As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”
Parallel Translations
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As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them,
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death,
and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”
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And Iesus ascended to Ierusalem and toke the.xii. disciples a parte in the waye and sayde to the.
Beholde we goo vp to Ierusalem and the sonne of man shalbe betrayed vnto the chefe prestes and vnto the scribes and they shall condemne him to deeth
and shall delyvre him to the getils to be mocked to be scourged and to be crucified: and the thyrd daye he shall ryse agayne.
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And Iesus went vp to Hierusalem, and tooke the twelue disciples apart in the way, and said vnto them,
Beholde, wee goe vp to Hierusalem, and the Sonne of man shall bee deliuered vnto the chiefe priestes, and vnto the Scribes, and they shall condemne him to death,
And shall deliuer him to the Gentiles, to mocke, and to scourge, and to crucifie him, but the third day he shall rise againe.
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (46)
- Matthew 16:21 (vv18–19) From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and…
- Acts 2:23 (vv18–19) him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;
- Matthew 27:1 (v18) Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
- Mark 10:32-34 (v17) They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going in front of them, and they were amazed; and those who followed were…
- Mark 15:16-20 (v19) The soldiers led him away within the court, which is the Praetorium; and they called together the whole cohort. They clothed him with…
Show all 44 cross-references
- Matthew 17:22-23 (v18) While they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered up into the hands of men, and they will…
- Matthew 26:2 (v18) “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 (v19) For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was…
- Psalms 22:7-8 (v19) All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying, “He trusts in Yahweh. Let him deliver him.…
- Psalms 35:16 (v19) Like the profane mockers in feasts, they gnashed their teeth at me.
- Isaiah 26:19 (v19) Your dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the…
- Isaiah 53:3 (v19) He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face;…
- Hosea 6:2 (v19) After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him.
- Matthew 26:66 (v18) What do you think?” They answered, “He is worthy of death!”
- Matthew 27:27-31 (v19) Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, and gathered the whole garrison together against him. They stripped him, and…
- Acts 4:27-28 (v18) “For truly, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together against your holy servant,…
- Genesis 18:17 (v17) Yahweh said, “Will I hide from Abraham what I do,
- Psalms 2:1-3 (v18) Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together,…
- Psalms 22:1-31 (v18) My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning? My God, I cry in the…
- Psalms 69:1-36 (v18) Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck! I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, where…
- Isaiah 53:1-12 (v18) Who has believed our message? To whom has Yahweh’s arm been revealed? For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry…
- Daniel 9:24-27 (v18) “Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make…
- Matthew 12:40 (v19) For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart…
- Matthew 13:11 (v17) He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.
- Matthew 16:13 (v17) Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
- Matthew 26:67-68 (v19) Then they spat in his face and beat him with their fists, and some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who hit you?”
- Mark 14:64-65 (v18) You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?” They all condemned him to be worthy of death. Some began to spit on him, and to cover his…
- Mark 14:65 (v19) Some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to beat him with fists, and to tell him, “Prophesy!” The officers struck him with the…
- Mark 15:1 (v19) Immediately in the morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, bound Jesus, carried…
- Mark 15:29-31 (v19) Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save…
- Luke 18:31-34 (v17) He took the twelve aside, and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are written through the prophets…
- Luke 22:71 (v18) They said, “Why do we need any more witness? For we ourselves have heard from his own mouth!”
- Luke 23:1-5 (v19) The whole company of them rose up and brought him before Pilate. They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting the…
- Luke 23:11 (v19) Herod with his soldiers humiliated him and mocked him. Dressing him in luxurious clothing, they sent him back to Pilate.
- Luke 24:46 (v19) He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
- John 12:12 (v17) On the next day a great multitude had come to the feast. When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
- John 15:15 (v17) No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I…
- John 18:28-38 (v19) They led Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the Praetorium. It was early, and they themselves didn’t enter into the Praetorium, that they…
- John 19:1-4 (v19) So Pilate then took Jesus, and flogged him. The soldiers twisted thorns into a crown, and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple…
- Acts 3:13-16 (v19) The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up, and denied in the…
- Acts 4:27 (v19) “For truly, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together against your holy servant,…
- Acts 10:41 (v17) not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen before by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
- Acts 21:11 (v19) Coming to us and taking Paul’s belt, he bound his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘So the Jews at Jerusalem will bind…
- Matthew 27:2-10 (v19) and they bound him, and led him away, and delivered him up to Pontius Pilate, the governor. Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that…
44 distinct cross-references across this passage (46 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv17–19 Christ goeth to the cross necessarily, but yet willingly.
Christ goeth to the cross necessarily, but yet willingly.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv17–19 17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the…
17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,
Ver. 17. Took the twelve disciples] To rouse them and raise them out of their carnal fears and dejections. Jerusalem was the saints’ slaughter house, Luk 13:33; (as Rome is now, which therefore is spiritually called Jerusalem, Egypt, Sodom, &c., Rev 11:8). Hither our Saviour bent his course; hereupon they were amazed and afraid, Mar 10:32, and gave him counsel to go back rather into Galilee for his own and their safety, Joh 11:8. He takes them therefore apart, and tells them as followeth, what they must trust to; and that though he be brought to the dust of death, he will rise again gloriously, to their great comfort.
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 v17 Both Mark and Luke give us account of this…
Both Mark and Luke give us account of this passage. Mark saith, Mar 10:32-34, And they were in the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles: and they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again. Luke hath it, Luk 18:31-34, then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spit on: and they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. Our blessed Lord was yet upon his road from Galilee to Jerusalem; we have here an account of some of his travelling discourse, to teach us to make use of all time for edifying and profitable discourse. Mark saith, that as they went Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. Mark gives us no account of any formidable object in their eye. Those that think they were amazed to see him make such haste to his death, forget that Luke saith, that after our Saviour had further instructed them in this, they understood it not; but probably they knew he was going into the nest of his enemies, and this made them afraid. He calls to him the twelve, (it was not a discourse fit for a multitude), and gives them an account very particularly of what he had twice or thrice before taught them: He had before told them of his death and resurrection, and that he should be betrayed to death; here he describes the manner, they should deliver him to the Gentiles (to Pilate and Herod); he describes his previous sufferings, he should be scourged, mocked, spit upon, and the kind of his death, he should be crucified; that when these things came to pass, they might be assured that he was God, who had so punctually foretold things to come, not existent in their causes, but mere contingencies. He comforteth them with two things:
1. That it was according to what had been foretold by the prophets.
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2. That though he died, he should rise again the third day.
They had need of this forewarning for a forearming; for considering that they now looked upon him as the Messiah, it might well pose them to think how he should die; and when they had seen all these things come to pass, it might have shaken their faith; but being so particularly foretold, the coming of them to pass rather confirmed their faith in him as the Son of God than weakened it.
But Luke saith, they understood none of these things; that is, surely they believed none of them, the saying was hid from them. The words were plain enough, but they could not reconcile them to their reason, they could not conceive how he who was the Messiah could die; nor get over the prejudice of his being a temporal prince, and exercising a kingdom in this world. For his rising again the third day, they could not believe it.
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 v17 This is now the third time that Christ had…
This is now the third time that Christ had acquainted his disciples very lately with his approaching sufferings, and bloody passion. He did it twice before, chapters 16 and 17, yet now he mentions it again, that they might not be dismayed, and their faith might not be shaken to see him die, who called himself the true Messias and the Son of God.
The first time he told his disciples of his death in general; the second time he declares the means, by treason; now he tells them the manner, by crucifying: that he should be scourged, mocked, spit upon, and crucified: all this he did, to prevent his disciples’ dejection at his sufferings.
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Learn thence, that it is highly necessary that the doctrine of the cross be often preached to us; that so being armed with the expectation of sufferings before they come, we may be the less dismayed and disheartened when they come.
Our Lord’s frequent forewarning his disciples of his death and sufferings was to fore-arm them with expectation of his sufferings, and with preparation for their own.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv17–19 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem,.... This is the…
Behold, we go up to Jerusalem,.... This is the last time of our going thither; observe, and take notice of what I am about to say; some extraordinary things will come to pass, and, as Luke relates that he said,
all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man, shall be accomplished; everything that is recorded in Psa 22:1, and in Isa 53:1, or in any other prophecies of the Old Testament, relating to the ill treatment the Messiah should meet with, to his sufferings and death, and all the circumstances attending them, shall be exactly fulfilled in every point: and that they might not be at a loss about what he meant, he gives an account of various particular things, which should befall him;
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and the Son of man shall be betrayed: he does not say by whom, though he knew from the beginning who should betray him, that it would be one of his disciples, and that it would be Judas; but the proper time was not yet come to make this discovery: the persons into whose hands he was to be betrayed, are mentioned;
unto the chief priests, and unto the Scribes; who were his most inveterate and implacable enemies; and who were the persons that had already taken counsel to put him to death, and were seeking all advantages and opportunities to execute their design:
and they shall condemn him to death; which is to be understood not of their declaring it as their opinion, that he was guilty of death, and ought to die by a law of their's, which declaration they made before Pilate; nor of their procuring the sentence of death to be pronounced by him, upon him; but of their adjudging him to death among themselves, in the palace of the high priest; which was done by them, as the sanhedrim and great council of the nation; though either they could not, or did not, choose to execute it themselves, and therefore delivered him up to the Romans; for this act of condemning him to death, was to be, and was, before the delivery of him up to the Gentiles, as is clear from what follows.
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 v17 Mark x, 32; Luke xviii, 31.
Mark x, 32; Luke xviii, 31.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv17–19 Verse 17. And Jesus going up] From Jericho to…
Verse 17. And Jesus going up] From Jericho to Jerusalem, See Clarke on Mt 19:15.
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 v17 Mat 20:17-19. Jesus took the twelve disciples apart in…
Mat 20:17-19. Jesus took the twelve disciples apart in the way — See note on Mar 10:32-34. And said, The Son of man shall be betrayed, &c. — This is the sixth time that Jesus foretold his own sufferings; see Joh 2:19; Joh 2:21; Mat 16:21; Mat 17:12; Mat 17:22-23; Luk 17:25; and the fifth time that he foretold his resurrection. And the particular manner in which he signifies how he should suffer; that the Jews should mock him, as if he were a fool; scourge him, as if he were a knave; spit upon him, (Mar 10:34,) to express their abhorrence of him as a blasphemer; and crucify him as a criminal slave, is a “remarkable proof of the extraordinary measure of the prophetic spirit which dwelt in him. For, humanly speaking, it was much more probable that he should have been privately assassinated, or stoned, as was before attempted, by some zealous transport of popular fury, than that he should have been thus solemnly condemned, and delivered up to crucifixion; a Roman punishment, with which we do not find that he had ever been threatened. Indeed, when the Jews condemned him for blasphemy, for which the punishment appointed in the law was stoning; and Pilate, at last, gave them a general permission to take him, and judge him according to their own law, (Joh 18:31; and Joh 19:7,) it is wonderful they did not choose to stone him; but all this was done that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.” — Doddridge.
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 v17 See also Mar 10:32-34; Luk 18:31-34.
See also Mar 10:32-34; Luk 18:31-34.
And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem - That is, doubtless, to the Passover. This journey was from the east side of Jordan. See the notes at Mat 19:1. At this time he was on this journey to Jerusalem, probably not far from Jericho. This was his last journey to Jerusalem. He was going up to die for the sins of the world.
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Took the twelve disciples apart - All the males of the Jews were required to be at this feast, Exo 23:17. The roads, therefore, on such occasions, would probably be thronged. It is probable, also, that they would travel in companies, or that whole neighborhoods would go together. See Luk 2:44. By his taking them apart is meant his taking them aside from the company. He had something to communicate which he did not wish the others to hear. Mark adds: “And Jesus went before them, and they were amazed; and as they followed they were sore afraid.” He led the way. He had told them before Mat 17:22 that he should be betrayed into the hands of people and be put to death. They began now to be afraid that this would happen, and to be solicitous for his life and for their own safety, and they were amazed at his boldness and calmness, and at his fixed determination to go up to Jerusalem in these circumstances.
Mat 20:18, Mat 20:19
Behold, we go up to Jerusalem - Jesus assured them that what they feared would come to pass, but he had, in some measure, prepared their minds for this state of suffering by the promises which he had made to them, Mat 19:27-30; 20:1-16. In all their sufferings they might be assured that eternal rewards were before them.
Shall be betrayed - See Mat 17:22. “Unto the chief priests and scribes.” The high priest, and the learned men who composed the Sanhedrin or the Great Council of the nation. He was thus betrayed by Judas, Mat 26:15. He was delivered to the chief priests and scribes, Mat 26:57.
And they shall condemn him to death - They had not power to inflict death, as that power had been taken away by the Romans; but they had the power of expressing an opinion, and of delivering him to the Romans to be put to death. This they did, Mat 26:66; Mat 27:2.
Shall deliver him to the Gentiles - That is, because they have not the right of inflicting capital punishment, they will deliver him to those who have to the Roman authorities. The Gentiles here means Pontius Pilate and the Roman soldiers. See Mat 27:2, Mat 27:27-30.
To mock - See the notes at Mat 2:16.
To scourge - That is, to whip. This was done with thongs, or a whip made for the purpose, and this punishment was commonly inflicted upon criminals before crucifixion. See the notes at Mat 10:17.
To crucify him - That is, to put him to death on a cross - the common punishment of slaves. See the notes at Mat 27:31-32.
The third day ... - For the evidence that this was fulfilled, see the notes at Mat 28:15. Mark and Luke say that he would be spit upon. Spitting on another has always been considered an expression of the deepest contempt. Luke says Luk 18:31, “All things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.” Among other things, he says he shall be “spitefully entreated;” that is, treated with spite or malice; malice, implying contempt. These sufferings of our Saviour, and this treatment, and his death, had been predicted in many places. See Isa 53:1-12; Dan 9:26-27.
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 vv18–19 Behold we go, &c. Jesus here, for the third…
Behold we go, &c. Jesus here, for the third time, foretells his death; (the first time, Matthew xvi. 21; the second time, Matthew xvii. 21.) Our salvation and happiness are owing to the death of Christ; neither is there any thing that more loudly calls for our gratitude than his sufferings and death. Jesus takes the 12 apart, and reveals to them the mystery of his passion. He had previously declared it in public, but in ambiguous terms, saying: destroy this temple, &c. A sign shall not be given, but the sign of Jonas the prophet; but here he manifestly expounds to his disciples the mystery: behold we go up to Jerusalem, &c. This discourse of our Saviour is remarkable for an energetic strength of expression. (St. John Chrysostom) --- Jesus had repeatedly spoken to his apostles of his passion; but as much of what he had said had escaped their memory, now that he is upon the road to Jerusalem in company with his disciples, he brings it back to their recollection, to fortify them against the scandal they might take at his ignominious death. (St. Jerome)
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 v17 Christ surrendering Himself to and for the Messianic Faith…
PART FOURTH
Christ surrendering Himself to and for the Messianic Faith and Hope of His People.
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Mat_20:17 to Mat_24:1
Historical Succession.—A second time Christ is now induced to leave Peræa by a message from Bethany, to the effect that Lazarus was sick. We account for the delay in His departure, in consequence of which He found His friend dead and buried, by the abundant work which lay to His hands in Peræa. Then followed the raising of Lazarus (Joh_11:1-44). The definite resolution of the Sanhedrin to kill Jesus, expressed in the formal sentence of excommunication which they now pronounced, induced Him to retire into the city of Ephraim, which lay a few hours north of Jerusalem, near Bethel, and in the immediate vicinity of the wilderness of Judæa. Once more that wilderness was to afford Him shelter until the next paschal feast. Similarly, He had retired into the desert for a while after His baptism, because He was met by the spurious Messianic expectations of His people, as by a temptation. But now He withdrew, before fully surrendering Himself to those hopes of His people and followers which had been evoked by His own word and teaching. From Ephraim Jesus went to Jericho, where He joined the festive caravan of His friends, coming from Galilee and Peræa.
The history of Christ’s sufferings, which now follows, may be regarded as that of His self-surrender to the Messianic faith of His people, which He had purified and sanctified in those who were Israelites indeed. The long-expected hour had arrived. In the most general sense, or viewing it in connection with the whole evangelical history, this period may be said to continue until His death. But, for the sake of greater distinctness, it may be arranged into the days of the Hosanna, and those of the cry: “Crucify Him;” or, the period of enthusiastic reception, and that of determined rejection. In the Gospel of Matthew, the period of suffering and the report of the last discourses of our Lord are very distinctly marked; while at the close of that section we have Christ’s farewell to the temple, and His final judgment upon the Pharisees and scribes. Accordingly, the part under consideration constitutes a well-marked, although very brief, period of the highest importance. It may be designated as the period of triumphant progress, or of the Hosanna. Its contents are arranged under the following sections.
_____________
FIRST SECTION
THE FULL PROPHETIC ANTICIPATION OF THE END
Mat_20:17-19.
17And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples11 apart in the way, and said [and in the way said]12 unto them, 18Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall [will] be betrayed [delivered] unto the chief priests and unto the scribes,19and they shall [will] condemn him to death,13 And shall [will] deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him:14 and the third day he shall rise [will be raised] again.15
__________
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Mat_20:17. Took the twelve disciples apart.—The expression παρέλαβεν is intended as an antithesis to καί προσλαβόμενος ὁ ΙΙετρος in Mat_16:22, although the terms are not quite the same. On the latter occasion Peter rebuked the Lord, and in his earnestness actually took hold of Him, to arrest His progress; while Jesus took the Twelve apart into retirement. There He entered into full explanations about the decease which He was to accomplish; thus giving the disciples another opportunity of deciding whether, by an act of free and full self-surrender, they would follow Him, or not.
Apart, κατ̓ ἰδίαν—This expression has a profound meaning in the life of Jesus. In all probability, it does not merely refer here to a turning aside from the multitude which had gathered around (Euthym. Zigab.: ον̓́κ ἔδει ταν͂τα μαθεῖν τον̀ς πολλον́ς ̓Ινα μὴ σκανδαλιοθῶσιν), but means, that Jesus retired into the wilderness of Ephraim. Comp. Joh_11:54. Thence He afterward joined, at Jericho, the festive caravan which travelled from Galilee to Jerusalem. In the text, the Evangelist refers to the moment when He came out of the wilderness, and was about (“in the way,” ἐντῇὁδῷ) to join the festive train.
