Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 6:39
And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?
39-45. Sincerity. Four Comparisons.
39. Can the blind lead the blind? ] Mat 15:14. Pro 19:27, “Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err.” St Paul taunts the Jew with professing to be “a guide of the blind,” Rom 2:19. St Luke calls this “a parable” in the broader sense (see on Luk 4:23); and in this Gospel the Sermon thus ends with four vivid ‘parables’ or similes taken from the sights of daily life blind leaders of blind; the mote and the beam; good and bad fruit; the two houses.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Luk 6:39
Can the blind lead the blind?
Shall they not both fall into the ditch?
The suggestive supposition is made by Dr. Reid (Inquiry into the human mind) that it had been as uncommon to be born with the power of sight as it is now to be born incapable of it, in which case the few who had this rare gift would appear as prophets or inspired teachers to the many.
Blind-led blind
Many a paraphrase of the proverb, and of a perishing people where there is no vision, might be cited from the histories and miscellanies of Mr. Carlyle. It is a trite theme with him–the need of what he calls men with an eye, to lead those who need guidance. We might apply what Shakesperes Gloster, in King Lear, says, after his eyes have been barbarously put out, and he seeks a guide in Mad Tom, and is warned, Alack, sir, hes mad! Tis the times plague, when madmen lead the blind. Ill fare the people that take up with blind guides. Like Elymas, when there fell upon him a mist and a darkness, they go about seeking some one to lead them by the hand. Some one, any one. Who will show us any good–who will deliver us from this hour and power of darkness? And sometimes he that is struck blind takes for guide him that is born blind. And straightway they make for the ditch. St. Gregory the Great, in his treatise on the pastoral care, vigorously censures those who, without proper qualifications, undertake the care of souls, which he calls the art of all arts. Who does not know, he says, that the wounds of the mind are more difficult to be understood than those of the body! And yet men unacquainted with the spiritual precepts will profess themselves physicians of the heart, while those who are ignorant of the effects of drugs would blush to set up for physicians of the body. And anon he quotes the proverb of the blind-led blind. In no such connection, and in no such spirit, Shelley quotes it, when describing priests and princes pale with terror, whose faith fell, like a shaft loosed by the bowmans error, on their own hearts.
They sought and they could find O refuge–twas the blind who led the blind.
But, after all, there may be something worse than even a blind guide; for, as South observes in his sermon on the fatal imposture of words, A blind guide is certainly a great mischief: but a guide that blinds those whom he should lead, is certainly a greater. The proverb was full in Souths eye when, in another sermon, discussing the case of a man who exerts all the faculties of his soul, and plies all means and opportunities in the search of truth which God has vouchsafed him, the preacher concludes that such a man may rest upon the judgment of his conscience so informed, as a warrantable guide of those actions which he must account to God for: and if by following such a guide he fall into the ditch, the ditch shall never drown him. But the same vigorous divine elsewhere deprecates a blind watchman as equally a nuisance and an impertinence–and such a paradox, both in reason and in practice, he contends, is a deluded conscience, namely a counsellor who cannot advise, and a guide not able to direct. The will and the affections are made to follow and obey, not to lead and direct; and therefore, he goes on to say, if error has perverted the order, and disturbed the original economy of our faculties, and a blind will thereupon comes to be led by a blind understanding, there is no remedy, but it must trip and stumble, and sometimes fall into the noisome ditch of the foulest enormities and immoralities. (F. Jacox.)
Blind leaders
I. THE CASE PROPOSED–Can the blind lead the blind? Upon this we found the following remarks:
1. All men by nature are in a state of spiritual blindness. The proofs of this moral and spiritual blindness press upon our attention on every hand.
(1) Consider, in the first place, the erroneous and mistaken apprehensions which men generally entertain of the character of God.
(2) The unconsciousness of men to the moral and spiritual dangers by which they are threatened is another proof that darkness hath covered the human mind.
(3) The intense love and ardent pursuit of the things of the present world form another striking manifestation of the blindness of the human heart with regard to spiritual things.
2. I remark that to the blind some sort of guidance is absolutely necessary. We all feel this with respect to the calamity of natural blindness.
3. It is obvious to remark that those who proffer themselves to be the guides of the blind should themselves possess the visual faculty. What supplemental aid can the blind derive from those who are themselves in the same unhappy condition?
II. THE CATASTROPHE PREDICTED. If the blind lead the blind, shall they not both fall into the ditch? Upon this I would remark:
1. That ignorant and unfaithful teachers are to be considered as the heaviest imaginable curse wherever they exist.
2. The text reminds us that the consequence of this state o! things is that both shall fall into the ditch. The blind who are led, and the blind leaders by whom they are led, it is much to be feared will share one common doom. They will fall into sentimental errors–they will fall into practical immoralities-they will fall into final perdition–unless the grace and mercy of the Most High prevent.
(1) The ruin into which they lead others, and which they prepare for themselves, is, first, inexcusable.
(2) As this ruin will be found to be inexcusable, so will it be found to be inevitable. There is nothing that can hinder; but from the erroneous system which I have described as certain, inevitable ruin must follow.
(3) And the ruin will be found to be irretrievable.
(4) This ruin which is inexcusable, inevitable, and irretrievable, will be found to be eternal.
III. Let me apply the principles which have been thus briefly developed in favour of the institution for which I am about to plead. You are aware I am to ask your benevolent aid on behalf of the Home Missionary Society.
1. Let me remind you of the necessity which there exists for the interposition of such efforts as those which this society exerts.
2. Consider the erroneous guidance under which a vast proportion of this population is actually placed. (G. Clayton, M. A.)
The choice o/ a leader
Two extremes exist in reference to the pilgrimage and scholarship of life. Some assert that man needs no guide whatever. Is he not a noble creature, gifted with high intelligence? Can he not reason and judge, and understand and discern? He can surely find his own way, without direction from without. As a learner, why needs he a teacher? He can instruct himself. Such self-sufficient boasters will not, therefore, condescend to sit at the feet of a master, or follow the track of a guide, and consequently they frequently become erratic, singular, lawless, and unreasonable in their modes of thought, and even of act. Into the mazes of infidelity and atheism such pilgrims wander; into foolishness and strong delusion such teachers of themselves conduct their own minds. This scheme is dangerous, but its opposite pole is not less so. Deliver a man from rationalism, and he often swings into superstition, and says, I see that I need a guide, I will take the one nearest to hand. Between these two extremes there is a narrow path of right, and happy is he who finds it, viz., the honestly and sincerely judging who the leader and teacher should be, the discovery that a leader has been appointed in the person of the Lord Jesus, and a teacher in the Divine Spirit, and then a complete, willing, and believing submission of the whole man to this infallible guidance.
I. The text announces to us A GREAT, GENERAL PRINCIPLE AS A WARNING, viz., that a disciple does not get above his master, but becomes like him.
1. It is evident that the disciple is generally drawn to the master who is most like himself. There is about us all a natural tendency to admire our own image, and to be willing to submit to any who are superior to us, and yet are of our type. If the blind man only could see he would not choose a blind man to be his guide; but as he cannot see he meets with one who talks as blind men talk; who judges things as they are in the dark, and who does not know what sighted men know, and therefore never reminds the blind man of his infirmity; and at once he says, This is my ideal of a man, he is exactly the leader I require, and I will commit myself to him. So the blind man takes the blind man to be his guide, and this is the reason why error has been so popular. No error would live if it did not chime in with some evil propensity of human nature, if it did not gratify some error in man to which it is congruous. Mind, then, whom you choose for a guide.
2. Having chosen his tutor, the student gradually becomes more and more like his master; or, having taken his guide, the tendency is to tread more closely in his footsteps, and obey his rules more fully every day. We imitate those whom we admire.
3. The pupil does not go beyond the tutor, nor does the man who submits to be led go beyond his guide. Such a case is very rarely found–indeed, I may say, never; for when the one who is led goes beyond his leader, he is not in truth led any longer; rarely enough does it ever come to that. Men, if they outstrip their leaders, generally do so in a wrong direction. They seldom exaggerate their virtues, those they frequently omit, but they usually exaggerate peculiarities, follies, failings, and faults. It is said that in the court of Richard III., because the king was round-shouldered, the courtiers gradually became hump-backed; and we have seen a whole country idiotic enough, not in the last century, but in this century, to have almost all its women limping, because a popular princess was afflicted with a temporary lameness.
4. When a man chooses a bad leader for his soul, at the end of all bad leadership there is a ditch. A small turn of the switch on the railway is the means of taking the train to the far east or to the far west: the first turn is very little indeed, but the points arrived at are remote. Let us not take any man whatever as our leader, for if we trust to any mere man, though he may be right in ninety-nine of the hundred, be is wrong somewhere, and our tendency will be to be more influenced by his one wrong point, than by any one of his righteous. There is One whom you may follow implicitly, and one only–the Man Christ Jesus, the Son of God.
II. SPECIAL APPLICATION OF THIS GREAT GENERAL PRINCIPLE TO JESUS CHRIST FOR OUR ENCOURAGEMENT. If we have Him for our leader we certainly cannot go beyond our leader, but we shall be privileged to grow more and more like Him, and we shall be perfected according to our text, as our leader is.
1. This is what we might have expected. He is the Creator; can He not create in us His image! From such an one as He is, we confidently expect it.
(1) For, observe, the teaching itself is such that it must have power over hearts that yield to it. Almighty love. Divine teaching brought down to human capacity.
(2) But it is not in His teaching alone that His influence lies; the most potent charm is Himself. Never man spake like this Man; because never man lived like this Man. His character gives Him a right to speak.
(3) We feel quite sure that the disciples will grow like their Master in the case of Jesus, because He inspires them with an intense love to Himself, which flames forth in enthusiasm for Him. Get a teacher whom all the scholars love and admire, and they will soon learn. Make them enthusiastic for him, and no lesson will be too hard.
