12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow and much people of the city was with her. : 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. he delivered him to his mother. And 16 And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. 17 And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judæa, and throughout all the region round about. b 18 And the disciples of John shewed him of all these things. 19 And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? *Or, coffin. But with God there are no chances; and apparent accidents only the more strongly mark his interposition. The deceased was the only son of his mother, and that mother a widow,- -a circumstance which appears to have excited great commiseration in the place; for much people of the city was with her. Our Lord was touched with the circumstance; and at the sight of the distressed widow, he had compassion on her: she appeared before him bereaved and childless, her quiver empty, and, to use the expression of the Jews, the last coal on her hearth extinguished, having now no help or refuge in man; but "a very present help in trouble" was near, and he said unto her, Weep not. The whole manner of the miracle is overwhelming. He lays his hand upon the bier,—the funeral couch in which the dead were carried forth, without coffin,-arrests the march of the bearers, utters the words of b Matt. xi. 2. power and authority at which death retires and life returns, Young man, I say UNTO THEE, arise; and he that was dead sat up, and began to speak; and he delivered him to his mother. In how few sentences is this stupendous occurrence narrated! leaving the mind to dwell upon it without any interruption from the remarks of the narrator, and to fall under the influence of that fear which came upon all. Verses 18-22. And the disciples of Joha, &c. On the visit of John's disciples t Christ, see the notes on Matt. xi. 2—12. From St. Luke we learn that our Lord in the same hour, whilst these disciples were with him, cured many of infirmities, plagues, and evil spirits, and unto many that were blind he gave sight; which circumstance gives great force to the words which follow, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, &c. 20 When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 21 And in the same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. 22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. 23 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. 24 And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 25 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts. 26 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. 27 This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist : but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. 29 And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. Verse 29. All the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.-From this it appears, that a vast body of the people of Galilee must have been baptized by John, since the whole of this promiscuous multitude now assembled to hear Christ, are said to have received his baptism. The publicans are again mentioned; from which it may be inferred that John's ministry had been eminently successful among that class of Jews, who were greatly despised because of their profession. They justified God; which cannot be taken, as by Grotius and Beza, in the sense of giving thanks to and praising God. It expresses the sentiment of those who believed in the authority of John's mission, in opposition to the Pharisees, who rejected it. In echoing back the eulogies pronounced upon John by our Lord, they therefore vindicated his mission from the reproach and slight put upon it by the Pharisees, and acknow 30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. с 31 And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? 32 They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. 33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. 34 The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! 35 But wisdom is justified of all her children. d 36 And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. 37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, *Or, frustrated. + Or, within themselves. c Matt xi. 16. d Mark xiv. 3. ledged the divine wisdom and goodness of its appointment. Verse 30. Rejected the counsel of God against themselves. — Tηy Bouλny, here, is the of God in the mission of purpose John, his gracious design to bring men to repentance, and place them in a state of preparation to receive the Messiah, and all the spiritual blessings which he was appointed to impart; and as this was the design as to men in general, so to them who rejected it. Hence εις εαυτους is to be understood towards or in respect of themselves, and so be connected with the counsel or purpose of God. But if es be interpreted against, as in our translation, the sense is not substantially different; for unless the counsel or purpose of God had respect to their benefit, their rejection could not have been an injury to them in the way of consequence, as here represented. Verse 31. Whereunto shall I liken, &c. -See the notes on Matt. xi. 16. Verse 36. One of the Pharisees desired that he would eat with him. He publicly invited him to dinner, and appears also to have invited many persons to meet him. With what intent this was done does not clearly appear, except that he was far from treating our Lord with the usual marks of courteous attention shown to guests, and therefore probably he had either a captious or a curious design. Our Lord did not decline this invitation, either that he might not give occasion to the Pharisees to take any advantage of his refusal, as though he was gloomy and morose, or that he might teach those important lessons which the circumstances of the occasion called forth. Verse 37. A woman in the city, which was a sinner.