Expositions of Holy Scripture : St. Matthew Chaps. IX to XXVIII

Maclaren, Alexander

• Publisher: pubOne.info
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN: 9782819909224

'Son, be of good cheer.' - MATT. ix. 2.

IV. Jesus Christ here brings visible facts into the witness-box as

the attesters of His invisible powers.

Of course the miracle was such a witness in a special way, inasmuch as it and forgiveness were equally divine prerogatives and acts. I need not dwell now upon what I have already observed in my introductory remarks, that our Lord here teaches us the relative importance of the attesting miracle and the thing attested, and regards the miracle as subordinate to the higher and spiritual work of bringing pardon.

But we may widen out this into the thought that the subsidiary effects of Christian faith in individuals, and of the less complete Christian faith which is diffused over society, do stand as very strong evidences of the reality of Christ's professions and claims to exercise this invisible power of pardon. Or, to put it into a concrete form, and to take an illustration which may need large deductions. – Go into a Salvation Army meeting. Admit the extravagance, the coarseness, and all the rest which we educated and superfine Christians cannot stand. But when you have blown away the froth, is there not something left in the cup which looks uncommonly like the wine of the Kingdom? Are there not visible results of that, as of every earnest effort to carry the message of forgiveness to men, which create an immense presumption in favour of its reality and divine origin? Men reclaimed, passions tamed, homes that were pandemoniums made Bethels, houses of God. Wherever Christ's forgiving power really comes into a heart, life is beautified, is purified, is ennobled; and secondary and material benefits follow in the train.

I claim all the difference between Christendom and Heathendom as attestation of the reality of Christ's divine and atoning work. I say, and I believe it to be a valid and a good argument as against much of the doubt of this day, 'If you seek His monument, look around.' His own answer to the question, 'Art thou He that should come?' is valid still: 'Go and tell John the things that ye see and hear'; the dead are raised, the deaf ears are opened; faculties that lie dormant are quickened, and in a thousand ways the swift spirit of life flows from Him and vitalises the dead masses of humanity.

Let any system of belief or of no belief do the like if it can. This rod has budded at any rate, let the magicians do the same with their enchantments.

Now, Christian men and women, 'ye are My witnesses,' saith the Lord. The world takes its notions of Christianity, and its belief in the power of Christianity, a great deal more from you than it does from preachers and apologists. You are the Bibles that most men read. See to it that your lives represent worthily the redeeming and the ennobling power of your Master.

And as for the rest of you, do not waste your time trying to purify the stream twenty miles down from the fountainhead, but go to the source. Do not believe, brother, that your palsy, or your fever, your paralysis of will towards good, or the unwholesome ardour with which you are impelled to wrong, and the consequent misery and restlessness, can ever be healed until you go to Christ – the forgiving Christ – and let Him lay His hand upon you; and from His own sweet and infallible lips hear the word that shall come as a charm through all your nature: 'Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.' 'Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened; then shall the lame man leap as an hart'; – then limitations, sorrows, miseries, will pass away, and forgiveness will bear fruit in joy and power, in holiness, health and peace.

THE CALL OF MATTHEW 'And as Jesus passed forth from thence, He saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and He saith unto him, Follow Me. And he arose, and followed Him. 10. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? 12. But when Jesus heard that, He said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 13. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 14. Then came to Him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but Thy disciples fast not? 15. And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. 16. No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. 17. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.' – MATT. ix. 9-17.

All three evangelists connect the call of Matthew immediately with the cure of the paralytic, and follow it with an account of Christ's answers to sundry cavils from Pharisees and John's disciples. No doubt, the spectacle of this new Teacher taking a publican into His circle of disciples, and, not content with such an outrage on all proper patriotic feeling, following it up with scandalous companionship with the sort of people that a publican could get to accept his hospitality, sharpened hatred and made suspicion prick its ears. Mark and Luke call the publican Levi, he calls himself Matthew, the former being probably his name before his discipleship, the latter, that by which he was known thereafter. Possibly Jesus gave it him, as in the cases of Simon, and perhaps Bartholomew. But, however acquired, it superseded the old one, as the fact that it appears in the lists of the apostles in both the other evangelists and in Acts, shows. Its use here may be a trace of a touching desire to make sure that readers, who only knew him as Matthew, should understand who this publican was. It is like the little likenesses of themselves, in some corner of a background, that early painters used to slip into a picture of Madonna and angels. There was no vanity in the wish, for he says nothing about his sacrifices, leaving it to Luke to tell that 'he left all,' but he does crave that his brethren, who read, should know that it was he whom Jesus honoured by His call.