Mat_20:18-19. Behold, we go up.—The former predictions of His impending sufferings, in Mat_16:21; Mat_17:22, are now followed by a more detailed description of these events. Spiritually viewed, His sufferings consisted of a twofold betrayal, and that in the form both of rejection and of surrender: 1. παραδοθησεται τοῖς ἀρχιερεν͂σιν, κ.τ.λ.; 2. καὶ παραδώσουσι. With reference to the first betrayal, our Lord evidently indicates that He would Himself go forth from the midst of His followers, and that they would not prevent the impending events. But the betrayer himself is not yet named; the particulars being still withheld under the use of the passive mood. But the second act of betrayal is distinctly mentioned as the voluntary deed of the chief priests and scribes, or of the Sanhedrin,—in other words, of the professing people of God, in so far as they were represented by their supreme tribunal. His own followers were to betray and surrender Him into the hands of the Sanhedrin, while the Sanhedrin and the chosen people were to betray and to deliver Him to the Gentiles. Similarly, these two parties were to share in His death, For while the highest Jewish tribunal was to judge and to condemn Him to death, the Gentiles were to determine the accessories and the mode of His sufferings.—He was to be mocked, scourged, and crucified. When the apostasy and betrayal of the high priests had first been announced to the disciples, mention had not been made of most of these particulars. On the second occasion on which the Saviour intimated His sufferings, He spoke of being delivered, but only in general terms, as a betrayal into the hands of men. But on this occasion the disciples were informed of the twofold betrayal which was impending—on the part of His own friends into the hands of His enemies, and again on the part of the chosen race to the Gentiles. Similarly, the prediction of His death is now more definitely presented, with all the particulars connected with it. He who was mocked or treat ed with scorn (or designated as an impotent enthusiast), should not have been scourged; or, again, having been scourged (or designated as a common and ordinary transgressor), He should not have been crucified (or treated as a capital offender). But all these apparently conflicting modes of punishment were to be inflicted upon the Messiah, whom His people had betrayed and rejected.
Mat_20:19. And the third day.—As the sun breaks through dark clouds, so does this promise here again shed its blessed light, comp. Mat_16:21; Mat_17:23. Still, it is not more fully explained, but left in general outline until after the paschal feast, when the Lord explained it more fully. The Evangelist does not directly record the effects of this prediction of Jesus. But the history of Salome, which immediately follows, clearly shows that, so far from having tended to cast down the disciples, it had only increased their courage. From Mar_10:32 we infer that even before that time they had been most deeply moved; while from Luk_18:34 we learn that even after this express statement, they were not inclined to take the words of the Lord in their literal sense, as implying the terrible truth which they seemed to convey (Leben Jesu, ii. 2, 1148).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
We note, first of all, the contrast between the first occasion on which Jesus had left the wilderness, at the commencement of His public ministry, and this time, when He again came forth at the close of His course. Then, the spurious and worldly expectations of His people concerning the kingdom drove Him into the wilderness, where He resolved to avoid and eschew that temptation, wherever and however it met Him. But now He is again drawn forth by the youthful and healthy, but weak faith of His followers, who go up to the feast. He comes forth from the wilderness, as if at the call of the Father, as the Messiah, to join them, and to realize their hopes. Again, the state of mind of the disciples, as compared with that of the Master, forms another sinking contrast. They seem full of indefinite hopes and expectations; and the announcement that He should be crucified, only adds fresh fuel to the flame. The mention of the twofold betrayal that awaited Him has its deep and solemn meaning. Our Lord referred not merely to the fact, that His people and their rulers should deliver Him, their long expected Messiah, into the hands of the Gentiles, But also to the be trayal which awaited Him from among His own followers, in consequence of which He should be surrendered to the Sanhedrin. Thus Christ was betrayed not merely by the Old Testament community, but also by those who formed the circle of the New Testament disciples before they were enlightened by the pentecostal effusion of the Spirit. If the latter had not first delivered Him, the Jews could not so readily have seized and betrayed Him into the hands of the Gentiles.
[Wordsworth: Our Lord reveals the future by degrees, as His Apostles were able to bear it, and in proportion as He drew nearer to His passion. He had first told them that the Son of Man should be put to death, Mat_16:21 (and more fully, Mat_17:22-23), and He had said that His disciples must take up the cross and follow Him, Mat_10:38; Mat_16:24; and thus He had prepared them gradually for the revelation which He now makes toward the close of His ministry, that He Himself should be delivered to the Romans to be mocked, and scourged, and crucified. How natural is all this! Here is one of the many silent proofs of the truth of the gospel history, as well as of the long-suffering, wisdom, and tenderness of Christ.—P. S.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The last and fullest prediction of the sufferings of the Lord, a great evidence,—1. of the prophetic character of the Lord; 2. of His willingness, as a Priest, to offer Himself a sacrifice unto the Father; 3. of His confident expectation of victory as a King.—How the faithfulness of the Lord toward His disciples appears in the announcement of His impending sufferings: 1. It is seen in the gradual manner in which He makes the fact known (from the first He had intimated that His path was one of suffering; but, while putting an end to their spurious hopes, He had never said anything to cast them down). 2. But now He set it before them in all its terrors (He dealt candidly with them. Return was still possible for them, although, from their former decision, He no longer asked them whether they would forsake Him). 3. He placed before their view the promise awaiting them at the end; thus establishing and encouraging them by this blessed prospect.—How frequently the Lord takes His own people apart in His Church (to reveal great things to them, which others cannot yet bear or receive).—Deep and solemn importance at all times of the saying, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem.”—The journey of the Messiah to Jerusalem: the saddest and yet the happiest event in history.—The fact of His impending sufferings so clearly present to His mind, and yet conveying so little terror: 1. The sufferings themselves,—(a) in their spiritual aspect: a twofold betrayal and a twofold rejection; (b) in their outward aspect: a twofold sentence—condemning Him as a heretic and as a criminal. 2. The effect on His own mind: (a) it did not affright Him (if it did, He would not have seen it; but because He saw it, it did not fill Him with fear); (b) it led Him to arrange His progress (to prepare both Himself and His people)—Deep mystery of the fact, that Israel delivered their long-expected Messiah into the hands of the hated Gentiles: 1. A mystery connected with their former sins; 2. with their impending judgments; 3. with the infinite compassion of the Lord.—The guilt of the world, the death of Christ.—How the sin of the world appears in the death of Jesus: (a) in the sin of the disciples toward their Lord and Master; (b) in the sin of the people toward their Messiah; (c) in the sin of the Gentiles toward the Son of Man.—How the Lord looked beyond and through His sufferings to the goal of His resurrection.—When the guilt of the world appears most fully, its reconciliation by the Messiah is also at hand.—In opposition to men, who crucified Christ, we have God, who raised Him up.—The Son of Man will be delivered. Import of this sad secret: 1. As yet, it is not more fully disclosed, because it is the saddest part of all. 2. It may not yet be disclosed, because it is to be the free act of the betrayer. 3. It need not be more fully disclosed, because the slightest hint should have proved a solemn warning to all.—How, in meditating on the sufferings of Christ, we are prone to think too little of the first and saddest betrayal, viz., that of His disciples.—The ecclesiastical and the historical aspect of this betrayal.—The threefold manifestation of the sin of the disciples as springing from offence at Him: (a) It was a betrayal; (b) a denial; (c) a forsaking.—“He that delivereth Me unto thee hath the greater sin.” Import of this, as referring not merely to the second betrayal of Jesus on the part of His enemies, but also to the first by Judas Iscariot.—Contradictory character of the treatment which the Saviour experienced: 1. He was betrayed, and yet judicially condemned; 2. temporal and spiritual sentence was pronounced upon Him; 3. He experienced various and contradictory modes of punishment: scorn, scourging, crucifixion.—Why Christ saw His cross afar off: 1. It was predetermined from the beginning, and He saw it everywhere throughout His course; 2. from the first He prepared for it, and experienced its bitterness in many preliminary trials; 3. it was the harbinger of His exaltation, and ever and again He anticipated His coming glory.—The cross the perfect manifestation—1. of the guilt of the world; 2. of the love of Christ; 3. of His obedience; 4. of the grace of God.
Starke:—Hedinger: The sufferings of Christ our sufferings; (a) in respect of their imputation: (b) in respect of heir consequences; (c) in respect of the example set to us.—Let us learn to be ever mindful of our death and resurrection.
Heubner:—The anticipation of the glory awaiting Him, cherished by the human soul of Jesus, was the result of His full and deep faith. This expectation, however, did not detract either from the merit or from the intensity of His sufferings, just as a similar hope in the people of God does not make their contest more easy or less glorious.
Footnotes:
[11] Mat_20:17.—Tischendorf omits μαθητάς after D., L., Z., al Lachmann retains it, and Meyer accounts for the omission from the parallel passages. [Tischendorf likewise retains it in his edit, septima critica major of 1859. Dr. Lange seems to have used the smaller critical edition of 1849, which omits μαθητάς.—P. S.]
[12] Mat_20:17.—[The Vatican and Sinait. Codd., and the Codd. L., Z. (which generally agree with the former), and the critical editions of Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelies, and Alford read: καὶ ὲν τῇ ὁδῷ, instead of ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ, καί as the Received Text has it. Dr. Lange for Internal reasons prefers here the latter, which is supported by Codd. A., C., D. and other ethcial MSS.—P. S.]
[13] Mat_20:18—Cod. B. omits θανάτῳ, but it is required by the connection. [Cod. Sinait. reads: εἱς θάνατον.—P. S.]
[14] Mat_20:19.—[Conant: “to mock, and scourge, and crucify (omitting ‘to’ twice); the proper expression of the Greek Εἰς τό with the three following infinitives. The interpolated ‘him’ is superfluous and enfeebles the expiation.”—P. S.]
[15] Mat_20:19.—The Recepta [and Lachmann, following B., C, D.]: αναστήσεται. Tischendorf [and Alford] ἐγερθησεται, after C., L., Z. The former reading seems to have arisen from the parallel passages, according to Meyer. It may be urged In favor of ἐγει θήσεται, that it sets forth the restitution of the Messiah by the Almighty power of God in contrast with His rejection by the people. [Cod. Sinait. reads here εγερθησετ ἑ, for ται,—one of the many writing errors of this ancient MS.—P. 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.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv17–19 § 106. — HIS SUFFERINGS AGAIN FORETOLD, Mat_20:17-19.
§ 106. — HIS SUFFERINGS AGAIN FORETOLD, Mat_20:17-19.
17. Jesus going up to Jerusalem — Our Lord has been for some months in Perea, the country beyond, that is, east of Jordan, teaching, and working miracles, and laying the foundations of the kingdom of God. The time is at hand in which, by the shedding of blood, there must be the remission of sins. Jerusalem is the place where for ages the typical sacrifices had predicted the real sacrifice which was now to be made once for all. He therefore crosses the Jordan, and begins to bend his way toward the memorable city. Here commences what we consider the Seventh Period of his ministry. See Hist. Synopsis. Imagining that he is on his way to erect his kingdom at Jerusalem, Salome prefers her ambitious request for her two sons. The two blind men at Jericho hail him Son of David, and are cured. Zaccheus entertains him, and Jesus pursues his way. See note on Mat_20:34. Took the twelve disciples apart — Mark tells us that as they went their way Jesus went before them, and that they were amazed at his course and afraid for his boldness. At his last visit, at the feast of dedication, he had enraged the Jews, and their temper had by no means become mollified by subsequent events. Our Saviour leads the way, but his disciples reluctantly follow. He now stops, takes them aside, and gives them this third warning, more distinctly than either before, that he does indeed go to meet death. He reveals new points, and unfolds new facts. He will be delivered to the Gentiles; so that in the great transaction in which Jews and Gentiles are interested, Jews and Gentiles shall be actors. Then should follow the resurrection; and that resurrection should be on the third day.
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 vv17–18 17–19. Jesus going up to Jerusalem foretells His Passion…
17–19. Jesus going up to Jerusalem foretells His Passion for the third time
See chs. Mat_16:21, Mat_17:22-23; and Mar_10:32-34; Luk_18:31-34. St Mark and St Luke add “shall spit upon him” (Mark); “shall be spitted on” (Luke); St Matthew alone names “crucifixion;” St Luke, who mentions only the share which the Gentiles had in the Passion, adds “they understood none of these things, and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.”
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The disciples, as Jews, still placed their hopes in the present world: “what shall we have?” They still thought Jesus might be using a figure of speech. Jesus was alone in the certainty of His awful secret. He had no sympathy from His followers.
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 vv17–19 (17) And Jesus going up to Jerusalem.—The narrative is…
(17) And Jesus going up to Jerusalem.—The narrative is not continuous, and in the interval between Mat_20:16-17 we may probably place our Lord’s “abode beyond Jordan” (Joh_10:40), the raising of Lazarus, and the short sojourn in the city called Ephraim (Joh_11:54). This would seem to have been followed by a return to Persea, and then the journey to Jerusalem begins. The account in St. Mark adds some significant facts. “Jesus went” (literally, was going—implying continuance) “before them.” It was as though the burden of the work on which He was entering pressed heavily on His soul. The shadow of the cross had fallen on Him. He felt something of the conflict which reached its full intensity in Gethsemane, and therefore He needed solitude that He might prepare Himself for the sacrifice by communing with His Father; and instead of journeying with the disciples and holding “sweet converse” with them, went on silently in advance. This departure from His usual custom, and, it may be, the look and manner that accompanied it, impressed the disciples, as was natural, very painfully. “They were amazed, and as they followed, were afraid.” It was apparently as explaining what had thus perplexed them that He took the Twelve apart from the others that followed (including probably the Seventy and the company of devout women of Luk_8:2) and told them of the nearness of His passion.
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 vv17–19 Vers. 17-19Third and fuller prediction of Jesus" sufferings and…
Vers. 17-19Third and fuller prediction of Jesus" sufferings and death. (Mar_10:32-34 Luk_18:31-34)
Going up. This is the usual expression for travelling to the capital, and was particularly appropriate to a journey to Jerusalem, which was set among hills. This last journey of the Redeemer was indeed a steep ascent, the end of which was Calvary. Took (parelabe , took to himself)... apart (kat idian). He was accompanied by many followers, but what he had now to impart was not intended to be divulged to all, but was reserved for the chosen twelve. The mass could not have heard it without offence. In the way. The Vulgate omits these words. The Revised Version, on good authority, alters the received order, reading, and in the way he said unto them . Thus Christ prepared the apostles for the coming time of trial, after they had shown fuller faith in his Godhead.
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Vers. 17-19. Predictions of the Passion.
I JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM.
1. The Lord. He was going up now for the last time to the holy city. His work in Galilee, in Peraea, was over; it seemed to have ended in disappointment, His popularity was not what it had been; his enemies had to a large extent succeeded (or seemed to have succeeded) in undermining his influence. He was "a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." A few days of thankless labour awaited him at Jerusalem, and then the awful cross. He knew it all. We cannot discern the secrets of the future; God has mercifully shrouded them in darkness. The shadow of the cross fell along the whole life of the Lord. And now he knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father. The thought gave an awful dignity to his mien, a Divine majesty to his figure, a strange stateliness to every gesture. (Mar_10:32) He was going to meet his death. He saw it plain before him in all its circumstances of shame and anguish; but he shrank not. He went forwards with a sweet and holy calmness, with a more than heroic courage, which shone through his features and illumined those clear holy eyes with a light that spoke of heaven.
2. The disciples. The Lord went before them, leading them to the fearful conflict. They followed in silent awe; they watched the Lord"s demeanour; they had never before seen such a strange high glory of steadfast resolve even on that blessed face, and they were amazed, terror-stricken. They regarded him with the deepest reverence reverence not diminished by familiar intercourse, but constantly increasing; and now, it seems, they feared to intrude upon his meditations; but they were troubled and anxious. They felt that some momentous crisis was at hand. The Lord cared for them. He was not so absorbed in the intense contemplation of his coming sufferings as to forget his followers. He is our great Example. We think that the excitement caused by the expectation of great joy or great sorrow is an excuse for the neglect of our ordinary duties. It was not so with Christ our Lord. "Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end." He took them apart in the way. He would in his loving tenderness prepare them for the dreadful trial. Twice already he had predicted his death, but they seemed unable to take it into their minds; he would tell them a third time, more plainly now, in greater detail. And so he took them apart. Perhaps the roads were crowded; there were multitudes going up to the Passover. He would not tell them the dreadful secret within the reach of unsympathizing cars; they would best hear it alone, where none were present save those most deeply concerned the blessed Master, and the little company who so dearly loved him. Mark the tender delicacy of his dealings with them.
II WHAT WAS TO BE EXPECTED.
1. The betrayal. "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem," the Lord said. It was a glad thought commonly. "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem." And they were now going up to the Passover. It may be that the disciples, like other Jews, were looking forward to that great festival with feelings of joy; and very probably they were cherishing the hope that their Master would then manifest himself openly as the Messiah, that he would be welcomed as the great King, the Deliverer that was to come. He was to be manifested, but upon the cross; he was to reign, but from the tree. He told them calmly of the double betrayal that was coming, He should be betrayed (he did not say by whom; they could not bear yet to hear that) unto the chief priests and scribes. They would not acknowledge him as the Christ (as perhaps the disciples were hoping); they would condemn him to death, and betray him to the Gentiles. His own disciple would betray him to the priests; his own nation, nay, the priests, who knew where the Christ should be born, (Mat_2:4) one of whom "prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation", (Joh_11:51) would betray him to the Gentiles.
