Copyright status: Believed to be in the Public Domain
Past President, Philadelphia School of the Bible; Author, "The Rapture"
To My Mother
_7
FOREWORD
By Donald Grey Barnhouse, D.D.
The first Gospel is the doorway to the whole of the New
Testament. The Holy Spirit has undoubtedly placed it where it is
in the order of the books. It is safe to say that whosoever
understands the Gospel according to Matthew will be a fair
distance along the road to an understanding of all the New
Testament.
The misunderstanding of the Gospel of Matthew has been
responsible for many a shipwreck. When it is the wreck of a
Tolstoi who, enamoured with the great utterances of the Sermon on
the Mount, devoted the remainder of his life to an impossible
attempt to force this discourse onto the pattern of an
unregenerate world, it is sad enough. But when theologians and
ministers forsake God's plan for the present age and improvise a
plan of their own devising, attempting to build a Kingdom where
God is calling out a Church, the result is disastrous to the
whole body of Christendom.
There have been many commentaries on the Gospel according to
St. Matthew. Some of them are mere paraphrases of the recognized
translation without throwing any light on the meaning of the
passages. There are some which start out with false premises of
misunderstanding and move forward logically to conclusions that
are confusion. There are some which are satisfactory on the main
points of the Gospel but which turn a neat path around many of
the real difficulties. There are, of course, volumes which cover
the ground in large compass and in much detail and with a great
degree of satisfaction.
What we have not seen in the course of our reading is a
study that makes no claim to great erudition, no pretense to a
detailed analysis, but without verbosity goes to the heart of
every great passage, gives a clear silhouette of all the peaks of
the first Gospel, covers none of them with fog, and descends into
enough of the valleys to give the casual layman, the busy Sunday
School teacher, the beginner in Bible study, a competent grasp of
the Gospel. We believe that in large measure this book by Mr.
English fills this particular need.
D. G. B.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
_9
PREFACE
By Frank E. Gaebelein, Litt.D.
So fundamental is the Gospel of Matthew to a proper
understanding of Scripture that its thorough study ought to be
required in every school or class that approaches the Bible with
the aim of grasping God's message to humanity. Indeed, on one's
understanding of the issues presented in this Gospel depends in
good measure his thinking about such great subjects as the Person
and Mission of the Lord Jesus Christ, the relation of Law and
Grace, and the future of God's chosen people, and the divine
purpose for the age in which we live. Mr. English deals with
these subjects from the dispensational point of view -- and quite
rightly so. For a comprehension of the exceedingly vital
distinction between the old dispensation of Mosaic legalism, the
present period of Grace, and the future Kingdom Age during which
Israel will be restored to her land is an essential requisite for
the study of the First Gospel. But it would be superfluous to
anticipate by further discussion the author's clear treatment of
these matters.
There are, however, several things that ought to be said
regarding this book. At a time when dispensational teaching is
being attacked its appearance is timely. It is written out of a
heart warm in love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Consequently the
devotional element is conspicuously present in these pages, and
the searching evangelical appeal to the heart and will of the
reader is frequent. Mr. English has avoided the barren
hair-splitting that afflicts so many commentators, dispensational
or otherwise, and has seized opportunity after opportunity to
address himself directly to the consciences of his readers. It is
safe to say that no one can go through this book, or even any
considerable portion of it, without being directly confronted,
and that more than once, with the great question of the ages,
"What think ye of Christ?"
The author's experience as Managing Editor of a great
Christian periodical has taught him the value of saying a thing
with simple directness. There is in this book, therefore, no
attempt at that wretched thing called "fine writing," the result
being that, while it deals with many of "the deep things of God,"
it does so with a refreshing lack of pretence. Moreover, the
spirit of the studies is one of positive but not dogmatic
conviction; notice is generously taken of the views of others,
although these views may in some instances run counter to those
of the author.
As an introduction to the Gospel of Matthew this volume
fills a real place in the shelves of literature helpful to that
great group of Bible-believing Christians which God is today
raising up throughout the various denominations. It should find
also long continuing use as a textbook for Bible classes in
churches, schools, and colleges.
F. E. G.
The Stony Brook School,
Stony Brook, Long Island.
_11
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
The accompanying "Studies in the Gospel According to
Matthew" are presented humbly, and in much prayer that the Lord
will use them in a real way in the hearts of the readers of this
book.
The author makes no claim to originality. He knows far too
much of his own limitations, and far too little of the Word of
God to be able to write such a volume. These notes were first
prepared as a series on the International Sunday School Lessons
appearing in the columns of Revelation, and have since been
revised and published in book form at the request of some who
have found them helpful. The very nature of their original
purpose demanded reference to many commentators. Eleven
commentaries on Matthew's Gospel were carefully consulted, as
well as a score of volumes on the Sermon on the Mount, the
Beatitudes, the Parables and the Miracles. Thus there is little
in this volume that cannot be found somewhere, but on the other
hand we know of no book that contains all that will be found
herein.
Whenever the author has quoted directly from another's work,
he has so indicated in the accepted manner. In addition to this
just formality, he wishes to express especial acknowledgment and
gratitude to his esteemed friend, Dr. Arno C. Gaebelein, for
without the help of Dr. Gaebelein's masterly exposition, The
Gospel of Matthew (650 pages), which so clearly and faithfully
sets forth the dispensational aspect of this Gospel, the present
book could never have been written.
The author acknowledges his indebtedness also to the works
of J. P. Lange, G. Campbell Morgan, Donald G. Barnhouse, Henry G.
Weston, and Bishop J. C. Ryle, which were so helpful in the
research entered into in preparation of this volume, and from
which he appropriated certain expository thoughts.
Studies in the Gospel according to Matthew should be read
only as a companion to the Word of God. In this way alone can the
reader benefit from this book.
That a soul may be won to the Lord Jesus Christ through this
book, or that a saint may be edified and strengthened in the
faith -- this is our prayer. May God grant it to His glory.
"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and
ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, Who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (2
Cor. 4:5-7).
E. S. E.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
_13
CONTENTS
Introduction--An Important Background and Outline - 15
Chapter
I - 20
II - 25
III - 29
IV - 36
V - 45
VI - 51
VII - 57
VIII - 64
IX - 70
X - 74
XI - 79
XII - 85
XIII - 91
XIV - 104
XV - 108
XVI - 111
XVII - 117
XVIII - 122
XIX - 133
XX - 140
XXI - 145
XXII - 158
XXIII - 167
XXIV - 169
XXV - 182
XXVI - 191
XXVII - 204
XXVIII - 216
Appendices - 223
_15
INTRODUCTION
AN IMPORTANT BACKGROUND AND OUTLINE
The Bible contains no biography of our Lord Jesus Christ. On
the contrary, there is much of His life which remains untold. The
four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are records of the
facts which pertain to salvation, wrought out by our Lord Jesus
Christ in His life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.
The human authors of these accounts wrote as instruments of the
Holy Spirit Who guided each hand so that the combined result is a
universal Gospel message.
The three great civilizations of the first century of the
Christian era were the Jewish, the Roman, and the Greek. The Jew
was the man of history of the past, who could hark back to Moses
and the prophets, who had Abraham as his father, whose very
foundation was in the Scripture where he beheld the Genesis of
all things in Eden, and before Eden, in God. The Roman was the
man of the moment, of the present and the future. By his strength
and prowess he had grasped victory and consequent power. The
Greek was the dreamer, the man of philosophy. Though he had lost
his political empire, he still reigned in the world of thought
and culture. Three of the Gospels were written especially for
these three race groups. For the Jew, the man of tradition, we
find especially written Matthew's Gospel of fulfilment; for the
Roman, the man of energy and action, Mark's Gospel, brief and
direct in its account of the three years' ministry of our Lord;
for the Greek, the man of thought and idealism, Luke's Gospel of
our Lord's humanity in His Kingship. There is yet a fourth
classification of the civilization of the first century, a class
composed of Jews and Romans and Greeks, yet neither Jews nor
Gentiles, but all one in Christ, the called-out-ones, believers
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And there is yet a fourth Gospel,
John's, the Gospel of love and of life -- God's love, and the
believer's life through Jesus Christ.
The Old Testament closes with Israel looking for the
fulfilment of the prophecies concerning their coming Messiah; the
New Testament opens: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ,
the Son of David, the Son of Abraham." Thus our Lord is instantly
identified as the Messiah, the Anti-type of Old Testament
history, the fulfilment of the Davidic Covenant of Sovereignty (2
Sam. 7:8-16), and the climax of the Abrahamic Covenant of promise
(Gen. 12:3). The Gospel according to Matthew is the Genesis, not
of the heavens and the earth, but of the earthly ministry of the
Lord Jesus, Who is the Crown of the Old Covenant, Whose death and
resurrection instituted the new dispensation, Who is to return in
glory to reign upon the earth, and Who is to make new heavens and
a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness (Rev. 21:1, 5).
The Gospel according to Matthew is a Jewish book. Matthew
presents Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of David, the promised
King. In the genealogy of our Lord He is traced back to David the
King; and the place of His birth is told, Bethlehem, the city of
David (see Micah 5:2). In Matthew alone is recorded the visit of
the wise men to worship Him "Who is born King of the Jews." The
ministry of John the Baptist is reported in fulfilment of Malachi
3:1. Constantly throughout the Gospel there are to be found
references to Old Testament Scriptures, with the comment, "for
thus it is written by the prophet." In Matthew the King presents
Himself and His Kingdom to His people, He is rejected, -- and
then?
We know that Israel was God's "peculiar treasure," chosen to
be "a Kingdom of priests, and an holy nation" (Ex. 19:5, 6). But
we know also that the recognized people of God today are the
saints, the Church, who have been made "a Kingdom of priests"
(Rev. 1:5, 6). How can these facts be explained? Matthew answers
the question. The Jews reject their Messiah-King; He pronounces
judgment against them: He turns to the Gentiles with the blood-
purchased offer of entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. Not only
does Matthew record the genealogy of Christ back to David the
King, but he goes still further, to Abraham. But in point of
time, it is not until after our Lord is rejected as the Son of
David that He presents Himself as the Son of Abraham, obedient
unto death, the Anti-type* of Isaac (Gen. 22). (See Appendix E.)
The Gospel according to Matthew is a Jewish book, but it is
a book for the whole world, also, for flowing from the Cross of
Calvary is the blood of the Lamb, by which all who believe on Him
are washed clean from the stain of sin, and are presented
"faultless before the presence of His glory."
The Gospel according to Matthew is dispensational* in its
teaching. (See Appendix A.) To understand it fully, one must have
a background knowledge of the place of the Jew, the Gentile, and
the Church in the plan of God. The foundation of Matthew is Old
Testament prophecy concerning the coming of Messiah and the
promised Kingdom, but in its development it reaches forth into a
new dispensation and the mysteries of the Kingdom, and points
onward to the beginning of the millennial* age when Christ shall
rule upon earth with His saints. (See Appendix G.) Our Lord's
Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24 and 25) is the mold from which is
taken much of the further teaching on yet unfulfilled prophecy.
The course of this age, the Great Tribulation* period (See
Appendix F.), the return of the King in glory* (See Appendix D.),
and the Kingdom age are all outlined in detail here.
One must understand that the Kingdom of Heaven (lit., "the
heavens") which John the Baptist preached and our Lord presented
in His early ministry is to be distinguished from "the Kingdom of
the heavens" of the thirteenth chapter; the former means that
Messianic earthly rule of our Lord which was offered to the Jews
but which was rejected, while the latter refers, not to the
Church, but to Christendom, that is, the sphere of Christian
profession, not only during the present Age of Grace (See
Appendix C.), and through the Tribulation (See Appendix F.), but
in the next dispensation also, the Kingdom Age, when the Lord
Jesus shall return in glory as King to reign. "The Kingdom of the
heavens" will one day merge into "the Kingdom of God" when
Christ, having put all His enemies under His feet shall have
delivered up the Kingdom to God the Father (1 Cor. 15:24-28).
One must recognize that the Sermon on the Mount was
delivered when the Kingdom of the heavens was being announced as
"at hand." The Beatitudes declare the principles of the Kingdom,
the divine constitution for a government of righteousness upon
the earth. If Israel had accepted the King, such a rule would
have been established then and there. But Israel did not accept
the King; and as a consequence there will be no reign of
righteousness until He shall return in glory. To teach that all
man needs to do to inherit eternal life is to live by the Sermon
on the Mount is unscriptural and utter folly. This is purely
ethical teaching, and denies the essential atoning work of our
Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, one should be careful not
to become so ultra-dispensational in his study and thought as to
lose the practical value of Scripture for his daily living. Such
an attitude borders on Pharisaism, living in the letter of the
law rather than in its spirit. We are instructed to divide the
Word of Truth aright, but we are also told that "all Scripture is
given by inspiration of God and is profitable for instruction in
righteousness." The Christian must be careful to meditate upon
the Word of God in true humility, his heart open to the teaching
of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew, the one whom the Holy Spirit has used as the author
of the first Gospel, was a Jew of Capernaum, and was known also
as Levi. He was one of the twelve disciples of our Lord, and it
is thought by some that the name Matthew, meaning Gift of God,
was a new name given him by the Lord Jesus, as He called Simon,
Peter. Matthew was a publican, a tax-collector serving the Roman
government, and as such was despised by his own people. It is
possible that he had been a man of corrupt life, and of avarice,
because of his profession, but of this there is no Biblical
proof. The date of the book's authorship is believed to have been
A.D. 37.
Matthew's Gospel falls into three important divisions:
I. Jesus, Son of David
(a) Genealogy, birth and infancy of the King (Chaps. 1, 2)
(b) King and Kingdom presented and rejected (Chaps. 3-11:27)
(c) New Message of the King (Chaps. 11:28-12:50)
(d) Mysteries of the Kingdom (Chap. 13)
(e) Ministry of the rejected King (Chaps. 14-23)
(f) King will return in power and glory (Chaps. 24, 25)
II. Jesus, Son of Abraham
(a) Sacrifice of the Lamb (Chaps. 26, 27)
III. Jesus, Son of God
(a) Resurrection of the Lord (Chap. 28:1-8)
(b) "I am with you alway" (Chap. 28:9-20)
_20
ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
CHAPTER I
"Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon
thou standest is holy ground" (Ex. 3:5). It is in such an
attitude as this that we must contemplate the birth of the Lord
Jesus. Conceived of the Holy Spirit, was this Emmanuel, God the
Son, God with us; born of the virgin Mary was this Jesus, the Son
of God; perfect in His Deity, perfect in His humanity. The One
Who as a little babe lay on the bosom of Mary in human dependence
was the same One Who was cruelly crucified, but Whom God raised
up from the dead, "because it was not possible that He should be
holden of it" (Acts 2:24). The Lord Jesus Christ is the "Seed of
the woman" Who, as God had promised, should bruise the Serpent's
head (Gen. 3:15). He is the Messiah through Whom, as God decreed
to Abraham, all the families of the earth should be blessed (Gen.
12:3). Furthermore, Jesus is the King Who, as God hath ordained
by His oath, should sit upon the throne of His father David,
which shall be established for ever (2 Sam. 7:16). It is of Him
that Isaiah the prophet wrote by the Holy Spirit: "His Name shall
be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government
and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and
upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth even for ever" (Isaiah 9:6, 7).
It is not a matter of wonder that as Mary, after the power
of the Highest had overshadowed her, greeted her cousin
Elisabeth, Elisabeth's child leaped for joy, recognizing the
presence of the Saviour. Nor do we marvel that on the night the
Child Jesus was born in Bethlehem there appeared to the shepherds
an angel of the Lord, and a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God. Neither is it strange that the Magi came from the
East to Jerusalem and, guided by the star, to Bethlehem, to
worship Him Who had been born king of the Jews, to present to Him
gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. That which is to be wondered
at, that which is really wonderful, is that the Messiah, the
Christ of God Who had been promised centuries before and for Whom
Israel had been watching and hoping, should come to earth as the
Saviour of His people, to present Himself as their King, to offer
them the Kingdom, and that these Gentiles, the Magi, should have
to inquire as to His whereabouts, some considerable time after
His birth; that they alone should have gone to Jerusalem to pay
rightful honour to the King of kings and Lord of lords.
As we study the genealogy, the birth, and the infancy of the
Lord Jesus let us remember that if we fail to recognize in Him
the Saviour Who died for us, and if we neglect the true worship
of the Lord of all, we reject God's gift of eternal life. "For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life" (John 3:16). With hearts full of gratitude and
joy to God the Father and to His Son Jesus Christ we should
approach these studies of the earthly ministry of our Lord and
Saviour.
Matt. 1:1-17
"The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of
David, the Son of Abraham" (Matt. 1:1). Since Matthew wrote
especially to the Jews, it was necessary that it be proven
without the shadow of a doubt that the Lord Jesus was in the
kingly line, the true heir to the royal throne of David. Likewise
it was essential that our Lord be shown to be descended from
Abraham, the Seed through Whom the whole earth should be blessed.
It is interesting to note that though Abraham lived more than one
thousand years before David, the order in the verse is "Son of
David, Son of Abraham." Why did the Holy Spirit so direct
Matthew? Because our Lord was first to present Himself to His own
people as King, then as Saviour. "He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave
He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
His Name" (John 1:11, 12).
Very often Christians are inclined to skip over the portions
of Scripture which they call "the begats." But God has given us
the genealogies that His Word may be comprehended fully. It is
not our purpose here to compare in detail the two genealogies of
our Lord, as found in Matthew and in Luke. An important paragraph
quoted from Dr. A.C. Gaebelein's Gospel of Matthew will clarify
most of the difficulties which may arise in connection with the
two records:
"In the genealogy of Matthew Jesus Christ is shown to be the
King legally; in the Gospel of Luke we have His genealogy as the
Son of Man, and as such linked with the whole race. The genealogy
in Matthew proves that Joseph is a descendant of David, through
the house of Solomon. There is in the Gospel of Luke proof that
Mary, the virgin, is likewise a descendant of David, but not
through the house of Solomon. She is connected with David through
the house of Nathan. The Messiah was to be born of a virgin, one
who must be a descendant of David. But a woman had no right to
the throne. As the son of the virgin alone He could not have had
a legal right to the throne. For this reason, to make the One
begotten in her of the Holy Ghost, the rightful heir to the
throne of David in the eyes of the nation, the virgin had to be
the wife of a man who had a perfect, unchallenged right to the
throne. Now the genealogy in Matthew shows that Joseph is the son
of David, and thus entitled to the throne, therefore Jesus is
legally in this way heir to the throne. He is the legal
descendant and heir of David through Joseph, but never Joseph's
Son. He was supposed by the people to be the Son of Joseph. (See
Luke 3:23, 4:22.) His claim to being truly the Son of David was
therefore never disputed. Now if He had been the Son of Joseph
according to the flesh, He would never be and could never be our
Saviour. ... On the other hand, if He had been the Son of Mary,
without her being legally the wife of a son of David, the Jews
would have rejected His claim from the very outset. We see then
that legally He was the Son of Joseph; in His humanity He is the
Son of Mary, and then we step higher, as we read in the closing
verses (of our chapter), He is the Son of God."
God always keeps His Word. He had promised David and Abraham
that through their seed salvation should come to Israel, in the
Messiah-King. The genealogy of Matthew's Gospel proves that Jesus
Christ is "The Son of David, the son of Abraham;" God's promises
were fulfilled.
Matt. 1:18-24
"Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall
call His Name Emmanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this wise. ..." (Matt.
1:18). There follows the history of the conception and birth of
our Lord. Had the record of Jesus Christ ended with verse
seventeen, we would know of a certainty that He was born legal
king of the Jews, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, but it is
from the story of His birth that we know Him to be the Son of
God. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph when he was about to
put Mary away, saying, "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to
take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her
is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou
shalt call His Name Jesus: for He shall save His people from
their sins" (Matt. 1:20, 21).
"Shall call His Name Emmanuel (God with us)."
"Shalt call His Name Jesus (Jehovah is the Saviour)."
What greater proof do we need that our Lord Jesus Christ is
God, God with us, and that in Him is salvation for the lost? It
is neither Matthew nor Isaiah who tells us this; God has spoken.
"An angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph saying, thou shalt
call His Name Jesus." "Now all this was done, that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
they shall call His Name Emmanuel."
The child was born, the Child Whose Names are "God with us"
and "Jehovah is the Saviour." God has manifested Himself to His
people, to all the world, in the form of a Man, Jesus the Christ.
He is God; He is the Saviour. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). Do you believe in Him? Are
you standing on the Rock? May you receive Him now, if you have
never before done so.
_25
CHAPTER II
Matt. 2:1-10
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days
of Herod the king, behold there came wise men from the East to
Jerusalem, saying, Where is He Who is born King of the Jews? For
we have seen His star in the East, and are come to worship Him"
(Matt. 2:1, 2).
The story of the visit of the wise men to worship the Lord
is told only in Matthew. It is deeply significant of the whole
teaching of this book which presents the Lord Jesus as King. The
record of chapter two is symbolic of the Kingdom of the heavens
offered to Israel: the King is unknown in Jerusalem, His own city
where His throne is; the rulers and even the ecclesiastical
authorities do not recognize His presence; worship and honour are
accorded Him not by His own people but by representatives from
among the Gentiles; His life is sought by those who should have
been looking for Him with rejoicing at His coming.
It is frequently taught that the wise men (and nowhere in
the Word of God is it stated that there were three of them) came
into the stable, and before the manger, worshipped and presented
gifts. In view of the fact that these men came from afar at the
sign in the heavens, and inasmuch as verse eleven tells us that
"When they were come into the house, they saw the young Child,"
in all probability it was some considerable time after His birth
that the Magi arrived. No doubt they entered Jerusalem believing
in their hearts that this King Whose star they had seen would
everywhere be known and worshipped. But in this great city, the
seat of religious activity and interest, where the Messiah's
coming should have been welcomed with rejoicing and praise, He
was unknown. Finally Herod, hearing of these things, gathered the
chief priests and scribes to make inquiry as to where the Child
should have been born. When he learned that the Scriptures said
that Bethlehem in the land of Juda was the chosen city, he
advised the men of the East and commanded them to return unto him
when they had found the Child. Then Herod waited, not that he
might worship, but that he might destroy the true King.
How many people there are today who know not the King, the
Lord Jesus Christ! In Christian lands and even in many of the
churches which bear His Name, He is not recognized. The Jews had
the Old Testament Scriptures, full of predictions concerning the
coming of the Messiah; the scribes and chief priests especially
should have been on the watch for His appearing. But, occupied
with ceremony, with ritual, with the world, His coming was an
offence to them. We are even more at fault today. God has given
us His Word which tells of the Lord Jesus; but still many know
Him not, and the teaching of how He may be found is often an
offence to the world. Yet, praise the Lord, there are those who
grasp at the light that they see, as did the Magi, to find that
in Him is life and joy and peace, without end.
Matt. 2:11, 12
"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young
Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him: and
when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him
gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh" (Matt. 2:11).
It is significant that the Holy Spirit wrote through
Matthew, "When they saw the young Child with Mary His mother,"
not Mary with the young Child. He it is to Whom must go the
worship and honour, not to the mother.
The Magi worshipped Him before they presented gifts. It is
not by service that we are saved, nor by worship. Worship in
Spirit and in Truth can only be offered after one has received
the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. "By grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of
works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2-8 9). God wants the
personal passion of a yielded heart rather than cold gifts of
service. When the wise men had seen the Lord, they worshipped Him
and presented gifts. When any man or woman really sees the Lord,
as did Paul on the Damascus Road, he must worship Him. Then it is
our "reasonable service" to present our bodies "a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God" (Rom. 12:1).
Finally, the gifts were holy and acceptable: gold,
indicative of the kingship of the Lord, and of His power and
glory; frankincense, speaking of the altogether lovely One and of
the fragrance of His life; myrrh, a burial spice, telling of the
Saviour Who should lay down His life a ransom for many, for you
and for me. When He comes again He shall again receive gifts;
gold and frankincense (Isa. 60:6); gold, a symbol of His Power
and Might and Glory, as the King; frankincense, because He is
altogether lovely and because His very Being is fragrant with
Love and Grace. There will be no need of the myrrh then, for
Christ "being raised from the dead dieth no more," but He shall
reign forever upon the throne of His father David.
"And being warned of God in a dream that they should not
return to Herod, they departed into their own country another
way" (Matt. 2:12).
Matt. 2:13-23
The balance of Matthew two is concerned with the flight of
Joseph into Egypt with the young Child and Mary, the slaughter of
the male children of Bethlehem under Herod's wrath, and the
return of Joseph's family into the land of Israel and thence to
Nazareth. That which particularly draws our attention is the
keeping power of God, and the repeated affirmations of the
fulfilments of prophecy in the events surrounding the early years
of the Lord Jesus.
Five times in the first two chapters of Matthew we find such
statements: "Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet" (Matt. 1:22); "For
thus it is written by the prophet" (Matt. 2:5); "that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet" (Matt.
2:15); "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the
prophet" (Matt. 2:17); "That it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the prophets" (Matt. 2:23).
The Word of God is full of the record of Satan's attempts to
destroy the line leading to the birth of the Messiah. Foiled in
his hopes, beginning at the infancy of the Lord Jesus, Satan
continually tried to destroy Him that He might not accomplish His
work on Calvary. But God has all power and is faithful, and will
ever fulfil all that He has purposed and promised. God's Word is
true. He has said, "All have sinned and come short of the glory
of God" (Rom. 3:23); but He has also declared that "The wages of
sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23).
_29
CHAPTER III
"Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the
way before Me: and the Lord Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to
His temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant, Whom ye delight
in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts" (Mal. 3:1).
In type (See Appendix E.) and in promise the Old Testament
is replete with prophecies concerning the Messiah and of those
things which shall attend His coming. But the prophets saw both
advents blended in one horizon and were unable to distinguish the
separating interval between the first and second coming of our
Lord. The Lord Jesus clearly pointed to this fact when His
disciples asked Him why He spoke in parables: "Because it is
given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of the
heavens, but to them it is not given. ... For verily I say unto
you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see
those things which ye see, and have not seen them: and to hear
those things which ye hear, and have not heard them" (Matt.
13:11, 17). It was their failure to discern that our Lord was to
come in humiliation before He should come in glory which led
Israel to reject their King. In Malachi 3:1, quoted above, we
have a clear illustration of the confusion in the prophets' minds
of the two advents of the Lord Jesus. That the first portion of
the verse, "Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall
prepare the way before Me," refers to John the Baptist is
evident, for our Lord so stated, as recorded in Matt. 11:10. The
balance of the verse, however, surely speaks of Him when He shall
return in glory with His saints after the Great Tribulation, and
not of Him when He was rejected by His people in His humiliation.
The forerunner of Messiah, John the Baptist, he of whom
Isaiah and Malachi spoke, was the last of the Old Testament
prophets. His rejection and ultimate cruel death were a symbol of
that which should befall the Light concerning Whom he bore
witness. With the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and His death
and resurrection the New Testament was established, and
henceforth those who prophesied spoke not of the first covenant
which was made old by the new, but of the new covenant of grace
whereby "They which are called might receive the promise of
eternal inheritance." "So Christ was once offered to bear the
sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear a
second time without sin unto salvation" (Heb. 9:28).
Matt. 3:1-6
"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the
wilderness of Judaea, and saying, Repent ye: for the Kingdom of
the heavens is at hand" (Matt. 3:1, 2).
"The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the
outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (1 Sam.
16:7). John the Baptist came not to the high places, but in the
wilderness, outside the camp; his raiment was of camel's hair,
his meat was locusts and wild honey. Yet this was the one of whom
the Lord Jesus said that he was more than a prophet: "Verily I
say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not
risen a greater than John the Baptist" (Matt. 11:11); of him also
the angel spoke these words: "For he shall be great in the sight
of the Lord, ... and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, ...
and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord
their God" (Luke 1:15, 16).
John the Baptist was not afraid to speak of the sinfulness
of man. "Repent ye" -- return to God, obey the law. That was the
proper message, that man should forsake his evil ways and return
in repentance to the Lord. Today we live in the age of grace when
salvation by grace through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is
freely declared. But under law then, or under grace now, man is a
sinner. It is just as necessary that we preach of man's sinful
condition under the new covenant, as it was under the old, for
unless man is convinced of his own need of salvation, and repents
in his heart, he cannot receive the Saviour.
"The Kingdom of the heavens is at hand." As was pointed out
in our introduction, "the kingdom of the heavens" has three
aspects:
(1) That Kingdom which had been covenanted to the seed of David
(2 Sam. 7:12, 13), of which Messiah, the Lord Jesus, the Son of
David should be the King established for ever. The Kingdom was
here offered. The King was rejected by His people Israel, and
consequently, the Kingdom was postponed.
(2) That Kingdom which, after He was rejected, the Lord described
in the parables recorded in Matthew thirteen. This had to do with
Christendom, the sphere of professing Christianity, and will be
discussed more fully in the study of the thirteenth chapter.
(3) That Kingdom as it will be set up upon the earth when the
Lord Jesus returns in glory with His own, when God's will shall
be done on earth as it is in Heaven, when there shall be no end
of the increase of the government and peace of the Prince of
Peace, but His Kingdom shall be established even forever.
It was fitting that John the Baptist should have preached
that the Kingdom was "at hand," for the King was upon the earth
and was soon Himself to declare that the Kingdom had drawn nigh.
But Israel did not repent, but turned its back upon the King and
His kingdom. We shall find that Christ then turned to the
Gentiles with a new message. He shall yet sit upon the throne of
His Father David: "After this I will return and will build again
the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down: and I will build
again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: that the residue
of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom
My Name is called, saith the Lord, Who doeth all these things"
(Acts 15:16, 17).
"Repent ye" was the message to Israel, and many went out to
him "and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins"
(Vs. 6). Throughout the Word of God the Jordan is a type of
death. When Israel left the wilderness and crossed the Jordan
into Canaan (Joshua 3), Jordan was a symbol of death, of
crucifixion with Christ and entrance thereby into the heavenlies.
So John baptized, and those who confessed their sins and repented
in this manner witnessed to the death which they deserved. John,
of course, knew nothing of the fact that our Lord was to be
rejected and crucified, nor did Israel; therefore, John's baptism
was not Christian baptism, that is, into Christ's death.
Nevertheless, we can see in the ceremony a foreshadowing of our
Lord's death and resurrection for us.
Matt. 3:7-10
Already early in His ministry those two religious classes
who later proved to be the greatest enemies of our Lord, the
Pharisees and the Sadducees, made their appearance (Vs. 7). The
Pharisees were a sect who were the most moral and religious men
of their day. They were ritualists, and concerned themselves with
abiding within the letter of the law, and even with creating new
laws; but their godliness was in form only, and not in spiritual
power. The Sadducees were the rationalists, who denied things
supernatural. Angels, spirits, the resurrection, the ascension of
our Lord -- in these they did not believe. John, by the Holy
Spirit, was immediately aware of their insincerity, and denounced
them with biting words: "Generation of vipers!" These men did not
believe that they needed to repent. They thought that the wrath
to come, the judgment of wickedness which should accompany any
rule of righteousness, would be unleashed upon the Gentiles, not
upon Israel. "But," said John, "do not think because you are Jews
you do not need to repent. God is able to raise up children of
Abraham from stones, if He wills. Bring forth fruits worthy of
repentance. Right now the axe is to be laid to the root of the
tree. The Kingdom is at hand, the King is here. There will be
judgment, and every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit will
be cut down and cast into the fire."
Matt. 3:11-12
"I indeed baptize with water unto repentance, but He Who
cometh after me is mightier than I, Whose shoes I am not worthy
to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with
fire; Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His
floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up
the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Matt. 3:11, 12).
We learned above that very often the Old Testament prophets,
though they wrote of the Spirit, were themselves unable to
distinguish between the first and the second coming of the Lord
Jesus. John the Baptist was of that school, and consequently we
find in verses eleven and twelve, references, literally in the
same breath, to Christ's first and second advents. First, in true
humility and in full realization of Who the Lord Jesus is, John
exalted Him. Then he said: "He shall baptize you with the Holy
Spirit, and with fire." Now we know that the Lord Jesus Christ
has baptized the called-out-ones, the Church, with the Holy
Spirit, Who came at Pentecost. In 1 Cor. 12:13 we read: "For by
one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." And we know also
that we have not been baptized with fire. The baptism with the
Holy Spirit refers to His first coming: the balance of the
prophecy has to do with our Lord's second coming, when He returns
in glory. Then He shall baptize with fire; that is a baptism
which the believer, who already has been baptized with the
Spirit, does not desire and will not receive; for coming in
judgment as well as in glory, with His fan in His hand He will
purge the threshing floor, and when the wheat has been gathered
and put into the garner, the chaff will be burned with
unquenchable fire. We talk so much of the love and mercy of God,
and it is right that we should, since the believer's destiny for
eternity has been determined by that love and mercy; but God is
also just and holy. Let us not forget that. There is a hell as
well as a Heaven. When He shall come again, those who are out of
Christ, who have never appropriated that which He has
accomplished for them, will be eternally damned. Too many
Christians emphasize the grace of God alone; God grant that there
may be others like John the Baptist who will rise up and speak of
the wrath to come. And may God bless such teaching to bring souls
into the knowledge of the love of God Who sent His Son to die
that they might be gathered into the garner of eternal life with
Him.
Matt. 3:13-15
The baptism of John signified a confession of sin and
repentance. No wonder John marvelled when the Lord Jesus came to
the Jordan to be baptized. Our Lord knew no sin; our Lord could
not sin, yet He came to be baptized of John's baptism of water.
He had nothing to confess, He needed not to repent, but He was
baptized into death. Since He came to earth to take the sinner's
place, He took it here in symbol of death, and before men
signified His work upon the earth. The Lord was here, at the
outset of His public ministry, to receive His anointing. From
Exodus 29:4, 7, we learn that before the high priest was
anointed, he was washed, and so our Lord was baptized for His
anointing for His high-priestly office which began when He
offered Himself without spot to His Father.
"And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending
from Heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him. And I knew Him
not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the Same said
unto me, Upon Whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and
remaining on Him, the Same is He Who baptizeth with the Holy
Spirit. And I saw, and bare record that He is the Son of God"
(John 1:32-34). How pure and holy the countenance of our Lord
must have been! John the Baptist did not know that this was the
Son of God Who came to Jordan to be baptized until after the
rite, when the Spirit descended, yet he knew that this Man Who
approached him was a holy and righteous man, and he consequently
said, "I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to
me?"
Matt. 3:16-17
When He was baptized, the Lord Jesus went up out of the
water. "And lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: And
lo, a voice from Heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in Whom
I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:16, 17).
The Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, was manifested at
the beginning of our Lord's public ministry. These are they Who
before the foundation of the world planned your salvation and
mine; these are they Who in Eden said, "Let Us make man in Our
Image." The heavens were opened unto Him, unto Him Who came from
Heaven, and in Him they are opened unto every child of God. "This
is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased." The Father
delights in the Son; let us also find our delight in Him, which
is well pleasing to our Heavenly Father.
As the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ was typical of His
going down into death for sin, so His coming out of the Jordan
was a type of His resurrection by which He was declared to be the
Son of God by the Father (Rom. 1:4).
_36
CHAPTER IV
Matt. 4:1, 2
"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to
be tempted of the Devil" (Matt. 4:1). It is the Word of God that
so speaks. There are many who say there is no personal Devil; God
says there is, and that our Lord was led of the Holy Spirit to be
tempted by Him. If there is no personal Devil, then the Word of
God is untrue; if the Word of God is untrue, then there is no
Truth; if there is no Truth, then there is no God, and so it
goes. But we know that the Word of God is true, and that the Lord
Jesus was led of the Holy Spirit, immediately after His anointing
and immediately preceding the beginning of His ministry, into the
wilderness to be tempted of Satan.