The condensed narrative emphasises three things, (1) his occupation with his ordinary business when that wonderful summons thrilled his soul; (2) the curt authoritative command, and (3) the swift obedience. As to the first, Capernaum was on a great trade route, and the custom-house officers there would have their hands full. This one was busy at his work, hateful and shameful as it was in Jewish eyes, and into that sordid atmosphere, like a flash of light into a mephitic cavern full of unclean creatures, came the transcendent mercy of Jesus' summons. There is no region of life so foul, so mean, so despicable in men's eyes, but that the quickening Voice will enter there. We do not need to be in temples or about sacred tasks in order to hear it. It summons us in, and sometimes from, our daily work. Well for those who know whose Voice it is, and do not mistake it for some Eli's!

No doubt this was not the first of Matthew's knowledge of Jesus. Living in Capernaum, he would have had many opportunities of hearing Him or of Him, and his heart and conscience may have been stirred. As he sat in his 'tolbooth,' feeling contempt and hatred poured on him, he, no doubt, had had longings to get nearer to the One whose voice was gentle, and His looks, love. So the call would come to him as the fulfilment of a dim hope, and it would be a joyful surprise to know that Jesus wished to have him for a disciple as much as he wished to have Jesus for a Teacher. The ring of fire and hate within which he had been imprisoned was broken, and there was One who cared to have him, and who would not shrink from his touch. In the light of that assurance, the call became, not a summons to give anything up, but an invitation to receive a better possession than all with which he was called to part. And if we saw things as they are, would it not always be so to us? 'Follow Me' does mean, Forsake earth and self, but it means still more: Take what is more than all. It parts from these because it unites to Jesus. Therefore it means gain, not deprivation. And it condenses all rules for life into one, for to follow Him is the sum of all duty, and yields the perfect pattern of conduct and character, while it is also the secret of all blessedness, and the talisman that assures a man of continual progress. They who follow are near, and will reach, Him. Of course, if His servants follow Him, it stands to reason that one day, 'where I am there shall also My servants be.' So in that command lie a sufficient guide for earth, and a sure guarantee for heaven. 'And he arose and followed Him.' That is the only thing that we are told of Matthew. We hear no more of him, except that he made a feast in his house on the occasion. No doubt he did his work as an apostle, but oblivion has swallowed up all that. A happy fate to be known to all the world for all time, only by this one thing, that he unconditionally, immediately and joyfully obeyed Christ's call! He might have said: 'How can I leave my work? I must make up my accounts, hand over my papers, do a hundred things in order to wind up matters, and I must postpone following till then.' But he sprang up at once. He would have abundant opportunities to settle all details afterwards, but if he let this opportunity of taking his place as a disciple pass, he might never have another. There are some things that are best done gradually and slowly, but obedience to Christ's call is not one of them. Prompt obedience is the only safety. The psalmist knew the danger of delay when he said: 'I made haste and delayed not, but made haste to keep Thy commandments.'

Matthew does not tell us that he made the feast, but Luke does. It was the natural expression of his thankfulness and joy for the new bond. His knowledge was small, but his love was great. How could he honour Jesus enough? But he was a pariah in Capernaum, and the only guests he could assemble were, like himself, outcasts from 'respectable society.' In popular estimation all publicans were regarded without any more ado as 'sinners,' but probably that designation is here applied to disreputable folks of various kinds and degrees of shadiness, who gravitated to Matthew and his class, because, like him, they were repulsed by every one else. Even outcasts hunger for society, and manage to get a community of their own, in which they find some glow of comradeship, and some defence from hatred and contempt. Even lepers herd together and have their own rules of intercourse.

But what a scandal in the eyes not only of Pharisees, but of all the proper people in Capernaum, Jesus' going to such a gathering of disreputables would be, we may estimate if we remember that they did not know His reason, but thought that He went because He liked the atmosphere and the company. 'Like draws to like' was the conclusion suggested, in the absence of His own explanation. The Pharisee conceived that his duty in regard to publicans and sinners was to keep as far from them as he could, and his strait-laced self-righteousness had never dreamed of going to them with an open heart, and trying to win them to a better life. Many so-called followers of Jesus still take that attitude. They gather up their skirts round them daintily, and never think that it would be liker their Lord to sweep away the mud than to pick their steps through it, caring mainly to keep their own shoes clean.

