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The PHARISEES were the most considerable sect among the
Jews, for they had not only the scribes, and all the learned
men of the law of their party, but they also drew after them
the bulk of the people. When this sect arose is uncertain.
Josephus, Antiq. lib. v. c. xiii. s. 9, speaks of them as
existing about 144 years before the Christian era. They had
their appellation of Pharisees, from parash, to
separate, and were probably, in their rise, the most holy
people among the Jews, having separated themselves from
the national corruption, with a design to restore and practice
the pure worship of the most High. That they were greatly
degenerated in our Lord's time is sufficiently evident;
but still we may learn, from their external purity and
exactness, that their principles in the beginning were holy.
Our Lord testifies that they had cleansed the outside
of the cup and the platter, but within they were full of
abomination. They still kept up the outward regulations
of the institution, but they had utterly lost its
spirit; and hypocrisy was the only substitute now in
their power for that spirit of piety which I suppose,
and not unreasonably, characterized the origin of this sect.
As to their religious opinions, they still continued to
credit the being of a God; they received the five books of
Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the
hagiographa. The hagiographa or holy
writings, from (οις The SADDUCEES had their origin and name from one
Sadoc, a disciple of Antigonus of Socho,
president of the Sanhedrin, and teacher of the law in
one of the great divinity schools in Jerusalem, about 264
years before the incarnation.
This Antigonus having often in his lectures informed
his scholars, that they should not serve God through
expectation of a reward, but through love and
filial reverence only, Sadoc inferred from this
teaching that there were neither rewards nor punishments after
this life, and, by consequence, that there was no resurrection
of the dead, nor angel, nor spirit, in the invisible world;
and that man is to be rewarded or punished here for the
good or evil he does.
They received only the five books of Moses, and rejected
all unwritten traditions. From every account we have of this
sect, it plainly appears they were a kind of mongrel deists,
and professed materialists. See Prideaux, and the
authors he quotes, Connex. vol. iii. p. 95, and 471, See
Clarke on Matthew
3:7.
In Matthew
22:16, we shall meet with a third sect, called HERODIANS,
of whom a few words may be spoken here, It is allowed on all
hands that these did not exist before the time of Herod
the Great, who died only three years after the
incarnation of our Lord. What the opinions of these were is
not agreed among the learned. Many of the primitive fathers
believed that their distinguishing doctrine was, that they
held Herod to be the Messiah; but it is not likely that
such an opinion could prevail in our Saviour's time,
thirty years after Herod's death, when
not one characteristic of Messiahship had appeared in him
during his life. Others suppose that they were Herod's
courtiers, who flattered the passions of their master,
and, being endowed with a convenient conscience,
changed with the times; but, as Herod was now
dead upwards of thirty years, such a sect could not exist in
reference to him; and yet all allow that they derived
their origin from Herod the Great.
Our Lord says, Mark
8:15, that they had the leaven of Herod, i.e. a bad
doctrine, which they received from him. What this was may be
easily discovered: 1. Herod subjected himself and his people
to the dominion of the Romans, in opposition to that law, Deuteronomy
17:15, Thou shalt not set a king over thee-which is not
thy brother, i.e. one out of the twelve tribes. 2. He
built temples, sat up images, and joined in heathenish
worship, though he professed the Jewish religion; and this was
in opposition to all the law and the prophets. From this we
may learn that the Herodians were such as, first, held
it lawful to transfer the Divine government to a heathen
ruler; and, secondly, to conform occasionally to heathenish
rites in their religious worship. In short, they appear to
have been persons who trimmed between God and the
world-who endeavoured to reconcile his service with that of
mammon-and who were religious just as far as it tended to
secure their secular interests. It is probable that this sect
was at last so blended with, that it became lost in, the sect
of the Sadducees; for the persons who art called Herodians, Mark
8:15, are styled Sadducees in Matthew
16:6. See Prideaux, Con. vol. iii. p. 516,
Josephus, Antiq. b. xv. c. viii. s. i. and x. s. iii.
But it is very likely that the Herodians, mentioned c. xxii.
10, were courtiers or servants of Herod king of
Galilee. See the note there.
Show them a sign
Tempting-him
Caeruleus pluviam denunciant, IGNEUS euros. Sin MACULAE
incipient RUTILO immiscerier IGNI, Omnia tunc pariter VENTO
NIMBISQUE videbis Fervere VIRG. Geor. i. l. 453.