(4) Best of all, our Great Teacher has a spirit with Him, a mighty Spirit, God Himself, the Holy Ghost, and when He teaches, He teaches not with words alone, but with a power which goes beyond the ear into the heart itself,
2. This was virtually promised.
(1) It is promised in the great doctrine of predestination (Rom 8:29-30).
(2) It is promised in the very name of Jesus– He shall save His people from their sins, i.e., bring them back into a condition of purity and holiness.
3. What we might have expected, and what God has virtually promised, has been actually seen; for the disciples have been like their Lord.
(1) In character. Some reflect this feature, others that.
(2) In life-story. Melchizedec. Isaac. Joseph. Stephen. Paul.
(3) In struggles and temptations.
(4) In their victories. Christs disciples overcome sin; by their Masters help they rise above doubt, they vanquish the world, and they stand in purity and faith.
(5) By and by they shall be like Him in their reward (Rev 3:21).
III. WE MAY PUT ALL THIS TO THE TEST IF WE WILL. If you are not already Christs disciple, you may be. He will receive you though you have been to other masters, and learned a great deal under them, all of which you will have to unlearn. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The blind and the ditch
An awful warning to all teachers, especially preachers, followed as it is by the warning of the beam that is before ones own eye, when one sees a small thing before anothers. We know of whom it was first intended–men who were not doubted; men who did not doubt themselves; men who led confidently into the ditch; men who killed the Lord of Glory, to saw their place and nation, and then destroyed them both. They stand before us as a warning, how awful it is to undertake to lead, only to lead astray or into ruin. Blindness (say some) is no sin, are we blind also? If ye had been blind, ye had not had sin, but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. There is none so bad as that which is blind to itself. There are many blindnesses–as defect of thought, or learning–which drive the hearers into what the speakers never dreamt of; defect of practical knowledge of life and circumstances, making advice untenable or pernicious; such as on the clashing of submission to parents and zeal for God; want of spirituality–how can any teach what he has never learnt, and therefore never understood? A dwelling upon some parts of truth to the exclusion of all the rest, as the Pharisees did on the letter of purification, or as some on self-denial, till all religion is swallowed up in it, or some on spirituality and faith, till plain moral laws are broken. It is possible to dwell on sacraments till conversion is ignored; or to make conversion a sole object, till Christian life and edification are despised, and only strong excitement satisfies. It is far easier to preach a party, or a church, or a sect, than to preach Christ. All these are blindnesses, and, so far as they go, injure both guide and followers. But how hard it is to see: to trace out all our thoughts to their consequences, to know how to speak to or of all men, to be thoughtful and not cold, to know the life of the Spirit without pride. In fact, there are none who see all things, no one perfect guide, none to whom we can blindly trust. It is a case of those who see but little, and have more need to advise together than to lead and follow confidently. The work of preaching and advice is not to supersede thought, but to make men think; it is not what you hear, but what you make of what you hear. The best part of a sermon is the application, and that is made by the heart at home. But remember that blind leaders are made by blind followers. People crowd to a preacher as others to a theatre for a new excitement; and when they are moved, they long for a guide. Thinking is a labour, following is easy, a confident leader never lacks followers. This is the attraction in our days of the Church of Rome, and blind followers push her to greater extremes, while blind horror sends some into infidelity, for horror and foolhardiness go hand in hand. But it is not only in religion that these principles hold; in politics, in local business, in fashions and customs, there are the same blind leaders and blind followers. There is the same love of being first, the same desire to stick to ones party, and be saved the trouble of thinking. Let it warn us in all these things to try to know where we are going, not to take other mens fall on our own shoulders and help a whole crowd to destruction. Pause to think. Is it wise to follow? Am I sure I know my own way, when I long so to lead, and am so vexed when others do not follow? For in truth, though all are blind in something, in something all can see. Our first anxiety must be to see our own way, and then not to make others follow us, but to make them see. There are ditches enough. We see men every day falling into them, and there are enough before ourselves. If we think, and speak, and hear thus–as one family–for mutual help–we shall find that though the blind cannot lead the blind, they can help one another very much. (Bishop E. Steere.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 39. Can the blind lead the blind?] This appears to have been a general proverb, and to signify that a man cannot teach what he does not understand. This is strictly true in spiritual matters. A man who is not illuminated from above is utterly incapable of judging concerning spiritual things, and wholly unfit to be a guide to others. Is it possible that a person who is enveloped with the thickest darkness should dare either to judge of the state of others, or attempt to lead them in that path of which he is totally ignorant! If he do, must not his judgment be rashness, and his teaching folly? – and does he not endanger his own soul, and run the risk of falling into the ditch of perdition himself, together with the unhappy objects of his religious instruction?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
By a parable here is to be understood a proverbial saying, which hath some darkness in it, as being brought to express or signify more than the words naturally do express. Proverbial speeches are applicable to more things, and in more cases, than one. Nor is it to be expected, that in all that the evangelists give us an account of, as to the sayings of Christ, we should be able to find out an evident connexion. They, questionless, wrote much at least from their memories, and set down many sayings without respect to the time when our Saviour spake them, or the matter of his discourse immediately preceding them. We need not therefore be careful to make out the connexion of these words of his with what was before set down. In the parallel text, Mat 15:14, our Saviour plainly applies these words with reference to the scribes and Pharisees, the Jewish leaders, their doctors and teachers at that time, who themselves being ignorant of the true sense of the Divine law, were not like very well to guide others, but with them to
fall into the ditch, that is, into ruin and destruction: from whence a very probable connexion of them here with what went before may be observed; for, as appears from Mat 5:1-48, he had in the preceding verses given an interpretation of that law of God, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, much different from what the Pharisees had given of it, who had expounded it, Mat 5:43, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy; making a great many branches of love to men more than they made. Now, (saith he), this is the will, this is the law, of my heavenly Father. The scribes and Pharisees, your present doctors and teachers, go much below this; but listen not to them, if you mind to please God; themselves are blind, and know not the will of God, and if you follow them what can you expect more than such an event as where one blind man leads another?
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
39. Can the blind, &c.notin the Sermon on the Mount, but recorded by Matthew in another andvery striking connection (Mt15:14).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he spake a parable unto them,…. The Vulgate Latin reads, “he spake also a parable unto them”; besides what he said; and the Arabic version renders it, “another similitude”, parable, or proverb, distinct from the comparisons, allusions, and proverbial expressions in the preceding verses. Though it should be observed, that these words were not spoken at the same time, nor on the mount, as the foregoing were; but this, and what follow, are a collection of various expressions of Christ at different times, some delivered on the mount, and others elsewhere; unless it should be rather thought, that these proverbs and sentences were repeated at different places and times, which is not improbable:
can the blind lead the blind? they may do so, as the blind Scribes and Pharisees led the blind people of the Jews, which is what our Lord intends; but if they do, as they did,
shall they not both fall into the ditch? yes, verily, what else can be expected? [See comments on Mt 15:14].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Also a parable ( ). Plummer thinks that the second half of the sermon begins here as indicated by Luke’s insertion of “And he spake ( ) at this point. Luke has the word parable some fifteen times both for crisp proverbs and for the longer narrative comparisons. This is the only use of the term parable concerning the metaphors in the Sermon on the Mount. But in both Matthew and Luke’s report of the discourse there are some sixteen possible applications of the word. Two come right together: The blind leading the blind, the mote and the beam. Matthew gives the parabolic proverb of the blind leading the blind later (Mt 15:14). Jesus repeated these sayings on various occasions as every teacher does his characteristic ideas. So Luke Luke 6:40; Matt 10:24, Luke 6:45; Matt 12:34
Can ( ). The use of in the question shows that a negative answer is expected.
Guide (). Common verb from (guide) and this from (way) and , to lead or guide.
Shall they not both fall? ( ;). , a sharpened negative from , in a question expecting the answer Yes. Future middle indicative of the common verb .
Into a pit ( ). Late word for older .
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Can the blind [ ] ? The interrogative particle expects a negative reply. Surely the blind cannot, etc.
Lead [] . Better, guide, as Rev., since the word combines the ideas of leading and instructing.
Shall they not [] ? Another interrogative paricle, this time expecting an affirmative answer.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And he spake a parable unto them,” (eipen dekai parabole autois) “Then he also related to them a parable,” a truth clothed in proverbial language, Mat 13:3; Mat 13:10; Mat 13:13; Mat 13:34. The “them” was to His disciples.
2) “Can the blind lead the blind?” (meti dunatai tuphlos tuphion hodegein) “A blind man is not able or capable to guide a blind man is he?” Mat 15:14. One who gropes in darkness cannot lead another who gropes in darkness.
3) “Shall they not both fall into the ditch?” (ouchi amphoteroi eis bothunon empesountai) “Will they not both fall into a ditch?” or a pit. They will, will they not? Mat 23:16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Luk 6:39
. And he spake to them a parable. Luke relates this saying without mentioning any occurrence, but states generally, that Christ made use of this parable; as in recording many of Christ’s discourses he says nothing as to the occasion on which they were delivered. It is no doubt possible that Christ may have spoken this parable more than once; but, as no place more appropriate was to be found, I have not hesitated to insert here what Luke relates without fixing the time.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Appleburys Comments
Four Concise Statements
Scripture
Luk. 6:39-45 And he spake also a parable unto them, Can the blind guide the blind? shall they not both fall into a pit? 40 The disciple is not above his teacher: but every one when he is perfected shall be as his teacher. 41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brothers ye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42 Or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me cast out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brothers eye. 43 For there is no good tree that bringeth forth corrupt fruit; nor again a corrupt tree that bringeth forth good fruit. 44 For each tree is known by is own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45 The good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Comments
Can the blind guide the blind?A solemn warning not to follow blindly those who are not qualified to lead. Jesus applied this to the Pharisees (Mat. 15:12-14; Mat. 23:16).
