it cannot be<\/em> ] i.e. there is a moral unfitness in the murder of a Prophet anywhere but in Jerusalem. The words are those of terrible irony; and yet, even amid the irony, the voice of the Speaker seemed to break with tears as He uttered the tender appeal of the next verse.<\/p>\n I must walk … – <\/B>I must remain here this short time. These three days I must do cures here, and then I shall depart, though not for fear of Herod. It will be because my time will have come, and I shall go up to Jerusalem to die.<\/P> For it cannot be that a prophet should perish out of Jerusalem – <\/B>I have no fear that Herod will put me to death in Galilee. I shall not depart on that account. Jerusalem is the place where the prophets die, and where I am to die. I am not at all alarmed, therefore, at any threats of Herod, for my life is safe until I arrive at Jerusalem. Go and tell him, therefore, that I fear him not. I shall work here as long as it is proper, and shall then go up to Jerusalem to die. The reason why he said that a prophet could not perish elsewhere than in Jerusalem might be:<\/P> <\/p>\n Luk 13:33<\/span><\/p>\n I must<\/em><\/p>\n Reconciliation with life<\/strong><\/p>\n Sooner or later we all of us have to learn to say those words, I must; and our whole character, good or evil, saved or lost, will depend upon the way in which we learn to say, I must.<\/p>\n How we should learn to say, I must, is the subject of this mornings sermon. <\/p>\n Nevertheless, I must walk to-day, and to-morrow, and the day following. Not to the Son of Man alone, but to every man there come inevitable days of life. No human can escape the necessity of saying at some hour, I must. Even Napoleon has his St. Helena. We say, I will; and the next day find ourselves saying, I must. God never suffers us to say the one for many hours without compelling us to say the other. Thoughtlessly we go our way, and look up to find ourselves facing the inevitable. There it is, steadily confronting us. It is hard as the face of a precipice. We cannot go around it. We cannot climb over it. We must stand still before it. There is no word of our English speech which we more cordially dislike than this same short word must. We will not brook it when spoken to us by other men. Any friendship would be broken by it. Love knows nothing of it. Liberty consists in refusing to speak it when kings proclaim it, or any foreign might commands it. Men have died rather than yield to it. Yet consider how large a portion of our daily life is put before us, and how much of our own personality is given to us under some form of necessity; and how large consequently is the work of reconciliation to be accomplished, if it be possible, between the I wills and the I musts of our lives. There is, to begin with, the must of heredity. We cannot vacate our inherited individuality and choose another and a happier. We have to accept ourselves as we were born. Besides this primal necessity of our birth, there are the fixed grooves of natural law in which our lives must run, and all the forms of circumstance to which our individualities must be fitted. In the midst of these physical, industrial, and social necessities our space of spirit and freedom seems small as the cage of a bird, and hard sometimes as the treadmill of a beast of burden. Every day, every hour, has its limitations and thraldom of spirit for us. Pain is an insult to the spirit. Sickness is humiliation of the soul. Death is the triumphing as of an enemy over us. I have been expressing thus our common feeling of irreconcilableness to much that seems inevitable in human life. In order that we may learn to say I must in any true and free way, we should look more intently into the nature of this great compulsion which is laid upon us all. What is it? It wears ofttimes a face of fate. Is that its only and eternal countenance? Is there any thoughtfulness for us behind it? What or whose is this will which must be done on earth as in heaven? Our tone and temper when we say I must will depend very vitally upon our belief concerning the character of the Power whose grasp is the inevitableness of human life. To what voice, and to what voice alone, in the universe may a man answer, I must, and I will? For this also is true that there can be no reconciliation for us with the inevitable, no happy harmony of our spirits with our circumstances and our necessities, until in some way we have learned to answer, I will, from within our own free hearts, whenever that Voice from without speaks to us its inevitable You must. The two voices from without and from within must become one, keyed to the same note and making one music, before life can be harmony and peace. I might say that it is religion which does this blessed work; that I have seen religion reconciling men and life; and that religion has joined soul to life so happily that henceforth no man can put them asunder. I might urge that only when we gain clear perception that every inevitable thing is a Divine thing, every word You must in our life a word of God, only then can we begin to answer with good heart, I will. I might set in order the reasons for believing that beneath this whole appearance of inevitableness in human life and history there is a will of Divine righteousness, and a heart of infinite love. When we feel the touch of the love of God in the hand of fate, our hearts can say through all our tears, Thy will be done. I might urge further that our present life, with its civilized temptations, and its polite lies of the devil, and its fashionable demons of unbelief and unrighteousness, lays upon all true men an urgent necessity of realizing the presence of the living God on this earth, if indeed we would keep the faith and the hope of a mans spirit amid the shams, and shames, and tumults of our world. I might urge you to try this religious way of reconciliation with life, to seek for some sign of Gods presence, and to wait for some revelation of Gods pure will, in all the events which come to you, and which you must meet in your way of life. But there is a nearer argument than this. There is clearer proof of this one true way of happy and harmonious life than even these evidences of our reason and conscience. It is shown to us–the true life, in its full strength, its noble harmony and peace, is all revealed to us–in the Christ of the Gospels. That was the life of perfect reconciliation with the world. When only twelve years old, what must be as His