The feast was probably spread in some courtyard or open space, to which, as is the Eastern custom, uninvited spectators could have access. It is quite in accordance with the usage of the times and land that the Pharisees should have been onlookers, and should have been able to talk to the disciples. No doubt their colloquy became animated, and perhaps loud, so that it could easily attract Christ's attention. He answered for Himself, and the tone of His reply is friendly and explanatory, as if He recognised that the questioners genuinely wished to know 'why' He was sitting in such company.

It discloses His motive, and thereby sweeps away all insinuations that He consorted with sinners because their company was congenial. It was precisely for the opposite reason, because He was so unlike them. He came among these sinners as a physician; and who wonders at his being beside the sick? He does not spend his days by their bedsides because he likes the atmosphere, but because it is his business to make them well. Now, in that comparison, Jesus pronounces no opinion on the correctness of the Pharisees' estimate of themselves as 'righteous,' or of publicans as sinners, but simply takes them on their own ground. But He does make a great claim for Himself, and speaks out of His consciousness of power to heal men's worst disease, sin. It is a tremendous assertion to make of oneself, and its greatness is enhanced by the quiet way in which it is stated as a thought familiar to Himself. What right had He to pose as the physician for humanity, and how can such a claim be reconciled with His being 'meek and lowly in heart'? If He Himself was one of the sick and needed healing, how can He be the healer of the rest? If being a sinful man, as we all are, He made such a claim, what becomes of the reverence which is paid to Him as a great religious Teacher, and where has His 'sweet reasonableness' vanished?

Jesus passes from explanation of His personal relation to the publicans to adduce the broad principle which should shape the Pharisees' relation to them, as it had shaped His. Hosea had said long ago that God delighted more in 'mercy' than in 'sacrifice.' Kindly helpfulness to men is better worship than exact performance of any ritual. Sacrifice propitiates God, but mercy imitates Him, and imitation is the perfection of divine service. Jesus here speaks as all the prophets had spoken, and smites with a deadly stroke the mechanical formalism which in every age stiffens religion into ceremonies and neglects love towards God, expressed in mercy to men. He lays bare the secret of His own life, and He thereby lays on His followers the obligation of making it the moving impulse of theirs.

The great general truth is followed, as it has been preceded, by a plain statement of Jesus' own conception of His mission in the world. 'I came,' says He, hinting at the fact that He was before He was born, and that His Incarnation was His voluntary act. True, He was sent, and we speak of His mission, but also He 'came,' and we speak of His advent. 'To repentance' is omitted by the best editors as being brought over from Luke, where it is genuine. But it is a correct gloss on the simple word 'call,' though 'repentance' is but a small part of that to which He summons. He calls us to repent; He calls us to Himself; He calls us to self-surrender; He calls us to Eternal Life; He calls us to a better feast than Matthew had spread. But we must recognise that we are sinners, or we shall never realise that His invitation is for us, nor ever feel that we need a physician, and have in Him, and in Him alone, the Physician whom we need.

The Pharisees objected to Jesus' feasting, and could scarcely in the same breath find fault with Him for not fasting, but they put forward some of John's disciples to bring that fresh objection. Common hatred is a strong cement, and often holds opposites together for a while. It was bad for John's followers that they should be willing to say, 'We and the Pharisees.' They had travelled far from the days when their master had called the same class a 'generation of vipers'! Their keen desire to uphold the honour of their teacher, whose light they saw paling before the younger Jesus, made them hostile to Him, and, as is usually the case, the followers were more partisan than the leader. Religious antagonism sometimes stoops to very strange alliances. The two questions brought together in this context are noticeably alike, and noticeably different. Both ask for the reason of conduct which they do not go the length of impugning. They seem to be desirous of enlightenment, they are really eager to condemn. Both avoid seeming to call in question the acts of the persons addressed, for the Pharisees interrogate the disciples as to the reason for Jesus' conduct, while John's disciples ask from Jesus the reason of His disciples' conduct. In both, mock respectfulness covers lively hatred.

