utter deprivation of all sense, must unavoidably subject the outward man to. For what is one in such a condition able to do? And what it he not liable to suffer? And yet doing and suffering, upon the matter, comprehend all that concerns a man in this world. If such a ones enemy seeks his life (as he may be sure that some or other will, and possibly such a one as he takes for his truest friend) in this forlorn ease, he can neither see, nor hear, nor perceive his approach, till he finds himself actually in his murdering hands. He can neither encounter nor escape him, neither in his own defence give nor ward off a blow; for whatsoever blinds a man, ipso facto disarms him; so that being thus bereft both of his sight and of all his senses besides, what such a one can be fit for, unless it be to set up for prophecy, or believe transubstantiation, I cannot imagine. These; I say, are some of those fatal mischiefs which corporal blindness and insensibility expose the body to; and are not those of a spiritual blindness inexpressibly greater?
II. THE DANGER OF FALLING INTO THIS EVIL. It is as in a common plague, in which the infection is as bard to be escaped as the distemper to be cured; for that which brings this darkness upon the soul is sin. And as the state of nature now is, the soul is not so close united to the body as sin is to the soul; indeed, so close is the union between them, that one would even think the soul itself (as much a spirit as it is) were the matter, and sin the form, in our present constitution. In a word, there is a set combination of all without a man and all within him, of all above ground and all under it (if hell be so), first to put out his eyes, and then to draw or drive him headlong into perdition.
III. How AND BY WHAT COURSES THIS DIVINE LIGHT COMES TO BURN FAINT AND DIM.
1. Whatever defiles the conscience, in the same degree also darkens it.
2. Whatever puts a bias upon the judging faculty of conscience, weakens, and, by consequence, darkens the light of it.
3. We now pass from these general observations to particulars.
(1) Every single gross act of sin is much the same thing to the conscience, that a great blow or fall is to the head: it stuns and bereaves it of its senses for a time.
(2) The frequent and repeated practice of sin has also a mighty power in it to obscure and darken the natural light of conscience, nothing being more certainly true, nor more universally acknowledged, than that custom of sinning takes away the sense of sin; and, we may add, the sight of it too. For though the darkness consequent upon any one gross act of sin be, as we have shown, very great, yet that which is caused by custom of sinning is much greater and more hardly curable.
(3) Every corrupt passion or affection of the mind will certainly pervert the judging, and obscure and darken the discerning power of conscience. (R. South, D. D.)
The nature of human actions
I. Consider the nature of human actions, and what dependence they have upon the directing principle, upon the light or understanding that is in the mind of man.
II. Show what power men have over their own actions with regard to the influence of that light or understanding by which they are to be directed.
III. Consider of what consequence it is in matters of religion that men fail not in this first and grand Foundation of all, in the Root, the Spring, the universal Guide and Director of their actions. Take heed that the light which is in thee be not darkness. (S. Clarke, D. D.)
Light turned into darkness
If, in those days, which were not characteristically days of light, Christ saw it necessary to urge this caution so strongly, we can conceive with how much greater force He would have pressed it now, when Daniels prophecy is having such literal fulfilment on every side Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Through the avenues of conscience, which is to the soul what the eye is to the body, communications from God are always pouring in. In nature, in providence, but still more by His Word, and by His own inward grace, tie acts upon the man. The understanding is formed, the reason is directed, the affections are moved, the will is urged, holy influences stream in upon the inner being. And this process, up to a certain point at least, in every mans life, is continually going on. I believe that it is going on in every one of you at this moment. Hence your familiar acquaintance with Divine truth! Hence your sense of sin! Hence your frequent compunctions! Hence your better desires and good resolves! Hence your gleams of heaven! Hence your appreciation and admiration of the real and the true! To what a height that inner light is capable of being raised by culture it is impossible for us to estimate, seeing no man has ever cherished it as much as he might. But did we pray, and study, and listen, and obey the still, small voices as we ought, there would be no limit to the degree in which the judgment would be directed, the heart softened, the will conformed, the thoughts made sunny, the future assured, the love of God dominant, and heaven foretasted. For if the eye be single, the whole body is full of light. If the openings heavenward and Godward be all clear, and unchoked, and free, the whole man is capable, and wise, and happy, and safe; and that is fulfilled which we read so familiarly, and therefore so unintelligibly--The path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. But it is a truth too certain, that all this light, with which God beams upon us, is capable not only of being hindered, and resisted, and destroyed, but, worse than that, of actually being converted into a deeper darkness--becoming a medium of spiritual blindness, or casting the soul into a more utter night. For there is no death so locked as that which once lived the most; there is no blackness so black as the shrouded day; there is no soul so dark as the soul that was once illumined! (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv33, 37, 39, 53 33–36. When he hath lighted a lamp. See notes…
33–36. When he hath lighted a lamp. See notes on Matt. 5:15 and 6:22, 23.