"If fiery red his glowing globe descends,
High winds and furious tempests he portends: But if his
cheeks are swoll'n with livid blue, He bodes wet
weather, by his watery hue If dusky spots are
varied on his brow, And streak'd with red a troubled
colour show, That sullen mixture shall at once declare,
Wind, rain, and storms, and elemental
war." Dryden.
O ye of little
faith When Jesus came
Whom do men say
The Christ, or Messiah, points out his
divinity, and shows his office; the Son-designates his
person: on this account it is that both are joined together so
frequently in the new covenant. Of the living
God (οις Living-a character applied to the Supreme Being, not
only to distinguish him from the dead idols of
paganism, but also to point him out as the source of life,
present, spiritual, and eternal. Probably there
is an allusion here to the great name Yeve, or
Yehovah, which properly signifies being or
existence.
Peter, (οις Upon this very rock, (οις The gates of hell, πυλαιαδου i. e, the
machinations and powers of the invisible world.
In ancient times the gates of fortified cities were used to
hold councils in, and were usually places of great strength.
Our Lord's expression means, that neither the plots,
stratagems, nor strength of Satan and his angels,
should ever so far prevail as to destroy the sacred truths in
the above confession. Sometimes the gates are taken for
the troops which issue out from them: we may firmly
believe, that though hell should open her gates, and vomit out
her devil and all his angels, to fight against Christ and his
saints, ruin and discomfiture must be the consequence on their
part; as the arm of the Omnipotent must prevail.
Whatsoever thou shalt bind on
earth That binding and loosing were terms in
frequent use among the Jews, and that they meant
bidding and forbidding, granting and
refusing, declaring lawful or unlawful,
having given numerous instances, thus concludes:-
"To these may be added, if need were, the frequent (shall I
say?) or infinite use of the phrases, bound and
loosed, which we meet with thousands of times
over. But from these allegations the reader sees, abundantly
enough, both the frequency and the common use of this
phrase, and the sense of it also; namely, first, that
it is used in doctrine, and in judgments,
concerning things allowed or not allowed in the
law. Secondly, that to bind is the same with, to
forbid, or to declare forbidden. To think that
Christ, when he used the common phrase, was not
understood by his hearers in the common and vulgar
sense, shall I call it a matter of laughter, or of
madness?
To this, therefore, do these words amount: When the time
was come wherein the Mosaic law, as to some part of it,
was to be abolished, and left off, and, as to another part of
it, was to be continued and to last for ever, he granted
Peter here, and to the rest of the apostles, Matthew
18:18, a power to abolish or confirm what
they thought good, and as they thought good; being taught
this, and led by the Holy Spirit: as if he should say,
Whatsoever ye shall bind in the law of Moses, that is,
forbid, it shall be forbidden, the Divine
authority confirming it; and whatsoever ye shall loose,
that is, permit, or shall teach that it is
permitted and lawful, shall be lawful and
permitted. Hence they bound, that is
forbade, circumcision to the believers; eating of
things offered to idols, of things strangled, and of blood,
for a time, to the Gentiles; and that which they
bound on earth was confirmed in heaven.
They loosed, that is, allowed purification to
Paul, and to four other brethren, for the
shunning of scandal; Acts
21:24 and, in a word, by these words of Christ it
was committed to them, the Holy Spirit directing, that they
should make decrees concerning religion, as to the use or
rejection of Mosaic rites and judgments, and that
either for a time, or for ever.
"Let the words be applied by way of paraphrase to the
matter that was transacted at present with Peter: '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 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
grantest them shall be granted; and that under a
sanction made in heaven.' Hence, in that instant, when he
should use his keys, that is, when he was now ready to
open the gate of the Gospel to the Gentiles, Acts 10,
he was taught from heaven that the consorting of the
Jew with the Gentile, which before had been
bound, was now loosed; and the eating of any
creature convenient for food was now loosed, which
before had been bound; and he in like manner
looses both these.
"Those words of our Saviour, John
20:23, Whose sins ye remit, they are remitted to
them, for the most part are forced to the same sense with
these before us, when they carry quite another sense. Here the
business is of doctrine only, not of persons;
there of persons, not of doctrine. Here of
things lawful or unlawful in religion, to
be determined by the apostles; there of persons
obstinate or not obstinate, to be punished
by them, or not to be punished.