The disciple is not above his teacher.As long as one is following his teacher, he will not get beyond the teacher. When he is fully taughtknows all the teacher can impart to himhe will be as his teacher.
Jesus was speaking of the people who were being corrupted by the teachers they were following, They could scarcely be expected to rise above their leadersscribes and Pharisees.
It is different when it comes to Jesus, the Teacher. He taught the truth. What a goal for a disciple of His to be fully taught and to be like Him!
Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam that is in thine own eye.Jesus had drawn a verbal cartoon for His audience. The lesson was so plain no one could miss it. The man with a large timber in his eye couldnt possibly remove a speck from his brothers eye. But we try it over and over today!
For each tree is known by its own fruit.Conduct indicates true character just as fruit shows the true nature of the tree that bears it.
out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.What is in the heart will come out in the speech. See Mat. 15:18-20. Let him who would glorify the Lord in his speech fill his heart with the truth of Gods Word. See Psa. 119:11; Psa. 19:7-14; Php. 4:4-9.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(39) And he spake a parable unto them.The verse is noticeable (1) as causing a break in the discourse which has no parallel in the Sermon on the Mount; (2) as giving an example of the wider sense of the word parable, as applicable to any proverbial saying that involved a similitude. On the proverb itself, quoted in a very different context, see Note on Mat. 15:14. Here its application is clear enough. The man who judges and condemns another is as the blind leader of the blind. Assuming St. Paul to have known the Sermon on the Plain, we may trace an echo of the words in the guide of the blind of Rom. 2:19.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
39. Parable Mat 15:14. This passage, like many others, our Lord may be supposed to have uttered on more than one occasion. It seems in the sermon on the mount to have come in after Mat 7:20.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he spoke also a proverb (parable) to them,’
The Importance Of Finding The Right Teacher And Responding To Him (6:39b-40).
‘And he spoke also a proverb (or ‘a parable’ – that is, ‘parabolically’) to them,’
From this point on Jesus introduces His ideas in parabolic language.
The Importance Of Finding The Right Teacher And Responding To Him (Luk 6:39-40).
Jesus now stresses that in order to walk aright we need to ensure that we have the right teacher so that we will gradually be led on towards perfection. Anyone who teaches anything other than Jesus has said is a blind leader of the blind. They must not ‘get above’ their Teacher. Rather they must follow Him and listen to Him and then in time they will be made perfect like He is (1Jn 3:1-2).
s Can the blind guide the blind? (Luk 6:39 a).
t Shall they not both fall into a pit? (Luk 6:39 b).
u The disciple is not above his teacher (Luk 6:40 a),
v But every one, when he is perfected, shall be as his teacher (Luk 6:40 b).
“Can the blind guide the blind?
Shall they not both fall into a pit?
The disciple is not above his teacher,
But every one when he is perfected shall be as his teacher.”
The first need is to ensure that we do not follow a spiritually blind teacher, for if we are led by someone spiritually blind, we too will be spiritually blind, (we will be what they are), and both will therefore fall into a ditch. There was a warning here against the Jewish leadership and the belligerent Rabbis and Pharisees that followed Jesus around, checking on Him and constantly criticising, and indeed anyone who taught contrary to what Jesus taught (compare Mat 15:14; Mat 23:24; Mat 23:26). He is warning that the teaching and example of such teachers was not to be heeded. It included any who taught falsely. We must beware whom we have teaching us, for we must remember that we will become like our teachers.
Having the right teacher is important because it is the teacher who is in charge and is in control of what we learn (more so when no libraries were available). The consequence is that when we reach maturity we will have become like our teachers, and if our teachers are faulty, we shall be so as well. He could have said, ‘Beware who you hear’ (compare Luk 8:18; Luk 12:1; Mar 4:24; Mat 7:15).
Underlying this is the thought of being obedient to the Teacher. The disciple is no more above his teacher than a servant is above his master (Mat 10:24; Joh 13:16; Joh 15:20). Thus the importance of submitting to the right teacher.
The implication here , of course, was that He was their Teacher, and that they should listen to His teaching and that of the newly appointed Apostles and continue on as His disciples. Then they would be led through to mature truth. A Reminder That Love Must Result In Honesty When Judging (Luk 6:41-42).
He has previously warned against judging censoriously, or without proper regard for the facts. Now He relaxes that a little in cases where the intention is genuinely to do others good. But warns firstly against doing it hypocritically.
Distinguishing The Genuine From The Fake (6:39-49).
Parabolic sayings:
v. 39. And He spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?
v. 40. The disciple is not above his master; but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
v. 41. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
v. 42. Either, how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.
The proverbial saying concerning the blind people that attempt to lead others that are afflicted in the same way is here applied to such as have neither the proper understanding of mercy and goodness nor of their application in their relation toward their neighbor. Whosoever wants to show another person the way and teach him how to walk properly must first have the proper knowledge himself. He that wants to correct the sins and weaknesses of others must have gained, the right knowledge concerning his own sinful condition. For the disciple is not above his teacher; he cannot learn more than his master knows and practices. He that presumes to teach others should not demand more of them than he himself is able to perform. The master is the pupil’s pattern; if the latter has attained to that perfection, he is satisfied. Therefore guard against uncharitable judging and condemning. He that is always ready with blame, censure, and condemnation is as one that readily sees the mote, the tiny speck of dust, in his brother’s eye, and feels the greatest concern for his brother and his brother’s welfare until he has removed the insignificant dust, while he himself, during the whole process, has a beam in his own eye, which actually prevents his seeing clearly. A hypocrite, an actor of the worst kind, the Lord calls such a person, since his own infirmity and condition makes him unfit to be a fair judge. The proverbs in use today: Let each one sweep his own stoop first; and, They that live in glass houses must not cast stones, fitly give the sense of the Lord’s injunction. See Mat 7:3. “Therefore a Christian should train himself differently. When he sees the mote in his neighbor’s eye, he should first, before he judges, step to the mirror and examine himself closely. There he will find such great beams that one could make pig-troughs out of them, so that he would be obliged to say: What shall this be? My neighbor grieves me once in a quarter, a half, a whole year; and I have grown so old and have never kept my God’s commandments, yea. I transgress them every hour and moment: how can I be such a desperate scoundrel? My sins are all immense oak-trees, and that poor splinter, the dust in my brother’s eye, I suffer to excite me more than my great beam? But it must not be; I must first see how I may become rid of my sin; there I shall have so much to do that I may well forget the tiny splinter. For I am disobedient to God, to my government, to my father and mother, to my master, and I continue herein and do not stop sinning; and yet I want to be unmerciful against my neighbor and not overlook a single word? O no: Christians must not act thus.”
Luk 6:39 has no connection with what precedes; but, as; Luke himself indicates by . . ., begins a new, independent portion of the discourse.
The meaning of the parable: He to whom on his part the knowledge of the divine truth is wanting cannot lead others who have it not to the Messianic salvation; they will both fall into the Gehenna of moral error and confusion on the way. Comp. Mat 15:14 , where is the original place of the saying.
Third Section: The Importunity of Love
(Luk 6:39-49)
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Luk 6:39. And He spake.From transitions of this sort we see how loose the thread is which connects the different elements of the Sermon on the Mount in Luke. Respecting the understanding of the , see Lange, on Matthew 13, and below on Luke 8. The here cited parabolic saying appears according to the more exact report of Matthew, Luk 10:24; Luk 15:14, to have been spoken on another occasion, and not to belong to the original Sermon on the Mount, although in and of itself it is quite possible that the Saviour frequently used such gnome-like dicta.
Can the blind.If one is inclined to insist upon some connection between the four parables here following and what precedes, it would be best to settle it as follows: The disciples might, after these words of the Lord, think in their hearts: It is not easy to be a Christian! They were called to show to the world by their preaching and by their walk the way which the Lord showed them: therefore this above all was needful, that they themselves should allow the light to penetrate themselves, and should establish themselves upon the right and only ground. To this now does the Lord admonish them. (Besser.)
.Whoever himself is blind for the light of truth cannot possibly serve another as leader, but draws him with him into destruction which reaches its fearful culmination in Gehenna. This was plainly manifest by the example of the Pharisees, comp. Mat 15:14, from which the disciples could see what leaders they should not be. Although all men by nature are spiritually blind, the judgment here pronounced is perfectly righteous, since the blindness of the leaders of the blind to the light of the Lord is a self-caused one.
Luk 6:40. .If the Sermon on the Mount in Luke consists in part of a collection of different sayings of the Saviour apart from their original historical connection, it is then indeed superfluous to inquire after the connection of the preceding saying with this. Yet Luk 6:40 may serve to illustrate the naturalness and justness of the judgment pronounced in Luk 6:39. In this way, namely: only if a disciple surpassed his master could he hope to be preserved from the ditch into which he sees his blind leader fall. Since, however, the disciple does not commonly surpass the master, he has also the same danger to fear. As a rule every one is constituted like his master.We must not over-look the fact that here at the same time an indirect intimation is given to the Twelve to fashion themselves in all things after the character of their new Master.
Luk 6:41. And why beholdest thou.Comp. Mat 7:3. Not merely a climax upon the preceding (Gerlach), but a pointing out of the way to be kept from the character and fate of the blind leader of the blind. Self-knowledge and amendment is required of the disciples of the Lord before they judge the failings of others and offer themselves to them as leaders.
.That He may warn us the more diligently He finds a palpable comparison and paints it before our eyes,gives such a sentence as this, that every one who judges his neighbor has a great beam in his eye, while he who is judged has only a little splinter, so that he is ten times more worthy of judgment and condemnation even in this, that he condemns others. (Luther.) As to the rest, moral defects, as well as those of knowledge, appear to be spoken of here, such as the Saviour relatively likens to a little splinter. The can then be nothing else than just that foolish imagination of a greater excellence compared with our faulty brother: therefore the man with the is immediately called because he demeans himself as if free of faults.