If thy whole body be full of light. If it were thus the whole body would be luminous, and if our souls be full of light, of the light of Christ, then our light shall shine as that of a lamp.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v37 Luk_11:37. Besought.—Simply, “asked” (R.V.). To dine.—Rather, “that He would…
CRITICAL NOTES
Luk_11:37. Besought.—Simply, “asked” (R.V.). To dine.—Rather, “that He would breakfast with him.” The word used means a noon-day meal = our late breakfast or luncheon.
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Luk_11:38. Washed.—The washing was a ceremonial act, and cleanliness was not the object of it. The ablutions, which had become most elaborate and frivolous, were not based even upon Levitical law, but upon Pharisaic tradition and the so-called Oral law.
Luk_11:39. Now.—I.e., “as things are.” Make clean, etc.—In Mat_23:25 a similar figure is used. There is, however, this difference: there the inside of the cup and platter are said to be full of extortion and wickedness—i.e., got by wrongful means and used profligately; here it is to the inward part—the spiritual condition of the men themselves—that reference is made.
Luk_11:40. “Did not He who made the body (that which is without) make the mind and soul also (that which is within)?” What folly to attend to the cleanness of the one and to ignore the foulness of the other!
Luk_11:41. Give alms of such things as ye have.—Rather, “give for alms those things which are within” (R.V.). Christ returns to speak of the literal contents of cup and platter: “Be not anxious about the outward part, but rather attend to its contents, and do but give alms therefrom, and the food and everything else shall be pure to you” (Bloomfield). A deed of unselfishness and goodwill would make a change in the whole inward condition.
Luk_11:42. Tithe mint, etc.—As commanded in Deu_14:22. No proportion was observed between greater and less commandments—those based on eternal principles and those of a local or temporary character. Judgment and the love of God.—Hebraism for justice and equity (cf. Mic_6:8).
Luk_11:43. The sin of pride is rebuked; the desire to be prominent and to secure reverent salutations from their brethren. The places in the synagogue nearest to the reading-desk, where the elders sat, were specially coveted.
Luk_11:44. Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!—Omit these words; omitted in R.V. Taken probably from the parallel passage in Mat_23:27. Graves.—Unsuspected pits of corruption. The figure in St. Matthew’s gospel is somewhat different—“whited sepulchres,” outwardly beautiful.
Luk_11:45. One of the lawyers.—This man felt that his official ecclesiastical position should shield him against such reproaches. As a class the lawyers, or scribes, were inclined to Pharisaism.
Luk_11:46. Burdens grievous.—The details of ceremonial obedience were multiplied and became an intolerable yoke (cf. Act_15:10); and some of those who laid stress upon them were guilty of the inconsistency of neglecting them themselves.
Luk_11:47. Build sepulchres.—I.e., ostentatiously separate themselves from the sins of their ancestors in rejecting the prophets, and yet are guilty of the same wickedness in rejecting John the Baptist and Christ.
Luk_11:48. Ye allow.—I.e., “consent to” (R.V.). In a sense, respect for the dead prophets was in itself an offence against the living. Instead of hearkening to the voice of living representatives of the Divine will, they set up against them the reputation and authority and teaching of those who had long passed away.
