Luke 4 commentary

Christ's being led into the wilderness gave an advantage to the tempter; for there he was alone, none were with him by whose prayers and advice he might be helped in the hour of temptation. He who knew his own strength might give Satan advantage; but we may not, who know our own weakness. Being in all things made like unto his brethren, Jesus would, like the other children of God, live in dependence upon the Divine Providence and promise. The word of God is our sword, and faith in that word is our shield. God has many ways of providing for his people, and therefore is at all times to be depended upon in the way of duty. All Satan's promises are deceitful; and if he is permitted to have any influence in disposing of the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, he uses them as baits to insnare men to destruction. We should reject at once and with abhorrence, every opportunity of sinful gain or advancement, as a price offered for our souls; we should seek riches, honours, and happiness in the worship and service of God only. Christ will not worship Satan; nor, when he has the kingdoms of the world delivered to him by his Father, will he suffer any remains of the worship of the devil to continue in them. Satan also tempted Jesus to be his own murderer, by unfitting confidence in his Father's protection, such as he had no warrant for. Let not any abuse of Scripture by Satan or by men abate our esteem, or cause us to abandon its use; but let us study it still, seek to know it, and seek our defence from it in all kinds of assaults. Let this word dwell richly in us, for it is our life. Our victorious Redeemer conquered, not for himself only, but for us also. The devil ended all the temptation. Christ let him try all his force, and defeated him. Satan saw it was to no purpose to attack Christ, who had nothing in him for his fiery darts to fasten upon. And if we resist the devil, he will flee from us. Yet he departed but till the season when he was again to be let loose upon Jesus, not as a tempter, to draw him to sin, and so to strike at his head, at which he now aimed and was wholly defeated in; but as a persecutor, to bring Christ to suffer, and so to bruise his heel, which it was told him, he should have to do, and would do, though it would be the breaking of his own head, Ge 3:15. Though Satan depart for a season, we shall never be out of his reach till removed from this present evil world.

Christ taught in their synagogues, their places of public worship, where they met to read, expound, and apply the word, to pray and praise. All the gifts and graces of the Spirit were upon him and on him, without measure. By Christ, sinners may be loosed from the bonds of guilt, and by his Spirit and grace from the bondage of corruption. He came by the word of his gospel, to bring light to those that sat in the dark, and by the power of his grace, to give sight to those that were blind. And he preached the acceptable year of the Lord. Let sinners attend to the Saviour's invitation when liberty is thus proclaimed. Christ's name was Wonderful; in nothing was he more so than in the word of his grace, and the power that went along with it. We may well wonder that he should speak such words of grace to such graceless wretches as mankind. Some prejudice often furnishes an objection against the humbling doctrine of the cross; and while it is the word of God that stirs up men's enmity, they will blame the conduct or manner of the speaker. The doctrine of God's sovereignty, his right to do his will, provokes proud men. They will not seek his favour in his own way; and are angry when others have the favours they neglect. Still is Jesus rejected by multitudes who hear the same message from his words. While they crucify him afresh by their sins, may we honour him as the Son of God, the Saviour of men, and seek to show we do so by our obedience.

Christ's preaching much affected the people; and a working power went with it to the consciences of men. These miracles showed Christ to be a controller and conqueror of Satan, a healer of diseases. Where Christ gives a new life, in recovery from sickness, it should be a new life, spent more than ever in his service, to his glory. Our business should be to spread abroad Christ's fame in every place, to beseech him in behalf of those diseased in body or mind, and to use our influence in bringing sinners to him, that his hands may be laid upon them for their healing. He cast the devils out of many who were possessed. We were not sent into this world to live to ourselves only, but to glorify God, and to do good in our generation. The people sought him, and came unto him. A desert is no desert, if we are with Christ there. He will continue with us, by his word and Spirit, and extend the same blessings to other nations, till, throughout the earth, the servants and worshippers of Satan are brought to acknowledge him as the Christ, the Son of God, and to find redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

Luke 4:15. He was glorified by all. This is stated by Luke for the express purpose of informing us, that, from the very commencement, a divine power shone in Christ, and compelled even those, who cherished a malignant spirit of contradiction, to join in admiring him.

LUKE 4:16-22

Luke 4:16-22

16. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and entered, according to his custom, on the Sabbath-day, into the synagogue, and rose up to read. 17. And the book of Isaiah the Prophet was delivered to him, and, having opened the book, he found the passage where it was written, 18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me: he hath sent me to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal the broken in heart, “Pour guarir ceux qui ont le coeur froisse;” — “to heal those who have the heart bruised.” to preach forgiveness to the captives and sight to the blind, to loose by forgiveness those who are bruised, 19. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20. Then, when he had closed the book, he returned it to the minister, and sat down: and the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21. And he began to say to them, To-day this Scripture hath been fulfilled in your ears. 22. And all gave him testimony, and wondered at the discourses of grace which proceeded out of his mouth, and said, Is not this the son of Joseph?

16. And he came to Nazareth The Evangelists are very careful to show by what sort of proofs Christ became known, a striking instance of which is here related by Luke. By explaining a passage in Isaiah, and applying it to the instruction which was immediately required, he turned upon him the eyes of all. He entered, according to his custom, into the synagogue Hence we conclude, that not only did he address the people in the open streets and highways, but, as far as he had opportunity, observed the usual order of the church. We see also that, though the Jews were become very degenerate, though every thing was in a state of confusion, and the condition of the church was miserably corrupted, one good thing still remained: they read the Scriptures publicly, and took occasion from them to teach and admonish the people.

Hence also it is evident, what was the true and lawful method of keeping the Sabbath. When God commanded his people to abstain from working on that day, it was not that they might give themselves up to indolent repose, but, on the contrary, that they might exercise themselves in meditating on his works. Now, the minds of men are naturally blind to the consideration of his works, and must therefore be guided by the rule of Scripture. Though Paul includes the Sabbath in an enumeration of the shadows of the law, (Colossians 2:16,) yet, in this respect, our manner of observing it is the same with that of the Jews: the people must assemble to hear the word, to public prayers, and to the other exercises of religion. It was for this purpose that the Jewish Sabbath was succeeded by the Lord’s Day.

Now, if we make a comparison of dates, this passage will be sufficient to prove clearly, that the corruptions of the Papal Hierarchy, in our own time, are more shocking and detestable than those which existed among the Jews under the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. For the reading of Scripture, which was then in use, has not only grown obsolete under the Pope, but is driven from the churches by fire and sword; with this exception, that such portions of it, as they think proper, are chanted by them in an unknown tongue. Christ rose up to read, not only that his voice might be better heard, but in token of reverence: for the majesty of Scripture deserves that its expounders should make it apparent, that they proceed to handle it with modesty and reverence.

17. He found the passage There is no doubt that Christ deliberately selected this passage. Some think that it was presented to him by God; “Aucuns pensent que par la volonte de Dieu il l'ait recontre sans le chercher.” — “Some think that, by the will of God, he found it without seeking for it.” but, as a liberty of choice was allowed him, I choose to say that, by his own judgment, he took this passage in preference to others. Isaiah there predicts that, after the Babylonish captivity, there will still be witnesses of the grace of God, who shall gather the people from destruction, and from the darkness of death, and restore, by a spiritual power, the Church, which has been overwhelmed by so many calamities. But as that redemption was to be proclaimed in the name and authority of Christ alone, he uses the singular number, and speaks in the name of Christ, that he may more powerfully awaken the minds of the godly to strong confidence. It is certain, that what is here related belongs properly to Christ alone, for two reasons: first, because he alone was endued with the fullness of the Spirit, (John 3:34,) to be the witness and ambassador of our reconciliation to God; (and, for this reason, Paul (Ephesians 2:17) assigns peculiarly to him, what belongs to all the ministers of the Gospel, namely, that he, “came and preached peace to them which were afar off, and to them that were nigh:”) secondly, because he alone, by the power of his Spirit, performs and grants all the benefits that are here promised.

18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me These words inform us that, both in his own person and in his ministers, Christ does not act by human authority, or in a private capacity, but has been sent by God to restore salvation to his Church. He does nothing by the suggestion or advice of men, but everything by the guidance of the Spirit of God; and this he declares, in order that the faith of the godly may be founded on the authority and power of God. The next clause, because he hath anointed me, is added by way of explanation. Many make a false boast, that they have the Spirit of God, while they are destitute of his gifts: but Christ proves by the anointing, as the effect, that he is endued with the Spirit of God. He then states the purpose for which the graces of the Spirit were bestowed upon him. It was, that he might preach the Gospel to the poor Hence we conclude, that those, who are sent by God to preach the Gospel, are previously furnished with necessary gifts, to qualify them for so important an office. It is, therefore, very ridiculous that, under the pretense of a divine calling, men totally unfit for discharging the office should take upon themselves the name of pastors. We have an instance of this in the Papacy, where mitred bishops, who are more ignorant than as many asses, proudly and openly vaunt, that they are Christ’s Vicars, and the only lawful prelates of the Church. We are expressly informed, that the Lord anoints his servants, because the true and efficacious preaching of the Gospel, as Paul says, does not lie “in the enticing words of man’s wisdom,” but in the heavenly power of the Spirit.

To the poor The prophet shows what would be the state of the Church before the manifestation of the Gospel, and what is the condition of all of us without Christ. Those persons to whom God promises restoration are called poor, and broken, and captives, and blind, and bruised The body of the people was oppressed by so many miseries, that these descriptions applied to every one of its members. Yet there were many who, amidst their poverty, blindness, slavery, and death, flattered themselves, or were insensible to their condition. The consequence was, that few were prepared to accept this grace.

And, first, we are here taught what is the design of the preaching of the Gospel, and what advantage it brings to us. We were altogether overwhelmed by every kind of evils: but there God cheers us by his life-giving light, to rescue us from the deep abyss of death, and to restore us to complete happiness. It tends, in no ordinary degree, to recommend the Gospel, that we obtain from it inestimable advantage. Secondly, we see who are invited by Christ, and made partakers of promised grace. They are persons, who are every way miserable, and destitute of all hope of salvation. But we are reminded, on the other hand, that we cannot enjoy those benefits which Christ bestows, in any other manner, than by being humbled under a deep conviction of our distresses, and by coming, as hungry souls, to seek him as our deliverer: for all who swell with pride, and do not groan under their captivity, nor are displeased with their blindness, lend a deaf ear to this prediction, and treat it with contempt.

19. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord Many think that here the prophet makes an allusion to the Jubilee, and I have no objection to that view. But it is proper to observe, that he purposely anticipates a doubt, which might disturb and shake weak minds, while the Lord held them in suspense, by delaying so long the promised salvation. He therefore makes the time of redemption to depend on the purpose, or good pleasure, of God. “In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee.” Paul calls it the fullness of the time, (Galatians 4:4,) that believers may learn not to indulge in excessive curiosity, but to acquiesce in the will of God, — and that we may rest satisfied with the conviction, that salvation was manifested in Christ, at the time which seemed good in the sight of God.

20. The eyes of all who were in the synagogue God touched their hearts, I doubt not, with astonishment, which made them more attentive, and induced them to listen to Christ, while he was speaking. For they must have been withheld from opposing this discourse at the commencement, or breaking it off in the midst, when they were sufficiently disposed, as we shall see, to treat Christ with contempt.

21. Today is fulfilled Christ did not merely affirm in a few words, but proved by a reference to facts, that the time was now come, when it was the will of God to restore his ruined church. The object of his discourse was, to expound the prediction clearly to his hearers: just as expositors handle Scripture in a proper and orderly manner, when they apply it to the circumstances of those whom they address. He says that it was fulfilled in their ears, rather than in their eyes, because the bare sight of the fact was of little value, if doctrine had not held the chief place.

22. And all gave testimony to him Here Luke draws our attention, first, to the truly divine grace, which breathed in the lips of Christ; and then presents a lively picture of the ingratitude of men. Using a Hebrew idiom, he calls them discourses of grace, — that is, discourses which manifested the power and grace of the Holy Spirit. The inhabitants of Nazareth are thus compelled to acknowledge and admire God speaking in Christ; and yet they voluntarily refuse to render to the heavenly doctrine of Christ the honor which it deserves. Is not this the son of Joseph? Instead of regarding this circumstance as an additional reason for glorifying God, they bring it forward as an objection, and wickedly make it a ground of offense, that they may have some plausible excuse for rejecting what is said by the son of Joseph. Thus we daily see many who, while they are convinced that what they hear is the word of God, seize on frivolous apologies for refusing to obey it. And certainly the only reason why we are not affected, as we ought to be, by the power of the Gospel, is, that we throw hinderances in our own way, and that our malice quenches that light, the power of which we are unwilling to acknowledge.

LUKE 4:23-30

Luke 4:23-30

23. And he saith to them, Ye will altogether “Omnino.” — “Tout a plein.” say to me this comparison, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever things we have heard done in Capernaum, do thou also here in thy country. 24. And he saith, Verily, I say to you, No prophet is acceptable in his own country. 25. But in truth I say to you, There were many widows, in the days of Elijah, in Israel, when heaven was shut up three years and six months, so that there was great famine through all the land; 26. And to none of them was Elijah sent, but to a woman, a widow, in Zarephath of Zidon. 27. And there were many lepers in Israel, in the time of Elisha the prophet, and not one of them was cleansed, but Naaman, a Syrian. 28. And all were filled with wrath in the synagogue, hearing these things, 29. And rose up, and drove him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down. “Pour le jetter du haut en bas;” — “to throw him from top to bottom.” 30. And he, passing through the midst of them, went away. “Mais il passa par le milieu d'eux, et s'en alla.” — “But he passed through the midst of them, and went away.”

23. Physician, heal thyself From the words of Christ it may be easily inferred, that he was treated with contempt by the inhabitants of Nazareth: for he states publicly those thoughts, which he knew to exist in their minds. He afterwards imputes to them the blame of his declining to work miracles among them, and charges them with malice, in bestowing no honor on a prophet of God. The objection, which he anticipates, is this: “There is no reason to wonder, if his countrymen hold him in little estimation, since he does not dignify his own country, as he does other places, by working miracles; and, consequently, it is but a just revenge, if his own countrymen, whom he treats with less respect than all others, are found to reject him.” Such is the meaning of the common proverb, that a physician ought to begin with himself, and those immediately connected with him, before he exhibits his skill in healing others. The amount of the objection is, that Christ acts improperly, in paying no respect to his own country, while he renders other cities of Galilee illustrious by his miracles. And this was regarded by the inhabitants of Nazareth as a fair excuse for rejecting him in their turn.

24. Verily, I say to you He reproaches them with the blame of preventing him from exerting his power among them as he did in other places, by working miracles: for the unbelief of men presents an obstruction to God, and hinders him from working, as might be desired, for their salvation, (Matthew 13:58; Mark 6:5.) Christ could not perform any miracle among them, because “they did not believe on him,” (John 12:37.) Not that it is in the power of men to bind the hands of God, but that he withholds the advantage of his works from those who are rendered unworthy of them by their infidelity. The answer given by Christ amounts to this: “If you wish to have a share in miracles, why do you not give place to God? or rather, why do you proudly reject the minister of his power? You receive, therefore, a just reward for your contempt, when I pass by you, and give a preference to other places, for proving by miracles, that I am the Messiah of God, who have been appointed to restore the church.”

And, certainly, it was intolerable ingratitude that, when God was pleased to have his Son brought up in their city, such a person, who had been among them from his infancy, was despised. Justly, therefore, did he withdraw his hand, that it might not be exposed to the derision of those wicked despisers. “Afin de n.e servir de passe temps a de si meschans contempteurs des graces de Dieu.” — “That it might not serve for amusement to such wicked despisers of God's favors.” Hence we learn what value the Lord puts on his word, when, in order to punish for the contempt of it, he takes from the midst of us those favors, which are the testimonies of his presence. With respect to that saying, no prophet is acceptable in his own country, the reader may consult what I have said on a saying of the same import, recorded by the Evangelist John: “A prophet hath no honor in his own country,” (John 4:44.)

25. There were many widows After throwing back upon themselves the blame of their being deprived of miracles, he produces two examples to prove, that they ought not to think it strange, if God prefers strangers to the inhabitants of the country, and that they ought not to find fault with him for obeying the call of God, as was formerly done by Elijah and Elisha. He throws out an indirect hint as to their vanity and presumption, in entertaining a dislike of him, because he had been brought up among them. When there was a great famine for three years and a half, there were many widows in Israel, whose want of food Elijah was not commanded to relieve, but he was sent to a woman, who belonged to a foreign nation, Zidon, (1 Kings 17:9.) In like manner, Elisha healed no lepers among his countrymen, but he healed Naaman, a Syrian, (2 Kings 5:10.)

Though his reproofs strike the inhabitants of Nazareth with peculiar severity, yet he charges the whole nation with ingratitude, because, for a long period, almost all of them had proceeded to more shameful contempt of the Lord, in proportion as he had approached nearer to them. For how did it come about, that a woman, who was a foreigner, was preferred by God to all the Israelites, but because the prophet had been rejected by them, and compelled to seek refuge in a heathen land? And why did God choose that Naaman, a Syrian, should be healed by Elisha, but to put a disgrace on the nation of Israel? The meaning, therefore, is, that the same thing happens now as in former times, when God sends his power to a great distance among foreigners, because he is rejected by the inhabitants of the country.

Meanwhile, Christ intimates that, though he is despised by his countrymen, his glory is in no degree diminished: because God will still be able, to their shame and confusion, to dignify and exalt his Son, as he formerly gave honor to his prophets in the midst of the Gentiles. In this way the foolish glorying in the flesh is repressed, when we see the Lord rain, not only where and when he pleases, but in distant corners, to the neglect of that country which he had chosen for his residence. Hence, also, may be collected the general doctrine that we have no right to prescribe any rule to God in disposing his benefits, so as to prevent him from rejecting those who hold the highest rank, and conferring honor on the lowest and most contemptible; and that we are not at liberty to oppose him, when he entirely subverts that order, which would have approved itself to our judgment. Our attention is, no doubt, drawn to a contrast between Israel and the heathen nations: but still we ought to hold, that none are chosen, in preference to others, for their own excellence, but that it proceeds rather from the wonderful purpose of God, the height and depth of which, though the reason may be hidden from us, we are bound to acknowledge and adore.

28. Were filled with wrath They perceived that the object of those two examples, which Christ had produced, was to show, that the grace of God would be removed from them to others: “Que la grace de Dieu leur seroit ostee, et envoyee a autres;” — “that the grace of God would be taken from them, and sent to others.” and therefore they considered that he had spoken to their dishonor. But, instead of having their consciences stung to the quick, and seeking a remedy for their vices by correcting them, they are only driven to madness. Thus ungodly men not only resist, with obstinacy, the judgments of God, but rise into cruelty against his servants. Hence it is evident, how forcible are the reproofs which proceed from the Spirit of God: for the minds of those who would willingly evade them, “Qui les laisseroyent volontiers escouler sans y penser;” — “who would willingly allow them to steal away, without thinking of them.” are inflamed with rage. Again, when we see that the minds of men are so envenomed, that they become mad against God, whenever they are treated with some degree of roughness, we ought to implore the Spirit of meekness, (Galatians 5:23,) that we may not be driven, by the same fury, into such a destructive war. “Afin que ne soyons transportez a entreprendre une guerre si folle, a nostre grande confusion;” — “in order that we may not be hurried away, to undertake a war so foolish, to our great confusion.”

30. But he, passing through the midst of them When Luke says, that Jesus passed through the middle of the crowd, and so escaped out of their hands, he means that God rescued him, by an extraordinary miracle, from immediate death. This example teaches us that, though our adversaries may prevail so far, that our life may seem to be placed at their disposal, yet that the power of God will always be victorious to preserve us, so long as he shall be pleased to keep us in the world, either by tying their hands, or by blinding their eyes, or by stupifying their minds and hearts.

MATTHEW 4:13-16

Matthew 4:13-16

13. And having left Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is a town on the sea-coast in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14. That it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, 15. The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, near the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: 16. The people who sat “Le peuple, qui gisoit en tenebres;” — “The people that lay in darkness.” in darkness have seen a great light: and to those who sat in the region and shadow of death light hath arisen.

Luke 4:33. A man having a spirit of an unclean devil. This mode of expression, which Luke employs, conveys the idea, that the man was driven by the impulse of the devil. By the permission of God, Satan had seized the faculties of his soul in such a manner, as to drive him not only to speak, but to perform other movements, at his pleasure. And thus, when the demoniacs speak, the devils, who have received permission to tyrannise, speak in them and by them. The title, Holy One of God, was probably taken from a manner of speaking, which was, at that time, in ordinary and general use. The Messiah was so called, because he was to be distinguished and separated from all others, as endued with eminent grace, and as the Head of the whole Church.

Luke 4:36. And trembling came upon all This is the result of the miracle. They are compelled to acknowledge that there is in Christ something more than man, and justly trace the glory and power of the miracle to his doctrine. What speech is this, they say, which even the devils themselves are forced to obey?

Luke 4:39. He rebuked the fever. To a person not well acquainted with Scripture this mode of expression may appear harsh; but there were good reasons for employing it. Fevers and other diseases, famine, pestilence, and calamities of every description, are God’s heralds, “Les sergens de Dieu;” — “God's bailiffs.” by whom he executes his judgments. Now, as he is said to send such messengers by his command and pleasure, so he also restrains and recalls them whenever he pleases. The manner in which he healed them is not mentioned by Matthew and Mark: but Luke says, that it was by laying hands on each of them. Under the Law, this was a sign of reconciliation; and, therefore, it was not improperly, or unseasonably, that Christ laid hands on those whom he freed from the curse of God. It was also a solemn rite of consecration, as will afterwards be more fully explained. But I interpret Christ’s laying hands on the sick, as meaning simply, that he recommended them to the Father, and thus obtained for them grace and deliverance from their diseases.