duty and His ministry was already Jesus will of life. I must and I will strike one note in His Diviner speech. When He said, I must be about My Fathers business, it was with no cheerless tone, with no heartless voice of resignation. It was His meat to do the will of Him that sent Him. Knowing this world to be Gods world, and perceiving life in it to be Gods will, what He must do was what He would do, and every necessity of His ministry was welcome as a messenger from Gods presence. The tragic inevitableness of His life–that dark shadow which He saw stealing over His path long before the disciples noticed any sign of its approach–the need of His sufferings and death, which even when He went down His trial-way they could not understand or believe–the cruel necessity of His betrayal, and the crucifixion in a world of sin, which Jesus saw must needs be the cup which it was the Fathers will not to let pass from Him–all this was not enough to set His heart at strife with the way which to-day, and to-morrow, and the day following, He must walk, to make Him cease to call Gods ordained hour, My hour, or to go, eager and strong, to meet it. Howbeit I must go on My way to-day and to-morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. In this obedience unto death the will of God which is to be done on earth and the will of man are one and the same pure will. (Newman Smyth, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 33<\/span>. I must walk<\/B><\/I>, c.] I must continue to work miracles and teach for a short time yet, and then I shall die in Jerusalem: therefore I cannot depart<\/I>, according to the advice given me, (Lu 13:31<\/span>,) nor can a hair of my head fall to the ground till my work be all done.<\/P> <\/P> To-day and to-morrow<\/B><\/I>, c.] Kypke contends that the proper translation of the original is, I must walk to-day and to-morrow<\/I> IN THE NEIGHBOURING COASTS<\/I>: and that is often understood in this way: see Mr 1:38<\/span>, and his notes there. That Christ was now in the jurisdiction of Herod, as he supposes, is evident from Lu 13:31<\/span> that he was on his last journey to Jerusalem, Lu 9:51<\/span> that he had just passed through Samaria, Lu 9:52<\/span>; Lu 9:56<\/span>; that as Samaria and Judea were under the Roman procurator, and Perea<\/I> was subject to Herod Antipas<\/I>, therefore he concludes that Christ was at this time in Perea<\/I>; which agrees with Mt 19:1<\/span>, and Mr 10:1<\/span>, and Lu 17:11<\/span>. He thinks, if the words be not understood in this way, they are contrary to Lu 13:32<\/span>, which says that on it Christ is to die, while this says he is to live and act.<\/P> <\/P> Perish out of Jerusalem.<\/B><\/I>] A man who professes to be a prophet<\/I> can be tried on that ground only by the grand Sanhedrin, which always resides at Jerusalem; and as the Jews are about to put me to death, under the pretence of my being a false prophet, therefore my sentence must come from this city<\/I>, and my death take place in it.<\/P> <\/p>\n 33. it cannot be that a prophet,<\/B>&c.”It would never do<\/I> that,” &c.awfulseverity of satire this upon “the bloody city!” “Heseeks to kill me, does he? Ah! I must be out of Herod’s jurisdictionfor that. Go tell him I neither fly from him nor fear him, butJerusalem is the prophets’ slaughter-house.”<\/P><\/p>\n Nevertheless, I must walk<\/strong>,…. The Syriac version reads, “I must work”, and so the Arabic: as going about doing good, casting out devils, and healing diseases:<\/p>\n today and tomorrow, and the day following<\/strong>: a few days more in Galilee, and towards Jerusalem: all the Oriental versions read, “the day following I shall depart”; either out of this world; or out of Galilee, and go to Jerusalem, and there suffer and die:<\/p>\n for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem<\/strong>; because the great sanhedrim only sat at Jerusalem, to whom it belonged to try and judge a prophet; and if found false, to condemn him, and put him to death; the rule is this e;<\/p>\n “they do not judge, neither a tribe, nor a false prophet, nor an high priest, but by the sanhedrim of seventy and one.”<\/p>\n Not but that prophets sometimes perished elsewhere, as John the Baptist in Galilee; but not according to a judicial process, in which way Christ the prophet was to be cut off, nor was it common; instances of this kind were rare, and always in a violent way; and even such as were sentenced to death by the lesser sanhedrim, were brought to Jerusalem, and publicly executed there, whose crimes were of another sort; for so runs the canon f;<\/p>\n “they do not put any one to death by the sanhedrim, which is in his city, nor by the sanhedrim in Jabneh; but they bring him to the great, sanhedrim in Jerusalem, and keep him till the feast, and put him to death on a feast day, as it is said De 17:13<\/span> “and all the people shall hear and fear.””<\/p>\n And since Jerusalem was the place where the prophets were usually put to death, it follows,<\/p>\n e Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 5. & T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 18. 2. f Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 10. sect. 4.<\/p>\n The day following <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). See Ac 20:15<\/span>. The same as the third day in verse 32<\/span>. A proverb.<\/P> It cannot be <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). It is not accepted, it is inadmissible. A severely ironical indictment of Jerusalem. The shadow of the Cross reaches Perea where Jesus now is as he starts toward Jerusalem. <\/P> <\/p>\n It cannot be [ ] <\/SPAN><\/span>. The verb means to accept or admit; so that the sense is, “it is not admissable that.” The expression is ironical and hyperbolical, with reference to Jerusalem as having a monopoly of such martyrdoms. “It would be contrary to use and wont, and, in a manner, to theocratic decorum, if such a prophet as I should perish elsewhere than in Jerusalem” (Godet).<\/P> <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 1) “Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow,” <\/strong>(plen dei me semeron kai aution poreuesthai) “However I must journey on today and tomorrow,” in pursuit of completing His Father’s will, Joh 4:34<\/span>; Joh 5:30<\/span>; Joh 6:38<\/span>; Psa 40:7<\/span>; Mat 26:39<\/span>.<\/p>\n 2) “And the day following:” <\/strong>(kai te echomene) “And also on the day following,” on the third day into Jerusalem. He was now pressing on to complete His ministry in a few days, Luk 22:34<\/span>.