First, we must look at the word "tempt." It has the meaning,
to entice or to allure, especially toward wrongdoing, with the
thought that there is response in the object. It also means, to
try or to test. Our Lord is and was absolutely holy, there was in
Him no sin; He was perfect in His Manhood and in His Godhood.
There was no "old nature" in Him, no iniquity; consequently He
could not sin. The word tempt here can only mean test.
Suppose one had a lump of pure gold. Gold is tested by being
dipped in acid; if it is entirely pure, the acid does not affect
it. Such was the testing of our Lord by Satan. He was pure
throughout, and the testing resulted in victory for Himself, and
defeat for the Devil.
The Word tells us that our Lord was "tempted in all points
like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15). The three
temptations with which Satan tried to beguile the Lord Jesus,
covered the full field of possible temptations to you and to me,
"all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16), the temptations under
which Adam and Eve fell, in Eden. Satan's whole object was that
the Lord Jesus should act for Himself, independently of His
Father.
Matt. 4:3, 4
"And when the Tempter came to Him, he said, If Thou be the
Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But He
answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God"
(Matt. 4:3, 4). The first temptation came to the Lord as Man.
Satan is very subtle. He did not accost our Lord with an
invitation to do some great and obvious evil, but attacked Him
with a suggestion that at first glance would hardly seem contrary
to God's will. The Lord had been fasting forty days. He was
hungry, and Satan suggested that the Lord satisfy that hunger.
"If Thou be the Son of God" -- Satan did not doubt Jesus' Deity,
for he knew that He was God. That was why he tried through Herod
to have Him slain when but a child. It is in the sense of "Since
Thou be the Son of God" that he appealed to Him. Now what would
be wrong, since the Lord Jesus was God, in His satisfying His
hunger? Simply this: He had come to earth as a man, and as Man He
was subject to the physical requirements of man. Had the Lord
changed the stones to bread to satisfy His hunger, might He not
also have refused the agony of the Cross when the time came? And
further, there is no recorded miracle ever performed by the Lord
Jesus which was not to the glory of God; following Satan's
suggestion would have been acting under His own will, not His
Father's. So He answered, "It is written," and quoted from
Deuteronomy 8:3.
Matt. 4:5-7
"Then the Devil taketh Him up into the Holy City, and
setteth Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto Him, If
Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down; for it is written, He
will give His angels charge over Thee, and in their hands shall
they bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a
stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not
tempt the Lord thy God" (Matt. 4:5-7). The second temptation came
to the Lord as Messiah. Satan suggested to our Lord a way which
would assuredly convince Israel of His Messiahship, for if they
should see Him gliding slowly through the air and landing safely
on the street, they would know that He was God manifest in the
flesh. Satan had been defeated by Scripture in the first
temptation, therefore he quoted Scripture in the second case. But
he did as he and his agents always do; he misquoted, leaving out
the important phrase "and keep Thee in all thy ways" (see Ps.
91:11, 12). It is significant that though the Lord Jesus did not
descend upon Jerusalem in the way Satan suggested, when He comes
again He will descend in glory upon the Holy City, and will be
accepted by His own. Our Lord knew the words which Satan left
out, "to keep Thee in all Thy ways," and He knew that the
Father's way was the way He should come unto His own in
humiliation, so again He answered, "It is written," quoting from
Deuteronomy 6:16.
Matt. 4:8-10
"Again, the Devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high
mountain, and showeth Him all the Kingdoms of the world, and the
glory of them; and saith unto Him, All these things will I give
Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus
unto Him, Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve" (Matt.
4:8-10). The last temptation came to the Lord as King. Satan, the
prince of this world, stood there on the mountain top and offered
to our Lord the Kingdoms which are his, and which one day will be
the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. "All these things," all he
had he would give if Jesus would fall down and worship him. He
was still the usurper. Before the creation of the world, before
his fall, Satan had said, "I will ascend into Heaven. ... I will
be like the Most High" (Isa. 14:13, 14). It was the worship due
to God that he wanted ages before, and it was still his desire.
But God has promised that Satan will be "cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone, ... and shall be tormented day and night for
ever and ever" (Rev. 20:10).
The Lord Jesus, having been tempted in all points, apart
from sin, said, "Get thee hence, Satan," and again, "It is
written." "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only
shalt thou serve" (Deut. 10:20).
"Then the Devil leaveth Him, and, behold, angels came and
ministered unto Him." Every child of God has the power over Satan
and his wiles that our Lord had. We have been baptized of the
Holy Spirit, Who indwells us, and we have the Word of God which
is "quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword"
(Heb. 4:12). The Lord, tested in His humanity, did not take
recourse to His Deity, but fought the devil with the very weapons
which we have, to defeat him. Yielded to the Holy Spirit, Christ
living in us, and feeding on His Word, we may shield ourselves
from every fiery dart of the enemy. "Thy Word have I hid in mine
heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Ps. 119:11).
Thank God, Satan is a defeated foe, his head has been
bruised at Calvary. Praise God for the Lord Jesus, "the Lamb of
God, Who taketh away the sin of the world."
We must always bear in mind that the Author of the Word of
God is the Holy Spirit. Critics of the Bible continually call
attention to the fact that the chronology of the life of the Lord
Jesus is apparently inaccurate, and that the four Gospel records
do not agree. Had the Holy Spirit been pleased to give us a full
account of the life of our Lord, including every detail in its
chronological order, He could have done so. But for His own
purposes the Spirit chose to have recorded through the human
authors four separate accounts covering certain events in the
life of Christ, each of which should portray the Lord in a
different character: as the King, as the Servant, as the Man, as
God manifest in the flesh, the Only Begotten of the Father.
Through Matthew the Holy Spirit has written of the Lord Jesus
Christ as the King of the Jews, Who presented Himself to His own
who rejected Him. Consequently the Gospel according to Matthew is
concerned only with those details of the life of Christ which
pertain to His character as King.
Matt. 4:11-14
There was a very obvious interval of time between that which
is recorded in Matthew 4:11, "Then the Devil leaveth Him, and,
behold, angels came and ministered unto Him," and the twelfth
verse, "Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison,
He departed into Galilee." The events which transpired during
this period may be found in John's Gospel, beginning at the
thirty-fifth verse in chapter one. It was when our Lord went into
Galilee that He began to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom:
"Repent: for the Kingdom of the heavens is at hand." Matthew
began the record of the official work of the King after the
herald, John, had been rejected and imprisoned. The Lord then
left Judaea and went into Galilee. It is the old story over
again: there was no room in the inn, and so He was born in a
stable; there was no safety in Judaea, and so He had to be taken
as a child into Egypt; there was no place for Him in Jerusalem,
and so He departed into Galilee.
"Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, He
departed into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in
Capernaum, ... that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by
Esaias the prophet" (Matt. 4:12-14).
"And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum." That
is all that Matthew's Gospel records of Jesus of Nazareth leaving
the place where He had lived for nearly thirty years. There is an
interesting account in Luke 4:16-30 of the reason for His
departure. In the synagogue on the Sabbath the Lord Jesus had
been reading from the prophet Isaiah, and He had come to one of
those portions in which the prophet had foretold of the coming of
Messiah, but where once again the promises of His first and
second comings were intermingled, Isaiah 61:1, 2, but our Lord
knew the Word, divinely, and He read: "The Spirit of the Lord is
upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the
poor: He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the
acceptable year of the Lord." And He closed the book. Why did He
stop there? The verse in Isaiah goes on, "And the day of
vengeance of our God." He stopped there because those things
spoken of Messiah up to that last clause have to do with His
first advent; the last clause is still in the future. The Lord
Jesus stopped reading at that point, and said: "This day is this
Scripture fulfilled in your ears." In other words: "I am the
Messiah; I am He of Whom the prophet wrote." But when He went on
to indicate that only the Gentiles would receive Him, "all they
in the synagogue ... were filled with wrath, and rose up, and
thrust Him out of the city, and led Him unto the brow of the hill
..., that they might cast Him down headlong. But He, passing
through the midst of them, went His way, and came down to
Capernaum" (Luke 4:28-31).
Matt. 4:15, 16
So God brought it about that our Lord should go into
Capernaum of Galilee, the darkest and most depressed province,
"That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the
prophet (in Isa. 9:1, 2), saying, "The land of Zabulon, and the
land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee
of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great
light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death
light is sprung up" (Matt. 4:14-16). The Jews of that day
comprehended the contempt in which Galilee was held, and it was
there that God chose that our Lord's ministry of the Gospel of
the Kingdom should begin; not in the great temples and palaces
and cities, but in Galilee of the Gentiles, "a portion of the
country which had been overrun more than any other by the foreign
invader, and therefore known as the region of the shadow of
death." Here it was that the new Light should arise and manifest
Himself, the Light that was to be salvation to all that believe
on His Name.
Matt. 4:17
"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent;
for the Kingdom of the heavens is at hand" (Matt. 4:17). Here was
the King ready to establish the Kingdom. The Kingdom being "at
hand" meant that all had been accomplished which was necessary
before the bringing in of the Kingdom. God in His foreknowledge
knew that Israel would reject their King and His Kingdom;
nevertheless here the King offered Himself, and theirs was the
choice, whether they would accept or reject Him. The Kingdom was
"at hand;" it was set aside, but there will come another day when
heralds again shall announce "The Kingdom of the heavens is at
hand." In that day "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven
with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them
that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ" (2 Thess. 1:7, 8).
Matt. 4:18-22
In John 1:35-46, while John the Baptist was still at liberty
witnessing, before the Lord Jesus had departed into Galilee, is
the story telling of Andrew and Simon Peter becoming believers in
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sin
of the world. We call attention to this because often the "Follow
Me" (Matt. 4:18-20) is used as the Gospel call to these two
brothers. The Lord was not calling them in the record of Matthew,
for this was at a later date, after John had been imprisoned.
"Follow Me" is not the Gospel; "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ"
is the Gospel. "Follow Me" is the call to the believer for
service. And having been called of God, Andrew and Simon Peter
immediately answered the call. These were simple fishermen, but
the Lord used their vocation to a greater calling: "I will make
you fishers of men." Fish were caught to die and be eaten; men
were called to live and to be fed. Of all those to whom the Lord
Jesus spoke, only the simple folk of Galilee responded; not the
lordly Pharisees or the brilliant Sadducees, but fishermen:
Andrew, Simon Peter, James and John; "Not many wise men after the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath
chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise" (1
Cor. 1:26, 27). And so we who are His elect should respond to any
call to service in His Name, ready to forsake all and count all
things but refuse that we may be used to the glory of His Name.
Matt. 4:23-25
"And Jesus went about all Galilee, ... preaching the Gospel
of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness" (Matt. 4:23).
There is much teaching today of healing by supernatural power, a
sign that the Lord's return and a new dispensation draw nigh.
Healing is associated with the Gospel of the Kingdom, an outward
sign that the King is God. "The Gospel of Grace needs no sign
outwardly by healing of disease to demonstrate that it is
God-given. Nowhere in the Epistles have we the promise that
Gospel preaching is to be connected with healing of every bodily
weakness and disease" (A.C. Gaebelein).
The Lord Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom from this
time until its final rejection by Israel, recorded in Matthew
twelve. "And there followed Him great multitudes of people from
Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea,
and from beyond Jordan" (Matt. 4:25). What a glorious picture? No
-- what a sad picture! Our Lord was not deceived by the
multitudes; He knew how shallow were their praise and conviction,
He knew that within a short time they would revile Him and kill
Him. Yet He loved them enough to die for them. Glorious Saviour!
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name
which is above every name; that at the Name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things
under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:9-11).
_45
CHAPTER V
"The Kingdom of the heavens is at hand." So had the herald,
John the Baptist, proclaimed, and now the King Himself was
preaching, "Repent: for the Kingdom of the heavens is at hand"
(Matt. 4:17). The King was upon the earth, His Kingdom was at
hand; it would naturally follow that the King should make a
manifesto of the constitution of the Kingdom, and it is that
which Matthew has recorded in chapters five, six, and seven. This
discourse is generally called the Sermon on the Mount and is
often misapplied in our churches.
Before we consider the discourse in any detail, let us look
for a moment at its setting and its audience that we may have the
proper background for complete understanding. As brought out in
the foregoing chapters, the Holy Spirit has not given us in the
four Gospels any chronological synopsis of the life of the Lord
Jesus, but each Gospel presents our Lord in a particular
manifestation of Himself. In Matthew He is shown as the King, in
Mark as the Servant, in Luke in His Humanity, and in John as the
God-Man, the Only-Begotten Son. Now concerning the manifesto of
the Kingdom, no report of such a lengthy discourse will be found
in Mark, Luke, or John. In fact, Luke alone mentions "The Sermon
on the Mount" in Luke 6, while the so-called "Lord's Prayer" is
recorded upon a different occasion, in Luke 11. In leading
Matthew to present the Lord Jesus as the King of the Jews, the
Holy Spirit guided his thoughts and his pen into giving us the
complete constitution of the Kingdom at the beginning of the
King's ministry, for our better understanding of its full meaning
and application.
"The Sermon on the Mount" is not for the unsaved. It does
not reveal the way of salvation, but speaks of the
characteristics of those who are already saved. Redemption is
through the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and "The Sermon
on the Mount," like the law, can only be our "schoolmaster to
bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Gal.
3:24). Neither is "The Sermon on the Mount" to be considered as
exclusively Christian, though the greater part of it, at least,
was spoken to the disciples. Had the Holy Spirit meant the
application to be for the Church, He would have brought the
discourse to our attention after the Lord first mentioned the
Church, in Matthew sixteen. Church doctrine is revealed in the
Epistles. The Christian has a heavenly calling; "The Sermon on
the Mount" is to a great extent earthly in its application. Nor
is "The Sermon on the Mount" exclusively Jewish. There are some
who say that it has no application whatever to Christian
believers and should be ignored by the Church. This is false
teaching. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16, 17).
In our study of this portion of God's Word, let us remember
that "The Sermon on the Mount" is the manifesto of the
constitution of the Kingdom of the heavens, which is to come upon
the earth in the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus, and which
shall be delivered up by the Son "to God, even the Father" (1
Cor. 15:24). Yet it behooves us who are Christians, who are to
reign with our Lord upon the earth, to meditate upon the picture
of the character which is the perfect result of the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ for us. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your
Father Who is in Heaven is perfect" (Matt. 5:48).
Matt. 5:1-12
"And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain; and
when He was set, His disciples came unto Him: And He opened His
mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are ..." We have already
pointed out that the manifesto of the Kingdom was proclaimed to
the disciples, believers in the Lord Jesus, and consequently
heirs of the Kingdom. It is safe to say that even His disciples
were astonished at the constitution of the Kingdom which was set
before them. Our thoughts of a Kingdom are somehow closely
concerned with power, and might, and pomp and armaments. The Old
Testament speaks of a visible and powerful Kingdom, but it also
states that those who share in it shall be poor in spirit and
meek (Isa. 11:4; Psa. 72). It was their failure to recognize this
that caused the Jew to reject the King and His Kingdom.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom
of the heavens." First let us look at this from the believer's
view-point. The Lord called him "blessed" who is conscious of
utter spiritual poverty. Only he who is willing to take God's
grace as a free gift is so blessed. But the Christian, who has
admitted that there is nothing of merit in himself, who has
received the Lord Jesus as his Saviour by the Holy Spirit, is
already, in Christ, blessed. Secondly, the remnant of Israel,
waiting through the Great Tribulation in the midst of persecution
and sufferings for the Lord Jesus to establish the Kingdom, will
be poor in spirit (Isa. 66:2), and they, too, will be blessed.
"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted."
From the believer's standpoint, this mourning is not over
personal sin, for that has all been washed away by the blood of
the Lamb. It is rather a mourning over the sin that exists in the
world, and the results of it. He is blessed to whom sin is not a
light matter, and who is concerned about the sins of his fellow
man. He is comforted because of the finished work of the Cross.
The remnant of Israel will mourn in an evil day (Micah 7:1-6),
but will be comforted (Micah 7:7), for the Lord shall come and
restore the Kingdom to Israel.
"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." We
are inclined to think of meekness as timidity, but the original
meaning of the word is far from that. It is pictured by a colt,
powerful and energetic, which has been bridled for the first
time; power and energy under control. The Christian is blessed
who is so yielded to God, and he shall rule in the Kingdom on
earth. It is Israel's promise that they shall inherit the earth.
"For evil doers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the
Lord they shall inherit the earth. The meek shall inherit the
earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace"
(Psa. 37:9, 11).
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness; for they shall be filled." "This is the way of the
heirs of the Kingdom, waiting for the manifestation of it" (Arno
C. Gaebelein). These first four blessings show us the
characteristics of the believers as heirs of the Kingdom of the
heavens waiting for the Kingdom.
The next three blessings are the manifestation of the divine
nature in the heirs of the Kingdom, presently in the Christian,
and one day in the remnant of Israel that shall inherit the
Kingdom of the heavens. "Blessed are the merciful ...; Blessed
are the pure in heart ...; Blessed are the peacemakers."
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be: but we know that when He shall appear, we shall
be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure" (1
John 3:2, 3). The Lord Jesus Himself is the fullest manifestation
of these seven "blesseds" of the Kingdom.
The last two blesseds, as relating to the Christian and the
remnant of Israel, are further set forth in 1 Peter 2 and
Revelation 20, respectively. It is 1 Peter 2:21, 22 that is for
the Christian: "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ
also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should
follow His steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His
mouth;" Revelation 20:4, 6 for the Jewish remnant: "And I saw
thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto
them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the
witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not
worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his
mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and
reigned with Christ a thousand years. Blessed and holy is he that
hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death
hath no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ,
and shall reign with Him a thousand years."
Matt. 5:13-16
"Ye are the salt of the earth. ... Ye are the light of the
world" (Matt. 5:13, 14). The Lord was speaking to the disciples,
believers on Him. It is to the Christian that this message speaks
today. We are the salt of the earth. Salt prevents decay, but if
it has lost its savour, it is "good for nothing." We are the
light of the world, but if our light is hid, it is of no value.
"Ye are the salt ...; ye are the light;" to preserve and to
shine; this should be our witness to the Lord. He is the true
Light; our light is a reflection of Him. The Word does not say,
"Let your good works so shine," but "Let your light (the Lord
Jesus Christ) so shine." Are we a living testimony to Him in this
age? May the Lord grant it by His Holy Spirit.
Matt. 5:17-42
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, but to fulfil.
For verily I say unto you, till Heaven and earth pass, one jot or
one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be
fulfilled" (Matt. 5:17, 18).
No greater illustration of the fact that the Lord Jesus
Christ came to fulfil the law in full could be found than in
Matthew five; first, because He said so; and secondly, because in
His proclamation concerning the righteousness of the Kingdom age,
He showed that the law of Moses shall be exceeded, that it will
be a law of love.
Think not that He came to destroy the law. He was made under
the law (Gal. 4:4); He lived in obedience to the law (1 Peter
2:21); He fulfilled the types of the law (Heb. 9:11-28); He bore
for us the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13); and He redeemed us from
the position of servants of the law to that of sons of God (Gal.
4:5). No longer is the believer under the law, for he has a new
nature, the indwelling Spirit, by Whom he has the perfect law of
liberty. "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the
law by the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another,
even to Him Who is raised from the dead, that we should bring
forth fruit unto God" (Rom. 7:4).
Matt. 5:43-48
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies. ... Be ye therefore
perfect, even as your Father Who is in Heaven is perfect" (Matt.
5:44, 48). The standard of the heirs of the Kingdom is the
perfection of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. "Be ye therefore
followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ
also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and
a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour" (Eph. 5:1, 2).
"The day will come when such righteousness and love and
perfection as the King here describes will dwell amidst His
earthly people and will be manifested in the earth. It will be in
the day when the Kingdom has come and His will be done on earth
as it is in Heaven. But every child of God born anew has put
before him the highest standard, which includes all that which
the King here expounds and that is in possession of Himself, Who
is the true God and the eternal Life, 'to walk even as He
walked.'" (A.C. Gaebelein)
_51
CHAPTER VI
While it is true that some of the people heard "The Sermon
on the Mount" (Matt. 7:28), we know that it was spoken directly
to the disciples of our Lord (Matt. 5:1, 2). Now the disciples
were believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, believers in Him as King
and as the promised Messiah. But we must remember that the
disciples were Jewish believers, that they were living under Law
(See Appendix B.), not under Grace (See Appendix C.). The Lord
Jesus had not yet died on the Cross; God was still to be
approached through the high priest and through sacrifice. And we
must also bear in mind that the King was still presenting the
Kingdom.
The King was here before the disciples, and the Kingdom was
"at hand." Therefore, the King was proclaiming the constitution
of His Kingdom to the heirs of the Kingdom, to those who believed
in the King. He had come to fulfil the law; indeed, under the
manifesto which He was proclaiming, the law of Moses was to be
exceeded in righteousness by the law of the Kingdom, which should
be a law of love. The standard for the Kingdom, which was
rejected but which will yet be established, is the perfection of
God, the character which is the perfect result of the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ for us, and in us. "Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your Father Who is in Heaven is perfect" (Matt. 5:48).
The key verse of Matthew six is found in the thirty-third
verse: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you." This message which
our Lord gave to the Jewish believer who was an heir to the
Kingdom then being presented is the message which the Holy Spirit
has given in the Epistles to the Church since then established:
"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are
above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your
affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye
are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:1-3).
Because "The Sermon on the Mount" is of the old covenant, do
not miss its blessing to you. It is for the heirs of the Kingdom
of the heavens, and we who are born again are heirs of God,
"heirs of the Kingdom which He hath promised to them that love
Him" (James 2:5).
Matt. 6:1-8
Our Lord had, as recorded in Matthew five, taught the
disciples of the righteousness which the heirs of the Kingdom
should practice. Christians possess this in Christ; but in the
Epistles as heirs we are urged to practice it also. The Lord
Jesus then made known the motive which should underlie the
practice, the desire to be well-pleasing to God.
There are three divisions in the first eighteen verses: (1)
Righteousness, or man's relationship to man; (2) prayer, or man's
relationship to God; (3) fasting, or man's relationship to self.
Righteousness. The word alms in verse one is better
translated righteousness. The Lord had just said, "Be ye
therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect."
"Take heed" -- the Lord Jesus said that if we are to be perfect,
we are not to try to be men-pleasers. "God looketh on the heart."
In our righteous acts, we are not to call the attention of men to
our deeds. If that is what we do, we already have our reward. Men
have given it to us. But we are to give alms in secret: "and thy
Father Who seeth in secret Himself shall reward you openly."
Matt. 6:9-18
"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father Who art in
Heaven ..." There follows, Matthew 6:9-13, that which is called
"The Lord's Prayer." Volumes have been written on this subject
which we must discuss in a few words. This is not the Lord's
Prayer; He never offered this prayer. He could not, for He had no
sins to be forgiven. The true Lord's Prayer is recorded in John
seventeen. This prayer was given to the disciples as a model. Our
Lord had just said, "When ye pray, use not vain repetitions ...
your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask
Him. After this manner pray ye" (Matt. 6:7-9). "After this
manner," not "in these words." The disciples were believers,
therefore they could say "Our Father." But we must remember that
this was a prayer, in the Age of Law, for the disciples, at a
time when the Kingdom of the heavens was at hand. It is not a
prayer for this age. We may pray, "Thy Kingdom come," but rather
should we pray, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus;" for we know that
before the Kingdom we shall be "caught up ... in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air: and so, shall we ever be with the Lord"
(1 Thess. 4:17), and "we know that, when He shall appear, we
shall be like Him: for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).
Christians can never pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive
our debtors." What, then, of grace? Our sins are forgiven because
the Lord Jesus died on the Cross for us; He "washed us from our
sins in His own blood" (Rev. 1:5). Christians are not forgiven as
they forgive others, but they forgive others because God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven them (Eph. 4:32). However, let no
Christian ask to be forgiven when he has in his own heart
anything against any man. In such a way the Christian may ask
forgiveness, on the ground of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ of course, as he forgives his debtors. Christians are to
approach the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ; when our Lord
was about to go to the Cross, the Kingdom having been rejected,
He said, "Ask, in My Name" (John 14:13, 14; John 16:24). There is
no thanksgiving in this prayer, Christians are told, "Be anxious
for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil.
4:6). Yet we must not misunderstand; the so-called Lord's Prayer,
the disciples' prayer, is a model which it is well for us to
follow: "it teaches that right prayer begins with worship; puts
the interest of the Kingdom before merely personal interest;
accepts beforehand the Father's will, whether to grant or
withhold; and petitions for present need, leaving the future to
the Father's care and love" (C.I. Scofield). But let us remember
to approach our heavenly Father on Church ground, through the
Lord Jesus Christ and in His Name, claiming for ourselves His
finished work, recognizing our standing in Him; such is prayer in
the Holy Spirit. "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our
infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought:
but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered. And He Who searcheth the hearts knoweth
what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession
for the saints according to the will of God" (Rom. 8:26, 27).
Fasting. Here again, what is the motive? If to please men,
then be of sad countenance, let men know what you are doing.
"Verily I say unto you, they have their reward." If the motive of
fasting is to please God, then "anoint thine head, and wash thy
face; ... and thy Father, Who seeth in secret, shall reward thee
openly."
Matt. 6:19-34
Is the counsel of "The Sermon on the Mount" to be taken
literally by the Christian in the Age of Grace? Perhaps we can
best find our answer by looking at two events in the life of our
Lord. In Matthew 10 is recorded the sending forth of the twelve
to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, and they are told: "Provide
neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for
your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves:
for the workman is worthy of his meat" (Matt. 10:9, 10). In Luke
22 we find the record of our Lord's last instructions to His
disciples before His death on the Cross: "When I sent you without
purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye anything? And they said,
Nothing. Then said He unto them, But now, he that hath purse, let
him take it, and likewise his scrip; and he that hath no sword,
let him sell his garment, and buy one" (Luke 22:35, 36). "The
reason that the Lord Jesus gave for His reversal of orders ...
was that He was about to die. It was this death which fixed the
boundary between the test of law to which our Lord had put His
people and the test of grace under which we are yet living"
(Donald Grey Barnhouse).
Perhaps therefore we cannot apply "The Sermon on the Mount"
in its entirety to the Christian, yet there are certain words of
counsel which are just as applicable to the born-again believer
who is a stranger in this earthly pilgrimage as to the Jewish
believers who were expecting the Kingdom which was being offered.
This view is confirmed by the Scripture of similar portent found
in the Epistles. There is not space to make a verse by verse
application of this section of Matthew 6, so let us consider the
two most important statements of our Lord.
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth. ... But lay
up for yourselves treasures in Heaven" (Matt. 6:19, 20). The
natural man cares for and lives for the earthly things, for
treasure, possession, position; the believer, the new man,
belongs not to earth but to Heaven; he dwells in the heavenlies.
He looks "not at the things which are seen, but at the things
which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal,
but those that are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18). In the
Epistles the believer is also told, "Lay not up for yourselves
treasures upon earth. ... But ... in Heaven." "And having food
and raiment let us be therewith content. For the love of money is
the root of all evil: ... But thou, O man of God, flee these
things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
patience, meekness" (1 Tim. 6:8, 10, 11).
"Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what
ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on"
(Matt. 6:25). Using the marginal translation, we find the meaning
"Have no anxiety," instead of "Take no thought." This message is
not for the unsaved; it is for the heirs of the Kingdom. God will
provide for His own in the Kingdom age as well as in this age.
The Christian has such a message: "Be anxious for nothing; but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6), and "My God shall
supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus" (Phil. 4:19).
We have a Father in Heaven Who careth for us. He asks us to
trust in Him. How often we look in our anxiety to earthly help,
not committing our way to the Lord. He knows our every need, and
rejoices in accomplishing His loving purposes in our lives. Yes,
these messages are for the Kingdom age, when our Lord shall
establish His millennial reign on the earth, but they are
messages of love and comfort for Christians also, and we should
take them to our hearts. "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and
His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
The promise is ours today.
_57
CHAPTER VII
In chapter five there are recorded the characteristics of
the heirs of the Kingdom of the heavens, characteristics which
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ already possess in Him, for He
is the perfect manifestation of the law of love. In chapter six
we find the proclamation of what should be the attitude of the
believer toward the world, while in chapter seven we shall see
what the believer's relationship with other heirs of the Kingdom
should be like. Let us remember that the laws and the perfections
of character set forth by our Lord in "The Sermon on the Mount"
are not something by the attainment of which one may inherit
eternal life; but that these are the characteristics of the heirs
of the Kingdom of the heavens, and thus the present possession of
every born-again believer. Eternal life is not obtained by the
works of man, but is received by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, Who died that we might have everlasting life and
fellowship with Him, free from the guilt of our sins. We are
possessors in Christ of a new nature, Himself, by which the
attributes of the heirs of the Kingdom are already ours; it is a
sad trait of human nature that we do not appropriate to the full
that which we possess. Let us consider prayerfully and personally
what the attitude of the Christian should be toward his brother
in the Lord.
Matt. 7:1-6
"Study to show thyself approved unto God, ... rightly
dividing the Word of Truth" (2 Tim. 2:15). To divide the Word
aright we must be careful not to take a passage of Scripture out
of its context, and equally careful to compare Scripture with
Scripture. "Judge not, that ye be not judged" (Matt. 7:1). Our
Lord was speaking to His disciples, believers. This fact is
further made clear, for we see in verse three that He asked: "Why
beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye?" Now the
Lord Jesus later gave the Christian the right to judge the
actions of a brother, Matthew 18:15-17, and in the Epistles we
have further authority for so judging: "Do not ye judge them that
are within? But them that are without God judgeth" (1 Cor. 5:12,
13). Then what did our Lord mean when He said, "Judge not"? By
the Scripture above, and by the words of the Lord Jesus recorded
in verse 20: "By their fruits ye shall know them," we certainly
have the right to judge evil and good actions. It is evident that
He referred to the judgment of the motives behind the actions,
and this is confirmed in the Epistles. "Let not him that eateth
despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not
judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou
that judgest another man's servant? ... Let us not therefore
judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man
put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's
way" (Rom. 14:3, 4, 13).
"Man looketh upon the outward appearance, but the Lord
looketh on the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7). Actions are seen by men;
them we may judge, for "by their fruits ye shall know them." But
our judgments are to be in the fear of the Lord and with an eye
single to His honour. Motives are seen only by God; them we must
not judge, for in so doing we are assuming our heavenly Father's
prerogative: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what
judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: ... and why beholdest thou
the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the
beam that is in thine own eye?" If we busy ourselves in
censorious fault-finding and criticism we are inclined to be
watching a small error in our brother's life and forgetting a
grave error in our own. "Speak not evil one of another, brethren.
He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgest his brother,
speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: ... who art thou
that judgest?" (James 4:11, 12).
"First cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then
shalt thou see clearly. ..." That is the test. What is our
relationship to our Lord? We are saved, but are we surrendered?
Are we so busy finding fault with other Christians that we do not
notice the sins in our own lives? Let us be humble before the
Lord, not judging others, but ourselves. Then shall our eyes see
clearly, and be single to the glory of His Name.
"Give not that which is holy to the dogs." The Lord was
speaking of our attitude to our brothers. Surely this does not
mean that the Gospel should not be preached to the unsaved, as is
sometimes stated. Who are the "dogs"? In Philippians 3:2, "Beware
of dogs, beware of evil workers. ..." In Isaiah 56:10, 11, we
find reference to dogs, which slumber, which cannot understand,
which are greedy, and look to their own gain. They are the
professors, who later shall say "Lord, Lord," but who shall not
enter the Kingdom. Our Lord's counsel is that when we see
clearly, we will be careful not to discuss the things of the
Spirit with those who cannot understand, and who profess because
of gain to themselves. "They have their reward."
Matt. 7:7
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matt. 7:7). There is
little exposition needed for this passage. If the heir of the
Kingdom needs counsel, he is to ask of the Counsellor, and it
shall be given. If one is troubled about the proper procedure, he
is to ask, to seek, to knock, and his Heavenly Father will answer
with good gifts. There is a parallel passage for the Christian:
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, Who giveth to all
men liberally, and upbraideth not: and it shall be given him"
(James 1:5). What a wonderful blessing we have in prayer. If we,
who are evil, will care for our children, how much more will our
Heavenly Father meet our every need. "Ask ... seek ... knock ..."
There is no condition but that we be children of God, and He has
provided the Way into Sonship through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Matt. 7:8-12
"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." There are thousands upon thousands who make no
profession of Christianity, but who say: "Do unto others as you
would have others do unto you. The Golden Rule; that's my
religion." But they do not keep the rule, nor can they. It is a
summary of Old Testament law, and no man can keep it, for man is
a sinner. Our Lord has given the believer this exhortation
because in Him he has love, and in love alone can the Golden Rule
be kept. The law of love is further given for the Christian in 1
John 4:19-21: "We love Him, because He first loved us. If a man
say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he
that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love
God Whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him,
that he who loveth God love his brother also." The result of
receiving the Lord Jesus as Saviour is love, because He first
loved us; the result of communion with our heavenly Father is
love of our fellow men. Thus the Golden Rule cannot save, but
should be the normal fruit of salvation.
Matt. 7:13-14
"Enter ye in at the strait gate. ... Because straight is the
gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few
there be that find it." It is the Person of the Lord Jesus Who is
the Gate and the Way. "I am the Door: by Me if any man enter in,
he shall be saved" (John 10:9); "I am the Way, the Truth, and the
Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6). "And
why then is the gate narrow? Not because certain conditions and
hard terms are to be fulfilled, but because man does not want to
give up his own righteousness, and clinging still to his
miserable, filthy rags, he refuses God's Way and God's Door of
salvation, which is Christ, and Christ alone" (A.C. Gaebelein).
Do you know the Lord, or are you on the broad way that leads to
destruction? It is not necessary that you lead a life of carnal
and flagrant sin to be on the broad way, for the broad way is any
way other than Christ. It may be self-righteous and moral, it may
be as a follower of some religion, but if it is Christless it
leads to destruction. He is the Way, He is the Door, "and few
there be that find it." But you may enter in by receiving Him
today as your Saviour. His blood will cleanse you from sin, His
life will then dwell within.
Matt. 7:15-20
"Beware of false prophets." These are the "dogs" of
Philippians three. We must be ever so careful to test the
teachings of men by the Word of God. If you want pears, you do
not go to an elm tree. Our Lord told the disciples, and He tells
us; "ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit. ..." These are solemn words. Every good tree
bringeth forth good fruit. What of our lives? As Christians, are
we bringing forth good fruit? "The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance" (Gal. 5:22, 23); does this fruit show forth in our
hearts? Do those who know us see the Lord Jesus in us? That is
the test.
"Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down,
and cast into the fire." We know that because we have believed in
the Lord Jesus we shall never be judged for our sins. Verse 19
refers to those who are false teachers, who are lost, yet it
cannot but remind us of the day when rewards shall be given for
our service in the Lord's Name. "For other foundation can no man
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man
build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood,
hay, stubble: Every man's work shall be made manifest; for the
day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and
the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any
man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive
a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer
loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire" (1 Cor.
3:11-15).
Matt. 7:21-29
"Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the Kingdom of the heavens."