CHAPTER 4

Lu 4:1-13. Temptation of Christ.

(See on Mt 4:1-11.)

Lu 4:14-32. Jesus Entering on His Public Ministry, Makes a Circuit of Galilee--Rejection at Nazareth.

Note.--A large gap here occurs, embracing the important transactions in Galilee and Jerusalem which are recorded in Joh 1:29-4:54, and which occurred before John's imprisonment (Joh 3:24); whereas the transactions here recorded occurred (as appears from Mt 4:12, 13) after that event. The visit to Nazareth recorded in Mt 13:54-58 (and Mr 6:1-6) we take to be not a later visit, but the same with this first one; because we cannot think that the Nazarenes, after being so enraged at His first display of wisdom as to attempt His destruction, should, on a second display of the same, wonder at it and ask how He came by it, as if they had never witnessed it before.

16. as his custom was--Compare Ac 17:2.

stood up for to read--Others besides rabbins were allowed to address the congregation. (See Ac 13:15.)

18-19. To have fixed on any passage announcing His sufferings (as Is 53:1-12), would have been unsuitable at that early stage of His ministry. But He selects a passage announcing the sublime object of His whole mission, its divine character, and His special endowments for it; expressed in the first person, and so singularly adapted to the first opening of the mouth in His prophetic capacity, that it seems as if made expressly for this occasion. It is from the well-known section of Isaiah's prophecies whose burden is that mysterious "Servant of the Lord," despised of man, abhorred of the nation, but before whom kings on seeing Him are to arise, and princes to worship; in visage more marred than any man and His form than the sons of men, yet sprinkling many nations; laboring seemingly in vain, and spending His strength for naught and in vain, yet Jehovah's Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and be His Salvation to the ends of the earth (Is 49:1-26, &c.). The quotation is chiefly from the Septuagint version, used in the synagogues.

20. the minister--the chazan, or synagogue-officer.

all eyes ... fastened on Him--astounded at His putting in such claims.

21. began to say, &c.--His whole address was just a detailed application to Himself of this and perhaps other like prophecies.

22. gracious words--"the words of grace," referring both to the richness of His matter and the sweetness of His manner (Psa 45:2).

Is not this, &c.--(See on Mt 13:54-56). They knew He had received no rabbinical education, and anything supernatural they seemed incapable of conceiving.

23. this proverb--like our "Charity begins at home."

whatsoever, &c.--"Strange rumors have reached our ears of Thy doings at Capernaum; but if such power resides in Thee to cure the ills of humanity, why has none of it yet come nearer home, and why is all this alleged power reserved for strangers?" His choice of Capernaum as a place of residence since entering on public life was, it seems, already well known at Nazareth; and when He did come thither, to give no displays of His power when distant places were ringing with His fame, wounded their pride. He had indeed "laid his hands on a few sick folk and healed them" (Mr 6:5); but this seems to have been done quite privately the general unbelief precluding anything more open.

24. And he said, &c.--He replies to the one proverb by another, equally familiar, which we express in a rougher form--"Too much familiarity breeds contempt." Our Lord's long residence in Nazareth merely as a townsman had made Him too common, incapacitating them for appreciating Him as others did who were less familiar with His everyday demeanor in private life. A most important principle, to which the wise will pay due regard. (See also Mt 7:6, on which our Lord Himself ever acted.)

25-27. But I tell you, &c.--falling back for support on the well-known examples of Elijah and Elisha (Eliseus), whose miraculous power, passing by those who were near, expended itself on those at a distance, yea on heathens, "the two great prophets who stand at the commencement of prophetic antiquity, and whose miracles strikingly prefigured those of our Lord. As He intended like them to feed the poor and cleanse the lepers, He points to these miracles of mercy, and not to the fire from heaven and the bears that tore the mockers" [Stier].

three years and six months--So Jas 5:17, including perhaps the six months after the last fall of rain, when there would be little or none at any rate; whereas in 1Ki 18:1, which says the rain returned "in the third year," that period is probably not reckoned.

28-29. when they heard these things--these allusions to the heathen, just as afterwards with Paul (Ac 22:21, 22).

30. passing through the midst, &c.--evidently in a miraculous way, though perhaps quite noiselessly, leading them to wonder afterwards what spell could have come over them, that they allowed Him to escape. (Similar escapes, however, in times of persecution, are not unexampled.)

31. down to Capernaum--It lay on the Sea of Galilee (Mt 4:13), whereas Nazareth lay high.

Lu 4:33-37. Demoniac Healed.

33. unclean--The frequency with which this character of impurity is applied to evil spirits is worthy of notice.

cried out, &c.--(See Mt 8:29; Mr 3:11).

35. rebuked them, &c.--(See on Lu 4:41).

thrown him, &c.--See on Mr 9:20.

36. What a word--a word from the Lord of spirits.

Lu 4:38-41. Peter's Mother-in-law and Many Others, Healed.

(See on Mt 8:14-17.)

41. suffered them not to speak--The marginal reading ("to say that they knew him to be Christ") here is wrong. Our Lord ever refused testimony from devils, for the very reason why they were eager to give it, because He and they would thus seem to be one interest, as His enemies actually alleged. (See on Mt 12:24, &c.; see also Ac 16:16-18.)

Lu 4:42-44. Jesus Sought Out at Morning Prayer, and Entreated to Stay, Declines from the Urgency of His Work.

See on Mr 1:35-39, where we learn how early He retired, and how He was engaged in solitude when they came seeking Him.

42. stayed him--"were staying Him," or sought to do it. What a contrast to the Gadarenes! The nature of His mission required Him to keep moving, that all might hear the glad tidings (Mt 8:34).

43. I must, &c.--but duty only could move Him to deny entreaties so grateful to His spirit.

Was led by the Spirit - Or, And was carried about, ηγετο. Matthew says, ανηχθη, he was brought up. Mark says, the Spirit driveth him εκβαλλει - putteth him forth. But each of the evangelists attributes this to the Holy Ghost, not to Satan. It may be useful to remark here, that, during the forty days and forty nights in which he is said to have been tempted by the devil, he is carried about, continually sustained and supported, by the Holy Ghost. Let those who are tempted by Satan look for, and, in virtue of the power and intercession of Christ, claim, the same support; and it matters little how many days they may be assaulted by the devil, while they are carried about by the Spirit of God.

If thou - wilt worship me - This temptation is the last in order, as related by Matthew; and it is not reasonable to suppose that any other succeeded to it. Luke has here told the particulars, but not in the order in which they took place. See every circumstance of this temptation considered and explained in the notes on Mat 4:1-11 (note).

Returned in the power of the Spirit - Εν τῃ δυναμει του πνευματος, In the mighty power of the Spirit. Having now conquered the grand adversary, he comes in the miracle-working energy of the Spirit to show forth his power, godhead, and love to the people, that they might believe and be saved. He who, through the grace of God, resists and overcomes temptation, is always bettered by it. This is one of the wonders of God's grace, that those very things which are designed for our utter ruin he makes the instruments of our greatest good. Thus Satan is ever duped by his own proceedings, and caught in his own craft.

And he taught in their synagogues - We do not find that even the persecuting Jews ever hindered Christ or his disciples from preaching in their synagogues. Is it the same in every place where even the Christian religion is established by law? Would Jesus, or his apostles, or their most Scriptural representatives, be permitted to preach in one out of a thousand churches, in certain countries, unless they were strictly conformed to their external ecclesiastical customs? Nor even then, unless their doctrine were according to the taste of the managers and of the times.

Glorified of all - All felt the power of his preaching, and acknowledged the divinity of his mission. The scandal of the cross had not yet taken place.

To Nazareth, where he had been brought up - It is likely that our Lord lived principally in this city till the 30th year of his age; but, after he entered on his public ministry, his usual place of residence was at the house of Peter, in Capernaum.

As his custom was - Our Lord regularly attended the public worship of God in the synagogues; for there the Scriptures were read: other parts of the worship were very corrupt; but it was the best at that time to be found in the land. To worship God publicly is the duty of every man, and no man can be guiltless who neglects it. If a person cannot get such public worship as he likes, let him frequent such as he can get. Better to attend the most indifferent than to stay at home, especially on the Lord's day. The place and the time are set apart for the worship of the true God: if others do not conduct themselves well in it, that is not your fault, and need not be any hinderance to you. You come to worship God - do not forget your errand - and God will supply the lack in the service by the teachings of his Spirit. Hear the saying of old Mr. Herbert: - "The worst speak something good: should all want sense, God takes the text, and preacheth p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e." A man may always profit where the word of God is read.

Stood up for to read - The Jews, in general, sat while they taught or commented on the Sacred Writings, or the traditions of the elders; but when they read either the law or the prophets they invariably stood up: it was not lawful for them even to lean against any thing while employed in reading.

And when he had opened the book - Αναπτυξας, When he had unrolled it. The Sacred Writings used to this day, in all the Jewish synagogues, are written on skins of basil, parchment, or vellum, sewed end to end, and rolled on two rollers, beginning at each end; so that, in reading from right to left, they roll off with the left, while they roll on with the right. Probably the place in the Prophet Isaiah, here referred to, was the lesson for that day; and Jesus unrolled the manuscript till he came to the place: then, after having read, he rolled it up again, and returned it to the officer, Luk 4:20, the ruler of the synagogue, or his servant, whose business it was to take care of it. The place that he opened was probably the section for the day. See the table at the end of Deuteronomy, and the note at the end of that table.

The Spirit of the Lord - This is found in Isa 61:1; but our Lord immediately adds to it Isa 42:7. The proclaiming of liberty to the captives, and the acceptable year (or year of acceptance) of the Lord, is a manifest allusion to the proclaiming of the year of jubilee by sound of trumpet: see Lev 25:8 (note), etc., and the notes there. This was a year of general release of debts and obligations; of bond-men and women; of lands and possessions, which had been sold from the families and tribes to which they belonged. Our Savior, by applying this text to himself, a text so manifestly relating to the institution above mentioned, plainly declares the typical design of that institution. - Lowth.

He hath anointed me - I have been designed and set apart for this very purpose; my sole business among men is to proclaim glad tidings to the poor, etc. All the functions of this new prophet are exercised on the hearts of men; and the grace by which he works in the heart is a grace of healing, deliverance, and illumination; which, by an admirable virtue, causes them to pass from sickness to health, from slavery to liberty, from darkness to light, and from the lowest degrees of misery to supreme eternal happiness. See Quesnel. To those who feel their spiritual poverty, whose hearts are broken through a sense of their sins, who see themselves tied and bound with the chains of many evil habits, who sit in the darkness of guilt and misery, without a friendly hand to lead them in the way in which they should go - to these, the Gospel of the grace of Christ is a pleasing sound, because a present and full salvation is proclaimed by it; and the present is shown to be the acceptable year of the Lord; the year, the time, in which he saves to the uttermost all who come unto him in the name of his Son Jesus. Reader! what dost thou feel? Sin-wretchedness-misery of every description? Then come to Jesus - He will save Thee - he came into the world for this very purpose. Cast thy soul upon him, and thou shalt not perish, but have everlasting life.

Were fastened on him - Were attentively fixed on him. The proper import of ατενιζοντες αυτῳ.

At the gracious words - To the words of grace, επι τοις λογοις της χαριτος, or the doctrines of grace, which he then preached. It is very strange that none of the evangelists give us any account of this sermon! There was certainly more of it than is related in Luk 4:21. To-day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears; which seems to have been no more than the first sentence he spoke on the occasion. Had it been necessary for our salvation, it would have been recorded. It was a demonstration to those Jews, that Jesus, who preached to them, was the person of whom the prophet there spoke: it was not designed for general edification. Let us make a good use of what we have got, and we shalt not regret that this sermon is lost. The ear is never satisfied with hearing: we wish for another and another revelation, while sadly unacquainted with the nature and design of that which God's mercy has already given us.

Physician, heal thyself - That is, heal the broken-hearted in thy own country, as the latter clause of the verse explains it; but they were far from being in a proper spirit to receive the salvation which he was ready to communicate; and therefore they were not healed.

No prophet is accepted - See on Mat 13:55-57 (note).

In the days of Elias - See this history, 1Kgs 17:1-9, compared with 1 Kings 18:1-45. This was evidently a miraculous interference, as no rain fell for three years and six months, even in the rainy seasons. There were two of these in Judea, called the first and the latter rains; the first fell in October, the latter in April: the first prepared the ground for the seed, the latter ripened the harvest. As both these rains were withheld, consequently there was a great famine throughout all the land.

Unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta - The sentence is elliptical, and means this: To none of them was Elias sent; he was not sent except to Sarepta; for the widow at Sarepta was a Sidonian, not a widow of Israel. Pearce. - Sarepta was a pagan city in the country of Sidon, in the vicinity of Galilee.

None of them was cleansed - This verse is to be understood as the 26th; for Naaman, being a Syrian, was no leper in Israel. The meaning of these verses is, God dispenses his benefits when, where, and to whom he pleases. No person can complain of his conduct in these respects, because no person deserves any good from his hand. God never punishes any but those who deserve it; but he blesses incessantly those who deserve it not. The reason is evident: justice depends on certain rules; but beneficence is free. Beneficence can bless both the good and the evil; justice can punish the latter only. Those who do not make this distinction must have a very confused notion of the conduct of Divine Providence among men.

Were filled with wrath - They seem to have drawn the following conclusion from what our Lord spoke: "The Gentiles are more precious in the sight of God than the Jews; and to them his miracles of mercy and kindness shall be principally confined." This was pretty near the truth, as the event proved. Those who profit not by the light of God, while it is among them, shall have their candle extinguished. The kingdom of God was taken from the Jews, and given to the Gentiles; not because the Gentiles were better than they were, but because, 1st. The Jews had forfeited their privileges; and 2dly. Because Christ saw that the Gentiles would bring forth the fruits of the kingdom.

The brow of the hill - Mr. Maundrel tells us that this is still called "the Mountain of the Precipitation, and is half a league southward of Nazareth. In going to it, you cross first over the vale in which Nazareth stands; and then going down two or three furlongs, in a narrow cleft between the rocks, you there clamber up a short but difficult way on the right hand; at the top of which you find a great stone standing on the brink of a precipice, which is said to be the very place where our Lord was destined to be thrown down by his enraged neighbors." Maundrel's Journey, p. 116. Edit. 5th. 1732.

Passing through the midst of them - Either he shut their eyes so that they could not see him; or he so overawed them by his power as to leave them no strength to perform their murderous purpose. The man Christ Jesus was immortal till his time came; and all his messengers are immortal till their work is done. The following relation of a fact presents a scene something similar to what I suppose passed on this occasion: A missionary, who had been sent to a strange land to proclaim the Gospel of the kingdom of God, and who had passed through many hardships, and was often in danger of losing his life, through the persecutions excited against him, came to a place where he had often before, at no small risk, preached Christ crucified. About fifty people, who had received good impressions from the word of God, assembled: he began his discourse; and, after he had preached about thirty minutes, an outrageous mob surrounded the house, armed with different instruments of death, and breathing the most sanguinary purposes. Some that were within shut the door; and the missionary and his flock betook themselves to prayer. The mob assailed the house, and began to hurl stones against the walls, windows, and roof; and in a short time almost every tile was destroyed, and the roof nearly uncovered, and before they quitted the premises scarcely left one square inch of glass in the five windows by which the house was enlightened. While this was going forward, a person came with a pistol to the window opposite to the place where the preacher stood, (who was then exhorting his flock to be steady, to resign themselves to God, and trust in him), presented it at him, and snapped it; but it only flashed in the pan! As the house was a wooden building, they began with crows and spades to undermine it, and take away its principal supports. The preacher then addressed his little flock to this effect: "These outrageous people seek not you, but me; if I continue in the house, they will soon pull it down, and we shall be all buried in its ruins; I will therefore, in the name of God, go out to them, and you will be safe." He then went towards the door; the poor people got round him, and entreated him not to venture out, as he might expect to be instantly massacred; he went calmly forward, opened the door, at which a whole volley of stones and dirt was that instant discharged; but he received no damage. The people were in crowds in all the space before the door, and filled the road for a considerable way, so that there was no room to pass or repass. As soon as the preacher made his appearance, the savages became instantly as silent and as still as night: he walked forward; and they divided to the right and to the left, leaving a passage of about four feet wide for himself and a young man who followed him, to walk in. He passed on through the whole crowd, not a soul of whom either lifted a hand, or spoke one word, till he and his companion had gained the uttermost skirts of the mob! The narrator, who was present on the occasion, goes on to say: "This was one of the most affecting spectacles I ever witnessed; an infuriated mob, without any visible cause, (for the preacher spoke not one word), became in a moment as calm as lambs! They seemed struck with amazement bordering on stupefaction; they stared and stood speechless; and, after they had fallen back to right and left to leave him a free passage, they were as motionless as statues! They assembled with the full purpose to destroy the man who came to show them the way of salvation; but he, passing through the midst of them, went his way. Was not the God of missionaries in this work? The next Lord's day, the missionary went to the same place, and again proclaimed the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world!"

Came down to Capernaum - Which it is likely he made his ordinary place of residence from this time. See on Mat 4:13 (note).

His word was with power - Εν εξουσιᾳ, With authority. He assumed the tone and manner of a new Lawgiver; and uttered all his doctrines, not in the way of exhortation or advice, but in the form of precepts and commands, the unction of the Holy Spirit accompanying all he said. See on Mar 1:22 (note).

A spirit of an unclean devil - As demon was used both in a good and bad sense before and after the time of the evangelists the word unclean may have been added here by St. Luke, merely to express the quality of this spirit. But it is worthy of remark, that the inspired writers never use the word δαιμων, demon, in a good sense. See the whole of this case explained, Mar 1:23 (note), etc.

And hurt him not - Though he convulsed him, Mar 2:26, and threw him down in the midst of them, probably with the design to take away his life, yet our Lord permitted it not; and this appears to be the meaning of the place. The spirit was not permitted essentially to injure him at that time.

The fame - Ηχος, the sound. This is a very elegant metaphor. The people are represented as struck with astonishment, and the sound goes out through all the coasts; in allusion to the propagation of sound, by a smart stroke upon any substance, by which the air is suddenly agitated, and conveys the report made by the stroke to distant places. So this miracle was told to others by those who saw it, and they to others still, till it was heard through all the coasts of Galilee, Mar 1:28.

Simon's wife's mother - See on Mat 8:14-17 (note). As soon as Peter began to follow Christ, his family began to benefit by it. It is always profitable to contract an acquaintance with good men. One person full of faith and prayer may be the means of drawing down innumerable blessings on his family and acquaintance. Every person who knows the virtue and authority of Christ should earnestly seek his grace in behalf of all the spiritually diseased in his household; nor can he seek the aid of Christ in vain.

When the sun was setting - And consequently the Sabbath ended, for before this it would have been unlawful to have brought their sick to be healed.

And the people sought him - Rather, Sought him earnestly. Instead of εζητουν, sought, I read, επεζητουν, earnestly sought. This reading is supported by ABCDFLMS - V, and more than seventy others. Wetstein and Griesbach have both received it into the text. The people had tasted the good word of God, and now they cleave to Christ with their whole heart. Hearing the words of Christ, and feeling the influence of his Spirit upon the soul, will attract and influence the heart; and indeed nothing else can do it.

And stayed him - Strove to detain him; κατειχον αυτον they caught hold of him. Thus showing their great earnestness to be farther instructed.

I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities - To proclaim the kingdom of God was the Messiah's great work; healing the diseases of the people was only an emblematical and secondary work, a work that was to be the proof of his goodness, and the demonstration of his authority to preach the Gospel, and open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

Some have found both a difficulty and a mystery in the shutting up of heaven in the time of the Prophet Elijah. It was, no doubt, emblematical of the hardened and impenitent state of the Israelites, and of the judgments of God in withholding those Divine influences which they had so often abused. As to the difficulty of the six months, which both our Lord here, and St. James, Jam 5:17, mention, and which are not mentioned in the book of Kings whence the account is taken, it may be easily understood thus. The rains, we have already seen, fell in Judea twice in the year, about April, and about October. At this latter period, when the rain was expected, the prophet prayed that it might not rain; the rain therefore of Marchesvan, or October, etc., was then restrained: this restraint continued for three full years; but six months had elapsed from Nisan, April, etc., when they had their last rain, add these six months to the three full years that the rain was restrained at the prayer of Elijah, and then we have the period of three years and six months, according to our Lord and Saint James. By this the justice of God was shown: but behold his mercy in that rain of grace which fell so abundantly by the preaching of Christ during the three years and six months of his public ministry! Thus the difficulty is solved, and the mystery explained. Reader, the most awful famine is a famine of the word of God: thou art not yet tried in this way: behold the goodness and severity of God! While thou hast the light, walk as a child of the light; and let it not be thy curse and condemnation, that while others, by reading and hearing the word of God, are plenteously watered, thy fleece alone should be found dry. How unutterable must the wo of those be, who live and die infidels under the preaching of the Gospel of Christ!

Let him that readeth, understand.

The wilderness - Supposed by some to have been in Judea; by others to have been that great desert of Horeb or Sinai, where the children of Israel were tried for forty years, and Moses and Elijah fasted forty days. Mt 4:1; Mr 1:12.

De 8:3.

I give it to whomsoever I will - Not so, Satan. It is God, not thou, that putteth down one, and setteth up another: although sometimes Satan, by God's permission, may occasion great revolutions in the world.

De 6:13.

Psa 91:11.

De 6:16.

A convenient season - In the garden of Gethsemane, Lu 22:53.

Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit - Being more abundantly strengthened after his conflict.

Being glorified of all - So God usually gives strong cordials after strong temptations. But neither their approbation continued long, nor the outward calm which he now enjoyed.

He stood up - Showing thereby that he had a desire to read the Scripture to the congregation: on which the book was given to him. It was the Jewish custom to read standing, but to preach sitting. Mt 13:54; Mr 6:1.