2. The manner of his death. He told them very plainly now. It would be the act of the Gentiles, but the guilt would rest mainly with the Jews. (Joh_19:11) He predicted the harrowing details of his Passion; he would be mocked, scourged, crucified, he had mentioned the cross already, (Mat_10:38 Mat_16:24) but it was in figurative language; the spiritual cross of self-denial was to be the test of his true disciples. Now he told them plainly what it was that was to give a new meaning to the hated word, and make it another name for the holiest and loftiest self-sacrifice. He himself was to die upon the cross, not in figure, but in reality, he, the Christ, the Son of the living God, he whom the three chosen apostles had seen glorious with the radiance of heaven, he was to die that death which hitherto had been regarded as of all things horrible the most horrible, of all things ignominious the most intensely shameful. Yet the future was not all dark; he was to rise again the third day. He had raised others already from the dead: he himself would rise, for he is the Resurrection and the Life; it was not possible that he could be holden of the grave. It was now the third warning; yet, St. Luke tells us, the apostles "understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken." It seems strange; but is it not much the same now? In spite of warnings, men will not understand that their own death is at hand; they think all men mortal but themselves; they will not speak of death; they carefully avoid the subject. Christ teaches us a different lesson. We should often think of death, we should often speak of it, of our own coming death, and that calmly, with the Christian"s hope of a blessed resurrection.
LESSONS.
1. Mark the awe and reverence with which the apostles regarded the Lord, though they loved him so well. Reverence becomes the true Christian.
2. How often, when we look for joy, there comes great sorrow! Let us be prepared.
3. Think much of the cross of the Lord Jesus; it cannot be too much in the Christian"s thoughts.
Vers. 17-19. Prophetic anticipations.
The roads are now crowded with people journeying to Jerusalem to celebrate there the great annual Feast of the Passover. (see Deu_16:1-7) Jesus separated his disciples from the crowd, probably by retiring into some sylvan shade to rest, that he might discourse to them privately of his approaching Passion. His discourse evinces
I A DIVINE FOREKNOWLEDGE.
1. It anticipated his betrayal.
(1) He was able to read its history in that of Ahithophel. (cf. 2Sa_15:12 Psa_41:9 Psa_55:12, Psa_55:14, 20 Joh_13:18)
(2) As yet he had not named Judas; but, had Judas already meditated his infamous act, what must have been his feelings when Jesus now said in his hearing, "And the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and scribes"? No disciple of Christ can apostatize from him unwarned.
2. It anticipated the malignity of the rulers.
(1) Delivery "unto the chief priests and scribes" is a periphrasis for the Sanhedrin, which sat at "Jerusalem". (see Luk_13:33)
(2) The corporate conscience is proverbially elastic; yet who but God could have foreseen that the Sanhedrin would agree to condemn Jesus to death?
(3) The Sanhedrin might "condemn" to death under the Mosaic Law, but the Romans had deprived it of the power to carry out the sentence. (see Joh_17:21) In this note a symptom of the departure of the sceptre or magistracy from Judah, which was to be preceded by the coming of Shiloh. (see Gen_49:10)
3. It anticipated the violence of the Romans.
(1) This is now the third time that Jesus clearly predicted his sufferings. (cf. Mat_16:21 Mat_17:22, Mat_17:23) But here, for the first time, the part the Gentiles were to take in that tragedy is indicated. It was meet that the Saviour of a sinful world should suffer from the combined malice of Jew and Gentile. (see Eph_2:16)
(2) "And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock." This was done by Herod and his Roman soldiers. (see Luk_23:11)
(3) "And to scourge." This was done by Pilate. (see Joh_19:1) And his soldiers followed up the scourging with many dreadful insults.
(4) "And to crucify." The punishment of the cross was Roman, not Jewish. It was, originally considered, more probable that Jesus should be privately slain or stoned to death in a tumult, as was Stephen. And when he was delivered back to the Jews by Pilate, with permission to judge him according to their Law, it is wonderful that he was not stoned. The foreknowledge that saw it otherwise was manifestly Divine. How little did those cruel actors know that they were offering up the great Sacrifice for the world"s salvation! How does God make the wrath of man to praise him!
4. It anticipated his resurrection from the dead.
(1) No fact, originally considered, could be more unlikely than this; yet it is circumstantially predicted, and fulfilled to the letter.
(2) This element in the prediction was assuring to himself. The joy of its anticipation sustained him in his preparatory sufferings. In it he was "straightway glorified". (cf. Joh_13:31, 32 Heb_12:2)
(3) It was also assuring to the disciples. When they heard of his approaching sufferings they were "amazed" and "afraid", (Mar_10:32) and the more so as they "understood none of these things". (Luk_18:34) Yet afterwards they remembered them as most memorable things.
II A DIVINE PREDESTINATION.
1. Jesus could have avoided his sufferings.
(1) He was not surprised into them. He foresaw them all. Every thorn of his crown was fully in his vision.
(2) He could have avoided Jerusalem. His boldness in going up there amazed his affrighted disciples. (Mar_10:32)
(3) At Jerusalem, were he so minded, he might have had "twelve legions of angels," any of which could have frustrated the purposes of the Jews and the resources of the Romans.
2. But he resolutely faced them.
(1) Because he would fulfil all righteousness. He must therefore keep the Passover; and he must go to Jerusalem to keep it. (see Deu_12:5) The moral here is that consequences must never be considered in competition with the will of God,
(2) Because he would fulfil all benevolence. He went up to that Passover that he might himself become the world"s salvation.
(3) This the multitude could not see. Note: The action of Jesus was allegorical, when he separated his disciples from the crowd on their way to the legal Passover, that he might unfold to them the mysteries of his Passion. The spirit of the Law is a special revelation.
(4) What the disciples had heard they were in due time to testify. Not yet; events were not ripe. Hence also their separation from the crowd on the road. (cf. Mat_10:27 Mat_17:9)
(5) The Scriptures must be fulfilled. (cf. Luk_18:31) The Divine power of Jesus in fulfilling the predictions uttered by him is as conspicuous and real as the Divine prescience which prompted their utterance.
REMARKS.
1. It is good to converse with Jesus in the way.
2. It is good to anticipate so as to become familiar with our dying.
3. It is good to connect with our meditation upon death the matter of our resurrection. J.A.M.
Vers. 17-19. Predictions of the Passion.
I JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM.
1. The Lord. He was going up now for the last time to the holy city. His work in Galilee, in Peraea, was over; it seemed to have ended in disappointment, His popularity was not what it had been; his enemies had to a large extent succeeded (or seemed to have succeeded) in undermining his influence. He was "a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." A few days of thankless labour awaited him at Jerusalem, and then the awful cross. He knew it all. We cannot discern the secrets of the future; God has mercifully shrouded them in darkness. The shadow of the cross fell along the whole life of the Lord. And now he knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father. The thought gave an awful dignity to his mien, a Divine majesty to his figure, a strange stateliness to every gesture. (Mar_10:32) He was going to meet his death. He saw it plain before him in all its circumstances of shame and anguish; but he shrank not. He went forwards with a sweet and holy calmness, with a more than heroic courage, which shone through his features and illumined those clear holy eyes with a light that spoke of heaven.
2. The disciples. The Lord went before them, leading them to the fearful conflict. They followed in silent awe; they watched the Lord"s demeanour; they had never before seen such a strange high glory of steadfast resolve even on that blessed face, and they were amazed, terror-stricken. They regarded him with the deepest reverence reverence not diminished by familiar intercourse, but constantly increasing; and now, it seems, they feared to intrude upon his meditations; but they were troubled and anxious. They felt that some momentous crisis was at hand. The Lord cared for them. He was not so absorbed in the intense contemplation of his coming sufferings as to forget his followers. He is our great Example. We think that the excitement caused by the expectation of great joy or great sorrow is an excuse for the neglect of our ordinary duties. It was not so with Christ our Lord. "Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end." He took them apart in the way. He would in his loving tenderness prepare them for the dreadful trial. Twice already he had predicted his death, but they seemed unable to take it into their minds; he would tell them a third time, more plainly now, in greater detail. And so he took them apart. Perhaps the roads were crowded; there were multitudes going up to the Passover. He would not tell them the dreadful secret within the reach of unsympathizing cars; they would best hear it alone, where none were present save those most deeply concerned the blessed Master, and the little company who so dearly loved him. Mark the tender delicacy of his dealings with them.
II WHAT WAS TO BE EXPECTED.
1. The betrayal. "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem," the Lord said. It was a glad thought commonly. "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem." And they were now going up to the Passover. It may be that the disciples, like other Jews, were looking forward to that great festival with feelings of joy; and very probably they were cherishing the hope that their Master would then manifest himself openly as the Messiah, that he would be welcomed as the great King, the Deliverer that was to come. He was to be manifested, but upon the cross; he was to reign, but from the tree. He told them calmly of the double betrayal that was coming, He should be betrayed (he did not say by whom; they could not bear yet to hear that) unto the chief priests and scribes. They would not acknowledge him as the Christ (as perhaps the disciples were hoping); they would condemn him to death, and betray him to the Gentiles. His own disciple would betray him to the priests; his own nation, nay, the priests, who knew where the Christ should be born, (Mat_2:4) one of whom "prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation", (Joh_11:51) would betray him to the Gentiles.
2. The manner of his death. He told them very plainly now. It would be the act of the Gentiles, but the guilt would rest mainly with the Jews. (Joh_19:11) He predicted the harrowing details of his Passion; he would be mocked, scourged, crucified, he had mentioned the cross already, (Mat_10:38 Mat_16:24) but it was in figurative language; the spiritual cross of self-denial was to be the test of his true disciples. Now he told them plainly what it was that was to give a new meaning to the hated word, and make it another name for the holiest and loftiest self-sacrifice. He himself was to die upon the cross, not in figure, but in reality, he, the Christ, the Son of the living God, he whom the three chosen apostles had seen glorious with the radiance of heaven, he was to die that death which hitherto had been regarded as of all things horrible the most horrible, of all things ignominious the most intensely shameful. Yet the future was not all dark; he was to rise again the third day. He had raised others already from the dead: he himself would rise, for he is the Resurrection and the Life; it was not possible that he could be holden of the grave. It was now the third warning; yet, St. Luke tells us, the apostles "understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken." It seems strange; but is it not much the same now? In spite of warnings, men will not understand that their own death is at hand; they think all men mortal but themselves; they will not speak of death; they carefully avoid the subject. Christ teaches us a different lesson. We should often think of death, we should often speak of it, of our own coming death, and that calmly, with the Christian"s hope of a blessed resurrection.
LESSONS.
1. Mark the awe and reverence with which the apostles regarded the Lord, though they loved him so well. Reverence becomes the true Christian.
2. How often, when we look for joy, there comes great sorrow! Let us be prepared.
3. Think much of the cross of the Lord Jesus; it cannot be too much in the Christian"s thoughts.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John A. Broadus 1886 · Public Domain On v17 Mat 20:17-28.
Mat 20:17-28.
Jesus Again Foretells His Death And Resurrection. Ambitious Request Of James And John
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Found also in Mar 10:32-45; and (in part) in Luk 18:31-34. This passage seems in Matthew, Mark, and Luke to follow immediately upon the foregoing matters, (Mat 19:3 to Mat 20:16) and to precede by only a few days the triumphal entry. (Mat 21:1) The phrase ’going up’, ’we go up to Jerusalem’, does not prove that they had crossed the river, and were now ascending from its valley, as in Luk 19:28. Since Jerusalem was reached by ascent both from east and west, it became customary to speak of ’going up’ to Jerusalem from all parts of the country, Luk 2:42 Joh 2:13, Joh 5:1, Joh 11:55 Act 15:2, Act 25:1 Gal 1:17 f.; Gal 2:1. It is after this that Jesus and his followers reach Jericho, Mat 20:29 Mar 10:46. The scene is somewhat more likely to have been in Perea, than between the river and Jericho, which was only a few miles; but the question cannot be determined, and does not affect the exegesis. This section contains two parts, Mat 20:17-19 and Mat 20:20-28
I. Mat 20:17-19. Jesus A Third Time Foretells His Death And Resurrection,
compare re and just after the Transfiguration, (Mat 16:21, Mat 17:22) and at least six months earlier than this. We cannot judge whether he had spoken of it distinctly in the mean time, but there is in Luk 12:49 ff., an indication that his own mind had been all the while turning towards what awaited him, turning with a feeling of constraint and pressure, but not of grief or discouragement. Going up to Jerusalem.[1] What follows was said in the way, on the road. Mar 10:32 tells that his followers here meaning more than the Twelve, were ’amazed’ and ’afraid’ as they walked after him along the road, probably because of what he had said about the difficulty of saving the rich, (Mat 19:23 ff.) and about the Messianic rewards for sacrifices in his service; (Mat 19:28 ff.) perhaps also there was an absorbed and fixed look in the Master’s face as he pressed on to his terrible baptism of suffering, that was new, and filled them with wonder and alarm. Took the twelve disciples apart, from the throng that were accompanying him to the Passover. (Mat 20:29 Luk 18:36) Only the Twelve were in the least prepared to understand such predictions concerning the Messiah. Even at Jerusalem, some six months earlier, the people did not at all understand "Yet a little while am I with you, and I go unto him that sent me", Joh 7:33-36, Rev. Ver. We go up to Jerusalem, etc. Origen remarks that Paul exactly imitated Christ when he went up to Jerusalem in full view of peril. Act 21:10-13. The prediction our Lord here gives is substantially the same as in Mat 16:21 (See on "Mat 16:21"). Some new particulars are now added, as is natural in the nearer approach to the event, and when their minds have been somewhat prepared by the previous predictions. The Sanhedrin will formally condemn him to death; and not only will he ’be delivered into the hands of men’, as foretold on the second occasion (Mat 17:22, with Mark and Luke), but delivered to the Gentiles (Mark and Luke also), to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify; Mark and Luke add ’spit upon’, and Luke generally that he shall be ’shamefully treated’. Tyndale, Cram, Gen., King James, all here render the same word, ’betrayed’ in Mat 16:18 and ’deliver’ in Mat 16:19, a useless and misleading variation, compare on Mat 17:22, and Mat 10:4. Still, after this renewed and detailed prediction, the Twelve "understood none of these things ". (Luk 18:34) It was utterly contrary to all their ideas of Messiah and his work; these things could not be literally true of the king what did it all mean? Notice how Luke dwells upon their inability: "and this saying was hid from them, and they perceived not the things that were said." Compare on Mat 16:21. Hanna : "This only proves what a blinding power preconception and misconception have in hiding the simplest things told in the simplest language—a blinding power often exercised over us now as to the written, as it was then exercised over the apostles as to their Master’s spoken, words... They had made up their minds, on the best of evidence, that he was the Messiah. But they had their own notions of the Messiahship. With these, such sufferings and such a death as actually lay before Jesus were utterly inconsistent. His expressions, then, must be figurative, intended, perhaps, to represent some severe struggle with his adversaries, through which he had to pass before his kingdom was set up and acknowledged."
[1] Westcott Hort adopt the reading ’was about to go up’, from B, one cursive, Memph., Theb., Pesh, Origen (three times). This might easily have been changed into ’was going up’ by way of assimilation to Mat 20:18 and to Mark and Luke, and so is probably correct. There is of course no substantial difference.
II. Mat 20:20-28. Ambitious Request Of The Mother Of James And John
Mar 10:35-45. Luke does not give this, though parallel to Matt. and Mark, just before and just after; but he gives similar teaching on another occasion, Luk 22:24-30. Mark represents James and John as themselves saying, in almost exactly identical words, what Matt. ascribes to their mother. The case is precisely like that of the centurion (see on "Mat 8:5 ff."), and in accordance with the law maxim, "He who does a thing through another, does it himself." Our Lord so takes it, for he presently addresses the sons themselves as making the request. ’ye’ Luk 22:22 f. Then came, does not necessarily (see on "Mat 3:13"), but does naturally indicate that this followed closely upon the preceding; Mark simply ’and’, as in Mat 19:13. The request seems to have been made privately, when the other ten apostles were not present, Mat 19:24. The mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons. Tyndale and followers rendered ’Zebedee’s children’, probably to avoid the immediate repetition of ’sons’; but the effect is to suggest that there were other children besides the sons. As to Zebedee and Salome, and their sons, see on Mat 10:2. We have no knowledge whether Zebedee was in the company, or was still living. It is clear that the mother here shares the ambition of her sons, and so it is not unlikely that from her it was inherited. If, as many suppose (see on "Mat 27:56"), she was the sister of the Saviour’s mother, that would explain her boldness in personally approaching him and preferring so grave a request. Compare Bathsheba coming to David for Solomon, 1Ki 1:11 ff. Worshipping him here evidently means paying homage as to a king, (compare on Mat 2:2), for it is precisely as such that they approach him. ’Worshipping’ and ’asking’ are in the singular number, but it is implied that the sons united with her. A certain thing, or ’something,’ Wyc., Rheims, Bib. Union, and so Meyer. Mark says they first wished him to promise that he would do whatsoever they should ask—which was presumptuous indeed. Grant—or command, that, for the Greek construction see on Mat 5:29. She is thinking of the two highest places in an earthly kingdom. Could not the solemn prediction of his death and resurrection which he had just before made correct their unspiritual conception? Nay, even after the death and resurrection had actually occurred, the Twelve retained the same expectation. (Act 1:6) In fact the prediction seems on several other occasions also to have been immediately followed by a dispute as to greatness in the kingdom; see on "Mat 18:1", and hereafter Mat 26:2. (Luk 22:24) They seem to have lost sight of the suffering and death, and fixed their minds only upon the thought that somehow or other the splendid Messianic kingdom was about to be established; compare Luke just afterward (Luk 19:11),"they supposed that the kingdom of God was immediately to appear." Our Lord had shortly before, (Mat 19:28) perhaps the same day, spoken of himself as the Messiah who would ’in the regeneration sit on the throne of his glory’, and had promised that the Twelve should then occupy ’twelve thrones’. Salome and her sons seem to have fastened upon that thought. Why not ask that her two sons may sit on the two chief thrones? To place the most distinguished persons on the right and left of a sovereign or presiding personage was common among the Greeks and Romans, as well as the Jews (Wet.), and is practiced among us at banquets, etc. As to the dignity of being on the right hand, compare Psa 16:11, Psa 45:9, Psa 110:1; Mar 14:52 Act 7:55 f., etc. Salome’s two sons, with Peter, have already been treated with special distinction at the raising of Jairus’ daughter and at the Transfiguration, and this might encourage their present high ambition. They had also shown a fiery and self-assertive nature in forbidding the man who followed not with them, (Mar 9:38) and in wishing to call down fire from heaven on the Samaritan village; (Luk 9:54) compare above on Mat 10:2.
