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29 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there.

30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them :

31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

[miraculously fed.

33 And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?

34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.

35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

37 And they did all eat, and were filled and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.

38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.

39 And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala. (H)

EXPOSITION-Chap. XV. Continued.

(H) Ver. 21-39. The daughter of a woman of Canaan healed, with sundry other miracles.-This woman, though of Canaan's accursed race (who, according to Lightfoot, occupied the country about Tyre and Sidon), was a remarkable monument, not only of our Lord's miraculous power, but also of his saving grace; and in her was exhibited a specimen of that mercy promised to the Gentiles. It is observable, that though our Lord confined the ministry of his Apostles, during his life time, to the Jews, he did not so restrict his own ministrations; but in one instance visited a Samaritan woman; in another, the servant of a Roman centurion; and in a third, this "outcast among the heathen;" this Syro-phoenician woman, his conduct towards whom appears most extraordinary, till explained by the sequel. Jesus was now in the farther part of Galilee, on the very boundary of Judea, and she ran crying after him, "Have mercy upon me, O Lord" and at the same time evinced her faith in him, by calling him, "the Son of David," or the Messiah. She then earnestly implored mercy on herself, by the healing of her daughter, who was grievously vexed with a demon. On this we may observe, by the way, that some of the greatest mercies we receive, are those be

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stowed upon our children.-At first Jesus seems to turn a deaf ear towards ber, for "he answered her not a word." This, however, did not dismay her: she exhibited that perseverance which our Lord had recommended in his sermon on the mount. She asks till she receives; she seeks till she finds; and she knocks till the door of mercy is effectually opened. In short, she wearies out the disciples (though she could not their master), and they beg him to dismiss her by an answer of some kind or other, though they seem doubtful what that should be, as they perceived that she was a Gentile. To them he replied, not to her, "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Upon this, she pressed nearer to him, till she fell down at his feet and worshipped him, saying, "Lord, help me!" the language both of anxiety and distress. The Lord now condescended to speak to her; but not with his usual tenderness: "It is not meet (said he) to take the children's bread and to cast it unto dogs." At this word she eagerly caught, "Truth, Lord," said she, I am a Gentile dog, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." The Saviour appears now com pletely overcome with her importunity, His bowels doubtless yearned over her (as

NOTES-Chap. XV. Con.

Camp. "Lest their

Ver.32. Lest they faintstrength fail." Ver. 37, Baskets-Camp. "Maunds,;" properly,

hand-baskets, a different word from what is used in the preceding miracle, chap. xiv. 20.

The signs]

CHAP. XVI.

CHAP. XVI,

THE Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.

2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas, And he left them, and departed.

5 And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take

[of the times.

heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.

8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. (I)

13¶ When Jesus came into the coasts

EXPOSITION.

did those of Joseph when he spake roughly to his brethren), and he exclaimed, "Ó woman! great is thy faith: be it unto thee according to thy word!"

"Truth, Lord," we were Gentile dogs. "Lord, how should we (Christians) bless thy name, that we of dogs are made children! How should we fear thy justice, since thine ancient people are become dogs! O let us not be high-minded, but tremble. If they were cut off who crucified thee in thine humbled state, what may we expect who crucify thee daily in thy glory?" (Bp. Hall.)

After the cure of this Gentile's daughter, our Lord, as he was wont, went up into the side of a mountain, where he was speedily surrounded with hearers, and with proper subjects for the exertion of his miraculous power; and when the multitude saw the wonders which Jesus wrought, they were not only struck with admiration, but "glorified the God of Israel."

After three days (or on the third day), the people probably discovered symptoms

of hunger and fatigue, and our Saviour fed them by a miracle, so similar to that in the preceding chapter, that we need not dwell on it; yet so varied in its circumstances as to demonstrate it was not the same. (See ch. xvi. 9.) The disciples, however, rea soned and acted as if they had totally for gotten the preceding event; which would appear the more remarkable, if we were not ourselves equally prone to forget providen tial appearances and supplies.

CHAP. XVI.

(I) Ver. 1-12. The Pharisees require a sign, and are refused: the disciples cautioned against their doctrines.-On a former occasion (chap. xii. 38), certain Scribes and Pharisees had required a sign from heaven, and were refused: another party of Phari sees now come, and bring certain of the Sadducees with them, who probably imagined they might be able to elicit from our Saviour what the others could not. As

they proposed the same question, they received the like answer; with a reproof, at

NOTES.

