CHAPTER XI.

Jesus confounds those who A. M. 4037. that those things which he saith shall || 28 And say unto him, By what A. M. 4037. come to pass; he shall have whatso- authority doest thou these things?

24 Therefore I say unto you, What things || things? soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

27 And they come again to Jerusalem: sand as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,

power, love, and faithfulness of God; and to be fully || selves, how they might destroy him, and resolved

we shall certainly receive what we ask, as our Lord || acted, whether it was as a prophet, a priest, or a declares in the next words; even if the granting of || king; no other person having a right to make any our petitions imply God's doing what is really ex- reformation in church or state. The second questraordinary, he having, in all ages, on certain occa- tion was, that if he claimed the authority of any, or sions, done what was truly miraculous, in answer to Il all of these characters, they desired to know from Parable of the vineyard

ST. MARK.

let out to husbandmen

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A. M. 4037. We cannot tell. And Jesus an- || I tell you by what authority I do A. M. 4037 swering saith unto them, Neither do these things.

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whom he derived it. The things done by him, to
which they referred, were his entering the city with
such a numerous train of attendants; his taking
upon him to reform the economy of the temple; || Matt. xxi. 23-27.

and his receiving the acclamations of the people, who gave him the title of Messiah. Jesus answered, I will also ask of you one question.-See note on

CHAPTER XII.

In this chapter we have, (1,) The parable of the vineyard let out to ungrateful husbandmen, representing the sin and ruin of the Jewish Church, 1-12. (2) Christ's silencing the Pharisees and Herodians, who thought to insnare him with a question about paying tribute to Cesar, 13-17. (3,) His silencing the Sadducees, who attempted to perplex the doctrine of the resurrection, 18–27. (4,) His conference with a scribe, about the first and great command of the law, 28-34. (5,) His puzzling the scribes with a question about Christ's being the son of David, 35-37. (6,) His caution to the people to beware of the scribes, 38-40. (7,) His commendation of the poor widow that cast her two mites into the treasury, 41-44. This chapter coincides with Matt. xxi. 33-xxiii. 6.

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AND a he began to speak into them || loved, he sent him also last unto them, A. M. 4037. by parables. A certain man saying, They will reverence my

planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a place for the wine-fat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.

2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.

son.

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7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.

8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.

9 What shall therefore the lord of the vine3 And they caught him, and beat him, and yard do? He will come and destroy the hussent him away empty. bandmen, and will give the vineyard unto

4 And again he sent unto them another ser-others.

vant: and at him they cast stones, and wound- 10 And have ye not read this scripture'; ed him in the head, and sent him away shame-The stone which the builders rejected is befully handled.

5 And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.

come the head of the corner:

11 This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

12 And they sought to lay hold on him, but 6 Having yet therefore one son, his well-be- feared the people; for they knew that he had

a Matt. xxvii. 33; Luke xxii. 9. - Psa. cxviii. 22.

c Matt. xxi. 45, 46; Chap. xi. 18; John vii. 25, 30, 44.

NOTES ON CHAPTER XII.

Verses 1-11. He began to speak unto them by parables-"Christ having showed the rulers, chief || tional constitution destroyed. But because these

they gloried, was to be taken from them; their relation to God as his people cancelled; and their na

priests, and scribes, the heinousness of their sin, in rejecting John the Baptist, (Matt. xxi. 28-32,) judged it proper, likewise, publicly to represent the crime of the nation, in rejecting all the messengers of God

were topics extremely disagreeable, he couched them under the veil of a parable, which he formed upon one made use of long before, by the Prophet Isaiah, chapter v. 1."-Macknight. A certain man

from first to last, and among the rest his only-begot-planted a vineyard, &c. -See this parable explained

ten Son; and in misimproving the Mosaic dispensation, under which they lived. At the same time, he warned them plainly of their danger, by reason of the punishment which they had incurred, on account of such a continued course of disobedience and rebellion. The outward economy of religion, in which

at large in the notes on Matt. xxi. 33-46.

Verse 12. They sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people-Greek, τον οχλον, the multitude. How wonderful is the providence of God, using all things for the good of his children! Generally the multitude is restrained from tearing them in pieces,

A. M. 4037. spoken the parable against them: || first took a wife, and dying left no A. M. 4037. and they left him, and went their seed.