When the Lord Jesus comes to reign upon the earth, there
will be many who, having come to believe in Him during the
Tribulation, will enter into the Kingdom of the heavens. But
there will be others who will merely profess His Name, but who,
because of unbelief, will not be heirs of the Kingdom, for He
will say: "Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." This passage
does not refer to the Church; "in that day" we shall already have
been caught up to meet Him in the air. Yet there is teaching here
for this dispensation also, for there are many today who call
upon His Name who are none of His. For their own gain, tools of
Satan, in the Name of Christianity, they may profess Christ, but
they do not know Him as Lord and Saviour. When "that day" comes,
to them also will He say, "Depart from Me, ye that work
iniquity."
Our hope is built either upon the Solid Rock, the Lord Jesus
Christ, or upon the sand of self-righteousness. If the latter is
the case, then when the rain descends, and the floods come, and
the winds blow, and this mortal life is gone, our hope is vain,
and great will be the fall into eternal damnation. But if our
hope is built upon the Lord Jesus, come what may, founded upon a
sure foundation, the Rock, faith in Him will carry us into
everlasting life. How wonderful a Saviour He is. In Him we are
safe for eternity.
"On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, All other ground is
sinking sand."
_64
CHAPTER VIII
Matt. 8:1-4
"The Sermon on the Mount" was ended, and we read, Matthew
7:28, 29: "And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these
sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine: For He
taught them as One having authority, and not as the scribes." If
all that man needed for salvation were counsel, a rule for life,
then the Holy Spirit might have ended the Gospel according to
Matthew with the seventh chapter. But man is a sin-sick soul; he
needs more than guidance. The rules for his life, the law, are
only a schoolmaster to lead man to the Truth, the Lord Jesus
Himself. In Matthew 4:23 our Lord's ministry is described as
"teaching ..., and preaching ..., and healing." The teaching and
preaching were accomplished in "The Sermon on the Mount;" then He
came down from the mountain, and cleansed the lepers, drove out
the demons, restored sight to the blind, and raised the dead. In
such a way He manifested by more than His words that He was
Jehovah -- Jesus, the King of the Jews. Yes, He came down from on
High, He has cleansed us from our sins, He has restored the sight
to the spiritually blind, He has given us life. He is
Jehovah-Jesus, our mighty Saviour, and to Him be glory and
dominion now and forever.
In our "Introduction" we have pointed out that Matthew's
Gospel is a dispensational book. The miracles recorded in Matthew
are also recorded in the other Gospels, but the order is not as
in Matthew. Such apparent discrepancies have caused the critics
high delight. To us these same variances prove the words of Paul
by the Holy Spirit: "The natural man receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can
he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor.
2:14); they prove without the slightest doubt the inspiration of
the Scriptures. The Gospel according to Matthew was written for
the Jew, whose King came and offered His Kingdom, the record of
the miracles having been arranged by the Holy Spirit in the
perfect order in which they are presented in order to show God's
plan for Israel, and to manifest in a very simple way that the
Lord Jesus Christ is the Saviour. The miracles were more than
miracles, they were signs manifesting the King and His Kingdom,
as promised in Isaiah 35, and are typical of spiritual cleansing,
of resurrection, and of the power of the Lord over Satan and his
hosts.
Dispensationally, the leper represented Israel, sinful and
unclean. If Israel's prayer had been what it should have been:
"Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean," the Messiah would
then and there have said: "I will." The Lord Jesus was still
presenting Himself to His people at the time that the leper
appeared before Him, and consequently He showed by the healing
that which He was willing to do for Israel. But in His divine
foreknowledge of His rejection He showed what was to happen. "See
thou tell no man; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and
offer the gift that Moses commanded." It was proper that the
cleansed leper should show himself to the priest; it was still
the age of law, for the Lord Jesus had not yet died nor been
raised. But when the cleansed man appeared before the priest, the
latter should have recognized by the healing of this man the sign
of Messiah, and should have run to the Lord to worship Him. That
this leader of religious life rejected the testimony was a type
of what Israel should do.
Leprosy is a most hideous and loathsome disease, and
throughout the Word of God is a type of sin. This leper is the
representation of all mankind, lost in sin, and outcast, death
alone staring him in the face. Every sinner who comes to the
Saviour with the petition: "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make
me clean," will be answered as was he: "I will." Our Lord did not
say: "My good man, the sermon I just preached sets forth the
rules of proper conduct. Live by that and you will gradually get
better and better." He said: "I will; be thou clean." "And
immediately his leprosy was cleansed." Such is the grace of God.
By the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ there is remission of sins,
and immediately upon receiving Him as Saviour, we are cleansed.
Matt. 8:5-13
Dispensationally, the healing of the centurion's servant
represented the age of the Gentiles, after the rejection of the
King. The Lord Jesus, the Healer, would be absent, but by His
Word the servant should be healed. The centurion is a type of the
Gentile who believes, though the Bridegroom be absent in body.
Very clearly here our Lord pointed to His coming rejection and to
His turning to the Gentiles, Matt. 8:10-12: "Verily I say unto
you, I have not found so great faith, no, 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, and Jacob, in the Kingdom
of the heavens. But the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out
into outer darkness."
Faith in the Lord Jesus' power to save will ever be rewarded
as was the centurion's: "As thou hast believed, so be it done
unto thee." What is your attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ?
Have you believed in Him? Then all is well, for "as thou hast
believed," so has He saved thee.
Matt. 8:14, 15
Dispensationally, this sign is typical of the Lord Jesus,
after the age of the Gentiles, entering again the house of Israel
to heal the sick daughter of Zion, who will then serve Him.
Leprosy and palsy are types of sin wholly possessing the
victims. In the case of Peter's wife's mother, the fever typifies
the illness of one who is a member of the Body, but who is
dangerously beset by sins and who needs the keeping power of the
Lord Jesus. The result of contact with our Lord immediately
healed her, and that is our portion if we come to Him for His
care.
Matt. 8:16-18
Dispensationally, the many who were brought to Him possessed
of demons, and His subsequent healing of all that were sick,
represented the day when Satan and his angels shall be cast out
and bound. Today it tells us that "Whosoever believeth on Him
should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
Matt. 8:19-22
"And a certain scribe came, and said unto Him, Master, I
will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. And Jesus saith unto
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" (Matt. 8:19,
20). We never hear that he followed the Lord. The call to service
means the giving of life. This scribe perhaps sought earthly
gain, but the Lord Jesus indicated rejection. "The Son of Man
hath not where to lay His head." For our sakes He, the Son of
God, became poor, the Son of Man, Who should suffer death before
exaltation. Our Lord sees not only the outward appearances of
sin, the diseased body and the flagrantly sinful life, but He
knows the heart and mind of man and also sees there his
sinfulness. This scribe would not have counted it joy to suffer
in His Name, and so he turned away.
"And another of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, suffer me
first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow
Me; and let the dead bury their dead." Our thought might be that
it was a proper request that the disciple made. But God never
makes a mistake. Then what is the teaching? That nothing must
hinder our devotion and full obedience. No earthly thing, no
occupation nor relationship is to come between the Lord and His
chosen ones. "Let the dead bury their dead." It would seem that
the family of this disciple were unbelievers, dead in trespasses
and sins, and the association with them might have been
detrimental, if not fatal, to his spiritual progress. So the Lord
Jesus said: "Follow Me." May we be freed from all earthly
bondage, with our eyes single to the glory of our Saviour and
Lord.
Matt. 8:23-27
"Kept by the power of God." In presenting Himself as King,
Jehovah-Jesus, our Lord must show Himself not only Lord of
nature, but Lord of all its forces. "All things were made by Him;
and without Him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3).
Again we may see that these were not only miracles that our Lord
was performing, but signs as to Who He is. "What manner of man is
this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!" He is God,
manifest in the flesh, Jehovah-Saviour of His people.
The disciples came to Him, saying: "Lord, save us: we
perish." "Then He arose and rebuked the winds (only He Who is God
could rebuke the winds!) and the sea; and there was a great
calm." "Lord, save us, we perish." He alone can save us, from the
penalty of sin and from the power of sin. Have you uttered that
cry? Without Christ we perish; in Him we live. Then there will be
a great calm, "The peace of God which passeth understanding."
Matt. 8:28-34
The subject before us is one on which a volume could be
written: Demon Possession. The record of this miracle follows the
stilling of the storm by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. For there
are storms in the spiritual world as well as in the physical
world. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places" (Eph. 6:12).
Two men possessed of demons met our Lord. The demons
recognized Him. "What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of
God?" It may have been that "His own received Him not;" but the
instruments of Satan recognized in our Lord Him Whom Israel yet
refuses to acknowledge. They knew that He was the Son of God,
that He would judge them, and that the judgment was yet to be;
"What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? Art Thou
come hither to judge us before the time?" At His Word, "Go" --
the demons left the men and possessed the swine. What power is
His! As the Son of God all power is His, and one day, though we
may not recognize Him now, every knee shall bow to Jesus our Lord
and Saviour.
The whole city sought Him that He should depart from them.
It was illegal to raise swine, and their gains were lost when the
demons forced the swine into the waters. So He was rejected;
those who preferred their swine to the Son of God and His
righteousness besought Him to "depart out of their coasts." Is
there some sin in our lives that we prefer above the Son of God?
Thanks be unto God Who can and will give us the victory through
Christ Jesus our Lord.
_70
CHAPTER IX
Matt. 9:1-8
"And He entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into
His own city. And, behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the
palsy, lying in a bed; and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the
sick of the palsy: Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven
thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves,
This Man blasphemeth" (Matt. 9:1-3).
This is not the first time that our Lord healed one
afflicted with palsy, but it is the first time He used this
method: "Thy sins be forgiven thee." Perhaps this man's disease
was the direct result of sin in his life, for our Lord said:
"Son, be of good cheer." Some sin no doubt was on his conscience.
This was the time that the Lord Jesus selected to show by a sign
His power, not alone to heal disease, but to heal the disease of
the soul. "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee."
Certain of the scribes thought (said within themselves),
"This Man blasphemeth. Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"
(Luke 5:21). And the Lord Jesus, knowing the thoughts of their
words, asked, "Is it easier to say, Thy sins be 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 sick
of the palsy) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
And he arose, and departed to his house. And when the multitude
saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, Who had given such
power unto men."
Dispensationally, this miracle spoke of what our Lord will
do for Israel when He shall return in power. Israel, sin sick and
crippled, will be healed in soul and body, and they shall leap
for joy and glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The healing of the palsied man is also a type of what our
Lord will do for the sinner in the age of grace. By faith in His
shed blood our sins are forgiven, and He at the same time gives
us a new life, through which we leap for joy and glorify God. He
enables us anew to "Arise, and walk."
Matt. 9:9-13
We pass over verse nine, the call of Matthew, with only a
comment concerning his immediate obedience. The Lord said to him,
"Follow Me." "And he arose, and followed Him." That is all, yet
is it not a beautiful example of the devotion which our Lord
requires?
The Lord Jesus sat at meat in Matthew's house (see Mark
2:15) with many publicans and sinners. The publicans, of whom
Matthew was one, were Jews, but the most despised class. They
were tax-gatherers, in the employ of the hated Roman government,
lending themselves as tools to pry the taxes from their own
people, and most of them were extortionists on their own account,
enriching themselves in their trade. Our Lord called one of these
as a disciple, and ate with others of their number, whom the
Pharisees would not touch, and with whom they would not even
speak. So, instead of looking to the Lord as their King, the
Pharisees found fault with Him. Our wonderful Lord came not only
to forgive sin, but to welcome sinners to Himself; that is why
you and I are saved if we believe on His Name. His answer
silenced them: "They that be whole need not a physician, but they
that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth. ... I will
have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance." Such is the marvellous
grace of God: the poor, the wicked, the thieves, the sinners;
they are the chosen who receive Him and are used as His
instruments. Satan's men are the self-righteous, religious, and
proud. It was so in our Lord's time and is so today.
Matt. 9:14-17
The disciples of John the Baptist also came to question the
Lord Jesus. Theirs was not critical interrogation, but a seeking
after the truth. "Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but Thy
disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of
the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them?"
The King had come; no longer was it necessary to mourn, the
Bridegroom was here. There follows the first revelation of the
new order of things. The coming of the King, His death on the
Cross, has done away with the old order. One does not put a new
patch on an old garment, for a rent worse than the former takes
place. One does not put new wine in old skins, for then the skins
will burst. The old garment was Judaism. It was no longer good,
but worthless. With the death of our Saviour, grace entered in,
and the law has been cast aside.
Matt. 9:18-34
That our Lord not only has the power to heal disease, but to
give life to the dead, He proved when He raised Jairus' daughter.
The horrible disease of the soul, sin, may be cleansed by His
blood, if you receive Him as your Saviour. More than that, He
will at the same time impart to you a new life, His life, and in
Him the victory over the flesh may be yours.
He healed the sick woman, gave sight to the blind, cast out
the demon from the dumb man. When we come into touch with the
Lord Jesus Christ, all our weakness may be removed. Once we were
blind, but now we see; once we were dumb, but now we delight in
witnessing to His saving grace.
"And the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen
in Israel. But the Pharisees said, He casteth out the demons
through the prince of the demons."
Matt. 9:35-38
"And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching
in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and
healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But
when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion at them,
because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having
no shepherd" (Matt. 9:35, 36). "The Kingdom of the heavens is at
hand" -- that was the signal; "healing every sickness" -- that
was the sign. The King was present among His people, the Shepherd
was calling to His flock, but they were scattered "as sheep
having no shepherd." Ezekiel 34, which speaks of the future
Kingdom of the Son of David, touches on the condition which our
Lord found: "And they were scattered, because there was no
shepherd. ... I will both search My sheep and find them out. ...
I will seek that which was lost. ... I will make with them a
covenant of peace."
The Lord was moved with compassion, and He said, "The
harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Pray ye
therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth
labourers into His harvest." There were only twelve in all Israel
whom He would send forth then. There is a harvest today also, but
the labourers are few. Among the last words of our risen Lord
before His ascension were, "Go ye into all the world, and preach
the Gospel to the whole creation." It is the Gospel of Grace
which is to be preached today to the whole creation. "The harvest
truly is plenteous. ... Pray ye therefore the Lord of the
harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest." All
signs point to His near return. May the Lord grant that many new
labourers will venture forth by faith in Him that souls may be
won to a knowledge of His saving grace before it is too late.
_74
CHAPTER X
Matt. 10:1-6
"And when He had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He
gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to
heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the
names of the twelve apostles are these; ..." (Matt. 10:1, 2).
The Kingdom of the heavens had been announced as at hand.
Its nature and laws had been set forth by the King. He had
demonstrated that He had authority over sickness and death, over
the elements, and over Satan and his demons. He had shown by
proclamation and by power that He was indeed the promised
Messiah. It was now necessary that some method of the propagation
of the Kingdom be adopted. Israel was scattered without a
shepherd, and the good Shepherd was ready to take means that all
the flock should hear and see, by signs, that the King was
present and the Kingdom at hand.
The sending forth of the twelve in the tenth of Matthew is
very definitely not the missionary commission for the present
dispensation. These were sent to Israel, to preach the Gospel of
the Kingdom, and were instructed in particular not to go to the
Gentiles. They were given power to heal all manner of disease,
and to raise the dead. There was no Gospel of grace as yet for
"whosoever will;" redemption was limited to Israel, which was to
"Repent; for the Kingdom of the heavens is at hand." The
instructions are found to be in two divisions; in verses five to
fifteen the words of our Lord have to do with the personal
ministry of the apostles during that time when the Gospel of the
Kingdom was being preached. The places which they were to visit,
the persons to whom they were to speak, the proclamation which
they were to deliver, the power with which they were to work, the
provision which they were to make, the people with whom they were
to associate, the promise of what should happen to those who
would not receive them -- all these things were definite, and
ended with the earthly life of the Lord Jesus. From verse sixteen
to the end of chapter ten we find a twofold application. The
instructions were for the twelve but also looked forward to the
testimony of the Lord's chosen ones in this age, for the Lord
Jesus knew that He was to be crucified and that the new age of
grace was then to be introduced.
First, let us see that the power which the disciples had was
not their own, it was of the Lord. That is an important
understanding. If we minister in His Name, and our ministry is
blessed, it is of the Lord. We can accomplish nothing for Him,
but we must let Him work through us to the glory of His Name.
Secondly, the names of the twelve apostles are listed. It is
interesting to observe certain signs of apostleship: (1) They
were eye-witnesses of the risen Lord Jesus; (2) They were called
directly by the Lord, or in the case of Barnabas and Matthias, by
the Holy Spirit; (3) They were endowed with special miraculous
powers; (4) The future relation to the Kingdom of all names in
Matthew ten (with the exception of Judas Iscariot) and of
Matthias, chosen in Judas' place, will be that of judges over the
twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:28). The word apostle (one sent
forth) is used of our Lord (Heb. 3:1), and is used of the twelve
here mentioned; of Matthias (Acts 1:26); of Paul, called to
apostleship by the risen and ascended Lord Jesus; and of
Barnabas, called by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2).
"These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying,
Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the
Samaritans enter ye not; But go rather to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel." "He came unto His own, and His own received Him
not. But ... as many as received Him, to them gave He power to
become the sons of God, even to them who believe on His Name"
(John 1:11, 12).
These apostles were sent forth to proclaim the Gospel of the
Kingdom to Israel alone. Israel rejected their Messiah, and He
turned to the Gentiles. Praise God for His grace whereby we are
saved.
Matt. 10:7-15
"And as ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of the heavens is
at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast
out demons; freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither
gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses" (Matt. 10:7-9).
"The Kingdom of the heavens is at hand" is the message, and
the signs of that Kingdom are: "Heal the sick, cleanse the
lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons." There are those who
claim that the power to heal the sick and cast out demons goes
with the Gospel of grace. If that is so, why do they leave out
"Raise the dead"? The Lord can heal, and does heal, but it is as
He wills, and the power to do so does not accompany the preaching
of the Gospel. In verse one we are told that He gave them power
to do so; we have no record of His giving us such power in this
dispensation.
"Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses.
..." As they were to be dependent upon the Lord for power, so
were they to be dependent upon Him for their provisions. The
instructions are those of haste and urgency. And as the apostles
went forth in full dependence, so must we look to Him today. The
message that we have is a different one, but a glorious one; His
coming again may be soon. Let us with haste proclaim the Gospel
of salvation, empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit to give
forth His Word which shall not return unto Him void, but shall
accomplish that which He pleases, and shall prosper in the thing
whereto He has sent it (Isa. 55:11).
Matt. 10:16-23
The instructions now are for the apostles, primarily, but
they reach forward into the present dispensation, and into the
Great Tribulation. Our Lord now told them how they should be
received. The persecutions for the most part did not begin until
after His ascension. It was then that they were delivered up
before councils and synagogues, before governors and kings,
before Gentiles and Jews. There is some record of such
persecution in the Acts, but the great fulfilment will be during
the Tribulation.
"And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death ...,
and ye shall be hated of all men for My Name's sake; but He that
endureth to the end shall be saved. ... For verily I say unto
you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the
Son of Man be come" (Matt. 10:21-23). The Son of Man was already
with the disciples, presenting the Kingdom. Then, "Ye shall not
have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of Man be
come," must mean some future coming. And so it does. The
proclamation which was begun at this time by the apostles is
incompleted. We are living in a parenthesis, the Church age. When
the Times of the Gentiles shall end and the saints shall have
been caught up to meet the Lord in the air, the parenthesis shall
end. Then, in the Tribulation, once again the remnant of Israel
shall take up the incompleted proclamation, and once more shall
they preach, "The Kingdom of the heavens is at hand." It is then
that "he that endureth to the end shall be saved." Today, he that
believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ is saved, now and for
eternity.
Matt. 10:24-42
"Fear not." The balance of the chapter is a record of words
of encouragement and comfort from the Lord Jesus as He sent forth
His disciples. The message was for them as they faced hatred and
persecution for His sake, it was for the martyrs of the early
centuries, it is for us today, it is for those who shall be hated
and ostracized and slain during the Tribulation. "Fear not. ...
Whosoever ... shall confess Me before men, him will I confess
also before My Father Who is in Heaven. ... He who loseth his
life for My sake shall find it. ... He that receiveth Me,
receiveth Him Who sent Me ... and whosoever shall give to drink
unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the
name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise
lose his reward." What a marvellous blessing and benediction our
Saviour has left for us. He Who is the Creator of all things
says: "Fear not." If we confess Him, He will confess us before
His heavenly Father. God grant that all who read this study may
confess Him before men.
_79
CHAPTER XI
We have come to the day of the crisis in the life of the
Lord Jesus. It was the day when the full manifestation of
Israel's enmity against the Lord was made known and the Kingdom
was rejected. By His miraculous birth and the circumstances
surrounding it; by the message of the forerunner, John the
Baptist; by the proclamation of the Kingdom, its constitution,
and the startling signs of power which accompanied His ministry;
by all these things, our Lord had shown conclusively that He was
Messiah, the King, God manifest in the flesh. But as had been
prophesied, Israel had no heart for the Lord Jesus; and, typical
of that which should follow, He found more faith among the
Gentiles, the wise men and the centurion whose servant was ill,
than among His own. "He came unto His own, and His own received
Him not." "Then (rejected by His people) began He to upbraid the
cities wherein most of His mighty works were done." Then He
brought a new message: "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Then, on the same day,
"went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the seaside," a breaking
off of His relationship with Israel and a turning to the
Gentiles.
Matt. 11:1-15
"Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ,
he sent two of his disciples, and said unto Him, Art Thou He that
should come, or do we look for another?" (Matt. 11:2, 3). John
the Baptist was he of whom it had been written, "Behold I send My
messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee"
(Matt. 11:10; cf Mal. 3:1). John, the forerunner, had previously
testified of our Lord: "This is He of Whom I said, after me
cometh a Man Who is preferred before me: for He was before me.
... And I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with
water, the Same said unto me, Upon Whom thou shalt see the Spirit
descending, and remaining on Him, the Same is He Who baptizeth
with the Holy Spirit. And I saw, and bare record that this is the
Son of God" (John 1:30, 33, 34). It is hard to say of such an one
as John the Baptist that he doubted the Lord. He had known, he
had visible proof from on high, that He was the Son of God, and
he testified to that effect. Yes, it is not easy to say "He
doubted" of one of whom our Lord said, "Verily I say unto you,
Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater
than John the Baptist" (Matt. 11:11). But there is only one
sinless One, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the very fact that John's
faith was weak and failed him is sure evidence that "All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God." John had been in
prison a long time (see Matt. 4:12); while he was there he "heard
the works of Christ." We have pointed out in a previous chapter
that John was the last of the Old Testament prophets and was
confused between the first and second coming of our Lord. Of Him
John had said: "Now also the axe is laid unto that root of the
trees. ... "Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly
purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Matt. 3:10, 12).
This is Second coming truth, when our Lord shall return in glory
to rule on the throne of His father David. John looked for the
Kingdom now, and judgment; he did not understand the Lord's
present ministry.
Contrast John's imprisonment with Paul's. There was no doubt
in Paul's heart. "I, Paul, the prisoner of the Lord," and there
follow rejoicing and praise. What is the difference? Paul was of
the Age of Grace; the Lord Jesus Christ indwelt him by His Holy
Spirit, and that is also our position in Christ. How did our Lord
answer John? By freeing him through a great miracle, and
earthquake? No. "Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew
John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind
receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the
Gospel preached unto them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not
be offended in Me" (Matt. 11:4-6). "Tell him again; these signs
should prove Who I am" -- that is the message of the Lord, and
then "Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me." Many
were offended with the Lord Jesus, many did not understand Him
because they did not know the Scriptures. John wondered, the
scribes and Pharisees rejected Him, His disciples forsook Him at
the Cross, and after the resurrection, "When they had heard He
was alive, ... believed not." Doubts as to the Person of the Lord
Jesus Christ today are the result of the same ignorance of the
Scriptures. These are they which testify of Him. "Art Thou He Who
should come?" Yes, praise be to God, it is He, and by His death
and resurrection all who believe have been saved and justified.
"Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me."
That the enemies of the Lord Jesus and of John the Baptist
might not think that by these words our Lord was criticising
John, and that they might see the love and grace of God, the Lord
added the wonderful words of praise which we have quoted above;
and then: "notwithstanding he that is least in the Kingdom of the
heavens is greater than he (John)" (Matt. 11:11). "Positionally
greater, not morally," says Dr. Scofield in his Reference Notes.
Our Lord was speaking of the Kingdom of the heavens which was
then "at hand" and which will at His return be fully established
upon the earth. The little ones who are in the Kingdom will be
greater than John who announced it. It seems almost incredible,
but because our Lord said so, it is true. The wonderful blessings
we have in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Matt. 11:16-19
"Whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto
children sitting in the markets, and saying, We have piped unto
you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye
have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and
they say, He hath a devil. The Son of Man came eating and
drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a
wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is
justified of her children."
About to pronounce judgment upon Israel, about to turn to
the Gentiles, our Lord told the multitude what they were like.
They were like children playing. Some say to others: "Let's play
wedding!" But these fellows did not want to. Then others say:
"Let's play funeral!" And they do not want to. "John came neither
eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a demon. The Son of
Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man
gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and
sinners." They wanted their own way, their own religion. God's
way they would not accept. Yes, He is the Friend of sinners. He
"came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance"
(Matt. 9:13). But there were some who believed, who were His
children, and of them, He (Wisdom is an Old Testament name of the
Lord Jesus; see Proverbs eight) is justified.
Matt. 11:20-30
"Then began He to upbraid the cities wherein most of His
mighty works were done, because they repented not" (Matt. 11:20).
The King had presented Himself to Israel, and the cities in which
He did His greatest works, rejected Him. The rejection in its
finality took place at Calvary (Matt. 27), but here our Lord
acknowledged the renouncement, and pronounced judgment which
speaks for itself (Vss. 21-24). In passing, let us note that
there shall be degrees of punishment for the unsaved, just as
there shall be degrees of reward for the saved (1 Cor. 3:12-15).
"At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O
Father, Lord of the heavens and earth, because Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them
unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight"
(Matt. 11:25, 26). "In everything ... with thanksgiving" -- that
is perfect obedience. No if or why, but in everything,
thanksgiving.
"No man knoweth the Son but the Father" -- "now we see
through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in
part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (1 Cor.
13:12). We must think and speak reverently when we think of the
Lord Jesus Christ -- only the Father knows Him fully. "Neither
knoweth any man the Father save the Son. ... The Son will reveal
Him." "Revealing the Father is what our Lord did and is doing. In
resurrection He is Son of God with power, and all who receive Him
are brought to God and become children of God, to know the
Father" (A. C. Gaebelein).
"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). Then began the new message,
the first invitation. Judgment had been pronounced, but at the
same time the symbol of the Gospel of Grace, which was to follow
after His death and resurrection, was offered. "Come unto Me, all
ye. ..." To Jew and Gentile alike this message was and is given.
"I will give you rest." That is the fulness of Christ. How
wonderful these words have been, through the ages. "Take My yoke
upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and
ye shall find rest unto your souls." The yoke is that which was
used to join together in teamwork two beasts of burden. "Take My
yoke upon you." "Be linked together with Me." What a marvellous
thought: To be united with our Lord. His yoke is easy (light) and
His burden is light. Coming to Him, and living with Him, we have
rest to our souls. Is it not true, Christian?
_85
CHAPTER XII
Matt. 12:1-8
"At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the
corn; and His disciples were an hungered; and began to pluck the
ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they
said unto Him, Behold, Thy disciples do that which is not lawful
to do upon the Sabbath day" (Matt. 12:1, 2). The scribes and the
Pharisees, those bitter enemies of our Lord, false prophets in
sheep's clothing who inwardly were wolves, those who had first
attacked the Lord Jesus when He forgave the sins of the palsied
man and healed him, were now so wrought up that they accused Him
of breaking the Sabbath.
The seventh day, the Sabbath, was a Jewish day. Its keeping
was embodied in the Ten Commandments, and its keeping to the
present day is of the utmost importance to the Jews. The seventh
day was the day on which God rested after He made the earth,
which He made known to Israel at Sinai (Neh. 9:14). The Sabbath
was a sign upon Israel, just as was circumcision. The one was a
spiritual sign, the other a physical sign distinguishing them as
God's peculiar people. The Jew prided himself not only on keeping
the Sabbath according to the fourth commandment, but in observing
injunctions, which had been added by the elders, and which were
even more binding, and in a great many cases ridiculous. So it
was considered a sin to pluck an ear of corn on the Sabbath day,
and this was the Pharisees' accusation against Jehovah-Jesus the
Creator.
In passing, one may ask: Does not the Christian keep the
Sabbath? No; the Christian observes Sunday, the first day of the
week, as a day of rejoicing and fellowship with the Lord, and of
worship of Him. Sunday, the Lord's day is the day of
resurrection. This has been kept since the beginning of the
Church age in memory of Him Who was raised from the dead, and Who
is seated on the Father's right hand in Heaven. It is wrong to
call the Lord's day the Sabbath, just as wrong as it would be to
call Christmas the Fourth of July; Sunday is the first day, the
Sabbath is the seventh day.
There is no law for the Christian to keep Sunday as the
Lord's day. But this is a liberty which Christians enjoy, who
"have been called into liberty" (Gal. 5:13). We quote: "Israel
was commanded to observe the Sabbath day; the Church is
privileged to enjoy the first day of the week. The former was the
test of Israel's moral condition; the latter is the significant
proof of the Church's eternal acceptance. The Sabbath day
manifested what Israel could do for God; the Lord's day perfectly
declares what God has done for us." The Sabbath was a
commemoration of a finished creation; Sunday, the Lord's day,
commemorates a finished redemption.
Our Lord answered with Scripture as He answered every attack
of the evil one (for the Pharisees were Satan's instruments).
"Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and
they that were with him; how he entered the house of God, and did
eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither
for them who were with him, but only for the priests?" The
reference is to the time of David's persecution by Saul. A
fugitive, hungry, rejected by Israel -- that these things were so
was sin on Israel's part, and as a consequence the holy
ceremonials given to Israel by God ceased to be holy and the
consecrated shewbread became common in God's sight (1 Sam. 21) --
David's experience was typical of the present occasion. The King
was rejected, and while He was rejected nothing in Israel was
holy.
"Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath
days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are
blameless?" The very act of carrying the sacrifices for the
temple on the Sabbath was work, yet they were blameless.
"But I say unto you, That in this place is One greater than
the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have
mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the
guiltless. For the Son of Man is the Lord even of the Sabbath
day." The stupendous claims of the Lord Jesus Christ! There are
those who say He never claimed to be God. Ridiculous! Throughout
His ministry this was His constant affirmation; He not only
claimed it, He proved it. Israel knew He said He was God, and
they took up stones to kill Him, because they said it was
blasphemy. "I and My Father are One" (John 10:30); "Before
Abraham was I am" (John 8:58); "He that hath seen Me hath seen
the Father" (John 14:9); "Neither knoweth any man the Father save
the Son" (Matt. 11:27); "That in this place, is One Greater than
the temple ... (Ye would not have condemned the guiltless). For
the Son of Man is the Lord even of the Sabbath" (Matt. 12:6-8).
Yes, He is God. By His Word, the sword of the Spirit, every mouth
is stopped. Like the Pharisees, men today follow Christ at a
distance. They are constantly finding fault with the work that He
came to do; they say, "God would not kill His Son to save the
lost," and "We are all right; God is merciful and we are living
as best we can." But that is not God's way. No man cometh unto
the Father but by the Son. "There is none other Name under Heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved."
Matt. 12:9-50
Lack of space forbids us to go into the other significant
events of this important day. We must pass over the record of the
healing on the Sabbath of the man with the withered hand (Vs.
10-13), saying only that the man is the type of withered Israel.
Our Lord had come to restore, but Israel, unlike the man, did not
have faith to "Stretch forth Thy hand." The miracle performed
before them concerned them to such a degree that "the Pharisees
went out, and held council against Him, how they might destroy
Him" (Matt. 12:14).
One possessed with a demon, blind and dumb, again typical of
Israel, was brought to our Lord, and He healed him. The Pharisees
then charged that the Lord cast out the demon by Beelzebub, the
prince of demons. In all wisdom the Lord Jesus replied: "Every
kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and
every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And
if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then
shall his kingdom stand?" (vs. 25-26). Satan would not cast out
Satan. It must be God Who casts out the demons. "But if I cast
out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come
unto you" (vs. 28). Another claim of Deity by our Lord! "I ...
cast out demons by the Spirit of God ... therefore the Kingdom of
God (the King) is come unto you." "I have power to bind the
strong man, Satan." These are our Lord's claims; they are the
claims of God alone!
We shall touch for a moment upon the unforgivable sin
mentioned in verses thirty and thirty-one. The definition of the
unforgivable sin is "to ascribe to Satan the works of the Holy
Spirit," or "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit." Man may reject
God the Father, and yet come to know Him through the Lord Jesus
Christ; man may reject the Lord Jesus, and yet be convicted of
sin by the work of the Holy Spirit and so come to know the Lord
Jesus as his Saviour; but if man has rejected God the Father, and
God the Son, and hardens his heart against the working of the
Holy Spirit, speaking against and blaspheming His pleadings and
ministrations, then there is no hope for him, and his sins shall
not be forgiven him, in this age or in the ages to come.
Rejecting the Father and the Son, and speaking maliciously of Him
by Whom the Son was working meant eternal condemnation to these
Pharisees who believed not when the Son of God made Himself
manifest.
The Lord foretold of His death and resurrection: "For as
Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so
shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth" (Matt. 12:40). The so-called higher critics say
that the story of Jonah is a myth. The Lord Jesus believed it; He
said it was true. When one denies the story of Jonah and the
great fish, he is not showing his own wisdom, for he is calling
the Lord Jesus Christ a deceiver.
Finally, our Lord established a new relationship which is
eternal (vs. 46-50). His mother and His brothers came, desiring
to speak with Him, for they too were alarmed at His actions. They
too thought that He was beside Himself (Mark 3:21, 31). The Lord
said, "Who is My mother? And who are My brethren? And He
stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, Behold
My mother and My brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of My
Father Who is in Heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and
mother." The new relationship was established. He was rejected;
no longer did He recognize His own, but those are His who do the
will of His Father. "He came unto His own, and His own received
Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to
become the sons of God, even to as many as believe on His Name,
who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God" (John 1:11-13). Whosoever -- for the
first time this word was used, and it means you. "Whosoever shall
do the will of My Father ..., the same is My brother, and sister,
and mother." "And this is the Father's will Who hath sent Me,
that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but
should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of
Him Who sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and
believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him
up at the last day" (John 6:39, 40).
Do you stand with those who doubt the Lord Jesus Christ? Or
are you standing with faith in Him that He is God, and in His
promises that you are a son of God by believing on Him and that
everlasting life is already yours? His Word is true. He is the
Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but
by Him.
_91
CHAPTER XIII
Matt. 13:1, 2
We have said that it was a most important day in the life of
our Lord which we are studying. For this was the day on which His
crisis came, the day when it was evident that the Kingdom of the
heavens which He had been offering was to be rejected, the day
when He first said "Whosoever" and began the new message: "Come
unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest." On that "same day Jesus went out of the house (typical
of Israel), and sat by the seaside (typical of the Gentile
nations)" (Matt. 13:1), and spoke in parables, the mysteries of
the Kingdom of the heavens.
You will recall that in the Introduction to these studies in
Matthew's Gospel we learned that "the Kingdom of the heavens" has
more than one meaning. That which John the Baptist preached to be
"at hand," for the King was present, and which our Lord presented
to His own people Israel, was the Messianic earthly rule of the
Lord Jesus, the Son of David. This was rejected by the Jews. That
Kingdom of the heavens which is spoken of in Matthew thirteen we
shall find does not refer to that Messianic earthly reign, nor to
the Church, (and by the Church we mean the Body of believers), as
it is so often misinterpreted to mean, but to Christendom, that
is, professing Christianity during our Lord's bodily absence from
the earth.
