7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, 8 and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth,

and he that seeketh, findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be 9 opened. What man is there of you, who if his son ask bread, will 10 give him a stone? And if he ask a fish, will he give him a ser11 pent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your

children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give 12 good things to them that ask him? †Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

13 Enter ye in through the strait gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are 14 that go in through it: Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to life, and few there are that find it.

15

But beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. By their fruits 16 ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs 17 from thistles? So every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but 18 the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot

bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good

furious, persecuting wretches. Talk not of perfection, for instance, to the former; not of your experience to the latter. But our Lord does in no wise forbid us to reprove, as occasion is, both the one and the other.

7. But ask-Pray for them, as well as for yourselves: in this there can be no such danger. Seek-Add your own diligent endeavours to your asking: and knock-Persevere importunately in that diligence.

8. For every one that asketh receiveth-Provided he ask aright, and ask what is agreeable to God's will.

11. To them that ask him-But on this condition, that ye follow the example of his goodness, by doing to all as ye would they should do to you. For this is the law and the prophets-This is the sum of all, exactly answering chap. v, 17. The whole is comprised in one word, Imitate the God of love.

Thus far proceeds the doctrinal part of the sermon. In the next verse begins the exhortation to practise it.

13. The strait gate-The holiness described in the foregoing chapters. And this is the narrow way. Wide is the gate, and many there are that go in through it-They need not seek for this; they come to it of course. Many go in through it, because strait is the other gate-Therefore they do not care for it; they like a wider gate.

15. Beware of false prophets-Who in their preaching describe a broad way to heaven it is their prophesying, their teaching the broad way, rather than their walking in it themselves, that is here chiefly spoken of. All those are false prophets, who teach any other way than that our Lord hath here marked out. In sheep's clothing-With outside religion and fair professions of love: Wolves-Not feeding, but destroying souls.

16. By their fruits ye shall know them-A short, plain, easy rule, whereby to know true from false prophets: and one that may be applied by people of the weakest capacity, who are not accustomed to deep reasoning. True prophets convert sinners to God, or at least confirm and strengthen those that are converted. False prophets do not. They also are false prophets, who though speaking the very truth, yet are not sent by the Spirit of God, but come in their own name, to declare it: their grand mark is, “Not turning men from the power of Satan to God."

18. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree good fruitBut it is certain, the goodness or badness here mentioned respects the doctrine, rather than the personal character. For a bad man preaching the good doctrine Luke vi, 43, 44.

* Luke xi, 9. † Luke vi, 31.

+ Luke xiii, 24.

19 fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down 20 and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

21

*Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father who 22 is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out 23 devils, and in thy name have done many wonderful works? And then will I declare unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, 24 ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these my sayings, and doth them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built 25 his house on the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell not; 26 for it was founded on the rock. But every one that heareth these my sayings, and doth them not, shall be likened to a foolish man, 27 who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, and and beat on that house; and And when Jesus had ended

the floods came, and the winds blew, 28 it fell, and great was the fall of it. 29 these sayings, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching, For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. VIII. And when he was come down from the mountain, great multi2 tudes followed him. § And behold a leper came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus stretching forth his hand, touched him, saying, I will; be thou made clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus saith to him, See thou tell no man, but go, show thyself

here delivered, is sometimes an instrument of converting sinners to God. Yet I do not aver, that all are true prophets who speak the truth, and thereby convert sinners. I only affirm, that none are such who do not.

19. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire-How dreadful then is the condition of that teacher who hath brought no sin. ners to God!

21. Not every one—' e-That is, no one that saith, Lord, Lord-That makes a mere profession of me and my religion, shall enter—Whatever their false teachers may assure them to the contrary: He that doth the will of my Father-as I have now declared it. Observe: every thing short of this is only saying, Lord, Lord.

22. We have prophesied-We have declared the mysteries of thy kingdom; wrote books; preached excellent sermons: In thy name done many wonderful works-So that even the working of miracles is no proof that a man has saving faith.

23. I never knew you-There never was a time that I approved of you: so that as many souls as they had saved, they were themselves never saved from their sins. Lord, is it my case?

29. He taught them-The multitudes, as one having authority-With a dignity and majesty peculiar to himself as the great Lawgiver, and with the demonstra. tion and power of the Spirit: and not as the scribes-Who only expounded the law of another; and that in a lifeless, ineffectual manner.