<\/p>\n 3) “For it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.” <\/strong>(hot! ouk endechetai propheten apolesthai ekso lerousalem) “Because it is not possible (can not be) that a prophet is to perish outside of and away from Jerusalem,” or the Jerusalem area, center of the Divinely Sanctioned place of Hebrew Law worship. For it was there the Jews had slain their own prophets. The statement is one of irony. For He too was to die, like most of the prophets slain before Him, in Jerusalem, the slaughter-house of prophets, Mat 23:37-38<\/span>.<\/p>\n 33. It does not usually happen, etc. He next adds, that it is an idle bugbear, which is held out by false and hypocritical advisers; because there is no danger of death anywhere else than at Jerusalem. In this second clause he sharply attacks the Pharisees. “Is it you, who — I foresee — will be my executioners, that advise me to beware of Herod? ” The reproof extends, indeed, much farther; for he says, not only that preparations had been made for his own death in Jerusalem, but that it might be said to have been, for a long period, a den of robbers, in which almost all the prophets had been murdered. Many had, no doubt, been slain in other places, and particularly at the time when that cruel fury, (282) Jezebel, (1Kg 19:2<\/span>,) raged against them; but because in no other place had the prophets, at any time, been fiercely tormented, Christ justly brings this reproach against the ungodly inhabitants of the holy city. <\/p>\n It usually happened that the prophets were slain there; because not only was it the source of all the ungodliness which spread over the whole of Judea, but it was also the field on which God trained his prophets. (283) We know that the more brightly the light of doctrine shines, so as to press more closely on wicked men, they are driven to a greater pitch of madness. What a dreadful example was it, that a place which had been chosen to be the sanctuary of divine worship, and the residence of the Law and of heavenly wisdom, should be polluted not by one or another murder,, but by a regular butchery of the prophets ! It undoubtedly shows how obstinate is the rebellion of the world in rejecting sound doctrine. <\/p>\n The exclamation which immediately follows in Luke, (Luk 13:34<\/span>,) appears to be connected in such a manner, as if Christ had taken occasion from the present occurrence to inveigh, at this time, against Jerusalem But for my own part, I rather think, that Luke, having said that Jerusalem had been formerly stained by the blood of the prophets, nay, had been, through an uninterrupted succession of many ages, the slaughter-place, where the prophets were cruelly and wickedly put to death, immediately inserts, according to his custom, a statement which harmonized with that discourse. We have seen, on former occasions, that it is by no means unusual with him to introduce into one place a collection of Christ’s sayings, which were uttered at various times. <\/p>\n (282) “ Cette cruelle diablesse;” — “that cruel female devil.” <\/p>\n (283) “ Auquel Dieu a voulu que ses Prophetes ayent soustenu de grans combats et rudes alarmes;” — “on which God determined that his Prophets should sustain powerful combats and fierce alarms.” <\/p>\n (33) Nevertheless I must walk.<\/strong>Better, I must journey,<\/em> or, I must go onward,<\/em> the word being that used in Luk. 9:51<\/span>; Luk. 9:53<\/span>. The words indicate the intensity of conviction and of purpose as that expressed before. I cannot bring myself to accept the words that followto-day and to-morrow . . .as meaning that there were but three days to pass before He should enter Jerusalem. It would not have been true in fact. It would have seemed obvious, had we not too abundant proof of mens want of power to enter into the poetic forms of Eastern speech when they differ from our own, that the literal meaning here is altogether out of place, and that the same formula is used as in the preceding verse, with the same meaningi.e., as conveying the thought of a short, undefined interval.<\/p>\n It cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.<\/strong>The word used here for it cannot be, occurs in this passage only of the New Testament, and has a peculiar half-ironical forceIt is not meet, it would be at variance with the fitness of things, it is morally impossible. Jerusalem had made the slaughter of the prophets a special prerogative, a monopoly, as has been said, of which none might rob her.<\/p>\n 33<\/strong>. <\/strong> I must<\/em> It is the divine order, and no tetrarch’s threats can disturb it. He repeats the allotted time with firm emphasis, that these Herodian Pharisees may see that he utters a fixed fact. <\/p>\n It cannot be<\/em> Literal, It is not admissible. <\/em> A rebuking irony upon guilty Jerusalem. That a prophet be martyred elsewhere than in Jerusalem breaks a rule of uniformity. It was indeed done in the case of John and some others: but the exceptions are only sufficient to illustrate the striking uniformity to the rule.<\/p>\n ‘Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.’<\/p>\n Yet although there is yet today and tomorrow, and then the next as well, He must use it to go on His way to Jerusalem. Time is short and He does not have time to waste on Herod. For when ‘the third day’ comes He must be at Jerusalem so that He can die there. So until then Herod cannot touch Him.<\/p>\n ‘Must (it is necessary).’ Note the sense of the divine necessity. He knows that death awaits Him in Jerusalem and He is determined to be there in God’s timing. There is no other place for Him to die in. It is Jerusalem that has sealed its own fate by its sinfulness and hypocrisy, and must bear the guilt of His death, as it had prophets before Him (Luk 11:51<\/span>).<\/p>\n Luk 13:33<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Nevertheless, I must walk, <\/em><\/strong>&c.