CHAP. XVI. Ver. 3. It will be foul to dayDoddr. "Tempestuous."The sky is red.-The same signs were observed by the heathen, and are observed by ourselves, even in this climate, and to the present day.

Ver. 4. A wicked and adulterous generation.See ch. xii. 38, 39.

Ver. 13. Cesarea Philippi.-Philip the Tetrarch called the chief city of this tract of land (Gennesaret) Cæsarea Philippi, in honour of Tiberius Cæsar, aš

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the same time, for their want of discernment and of candour, in not appreciating the evidences of his mission, with which they were surrounded. Upon this, our Saviour left them, without any farther reply, and again entering a small vessel, departed to the other side of the lake. When they arrived, he began to caution his disciples to "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." Upon this, they were at first confounded, taking our Lord's words literally, as if he had spoken of bread; whereas our Lord had before used the term in respect of doctrine, in speaking of his new dispensation (chap. xiii. 33). Jesus, therefore, reproved the dulness of their apprehension, and gave them to understand that he referred to the doctrines of these Jewish sects, on which this seems the proper place to offer a few remarks.

It

The Pharisees were esteemed the most orthodox sect among the Jews, and held in the highest respect. Their name, (from the Hebrew Pharosh) implies separation; not that they separated from communion with the Sadducees, or other sects, but they professed an extraordinary degree of moral and ritual purity, and the highest veneration for the traditions of the elders. They also avowed their belief in the doctrines of a future state, and the resurrection. (See Acts xxiii. 3; xxiv. 15.) is somewhat doubtful, however, what the Pharisees meant by the last doctrine. According to Josephus, it was no more than a Pythagorean resurrection; that is, a resurrection of the soul, by its transmigration into another body, and being born anew with it. From this resurrection, he says, they excluded all who were notoriously wicked, being of opinion, that the souls of such persons were transmitted into a state of everlasting woe. As to inferior crimes, they held, that they were punished in the bodies which the souls of those who committed them were next sent into." (Allusions to these principles may be found in John ix. 2; Matt. xvi. 6, 14; and in the Apocrypha, Wisd. viii. 20.)

The Sadducees, another Jewish sect, are said to have originated with one Sadoc, in the third century before Christ. This man "inculcated a pure and disinterested principle of obedience to God, independent of

rewards and punishments, from which some of his disciples inferred, that none were to be expected; and hence the sect degenerated into infidelity, and denied, not only the resurrection of the body, but also the being of angels, or spirits, and consequently a future state. (Acts xxiii. 8.).... It has been said, that they rejected all the sacred writings but those of Moses; and it is probable that some did so, but this was not universally the case. It is certain that they rejected the traditions of the elders, and paid little attention to any religious forms." But they were, however, very strict in the administration of justice. In their philosophy they were Epicureans, or materialists, but by no means Necessarians.

There was another sect, called Essenes, mentioned by Josephus, but not in the New Testament. This may be accounted for, from their living in a kind of monkish community, and never attending the Jewish festivities, or the temple service. They believed in the immortality of the soul, but not in the resurrection of the body. They were moral, abstemious, and recluse; and in their interpretations of the Scrip tures they were highly mystical and allegorical. They disapproved of oaths and war, and wholly rejected the traditions of the elders. (For farther accounts, the writer takes the liberty to refer to his "Dictionary of all Religions," 3d Ed., and the authorities there named.)

There is no difficulty in ascertaining which of these doctrines were here intended as their leaven. The leaven of the Pharisees was their hypocrisy and superstition; the leaven of the Sadducees, licentiousness and infidelity but what was the leaven of Herod, (which the evangelist Mark adds ch. iii. 6) is not so clear. The Herodians, however, appear to have been rather a political party, which supported Herod's family, and was willing to flatter him in all his measures, than a religious sect. Sycophancy and flattery, therefore, seem to be the leaven of the Herodians; such are the vices against which our Lord here cautions his disciples. And the union of these discordant sects against Christ, shows that their enmity against him was greater than their enmity against each

other.