.The composite, perhaps chosen (intenta acie spectabis. Meyer) in order to place in a strong light the difficulty and delicacy of the work, in which the greatest carefulness is necessary. How surely every one has first to look to himself appears particularly from the following parable.
Luk 6:43. .First of all this parabolic saying is connected with what immediately precedes, If thou dost not see the beam in thine own eye thou wouldst be like the corrupt tree, which cannot possibly bring forth good fruit. So Bengel: qui sua trabe laborans alienam festucam petit est similis arbori mal bonum fructum affectanti. Yet, since the Sermon on the Mount is hastening to its end, we may at the same time refer this word back to all the preceding requirements, the fulfilment of which is specially dependent on the condition of the heart.
A good tree.Comp. Mat 7:15-20, and Lange on the passage. The fruits can here be nothing else than works. That the Saviour is here particularly thinking of misleading spirits in the Christian Church we do not believe, although we willingly concede that His saying may also be applied to these: as the sign of such it is not the walk, but the doctrine, that is given. In a striking way did the misleaders of the people who shortly after His appearance stirred up the unhappy Jews show the truth of this His utterance. They knew how with brilliant promises to allure great throngs to their side, but their behavior was so entirely in conflict with the essential principles of religion and of the state, that by this alone they could not but forfeit all confidence. The credulous multitude who gave credence to their words learned too late what evil fruits these trees of abundant promise brought forth.
Luk 6:45. The good man.Comp. Mat 12:35. Probably no part of the original Sermon on the Mount, but communicated out of its historical connection by Luke. The Saviour regards no man as naturally good in the Pelagian sense of the word, but speaks of the sinner who has become good through grace. Both the good and the evil man He sets forth as they commonly reveal themselves outwardly, without however denying that even the good has his weak and the evil man his better side. The heart of the one and of the other is the magazine (), out of which perpetually proceeds what therein was in no small measure hidden.For out of the abundance, comp. Psa 36:2.
Luk 6:46. And why call ye Me.This same dictum is communicated in a complete form, Mat 7:21, with reference to the Pharisaic pretended holiness. Yet it is also applicable to the disciples of the Lord so far as in their disposition remnants of the old leaven are still found. It is only possible for the greatest misunderstanding, the most perverted apprehension of the . in Matthew to find here a ground for declaring the external confession of the Saviour to be wholly indifferent. (Kant.) Comp. Mat 10:32-33. In the connection in which Luke reports this saying of the Saviour, it constitutes of itself the transition to the concluding parable, which he has in common with Matthew. Before any one comprehends the requirements of the in an anti-evangelical sense, let him consider what the Saviour himself demands as the essence of the , Joh 6:29.
Luk 6:47. , …A commencement of the concluding parable peculiar to Luke, in a more lively form than in Matthew. The whole conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount shows sharply, from word to word, a striking climax. Very vivid is the representation of the man who not only begins to build but also incessantly digs deeper (), and does not rest before he reaches the firm rock ( ). That this is done in Palestine even now by solid builders is stated by Robinson, Biblical Researches, vol. iii. The rock can here hardly be primarily the person of Christ, as in 1Co 10:4, but is primarily the word, wherein however He Himself is. Who builds thereupon the house of his hope builds secure; whoever out of Him seeks firmness and security proceeds towards certain destruction. The work of both builders becomes plain by the test. Comp. 1Co 3:11-15.
Luk 6:48. A flood.De Wette: an inundation. Comp. Job 40:23, LXX.Symbol of all possible tests which the edifice of faith and hope can have to undergo in hours of doubt, of temptation, and of danger of death. Then is true for the disciple of the Lord the wordPro 12:7. The antithesis is so much the more striking as He does not here oppose the morally good to the morally bad, but simply the careful to the heedless.
For it was well built.For it was founded upon a rock.The steadfastness of the building does not lie in what is built, but in the foundation on which it is built.Comp. Eze 13:11.
Luk 6:49. Without a foundation. , Matthew. All that is not remains , even if it were outwardly like a rock.The breach, in Matthew the fall, the one is consequence of the other. In both redactions the Sermon on the Mount ends as it were in a storm of wind, earthquake, and fire, 1Ki 19:11-12. The supposition that a rising tempest or rain hastened the end of the discourse and placed on the lips of the Saviour this last word is ingeniose magis quam vere. Now and then without doubt the Saviour has found occasion from the nature surrounding Him to the choice of His figurative language, e.g., Joh 3:8; Joh 15:1. But did He also in Mat 15:14, or in Joh 16:21?Credat Judus Apella.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The four parables with which the Sermon on the Mount in Luke concludes contain the most admirable proofs of the Saviours wisdom as a Teacher. They were all taken from daily life, and also from historically given circumstances. One had not far to go to seek blind leaders of the blind, or to see beautifully appearing trees with evil fruit. So far as such manifestations continually repeat themselves in the church of the Lord, an eternal significance may be ascribed to them. The example of the Saviour moreover shows plainly how far those are from the ideal of Christian eloquence who condemn a great richness of noble imagery. Here there is no abstract development of ideas, but all alike pictorial and intuitive. The presentation of the subjects becomes plain in that these are made visible in persons acting very variously. Alternately we hear the voice of the deepest love, and that of the earnestness which menaces with judgment. The discourse unfolds itself regularly; is as rich in surprises as in gradual climax, and ends with an utterance which must leave the deepest impression in the conscience. Non opus est, omnes homilias desinere in usum paracleticum, remarks Bengel, with great truth, on Mat 7:29. After the reading of the Sermon on the Mount we repeat the declaration, Joh 7:46.
2. Without the word being mentioned, the last part of the Sermon on the Mount also contains a most obvious intimation of the indispensable necessity of the new birth. The blind who leads the blind into destruction; the hypocrite who overlooks his own faults compared with those of his brother; the corrupt tree which in its present condition cannot possibly bring forth good fruit; the fool who builds his house upon the sandall give us to recognize in various forms the image of the natural man in his delusion and pride, in his ruinous fall and destruction. In vain is it to will to do good so long as one has not become good, and good can no one make himself without Christ. Comp. Jer 13:23. Thus does the Lord repeat here in a practical popular form essentially the same thoughts which He in John 3 has expressed before Nicodemus. On the other hand He states the one infallible sign of the genuineness of the great change which takes place in the heart of His true disciples: the joyful doing of His will.
3. When we observe how the Saviour in this part of the Sermon on the Mount also insists especially upon an active Christianity, it is almost incomprehensible how, in the course of the centuries, and even to-day, so much Antinomism could show itself in the Church. For, according to His intimations also, His disciple can and will be blessed alone . Comp. Jam 1:25. Never can the vindicator of a lax and shallow morality appeal to His words so long as He has not rent the Sermon on the Mount out of the Gospel. Yet, alas, to many an antinomistic theory is the profound saying of Gregory of Nazianzen applicable: .
4. If we apply the saying: Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, to the Saviour Himself, how deep a look do we then obtain through the clear current of His preaching on the Mount into the golden recesses of his Divinely human heart! The less He says unequivocally in the Sermon on the Mount, who He is, the more clearly does it show itself.
5. Not unjustly has the conclusion been drawn from this part of the Sermon on the Mount, how much easier it is to take note of others than of ourselves; how much more convenient to show a brother the way than to walk therein ourselves; how great the danger of ourselves being found reprobates while we work for the salvation of others. Comp. 1Co 9:27. Perhaps it was similar considerations which in the end of the last century gave occasion to the singular question, Whether it is a miracle when a clergyman is saved? (Bretschneider, 1792.)
6. The concluding parable of the Sermon on the Mount unites in itself allegory and prophecy in the most beautiful manner. In three verses there is here compressed the primeval, and yet ever fresh, history of all that which has been built, is building, and until the end of all days shall be built; on the one hand without, on the other hand in and upon, the word and the Spirit of the Lord. The of the house built upon the sand, was, among other instances, heard at the fall of unbelieving Judaism, as well as at that of all unbelieving philosophical systems which have overlived themselves, and at that of every state, of every church which is not built upon the only true foundation; and all this will repeat itself in continually greater measure, the nearer the last crisis of the future approaches, until the word is wholly fulfilled: 1Jn 2:17.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
He who allures to love, threatens also with the terrors of judgment.The blind and his leader: 1. The way of both; 2. the fate of both, a. mournful, b. inevitable.The disciple must be as his master, 1Jn 2:6.Whoever will be to others not a mischief, but a blessing, must begin to know himself aright.Unloving judgment a fruit of blindness in the judge.Humility before God leads to love towards man.A serviceable hand not seldom coupled with a loveless heart.A brothers name and a brothers service without true brothers love, an abomination before God.Only the absolutely Holy One is able and entitled to judge completely.A hypocritical judge of his brother a corrupt tree in the garden of God.The connection between tree and fruit: 1. In the realm of nature; 2. in the realm of grace.Christian diagnosis.What is to be expected of men whose hearts are like thorns and brambles.The heart a treasure-chamber for very different treasures.A full heart and a closed mouth agree ill together.The Christian cannot be silent concerning Jesus. Act 4:20.First to become, than to be, last to do.The spiritual vintage: 1. Here on earth; 2. in the future.A fourfold relation to the Lord; there are men who 1. Neither say Lord! Lord! nor do His will; 2. say, indeed, Lord! Lord! but without doing His will; 3. do His will, indeed, but without saying Lord! Lord! (upright but anxious souls); 4. as well do His will, as also say Lord! Lord! The last, the concurrence of deed with word, is in every respect the best.Nominal Christianity: 1. In its guise of great promise: 2. in its wretched reality.The different builders: 1. One plan of building, but two manner of foundations; 2. one crucial test, but two manner of results.How the genuineness of faith is tested: 1. In the tempest of doubt; 2. in the tempest of affliction; 3. in the tempest of death.The magnificent Plan; the swelling Flood; the deep Fall; the heavy Ruin.