He found - It seems, opening upon it, by the particular providence of God.

He hath anointed me - With the Spirit. He hath by the power of his Spirit which dwelleth in me, set me apart for these offices. To preach the Gospel to the poor - Literally and spiritually. How is the doctrine of the ever - blessed trinity interwoven, even in those scriptures where one would least expect it? How clear a declaration of the great Three - One is there in those very words, The Spirit - of the Lord is upon me! To proclaim deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised - Here is a beautiful gradation, in comparing the spiritual state of men to the miserable state of those captives, who are not only cast into prison, but, like Zedekiah, had their eyes put out, and were laden and bruised with chains of iron. Isa 61:1.

The acceptable year - Plainly alluding to the year of jubilee, when all, both debtors and servants, were set free.

To - day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears - By what you hear me speak.

The gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth - A person of spiritual discernment may find in all the discourses of our Lord a peculiar sweetness, gravity, and becomingness, such as is not to be found in the same degree, not even in those of the apostles.

Ye will surely say - That is, your approbation now outweighs your prejudices. But it will not be so long. You will soon ask, why my love does not begin at home? Why I do not work miracles here, rather than at Capernaum? It is because of your unbelief. Nor is it any new thing for me to be despised in my own country. So were both Elijah and Elisha, and thereby driven to work miracles among heathens, rather than in Israel.

No prophet is acceptable in his own country - That is, in his own neighbourhood. It generally holds, that a teacher sent from God is not so acceptable to his neighbours as he is to strangers. The meanness of his family, or lowness of his circumstances, bring his office into contempt: nor can they suffer that he, who was before equal with, or below themselves, should now bear a superior character.

When the heaven was shut up three years and six months - Such a proof had they that God had sent him. In 1Kings 18:1, it is said, The word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year: namely, reckoning not from the beginning of the drought, but from the time when he began to sojourn with the widow of Sarepta. A year of drought had preceded this, while he dwelt at the brook Cherith. So that the whole time of the drought was (as St. James likewise observes) three years and six months. 1Ki 17:19; 18:44.

2Ki 5:14.

And all in the synagogue were filled with fury - Perceiving the purport of his discourse, namely, that the blessing which they despised, would be offered to, and accepted by, the Gentiles. So changeable are the hearts of wicked men! So little are their starts of love to be depended on! So unable are they to bear the close application, even of a discourse which they most admire!

Passing through the midst of them - Perhaps invisibly; or perhaps they were overawed; so that though they saw, they could not touch him.

He came down to Capernaum - And dwelt there, entirely quitting his abode at Nazareth. Mr 1:21.

What have we to do with thee - Thy present business is with men, not with devils. I know thee who thou art - But surely he did not know a little before, that he was God over all, blessed for ever; or he would not have dared to tell him, All this power is delivered to me, and I give it to whomsoever I will. The Holy One of God - Either this confession was extorted from him by terror, (for the devils believe and tremble,) or he made it with a design to render the character of Christ suspected. Possibly it was from hence the Pharisees took occasion to say, He casteth out devils by the prince of the devils.

Mt 8:14; Mr 1:29.

When the sun was set - And consequently the Sabbath ended, which they reckoned from sunset to sunset. Mt 8:16; Mr 1:32.

Mr 1:35.

1 AND Jesus being full of the holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, and was led by the spirit into the wilderness.

By the Holy Ghost here is to be understood the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to the Prophecy of him, Isaiah 11.1, 2. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are often in holy Writ called the Spirit, Acts 2.4.8.18.10.44. and not only those that are influenced with the saving Gifts and Graces of the Spirit, are said to have the Spirit, and be filled; but those who received the more extraordinary Powers of it, such as the Gifts of Prophecy, healing &c. Others besides Christ are in Scripture said to be filled with the Spirit, Acts 6.5. and it was so Prophecied concerning Iohn, Luke 1.6, 7. But they had but their measure, to Christ the Spirit was given not by measure, Iohn 3.34. he returned from Iordan. There Iohn baptized, there Christ was Baptized by him. And was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness. [non-Latin text not transcribed], saith Luke, [non-Latin text not transcribed], saith Matthew, Mark expresseth it by the Word [non-Latin text not transcribed], the Words do not signifie a violent motion, (for without doubt Christ went willingly) but a potent, and efficacious motion.

Marginal references: Math. 4.1. Mark 1.12, 13.

2 Being forty days tempted of the devil, and in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungred.

See the Notes on Matth. 4.2, 3, 4.

Marginal references: Exod. 34.2[illegible: 1 letter]. 1 King 19.8.

4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

See the Notes on Matth. 4.3, 4. It is very observable that Christ here asserteth the Authority of the Scriptures, and tho he was full of the Holy Ghost, yet maketh the Holy Scripture his rule of action.

Marginal references: Deu. 8.3.

8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

See the Notes on Matth. 4.8, 9, 10. Those Words, v. 6. For that is delivered to me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it, are only mentioned by Luke, where we may observe, 1. That the Devil was a Lyar from the beginning. The Dominion over the things of the World was not given to the Angels, but to Man, neither hath he any such Power as he pretends to, being not able to do any thing against Iob, till he had obtained leave from God, nor to enter into the Swine, without license first obtained from Christ.

Marginal references: Deut. 6.13.10.20.

12 And Jesus answering, said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

See the Notes on Mat. 4.5, 6, 7. what Matthew calls the Holy City, Luke expoundeth Ierusalem.

Marginal references: Deut. 6.16.

13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

Matthew saith, The Devil left him, and behold Angels came and ministred unto him. Luke saith, he departed from him for a season, when he had ended all the Temptation. Those Words for a season, seem to intimate that our Saviour had further Conflicts with the Devil than are here mentioned; and possibly those Words all the temptation may hint us, that the Devil offered more temptations, than the Evangelists have recorded, tho some affirm that all Temptations fall under those which are the heads of these Temptations, and think those Words for a season, signify untill the time of his Passion, when he entred into the heart of Iudas, and armed all his Instruments against this Captain of our Salvation.

Marginal references: Mat. 4.11.

15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

Both Matthew and Mark make the occasion of our Saviours going into Galilee, to be his hearing, that John was cast into Prison. But certainly Matthew and Mark speak of a second going into Galilee, and mean by it Galilee of the Gentiles, which was in the jurisdiction of Philip the Brother of Herod Antipas, else one might admire, why Christ should go into Galilee, upon hearing that Iohn was cast into Prison; that had been for him to have thrown himself into Herod's Mouth, before that his time of suffering was come; but it should seem that after his Temptations, he first went to Capernaum, where he did not stay many dayes, Iohn 2.12. and then to Nazareth, which was his own Country; but others think that all the Evangelists speak of a second going into Galilee, which I cannot agree if Nazareth were within that Galilee, which was called the lower Galilee, and was within the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas, who was the Tetrarch of Galilee, and the Man that had imprisoned Iohn, and afterwards caused him to be beheaded. And he taught in their Synagogues. He had the reputation of a Prophet, which procured him that liberty of speaking in all those places, where the Jews celebrated their publick worship; being glorified, that is, admired, and honoured of all.

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

We heard before Ch. 2.29.51. that Christ was brought up at Nazareth, we read of him at Nazareth, Matth. 13.54. But I must confess I doubt, whether Matthew there, and Luke here speak of the same time; of the Nature of the Jewish Synagogues, and their order of Worship there, and the reading of the Scriptures in them we have spoken before in our Notes on Matth. 4.23.

Marginal references: Mat. 2.23.

19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

The Words differ in some things from the Words of the Prophet out of which they are quoted▪ Isaiah. 61. v. 1. where is nothing of recovering of sight to the Blind, but they exactly agree with the Septuagint version, only v. 19. they have [non-Latin text not transcribed] to call, and Luke hath [non-Latin text not transcribed] to Preach, according to which probably the copies of the Septuagint in use with them were. It was their manner in the Synagogues for the Minister (an officer appointed to that purpose see v. 19.) to bring the Book of the Law or of the Prophets, which was to be read, and to deliver it to him that officiated for that time, who when he had read, re delivered it to the same Officer to be laid up. Their Writers tell us, that the Books of Moses were divided into several portions, which they were tied to read in order; but for the Books of the Prophets, he that officiated, was more at liberty to read in what place, and proportion he pleased. Our Lord readeth, Isaiah 61.1. which (according to the Septuagint copy) was as Luke here translated, and by the way, this custom of the Writers of the New Testament (writing in Greek) to quote Texts out of the old Testament, very often according to that Septuagint translation, may first give us some account of the difficulty we met with Chap. 3. where Sala was made the Son of Cainan, and the Grandchild of Arphaxad, whereas Moses mentions no Cainan, Gen. 11. Luke taking the quotation out of the Septuagint might put it in according to them, for they have it in Gen. 11.12. Secondly it may learn us not to be too curious as to minute things in Scripture, for had it been a thing of moment the holy Spirit of God had certainly never suffered Luke to write after their Copy, either there, or here. God never had a Church in any place, but he soon stirred up some to make an Interpretation of the Scriptures for their use, and so far assisted them, that tho they might differ from the Hebrew Text, or the Greek in some minute things, yet they differed not in any thing of moment necessary for us to know and believe in order to Salvation. And the frequent quotations we have in the New Testament out of the Septuagint, incline us to think that it is the Will of God, that particular Persons in Churches, should make use of such Versions, and take them for the holy Scriptures, not lightly and ordinarily varying from them. The translating of Scriptures, being not an ordinary ministerial Gift, but the work of some stirred up by God unto it, and whom he more than ordinarily so assists, as that they have not erred in any momentous thing. If this may be admitted, we need not lay the fault upon those who transcribed Luke's copy. But let us come to the Text it self. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because [illegible: 1 letter]e hath anointed me. Anointing may signifie two things. 1. The Indowment of the Person with Gifts and Abilities fit for his Work. Thus 1 Ioh. 2.27. The anointing is said to teach us all things, and Christ is said Psal. 45.7. Heb. 1.9. to be anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows, which the Baptist seemeth to interpret, Ioh. 3.34. God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. 2. Anointing also was a Symbol of Gods calling out, and sending a Person to the Execution of an Office, 2 Kings 9.6. 3. I find also anointing used, as a Symbol of Gods purpose, and designation of a Person to an employment, to the performance of which he did not presently call him; thus David was anointed 1 Sam. 16.13. By the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, I conceive is meant, exciting and quickening Christ to the present Execution of that Office, to which God had anointed him, that is, of old designed him. 2. fitted him, giving him the Spirit not by measure, 3. now called him to the exercise of it, and because the Lord, had so designed him, so prepared, and now so called him The Spirit now excited, and quickened him. God stirreth up none to take upon them the Office of the Ministry, whom he hath not fitted with Gifts for the discharge of it. But what this imployment to which Christ was anointed [non-Latin text not transcribed] to Preach the Gospel to the Poor. This was the great work of our Lord and Saviour, to Preach; and what? the Gospel, the glad tidings of Salvation; to whom? [non-Latin text not transcribed], it is used to signifie those that are mean in the World, and by a figure, those that are miserable, and afflicted, and this I should take to be the sense here, in conformity to that other Phrase which our Saviour useth to Iohns Disciples Matth. 11.1. and to that of the Apostle, 1 Cor. 1.26. Christ was first sent to the lost Sheep of the house of Israel, who were all at this time in a Poor afflicted State and Condition, and amongst them chiefly to the meaner sort. The Rulers believed not on him Iohn 7.48, 49. To teach Ministers what Erasmus saith, Nulla nobis anima vilis videri debet, pro quâ Dominus gloriae mori non est dedignatus. That they are too proud, that despise the Poor, and that we ought not to count any Soul vile, for which he who was the Lord of Glory disdained not to dye. We may add, to which the great Minister of the Circumcision took himself to be anointed to Preach. I had rather thus understand it, then of such as are poor in Spirit, which seem to be understood in the next Words, he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, whether wounded in the sense of Sin, or melted in the sense of Mercy; the whole hearted, are such as see no need of repentance, no need of a Saviour, Christ came not to heal these. The whole need not a Physician. It followeth, to Preach deliverance to the Captives. To let them know that are yet Slaves to Sin, and to their Lusts, that there is a way for their deliverance. And recovering of sight to the Blind, to let all Blind Sinners know, that there [illegible: 2 letters] an eye-salve discover'd, which if applyed will recover their spiritual sight. To set at liberty them that are bruised. It is of the same significancy, with binding up the broken in heart. To Preach the acceptable year of the Lord. The true Iubilee, when every Soul may be set free from the bonds of its Sins, 2 Cor. 6.[illegible: 1 letter]. the year of Gods good Will, that the time was now come, when in every Nation, he that feared God, and wrought Righteousness, s[illegible: 1 letter]ould be accepted with him. Acts 10.35.

21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this s[illegible: 1 letter]ripture fulfilled in your ears.

Christ observeth the order used in their Synagogues, when he that o[illegible: 3 letters]ciateth, had read such a portion out of the Law as was [illegible: 1 letter]ppoi[illegible: 1 letter]ted, or out of the Prophets, as he pleased, he closed the [illegible: 1 word] or t[illegible: 1 letter]e R[illegible: 1 letter]ll, and gave it again to the Officer, whose work [illegible: 1 word] to bring it, and then to carry it back, and lay it up. And [illegible: 1 span], whiles he made his exhortation upon it. This Christ did [illegible: 2 letters]e People be[illegible: 1 letter]ng in the me[illegible: 1 letter]n time very attent to hear what he w[illegible: 1 letter]uld s[illegible: 1 letter]y He begins to speak, and telleth them. This was a Prophe [illegible: 2 letters] [illegible: 3 letters]cerning him T[illegible: 1 letter]is day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. [illegible: 1 word] is, it is ful[illegible: 1 letter]illed in me, either primarily, or as I am the Ante-type [illegible: 1 letter]o Cyrus. We must not think that this was all which Christ [illegible: 1 word] but thus he began his discourse.

22 And all bare him witness, and wondred at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Josephs son?

All that heard our Saviour in the Synagogue bare him witness. Of what? Not that he was the Me[illegible: 1 letter]sias, much less the Son of God. but they praised his discourse in opening the Prophecy, they did not believe in him, but they admired the Wisdom▪ and Piety of h[illegible: 2 letters] discourses▪ they admired the effects of the Grace of God in him, his gracious Words, but see the wretchedness of carnal hearts, in their proneness to take up prejudices, to choak the beginnings of any co[illegible: 1 letter]victions in themselves. They do not admire the Power of Divine Grace, that they could so far influence one of so mean an education as they took Christ to have had. But dreaming that the Kingdom of God must come with observation, and the coming o[illegible: 1 letter] the Me[illegible: 1 letter]siah must be in great outward splendour and Glory, they stumble at his Parent, because (tho of the house of David) they were of so mean a visible quality.

Marginal references: Mat. 13.54, 55,; Jo[illegible: 1 letter] 6.42.

24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet i[illegible: 1 letter] accepted in his own country.

Christ [illegible: 2 letters]re tells those of Nazareth, what was in their hearts, viz. That they i[illegible: 1 letter] their hearts contemned him, because of the meanness of hi[illegible: 1 letter] Parentage, and challenged him to confirm his Doctrine by Miracles▪ urging that Nazareth was his own Country, and Phys[illegible: 1 letter]c[illegible: 1 letter]ans in the first place ought to cure themselves, and their Friends and t[illegible: 1 letter]o[illegible: 1 letter]e of their own Families; they therefore challenge him to work some such Miracles, as he had before wrought in Capernaum, as they had heard. He gives them the reason why he did no Miracles amongst them, viz. because he discerned that they contemned them, as is very usual for Persons, according to that common saying, No Prophet is accepted in his own Country. The reference here to some things done before this time in Capernaum, would incline us to think that after Christs Temptations, he [illegible: 1 word] went to Cana of Galilee, where he wrought his first Miracle Iohn 2.1. turning the Water into Wine, then to Capernaum, where he staid not many days, Iohn 2.12. then to Nazareth, but [illegible: 1 letter]earing that Iohn was cast into Prison, he removed from Nazareth to Capernaum, out of the jurisdiction of Herod, under the m[illegible: 1 letter]lder Government of Philip his Brother.

Marginal references: M[illegible: 1 letter]t. [illegible: 1 span]

27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elis[illegible: 1 letter]us the prophet: and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.

The two Stories to which our Saviour referreth are those 1 Kings 17.9. 2 Kings 5.14. But the question is what our Saviour intended to teach them by these stories, which made them so exceeding angry as we shall find by and by. I answer, several things none of which pleased them. 1. The [illegible: 1 letter]reeness of Gods distinguishing Grace. That God was not bound to give to all the same aid, and means of Grace, that he gave some. This is a Doctrine the World were never patient to hear. That God will have Mercy on whom he will have Mercy, we would fain make God a debtor to us, those of Nazareth, think they had as good, if not a better right to Christs Miracles then those of Capernaum. I tell you, saith Christ, God is a Soveraign in his acts of Grace, and acteth freely, and I can do no Miracles, but where he will have them done. 2. That it is through the fault of Men, if they receive not the benefits of Divine Grace. If the Israelites would have entertained Elijah, he might have been sent to them, as well as to Sarep[illegible: 1 letter]a. If the Lepers in Israel, would have sought out, and come to Elijah they might have been healed, if you would have received me, and believed in me, you might have seen what those of Capernaum did, it is because of your contempt and unbelief, that I can shew you no Miracles. If any say, if God had put it into the hearts of the Widdows in Israel, or the Lepers there, they would also have entertained Elijah, and have sought out and came to Elisha, why did not God put it into their hearts? To this the answer is ready▪ Who art thou that disputest with God? Why doth the Clay reply upon the Potter? Even so O Father, for so it pleaseth thee, how ever the failurs of the Lepers in Israel, and the Widdows there, and of those in Nazareth, was in a great measure in their duty, as to things within their Power to do by vertue of that common Grace, which God denieth to none, he might justly deny his special influences, while they neglected to make use of his more common influences. 3. That in every Nation he that feared God, and wrought Righteousness, was ever accepted of him. God had no respect to this Country, or that Country, he sent Elias to do good to a Sydonian, and Elisha to do good to a Syrian, whiles he neglected the ingrateful, and disobedient Israelites. Thus he also not obscurely hinteth, that for their unbelief, and rejection of, and disobedience to him, God would send his Gospel to the Gentiles, and reject them, which came to pass within a few years after. None ofall these were grateful sounds in the ears of the Men of Nazareth; you ask me (saith our Saviour) why I do not such things here at Nazareth, as I did at Capernaum. I was not sent to you. No? but were not they some of the lost Sheep of Israel? Ah! but Christ was no more sent to all Israel, than Elias was sent to all the Widows in Israel. He was sent to Preach to them all, but for any special signal favours, he was sent but to some, and those some were such as did not proudly reject and contemn him▪ but receive him.

30 But he passing throw the mids of them, went his way.

Vnhappy Nazareth! where Christ had now lived more than thirty years, they had seen him growing up, increasing in Wisdom, and Stature, and in favour both with God and Man, Chap. 2.52. they had had the first fruits of his Ministry, and v. 22. they bare him witness, and wondred at the gracious Words, which proceeded out of his Mouth, they knew his education, so as they could not think he had this Wisdom, and knowledge, from any advantages of that, but must have it from Heaven; yet when they hear him Preaching, and but touching them for their contempt and rejection of him, and tacitly comparing them with their Fore-fathers in the time of Ahab, and Preaching the Doctrine of Gods Soveraign, and free Grace, and hinting to them, that the Grace of God should pass to the Gentiles, while they should be rejected, they are not able to bear him. Thus Acts 22.21. the Jews heard Paul patiently, till he repeated Gods Commission to him, to go unto the Gentiles; then they cried, away with such a fellow from the Earth, for it is not fit he should live. This was according to the old Prophecy, Deut. 32.2. (applied to the Jews by the Apostle, Rom. 10.19.) that because they had moved God to jealousie, with that which is not God, he would move them to jealousie, with them that are not a People, and provoke them to anger with a foolish Nation. This is further matter of observation, That wretched Sinners, who cannot obtain of their Lusts, to be as good and holy as others, yet are ordinarily so proud, as they have no patience to hear that others are better than they, or have or shall have▪ any more special share in Gods favour. Those of Nazareth, which were in the Synagogue hearing these things, are filled with wrath, thrust Christ out of the City, as not [illegible: 1 letter]it to live among them, and go about to kill him, by throwing him down headlong from the brow of the Hill upon which their City was built. But he passing through the midst of them went away. How he got out of their hands, when they had laid hold of him, the Scripture doth not tells us, nor is it our concern to be curious to inquire; we read much the like passage Iohn 8.59. when the Jews had taken up Stones to stone him, we know it was an easy thing for him who was God as well as Man, to quit himself of any mortal Enemies, but how he did it, whether by blinding their Eyes, or altering the Nature of his Body, and making it inperceptible by them, or by a greater strength, then they (which the Divine Nature could easily supply his Humane Nature with) who is able to determine?

32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.

Capernaum was a City in the other Galilee, under the jurisdiction of Philip, whither Matthew and Mark mention our Saviours motion, upon the report of the imprisonment of Iohn Philip is not only by Historians reported of a less bloody temper, then his Brother Herod, but Herod having taken away his Wife, it is very probable, that there was no good understanding betwixt him and Philip. So that two things promised our Saviour more quiet in Philips jurisdiction. 1. The tameness of his temper. 2. The Hatred betwixt him and Herod. It appears from v. 23. He had been at Capernaum before, but stayed very little, hastening to his own Country of Nazareth in the other Galilee, from thence he now again removeth, hearing of Iohns imprisonment, and seeing the baseness of his Countrymen; when he came there, he keeps on his course Preaching upon the Iewish Sabbath, not abolished till his Resurrection. It appeareth by v. 33. That he Preached in the Synagogue here also. It is said, That the People were astonished at his Doctrine. Astonishment is one thing, Believing is another. Men may be some ways and to some degrees affected, at the Word of God, that yet are far enough from believing, as the most of these Capernaites were, else Christ had never upbraided them, as he did Matth. 11.23. for his Word was with Power. That this Phrase is to be understood only of those powerfull, and miraculous operations, by which Christ confirmed the Word which he Preached to be from God, I cannot yield, it is better interpreted by Mark 1.22. He taught them as one that had Authority, not as the Scribes, and to be understood of the gravity, and spirituality of his Doctrine, his Majesty and Life in the delivering of it, and the Power of God going along with it for the conviction of Sinners, to all which were added his miraculous operations, of which the Evangelist goeth on giving us a more particular account.