Our Lord's first answer is as profound as it is beautiful, and veils, while it reveals, a lofty claim for Himself and a solemn foresight of His death, and lays down a great and fruitful principle as to the relations between spiritual moods and outward acts of religion. His speaking of Himself as 'the Bridegroom' would recall to some of His questioners, and that with a touch of shame, John's nobly humble acceptance of the subordinate place of the bridegroom's friend and elevation of Jesus to that of the bridegroom. But it was not merely a rebuking quotation from John's witness, but the expression of His own unclouded and continual consciousness of what He was to humanity, and of what humanity could find in Him, as well as a sovereign appropriating to Himself of many prophetic strains. What depth of love, what mysterious blending of spirit, what adoring, lowly obedience, what perfection of protecting care, what rapture of possession, what rest of heart in trust, what dower of riches are dimly shadowed in that wonderful emblem, will never be known till the hour of the marriage-supper of the Lamb, when 'His bride hath made herself ready.' But across the light there flits a shadow. It is but for a moment, and it meant little to the hearers, but it meant much to Him. For He could not look forward to winning His bride without seeing the grim Cross, and even athwart the brightness of the days of companionship with His humble friends, came the darkness on His soul, though not on theirs, of the violent end when He 'shall be taken from them.' The hint fell apparently on deaf ears, but it witnesses to the continual presence in the mind of Jesus of His sufferings and death. The certainty that He must die was not forced on Him by the failure of His efforts as His career unfolded itself. It was no disappointment of bright earlier hopes, as is the case with many a disillusionised reformer, who thought at the outset that he had only to speak and all men would listen. It was the clearly discerned goal from the first. 'The Son of Man came ... to give His life a ransom.'

But our Lord here lays down a broad principle, which, if applied as it was meant to be, would lift a heavy burden of outward observance off the Christian consciousness. Fast when you are sad; feast when you are glad. Let the disposition, the mood, the moment's circumstance, mould your action. There is no virtue or sanctity in observances which do not correspond to the inner self. What a charter of liberty is proclaimed in these quiet words! What mountains of ceremonial unreality, oppressive to the spirit, are cast into the sea by them! How different Christendom would have been and would be to-day, if Christians had learned the lesson of these words!

The two condensed parables or extended metaphors, which follow the vindication of the disciples, carry the matter further, and lay down a principle which is intended to cover not only the question in hand, their non-observance of Jewish regulations as to fasting, but the whole subject of the relations of the new word, which Jesus felt that He brought, to the old system. The same consciousness of His unique mission which prompted His use of the term 'bridegroom,' shines through the two metaphors of the new cloth and the new wine. He knows that He is about to bring a new garb to men, and to give them new wine to drink, and He knows that what He brings is no mere patch on a worn-out system, but a new fermenting force, which demands fresh vehicles and modes of expression. The two metaphors take up different aspects of one thought. To try to mend an old coat with a bit of unshrunk cloth would only make a worse dissolution of continuity, for as soon as a shower fell on it the patch would shrink, and, in shrinking, pull the thin pieces of the old garment adjoining it to itself. Judaism was already 'rent' and worn too thin to be capable of repair. The only thing to be done was 'as a vesture' to 'fold it up' and shape a new garment out of new cloth. What was true as to the supremely new thing which He brought into the world remains true, in less eminent degree, of the less acute differences between the Old and the New, within Christianity itself. There do come times when its externals become antiquated, worn thin and torn, and when patching is useless. Christian men, like others, constitutionally incline to conservatism or to progress, and the one temperament needs to be warned against obstinately preserving old clothes, and the other against eagerly insisting that they are past mending.

But a patch and a worn garment do not wholly describe the relations of the old and the new. Freshly made wine, still fermenting, and old, stiff wine-skins which have lost their elasticity suggest further thoughts. Now we have to do with containing vessel versus contents, with a fermenting force versus stiffened forms. To put that into these will destroy both. For example, if the struggle of the Judaisers in the early Church had succeeded, and Christianity had become a Jewish sect, it would have dwindled to nothing, as the Jewish-minded Christians did. The wine must have bottles. Every great spiritual renovating force must embody itself in institutions. Spiritual emotions must express themselves in acts of worship, spiritual convictions must speak in a creed. But the containing vessel must be congruous with, and still more, it must be created by, the contained force, as there are creatures who frame their shells to fit the convolutions of their bodies, and build them up from their own substance. Forms are good, as long as they can stretch if need be; when they are too stiff to expand, they restrict rather than contain the wine, and if short-sighted obstinacy insists on keeping it in them, there will be a great spill and loss of much that is precious.