Luk_11:49. The wisdom of God.—This is a very peculiar phrase, and has excited considerable controversy. There is no passage in the Old Testament which corresponds verbally with this apparent quotation. There can be no doubt, however, that Christ alludes to 2Ch_24:20-22, and more especially to 2Ch_36:14-21 of the same book. It may be that since there is not formal quotation this peculiar phrase is used: the method of Divine procedure is described rather than the historical examples of it cited. “The wisdom of God” is probably equivalent to “the wise God.” God, in His wisdom, sees fit to follow such and such a course.
Luk_11:51. Abel.—The first martyr in the strife between holiness and unrighteousness whose history is found in the first historical book of the Old Testament. Zacharias.—2Ch_24:20-21 : the last historical book of the Old Testament.
Luk_11:52. The key of knowledge.—Cf. Mat_13:52; Mat_16:19. Knowledge, i.e., of God, of which the Scriptures were the key. “The scribes, by arrogating to themselves exclusive authority to interpret the Scriptures, while they did not interpret them truly, either for their own use, or for the good of those whom they instructed, kept the key of knowledge shut up and useless” (Speaker’s Commentary).
Luk_11:53. And as He said these things unto them.—Rather, “and when He was come out from thence” (R.V.). Began to urge Him.—Or, “to press upon Him” (R.V.). “They surrounded Him in a most threatening and irritating manner, in a scene of violence perhaps unique in the life of Jesus” (Farrar).
Luk_11:54. That they might accuse Him.—Omitted in R.V.; but evidently the words are a fair description of the motives of His adversaries, though not part of the text of the Gospel.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Luk_11:37-54
Besetting Sins of Religious Leaders and Teachers.—The Pharisees aimed at setting before the people an example of holiness which it was their duty to imitate; the scribes assumed to themselves the task of instructing them in the law of God. The one showed them what they should do, the other taught them what they should believe. And then, as now, the position of those who were set apart, or who set themselves up as leaders and teachers, was attended with no little spiritual danger. They were apt to become arrogant and self-complacent, and to affect an outward austerity very much at variance with their inward condition of heart and character. All through His earthly ministry the kind of righteousness which Christ taught and exemplified was antagonistic to that of the Pharisees and scribes, and therefore we need not be surprised that on some occasions, as in the present, He came into direct collision with them.
I. The first fault with which He charged the Pharisees was hypocrisy (Luk_11:39-42).—They acted the part of righteous men, without being righteous at heart, and hence they laid stress upon all such practices as appealed to the outward eye, and were indifferent to the spiritual requirements of the law of God. Just as an actor assumes the dress of the character he wishes to portray, and adopts a tone of voice suitable to the part, and appropriate gestures, attitudes, and speeches, so did the Pharisees assume the outward guise of those who were intent upon honouring and serving God. They were zealous in practising all kinds of ceremonial purification, and in payment of tithes, and went, indeed, beyond the requirements of the law of Moses. Yet their fault did not consist in their extreme scrupulousness, but rather in neglect of moral and spiritual obligations. Beneath the pious exterior lay greed, and injustice, and hardness of heart, and self-indulgence. The sin they were guilty of is only too easily possible in Christian society—that of combining a sanctimonious profession of religion with a very lax moral practice.
II. The second fault with which Christ charged the Pharisees was that of vainglorious ambition (Luk_11:43).—They loved the praises of men, and sought to gain and wield power for the gratification of their own pride and vanity. Their motive was an evil one, and vitiated the influence for good which their profession of zeal for the honour of God might have exercised. For when the mask was taken away from their characters it became evident that they were seeking to promote their own self-advancement, and not the interests of true religion. The teaching of Christ, therefore, distinctly warns us that holiness does not consist merely in the performance of certain actions, but in the pure and righteous character of the motives that govern the life. His words on this occasion, too, describe the hurtful influence exercised by all spurious forms of religious life (Luk_11:44). Not only do they fail to promote righteousness, but they are like a poisonous contagion. The corruption is all the more deceptive because it is concealed, and it infects those who come into contact with it.