Matt. 13:10, 11, 34, 35
Such a conclusion is based on the very definite teaching of
our Lord Himself. His "disciples came, and said unto Him, why
speakest Thou unto them (the multitudes) in parables? He answered
and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the
mysteries of the Kingdom of the heavens, but to them it is not
given" (Matt. 13:10, 11). The dictionary definition of the word
mystery is: Something unknown, unexplained, or incomprehensible
in its nature. "Because it is given unto you to know the things
which are unknown or unexplained of the Kingdom of the heavens."
Eleven times the word mystery is used in the Word of God for
something which is then being explained: in other words, the
Bible definition of the word mystery is: A previously hidden
truth now divinely revealed. Further, in Matthew 13:34, 35, we
read: "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in
parables; and without a parable spake He not unto them: That it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I
will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things which have
been kept secret from the foundation of the world."
Matt. 13:12-17
Now we know that the Kingdom of the heavens as presented to
Israel by our Lord, the Messianic earthly reign when He should
come to sit upon the throne of His father David in a glorious and
visible manner, was known and foretold by the prophets, yet here
our Lord said to His disciples: "That many prophets and righteous
men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not
seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not
heard them" (Matt. 13:17). Therefore, the mysteries which
heretofore had not been revealed, the things which the prophets
of old had not seen or heard, could not have been the Kingdom of
the heavens announced by John the Baptist, presented by our Lord
and rejected by Israel. No; here the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Anti-type of Joseph, the revealer of secrets, was unfolding in
the parables not the old, but new truths, the mysteries of the
Kingdom of the heavens. We have said that the Kingdom of the
heavens of this chapter is not the Church (we repeat that by the
Church is meant not the great ecclesiastical organization, but
the Body of believers), but that it represents Christendom, that
is, professing Christianity. The Church is only mentioned twice
in Matthew's Gospel, in 16:18, where our Lord spoke of building
His Church, and in 18:17. Where the Church is mentioned in the
Word of God by a name other than His Church, it is called the
Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ, the Habitation of God, a
Temple, a House, but not the Kingdom of the heavens. We have
stated that our conclusion that the Kingdom of the heavens of
these parables represents Christendom rather than the Church is
based on the definite teaching of the Lord Jesus. Let us look at
the parable of the wheat and the tares which the Lord Himself
interpreted in Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. Using as a key the
interpretation, the parable reads: The Kingdom of the heavens is
likened unto the Son of Man Who sowed the children of the Kingdom
in the world; but while men slept, Satan came and sowed his
children among the children of the Kingdom, and went his way. But
when the blade was sprung up and brought forth the fruit, there
appeared the children of the wicked one also. So the servants of
the householder came and said unto the Son of Man, Sir, didst
Thou not sow the children of the Kingdom in the world? From
whence then hath it children of the evil one? He said unto them,
Satan hath done this. The servants said unto Him, wilt Thou then
that we go and gather them up? But He said, Nay; lest while ye
gather up the children of the wicked one, ye root up also the
children of the Kingdom with them. Let both grow together till
the consummation of the age: and in the time of the consummation
of the age I will say to the angels, Gather ye together first the
children of the wicked one, and bind them in bundles to burn
them: but gather the children of the Kingdom into My barn." The
only necessary comment at this point is that the Kingdom of the
heavens cannot mean the Church, the Bride of Christ, for in the
Bride of Christ there can never be children of the wicked one.
The Kingdom of the heavens therefore must be Christendom,
composed of saved and unsaved; the Church is a part of
Christendom, but it is not Christendom.
There are eight parables in Matthew thirteen, the seven
parables of the mystery of the Kingdom, and the final parable of
verse fifty-two which instructed the disciples as to the position
of the revelation given them in relation to Old Testament
Scripture. The seven Kingdom parables are divided into two
sections: the first four were told before the multitudes, the
final three to the disciples alone. There is a relationship
between the parables and the message to seven churches of
Revelation two and three which it will be impractical for us to
study here, but which is suggested for your consideration. The
key to the interpretation of all of the parables is our Lord's
own unfolding of the first two; if the man who sowed the seed in
the second parable is the Son of Man, the man of the first, fifth
and sixth parables is also the Son of Man. If in the second
parable the field is the world, then surely the field in the
third and fifth parables is also the world.
"And He spake many things unto them in parables, saying,
Behold, a sower went forth to sow. ... The Kingdom of the heavens
is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field. ... The
Kingdom of the heavens is like to a grain of mustard seed, which
a man took, and sowed in his field. ... The Kingdom of the
heavens is like unto leaven which a woman took, and hid in three
measures of meal. ... The Kingdom of the heavens is like unto
treasure hid in a field. ... The Kingdom of the heavens is like
unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls. ... The Kingdom of
the heavens is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea ..."
Matt. 13:3-9, 18-23
"Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some
seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them
up. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth:
and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of
earth: And when the sun was up, they withered away. And some fell
among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But
other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an
hundred fold, some sixty fold, some thirty fold" (Matt. 13:3-8).
The Lord Jesus interpreted His own words (vs. 19-23). He did
not say who the sower was, but in the second parable He explained
that the "man who sowed good seed" was the Son of Man, and since
the seed was the Word (vs. 19) we know the sower was the Lord.
"The sower went forth" -- this was a new beginning; no longer was
the message for Israel, but He now went forth unto the Gentiles.
"Some (seed) fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and
devoured them up." Is the world to get better and better, as we
are often told? Will the world be converted? The Lord Jesus
taught His disciples to the contrary. The Word was sown by the
Son of Man, but some fell by the wayside; only one-fourth of the
seed took deep root. The Word continues to be sown by The Sower,
The Son of Man, Who by the Holy Spirit scatters the Word through
believers, and as it was not received by all who heard it in our
Lord's day, at the beginning of the new age, so it is not
universally received today. Some falls by the wayside and the
wicked one catches it away.
"Some fell upon stony places, ... and when the sun was up,
they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered
away." There are those who hear the Gospel with great joy, but
they only endure for a while. Trial, misunderstanding,
persecution -- these are the Devil's instruments that wither the
rocky-ground hearer, and he is offended.
"Some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and
choked them." There are those who hear the Word, but because of
the world, the deceit of riches and power, the Word is choked.
Satan has attacked -- the Devil, the flesh, and the world have
defeated the wayside hearer, the stony-ground hearer, and the
thorny-ground hearer.
"But he that received seed into the good ground is he that
heareth the Word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit,
and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some
thirty." The Word finds deep root in some hearts, which are
fruitful. May you be one of these. But not all bring forth an
hundredfold. Are you fruitful? Does your heart bring forth
thirty, sixty, or an hundredfold for the Lord Jesus Christ?
Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43
"The Kingdom of the heavens is likened unto a man which
sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came
and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the
blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the
tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto
him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence
then hath it tares? He said unto them, an enemy hath done this.
The servants said unto him, wilt thou then that we go and gather
them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather of the tares ye
root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until
the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the
reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in
bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into My barn" (Matt.
13:24-30).
Again the Lord was the interpreter (vs. 36-43). Some comment
on this parable has already been made. The sower is the Son of
Man; the field is the world. The good seed is not the Word in
this case. The seed of the first parable has taken root and has
been fruitful; the Word has brought forth children of the
Kingdom. The good seed represents the children of the Kingdom;
the tares, the children of the wicked one. The enemy is Satan;
the reapers are the angels; the harvest is the end of the age.
The children of the Kingdom were sown in the world. While
men slept, not The Sower Who neither slumbers nor sleeps, but
while men slept, Satan sowed his children among the others. It
was manifest when the blade sprung up: in the time of Paul the
children of the evil one began to manifest themselves freely. No
sooner had our Lord revealed the truth, than Satan began his
further work. The wheat and the tares will grow together during
this age, but at the end of the age, the children of the devil
will be bound for eternal punishment, while the children of the
Kingdom will be taken to be with the Lord. Not until then shall
the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their
Father" (vs. 43). It is not of our works or our own righteousness
that we shall be there, but if we are believers, then, clothed in
the righteousness of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall
shine forth in Him, as the sun, in the Kingdom which He shall
deliver to His Father and to our Father.
Matt. 13:31, 32
"The Kingdom of the heavens is like to a grain of mustard
seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is
the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest
among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air
come and lodge in the branches thereof."
If the Kingdom of the heavens here were, as many suppose,
the Church, the Bride of Christ, then the Body of Christ should
grow into a great tree, in which the sinners of all nations would
find refuge. But comparing Scripture with Scripture, we cannot
believe that our Lord so taught. The fowls of the parable of the
sower are the wicked one and his agents, the birds of Revelation
18:2 are unclean and hateful, and are connected with the devil;
therefore it is indicated that the birds of the air of this
parable are the children of Satan. The teaching becomes clear
when we see that the Kingdom of the heavens is Christendom. The
Sower planted seed, the Word. This seed, deeply rooted in the
field, the world, has sprung up into a monstrous growth (for the
mustard plant is a bush, and not a tree), the great
ecclesiastical organizations of Romanism, Protestantism, the
world system. In the branches of this great organization the
devil's agents lodge, the birds, unconverted, who possess only
the outward form of Christianity but are none of Christ's, who
find shelter in the tree.
Matt. 13:33
"The Kingdom of the heavens is like unto leaven, which a
woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was
leavened."
Many of the great commentators of this century and the past
have come to the conclusion: the woman is the Church, the leaven
is the Gospel, the three measures of meal represent humanity.
Therefore, hiding the leaven (the Gospel) in the meal (humanity)
means that the Gospel will permeate humanity. We quote from Dr.
John Peter Lange, known as "the Prince of Commentators:" "The
woman, the Church; the leaven, the Gospel; the three measures of
meal, humanity; result -- the life from God in its progressive
victory over the natural life of the world." Heubner wrote of
this parable that it shows "the all-penetrating power of the
Gospel and of its economy, especially of the blood of
reconciliation in the death of Jesus." We do not quote these able
servants of God merely to show their mistake, but to indicate how
universal is the interpretation that the Kingdom of the heavens
is the Church. But is it not contrary to all the teaching of the
Word of God to believe that the Gospel will permeate the world,
that the little leaven of the Gospel will leaven the whole lump?
Let us look, by the Holy Spirit, into the meanings of the symbols
of the woman, the leaven, and the three measures of meal where
they are used elsewhere in Scripture.
First, what does leaven mean in the Word of God? If you know
any orthodox Jews, ask them what leaven stands for. No Jew could
imagine it to indicate anything good, but only evil. Even today
the Jew, at the feast of unleavened bread, purges his house of
any piece of bread that might contain leaven, that he may not be
denied. The Lord was speaking to Jews, you must remember, and
they knew that leaven symbolized evil. What does the New
Testament teach of leaven? In Matthew 16:11, 12, our Lord said:
"How is it that ye do not understand that I spoke it not to you
concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that He
bade them not beware of the leaven of the bread, but of the
doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." The leaven then
was not good, but evil. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "Your
glorying is not good, know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may
be a new lump, as ye are unleavened" (1 Cor. 5:6, 7). Only as
they were unleavened could the new life be manifest.
What does meal mean as used in the Word of God? Meal comes
from wheat, not tares; the wheat is the good seed. Meal is a
symbol of good, not of humanity, in which there is no good thing.
In Genesis 18:6, 7, when Abraham wished to give good things unto
the Lord, and to find favour in His sight, he prepared three
measures of meal, and a calf: "And Abraham hastened into the tent
unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine
meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. And Abraham ran
unto the herd, and fetched a calf, tender and good." Meal, in
three measures, and the calf, are types of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The three measures of meal in our parable therefore stand for His
work, for the Word, which is pure and undefiled.
And who is the woman? Is she the Church? In our Lord's
message to the fourth church, in Thyatira, which corresponds to
the fourth parable, the woman, Jezebel, is not the Church, but
the great worldly ecclesiastical organization professing Christ
(Rev. 2:18-29).
Now let us look again at the parable of the leaven. "The
Kingdom of the heavens (Christendom) is like unto leaven (evil
doctrine), which a woman (the great ecclesiastical organizations)
took and hid in three measures of meal (The Word as planted by
Christ), till the whole lump was leavened (permeated)." Is not
that the teaching of the Lord Jesus? Have we not found from
history that the evil doctrine of Satanic forces, of Modernism
and of those who do not accept the Word of God in its verity,
mixed with the purity of the Gospel, "attacks in a hidden way
that which is good"?
Matt. 13:44
"The Kingdom of the heavens is like unto treasure hid in a
field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy
thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that
field."
The man of this parable, as of the first and second
mysteries, is the Lord Jesus Christ. The treasure is His chosen
people Israel, His peculiar treasure (Ex. 19:5), who rejected Him
and who have been put aside for a season. Meanwhile He sold all
that He had, He gave His life to redeem the field, the world, and
one day He shall take again to Himself Israel. We do not read
that He obtained possession of the treasure until after He had
sold all that He had.
This and the parable to follow must teach that the Lord
Jesus is the One Who sold all that He had. It cannot be the
sinner selling what he has to obtain Christ, for the sinner has
nothing to sell; Christ is not hid, and if He were found, He
would not be hidden again.
Matt. 13:45, 46
"The Kingdom of the heavens is like unto a merchant man,
seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great
price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."
Here, again, the Lord Jesus is the man. It is He Who seeks
the sinner, "For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that
which was lost" (Luke 19:10). The pearl of great price is the
true Church, the Bride, and for her He went and sold all that He
had; for "though He was rich, for your sakes He became poor, that
ye through His poverty might be rich" (2 Cor. 8:9).
Matt. 13:47-50
"The Kingdom of the heavens is like unto a net, that was
cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind; which, when it was
full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good
into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of
the world: the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from
among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire:
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
Our Lord now spoke of that which should happen at the end of
the age, during the Great Tribulation. The Kingdom of the heavens
shall be like a great drag-net cast among the nations, when the
good and the evil shall be separated. "So shall it be at the
consummation of the age: the angels shall come forth, and sever
the wicked from the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of
fire."
Matt. 13:51, 52
"Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things?
They say unto Him, Yea, Lord. Then said He unto them, Therefore
every scribe who is instructed unto the Kingdom of the heavens is
like unto a man who is a householder, who bringeth forth out of
his treasure things new and old."
The Lord Jesus Christ has in the store of His knowledge the
Old Covenant, and the Word of God as given by the prophets; but
He is God, all things are known to Him, and here He set forth the
course of this Age of Grace, things which were new, things which
had been "kept secret from the foundation of the world."
Everything which has ever happened has taken place in knowledge
of God that it should occur, and all things which are before us
are known to Him.
The mysteries of the Kingdom of the heavens have been
revealed, the hidden things have been uncovered, the course of
this age has been set forth. Is there something for our hearts in
this teaching? Have you understood all these things? May God
grant that our hearts have been good ground, bringing forth fruit
an hundredfold. God grant that we are a part of the pearl of
great price, the Church, the Habitation of God, for whom our Lord
Jesus Christ went and sold all that He had, His very life at
Calvary, that in Him we might have eternal life.
Matt. 13:53-55
"And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these
parables, He departed thence" (Matt. 13:53). The Gospel according
to Matthew is replete with symbolism. Our Lord, having revealed
in the parables of the Kingdom of the heavens the course of the
present age, during which He should be absent in body, departed
from them. The final verses of chapter thirteen demonstrate
further that "His own received Him not." Coming into Nazareth,
"He taught them in their synagogues, insomuch that they were
astonished, and said: "Whence hath this man this wisdom, and
these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son?" (Matt.
13:54, 55). "Whence hath this man this wisdom?" Not the King, not
the Son of David, not the Christ, but this man -- "and they were
offended in Him." It is so that He is looked upon today by
unbelievers; not as the Saviour of the world, God manifest in the
flesh, but as a man, a good man, perhaps, but a man. And the
world is offended in Him, and in His Cross, yet our only course
is that "We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling
block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the
wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:23, 24).
_104
CHAPTER XIV
Matt. 14:1-14
The Herods were appointed by Rome as rulers over Israel.
Theirs were kingdoms of awful cruelty and abominations, typical
of world kingdoms and the coming reign of Anti-Christ. It was
Herod the Great under whom the Jewish male children were
slaughtered not long after the Lord Jesus was born; it was his
son, Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the Baptist. John had
denounced Herod because he was living in open adultery with
Herodias, his brother Phillip's wife. Herod's anger was kindled
against John, but he was afraid to take his life; then by a
clever ruse Herodias demanded the head of the prophet, and he of
whom our Lord said, "Among those that are born of women, there is
not a greater prophet than John the Baptist" (Luke 7:28), was
cruelly murdered. "And his (John's) disciples came, and took up
the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus" (Matt. 14:12).
There is no record of the words of comfort which our Lord said to
John's disciples, but we can be sure that He ministered to them.
No one has ever come to the Lord Jesus for comfort and help that
He has not met his needs. In the verse which follows, verse 13,
"when Jesus heard it, He departed thence by ship into a desert
place apart;" what He heard does not refer to the Lord's hearing
of the death of John, but to the fact that Herod thought that He
was John raised from the dead, and might have tried to lay hands
on Him. The murder of John is recorded in parenthesis to tell why
Herod was concerned about the mighty works of the Lord. The Lord
Jesus came to earth to die at Calvary, but His time was not yet
come, and so He departed into a desert place.
The multitude followed the Lord up into the desert place,
and "He was moved with compassion toward them, and He healed
their sick" (vs. 14). Could He Who felt compassion for those who
soon should rise against Him and cry, "Crucify Him," have failed
to have been touched by the death of John, and by the
heart-broken wonder of John's disciples? Some have said that the
Lord was cold in His attitude about John's death, but we know
Him, and we know that He spoke words of comfort and joy and
promise to the disciples.
Matt. 14:15-21
The narrative before us needs no exposition. For a more
detailed account, see John 6:1-14. Our Lord fed this multitude by
the use of five barley loaves and two fishes which were in the
possession of a small lad. Why did He do that? The Lord Jesus is
God; He could have called down manna from the heavens, He could
have created the food on the instant. It is to show us God's
grace and mercy that the lad's supplies were used. It is through
men that the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ becomes known today.
God could call witnesses from Heaven, He could make known the
Name of the Lord Jesus in sundry ways, but because of His grace
He uses His children and their personalities to reach the hungry
souls in the world today. How can we be used? By following the
example of the lad, who had little, much too little for the five
thousand men and the women and children, but who gave all that he
had. What was the result? They were all fed. If every born-again
believer would give all that he has for the Lord's ministry,
perhaps all who have never heard His Name might receive the Bread
of Life, broken for them.
Matt. 14:22-36
"And straightway Jesus constrained His disciples to get into
a ship and to go before Him unto the other side, while He sent
the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He
went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was
come He was there alone" (Matt. 14:22, 23). "He was there alone"
-- alone with His Father. Steadfastly His face was set toward
Jerusalem, and there was need of communion with His Father. If
Christians would only go apart, alone with their heavenly Father,
there would be a greater display of power in the Church today.
We have noted that the Gospel according to Matthew is
dispensational in its teaching. Let us remember this as we look
at the verses which follow which recount the miracle of our Lord
walking on the water.
The Lord had gone apart, up into a mountain to pray. The
ship in which the disciples were crossing to the other side "was
now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was
contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto
them, walking on the sea." There is great teaching here. The ship
is a symbol of Israel, the disciples are the remnant. He has
dismissed them, and has gone apart, on high, for a time. The
night is far spent, and Israel is tossed with the waves of the
nations, and the wind of persecution is contrary. But the fourth
watch is drawing nigh, when He shall return, and in power over
the waves and the wind, shall succour His people. "And when the
disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, ... and
they cried out for fear." There are many who are not looking for
His coming, and who will not recognize Him and will cry out for
fear. But He will speak to them, and will say, with a voice as
the sound of many waters, "It is I" -- and He will calm their
fears. Then "Peter answered Him, and said, Lord, if it be Thou,
bid me come unto Thee in the water. And He said, Come." Peter
here stands for the Church, called out from Israel among the
nations. Peter is also a type of the Church which will be caught
up to meet Him in the air, before persecution and distress cease,
before He comes to Israel a second time. And when He comes, the
wind shall cease, and they shall worship Him, saying: "Of a truth
Thou art the Son of God." Nor do we want to
over-dispensationalize this event. We may know that as we are in
the world today, beset on every side by the waves and the wind,
the fourth watch is at hand. He is absent, but He is watching,
and at the proper time He will come and lift us up. Then forever
the wind will cease for the Christian. God grant that meanwhile
we may be looking for Him, and that in the power of the Spirit we
may so live and teach that many may be brought to say before He
comes: "Of a truth, Lord Jesus, Thou art the Son of God. My hope
for eternity is based, not upon myself, but upon Thy Finished
Work at Calvary."
So they came to Gennesaret. "And when the men of that place
had knowledge of Him ... they brought unto Him all that were
diseased, and besought Him that they might only touch the hem of
His garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole."
It may be that there is one who studies this passage who is sick
in sin; only let the Lord Jesus come into your life -- if the
knowledge of His redeeming work touches you, and you believe in
Him you will be made perfectly whole.
_108
CHAPTER XV
Matt. 15:1-20
The religious Jews believed, and still believe, that there
were two sets of laws given to Moses on Mt. Sinai: One, the
written law, and the other, the oral law. The oral law was handed
down by word from generation to generation until finally it was
transcribed, and is called the Talmud. In the Talmud are found
many additions to the law as given to Moses, and it was on this
that the scribes and Pharisees based their question about the
washing of the hands. But the Lord saw into their hearts: He knew
that they interrogated Him only to trap Him, and by His question
He turned the tables on them. "Why do ye also transgress the
commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying,
Honour thy father and mother; and, He that curseth father or
mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to
his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou
mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his
mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of
God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites. ..." The
Jews had added to the law of God by saying a son had to support
and clothe his father and mother, but the Jews also found a way
out. It was necessary only to say "Corban," that is, they
dedicated to the temple whatever they should have given to their
parents, their possessions or themselves, and they were released
from any obligation. "Ye hypocrites!" How the Lord hates
hypocrisy, lip worship, not life worship. May we search our own
hearts, and pray that our worship of our Lord is from the heart,
in Spirit and in truth.
Matt. 15:21-31
"Then Jesus went thence, and departed unto the coasts of
Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the
same coasts, and cried unto Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O
Lord, Thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a
demon. But He answered her not a word." Why did the Lord pay no
attention to this woman of Canaan? We know Him; we know He is
full of compassion; we know that He always hears those who call
to Him, and that during His life on earth He heard all them that
were brought to Him. He did not answer just because of His
compassion. Canaan was the enemy of Israel. This woman appealed
to Him as the Son of David, the King of Israel. When the rightful
King of Israel sits upon the throne of David, "in that day there
shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts"
(Zech. 14:21). As the Son of David His only action with her must
have been judgment. So, in His mercy and grace, when the
disciples asked Him to send her away, He said (so that she could
hear, we may be sure): "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of
the house of Israel." "He speaks; of course, as the Son of David,
and oh! how wonderful is this word, though it has been often
declared as harsh. He puts her, so to speak, in the right path to
receive the blessing. It is one little word around which all is
centered. The little word is lost. He gave her thus to understand
He had come for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and if
they were lost and need a Saviour, how much more she, a
Canaanite? And it is this word, lost, which faith lays hold upon,
and through which she is enabled to draw near and ask His help
simply as a needy one" (A.C. Gaebelein). She heard, and
immediately, recognizing her own worthlessness, she cried,
saying, "Lord, help me." You see; it was grace that kept Him from
answering the first time; it was grace that led Him to meet her
need the second time. He tested her a little more, to see if she
was willing to admit her utter dependence upon Him; then in
loving mercy He lifted her up: "O woman, great is thy faith: be
it unto thee even as thou wilt." And her daughter was made whole
at the very hour. It is His great desire that we come to Him as
did the woman of Canaan, in the knowledge that we are lost
sinners, apart from His grace. Then He will have mercy on us and
bring us salvation. It may be that at times we shall be tested,
but if we survive as did this Canaanite woman, we shall some day
hear Him say: "Great is thy faith."
Then Jesus departed and came to the sea of Galilee, and
multitudes of lame, and blind and dumb were brought to Him, and
He healed them. The multitudes wondered, and they glorified God.
It was not a lasting worship, but when He comes again in power to
His people Israel, and establishes His Kingdom, they shall see
Him and wonder and glorify God forever, and there will be peace
on earth.
Matt. 15:32-38
The lessons that we learned from the feeding of the five
thousand in the preceding chapter may be applied to this miracle,
too, so we will pass over it without comment.
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to
lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul."
_111
CHAPTER XVI
Matt. 16:1-12
Again the Pharisees, and with them the Sadducees! We have
learned who these men were (see chapter iii, verses 7-10). The
Pharisees and Sadducees were bitter enemies, but they met
together in combined opposition against the Lord of glory. We see
a similar paradox today: the Pharisees, those who profess
Christianity by outward form but who do not know the Lord as
Saviour, and the Sadducees, the liberals, are gradually combining
their forces in various federations opposed to the Deity of our
Lord. These enemies of our Lord come to Him seeking a sign, but
in His wisdom He said: "When it is evening, ye say, It will be
fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be
foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye
hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not
discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous
generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall be no sign given
unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas" (Matt. 16:2-4). "You
are looking for a sign?" He asked. They could see the signs in
physical life, but not in the spiritual sphere, because their
hearts were evil. The Lord knew that if He should give them a
sign, even then they would not believe. Thus He said that no sign
should be given, "But the sign of the prophet Jonas." That
refers, of course, to His own death, the three days in the tomb,
and His resurrection. Even then they would not believe; today,
after nineteen hundred years of combined opposition to the fact
of His resurrection, they will not believe.
So, said our Lord: "Take heed and beware of the leaven of
the Pharisees and Sadducees" (vs. 6). We learned in chapter
thirteen that leaven is always used regarding evil. "Beware of
the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees," He told His
disciples. They needed that warning, and so do we. Let us not be
so occupied with the things of earth, with food and the events of
our daily lives, that we take our eyes off the Lord. And, too,
let us not become so occupied with mere doctrine as to have no
time to dwell upon Him. The doctrine of the Pharisees was
over-ritualism; the doctrine of the Sadducees was liberalism and
compromise. It is the Lord Whom we should see; it is upon Him
that we should dwell. He is ever loving and tender and gracious
to those who truly look at Him, but He is fierce in His hatred of
the hypocritical worship of His enemies.
The doctrine of the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ is that
on which the whole Word of God is based, and upon our attitude
towards Him and His work hinges the salvation of our souls. If He
were only a man, a great teacher, a psychic leader, or a master
magician, His death was valueless and our faith vain. He would
never have been crucified had He not claimed to be God. The
multitudes were perfectly willing to admit that He was a man of
marked powers and wisdom; but He is God, and it was His
insistence upon this fact which brought about that death which is
life to you and me, the result of our heavenly Father's
all-loving grace and of our Saviour's all-pervading love.
Matt. 16:13-20
"When Jesus came unto the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He
asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of
Man, am?"
Men did not know what to think! They replied: "Some say that
Thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or
one of the prophets." He claimed to be Messiah, He presented
Himself as King, but men did not believe that. If He were the One
that the prophets foretold, then He should have come in military
power and ruled them from Rome. They were ready to acknowledge
Him as unusual, perhaps from God, one of the prophets returned to
them; perhaps He was Elias, the forerunner of Messiah. They
wondered at His works, but they did not receive Him. Truly "He
came unto His own, and His own received Him not." He knew what
men thought. It was not for information that He asked the
question of His disciples. He was leading up to the all-important
personal question that every being in the world must face. "Whom
say ye that I am?" What have you done with that question? Is He
to you a good man, the founder of Christianity, or is He very
God? Since He is God, is He your Saviour? Have you taken Him into
your heart; are you resting your only hope in His finished work?
And is He Lord of your life? "And Simon Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." That was a
wonderful confession of Peter's. Today our Lord has been known
through centuries by His called-out people as God the Son, but at
Caesarea Philippi it was not so. On all sides He was being
rejected, "And Jesus answered and said, Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but
My Father Who is in Heaven." It is not the natural man who
receives the things of the Spirit of God, but they are
spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14). Through the Son the Father
revealed Who the Son is.
Then follows a portion of the Word which is most important
and which is so often misunderstood. Let us approach it
prayerfully, asking the Holy Spirit to lead us into the truth.
"And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
will build My Church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it." "Thou art 'petros' (a movable stone, a piece of
rock), and upon this 'petra' (the essential rock) I will build My
Church (ecclesia -- called-out people, assembly); and the gates
of Hades (the grave) shall not prevail against it." The Lord
Jesus did not say He would build the assembly of saints upon
Peter, but upon the essential Rock, Christ, the Son of the living
God; upon petra, the Rock upon which the house which fell not was
founded (Matt. 7:24, 25). If it had been Peter on whom the Church
was to be built, would He not have said, "Upon thee will I build
My assembly"? "Upon this Rock." "Remember, He was talking to
Jews. If we trace the figurative use of the word rock through
Hebrew Scriptures, we find that it is never used symbolically of
man, but always of God. So here at Caesarea Philippi, it is not
upon Peter that the Church is built. Jesus did not trifle with
figures of speech. He took up their old Hebrew illustration --
rock, always the symbol of Deity -- and said, 'Upon God --
Messiah, the Son of the living God, I will build My Church'" (G.
Campbell Morgan).
This is the first time that our Lord used the word Church --
_ecclesia. It means a selected, called-out people, an assembly;
it is this, the Organism, His Body, which is established on this
Rock Jesus Christ, not the great Organization. "And I will give
unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of the heavens; and whatsoever
thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; and whatsoever
thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven" (Matt.
16:19). From childhood we can remember seeing cartoons of the
gates of Heaven, at which stands a man with a white beard and in
flowing robes, with wings, standing upon a cloud. In his hand is
a great ring of keys. This is Saint Peter! The authority for
these cartoons, and this false conception of some special power
assigned to Peter is the verse before us. Now in the first place,
Peter was given no more authority than the other disciples. Our
Lord was speaking to Peter in this instance for all the
disciples, for in Matthew 18:18 is recorded the same promise to
them all. Secondly, they were not the keys of Heaven that were
given to him, but the keys of the Kingdom of the heavens,
professing Christianity. What are the keys to the Kingdom of the
heavens? Undoubtedly, the Gospel. It is generally conceded that
Peter used the keys for the Jews on the day of Pentecost, and for
the Gentiles at Cornelius' house. The Lord Jesus said, "I am the
Door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved" (John 10:9).
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ alone, the keys entrusted to
Peter and to every born-again believer, open the door by the Holy
Spirit; if any man enter in, he shall be saved.
"Then He charged His disciples that they should tell no man
that He was Jesus the Christ" (Matt. 16:20). He had presented
Himself as Messiah, and was rejected. He had to go on to the
Cross; therefore He charged them to tell no man these things.
Matt. 16:21-27
"From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples
how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised
again the third day" (Matt. 16:21). "From that time forth," after
He first mentioned the Church, He began to tell of those things
which He must suffer. He alone knew what that meant; He had known
since before the foundation of the world. See how we, as His
Church, are identified with His death, burial and resurrection.
Peter then rebuked His Lord! "Be it far from Thee, Lord: this
shall not be unto Thee." How often we fall from the heights to
the depths! But the Lord understands. His rebuke was not to
Peter, it was to Satan. "Get thee behind Me, Satan." The Lord
Jesus knows how Satan works in our hearts to hurt our witness to
Him, and it is often when we have been in the mountain-top
experiences that he overcomes us. Christians, let us keep our
eyes on the Lord, not on circumstances. We cannot condemn Peter,
for we too are subject to the same experiences so often. Let us
remember that the Lord recognizes who is working in us, and that
by His death He has empowered us against all the fiery darts of
the evil one (Eph. 6:16).
"Then said Jesus unto His disciples, if any man will come
after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
Me" (Matt. 16:24). All religions practice self-denial;
Christianity alone proposes denial of self. This is not a putting
aside of some pleasure, but the crucifying of self with Christ,
of which our Lord is speaking. "Take up his cross." These words
are not to be understood as meaning that we should choose a
cross. Begin only with self-denial and the cross will come of
itself. He says "his cross;" for He does not teach that we should
bear the identical Cross which He bore. Everyone's cross has been
prepared according to the measure of each one's strength (Martin
Luther). Identification with Himself; it is His desire for us, it
should be our joy for Him. "For whosoever will save his life will
lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake, shall find
it. For what is man profited, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for
his soul?"
We will consider verse twenty-eight with chapter seventeen,
for there we have the full explanation of the Spirit's meaning.
_117
CHAPTER XVII
Matt. 16:28
"Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, who
shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in
His Kingdom" (Matt. 16:28). Many have read this last verse of
chapter sixteen, and have closed the book, wondering as to the
meaning of it. It is said that His coming refers to the
destruction of Jerusalem; that may be so, in part. It is said
that in the preaching of the Gospel and the power of the
resurrection life His claims were substantiated; there is truth
in that belief. But the clearest and truest interpretation is
surely found in the record of the first five verses of chapter
seventeen.
Matt. 17:1, 2
"Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, which
shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in
His Kingdom" (Matt. 16:28). "And after six days Jesus taketh
Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a
high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them" (Matt.
17:1-2). "There be some standing here, who shall not taste of
death, till they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom." Here,
Peter and James and John saw the Lord in His glory. In later
years Peter wrote: "For we have not followed cunningly devised
fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye witnesses of His majesty. For He
received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came
such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved
Son, in Whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from
Heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount. We have
also the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well
that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,
until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scriptures is of its
own interpretation, for the prophecy came not in old time by the
will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the
Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:16-21). For centuries the Old Testament
prophets had spoken of the coming of the Lord Jesus in power and
glory. "These are not cunningly devised fables," said Peter, "for
the Word of prophecy is made more sure by what we, James, John
and I, have seen. Prophecy is not by the will of man: but the
Holy Spirit speaks through man. But to make it doubly sure that
these promises are true about the power and glory of our Lord, we
have been eye witnesses of His majesty. For when He received
honour and glory from God the Father on the mount of
Transfiguration, we heard the Voice from Heaven, God's Voice,
saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.'"
Surely that is what our Lord meant, that these three should
not die until they should see this preview of the Son of Man
coming in His Kingdom.
Matt. 17:3-8
He "was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as
the sun, and His raiment was white as light, and behold there
appeared unto Him Moses and Elias talking with Him" (vs. 2, 3).
The transfiguration scene is a foreshadowing of that which shall
be when our Lord comes in Glory: (1) He appeared in His body of
glory; (2) There was Moses, typical of the saints who have died
in Christ and whom He shall bring with Him; (3) There was Elijah,
typical of those believers who will be caught up to meet the Lord
in the air before He comes in glory, whom He shall bring with
Him; (4) There were Peter, James, and John, typifying the remnant
of Israel who shall look up and see Him coming; (5) There were
the multitudes at the foot of the mountain, the nations who are
to be brought into the Kingdom after it is established.