Mat 20:22 f. Our Lord treats the request as that of the sons themselves. Ye know not what ye ask. To ask that they might reign with him was asking that they might suffer with him; compare 2Ti 2:12 Rev 3:21 Rom 8:17. The cup that I shall drink, a familiar image for great suffering, as in Mat 26:39 Joh 18:11 Psa 75:8 Isa 51:17 Jer 49:12. Be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized, to be plunged in the same sufferings, compare Luk 12:50, and see above on Mat 3:6. This comes from Mar 10:38, and was added to Matthew here and in the next verse by many copies.[1] We are able. This was excessive self-confidence, but not mere arrogance. They were ignorant what the cup would contain, but sincere and resolute in their devotion, as they afterwards showed. Probably (Alexander) they thought of having to fight for the Messianic kingdom, and the ardent spirit of the "Sons of Thunder" would swell at the thought. Peter, the other of the three chosen disciples, made a like confident expression soon after, Luk 22:33. Our Lord’s reply is not severe, but kind. Drink indeed of my cup, the particle rendered ’truly’ in Mat 9:37 and there explained, indicating that this statement is placed in contrast with something to follow. Ye shall drink indeed of my cup,... but, etc. They were not appointed to suffer as profound mental anguish as the Master, nor would their suffering have any atoning character; but in his service James would die as the first apostolic martyr, (Act 12:2) and John would as a living martyr suffer persecution, (Rev 1:9) and sore trouble in conflict with error (Epistles of John). The legends that John was made to drink poison, and was plunged in boiling oil, are likely (Meyer) to have been suggested by this saying. Not mine to give. He thus lifts their minds away from the idea of a human sovereign bestowing earthly honours to that of divine gifts. He speaks of himself (compare Joh 14:28) as officially subordinate to the Father in his office as the God-man, the Mediator, in which he has derived all his authority and power from the Father, (Mat 28:18) and will at length return it to him. (1Co 15:28) Compare Mat 24:36 Mar 13:32 . The English word ’but’ might here seem to mean ’except’ "not mine to give except to those for whom it has been prepared," but the Greek word (alla) cannot have that sense. For whom it is prepared of my Father. All the arrangements of the Messianic kingdom have been already made by the Father, indeed made "from the foundation of the world," Mat 25:34 , compare Act 1:7.
[1] It is here wanting (in both verses) in à B D L Z, two curstyes, Old Syriac, most copies of the Old Latin, Vulgate, Memph., Theb., Aeth.; and the difference between Matthew and Mark is expressly mentioned by Origen. Such an enlargement of one Gospel from another is extremely common.
Mat 20:24. When the ten heard it. They had not been present at the time, but heard, apparently soon after, what had occurred. Moved with indignation against the two brethren, not ’against’ but concerning, about their whole course in the matter. Mark has the same expression. Their feeling is more easily accounted for from the fact mentioned by Matthew, that the request was made through Salome. Here was not only an ambitious attempt to gain the advantage over the rest, and to forestall matters by a promise in advance, but it may have seemed an unworthy thing to use a woman’s plea; all the more if she was near of kin to the future sovereign. So near the end, and they are still thinking of a worldly kingdom, and full of selfish scheming and unkindness.
Mat 20:25-28. What a sorrowful task for the loving Saviour, to repress these ambitions and asperities. Called them unto him. The two may have been still with him, or all may have been summoned together. He refers to the fact that high places of authority and dominion belong to worldly kingdoms. It shall not be so among you, or more likely, not so it is among you.[1] Will be, or wishes to become; and so ’wishes to be.’ For minister and servant, or more exactly ’bond servant’ (Rev. Ver. margin), compare on Mat 8:6. Alas! how easily human ambition can use these very words and yet retain its own spirit. The "great ones" in a kingdom are called "ministers." Even the Christian "minister" will sometimes ’lord it’ over his charge; (1Pe 5:8, same word as here) and the often arrogant despot in the Vatican calls himself "the servant of servants of the servants of God." Even as the Son of man (see on "Mat 8:20"), the Messiah himself did not come to enthrone himself in an earthly kingdom, with higher and lower officials to wait on him. How different from all this his life had been they knew; and he here declares that such was the purpose of his coming. Compare Luk 22:27; Php 2:5; Rom 15:8. And now comes a phrase of the highest moment, such as the Saviour has not before employed. He has spoken repeatedly of his approaching death (Mat 16:21, Mat 17:22, Mat 20:19; compare Joh 7:33), but now it is added that his death will be redeeming and vicarious, and that this was the design of his coming. Mar 10:45 has precisely the same expression. This remarkable statement must have been quite beyond the comprehension of the disciples, till afterwards brought to their remembrance by the Holy Spirit. (Joh 14:26) His life, compare on Mat 16:25. A ransom (Greek lutron). The Greek verb (luo) means to loose, release, e. g., a prisoner, Act 22:30. (termination—tron) is the means or instrument of releasing, and this in the case of a captive is naturally a ransom. The word is often used in the classics and the Septuagint (Liddell and Scott, Cremer) to denote a ransom in money, and in corresponding figurative senses. So here Christ’s life is given as ’a ransom,’ serving to redeem men from captivity, from the power of sin and spiritual death. From this word lutron are formed the words translated in the New Testament ’redeem’ and ’redemption’. Our English word ransom is the French rangon, contracted from the Latin redemptio, which we afterwards borrowed separately as redemption. The Old Latin and Vulgate here render redemptionem; so Cranmer and Rheims, ’a redemption for many’. The preposition rendered ’for’ (anti) necessarily means ’instead of,’ involving substitution, a vicarious death. The preposition in Mar 14:24 and commonly employed by Paul in speaking of Christ’s death for us (compare Joh 11:51) is huper, which means ’in behalf of,’ ’for the benefit of,’ and derivatively ’instead of’ wherever the nature of the case suggests that idea, wherever performing an action for one’s benefit involves performing it in his stead. This derivative use of huper is frequent enough in the classics, and that Paul often employs it to mean ’instead of’ is beyond all reasonable question. When objectors urge that that is only a secondary meaning of huper, and require us to prove otherwise that Christ’s death was vicarious, then it is well to remember that here (and so in Mark) the preposition is huper, which no one can possibly deny to have, and necessarily, the meaning ’instead of’; and in 1Ti 2:6, while ’for’ is huper, this same anti is prefixed to lutron, "who gave himself a substitutionary ransom for all." In Mat 26:28 the preposition is peri, concerning. For many, Christ’s atoning death made it compatible with the divine justice that all should be saved if they would accept it on that ground; and in that sense he "gave himself a ransom for all", (1Ti 2:6) "tasted death for every man", (Heb 2:9) compare 1Jn 2:2; but his death was never expected, nor divinely designed, actually to secure the salvation of all, and so in the sense of specific purpose he came "to give his life a ransom for many," Compare Mat 26:28 Heb 9:28 Rom 5:15, Rom 5:18 Isa 53:12. Henry: "Sufficient for all, effectual for many."[2]
[1] Several of the best documents here, and still more in Mark, read esti, ’is’, rather than estai, ’shall be’. It is difficult to decide, for the former corresponds to what precedes, and the latter to what follows.
[2] Here the "Western" documents, D, Old Syriac, most copies of Old Latin and some Latin Fathers, add (details varying): "But do you seek out of little to increase and out of greater to be less. And when you enter in and have been invited to dine, do not recline in the prominent places, lest a more honoured than thou come, and the host come and say to thee, Move still lower, and thou shalt be ashamed; but if thou recline in the inferior place, and there come one inferior to thee, the host will say to thee, Get up still higher, and this shall be useful to thee." The latter sentence is obviously a mere traditional corruption of Luk 14:8-11. The former is likely enough based on a true saying of our Lord. For a collection of sayings ascribed to Jesus in early MSS. and Fathers, and not given in New Testament, see Westcott’s "Introduction to Study of Gospels," App. C.
Homiletical And Practical
Mat 20:18. Origen: "It is not proper that we should always avoid perils, or always advance to meet them; one must be wise in Christ to determine."
Mat 20:19. Anonym.: "All the salvation of men lies in the death of Christ." Four discourses; Jesus predicting his passion (see on "Mat 16:21"); Jesus preparing for his passion (Luk 12:50 Joh 12:27 ff.; Gethsemane) Jesus enduring his passion (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, compare Heb 12:2) Jesus Looking back upon his passion. (Luk 24:26, Luk 24:44-48 Rev 1:18)
Mat 20:21. ff. Chrys.: "Let no man be troubled at the apostles being in such an imperfect state. For not yet was the cross accomplished, not yet the grace of the Spirit given. But if thou wouldst learn their virtue, notice them after these things, and see what manner of men they became by grace."
Mat 20:20. f. Hall: "It is not discommendable in parents to seek the preferment of their children, so it be by lawful means, in a moderate measure. Oh, the madness of those parents that desire rather to leave their children great than good."
Mat 20:22. Ye know not what ye ask. (1) To ask for special qualities of mind and character may be asking for the usually attendant faults and weaknesses, and the consequent perils and distresses; poet, artist, orator, financier, beauty, wit, strength of will, passion, sanguine temperament. (2) To ask for worldly wealth and honour is asking for great toil and anxiety, asking to be envied and evil spoken of, asking often for disappointment and bitter sadness. (3) To ask even for eminent religious usefulness and reward is to ask for great suffering, Col 1:24; 1Co 11:28; Rev 1:9, Rev 2:10; Rom 8:17. Then let us always ask in subordination to God’s will, 1Jn 5:14 f. Aug.: "Give what thou bidst and bid what thou wilt." Henry: "We know not what we ask, when we ask for the glory of wearing the crown, and ask not for grace to bear the cross in our way to it."
Mat 20:26. Not so among you. (1) In worldly kingdoms ambition eagerly seeks for authority and dominion. (2) In Christ’s kingdom the only greatness is usefulness, the only dominion is service. (3) Our King himself came to be a servant and a sacrifice. (4) Let these things be a check to religious ambition, and a cure for religious jealousy.
John A. Broadus, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (American Baptist Publication Society, 1886) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve…
Mat_20:17
And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way.
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A Palm Sunday discourse
Year by year let us go up to Jerusalem on the Palm Sunday with Christ.
1. Some go up without any special interest.
2. Others are moved by curiosity.
3. There are those who hate Him and His servants.
4. Some who believe in Christ but fear the world.
5. Some are in dark despair thinking that the cause of religion is about to perish because of organized opposition.
6. Others, a faithful few, like the small group around the cross. (M. Dix, D. D.)
Christ coming to Jerusalem
What an approach! The cities are the strongholds of the world-Babylon-Nineveh-Tyre, the centre of commerce. To none of these could our God have come expecting a joyous reception. They were of the world. But He came to Jerusalem, the city of God, the centre of true religion; a beautiful city for situation, renowned for its great age and greater history. It was a consecrated city, above whose roofs arose, day by day, clouds of smoke from the morning and evening sacrifice; an awful city, in which God had, from time to time, appeared. It held for awhile the place of the throne of the living God! It is to this city Jesus approaches. Surely to Him the gates will open and He will be greeted with songs of joy. (M. Dix, D. D.)
Going up to Jerusalem
Who shall hereafter have right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city (Psa_24:3 and Rev_22:14). Those whose conduct shows that they are going up to Jerusalem. This may be said to imply-
I. A growth and an advancement in those things which are good. Those who go up to the heavenly Jerusalem gradually increase in holiness by a diligent use of the appointed means.
II. Another evidence that we are going up to Jerusalem is love to God.
III. If our faces are indeed turned to Jerusalem, like travellers who have a long journey to accomplish, we shall be most anxious to lay aside any unnecessary weight, and to overcome the corrupting influence of our besetting sins. We cannot be going up to Jerusalem if our affections are rooted in the earth; we must be conscious that our course is turned thitherward. Why this loitering by the way. Let us refresh our souls with spiritual food. Let the world offer what attractions it may, our purpose is firmly fixed to go up to Jerusalem. (J. H. Norton.)
Jesus betrayed and condemned
I. The language of the text is the testimony of our great Prophet concerning His own sufferings. You see it is a prophecy; the event had not yet taken place.
1. His suffering was substitutional.
2. Acceptable.
3. Covenanted.
II. The hands employed.
1. The ruthless traitor.
2. The infidel priesthood.
3. The far-famed literary men.
III. The end accomplished. They shall condemn Him to death. (J. Irons.)
How the faithfulness of Christ toward His disciples appears in the announcement of His impending sufferings.
I. It is seen in the gradual manner in which He makes the fact known. From the first He had intimated that His path was one of suffering; but, while putting an end to their spurious hopes, He had never said anything to cast them down.
II. He now set it before them in all its terrors. He dealt candidly with them. Return was still possible for them, though, from their former decision, He no longer asked them whether they would forsake Him.
III. He placed before their view the promise awaiting them at the end, thus establishing and encouraging them by this blessed prospect. (J. P. Lange, D. D.)
Why Christ saw His cross afar off
1. It was predetermined from the beginning, and He saw it everywhere throughout His course.
2. From the first He prepared for it, and experienced its bitterness in many preliminary trials.
3. It was the harbinger of His exaltation, and ever and anon He anticipated His coming glory. (J. P. Lange, D. D.)
Communion with Jesus
I. The party-Jesus and His disciples. The great Head of the Church and His members.
1. Their interests were mutual.
2. They are a united company.
3. They were distinct from the world.
4. Are you of the party?
II. Their union and communion-Jesus took the twelve disciples apart.
1. We sometimes try to take Christ apart, it is better that Christ should take us.
2. This communion has love for its origin.
3. He would not have them associated with the world, He was about to touch on matters He wished His disciples to know.
4. He not only invites His Church apart as an act of love, but every grace of His Holy Spirits implanting is then called into exercise.
5. He took them apart to talk about the atonement.
III. Mark now the travelling itself-going up to Jerusalem. Ours is not a stand-still religion. We have no continuing city. We are in company with Jesus.
1. Decision is implied.
2. Progress is implied.
3. There was expectation as they journeyed.
4. Jesus was going up to Jerusalem for the accomplishment of redemption; and we must go to the Jerusalem above in order to fully enjoy them. (J. Irons.)
Christs sufferings and ours
What are all our sufferings to His? And yet we think ourselves undone if but touched, and in setting forth our calamities we add, we multiply, we rise in our discourse, like him in the poet, I am thrice miserable, nay, ten, twenty, an hundred, a thousand times unhappy. And yet all our sufferings are but as the slivers and chips of that cross upon which Christ, nay, many Christians, have suffered. In the time of Adrian the emperor ten thousand martyrs are said to have been crucified in the Mount of Ararat, crowned with thorns, and thrust into the sides with sharp darts, after the example of the Lords passion. (John Trapp.)
The resurrection of Christ
He wraps up the gall of the passion in the honey of the resurrection. (Lapide.)
The saddest yet happiest event in human history
Our Lords last journey to Jerusalem. The prediction of the sufferings of Christ a great evidence
(1) of His prophetical character;
(2) of His willingness, as a Priest, to offer Himself a sacrifice for sin;
(3) of His confident expectation of victory as a King. (J. P. Lange, D. D.)
The sufferings of Christ
As the precious stone called the carbuncle to look at is like a hot burning coal of fire, shining exceeding brightly, the which feeleth no fire, neither is it molten, changed, or mollified therewith; if thou shalt take it, and close it fast in a ring of lead, and cast it into the fire, thou shalt see the lead molten and consume before thy face, but the carbuncle remaining sound and perfect without blemish as before, for the fire worketh upon the lead, but upon the carbuncle it cannot work; even so Christ, our Saviour, being in the hot, scorching fire of His torments, suffered and died as He was man, but as He was God He neither suffered nor died. The fire of His afflictions wrought, then, upon His manhood, but His Divinity and Godhead continued perfect and utterly untouched. (Cawdray.)
Crucifixion of Christ
The cross was the perfect manifestation of
(1) the guilt of the world;
(2) the love of Christ;
(3) His obedience;
(4) the grace of God. (J. P. Lange, D. D.)
Christs sufferings were foreseen
As astronomers know when none others think of it, that travelling through the heavens the vast shadow is progressing towards the sun which ere long shall clothe it and hide it, so Christ knew that the great darkness which was to overwhelm Him was approaching. (Beecher.)
Christs resurrection
His resurrection was necessary to His being believed in as a Saviour. As Christ by His death paid down a satisfaction for sin, so it was necessary that it should be declared to the world by such arguments as might found a rational belief of it, so that mens unbelief should be rendered inexcusable. But how could the world believe that He fully had satisfied for sin so long as they saw death, the known wages of sin, maintain its full force and power over Him, holding Him like an obnoxious person in captivity? When a man is once imprisoned for debt none can conclude the debt either paid by him or forgiven to him but by the release of his person. Who could believe Christ to have been a God and a Saviour while He was hanging upon the tree? A dying, crucified God, a Saviour of the world who could not save Himself would have been exploded by the universal consent of reason as a horrible paradox and absurdity. (R. South.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v17 Chapter 16
Chapter 16
To Jerusalem - Mat_20:17-34 - Mat_21:1-17
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I-THE GOING UP. {Mat_20:17-34}
WE have now reached the last stage of the long and sorrowful journey to Jerusalem. From the corresponding passage in the second Gospel we learn that the disciples were greatly moved by something in their Masters manner: "they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid." It would appear, indeed, that they had considerable hesitation in following at all, for it is pointedly mentioned that "Jesus went before them," a hesitation which was no doubt due to the same feeling which prompted Peter, on the first announcement of the journey to Jerusalem and what it would involve, to say "Be it far from Thee, Lord"; and as then, so now, the Saviour felt it as an obstacle in. His onward path which He must resolutely put out of the way; and it was doubtless the new and severe effort required of that heroic will to set it aside, and in doing so to face the gathering storm alone, which explained His unwonted agitation as He addressed Himself to the last stage of the fatal journey.