III. A characteristic fault of the scribes was their laying stress upon the letter of God’s Word rather than upon the spirit of it (Luk_11:45-46).—This is akin to the reproach addressed to the Pharisees, for literalism is closely allied to formalism. They rendered the Scriptures an oppressive burden’ by the minute rules which they deduced from them, and which they imposed upon all those whom they instructed. But for their own part they substituted knowledge for practice. Probably in all ages of the Church’s history those may be found who perpetuate this fault—who set up their own interpretations of Scripture and deductions from it as of co-ordinate authority with the Word of God. And those who are most peremptory in insisting upon acquiescence in their rigid interpretation of Scripture generally enjoy a freedom which they deny to others. Their work seems to be that of imposing burdens, and not of sharing burdens.
IV. Another characteristic fault of the scribes is their rancorous orthodoxy (Luk_11:47-51).—They are in antagonism to living piety, and persecute it. They set up over against those who are the present mouthpieces of God’s Spirit the authority of earlier teachers, whose opponents they would have been if they had lived in their times. And by their resistance to God’s messengers they approve themselves as children of those who in earlier ages killed the prophets. God leaves no generation of men without His witnesses, and those who resist them share the guilt of those who were persecutors in times long past, even though they may sincerely believe that they abhor their actions. Such orthodoxy, which manifests itself in the statement and defence of a creed which is more a matter of the intellect than an inspiring influence upon the life, is a positive hindrance to religion (Luk_11:52). It is like taking away the key of a door and hindering both ourselves and others from entering in.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luk_11:37-54
Luk_11:37-38. A Violation of Hospitality.—There can be little doubt that this Pharisee violated the laws of hospitality by inviting Jesus to his house for the purpose of watching Him, and of founding some accusation against Him. Others of the guests had the same hostility towards Him in their minds (Luk_11:45; Luk_11:53). This fact explains the severity of tone manifested by Jesus throughout the scene. Except for grave reasons, He would not have spoken as He did in the house of His entertainer. There are times when higher obligations than the rules of good society must be respected.
Luk_11:39-40. The Pharisees Rebuked.—The Pharisees are rebuked
(1) for being addicted to meaningless rites—for lustrations which had been instituted for the purpose of suggesting moral purity lost their significance when practised for their own sake;
(2) for attending merely to external appearances;
(3) for the folly of imagining that God was such an one as themselves, and would be satisfied with a mere pretence and show of righteousness; and
(4) for the covetousness and greed by which they had enriched themselves, and which made them indifferent to the claims of the poor and unfortunate.
Luk_11:41. “Give alms.”—There is no question here of the intrinsic merit of good works: Jesus is simply contrasting the positive value of a kindly deed with the worthlessness of mere outward observances.
“All things are clean unto you.”—Let them do one single loving, unselfish act—not for the sake of the action itself, nor for any merit inherent in it, but out of pure good-will towards others—and their whole inward condition would be different. Let those things, which had been the materials and instruments of sin and selfishness, become the instruments of love and kindness, and all things, both that which is without and that which is within, would be at once purified for them. In other words, as the cup and the platter, the outside of which they cleansed so scrupulously and sedulously, were defiled by the bad means by which their contents were procured, or the evil uses to which they were put, so they would be purified, not by any formal outward acts, but by that spirit of love which would dictate a right and charitable destination of their contents.—Speaker’s Commentary.
Luk_11:42. Two Marks of Hypocrisy.—
1. To be more exact in and zealous for the observance of ritual and the traditions of men, than in and for the observance of the moral law of God.
2. In matters of morality to be more exact and strict in and for little things, than for things more grave and weighty. There is no commandment of God that we are at liberty to despise: yet we should have more regard to greater than to lesser duties.
Judgment and the Love of God.—The reference is to Mic_6:6-8, where the prophet makes all acceptable religion to consist in “doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God.”
Not to Leave the Other Undone.—The moderation and wisdom of Jesus shine out in these words; He does not at all desire prematurely to break the legal mould in which Jewish righteousness was cast, provided that it was not maintained at the expense of the real contents of the law.—Godet.
The First and The Last.—By all means be most minutely conscientious. But then see to it that ye do not
(1) put the last first, and
(2) put off and put out the first altogether, contenting yourselves with the last and least. See to it, on the contrary, that
(1) ye put the first first, and that then
(2) ye do not put off and put out the last, but bring it in and yet keep it last.—Morison.