Then Peter, who had made that wonderfully truthful
confession shortly before: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God," suggested the building of three tabernacles. It was
the natural man's desire for the Kingdom, without the Cross. As
if to rebuke him for daring to put Moses and Elijah on the same
plane with our Lord, "while he yet spoke, behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them: and behold, a Voice out of the cloud, which
said, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye
Him." Do not look at these others; they are but men. Moses was
the representative of the Law; Elijah, the representative of the
Prophets, the Lord Jesus is the fulfilment of the Law and the
Prophets. Peter was trying to do what the Modernists are doing
today, classifying the Lord Jesus with men. Moses and Elijah were
not on the same level with our Lord, nor can we by any words or
theories of ours place a Gandhi or a Confucius on an equality
with the Lord Jesus. This, the Lord Jesus, is My beloved Son;
hear ye Him. It makes no difference what men say, hear Him. He is
the Way, the Truth, and the Life; hear Him. "And when the
disciples heard it, they fell on their faces ... and when they
had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only." We
will reach the full measure of our Christian growth when we see
Him, and Him alone. He was transfigured before them: the word
translated transfigured is used again in the New Testament, in
Paul's second epistle to the Corinthians, and it is used in
speaking of believers: "But we all, with open face beholding as
in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed (transfigured) into
the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the
Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18). Let us hear no man save Jesus only; let us
see no man save Jesus only.
Matt. 17:9-13
"And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged
them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of Man be
risen again from the dead. And His disciples asked Him, Why,
then, say the scribes that Elias must first come?" (Matt. 17:9,
10). Even the disciples did not realize the significance of His
coming death. They knew from the Old Testament prophets that
Elijah should be the forerunner of the Lord Jesus upon His
coming. They had seen Elijah, and the Lord in glory; now they
were told to say nothing of what they had seen. Why did the
scribes say that Elias must first come? Here they had seen him,
and they were not to tell! "And Jesus answered, and said unto
them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I
say unto you, that Elias is come already, and they knew him not,
but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall
also the Son of Man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood
that He spoke of John the Baptist" (Matt. 17:11-13). John had
come in the power and spirit of Elijah; he was rejected and
slain. His rejection and cruel death was a picture of that which
should happen to Messiah. Elijah will still come, before the Lord
returns with His own in glory, and on this occasion his testimony
will be received gladly by some.
Matt. 17:14-21
We can only touch upon this portion. Coming down from the
mount of transfiguration they found that Satan had been active
during the Lord's absence. There was brought to the Lord one who
was demon-possessed. The teaching here is dispensational, as is
the whole Gospel of Matthew. This experience is typical of the
Lord's return in glory. Satan has been very active during the
Lord's bodily absence. When He returns then, He will find
multitudes waiting for Him, but He will find many possessed of
Satan's handiwork. The remnant, typified by the disciples, will
be preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, with power to heal, but
they will be helpless because of unbelief. Only the Lord Himself
can cast out the devil from this world, and upon His coming again
He shall do so.
Is it not a wonderful promise that we have? "If ye have
faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this
mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and
nothing shall be impossible to you" (Matt. 17:20). These promises
are given to the disciples, heirs of the Kingdom, but we as
believers are joint-heirs with Christ, and all these blessings
are ours. "Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and
fasting." Prayer is communion with the Lord, fasting is
self-denial, the death of the flesh. Only by unbroken fellowship
with the Lord and a life entirely yielded to Him may these
promises be wholly appropriated.
Matt. 17:22-27
Finally, the Lord again spoke of His approaching death. "And
while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of Man
shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill Him,
and the third day He shall be raised again" (Matt. 17:22, 23).
The disciples at last began to understand, "And they were
exceedingly sorry."
The miracle of the tribute money taken from the mouth of the
fish was another demonstration of the Lord Jesus' coming in
humility and subjecting Himself as man to the ordinances of the
world in which He dwelt but of which He was never a part, and of
His power and might as God in having dominion not only of the
great seas and winds, but of the course of a small fish.
Truly this is the Son of God. Nothing is impossible with
Him. Why do we not trust Him fully?
_122
CHAPTER XVIII
We have seen the Lord Jesus presenting the Kingdom of the
heavens to His people, Israel. By proclamation and by power He
demonstrated that He was the Messiah; but in His divine wisdom He
knew that He would be rejected, and that "His Hour" was
approaching. Consequently it was expedient that more and more He
should draw His disciples to Himself that they might know Him,
and that He might instruct them in the Way in which they were to
go. It is always necessary that we know Him before we can make
Him known to others. It was in Paul's knowing Him, "and the power
of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering" (Phil.
3:10), that he was so able to reveal Him to others. As Christians
it is our duty to feed on the Word of God which reveals God's
Son, so that we may be emptied of self, and then filled by the
Holy Spirit to make Him known to our fellow men.
Our Lord did not cease to heal and comfort, in His ministry,
for He will always meet our needs when we come to Him; but
increasingly He revealed Himself to His disciples, and spoke of
His coming death and resurrection, that they might be instructed
in the things of God.
Matt. 18:1
"At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who
is the greatest in the Kingdom of the heavens?"
At the same time, the disciples asked this question. In the
preceding chapter we find that just before the miracle of the
tribute money the Lord Jesus was talking to His disciples of His
betrayal, death, and resurrection, as in Mark nine. At the same
time the disciples asked, "Who, then, is the greatest?" In the
verse before us the word then does not appear in the Authorized
Version, but is included in both the Revised and the American
Standard Versions. "Who, then?" You say You are going to die,
Lord -- who, then, is the greatest? Do we not have here a
striking example of the selfishness of man's heart, and of the
love of God? These men who were so close to the Lord Jesus Christ
had no thought of Him when He spoke of His coming death, but only
of themselves. "Who, then, is the greatest?" No words of rebuke
passed the lips of our Lord, for these were His own, but only
loving counsel from Him Whose Name is Counsellor.
The disciples did not yet understand what was to happen in
the Church Age. They were still expecting the establishment on
earth at that time of the Kingdom which Messiah had come to
offer. And so they sought the place of honour! May we learn from
the teaching of the Word that every imagination of the thought of
man's heart is only evil continually (Gen. 6:5), and may we bow
humbly before our Lord, seeking His glory and not our own.
Matt. 18:2-5; 19:13-15
Lovingly the Lord Jesus called a little child into the midst
of them, and said, "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be
converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into
the Kingdom of the heavens" (Matt. 18:3). Who shall be greatest?
Why, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of the heavens unless you
become as little children. How does a child come into being? By
being born, of course. And to enter into the Kingdom of the
heavens, to enjoy eternal life with God the Father and God the
Son, one must be converted, turned about; one must be born again.
"Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child,
the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of the heavens." Humble
himself as this little child? Yes, humility and dependence --
that is the secret of greatness. Having been born again, we are
to look in lowliness but in trust to our heavenly Father, as the
child does to his earthly father. The new life will grow as a
child grows, but nothing will stunt spiritual growth as much as
confidence in self. Humble, willing to be chastened for our own
development -- this is the pathway to greatness. "Furthermore, we
have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them
reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the
Father of spirits? For they verily for a few days chastened us
after their own pleasure: but He for our profit, that we might be
partakers of His holiness" (Heb. 12:9, 10).
Further reference to the same subject is made by our Lord
later, when "there were brought unto Him little children, that He
should put His hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked
them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them
not, to come unto Me: for of such is the Kingdom of the heavens"
(Matt. 19:13, 14). He did not say of them, but of such -- the
child is the type of the believer, the born-again one. Of such is
the Kingdom of the heavens. And as He laid His hands upon them
and blessed them, so He does for every child of God. We can be
sure that our Lord did not just touch them with one or two
fingers, but that He enfolded them within His arms. It is because
He holds us in this way that He can say "neither shall any man
pluck them out of My hand" (John 10:28).
Matt. 18:6-10
"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones who believe
in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about
his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe
unto the world because of its offences! Wherefore if thy hand or
thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it
is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than
having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire"
(Matt. 18:6-8).
"Woe!" These are strong words that our Lord uttered. "The
great thought here put before us is the identification of the
Lord with every little one, every one who has become a little
child, that is, who is born again. He is their Father and their
Lord, closely identified with them. It reminds us of that
beautiful word, 'He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His
eye' (Zech. 2:8) ... and so honour done to one of the little ones
is done unto Him; injury done to one of them is injury done to
Him. What glory of the believer this reveals! How this fact
should teach us how to behave one towards the other and not
despise any one who is Christ's. How apt we are to do this. This
one or that one is so little taught in the Word, he is so
ungracious -- and with all our criticism we forget he is, after
all, one of Christ's own" (A.C. Gaebelein).
The eternal fire of these verses is not for us; the Lord, in
speaking of the Kingdom of the heavens here, was speaking of the
Kingdom of Matthew thirteen, professing Christianity. Those who
offend and are to be cast into Hell fire are the professors of
the Kingdom. The believer is never lost; "There is therefore now
no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). But
the warning can be taken into our hearts, too. We cannot be
honoured or used of Him if we put a stumbling block in our
brother's way, nor can we enter into fulness of life if a hand, a
foot, or an eye offend. "So then they that are in the flesh
cannot please God. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead
because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die; but if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live" (Rom.
8:8, 10, 13).
"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for
I say unto you, That in Heaven their angels do always behold the
face of My Father Who is in Heaven."
Matt. 18:11-14
"For the Son of Man is come to save that which was "lost"
(Matt. 18:11). The word seek is left out of this verse, for the
Lord had been speaking of children. Seek indicates that the
object is actively wandering, and that is not so in the case of
children of whom the Lord was speaking. But that our Lord does
seek is clearly shown in the verse which follows: "How think ye?
If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray,
doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the
mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be
that he find it, Verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth. ..."
Yes, the Son of Man, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, came
to earth to seek and to save the lost. He died on the Cross that
we might live in Him, that ours might be everlasting life. It is
not His will, nor the will of our Father Who is in Heaven, that
one of the little ones should perish, or one of the grown up
ones. He died that you might live. "Ye must be born again." Have
you received Him as your Saviour; have you yielded to Him as your
Lord? "I am the Door of the sheep, ... by Me if any man enter in,
he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."
Our Lord had been drawing His disciples to Himself, to a
fuller knowledge of His will. He had been teaching them the
essentials of salvation: one must become as a little child to
inherit the Kingdom, one must be born again; the Son of Man came
to seek and to save, not the righteous but the lost, for it is
not His will that one should perish. And in the passage before us
He told His disciples of forgiveness. Who better can teach
forgiveness? He Who is "the brightness of His glory, and the
express image of His Person," Who upholds "all things by the word
of His power" came to earth and purged us of our sins -- God is
the ultimate in forgiveness. "If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
Matt. 18:15-20
"Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass (sin) against thee,
go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall
hear thee thou hast gained thy brother" (Matt. 18:15).
Moreover; here was an indication that that which was to
follow had a bearing on that which had preceded, and was an
additional detail of importance. The discussion had been on who
should be the greatest, and our Lord had pointed out that he who
humbled himself and became as a little child should be great;
that he who took care to put no stumbling block in the path of
another should be great; that greatness was by humility, for it
is only because it is not the will of our Father Who is in
Heaven, that any should perish, that any are saved.
"Moreover, if thy brother sin against thee, go and tell him
his fault between thee and him alone." Here was another rule of
greatness, forgiveness of the trespasses of a brother. God alone
is great; He alone knows how to forgive. And let us remember that
these words were spoken to the disciples, believers. This was not
merely the granting of permission for certain action; it was a
command from the lips of the Lord Jesus. "If thy brother sin
against thee, go and tell him his fault." We are not to tell
someone else -- there is no excuse to gossip here. "Go and tell
him his fault between thee and him alone; then if he shall hear
thee, thou hast gained thy brother." If he will hear, he is
gained back into fellowship.
"But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or
two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word
may be established" (Matt. 18:16). The Lord commanded that first
we should endeavour to establish peace between a brother in the
Lord and ourselves by talking directly to the brother who has
trespassed, alone. But then if he will not hear, we are not to
take him before the assembly, nor to refuse to fellowship with
him, before his sin has been established before two or three
witnesses. This is a fulfilment of the law: "One witness shall
not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in
any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the
mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established" (Deut.
19:15).
The Lord Jesus Christ died to forgive us our sins, past,
present, and future. Our only condition for such forgiveness is
that we confess that we are sinners and receive His sacrifice.
And so He has commanded believers that they shall give every
opportunity to one of His own children to repent of iniquities,
that they may be in full fellowship with Him and with the saints.
"And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the
church (ecclesia-assembly); but if he neglect to hear the church,
let him be unto thee as an heathen and a publican" (Matt. 18:17).
God's loving grace is wonderful to behold. As through the ages He
has given man every opportunity to be restored, so here, our Lord
has commanded that we should not refuse to fellowship with an
offender until every resource to restore him has been tried. The
members of His Body are to be forgiving, as He was forgiving. You
will recall a further instruction to believers in Galatians 6:1:
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye who are
spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness;
considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." We know from the
previous command of our Lord that this restoration is dependent
upon repentance. Knowing God's love, and that the brother of whom
the Lord was speaking was a child of God, we know that this
letting him be unto thee as an heathen and a publican is not as
the measure of ostracism except to chasten, that that one may be
brought to a consciousness of his sin and God's grace, and may be
restored. Such surely is God's will for those whom the Lord came
to seek and to save. There is no place for hardness or coldness
in the Church; we cannot be hard, when we consider ourselves,
lest we also be tempted. It is only by God's grace when we are
not the offending ones.
There follows one of the great and precious promises of the
Word, which has been of comfort to the Church through the
centuries: "If two of you shall agree on earth as touching
anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My
Father Who is in Heaven. For where two or three are gathered
together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt.
18:19, 20). First, these words relate to the conditions of which
our Lord had been speaking. The effort to restore one who has
sinned is to be in love and prayer to the Father. It is not to be
done in bitterness, but in the grace of the Lord Jesus, among
those who are spiritual. Secondly, in our Lord's words is
established the fact that His presence was no longer to be
confined to a tabernacle or a temple, but where two or three of
His own are gathered together in His Name. In His Name! If it is
not in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, then no church
building, no matter how magnificent nor how dedicated, contains
the presence of the Lord. But when two or three are gathered
together in His Name, then, whether in a church, or a house, or a
room, or wherever, "there am I in the midst of them." Born-again
believers are new creatures in Christ, Who indwells them, and
Whose presence is a promise in their gatherings together unto His
Name.
But while this great promise refers directly to the case at
hand, it is not limited. On that day to His disciples, today to
you if you are a believer, the promise holds touching anything.
"If two or three of you agree touching anything that they shall
ask, it shall be done for them of My Father Who is in Heaven. For
when two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in
the midst of them." What wonderful works may be accomplished by
the united prayer of believers of the same mind, gathered
together unto His Name.
Matt. 18:21-35
"Then came Peter to Him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my
brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times;
but, until seventy times seven" (Matt. 18:21, 22). Peter, again
the spokesman for the disciples, attempted, it would seem, to
indicate how very often he was willing to forgive, how generous
he was. Scattered throughout Rabbinical teaching may be found
references to forgiveness, that one is to forgive a brother once,
twice, and in some cases even three times, but never more than
that. Peter was willing to go much farther than the teaching! But
the Lord showed him how little he knew of the limitless grace of
God. Seven times? No, seventy times seven; and that is the
privilege of the believer: "Even as Christ forgave you, so also
do ye" (Col. 3:13). How has God the Father forgiven us? He has
blotted out all our transgressions and will remember them no
more; in like manner we Christians are to be kind one to another,
tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven us (Eph. 4:32).
"Therefore is the Kingdom of the heavens likened unto a
certain King. ..." We have mentioned in our early studies that
there are two meanings in the Gospel according to Matthew of "the
Kingdom of the heavens;" one, the earthly Messianic rule of the
Lord Jesus from the throne of His father David, which He offered
to Israel and which was rejected, but which will be established
when He comes again in glory to reign during the Millennial Age;
the other, professing Christianity, of which the Church is a
part, the mystery revealed in the parables of Matthew thirteen.
We believe for reasons which we shall set forth, that "the
Kingdom of the heavens" of the parable before us refers to our
Lord's Messianic rule during the Millennium, and not to
professing Christianity in this age, as do the previous Kingdom
parables.
First, here our Lord is mentioned as a certain King. In
Matthew thirteen, where the parables in which He is pictured
mention Him, it is as a sower, a man, a merchant man, an
householder. But these references to Him are made of a period
when He was on earth presenting the Kingdom, or absent but not
yet ascended to the throne of David. Secondly, the teaching of
the parable under study tells us of a King Who forgave a servant
a debt of ten thousand talents (about ten million dollars, more
than he could ever pay) but later was wroth at that servant
because on his part he refused to forgive a debt of one hundred
pence (less than twenty-five dollars) "and delivered him to the
tormentors, till he should pay all that was due." Such cannot be
the action of the Lord dealing with sin during the Age of Grace,
when forgiveness means blotting out, remembering no more, for
that would be contrary to all Scripture. Thirdly, the parable has
to do with forgiving us as we forgive others. Now the so-called
Lord's Prayer, the prayer that the Lord Jesus taught to His
disciples when He unfolded the constitution of the Kingdom of the
heavens, recorded in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:9-13, is
a Kingdom prayer; that is, it was included in the manifesto of
the Kingdom as it shall be when He rules in Jerusalem. And in
that Kingdom prayer He taught: "Forgive us our debts, as we
forgive our debtors." We know that in the Age of Grace we are
forgiven by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not because we
forgive someone else. Forgiveness on our part today is the
result, not the cause, of Christ's forgiving us (Eph. 4:32).
With this light upon the parable before us, it becomes clear
that the dealing of the King with His unforgiving servant is a
picture of how justice shall be measured in the Millennium. It
has nothing to do with the Christian, who will never be judged
for his sins, but only for rewards according to his works, and
who will not be at that time a servant, but a co-ruler with
Christ.
"So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also unto you, if
ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their
trespasses" (Matt. 18:35). The parable is completed in verse
thirty-four. The Father is the Judge here, not the Lord. This,
then, cannot be the judgment of the believers' works; nor is it
for believers' sins, for we know that "there is therefore now no
condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). This
judgment therefore has to do with professors, not possessors, who
show by their lives that they are none of His.
How it constrains us, partakers of the divine nature, to
have the mind of Christ, forgiving others, even as God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven us.
_133
CHAPTER XIX
Again we find our Lord going into Judaea, His face set
toward Jerusalem publicly to offer Himself as King, to be
formally rejected by His people and to be crucified. In this
passage He is approached by four different types of people for
four different reasons: the multitude came to Him with their
physical needs; His enemies came to trap Him with ethical
questions; those who loved Him brought their children for His
blessing; and some approached seeking eternal life. In every case
the Lord Jesus heard and answered in all power, wisdom and
compassion, meeting each need as it was brought to Him. It is in
such a fashion that He hears us when we call upon Him, for our
souls' salvation, or for the spiritual or earthly needs of His
own. "My God shall supply all your need, according to His riches
in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19).
Matt. 19:1, 2
"And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these
sayings, He departed from Galilee, and came unto the coasts of
Judaea beyond Jordan; and great multitudes followed Him; and He
healed them there." God says: "All have sinned and come short of
the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). There is only one remedy for the
sickness of sin: cleansing by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
"He healed them there." You are saved? Then He has empowered you
to have the victory over the temptations of the daily life. You
have not received the Lord Jesus as your Saviour? Then, here and
now, you may do so, by bowing down to God and saying: "Lord
Jesus, I know I am a sinner and I receive you now. Thy Word tells
me: 'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord' (Rom. 6:23). Wash me clean in
Thy shed blood and I shall be free."
Matt. 19:3-12
"The Pharisees also came unto Him, tempting Him, and saying
unto Him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every
cause?" (Matt. 19:3). Once more the Pharisees! Instead of bowing
down to worship Him Who was the fulfilment of all the prophets,
God Himself in the flesh, they attempted to entrap Him. This was
a question on which even the Pharisees themselves were not in
accord, so that no matter how the Lord might answer, they thought
to confuse Him. Once again entered the question of the oral law,
rabbinical injunctions which had been added to the law. Some
contended that there was no cause for divorce except
unfaithfulness, while some thought it lawful to put away a wife
for every cause, no matter how small. Our Lord answered from
Scripture: "Have ye not read ... that He Who made them at the
beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause
shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his
wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? (See Gen. 2:24.)
Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore
God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matt. 19:5,
6). How could these Pharisees hope to ensnare by certain
rabbinical interpretations Him Who "was in the beginning with
God," by Whom all things were made, and without Whom was not
anything made that was made (John 1:2, 3)? The Lord Jesus Christ
created them male and female, He made them one flesh. "But," said
the Pharisees, "why did Moses then command to give a writing of
divorcement, and to put her away?" Just as their father the Devil
misquoted Scripture, so they distorted it in their endeavour to
entrap the Lord Jesus. They were referring to Deuteronomy 24:1,
but our Lord then told them that Moses did not command, but
allowed them to put away their wives for a reason. "He saith unto
them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered
(allowed) you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it
was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his
wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another,
committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her who is put away doth
commit adultery" (Matt. 19:8, 9). God instituted marriage as a
permanent relationship. In His grace, He has recognized human
frailties, and for one cause alone countenances divorce, for the
cause of unfaithfulness. How highly He regards marriage may be
seen in Ephesians five, where Paul by the Holy Spirit uses the
husband as a type of Christ, and the wife as typical of the
Church, the Bride of Christ. "Wives, submit yourselves unto your
own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is head of the
wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church: and He is the
Saviour of the body. Therefore as the Church is subject unto
Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands. Husbands, love
your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave
Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the Word. That He might present it to Himself
a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without blemish. ... For this
cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be
joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a
great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the Church"
(Eph. 5:22-27, 31, 32). Born-again husbands and wives who regard
their relationship to each other as a type of the relationship
between the Lord Jesus and themselves will have little difficulty
with the bill of divorcement which Moses allowed.
Verses ten to twelve cover a difficult passage we shall only
touch upon. The disciples felt that if there was danger of
divorce, it was not good to marry. Our Lord then explained that
there were some who did not marry because they were born with
physical disabilities, some who had been cruelly mutilated and as
a result should not marry, and that there were others who felt
that for the sake of the Kingdom they should never marry. Paul,
too, spoke of this: (1 Cor. 7), the implication in both instances
is that there are a few who feel that they can be used of the
Lord more fully if they remain unmarried. "But He said unto them,
All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is
given. ... He that is able to receive it, let him receive it"
(Matt. 19:11, 12). Let him who is so led abide in this teaching.
Matt. 19:13-15 See 18:2-5.
Matt. 19:16-26
"And, behold, one came and said unto Him, Good Master, what
good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" Here was
one who was morally a good man, who called forth the compassion
of our Lord, Who, looking on him, loved him (Mark 10:21). This
young man had good intentions, the desire for eternal life, but
his theology was poor. First he approached the Lord Jesus as a
Teacher instead of as God, and secondly, he thought to attain
eternal life by his own merit, by the law. But the law is only
our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ (Gal. 3:24), to show us our
need of a Saviour. This man, typical of the many moral and
religious men of our own day, was ignorant of the fact that
eternal life is not a result of what we do, but of what God has
done. And so the Lord Jesus met him on his own ground. Our Lord
said, "Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but One, that
is, God." The Lord said, in other words, "God is the only One Who
is good. If I am good, then I am God, and not just a teacher. If
I am not God, then I am not good." And then, having pointed out
this fact of His Deity to the man to whom He was speaking, He
said: "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."
Here is an interesting bit of dispensational teaching. You
will recall that a similar question was asked of Paul and Silas,
by the Philippian gaoler, in Acts 16:30: "Sirs, what must I do to
be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved." The Lord Jesus said: "Keep the
commandments;" Paul and Silas said: "Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ." Who was right? They were both right, of course. The
young man who came to the Lord in Judaea was living in the Age of
Law. Men were responsible to keep the law perfectly, though,
since all men failed to keep the law, God had provided the blood.
Yet the law was the test. But since then Christ has died for the
remission of sins, and the law is no longer a means of testing.
Today, in the Age of Grace, salvation, eternal life, is to be had
in one way only: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved."
"Keep the commandments." Which? "Thou shalt do no murder,
Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt
not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother; and,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The commandments which
the Lord told this man to keep were those which affected his
relationship with his fellow man. "And the young man saith unto
Him, All these have I kept from my youth up; what lack I yet?"
Now here was a moral and righteous young man, in the eyes of the
world, "touching the law blameless." How did the Lord Jesus
answer this? In wisdom He showed the young man how he failed in
obeying, that though he was earnest and desirous of
righteousness, he did not love his neighbour as himself. "If thou
wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven: and come, follow
Me. But when the young man heard it, he went away sorrowful, for
he had great possessions" (Matt. 19:21, 22). Yes, no doubt he was
sorrowful, but we know that our Lord's heart was more touched
than was the young man's, because that man would not recognize
his own failure and his need that God alone could save him.
"Then said Jesus unto His disciples, Verily I say unto you,
That a rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the
Kingdom of God" (Matt. 19:23, 24). The needle here mentioned is a
common sewing or embroidery needle, rather than a small gateway
through which a camel can go. In answer to the disciples'
question, "Who, then, can be saved?" the Lord replied, "with men
it is impossible; but with God all things are possible." Of men
salvation is impossible; there is nothing we can do to be saved,
for salvation is by the finished work that Christ has
accomplished for us.
Matt. 19:27-30
"Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Behold, we have
forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore?"
(Matt. 19:27). The Holy Spirit has revealed Peter in the Gospel
of Matthew in all the weakness of the flesh. Only once did he
speak words worthy of commendation, and then it was revealed to
him by the heavenly Father (Matt. 16:16). Yet Peter was the great
apostle of the record of early Acts! The Holy Spirit has revealed
to us in Peter the power of His regenerating work, to show us
that no matter how weak we may be in the flesh, He can mold us
and use us to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
"What do we get? We have given up all; what is our portion?"
Surely it was the flesh speaking. Yet the Lord did not rebuke
him, but told him of one of the things which had been prepared
for His own. "Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed
Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on the
throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon the twelve thrones
judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:28). This portion
of the Lord's reply applies only to the disciples. The
regeneration when the Son of Man shall reign, refers to the
millennial rule of our Lord, when creation shall be renewed.
(Refer to Isaiah 11:6-9; Zech. 12:8; Rom. 8:19.) Then the
disciples reigning with Messiah, shall judge the twelve tribes of
Israel, a restoration of this method of ruling Israel (Judges
1:11; 2:18) as promised to His people: "And I will restore thy
judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning.
Afterward thou shalt be called the city of righteousness, the
faithful city" (Isa. 1:26).
"And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or
sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands,
for My Name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall
inherit everlasting life" (Matt. 19:29). While the disciples
alone shall rule over the twelve tribes of Israel, all those who
have received the Lord Jesus as their Saviour, every one that for
His sake hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or parents, or
husbands, or wives, shall receive an hundredfold, shall inherit
eternal life, and "shall also reign with Him" (2 Tim. 2:12). The
exceeding and precious promises of God's Word shall come to pass.
Let us not be concerned with "what we shall have," for our
heavenly Father is better able to know our needs and to prepare
our inheritance than are we, but let us be occupied with Christ
and the glory of His Name. "Nevertheless we, according to His
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13).
_140
CHAPTER XX
We must be careful, in studying yet another of the Kingdom
parables, to note to whom and under what circumstances our Lord
spoke in parables. The one before us was addressed to the
disciples, heirs of the Kingdom, upon the occasion, directly
after Peter's question, "Behold, we have forsaken all, and
followed Thee; what shall we have therefore?" (Matt. 19:27). Our
Lord had assured the disciples that they should "sit upon twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" in the regeneration
when He should take His place upon the throne of His glory. Then,
that they might know that rewards should be made according to His
will, He said: "But many that are first shall be last; and the
last shall be first" (Matt. 19:30).
Matt. 20:1-16
Since the verse above, Matthew 19:30, introduces the
parable, and since the parable concludes with "So the last shall
be first, and the first last," we are fully justified in
interpreting that the teaching has to do with those things about
which the Lord Jesus had been speaking.
"For the Kingdom of the heavens is like unto a man that is
an householder ..." and the parable follows, verses one to
sixteen. First, who is the householder? In the last parable of
Matthew thirteen, the householder is the Lord, and consequently
we may be sure that it is again He in this instance. There are
some who have taught that the servants are sinners, and that no
matter when they receive the Lord Jesus as Saviour, their reward
is eternal salvation. This interpretation can hardly be so, for
salvation is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and cannot be
earned. "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man
should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9).
Also, such an interpretation would be taking the parable out
of its context, which has to do with reward for service and not
with salvation.
The householder is the Lord Jesus; the servants are His
disciples, children of the Kingdom. The disciples had become
occupied with their future position, the rewards for their
faithfulness. In His loving way the Lord was reminding them that
everything that they were, or should be, was a result, not of
their self-efforts, but of God's grace. He, in His divine
sovereignty, alone could give the rewards, and He would do so
according to His will, and not according to their thoughts.
"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. 18:25).
And by His Word, the parable before us, He is reminding us
also that all that we have is a result of grace. There is only
one foundation: Jesus Christ. One day He shall judge the
believers for their works, when "Every man's work shall be made
manifest" (1 Cor. 3:13). But though this be so, our Lord does not
want us to dwell upon our rewards, but upon the riches of His
grace by which He made us free. One simple truth is taught here;
a man's reward shall be, not according to the length of his
service, nor according to the notoriety of his service, but under
the will of God according to his faithfulness to the opportunity
afforded him. "Is it not lawful for Me to do what I will with
Mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall
be first, and the first last; for many be (the) called, but few
chosen" (Matt. 20:15-16).
Matt. 20:17-19
"And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples
apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to
Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief
priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to
death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock, and to
scourge, and to crucify Him; and the third day He shall rise
again." Little comment is needed. Gradually, but surely His hour
was drawing near, when He should fulfil that which had been in
the mind of God from Eternity. His disciples did not understand;
the full realization of what He should suffer was hid from them
(Luke 18:34). But He knew all that the bitter cup should mean.
Matchless love!
Matt. 20:20-28
"Then came to Him the mother of Zebedee's children with her
sons, worshipping Him, and desiring a certain thing of Him. And
He said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto Him, Grant that
these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, and the
other on the left, in Thy Kingdom" (Matt. 20:20, 21). They could
not have understood His words, or they would never have come in
this fashion. While the mother of James and John is here
mentioned, the chief censure should be upon James and John. In
Mark's record of the event, they asked the favour, and our Lord's
answer here was to them, indicating that they had a part in the
request, and were at fault. But we repeat, they could not have
fully understood the previous statement of the Lord. Again no
rebuke came from the mouth of our Lord, but He answered, "Ye know
not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall
drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized
with? They say unto Him, We are able." Had they understood, they
would never have so answered. They desired to sit the one on the
right hand, and the other on the left, in the Kingdom. Were they
able to drink of the cup that our Lord should drink of, would
they have been willing to hang one on the right hand, and the
other on the left, in the place of the thieves at Calvary? Yes,
later they were able. The Lord said: "Ye shall indeed drink of
the cup" -- but would they have been able then? No -- it was His
death and resurrection which empowered them to face martyrdom and
exile. As yet they were not able, but "they understood none of
these things."
"To sit on My right hand, and on My left, is not Mine to
give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of My
Father" (Matt. 20:23). The Lord Jesus came in humiliation, to do
the will of, and to exalt, the Father in Heaven. Consequently,
even the bestowal of the honoured places shall be left to God the
Father. The Lord is now raised and seated in Heaven awaiting the
completion of His Body, the Bride, but He is subject to His
Father. When every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess
that He is Lord, it will be to the glory of God the Father. "And
when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son
also Himself be subject unto Him Who put all things under Him,
that God may be All in all" (1 Cor. 15:28).
"And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation
against the two brethren" (not the mother). But the Lord Jesus
called them to Him. He said that in the Gentile world the princes
and the great exercise authority over others. "But it shall not
be so among you (heirs of the Kingdom): but whosoever will be
great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be
chief among you, let him be your servant" (Matt. 20:26, 27). The
Kingdom is not like the world; those who are greatest in God's
sight are those who humble themselves. The Lord Jesus Christ
Himself, the greatest of all, "came not to be ministered unto,
but to give His life a ransom for many." "Though He were a Son,
yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered; and
being made perfect, He became the Author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey Him" (Heb. 8:8, 9).
Matt. 20:29-34
"And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude
followed Him. And, behold, two blind men sitting by the wayside,
when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have
mercy on us, O Lord, Thou Son of David. ... So Jesus had
compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their
eyes received sight, and they followed Him" (Matt. 20:29, 30,
34). This was the last act in the public ministry of the Lord
Jesus before He formally presented Himself to His own people
Israel in His own city, Jerusalem. Recorded as it is in this
Gospel, it has a deeper significance than simply the account of
another miracle. The multitudes were following the Lord, but they
did not recognize Him as Messiah, the Son of David. It is true
that in the excitement of His entry into Jerusalem they cried
out: "Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He Who cometh in
the Name of the Lord." But there was no meaning, but hysteria, in
this, for not long after the same voices were screaming: "Crucify
Him." By the wayside sat two blind men who heard that Jesus was
passing. What was their cry? "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Thou Son
of David." They recognized Him as the One for Whom they had been
looking, though they could not see Him, and He opened their eyes
that the fact that He is the Lord, Son of David, might be
established in the mouths of two or more witnesses, according to
law (Deut. 19:15).
These men are also a type of the remnant of Israel at the
end of the age, after the Church has been taken, who, in darkness
will cry to the Lord Jesus as the Son of David, calling upon Him
to deliver them. Though Israel will not see Him, they will
believe on Him as the promised One. Then He will enter Jerusalem
in honour and glory, and the remnant of Israel shall behold Him
and will sing praises to His Name: "Blessed is He Who cometh in
the Name of the Lord."
_145
CHAPTER XXI
The Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is the focal point of the
history of the ages. From eternity, from the creation, the Cross
was God's plan for the redemption of the race; so in the fulness
of time God sent His own Son to be born of a virgin that He might
die for your sins and mine. The Lord Jesus came to earth in
humiliation, He lived His life in perfect obedience to the
Father's will, steadfastly setting His face toward Jerusalem that
His death might be accomplished. The chapter before us records
important events which led up to the fulfilment of the Father's
decree and the Son's purpose; for here our Lord publicly offered
Himself as King to His people, and within one week He was
publicly rejected in the most positive way He could be rejected,
by being put to death. The Lord Jesus' entrance to Jerusalem has
been called His Triumphal Entry. From the world's view-point, it
could hardly be termed triumphal, for it led to His arrest and
death. But in God's wisdom, it was a triumph; the very fact that
it led to the Lord's death accomplished our salvation, God's
triumph over Satan and sin, and over the power of death, by which
our sinless Lord could not be bound.
We have seen the King born, we have heard the Kingdom of the
heavens proclaimed, we have read the constitution of the Kingdom,
we have been warned that the King would be rejected, and have
seen the growing hatred of the religious leaders toward that end,
we have observed the manifestation of the King's power that He is
God; we shall see in the portion before us that though He was
acclaimed as the King should have been: "Hosanna to the Son of
David: Blessed is He Who cometh in the Name of the Lord," the
multitudes neither knew Him nor understood what they said. For
when, Jerusalem having been stirred, they asked, "Who is this?"
the multitude answered, "This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of
Galilee."
Matt. 21:1-5
"And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to
Bethpage, unto the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two
disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against
you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with
her: Loose them, and bring them unto Me. And if any say ought
unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and
straightway he will send them" (Matt. 21:1-3).