Starke:In the choice of a leader, whether temporal or spiritual, all foresight and prudence is to be used; the danger is great, the mischief often irreparable, of hasty choice.From the ignorance of pastors rises adulteration of the true service of God, superstitious sermons, abuses, and numerous disorders. 2Ti 3:13.The least splinter can destroy the whole eye; slight seeming sins also are ruinous and damnable. Son 2:15; 2Sa 6:6-7.Quesnel:Whoever diligently proves himself, will not easily chastise others. Sir 23:2.True self-knowledge the beginning of our own amendment, and the way to edify our neighbor.The wisdom from above makes humble and compassionate, but earthly wisdom presumptuous and unmerciful men.Self-complacence corrupts all good.Osiander:He is no pious man, out of whose mouth poisonous calumnies are heard. Psa 15:2-3.Quesnel:The fruits of a carnal or of a spiritual heart are the works of the flesh or of the Spirit. Gal 5:16 seq.Bibl. Wirt.:The evil heart of man becomes then good when Christ the fruitful olive tree is, by faith, planted in the same. Act 15:9.He is only a mocker that calls God his Lord, yet obeys not His commandments. Mal 1:6.To know and do the Lords will, manifests a faithful servant. Luk 12:47-48.Osiander:Believers are in all storms of temptation preserved to eternal life. Isa 32:2; Isa 33:16.Ye teachers, ye hearers, ye parents, ye children, think on a right laying of foundations in religion, that in the hour of temptation and distress ye may not find yourselves deceived.
Heubner:The disposition to give a verdict against others, the fruit of a false eagerness to quiet ones self.The Christian must be severe against himself, mild-judging towards others.The culture of grace first fashions a man into something noble.The inward disposition in man, what the sap is in a tree.What a destruction shall come upon apostate teachers!Couard (on Luk 6:46):The confessing of Jesus Christ in Christendom. It comes to pass that 1. With many the confessing of Christ is wholly wanting (they deny the Lord); 2. with many this confession is the thoughtless language of custom (they are Christian in name); 3. with some only an assumed pretence of godliness (hypocrites); 4. with others a matter of the heart and expression of living faith (true Christians).Jaspis:Hypocrisy in religion: 1. How easily it creeps over us; 2. how quickly it grows; 3. how slowly it cures; 4. how deep it casts us down.Hopfner:Four things of principal concern in Christianity: 1. Faith makes the Christian; 2. the life shows the Christian; 3. suffering proves the Christian; 4. dying crowns the Christian.Krummacher:Who shall enter into the kingdom of heaven? (on Luk 6:46. Comp. Mat 7:21-23.) From this saying appears the threefold necessity: 1. Of saying Lord! Lord! 2. of the new birth through the Holy Spirit; 3. of incorporation into the despised ecclesiola in ecclesia.Claus Harms (on the Pericope Mat 7:15-22):Deeper Christian truths in the text read. They respect: 1. The teachers, especially the false; 2. the conditions of our salvation, the rule and the exception; 3. the future decision, when and by whom, and according to what it is made.
Let not him who is established and built upon the rock, imagine that he can now be no more overtaken by all manner of affliction or danger. Rather is he like a house that is situated on the shore of the sea, upon which the waves beat heavier than is known to houses inland. This house must be the target and mark of all the beating storms of the world. But because it is founded on the rock, it may indeed be shaken to the centre, and its rafters creak, yet fall shall it never, for its foundation stands fast and unmovable. Chemnitz.
DISCOURSE: 1496 Luk 6:39. And he spake a parable unto them; Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?
IGNORANCE is, in itself, more excusable than vice; but in some cases its effects are equally pernicious [Note: A person may ruin himself no less by imprudence than by debauchery; and a General may bring as great calamities on his army through unskilfulness, as if he had betrayed them into the hands of their enemies.]. This is manifestly true in the concerns of the soul: a person, ignorant of the way of salvation, must fall short of heaven; and if he undertake to direct others, will ruin all who follow him. To impress this truth on our minds, our Lord repeatedly uttered this parable [Note: Mat 15:14.]
I.
The scope of the parable
The Pharisees, through their professed sanctity, gained extensive influence, and were implicitly followed by the deluded populace. The consequences were extremely fatal to them both. 1.
The presumption of such guides
[No man should undertake an office for which he is not qualified, much less so important an office as that of guiding men to heaven. Yet many assume it for filthy lucres sake, without any other qualification than that of a little human learning. But what would be thought of a man, who, because he was conversant with the learned languages, and philosophy, should engage to navigate a ship? Yet he would only subject a few hundreds of persons to temporal death; whereas a minister that misleads his people, involves thousands in everlasting destruction. How horrible is such presumption! and how surely must it bring down upon the offenders the signal vengeance of heaven [Note: 2Ch 26:16-21.]! Let all who would not perish under such an accumulated load of guilt, examine well their motives for undertaking, their qualifications for discharging, and their manner of executing, this high office [Note: It should be remembered, that it is not human learning which can qualify a man for the ministerial office, but rather an experience of true religion in his own soul. The Pharisees were acquainted with the letter of the Scriptures, but they understood not the spirit of them: they saw not the spirituality of the moral law, nor the typical import of the ceremonial law. Thus being ignorant of their fallen state, and of the means appointed for their recovery, they were only blind guides. A man must be converted himself, before he undertakes to convert others: he must be able to adopt the language of the Apostle.See 1Jn 1:1; 1Jn 1:3.].]
2.
The folly of such followers
[The generality never once consider whether their guide be competent to direct them, nor inquire into the truth of the directions given them. They commit their souls to his care, as though there were no possibility of erring, or no danger in error. They even prefer such teachers as prophesy unto them smooth things [Note: Isa 30:9-11. Jer 5:30-31.]. But would any man act thus in matters of less importance? Would any person who had a disorder to be healed, or a cause to be tried, employ a physician or a lawyer that was ignorant of his profession, if he could have access to one of approved ability? Would any blind person commit himself to the guidance of one who also was destitute of sight? Can any one doubt what would be the consequence of such folly? What madness then is it for men to rest satisfied with the instructions of those, whose whole dispositions and conduct manifest, that they are ignorant of the way to heaven! That their guides will be partakers of their doom, will afford but little consolation to them, when they themselves are suffering the bitter consequences of their folly [Note: The whole of this subject requires to be treated with peculiar tenderness, lest we appear to be bringing only a railing accusation against our brethren, when we should be seeking rather the edification of our flock. We must not indeed shrink from expounding any portion of Gods word; but we must always be careful to speak the truth in love.].]
The truth asserted in the parable is too obvious to need either proof or illustration; we shall therefore proceed to consider,
II.
The lessons we should learn from it
Though the familiarity of our Lords expressions appears at first sight calculated to produce a smile, they afford just occasion for the most solemn admonitions.
1.
Guard against errorin the concerns of your souls
[Many suppose that ignorance is an excuse for error: but God has sufficiently warned us against this mistake [Note: Hos 4:6. Isa 27:11. Eph 5:6.]. It is certain, that there is a great diversity of doctrines among those who undertake to teach and, that error is more prevalent than truth But the multitudes who throng the broad road, cannot procure safety for those who walk in it. We must dare to leave the beaten track of self-righteousness and formality, for the less frequented path of faith and holiness; nor must we hope to reach the fold of God, unless we follow the footsteps of his flock [Note: Son 1:8. Mat 7:13-14.].]
2.
Try what you hear by the touchstone of Gods word
[The Scriptures are the only proper rule of our faith and practice: to them we must refer every thing as to an unerring standard [Note: Isa 8:20.], nor must any human authority supersede the exercise of our own judgment [Note: Mat 23:8-10.]. If an angel from heaven were to preach, we ought to try his word by this test. This was approved in the Bereans of old [Note: Act 17:11.]; and it is expressly enjoined on us [Note: 1Th 5:21.].]
3.
Seek the instruction and guidance of the Holy Spirit
[However plainly man may preach, God alone can enable you to profit [Note: Isa 48:17.]. Of yourselves you will be far more ready to embrace the self-exalting tenets of deceivers, than the humiliating doctrines of the Gospel. But the Holy Ghost shall be given to those who seek his influence [Note: Luk 11:13.], and shall guide into all truth those who submit to his teaching [Note: Joh 16:13, 1Jn 2:20.]. Let all then, whatever be their capacity or attainments, implore his help: then, though babes in human science, they shall be taught the things that are hid from the wise and prudent [Note: Mat 11:25-26.].]
39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?
Ver. 39. See Mat 15:14 .
39. ] From this verse to the end is in the closest connexion, and it is impossible that it should consist of sayings thrown together and uttered at different times.
The connexion with what went before is not so evident, indeed the . . seems to shew a break. The parabolic saying, implying the unfitness of an uncharitable and unjustly condemning leader (the Lord was speaking primarily to His Apostles ) to perform his office, leads to the assertion ( Luk 6:40 ) that no Christian ought to assume in this respect an office of judging which his Master never assumed; but rather will every well-instructed Christian strive to be humble as his Master was. Then follows the reproof of Luk 6:41-43 ; and Luk 6:44-49 shew us, expanded in different images, what the beam in the eye is, to which our first efforts must be directed.
. . . ] See this in quite another connexion, Mat 15:14 , where Peter answers, [ ] meaning apparently the last uttered words , which the Lord however explains not specifically, but by entering into the whole matter. I believe this to have been one of the usual and familiar sayings of our Lord.
Luk 6:39-45 . Proverbial lore .