19 Master, & Moses wrote unto us, If a man's || asked him, Which is the first commandment brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and of all? leave no children, that his brother should take|| his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The

20 Now there were seven brethren: and the Lord our God is one Lord:

Verses 18-26. These verses are explained in the notes on Matt. xxii. 23-33. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living-That is, (if the argument be proposed at length,) since the character of his being the God of any persons, plainly intimates a relation to them, not as dead, but as living; and since he can-knowledge, the certainty of a future state; asked him

not be said to be at present their God at all, if they are utterly dead; nor to be the God of human per-trial of his skill in the sacred volume. Which is the

Verses 28, 29. One of the scribes came-So Luke || one self-existent, independent, infinite, eternal Being:

Jesus shows which is the

ST. MARK.

first and great commandment.

A. M. 4037. 30 And thou shalt love the Lord || 31 And the second is like, namely, A. M. 4037.

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thy God with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with
all thy strength: this is the first commandment. | ment greater than these.

this, m Thou shalt love thy neigh-
bour as thyself: there is none other command-

mLev. xix. 18; Matt. xxii. 39; Rom. xiii. 9; Gal. v. 14; James ii. 8.

one in essence; inclusive, however, of three, υποςασεις, || tion that bears any proportion to that of loving him.

The honour assigned to this precept proves, that piety is the noblest act of the human mind, and that the chief ingredient in piety is love, founded on a

subsistences, generally termed persons. See on Matt. xxviii. 19, and note on Exod. iii. 14. Dr. Campbell translates this clause, The Lord is our God: the Lord is one; in Deut., Jehovah is our God: Je- | clear, extensive view of the divine perfections, a perhovah is one; and not as one sentence, Jehovah our manent sense of his benefits, and a deep conviction God is one Jehovah. Among other reasons for ren-of his being the sovereign good, our portion, our

dering the words thus, he gives the following: 1st, That "it appears to have been the purpose of their great legislator, to establish among them these two important articles, as the foundation of that religious constitution he was authorized to give them. The first was, that the God whom they were to adore, was not any of the acknowledged objects of worship in the nations around them, and was therefore to be distinguished among them, the better to secure them || against seduction, by the peculiar name Jehovah, by which alone he chose to be invoked by them. The second was, the unity of the divine nature, and consequently, that no pretended divinity (for all other gods were merely pretended) ought to be associated with the only true God, or share with him in their adoration. 2d, That in the reply of the scribe, verse 32, which was approved by our Lord, and in which he, as it were, echoes every part of the answer that had been given to his question, there are two distinct affirmations with which he begins; these

happiness. But it is essential to love, that there be a delight in contemplating the beauty of the object beloved; that we frequently, and with pleasure, reflect on the benefits which the object of our affection has conferred on us; that we have a strong desire of pleasing him, great fear of doing any thing to offend him, and a sensible joy in the thought of being beloved in return. Hence the duties of devotion, prayer, and praise, are the most natural and genuine exercises of the love of God. Moreover, this virtue is not so much any single affection, as the continual bent of all the affections and powers of the soul. In which light, to love God is, as much as possible, to direct the whole soul toward God, and to exercise all its faculties on him as its chief object. But the beauty and excellence of this state of the mind is best seen in its effects; for the worship and obedience flowing from such a universal bent of the soul toward God, is as much superior to the worship and obedience arising from partial considerations, as the

are, There is one God, and there is only one, cor-light of the sun is to any picture of it that can be

responding to The Lord is our God, and the Lord is one. The first clause, in both declarations, points to the object of worship; the second, to the necessity of excluding all others. Accordingly, the radical precept relating to this subject, quoted by our Lord, Matt. iv. 10, from the LXX., is exactly suited to both parts of this declaration. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God. This may be called the positive part of the statute, and corresponds to the article, The Lord is our God. Thou shalt serve him only. This is the negative part, and corresponds to the article, The Lord is one."

drawn. For example, if we look on God only as a stern lawgiver, who can and will punish our rebellion, it may indeed force an awe and dread of him, and as much obedience to his laws as we think will satisfy him, but can never produce that constancy in our duty, that delight in it, and that earnestness to do it in its utmost extent, which are produced and maintained in the mind by the sacred fire of divine love, or by the bent of the whole soul, turned toward God; a frame the most excellent that can be conceived, and the most to be desired, because it constitutes the highest perfection and happiness of the creature." This is the first (Matthew, and great) commandment-As this is the first in order, so it is the greatest commandment in the law.