THE TOUCH OF FAITH AND THE TOUCH OF CHRIST 'While He spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped Him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay Thy hand upon her, and she shall live. 19. And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did His disciples. 20. And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind Him, and touched the hem of His garment: 21. For she said within herself, If I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole. 22. But Jesus turned Him about, and when He saw her, He said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. 23. And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise. 24. He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed Him to scorn. 25. But when the people were put forth, He went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. 26. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land. 27. And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed Him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. 28. And...

Table of contents

• CHRIST'S ENCOURAGEMENTS
• I. Now the first of them is this of my text, and from it we learn
• II. We now take a second. Jesus Christ ministers to us cheerful
• III. A third instance of the occurrence of this word of cheer
• IV. The last instance that I point to of the use of this phrase is
• SOUL-HEALING FIRST: BODY-HEALING SECOND
• I. The first thought that is suggested here is that our deepest need
• II. Now, in the next place, notice, as coming out of this incident
• III. So I come to say, in the next place, that the incident before
• IV. Jesus Christ here brings visible facts into the witness-box as
• A CHRISTLIKE JUDGMENT OF MEN
• I. Here we have our Lord teaching us how to look at men.
• II. And now let me say a word in the next place as to the second
• III. Let us take this text as teaching us how Christ would have us
• THE OBSCURE APOSTLES
• I. The first thought which this peculiar and unexpected silence
• II. This same silence of Scripture as to so many of the apostles may
• III. We may gather, too, the lesson of how often faithful work is
• IV. Finally, we may add that forgotten work is remembered, and
• CHRIST'S CHARGE TO HIS HERALDS
• I. We have, first, the apostles' mission in its sphere and manner
• II. The prohibition to make gain out of the message, serves as a
• III. The conduct required from, and the reception met with by, the
• THE WIDENED MISSION, ITS PERILS AND DEFENCES
• LIKE TEACHER, LIKE SCHOLAR
• I. Likeness to the teacher in wisdom is the disciple's perfection.
• II. Now, turn to the second application of this principle. Likeness
• III. And now, lastly, likeness to the Master in relation to the
• I. The duty and blessedness of confessing Him (vs. 32, 33). The
• II. The vision of the discord which follows the coming of the King
• III. Earthly love may be a worse foe to a true Christian than even
• IV. We have the rewards of those who receive Christ's messengers,
• A LIFE LOST AND FOUND
• I. The stringent requirement for the Christian life that is here
• II. Observe the grounds of this requirement.
• III. The all-sufficient motive which makes such a loss of life
• IV. Lastly, notice the recompense of the stringent requirement.
• THE GREATEST IN THE KINGDOM, AND THEIR REWARD
• I. The first thing which I wish to observe in them is the three
• II. Now notice briefly in the second place the variety of the reward
• III. The last point that is here is the substantial identity of the
• JOHN'S DOUBTS OF JESUS, AND JESUS' PRAISE OF JOHN
• I. We do not believe that this message of John's was sent for the sake
• II. The witness of Christ to John. Praise from Jesus is praise
• THE FRIEND OF PUBLICANS AND SINNERS
• I. His enemies' witness to Christ's participation in common life.
• II. His enemies' witness to Jesus as the friend of the outcasts.
• SODOM, CAPERNAUM, MANCHESTER
• I. First, then, consider the blaze of light.
• II. That brings me in the next place to notice the negligent
• III. Now lastly, notice here the rebuke of this negligence of the
• CHRIST'S STRANGE THANKSGIVING
• I. The Great Characteristics of the Gospel.
• II. The qualifications for reception as necessarily resulting from
• III. The disqualification of the wise as necessarily resulting from
• THE REST GIVER
• I. Consider then the twofold designation here of the persons
• II. Now, secondly, look at the twofold invitation that is here.
• III. And now, lastly, look at the twofold promise which is here.
• THE PHARISEES' SABBATH AND CHRIST'S
• I. The Sabbath and personal needs. This is a strange sort of King
• II. The Sabbath, and works of beneficence. Matthew appears to have
• AN ATTEMPT TO ACCOUNT FOR JESUS
• I. Note, then, first, the unwelcome and undeniable facts that insist