Marginal references: Mat. 7.29.

37 And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.

We met with the same History related as done in Capernaum and with the same circumstances Mark 1.21, 22, &c. To the Notes upon which we refer the Reader.

39 And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose, and ministred unto them.

We met with this History both in Matthew and Mark. See the Notes on Mat. 8.15. and Mark 1.29, 30.

41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them, suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.

See the Notes on Mark 1.32, 33, 34. where we met with the same things.

Marginal references: Or, to say [illegible: 1 word] they [illegible: 1 word] him to [illegible: 2 letters] Christ.

44 And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

See the Notes on Mark 1.35, 36, 37, 38, 39. where that Evangelist reports the same things, th[illegible: 1 letter]t this Evangelist mentioneth, only with more circumstances, Mark saith, he went out a great while before day into a solitary place to pray. He saith al[illegible: 2 letters] tha[illegible: 1 letter] Simon and others followed him, and found him, and told him, th[illegible: 2 letters] all M[illegible: 1 letter]n sought him. Luke addeth that the others desired hi[illegible: 1 letter] not to depart from thence. They desired his stay, in order to [illegible: 1 word] Miracles, the healing of their Sick, dispossessing Daemoniacks, &c. Christ replied (as Mark saith,) Let us go into the next Towns, that I may Preach there also, for therefore came I forth. Luke saith, he told them, He must Preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to other Cities also, for therefore he was sent. Accordingly, (saith Luke,) he did Preach in the Synagogues of Galilee. Mark adds also that he cast out Devil[illegible: 1 letter]. How can any think, that Preaching the Gospel, is not the great Work of the Minister of Christ, but Prayers are to be preferred before it, or administring the Sacraments greater? when it is expressly said, That Christ Baptized none but his Disciples Ioh. 4.2. and Paul saith Christ sent him not to Baptize, but to Preach the Gospel. And Christ omitted opportunities of working Miracles, that he might Preach to other Cities, and only wrought Miracles to con[illegible: 1 letter]irm the Doctrine he Preached; and we so often read, of his going about Preaching and Teaching, never of his Praying, but alone with his Disciples or in a Mountain or solitary place, (tho doubtless he, or some others did pray at their worship in the Synagogues) unless any will be so mad as to think, that the sole end of Preaching, was to convert Men from Iudaism, or Paganism, to an outward owning and profe[illegible: 1 letter]sing of Christ, tho under that profe[illegible: 1 letter]sion, by reason of their sottish ignorance, and debauched lives, they remain twice more the Children of the Devil, then many Iews and Pagans are. What was Christs great Work is certainly his Ministers, viz. to Preach the Gospel of the Kingdom.

The Temptation in the Wilderness.

1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5 And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

The last words of the foregoing chapter, that Jesus was the Son of Adam, bespeak him to be the seed of the woman; being so, we have here, according to the promise, breaking the serpent's head, baffling and foiling the devil in all his temptations, who by one temptation had baffled and foiled our first parents. Thus, in the beginning of the war, he made reprisals upon him, and conquered the conqueror.

In this story of Christ's temptation, observe,

I. How he was prepared and fitted for it. He that designed him the trial furnished him accordingly; for though we know not what exercises may be before us, nor what encounters we may be reserved for, Christ did, and was provided accordingly; and God doth for us, and we hope will provide accordingly.

1. He was full of the Holy Ghost, who had descended on him like a dove. He had now greater measures of the gifts, graces, and comforts, of the Holy Ghost than ever before. Note, Those are well armed against the strongest temptations that are full of the Holy Ghost.

2. He was newly returned from Jordan, where he was baptized, and owned by a voice from heaven to be the beloved Son of God; and thus he was prepared for this combat. Note, When we have had the most comfortable communion with God, and the clearest discoveries of his favour to us, we may expect that Satan will set upon us (the richest ship is the pirate's prize), and that God will suffer him to do so, that the power of his grace may be manifested and magnified.

3. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, by the good Spirit, who led him as a champion into the field, to fight the enemy that he was sure to conquer. His being led into the wilderness, (1.) Gave some advantage to the tempter; for there he had him alone, no friend with him, by whose prayers and advice he might be assisted in the hour of temptation. Woe to him that is alone! He might give Satan advantage, who knew his own strength; we may not, who know our own weakness. (2.) He gained some advantage to himself, during his forty days' fasting in the wilderness. We may suppose that he was wholly taken up in proper meditation, and in consideration of his own undertaking, and the work he had before him; that he spent all his time in immediate, intimate, converse with his Father, as Moses in the mount, without any diversion, distraction, or interruption. Of all the days of Christ's life in the flesh, these seem to come nearest to the angelic perfection and the heavenly life, and this prepared him for Satan's assaults, and hereby he was fortified against them.

4. He continued fasting (v. 2): In those days he did eat nothing. This fast was altogether miraculous, like those of Moses and Elijah, and shows him to be, like them, a prophet sent of God. It is probable that it was in the wilderness of Horeb, the same wilderness in which Moses and Elijah fasted. As by retiring into the wilderness he showed himself perfectly indifferent to the world, so by his fasting he showed himself perfectly indifferent to the body; and Satan cannot easily take hold of those who are thus loosened from, and dead to, the world and the flesh. The more we keep under the body, and bring it into subjection, the less advantage Satan has against us.

II. How he was assaulted by one temptation after another, and how he defeated the design of the tempter in every assault, and became more than a conqueror. During the forty days, he was tempted of the devil (v. 2), not by an inward suggestion, for the prince of this world had nothing in Christ by which to inject any such, but by outward solicitations, perhaps in the likeness of a serpent, as he tempted our first parents. But at the end of the forty days he came nearer to him, and did as it were close with him, when he perceived that he was hungry, v. 2. Probably, our Lord Jesus then began to look about among the trees, to see if he could find any thing that was eatable, whence the devil took occasion to make the following proposal to him.

1. He tempted him to distrust his Father's care of him, and to set up for himself, and shift for provision for himself in such a way as his Father had not appointed for him (v. 3): If thou be the Son of God, as the voice from heaven declared, command this stone to be made bread. (1.) "I counsel thee to do it; for God, if he be thy Father, has forgotten thee, and it will be long enough ere he sends either ravens or angels to feed thee." If we begin to think of being our own carvers, and of living by our own forecast, without depending upon divine providence, of getting wealth by our might and the power of our hands, we must look upon it as a temptation of Satan's, and reject it accordingly; it is Satan's counsel to think of an independence upon God. (2.) "I challenge thee to do it, if thou canst; if thou dost not do it, I will say thou art not the Son of God; for John Baptist said lately, God is able of stones to raise up children to Abraham, which is the greater; thou therefore hast not the power of the Son of God, if thou dost not of stones make bread for thyself, when thou needest it, which is the less." Thus was God himself tempted in the wilderness: Can he furnish a table? Can he give bread? Ps. lxxxviii. 19, 20.

Now, [1.] Christ yielded not to the temptation; he would not turn that stone into bread; no, though he was hungry; First, Because he would not do what Satan bade him do, for that would have looked as if there had been indeed a compact between him and the prince of the devils. Note, We must not do any thing that looks like giving place to the devil. Miracles were wrought for the confirming of faith, and the devil had no faith to be confirmed, and therefore he would not do it for him. He did his signs in the presence of his disciples (John xx. 30), and particularly the beginning of his miracles, turning water into wine, which he did, that his disciples might believe on him (John ii. 11); but here in the wilderness he had no disciples with him. Secondly, He wrought miracles for the ratification of his doctrine, and therefore till he began to preach he would not begin to work miracles. Thirdly, He would not work miracles for himself and his own supply, lest he should seem impatient of hunger, whereas he came not to please himself, but to suffer grief, and that grief among others; and because he would show that he pleased not himself, he would rather turn water into wine, for the credit and convenience of his friends, than stones into bread, for his own necessary supply. Fourthly, He would reserve the proof of his being the Son of God for hereafter, and would rather be upbraided by Satan with being weak, and not able to do it, than be persuaded by Satan to do that which it was fit for him to do; thus he was upbraided by his enemies as if he could not save himself, and come down from the cross, when he could have come down, but would not, because it was not fit that he should. Fifthly, He would not do any thing that looked like distrust of his Father, or acting separately from him, or any thing disagreeable to his present state. Being in all things made like unto his brethren, he would, like the other children of God, live in a dependence upon the divine Providence and promise, and trust him either to send him a supply into the wilderness or to lead him to a city of habitation where there was a supply, as he used to do (Ps. cvii. 5-7), and in the mean time would support him, though he was hungry, as he had done these forty days past.

[2.] He returned a scripture-answer to it (v. 4): It is written. This is the first word recorded as spoken by Christ after his instalment in his prophetical office; and it is a quotation out of the Old Testament, to show that he came to assert and maintain the authority of the scripture as uncontrollable, even by Satan himself. And though he had the Spirit without measure, and had a doctrine of his own to preach and a religion to found, yet it agreed with Moses and the prophets, whose writings he therefore lays down as a rule to himself, and recommends to us as a reply to Satan and his temptations. The word of God is our sword, and faith in that word is our shield; we should therefore be mighty in the scriptures, and go in that might, go forth, and go on, in our spiritual warfare, know what is written, for it is for our learning, for our use. The text of scripture he makes use of is quoted from Deut. viii. 3: "Man shall not live by bread alone. I need not turn the stone into bread, for God can send manna for my nourishment, as he did for Israel; man can live by every word of God, by whatever God will appoint that he shall live by." How had Christ lived, lived comfortably, these last forty days? Not by bread, but by the word of God, by meditation upon that word, and communion with it, and with God in and by it; and in like manner he could live yet, though now he began to be hungry. God has many ways of providing for his people, without the ordinary means of subsistence; and therefore he is not at any time to be distrusted, but at all times to be depended upon, in the way of duty. If meat be wanting, God can take away the appetite, or give such degrees of patience as will enable a man even to laugh at destruction and famine (Job v. 22), or make pulse and water more nourishing than all the portion of the king's meat (Dan. i. 12, 13), and enable his people to rejoice in the Lord, when the fig-tree doth not blossom, Hab. iii. 17. She was an active believer who said that she had made many a meal's meat of the promises when she wanted bread.

2. He tempted him to accept from him the kingdom, which, as the Son of God, he expected to receive from his Father, and to do him homage for, v. 5-7. This evangelist puts this temptation second, which Matthew had put last, and which, it should seem, was really the last; but Luke was full of it, as the blackest and most violent, and therefore hastened to it. In the devil's tempting of our first parents, he presented to them the forbidden fruit, first as good for food, and then as pleasant to the eyes; and they were overpowered by both these charms. Satan here first tempted Christ to turn the stones into bread, which would be good for food, and then showed him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, which were pleasant to the eyes; but in both these he overpowered Satan, and perhaps with an eye to that, Luke changes the order. Now observe,

(1.) How Satan managed this temptation, to prevail with Christ to become a tributary to him, and to receive his kingdom by delegation from him.

[1.] He gave him a prospect of all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, an airy representation of them, such as he thought most likely to strike the fancy, and seem a real prospect. To succeed the better, he took him up for this purpose into a high mountain; and, because we next after the temptation find Christ on the other side Jordan, some think it probable that it was to the top of Pisgah that the devil took him, whence Moses has a sight of Canaan. That it was but a phantasm that the devil here presented our Saviour with, as the prince of the power of the air, is confirmed by that circumstance which Luke here takes notice of, that it was done in a moment of time; whereas, if a man take a prospect of but one country, he must do it successively, must turn himself round, and take a view first of one part and then of another. Thus the devil thought to impose upon our Saviour with a fallacy—a deceptio visus; and, by making him believe that he could show him all the kingdoms of the world, would draw him into an opinion that he could give him all those kingdoms.

[2.] He boldly alleged that these kingdoms were all delivered to him that he had power to dispose of them and all their glory, and to give them to whomsoever he would, v. 6. Some think that herein he pretended to be an angel of light, and that, as one of the angels that was set over the kingdoms, he had out-bought, or out-fought, all the rest, and so was entrusted with the disposal of them all, and, in God's name, would give them to him, knowing they were designed for him; but clogged with this condition, that he should fall down and worship him, which a good angel would have been so far from demanding that he would not have admitted it, no, not upon showing much greater things than these, as appears, Rev. xix. 10; xxii. 9. But I rather take it that he claimed this power as Satan, and as delivered to him not by the Lord, but by the kings and people of these kingdoms, who gave their power and honour to the devil, Eph. ii. 2. Hence he is called the god of this world, and the prince of this world. It was promised to the Son of God that he should have the heathen for his inheritance, Ps. ii. 8. "Why," saith the devil, "the heathen are mine, are my subjects and votaries; but, however, they shall be thine, I will give them thee, upon condition that thou worship me for them, and say that they are the rewards which I have given thee, as others have done before thee (Hos. ii. 12), and consent to have and hold them by, from, and under, me."

[3.] He demanded of him homage and adoration: If thou wilt worship me, all shall be thine, v. 7. First, He would have him worship him himself. Perhaps he does not mean so as never to worship God, but let him worship him in conjunction with God; for the devil knows, if he can but once come in a partner, he shall soon be sole proprietor. Secondly, He would indent with him, that when, according to the promise made to him, he had got possession of the kingdoms of this world, he should make no alteration of religions in them, but permit and suffer the nations, as they had done hitherto, to sacrifice to devils (1 Cor. x. 20); that he should still keep up demon-worship in the world, and then let him take all the power and glory of the kingdoms if he pleased. Let who will take the wealth and grandeur of this earth, Satan has all he would have if he can but have men's hearts, and affections, and adorations, can but work in the children of disobedience; for then he effectually devours them.

(2.) How our Lord Jesus triumphed over this temptation. He gave it a peremptory repulse, rejected it with abhorrence (v. 8): "Get thee behind me, Satan, I cannot bear the mention of it. What! worship the enemy of God whom I came to serve? and of man whom I came to save? No, I will never do it." Such a temptation as this was not to be reasoned with, but immediately refused; it was presently knocked on the head with one word, It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God; and not only so, but him only, him and no other. And therefore Christ will not worship Satan, nor, when he has the kingdoms of the world delivered to him by his Father, as he expects shortly to have, will he suffer any remains of the worship of the devil to continue in them. No, it shall be perfectly rooted out and abolished, wherever his gospel comes. He will make no composition with him. Polytheism and idolatry must go down, as Christ's kingdom gets up. Men must be turned from the power of Satan unto God, from the worship of devils to the worship of the only living and true God. This is the great divine law that Christ will re-establish among men, and by his holy religion reduce men to the obedience of, That God only is to be served and worshipped; and therefore whoever set up any creature as the object of religious worship, though it were a saint or an angel, or the virgin Mary herself, they directly thwart Christ's design, and relapse into heathenism.

3. He tempted him to be his own murderer, in a presumptuous confidence of his Father's protection, such as he had no warrant for. Observe,

(1.) What he designed in this temptation: If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, v. 9. [1.] He would have him seek for a new proof of his being the Son of God, as if that which his Father had given him by the voice from heaven, and the descent of the Spirit upon him, were not sufficient, which would have been a dishonour to God, as if he had not chosen the most proper way of giving him the assurance of it; and it would have argued a distrust of the Spirit's dwelling in him, which was the great and most convincing proof to himself of his being the Son of God, Heb. i. 8, 9. [2.] He would have him seek a new method of proclaiming and publishing this to the world. The devil, in effect, suggests that it was in an obscure corner that he was attested to be the Son of God, among a company of ordinary people, who attended John's baptism, that his honours were proclaimed; but if he would now declare from the pinnacle of the temple, among all the great people who attend the temple-service, that he was the Son of God, and then, for proof of it, throw himself down unhurt, he would presently be received by every body as a messenger sent from heaven. Thus Satan would have him seek honours of his devising (in contempt of those which God had put on him), and manifest himself in the temple at Jerusalem; whereas God designed he should be more manifest among John's penitents, to whom his doctrine would be more welcome than to the priests. [3.] It is probable he had some hopes that, though he could not throw him down, to do him the least mischief, yet, if he would but throw himself down, the fall might be his death, and then he should have got him finely out of the way.

(2.) How he backed and enforced this temptation. He suggested, It is written, v. 10. Christ had quoted scripture against him; and he thought he would be quits with him, and would show that he could quote scripture as well as he. It has been usual with heretics and seducers to pervert scripture, and to press the sacred writings into the service of the worst of wickednesses. He shall give his angels charge over thee, if thou be his Son, and in their hands they shall bear thee up. And now that he was upon the pinnacle of the temple he might especially expect this ministration of angels; for, if he was the Son of God, the temple was the proper place for him to be in (ch. ii. 46); and, if any place under the sun had a guard of angels constantly, it must needs be that, Ps. lxviii. 17. It is true, God has promised the protection of angels, to encourage us to trust him, not to tempt him; as far as the promise of God's presence with us, so far the promise of the angels' ministration goes, but no further: "They shall keep thee when thou goest on the ground, where thy way lies, but not if thou wilt presume to fly in the air."

(3.) How he was baffled and defeated in the temptation, v. 12. Christ quoted Deut. vi. 16, where it is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, by desiring a sign for the proof of divine revelation, when he has already given that which is sufficient; for so Israel did, when they tempted God in the wilderness, saying, He gave us water out of the rock; but can he give flesh also? This Christ would be guilty of if he should say, "He did indeed prove me to be the Son of God, by sending the Spirit upon me, which is the greater; but can he also give his angels a charge concerning me, which is the less?"

III. What was the result and issue of this combat, v. 13. Our victorious Redeemer kept his ground, and came off a conqueror, not for himself only, but for us also.

1. The devil emptied his quiver: He ended all the temptation. Christ gave him opportunity to say and do all he could against him; he let him try all his force, and yet defeated him. Did Christ suffer, being tempted, till all the temptation was ended? And must not we expect also to pass all our trials, to go through the hour of temptation assigned us?

2. He then quitted the field: He departed from him. He saw it was to no purpose to attack him; he had nothing in him for his fiery darts to fasten upon; he had no blind side, no weak or unguarded part in his wall, and therefore Satan gave up the cause. Note, If we resist the devil, he will flee from us.

3. Yet he continued his malice against him, and departed with a resolution to attack him again; he departed but for a season, achri kairou—till a season, or till the season when he was again to be let loose upon him, not as a tempter, to draw him to sin, and so to strike at his head, which was what he now aimed at and was wholly defeated in; but as a persecutor, to bring him to suffer by Judas and the other wicked instruments whom he employed, and so to bruise his heel, which it was told him (Gen. iii. 15) he should have to do, and would do, though it would be the breaking of his own head. He departed now till that season came which Christ calls the power of darkness (ch. xxii. 53), and when the prince of this world would again come, John xiv. 30.

Christ in the Synagogue of Nazareth; Christ Driven from Nazareth.

14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 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, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. 22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? 23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. 24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; 26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. 27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. 28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. 30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,

After Christ had vanquished the evil spirit, he made it appear how much he was under the influence of the good Spirit; and, having defended himself against the devil's assaults, he now begins to act offensively, and to make those attacks upon him, by his preaching and miracles, which he could not resist or repel. Observe,

I. What is here said in general of his preaching, and the entertainment it met with in Galilee, a remote part of the country, distant from Jerusalem; it was a part of Christ's humiliation that he began his ministry there.

But, 1. Thither he came in the power of the Spirit. The same Spirit that qualified him for the exercise of his prophetical office strongly inclined him to it. He was not to wait for a call from men, for he had light and life in himself. 2. There he taught in their synagogues, their places of public worship, where they met, not, as in the temple, for ceremonial services, but for the moral acts of devotion, to read, expound, and apply, the word, to pray and praise, and for church-discipline; these came to be more frequent since the captivity, when the ceremonial worship was near expiring. 3. This he did so as that he gained a great reputation. A fame of him went through all that region (v. 14), and it was a good fame; for (v. 15) he was glorified of all. Every body admired him, and cried him up; they never heard such preaching in all their lives. Now, at first, he met with no contempt or contradiction; all glorified him, and there were none as yet that vilified him.

II. Of his preaching at Nazareth, the city where he was brought up; and the entertainment it met with there. And here we are told how he preached there, and how he was persecuted.

1. How he preached there. In that observe,

(1.) The opportunity he had for it: He came to Nazareth when he had gained a reputation in other places, in hopes that thereby something at least of the contempt and prejudice with which his countrymen would look upon him might be worn off. There he took occasion to preach, [1.] In the synagogue, the proper place, where it had been his custom to attend when he was a private person, v. 16. We ought to attend on the public worship of God, as we have opportunity. But, now that he was entered upon his public ministry, there he preached. Where the multitudes of fish were, there this wise Fisherman would cast his net. [2.] On the sabbath day, the proper time which the pious Jews spent, not in a mere ceremonial rest from worldly labour, but in the duties of God's worship, as of old they frequented the schools of the prophets on the new moons and the sabbaths. Note, It is good to keep sabbaths in solemn assemblies.