Verse 30. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart-The summary of piety contained in these words, (see notes on Deut. vi. 5; Matt. xxii. 37,) is introduced by the preceding emphatical and Verse 31. And the second is like-Of a like comstrong assertion of the unity of God; because, "it || prehensive nature; comprising the whole of our duty is necessary that men should be deeply impressed to man. Thou shalt love thy neighbour "The prewith just notions of the object of their worship, par-cept enjoining love to our neighbour is like to the ticularly that he is the only true God, the maker of || great commandment which enjoins the love of God,

all things, and the possessor of all perfection, to whom there is not any being equal, or like, or second: in order that they may apply themselves, with the utmost diligence, to obey his precepts, the first and chief of which is, that they give him their hearts. God is so transcendently amiable in himself, and, by the benefits he hath conferred on us, hath such a title to our utmost affection, that there is no obliga- || same kind of nourishment; the beauties of moral

because charity is the sister of piety, clearly proving its relation by the similarity of its features, complexion, and temper. As piety is the offspring of God, so is its sister, charity, being enjoined by the same authority, and produced by the influence of the same Spirit. Piety and charity consist of the like motions and dispositions of soul, and are kept alive by the

Jesus cautions his disciples

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32 And the scribe said unto him, || he taught in the temple, How say A. Μ. 4037. Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: || the scribes that Christ is the son of for there is one God; " and there is none other || David? but he:

0

33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole || 37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord,

36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, "The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

excellence appearing, whether in the great Father, || art not far from the kingdom of God-He applaud

ed the piety and wisdom of the scribe's reflection, by declaring, that he was not far from embracing the gospel, and becoming a true member of Christ's Church, possessed of all the blessings belonging to his disciples. Reader, art thou not far from the kingdom of God? Then go on: be a real Christian;

or in his children, who bear his image. They have the same happy tendency to make those in whom they reside, like God, who is God by being good and doing good; like him, also, in his felicity, which || arises, not only from the possession, but from the communication of his goodness. They are like to each other in their sublime and important nature, | else it had been better for thee to have been afar off.

Verses 35-37. See the note on Matt. xxii. 41-46, where this paragraph is explained. And the co mon people heard him gladly-They heard him with

and of like use in the conduct of life; the one being the principle from which the whole duty we owe to God must spring; the other that from which the whole duty we owe to man must flow. To conclude, || great attention and pleasure; for the clear and solid they have a like power on the minds of the behold- | answers which he returned to the insnaring quesers, raising both esteem and love wherever they tions of his foes, gave them a high opinion of his appear in their genuine beauty. These are the fea- || wisdom, and showed them how far he was superior tures by which piety and charity are strongly to their most renowned rabbis; whose arguments marked, by which their affinity to each other is to prove their opinions, and answers to the objecclearly proved, and by which they are rendered sis-tions that were raised against them, were, generally ter graces, and inseparable companions." - Mac- || speaking, but mean and trifling in comparison of his. knight. There is no other moral, much less ceremonial, commandment, greater than these.

Besides, the common people were neither so much prejudiced in behalf of the commonly received opinions, nor so much interested, as the scribes or other teachers.

Verses 32-34. The scribe-Who had proposed the question to try him, being struck with the solidity and spirit of his answer, said, Well, Master-In Verses 38-40. Beware of the scribes-See that ye the original it is, καλως, excellently, finely, or beau- || do not imitate their hypocrisy, or imbibe their printifully; a phrase which expresses his high satisfac-ciples, and be on your guard against their insidious tion in the reply much more strongly than the word counsels and designs. There was an absolute neceswell. Thou hast said the truth-Thy declaration || sity for these repeated cautions of our Lord. For, is perfectly correct, and unspeakably important; for || considering the inveterate prejudices of these scribes

there is one God, &c., and to love him with all the heart-To love and serve him with all the united powers of the soul, in their utmost vigour; and without a rival; and to love his neighbour as himself- || To maintain the same equitable and charitable tem

against him and his doctrine, it could never be supposed that the common people would receive the gospel till these incorrigible blasphemers of it were brought to just disgrace. Yet he delayed speaking in this manner till a little before his passion, as know

per and behaviour toward all men, as we, in like cir-ing what effect it would quickly produce. Which cumstances, would wish from them toward ourselves, love to go in long clothing, &c.-Here our Lord asis a more necessary and important duty, and a more signs the reason why he bid his disciples beware of acceptable service, than the offering the most noble || imitating them. They were excessively proud and and costly sacrifices; nor could the most exact and || arrogant, as was plain from their affected gravity of

dress, from the anxiety which they discovered to get the principal seats at feasts, and all public meetings, as things belonging to them, on account of their

pompous ritual observances be acceptable without such graces and virtues as these. When Jesus saw that he answered discreetly-And thereby showed that he had just views of true religion; he said, Thou || superior worth, and from their courting to be saluted