Luk_11:44. Whitewashed Tombs.—Jews had a custom of whitewashing sepulchral stones once a year. At the time when our Lord used this metaphor to characterise the scribes and Pharisees, the tombs about Jerusalem had been recently whitewashed, and so were beautified for a season. As He spoke in the open air, the white stones must have been conspicuous on every side. The object of this whitewashing was not to embellish, but to point out the gravestone to the passer-by, that he might not tread on it or touch it. Later casuists pronounced the man unclean who casually stepped on a grave or touched a tombstone. This explains the saying of our Lord in the text. It amounts to a charge against the Pharisees of concealing their true character from the people, and spreading contamination while no one suspected them of evil.—Fraser.
Luk_11:45. “Reproachest us also.”—In what a grievous state is that conscience which, hearing the Word of God, thinks it a reproach against itself; and, in the account of the punishment of the wicked, perceives its own condemnation!—Bede.
Luk_11:46-52. Besetting Sins of Theologians.—The besetting sins of theologians:
1. Harshness and insincerity (Luk_11:46).
2. A rancorous and persecuting spirit (Luk_11:47-51).
3. Arrogance and exclusiveness (Luk_11:52).
Luk_11:46. Knowledge Substituted for Practice.—Very rigid principles combined with very lax conduct. Undue attention to the intellectual side of religion is generally found accompanied by this moral deficiency.
“Touch with one of your fingers.”—This is opposed to taking up the burden upon the shoulders.
Luk_11:47-48. “Ye build the sepulchres.”—Ye build their tombs and adorn their monuments, but ye do not imitate their example; ye disobey their precepts, and slight their warnings, and rebel against their God. who has sent to you His Son, to whom all the prophets bear witness. And thus ye show yourselves the children of those who killed the prophets, and are even worse than your fathers, because ye add hypocrisy to impiety.
Resisting the Prophets.—Ask in Moses’ time, Who are the good people? They will be Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; but not Moses—he should be stoned. Ask in Samuel’s time, Who are the good people? They will be Moses and Joshua; but not Samuel. Ask in the times of Christ, and they will be all the former prophets, with Samuel; but not Christ and His apostles.—Stier.
Luk_11:51. Abel … Zacharias.—The murder of Abel was the first in the strife between unrighteousness and holiness, and as these Jews represent, in their conduct, both in former times and now, the murderer of the first, they must bear the vengeance of the whole in God’s day of wrath. Our Lord mentions the murder of Zacharias, not as being the last, even before His own day, but because it was connected specially with the cry of the dying man: “The Lord look upon it, and require it” (2Ch_24:22).—Alford.
“This generation.”—A great and rapid river, which should, for thirty or forty years together, have its current violently stopped—what a mass of water would it collect in so long a space; and if it should then be let loose, with what fury would it overrun and bear down all before it?—J. Taylor.
Accumulated Guilt.—It belongs to the fearful earnestness of the Divine retributive righteousness that when a generation concurs in heart with the wickedness of an earlier generation, it receives, in the final retribution of the accumulated guilt, as well the punishment for its own as also for the former sins which it had inwardly made its own.—Van Oosterzee.
Luk_11:52. “Key of knowledge.”—Jesus represents knowledge of God and of salvation under the figure of a sanctuary: it was the duty of the scribes to lead the people into it, but they had locked the door and kept possession of the key. This key is the Word of God, the interpretation of which the scribes planned exclusively for themselves.—Godet.