(2.) The call he had to it. [1.] He stood up to read. They had in their synagogues seven readers every sabbath, the first a priest, the second a Levite, and the other five Israelites of that synagogue. We often find Christ preaching in other synagogues, but never reading, except in this synagogue at Nazareth, of which he had been many years a member. Now he offered his service as he had perhaps often done; he read one of the lessons out of the prophets, Acts xiii. 15. Note, The reading of the scripture is very proper work to be done in religious assemblies; and Christ himself did not think it any disparagement to him to be employed in it. [2.] The book of the prophet Esaias was delivered to him, either by the ruler of the synagogue or by the minister mentioned (v. 20), so that he was no intruder, but duly authorized pro hac vice—on this occasion. The second lesson for that day being in the prophecy of Esaias, they gave him that volume to read in.

(3.) The text he preached upon. He stood up to read, to teach us reverence in reading and hearing the word of God. When Ezra opened the book of the law, all the people stood up (Neh. viii. 5); so did Christ here, when he read in the book of the prophets. Now the book being delivered to him, [1.] He opened it. The books of the Old Testament were in a manner shut up till Christ opened them, Isa. xxix. 11. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to take the book, and open the seals; for he can open, not the book only, but the understanding. [2.] He found the place which was appointed to be read that day in course, which he needed not to be directed to; he soon found it, and read it, and took it for his text. Now his text was taken out of Isa. lxi. 1, 2, which is here quoted at large, v. 18, 19. There was a providence in it that that portion of scripture should be read that day, which speaks so very plainly of the Messiah, that they might be left inexcusable who knew him not, though they heard the voices of the prophets read every sabbath day, which bore witness of him, Acts xiii. 27. This text gives a full account of Christ's undertaking, and the work he came into the world to do. Observe,

First, How he was qualified for the work: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. All the gifts and graces of the Spirit were conferred upon him, not by measure, as upon other prophets, but without measure, John iii. 34. He now came in the power of the Spirit, v. 14.

Secondly, How he was commissioned: Because he had anointed me, and sent me. His extraordinary qualification amounted to a commission; his being anointed signifies both his being fitted for the undertaking and called to it. Those whom God appoints to any service he anoints for it: "Because he hath sent me, he hath sent his Spirit along with me."

Thirdly, What his work was. He was qualified and commissioned,

1. To be a great prophet. He was anointed to preach; that is three times mentioned here, for that was the work he was now entering upon. Observe, (1.) To whom he was to preach: to the poor; to those that were poor in the world, whom the Jewish doctors disdained to undertake the teaching of and spoke of with contempt; to those that were poor in spirit, to the meek and humble, and to those that were truly sorrowful for sin: to them the gospel and the grace of it will be welcome, and they shall have it, Matt. xi. 5. (2.) What he was to preach. In general, he must preach the gospel. He is sent euangelizesthai—to evangelize them; not only to preach to them, but to make that preaching effectual; to bring it, not only to their ears, but to their hearts, and deliver them into the mould of it. Three things he is to preach:—

[1.] Deliverance to the captives, The gospel is a proclamation of liberty, like that to Israel in Egypt and in Babylon. By the merit of Christ sinners may be loosed from the bonds of guilt, and by his Spirit and grace from the bondage of corruption. It is a deliverance from the worst of thraldoms, which all those shall have the benefit of that are willing to make Christ their Head, and are willing to be ruled by him.

[2.] Recovering of sight to the blind. He came not only by the word of his gospel to bring light to them that sat in the dark, but by the power of his grace to give sight to them that were blind; not only the Gentile world, but every unregenerate soul, that is not only in bondage, but in blindness, like Samson and Zedekiah. Christ came to tell us that he has eye-salve for us, which we may have for the asking; that, if our prayer be, Lord, that our eyes may be opened, his answer shall be, Receive your sight.

[3.] The acceptable year of the Lord, v. 19. He came to let the world know that the God whom they had offended was willing to be reconciled to them, and to accept of them upon new terms; that there was yet a way of making their services acceptable to him; that there is now a time of good will toward men. It alludes to the year of release, or that of jubilee, which was an acceptable year to servants, who were then set at liberty; to debtors, against whom all actions then dropped; and to those who had mortgaged their lands, for then they returned to them again. Christ came to sound the jubilee-trumpet; and blessed were they that heard the joyful sound, Ps. lxxxix. 15. It was an acceptable time, for it was a day of salvation.

2. Christ came to be a great Physician; for he was sent to heal the broken-hearted, to comfort and cure afflicted consciences, to give peace to those that were troubled and humbled for sins, and under a dread of God's wrath against them for them, and to bring them to rest who were weary and heavy-laden, under the burden of guilt and corruption.

3. To be a great Redeemer. He not only proclaims liberty to the captives, as Cyrus did to the Jews in Babylon (Whoever will, may go up), but he sets at liberty them that are bruised; he doth by his Spirit incline and enable them to make use of the liberty granted, as then none did but those whose spirit God stirred up, Ezra i. 5. He came in God's name to discharge poor sinners that were debtors and prisoners to divine justice. The prophets could but proclaim liberty, but Christ, as one having authority, as one that had power on earth to forgive sins, came to set at liberty; and therefore this clause is added here. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that, according to a liberty the Jew allowed their readers, to compare scripture with scripture, in their reading, for the explication of the text, Christ added it from Isa. lviii. 6, where it is made the duty of the acceptable year to let the oppressed go free, where the phrase the LXX. uses is the same with this here.

(4.) Here is Christ's application of this text to himself (v. 21): When he had read it, he rolled up the book, and gave it again to the minister, or clerk, that attended, and sat down, according to the custom of the Jewish teachers; he sat daily in the temple, teaching, Matt. xxvi. 55. Now he began his discourse thus, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. This, which Isaiah wrote by way of prophecy, I have now read to you by way of history." It now began to be fulfilled in Christ's entrance upon his public ministry; now, in the report they heard of his preaching and miracles in other places; now, in his preaching to them in their own synagogue. It is most probable that Christ went on, and showed particularly how this scripture was fulfilled in the doctrine he preached concerning the kingdom of heaven at hand; that it was preaching liberty, and sight, and healing, and all the blessings of the acceptable year of the Lord. Many other gracious words proceeded out of his mouth, which these were but the beginning of; for Christ often preached long sermons, which we have but a short account of. This was enough to introduce a great deal: This day is this scripture fulfilled. Note, [1.] All the scriptures of the Old Testament that were to be fulfilled in the Messiah had their full accomplishment in the Lord Jesus, which abundantly proves that this was he that should come. [2.] In the providences of God, it is fit to observe the fulfilling of the scriptures. The works of God are the accomplishment not only of his secret word, but of his word revealed; and it will help us to understand both the scriptures and the providences of God to compare them one with another.

(5.) Here is the attention and admiration of the auditors.

[1.] Their attention (v. 20): The eyes of all them that were in the synagogue (and, probably, there were a great many) were fastened on him, big with expectation what he would say, having heard so much of late concerning him. Note, It is good, in hearing the word, to keep the eye fixed upon the minister by whom God is speaking to us; for, as the eye effects the heart, so, usually, the heart follows the eye, and is wandering, or fixed, as that is. Or, rather, let us learn hence to keep the eye fixed upon Christ speaking to us in and by the minister. What saith my Lord unto his servants?

[2.] Their admiration (v. 22): They all bore him witness that he spoke admirably well, and to the purpose. They all commended him, and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth; and yet, as appears by what follows, they did not believe in him. Note, It is possible that those who are admirers of good ministers and good preaching may yet be themselves not true Christians. Observe, First, What it was they admired: The gracious words which proceedeth out of his mouth. The words of grace; good words, and spoken in a winning melting way. Note, Christ's words are words of grace, for, grace being poured into his lips (Ps. xlv. 2), words of grace poured from them. And these words of grace are to be wondered at; Christ's name was Wonderful, and in nothing was he more so than in his grace, in the words of his grace, and the power that went along with those words. We may well wonder that he should speak such words of grace to such graceless wretches as we are. Secondly, What it was that increased their wonder and that was the consideration of his original: They said, Is not this Joseph's son, and therefore his extraction mean and his education mean? Some from this suggestion took occasion perhaps so much the more to admire his gracious words, concluding he must needs be taught of God, for they knew no one else had taught him; while others perhaps with this consideration corrected their wonder at his gracious words, and concluded there could be nothing really admirable in them, whatever appeared, because he was the Son of Joseph. Can any thing great, or worthy our regard, come from one so mean?

(6.) Christ's anticipating an objection which he knew to be in the minds of many of his hearers. Observe,

[1.] What the objection was (v. 23): "You will surely say to me, Physician, heal thyself. Because you know that I am the Son of Joseph, your neighbour, you will expect that I should work miracles among you, as I have done in other places; as one would expect that a physician, if he be able, should heal, not only himself, but those of his own family and fraternity." Most of Christ's miracles were cures;—"Now why should not the sick in thine own city be healed as well as those in other cities?" They were designed to cure people of their unbelief;—"Now why should not the disease of unbelief, if it be indeed a disease, be cured in those of thine own city as well as in those of others? Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, that has been so much talked of, do here also in thine own country." They were pleased with Christ's gracious words, only because they hoped they were but the introduction to some wondrous works of his. They wanted to have their lame, and blind, and sick, and lepers, healed and helped, that the charge of their town might be eased; and that was the chief thing they looked at. They thought their own town as worthy to be the stage of miracles as any other; and why should not he rather draw company to that than to any other? And why should not his neighbours and acquaintances have the benefit of his preaching and miracles, rather than any other?

[2.] How he answers this objection against the course he took.

First, By a plain and positive reason why he would not make Nazareth his headquarters (v. 24), because it generally holds true that no prophet is accepted in his own country, at least not so well, nor with such probability of doing good, as in some other country; experience seals this. When prophets have been sent with messages and miracles of mercy, few of their own country-men, that have known their extraction and education, have been fit to receive them. So Dr. Hammond. Familiarity breeds contempt; and we are apt to think meanly of those whose conversation we have been accustomed to; and they will scarcely be duly honoured as prophets who were well known when they were in the rank of private men. That is most esteemed that is far-fetched and dear-bought, above what is home-bred, though really more excellent. This arises likewise from the envy which neighbours commonly have towards one another, so that they cannot endure to see him their superior whom awhile ago they took to be every way their inferior. For this reason, Christ declined working miracles, or doing any thing extraordinary, at Nazareth, because of the rooted prejudices they had against him there.

Secondly, By pertinent examples of two of the most famous prophets of the Old Testament, who chose to dispense their favours among foreigners rather than among their own countrymen, and that, no doubt, by divine direction. 1. Elijah maintained a widow of Sarepta, a city of Sidon, one that was a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, when there was a famine in the land, v. 25, 26. The story we have 1 Kings xvii. 9, &c. It is said there that the heaven was shut up three years and six months; whereas it is said, 1 Kings xviii. 1, that in the third year Elijah showed himself to Ahab, and there was rain; but that was not the third year of the drought, but the third year of Elijah's sojourning with the widow of Sarepta. As God would hereby show himself a Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widows, so he would show that he was rich in mercy to all, even to the Gentiles. 2. Elisha cleansed Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy, though he was a Syrian, and not only a foreigner, but an enemy to Israel (v. 27); Many lepers were in Israel in the days of Eliseus, four particularly, that brought the news of the Syrians' raising the siege of Samaria with precipitation, and leaving the plunder of their tents to enrich Samaria, when Elisha was himself in the besieged city, and this was the accomplishment of his prophecy too; see 2 Kings vii. 1, 3, &c. And yet we do not find that Elisha cleansed them, no not for a reward of their service, and the good tidings they brought, but only the Syrian; for none besides had faith to apply himself to the prophet for a cure. Christ himself often met with greater faith among Gentiles than in Israel. And here he mentions both these instances, to show that he did not dispense the favour of his miracles by private respect, but according to God's wise appointment. And the people of Israel might as justly have said to Elijah, or Elisha, as the Nazarenes to Christ, Physician, heal thyself. Nay, Christ wrought his miracles, though not among his townsmen, yet among Israelites, whereas these great prophets wrought theirs among Gentiles. The examples of the saints, though they will not make a bad action good, yet will help to free a good action from the blame of exceptious people.

2. How he was persecuted at Nazareth.

(1.) That which provoked them was his taking notice of the favour which God by Elijah and Elisha showed to the Gentiles: When they heard these things, they were filled with wrath (v. 28), they were all so; a great change since v. 22, when they wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth; thus uncertain are the opinions and affections of the multitude, and so very fickle. If they had mixed faith with those gracious words of Christ which they wondered at, they would have been awakened by these latter words of his to take heed of sinning away their opportunities; but those only pleased the ear, and went no further, and therefore these grated on the ear, and irritated their corruptions. They were angry that he should compare himself, whom they knew to be the son of Joseph, with those great prophets, and compare them with the men of that corrupt age, when all had bowed the knee to Baal. But that which especially exasperated them was that he intimated some kindness God had in reserve for the Gentiles, which the Jews could by no means bear the thoughts of, Acts xxii. 21. Their pious ancestors pleased themselves with the hopes of adding the Gentiles to the church (witness many of David's psalms and Isaiah's prophecies); but this degenerate race, when they had forfeited the covenant themselves, hated to think that any others should be taken in.

(2.) They were provoked to that degree that they made an attempt upon his life. This was a severe trial, now at his setting out, but a specimen of the usage he met with when he came to his own, and they received him not. [1.] They rose up in a tumultuous manner against him, interrupted him in his discourse, and themselves in their devotions, for they could not stay until their synagogue-worship was over. [2.] They thrust him out of the city, as one not worthy to have a residence among them, though there he had had a settlement so long. They thrust from them the Saviour and the salvation, as if he had been the offscouring of all things. How justly might he have called for fire from heaven upon them! But this was the day of his patience. [3.] They led him to the brow of the hill, with a purpose to throw him down headlong, as one not fit to live. Though they knew how inoffensively he had for so many years lived among them, how shining his conversation had been,—though they had heard such a fame of him and had but just now themselves admired his gracious words,—though in justice he ought to have been allowed a fair hearing and liberty to explain himself, yet they hurried him away in a popular fury, or frenzy rather, to put him to death in a most barbarous manner. Sometimes they were ready to stone him for the good works he did (John x. 32), here for not doing the good works they expected from him. To such a height of wickedness was violence sprung up.

(3.) Yet he escaped, because his hour was not yet come: He passed through the midst of them unhurt. Either he blinded their eyes, as God did those of the Sodomites and Syrians, or he bound their hands, or filled them with confusion, so that they could not do what they designed; for his work was not done, it was but just begun; his hour was not yet come, when it was come, he freely surrendered himself. They drove him from them, and he went his way. He would have gathered Nazareth, but they would not, and therefore their house is left to them desolate. This added to the reproach of his being Jesus of Nazareth, that not only it was a place whence no good thing was expected, but that it was such a wicked, rude place, and so unkind to him. Yet there was a providence in it, that he should not be much respected by the men of Nazareth, for that would have looked like a collusion between him and his old acquaintance; but now, though they received him not, there were those that did.

The Expulsion of a Demon; Christ's Departure from Capernaum.

31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. 32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, 34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. 35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. 36 And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. 37 And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about. 38 And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her. 39 And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them. 40 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. 41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ. 42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them. 43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent. 44 And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

When Christ was expelled Nazareth, he came to Capernaum, another city of Galilee. The account we have in these verses of his preaching and miracles there we had before, Mark i. 21, &c. Observe,

I. His preaching: He taught them on the sabbath days, v. 31. In hearing the word preached, as an ordinance of God, we worship God, and it is a proper work for sabbath days. Christ's preaching much affected the people (v. 32); they were astonished at his doctrine, there was weight in every word he said, and admirable discoveries were made to them by it. The doctrine itself was astonishing, and not only as it came from one that had not had a liberal education. His word was with power; there was a commanding force in it, and a working power went along with it to the conscience of men. The doctrine Paul preached hereby proved itself to be of God, that it came in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.

II. His miracles. Of these we have here,

1. Two particularly specified, showing Christ to be,

(1.) A controller and conqueror of Satan, in the world of mankind, and in the souls of people, by his power to cast him out of the bodies of those he had taken possession of; for for this purpose was he manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Observe, [1.] The devil is an unclean spirit, his nature directly contrary to that of the pure and holy God, and degenerated from what it was at first. [2.] This unclean spirit works in the children of men; in the souls of many, as then in men's bodies. [3.] It is possible that those who are very much under the power and working of Satan may yet be found in the synagogue, among the worshippers of God. [4.] Even the devils know and believe that Jesus Christ is the Holy One of God, is sent of God, and is a Holy One. [5.] They believe and tremble. This unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice, under a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and apprehensive that Christ was now come to destroy him. Unclean spirits are subject to continual frights. [6.] The devils have nothing to do with Jesus Christ, nor desire to have any thing to do with him; for he took not on him the nature of angels. [7.] Christ has the devil under check: He rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace; and this word he spoke with power; phimotheti—Be muzzled, Christ did not only enjoin him silence, but stopped his mouth, and forced him to be silent against his will. [8.] In the breaking of Satan's power, both the enemy that is conquered shows his malice, and Christ, the conqueror, shows his over-ruling grace. Here, First, The devil showed what he would have done, when he threw the man in the midst, with force and fury, as if he would have dashed him to pieces. But, Secondly, Christ showed what a power he had over him, in that he not only forced him to leave him, but to leave him without so much as hurting him, without giving him a parting blow, a parting gripe. Whom Satan cannot destroy, he will do all the hurt he can to; but this is a comfort, he can harm them no further than Christ permits; nay, he shall not do them any real harm. He came out, and hurt him not; that is, the poor man was perfectly well in an instant, though the devil left him with so much rage that all that were present thought he had torn him to pieces. [9.] Christ's power over devils was universally acknowledged and adored, v. 36. No one doubted the truth of the miracle; it was evident beyond contradiction, nor was any thing suggested to diminish the glory of it, for they were all amazed, saying, What a word is this! They that pretended to cast out devils did it with abundance of charms and spells, to pacify the devil, and lull him asleep, as it were; but Christ commanded them with authority and power, which they could not gainsay or resist. Even the prince of the power of the air is his vassal, and trembles before him. [10.] This, as much as any thing, gained Christ a reputation, and spread his fame. This instance of his power, which many now-a-days make light of, was then, by them that were eye-witnesses of it (and those no fools either, but men of penetration), magnified, and was looked upon as greatly magnifying him (v. 37); upon the account of this, the fame of him went out, more than ever, into every place of the country round about. Our Lord Jesus, when he set out at first in his public ministry, was greatly talked of, more than afterwards, when people's admiration wore off with the novelty of the thing.

(2.) Christ showed himself to be a healer of diseases. In the former, he struck at the root of man's misery, which was Satan's enmity, the origin of all the mischief: in this, he strikes at one of the most spreading branches of it, one of the most common calamities of human life, and that is bodily diseases, which came in with sin, are the most common and sensible corrections for it in this life, and contribute as much as any thing towards the making of our few days full of trouble. These our Lord Jesus came to take away the sting of, and, as an indication of that intention, when he was on earth, chose to confirm his doctrine by such miracles, mostly, as took away the diseases themselves. Of all bodily diseases none are more common or fatal to grown people than fevers; these come suddenly, and suddenly cut off the number of men's months in the midst; they are sometimes epidemical, and slay their thousands in a little time. Now here we have Christ's curing a fever with a word's speaking; the place was in Simon's house, his patient was Simon's wife's mother, v. 38, 39. Observe, [1.] Christ is a guest that will pay well for his entertainment; those that bid him welcome into their hearts and houses shall be no losers by him; he comes with healing. [2.] Even families that Christ visits may be visited with sickness. Houses that are blessed with his distinguishing favours are liable to the common calamities of this life. Simon's wife's mother was ill of a fever. Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. [3.] Even good people may sometimes be exercised with the sharpest afflictions, more grievous than others: She was taken with a great fever, very acute, and high, and threatening; perhaps it seized her head, and made her delirious. The most gentle fevers may by degrees prove dangerous; but this was at first a great fever. [4.] No age can exempt from diseases. It is probable that Peter's mother-in-law was in years, and yet in a fever. [5.] When our relations are sick, we ought to apply ourselves to Christ, by faith and prayer, on their account: They besought him for her; and there is a particular promise that the prayer of faith shall benefit the sick. [6.] Christ has a tender concern for his people when they are in sickness and distress: He stood over her, as one concerned for her, and compassionating her case. [7.] Christ had, and still has, a sovereign power over bodily diseases: He rebuked the fever, and with a word's speaking commanded it away, and it left her. He saith to diseases, Go, and they go; Come, and they come; and can still rebuke fevers, even great fevers. [8.] This proves Christ's cures to be miraculous, that they were done in an instant: Immediately she arose. [9.] Where Christ gives a new life, in recovery from sickness, he designs and expects that it should be a new life indeed, spent more than ever in his service, to his glory. If distempers be rebuked, and we arise from a bed of sickness, we must set ourselves to minister to Jesus Christ. [10.] Those that minister to Christ must be ready to minister to all that are his for his sake: She ministered to them, not only to him that had cured her, but to them that had besought him for her. We must study to be grateful to those that have prayed for us.

2. A general account given by wholesale of many other miracles of the same kind, which Christ did.

(1.) He cured many that were diseased, even all without exception that made their application to him, and it was when the sun was setting (v. 40); in the evening of that sabbath day which he had spent in the synagogue. Note, It is good to do a full sabbath day's work, to abound in the work of the day, in some good work or other, even till sun-set; as those that call the sabbath, and the business of it, a delight. Observe, He cured all that were sick, poor as well as rich, and though they were sick of divers diseases; so that there was no room to suspect that he had only a specific for some one disease. He had a remedy for every malady. The sign he used in healing was laying his hands on the sick; not lifting up his hands for them, for he healed as having authority. He healed by his own power. And thus he would put honour upon that sign which was afterwards used in conferring the Holy Ghost.