Still, He longs to have His disciples in sympathy with Him. He knows well that not yet have they fully appreciated what He has said to them; accordingly, at some convenient point on the way, He takes them by themselves and tells them once again, more distinctly and definitely than ever, what must be the issue of the step lie is now taking (Mat_20:17-19). St. Luke tells us that even yet "they understood none of these things." Their minds must have been in a state of great bewilderment; and when we think of this, we may well admire that strong personal devotion to their Master which made them willing, however reluctantly and hesitatingly, still to follow Him into the dark unknown. With the one sad exception, they were thoroughly loyal to their King; they trusted Him absolutely; and though they could not understand why He should be mocked and scourged and crucified in His own capital, they were willing to go with Him there, in the full expectation that, in some way they then could not imagine, He should triumph over his enemies and erect those thrones and bring in that glory of the kingdom of which He had spoken.
This failure of theirs to comprehend the real situation, which one Evangelist mentions, is well illustrated by an incident which happened on the road as recorded by the others-one of those evidently undesigned coincidences which continually meet us, and which, in a higher degree than mere circumstantial agreements, confirm our faith in the accuracy of the sacred writers. "Then came to Him the mother of Zebedees children with her sons, worshipping Him, and desiring a certain thing of Him,"-the "certain thing," as it turned out, being that the two sons should have the chief places of honour in the kingdom. From the form in which the request was presented it would seem as if it had been founded on a misapprehension of one of His own sayings. In St. Marks Gospel, where the part which the two sons themselves had in it is related, the very words of the application are given thus: "Master, we would that Thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire," as if to remind Him of His promise to any two of them who should agree as touching anything they should ask, {Mat_18:19} and to claim the fulfilment of it. It need not be assumed that the request was a purely selfish one. However vague their ideas may have been as to the days of darkness that awaited them in Jerusalem, we cannot suppose that they left them wholly out of view; and if not, they must have been prepared, or have thought themselves prepared, to take foremost places in the battlefield as well as in the triumph that would surely follow. There may well have been, then, a touch of chivalry along with the grosser motive which, it is to be feared, was their main inspiration.
This makes it easier for us to understand the possibility of their coming with such a request at such a time. We all know how easy it is to justify a selfish proceeding when there is something to offset it. We ourselves know how natural it is to think of those scriptures which suit our purpose, while we conveniently forget for the moment those that do not. Was it, then, unnatural that James and John, forgetting for the moment what their Lord had taught them as to the way to true greatness in His kingdom, should satisfy themselves with the thought that they were at all events taking up their cross in the first place, and as to the ulterior object were certainly acting up to the very plain and emphatic word of the Master Himself: "I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them."
This view of their state of mind is confirmed by our Lords way of dealing with them. He first asks them what it is they have agreed upon; and, when the mother tells Him, He quietly shows them that, so far from agreeing together, none of them know what they are asking. They are all using the same words, but the words might as well be in an unknown tongue, -better perhaps, inasmuch as to misunderstand is a degree worse than not to understand at all. He then proceeds to show them that the fulfilment of their request would involve issues for which as yet they were by no means prepared: "Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of?" Their answer confirms the view suggested, that they did not leave out altogether the thought of cross-bearing; but we have only to remember what took place in the course of a week to see that in saying "We are able," they knew as little of what they. were promising as they had known of what they were asking. He will not, however, break the bruised reed of their devotion, nor quench the feeblest spark-of self-denying courage; accordingly He does not slight their offer, but, in accepting it, He reminds them that the honours of the kingdom of heaven are not for favourites, or for those who may first apply, but only for those who approve themselves worthy in the sight of Him Who seeth all, and who rewards every man according to his deeds (Mat_20:23).
The ten were not much better than the two. It was natural, indeed, that, when they heard it, they should be "moved with indignation"; but, though natural, it was not Christian. Had they remembered the lesson of the little child, or even thought deeply enough of that very recent one about the last and the first, they would have been moved with something else than indignation. But need any one wonder that selfishness should be so very hard to kill? Is it not true to nature? Besides, the Spirit had not yet been given, and therefore we need not wonder that even the plainest teaching of the Lord Himself failed to cast the selfish spirit out of His disciples then. "Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers." On the other hand, think of the marvellous patience of the Master. How disappointing it must have been at such a time to see in all of them a spirit so wholly at variance, with all that by precept and example He had been labouring to instil into them! Yet without one word of reproach He teaches them the old lesson once again, gives them liberally the wisdom which they lack, and upbraids them not.
The words of Christ not only meet the case most fully, but reach far beyond the immediate occasion of their utterance. Thus He brings good out of evil, and secures that even the strife of His disciples shall make for "peace on earth." He begins by showing how absolutely in contrast to the kingdoms of the world is the kingdom He has come to establish. In them the great ones "lord it over" (R.V) others; in it the great ones are those who serve. What a revolution of thought is involved in this simple contrast! of how much that is great and noble has it been the seed! The dignity of labour, the royalty of service, the pettiness of selfish ambition, the majesty of self-sacrificing love; the utter condemnation of the miserable maxim "Every man for himself"; the worlds first question "What shall we have?" made the last, and its last question "What shall we give?" made the very first-such are some of the fruits which have grown from the seed our Lord planted in so ungenial soil that day. We are, alas! still very far from realising that great ideal; but ever since that day, as an ideal, it has never been quite out of sight. Early Christianity under the guidance of the apostles strove, though with all too little success, to realise it; the chivalry of the Middle Ages, with its glorification of knighthood, was an attempt to embody it; and what is the constitutionalism of modern times but the development of the principle in political life, the real power being vested not in the titular monarch, who represents ideally the general weal, but in a ministry, so designated to mark the fact that their special function is to minister or serve; the highest position in the realm bearing the humble title of Prime Minister, or first servant of the state. It is of value to have the principle before us as an ideal, even though it be buried under the tombstone of a name, the significance of which is forgotten; but when the kingdom of heaven shall be fully established on the earth, the ideal will be realised, not in political life only, but all through society. If only the ambition to serve our generation according to the will of God were to become universal, then would Gods kingdom come and His wilt be done on earth even as it is in heaven.
Of this great principle of the heavenly kingdom the King Himself is the highest illustration: "even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." There are those who write about "the service of man" as if the thought of it were a development of nineteenth-century enlightenment; but there it is in all its truth and grandeur in the life, and above all in the death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! His entire life was devoted to the service of man; and His death was but the giving up in one final act of surrender what had all along been consecrated to the same high and holy ministry.
These closing words of the great lesson are memorable, not only as setting before us the highest exemplification of the law of service, which as "Son of Man" Christ gave to the world; but as presenting the first intimation of the purpose of the great sacrifice He was about to offer at Jerusalem. Again and again He had told the disciples that it was necessary; but now for the first time does He give them an idea why it was necessary. It is too soon, indeed, to give a full explanation; it will be time enough to unfold the doctrine of atonement after the atonement has been actually made.
Meantime He makes it plain that, while His whole life was a life of ministering as distinguished from being ministered unto, the supreme service He had come to render was the giving of His life as a ransom, something to be rendered up as a price which must be paid to redeem His people. It is plain from this way of putting it, that He viewed the giving up of His life as the means by which alone He could save the "many" who should, as His redeemed or ransomed ones, constitute His kingdom.
On the way to Jerusalem lay the beautiful city of Jericho. The place now called by that name is such a wretched assemblage of miserable hovels that it is difficult for the traveller to realise that the Jericho of the days of our Lord was not only the most luxurious place of resort in Palestine, but one that might vie with its fashionable rivals throughout the Roman Empire. Since the days of Herod the Great it had been the winter residence of the Court. Jerusalem being on the cold hill-top, it was convenient to have within easy reach a warm and sheltered spot in the deep valley of the Jordan; and with a delightful winter climate and a rich and fertile soil, Jericho needed only the lavish expenditure of money to make it into "a little Paradise," as Josephus calls it. With its gardens of roses and groves of palm, it was, even before the time of Herod, so beautiful a place, that, as a gem of the East, Antony bestowed it on Cleopatra as an expression of his devotion; after it passed into the hands of Herod, a theatre was erected and an amphitheatre, and many other noble and costly buildings; and during the season it was thronged by the rich and the great of the land, among whom would be distinguished visitors from foreign parts. What effect would all this grandeur have on Christ and His disciples as they passed through it on their way to Jerusalem? We are not told. Two things only are noted as worthy of record: the salvation of a rich publican, {Luk_19:1-10} and the healing of two poor blind men. Not the gardens and palaces of the city, but its sins and sorrows, engage the Saviours thoughts and occupy His time.
As a rule, we regard it as waste of time to deal with the "discrepancies" between the different Evangelists; but as one of the most serious of them all has been found here it may be well to look at it to see how much or how little it amounts to. First, the other Gospels speak of the cure of a blind man, and tell his name, Bartimaeus; this one says that two blind men were cured, and does not mention any name. If the other Evangelists had said that only one was healed, there would have been a real discrepancy; but they do not. Another "discrepancy" which has been noticed is that St. Matthew says Christ "touched their eyes," while the others do not mention the touch, but only tell us what He said; but surely there is no difficulty in supposing that Christ both touched the eyes and spoke the words at the same time. It is true that the words as recorded by St. Mark and St. Luke are not identical, but they are precisely to the same effect; and it is quite possible that every word which both of them report was actually said and that other words besides were spoken which have not been preserved.
These differences are not discrepancies at all; but there remains one which may fairly enough be so characterised. The first and second Gospel represent the cure as taking place on the way into Jericho; the third puts it on the way out.
Various suppositions, more or less plausible, especially less, have been made to "reconcile" these two representations: such as the fact that there were really two Jerichos, the old and the new, the cure being wrought as the Saviour passed from the one to the other, so that both accounts would be strictly accurate; or again, that cures may have been wrought both in entering and in leaving Jericho. But why should we trouble ourselves to reconcile so small a difference? It is not of the slightest consequence whether the cure took place on the way in or on the way out. If it had been a point on which strict accuracy was essential, care would doubtless have been taken to note the very moment and the very spot where it took place - as, for example, in the case of the cure of the noblemans son at Capernaum; {Joh_4:52} but it was not; and therefore we have no more reason to wonder at the variation in so unimportant a detail than at those variations from the accurate text which we continually find in the quotations from the Old Testament Scriptures. The discrepancy does not in the slightest degree affect the credibility of any of the witnesses; it only serves, together with the other variations, to show the independence of the different accounts. How small must be the minds, or how strong the prejudices, of those who find support for their unbelief in discrepancies of which this is acknowledged to be one of the gravest examples!
It so happens, too, that there is no story in all the Gospels which shines more lustrously in its own light. It is full of beauty and pathos in all the versions of it which have come down to us; but most of all in the graphic story of St. Mark, to whose Gospel therefore its illustration may be regarded as belonging by special right.
II-THE ROYAL ENTRY. {Mat_21:1-17}
Travelling from Jericho, it is probable that our Lord reached Bethany on the evening of Friday, a week before His crucifixion. The next day, being the Jewish Sabbath, He would spend in retirement, probably in the house of Lazarus, whom a short time before He had raised from the dead. The following day, the first day of the week, would therefore be the date of His entry into Jerusalem as the Royal Son of David, come to claim His kingdom.
That this entrance into the capital is a most important event in the history of Jesus is evident not only from its nature and consequences, but also from the fact that it is one which all the four Evangelists record. Indeed, it is just at this point that the four narratives converge. The river of the water of life, which "was parted and became four heads" diverging at times in their course, now unites its waters in one channel broad and deep; and all the four Evangelists, though in different accents still, and with variation in the selection of details, combine to tell the same wondrous story of our Saviours passion, the story of "the decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem."
This was the first occasion on which our Lord distinctly put forth His claim to royalty. From the beginning of His ministry He had shown Himself to be a "prophet mighty in word and in deed," and to those who followed Him it became manifest that He was the Prophet foretold by Moses, for whose coming they had been taught to look with eager eyes. {see Deu_18:15-19} From the beginning of His ministry, too, the Saviour had been proclaiming "the gospel of the kingdom"; but when we examine carefully all He says about it, we find that He never expressly asserts that He Himself is King. Not that He conceals the all-important truth: He speaks of the kingdom in such a way that those who have ears to hear may learn that He is King Himself as, for instance, when He says, "Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." One might quite readily infer from these words that Jesus Himself was King; but the claim is not thereby formally made. Besides, not only is it true that up to this time He did not formally assume the royal title, but He even resisted attempts made to thrust it upon Him. {e.g., Joh_6:15} For this refusal to be crowned by the multitude there was only too good reason. Their ideas of royalty were entirely different from His. Had He allowed Himself to be borne on the tide of popular favour to royal honours, His kingdom would have been thereby marked as "of this world," it would have been stamped as something very different from the kingdom of "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost" He had come to establish. Had He been a mere enthusiast, He would undoubtedly have yielded to such a tidal wave of public excitement; but His unerring wisdom taught Him that He must reach His throne by another path than that of popular favour. Rather must it be through popular rejection-through the dark portals of despite and death; and for that, His hour had not then come.
Now it has come. He has been steadily advancing to Jerusalem for the very purpose of accomplishing that decease which is to be the portal of His royalty. Already fully revealed as Prophet, He is about to be made "perfect through suffering" as our great High Priest. It is time, therefore, that He reveal Himself as King, so that no one may have it afterwards to say that He never really claimed the throne of His father David.
How, then, shall He assert His right? Shall a herald be sent to proclaim with the sound of a trumpet that Jesus of Nazareth is King over Israel in Jerusalem? To take such a course would be to court misunderstanding. It would be to raise the standard of revolt against the Romans. It would stir the city in a very different fashion from that in which the Prince of Peace would have it stirred. It would be the signal for tumult, bloodshed, and disastrous war. The ordinary method is evidently not to be thought of. How, then, shall it be done?
Our Lord is never at a loss for means to accomplish His designs in His own way, which it; always the best. He sends to a neighbouring village for a young ass, mounts it, and rides into the city. That is all He does. Not a word said about royalty, no herald, no trumpeter, no proclamation, no royal pomp, nothing whatever to rouse the Roman jealousy or ire-nothing but the very ordinary circumstance of a man riding into the city on an asss colt, a mode of conveyance not in itself calculated to attract any special notice. What was there, then, in such an act to secure the end? Nothing in itself; but a great deal when taken in connection with a remarkable prophecy in the Book of Zechariah well known to every Jew, and much in the thoughts of all who were looking for the promised Messiah. It is true, indeed, that an ordinary man might have done the same thing and the people have taken no notice of him. But Jesus had become the object of very great interest and attention to large numbers of the people on account of the miracles He had been working-notably that great miracle which still stirred the minds of the whole community, the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The chief priests and scribes, indeed, and the men of influence in Jerusalem, regarded Him with all the greater rancour on account of His miracles of mercy, and they had been specially embittered against Him since the raising of Lazarus; but it was different with the body of the people, especially those who had come or were coming from Galilee and other distant parts of the land to be present at the great Paschal feast. We are told by St. John that a large number of these had gone out the day before to Bethany, both to see Lazarus, who was naturally an object of curiosity, and also to see Jesus Himself; these accordingly were precisely in the state of mind in which they would most readily catch up the idea so naturally suggested by the significant act of our Saviours riding into the city of David on a colt the foal of an ass. The result, accordingly, was as had been intended, and is thus described by our Evangelist: "The most part of the multitude spread their garments in the way; and others cut branches from the trees and spread them in the way. And the multitudes that went before Him, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest" (R.V).
The excellence of the method adopted by our Saviour to set forth His royal claims will still further appear when we consider that it arose quite naturally out of the circumstances in which He was placed. So much was this the case that some have thought He was taken by surprise, that He had no intention of calling forth the testimony of the people to His royal claims, that in fact He was only giving way to a movement He could not well resist; but this shallow view is plainly set aside, not only by what has been already advanced, but also by the answer He gives to the Pharisees who ask Him to rebuke and silence His disciples: "I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out". {Luk_19:39-40}
Not only did the means adopted by our Lord rise naturally out of the circumstances in which He and His followers were placed, but they were specially suited to suggest important truths concerning the kingdom He claimed as His own. We have already seen that, if He had entered the city in regal pomp and splendour, it would have conveyed an entirely false idea of the kingdom. The method He did adopt was such as to give a true idea of it.
First, it strikingly suggested the kingliness of lowliness, which, as we have seen, was one of its great distinctive principles. As we look back over His recent instructions to His disciples, we see how very much this thought was in His heart and how great was the importance He attached to it. He had just taught them that the Son of man had come, not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many; and His manner of entering into His capital must be in harmony with the lowly, self-renouncing work He has come to do. Thus He shows in the most impressive way that His kingdom is not of this world. There is no suggestion of rivalry with Caesar; yet to those who look beneath the surface He is manifestly more of a king than any Caesar. He has knowledge of everything without a spy (Mat_21:2); He has power over men without a soldier (Mat_21:3); He has simply to say "The Lord hath need," and immediately His royal will is loyally fulfilled. Evidently He has the mind of a King and the will of a King: has He not also the heart of a King, of a true Shepherd of the people? See how He bears the burden of their future on His heart, a burden which weighs so heavily upon Him that He cannot restrain His tears. {Luk_19:41-44} There is no kingly state; but was not His a kingly soul, Who in such humble guise rode into Jerusalem that day?