NOTES-Chap. XVI. Con.

another Caesarea (Acts viii. 40) had been thus named in honour of Augustus. Doddr.

and

Ver. 16. The Son, &c. In a preceding chapter, when Jesus had walked upon the sea, and quieted

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(K) Ver. 13—20. Simon Peter's confession, and our Lord's inference therefrom. Our Lord elicits the opinion of Peter and his fellow disciples, by first enquiring the opinion of others: "Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?" The answer seems to refer to the Pythagorean notion, mentioned in the preceding section, that the soul of John the Baptist, or one of the prophets, was returned to animate the body of our Saviour. "But whom say ye that I am?" is the pointed and interesting question, which he then put to his own disci

ples, and now puts to us: "Whom say ye that I am?" Peter answered for the restMay he answer for us also? Do we believe that Christ the Son of man is also the Son of the living God? It is true that this name is sometimes used as synonymous with the Son of man (comp. ver. 13 and 16); But it is also true that it implies something more it implies a participation of the divine nature; and hence, when Jesus himself answered to that designation, "Then the high priest rent his garments, saying, He hath blasphemed :" (ch. xxvi. 63–65.)

NOTES.

the tempest, the whole ship's crew adored him, as the Son of God. (chap. xiv. 33.) But the critics have remarked, that in that case the emphatic article is wanting in the Greek original; and even Campbell himself translates it, "Thou art a Son of God" or "the Son of a God;" but this has the emphatic article-THE Son of THE living God!"

Ver. 17. Simon Bar-jona-or the Son of Jonas. Ver. 18. Thou art Peter.-The Catholics, as mentioned in our Exposition, explain the name PETER (Gr. Petros) to mean a rock, but a learned Lexicographer of the 17th century (Edw. Leigh, Esq.) says, "Petros (i. e. Peter) always signifies a stone, never a rock;" which is confirmed by another learned layman, Granville Sharp, Esq., who appeals to the Lexicons of Scapula, Schrevelius, Dawson, Parkhurst, &c. to which might be added, many others of the highest literary authority. The Syro-Chaldaic term Cephas, also simply means a stone. See John i. 41. Remarks on an important Passage." &c.

Ibid. Upon this rock-It must be acknowledged, that Cyril, Hilary, Basil, and other Fathers in communion with the church of Rome, did sometimes (though not uniformly) explain this rock of Peter; but it is also true that Hilary, Theophylact, and Chrysostom (a much greater man), explain the Words of Peter's confession. So the latter (Chrysostom), "On this rock, not upon Peter, for he did not build his church upon the man, but upon his faith;" or, as he elsewhere expresses it, "his confession." See a most able defence of the Protestant Religion, in a course of Lectures by the Rev. Jos. Fletcher, A. M., of Stepney, 8vo. Lect. iii.

It has been remarked, that this passage contains a Peronomasia, or play of words, such as is not unfrequent in the Hebrew language: "Thou art Peter (Gr. Petros), a stone; and upon this rock (Petra) will I build my church," &c. See Note on Micah i. 11. Ibid. The gates of hell-Gr. Hades. This phrase is differently explained. Schleusner, who, in his Gr. Lexicon, represents hades as sometimes meaning hell, the place of punishment, here understands thereby, the violence and power of the devil, and of all the fierce adversaries of Christ, whose efforts

against the church shall be rendered abortive, and remarks, that it was considered in the same light by Chrysostom, the most eloquent of the Greek fathers. But, Dr. Campbell, who follows Grotius, here and always explains it in reference to the state of the dead in general, considering death as the gate to the invisible world; and he regards the expression as equivalent to saying, the church shall never die, or become extinct.-On the word Hades, see Note on Ps. xvi. 10.

Ver. 19. I will give unto thee the keys, &c.-Keys were the emblems of office, and in some cases were so large as to be carried on the shoulder. Isa. ix. 6; xxii. 20. And according to the nature of the key, was the authority. The key of the house (or palace) of David, implied great influence and authority, as we see in the passage just quoted.

Ibid. The keys of the kingdom.-The doctrine of the Church of Rome on this subject, is too gross and absurd to be admitted into our Exposition, or to require an answer; but we shall give a short specimen from the Rhemish expositors, already referred to. The keys; that is, (say they) "The authority, or chair of doctrine, knowledge, judgment, and discretion between true and false doctrine, the height of government, the power of making lans," &c. &c.—Whatsoever thou shalt bind.All kind of discipline and punishment of offenders, either spiritual or corporal.. .... is comprised under the word BIND; of which sort be excommunications, anathemas, suspensions, degradations, and other censures and penances enjoined, either in the sacra ment of penance, or in the exterior courts of the church, for punishment of other crimes, and specially of heresy, and rebellion against the church, and the chief pastors thereof."