VIII. 2. A leper came-Leprosies in those countries were seldom curable by natural means, any more than palsies or lunacy. Probably this leper, though he might not mix with the people, had heard our Lord at a distance.

4. See thou tell no man- -Perhaps our Lord only meant here, Not till thou hast showed thyself to the priest,-who was appointed to inquire into the case of leprosy. But many others he commanded, absolutely, to tell none of the miracles he had wrought upon them. And this he seems to have done, chiefly Mark i, 40; Luke v, 12.

* Luke vi, 46. † Luke xiii, 27. + Luke vi, 47.

to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.

5 † And when he was entered into Capernaum, there came to him 6 a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth 7 in the house, ill of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus 8 saith to him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answering said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof but speak in a word only, and my servant shall be 9 healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me and I say unto this man, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doth it. 10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, 11 not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, 12 and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness: there shall 13 be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion, Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, be it unto thee. And his servant was healed in that hour.

for one or more of these reasons: 1. To prevent the multitude from thronging him, in the manner related Mark i, 45. 2. To fulfil the prophecy, Isaiah xlii, 1, that he would not be vain or ostentatious. This reason St. Matthew assigns, chap. xii, 17, &c. 3. To avoid the being taken by force and made a king, John vi, 15. And, 4. That he might not enrage the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees, who were the most bitter against him, any more than was unavoidable, Matt. xvi, 20, 21. For a testimony- That I am the Messiah; to them-The priests, who otherwise might have pleaded want of evidence.

5. There came to him a centurion-A captain of a hundred Roman soldiers. Probably he came a little way toward him, and then went back. He thought himself not worthy to come in person, and therefore spoke the words that follow by his messengers. As it is not unusual in all languages, so in the Hebrew it is peculiarly frequent, to ascribe to a person himself the thing which is done, and the words which are spoken by his order. And accordingly St. Matthew relates as said by the centurion himself, what others said by order from him. An instance of the same kind we have in the case of Zebedee's children. From St. Matthew, xx, 20, we learn it was their mother that spoke those words, which, Mark x, 35, 37, themselves are said to speak; because she was only their mouth. Yet from ver. 13, Go thy way home, it appears he at length came in person: probably on hearing that Jesus was nearer to his house than he apprehended when he sent the second message by his friends.

8. The centurion answered-By his second messengers.

9. For I am a man under authority-I am only an inferior officer: and what I command, is done even in my absence: how much more what thou commandest, who art Lord of all!

10. I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel-For the centurion was not an Israelite.

11. Many from the farthest parts of the earth shall embrace the terms and enjoy the rewards of the Gospel covenant established with Abraham. But the Jews, who have the first title to them, shall be shut out from the feast; from grace here, and hereafter from glory.

12. The outer darkness-Our Lord here alludes to the custom the ancients had of making their feast in the night time. Probably while he was speaking this, the centurion came in person.

* Ler. xiv, 2. † Luke vii, 1.

Luke xiii, 29. xxiv, 51; xxv, 30.

◊ Matt. xiii, 42, 50; xxii, 13.

14

*And Jesus coming to Peter's house, saw his wife's mother 15 lying and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose and waited upon them.

16 When it was evening they brought to him many demoniacs : and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were 17 ill: Whereby was fulfilled what was spoken by the Prophet Isaiah, saying, Himself took our infirmities and bare our diseases. 18 And Jesus seeing great multitudes about him, commanded to 19 go to the other side. And a certain scribe came and said to 20 him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And

Jesus saith to him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 21 And another of his disciples said to him, Lord, suffer me first to 22 go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him, Follow me, and 23 leave the dead to bury their dead. || And when he was come into 24 the vessel, his disciples followed him. And behold, there was a great tempest in the sea, so that the vessel was covered with the 25 waves. But he was asleep. And his disciples coming to him 26 awoke him, saying, Lord, save us; we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful: O ye of little faith? Then arising, he rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. But 27 the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?