-Because Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anointed our Lord's feet, in the 38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. house of Simon the leper, at Bethany, some have confounded this woman with her, and others with Mary Magdalene, because she is here called a sinner, that is, one who had offended against the laws of chastity. But it is equally unjust to the two respectable women, Mary of Bethany, and Mary of Magdala, to suppose that either of them had been sinners in this sense. The demoniacal possession of the latter appears to have been her affliction, not her crime; and that the character of the whole family which "Jesus loved," at Bethany, stood high among the respectable classes of Jews at Jerusalem, appears from the number of them who came to condole with them upon the death of Lazarus. Beside, this woman was a resident in the city, not like Mary, sister of Lazarus, the inhabitant of a village; and the city appears to have been Nain, where our Lord had recently performed the miracle; whereas, the other Mary resided at Magdala: and had it been the latter, there seems no reason why her name should not have been mentioned here, as well as on other occasions, by the evangelist. Whoever this woman was, we hear no more of her. She found mercy, she showed her grateful affection to her Saviour, she received his approbation for that act of gratitude publicly manifested; but he appears to have dismissed her into privacy, and not to have given a woman who had been a sinner, impudica, a leading place among his female disciples. All the affinity in this account and that of the anointing of our Lord at Bethany lies, in fact, in the mention in each of a box or vase of alabaster, and in the act of anointing; but the first was a common name for all vessels containing unguents or scents; and anointing at feasts was a customary act. Verse 38. And stood at his feet, &c.The whole picture is beautifully drawn. As our Lord was reclining in the Jewish manner upon the couch at table, his feet would be stretched out behind with sandals off. Hence the woman is said to have stood at his feet behind. She was weeping, having been probably touched by his discourses on some occasion, and brought into a state of true penitence. The washing of the feet with tears, wiping them with the hair of the head, kissing them, and anointing them, were all marks of the profoundest veneration. Washing the feet always preceded anointing. To this day, among the Arabs, when the master of the family has welcomed a stranger, he washes his feet. Verse 39. He spake within himself.-He reasoned in his own mind, but said nothing; and our Lord gave another proof of his omniscience, by adapting his discourse to the train of thought and the suspicions into which his host had fallen. He had the commonly received notion that a true prophet, and especially the Messiah, would know exactly the character of those who approached them; and concluded certainly, from Christ suffering this woman to touch him, that he was ignorant of her character, and wanted therefore that power to "discern spirits" which the Messiah would undoubtedly possess. The Jewish commentators interpret that passage of Isaiah respecting the Messiah, "He shall be of quick understanding; he shall know at once who is a wicked person, and who is not." somewhat to say unto thee. 41 There was a certain 40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have And he saith, Master, say on. creditor which had two debtors: pence, and the other fifty. the one owed five hundred 42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? 43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. 44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. 45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. * See Matt. xviii. 28. Verse 41. Five hundred pence.-Five hundred denarii or Roman pence, each about sevenpence halfpenny of our mo ney. Verse 44. Thou gavest me no water for my feet. The Pharisee is here gracefully reproved by the commendations bestowed upon the woman for his want of courtesy. To guests at least who were received with peculiar joy and affection, it was customary to furnish water for the feet, to give the kiss of welcome, and to anoint the head. As Simon had done none of these to our Lord, he showed that he regarded him only as an indifferent person; at least these neglects proved that he loved little: whilst the attentions paid to him by the woman, -not only washing his feet, but doing it with tears; not wiping them with a towel, but with her hair; kissing even the feet and anointing them, as not presuming to anoint his head,-proved that she loved much. Much had been forgiven her. She was not only a penitent, but a forgiven penitent. The words of Christ which she had heard on some former but unrecorded occasion had not only touched her conscience, but led her to God and salvation. She regarded him therefore as her Saviour, and lored him much; loved him in proportion to the degradation he had pitied, and the guilt he had removed,—in a word, to the much she had had forgiven. This whole argument, be it observed, rested on two facts; that the sins of the woman were forgiven; and that Christ, to whom she had shown so nuch love, had forgiven her. And that which was implied in his argument our Lord immediately publishes expressly, saying to the woman, "Thy sins are forgiven," declaring the fact to them, and reiterating to her the assurance of her forgiveness, which must before in some way have been conveyed to her mind, because her love is accounted for by our Lord, from her consciousness that she had had much forgiven. Those who sat at meat, marking the AUTHORITATIVE mode in which this declaration of the woman's forgiveness was made, began to object, saying, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? invading, as they affirmed in another place, the authority of God; but lest the woman herself should be disturbed by these murmurs, and to silence all, he repeats the assurance, "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace." |