Heretofore the Lord Jesus had never sought prominence. He
had entered Jerusalem before, quietly and unheralded; He had
ministered to the multitudes in the villages and on the
hillsides; He had told many whom He healed: "Go, and tell no
man." This "Triumphal Entry" was not by chance, but by deliberate
design. "Go ... find the ass ... the Lord hath need." This was to
be the occasion for the public offer of Himself as King, and
consequently He in His foreknowledge arranged the acclamation to
suit His time. Surely He is God; all that we have seen in the
Gospel proves that. And here again He demonstrated His power. Was
it not by His Holy Spirit that the prophet Zechariah had written
more than five hundred years before: "Behold, thy King cometh
unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of
an ass"? Surely, then, Messiah God knew where the ass would be
found, and what question His disciples would be asked (See Mark
11:3-6) when they went to loose the beast. Again He demonstrated
His identity before His disciples and the multitude. In passing,
it should be noted that Matthew 21:5, in quoting Zechariah 9:9,
leaves out a clause: "He is just, and having salvation." This is
just another proof of the divine inspiration of the Scriptures.
Had man written Matthew's Gospel he would have quoted the full
verse, but under the Holy Spirit's guidance a clause is left out
which should be left out in this Jewish Gospel, for "He is just,
and having salvation," because Israel rejected her King, will not
apply to the Jewish nation until the Lord's second coming, in
power and glory, when the remnant of Israel shall receive Him as
their Messiah and King.
Matt. 21:6-9
"And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,
and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes,
and they set Him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their
garments in the way: others cut down branches from the trees, and
strewed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and
that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David:
Blessed is He Who cometh in the Name of the Lord; Hosanna in the
highest" (Matt. 21:6-9). Here described is the greatest moment in
the history of the nation Israel. Their King, promised through
the centuries, was here before them, presenting Himself as He
entered the Holy City of His father David. That event of which
the prophets spoke, which father had handed down to son in great
and desired hope, was at hand. We shall see what Israel did with
it.
The greatness of our Lord's humility is portrayed here. He
Who was rich for our sakes became poor. The King of kings and
Lord of lords was making His "triumphal entry" to the seat of His
Kingdom! With the blare of trumpets, on a white charger, with the
clash of arms, in regal attire? No -- but with the cry of the
common people, on a beast of burden, with the swish of branches,
in His peasant's garments. There was a great stir so that all the
city was moved, but Rome was not worried. Rome was used to
military display when the emperor entered its cities: Rome saw no
arms, no cause for dismay; in fact, Rome paid little attention to
the event, for later Pilate said: "What evil hath He done? I find
no fault in Him." There was no accusation of sedition. Yes, it
was a lowly and meek King Who entered Jerusalem on that day, but
it was none the less God the Son fulfilling the words of the
prophet Zechariah. The stately procession of the victorious
Caesars and the rulers of other nations have been forgotten long
since, but the "triumphal entry" of our Lord Jesus Christ is
recorded in God's Word and will never pass away. For a brief
moment the Lord Jesus was acclaimed, "The multitudes that went
before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of
David: Blessed is He Who cometh in the Name of the Lord." Five
days later the multitudes again cried, this time shouting: "Away
with Him! Crucify Him!" "He is despised and rejected of men; a
Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were
our faces from Him: He was despised, and we esteemed Him not"
(Isa. 53:3).
Matt. 21:10-11
"And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city was
moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus
the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee" (Matt. 21:10, 11). Rejected!
"Who is this? This is Jesus the prophet." Here was the first step
in the rejection after the Lord's public presentation of Himself.
Their cries were for the Son of David, but even as they shouted
in their enthusiasm, they did not believe their own words. They
were carried away for a season by His power, but at the moment
when He would have come as Messiah to His own people, a
Deliverer, they despised Him and turned Him away. Not Messiah,
not the King, but "This is Jesus the Prophet." With these words
the Son of God was rejected and Israel cast aside her blessing,
and the dispensation of the Law approached its end. But the Lord
Jesus will come again to Jerusalem. Then He shall come from the
heavens, sitting upon a white horse, His eyes shall be as a flame
of fire, on His head will be many crowns, He will be clothed in a
vesture dipped in blood, and His Name shall be called the Word of
God, King of kings, and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:11-16). Then
Israel shall see Him Whom they have pierced, and they shall bow
down and worship Him, the Son of David: "Blessed is He Who cometh
in the Name of the Lord."
Matt. 21:12-13
"And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all
them that sold and bought, and overthrew the tables of the
money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said
unto them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of
prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves" (Matt. 21:12, 13).
The first official act of the King was the cleansing of the
Temple, His Father's House and His. This is but a shadow of what
shall occur when He comes in glory. Upon this occasion He found
His House a den of thieves, housing the moneychangers, who at
gain to themselves exchanged the official coinage of Rome for
Jewish money for temple gifts; He found those who sold and bought
doves, for offerings. Here, coming as the King to be rejected, He
cast out the thieves, saying, "My House shall be called a house
of prayer," quoting from Isaiah 56:7, "but ye have made it a den
of thieves" (Jer. 7:11).
Yes, our Lord Jesus will come again, in power and in glory,
and then He shall find the re-established temple much more
besieged by the children of Satan. "Let no man deceive you by any
means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling
away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is
called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in
the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (2 Thess. 2:3,
4). Then He will fulfil the prophecy of Malachi 3:1-3, only
foreshadowed upon the present occasion: "the Lord Whom ye seek
shall suddenly come to His Temple, even the Messenger of the
covenant, Whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the
Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of His coming? And who
shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner's fire,
and like fullers' soap: And He shall sit as a refiner and
purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and
purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord
an offering in righteousness."
Matt. 21:14-16
"And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple; and
He healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the
wonderful things that He did, and the children crying in the
temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, they were sore
displeased. And said unto Him, Hearest Thou what these say?"
(Matt. 21:14-16). From a scene of judgment we are taken to a
picture of the blessing that followed our Lord's first coming as
King, and that will follow His second entry, as King in power,
when all diseases shall be healed.
"And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful
things that He did" -- the chief priests and scribes! Now we know
that there was trouble. How blind! Those who should have fallen
down in worship, who should have been happiest in shouts of joy:
"Hosanna to the Son of David," were sore displeased. "Hearest
Thou what these say? Why, these children are crying for joy:
'Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He Who cometh in the
Name of the Lord.' Stop them! It's blasphemy!" "And Jesus said
unto them, Yea; have ye never read, out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings Thou hast perfected praise." "O Lord, our Lord, how
excellent is Thy Name in all the earth! Who hast set Thy glory
above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast
Thou ordained strength" (Psa. 8:1, 2). Our Lord signified that
the Psalms of David speak of Him, and truly it was fulfilled: out
of the mouths of children was His praise perfected. Thus was the
enemy stilled.
Matt. 21:17
"And He left them, and went out of the city into Bethany;
and He lodged there" (Matt. 21:17). He, the true Son of David,
had come as King, and had been rejected. In the morning there
were shouts of praise; in the evening they were sore displeased.
Night has come upon Israel; the King has left them because of
their unbelief. But He will return, and a remnant of Israel, in
her darkest hour shall see Him and believe.
Matt. 21:18, 19
"Now in the morning as He returned into the city, He
hungered" (Matt. 21:18). "He hungered" -- not only is the Lord
Jesus perfect God, but He was perfect Man subject to human
feelings with us. But we believe that here there was more than
physical hunger; there was also a spiritual hunger. The fig tree
which He saw in the way (v. 19) is a type of Israel. There was
nothing on it but leaves; no fruit. In Mark eleven we are told
that it was not yet time for figs. Thus Israel was barren; there
was religious formality, the leaves, and one might expect to see
early fruitfulness. But God in His knowledge knew that it was not
yet the time when Israel should be fruitful, to believe. So
finding no fruit, He said, "Let no fruit grow on thee
henceforward for ever." In the same way He spoke to unbelieving
Israel. "And presently the fig tree withered away."
Matt. 21:20-22
"And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How
soon is the fig tree withered away!" (Matt. 21:20). Israel, who
should have been ready to establish the Lord Jesus as Messiah and
King, was only a hindrance to Him, an obstacle in His path. The
Lord Jesus then told the disciples: "Verily I say unto you, If ye
have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is
done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain
(a mountain typifies any obstacle), Be thou removed, and be cast
into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye
shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Matt. 21:21,
22). Now we well realize that some say that this promise was in
relation to unbelieving Israel, the mountain, and that the
promise applies only to the disciples. We do not believe that it
is so limited. Our Lord was speaking to His disciples, believers,
children of the Kingdom. We who are born again are His disciples,
and the promise says: "All things, whatsoever ye shall ask."
There is a like promise for the Church: "This is the confidence
that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His
will, He heareth us; And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever
we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of
Him" (1 John 5:14, 15). The only limitation is our faith; "And
all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall
receive."
Matt. 21:23-27
"And when He was come into the Temple, the chief priests and
the elders of the people came unto Him as He was teaching, and
said, By what authority doest Thou these things? And who gave
Thee this authority?" (Matt. 21:23). The narrative is found in
the Word, and little exposition is needed. The Lord, on the
preceding day, had cleansed the Temple; on this day He began
teaching, no doubt to multitudes of Jews who had come into
Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover Feast. Then the scribes and
elders of the people, an official body representing the
priesthood and the laity, asked Him by what authority He did
these things, that is, the cleansing and the teaching in the
temple. One of our Lord's names is Wisdom. He knew that their
questioning was insincere, that they who would not receive the
testimony of the forerunner, John the Baptist, could not receive
His testimony either. And so the Lord met them with another
question: "The baptism of John, whence was it? from Heaven, or of
men?" That was a tester! They knew that they should say: "From
Heaven." But if they said that, the Lord would ask why they had
not received John and his testimony as to Who the Lord is, who
said: "He must increase, but I must decrease." They wanted to
say: "Of men," but they were afraid of the multitudes who
believed in John as a prophet. So they answered: "We cannot
tell." Our Lord replied, "Neither do I tell you by what authority
I do these things." It is folly to argue heavenly things with one
who is insincere and will not tell the truth. The Lord knows
men's hearts, and He knew that these who would not receive John's
witness to Him, that He is God, would not receive His own
testimony concerning Himself.
Matt. 21:28-32
"But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came
to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He
answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented and
went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he
answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain
did the will of his father?" (Matt. 21:28-31).
The teaching is very clear. The Lord had just said He would
not tell them on what authority He did these things. Then --
"What think ye? A certain man had two sons. ..." Now John had
come with the following message: "Repent ye; for the Kingdom of
the heavens is at hand." The first son typifies the publicans and
harlots, who pretended no interest at first, but afterwards
repented. The second son speaks of the religious leaders who
should have been interested, who said, "I, sir" (The word go is
italicized and does not appear in the Greek). "I, sir" -- they
pointed to themselves in contrast to the others, they called
attention to their own righteousness, but they repented not. The
Lord Jesus forced them to bring their own verdict upon
themselves. "Whether of them twain did the will of his father?
They say unto Him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say
unto you, That the publicans and harlots believed him; and ye,
when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might
believe him."
"The Son of Man came not to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance" (Matt. 9:13).
Matt. 21:33-42
"Hear another parable: There was a certain householder,
which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a
winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen,
and went into a far country" (Matt. 21:33). In Isaiah 5:7 we
read: "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of
Israel." The husbandmen are the religious leaders who should have
kept the vineyard for Jehovah God so that it might be fruitful to
His glory. But when the time of the fruit drew near, one by one
the servants whom God sent, that is, the prophets, were not
respected but were rejected and maltreated. Finally God sent His
own Son! "But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among
themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us
seize on his inheritance" (Matt. 21:38). Here before the elders
and scribes, the husbandmen, stood the Son Himself. What did they
do? Did they receive Him; did they believe on Him? No -- "And
they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him"
(vs. 39). Blind Israel; "blind leaders of the blind"! In the
previous parable the Lord had forced them to return the verdict
against themselves; in this one He forced them to pronounce
judgment upon themselves. "When the Lord therefore of the
vineyard cometh, what will He do unto those husbandmen? They say
unto Him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will
let out His vineyard to other husbandmen, who shall render Him
the fruits in their season" (Matt. 21:40, 41).
Our Lord predicted in this parable what should befall Him.
He knew the awful death that should be His, but for you and me,
for the joy that was set before Him, "He endured the cross,
despising the shame," that we might share His inheritance. The
scribes and elders also predicted what should befall them, for
the Lord Jesus made them say that they were miserable sinners who
deserved punishment at the hands of a righteous God, but they did
not yet know or realize the meaning of their own words. Then the
Lord said to them: "Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The
Stone which the builders rejected, the Same is become the Head of
the corner; this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our
eyes" (Matt. 21:42, quoting from Psalm 118:22, 23, proving again
the Messianic portent of the Psalms of David). He is the Stone
Whom they (the builders) rejected. Hear Paul: "But we preach
Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the
Greeks foolishness; But unto them who are called, both Jews and
Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor.
1:23, 24). Listen to Peter: "Unto you therefore who believe He is
precious: but unto them who are disobedient, the Stone which the
builders disallowed, the Same is made the Head of the corner, and
a Stone of stumbling, and a Rock of offence, even to them who
stumble at the Word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were
appointed" (1 Peter 2:7, 8). On this Rock, Christ crucified and
raised again, is the Church built. Can you sing with other
believers: "On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is
sinking sand"? Believe on Him, and you shall be saved. "Neither
is there salvation in any other: for there is none other Name
under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts
4:12).
Matt. 21:43, 44
Then the Lord pronounced judgment: "Therefore say I unto
you, The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a
nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall
fall on this Stone shall be broken: but on whosoever it shall
fall, it will grind him to powder" (Matt. 21:43, 44). The Kingdom
of God is taken from unbelieving Israel. They had been rejecting
the King; He in turn rejected them.
Part of the prophetic teaching (of verse forty-four) has
been and is being fulfilled: Christ a stumbling block to
disbelieving Jew and Gentile. The other portion is yet future
when the Lord Jesus Christ, "the Stone cut without hands," shall
fall and grind to powder the Gentile world-powers (See Dan. 2;
Rev. 16). That will be when He comes in glory. Praise the Lord,
we His Bride, before that time will have been caught up "to meet
the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
Matt. 21:45, 46
"And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His
parables (plural), they perceived that He spake of them" (v. 45).
At last light appeared to the blind; yet they did not repent.
"But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the
multitude, because they took Him for a prophet." We pray that the
Holy Spirit will speak to any unsaved one who reads these words,
to convict of sin, and to bring that one to the Solid Rock, the
Lord Jesus, Who will save to the uttermost them that believe. As
for believers, may we look to the Lord for His teaching, and may
we look for His soon coming for His own. "Wherefore comfort one
another with these words."
_158
CHAPTER XXII
Our Lord had entered Jerusalem to offer Himself as King, and
at the same time He entered into the last week of His earthly
ministry before His crucifixion. Fearlessly He upbraided His
enemies, the chief priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, and the
Sadducees. You will recall that chapter twenty-one closes with
the record of two parables which so disturbed and angered the
Lord's opponents that they sought some means of destroying Him.
"And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables,
they perceived that He spoke of them. But when they sought to lay
hands on Him, they feared the multitude, because they took Him
for a prophet."
Matt. 22:1-14
"Then Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables
and said, The Kingdom of the heavens is like unto a certain king,
who made a marriage for his son. . . ." Now there is no doubt who
the King is, and who the Son is. The King is God the Father, and
the Son is Jesus Christ our Lord. The parable speaks of the
Kingdom of the heavens offered to Israel; that is, the Kingdom
over which the Son was to reign. God the Father sent forth His
servants, the prophets ending with John the Baptist, "to call
them that were bidden to the wedding." Who was that? Israel, of
course. Israel rejected Messiah; and He was crucified.
"Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them who
are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my
fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the
marriage" (Matt. 22:4). Who was bidden? Israel, of course.
Messiah had been crucified, but He was raised again: all things
were ready for Israel to come. "The other servants" are the
apostles. The invitation to Israel as a nation is recorded in
Acts 3:12-26. It was not the Gospel of Grace that Peter preached
upon this occasion, but an invitation to Israel the nation: "Ye
men of Israel ... the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob,
the God of our fathers. ... But those things, which God before
had showed by the mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should
suffer, He hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of
refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall
send Jesus Christ, Who before was preached unto you. ... Ye are
the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made
with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all
the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having
raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away
every one of you from his iniquities." This was not a message to
the Gentiles; it was Jewish, exclusively. The times of refreshing
and restitution was a promise to Israel, when Messiah should
reign on earth (Deut. 30:1-9; 2 Sam. 7:16; Zech. 12:8). God the
Father was ready then for the Son to return to reign; so the
Gospel of the Kingdom was again preached: "Repent ye." "But they
made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another
to his merchandise: and the remnant took his servants, and
entreated them spitefully, and slew them" (Matt. 22:5, 6). The
persecution began immediately (see Acts 4:1), and reached its
climax with the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7). "But when the king
heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and
destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city" (Matt.
22:7). History tells us of the complete fulfilment of this
prophecy, and that of Luke 21:20-24,, in the destruction of
Jerusalem in A.D. 70, when Titus came upon the city, and
destroyed it, and Israel was dispersed. Then God's dealing with
Israel as a nation was completed; He will deal with the nation
again, after the Age of Grace. In the meantime, during this
Church Age, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, but all men may
come to God through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray
for the Jews, and to be used of God yourself in dealing with them
that they, too, may be convinced of sin by the Holy Spirit, that
many may come into the knowledge of God's grace and salvation in
these last days.
"Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but
they who were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the
highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So
those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together
all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was
furnished with guests" (Matt. 22:8-10).
The interpretation generally accepted by those who have a
knowledge of dispensational truth is that this invitation: "Go ye
therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to
the marriage" (vs. 9), refers to the new message, the Gospel of
Grace, which was sent out to the Gentiles. We have the deepest
respect for the men of God who are so led, yet we believe such
teaching to be inconsistent with the accuracy of detail in the
parables of our Lord. A certain king made a marriage for His Son;
the Son is the Lord Jesus, the Bridegroom. Where there is a
bridegroom and a wedding, there must be a bride. Who is the
bride? The Church, of course, the Body of believers of this age
trusting in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus. The Gospel of Grace
is an invitation to become part of the Bride of Christ, not to be
a guest at the wedding. We are told in verse eight: "The wedding
is ready." When will the marriage of the Lamb take place? After
the Church has been caught up to meet the Lord in the air, at the
end of Jacob's trouble, just before the second coming of the Lord
Jesus in glory (Rev. 19). After the second invitation was
rejected, Jerusalem was destroyed and Israel scattered. We
believe that the third invitation is also to Israel, during the
Tribulation; that the going out into the highways and gathering
together of all as many as they found, both good and bad, refers
to Israel regathered from all nations to her land. Then Messiah,
the Lord Jesus, the King, with His Bride, the Church, will come
to reign; then the Kingdom of the heavens will be established
upon the earth. This is the wedding feast of joy and blessing to
which Israel was invited, and which she twice refused. It was the
same invitation in each instance. And Israel the nation, both the
good and the bad, who have not been slain during the tribulation,
will gather for the feast.
"And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a
man who had not on a wedding garment: and he saith unto him,
Friend, how comest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?
And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind
him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer
darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many
are called, but few are chosen" (Matt. 22:11-14).
"And when the king came to see the guests." The King of
verse two is the Father; but is not the King of verse eleven the
Son? The Bridegroom and the Bride have been invited; the Father
has given the Son the throne of David and He has come upon the
earth to rule. He is now the King, and when He came to see the
guests, He saw one not clothed in a wedding garment; not in the
righteousness of Christ, but in his own righteousness. "Friend,
how comest thou in thither not having a wedding garment?" "How?
-- You were alive at the time of the Rapture? (See Appendix D.)
You have lived through the Great Tribulation? You have seen the
signs of Messiah's return in glory? And yet you have not believed
on Me?" Before the Lord every mouth is stopped; "and he was
speechless." "Then said the king ... bind him, ... and cast him
into outer darkness." When the Lord returns in glory, He will
judge Israel as to who shall enter the land of Kingdom blessing.
"As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and
with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule
over you: and I will bring you out from the people, and will
gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a
mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured
out. ... And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will
bring you into the bond of the covenant: And I will purge from
among you the rebels and them that transgress against Me: I will
bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they
shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I
am the Lord" (Ezekiel 20:33-38; see also Malachi 3:2-5).
Matt. 22:15-22
"Then went the Pharisees and took counsel how they might
entangle Him in His talk, and they sent out unto Him their
disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that Thou
art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, ... Tell us
therefore, what Thinkest Thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto
Caesar, or not?" (Matt. 22:15-17).
The Lord Jesus had finished the parable of Israel's
unbelief. The Pharisees, like the man not having a wedding
garment, were speechless before the Lord. Instead, they went and
counselled with the Herodians, who like the Sadducees were hated
enemies. The forces of Satan combined to entrap our Lord, just as
today they are allied in trying to destroy the Word of God. The
Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees -- the record of this
chapter shows us their efforts to entangle the Lord Jesus.
Ritualism, Worldliness, Rationalism -- these are the devil's
forces of unbelief and hatred against the atoning work of our
Lord, but God will prevail. Satan has been defeated at the Cross
of the Lord Jesus; and by His resurrection.
"Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar?" On this subtle
question their hopes were based. If the Lord should answer "No,"
then the Herodians, who favoured Roman authority, would accuse
Him of conspiracy against the government. If He answered "Yes,"
then the Pharisees, the religious leaders, would have claimed
that He favoured subjection to Rome and therefore could not be
Messiah. But our Lord knew their thoughts. Again, He Whose Name
is Wisdom, overcame Satan's agents and struck back at them with
His answer: "Shew Me the tribute money. ... Whose is this image
and superscription?" "They say unto Him, Caesar's. Then saith He
unto them, render therefore unto Caesar the things which are
Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." Once more they
were speechless. The answer was perfect: This is Caesar's image;
give tribute therefore to Caesar. But ye hypocrites, render unto
God the things which are God's. That is where you fall down, not
in the tribute paid to Caesar, but in the tribute rendered to
God, Whom you are supposed to serve. Render unto Him those things
which are His. "When they had heard these words, they marvelled,
and left Him, and went their way."
Matt. 22:23-33
"The same day came to Him the Sadducees, who say that there
is no resurrection, and asked Him, saying, Master, Moses said, If
a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife,
and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were with us seven
brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased,
and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother: Likewise
the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. And last of all
the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife
shall she be of the seven? For they all had her" (Matt.
22:23-28).
We can imagine the attitude of the Sadducees when they asked
this question of the Lord: first, contempt for their enemies, the
Pharisees and the Herodians, who had failed to trap Him;
secondly, unbelief in the Lord and the Scriptures; thirdly, a
sarcastic sneer at the question of the resurrection, for they did
not believe in life after death, in spirits or angels. What did
our Lord say to them? "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor
the power of God." He did not try to prove that the Scriptures
are the Word of God, but He accused them of ignorance. "Ye do
err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the
resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage. But
are as the angels of God in Heaven" (Matt. 22:29-30). "In a few
words, the Lord affirms the truth of the resurrection, the
existence of angels, which they denied, and shows that their
carnal imaginations were but the result of their carnal hearts.
The body of humiliation will not be continued in resurrection,
and earthly relations such as marrying and giving in marriage
will cease there" (A.C. Gaebelein).
"But, as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not
read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God
of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is
not a God of the dead, but of the living" (Matt. 22:31, 32). In
speaking to Moses, God had said (Ex. 3:6): "I am the God of thy
father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob." Not _I _was the God of your fathers, but _I _AM. The Lord
Jesus here affirmed the resurrection by the words of God. No
further proof is needed. "And when the multitude heard this, they
were astonished at His doctrine."
Matt. 22:34-40
"But when the Pharisees had heard that He had put the
Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of
them, who was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and
saying, Master, what is the great commandment in the law?" (Matt.
22:34-36).
Here was the third testing. As the Lord Jesus was tempted
three times by Satan, so He was by Satan's instruments. But the
Devil knew Who Jesus was; he approached the Lord, "Since Thou be
the Son of God." The world, however, does not believe, and these
men in each instance approached the Lord Jesus not as Lord but as
Master (Teacher). To them He was only human.
Then a lawyer brought up a question on which there was much
divergence of opinion, as they thought He would not answer with
finality. "Which is the great commandment in the law?" He Who
made the Law, Who was the fulfilment of the Law, in all wisdom
and knowledge answered truth; "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like
unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matt. 22:37-40).
What man who understands these words is not condemned? But God
has provided a way, by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Believe on Him, receive Him as your Saviour, and it shall be
counted unto you as righteousness, and you shall be saved. Again
His opponents marvelled; in Mark twelve it is recorded that the
lawyer answered, "Thou hast said the truth," a great admission
for an enemy of the Lord. And the Lord Jesus replied: "Thou art
not far from the Kingdom of God." Not far? No, for he recognized
the wisdom and the truth. But "not far" is not in; you must
receive the Lord Jesus personally, and put your trust in His
finished work.
Matt. 22:41-46
"While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked
them, saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He?"
It was now the Lord's turn, and He did not fail as they
failed. "What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He?" That seemed
an easy question to the Pharisees; were they not the teachers of
the Scriptures? Why, Messiah, Christ, was to be the Son of David,
and to sit upon David's throne. Yes, they knew the Scriptures,
but they did not understand them. The Lord then asked: "How then
doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, the Lord said unto my
Lord, Sit Thou on My right Hand, till I make Thine enemies Thy
footstool? If David then call Him Lord, how is He his Son?"
(Matt. 22:43-45). Yes, Messiah is the Son of David, but He is
also the Son of God. Otherwise, why would David, in Psalm 110,
speaking of his son, call His Son His Lord? "What think ye of
Christ? Whose Son is He?" That is a question equally as important
to us as to the Pharisees. Is He a Man only, the Son of David, or
is He also Son of God? By His genealogy He is proved to be the
Son of David, by His life, His death, His resurrection, His
ascension, His Spirit, His Word, He is proved to be the Son of
God. One day He will sit upon the throne of His father David, and
God the Father will make His enemies His footstool. Have you
received Him as your Lord and Saviour? "What think ye of Christ?"
_167
CHAPTER XXIII
Matt. 23:1-36
In Revelation 19:11-16 we are told of the Lord Jesus' return
in glory: "His eyes as a flame of fire, and on His head many
crowns; ... and out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with
it He should smite the nations; and He shall rule them with a rod
of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and
wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His
thigh a Name written, king of kings, and lord of lords." "Out of
His mouth goeth a sharp sword" -- just a glimpse of all this is
given us in Matthew twenty-three as He denounced the Pharisees.
Such words of biting ferocity and sharpness have never before or
since been uttered, as He revealed the hearts of those men before
Him.
"Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to His disciples,
saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat; all
therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do;
but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
Hypocrites! Hypocrites! Fools and blind! Whited sepulchres, which
indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full ... of
uncleanness! Ye serpents! Ye generation of vipers! How can ye
escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore behold I send unto you
prophets and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall
kill and crucify; and some of them ye shall scourge in your
synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you
may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth ... verily I
say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation."
What denunciation! But it is only by God's grace that He does not
speak in that way of us. Every imagination of the thoughts of
man's heart is only evil continually (Gen. 6:5); man's heart is
desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9) -- only by the blood of the Lord
Jesus are we saved from sin. May God use us to take this
wonderful message to many souls who may thus be saved from the
wrath of the Lamb.
Matt. 23:37
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and
stonest them who are sent unto thee, how often would I have
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matt. 23:37). Then
in tenderness our Lord looked upon His people, Israel, and His
city. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem." How He would have delighted to
take them to Himself, safe beneath the everlasting arms. "Come
unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest." "How often would I have gathered thy children
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings --
and ye would not!" They rejected their Messiah; they were soon to
crucify Him.
Matt. 23:38, 39
"Behold, your house is left desolate. For I say unto you, ye
shall not see Me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He Who
cometh in the Name of the Lord" (Matt. 23:38, 39). They had cried
that upon one occasion, but they did not mean it in their hearts.
But He will come again to His city; then every eye shall see Him,
they shall look upon Him Whom they have pierced, and they shall
shout with joy: "Hosanna, Blessed is He Who cometh in the Name of
the Lord."
_169
CHAPTER XXIV
We have learned that Matthew's Gospel is dispensational in
its teaching. In the study of the words of our Lord, in this
Gospel, therefore, we must be particularly careful to determine
of what age He was speaking. The only method which can be
accurate is to compare Scripture with Scripture, not relying on
our own judgment. If the interpretations of all parts of the
Scripture which relate to the same things dove-tail, then we may
be sure that our understanding is of the Holy Spirit. In the
passage before us, dealing with utterances of our Lord about
things which should come to pass, let us be careful to compare
these statements with the Old Testament and other New Testament
revelations, that the Spirit may fully reveal to us the
marvellous truths and accuracy of the Word of God.
Before His previously recorded great discourse, the parables
of the mystery of the Kingdom, the Word tells us, Matthew 13:1:
"The same day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the
seaside," indicating His turning of His back on the old
relationships of Israel, and a turning toward the Gentiles. In
the present instance, again there is a "going out:" "And Jesus
went out, and departed from the temple." He had answered the
questions of His enemies, and now He was again turning His back
on the relationships of Israel, but looking forward to another
day when again He should deal with God's chosen people, before
His return to earth in glory.
Matt. 24:1-3
"And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and His
disciples came to Him for to shew Him the buildings of the
temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things?
Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone
upon another that shall not be thrown down. And as He sat upon
the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately,
saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be
the sign of Thy coming, and of the consummation of the age?"
(Matt. 24:1-3).
"When shall these things be?" What things? Not only the
destruction of the temple, mentioned in the preceding verse, but
the judgment upon the Pharisees and other events of the then
future which our Lord had predicted. The destruction of the
temple prophesied here took place under the siege of Titus, 70
A.D., as did the woes pronounced upon the Pharisees. The answer
about the temple is not found in Matthew, but in Luke 21:20-24
there is a full record of that which was to take place. The Lord
also had spoken of it in a general way in the parable of the
marriage feast, Matthew 22:7, "What shall be the sign of Thy
coming, and of the consummation of the age?"
Matt. 24:4-14
"And Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed that no
man deceive you. For many shall come in My Name, saying, I am
Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and
rumours of wars ... nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and
earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of
sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and
shall kill you: ... And many false prophets shall rise, and shall
deceive many. ... But he that shall endure unto the end, the same
shall be saved. And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached
in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall
the end come" (Matt. 24:4-14).
There are three view-points taken of the Scripture now under
consideration: the post-millenarians believe that a great many of
these predictions were fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem
in 70 A.D.; the post-tribulationists believe that verses four to
thirty-one have to do with the end of the Church "Age", that
these exhortations are intended for Christians living at the end
of the Age of Grace, which will come to its close after the Great
Tribulation, through which the Church will remain on earth; the
_pre-millennial _pre-tribulationists identify verses four to
thirty-one not as a part of the Church Age, but as Jewish,
belonging to Daniel's seventieth week, the seven years of
Tribulation. (See Appendix G for _pre-millenial and Appendix F
for _pre-tribulationists.)
There are expressions in the discourse which might apply
accurately to any of the three view-points mentioned. But we
believe, and prayerfully suggest, that there are definite
statements which oppose the post-millenarian and
post-tribulationist views. We shall mention them briefly, and
then go on with the exposition.
First, regarding the post-millennial interpretation, that
all these predictions were fulfilled in the destruction of
Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and the forty years preceding that event:
verse fourteen tells us that the "Gospel of the Kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and
then shall the end come." The Gospel of the Kingdom was not
preached in all the world between 30 A.D. and 70 A.D.; in fact,
the Gospel of the Kingdom was not being preached at all, but the
Gospel of Grace. Then, too, the Son of Man did not return in
person at the destruction of Jerusalem, and finally, verse
thirty-one tells us that at His return the elect (Israel) shall
be gathered together from the four winds. In 70 A.D. Israel was
dispersed, not gathered.
Secondly regarding the post-tribulationists' interpretation,
that these predictions speak of the end of the Church Age and are
warnings for Christians, the disciples knew nothing of the Church
Age; they were living in a Jewish Age, and they asked: "What
shall be the sign of Thy coming (in glory, for that was what they
were looking for), and of the consummation of the age?" What age?
The age in which they were living. Oh, but you say, that ended at
Calvary. Yes, Law ended at Calvary, but Daniel's seventieth week,
the end of the Jewish Age, is still unfulfilled. The Church Age,
in which we are living, is a parenthesis, and before the Lord
returns in glory, the last week of Daniel's prophecy will be
fulfilled. Also, in the Church Age the Gospel of the Kingdom is
not preached to all nations, but the Gospel of Grace is preached,
as we said above. Verse thirteen says: "He that shall endure unto
the end, the same shall be saved." We know that in this Age of
Grace salvation is by no other means than belief in the Lord
Jesus Christ. False prophets, false Christs, are to arise; that
is Tribulation truth. Church teaching in the Epistles tells us
that at the end of this age, Grace, false teachers shall arise (2
Peter 2:1). Verse fifteen tells us that the Lord Himself referred
to Daniel's prophecy; Daniel's prophecy is Jewish and does not
belong to the Gentiles.
Finally, while we believe that these prophecies have to do
entirely with the Tribulation of Israel, let us remember that
there will be tendencies towards these very things before the end
of the age in which we are living, before the Rapture, and before
the Tribulation sets in. Wars and rumours of wars ... nation
shall rise against nation ... famines, pestilences, earthquakes
... false teaching... Are we not beset on all sides with such
today? We believe that the Lord may come for His saints at any
moment, for "all these are the beginning of sorrows;" surely,
then, the Tribulation must be near. Christian, "see that ye be
not troubled," for before then "the Lord Himself shall descend
from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with the Lord, Wherefore comfort one another with these
words" (1 Thess. 4:16-18).
The seventieth week of Daniel, as yet unfulfilled, will be
divided into two parts, each of three and one-half years'
duration (see Daniel 9). In "Matthew 24, verses four to fourteen"
refer to the first half of that week, the beginning of the end;
and verses fifteen to twenty-six relate to the latter half, the
Great Tribulation, and then shall the end come. Throughout the
Old Testament there are references to the time of tribulation,
Jacob's trouble, that shall precede the Lord's coming to reign on
earth. We mention two references: Jeremiah 30:4-9; Joel 2:1-17.
In the New Testament also we shall see what awful things shall
occur before our Lord shall come in glory, and we shall find in
the Book of the Revelation that the predictions for the first
part of the Tribulation agree with Matthew 24:4-14. In Revelation
four, the removal of the Church to be with the Lord is indicated,
and in the fourth and fifth chapters it (the Church) is seen
symbolically in the presence of the Lord. The Lord opens the
seven-sealed book, and what is revealed beginning in the brewing
of the seals is the last week of Daniel's prophecy. (Refer to
Revelation six to nineteen.) The first seal was opened revealing
a man on a white horse, who had a bow, who went forth to conquer.
The Lord Jesus shall come on a white horse, but this is not He,
but a false Christ, who establishes a temporary peace. What is
the first prediction of Matthew twenty-four. "Many shall come in
My Name, saying, I am Christ" (vs. 5). The second seal was opened
revealing a man on a red horse, who should take peace from the
earth. The second prediction of Matthew twenty-four is found in
verses six and seven: "Wars and rumours of wars ... nation shall
rise against nation." The third seal was opened revealing a man
on a black horse, who had balances in his hand; and "a voice in
the midst of the four beasts" indicated famine. The third
prediction of Matthew twenty-four is: "There shall be famines"
(vs. 7). The fourth seal was opened revealing one on a pale
horse, whose name was Death, and the fourth prophecy of Matthew
twenty-four tells of pestilences and earthquakes. The fifth seal
has to do with those who were slain for the Word of God, who,
under the altar, cry, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou
not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?"