Luk 6:39 . : the Speaker is represented here as making a new beginning, the connection of thought not being apparent. Grotius says plainly that there is no connection, and that Lk. has deemed it fitting to introduce here a logion that must have been spoken at another time. Mt. has a similar thought to that in Luk 6:39 , not in the sermon but in Luk 15:14 . : viewing the sermon as an ideal address to a church, this adage may apply to Christians trying to guide brethren in the true way (Jas 5:19 ), and mean that they themselves must know the truth.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 6:39-45
39 And He also spoke a parable to them: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. 41Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. 43For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. 44For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. 45The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”
Luk 6:39 “pit” This Greek term was used in the Septuagint for:
1. a grave, 2Sa 18:17
2. an animal trap, Isa 24:17-18
It is only used three times in the NT. The Matthew passages (cf. Mat 12:11; Mat 15:14), as this passage in Luke, could refer to a ditch or well. The implication is that false teachers lead their followers to disaster and death.
Luk 6:39-40 There is some confusion about exactly how this teaching relates to the immediate context. Luk 6:39 is paralleled in Mat 15:14 and Luk 6:40 in Mat 10:24. Jesus often used the same illustrations in different ways and contexts. Grammatically the first question of Luk 6:39 expects a “no” answer, while the second question expects a “yes” answer.
Luk 6:40 Jesus lived what He taught. He was rejected in the midst of His love and ministry to the people. Jesus’ followers will experience the same type of treatment in a fallen world. When we as believers (1) emulate our culture or (2) are fully accepted by our culture, that is a sure sign that we are not modeling Jesus’ teachings. New Testament Christianity has never been socially acceptable. A selfish world is made uneasy by self-sacrifice and self-giving love!
NASB”has been fully trained”
NKJV”who is perfectly trained”
NRSV”who is fully qualified”
TEV”completed their training”
NJB”fully trained disciple”
This is a perfect passive participle of a term that means
1. baby chicks, old enough to be sold in the market as fryers
2. broken bones, now mended and the arm and leg can be used again
3. torn fishing nets, now repaired and capable of catching fish
4. a fully built ship, now equipped with sails and rigging, ready to sail
The term means fully equipped for the assigned task (cf. Eph 4:12), or possibly restored to usefulness (cf. Gal 6:1).
Luk 6:41-42 Jesus used humor and Oriental overstatement to convey the tremendously important message to religious people about criticism. This is one reason western literalists have interpreted His sayings so rigidly.
Luk 6:41 “speck” “Speck” was used by Classical Greek writers for the material that made up a bird’s nest. Therefore, we are talking about bits of plant material and similar insignificant small items.
“do not see the log that is in your own eye” The “log” referred to some large piece of lumber, a building timber or rafter. Jesus often used this literary form of hyperbole to communicate spiritual truths (cf. Mat 5:29-30; Mat 19:24; Mat 23:24).
Luk 6:42 “brother” In this context this word could refer to
1. other Jews (cf. Luk 14:12; Act 2:29 [cf. Luk 6:22],37; Luk 3:17; Luk 7:2)
2. believers (cf. Luk 17:3; Luk 22:32; Act 1:15; Act 6:3)
“hypocrite” This compound word came from the theatrical world and was used for an actor performing behind a mask. It came from two Greek words: “to judge” (krin) and “under” (hupo). It described a person acting in one way, but being another (Luk 18:9). A good example of this kind of activity can be seen in the life of David (cf. 2Sa 12:1-9). Jesus used this term to describe the self-righteous Pharisees in Mat 5:20; Mat 6:2; Mat 6:5; Mat 6:16; Mat 15:1; Mat 15:7; Mat 23:13.
This verse implies the appropriateness of believers’ concern for other Christians when it is not done in a condescending, self-righteous manner (cf. Rom 14:1). The Church has always had to spiritually examine and exhort its leadership and membership.
SPECIAL TOPIC: HYPOCRITES
Luk 6:43-45 The parallel is in Mat 7:16; Mat 7:20. Our actions reveal our hearts. Our actions reveal who our true father is (God or Satan). Our actions bring consequences, either positive or negative.
Luk 6:45 “for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart” This is a powerful NT truth (cf. Mat 12:34-35; Mat 15:18).
SPECIAL TOPIC: HUMAN SPEECH
Can the blind . . . ? = Is a blind [man] able to lea, a blind [man]?
shall = will.
39.] From this verse to the end is in the closest connexion, and it is impossible that it should consist of sayings thrown together and uttered at different times.
The connexion with what went before is not so evident, indeed the . . seems to shew a break. The parabolic saying, implying the unfitness of an uncharitable and unjustly condemning leader (the Lord was speaking primarily to His Apostles) to perform his office, leads to the assertion (Luk 6:40) that no Christian ought to assume in this respect an office of judging which his Master never assumed; but rather will every well-instructed Christian strive to be humble as his Master was. Then follows the reproof of Luk 6:41-43; and Luk 6:44-49 shew us, expanded in different images, what the beam in the eye is, to which our first efforts must be directed.
. . .] See this in quite another connexion, Mat 15:14, where Peter answers, []-meaning apparently the last uttered words, which the Lord however explains not specifically, but by entering into the whole matter. I believe this to have been one of the usual and familiar sayings of our Lord.
Luk 6:39. , to them) viz. to the disciples, Luk 6:20. For that which we have in Luk 6:27 [to you which hear], where see the note, is not given in Matthew: nor is it the language of the Evangelists narrative, but that of Jesus. Therefore it is with good reason thought that the discourse is constructed in the manner of a division into two parts, so as that the first part is addressed partly to the disciples, in the hearing of the rest, Luk 6:20, partly to the crowd of hearers, Luk 6:27; whereas the latter part is addressed, from Luk 6:39, to the disciples. The material or subject-matter which the discourse rests upon, is itself in accordance with this view.-, blind) Suffering under the pressure of his own beam, Luk 6:42; viz. destitute of compassion and love, 1Jn 2:9, etc.; 2Pe 1:9; Phm 1:9.- , to lead the blind) An act which is a benefit if it be done by one possessing sight and experience. The benefits which are mentioned, Luk 6:39; Luk 6:41, are more specious ones than those which are mentioned, Luk 6:37 : and so blind hypocrisy more readily hides itself under the former; but in real fact the latter in a greater degree depress self-love.
the Test That Reveals Character
Luk 6:39-49
Yes, it is true! Some day we shall be perfected. The long discipline will be over, and we shall be able to close our lesson books and go home. We shall then be found to be like Christ, our Lord. The promise of Luk 6:40 is very beautiful, though it sometimes seems far away.
We need to look at home first, before we essay to judge or condemn others. It is blundering waste to deal with other peoples eyes if you have a defect in yours. Colorblind men ought not to run trains. Speech betrayeth men; what they say, that they are. The man who is quickest to judge and discuss the faults of another does so because of his own experience of the same sin. How else could he know so much about it?
The rock is not the Church, nor doctrine, nor even the Bible, but Christ, Isa 28:16.
Secure And Insecure Foundations — Luk 6:39-49
And He spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brothers eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brothers eye. For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. And why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to Me, and heareth My sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: he is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it; for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great- Luk 6:39-49.
In accordance with our Lords customary method of instruction, He reverts to parabolic teaching in closing this great discourse. How vivid is the picture brought before our eyes as we hear him say, Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch? Could one more aptly set forth the sad results of following unenlightened human teachers instead of being guided by the plain Word of the Lord? It is noticeable that in the First Epistle to Timothy, the sixth chapter, the apostle Paul stresses the importance of taking heed to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ which set forth the teaching that is according to godliness. These words are found in the four Gospels, where we hear the Lord Himself speaking to His disciples. Yet frequently we are told that this instruction is no longer binding upon Christians today, since the fuller revelation of the mystery of the One Body has come m. The sad results of accepting such views are soon seen. Those who set them forth prove to be in very truth blind leaders, and those who accept them blind disciples, and both alike stumble and fall into the ditch of Antinomianism on the one hand or of hard legality on the other. It is well to weigh carefully these words of the apostle, which I quote in full:
If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain.
The Master, our blessed Lord, has laid down principles upon which His disciples should order their lives. If we would attain to spiritual perfection we cannot afford to ignore what He has thus set before us. Luk 6:41-42 are almost humorous in the way they ridicule the folly of one attempting to set his brother right, who is himself far from walking in paths of rectitude. Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brothers eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? In the Koine, as set forth in the recently discovered records in Egypt, this very word is used by a young man who writes to his mother, speaking of the suffering he has endured because of a beam having gotten under his thumb-nail. It is clear that by beam he really means a splinter, but this splinter seemed so large that he used the term beam to describe it. Undoubtedly, this is what our Lord has in mind. Who, with a splinter in his own eye, can properly discern the condition of a brothers eye? If I am under the power of sin myself I am in no condition to reprove another. What I need to do is to get right myself and then I can help an erring brother. To take the other attitude is to brand oneself a hypocrite-professing one thing and living another. And so the Lord insists that the beam be cast out first from ones own eye, and then we shall be able to see clearly to take the mote out of our brothers eye.
In many places in Scripture, man is pictured as a tree. In the Psalms, the righteous is seen as a palmtree or an olive, beautiful and verdant; whereas the wicked are set forth under the picture of an evil tree, eventually to be cast into the fire. The Lord uses the same figures in the next two verses: a good tree brings forth good fruit; a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A man is not a sinner because he sins. He sins because he is a sinner. When one is born of God sin becomes hateful to him and he seeks to order his life in righteousness. So he brings forth fruit unto God. In this way every tree is known by its own fruit. Men do not expect to gather figs from thorn-trees, nor grapes from bramble-bushes. Each bears according to its kind. The man who is yielded to the Lord and seeks to walk in accordance with His Word will bring forth out of the good treasure of his heart that which is good, to the glory of God and the blessing of mankind; while a man inherently evil, who has never been regenerated, will, out of the evil treasure of his heart, bring forth that which is evil. It is the heart that makes the man. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. To profess allegiance to Christ and to call Him Lord while walking in disobedience to His Word, is both folly and hypocrisy. We sing sometimes, and rightly:
If He is not Lord of all,
Then He is not Lord at all.