Keeping the Key.—The scribes, by arrogating to themselves exclusive authority to interpret the Scriptures, while they did not interpret them truly, either for their own use, or for the good of those whom they instructed, kept the key of knowledge shut up and useless.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv37, 42 Luk 11:37-42. “But while He was speaking, a Pharisee…
BAPTIZO NOT ALWAYS A TOTAL SUBMERSION, BUT A PURIFICATION
Luk 11:37-42. “But while He was speaking, a Pharisee asked Him that He may dine with him; having come in, lie sat down at the table; and the Pharisee seeing, was astonished because He was not first baptized before dinner.” It is a well-established fact that the Pharisees, pursuant to the tradition of the elders, were accustomed to wash their hands before eating, lest they had contracted pollution by contact with Gentiles, unclean animals, or some other impurity. Here, where the English says “wash,” the word is ebaptisthe, the passive voice and aorist tense of baptizo, the word constantly used in the New Testament for Christian baptism. The case here is clear and decisive that it only means for Jesus to wash His hands, the very idea of submerging His whole body under water being utterly out of the question. But you say His hands were immersed. That might be so, or it may have been done by affusion. But that is not the point of investigation. It is not said that His hands were baptized, but that Jesus Himself was baptized. Hence it follows, as an irresistible sequence, that when His hands were washed, his entire person was baptized. We simply give this as an honest exegete, expecting to meet you all at the judgment- bar; and not that I want to keep any of you out of the river. On the contrary, I exhort you to follow your convictions and satisfy your conscience. (1Pe 3:21)
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“And the Lord said to Him, Now, you Pharisees purify the outside of the cup and the plate, but the inside of you is full of extortion and wickedness. Ye fools, did not He who made the outside also make the inside? Therefore give alms of your possessions, and, behold, all things are pure to you.”
Where E.V. says “make clean,” the word is catharizo, which is here our Savior’s definition of baptizo. So you need not ransack the world to find out the meaning of baptize. It has no meaning in the Bible but to purify, catharizo being the word constantly used in the Bible to signify a purification. Then our Savior assures these Pharisees that if they will give alms, “all things will be pure to them,” showing up the fact that the love of God in the heart is really the baptism which he requires, superseding and climaxing all ceremonies.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On v37 J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LI. Dining with…
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LI. Dining with a Pharisee].
LI. DINING WITH A PHARISEE, JESUS DENOUNCES THAT SECT. cLUKE XI. 37-54.
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c37 Now as he spake, a Pharisee asketh him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat. [The repast to which Jesus was invited was a morning meal, usually eaten between ten and eleven o'clock. The principal meal of the day was eaten in the evening. Jesus dined with all classes, with publicans and Pharisees, with friends and enemies.] 38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first bathed himself before dinner. [The Pharisee marveled at this because the tradition of the elders required them to wash their hands before eating, and, if they had been in a crowd where their bodies might have been touched by some unclean person, they washed their whole bodies. It was a custom which ministered to pride and self-righteousness.] 39 The Lord said to him [Our Lord's speech is unsparingly denunciatory. To some it seems strange that Jesus spoke thus in a house where he was an invited guest. But our Lord never suspended the solemn work of reproof out of mere compliment. He was governed by higher laws than those of conventional politeness], Now ye the Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. 40 Ye foolish ones, did not he that made the outside make the inside also? [Since God made both the inner and the outer, a true reverence for him requires that both parts be alike kept clean.] 41 But give for alms those things which are within; and behold, all things are clean unto you. [That is, give your inner life, your love, mercy, compassion, etc., to the blessing of mankind, and then your inner purity will make you proof [312] against outward defilement-- Mat_15:11, Tit_1:15, Rom_14:4.] 42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and every herb, and pass over justice and the love of God: but these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. [The Pharisees in paying the tenth part, or tithe, to God, were so exact that they offered the tenth part of the seed even of the spearmint, rue and other small garden herbs, and many contended that the very stalks of these plants should also be tithed. Jesus commends this care about little things, but nevertheless rebukes the Pharisees because they were as careless about big things, such as justice, and the love of God, as they were careful about herb seed. Rue was a small shrub about two feet high, and is said to have been used to flavor wine, and for medicinal purposes.] 43 Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the chief seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in the marketplaces. [They were vainglorious, loving the honors and attentions given by men ( Joh_5:44). They loved on week days to be saluted in the marketplace, and on the Sabbath to sit in the semi-circular row of seats which were back of the lectern, or desk of the reader, and which faced the congregation.] 