What is the fifth prophecy of Matthew twenty-four? "Then shall
they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you" (vs. 9).
We see, then, how the words of our Lord and the words of the
Spirit through John in the Book of the Revelation are in accord.
These predictions have to do with the Tribulation; they are
Jewish, and these things shall surely come to pass before the
Lord Jesus Christ comes with His saints. But as we see the world
in its tendencies approaching those things which are the
beginning of sorrow, we believe that the Bride is almost
complete, and that soon we shall be with the Bridegroom.
The Gospel of the Kingdom will again be preached, when the
144,000 Jewish people shall proclaim the message of the coming
King. Then, before He returns, it "shall be preached in all the
world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end
come."
Matt. 24:15-22
"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso
readeth, let him understand:) Then let them who be in Judaea flee
into the mountains. ... For then shall be great tribulation, such
as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor
ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there
should no flesh be saved" (Matt. 24:15-22).
"The abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the
prophet." Let us look at Daniel's words. In speaking of the
Beast, in Daniel 9:27, we read: "And he shall confirm the
covenant with many for one week (seven years): and in the midst
of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to
cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it
desolate even until the consummation, and that determined shall
be poured upon the desolate." In Daniel 12:1, read of the Great
Tribulation: "there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was
since there was a nation even to that same time." In the Book of
the Revelation further light is thrown upon this last three and
one-half years of Daniel's seventieth week. The Beast out of the
sea (Rev. 13:1) will break his covenant with the Jews at the
beginning of the second three and one-half years, and will demand
worship to himself as God, standing in the Holy place (Matt.
24:15). To go fully into these things here would require full
studies of Daniel and Revelation. We suggest the careful reading
of the Book of the Revelation, chapters eleven to eighteen, for
better understanding of the awfulness of those things to come.
Thank God, we believers shall not be a part of Jacob's trouble,
for it is our blessed hope to look for our Lord's return to meet
His saints in the air before that time.
What, then, did the Lord Jesus mean: "Then let them who be
in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him who is on the housetop
not come down ... neither let him who is in the field return. ...
And woe unto them who are with child. ... But pray ye that your
flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day"? The
Lord was talking to the disciples, Jewish believers, a type of
that part of the remnant of Israel still living at the end of the
Jewish Age, the last week of Daniel's prophecy. "When _ye
therefore shall see the abomination of desolation. ... Then let
them _who _be _in _Judaea ... neither on the _Sabbath day." This
is a message to Israel, not to the Church, as the italicized
words above should clearly show us.
Matt. 24:23-26
"Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or
there; believe it not. For then shall rise false Christs, and
false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch
that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say unto
you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in
the secret chambers; believe it not" (Matt. 24:23-26). Revelation
thirteen tells us of the power which the antichrist and the false
prophet shall have from Satan; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 also gives
us a picture of these things.
Matt. 24:27-31
"For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth
even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man
be. ... Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the
sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the
stars shall fall from Heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall
be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in
Heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and
they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the heavens
with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a
great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His
elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the
other" (Matt. 24:27-31).
Our Lord Himself tells us that His coming after the
Tribulation will be in power and glory, and from other passages
in the Word, we know that this will be a visible manifestation of
Himself upon the earth. "Behold, every eye shall see Him, and
they also who pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall
wail because of Him" (Rev. 1:7). Revelation 19:11-16 gives us a
further picture of His return with His saints after Jacob's
trouble. There are many prophecies of the Old Testament which
tell us of the remarkable signs in the heavens when the day of
the Lord cometh. See Ezekiel 32:7, 8, and Isaiah 13:9, 10. Not
only will there be these unusual physical signs, but "then shall
appear the sign of the Son of Man in the heavens" (vs. 30). What
will be the sign of the Son of Man? Scripture does not tell us,
but Dr. A.C. Gaebelein has suggested, and we agree with him, that
it will be the Shekinah cloud of Old Testament record. This was
the cloud in which the presence of the Lord was enfolded, over
His people Israel. A cloud covered the Lord Jesus on the Mount of
Transfiguration when He appeared for a moment glorified: He
ascended to Heaven in a cloud, and "in like manner as ye have
seen Him go into Heaven" He shall so come again (Acts 1:11).
There are some, post-tribulationists, who are convinced that
the gathering together of the elect of verse thirty-one and the
rapture of the Church, 1 Thessalonians 4, are identical. We do
not believe this is the teaching of Scripture. In Matthew the
Lord is speaking of a visible return to the earth. In
Thessalonians the Word tells us of a meeting with the saints in
the air; in the Gospels the "elect" means Israel, the chosen
people; in the Epistles the "elect" means the Church, the body of
believers; "the gathering together" of Matthew is predicted
throughout the Old Testament as connected with the Lord's return
to earth (Isa. 11:11, 12; Isa. 27:13; Jer. 16:4-16); Revelation
four and five signifies that the Church will be with the Lord
during the Tribulation, and Revelation nineteen shows the Lord
coming with His saints.
"And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a
trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four
winds." This is the regathering of the remnant of Israel, that
portion which will be left after the end of the Great
Tribulation. During the age of the Kingdom, the millennial reign
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, God will fulfil all His
promises to Israel.
Matt. 24:32-36
"Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet
tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So
likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is
near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation
shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away. But of
that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven,
but My Father only" (Matt. 24:32-36).
The fig tree is always a type of Israel. Israel has been
barren, but one day it will put forth leaves; then know that the
Lord's return is near. Here again is prophecy concerning
Tribulation. "The characteristic of the fig tree is that fruit
and leaves are there together." Israel's blessing will be quickly
realized when the time comes for it to seed, for God to deal with
His people again. Yes, this is Tribulation teaching, but
Christians, can we not see things today which point to a near
accomplishment of these things? Israel is going back to its land,
Israel is persecuted on all sides, Israel is once more being
identified as a national unity. The summer is nigh -- soon,
sooner than we think, we may go to be with our Lord.
The word generation in verse thirty-four has puzzled some,
who because of this verse are led to believe that the Lord's
return was spiritual and took place in 70 A.D. The word comes
from _genea, whose primary meaning is race or family; thus our
Lord said, "This race (Israel) shall not pass, till all these
things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My
words shall not pass." No man could so speak, but only God. And
God the Father is the only One Who knows when the Son shall
return. His time will be the right time; we need have no fear.
Matt. 24:37-44
"But as the days of Noe-were, so shall also the coming of
the Son of Man be. ... Then shall two be in the field; the one
shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding
at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch
therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. ...
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not
the Son of Man cometh" (Matt. 24:37-44).
"As the days of Noah were." Noah lived in the closing days
of the age, judgment came, the wicked were destroyed, and Noah
was the first of a new age. "As the days of Noe were, so shall
also the coming of the Son of Man be." It will be the end of a
Jewish Age, judgment will come, the wicked of Israel will be
judged (Ezek. 20:33-44), and the believing remnant of Israel will
be the first of a new age. Here again the Lord was speaking of
the condition which shall be at the end of the Tribulation, but
here again we may recognize tendencies, leading to those
conditions, which tell us that the Lord may come any day for His
saints. Let us wait for Him, in the wonderful hope that it will
be soon.
Verses forty and forty-one, "two shall be in the field ...
two women shall be grinding at the mill, and the one shall be
taken, and the other left," are quite generally connected in
thought with the Rapture (1 Thess. 4), indicating that when the
Lord comes and we meet Him in the air, the believer shall be
taken, and the unbeliever left. Such is true of the Rapture. But
in this instance, since all that the Lord said had to do with
Israel, Daniel's seventieth week, and the Lord's coming in glory,
and since the immediate reference is to the days of Noah, when
the wicked were taken (destroyed), and Noah, the righteous, and
his family were left (on earth), He must have meant that when the
Lord shall come in glory and shall judge Israel to determine who
shall enter the land of Kingdom blessing, one shall be taken who
is a rebel and shall be purged out from among Israel (Ezek.
20:38), and another shall be left, who will be accepted and shall
be brought "into the land of Israel, into the country for the
which I lifted up Mine hand to give it to your fathers" (Ezek.
20:42). Those who were "taken" by the flood were not taken into
glory but into destruction; those who were left after the flood
were left that God might bless the race in a new way. "Watch
therefore ... therefore be ye ready."
Matt. 24:45-51
There follows a parable, which is applied by many to this
age, but also should be interpreted as belonging to the
Tribulation period. It indicates the attitude of some who think
that the Lord delays His coming. Its application can be brought
to Christians also. Those who hope in the Lord's soon return are
those who are busiest in His service; those who have been
deceived by one of Satan's agents to think that the Lord's coming
is delayed, are usually careless in their Christian testimony;
not always, but usually. In 1 John 3:2, 3, we are told: "Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be
like Him; for we shall see Him as He is, and every man who hath
this hope in Him, purifieth himself, even as He is pure." May the
Lord Jesus soon take us to Himself.
Do not let the fact that these teachings are peculiarly
Jewish rob you of your joy and hope in the Lord's soon coming.
All the things which we see about us which look like the signs of
the Lord Jesus' Olivet Discourse show us that the end of the age
of Jacob's trouble is near. And if the end of that age is near,
then the age in which we live must be seven years nearer. Let us
look for Him in full peace and joy, comforting one another with
these words.
_182
CHAPTER XXV
Matthew's Gospel is a Jewish book, which relates to the
fulfilments in the Lord Jesus of God's promises to Israel
concerning Messiah, and which gives also a picture as to the way
in which God, through Christ, will deal with Israel, the nation,
in the future.
Israel is God's peculiar people, and there are many warnings
and promises of blessing in the Word which are especially for the
Jew. But we, as His Body, are also God's peculiar people; we,
too, find warnings and promises of blessing for us. However, let
us not take from Israel those things which are hers.
Matt. 25:1-13
"Then shall the Kingdom of the heavens be likened unto ten
virgins, who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the
bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
..."
Another of the "Kingdom parables" is before us for
attention. No one can understand the Word of God in its fulness
unless he has a thorough grounding in dispensational truth, yet
we must recognize the danger of hyperdispensationalism, and the
risk of becoming so bound up in cold theological facts as to lose
sight of the warmth of God's love. Nevertheless, in our
interpretations of the parables before us in this chapter, we
take the view that the Lord was still speaking of events which
were to take place at the end of the age about which the
disciples had asked just previous to our Lord's Olivet Discourse,
that is, the Tribulation period, in which again God shall deal
with Israel as a nation. We have the deepest respect for the
judgment and spiritual insight of some who take another view,
namely, that the parable of the ten virgins, and the parable of
the talents have to do with the Age of Grace, and we have come to
the conclusion we have reached only after a great deal of
prayerful study. We shall point out why we believe the teaching
has to do quite definitely with the Tribulation, but we shall
also attempt to show that there is a message in these allegorical
stories for the Church today.
It is taught that the Kingdom of the heavens here means
professing Christianity in the Church Age, that the five wise
virgins are believers, that the five foolish virgins are
professing Christians, and that the coming of the Bridegroom is
the coming of the Lord Jesus for His saints when the Rapture of
the Church will take place. The chief arguments we find in favour
of this interpretation are that the oil which the wise virgins
took in their lamps is a symbol of the Holy Spirit Who will be
taken away at the end of the Age of Grace, that the "Then" of
verse one refers to the time of the "faithful householder" (Matt.
24:45-51), which time is assumed by those who so believe, to be
the Church Age, and that the remnant of Jewish believers of the
Tribulation will not slumber and sleep because the Bridegroom
tarries, since they will know that He will come three and
one-half years after the antichrist breaks covenant with Israel.
First, we cannot agree that the "Then" of verse one refers
to anything other than the end of the Tribulation, for we cannot
see that we have any right to assume that the parable of the
faithful householder (Matt. 24:45) has to do with the Church Age.
Before the Lord began His discourse to His disciples, they asked:
"When shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy
coming, and of the consummation of the age?" We have shown that
that which follows teaches of Tribulation truth, and we shall
also see that Matthew 25:31-46 refers to the end of the
Tribulation. Now those who teach that the three parables, the
Faithful Householder, the Ten Virgins, the Talents, deal with the
Church Age say that the Olivet Discourse follows a chronological
order from Matthew 24:1 to Matthew 25:46, but that the parables
are to be excepted. If the parables could not be understood to
have to do with Israel in the Tribulation, we would agree with
these good brethren. But the parables do have a definite teaching
concerning the end of the Tribulation Age, and therefore we can
assume that our Lord was speaking of the same period of time in
the parables as He was in the early and last parts of His
discourse.
Secondly, we believe that our Lord never spoke carelessly,
and that in this parable, as in the one of the marriage feast,
where there is a Bridegroom there must be a Bride, and that the
ten virgins, or rather the five wise virgins, do not represent
the Church, the true believers who as a body make up the Bride of
Christ. It would be well to note in passing, that some of the
oldest versions of the Gospel according to Matthew have three
words in verse one which do not appear in the Authorized Version,
so that the verse reads: "Then shall the Kingdom of the heavens
be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went forth
to meet the bridegroom and the bride." These three words are
found in the Vulgate and in the Syriac Versions, and while such
is not final evidence, there is no reason to believe that this
rendering is not genuine, and we may conclude that our
interpretation of this parable is the true one.
Thirdly, though oil is a type of the Spirit of God, it is
not necessarily a type of the Spirit as indwelling the believer
in the Age of Grace. In Old Testament history the Spirit of God
came upon certain of His servants, and surely the Holy Spirit
will come upon the believing remnant of Israel in the
Tribulation, especially as they go forth to preach the Gospel of
the Kingdom to all the world for a witness to all nations" (Matt.
24:14).
The ten virgins represent the remnant of Israel after the
Church has been taken. The five wise virgins are the believing
remnant, the foolish virgins the unbelieving, who only profess to
be looking for Messiah's coming in power. While the Bridegroom
tarries (not in the sense of delay, for God the Father has
appointed the time in His foreknowledge, and at that moment the
Lord Jesus will come in power); while the Bridegroom abides, they
all slumbered and slept. Yes, the remnant of Israel will possess
human natures, just as do we, and even though they will preach
the Gospel of the Kingdom to all the world, they will slumber as
did the disciples in Gethsemane, and as the Church does today.
"And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom
cometh; go ye out to meet Him" (Matt. 25:6). Is not this cry "the
sign of the Son of Man in the heavens" (Matt. 24:30)? The
narrative needs no further exposition. The wise virgins were
ready and went with the Bridegroom to the marriage; and the door
was shut. "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the
hour wherein the Son of Man cometh."
And do we not have a parallel in our day, the Church Age? As
we have said, many interpret these words to refer to the Age of
Grace. Surely, if the remnant shall slumber and sleep before the
Lord's coming in power, the Church today sleeps while He abides.
Let us watch therefore, and wait. We know not the day nor the
hour when He shall come for His Bride. If we are ready, believing
on Him, the door will not be shut, but to many who do not believe
He will say: "Verily I say unto you, I know you not."
Matt. 25:14-30
"For the Kingdom of the heavens is as a man travelling in a
far country, who called his servants, and delivered unto them his
goods. ..."
Again in the case of this parable there are the two
interpretations: one, that it has to do with professing
Christendom in the Age of Grace; the other, that it concerns
Israel in the Tribulation. We believe the second viewpoint to be
the right one, because the Lord was talking to His disciples
about the sign of His coming in power, and of the consummation of
the Jewish Age, Daniel's seventieth week. Were this parable
speaking of the Age of Grace, how could we reconcile the teaching
here with the rest of the Word of God? Assuming that all three
servants were believers, the judgment would have to be of
believers' works, for the believer could not possibly come under
judgment for sin; and the unprofitable servant, regarded as a
believer, would be cast into outer darkness, which is
unscriptural. Or, assuming that the first two servants were
believers but the third only a professing Christian, such an
assumption would necessitate making one and the same the judgment
of believers' works (which takes place after the Rapture) and the
judgment at the Great White Throne of the wicked dead (which will
occur after the thousand years), which cannot possibly be.
The man travelling in a far country represents the Lord
Jesus Christ Who is absent from the earth. His servants have been
called, and unto each is entrusted some gift. The servants we
believe to be the remnant of Israel during the Tribulation. The
narrative tells us of the use these servants made of the gifts
given them. "After a long time the Lord of those servants cometh,
and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents
came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, Thou
deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside
them five talents more. His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou
good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few
things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into
the joy of thy Lord. He also that had received two talents came
and said, Lord, Thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I
have gained two other talents beside them. His Lord said unto
him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been
faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many
things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Then he which had
received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew Thee that
Thou art an hard man, reaping where Thou hast not sown, and
gathering where Thou hast not strewed: And I was afraid, and went
and hid Thy talent in the earth: lo, there Thou hast that is
Thine. His Lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and
slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and
gather where I have not strewed: Thou oughtest therefore to have
put My money to the exchangers and then at My coming I should
have received Mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from
him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every
one that hath shall be given, but from every one that hath not
shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the
unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 25:19-30).
We do not know what the talents are, but that they are a
gift from the Lord. Each servant received some gift, and when the
Lord returned He reckoned with them. When the Lord Jesus comes
again in power, He will reckon with the remnant of Israel (Ezek.
20) to determine who shall receive the Kingdom blessing. The
"enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" is the entrance into the
land for the Kingdom blessing (Ezek. 20:40-42), while the fate of
the unprofitable servant who was cast into outer darkness is the
"they shall not enter into the land of Israel" of Ezekiel 20:37,
38.
Is there a message for the Christian in this parable? Oh,
yes -- to every born-again believer the Lord has given gifts (1
Cor. 12; Eph. 4) for which we shall be held accountable. At His
coming we shall all be judged, and we shall all be saved, but
some as by fire. If we love the Lord Jesus, it should be our
hearts' desire to hear Him say one day: "Well done, thou good and
faithful servant: ... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed
to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God" (Rom. 12:1, 2).
Matt. 25:31-46
"When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the
holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His
glory: And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall
separate them the one from the other. ..."
About to conclude His prophetic discourse on God's future
dealings with Israel, our Lord gave to His disciples a picture of
that for which Israel had been looking in His first coming,
Himself sitting upon the throne of His glory. There is no doubt
about the time or the place of this prophecy. It will be
fulfilled when the Son of Man shall come in His glory, that is,
immediately after the Great Tribulation, at the beginning of His
millennial reign on earth. And there will be judgment! Who is to
be judged? The passage tells us: "all nations."
Do not confuse this occasion with the judgment of the Great
White Throne recorded in Revelation 20:11-15. The judgment of the
Great White Throne is after the millennium (Rev. 20:7); this
judgment is when the Lord returns in glory before the millennium.
The Great White Throne is not on earth: "And I saw a great white
throne, and Him that sat on it from Whose face the earth and the
heavens fled away;" the "throne of His glory" is on the earth,
see Matthew 19:28. There will be the resurrection of the wicked
dead before the judgment of the Great White Throne; there is no
resurrection immediately before this judgment.
This is the judgment of all nations for their treatment of
"these My brethren," Israel. The 144,000 of the believing remnant
shall preach the Gospel of the Kingdom in the Tribulation in all
the world unto all nations (Matt. 24:14). Some will receive the
witness, and in receiving it will give meat to the hungry, drink
to the thirsty, clothe the naked and care for the Lord's
witnesses. These nations are the sheep: "And He shall set the
sheep on His right hand, ... Then shall the King say unto them on
His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the
Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ...
Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we
Thee an hungered, and fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink?
And the King shall answer, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the
least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me" (Matt.
25:33-40). Apart from the dispensational aspect, there is a
lesson here for believers' daily acts of love and tenderness in
forgetting self and remembering to minister to those who need
spiritually and physically Christ's love and care. "Then shall He
say unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels ... and
these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the
righteous into life eternal" (Matt. 25:33-46).
The Lord's Word is true. What an awful thought --
everlasting fire! But it was never prepared for men, but for
Satan and his angels (Rev. 20:10). "God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him
should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
We see what terrible judgment shall come upon the nations
who do not receive the Gospel of the Kingdom during the
Tribulation. And we say: "Thank God, this is the judgment of
nations and not the judgment of the Great White Throne." But,
reader, see the judgment of the Great White Throne, and see the
fate of the wicked dead: "And whosoever was not found written in
the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:15).
You must be a "whosoever;" either whosoever that "believeth on
Him," or the whosoever who is "not found written in the book of
life." Which will it be? God is not willing that any should
perish. The Lord Jesus Christ will come again. There will be
judgment; -- it is your choice whether yours shall be eternal
life or eternal punishment. May you be found to be among those
"chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love ... to the praise of
the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the
beloved."
_191
CHAPTER XXVI
Whenever we touch upon the life of the Lord Jesus, we are on
holy ground, but this is particularly true of the three chapters
remaining of this Gospel. Here the determination of men and the
foreknowledge of God meet; here the passions of men result in the
Passion and seeming defeat of our Lord. But out of it all came
God-planned victory; the Serpent bruised the Saviour's heel, but
the Lord Jesus has bruised Satan's head as prophesied in the
Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:15). Now, trusting in the Lord Jesus
Christ, by faith in Him, we may have victory over Satan, for He
has wrested from him power to touch any of His own.
Matthew twenty-six records nine important events of the last
days of our Lord: His last prediction of His own death, and the
counselling of the chief priests and scribes to kill Him (vs.
1-5); His anointing in the house of Simon of Bethany (vs. 6-13);
Judas Iscariot sells the Lord (vs. 14-16); the eating of the
Passover Feast and the institution of the Lord's Supper (vs.
17-29); the Lord Jesus foretells Peter's denial (vs. 30-35); our
Lord's agony in Gethsemane (vs. 36-46); the betrayal by Judas and
our Lord's arrest (vs. 47-56); the Lord's trial before Caiaphas
and the Sanhedrin (vs. 57-68); Peter's denial of our Lord (vs.
69-75). We shall look at each event.
Matt. 26:1-5
"And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these
sayings, He said unto His disciples, Ye know that after two days
is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to
be crucified." The Olivet Discourse, when our Lord had predicted
to His disciples something of the future, especially of God's
future dealing with Israel, had been finished, and now for the
fourth and last time He told His disciples of His coming death.
Never had they fully understood, and we can be sure that at this
time, though perhaps they were nearer to believing than ever
before, they still hoped that He would not be killed. Is it not
wonderful that their hope was not realized? For the Lord Jesus
came to die that you and I might be saved. His death was an awful
thing, but He endured the Cross, despising the shame, in God's
own will and wisdom; so it is a wonderful thing, and we praise
God that He "so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life" (John 3:16).
At the same time, the chief priests and scribes and the
elders of the people were assembled together, "and consulted that
they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill Him. But they said,
Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people"
(vs. 3-5). The feast day was an holy day; the Lord Jesus was
considered a prophet among the people, and these leaders feared
that while the multitudes were gathered in Jerusalem for the
Passover feast, it would be unwise for them to take the Lord. God
overrules the determination of men. He causes the wrath of men to
praise Him. Since before the foundation of the world, by "the
determinate counsel, and foreknowledge of God," the appointed
time for the Son to die was at the Passover feast, for He is the
true Lamb of God, Whom the Passover lamb merely foreshadowed.
"Not on the feast day," said the rulers. But we shall see that it
was on the feast day that the Lord Jesus was crucified. The
scribes and elders thought to put the Lord Jesus to death when
none would see; God decreed that it should be publicly before the
whole of Jerusalem. The scribes and elders thought to put the
Lord Jesus to shame by crucifying Him; God made the crucifixion
and the resurrection the greatest facts in the history of the
human race, to the salvation of the souls of all who believe on
Him. The scribes and elders thought by crucifying the Lord Jesus
to silence forever the tongues of His disciples; God, by the
power of the resurrection which followed our Lord's death, gave
His disciples a text for eternity.
Matt. 26:6-13
"Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the
leper, there came unto Him a woman having an alabaster box of
very precious ointment, and poured it on His head, as He sat at
meat" (Matt. 26:6, 7).
In John's Gospel, we see that this woman was Mary, the
sister of Martha and Lazarus. Mary came aforehand to anoint the
Lord's body for the burying (Mark 14:8); she seems to have been
the only one who had understood what the Lord Jesus meant when He
so often predicted His death. And she also seems to have been the
only one who knew that He would rise again; for the other women,
on the morning of the resurrection, came to the tomb with sweet
spices to anoint the Lord. Mary, who loved Him so much, did not
come; have we not every reason to believe that she alone knew He
would not be there?
The critics point here to something which they consider to
be error in the Gospels. In Matthew it is recorded that Mary
anointed the Lord's head; in John, that His feet were anointed.
There is no need for concern; the very distinction is further
proof of inspiration. Matthew wrote of Jesus as the King; and
John of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God. It was the custom to
anoint both the head and the feet, and undoubtedly that was just
what Mary did. Matthew, in speaking of the King, related the
anointing of the head as Samuel anointed the head of David. But
John wrote of Jesus, the Son of God. The finite could not
approach the Infinite other than as a subject at His feet, so
John recorded the anointing of the Lord's feet alone.
"But when His disciples saw it, they had indignation,
saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might
have been sold for much, and given to the poor" (Matt. 26:8, 9).
The ointment was worth three hundred pence (about fifty dollars),
according to Mark 14:5; and we see in John 12:4 that Judas was
the spokesman, Judas, who valued the Lord Jesus so little that he
sold Him for one-third of that amount. "To what purpose is this
waste?" Is anything waste that we give to the Lord? No doubt the
"alabaster box of very precious ointment" was the most valuable
thing that Mary possessed. She had given the Lord her heart; now
she was pouring out for His use her most precious possession. Our
Lord delights in such gifts; first ourselves, then our dearest
possessions. How did the Lord Jesus answer? He bestowed upon Mary
words of praise and honour that have rarely been bestowed upon
any. "Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work
upon Me. ... Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall
be preached into the whole world, there shall also this, that
this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her" (Matt.
26:10-13). For a memorial of her! Monuments, statues, mausoleums
to the heroes of past history, have been built and have decayed
and crumbled away, but this memorial of Mary, established by the
Lord Jesus, as the house in Bethany was filled with the odour of
the costly ointment, has been a fragrant blessing to Christians
through the centuries, and is as lasting as the words of the Lord
Himself, Who said: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My
words shall not pass away" (Matt. 24:35). There is no loving
service that we may do in His Name which He will not remember for
a memorial of us.
Matt. 26:14-16
"Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto
the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and
I will deliver Him unto you? ... And from that time he sought
opportunity to betray Him." We will only mention here that the
thirty pieces of silver (about seventeen dollars) was the price
of a slave (Ex. 21:32), and that here was fulfilled what the
prophets had spoken (Zech. 11:12, 13). Judas had complained of
the waste of ointment. No wonder! To him the Lord Jesus Christ's
value was that of a slave, thirty pieces of silver.
Matt. 26:17-19
"Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, the
disciples came to Jesus, saying unto Him, Where wilt Thou that we
prepare to eat the Passover?" (Matt. 26:17). The Lord Jesus, in
His Deity, knew how it should be arranged, and told His disciples
what to do. "And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them;
and they made ready the Passover." The Passover was a symbol of
Israel's deliverance from Egypt by the sign of the blood of a
slain lamb (Ex. 12). It was a type of the death on the Cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and it was intended by God to point
forward to that death. But now the Lord's death has been
accomplished, the true Paschal Lamb has been slain; no longer is
it necessary to keep the Passover (though the orthodox Jews still
do), for we do not look forward to the Lord's death, but backward
to Calvary. At the last Passover feast the Lord instituted the
new memorial, the Lord's Supper, with the command: "This do in
remembrance of Me" (1 Cor. 11:24, 25).
Matt. 26:20-22
"Now when even was come, He sat down with the twelve. And as
they did eat (the Passover feast), He said, Verily I say unto
you, that one of you shall betray Me. And they were exceeding
sorrowful, and began every one of them to say, Lord, is it I?"
(Matt. 26:20-22). "One of you shall betray Me. ... And they ...
began every one of them to say, Lord, is it I?" Apparently Judas
was not under any suspicion by the other disciples, as very
apparently each one in himself saw the possibility of his being a
traitor. What an admission! Yet how true! The heart of man is
desperately wicked; there is no one who does not come under this
indictment. It is only by God's grace that we, too, are not
condemned as was Judas: "Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man
is betrayed." "Lord, is it I?" Let us ask ourselves the same
question. Are we betraying the Lord Jesus? Or have we received
Him as our Saviour, and are our lives His for His purpose?
Matt. 26:23-25
"And He answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with Me
in the dish, the same shall betray Me. The Son of Man goeth as it
is written of Him. ... Then Judas, who betrayed Him, answered and
said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said" (Matt.
26:23-25). Notice that Judas did not call Him Lord, but Master.
Judas did not recognize the Lord Jesus as His Saviour and Lord.
In John 13:26, we read: "He it is to whom I shall give a sop,
when I have dipped it. And when He had dipped the sop, He gave it
to Judas Iscariot." Were you to dine with an Oriental today in
the custom of his country, and did he wish to distinguish you as
the guest of honour, he would tear a piece of bread, dip it in
gravy, and hand it to you. This is the sop. How great is the love
of God toward the sinner! How the Lord Jesus must have loved even
Judas, for here, in a gesture of intimacy and friendship, He made
a last touching and significant appeal to the man to turn back
from the awful course which he had chosen. Judas did not turn
back, and so treachery was another ingredient in the cup of
bitterness of which our Lord partook for us.
Matt. 26:26-29
"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it,
and brake it and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat;
this is My Body. And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave
it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is My Blood of
the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission
(forgiveness) of sins" (Matt. 26:26-28).
Would that the Church as a whole would regard this
sacrament, the Lord's Supper, in the simplicity in which it is
recorded throughout the New Testament. As we study this portion
of the Word, let us dismiss from our minds all matters of
controversy, and view the memorial as it affects our personal
edification and relationship to our Lord. Let controversy give
way to communion, thoughts of criticism to thoughts of Christ --
let us dwell on Him Who died for our sins.
"Take, eat, this is My Body, which is broken for you" (1
Cor. 11:24). Not a bone of His body was broken at Calvary. The
bread was broken and given to the disciples as a type of the body
of Christ, bruised for us, a body spiritually broken for us that
we might become members of His spiritual Body, the Church, of
which He is the Head. We are to feed on the Lord Jesus; the blood
sprinkled on the doorposts saved Israel on the night of the
Passover, but it was the eating of the Paschal lamb which gave
Israel strength to depart from Egypt. It is the Blood of Christ
which brings salvation to all who believe on Him, but it is by
feeding on Him that we have strength for our own pilgrimage,
strength to withstand the fiery darts of the Evil One, for by the
Lamb alone our souls are refreshed.
"This cup is the new testament in My Blood" (1 Cor. 11:25).
The dividing line between the Old and New Testaments is not the
blank page between Malachi and Matthew; the transition period
occurred during the life of our Lord, reaching its climax here,
and culminating at the words, "It is finished." "This is My Blood
of the new testament, which is shed for many, for the remission
of sins." At Calvary the price was paid; the Lord's Supper is a
memorial to that occasion. His Blood was shed for us, as the cup
is a type of the Lord's death; He has said, "This do in
remembrance of Me." "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink
this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come" (1 Cor.
11:27). The observance of the Lord's Supper does not save souls;
only saved souls should partake. It is blasphemy for one to
partake of this sacrament unless he has received the Lord Jesus
Christ as his Saviour.
What should be our attitude as we partake of this memorial?
The disciples had examined themselves: "Lord, is it I?" As we
examine ourselves and see in our hearts sins of omission and
commission, we should confess them fully. Then, having
forgiveness by His shed blood, we may dedicate our lives anew at
His table. It is there that we meet with the Father; God the
Father delights in and feeds on the Son, and only as we also have
our delight and food in Him can we have complete communion with
the Father.
Matt. 26:30-35
"And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the
Mount of olives. Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be
offended because of Me this night. ... But after I am risen
again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said
unto Him, Though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet
will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto
thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me
thrice. Peter said unto Him, Though I should die with Thee, yet
will I not deny Thee. Likewise also said all the disciples"
(Matt. 26:30-35).
First, let us look at one sentence: "After I am risen again,
I will go before you into Galilee." They were so slow to believe.
See Mark 16:11, "And they (the disciples), when they had heard
that He was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not." He
has said that He is coming again. Do you believe? Are you looking
for Him?
The narrative of the prophecy about Peter is clear. After
the Lord told him that he, Peter, would deny Him thrice on that
night before the cock should crow, Peter in all confidence said:
"Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee." And
notice particularly this: "Likewise also said all the disciples."
Yes, Peter denied the Lord, as we shall see. How well our Lord
knows our weaknesses! Within twelve hours these eleven men had
all forsaken Him and had fled. Our daily prayer should be: "Hold
Thou me up and I shall be safe." That is the only way, for the
very sins which we boast will never touch us are oftentimes the
ones that cause our downfall and backsliding. There is only one
remedy: to lose self-confidence and to depend wholly on the Lord
Jesus and His Holy Spirit.
There is a word of comfort here. The Lord Jesus Christ,
omniscient, knew that these eleven men would forsake Him at His
crisis, yet in His foreknowledge He chose them. He is a merciful
and gracious Lord; it is His joy and glory to pass over our
transgressions and to cover our sins in His own precious blood.
Matt. 26:36-46
"Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane,
and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray
yonder. And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee
(James and John), and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then
saith He unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto
death: tarry ye here, and watch with Me. And He went a little
farther, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as
I will, but as Thou wilt" (Matt. 26:36-39).
The narrative of the Gospel tells us clearly how the three
disciples could not even watch one hour. We have space to
consider our Lord alone, "He was exceeding sorrowful." That He
must die? No, we believe not, for He came to earth that He might
die. We cannot be dogmatic about what the cup of this portion
means. Some believe that it refers to His suffering in the
garden, that Satan was trying to kill Him there before the Cross,
and that in sweating drops of blood He was so weakened that Satan
might have taken His life. There was no sin in the Lord Jesus; He
was not subject to death: Satan could not have taken His life.
"Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life,
that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay
it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power
to take it again" (John 10:17, 18). It would seem that the cup is
the separation from His Father. "O My Father, if this cup may not
pass away, except I drink it, Thy will be done." The Lord Jesus
came to die; it was not the physical suffering from which He was
shrinking, but that His Father must turn away from His Son, for
God cannot look at sin, and on the Cross the sin of the world was
to rest upon our Lord. For the first and last time, from eternity
to eternity, the perfect fellowship of the first and second
Persons of the God-head was to be broken. That was the cup almost
too great to bear. "O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt." It
was not possible, and so, at Calvary, the Lord Jesus Christ
suffered broken communion with the Father. God's face, upon which
the Lord Jesus had ever gazed, was hid; the Father's face, which
had ever smiled upon Him, was turned away; and Jesus, our Lord,
the spotless Lamb of God, was made sin for us. "My God, My God,
why hast Thou forsaken Me?" No wonder He cried, in triumph: "It
is finished." Praise the Lord for His obedience. Though He were a
Son, He learned perfect obedience by the things which He
suffered, "Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up
prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him
Who was able to save Him out of death, and was heard in that He
feared" (Heb. 5:7). The Word does not say "to save Him from
death," but "out of death." These words refer to the Gethsemane
scene; the prayer was heard, and by the resurrection our Lord was
saved out of death into fellowship and perfect communion with the
Father.
"Then cometh He to His disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep
on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the
Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners, Rise, let us be
going; behold, he is at hand who doth betray Me."
Matt. 26:47-75
"And while He yet spake, ..."