Not less than lowliness is peace suggested as characteristic of His kingdom. First by the manner of His entrance; for while the horse and the chariot were suggestive of war, the ass was the symbol of peace. And then, the prophecy is one of peace. Immediately after the words quoted by the Evangelist there follows this remarkable promise: "I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off; and He shall speak peace unto the heathen; and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth." It would seem, indeed, that some at least in the multitude realised that through the Messiah was to be expected a deeper peace than that between man and man. This deeper peace may have been suggested to their minds by the words following next in the prophecy, which goes on to speak of prisoners of hope rescued from the pit, and turning to the stronghold; or by the Psalm from which their cry "Hosanna in the highest" was taken; {Ps. 118} certain it is that their minds did rise to a higher conception of the work of the Messiah than they had given token of before; for the cry of some of them at least was "Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest." {Luk_19:38} A striking proof this, of the fitness of His manner of entering into His capital to suggest. the purest, highest, and best thoughts concerning the kingdom which He claimed as His own.
As Jerusalem was the city of the great King, the Temple was His house, His royal palace, and accordingly He enters it and takes possession in His Fathers name. We are told by St. Mark that "when He had looked round about upon all things, it being now eventide, He went out unto Bethany with the twelve." But St. Matthew, who is accustomed to pay more attention to the logical than to the exact chronological sequence of events, proceeds at once to relate the purging of the Temple, which really took place the following day, but which was so plainly the natural sequel of His royal entrance that he very properly gives it in close connection therewith. Besides, what the King did on entering the Temple the next day admirably illustrates the prophecy. For what saith the prophet? "Behold thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation." "He is just,"-therefore He will not tolerate the unholy traffic in the Temple, but "cast out all them that sold and bought in the Temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers and the seats of them that sold the doves; and He saith unto them, My house shall be called a house of prayer; but ye make it a den of robbers" (R.V): "and having salvation"-accordingly, when He sees the blind and the lame in the Temple He does not turn them out, He does not turn away from them, "He healed them." The casting out of the traders illustrated the righteousness of the kingdom, the healing of the blind and lame, its peace, and the shouts of the children which followed, its joy.
This coming of the King to His capital has been familiarly spoken of as "the triumphal entry." The term seems unfortunate and misleading. The waving of palms, the strewing of branches and leaves, the spreading of garments on the way-all this gave it something of the aspect of a triumph; but that it was no triumph none knew better than the man of Sorrows, Who was the centre of it all. There was certainly no triumph in His heart that day. If you wish to look into His heart, watch Him as He comes to the turn of the road where first the great city bursts upon His sight. How it glitters in the sun, its palaces and towers gleaming in the splendour of the day, its magnificent Temple, which had taken nearly half a century to build, rearing its stately head high above all, into the glorious heaven-a city and a temple for a king to be proud of, especially when seen through waving palm branches held in the hands of a rejoicing throng who shout "Hosanna to the Son of David, Hosanna in the highest!" Surely His soul must be thrilled with jubilant emotion!
Ah! but look at Him: look at Him closely. Go up to Him, near enough to see His face and hear what He is saying. Is He jubilant? His eyes are wet with tears; and with tears in His voice He is speaking "the saddest words of tongue or pen": O Jerusalem; "if thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall east a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation." Ah! well the Man of Sorrows knew what all that shouting and rejoicing were worth; not even for a moment was He misled by it; no less certainly now when the plaudits of the multitudes were ringing around Him, than when He had been on the way going up to Jerusalem, did He know that, though He was the rightful King, He should receive no kings welcome, but should suffer many things and die. He knew that it was to no royal palace, but to the bitter cross, He was advancing, as He rode down Olivet, across the Kedron, and up to the city of David. Yet it is not the thought of His own cross that draws the tears from His eyes; it is the thought of the woes impending over those whom He has come to save, but who will have none of Him. O the depth of divine love in these self-forgetful tears!
One thrill of joy the day had for the King of sorrows. It was His welcome from the children. The plaudits of the multitude He seems to have received in silence. Why should He be moved by hosannas from the lips of those who, as soon as they shall find out what manner of King He is, will cry "Away with Him"? But the hosannas of the children are genuine music to His soul. The little ones at least are true. There is no guile in their spirits. "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." It is most touching to observe how lovingly the heart of the Saviour goes out to the little ones at this most trying time. The climax of pathos in His lament over Jerusalem is reached when, after speaking of the fate of the city, He adds, "and thy children within thee"; and the same deep sympathy with the little ones is shown in the answer He gives to the mean-spirited priests and scribes who were moved with indignation and tried to silence their sweet voices: "Have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise?"
"And He left them, and went out of the city into Bethany, and He lodged there,"-not in the house of Lazarus, we may he sure, or He would not have "hungered" when in the morning He returned to the city (Mat_21:18); no doubt under the open canopy of heaven or at best under some booth erected as a temporary shelter. What were His thoughts, what His feelings, as He looked back on the day and forward to the week?
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv17–19 17. Jesus going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve…
17. Jesus going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve apart. For six months, ever since the confession at Cæsarea Philippi, the Lord had been trying to prepare the twelve for his death. Compare Mark 10:32–52; Luke 18:31–43. He was now east of the Jordan, on his way.
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 v17 Mat_20:17. Jesus going up to Jerusalem.—The narrative is not…
CRITICAL NOTES
Mat_20:17. Jesus going up to Jerusalem.—The narrative is not continuous, and in the interval between Mat_20:16-17 we may probably place our Lord’s “abode beyond Jordan” (Joh_10:40), the raising of Lazarus, and the short sojourn in the city called Ephraim (Joh_11:54) (ibid.).
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Mat_20:18-19. Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, etc.—Observe the exactness of the prediction; the Sanhedrin shall condemn but not kill, the Gentiles shall scourge and crucify (Carr).
Mat_20:20. The mother of Zebedee’s children.—Sons (R.V.). Salome. Cf. Mat_27:56 with Mar_15:40. Worshipping.—Rendering such obeisance as was appropriate towards One who was expected shortly to occupy a throne.
Mat_20:21. Grant.—Command (R.V.). Salome desired that the Lord should utter a word of authority on the subject, in order that all disputings among the disciples might be foreclosed, and her sons’ future pre-eminence secured (Morison). One on Thy right hand, etc.—The first place of honour was the right hand of the sovereign; the second the left band. See Josephus, Ant., VI., xi. 9 (ibid.). The sternness of our Lord’s words to St. Peter (Mat_16:23) might almost justify the thought that his position had been forfeited (Plumptre). In Thy kingdom—Salome was probably expecting, like so many others, that the Lord was about to establish His kingdom “with observation” and in worldly pomp (Morison). Possibly our Lord’s words in Mat_19:28 had influenced Salome and her sons in presenting their request.
Mat_20:22. Ye.—Salome represented her sons, so Jesus addresses Himself directly to them. Are ye able, etc.?—That nearness to Him in His glory could be obtained only by an equal nearness in suffering. Had they counted the cost of that nearness? (Plumptre). Baptised with the baptism, etc.—Omitted in best MSS. and R.V. Added probably to bring St. Matthew’s narrative into harmony with St. Mark’s.
Mat_20:23. Drink indeed of My cup.—James was slain by the sword of Herod Agrippa I. (Act_12:2). John suffered many persecutions, but died a natural death. The rebuke of Jesus is very gentle; His soul knew what suffering was in store for the two brothers (Carr). Is not Mine to give, etc.—The words in italics are, of course, not in the Greek, and they spoil the true construction of the sentence. Our Lord does not say that it does not belong to Him to give what the disciples asked, but that He could only give it according to His Father’s will and the laws which He had fixed. So taken, the words present a striking parallel to Joh_5:19 (Plumptre). To them for whom it is prepared.—Hath been prepared (R.V.). He does not say who these are; but the reappearance of the same words in Mat_25:34 throws some light on their meaning here. The kingdom is reserved for those who do Christ-like deeds of love; the highest places in the kingdom must be reserved for those whose love is like His own, alike in its intensity and its width (ibid.).
Mat_20:24. The ten.—Amongst these was the candid Evangelist himself (Bengel). Moved with indignation.—Not in the sense of holy indignation, but as partaking of the same spirit of ambition which had prompted the request (Lange).
Mat_20:25. The princes of the Gentiles.—The popular Jewish expectations, shared by the disciples, were really heathen in their character, substituting might for right, and ambition for the true majesty of service (Plumptre).
Mat_20:26. It shall not be so among you.—The order and succession in His kingdom was not to be settled according to any legal determination. Jesus had introduced a new and spiritual life, in direct opposition to secular monarchies and hierarchies (Lange). Whosoever will be great.—Whosoever would become great (R.V.). “Whosoever wisheth to be great.” The man who was conscious, as the disciples were, of the promptings of ambition, was at once to satisfy and purify them by finding his greatness in active service; not because that service leads to greatness of the type which natural ambition seeks for, but because it is in itself the truest and highest greatness (Plumptre).
Mat_20:28. For.—ἀντὶ = instead of, in the place of. Many.—The word “many” is not put definitely for a certain number, but for a large number, for the Saviour contrasts Himself with all the rest of men. And in this sense the word is used in Rom_5:15, where Paul does not speak only of a portion, of men, but of the whole human race (Calvin).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mat_20:17-28
A twofold study.—This portion of Scripture may be compared to an act in a drama. In the first scene (Mat_20:17-19) we see the Saviour taking His disciples apart, and teaching them what to expect about Himself in the end. Next (Mat_20:20-23) we see two of those disciples, with their mother, presenting a request to Him which has to do with their view of the end. In the last scene (Mat_20:24-28) we see the Saviour giving instruction and admonition to all. The whole shows us, in various ways, first, what were their thoughts; and, secondly, what were His thoughts—at this particular time.
I. The thoughts of the disciples.—How far they were, first, at this time, from even understanding His words! Some time before (Mat_16:21) He had “begun” to “show” them that He was to suffer and die. He had repeated this warning to them soon after, when they had come down from the “mount” (Mat_17:12). Again, when in Galilee (Mat_17:22) He had added the momentous and affecting particular that this was to be brought about by “betrayal.” Now He has gone further still (Mat_20:18-19) in letting them know that He was to suffer, as already foretold, by the hands of the “Gentiles,” and with every circumstance of anguish and shame. Yet see how far some two at least of them, and those two men who thought themselves qualified to be leaders of all, seem to have been from attaching any definite meaning to what He has said. “I am about to die,” so He has virtually said, “as a malefactor.” They address Him as about to reign as a king. He has spoken of shame. They want to share in His “glory” (Mar_10:37). Evidently His words have been little more than “idle tales” in their ears. How far, again, were the thoughts of the other disciples from being in the spirit of Christ! When the “ten” heard of what the “two” had been doing, they were greatly aggrieved (Mat_20:24). Aggrieved partly, in all probability, because of the apparently clandestine and secret way in which the two had made known their request. Going as they did, with the intervention of their mother, and without the knowledge of any one else, was like trying to steal a march on the rest. They were aggrieved also, it can hardly be doubted, because of the fact that their own hearts were secretly set on much the same thing. The earnest way, in fact, in which the Saviour afterwards warns the whole body of His disciples on the subject of worldly ambition seems to prove this of itself. All must have been in need of the two-fold caution which He proceeds to give to them all. Be not, He says to them, like the “Gentiles,” to whom “lordship” and “authority” over other men are such special objects of desire (Mat_20:25). Be rather, He says unto them, like unto Me, whose great ambition it is to be of service to others, even at the cost of My life (Mat_20:26-28). Wonderfully striking, therefore, is the contrast here between them and Himself. It is the Master here who is desirous of serving. It is the servants here who are ambitious of ruling. In other words, what is farthest from His wishes is nearest to theirs.
II. The thoughts of the Saviour.—These can be described generally, as they were at this time, in a very few words. They were full of the cross. Full, on the one hand, of what He saw in it. Of its exceeding indignity, to begin. Being condemned by His own, being delivered by them to strangers, being treated by them as a malefactor, and that of the worst (Mat_20:18-19). Of its unspeakable bitterness, next. “Can ye drink of the cup that I am to drink of?” How much is implied in that question! As though the drinking it fully were something more than mere human nature could bear. See also Mat_26:38-39. Of its wonderful power, in the last place. How it was to be followed by His “rising again” (end of Mat_20:19). How it was to “minister” to the service of mankind! How it was to be a “ransom for many” (Mat_20:28). Full on the other hand, of what He distinguished behind it. This was, first, the hand of His Father. Behind the hatred of man, behind the priests, behind the betrayer, behind the Gentiles, behind all the instruments in this matter, there was the appointment of His Heavenly Father. This signified by the mention made of it as a “cup” (Mat_20:22; also Joh_18:11; Act_2:23). This an awful mystery indeed! But not out of place, if we think of it, in that most mysterious region in which it is found. This partly explained, also, by what He here shows us behind His cross, viz., His own resolute will. This death of His was what He “came for” into the world—what He had made up His mind for—from which nothing could turn Him—which He meant to endure. Closer now than ever before to His cross, this thought of a “ransom” still carries Him on (see Heb_12:3).
These pictures may show us yet further:—
1. How completely alone the Saviour was, so far as man is concerned, in His work of atoning for man.—Of all He foresaw in His death His disciples saw nothing. Even His repeated announcement of it was not taken in by their minds. And so far from being a help to Him in regard to it, they were rather a hindrance, so far as they went. Never, at this time, absent from His mind, it seems to have been never present to theirs. Nothing is more profoundly solitary than companionship such as that!
2. How exclusively He is to be looked to in regard to salvation.—These, though of all men nearest to Him, never shared in working it out. How, therefore, should they help in it afterwards except by pointing to Him? How much less should any do so who are farther off than they were?
3. How completely He may be trusted to complete our salvation.—What devotion, what perseverance, what sufficiency, can be greater than His?
HOMILIES ON THE VERSES
Mat_20:17-19. Christ foretelling His death and resurrection.—In Christ’s forewarning the disciples of His sufferings and that in the way while He went the last time to Jerusalem, learn:
1. How necessary it is that the doctrine of the cross be often inculcated, that being provided for before, it may trouble us less when it shall come; for this is it which in sundry times before Christ had told them.
2. The often foretelling of our Lord’s passion doth serve to confirm us of the resolute willingness of the Redeemer to suffer for us, for He knew all that He had to suffer and was never dashed.
3. It is necessary that we never separate the consideration of the cross from the issue, nor Christ’s death from His resurrection which followed, lest we be overcome and stumble at the cross; for Christ doth always join the mentioning of both together.—David Dickson.
Mat_20:19. Christ foretelling His resurrection.—He still brings this in:—
I. To encourage Himself in His sufferings and to carry Him cheerfully through them (Heb_12:2).
II. To encourage His disciples and comfort them, who would be overwhelmed and greatly terrified by His sufferings.
III. To direct us, under all the sufferings of this present time, to keep up a believing prospect of the glory to be revealed.—M. Henry.
Mat_20:20-28. Intelligent prayer.—It is important that we know what we mean by the terms used in the study or discussion of any subject; that we know, too, what our aim or object is in any such study or discussion or inquiry; and further, that we know the conditions and limitations of knowledge, method, and success. In like manner, it is most important that we should, as far as possible, have clear notions of our meaning, objects, and possible success in all religious study, discussion, inquiry, and effort. This passage furnishes a most striking illustration of what has been now laid down. Learn:—
I. That we should know what we ask.—
1. These petitioners thought they knew what they asked. In an imperfect sense they did know, but it was not so as our Lord would have them know.
2. His putting the question, “What wilt thou?” is fitted to set the petitioner thinking what the precise meaning of the prayer is or is to be.
3. The prayer should be definite, clearly conceived in the mind, simply expressed in words (Ecc_5:2).
4. God is not vague or confused in His thoughts and words: His Holy Spirit (who “helpeth our infirmities”) will clear our thoughts and words, making them orderly and precise.
II. That we should know why we ask.—
1. The motives more important than the words and actions in the sight of God, who searcheth the heart.
2. The motives in the case of James and John appear to have been more or less earthly and vainglorious; this is to be inferred from the Lord’s warning in Mat_20:25-26; Mat_27:3. The motives of the Son of man are our perfect examples: lowliness, service in love, glorifying God therein—these imitated will make us like Him.
4. Great petitions may be offered in earnest prayer from little and unworthy motives; on the other hand, small things may be asked of God from high and holy motives.
5. Our prayers for others should be prompted by love for our neighbour; our prayers for ourselves should be in trust that our Father in heaven knows and is willing to give us what is best for us; all our prayers should be offered to God in the love of God.
III. That we should know of whom we ask.—
1. God has promised to give what we ask, believing and through His Song of Solomon 2. But He has many purposes to carry out, many petitions to grant, many other things to do, beside what we ask for.
3. His promise to grant our prayers is limited by the condition, “if we ask anything according to His will He heareth us” (1Jn_5:14).
4. He loves best to give what in His love He knows to be best for our spiritual good.
5. “God is a Spirit,” God is holy. The best prayers are those which ask definitely for spiritual and holy blessings.
(1) The sons of Zebedee knew not aright—what, or why, or of whom they asked.
(2) Yet they were of Christ’s chosen and beloved ones.
(3) Christians, indeed, may err as these disciples erred, but they should go on to full spiritual knowledge.
6. We can never err in asking for greater faith, love, hope, grace for bringing forth more fruit; for perfect pardon through the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God; for perfecting holiness by the Spirit of God indwelling, working, transforming into the likeness of the perfect Son.—Flavel Cook.
Mat_20:20-23. Salome’s request.—Comparing St. Matthew and St. Mark’s accounts we see that it was the mother and sons together who made the request.
I. It is a homely human picture of ambition.—Hers for them and herself in them; theirs for themselves though with an eagerness, stimulated, it may be, by the desire to delight and elevate her. The childlike simplicity with which the request is made, in evident unconsciousness of its deep and solemn connections, is very notable and attractive. They wanted the promise beforehand. They wanted, as it might seem, to surprise Him into granting their request, as a confiding child may seek, half in earnest, half in sport, to entrap a tender and indulgent parent. They knew not what they asked, but there is a charm, there is even something of example, in the freedom of their asking.