"As to doctrine, the apostles were doubly
instructed. 1. So long sitting at the feet of their Master,
they had imbibed the evangelical doctrine.
"2. The Holy Spirit directing them, they were to determine
concerning the legal doctrine and practice, being completely
instructed and enabled in both by the Holy Spirit descending
upon them. As to the persons, they were endowed with a
peculiar gift, so that, the same Spirit directing them, if
they would retain and punish the sins of any, a power was
delivered into their hands of delivering to Satan, of
punishing with diseases, plagues, yea, death
itself, which Peter did to Ananias and
Sapphira; Paul to Elymas, Hymeneus, and
Philetus,
After all these evidences and proofs of the proper use of
these terms, to attempt to press the word, into the service
long assigned them by the Church of Rome, would, to use the
words of Dr. Lightfoot, be "a matter of laughter or of
madness." No Church can use them in the sense thus imposed
upon them, which was done merely to serve secular ends;
and least of all can that very Church that thus abuses them.
The Christ. Be it far from thee
Lord Thou art an offence unto
me Thou savourest not
The principles of the Christian life are: First. To have a
sincere desire to belong to Christ-If any man be
WILLING to be my disciple, pursuits-Let him
deny HIMSELF. Thirdly. To embrace the condition which God
has appointed, and bear the troubles and difficulties he may
meet with in walking the Christian road-Let him take up
HIS CROSS. Fourthly. To imitate Jesus, and do and suffer all
in his spirit-Let him FOLLOW ME.
Let him deny
himself To his kingdom, or in his kingdom. Instead of
(οις 1. THE disciples, by being constantly with their Master,
were not only guarded against error, but were taught the whole
truth: we should neglect no opportunity of waiting upon God;
while Jesus continues to teach, our ear and heart should be
open to receive his instructions. That what we have already
received may be effectual, we must continue to hear and pray
on. Let us beware of the error of the Pharisees! They minded
only external performances, and those things by which they
might acquire esteem and reputation among men; thus, humility
and love, the very soul of religion, were neglected by them:
they had their reward-the approbation of those who were
as destitute of vital religion as themselves. Let us beware
also of the error of the Sadducees, who, believing no other
felicity but what depended on the good things of this world,
became the flatterers and slaves of those who could bestow
them, and so, like the Pharisees, had their portion only in
this life. All false religions and false principles conduct to
the same end, however contrary they appear to each other. No
two sects could be more opposed to each other than the
Sadducees and Pharisees, yet their doctrines lead to the same
end-they are both wedded to this world, and
separated from God in the next.
2. From the circumstance mentioned in the conclusion of
this chapter, we may easily see the nature of the kingdom and
reign of Christ: it is truly spiritual and Divine; having for
its object the present holiness and future happiness of
mankind. Worldly pomp, as well as worldly maxims, were to be
excluded from it. Christianity forbids all worldly
expectations, and promises blessedness to those alone who
bear the cross, leading a life of mortification
and self-denial. Jesus Christ has left us an example
that we should follow his steps. How did he live?-What views
did he entertain?-In what light did he view worldly pomp and
splendour? These are questions which the most superficial
reader may, without difficulty, answer to his immediate
conviction. And has not Christ said that the disciple is
not ABOVE the Master? If HE humbled himself,
how can he look upon those who, professing faith in his name,
are conformed to the world and mind earthly
things? These disciples affect to be above their
Lord; and as they neither bear his cross, nor follow him in
the regeneration, they must look for another heaven than that
in which he sits at the right hand of God. This is an awful
subject; but how few of those called Christians lay it to
heart!
3. The term CHURCH in Greek (οις In the proper use of this word there can be no such thing
as THE church, exclusively; there may be A
church, and the CHURCHES, signifying a
particular congregation, or the different assemblies of
religious people: and hence, the Church of Rome, by applying
it exclusively to itself, abuses the term, and acts as
ridiculously as it does absurdly. Church is very
properly defined in the 19th article of the Church of England,
to be "a congregation of faithful men, in the which the pure
word of God is preached, and the sacraments duly administered,
according to Christ's ordinance."
16
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Information
• Key
SRB = Scofield References
SRB = Introduction
JFB = Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Commentary
JFB = Introduction
AC = Adam Clarke Comentary
AC = Chronology by Adam Clarke
OU = OUtline of St. Matthew
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Matthew Chapter 16
by Adam Clarke
Verse 1. The Pharisees also with the
Sadducees
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Though a short account of these
has been already given in a note on Matthew
3:7, yet, as one more detailed may be judged necessary, I
think it proper to introduce it in this place.