• II. Secondly, note the preposterous explanation. 'This man doth not
• III. And now, one word about the last point; and that is – the true
• I. I would ask you to notice how here we are confronted with the
• II. Note the universal failure to solve the problem.
• III. Lastly, let me say a word about the triumphant solution.
• I. The prophets and the Son.
• II. The disobedient prophet and the perfect Son.
• III. The bearer of a transitory message of repentance to one Gentile
• I. The Man. The story gives us a richly endowed and many-sided
• II. The Teacher.
• III. The Temple builder.
• IV. The peaceful King.
• FOUR SOWINGS AND ONE RIPENING
• I. Our Lord begins with the case in which the seed remains quite
• II. The next variety of soil differs from the preceding in having its
• III. In one part of the field was a patch where the soil was neither
• IV. The parable tells us nothing about the comparative acreage of
• EARS AND NO EARS
• I. We all have ears.
• II. If we have ears we are bound to use them.
• III. We shall not hear without an effort.
• IV. And now the last thing that I have to say is: – If we do not
• I. Take the application of this principle to common life.
• II. I would note, secondly, the application of this two-fold law in
• III. Lastly, look at the application of these words in the future.
• SEEING AND BLIND
• I. The extent to which it prevails.
• II. The causes from which it springs.
• III. The fearful contrasts it suggests.
• IV. The end to which it conducts.
• I. The extent to which it prevails.
• II. The causes from which it springs.
• III. The contrasts it suggests.
• IV. The end to which it conducts.
• MINGLED IN GROWTH, SEPARATED IN MATURITY
• I. The work of the sower counter-worked by his enemy, and the
• II. We have the patience of the husbandman with the quick-springing
• III. The final separation at the harvest.
• LEAVEN
• TREASURE AND PEARL
• I. Let me ask you to think that the true treasure for a man lies in
• II. Now notice, secondly, the concealment of the treasure.
• III. Again, let me ask you to notice, further, the two ways of
• III. And now, lastly, let us look at the point where the parables
• THE MARTYRDOM OF JOHN
• I. We see in Herod the depths of evil possible to a weak character.
• II. The next actors in the tragedy are Herodias and her daughter. What
• III. There is something dramatically appropriate in the silent death
• IV. It needed some courage for John's disciples to come to that
• THE GRAVE OF THE DEAD JOHN AND THE GRAVE OF THE LIVING JESUS
• I. Now the first point to be considered is, that the conduct of
• II. Notice then, next, that the disciples' immediate belief in the
• III. Again, we may remark that such a belief could not have
• IV. For that message is a message to us as truly as to the heavy-hearted
• THE FOOD OF THE WORLD
• I. Christ feeds the famishing world by means of His Church.
• II. The Bread is enough for all the world.
• III. The Bread which is given to the famishing is multiplied for the
• THE KING'S HIGHWAY
• I. The struggling toilers and the absent Christ.
• II. We have the approaching Christ.
• III. We have the terror and the recognition.
• IV. We have the end of the storm and of the voyage.
• PETER ON THE WAVES
• I. Note, first, Peter's venturesomeness, half faith, and half
• II. We have here the momentary triumph and swift collapse of an
• III. We have here the cry of desperate faith and its immediate
• CRUMBS AND THE BREAD
• I. There is the piteous cry, and the answer of silence. Mark tells
• II. There is the disciples' intercession answered by Christ's
• III. We have, next, the persistent suppliant answered by a refusal
• IV. We have the woman's retort, which wrings hope out of apparent
• V. The final verses of our lesson give us a striking contrast to
• THE DIVINE CHRIST CONFESSED, THE SUFFERING CHRIST DENIED
• I. The first section (vs. 13-20) gives us Peter's great confession
• II. The second section (vs. 21-23) contains the startling new
• III. In verses 24-28, the law, which ruled the Master's life, is
• CHRIST FORESEEING THE CROSS
• I. We have here set forth in the first place our Lord's anticipation
• II. That brings me to notice the second point here, our Lord's
• III. Now note further, how we have here also our Lord's willing
• IV. Lastly, notice here our Lord's teaching the necessity of His
• THE KING IN HIS BEAUTY
• I. The Transfiguration proper.
• II. The appearance of Moses and Elijah.
• III. The cloud and the witnessing voice.
• THE SECRET OF POWER
• I. We have an unvarying power.
• II. The condition of exercising this power is Faith.
• III. Our faith is ever threatened by subtle unbelief.
• IV. Our faith can only be maintained by constant devotion and rigid