II. There is no favouritism, no partiality, no promotion by interest in the kingdom of Christ.—The inheritance belongs to a certain character, so does the precedence; every single citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem has his place prepared for him, not only for what, but by what he is. There is a character now forming amid the turmoil and conflict of this lower world, for which eternal precedence is prepared by the necessary self-executing law of spiritual life in which the will—that is the character—of the Father of spirits is reflected. The nearest to Christ in His glory will be those who are nearest Him in action and character.
III. This incident as a whole contains no condemnation of ambition.—There is an ambition which belongs to the true disciple, which exercises the Christian virtues and does Christ’s work in the world. It is an ambition not for place, but for character. It aspires not to have, but to be; and to be that it may work, that it may serve, that it may impart even of its very self. If it be the case that many of us are wanting in this ambition, if aspiration after the closest possible nearness to Christ, under the sense that nearness means likeness, be almost unknown to us, if we are satisfied with the hope of freedom from suffering and enjoyment of happiness, this will go far to account for the insufficient power of Christianity to leaven society, as well as for the poverty of individual Christian life.—W. Romanes.
Mat_20:20-23 Sharing Christ’s throne.—Now comes the question, in the light of the answer to which, must be read all that our Saviour said to James and John on the present occasion. What is it to participate with Him in His throne? He neither denies that He Himself was destined to occupy a throne, nor that there would be those to whom it should be given to share the occupation. He assents, in fact, to both these ideas, but intimates that the subject was not understood by the Apostles; that in asking to have seats awarded them beside Him when He came in His glory, they knew not what it really meant that they asked. And do we know what it means? We ought. In the light of such declarations concerning Christ, as that He is “exalted to be a Prince and Saviour, to give repentance and remission of sins,” that power is His “to give eternal life” to men, that being made perfect He has become “the author of salvation” and is “able to save to the uttermost,” that He has been “raised up to bless us in turning away every one of us from his iniquities”—in the light of such declarations as these we must perceive that the throne to which He looked forward for Himself, and which He has acquired, is the throne of moral influence, of the highest and most beneficent moral influence. We are enthroned then, together with Him, according to the measure in which we grow capable of quickening, guiding, or helping toward righteousness, according as we become powerful in ministering to the rectification and purification of others, powerful to assist, inspire, or stimulate them in the direction of the good and true. There is no throne like that. There is no other royal throne. He is a king, and He only, who is able in some degree to promote the progress of human souls on the road to everlasting blessedness and perfection, who is exerting some healthy, useful, gracious influence in human hearts and lives around him, who is contributing in one way or another, to redeem men from evil, and to bring them nearer to God and His ideal. If to any extent it be thus with us, we are now already, to such extent, seated with Christ upon His throne. We have known poor, sick, bedridden people with whom it was thus; whose constant smiling patience, and simple childlike faith told healingly, purifyingly, refiningly upon the whole house, and to visit whose chamber was to have the better soul in you stirred up and nourished, to be spiritually strengthened and refreshed. We have known mothers and elder sisters with whom it was thus; whose daily personal expression had a beautifully controlling, inspiring, elevating effect upon all the family, whose very presence and breathing were always helpful to keep you right, to constrain you onward and upward, to make you ashamed of acting unworthily, and strong to resist temptation; to live with whom was to be gently educated out of selfishness and weakness, and taught, almost imperceptibly, to be brave, loving, and generous. We have known friends with whom it was thus; intercourse with whom seemed ever to set you aspiring more loftily, to give you higher and more earnest views of life, to enable you to bear your burdens more manfully and meekly, and to feel the heavens more nigh. These, and such as these, are sitting with Christ in His kingdom.—N. R. Wood.
Mat_20:22-23. Law and prayer.—I. From these words of our Lord we get a principle which the students of physical phenomena are perpetually asserting as though it were their peculiar discovery, that the Almighty has chosen to proceed in His dealings with His creatures according to a regular and uniform order; that He does not break this order or interfere with this method or give up His will simply because a frail, foolish mortal may ask Him to do so.
II. The question is not of God’s omnipotence but of His will.—The existence of God being granted, every man, whether he be a Christian or not, makes no doubt that God can do whatsoever pleaseth Him. In our ignorance we often make the mistake which was made by Salome, and ask for that which may not be ours. If our ignorance be our misfortune and not our fault, He who looks “with larger, other eyes than ours,” to make allowance for us all, will not treat us sternly because we have made a child’s blunder.
III. Prayer is not a mere piece of mental machinery for obtaining some temporal advantage for which material appliances are insufficient. The kingdom of heaven is not a mere union-house, from which the idle and the improvident, and indeed all comers, may get a passing relief. Prayer is the communion of the soul with God, its repose upon infinite love.—W. Page Roberts, B.A.
Mat_20:22. Undue self-assertion.—
1. When the ministers of the gospel hunt for high places in the world they wot not what they are doing, nor how foolish they are in so doing. “Ye know not what ye ask.”
2. The preferment and kingdom which we should affect is in another world, and we must prepare us for the cross with Christ, ere we come to the kingdom with Him. “Are ye able to drink?” etc.
3. From the two disciples’ undertaking learn that men least acquainted with the cross are most confident undertakers, for they say “We are able.”—David Dickson.
Mat_20:23. Suffering for Christ.—It is but a cup, not an ocean; it is but a draught, bitter perhaps, but we shall see the bottom of it; it is a cup in the hand of a Father (Joh_18:11). It is but a baptism; if dipped, that is the worst of it, not drowned; perplexed, but not in despair.—M. Henry.
Mat_20:25-27. The Christian ideal.—What a revolution of thought is involved in this simple contrast! Of how much that is great and noble has it been the seed! The dignity of labour, the royalty of service, the pettiness of selfish ambition, the majesty of self-sacrificing love; the utter condemnation of the miserable maxim “Every man for himself”; the world’s first question, “What shall we have?” made the last; and its last question, “What shall we give?” made the very first—such are some of the fruits which have grown from the seed our Lord planted in so ungenial soil that day. We are, alas, still very far from realising that great ideal; but ever since that day, as an ideal, it has never been quite out of sight. Early Christianity, under the guidance of the Apostles, strove, though with all too little success, to realise it; the chivalry of the middle ages, with its glorification of knighthood, (the knight was originally a Knecht, a servant, or slave), was an attempt to embody it; and what is the constitutionalism of modern times but the development of the principle in political life, the real power being vested not in the titular monarch, who represents ideally the general weal, but in a ministry, so designated to mark the fact that their special function is to minister or serve, the highest position in the realm bearing the humble title of Prime Minister, or first servant of the state? It is of value to have the principle before us as an ideal, even though it be buried under a tombstone of a name, the significance of which is forgotten; but when the kingdom of heaven shall be fully established on the earth, the ideal will be realised, not in political life only, but all through society. If only the ambition to serve our generation according to the will of God were to become universal, then would God’s kingdom come and His will be done on earth even as it is in heaven.—J. M. Gibson, D.D.
Mat_20:26-28. True greatness.—
I. The nature of true greatness.—Though Christ does not ignore intellects, or even riches, He yet regards these things, and all things like these, as but instruments; and he is, in the gospel sense of the word, the greatest who uses all such gifts or possessions in the service of mankind. If this view of the case be correct, one or two inferences of importance follow from it.
1. He who wins this greatness does not win it at the expense of others.
2. We may win this greatness anywhere.
3. This greatness is satisfying to its possessor.
II. The model of true greatness.—“Even as the Son of man,” etc. In one point of view the greatness of God is that of service. The highest of all is the servant of all. But striking as the nobleness and the Divinity of service appear, when we look thus at the universal ministry of God we have a more impressive illustration of the same thing in the mission and work of the Lord Jesus. In creation and providence God lays nothing aside. But in redemption it was different. To deliver man from the guilt and power of sin it was needed that the Son of God should become a man, and, after a life of obedience should submit to a death of shame; and there was sacrifice. When that was done Jehovah rendered the highest service to humanity and gave a pattern of the loftiest greatness.
III. The motive of true greatness.—The reference which Christ makes to His death, as an example, brings before every Christian’s mind the magnitude of the obligation under which He has laid him.—W. M. Taylor, D.D.
Mat_20:28. The purpose of Christ’s life and death.—
I. The name by which Christ calls Himself.—“The Son of man.”
II. His pre-existence and voluntary entrance into human conditions.—“Came”
III. The broad distinction between the merciful ministering of His life and the mysterious ransom of His death.
IV. His death as the price paid for our liberty, purchasing us for His own.—“Ransom”
V. His death as substitutionary.—“For,” i.e. instead of.
VI. The wide sweep of the purpose of His death.—“Instead of many,” contrasting the one offering with the great multitude which no man can number, who are actually redeemed to God thereby. The “many” in so far as the purpose and scope of His death are concerned might be the “all.’—A Maclaren, D.D.
Christ a Servant.—
I. The title He assumed.—“Son of man.”
II. The homage He declined.—“Not to be ministered unto.”
1. Not the utterance of disappointment.
2. Man usually desires power.
III. The character of the service He rendered.—“To give His life,” etc.
1. Its beginning in the distant past.
2. Its progress through the eventful present.
3. Its consummation in the glorious future; when He, “the servant of all,” shall reign as Lord and King.—J. C. Gray.
The death of Christ.—According to the teaching of the New Testament, dogmatically regarded, there are five propositions concerning the death of Christ which are again and again repeated.
I. It is declared that the death of Christ is not of small concern as compared with His life.
II. That it is in some way a death for the human race.
III. That it is in some way a death for the sin of the human race.
IV. That it in some way obtains the forgiveness of the sins of the human race.
V. That it in some way neutralises the effects of the sins of the human race.—Principal Cave, D.D.
Christ a ransom.—This word ransom or redemption was familiar to every Jew. Under the law, the method of commutation by the payment of a ransom was employed in all cases where things were due to God which from some ineligibility could not be themselves presented. Sometimes this ransom was a payment in money and sometimes in kind. The male firstborn, who had been spared in Egypt, and whose lives were therefore forfeited to God, were “ransomed,” “redeemed,” by silver shekels; the first-born of unclean cattle, which were legally unqualified for sacrifice, were “ransomed “by the payment of their value or by the substitution of a clean animal. There were also instances of the ransoming of human lives under the law; and when our Lord spoke of the ransoming the lives of many by a gift of life, His hearers would understand His words by the analogy of those national customs in which they had been born and bred. However difficult the application of Christ’s words, and the comprehension of their mysterious suggestions, the meaning of them would be clear enough to the disciples. They would understand that there were many first-born whose lives would be spared because His life would be surrendered, or, as in the case of the man whose ox had gored a Hebrew to death (Exo_21:30), there were many forfeited lives which should be restored, because His life should vicariously bear their punishment and be taken away.—Ibid.
Mat_20:26-28. The joy of ministry.—The least complicated and shortest rule of morals is this: Get others to work for you as little as possible and work yourself as much as possible for them; make the fewest calls upon the services of your neighbours and render them the maximum number of services yourself. The observance of this rule gives coherence to our acts, imparts a meaning to our lives, confers a blessing on our persons, solves all doubts and difficulties that perplex us, and causes all the factors of our existence, including intellectual activity, science, and art, to fall naturally into their proper places. This is why I never feel happy or even content, unless when quite certain that my work is helpful to others. As for the satisfaction of those for whose behoof I labour, I take no thought of that; it is a superfluity, a satiety of bliss, which does not enter into my calculations, and is utterly powerless to influence the choice of my actions. My firm conviction that the work I am spending myself in is not harmful nor worthless but beneficial to others, is the taproot of my happiness. And this is precisely the reason why the genuinely moral man instinctively puts physical toil above scientific and artistic work.—Count Tolstoi.
Mat_20:28. Giving life for others.—The city of Marseilles was once visited by the plague. The ravages were fearful. Parents deserted their children, and children forgot their parents, to take care of themselves. The city became a desert. Everyone who remained was sad, for no one could stop the ravages of the plague. The doctors consulted together, but they could find no remedy. They agreed that it was necessary for one of them to open the body of someone who had died to find out the nature of the plague. But who would do this, for it was certain that the one who did it would himself die soon after? There was a pause. Suddenly one of the most celebrated physicians, a man in the prime of life, rose and said—“Be it so; I devote myself to the safety of my country. I swear, in the name of humanity and religion, that to-morrow at the break of day, I will dissect a corpse, and write down as I proceed what I observe.” He went home, made his will (for he was a rich man), and spent that evening in religious exercises. During the night a man died of the plague. Guyon, the physician, entered the room next morning, and made the examination. As he went on he wrote down all he saw, then left the room and put the paper into vinegar, so that it would not convey the plague to others. He then went to a convenient place, where he died within twelve hours.—“Nuntius.”
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 v17 Mat 20:17-19; Luk 18:31-34; Mar 1:32-34. “And they were…
JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION
Mat 20:17-19; Luk 18:31-34; Mar 1:32-34. “And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was leading them, and they continued to be excited, and following, they were afraid.” Our Lord is still over in Perea, east of the Jordan, walking along toward Jerusalem, accompanied by the vast multitudes. The disciples know that if He goes back to Jerusalem, something decisive will take place, as only a dozen days previously He had fled away from there for His life. As the Passover is now at hand, and the metropolis will be thronged with the people of Israel, not only from Judea and Galilee, but from their dispersions in all heathen lands, they know that His enemies are determined to do everything they can against Him. As it is said here that they were much excited and afraid, doubtless they were apprehensive that the thousands from Galilee, where He had spent by far the greater part of His ministerial life, would be at the Passover, and as His enemies were so hostile against Him, in all probability a bloody civil war would break out, in which they were all likely to lose their lives. Meanwhile the hopeful side of the matter was, that He would be crowned King there in Jerusalem, in the presence of the vast multitudes from all parts of the earth, who might fall in line and propagate His kingdom, and permanently establish Him on the throne of David.
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“And again taking the twelve, He began to speak to them the things which were about to happen to Him, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will deliver Him to the Gentiles, and they will mock Him, and will scourge Him, and spit upon Him, and will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise.” Luke says: “And they understood nothing of these things; and this word was hidden from them, and they knew not the things spoken.” This is the third time our Savior has told them plainly that He is going to be arrested, arraigned, condemned, scourged, crucified, and will rise the third day. Now you see that Luke here says that they understood none of those things, and we see in the subsequent history that they were utterly ignorant of His impending fate till it took place. Now why did Jesus tell them three times, and the Holy Spirit withhold it from them? N. B. — The Holy Spirit is not only the Author of the Word, but the Revelator of that Word to every person who ever understands it. It was really important that Jesus should tell them all about it, as He did three times, distinctly, by way of emphasis. The importance of this revelation is seen in the fact that it was a most important item in the prophetical curriculum, which constitutes the basis of Christian faith in all ages.
Therefore it must be revealed. Now why must it be withheld from them till after His resurrection? Do you not know that if they had understood it, they would have mustered the countless hosts to whom He had preached during the three years of His ministry and have prepared for war, in order to defend their beloved Leader and preserve His life? Thus a terrible civil war would have broken out in Jerusalem while the city was thronged with the myriads from all parts of the earth attending the Passover, and a grand army would have rallied to prevent them from killing Him, thus defeating the great end for which He came into the world; i.e., to suffer and die to redeem the lost millions of Adam’s fallen race. Hence you see the pertinency on the part of the Divine administration, that the Holy Spirit should withhold these tragic, sublime, and wonderful events appertaining to their Master, so that they should not understand them till after they had all transpired. The same fact is true in all ages, despite all the efforts of human learning to fathom and comprehend the Bible. While these are not to be depreciated, it is an incontestable fact that we only know the Word as it is revealed to us by the Holy Ghost. After the Constantinian apostasy, during the Dark Ages, when the Church was monopolized by Romanism, and retrogressed into semi-paganism, every great, cardinal, spiritual truth having evanesced, and the Holy Spirit apparently retreating away and leaving her in the dismal midnight of ignorance and superstition, even collapsing so egregiously into human infatuation and folly as to become a secret society, like Freemasonry, her mystic rites only known to her muttering priests, and locked up in a dead language, incomprehensible by the laity, — amid this dismal night of ignorance, superstition, and idolatry, she remained a thousand years, till the light again broke in, God raising up Wyclif, a Roman Catholic priest, justly denominated the Morning Star of the Reformation; followed by John Huss, of Bohemia, whom the Roman Catholics burned, and threw his ashes into the Rhine, on whose waters they floated down, impinging on many lands, germinating quite a crop of martyrs, who sprang up spontaneously, like mushrooms in the night; and like the armed men who sprang up from the dragon’s teeth which Cadmus sowed in Greece, so a magnificent crop of martyrs were soon testifying amid the flaming fagots in different European countries; finally, Luther comes to the front, the hero of the Reformation, the multitudes falling in line, getting their eyes open to the glorious truth of justification by the free grace of God in Christ, received and appropriated by faith alone, independently of Church rites, priestly manipulations, and clerical absolutions, — presenting a rank and file too formidable for the papistical power to overawe by thundering anathemas, bulls of excommunication, or the fires of Inquisition. We may here observe that during this long period of a thousand years, while the dismal Pagan night darkened the escutcheon of the historic Church, ignorance, superstition, priestcraft, prelacy, and popery, with their human institutions, autocracy, and tyranny having supplanted, and, to all human observation, obliterated every vestige of experimental godliness from the historic Church, yet God had a people in the world who knew Him experimentally, and walked with Him in the beauty of holiness, despite the terrible persecutions waged against them by the Catholic Church, A. D. 251. The Novatians, the holiness people of their day and time, withdrew from the Catholic Church on account of her corruptions. The same people in later centuries were denominated the Waldenses and Albigenses, and despite all efforts to exterminate them in blood, survived several centuries; and finally the movement received a new impetus under the leadership of the Moravians, who were instrumental in the sanctification of John Wesley, who, in the providence of God, became exceedingly prominent in the great holiness movement of his day. While Luther was evidently a sanctified man, yet he never gave the doctrine or the experience any especial attention, having all he could possibly do to rescue the primary truths of justification, regeneration, and adoption from the black grip of Satanic oblivion, long fastened on them by the tyrannical intrigues of Romanism. I am satisfied that God had His way with Luther and his compeers, using them, pursuant to His own will and purpose, in the restoration of these grand fundamental doctrines of experimental salvation. As Wycli£ was the morning star and Luther the rising sun of the great justification revival, in a similar manner George Fox, the founder of Quakerism; John Bunyan, the Baptist; and John Knox, the Presbyterian, were the morning stars of the great sanctification revival, whose sun arose with Wesley and his compeers. As the great doctrine of entire sanctification, so prominent in the apostolic age, had gone into eclipse with oncoming Romanism, and had slumbered in oblivion more than a thousand years, God raised up these mighty men to rescue from oblivion, formulate, and elucidate the profound and majestic-truth of Christian perfection. These heroic saints of bygone ages have faithfully and courageously done their work, and are now resting in glory. While experience is substantially identical in all ages, not so with exegesis. The Bible is our text-book, and the Holy Ghost our Teacher; but some of us are very slow scholars. The Holy Ghost is leading us on, and teaching us as we are able to receive it. Wesley and his coadjutors profited by the work of Luther, as Wesley was actually converted while listening to the reading of Luther’s preface to the Pauline Epistles; but the labor of their lives was not on justification, but Christian perfection.