44 Woe unto you! for ye are as the tombs which appear not, and the men that walk over i them know it not. [According to the Mosaic law, any one who touched a grave was rendered unclean ( Num_19:16). That they might not touch graves and be made unclean without knowing it, the Jews white-washed their graves and tombs once a year. But Jesus likens a Pharisee to graves which defiled men unawares. Their hypocrisy concealed their true nature, so that men were injured and corrupted by their influence without being aware of it. Jesus pronounces three woes upon the Pharisees for three sins, viz.: 1. Hypocrisy, shown in pretending to be be very careful when they were really extremely careless; 2. Vainglory; 3. Corruption of the public morals.] 45 And one of the lawyers answering saith unto him, Teacher, in saying this thou reproachest us also. [Lightfoot supposes that a [313] scribe was one who copied the law of Moses, while a lawyer expounded the oral law or traditions of the elders. But it is more likely that the terms were used interchangeably. They leaned to the Pharisee party, and hence this one felt the rebuke which Jesus addressed to that party. The scribe intimated that Jesus had spoken hastily, and his speech is a suggestion to Jesus to correct or modify his unguarded words. But Jesus made no mistakes and spoke no hasty words.] 46 And he said, Woe unto you lawyers also! for ye load men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. [We have seen in the traditions with regard to the Sabbath how these Jewish lawyers multiplied the burdens which Moses had placed upon the people. They were careful to lay these burdens upon others, but equally careful not to bear them themselves--no, not even to keep the law of Moses itself-- Mat_23:2, Mat_23:3.] 47 Woe unto you! for ye build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 So ye are witnesses and consent unto the works of your fathers: for they killed them, and ye build i their tombs. [Tombs were usually dug in the rock in the sides of hills or cliffs. To build them therefore was to decorate or ornament the entrance. Though their act in building the sepulchres was a seeming honor to the prophets, God did not accept it as such. A prophet is only truly honored when his message is received and obeyed. The lawyers were not in fellowship with the prophets, but with those who murdered the prophets: hence the Saviour pictures the whole transaction from the killing of the prophets to the building of their sepulchres as one act in which all concurred, and all of which were guilty. Abbott gives the words a figurative meaning, thus: your fathers slew the prophets by violence, and you bury them by false teaching.] 49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send unto them prophets and apostles; and i some of them they shall kill and persecute; 50 that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this [314] generation [The phrase "wisdom of God" has been very puzzling, for the words spoken by Jesus are not found in any Old Testament book. Among the explanations the best is that which represents Jesus as quoting the trend or tenor of several prophecies such as 2Ch_24:19-22, 2Ch_36:14-16, Pro_1:20-33. It may, however, be possible that Jesus is here publishing a new decree or conclusion of God, for the words specifically concerned the present generation. If so, Jesus assents to the decree of the Father by calling it "the wisdom of God," and the language is kindred to that at Mat_11:25, Mat_11:26]; 51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary: yea, I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation. [Abel is accounted a prophet because his form of sacrifice prefigured that of Christ. His murder is described at Gen_4:1-8, the first historical book of the Bible, while that of Zachariah is described at 2Ch_24:20-22, in the last historical book of the Old Testament. From the record of one, therefore, to the record of the other embraces the entire catalogue of the Old Testament martyrs. Tradition assigns one of the four great sepulchral monuments at the foot of Olivet to Zachariah. That generation sanctioned all the sins of the past and went beyond them to the crucifixion of the Son of God. The best comment on this passage is the parable at Luk_20:9-16. God made that generation the focus of the world's light and privilege, but the men of that time made it the focus of the world's wickedness and punishment. The punishment began about thirty-seven years later in the war with Rome, which lasted five years and culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem.] 52 Woe unto you lawyers! for ye took away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. [A true knowledge of the Scriptures was a key which opened the door to the glories of Christ and his kingdom. This the lawyer had given away by teaching not the contents of the book, but the rubbish and trifles of tradition. They did not open the door for themselves, and by their [315] pretentious interference they confused others in their efforts to open it.] 53 And when he was come out from thence, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press upon i him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things; 54; laying wait for him, to catch something out of his mouth. [They plied him with many questions, hoping that they could irritate him into making a hot or hasty answer. For methods used to entrap Jesus see Mat_22:15-17, Mat_22:23-28, Mat_22:34-36, Mat_22:46]
[FFG 312-316]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v45 (See Scofield "Mat 22:35").
lawyers
(See Scofield "Mat 22:35").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv33, 37, 42, 45, 49 Parabolic warnings:
Parabolic warnings:
v. 33. No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.