**

28 And when he was come to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two demoniacs, coming out of the

14. Peter's wife's mother-St. Peter was then a young man, as were all the apostles.

17. Whereby was fulfilled what was spoken by the Prophet Isaiah-He spoke it in a more exalted sense. The evangelist here only alludes to those words, as being capable of this lower meaning also. Such instances are frequent in the sacred writings, and are elegancies rather than imperfections. He fulfilled these words in the highest sense, by bearing our sins in his own body on the tree in a lower sense, by sympathizing with us in our sorrows, and healing us of the dis. eases which were the fruit of sin.

18. He commanded to go to the other side-That both himself and the people might have a little rest.

20. The Son of man-The expression is borrowed from Daniel vii, 13, and is the appellation which Christ generally gives himself: which he seems to do out of humility, as having some relation to his mean appearance in this world. Hath not where to lay his head—Therefore do not follow me from any view of temporal advantage.

21. Another said-I will follow thee without any such view; but I must mind my business first. It is not certain that his father was already dead. Perhaps his son desired to stay with him, being very old, till his death.

22. But Jesus said-When God calls, leave the business of the world to them who are dead to God.

24. The ship was covered-So man's extremity is God's opportunity.

26. Why are ye fearful-Then he rebuked the winds-First, he composed their spirits, and then the sea.

28. The country of the Gergesenes-Or of the Gadarenes-Gergesa and Gadara were towns near each other. Hence the country between them took its name, sometimes from the one, sometimes from the other. There met him two demoniacs-St. Mark and St. Luke mention only one, who was probably the fiercer of the two, and the person who spoke to our Lord first. But this is no way incon.

Mark i, 29; Luke iv, 38. † Mark i, 32; Luke iv, 40. Isaiah liii, 4. § Luke ix, 57. Mark iv, 35; Luke viii, 22. ** Mark v, 1; Luke viii, 26.

tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no one could pass by that way. 29 And behold they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee

Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us 30 before the time? And there was at some distance from them a 31 herd of many swine feeding. So the devils besought him, saying,

If thou cast us out, suffer us to go into the herd of swine. 32 And he said to them, Go. And coming out, they went into the

swine, and behold the whole herd rushed down the precipice 33 into the sea, and perished in the waters. But they that kept them fled, and going into the city, told every thing, and what had 34 befallen the demoniacs. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and seeing him, they besought him to depart out of their coasts.

IX. And * going into the vessel, he passed over and came to his own 2 city. And behold they brought to him a paralytic, lying on a couch; and Jesus seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, Son, take courage thy sins are forgiven thee.

3

And behold certain of the scribes said within themselves, This 4 man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts, said, 5 Why think ye evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, 6 Thy sins are forgiven thee? Or to say, Arise and walk? But that

ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the paralytic,) Arise, take up thy couch, 7 and go to thy house. And he arose, and went to his own house. 8 And the multitude seeing it, marvelled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

9

And as Jesus passed along from thence, he saw a man named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom, and saith to him, Follow

sistent with the account which St. Matthew gives. The tombs-Doubtless those malevolent spirits love such tokens of death and destruction. Tombs were usually in those days in desert places, at a distance from towns, and were often made in the sides of caves, in the rocks and mountains. No one could pass-Safely.

29. What have we to do with thee-This is a Hebrew phrase, which signifies Why do you concern yourself about us? 2 Sam. xvi, 16. Before the time-The great day.

lawful for the Jews to

30. There was a herd of many swine-Which it was not keep. Therefore our Lord both justly and mercifully permitted them to be destroyed.

31. He said, Go-A word of permission only, not command.

34. They besought him to depart out of their coasts-They loved their swine so much better than their souls! How many are of the same mind!

IX. 1. His own city-Capernaum, chap. iv, 13.

2. Seeing their faith-Both that of the paralytic, and of them that brought him. Son-A title of tenderness and condescension.

3. This man blasphemeth-Attributing to himself a power (that of forgiving sins) which belongs to God only.

5. Which is easier-Do not both of them argue a Divine power? Therefore if I can heal his disease, I can forgive his sins: especially as his disease is the consequence of his sins. Therefore these must be taken away, if that is.

6. On earth-Even in my state of humiliation.

8. So what was to the scribes an occasion of blaspheming, was to the people an incitement to praise God.

9. He saw a man named Matthew-Modestly so called by himself. The other

* Mark v, 18; Luke viii, 37: † Mark ii, 3; Luke v, 18. ‡ Mark ii, 14; Luke v, 27.