• THE COIN IN THE FISH'S MOUTH
• I. We have here, first, the freedom of the Son.
• II. Now, there is a second lesson that I would gather from this
• III. Then there is another lesson which I think we may fairly gather
• IV. And so, lastly, we have here also the lesson of the sufficiency
• EXPOSITIONS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE
• THE LAW OF PRECEDENCE IN THE KINGDOM
• I. He shows the conditions of entrance into and eminence in His
• II. The question has been answered, and our Lord passes to other
• III. Verses 10-14 set forth the honour and dignity of Christ's
• SELF-MUTILATION FOR SELF-PRESERVATION
• I. First, then, as to the case supposed.
• II. So much, then, for the first of the points here. Now a word, in
• III. And now, lastly, a word as to the solemn exhortation by which
• THE LOST SHEEP AND THE SEEKING SHEPHERD
• I. First, then, let us look at that figure of the one wanderer.
• II. So much, then, for one of the great pictures in this text. I can
• PERSISTENCE OF THWARTED LOVE
• I. But first let me say a word or two upon the more general thought
• II. And now, in the second place, a word as to the possible
• III. So, lastly, the thwarted search prolonged.
• FORGIVEN AND UNFORGIVING
• I. The king and his debtor.
• II. So much, then, for the first part of this parable. Now a word as
• III. And now I come to the last point of the text – the debtor who
• THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE KING
• I. We may gather together the earlier part of the conversation, as
• II. Now comes the sharp-pointed test, which pricks the brilliant
• III. Then comes the collapse of all the enthusiasm. The questioner's
• IV. The section closes with Christ's comment on the sad incident. He
• NEAREST TO CHRIST
• I. So, then, if we rightly understand these words, and take them
• II. Still further, these words rightly understood assert that truth
• III. These words lead us, in the third place, to the further
• IV. These glorious places are given as the result of a divine
• THE SERVANT-LORD AND HIS SERVANTS
• I. So, then, let us look first at the perfect life of service of the
• II. Now, secondly, note the service that should be modelled on His.
• WHAT THE HISTORIC CHRIST TAUGHT ABOUT HIS DEATH
• I. The first thing that I notice is that the Christ of the Gospels
• II. Then, secondly, the Christ of the Gospels thought and taught
• III. So, thirdly, notice that the Christ of the Gospels thought and
• IV. Lastly, the Christ of the Gospels thought and taught that His
• THE COMING OF THE KING TO HIS PALACE
• I. The procession of the King. The first noteworthy point is that
• II. The coming of the King in the temple. The discussion of the
• A NEW KIND OF KING
• I. First, then, I ask you to consider its significance as an
• II. And now, secondly, let me ask you to note its significance as a
• III. Lastly, notice the significance of this fact as a prophecy. It
• THE VINEYARD AND ITS KEEPERS
• I. The first stage is the preparation of the vineyard, in which
• II. Then comes the habitual ill-treatment of the messengers. These
• III. Verses 37-39 tell of the mission of the Son and of its fatal
• IV. We have next the self-condemnation from unwilling lips. Our Lord
• V. Then come the solemn application and naked truth of the parable.
• THE STONE OF STUMBLING
• I. In the first place, every man has some kind of connection with
• II. The immediate issue of rejection of Him is loss and maiming.
• III. Last of all, the issue, the ultimate issue, of unbelief is
• TWO WAYS OF DESPISING GOD'S FEAST
• I. The judgment on those who refuse the offered joys of the kingdom.
• II. Verses 10-14 carry us beyond the preceding parable, and show us
• THE TABLES TURNED: THE QUESTIONERS QUESTIONED
• I. The two preceding questions are represented to have been asked by
• II. The Pharisees remained 'gathered together,' and may have been
• THE KING'S FAREWELL
• I. The woe of the 'whited sepulchres.' The first four woes are
• II. The woe of the sepulchre builders (vs. 29-36). In these verses
• III. The parting wail of rejected love. The lightning flashes of the
• TWO FORMS OF ONE SAYING
• I. First, then, notice the view of our condition which underlies
• II. Now, secondly, mark the victorious temper.
• III. Lastly, note the crown which endurance wins.
• THE CARRION AND THE VULTURES
• I. The first thing, then, in these most true and solemn words is
• II. But let me turn to another point. We have here a law which is to
• III. And so the last thing that I have to say is that this is a law
• WATCHING FOR THE KING
• I. The command of watchfulness enforced by our ignorance of the time
• II. The picture and reward of watchfulness. The general exhortation
• III. The picture and doom of the unwatchful servant. This portrait