<\/strong> I must continue my course. <\/em>“I know all that is to befall me; I know who are my enemies, what their intentions are, and how far they will be able to accomplish them; for which reason you need give yourselves no trouble about me. I must continue my course to-day and to-morrow; <\/em>no malice or power of men can hinder me from accomplishing my ministry; for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.” <\/em>As the court of priests, whose prerogative it was to judge prophets, had its seat in Jerusalem, our Lord, by putting the Pharisees in mind that a prophet could not perish out of Jerusalem, <\/em>insinuated that he knew their intentions too well to pay any regard to their advice: or in making this observation, his design may have been to display the wickedness of that city, the inhabitants of which had been, in every age, the chief enemies of the messengers of God, insomuch that none of them were put to death any where else: and with this agrees what our Lord says of Jerusalem, in the prophetic lamentation which he now uttered concerning it, on account of its crimes, its obstinacy and its punishment. See the next verses, and on Mat 23:37<\/span>. For it cannot be<\/em>would be rendered more properly, for it cannot be supposed.<\/em> <\/p>\n Inferences <\/em>drawn from the question proposed, Luk 13:23<\/span> of this chapter, and our Lord’s reply.Amongst all the stratagems whereby the great enemy of mankind plots and contrives their ruin, few are more unhappily successful, than the fond persuasion with which he has inspired them, that heaven and everlasting happiness are easily attainable. The doors of the Christian church are now expanded very wide, and men indeed have access to them upon easy terms. The most sacred ordinances of our religion are common to all, save those whom gross ignorance or notorious crimes exclude. There are no marks on the foreheads of men, whereby we can judge of their future condition. They die and are laid in their graves; none cometh back to tell us how it fares with them, and we desire to think the best of every particular. <\/p>\n But, whatever charity be in this, there is little prudence in the inference which many draw from it, who think that they may live as their neighbours do, and die as happily as they; and “since the greatest part of men are such as themselves, heaven must be a very empty place, if all of them be debarred.” In short, interest and self-love do so strongly blind the minds of men, that they can hardly be wrested from the belief of that which they very fain would have to be true: and hence it is, that, notwithstanding all we are told to the contrary, the opinion of the broadness of the way that leads to heaven, <\/em>and the easy access unto it, <\/em>is still the most epidemical, and, I fear, the most dangerous heresy. <\/p>\n Now, to obviate this certain but lamentable error, it may be useful to propose here some considerations, for the better understanding what great things are required in those who look for eternal happiness; and then to reflect upon the actions and ways of men, that, comparing the one with the other, we may see how little ground of hope there remains for the greatest part to build on. <\/p>\n And if, first, we consider the nature of that divine Majesty, whose presence and enjoyment make heaven so desirable, we must be led to think, how inconsistent it is with his infinite holiness to admit impenitent sinners into the habitation of his glory. (See Psa 5:4-5<\/span>.) It is strange, what conceptions foolish men entertain of Almighty God, who imagine that those who have been all their days wallowing in sin, shall be admitted into everlasting friendship with him! for sooner shall light and darkness dwell together, and heat and cold in their greatest violence combine, and all the contrarieties of nature be reconciled. Men are accustomed to frame a notion of God suitable to their wishes; and this is the common shelter against every convincing reproof; but this temerity shall at length sufficiently confute itself, and feel that justice hereafter which it will not now believe. <\/p>\n But, if, secondly, we consider that happiness which every one is so confidently found to promise himself, it seems not very likely that it should be so easily attained. Glorious things are every where spoken of that heavenly Jerusalem; and all that is excellent or desirable in the world is borrowed to shadow it forth in the Holy Scriptures; but all these metaphors and allegories do not suffice to convey any full idea of the happiness that we expect; they only tend to assist our minds a little, and to give us some confused idea of those unseen, unheard, and inconceivable things, which God hath prepared for those who love him.<\/em> <\/p>\n And can we then expect that so glorious a prize shall be gained without any labour? That such a recompence shall be bestowed on those who never were at any pains to procure it?What toil and anxiety does it cost a man, to amass together that white and yellow earth which men call money! With what care and pains do others ascend to any degree of preferment! What industry and study do men employ to reach a little knowledge, and be reckoned among the learned!And shall heaven and everlasting happiness slide into our arms, while we sleep? No, certainly: God will never disparage the glories of that place, to bestow them upon those who have not thought them worthy of their most serious endeavours. Such were the primitive Christians, our spiritual ancestors;and tell me now, I pray you, what are we to think of these men? Did they supererogate and go beyond their duty; or were they fools in doing these things, when half the pains might have served the turn? Did heaven and eternal happiness cost them so much labour,and shall we think to be carried thither fast asleep, or rather while bending all our forces quite another way? Thus then we see by what strict rules he <\/em>must square his actions, who can with any reason hope to be saved. It is now time to turn our view from these necessary qualifications for obtaining an entrance into heaven, and cast our eyes upon the world, to see how the tempers and actions of men agree with them. If we look back upon the old world, we shall see how soon wickedness overspread the earth; and of all the multitudes then in the world, only Noah and his family were found worthy to escape the general deluge; and after that, what was the state of the heathen world, and in general of the visible church of God itself, which was chiefly confined to Palestine? <\/p>\n But leaving those times, let us consider the present;-let us view our cotemporaries, our fellow-Christians so called, those who live in communion with ourselves, and see what is to be thought of their state in general. How many of them shall we find so grossly ignorant, that they even know not the way that leads to life. <\/em>But besides those, how great is the number of vicious and