Here is the true source of all papal persecution! Here are the claws of the Apocryphal beast! Rev. xiii. Ver. 20. Jesus-wanting in many MSS, and some ancient versions, and the sense seems clearer with, out it.

Ver. 21. From that time forth-that is, at different times after this, as opportunity permitted.

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and hence our Lord concluded that this was not revealed to Peter by any of his fellow disciples, nor even by his own natural powers, but by the Father only: for Peter seems to have been the first disciple that properly understood the true character of his Master; though perhaps he did not yet fully understand the "good confession" that he had now made.

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The following words "Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock will I build my church," are of peculiar importance in our controversy with the church of Rome, which founds thereon the primacy of St. Peter, who is the foundation of their church, though not of ours. Thus the Rhemish translators explain the words, "Christ foretold and appointed (John i. 42) that this man, named Simon, should afterward be called Cephas, or Petrus, that is to say, a rock; not then uttering the cause, but now expressing the same, viz. (as St. Cyril writeth) For that upon HIM (Peter), as upon a firm rock, his church should be builded.'" It is also the avowed doctrine of the Catholic church to this day," that our Lord did make St. Peter the chief pastor of the church, giving him a name that implied no less than being a rock, or foundation stone, declaring that upon this rock he would build his church." (Bp. Chaloner's Grounds of the Old Religion, sect. ii.) Now in answer to this, 1. Protestants deny that Peter signifies "a rock," and say it signifies a stone only; or, at most, a fragment of a rock. 2. They contend Peter himself was not the foundation rock here spoken of, but only one of the chosen stones laid on that rock, on which the church was built. (Ephes. ii. 20; Rev. xxi. 14.) 3. They believe that Peter's noble confession (ver. 16), or rather, Christ himself, the subject of that confession, is the Rock both of the church and of every individual believer (1 Cor. iii. 11); and that the title (Rock) is indeed an evidence of our Lord's divinity; for "Who is a rock, save our God?" Jehovah was the Rock of Israel (Deut. xxxii. 30, 31): and the Apostle Paul explains that rock to signify (not Peter, but) Christ himself. (1 Cor. x. 4.) Lastly, they add, that if Peter had been that rock, when he fell, by denying his Master (chap. xxvi.

69-72), the church must have fallen with him.

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But our Lord also gave "the keys of the kingdom of heaven" to Peter; by which we understand, that it was his special privilege to open the new dispensation, by first preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, as we have already remarked he did. He opened the kingdom of heaven to all nations, and freely invited them to enter: he also opened the sacred mysteries of the types and prophecies, and showed his hearers somewhat of the glory of his Master in all the institutions of Moses; in all the buds and blossoms of Aaron's rod. Thus, as an able minister of the New Tes tament, did he open and explain the gos pel. But he bound also; and as his opening was expository, so was his binding declarative. This was in perfect accordance with the language of the prophets, who were said to set up," or " pull down states and kingdoms, when they were directed prophetically to announce the decrees of God respecting them. (Jer. i. 10.)) This explanation of binding and loosing, as declarative and expository, is also, according to Dr. Lightfoot, quite in harmony with the language of the ancient Rabbins, who used them in the sense of teaching what was right, and prohibiting what was wrong. Connecting this passage with the preceding, Mr. Prebendary Townsend thus judiciously paraphrases them, in consist ency with this idea. "I am about to build a Gentile church," saith Christ, "and to thee, O Peter, do I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven, that then thou mayest first open the door of faith to them: but if thou askest by what rule that church is to be governed, when the Mosaic rule may seem so improper for it, thou shalt be so guided by the Holy Spirit, that whatsoever of the law of Moses thou shalt forbid them, shall be forbidden; whatsoever thou grant est them shall be granted, and that under a sanction made in heaven." Mr. T. here instances, in the opening the gate of the gospel to the Gentiles, and in the permis sion of food previously forbidden as unclean. (New Test. Arr. vol. i. p. 285, 286.)

As to St. Peter's and the Pope's supremacy, it is so far from being founded on

NOTES-Chap. XVI. Con.

Ver. 22. To rebuke him-this implies great presumption in Peter, and our Lord's answer shows that it was so considered by his Master.-Be it far from thee!-Marg. "Pity thyself;" but others render it, still more literally, Mercy on thee,

Lord!" The use of this expression in the LXX, answers to "God forbid!" and is so translated 1 Sam. xiv. 45; 1 Chron. xi. 19; also 1 Mac. ii. 21. See Campbell.

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