),
holy, and γραφω I
write, included the twelve following books-Psalms,
Proverbs, Job, Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes,
Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles. These, among
the Jews, occupied a middle place between the law and
the prophets, as divinely inspired. The Pharisees
believed, in a confused way, in the resurrection, though they
received the Pythagorean doctrine of the
metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls. Those,
however, who were notoriously wicked, they consigned, on their
death, immediately to hell, without the benefit of
transmigration, or the hope of future redemption. They held
also the predestinarian doctrine of necessity, and the
government of the world by fate; and yet,
inconsistently, allowed some degree of liberty to the human
will. See Prideaux.
These sects, however opposed among themselves, most
cordially unite in their opposition to Christ and his truth.
That the kingdom of Satan may not fall, all his subjects must
fight against the doctrine and maxims of the kingdom of
Christ.
Feigning a desire to have his doctrine fully proved to
them, that they might credit it, and become his disciples; but
having no other design than to betray and ruin him.
Verse
2. When it is evening
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There
are certain signs of fair and foul weather, which ye are in
the constant habit of observing, and which do not fail.-The
signs of the times: the doctrine which I preach, and the
miracles which I work among you, are as sure signs that the
day-spring from on high has visited you for your salvation;
but if ye refute to hear, and continue in darkness, the red
and gloomy cloud of vindictive justice shall pour out such a
storm of wrath upon you as shalt sweep you from the face of
the earth.
Verse
3. The sky is red and lowering.
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The signs of fair and foul weather were observed in a
similar manner among the Romans, and indeed among most other
people. Many treatises have been written on the subject: thus
a poet:-
Verse
4. Wicked and adulterous
generation
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The Jewish people are
represented in the Sacred Writings as married to the
Most High; but, like a disloyal wife, forsaking their true
husband, and uniting themselves to Satan and sin. Seeketh
after a sign, (οις),
, seeketh sign upon
sign, or, still another sign. Our blessed
Lord had already wrought miracles sufficient to demonstrate
both his Divine mission and his divinity; only one was
farther necessary to take away the scandal of his cross and
death, to fulfil the Scriptures, and to establish the
Christian religion; and that was, his resurrection from the
dead, which, he here states, was typified in the case of
Jonah.
Verse
5. Come to the other side
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Viz. the coast of Bethsaida, by which our Lord passed,
going to Caesarea, for he was now on his journey thither. See
Matthew
16:13, and ; Mark
8:22,27.
Verse
6. Beware of the leaven
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What
the leaven of Pharisees and Sadducees was has been already
explained, see Matthew
16:1. Bad doctrines act in the soul as leaven does in
meal; they assimulate the whole Spirit to their own
nature. A man's particular creed has a greater
influence on his tempers and conduct than most
are aware of. Pride, hypocrisy, and
worldly-mindedness, which constituted the leaven
of the Pharisees and Sadducees, ruin the major part of the
world.
Verse
7. They reasoned
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For, as
Lightfoot observes, the term leaven was very rarely used among
the Jews to signify doctrine, and therefore the
disciples did not immediately apprehend his meaning. In what a
lamentable state of blindness is the human mind? Bodily wants
are perceived with the utmost readiness, and a supply is
sought with all speed. But the necessities of the soul are
rarely discovered, though they are more pressing than those of
the body, and the supply of them of infinitely more
importance.
Verse
8. When Jesus perceived, he said
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(οις),
, unto them, is wanting in BDKLMS, and twenty
others; one of the Syriac, the Armenian, Ethiopic, Vulgate,
and most of the Itala; also in Origen, Theophylact, and
Lucifer Calaritanus. Mill approves of the omission, and
Griesbach has left it out of the text.
There are degrees in faith, as
well as in the other graces of the Spirit. Little faith
may be the seed of great faith, and therefore is not to
be despised. But many who should be strong in faith have but a
small measure of it, because they either give way to sin, or
are not careful to improve what God has already given.