scandalous persons? Remove but our gluttons and drunkards, our thieves and deceivers, our oppressors and extortioners, our scorners and revilers, our fornicators and adulterers, our blasphemers, our false swearers, and that horrid crew, especially, of common swearers; how should we thin the nations? To what a few <\/em>comparatively should we quickly be reduced! What shall we say of our other frequent enormities? Alas! virtue and vice seem to have shifted places; evil and good to have changed their names. It is accounted a gallant thing to despise all laws, human and divine; no man is reckoned generous, unless he be extremely ambitious; and it is deemed want of courage to forgive an injury. O Religion, whither art thou fled? In what corner of the world shall we find thee? Shall we search after thee in courts, and the palaces of great men?but pride and luxury have driven thee thence; and they are too much engaged in the business and pleasures of this world to mind those of another. Shall we seek thee in the cottages of the poor?but envy and discontent too much lodge there; their outward wants in general take up all their thoughts, and they have little regard for those of their immortal souls. <\/p>\n But religion stands not in negatives. Nothing but the love of God, and its attendant graces, can qualify us for celestial enjoymentsthat love of God, <\/em>which every one readily pretends to; but oh how few <\/em>are there, comparatively, that understand its meaning, or feel its renovating power! <\/p>\n I am fully convinced, indeed, that when we have said all we can say upon this tremendous subject, there are many who will never be persuaded of the truth of what has been here advanced. “They cannot think it consistent with the goodness and mercy of God, that so great a part of mankind should be eternally miserable.” But Oh what folly and madness is this, for sinful men to set rules for the divine goodness, and draw conclusions from it, so contrary to what himself has revealed. Sad and lamentable as is the doctrine here insisted on, yet may the consideration of it be very useful to thinking minds. It must needs touch every serious person with grief and trouble, to behold a multitude of people convened together on this globe, and to think that ere thirty or forty years,or a little more,or a great deal less, be passedthese all shall go down to the dark and silent graveand the greater,far greater part of their souls, be plunged into endless and unspeakable torments! But shall not this then stir us up to the greatest diligence and care for the prevention of so horrible an event? Were the sense of this deeply engraven on all our minds, with what seriousness, with what zeal, would ministers deal with the people committed to their charge; if that by any means they might save some! How would parents, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends, employ their diligence, and make use of every method for reclaiming their near relations, and the companions of their most pleasing hours, and for plucking them from the road and brink of hell! Lastly, with what holy violence would each of us apply, through the power of Almighty grace, for saving ourselves from this common ruin, for making our calling and election sure, and thus happily adding to the number of the few that shall be saved.<\/em> <\/p>\n This is the use to be derived from what we have been here considering. May God Almighty accompany it with his blessing and power to every reader, and render it effectual to so excellent and glorious a purpose. <\/p>\n REFLECTIONS.<\/strong>1st, We have, <\/p>\n 1. A tragical story reported to our Lord by some who were present. Probably, the Galileans mentioned in this chapter had been followers of Judas of Galilee, Act 5:37<\/span> of whom Pilate having got information, fell upon them when they came up to the temple to worship, and mingled their blood with their sacrifices. Perhaps, what our Lord had been speaking of the necessity of always watching, and the importance of securing peace with God, gave occasion to the remark: or, as it seems from the sequel, they meant to insinuate, that these must certainly have been very wicked persons who were given up to so dreadful a judgment. <\/p>\n 2. Jesus seeks to turn this event to their profit, and to ground thereon an exhortation to repentance. He reproves the uncharitable censure which they seemed to cast on these unhappy men; as such afflictive visitations were no proof of guilt. Nor may we judge of God’s love or hatred to any man by the outward dispensations of his Providence. If they meant to reflect on them as Galileans, and thereby to throw some reproach on Christ and his disciples, who were their countrymen, Christ instances a recent calamity of as melancholy a nature that lately happened at Jerusalem, when eighteen persons were suddenly crushed to death by the fall of a tower in Siloam; so that these calamities were not singular, or confined to persons in one place more than another; nor were they to conclude that these men perished, because they were greater sinners than others in Galilee or Jerusalem. But he solemnly warns them, that a heavier doom hung over their heads, except they repented, when their blood too should be shed by the Roman swords in the midst of their sacred solemnities, and they be buried, as the men in the tower of Siloam, under the ruins of their city, and perish temporally and eternally; and this is applicable to every sinner. (1.) His desert is to perish under the wrath of God. (2.) Nothing but repentance can prevent his ruin. (3.) The judgments of God on others are loud warnings to us. (4.) Consciousness of our own sinfulness and provocations should make us very careful how we censure others. (5.) They who are severe in judging, may expect judgment without mercy, 2. The owner justly expected to find fruit on this tree, as the Lord does especially from all who have a place in the church, of whom he requires the fruits of grace and holiness, as well as the leaves of profession. 