(2.) He cast the devil out of many that were possessed, v. 41. Confessions were extorted from the demoniacs. They said, Thou art Christ the Son of God, but they said it crying with rage and indignation; it was a confession upon the rack, and therefore was not admitted in evidence. Christ rebuked them, and did not suffer them to say that they knew him to be the Christ, that it might appear, beyond all contradiction, that he had obtained a conquest over them, and not made a compact with them.

3. Here is his removal from Capernaum, v. 42, 43.

(1.) He retired for awhile into a place of solitude. It was but a little while that he allowed himself for sleep; not only because a little served him, but because he was content with a little, and never indulged himself in ease; but, when it was day, he went into a desert place, not to live constantly like a hermit, but to be sometimes alone with God, as even those should be, and contrive to be, that are most engaged in public work, or else their work will go on but poorly, and they will find themselves never less alone than when thus alone.

(2.) He returned again to the places of concourse and to the work he had to do there. Though a desert place may be a convenient retreat, yet it is not a convenient residence, because we were not sent into this world to live to ourselves, no, not to the best part of ourselves only, but to glorify God and do good in our generation. [1.] He was earnestly solicited to stay at Capernaum. The people were exceedingly fond of him; I doubt, more because he had healed their sick than because he had preached repentance to them. They sought him, enquired which way he went; and, though it was in a desert place, they came unto him. A desert is no desert if we be with Christ there. They detained him that he should not depart from them, so that if he would go it should not be for want of invitation. His old neighbours at Nazareth had driven him from them, but his new acquaintances at Capernaum were very importunate for his continuance with them. Note, It ought not to discourage the ministers of Christ that some reject them, for they will meet with others that will welcome them and their message. [2.] He chose rather to diffuse the light of his gospel to many places than to fix it to one, that no one might pretend to be a mother-church to the rest. Though he was welcome at Capernaum, and had done abundance of good there, yet he is sent to preach the gospel to other cities also; and Capernaum must not insist upon his stay there. They that enjoy the benefit of the gospel must be willing that others also should share in that benefit, and not covet the monopoly of it; and those ministers who are not driven from one place may yet be drawn to another by a prospect of greater usefulness. Christ, though he preached not in vain in the synagogue at Capernaum, yet would not be tied to that, but preached in the synagogues of Galilee, v. 44. Bonum est sui diffusivum—What is good is self-diffusive. It is well for us that our Lord Jesus has not tied himself to any one place or people, but, wherever two or three are gathered in his name, he will be in the midst of them: and even in Galilee of the Gentiles his special presence is in the Christian synagogues.

CHAP. IV.

Verse 1. Returned from Jordan and was led] NO sooner out of the water of baptisme, but in the fire of temptation. After greatest feelings, we are to expect sharpest assaults: neither can we better quench the Devils fiery darts then with the water of baptisme. We read, saith Luther, of a certain holy virgin, who, whensoever sollicited to sin, would stop the tempters mouth with this one answer Christiana sum, I am a Christian. Intellexit enim hostis statim virtutem Baptismi & fidei —. & fugit ab ea. Satan could not abide the mentions of baptisme, but fled from her presently.

Verse 2. Being fourty dayes] During which time, he was set upon with al sorts of temptations. These three here recorded were likely the very worst; in quibus Diabolus omnes astus & [illegible: 1 word] suae sacculos deplevit, (as one saith) wherein the Devill did his utmost.

Verse 3. Command this stone] Bread of deceit is sweet to aProv. 20. 17. man, but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravell. Compare this verse with verse 9. and see how the devill usually tempteth by extreams, to make men offend either in defect, or excesse. Thus he tempted Master Knox upon his death-bed, if not to despair, [illegible: 1 word]. then to presume that heaven should be his, for his zeal in the Scottish Reformation.

Verse 5. Shewed unto him all the Kingdomes] In visible landskip of his own making, presented to the eye.

Verse 6. To whomsoever I will, I give it] The Pope, as heir to the Devill, takes upon him to be Dominus regnorum mundi. Boniface. 8. wrote to Philip King of France, that he was lord of all, both Temporals and Spirituals, in all countries. Os papae & cultus diabobi in eodem sunt praedicamento, saith one. But, Cui volo do illa, is Gods only to say Dan. 4. Z 2.

Verse 7 If thou wilt worship] Papa duliâ adorandus, say the Canonists.

Verse 8. Get thee behind me] See the Note on Matthew 4. 10.

Verse 13. He departed from him for a season] We must look for the tother bout, and in a calm prepare for a storm. The tempter is restlesse and impudent: so that a man is to expect, if he live out his dayes, to be urged to all sins, to the breach of every branch of the ten commandements, and to be put to it in respect of every Article of the Creed.

Verse 14. In the power of the Spirit] Without which the word is preached to no purpose. Cathedram in caelo habet, qui corda docer, saith Augustine. It is with the word and spirit, as with the veines and arteries; as the veines carry the bloud, so the arteries carry the spirits to quicken the bloud.

Verse 15. Glorified of All] Envy it self was thrattled, which yet usually waits upon vertue. Every Zopyrus hath his Zoilus.

Verse 16. Where he had been brought up] The Jewes were to be kind to the AEgyptians, and to pray for the prosperity of Babylon, where they had bin bred, and fed. Be ye thankfull, Coloss. 3. 15, viz. to your friends and benefactors. And stood up for to read] In honour of the word that he read: So [illegible: 1 word]. 8. 5. A commendable custome.

Verse 17. He found the place] Whether he looked for it, or it so fell out by a providence, its uncertain. Origen, after his fall, lighting on that text, Psal. 50. What hast thou to do to take my words, &c. fell into a passion of weeping, and came out of the pulpit, as not able to speak to the people. Augustine hearing from heaven Tolle, lege, and happening upon that place Rom. 13. 14. Put Aug. Confess. lib. 8 cap. 12. ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, &c. was presently converted thereby. So was Cyprian, by reading the prophecy of Jonah.

Verse 18. He hath anoynted me to preach] Therefore the Gospel is a sure saying, and worthy of al acceptation, sith its an effect of the holy Spirit: doubt not of its excellency, authority, certainty, sufficiency. See my True Treasure.

Verse 19. The acceptable year of the Lord] A joyfull Jubilee. Let us not stand out the time, least we be bored in the eare by the Devill.

Verse 20. Were fastened on him] A good help against distractions. Our hearts are fickle and fugitive, if not hard held to it.

Verse 21. This day is the Scripture, &c.] This was the summe of his sermon, as were also the [illegible: 1 word] we read, the heads only and short notes of the Prophets larger discourses. Brevity breeds obscurity.

Verse 22. Is not this Josephs sonne?] And what of that? But it is still the course of our hearers, to look round about, if possibly they may find any hole in our coat, through which to flight and slip the coards of our doctrine, though they cannot but admire it.

Verse 23. Physitian heale thy selse] That is thy Country. So that for a man to cure his Country, is to cure himself.

Verse 24. No Prophet is accepted] See the Note on Matt. 13. 57.

Verse 25. Many widows were in Israel] q. d. God hath [illegible: 1 word] on whom he will have mercy, &c. He is a free agent, and may do with his own as he pleaseth. If the Prophets, by the Spirits direction, healed and helped forraigners sooner then Israelites; what so great wonder that Christ did not that for his own Country, that he did for others?

Verse 26. That was a widow] A calamitous name, 2 Sam. 14. 5. The Hebrewes call her Almanah, a dumb woman, because either she dare not, or may not speak for her self: but God professeth himself the patron of such; and he can speak for them in the hearts of their greatest adversaries. Happy they in such an Advocate.

Verse 27. [illegible: 1 word] the Syrian] Nor he neither so long as he looked upon Gods Jordan with Syrian eyes.

Verse 28. And all they in the Synogogue] Though but plain rusticks, yet they soon understood this saying of preaching to the Gentiles: which put them into an anger, and our Saviour into a danger.

Verse 29. Thrust him out of the City] As unworthy to tread on their pavement. And so mad they were, that they could neither stay till the businesse were brought to a judiciall tryall, nor forbear execution till the Sabbath were over.

Verse 30. But he passing, &c.] Like a second Sampson: [illegible: 1 word] own arme saved him. This might have convinced his adversaries; but that they were mad with malice.

Verse 31. And came down to Capernaum] Contempt drives away Christ. And woe be unto you if I forsake you, Hos. 9. 12. Contend earnestly for the Faith, sith it is but once delivered to the Saints, Jude 3. You must never expect another edition of it.

Verse 32. For his word was with power] He preached not frigide & trepidè, as the Scribes: but uttered oracles, and did miracles.

Verse 33. And in the [illegible: 1 word] ] See Notes on Mark 1. 23.

Verse 34. The Holy One of God] The Pope will needs be called Most Holy: and so lifts up himself above Christ.

On the temptation of Jesus Mt 4:1

(a) "And Jesus" Mt 4:1, Mk 1:2, Lk 4:14

Being forty days tempted. That is, through forty days he was tried in various ways by the devil. The temptations, however, which are recorded by Matthew and Luke did not take place until the forty days were finished. See Mt 4:2,3.

He did eat nothing. He was sustained by the power of God during this season of extraordinary fasting.

(b) "in those days" Ex 34:28, 1Kgs 19:8

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(c) "It is written" De 8:3

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(d) "for that is delivered to me"

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(1) "wilt worship me" or "fall down before me"

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(e) "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God" De 6:13, 10:20

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(f) "He shall give his angels charge over thee" Ps 91:11

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(g) "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" De 6:16

Departed for a season. For a time. From this it appears that our Saviour was afterward subjected to temptations by Satan, but no particular temptations are recorded after this. From Jn 14:30, it seems that the devil tried or tempted him in the agony in Gethsemane. Comp. Heb 12:4. It is more than probable, also, that Satan did much to excite the Pharisees and Sadducees to endeavour to entangle him, and the priests and rulers to oppose him; yet out of all his temptations God delivered him; and so he will make a way to escape for all that are tempted, and will not suffer them to be tempted above that which they are able to bear, 1Cor 10:13.

(h) "all the temptation" Heb 4:15

In the power of the Spirit. By the influence or direction of the Spirit.

A fame. A report. See Mt 4:24

(i) "returned in the power of the Spirit" Jn 4:43, Acts 10:37

Glorified of all. Praised by all; or, all were pleased with his instructions, and admired his wisdom.

And, as his custom was, he went (l), &c. From this it appears that the Saviour regularly attended the service of the synagogue. In that service the Scriptures of the Old Testament were read, prayers were offered, and the Word of God was explained. Mt 4:23.

There was great corruption in doctrine and practice at that time, but Christ did not on that account keep away from the place of public worship. From this we may learn--

1st. That it is our duty regularly to attend public worship.

2nd. That it is better to attend a place of worship which is not entirely pure, or where just such doctrines are not delivered as we would wish, than not attend at all. It is of vast importance that the public worship of God should be maintained; and it is our duty to assist in maintaining it, to show by our example that we love it, and to win others also to love it. See Heb 10:25. At the same time, this remark should not be construed as enjoining it as our duty to attend where the true God is not worshipped, or where he is worshipped by pagan rites and pagan prayers. If, therefore, the Unitarian does not worship the true God, and if the Roman Catholic worships God in a manner forbidden, and offers homage to the creatures of God, thus being guilty of idolatry, it cannot be a duty to attend on such a place of worship.

The synagogue. See Mt 4:23.

Stood up for to read. The books of Moses were so divided that they could be read through in the synagogues once in a year. To these were added portions out of the prophets, so that no small part of them was read also once a year. It is not known whether our Saviour read the lesson which was the regular one for that day, though it might seem probable that he would not depart from the usual custom. Yet, as the eyes of all were fixed on him; as he deliberately looked out a place; and as the people were evidently surprised at what he did, it seems to be intimated that he selected a lesson which was not the regular one for that day. The same ceremonies in regard to conducting public worship which are here described are observed at Jerusalem by the Jews at the present time. Professor Hackett (Illustrations of Scripture, p. 232) says: "I attended the Jewish worship at Jerusalem, and was struck with the accordance of the ceremonies with those mentioned in the New Testament. The sacred roll was brought from the chest or closet where it was kept; it was handed by an attendant to the reader; a portion of it was rehearsed; the congregation rose and stood while it was read, whereas the speaker, as well as the others present, sat during the delivery of the address which formed a part of the service." (k) "Nazareth" Mt 2:23 (l) Mt 13:54, Jn 18:20, Acts 13:14, 17:2

There was delivered unto him. By the minister of the synagogue, or the keeper of the sacred books. They were kept in an ark or chest, not far from the pulpit, and the minister gave them to whomsoever he chose, to read them publicly.

The book. The volume contained the prophecy of Isaiah. It would seem, from this, that the books were kept separate, and not united into one as with us.

When he had opened the book. Literally, when he had unrolled the book. Books, among the ancients, were written on parchments or vellum that is, skins of beasts, and were rolled together on two rollers, beginning at each end, so that while reading they rolled off from one to the other. Different forms of books were indeed used, but this was the most common. When used the reader unrolled the MS as far as the place which he wished to find, and kept before him just so much as he would read. When the roller was done with, it was carefully deposited in a case.

The place where it was written. Isa 61:1,2

The Spirit (m) of the Lord is upon me. Or, I speak by divine appointment. I am divinely inspired to speak. There can be no doubt that the passage in Isaiah had a principal reference to the Messiah. Our Saviour directly applies it to himself, and it is not easily applicable to any other prophet. Its first application might have been to the restoration of the Jews from Babylon; but the language of prophecy is often applicable to two similar events, and the secondary event is often the most important. In this case the prophet uses most striking poetic images to depict the return from Babylon, but the same images also describe the appropriate work of the Son of God.

Hath anointed me. Anciently kings and prophets and the high-priest were set apart to their work by anointing with oil, 1Kgs 19:15,16; Ex 29:7; 1Sam 9:16, &c. This oil or ointment was made of various substances, and it was forbidden to imitate it, Ex 30:34-38. Hence those who were set apart to the work of God as king, prophet, or priest, were called the Lord's anointed, 1Sam 16:6; Ps 84:9, Isa 45:1. Hence the Son of God is called the Messiah, a Hebrew word signifying the Anointed, or the Christ, a Greek word signifying the same thing. And by his being anointed is not meant that he was literally anointed, for he was never set apart in that manner, but that God had set him apart for this work; that he had constituted or appointed him to be the prophet, priest, and king of his people. Mt 1:1.

To preach the gospel to the poor. The English word gospel is derived from two words--God or good, and spell, an old Saxon word meaning history, relation, narration, word, or speech, and the word therefore means a good communication or message. This corresponds exactly with the meaning of the Greek word -- a good or joyful message--glad tidings. By the poor are meant all those who are destitute of the comforts of this life, and who therefore may be more readily disposed to seek treasures in heaven; all those who are sensible of their sins, or are poor in spirit (Mt 5:3); and all the miserable and the afflicted, Isa 58:7. Our Saviour gave it as one proof that he was the Messiah, or was from God, that he preached to the poor, Mt 11:5. The Pharisees and Sadducees despised the poor; ancient philosophers neglected them; but the gospel seeks to bless them--to give comfort where it is felt to be needed, and where it will be received with gratitude. Riches fill the mind with pride, with self-complacency, and with a feeling that the gospel is not needed. The poor feel their need of some sources of comfort that the world cannot give, and accordingly our Saviour met with his greatest success among the poor; and there also, since, the gospel has shed its richest blessings and its purest joys. It is also one proof that the gospel is true. If it had been of men, it would have sought the rich and mighty; but it pours contempt on all human greatness, and seeks, like God, to do good to those whom the world overlooks or despises. 1Cor 1:26.

To heal the brokenhearted. To console those who are deeply afflicted, or whose hearts are broken by external calamities or by a sense of their sinfulness.

Deliverance to the captives. This is a figure originally applicable to those who were in captivity in Babylon. They were miserable. To grant deliverance to them and restore them to their country -- to grant deliverance to those who are in prison and restore them to their families--to give liberty to the slave and restore him to freedom, was to confer the highest benefit and impart the richest favour. In this manner the gospel imparts favour. It does not, indeed, literally open the doors of prisons, but it releases the mind captive under sin; it gives comfort to the prisoner, and it will finally open all prison doors and break off all the chains of slavery, and, by preventing crime, prevent also the sufferings that are the consequence of crime.

Sight to the blind. This was often literally fulfilled, Mt 1:5; Jn 9:11; Mt 9:30, &c.

To set at liberty them that are bruised. The word bruised, here, evidently has the same general signification as broken- hearted or the contrite. It means those who are pressed down by great calamity, or whose hearts are pressed or bruised by the consciousness of sin. To set them at liberty is the same as to free them from this pressure, or to give them consolation.

(m) Isa 61:1 (n) "heal" 2Chr 34:27, Ps 34:18, 51:17, 147:3, Isa 57:15 (o) "recovering" Ps 146:8, Is 29:18

To preach the acceptable (q) year of the Lord. The time when God is willing to accept of men, or to receive sinners coming to him. The gospel assures us that the guilty may return, and that God will graciously receive them. There is, perhaps, here, an allusion to the year of jubilee--the fiftieth year, when the trumpet was blown, and through the whole land proclamation was made of the liberty of Hebrew slaves, of the remission of debts, and of the restoration of possessions to their original families, Lev 25:8-13. The phrase "the acceptable year" means the time when it would be acceptable to God to proclaim such a message, or agreeable to him---to wit, under the gospel.

(q) Isa 61:2, 63:4

And he closed the book. That is, he rolled it up again. Lk 4:17.

And he gave it again to the minister. That is, to the one in the synagogue who had charge of the books. The word means servant, and the office was not much unlike that of a sexton now. It was his duty, among other things, to take charge of the books, to hand them to the reader of the law, and then return them to their place.

And sat down. This was usual in speaking in their synagogues. Mt 5:1.

Were fastened on him. Were intently fixed on him, waiting to see what explanation he would give of the words.

This scripture. This writing, or this part of the Scriptures.

Fulfilled. It is coming to pass; the thing originally intended by it is about to be accomplished.

In your ears. In your hearing; or you hear, in my preaching, the fulfillment of this prophecy. It is probable that he said much more than is here recorded, but Luke has preserved only the substance of his discourse. This was the amount or sum of his sermon, or his explanation of the passage, that it was now receiving its accomplishment.

All bare him witness. All were witnesses of the power and truth of what he said. Their reason and conscience approved of it, and they were constrained to admit the force and propriety of it, and on this account they wondered.

They wondered. They were struck with the truth and force of his words; and especially when they remembered that he was a native of their own place, and that they had been long acquainted with him, and that he should now claim to be the Messiah, and give so much evidence that he was the Christ.

The gracious (r) words. The words of grace or favour; the kind, affectionate, and tender exposition of the words, and explanation of the design of his coming, and the nature of the plan of redemption. It was so different from the harsh and unfeeling mode of the Pharisees; so different from all their expectations respecting the Messiah, who they supposed to be a prince and a bloody conqueror, that they were filled with astonishment and awe.

(r) Ps 45:2, Isa 50:4, Mt 13:54, Mk 6:2, Lk 2:47 (s) "Is not this Joseph's son" Jn 6:42

Physician, heal thyself. This proverb was probably in common use at that time. The meaning is this: Suppose that a man should attempt to heal another when he was himself diseased in the same manner; it would be natural to ask him first to cure himself, and thus to render it manifest that he was worthy of confidence. The connection of this proverb, here, is this: "You profess to be the Messiah. You have wrought miracles at Capernaum. You profess to be able to deliver us from our maladies, our sins, our afflictions. Show that you have the power, that you are worthy of our confidence, by working miracles here, as you profess to have done at Capernaum." It does not refer, therefore, to any purification of his own, or imply any reflection on him for setting up to teach them. It was only a demand that he would show the proper evidence by miracles why they should trust in him, and he proceeds to show them why he would not give them this evidence.

Whatsoever we have heard done. Whatsoever we have heard that thou hast done. It would seem, from this, that Christ had before this wrought miracles in Capernaum, though the evangelist has not recorded them.

In Capernaum. Capernaum was on the north-west corner of the Sea of Tiberias, and was not far from Nazareth. It is not improbable that some of those who then heard him might have been present and witnessed some of his miracles at Capernaum. Mt 4:13.

No (u) prophet is accepted. Has honour, or is acknowledged as a prophet.

Mt 13:57.

(u) Mt 13:57, Jn 4:44

Of a truth. Truly, and therefore worthy of your credit. He calls attention to two cases where acknowledged prophets had so little honour in their own nation that they bestowed their favours on foreigners. So, says he, such is the want of faith in my own country, that I shall work no miracles here, but shall give the evidence of my divine mission to others.

In Israel. In the land of Israel, or Judea. It was therefore the more remarkable, since there were so many in his own country whom he might have helped, that the prophet should have gone to a heathen city and aided a poor widow there.

The days of Elias. The days of Elijah. See the account of this in 1Kgs 17:8-24.

Three years and six months. From 1Kgs 18:1,45, it would seem that the rain fell on the third year--that is, at the end of the third year after the rain had ceased to fall at the usual time. There were two seasons of the year when rains fell in Judea--in October and April, called the early and latter rain; consequently there was an interval between them of six months. To the three years, therefore, when rain was withheld at the usual times, are to be added the previous six months, when no rain fell as a matter of course, and consequently three years and six months elapsed without rain.

A great famine. A great want of food, from long-continued and distressing drought.

Save unto Sarepta. Sarepta was a town between Tyre and Sidon, near the Mediterranean Sea. It was not a Jewish city, but a Sidonian, and therefore a Gentile town. The word "save" in this verse does not express the meaning of the original. It would seem to imply that the city was Jewish. The meaning of the verse is this: "He was sent to none of the widows in Israel. He was not sent except to Sarepta, to a woman that was a Sidonian." Dr. Thomson (The Land and the Book, vol. i. p. 232-236) regards Sarepta as the modern Sarafend. He says that the ruins have been frequently dug over for stone to build the barracks at Betrout, and that the broken columns, marble slabs, sarcophagi, and other ruins indicate that it was once a flourishing city. A large town was built there in the time of the Crusades.