So completely are the betrayal, and trial before Caiaphas
and the Sanhedrin, and Peter's denial recorded, that we shall
only take a few paragraphs to suggest thoughts about these
events.
The Betrayal. Judas came to the Lord Jesus in the garden and
said, "Hail, Master; and kissed Him" (Matt .26:49). Mark those
words. The literal meaning of the word translated "Hail" is "Oh,
Joy"! "Master;" not "Lord," not "Messiah," but "Rabbi," that is,
"Teacher." Judas had never received the Lord Jesus as Christ, the
Son of God. "And kissed Him;" a kiss is the greeting of love. Is
there a reader who is betraying the Lord Jesus as Judas did? Do
you speak of Him with joy; do you pretend to love Him; but is He
only a Teacher to you, not God the Son? It is well to take
account of ourselves. If you have never received Him as your
Saviour from sin, as the Lord of your life, why do you not do so
now? Say, "Lord, I believe; my only hope for salvation is by Thy
shed blood for me." Do it now. "Now is the accepted time; today
is the day of salvation."
The Trial. There are some who say that the Lord Jesus never
claimed to be God. Listen to this. "And the high priest answered
and said unto Him, I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou
tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith
unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter
shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power,
and coming in the clouds of Heaven" (Matt. 26:63, 64). What
stupendous claims! Could He be other than God if these things are
true? Yes, He claimed to be God; He is God. What think ye of
Christ? Is He God; then is He your Saviour and Lord? By God's
grace you may be a joint-heir with Christ, because "He hath made
us (who believe) accepted in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6).
The Denial. "Now Peter sat without the palace." Twice he was
asked if he was not one of the Lord's disciples, and he denied
it. "And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said
to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them ... then began he to
curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately
the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus. ... And he
went out, and wept bitterly" (Matt. 26:73-75).
Christian, have you heard the cock crow? I have! Praise the
Lord, He forgives. And later, after His resurrection, through the
angel He sent this word: "Go tell His disciples, and Peter" (Mark
16:7), so His love reaches out to us today. We are so glad for
the "and Peter," for that is the word to you, if you have ever
denied the Lord, and to me, that His grace is sufficient for us.
Peter went out and wept bitterly; when we sin against our Lord,
when we deny Him, may the Spirit of God work upon our hearts in
this way. This Peter was to be the great apostle who opened the
Kingdom to the Jews at Pentecost, and to the Gentiles in the
house of Cornelius. In human frailty and weakness he failed the
Lord many times, but by the power of the Spirit he was used as a
mighty voice; the Way that was open to Peter is open to us. May
God use us by His Spirit to lead many souls to the Lord Jesus
Christ, to the praise of the glory of His grace, and of the Name
that is above every Name.
_204
CHAPTER XXVII
"And they crucified Him" -- that is all that is said in the
Word of God relating to the pain and shame that our Lord endured
for us. There are some details of His words as He hung on the
Cross, but nothing of the agony He suffered when the nails were
driven into His hands and His feet, when His flesh was torn as He
was stretched there on the tree -- Nothing! And if the Holy
Spirit has related none of this for us, then surely it is too
awful for us to dwell upon. "And they crucified Him;" in these
simple words is there described that toward which the Person of
the God-head looked from eternity, to which the types of the Old
Testament point, upon which we have gazed for the past nineteen
hundred years; the focal point of the history of the human race.
He hung on that Cross for you, and for me; our sins nailed Him
there. Wherefore let us look unto the Lord Jesus, "the Author and
Perfecter of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him
endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the
right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:2).
Matt. 27:1, 2
"When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders
of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death: And
when they had bound Him, they led Him away, and delivered Him to
Pontius Pilate the governor." It had been in the early hours of
the morning, when the cock crowed, that Peter had gone out in
sorrow that he had denied his Lord. "And when morning was come,
all the chief priests and elders ... took counsel against Jesus"
-- little sleep for the prisoner that night, little sleep for His
enemies. They had Him at last, and in spite of the fact that they
had said, "Not on the feast day" (Matt. 26:4), God had appointed
the feast day, and the hour was drawing nigh. So the Lord Jesus,
before Caiaphas condemned as guilty of death, was taken to
Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor; for the Jews had no authority
to inflict the death penalty.
Matt. 27:3-10
"Then Judas, who had betrayed Him, when he saw that He was
condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces
of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned
in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What
is that to us? See thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of
silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself"
(Matt. 27:3-5).
Here is the final picture of Judas, who had been the
companion of our Lord along the pathway of His ministry. He who
had been one of the inner circle, at least by profession, became
the traitor who delivered the Lord Jesus into the power of His
enemies. As we consider this heart-breaking fact, let us look to
our own hearts. Are you a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ? Then
pray for full yieldedness to the indwelling Holy Spirit, that
your life and your every act may be a testimony to your Lord and
Saviour. Or have you been merely a professing Christian? If there
is any doubt in your heart, right now is the accepted time to
receive Him. But though Judas betrayed the Lord into His enemies'
hands, thank God it was in the power of God to use that act of
heinous deceit to bring about that which bruised the head of
Satan, and which has brought every believer into eternal life. "I
have sinned -- I have betrayed innocent blood," said Judas. How
little the chief priests and elders cared that this man saw his
mistake. "What is that to us? See thou to that." What is our
attitude toward one who has sinned, toward one who has profaned
the love of God? God grant that we may never say, "What is that
to us?" but that by His Spirit we may point out to such an one
the way of life by the blood of the Cross. "And he cast down the
pieces of silver in the temple, and departed and hanged himself."
The thirty pieces of silver were the price of blood! So even
the chief priests refused to place them in the treasury and there
"was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet,
saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of
Him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did
value; and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord
appointed me" (see Jer. 18:1-4; also Zech. 11:12, 13). God's Word
is true; not one minutest item which He has prophesied will fail
to come to pass. "Prophetically this is a foreshadowing of what
was to happen to Israel and Israel's land on account of the
blood-guiltiness which they took upon themselves, Israel's land
becoming a burying place for strangers, and Israel scattered
among the nations" (A.C. Gaebelein).
Matt. 27:11-14
The fate of Judas is a parenthesis in the narrative. In
verses one and two we learned that the chief priests and elders
had taken counsel against our Lord to put Him to death, and that
they had bound Him and led Him away to be delivered to Pontius
Pilate, the Roman governor, for the Jews did not have the power
of inflicting the death penalty, under the Roman rule.
"And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked
Him, saying, Art Thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto
him, Thou sayest" (Matt. 27:11). Of what crime could the Jews
have accused our Lord that the Roman governor should try Him? Of
blasphemy -- claiming that He was God? No; for Rome would not
have been interested in such an accusation. No, not of blasphemy,
but of sedition, that is, that the Lord Jesus claimed to be King
of the Jews, in open hostility to Rome. "Art Thou the King of the
Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest." No denial came from
our Lord's lips. This was the accusation, and it was true. He is
yet the King of the Jews, and when He shall come again in power
He shall sit upon the throne of His father David. "Thou sayest"
-- yes, He was King.
"And when He was accused of the chief priests and elders, He
answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto Him, Hearest Thou not how
many things they witness against Thee? And He answered him to
never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly"
(Matt. 27:12-14).
That our Lord was the King was true, but the chief priests
and elders accused Him falsely. See the account in Luke 23:2:
"And they began to accuse Him, saying we found this fellow
perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar."
When did they find the Lord "perverting the nation"? He came to
seek and to save them that were lost, not to pervert His own
people. When did He forbid "to give tribute to Caesar"? Did He
not say: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's"? False
testimony, and He answered not a word! "As a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth" (Isa. 53:7). It was
of the Lord that the prophet wrote, and before Pilate his words
were accomplished.
Matt. 27:15-26
"Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the
people a prisoner, whom they would. ... Then released he Barabbas
unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be
crucified."
There was a special custom at the time of the Passover
Feast, under which the Roman governor released to the Jews some
condemned prisoner. Pilate saw no wrong in the Man Who had been
brought to him for trial; no doubt, he sensed that the Lord Jesus
was being falsely accused. But in order to appease the multitude,
he sought to have this Jesus released, thus saving His life. So
Pilate asked the leaders of the people: "Whom will ye that I
release unto you? Barabbas (a notable Jewish prisoner), or Jesus,
Who is called Christ?" Pilate was interrupted by a messenger who
brought a plea from his wife to have "nothing to do with that
just Man." The bitter hatred of the chief priests is distinctly
in evidence here, for in verse twenty we read: "But the chief
priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask
Barabbas, and destroy Jesus." The chief priests and elders! Those
who should have been first to recognize that here was Messiah,
their King, and to have acclaimed Him! Then Pilate continued:
"Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said,
Barabbas." Barabbas, the guilty one, he was to be released.
Barabbas, whose name means: son of the father. The true Son of
the Eternal Father they wanted to destroy: this false and sinful
man they would have released. We can picture Satan gloating over
a supposed victory. But by that which he believed would be his
winning stroke, Christ, and not Satan, is the victor. "Barabbas!
Barabbas!"
"Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus,
Who is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let Him be
crucified" (Matt. 27:22). Every man and woman in this world must
answer for himself or herself the question which Pilate asked.
"What shall I do with Jesus, Who is called Christ?" What have you
done? On your answer hangs your destiny for eternity. Receive Him
as your Saviour and Lord, and yours shall be life everlasting.
Reject Him, and you are lost. There is no other alternative. We
quote from God's Word, as we have before: "All have sinned and
come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). "The wages of sin is
death," but praise the Lord, "the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23).
"They all say unto him, Let Him be crucified." Where were
the voices of those who had shouted: "Hosanna to the Son of
David: Blessed is He Who cometh in the Name of the Lord"? Where
were the disciples? Where was Peter? Very much alone our Lord
Jesus faced the agony of the Cross and Calvary. Jew and Gentile
rejected Him, and crucified Him; for your sins and my sins He was
forsaken and suffered.
"And the governor said, Why, what evil hath He done? But
they cried out the more, saying, Let Him be crucified. When
Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing ... he took water, and
washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of
the blood of this just Person: see ye to it. Then answered all
the people and said, His blood be on us, and on our children"
(Matt. 27:23-25). No exposition is needed. They cried the more:
"Let Him be crucified." Pilate washed his hands before the
multitude. He saw no evil in the Lord, but he delivered Him to be
crucified, saying: "See ye to it." What had the chief priests
said to Judas? "See thou to that." The fate of a sinner was
nothing to them. What did Pilate say to the multitude? "See ye to
it." The fate of a sinless Man was little to him. Then all the
people said: "His blood be on us, and on our children." The blood
of the Holy Son of God! The history of Israel from that day to
this is sufficient evidence that His blood is upon them. One
cannot wash one's hands and be innocent of the blood of the Lord
Jesus, "for all have sinned." Yet by God's grace every Jew, or
Gentile, who will receive the Lord Jesus as his Saviour may have
his sins washed clean in the blood of the Lamb of God.
"Then released he Barabbas unto them: and ... he delivered
Jesus to be crucified."
Matt 27:27-44
"Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus ..." They
stripped Him! They put a scarlet robe on Him! They plaited a
crown of thorns upon Him! They spit upon Him! They smote Him on
the head! Such were the indignities which preceded the agony of
the Cross. It is the sin in man which makes him think of these
hateful things; the result of Satan's grip upon the heart of the
natural man. A crown of thorns upon the One Who should have been
presented with a crown of purest gold. The thorn is the symbol of
sin and of God's curse upon it; thus did the Lord Jesus, the Holy
One, bear our sins for us.
"And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha ...
they crucified Him" (Matt. 27:33-35). The physical and spiritual
ordeal had been such that our Lord had apparently weakened, and a
man, Simon of Cyrene, was compelled to bear His Cross. As they
come to Golgotha, the Lord was offered vinegar mixed with gall,
to drink. But having tasted it, He refused to partake of it.
Vinegar and gall is a mixture that sometimes was given to
condemned men that to some extent the pain of crucifixion might
be deadened. But our Lord wanted His full faculties as He died
there for us. No word is said of His being nailed to the Cross,
but how the soldiers must have marvelled at the Lord Jesus. We
can picture others being nailed to the tree, but of Him we cannot
even think. We can see these men lying on the cross which was
placed first on the ground, writhing in agony, and screaming and
cursing, as their hands and feet were pierced and torn by the
driven spikes. No such actions or words came from the Lord Jesus
Christ, but without complaint He suffered for us.
"And they crucified Him, and parted His garments, casting
lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet,
They parted My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they
cast lots" (Matt. 27:35; see Psa. 22:18). "That it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet;" this recurring phrase
is found throughout Matthew's Gospel as the Holy Spirit teaches
therein of Jesus the Messiah. He is the One of Whom the prophets
spoke. How can any Jew who reads the Gospel with an open mind
doubt that this Man is His King, the Messiah?
"And set up over His head His accusation was written, THIS
IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS" (Matt. 27:37). Over the head of
every man who was crucified there was written his accusation. In
the case of our Lord, the words were intended as a mockery.
Mockery? No, not mockery, for This was Jesus the King of the
Jews. He it was Who hung there. Praise the Lord, He did not die
in vain, for by that death we who believe have life.
In Matthew's account the two thieves are mentioned without
further detail. Let us look at those who stood before the Cross,
the chief priests and scribes and elders. Gloatingly, they mocked
Him. Victory was theirs, they thought! "He saved others; Himself
He cannot save" (vs. 42). Their words were truer than they knew.
If our Lord had accepted the challenge of His enemies, all those
who through the centuries have believed God's Word about the
atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ would be in Hell, and you
and I would go to Hell, too, for there is no salvation but by the
finished work which He accomplished at Golgotha. He came to earth
to die on that Cross. He could not save Himself, for He could not
break His Word.
They railed on Him; they spit upon Him; they bowed the knee
in mockery. There will come a day when they shall bow the knee in
truth. "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him
a Name which is above every name; that at the Name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and
things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil.
2:9-11).
Matt. 27:45-50
"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the
land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried
with a loud voice, saying, ... My God, My God, why hast Thou
forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:45, 46).
The darkness was supernatural. Skeptics have claimed that
there was an eclipse of the sun at the time, but this could not
be so, for the Passover Feast was always held at the Paschal full
moon, and there can be no eclipse at full moon. Moreover, an
eclipse lasts but a few minutes, not three hours. The darkness
was of God, while His Face was turned from His Son because He
cannot look at sin, which could nail to the Cross our great
Saviour and Lord, Jesus, Messiah. Yet though on earth there was
darkness and desolation, in Heaven we can imagine a great
gathering of the angels with shouts of joy such as never before
rang forth.
"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" This was the
bitterest portion of the cup. We can imagine, to some small
extent, the horrible, painful, distressing agony of our Lord's
physical suffering, but we cannot ever conceive the awful
loneliness and heart-suffering of separation from His Father.
This was His deepest pain, when the Father's countenance was
turned away from Him Who had dwelt in full and perfect communion
with Him from eternity. Taking our sins upon Him, the Lord Jesus
was receiving sin's reward. He was obedient unto death, and in
this obedience He suffered separation. The love of Christ passeth
knowledge, but in our limited understanding we should have a deep
sense of the enormous debt which we owe Him. Everything that we
have, or are, or hope for, in Christ, can be attributed to that
death at Golgotha. Through His condemnation we who believe on Him
are acquitted, through His sufferings peace is ours, and through
His shame we shall have glory.
Some of those who heard our Lord cry with a loud voice:
"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani," said: "He calleth for Elias." Could
these have been the chief priests and elders, and did they not
understand their own tongue? Perhaps not! Perhaps these were
Roman soldiers, for "straightway one of them ran, and took a
sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and
gave Him to drink." We cannot imagine the chief priests having
even that much sympathy for their dying Messiah! When our Lord
took the vinegar, for His work was finished now, there was again
in Him fulfilled one of the Old Testament prophecies: "They gave
Me also gall for My meat; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar
to drink" (Psa. 69:21).
"Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded
up the ghost" (Matt. 27:50). This was no ordinary death. Twice we
read, verses forty-six and fifty, that "He cried with a loud
voice." A dying man does not cry with a loud voice. There was no
power on earth that could kill the Son of God. In John 19:30 are
His words: "It is finished." That which He had come to do was
accomplished, the shedding of His blood for the sins of the
world. And so, having wrought redemption for us, He said:
"Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit" (Luke 23:46). His
work was done, He gave His life for you and me. "Therefore doth
My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take
it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself"
(John 10:17, 18). "Truly, this was the Son of God."
Matt. 27:51-56
"And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from
top to bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent." In a
flash, by the hand of God (for the veil was rent from top to
bottom) we were made nigh to God by the blood of Christ, and a
new dispensation was ushered in. All barriers between God and man
have been cast aside, and the way unto the Highest is now open
through the Lord Jesus, the One High Priest. Read Hebrews 9.
Verses fifty-two and fifty-three have confused some. The
graves were opened, but since our Lord is the Firstfruits (1 Cor.
15:20), these could not have risen until after He arose, and this
is clearly indicated. "And the graves were opened; and many
bodies of the saints who slept arose, and came out of the graves
after His resurrection."
Matt. 27:57-66
"And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in
His death" (Isa. 53:9). The record of verses fifty-seven to
sixty-one reveals once more that the Lord Jesus was He of Whom
the prophets spoke.
"Now the next day ... the chief priests and Pharisees came
together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver
said, while He was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure. ... Pilate
said, ... make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the
sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch" (Matt.
27:62-66). Before Pilate they called our Lord a deceiver, but
they were afraid! The Lord had said that He would rise again, and
they feared that He would prove Himself true. So they made every
effort to make the tomb sure. Satan and his instruments cannot
defeat God's purposes and plans. God turned Satan's greatest
attack to the praise of His Name. The very precaution that these
men took to keep the Lord Jesus in the tomb resulted in
indisputable proof that He is risen, and therefore that He is
God. "Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a
Man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also
know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have
crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the
pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be
holden of it" (Acts 2:22-24).
"Truly this was the Son of God."
_216
CHAPTER XXVIII
"This Jesus hath God raised up!" We have not a Saviour Who
is dead, but a living Saviour, "Whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He
should be holden of it" (Acts 2:24).
The King came and was rejected, Messiah offered Himself and
was crucified; but -- He was raised again. "It is finished," He
cried on the Cross. The work which He came to do was
accomplished, and by faith in His shed blood we who believe on
Him and receive Him are saved. His earthly ministry was finished,
but the Father's work was not, Who raised Him up and set Him at
His own right hand. There He sits today; it is another work which
He is doing there, interceding in His high priestly office for
you and for me. Do we fully comprehend the part which we
believers have in our Lord's program? He died for us, He lives in
us, He intercedes for us, it is we whom He shall meet in the air,
He will return in power and glory with us, we shall reign with
Him for a thousand years, and when the new heaven and the new
earth shall be prepared, God's dwelling place will be with us,
and He Himself shall be with us and be our God. Beloved, the
believer is not an incident in the plan of God, but is the object
of His love and of our Lord's ministry! Since before the
foundation of the world it has been God's purpose that we shall
be "heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." Think of it,
Christian! No wonder Paul wrote by the Holy Spirit: "I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of
God" (Rom. 12:1, 2).
We come into the closing paragraphs of Matthew's record of
Jesus, Messiah and King. It is not a hopeless, despondent note
that we find here, because the Christ has been slain, but a
message of joy: "He is not here: for He is risen;" and of peace:
"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the consummation of the age."
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Jewish Messiah -- He is the
fulfilment of all the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament,
in His coming in humility, and in His death; and though "His own
received Him not" as their King, He shall yet sit upon the throne
of His father David and shall govern in a reign of righteousness
and of peace, to which there shall be no end. Meanwhile, to as
many as receive Him, He has given authority to become the Sons of
God, even to them who believe on His Name (John 1:12).
Matt. 28:1-10
"In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the
first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to
see the sepulchre, And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for
the angel of the Lord descended from Heaven, and came and rolled
back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. ... And the angel
answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye
seek Jesus, Who was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen,
as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay" (Matt. 28:1,
2, 5, 6).
The other accounts of the events of the first Easter morning
are found in Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20, some of which are
more detailed than Matthew 28. They do not contradict each other,
but record the things which happened from the view-points of the
different human authors whom the Holy Spirit used. The order of
the events seems to have been as follows: Mary Magdalene, Mary
the mother of James, and Salome, started for the tomb bearing
spices, and they were followed by other women. The first three
found the stone rolled away (Mark 16:4), and Mary Magdalene went
to tell the disciples (John 20:1, 2). Meanwhile, Mary the mother
of James, and Salome, in all probability went back to meet the
other women. During this time Mary Magdalene found Peter and
John; who came running to the sepulchre, looked in, and went away
(John 20:3-10). Then Mary Magdalene returned weeping; the risen
Lord Jesus spoke to her (John 20:11-18), and then she went to
tell the disciples, as He bade her. The other Mary, and the rest
of the women then arrived, and when they also had left to tell
the disciples, they saw the Lord Jesus (Matt. 28:5-10).
"As it began to dawn toward the first day of the week ...
came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre."
Thank God for the love of the women, the last to leave the Cross,
the first to come to the tomb. Perhaps they did not fully believe
or understand the Lord Jesus, for He said He would rise again,
... but they loved Him. Where were the disciples? Afar off,
discouraged and disheartened. We know they did not believe Him
when He told them He would be raised and would go before them
into Galilee, for in verse seventeen we read, "Some doubted;" and
in Mark 16:11: "And they, when they had heard that He was alive,
and had been seen of her (Mary Magdalene), believed not." How
slow we are to believe the truth, and how quick to believe a
lie." Praise the Lord, it is by grace through faith that we are
saved; only God's grace could bring us into everlasting life.
But one believed our Lord. No one loved Him more than Mary
of Bethany, we think, yet we do not read of her coming to the
tomb. Why? She had believed Him when He had said He would die,
and so she anointed Him for His burial (Matt. 26:6-13); and she
no doubt also believed Him when He promised that He would be
raised again. May more of us have faith to believe all God's
promises, as Mary of Bethany did.
"... a great earthquake . . . the angel of the Lord
descended from Heaven ... His countenance was like lightning ...
for fear of Him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men!"
The power and majesty of God the Father is manifest in the
resurrection of the Son. No longer was the Father's Face turned
away from His Son, for the payment for sin was complete, and in
the resurrection the Father has given us His receipt. The angel
"rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it." Note that
the stone was rolled away after the Lord Jesus raised, rolled
away that the disciples might see in, not that the Lord might
come out, for He had already risen, in a body of glory which was
not subject to the laws of the earthly body. "And for fear of the
angel the keepers did shake, and become as dead men" -- this,
then, was no imagining. One does not shake, and fall as dead,
without due cause, especially those so used to danger as Roman
soldiers were. It was "the angel of the Lord" whom they saw,
whose "countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as
snow."
"Fear not ... He is not here ... He is risen." Marvellous
truth! If the Lord had come down from the Cross, as His enemies
defied Him to do, He would have shown the power of God to save
Himself. But crucified and raised again, He shows "the power of
God unto salvation" of others. "He is risen;" He is a living
Saviour! Some day "we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as
He is" (1 John 3:2).
"And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met
them, saying, All hail. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid
..." (Matt. 28:9, 10). A better translation of All hail is O Joy.
"O Joy, be not afraid." This is a wonderful message for us if we
are trusting in Him. O Joy! He is risen! His death atoned for
your sins and mine, and God has placed upon His finished work the
seal of His approval. Be not afraid, for you are safe in His
keeping, and no man is able to pluck you out of His hand (John
10:29).
Matt. 28:11-15
Before us is further record of the deceitfulness and
trickery of the chief priests and elders who caused the death of
Messiah, who feared His resurrection and plotted that the
sepulchre should be made sure, and who finally bribed the
soldiers who were on watch on the resurrection morning to falsify
their testimony.
The chief priests and elders "gave large money unto the
soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole
Him away while we slept ... and this saying is commonly reported
among the Jews until this day" (Matt. 28:12-15). Yes, and it is
commonly reported among the Jews until this our day, too. How can
they believe such a tale? In the first place, the punishment for
a Roman soldier who fell asleep while on watch was death. It is
conceivable that one might have fallen a prey to sleep, but not
all of the soldiers. Secondly, how can the testimony of one who
slept while the action was taking place be accepted? If the
soldiers slept, how could they know that the disciples had stolen
the body? These are lies of Satan. Foiled in his attempt to lock
the Lord Jesus in the sepulchre which he made sure, Satan has
attempted to discredit the resurrection by these false reports.
"He is risen" -- Hallelujah, what a Saviour!
Matt. 28:16-20
"Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee. ... And
when they saw Him, they worshipped Him, but some doubted. And
Jesus came and spoke unto them ... saying, All power is given
unto Me in the heavens and in earth." "All power is given unto
Me." "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a
Name which is above every name" (Phil. 2:9). Yes, at His Name
every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
"Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"
(vs. 19). The Lord Jesus is risen from the dead, His promises are
sure, His word is true -- therefore, go ye, and teach all
nations. Is not that a message for us all today? How can we sit
idly by while thousands upon hundreds of thousands are perishing
without Christ? Go ye therefore, and teach all nations. As we
believe we see the signs of His near return, may God grant that
in the Body, of Christ there may arise a new vision of the
starving souls of the heathen, the Christ-less men and women of
our own country as well as foreign lands, and may the message
reach some reader here today: "Go ye, therefore."
"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the consummation of the
age." Such a promise gives us rest and peace. "Amen" -- so let it
be; it is a fitting phrase with which to end the Gospel of Jesus,
Messiah and King.
"This Jesus hath God raised up whereof we are all
witnesses," said Peter. "Therefore being by the right hand of God
exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the
Holy Spirit, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
For David is not ascended into the heavens; but he saith himself,
the Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, until I
make Thy foes Thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of
Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, Whom
ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:32-36).
And now, "Unto Him Who loveth us, and hath washed us from
our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and
ever. Amen."
_223
APPENDICES
Author's Note: The definitions published in this appendage
have been arrived at by the author and those whom he has quoted
only after prayerful study of God's Word. They concern matters
about which volumes have been written, and more may yet be added,
and it is quite evidently impossible to give much detail in the
space allotted. Scripture references have therefore been
furnished indicating the chief Biblical sources of our
conclusions, which the reader is urged to verify and study.
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth" (2
Tim. 2:15).
APPENDIX A
Dispensation. A period of time, or an age, conditioning
human life in the present earth, during which God tests man, by
means of some specific standard of conduct, in respect to man's
obedience to the will of God. There are seven dispensations
recorded in God's Word, and under each one man fails and God
brings judgment. The seven dispensations are:
(1) The Age of Innocence, beginning at Gen. 1:23, and ending at
Gen. 3:23, 24;
(2) The Age of Conscience, beginning at Gen. 4:1, and ending at
Gen. 7;
(3) The Age of Human Government, beginning at Gen. 8:20, and
ending at Gen. 11:8;
(4) The Age of Promise, beginning at Gen. 12:1, and ending at Ex.
19:8;
(5) The Age of Law, beginning at Ex. 19:8, and ending- at the
Cross;
(6) The Age of Grace, beginning at Calvary, and ending at the
Return of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Tribulation being a time of
judgment between the Rapture and the Lord's return in glory (1
Thess. 4:13, 17; Rev. 19:11-16);
(7) The Age of the Kingdom, beginning at the Lord's Return in
Power to the Earth, and ending after the completion of the one
thousand years, and the doom of Satan and the judgment of the
Great White Throne, when the Lord Jesus Christ shall deliver up
the Kingdom to God (1 Cor. 15:24) and there will be the New
Heaven and a New Earth (Rev. 20:1).
APPENDIX B
The Age of Law. The fifth Dispensation (see Appendix A),
extended from the giving of the Mosaic Law at Mount Sinai until
the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, when
the Age of Grace began. In answer to the question of Exodus 19:1,
"Wherefore then serveth the law?" Dr. C. I. Scofield has written:
"The answer is sixfold:
(1) The law was added because of transgressions, i.e., to give to
sin the character of transgression, (a) Men had been sinning
before Moses, but in the absence of law their sins were not put
to their account (Rom. 5:12); the law gave to sin the character
of 'transgression,' i.e., of personal guilt. (b) Also, since men
not only continued to transgress after the law was given, but
were provoked to transgress by the very law which forbade it
(Rom. 7:8), the law conclusively proved the inveterate sin
fulness of man's nature (Rom. 7:11-13).
(2) The law, therefore, 'concluded all under sin' (cf Rom. 3:19,
20, 23).
(3) The law was an ad interim dealing, 'till the seed should
come' (v. 19).
(4) The law shut sinful man up to faith as the only avenue of
escape (v. 23).
(5) The law was to the Jews what the pedagogue was in a Greek
household, a ruler of children in their minority, and it had this
character 'unto' (i.e., until) Christ (v. 24).
(6) Christ having come, the believer is no longer under the
pedagogue (v. 25)."
APPENDIX C
The Age of Grace. The sixth Dispensation (see Appendix A),
extends from the death of the Lord Jesus Christ to His return,
the latter being in two stages, the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:13-17),
and His return in Power (Rev. 19:11-16). The Tribulation, the
last of Daniel's seventy weeks (Dan. 9:20-27), is the time of
God's judgment ending the Age of Grace, and may be considered a
transition period, just as there were transition periods between
Conscience and Human Government, and between Law and Grace.
During the Age of Grace the point of man's destiny is no longer
obedience to the law as a condition of salvation, but the
receiving or rejecting of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is the
gift of God. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any
man should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9).
But salvation in any age, is "by grace ... through faith."
For example, under Law man was tested by his obedience to the
law. But "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,"
and only by the grace of God, through faith in the blood, a type
of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, could there be
salvation.
APPENDIX D
The Lord's Return. There are two phases of the Lord's Return
described in the Word of God:
(1) The Rapture. The Lord's coming, before the Tribulation, for
His own, when we shall be caught up to meet Him in the air (1
Thess. 4:13-17; 1 Cor. 15:51, 52).
(2) The Lord's Return in Glory. His return after the Tribulation,
with His own to reign on the earth upon the Throne of His father
David (Rev. 19:11-16).
APPENDIX E
Type. That which is "a divinely purposed illustration of
some truth. It may be:
(1) a person (Rom. 5:14);
(2) an event (1 Cor. 10:11);
(3) a thing (Heb. 10:20);
(4) an institution (Heb. 9:11);
(5) a ceremonial (1 Cor. 5:7)" (C.I. Scofield, D.D.). For
example, in Eden, when Adam and Eve had sinned, the Lord God made
"coats of skins, and clothed them" (Gen. 3:4). The shedding of
blood here was a type of forgiveness through the shed blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and the coats of skins a type of the
believer being clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
Anti-Type. That which is "the fulfilment of the Type, It is
found, usually, in the New Testament" (C.I. Scofield, D.D.).
APPENDIX F
The Tribulation. A period of seven years duration, Daniel's
70th week (Dan. 9), between the Rapture (see Appendix D.1) and
the return of the Lord! Jesus in glory and power to reign on the
earth (Appendix D.2). During the first half of the Tribulation,
3-1/2 years, Anti-Christ will be revealed (Dan, 9:26, 27), and he
will make a covenant with Israel.
The Great Tribulation. The last half of Daniel's 70th week,
3-1/2 years duration, specifically the time of "Jacob's trouble"
(Jer. 30:7), though it will involve the whole world (Rev. 3:10).
The Great Tribulation is fully described in Revelation 11 to 18
(see Matt. 24:15-26). "The elements of the Great Tribulation are:
(1) The cruel reign of the 'beast out of the sea' (Rev. 13:1),
who, at the beginning of the three and a half years, will break
his covenant with the Jews (by virtue of which they will have
re-established the temple worship, Dan. 9:27), and show himself
in the temple, demanding that he be worshipped as God (Matt.
24:15; 2 Thess. 2:4). (2) The active interposition of Satan
'having great wrath' (Rev. 12:12), who gives his power to the
Beast (Rev. 13:4, 5). (3) The unprecedented activity of demons
(Rev. 9:2, 11); and (4) the terrible 'bowl' judgments of Rev. 16"
(C.I. Scofield, D.D.).
(1) Pre-Tribulation. Referring to that which will occur before
the Great Tribulation begins; e.g., the resurrection of the
believers who have died, the return of Christ for His Church, the
Rapture of the saints, etc., etc. A Pre-Tribulationist believes
that the Rapture of the Church (1 Thess. 4:13-17) will take place
before the Tribulation, a wholly distinct event from the Lord's
coming in glory (Rev. 19). He bases his belief on the fact that
the Holy Spirit, Who indwells believers, will be removed from the
earth before the Tribulation when Anti-Christ shall be revealed
(2 Thess. 2:7, 8), and consequently the believer cannot be on
earth at that time; on the fact that the elders of Revelation
4 are the redeemed; and on the fact that in the Lord's coming in
glory, He will come with His Church (Rev. 19:14).
(2) Post-Tribulation. That which will occur after the Tribulation
Period, e.g., the return of the Lord in glory, the judgment of
the Great White Throne, the casting of Satan into the bottomless
pit, the Millennium, etc.
A Post-Tribulationist is one who believes that the Church will go
through the Tribulation, and does not distinguish distinctly
between the event of the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:13-17) and the
coming of the Lord Jesus in glory (Rev. 19:11-16).
APPENDIX G
The Millennium. A period of 1000 years (Latin: Mille,
thousand; annus--year) during which the Lord Jesus Christ will
reign on earth with His saints (Rev. 20:4, 6) on the Throne of
His father David (Isa. 9:7). This will be the Kingdom Age, which
will follow directly after the Great Tribulation, Armageddon, the
casting of the beast and the false prophet into the lake of fire,
and the binding of Satan (Rev. 19 and 20). Following the Kingdom
Age, Satan will be loosed for a season, but he will be finally
cast into the lake of fire forever, as will the unbelieving dead
after the judgment of the Great White Throne (Rev. 20). After
these things will come the New Heaven and the New Earth (Rev.
21).
(1) Pre-Millennial. "That which occurs before the
millennium. When we speak of 'the pre-millennial return of
Christ' we mean that He will return before the Millennium begins,
and that it is His return that makes such a Millennium possible.
If Christ's return is pre-millennial it may occur at any time.
All men who believe that Christ may return at any time, even
today, or tomorrow, are, whether they admit it or not,
pre-millennial in their conviction. One who believes thus is
spoken of as a pre-millennialist. A remarkable list of some of
the great Biblical scholars of all ages who have held this view
may be found in The Coming and Kingdom of Christ, Chicago, 1914,
pp. 241-249" (Wilbur M. Smith, D.D.)
(2) Post-Millennial. "That which occurs after the
Millennium. When it is used in reference to the Second Advent of
Christ it carries the idea that Christ will not return until
after the Millennium has occurred. Strictly speaking, one who
takes the post-millennial view of Christ's Second Advent believes
that the world will gradually grow better and better until a
veritable millennium of peace, and righteousness, and godliness
will be prevailing over the earth; and, that Christ cannot
possibly return for at least one thousand years -- unless the
Millennium has already commenced, as some expositors have
claimed. If anything we now know to exist upon the earth is
identified with the Millennium, it is certainly not the glorious
Millennium promised in the Holy Scriptures" (Wilbur M. Smith,
D.D.).
(3) A-Millennial. "A term the meaning of which the A- prefix
easily reveals -- without a Millennium. Those who take the
A-Millennial view believe that the Lord's return cannot be
located specifically either before or after the Millennium, but
that it must be wholly separated from any connection with the
idea of a Millennium, repudiating the reality of any such a
period of time. An A-Millennialist might still believe in the
imminent return of our Lord" (Wilbur M. Smith, D.D.).