How we need to remember this! His Word should dominate and control in every aspect of our lives. We are all familiar with the parable with which our Lord closes this discourse. He likens the man who hears His Word and obeys it to one who undertook to build a house, and in order that it might be secure, he digged deep and laid the foundation on a rock. Christ Himself is that Rock. It is only as we build on Him that we are secure. Graphically, the Lord pictures the house built on such a foundation as weathering the most violent storm. He says that when the flood arose, the storm beat violently on that house and could not shake it because it was founded on a rock. So it will be with everyone who has trusted Christ as Saviour, and then seeks to walk in obedience to His revealed will.
The disobedient, self-centered man, who hears the Word of Christ, but does not yield his heart to the Saviour, does not trust and obey Him, is likened to a man who, without laying any foundation, built his house upon the earth. When the storm arose and the stream beat violently upon it, it fell, and the ruin of that house was great because it had no secure foundation. The parable explains itself. It needs no illumination of the Spirit of God to make the meaning clear. All that is required is an active conscience and a desire to be right with God. May this be true of all to whom this message comes.
Chapter 35
Three Great Dangers
In these seven verses our Lord Jesus Christ gives a very sobering, instructive parable, a parable by which he warns all who have ears to hear of three great dangers. Here are three great, spiritual dangers which we must strive to avoid, lest we perish forever.
The danger of following false prophets.
The danger of self-righteousness and hypocrisy.
The danger of a deceived heart.
By these three great snares, Satan has carried many to hell. Let us not be numbered among them.
Following False Prophets
First, the Son of God warns us of the great danger of following false prophets (Luk 6:39-40).
And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master (Luk 6:39-40).
These two verses are to be understood together. They cannot be separated. Our Lord is telling us plainly that those who follow false prophets shall perish with them in hell. If you follow a blind man, you cannot be walking in the light, and both of you will fall into hell. If you follow Christ, if he who is perfect is your Master, you shall at last be made perfect with him.
While he walked on the earth, our Lord warned us of the great danger of false prophets and false religion more frequently than anything else. The greatest dangers we face, the greatest dangers our children and grandchildren face in this world are not pimps, pushers and pornography (horrible as those things are). Oh, no. Our greatest dangers are false prophets and false religion. If the vices of the world have slain thousands, the pretended virtues of false religion have slain tens of thousands.
This is what our Lord teaches us in these two verses. If we hear and follow false prophets, we will go to hell with them. If your teacher is in error, you will be in error. If the man who leads you is blind, you are blind. If you follow your blind guide, when he falls into the ditch, so will you.
We constantly endeavour to avoid obvious facts. Pretending to be more kind, gracious and loving than God, we try to convince ourselves that men and women may worship at the altar of free will and still believe free grace, that they may follow blind guides, though they themselves see, that they may be involved in the practice of false religion and yet know the true God; but those things simply cannot be. Children of the Light walk in the light. Christs sheep will not follow the voice of a stranger (Mat 7:13-15; 2Co 11:2-3; 1Th 5:21-22; 1Jn 4:1-3).
Christ is the Door. Every other door is the door to destruction. Christ is the Way. Every other way is the way to hell. Christ is the Truth. Everything else is Satans lie. Christ is the Life. Everything else is death. Christ is the Altar. Every other altar is idolatry. Christ is the Atonement. Every other attempt to make up with God is a denial of his atonement. Christ is Salvation (Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption). Every thing added to him is damnation.
Beware of false prophets who would take you away from the simplicity that is in Christ. If you care for your soul, if you care for the souls of your sons and daughters, beware of following false prophets. If you do, you will follow them to hell (Rev 18:4).
Self-Righteousness And Hypocrisy
Second, in Luk 6:41-42 our Master warns us of the great danger of self-righteousness and hypocrisy.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brothers eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brothers eye.
Self-righteousness and hypocrisy always go together. It is impossible to have one without the other. Nothing is more natural to man or more obnoxious to God than self-righteousness and hypocrisy (Isa 65:3-5).
I would rather stand before God Almighty in the day of judgment charged with any crime than the crime of self-righteousness. Self-righteous people justify themselves and condemn others. Those who are made righteous in Christ condemn themselves and justify others. The self-righteous find splinters in the eyes of others and ignore the two-by-fours in their own eyes. Those who acknowledge and confess their sins before God struggle constantly with the two-by-fours in their own eyes and are not able to see the splinters in the eyes of others. Self-righteous hypocrites boast of their attainments. Believing sinners grieve over their failures. Self-righteous hypocrites think themselves strong and superior to others. Gods saints know themselves weak and inferior to their brethren. Self-righteous people, hypocrites go about to establish righteousness. Believers look to Christ for righteousness (Rom 10:1-4).
A Deceived Heart
In Luk 6:43-45 our Lord Jesus warns us of the great danger of a deceived heart.
For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
It does not matter how good your religion looks on the outside, the Lord looketh on the heart. It does not matter how much you impress men, or yourself for that matter, with what you say and do, the Lord looketh on the heart. It does not matter how sound your doctrine is, the Lord looketh on the heart. It does not matter how precisely you keep the ordinances, the Lord looketh on the heart. It does not matter how much money you give, how many chapters you read, how much scripture you memorize, how much you pray, or how often you attend church, the Lord looketh on the heart.
God wants our hearts. God demands our hearts. The root of the matter is the heart. He says, My son, give me thine heart. If the heart is right, the fruit is good, no matter how bad it looks to men. If the heart is evil, the fruit is evil, no matter how good it looks to men. Perhaps the best way for us to understand the meaning of our Lords words here is to hear another parable.
And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted (Luk 18:9-14).
Beware of following false prophets. Beware of self-righteousness and hypocrisy. Beware of a deceived heart. May the God of all grace save us from these three great dangers.
Can: Isa 9:16, Isa 56:10, Mat 15:14, Mat 23:16-26, Rom 2:19, 1Ti 6:3-5, 2Ti 3:13
shall: Jer 6:15, Jer 8:12, Jer 14:15, Jer 14:16, Mic 3:6, Mic 3:7, Zec 11:15-17, Mat 23:33
Reciprocal: Pro 16:22 – the instruction
9
A parable is a comparison. One blind man following another is like a person closing his mental eyes and letting a false teacher tell him how to go.
WE learn, in the first place, from these verses, the great danger of listening to false teachers in religion. Our Lord compares such teachers and their hearers to the blind leading the blind, and asks the reasonable question, “Shall they not both fall into the ditch?” He goes on to confirm the importance of His warning by declaring, that “the disciple is not above his master,” and the scholar cannot be expected to know more than his teacher. If a man will hear unsound instruction, we cannot expect him to become otherwise than unsound in the faith himself.
The subject which our Lord brings before us here deserves far more attention than it generally receives. The amount of evil which unsound religious teaching has brought on the Church in every age is incalculable. The loss of souls which it has occasioned is fearful to contemplate. A teacher who does not know the way to heaven himself, is not likely to lead his hearers to heaven. The man who hears such a teacher runs a fearful risk himself of being lost eternally. “If the blind lead the blind both must fall into the ditch.”
If we would escape the danger against which our Lord warns us, we must not neglect to prove the teaching that we hear by the holy Scriptures. We must not believe things merely because ministers say them. We must not suppose, as a matter of course, that ministers can make no mistakes. We must call to mind our Lord’s words on another occasion, “Beware of false prophets.” (Mat 7:15.) We must remember the advice of Paul and John: “Prove all things.” “Try the spirits whether they are of God.” (1Th 5:21; 1Jn 4:1.) With the Bible in our hands, and the promise of guidance from the Holy Ghost to all who seek it, we shall be without excuse if our souls are led astray. The blindness of ministers is no excuse for the darkness of the people. The man who from indolence, or superstition, or affected humility, refuses to distrust the teaching of the minister whom he finds set over him, however unsound it may be, will at length share his minister’s portion. If people will trust blind guides, they must not be surprised if they are led to the pit.
We learn, secondly, from these verses, that those who reprove the sins of others should strive to be of blameless life. Our Lord teaches us this lesson by a practical saying. He shows the unreasonableness of a man finding fault with “a mote,” or trifling thing in a brother’s eye, while he himself has “a beam,” or some large and formidable object sticking in his own eye.
The lesson must doubtless be received with suitable and scriptural qualifications. If no man is to teach or preach to others, until he himself is faultless, there could be no teaching or preaching in the world. The erring would never be corrected, and the wicked would never be reproved. To put such a sense as this on our Lord’s words, brings them into collision with other plain passages of Scripture.
The main object of our Lord Jesus appears to be to impress on ministers and teachers the importance of consistency of life. The passage is a solemn warning not to contradict by our lives what we have said with our lips. The office of the preacher will never command attention unless he practices what he preaches. Episcopal ordination, university degrees, high-sounding titles, a loud profession of doctrinal purity, will never procure respect for a minister’s sermon, if his congregation sees him cleaving to ungodly habits.
But there is much here which we shall all do well to remember. The lesson is one which many besides ministers should seriously consider. All heads of families and masters of households, all parents, all teachers of schools, all tutors, all managers of young people,-should often think of the “mote” and the “beam.” All such should see in our Lord’s words the mighty lesson, that nothing influences others so much as consistency. Let the lesson be treasured up and not forgotten.
We learn, lastly, from these verses, that there is only one satisfactory test of a man’s religious character. That test is his conduct and conversation.
The words of our Lord on this subject are clear and unmistakable. He draws an illustration from a tree, and lays down the broad principle, “every tree is known by his own fruit.” But our Lord does not stop here. He proceeds further to show that a man’s conversation is one indication of his state of heart. “Of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” Both these sayings are deeply important. Both should be stored up among the leading maxims of our practical Christianity.