Many (x) lepers. For an account of the leprosy Mt 8:1.

Time of Eliseus. Time of Elisha. The word Eliseus is the Greek way of writing the word Elisha, as Elias is of Elijah.

Saving Naaman the Syrian. The account of his cure is contained in 2Kgs 5:1-27.

(x) 2Kgs 5:14

Filled with wrath. They were enraged, probably, for the following reasons:

1st. They saw that the cases applied to themselves, because they would not receive the miraculous evidences of his mission.

2nd. That he would direct his attention to others, and not to them.

3rd. That the Gentiles were objects of compassion with God, and that God often showed more favour to a single Gentile than to multitudes of Jews in the same circumstances.

4th. That they might be worse than the Gentiles. And,

5th. That it was a part of his design to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, and not confine his labours to them only. On these accounts their favour was soon turned to wrath, and the whole transaction shows us --

1st. That popular applause is of little value.

2nd. That the slightest circumstances may soon turn the warmest professed friendship to hatred. And,

3rd. That men are exceedingly unreasonable in being unwilling to hear the truth and profit by it.

The brow (2) of the hill whereon, &c. The region in which Nazareth was is hilly, though Nazareth was situated between two hills, or in a vale among mountains. The place to which they led the Saviour is still shown, and is called the Mount of Precipitation. It is at a short distance to the south of Nazareth. Mt 2:23.

Cast him down. This was the effect of a popular tumult. They had no legal right to take life on any occasion, and least of all in this furious and irregular manner. The whole transaction shows--

1st. That the character given of the Galileans elsewhere as being peculiarly wicked was a just one.

2nd. To what extremities the wickedness of the heart will lead men when it is acted out. And,

3rd. That men are opposed to the truth, and that they would do anything, if not restrained, to manifest their opposition.

(2) or "edge" (y) "that they might cast him down" Ps 37:32,33

Passing through the midst of them, went his way. This escape was very remarkable. It is remarkable that he should escape out of their hands when their very object was to destroy him, and that he should escape in so peaceful a manner, without violence or conflict. A similar case is recorded in Jn 8:59. There are but two ways of accounting for this:

1st. That other Nazarenes, who had not been present in the synagogue, heard what was doing and came to rescue him, and in the contest that rose between the two parties Jesus silently escaped.

2nd. More probably that Jesus by divine power, by the force of a word or look, stilled their passions, arrested-their purposes, and passed silently through them. That he had such a power over the spirits of men we learn from the occurrence in Gethsemane, when he said, "I am he; and they went backward and fell to the ground," Jn 18:6.

(a) "passing through the midst" Jn 8:59, 10:39

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

Mt 1:21 through Mt 1:39

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(a) "for his word" Jer 23:29, Mt 7:28,29, Tit 2:15, Heb 4:1,2

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(b) "in the synagogue" Mk 1:23

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(3) "Let us alone" or "away" (c) "What have we to do with thee" Jas 2:19 (d) "I know thee" Lk 4:41 (e) "the Holy One of God" Ps 16:10, Dan 9:24, Lk 1:35, Acts 3:14

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(f) "and they came out" 1Pet 3:22

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(g) "And Simon's wife's" Mt 8:14, Mk 1:29

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(4) "suffered them not to speak", or "to say that they knew him to be" "Christ"

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(h) "therefore am I sent" Mk 1:38

No entry from BARNES for this verse.

[Was led by the Spirit.] In St. Matthew it is, was led up of the Spirit. By which I would suppose our Saviour caught up by the Holy Spirit into the air, and so carried into the wilderness. The reasons of this conjecture are, I. Because we read of the like thing done to Philip, Acts 8:39,40. The same also is supposed concerning Elijah, 1 Kings 18:12; 2 Kings 2:16. II. It is probable the devil also might snatch Jesus up into the air, having this occasion to pretend himself no other than the Holy Ghost, who had caught him up and brought him already into the wilderness: and under this notion he might require that worship from him, as if he himself was indeed the Holy Ghost. III. We must not pass by the method which St. Luke takes in describing the order of the temptations, somewhat different from that of St. Matthew. The temptation upon the pinnacle of the Temple is mentioned by St. Matthew, and that most truly, the second in order: but in St. Luke it is reckoned the third; adding, that "when the devil had ended all his temptation, he departed from him for a season." But now, according to St. Luke, how did Christ get down from the pinnacle again? He tells us, that he was carried up thither by the devil, and there (according to his method in the story) the temptation was ended: how then did Christ get down again? Observe but what follows; Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and then join the stories as they are joined in St. Luke: the devil set him on the pinnacle of the Temple, and there urgeth him to cast himself down; but when he could not persuade him, he leaves him standing on the pinnacle, and all the temptation was ended; and Jesus, by the power of the Spirit returned into Galilee. May we not suppose that the evangelist would by this give us to understand, that Christ, after the temptation was ended, was carried through the air by the Holy Ghost into Galilee, as he had been caught up before by him, and been brought into the wilderness, yea, and under that pretence [or upon that occasion], had been snatched up by the devil himself to the pinnacle of the Temple, and to a very high mountain?

[Forty days, &c.] Moses, in his dealings with God, fasted forty days three times, one after another. It was sufficient for Christ, having withal so great a conflict with the devil, to do it but once. Moses' first quadragesimal was Exodus 24:18: his second time was after he had destroyed the golden calf, Deuteronomy 10:10: the third was after the tables of the law had been made anew, Exodus 34:28. About that very time of the year wherein Moses ended his last forty days' fast, Christ began his; viz. about the middle of the month Tisri; and how long he continued it on in the month Marchesvan, it is not difficult to apprehend.

[In a moment of time.] In momento. So the Vulgar. Now what quantity of time a moment contains, if it be worth the while to inquire, the doctors tell us:

How much is a moment? It is the fifty-eight thousand, eight hundred, eighty-eighth part of an hour. Very accurately calculated truly!

[He departed from him for a season.] The devil had now found by experience, how much in vain it was for him to tempt our Saviour by suggestions, or those kinds of allurements by which he inveigles mankind; and therefore he watches for an opportunity of trying his arts upon him some other way: which at last he doth, both by himself and by his instruments. And when that season drew near, and the devil returned to his proper business, we find there is mention made of Satan entering into Judas, and that "now the prince of this world cometh," John 14:30.

[He stood up to read.] That we may frame the better judgment of this action of our Saviour's, let us a little look into the customs of the synagogue:--

I. They read standing up. Piske: and Rabbenu Asher; "They do not read in the law otherwise than standing up. Nay, it is unlawful for him that readeth to lean upon any thing. Whence comes it that he that readeth in the law is bound to stand up? Rabh Abhu saith, Because the Scripture saith, Do thou stand by me. Nor ought any one to lean any way, as it is in the Jerusalem. R. Samuel Bar Isaac going into a synagogue found one expounding and leaning against a pillar. He saith to him, This is not lawful: for as the law was given with reverence, so are we to handle it with reverence too."

They preferred the Law before the Prophets, and the Law and the Prophets above the Hagiographa, or holy writings: and yet they yielded that honour to the Prophets, that even they should not be read but standing up. Whence that is particular which they say concerning the Book of Esther, "A man may read out of the Book of Esther, either standing or sitting. But not so out of the law." Christ in this followed the custom of the synagogue, in that while he read the Law he stood up, while he taught it he sat down.

II. He that read in the Prophets was called Maphtir; and was appointed to that office by the ruler of the synagogue.

"Rabh Bibai was a great man in taking care of the things of God. And Mar was a great man in taking care of the things of the town." The Gloss is: "Of the things of God, that is, about the collectors of the alms, and the distribution of it, and the ordering those that were to expound and read the Prophets."

It is probable that Christ did at this time offer himself as a Maphtir, or as one that would read in the Prophets, and preach upon what he read; not before hand appointed to it by the ruler of the synagogue, but rather approved of when he had offered himself. For those of Nazareth had heard of some miracles which he had wrought at Capernaum, verse 23: and therefore no wonder if they were very desirous to hear something from him answerable to those great things he had done.

III. Piske: "He that reads in the Prophets ought not to read less than one-and-twenty verses." Here our Saviour doth not seem to have observed the custom of the synagogue, for he read but two verses: and yet he did nothing but what was both allowable and usual. And that is worth our taking notice of which we meet with, "If there be an interpreter or preaching on the sabbath day, they read out of the prophets, three, or five, or seven verses, and are not so careful to read just one-and-twenty."

"If there be an interpreter [or interpretation] on the sabbath day": was there not always one on every sabbath day? So that neither Moses nor the Prophets might be read unless one stood by that could expound: as seems abundantly evident both from the traditions and the rules that concerned such a one.

These words, therefore I would understand in such a sense; 'If either the interpreter should in his exposition enlarge himself into a sermon, or any other should preach,' &c. For the interpreter did sometimes comment and preach upon what they read. And probably Christ did at this time both read and properly interpreted.

"Jose the Maonite expounded in the synagogue of Maon. 'Hear, O ye priests; hearken, O house of Israel; and give y ear, O house of the king,' Hosea 5. He said, The holy blessed God is about to snatch away the priests and set them in judgment, saying unto them, 'Why have ye not laboured in the law? Have you not had the use and enjoyment of four-and-twenty portions belonging to the priests?' They say unto him, 'They have not given us any thing.' 'Hearken, O ye house of Israel, why have you not given those four-and-twenty portions to the priests which I have commanded you in the law?' They answer him, 'Because of those who are of the house of the prince, who devour all themselves.' 'Give ear, O house of the king, for judgment is towards you; for to you I have said that this should be the rule concerning the priests: to you, therefore, and over you, is it turned a rule of judgment.' Rabbi [the prince] heard this, and was displeased with it."

"After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha."

"Rabh Joseph expounded it, After these things the king promoted Haman of Hammedatha the Agagite, the son of Cuza, the son of Aphlet, the son of Dio, the son of Diusot, the son of Paros, the son of Nidan, the son of Baalkan," &c. See the place, and compare it with the Targumist upon Esther, chapter 3:1.

"A reader in the Prophet enlargeth upon 'Shemaa'" [the manner and form of the thing we have in Massech. Soph. cap. 14]; "he passeth before the ark, and lifteth up his hands" (that is, in order to give him blessing); "but if he be a child, his father or his master doth these things in his stead," &c. But the Gloss tells us that these things are to be understood of an ordinary reader of the prophets. Now Christ was an extraordinary reader. However, he read here, which he did not do in any other synagogue; for this was the synagogue to which he belonged, and he read as a member of that synagogue.

[And there was delivered unto him the book of Esaias.] I. The minister of the church kept the sacred books in his custody, and brought them out to be read when they met together in the synagogue.

"The high priest came to read [on the day of expiation]; the minister of the synagogue takes the book of the law, and giveth it to the ruler of the synagogue," &c. Where the Gloss is, The 'chazan' of the synagogue, that is, the minister. From him did our Saviour receive the book, and to him he returned it again.

II. If it be asked whether he received the book of the Prophet Isaiah by itself or joined with the other prophets, it is not easy to determine it. We may gather something from what vulgarly obtained amongst them.

"The Rabbins deliver: 'Let a man frame the Law and the Prophets and the holy writings into one volume': they are the words of R. Meir. But R. Judah saith, 'Let the Law be apart by itself; the book of the Prophets by itself; and the book of the holy writings [Hagiographa] by itself.' And the wise men say, 'Every book by itself.'"

But we may ask if every prophet was by himself, Isaiah by himself, Jeremiah by himself, &c. It is probable they were: for so they sometimes divided the law into single quintanes [or fifth parts].

All know what title the books of the law do bear in the front of the Hebrew Bibles, viz. The five quintanes of the law. Genesis is the first quintane: Exodus is the second quintane: and so of the rest...

"They fold up the book of the Law in the cloth of the quintanes, and the quintanes in the cloth of the Prophets and Hagiographa: but they do not fold up the Prophets and Hagiographa in the cloth of the quintanes, nor the quintanes in the cloth of the Law." And a little after; "They lay the Law upon the quintanes, and the quintanes upon the Prophets and Hagiographa; but not the Prophets and Hagiographa upon the quintanes, nor the quintanes upon the Law": that is, not any one single quintane upon all the quintanes made up into one volume. So the Gloss hath it; "A quintane; that is, a book of the law, in which there is only one quintane."

Seeing, therefore, that the book of that Law was sometimes divided in this manner, into distinct books, we may judge as well that the greater prophets might be thus divided also, and the twelve lesser made up into one volume. Hence, perhaps, that passage: "The reader of the Prophet might skip from one text to another: but he might not skip from prophet to prophet: but in the twelve prophets it was lawful." For they were all made up in one volume ready to his hand; and so were not the greater prophets.

Give me leave, therefore, to conjecture that on that sabbath wherein these things were transacted in the synagogue at Nazareth, that section which was to be read in the Prophets was, according to the rubric, in the prophet Isaiah; and upon that account the minister of the synagogue delivered that book to our Saviour when he stood up to read.

[And when he had opened the book, he found the place, &c.] In the Talmudic language I would render it thus, unrolling the book...

The high priest after the reading of the law, rolling, or folding up the book, puts it into his bosom. And yet

It is said...which we must not render they do not fold up, but they do not unfold or unroll the book of the law in the synagogue.

They unroll a prophet in the congregation, but they do not unroll the law in he congregation. That is, as the Gloss hath it, They unroll from one place or passage to another passage in another place. So they were wont to do in the Prophets, but not in the Law. And upon this account was it permitted for the reader to skip in the prophet from one place to another, because it was permitted them to unroll the prophet, either a single prophet, or the twelve lesser in the synagogue; but as to the Law, it was not allowed them so to do.

And they put the question How far may he skip so that he that interprets do not break off? The Gloss is, "Let him not skip from the place he reads, unless that he may unroll the book, and be ready to read the place to which he skips, when the interpreter ceaseth."

And because it was not lawful for him so to unroll the law in the synagogue, "on the kalends of the month Tebeth, if it proved to be the sabbath day, they brought three books of the law and read in one of them the place for the sabbath, in another, that for the kalends, in the third, that for the feast of dedication."

The words therefore of our evangelist to me seem not barely to mean that he unfolded or opened the book; but that being opened, he unrolled it from folio to folio, till he had found the place he designed to read and expound. Which though it was not the section appointed by the rubric for the day, yet did not Christ much recede from the custom of the synagogue, which allowed the reader to skip from one place to another.

[When the heavens were shut up three years and six months.] This number of three years and six months is much used both in the Holy Scriptures and in Jewish writings; concerning which we have more largely discoursed in another place. And although both in the one and the other it is not seldom used allusively only, yet in this place I can see no reason why it should not be taken according to the letter in its proper number, however indeed there will be no small difficulty to reduce it to its just account. That there was no rain for three years together, is evident enough from 1 Kings 17, &c.: but whence comes this addition of six months?

"Elijah said to Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word; If there shall be these years." These words include three years at the least, because he saith, years in the plural, and not years in the dual.

And chapter 18, "The word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go shew thyself unto Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth." In the third year; where then shall we find the six months?

I. Doubtless both our Saviour and his apostle St. James, chapter 5 verse 17, in adding six months do speak according to the known and received opinion of that nation; which is also done elsewhere sometimes in historical matters in the New Testament.

St. Stephen tells us, Acts 7:16, that the bones of the twelve patriarchs were carried over from Egypt and buried in Sychem, when holy writ mentions only the bones and burial of Joseph: wherein he speaks according to the vulgar opinion of the nation.

Again, verse 30, he tells us that Moses was forty years old when he fled into the land of Midian, and that he tarried there forty years more, when Moses himself mentions nothing of the circumstance: this he speaks agreeably to the opinion of the people.

II. Neither our Saviour nor St. James says that Elijah shut up the heavens three years and six months; but Christ tells us, "That the heaven was shut up in the days of Elias three years and six months": and St. James, "That Elias prayed that it might not rain, and it rained not upon the earth by the space of three years and six months."

May I therefore have leave to distinguish in this manner? Elijah shut up the heaven for three years, that there might be no rain, as in the Book of Kings: and there was no rain for three years and a half, as our Saviour and St. James relate.

III. The words of Menander in Josephus may help a little towards the untying this knot: Menander also makes mention of this drought in the acts of Ithobalus, king of Tyre, saying, There was no rain from the month of October to the month of October the year following.

It is true he shortens the space of this drought by making it continue but one year; but however, having placed the beginning of it in the month of October, he gives us a key that opens us a way into things more inward and secret.

IV. Consider the distinction of the former and the latter rain, Deuteronomy 11:14; Jeremiah 5:24; Joel 2:23.

"The Rabbins deliver: the former is in the month Marchesvan; the latter in the month Nisan."

The Targumist in Joel 2:23: "Who hath given you the first rain in season and the latter in the month Nisan." See also our note upon chapter 2:8.

R. Solomon, upon Deuteronomy 11, differs a little; but we are not solicitous about the order, which should be the first, either that in the month Marchesvan, or that in the month Nisan: that which makes to our purpose is, that rains were at those stated times; and for the rest of the year generally there was no rain.

V. Those six months mentioned by our Saviour and St. James must be accounted before the beginning of the three years, and not tacked to the end of them, as is very evident from this, that it is said, "The third year Elijah shewed himself to Ahab," &c.

In the beginning therefore of those three years we believe Elijah shut up heaven upon the approach of that time wherein the rains were wont to fall in the month of Marchesvan, and opened heaven again the same month at the end of three years. Nor is it nothing that Menander speaks of the drought, taking its beginning in the month October, which in part answers to the Jews' Marchesvan: for consult that passage, chapter 18; "Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land unto all the fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive." No one will say this search was made in the winter, but in the summer: not before or in the month Nisan, wherein the rains were wont to fall; for what hay or grass could be expected at that time? But when the year grew on to the summer, then was it a seasonable time to inquire after hay and grass. Reckon therefore the time of Ahab's and Obadiah's progress in this search: the time wherein Elijah and Obadiah meeting together, Ahab fell in with them: the time wherein the Israelites and the prophets of Baal were gathered together at mount Carmel; when Elijah sacrificed there, and the followers of Baal were killed: and certainly it will be more probable that the unlocking of the heavens and the fall of the rains happened in that usual and ordinary season, the month Marchesvan, than any other part of the year. Three years agone, in that month when the rains were expected, according to the common season of the year, Elijah shut heaven up that it should not rain; and now at the close of three years, when the season for those rains recurred, he unlocks the heavens and the rains fall abundantly.

VI. Now, go back from Marchesvan, the month wherein the prophet locked up heaven, to the month Nisan preceding, and those six months between, they were also without rain, according to the ordinary course of the year and climate. In the month Nisan it rained; the rest of the year to Marchesvan it was fair and held up: when that month came the rains were expected; but Elijah had shut the heavens up, and they remained shut up for the space of three years ensuing. So that though he did not shut up heaven above the space of three years, yet there was no rain for three years and six months.

[Naaman the Syrian.] These instances galled those of Nazareth upon a twofold account:

I. That they looked upon themselves as vilified by these examples; especially if we consider the occasion upon which our Saviour brought them. 'Thou hast wrought miracles in Capernaum; do something also here in thine own city.' 'No, you are unworthy of it, as Israel of old was unworthy of the prophets Elijah and Elisha, who were therefore sent amongst the Gentiles.'

II. That by these instances he plainly intimated the calling of the Gentiles, than which nothing could be more grating in the ear of the Jews. Elijah was sent to a heathen woman, and a heathen man was sent to Elisha: and both of them were turned from heathenism to the true religion. Those words therefore of Naaman, 2 Kings 5:17,18, I would thus render; "Thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to strange gods, but unto Jehovah. And concerning this thing the Lord pardon thy servant [viz. concerning my former idolatry], that when my master went into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and leaned upon my hand, I also bowed myself in the house of Rimmon; for that I bowed myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant concerning this thing."

[That they might cast him down headlong.] By what authority, or by what legal process could those of Nazareth do this? There was, indeed, a court of judicature consisting of three men, because a synagogue was there; but it was not in the power of that court to decree any thing in capital matters. It may be asked, whether that license that was permitted the zealots extended thus far: "He that steals the consecrated dishes and curseth by a conjurer" (that is, curseth God in the name of an idol), "and goes in to a heathen woman (that is, openly, as Zimri, Num 25:6), the zealots slay him. And the priest that ministers in his uncleanness, his brethren the priests beat out his brains with clubs." But doth this license of the zealot belong to all persons upon all occasions? When Nathanael said, [John 1:46] "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" he does not seem there to reflect so much upon the smallness and insignificancy of the town, as the looseness and depravity of its manners.

[Who had a spirit of an unclean devil.] An expression something unusual. Perhaps it points towards the pythonic or necromantic spirit: how these are distinguished amongst the doctors we may see in Ramban in Sanhedrin, cap. 7. hal. 4. Both of them (though in a different manner) invited and desired the inspirations of the devil. But of this thing I shall treat more largely at chapter 13:11.

At the twenty-second verse of the foregoing chapter, we find the Holy Ghost descending in a bodily shape like a dove upon our Saviour. In this verse we find the extraordinary effects and fruits of the Holy Ghost's descent upon our Saviour: he was filled with all the gifts and graces of the blessed Spirit, to fit and furnish him for that ministerial service which he was now entering upon.

But observable it is, that before our Saviour undertook the ministerial office, he is led by the Spirit into the wilderness, and there furiously assaulted with Satan's temptations. Temptation, meditation, and prayer, says Luther, make a minister: great temptations from Satan do fit us for greater services for God.

And whereas it is said, that Christ was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil by the Spirit, we must understand the Holy Spirit of God; for the devil, I think, is never called the spirit, but has always a brand of reproach annexed, as the evil spirit, the unclean spirit, and the like.