4. He dooms it to fall: cut it down; <\/em>since the tree bore no fruit, it was only fit for the flames. Such is the aweful sentence of God against the impenitent sinner; cut it down, <\/em>and death is ready to lift the axe! How awful, how alarming the thought! <\/p>\n 5. The vine-dresser begs another year; if it be spared he will take fresh pains, it may yet bear, and then all will be well; but if not, he consents to leave the tree to its just doom. Christ is this vine-dresser; at his intercession are sinners spared, and every minister under him fails not in like manner to be an advocate for those among whom he labours. But, (1.) If through the intercession of Jesus our lives be prolonged, and we have another year granted, we should know and improve the day of our visitation. The time is short, reprieves are not pardons; though we are spared never so long, if we continue in our sins, we must perish at the last. (2.) While the Lord spares the sinner, ministers must never be weary of labouring, and should try every method; digging up the heart by the terrors of the law, and seeking to manure it with the quickening influences of the gospel. (3.) It is never too late to amend; the most barren and unfruitful, who through grace at last turn to God, will find mercy with him; the past transgressions shall be forgiven, and the present services accepted. (4.) God’s patience, though it bear long, will not bear always; they who provoke and grieve his Holy Spirit by their obstinate impenitence, will at last be left to the destruction they have chosen; and every day of his forbearance which they have abused, shall add a treasure of wrath against the day of wrath. 2. The envious and malicious ruler of the synagogue, instead of glorifying God for the miracle, hardened with bigotry and prejudice, sharply reprimanded the people, as if the sabbath was violated by their coming to be healed on that day. Note; <\/em>They who resolve to find fault, and not to be convinced, will cavil against the most glaring evidence. <\/p>\n 3. Our Lord justifies his own conduct, and upbraids him with his hypocrisy. The zeal that he pretended for the sabbath, was a mere pretence to hide that enmity which raged in his heart against Christ and his gospel. His own daily practice condemned and confuted his unreasonable and uncharitable censures. None of those who most rigidly observed the sabbath, thought it any breach of the sacred rest, to loose their beast from the stall, and lead him to water. And if an ox or an ass might have such pains bestowed on it upon the sabbath, with how much greater reason did mercy and charity plead, that a human creature, a daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan’s power, and so long and so grievously afflicted, should be relieved, when without the least labour it could be done by a single word? 4thly, We have, <\/p>\n 1. Two parables which were before recorded, Mat 13:31<\/span>; Mat 13:58<\/span> representing the gradual increase of Christ’s church, and the secret spreading of the gospel leaven. Though the beginnings were small, as the grain of mustard seed when sown; yet, in process of time, like a fair spreading tree, the kingdom of the Messiah would be erected throughout all the world; and Gentiles, as well as Jews, flock into it. And like leaven, though no external force be employed, the doctrines of truth would insensibly, but powerfully work, till their influence was diffused through all the earth. <\/p>\n 2. Our Lord continued his course towards Jerusalem, preaching and teaching in all the cities and villages as he journeyed. Wherever Providence directs our way, we should be glad to improve every opportunity to speak a word for the good of immortal souls. 5thly, We have, 2. Our Lord answers the question in a way which seemed most profitable for the inquirer, directing him at least to give diligence to ensure the salvation of his own soul. (2.) He enforces his exhortation by various motives, [1.] Many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able, <\/em>willing indeed to go to heaven, but unwilling to use the necessary means; resting in cold formality, or lazy endeavours; bound with the fetters of sloth, or blinded with pride and self-righteousness, and so mistaking the way, or coming short of the kingdom. [2.] If the present moment be neglected, it will shortly be too late. The door of mercy through the gospel, which is now open, will soon be shut, when Jesus, the Master of the house, in death or judgment, will require the sinner’s soul; and then the most importunate cries will be unavailing: it is now or never that prayer can profit us. [3.] Many who entertained the most confident hopes of heaven, will be found to have a lie in their right hand. They will knock as if they had a right to admission, plead relation to Christ as their Lord, that they were constant attendants on his word, and communicants at his table; yet will Christ utterly disown them in that day, and drive them with indignation from his presence, as workers of iniquity: <\/em>whatever pretences to religion they made, their hearts were not whole with him; their professions were hypocritical, and secret sins were harboured, delighted in, and gratified. Doomed therefore to be thrust into outer darkness, with every dreadful expression of horror and despair, with weeping and gnashing of teeth, in vain shall they bewail their folly; and, pining with envy and vexation, shall behold the patriarchs, prophets, and saints of God in glory exalted, and enjoying those unutterable delights of the heavenly kingdom, from which themselves must be eternally excluded; the sight of which will aggravate every pang that they feel. How aweful a scene! what diligence, what carefulness should it beget in us, that we come not into this place of torment. How jealous need we be over our hearts, that we rest not in outward privileges, and deceive not ourselves with vain hopes: thousands have gone out of this world dreaming of heaven, and have awaked in hell. <\/p>\n 6thly, Christ’s inveterate enemies are ceaseless in their malice, seeking to distress and destroy him. 1. Certain Pharisees, pretending regard for his safety, brought him information that his life was in danger from Herod: either this was a contrivance of their own, who wanted to get rid of Christ, whose preaching and practice so reproved and cut them to the heart; or it may be, Herod employed them to drive Christ out of his dominions, being willing enough to have done him a mischief, but fearing the consequences of attempting to seize him, because of his interest in the people. Note; <\/em>It is no unusual artifice with wicked men to seek, by suggestions of danger, to deter the faithful from their duty. <\/p>\n 2. Christ defies Herod’s menaces. Go, <\/em>says he, tell that fox, <\/em>whose craft, treachery, and rapine were notorious, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and to-morrow; <\/em>not desisting