Let it be a settled principle in our religion that when a man brings forth no fruits of the Spirit, he has not the Holy Ghost within him. Let us resist as a deadly error the common idea, that all baptized people are born again, and that all members of the Church, as a matter of course, have the Holy Ghost. One simple question must be our rule. What fruit does a man bring forth? Does he repent? Does he believe with the heart on Jesus? Does he live a holy life? Does he overcome the world? Habits like these are what Scripture calls “fruit.” When these “fruits” are wanting, it is profane to talk of a man having the Spirit of God within him.
Let it be a settled principle again in our religion, that when a man’s general conversation is ungodly, his heart is graceless and unconverted. Let us not give way to the vulgar notion, that no one can know anything of the state of another’s heart, and that although men are living wickedly, they have got good hearts at the bottom. Such notions are flatly contradictory to our Lord’s teaching. Is the general tone of a man’s communication carnal, worldly, irreligious, godless, or profane? Then let us understand that this is the state of his heart. When a man’s tongue is generally wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that his heart is right.
Let us close this passage with solemn self-inquiry, and use it for the trial of our own state before God. What fruits are we bringing forth in our lives? Are they, or are they not, fruits of the Spirit? What kind of evidence do our words supply as to the state of our hearts? Do we talk like men whose hearts are “right in the sight of God”?-There is no evading the doctrine laid down by our Lord in this passage. Conduct is the grand test of character. Words are one great symptom of the condition of the heart.
==================
Notes-
v39.-[Can the blind lead the blind?] Let it be noted that this is the second occasion on which our Lord uses this saying. Both here, and in the other place where it is used (Mat 15:14), the application is manifest. It is a warning against following unsound religious teachers.
v40.-[The disciple is not above his master, &c.] It is common to regard this verse as descriptive of the portion of all believers in this world, and as parallel with such sayings as these, “If they have persecuted me they will also persecute you.” “If they have kept my saying they will also keep yours.” The perfection is looked upon as the being made “perfect through sufferings.”
But I feel unable to interpret the verse in this sense. It is good divinity, but not the sense of this passage. The true meaning, I believe, must be sought in connection with the verse which immediately precedes it. In that verse our Lord, under a parable, had been delivering a warning against false teachers. He had been comparing them to blind guides, and showing that if the blind lead the blind, “both must fall into the ditch.” He then seems to foresee the common objection that it does not follow that because our teachers go astray that we shall go astray also. “Beware of that delusion,” He seems to say. “Disciples must not be expected to see more clearly than their teachers. The scholar will become as perfect as his master, but not more so. He will certainly copy his errors, and reproduce his faults. If you choose to follow blind guides, do not wonder if you never get beyond them, and if you share in their final ruin.” The marginal reading in the English version appears to bring out this sense more clearly than the text-“Every one shall be perfected as his master.”
How strikingly true this saying of our Lord is, has been painfully proved in England during the last thirty years. All who know anything of our religious history during that period, must have observed, that the leaders of the various new heresies by which we have been plagued, have generally had many ardent followers. These followers have seldom got beyond their masters, and have seldom been able to copy their good points without their bad ones. On the contrary, they have often slavishly reproduced the worst errors of their teachers, and that in a far worse form, and have not imitated their good points at all. They have thus strickly verified our Lord’s words, “The disciple is not above his Master.”
I may remark that the view I have maintained of this text is held by Brentius, Bullinger, Gualter, Stella, and Quesnel.
v41.-[The mote.] The word so translated is only used here and in the kindred passage in Matthew. It means a small bit of straw, or grass, or dry wood.
[The beam.] This word means a large piece of timber, such as is used for the rafter of a roof. The whole expression is evidently a proverb intended to bring into strong contrast by a figure, little faults and great ones.
v43.-[A good tree bringeth not forth.] Perhaps the sense of the Greek words here would be rendered more literally, if thus paraphrased, “There is no such thing as a good tree bringing forth bad fruit.”
v44.-[Men…gather figs.] Here, as well as in the verse previously noticed (Luk 6:38), the word “men” is not in the Greek. It is a form of expression equivalent to saying, “figs are not gathered of thorns.” It is one that ought to be carefully noted, as it throws light on a difficult passage in another part of Luke’s Gospel. (Luk 16:9.)
Luk 6:39. And he spake also a parable to them.This indicates plainly that the connection with what precedes is broken off. Luk 6:39-40 are not found in Matthews report of the sermon on the mount, but in Mat 15:14; Mat 10:24. The close connection with what follows forbids the view that they are inserted here out of theft place. It is by no means unlikely that they were uttered on this occasion and repeated at the times indicated by Matthew.
Can the blind, etc. See Mat 15:14. Probably a familiar saying of our Lord.
Our Saviour doubtless applied these words to the scribes and Pharisees, the Jewish leaders, doctors, and teachers, who being ignorant of the spiritual sense of the law, (interpreting it only to the restraining of the outward man,) were very unfit to instruct and lead others; for where one blind man leads another, both are in danger of the ditch; that is to run into ruin and destruction.
Learn, 1. That ignorant, erroneous, or unfaithful ministers, are the greatest plague, and sorest punishment, that can befall a people.
2. That Christ having forewarned us of such guides, to follow them will be an inexcusable sin and folly, and never free us from the danger of destruction, but rather be an aggravation of our condemnation: If the blind follow the blind, both will, inevitably yet inexcusably, fall into the ditch.
Luk 6:39-40. And he spake a parable, &c. Our Lord sometimes used parables, when he know plain and open declarations would too much inflame the passions of his hearers. It is for this reason that he uses this parable. Can the blind lead the blind Can the scribes teach this way, which they know not themselves? Will not they and their scholars perish together? The disciple is not above his master Can they make their disciples any better than themselves? If the master be ignorant, foolish, and wicked, will not the scholar, or disciple, be so likewise? But every one that is perfect Or, perfected, as means: that is, perfectly instructed by Christs doctrine, and perfectly renewed by his grace: whose mind is fully enlightened, and his heart entirely changed: made wise unto salvation by Gods word, and endued with all the graces of his Spirit; shall be as his Master Shall come to the measure of the stature of his Masters fulness, shall be conformed to the image of Gods Son, and as he was, shall be in this world, 1Jn 4:17.
Vers. 39 and 40. And He spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40. The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
Meyer, Bleek, and Holtzmann can see no natural connection between this little parable and the preceding precept. The form, He said to them also, seems of itself to indicate an interruption, and to betray the interpolation of a passage foreign to the original context. Is not, however, the figure of a blind man leading another man (Luk 6:39) evidently connected with that of the man who, while he has a beam in his own eye, wants to take a straw out of his brother’s eye (Luk 6:41)? And who can fail to perceive the connection between the idea contained in this last illustration and the precept which precedes (Luk 6:37-38) respecting judgments? A man’s presuming to correct his neighbour, without correcting himself,is not this altogether characteristic of that mania for judging others which Jesus has just forbidden? The whole passage (Luk 6:37-42) is just, therefore, a piece of consecutive instruction respecting judgments. Jesus continues the contrast between that normal and salutary judgment which He expects from His disciples, in regard to the world, based partly on the love of one’s neighbour, and partly on unsparing judgment of oneself, and that injurious judgment which the Pharisees, severe towards others, and altogether infatuated with themselves, were exercising in the midst of Jewish society. The sole result of the ministry of the Pharisees was to fit their disciples for the same perdition as themselves! Jesus prays His disciples not to repeat such achievements in the order of things which He is about to establish. In Mat 15:14; Mat 23:15-16 we have some precisely similar words addressed to the Pharisees. We are not mistaken, therefore, in our application of this figure.
As to the phrase, And He saith to them also (Luk 6:39), comp. Luk 6:5. This break in the discourse represents a moment’s pause to collect His thoughts. Jesus seeks for an illustration that will impress His hearers with the deplorable consequences of passing judgment on others, when it is done after the fashion of the Pharisees., to point out the way, combines the two notions of correction and instruction. The disciple, in so far as he is a disciple, not being able to excel his master (Luk 6:40), it follows that the disciple of a Pharisee will not be able at best to do more than equal his master, that is to say, fall into the same ditch with him.
Ver. 40 justifies this idea. Here we see what will happen to the whole people, if they remain under the direction of the Pharisees. The further they advance in the school of such masters, the nearer they will come…to perdition. The proverbial saying, Luk 6:40 a, is used in Mat 10:24-25 and Joh 15:20 in this sense: The servants of Jesus must not expect to be treated better than their Master. In Luk 22:27 and Joh 13:16 it is applied to the humility which befits the servant of such a Master. It is obvious that Jesus made various applications of these general maxims.
Whatever, then, modern criticism may think, the context of Luke is unexceptionable. How can Weizscker so disregard this connection, as actually to make Luk 6:39 the commencement of a new part, the second section of the discourse! (p. 153).
6:39 {7} And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?
(7) Unskillful reprehenders hurt both themselves and others: for as the teacher is, so is the student.
The character of disciples 6:39-49
In the previous sections of the sermon Jesus addressed the choices that disciples make and their conduct. He also spoke of the character from which those things spring. He used five parables (comparisons) to teach these lessons.
The parable of the blind guide 6:39-42 (cf. Matthew 7:3-5)
In this parable the leader evidently represents a disciple and the led someone the disciple is seeking to guide into the way of life. If the disciple is blind, he will not be able to help other blind non-disciples find their way. Both disciple and non-disciple will stumble tragically. On another occasion Jesus called the Pharisees blind guides (Mat 15:14). However here He compared His disciples to them. The disciples could be blind guides if they did not follow Jesus’ instructions about loving (Luk 6:27-38).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND
In this parable our Lord intended to reprove,
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)