By his being led by the Spirit, (St. Mark says he was drove by the Spirit,) we may either understand a potent and efficacious persuasion, without any violent motion: or else, as the learned Dr. Lightfoot thinks, Christ was bodily caught up by the Holy Spirit into the air, and carried from Jordan, where he was baptized, into the wilderness, where he was tempted.

God had put great honour upon Christ at his baptism, declaring him to be his well-beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased; and the next news we hear is the devil assaulting him with his temptations.

Learn thence, that the more any are beloved of God, and dignified with more eminent testimonies of his favour, so much the more is the devil enraged, and maliciously bent against them.

Observe here, how the divine power upheld Christ's human nature without food. What Moses did at the giving of the law, Christ doth at the beginning of the gospel, namely, fast forty days and forty nights. Christ hereby intended our admiration rather than our imitation; or if our imitation, of the action only, not of the time.

From this example of Christ we learn, that it is our duty, by fasting and prayer, to prepare ourselves for a conflict with our spiritual enemies. As Christ prepared himself, by fasting, to grapple with the tempter, so should we.

Observe here, 1. The occasion of the temptation.

And, 2. The temptation itself.

The occasion of the temptation was our Saviour's hunger and want of bread.

Learn thence, that when God suffers any of his children to fall into want, and to be straitened for outward things, Satan takes a mighty advantage thereupon to tempt and assault them.

Observe, 3. What it is he tempts our Saviour to; it is the sin of distrust, to call in question his sonship; If thou be the Son of God: and then to distrust God's providence and care; Command that these stones be made bread.

It is the grand policy of Satan, first to tempt the children of God to doubt of their adoption; next to distrust God's fatherly care and provision, and last of all to use unwarrantable means to help themselves. Thus Satan dealt with Christ, and thus he deals with Christians; for to work a miracle at Satan's direction, was not a lawful means of providing food for himself.

Note first, that though the devil abused scripture, yet Christ uses it. Good things are never the worse for being abused by Satan and his instruments.

Note secondly, the weapon which our Saviour made use of to vanquish Satan; it was the word of God: It is written, says Christ.

Learn thence, that the scripture, or the written word of God, is the only sure weapon wherewith to vanquish Satan, and beat back all his fiery temptations. The scripture is God's armory, out of which all our weapons of war must be taken, for managing our conflict with sin and Satan.

Observe, 1. The next sin which Satan tempts our Saviour to is the sin of idolatry, even to worship the devil himself. Oh thou impudent and foul spirit, to desire thy Creator to worship thee, an apostate creature! Doubtless there is no sin so black and foul, so horrid and monstrous, but the Christian may be tempted to it, when Christ himself was tempted to worship the tempter, even the devil himself.

St. Matthew reads it, If thou wilt worship me: St. Luke, If thou wilt worship before me.

From whence we may gather, that if to worship before the devil, be to worship the devil, then to worship before an image, is to worship the image. Dr. Lightfoot.

Observe, 2. The bait which Satan makes use of to allure our Saviour to the sin of idolatry, representing to his eye and view all the glories of the world in a most inviting manner, and that in a moment of time, that so he might affect him the more, and prevail the sooner.

Learn thence, that the pomp and grandeur of the world is made use of by Satan as a dangerous snare to draw men into a compliance with him, in his temptations unto sin: He showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them.

Observe, 3. What an impudent liar and proud boaster the devil is; he was a liar from the beginning: All this will I give thee, for it is delivered unto me. An impudent untruth, for the dominion over the things of the world was never given to the angels, neither has the devil any power over the creatures, but by permission from God. The devil is a most impudent liar; he told the first lie, and by long practice has become a perfect master in the art of lying.

Observe also, the devil's boasting as well as lying; All this will I give thee, when he had not one foot of ground to dispose of. Great boasters are for the most part great liars, and such boasters and liars are like the devil.

Observe, 4. How our Saviour declares the true and only object of religious worship; namely, God himself: Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Religious worship is to be given to none of the creatures, neither to angels nor men, how excellent soever, but to God alone. We read but of two creatures that ever desired in scripture to be worshipped with divine worship; namely, the devil and antichrist; but the command is peremptory. Thou shalt worship the Lord, and him only.

Observe here, 1. The power which Satan, by God's permission, had over the body of our blessed Saviour: he took him up, and carried his body through the air, from the wilderness to Jerusalem, and there set him upon one of the pinnacles of the temple.

Learn hence, 1. That Satan, by God's permission, may have power over the bodies of the best of men.

2. That this exercise of Satan's power over the bodies of men, is no argument that such persons do not belong to God. Our Saviour himself, who was dear to God, is yet left for a time in Satan's hands. But though Satan had a power to set him upon the pinnacle of the temple, yet he had no power to cast him down: though Satan's malice be infinite, his power is limited and bounded; he cannot do all the mischief he would, and he shall not do all he can.

Observe, 2. The sin which Satan tempts Christ to; the sin of self-murder. Cast thyself down.

Learn, that self-murder is a sin which Christ himself was, and the best of his children may be, solicited and tempted to; yet though Satan solicited Christ to the sin, he could not compel him to comply with with the temptation.

Thence note, that how much earnestness and importunity soever Satan uses in pressing his temptation, he can only persuade, he cannot compel; he may entice, but cannot enforce.

Observe, 3. The argument which Satan uses to persuade Christ to the sin of self-murder; it is a scripture argument, he quotes a promise: He shall give his angels charge over thee.

What a wonder is here, to see the devil with a Bible under his arm, and with a text of scripture in his mouth! Christ had alleged scripture before to Satan; here Satan retorts scripture back again to Christ. It is written, says Christ; It is written, says Satan.

Learn, that Satan knows how to abuse the most excellent and comfortable scriptures to the most horrid and pernicious ends and purposes. He that had profanely touched the sacred body of Christ with his hand, sticks not presumptuously to handle the holy scriptures with his tongue.

Observe, 4. The text of scripture which Satan makes use of: He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: Ps 91:11,12 where the doctrine is good, but the application bad. The doctrine is true, that God is pleased to employ his angels for the good of his servants, and particularly for their preservation in times of danger: but see how falsely the devil perverts, misapplies, and wrests that sacred scripture. When God promises that his angels shall keep us, it is in all his ways; not in our own crooked paths.

Learn, that although the children of God have the promise of the guardianship of his holy angels, yet then only may they expect their protection, when walking in the way of their duty: He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Observe lastly, the issue of his combat: Satan is vanquished, and departs from our Saviour. St. Matthew says, The devil left him, and angels came and ministered unto him. Satan is conquered and quits the field.

Teaching us, that nothing like a vigorous resistance of temptation, causes the tempter to flee from us. Satan is both a cowardly enemy, and a conquered enemy; resist him, and he will run.

Our blessed Saviour being thus fitted and prepared by his baptism and temptation for the execution of his ministerial office, he now enters upon the great work of preaching the gospel, and St. Luke here declares the first place he preached at, namely, Nazareth; and the first text he preached upon, Isa 61:1

Observe 1. The place where our Saviour preached at; he bestowed his first sermon upon Nazareth, the place of his conception and education. For though Christ was born at Bethlehem, yet he was bred and brought up at Nazareth; there he had his poor, but painful education, working on his father's trade, that of a carpenter. This prejudiced the Jews against him, who looked for a sceptre, not an axe, in the hand of him that was born King of the Jews. Our Saviour's short and secret abode at Bethlehem, and his long and public living at Nazareth, occasioned him to be called Jesus of Nazareth; yet some conceived it was a nick-name, fastened by the devil upon our Saviour, that he might disguise the place of Christ's nativity, and leave the Jews at a greater loss concerning their Messiah. Sure it is, that this name, Jesus of Nazareth, stuck upon our Saviour all his life; and at his death was fixed by Pilate on his cross. Yea, after his ascension, such as believed on were called, The sect of the Nazarenes, or the followers of Jesus of Nazareth.

Observe, 2. The text which our Saviour preached upon at Nazareth: he takes it out of the prophet Esaias, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. Luke 4:18 That is, God the Father hath poured forth his Holy Spirit without measure upon me, in all the gifts and graces of it, to fit and furnish me for the work of a mediator; and particularly, to preach the gospel to the poor in spirit, and to such as are poor in outward condition also, if meekened and humbled with the sight and sense of their sins. To bind up the broken-hearted; that is, to comfort them with the glad tidings of the gospel. To preach deliverance to the captives: to let such sinners know, who were slaves to sin and Satan, that a Deliverer is come, if they be willing to be delivered by him. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord: or to proclaim a spiritual jubilee in which God proffers pardon of sin and reconciliation with himself upon the terms of the gospel.

Learn hence, 1. That God stirreth up none to take upon them the office of the ministry, whom he hath not fitted and furnished with gifts for the regular discharge of it.

2. That Christ himself did not undertake the office of a mediator, but by the ordination of God the Holy Spirit: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and he hath sent me to preach the gospel.

3. That no creature, angel or man, could perform the office of a mediator, but only Christ, who was consecrated to that office by an anointing from the Holy Spirit without measure: The Spirit of the Lord hath anointed me.

4. That the preaching of the gospel is the great ordinance which Christ himself made use of, and recommended to his apostles and ministers, for enlightening blind sinners, for comforting broken hearts, and for delivering captive souls from the slavery and dominion of sin and Satan: He hath sent me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to publish deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind. What enemies than are they to the souls of men who have low and mean thoughts of this high and honourable ordinance of God, the preaching of the everlasting gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation?

Observe, 3. The behavior of our Saviour's auditors, the men of Nazareth, under his preaching: their eyes were fixed, and their minds intent, upon him, and upon what was spoken by him: The eyes of all that were in the synagogue were fastened upon him: not closed with sleep, nor gazing about upon others; but fixed upon Christ the preacher.

Fixing of the eye is a great help to the attention of the ear, and the intention of the mind; a fastened eye is a mean to help us to a fixed heart; as a wandering eye is both a sign and cause of a wandering heart. O that our hearers would imitate our Saviour's hearers under the word! They fastened their eyes upon him, as if they meant to hear with their eyes as well as with their ears: and yet we have cause to expect tht curiosity rather than piety caused this their attention; seeing, as you will find, Luke 4:29 that these very persons, who out of novelty were ready to eat his words, soon after out of cruelty were ready to devour the speaker: For they thrust him out of the city, led him to the brow of the hill, and would have cast him down headlong.

O blessed Saviour, what wonder is it that the persons of thy ministers are despised, and their doctrine neglected, when thou thyself, the first preacher of the gospel, and for thy first sermon at Nazareth, wert thus ignominiously treated!

Observe, lastly, how Christ conforms to the ceremonies of the Jewish doctrine, who, in honor of the law and the prophets, stood up when they read them, and according to custom, sat down when they explained them. And although the synagogual worship was then loaden with rules and ceremonies of human invention, and also the lives and manners both of priests and people were much corrupted, yet both our Saviour and his disciples went to the synsgogue, as members of the church of Nazareth, every sabbath-day, joining with them in the public worship.

From whence we may reasonably infer, that such Christians as do quietly and peaceably comply with the practice of the church in whose communion they live, in the observation of such indifferent rites as are used by her, act most agreeable to our Saviour's practice and example.

Observe here, 1. The effect of our Saviour's ministry at Nazareth: it created wonder, but did not produce faith; they marvelled, but not believed; they admired the wisdom of his discourse, but will not own him to be the promised Messiah, because of the poverty and meanness of Christ's condition: Is not this Joseph's son? They expected the son of a prince, not the son of a carpenter to be their Messiah.

Thence note, that the poverty and meanness of Christ's condition was that which multitudes stumbled at, and which kept many, yea, most, from believing on him. None but a spiritual eye can discern beauty in an humbled and abased Saviour.

Observe 2. Our Saviour wonders not that so few of his countrymen, among whom he had been bred and brought up, and with whom he had lived most part of his time, did despise his person, and reject his doctrine; he tells them, No prophet has honor in his own country: that is, very seldom has.

Teaching us that usually the ministers of God are most despised where they are most familiarly known; sometimes the remembrance of their mean original and extraction, sometimes the poverty of their parents, sometimes the indecencies of their childhood, sometimes the follies of their youth, sometimes the faults of their families and relations, are ript up, and made occasion of contempt; and therefore that prophet that comes from afar, and has not been much known, gains the greatest reputation amongst a people, who, being ignorant of his extraction, look upon his breeding, as well as his calling to be divine.

This good use ought to be made of our Saviour's observation, that his ministers be very wise and discreet in conversation with their people, not making themselves cheap and common in every company, nor light and vain in any company; for such familiarity will breed contempt, both of their persons and their doctrine.

But our duty is by strictness and gravity of deportment to keep up an awe and esteem in the consciences of our people; always tempering our gravity with courtesy and a condescending affability. That minister which prostitutes his authority, frustrates the end of his ministry, and is the occasion of his own contempt.

Here our Saviour by a double instance confirms what he had last told his countrymen at Nazareth, namely, that prophets are most despised by their own countrymen and acquaintance, and that strangers oft-times have more advantage by a prophet than his own people.

The first instance of this which our Saviour gives them, is in the days of Elias, though there were many widows then in his own nation, yet none of them were qualified to receive his miracles, but a stranger, a widow of Sarepta.

The second instance was in the days of Elisha; when though there were many lepers in and about the neighborhood, yet they being his countrymen, despised him, and none were qualified for a cure but Naaman the Syrian, a man of another country.

Thus the prophets of God, like some fishermen, catch least in their own pond, and do more good by their ministry among strangers, than among their own countrymen, kinsfolk, and near relations: No prophet is accepted in his own country.

Observe here, 1. The horrid impiety of the people of Nazareth, in thrusting their Saviour out of their city, and their barbarous and bloody cruelty in bringing him to the brow of the hill, with full intent to cast him down headlong. But Christ was to die a clean contrary way, not by throwing down, but by lifting up.

O ungrateful and unhappy Nazareth! Is this the return you make the divine Guest, which for thirty years had sojourned in your coasts? No wonder that the ablest preaching, and most exemplary living, of the holiest and best of Christ's ministers obtain no greater success at this day amongst a people, when the presence of Christ at Nazareth, for thirty years together, had no better influence upon the minds and manners of that people; but instead of receiving his message, they rage at the messenger: neither let any of the ministers of Christ think it strange, that they are ignominiously despised, when our Master before us was in danger of being barbarously murdered, and that for his plain preaching to his own people, the men of Nazareth.

But observe, 2. The miraculous escape of our blessed Lord from the murdering hands of the wicked Nazarites: He, passing through the midst of them, went his way. How and after what manner he escaped is not declared, and therefore cannot without presumption be determined.

Although the Romanists, to make way for their doctrine of transub- stantiation, positively affirm, that, contrary to the nature of a body, he penetrated through the breasts of the people. But whether he struck them with blindness that they did not see, or smote them with fear that they durst not hold him, or whether by a greater strength than theirs, (which his Godhead could easily supply his human nature with), he escaped from them.

It is neither prudent to enquire nor possible to determine: we know it was an easy thing for him who was God as well as man, to quit himself of any mortal enemies; and at the same time, when he rescued himself, could have ruined them, by frowning them into hell, or looking them into nothing.

Our blessed Saviour being driven out of Nazareth by the fury of his countrymen, departs to Capernaum, where he entered their synagogues, and taught. Who can declare the pains that our Saviour took, and the hazards which he ran, in preaching the everlasting gospel to lost sinners?

But observe the smallness of his success; the people were astonished, but not believed. His doctine produced admiration, but not faith; his auditors were admirers, but not believers. They were astonished at his doctrine: the reason of which astonishment is added, For his word was with power; that is, there were majesty in his person, spirituality in his preaching, and powerful miracles accompanying both, and confirming both, of which the evangelist here gives us as account, namely, the casting out of a devil in one possessed.

There was a man which had a Spirit of an unclean devil, and he cried out; Luke 4:33 that is, the devil, that unclean spirit, did enter into him, and bodily possess him. Amongst other many calamities, which sin has brought upon our bodies, this is one, to be bodily possessed by Satan. The devil has inveterate malice against mankind, seeking to ruin our souls by his suggestions and temptations, and to destroy our bodies by some means or other.

O how much is it to our interest, as well as our duty, by prayer to put ourselves morning and evening under the divine care and protection, that we may be preserved from the power and malice of evil spirits!

Observe, 2. The title here given to the devil: he is called the unclean spirit. The devils, those wicked spirits of hell, are most impure and filthly creatures; impure by reason of their original apostasy, impure by means of their actual and daily sins, such as murder and malice, lying and the like, by which they continually pollute themselves; and impure, by means of their continual desire and endeavours to pollute mankind with the contagion of their own sins.

Lord! How foul is the nature of sin, which makes the devil such a foul and filthy, such an impure and unclean creature!

Observe, 3. The substance of the devil's outcry: Let us alone, what have we to do with thee? Art thou come to destroy us? That is, to restrain us from the exercise of our power. The devil thinks himself destroyed, when he is restrained from doing mischief.

Observe, 4. The title given by the devil to our Saviour; he styles him, The Holy One of God. How comes this acknowledgment out of the devil's mouth? Could an apostle make a profession beyond this? But how comes Satan to make it? For no good end, and with no good intention, we may be sure; for the devil never speaks truth for truth's sake, but for advantage sake.

Probably, 1. He might make this profession, that so he might bring the truth profest into question; hoping that the truth, which received testimony from the father of lies, would be suspected.

Or, 2. It might perhaps be done to make the people believe that our Saviour had some familiarity with Satan, and did work miracles by his help, because he did confess him, and seem to put honor upon him.

Hence we may learn, that it is possible for a person to own and acknowledge Christ to be the true and only Saviour, and yet to miss of salvation by him. If a speculative knowledge, and a verbal profession, of Christ were sufficient for salvation, the devil himself would not miss of happiness.

Observe, 5. How our Saviour rebukes the devil for his confession, and commands him silence. Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace; but why was this rebuke given the devil, and his mouth stopped when he spoke the truth?

Answer, 1. Because Christ knew that the devil confessed this on purpose to disgrace the truth.

2. Because the devil was no fit person to make this profession: a testimony of truth from the father of lies, is enough to render truth itself suspected. Yet the devil's evidence, that Christ was the Holy One of God, will rise up in judgment against the wicked Pharisees, who shut their eyes against the miracles and stopped their ears against the doctrine, of the Holy One of God.

Observe, lastly, how the unclean spirit obeys the voice of Christ, but with great reluctancy and regret: when the unclean spirit had thrown him in the midst, he came out.

Where observe, the devil's spite at parting: he tears the man, throws him violently from place to place, showing how loathed he was to be dispossessed. Where Satan has once gotten an hold, and settled himself for a time, how unwilling is he to be cast out of possession! Yea, it is a torment and vexation to him to be cast out. It is much easier to keep out Satan, than to cast him out. Satan may possess the body by God's permission, but he cannot possess our hearts without our own consent and approbation. It will be our wisdom to deny him entrance into our souls at first, by rejecting his wicked motions and suggestions; for when once entered, he will, like the strong man armed, keep the house, till a stronger than he cast him out.

Here observe, 1. That St. Peter, a disciple, yea, an apostle, was a married person. Neither the prophets of the Old Testament, nor the apostles of the New, did abhor the marriage bed, nor judge themselves too pure for an institution of their maker. The church of Rome, by denying the lawfulness of priests' marriage, makes herself wiser than God, who says, Marriage is honorable amongst all men. Heb 13:4

Observe, 2. Peter, though a good man, and his wife's mother probably a gracious woman, yet is his family visited with sickness: strength of grace, and dearness of respect even from Christ himself, cannot prevail against diseases. God's own children are visited with bodily sickness as well as others.

Observe, 3. The divine power of Christ manifested in this miraculous course: He stood over her, says St. Luke; He took her by the hand, and lifted her up, says St. Mark.

Here was an ordinary distemper cured after an extraordinary manner, by a touch of Christ's hand in an instant: Immediately the fever left her, and she arose and ministered unto them. That she could arise argued her cure miraculous; that she could and did arise, and administer to Christ and his disciples, argued her thankfulness.

After Christ hath healed any of us, it ought to be our first care to administer unto him: that is, to employ our recovered strength in the service of Christ, and to improve our restored health to the honor and glory of Christ.

The evangelist here declares sundry other cures wrought by our Saviour: he healed the sick, and dispossessed the devils. In our Saviour's time we read of many possessed with devils, and of but few either before or afterwards.

Probably, 1. Because Satan, perceiving the Messiah to be come in the flesh to destroy his kingdom, did rage the more, and discover greater malice and enmity against mankind.

2. Perhaps Almighty God suffered Satan at that time to possess so many, that Christ might have occasion to manifest his divine power by casting Satan out. And accordingly we find our Saviour dispossessing all that were possessed by Satan. It is added, That he suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him; that is, Christ would not be made known to be the Son of God by the preaching of the devil, lest the world should from thence take occasion to think that our Saviour held a correspondence with those wicked spirits, and that the miracles which he wrought were performed by the devil's assistance, as being one in combination with him.

Possible from the devils owning Christ to be the Holy One of God, the Pharisees concluded that there was a compact and agreement between them; and thereupon their affirmation was grounded. He casteth out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils.

Observe here, 1. The great work and business of our Saviour's life; to preach the gospel. I must preach the kingom of God for therefore came I forth. Preaching was Christ's great work, it is undoubtedly his ministers'. Christ omitted some opportunities of working miracles, that he might preach to other cities: this was his great work.

Observe, 2. It being Christ's great design to plant and propagate the gospel, he would not confine his ministry to one particular place, not to the great city of Capernaum, but resolves to preach the word in smaller towns and vilages; leaving his ministers herein an instructive example, to be as willing to preach the gospel in the smallest villages, as in the largest and most populous cities, if God calls us there. Let the place be never so obscure and mean, and the congregation never so small and little, if God sends us thither, the greatest of us must not think it beneath us to go and instruct an handful of people.