• THE WAITING MAIDENS
• I. The first consideration, then, must be, What is the meaning of
• II. Note the sleep of all the virgins. No blame is hinted on account
• III. Then comes the midnight cry and the waking of the maidens. The
• IV. We see the wise virgins within and the foolish without. They
• DYING LAMPS
• I. We must settle the meaning of the oil and the lamps.
• II. We note next the gradual dying out of the light. 'Our lamps are
• III. Again, we note that extinction is brought about simply by doing
• IV. And now one last word. That process of gradual extinction may be
• I. What makes readiness?
• II. Note that this readiness is the condition of entrance.
• III. To delay preparation is madness.
• TRADERS FOR THE MASTER
• I. We may consider the lent capital and the business done with it.
• II. We note the faithful servants' balance-sheet and reward.
• III. The excuse and punishment of the indolent servant.
• WHY THE TALENT WAS BURIED
• I. I ask you, then, to consider, first, the slander here and the
• II. Secondly, mark here the fear that dogs such a thought, and the
• III. Lastly, mark the torpor of fear and the activity of love. 'I
• THE KING ON HIS JUDGMENT THRONE
• I. The first broad teaching is that Christ is the Judge of all the
• II. Note the principles of Christ's universal judgment. It is
• III. Note the surprises of the judgment. The astonishment of the
• IV. The irrevocableness of the judgment. That is an awful contrast
• THE DEFENCE OF UNCALCULATING LOVE
• THE NEW PASSOVER
• I. First, we have an example of that wholesome self-distrust, which
• II. Secondly, we have here an example of precisely the opposite
• III. Now, lastly, we have in the last question an example of the
• I. First, then, observe that it speaks to us of a divine treaty or
• II. Still further, this cup speaks to us of the forgiveness of sins.
• III. And now, again, let me remind you that this cup speaks likewise
• IV. And lastly, it speaks of a festal gladness.
• I. First, let me say just a word about the twin aspect of the
• II. And now, let us turn for a moment to the lovely vision of that
• GETHSEMANE, THE OIL-PRESS
• I. Mark the 'exceeding sorrow' of the Man of Sorrows. Somewhere on
• II. Note the prayer of filial submission. Matthew does not tell us
• III. Note the sad and gentle remonstrance with the drowsy three.
• THE LAST PLEADING OF LOVE
• I. The patience of Christ's love.
• II. Then, secondly, we have here – the pleading of Christ's patient
• III. Notice the possible rejection of the pleading of Christ's
• THE REAL HIGH PRIEST AND HIS COUNTERFEIT
• JESUS CHARGED WITH BLASPHEMY
• I. First, then, they witness to Christ's claims.
• II. Secondly, note how we have here the witness that Jesus Christ
• III. And so, lastly we have here witness to the only alternative to
• I. Judas, or the agony of conscience.
• II. So much, then, for this first picture and the lessons that come
• III. And so, lastly, we have here another group still – the priests
• THE SENTENCE WHICH CONDEMNED THE JUDGES
• I. Matthew gives a very summary account of our Lord's appearing
• II. The next point is Pilate's weak attempt to save Jesus. Christ's
• III. Having referred the choice to the 'multitude,' Pilate takes his
• IV. While he was fighting against the impression of that message,
• V. The same nervous fear and vain attempt to shuffle responsibility
• THE CRUCIFIXION
• I. We have the ghastly details of the crucifixion. – Conder's
• II. The mockeries of people and priests. There would be many coming
• III. We pass on to the darkness, desolation, and death. Matthew
• THE BLIND WATCHERS AT THE CROSS
• I. First we infer from this the old truth of how ignorant men are of
• II. Take another very simple and equally plain lesson from this
• III. And now the last lesson, and the one that I most desire to lay
• TAUNTS TURNING TO TESTIMONIES
• I. So, then, first the Cross shows us the Saviour who could not save
• II. The Cross shows us the King on His throne.
• III. Now, lastly, the Cross shows us the Son, beloved of the Father.
• THE VEIL RENT
• I. The rent veil proclaims the desecrated temple.
• II. Now, secondly, the rent veil means, in another way of looking at
• III. Lastly, the rent veil permits any and every man to draw near to
• THE PRINCE OF LIFE
• THE RISEN LORD'S GREETINGS AND GIFTS
• I. First, then, notice their strange and majestic simplicity.
• II. Then note, secondly, the universal destination of the greetings
• III. Then, thirdly, notice the unfailing efficacy of the Lord's
• IV. So, lastly, notice our share in this twofold greeting.
• ON THE MOUNTAIN
• I. There is a Great Claim.
• II. The Great Commission.
• III. The Great Promise.
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