from his work, not intimidated with these threatenings; and the third day I shall be perfected, <\/em>shortly my sufferings will be finished, and by my death I shall complete the great work of atonement: and till then, it is neither in the power of Herod, or any of the emissaries of hell, to stop me in my work, and take away my life. Nevertheless, <\/em>as my hour is not yet come, I must walk to-day and to-morrow, and the day following, <\/em>continuing his ministry in Galilee, without fear of interruption: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem, <\/em>where alone the great council sat, to whom it belonged to judge those who laid claim to the gift of prophesy, and to put to death those whom they counted impostors. <\/p>\n 3. On this occasion, at the mention of Jerusalem, Christ laments over her by reason of her wickedness, and foretells the wrath ready to descend on that devoted city. Through wilful ignorance, not knowing the day of her visitation, she was abandoned to ruin; and too late would be convinced of his divine mission, and wish for a part in his salvation, when he should come, in the great day, to pour the vials of his eternal wrath on those who had rejected him. <\/p>\n Luk 13:33<\/span> . Nevertheless<\/em> (although I am not, through your advice, disconcerted in that three days’ ministry) the necessity still lies before me, to-day and to-morrow and the next day, to obey your<\/em> , since it is not allowable that a prophet<\/em> , etc. Jesus means to say, “Nevertheless it cannot at all be otherwise than that I should conjoin with this work, which is still to be done to-day and to-morrow and the next day, the departure from Galilee, since I shall not perish in Galilee, as Herod threatens, but in order to perish must proceed to Jerusalem, which after all has the monopoly, that a prophet must not be slain out of it.” In the answer, which as looking approaching death in the face at once boldly contemns the threatening of the timid prince, are accordingly involved the three positions (1) I have undertaken to labour three days more in Galilee, and in that undertaking I will not be disconcerted; (2) nevertheless, I must in these three days contrive my departure from Galilee; [169] and wherefore this? in order to escape the death with which Herod threatens me? No; (3) I must do this because I must not in Galilee not outside of Jerusalem, but just in that place of the murder of prophets die<\/em> ; and therefore must make for Jerusalem. [170]<\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong> ] depart<\/em> , Luk 13:31<\/span> . It is not in contradiction with Luk 13:22<\/span> , for while travelling<\/em> Jesus was accustomed to cast out demons, and to perform cures. If He wished to do the latter<\/em> , He could at the same time do the former<\/em> . Most of the commentators (even Grotius, Kuinoel, Olshausen) are grammatically and contextually wrong (see Luk 13:31<\/span> ) in the explanation: travel about undisturbed in my occupations<\/em> . When others, following Syr., limit merely to <\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong> , interpreting it either as to depart<\/em> (Theophylact, Casaubon) or to die<\/em> (Euthymius Zigabenus, Elsner), they supply (comp. also Neander) after a thought such as <\/em><\/strong> or <\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong> . This is indeed to make the impossible possible!<\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong> ] it cannot be done, it is not possible<\/em> ( 2Ma 11:18 , and see Stallbaum, ad Plat. Rep<\/em> . vi. p. 501 C), with ironically excited emotion makes the frequent and usual hyperbolically to appear as necessary<\/em> (for all the prophets were not<\/em> actually slain in Jerusalem, as is shown even in the instance of the Baptist) for the purpose of showing how empty<\/em> the threatening of Herod appears to Jesus, since He must rather go to Jerusalem<\/em> to die. The opinion (Grotius, Drusius, Knatchbull, Lightfoot, Wolf, and others) that He refers to the right belonging exclusively to the Sanhedrim of judging prophets and condemning them to death ( Sanhedr<\/em> . f. 2. 1, f. 89. 1, and elsewhere) is mistaken, since the matter here in question is of the actual , and since Jesus could not place Himself on a level with those who were condemned as false<\/em> prophets. Comp. Winer in Zimmerman’s Monatsschr<\/em> . II. 3, p. 206.<\/p>\n [169] The inference is not here to be drawn (so Wieseler, Synopse<\/em> , p. 321) that Jesus was still distant three days’ journey from the end of His expedition ( Jerusalem<\/em> , not Bethany<\/em> , as Wieseler will have it, see ver. 22, and on Luk 9:51<\/span> ff.). The occupation of these three days is rather, according to ver. 32, principally the casting out of demons and healings; but the journey<\/em> must have been bound up<\/em> therewith, so that Jesus intends on the third day to reach the limit to which in Luk 17:11<\/span> He has already come.<\/p>\n [170] Schleiermacher is wrong in assuming ( Schr. d. Luk<\/em> . p. 195) that Jesus means to say that He must still abide two days in the place, and then for two days more journey quietly<\/em> , etc. In ver. 33 they are indeed the same<\/em> days as in ver. 32. De Wette considers the saying as unimportant, that it is probably incorrectly reported; and Holtzmann finds the section so obscure that on that account Matthew omitted it. According to Baur, Jesus marks out the , the progress on His journey never to be interrupted as His proper task<\/em> , which would be in harmony with the Pauline character of the Gospel. With this conflicts the statement giving the reason . . . Bleek conjectures that . . . was introduced from ver. 32 by a transcriber’s error at an early period.<\/p>\nFuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
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Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Again, the joys of that place are, pure and spiritual, and no unclean thing shall enter there. The felicity of the blessed spirits consists in beholding and admiring the divine perfections, and finding the image of them shining in themselves; in a perfect conformity to the will and nature of God, and in an intimate and delightful society and communion with him:and shall such souls then be blessed in seeing and partaking of the divine likeness hereafter, who never loved it, and who would choose any thing rather than converse with him here?