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v. 34. The light of the body is the eye; therefore, when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
v. 35. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
v. 36. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.
These proverbial, parabolic sayings of the Lord were favorite remarks of His when He wanted to drive home the great truth of the necessity of harmony between profession and practice of Christian morality. To light a lamp or a light of any kind, and then to place it into a cellar or vault or under a measure, where it cannot be seen and cannot serve as a guide for him that comes into the house, is foolish; for the purpose of the light is not realized. But equally foolish it is for a person professing faith to give no evidence of that faith in outward visible deeds. If there were any present on that day that had gained the conviction of His Messiahship, they should come out boldly for Him and stand up before the whole world. What disastrous results follow the method of being convinced in the heart and yet not daring to confess Christ openly, He shows by a comparison. If the eye of the body, which is its light, is single, healthy, properly fitted for its work, then it severs as the instrument for conveying light to the whole body; but if the eye is evil, unhealthy, not in proper condition, it cannot serve its purpose; and the person possessing such an eye is in darkness though he stand in a flood of sunlight. If then, the light in any person "be darkness, if what he considered to be light be the opposite, then the double darkness of such a person will be appalling. But if the whole body be in bright light and no part in darkness, then the brightness will be like that of lightning. The eye of a Christian is his Christian understanding; it enables the believer to walk in the light of God’s Word, makes him ready for every good work. When the light of Christ dwells fully in the heart, it extends its influence to every thought, word, and action, and directs its possessor how he is to comport himself in all places and circumstances. "It is of the utmost importance to have the soul properly influenced by the wisdom that comes down from above. The doctrine that is contrary to the Gospel may say, Ignorance is the mother of devotion; but Christ shows that there can be no devotion without heavenly light. Ignorance is the mother of superstition; but with this the heavenly light has nothing to do."
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv33, 37, 39, 42, 43, 45, 47, 49, 52, 53 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus finishes teaching the crowd.
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General Information:
Verses 33-36 are a metaphor where Jesus speaks of his teaching as "light" that he wants his disciples to obey and share with others. He speaks of people who do not know or accept his teaching as being in "darkness." (See: Metaphor)
puts it in a hidden place or under a basket
"hides it or puts in under a basket"
but on a lampstand
The understood subject and verb in this clause may be supplied. AT: "but a person places it on a lampstand" or "but a person puts it on a table" (See: Ellipsis)
Your eye is the lamp of the body
In this part of the metaphor, the things they saw Jesus do provided understanding just as an eye provides light for the body. AT: "Your eye is like the lamp of the body" (See: Metaphor)
Your eye
The eye is a metonym for vision. (See: Metonymy)
the body
The body is a synecdoche for a person's life. (See: Synecdoche)
When your eye is good
Here "eye" here is a metonym for vision. AT: "When your vision is good" or "when you see well" (See: Metonymy)
the whole body is filled with light
This can be stated in active form. AT: "the light will fill your whole body" or "you will be able to see everything clearly" (See: Active or Passive)
when your eye is bad
Here "eye" is a metonym for vision. AT: "When your vision is bad" or "when you see poorly" (See: Metonymy)
your body is full of darkness
"you will not be able to see anything"
be careful that the light in you is not darkness
"make sure that what you think is light is not actually darkness" or "make sure you know what is light and make sure you know what is darkness"
then your whole body will be like when a lamp shines its brightness on you
Jesus states the same truth as a simile. He speaks of people who are full of truth as if they are a lamp that shines brightly. (See: Simile)
translationWords
lamp
lampstand
light
good
darkness
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv33, 35, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 51, 52 11:33 No one lights a lamp and then hides…
11:33 No one lights a lamp and then hides it: See study note on 8:16-17.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.