Our holiness brethren who would confine our investigations and elucidations to sanctification, make a great mistake. The Holy Spirit is still opening the Scriptures, and revealing them more and more, to the saints of God. If we should stop with sanctification, we would make no progress beyond our predecessors, whereas the school of Christ is the most progressive institution in all the world. The notable fact that the Holy Spirit is so wonderful opening the Scriptures revelatory of the Lord’s second coming, is to me an auspicious omen that the time is at hand. We are now living in the last century of the world’s six thousand years, the millennium being the seventh thousand. As the popular chronology is believed by the ablest critics to be too long, many authorities expiring the six thousand years already, we have many reasons to open our eyes to the incoming light shed by the blessed Holy Spirit on those numerous Scriptures revealing the return of Jesus to this world. During the last year I have traveled twenty thousand miles in America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. In all lands, and upon all seas, I met the Lord’s dear people, looking out for His coming, and believing Him to be very nigh. The Holy Spirit is wonderfully lighting up the Scriptures on the coming of the Lord, Divine healing, and woman’s ministry. We so much need the ministry of the sisterhood to help us carry the gospel to the ends of the earth, and expedite the return of our glorious King. It is very pertinent that we should all sit, meek and lowly, at the feet of Jesus, perfectly appreciative and acquiescent in the teaching of the Holy Ghost. If we refuse to move forward responsive to His leadership, we will certainly grieve Him.
Why did He not reveal the great doctrine of sanctification to Luther? Because he and his generation had enough to do to teach and establish justification. Why did He not lead out Wesley to elaborate the coming of the Lord? Because he had all he could do, in his long, laborious, and useful life, to expound and establish the great doctrine of entire sanctification. Now, with the full benefit of the proficiency achieved by our predecessors, shall we make no decisive process in the school of Christ? Shall we stand still, or go round like the blind horse in the treadmill? God’s commandment to Israel is, “Go forward.” This will be true indefinitely in the department of Biblical exegesis, which, like God its Author, is absolutely illimitable. We will not only learn during this life, but on through all eternity, and more rapidly after we get to heaven than ever before. God forbid that we should command Israel to stand still when He says, “Go forward!”
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v17 Section 7. (Mat 20:17-28.)
Section 7. (Mat 20:17-28.)
The perfection of the kingdom.
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The seventh section; in close connection with the last, gives us a gleam of the glory of the Kingdom which displays its moral perfection; in contrast with all the kingdoms of men. The spirit of the disciples also is shown out in contrast with the spirit of their Lord, and their painful misconception of all that constitutes true glory. But it is upon the Lord Himself that the eye rests here, who is the Light and Glory, as of the heavenly City so of the earth in the blessing that it soon shall know. And with this, suitably, this fourth division of the Gospel closes.
1. We have first the Lord going up to Jerusalem, with the perfect consciousness of all that is before Him there. He takes the twelve apart in order to make known to them again what He would have them realize as to Him - no unforeseen thing, but that for which He had come, and to which He had devoted Himself. He knew every bitter ingredient in that cup which He was going to drink: the betrayal, the condemnation by the heads of the people - His own their delivering Him to the Gentiles, the mockery, the scourging, the crucifixion. Of all this He speaks to them, adding the blessed comfort of His resurrection also, on the third day. Mark tells us of the fear that had already fallen upon them in the way; Luke, that nevertheless they understood none of these things, but that this saying was hidden from them. No doubt, all this went together. They were dazed and stupefied with the apprehension of a great sorrow which they had no courage to face nor take in. Matthew simply speaks of the Lord’s making it known to them, putting this in sharpest contrast with the appeal of the sons of Zebedee with their mother which follows next, and which shows so perfectly in which direction they were looking at that time, - how quickly they had rallied from the unwelcome announcement of the Cross, to comfort themselves with that which, true as it was, they were soon to show they little apprehended. The glory itself they would find morally conditioned by that Cross of which it was the outcome, and from which they turned away.
2. After the will of the Master, therefore, - a will in which self-seeking had no place, - we come to the lust of the disciple, to see how the most precious truths can be distorted by the mirror that reflects them, were it a James and a John, the nearest intimates of the Lord on earth, who furnish the mirror. How jealous should we be of ourselves, lest we should pervert what we imagine we but receive, and turn our blessing into loss and shame!
Nature is leading here, as is evident; the mother of Zebedee’s sons is a witness to us of how our natural relationships need to be watched and not suffered to intrude into the things of God. We see in the Lord’s case how He refuses all control of this kind, as we see in the Popish doctrine how readily, if allowed, it will come in. "Say that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, the other on Thy left hand, in Thy kingdom."
But the way of the Cross from which they have turned is the way of glory: "Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of The moment it presents itself to them as a personal gain, they are ready. The Lord answers, "Ye shall indeed drink of My cup; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, except to those for whom it is prepared of My Father."
He is the perfect Servant all the way through; just because - "Serving in the joy of love."
In exaltation and in lowest humiliation; the Father’s will rules for Him - is all to Him. We have the wonderful example, in One perfect in wisdom and in goodness, of how service is the characteristic sign of love. In Him in whom all is absolute freedom, there is never a thought of anything but the Father’s will. To us, what a commendation of it! What a bond of perfection for the universe will it be in all eternity, the Son of God in manhood, Himself "subject to Him who put all things under Him"!
3. But the indignation of the ten at the two brethren shows their kinship with them morally. And now the Lord lets them see their common error, and the true glory of that Kingdom which they had been thinking of as if it were but like a kingdom of the nations. What! did they imagine that in His Kingdom there would be the gratification of ambition, of the desire for lordship? or that the places of rule with Him could be such as this would imply? No: for service was the road to rule, and this could only be because rule itself would be but more ample service. Whosoever would be great among them would be their minister, and the chief among them by that very fact be but bound to serve them. Must it not be plain that the Son of man; the King, "came not to be ministered unto but to minister"? Glory might change the character of this service - not the spirit nor the fact of it. The Cross might be lowest humiliation for Him, but it was His glory too. Could they cease to remember it? Could the love shown there be measured by aught else? Could it change or be exhausted? Would He be upon the Throne to be ministered unto or to minister? What must the places of rule be in the Kingdom of which He would be the King!
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On v17 J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CI. Foretelling His…
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CI. Foretelling His Passion].
CI. FORETELLING HIS PASSION. REBUKING AMBITION. (Peræa, or Judæa, near the Jordan.) aMATT. XX. 17-28; bMARK X. 32-45; cLUKE XVIII. 31-34.
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b32 And they were on the way, going up to Jerusalem [Dean Mansel sees in these words an evidence that Jesus had just crossed the Jordan and was beginning the actual ascent up to Jerusalem. If so, he was in Judæa. But such a construction strains the language. Jesus had been going up to Jerusalem ever since he started in Galilee, and he may now have still be in Peræa. The parable of the vineyard which [553] closed the preceding section was likely to have been spoken before he crossed the Jordan, for Peræa abounded in vineyards]; and Jesus was going before them: and they were amazed; and they that followed were afraid. [When Jesus turned his face toward Jerusalem, his disciples dropped behind and hung back. The outer circle of his disciples knew enough not to be fearful of the consequences, and the inner circle, fully acquainted with the dangers, were amazed that he should dare to go thither. A short while before this they had despaired of his life when he had proposed to go even into Judæa ( Joh_11:7-16), and his going at that time had not bettered the situation, but had, on the contrary, greatly increased the enmity and danger ( Joh_11:47-57). Notwithstanding all this, Jesus was now on his way to Jerusalem itself, and was speaking no reassuring word as he formerly had done-- Joh_11:9, Joh_11:10.] a17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took bagain cunto him athe twelve disciples apart [He separated them from the throng of pilgrims on the way to the Passover, and from the outer circle of the disciples, for it was not expedient that these should hear what he was about to reveal concerning his death. Such a revelation might have spurred his Galilæan friends to resist his arrest, and might have resulted in riot and bloodshed], band began to tell them the things that were to happen unto him, aand on the way he said unto them, 18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and bthe ascribes; and they shall condemn him to death, 19 and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify: b34 and they shall mock him, and shall spit upon, and shall scourge him, and shall kill him; and three days he shall rise again. aand the third day he shall be raised up. cand all the things that are written through the prophets shall be accomplished unto the Son of man. 32 For he shall be delivered up unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and shamefully treated, and spit upon: 33 and they shall scourge and kill him: [554] and the third day he shall rise again. [This was the third and by far the clearest and most circumstantial prophecy concerning his death. For the other two see Mat_26:66) and forced Pilate to confirm the sentence ( Luk_23:24). Since the evangelists honestly record an actual prediction, we may well pause to note how remarkable it is in that it gives seven details as follows: 1. Delivery or betrayal by Judas. 2. Condemnation. 3. Delivery to the Gentiles. 4. Mocking and the manner of it. 5. Scourging. 6. Death by crucifixion. 7. Resurrection on the third day. The announcement of these sufferings was made for the purpose of checking any materialistic hopes which the apostles might entertain as to the glories, honors, and offices of the Messianic reign. That such hopes were present is shown by the ambitious request which immediately follows. Moreover, to prepare them that they might not be crushed either by the announcement or the accomplishment of his death he gives them the clear promise of his resurrection.] 34 And they understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them, and they perceived not the things that were said. [So fixed and ineradicable was their false conception of the Messianic reign that they could not believe that what Jesus said could be literally true ( Mat_16:22). Only later did the full significance of his saying dawn upon them-- Joh_16-14:26.] b35 And there a20 Then came bcome near unto him athe mother of the sons of Zebedee with her sons, bJames and John, aworshipping him, [giving him homage as a coming ruler, not worshiping him as a divine being], and asking a certain thing of him. bsaying unto him, Teacher, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall ask of thee. [Zebedee's wife was named was Salome. See note on 1Ki_2:19, 1Ki_2:20. They asked [555] through their mother, thinking that Jesus would be more likely to favor her than themselves.] a21 And he said unto her, bthem, aWhat wouldest thou? bWhat would ye that I should do for you? [Though Jesus knew what they wished, he required them to state it plainly and specifically, that their self-seeking might be clearly exposed and properly rebuked.] aShe saith unto him, Command that these my two sons may sit, one on thy right hand, and on on thy left hand, in thy kingdom. b37 And they said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and one on thy left hand, in thy glory. [In the previous section Jesus had spoken about the thrones to be occupied by the apostles. The sons of Zebedee, presuming on their high standing among the apostles, and their near relationship to Jesus, were emboldened to ask for special seats of honor among the promised thrones--the seats to the right and left of the sovereign being next to his in dignity and consideration; thus Josephus represents Saul as seated with Jonathan on his right hand and Abner on his left. The terms "kingdom" and "glory" are here used synonymously. Despite the fact that Jesus was now telling them plainly of his death, these apostles could not rid their minds of the delusion that he was about to ascend the earthly throne of David.] a22 But Jesus answered and said, bunto them, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I drink? athat I am about to drink? bor to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? [The word "cup" among the Hebrews meant a portion assigned ( Psa_16:5, Psa_23:5), whether of pleasure or of sorrow. But the idea of sorrow usually predominated ( Mat_26:39, Mat_26:42, Rev_14:10, Rev_16:19, Rev_18:6, Psa_75:8, Isa_51:17, Jer_25:15). To be baptized with suffering means to be overwhelmed with it, a metaphorical use of the word arising from the fact that it means an immersion. This metaphorical use of baptism aids us to understand the meaning of that word, for neither sprinkling nor pouring could have suggested the overpowering force which the metaphor implies. Alford distinguishes [556] between cup and baptism, making the former refer to inward spiritual suffering, and the latter to outer persecution and trial.] 39 And they said { asay unto him, We are able. bAnd Jesus said asaith unto them, My bThe cup that I drink aindeed ye shall drink: band with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized [They probably thought that Jesus referred to some battle or conflict which would attend the ushering in of the kingdom, and as they were not wanting in physical courage, they were ready enough to pledge themselves to endure it. They spoke with unwarranted self-confidence, but Jesus rebuked them very gently, as he foreknew what suffering they would indeed endure. James was the first apostolic martyr ( Act_12:2), and John's spirit was sorely troubled with the conflict of error, as his epistles show, and his last days were darkened by the shadow of persecution-- Rev_1:9]: 40 but to sit on my right hand or { aand on my left hand, is not mine to give; bbut it is for them for whom it hath been prepared. aof my Father. [Future rewards are indeed meted out by the hand of Christ ( 2Ti_4:8, Rev_2:10, Rev_2:17, Rev_2:26, Rev_2:28, Rev_3:12, Rev_3:21, et al.), but they are not distributed according to caprice or favoritism, but according to the will of the Father and the rules which he has established. Jesus proceeds to set forth the principles by which places of honor are obtained in his kingdom.] 24 And when the ten heard it, they were { bbegan to be amoved with indignation concerning the two brethren. bJames and John 42 And abut Jesus called them unto him, and said bsaith unto them, Ye know that they who are accounted to rule over athe rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority upon them. 26 Not so shall it be b43 But it is not so among you: but whosoever would become great among you, shall be your minister; 44 and whosoever would be first among you, ashall be your servant: bshall be servant of all. [The ten, sharing the same ambition as the two, jealously resented their efforts to take unfair advantage of [557] the Lord's known affection for them. To restore peace among them, and to correct their false views, he draws the distinction between the worldly greatness to which they aspired, and the spiritual greatness which they ought to have sought. In an earthly kingdom honor and authority measure greatness, but in Christ's kingdom it is measured by humility and service. Jesus added power to his rebuke by showing them that their spirit was not even Jewish, but altogether heathenish.] 45 For { a28 even as bthe Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. [He enforces this lesson by his own example in that he came to serve men and not to have them serve him. Jesus could ever refer to himself as the best example of the virtues which he taught. Since honor consists in being like the King, the highest honor consists in being most like him. The closing words state the vicarious nature of Christ's suffering as plainly as language can express it. The ransom is offered for all ( 1Ti_2:6), and will be efficacious for as many as accept it. The words are nearly a reproduction of the words of Isaiah-- Isa_53:12.]
[FFG 553-558]
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.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v17 Christ Again Foretells His Passion. Mat 20:17-19
Christ Again Foretells His Passion. Mat 20:17-19
v. 17. And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart in the way and said unto them,
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v. 18. Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death,
v. 19. and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify Him; and the third day He shall rise again.
This is Christ’s third prediction concerning His Passion. The first time He had stated only in a general way that He would suffer many things, chapter 16:21. In the second prophecy His betrayal and delivery into the hands of men had been spoken of chapter 17:22. Here the sufferings are enumerated in detail; here the men that would be guilty of the atrocious behavior against Him are named. Jesus had set His face steadfastly to journey to Jerusalem. The journey occupied some time, but never once did He falter. He had been in Bethany with His friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, Joh 11:38-44. He had then retired for a time to Ephraim, near Bethel, Joh 11:54. He now made ready to go to Jerusalem, to the Passover festival, with His disciples, who were amazed and afraid. Mar 10:32. For this reason, Jesus made an effort to make them see the necessity of His coming Passion, according to the words of the prophets. He took the Twelve alone, by themselves, in order to be altogether undisturbed, and then He made this third announcement. They were going up to Jerusalem, the holy city of the Jews, not only because it was situated on a hill, high above the surrounding country, but also because, in the eyes of the Israelites, it was the most elevated, the most sublime city in the world. He names the men that would carry out the damnable design, the chief priests and the scribes. He states in what way it will be done: He will be sentenced to death. But the sentence of death will not be carried out by the murderers, since Gentile people, Gentile soldiers, would deride and scourge and crucify Him. In spite of all this, however, He would finally triumph. He would rise again on the third day. He is the omniscient Son of God, true God Himself, who is willingly going forward into suffering and death. This fact gave to His work of redemption its great value.
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 v17 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus foretells his death and resurrection a third time as he and his disciples travel to Jerusalem.
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going up to Jerusalem
Jerusalem was on top of a hill, so people had to travel up to get there.
See, we are going
Jesus uses the word "See" to tell the disciples the must pay attention to what he is about to tell them.
we are going
Here "we" refers to Jesus and the disciples. (See: Inclusive "We")
the Son of Man will be delivered
This can be stated in active form. AT: "someone will deliver the Son of Man" (See: Active or Passive)
Son of Man ... him ... he
Jesus is referring to himself in the third person. If necessary, you can translate these in the first person. (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
They will condemn ... for them to mock
The chief priests and scribes will condemn and deliver him to the Gentiles, and the Gentiles will mock Jesus.
to flog
"to whip him" or "to beat him with whips"
third day
"Third" is the ordinal form of "three." (See: Ordinal Numbers)
he will be raised up
The words "be raised up" are an idiom for "be made alive again." This can be stated in active form. AT: "God will raise him up" or "God will make him alive again" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
Jesus
Jerusalem
the twelve
Son of Man
deliver
chief priests
scribe
condemn
die
Gentile
mock
crucify
day
raise
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.