If, once more, we reflect on the endeavours of those who have gone to heaven before us, how they fought and strove, how they wrestled and ran, to obtain that glorious prize, we shall see how improbable it is that the greatest part of men should reach it, with so little pains as they are willing to exert. Consider the patriarchs and saints of old; consider the holy violence wherewith the first Christians forced open the gates of heaven, and took possession of its joys. The ardent affection, wherewith these blessed souls were inflamed towards their Maker and Redeemer, made them willingly give up their bodies to the fire, for the glory of God, and the propagation of the Christian faith. Their constancy in their sufferings amazed their bloody persecutors, and outwearied the cruelty of their tormentors; nay, they rejoiced in nothing more than that they were accounted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus. <\/em>And what shall we say of their universal charity and love, which reached their greatest enemies? of their humility and meekness, their justice and temperance, and all those other virtues which many of the heathens themselves observed and admired? <\/p>\n
But to come yet nearer to the present purpose,a serious consideration of the laws and precepts of the gospel will fully convince us of the straitness of the gate, and narrowness of the way, that leads to eternal life. <\/em>Look through that excellent sermon on the mount, <\/em>and see what our Saviour requires of his followers: there you will find him enjoining such a profound humility, <\/em>as shall make us think nothing of ourselves, and be content that others think nothing of us; a meekness <\/em>which no injuries can overcome, or indignities exasperate; a chastity, <\/em>which restraineth the seeing of the eyes, and the wandering of the desires; and such an universal charity, <\/em>as shall make us tender other men’s welfare as our own, and never take any revenge against our most bitter enemies, but to wish them well, and to do them all the good we can, whether they shall do the same by us or no. <\/p>\n
There are thousands of angels continually in the presence of God, and ten thousand times ten thousand that stand about his throne: the glorified who were and shall be saved in infancy, will make perhaps one half of mankind: millions innumerable will be saved during the great millennium: and a glorious multitude of the present and past ages, will be found in the day of judgment accepted in the Beloved, and with his image stamped upon their hearts; though these latter, it is to be feared, will be but a small number in comparison of the adults at large of their respective generations; for except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. <\/em>See Joh 3:3<\/span>. <\/p>\n
2nd, The parable of the barren fig-tree is designed to enforce the foregoing admonition. It seems primarily to be applicable to the Jewish people, blessed with peculiar advantages, but disappointing God’s expectations; yet spared a little longer at the Redeemer’s intercession, till having tried them another space, and used in vain the most powerful means for their conversion in the mission of his apostles, at last he devotes them to utter ruin for their unbelief and impenitence, cutting them down as a barren tree, and casting them into the fire. But whatever reference the parable has to them, it is of more extensive use, as containing a warning to all who enjoy the means of grace; and who, if they are not converted by them, will fall under heavier wrath and condemnation.
1. Great was the advantage that this fig-tree enjoyed. It was planted in a vineyard, <\/em>in the best soil, and under the owner’s peculiar care and culture. The church is the vineyard of God; every visible member has a place there, sitting under the rain of gospel doctrine, and blest with the ministerial labours of Christ’s faithful servants. <\/p>\n
3. Great indeed was his disappointment: he found none, <\/em>and therefore complains to the vine-dresser how long he had waited, and how useless was this tree, which impoverished the ground, and occupied the room of one that might be profitable. With much more reason may the Lord complain of many professors, who bring him no honour, and continue barren and unfruitful. He comes from year to year, for three, for thirty, yea, sometimes for threescore years together; so wonderful is his patience and forbearance; and finds them still cumberers of the ground, <\/em>whose ill example is more extensively pernicious, the longer they are permitted to stand. <\/p>\n
3rdly, Christ was an unwearied preacher; and, as usual, was now in the synagogue on the sabbath day. To confirm the doctrine that he taught, we are told,
1. The notable miracle which he wrought on an infirm woman who was present. Her case was very pitiable: under the power of Satan, her body was so convulsed and contracted, that she was bent double, and could not stand erect; and as the disorder had been of so long standing as eighteen years, all hope of a cure was despaired of. Yet she crawled to the synagogue, and did not, as many might have done, make her weakness, or deformity, a plea for absenting from God’s worship. There the compassionate eye of Jesus remarked her unhappy situation; and, unsolicited, he called and cured her, loosing her from Satan’s bonds, and enabling her instantly to stand upright; for which she most heartily expressed her gratitude, glorifying and praising God for this extraordinary and unexpected mercy. Note; <\/em>(1.) So weak and infirm are our souls by nature, unable to lift up their affections to high and heavenly things, and ever bowed down to earthly and sensual objects. (2.) Christ first seeks us, not we him, and is pleased to call to us in the gospel word, or by the secret influences of his Spirit, that coming to him we might be cured. (3.) The powerful hand of his grace effectually relieves the soul, that uses the power afforded to it to come to him, and saves it from the bondage of guilt and corruption; and when at any time we are afterwards bowed down with fear, and go heavily through manifold temptations, he offers ample strength to the weak. (4.) It is the delight and duty of all who experience his healing power, to glorify him in their lips and in their lives, walking uprightly before him. <\/p>\n
4. The argument was most conclusive, and confusion covered his adversaries; whilst all the people, who were struck with wonder at his miracles, and the force of his reasoning, rejoiced at these glorious works of power and grace which they beheld. Note; <\/em>Sooner or later all the foes of Christ and his people shall be confounded, and all his faithful triumph in his great salvation. <\/p>\n
1. The question put to our Lord, Are there few that <\/em>shall be saved? <\/em>Perhaps the design of it was captious, to represent him as rigid and uncharitable, or it might be mere curiosity; many being more inquisitive who shall be saved, and who not, than about what they must do to secure their own salvation. <\/p>\n
(1.) His exhortation is, Strive to enter in at the strait gate; <\/em>the way to heaven is difficult; ten thousand obstructions, both without and within, straiten the passage; great diligence and incessant prayer, therefore, are needful; that, strengthened by power from on high, we may be able to hold on, and to hold out, and so to run as to obtain the prize. <\/p>\nFuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n