Verse 9-10. Do ye not yet
understand-the five loaves-neither the
seven
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See Clarke on Matthew
14:14. is it that these men should have any fear of
lacking bread, after having seen the two miracles which our
blessed Lord alludes to above! Though men quickly perceive
their bodily wants, and are querulous enough till they get
them supplied, yet they as quickly forget the mercy which they
had received; and thus God gets few returns of gratitude for
his kindnesses. To make men, therefore, deeply sensible of his
favours, he is induced to suffer them often to be in want, and
then to supply them in such a way as to prove that their
supply has come immediately from the hand of their bountiful
Father.
Verse 10. See
Clarke on Matthew
16:9.
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Verse 11. How is it that ye do not
understand
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We are not deficient in
spiritual knowledge, because we have not had sufficient
opportunities of acquainting ourselves with God; but because
we did not improve the advantages we had. How deep and ruinous
must our ignorance be, if God did not give line upon line,
precept upon precept, here a little and there a little! They
now perceived that he warned them against the superstition of
the Pharisees, which produced hypocrisy, pride, envy, false
doctrine of the Sadducees, which denied the existence of a
spiritual world, the immortality of the soul, the resurrection
of the body, and the providence of God.
Verse 13. Casarea
Philippi
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A city, in the tribe of Naphtali,
near to Mount Libanus, in the province of Iturea. Its
ancient name was Dan, Genesis
14:14; afterwards it was called Lais, Judges
18:7. But Philip the tetrarch, having rebuilt and
beautified it, gave it the name of Cesarea, in honour
of Tiberius Caesar, the reigning emperor: but to distinguish
it from another Caesarea, which was on the coast of the
Mediterranean Sea, and to perpetuate the fame of him who
rebuilt it, it was called Caesarea Philippi, or
Caesarea of Philip.
(οις),
-when Jesus was coming. Not, when
Jesus came, or was come, for Mark expressly
mentions that it happened εντηοδω, in the way to
Caesarea Philippi, Mark
8:27, and he is Matthew's best interpreter.-WAKEFIELD.
He asked his disciples this question, not because he was
ignorant what the people thought and spoke of him; but to have
the opportunity, in getting an express declaration of their
faith from themselves, to confirm and strengthen them in it:
but see on Luke
9:20. Some, John the Baptist, . By this and other
passages we learn, that the Pharisaic doctrine of the
Metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, was pretty
general; for it was upon this ground that they believed that
the soul of the Baptist, or of Elijah, Jeremiah,
or some of the prophets, had come to a new life in the
body of Jesus.
Verse 16. Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God.
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Every word here is
emphatic-a most concise, and yet comprehensive,
confession of faith.
),
, literally, of God the Living One.
The C. Bezae has for τουζωντος the Living One, του
σωζοντος, the Saviour, and the Cant. Dei
Salvatoris, of God the Saviour.
Verse 17. Blessed art thou, Simon
Bar-jona
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Or Simon, son of
Jonah; so Bar-jonah should be translated, and so
it is rendered by our Lord, John
1:42. Flesh and blood-i.e. MAN;-no human
being hath revealed this; and though the text is literal
enough, yet every body should know that this is a Hebrew
periphrasis for man; and the literal translation
of it here, and in Galatians
1:16, has misled thousands, who suppose that flesh and
blood signify carnal reason, as it is termed, or
the unregenerate principle in man. Is it not evident,
from our Lord's observation, that it requires an express
revelation of God in a man's soul, to give him a saving
acquaintance with Jesus Christ; and that not even the miracles
of our Lord, wrought before the eyes, will effect this? The
darkness must be removed from the heart by the Holy
Spirit, before a man can become wise unto salvation.
Verse 18. Thou art
Peter
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This was the same as if he had said,
I acknowledge thee for one of my disciples-for this
name was given him by our Lord when he first called him to the
apostleship. See John
1:42.
),
, signifies a stone, or fragment of a
rock; and our Lord, whose constant custom it was to
rise to heavenly things through the medium of
earthly, takes occasion from the name, the
metaphorical meaning of which was strength and
stability, to point out the solidity of the confession,
and the stability of that cause which should be founded
on THE CHRIST, the SON of the LIVING GOD. See
Clarke on Luke
9:62.
),
-this true
confession of thine-that I am THE MESSIAH, that am come to
reveal and communicate THE LIVING GOD, that the dead,
lost world may be saved-upon this very rock, myself, thus
confessed (alluding probably to Psalms
118:22, The STONE which the builders rejected is
become the HEAD-STONE of the CORNER: and to
Isaiah
28:16, Behold I lay a STONE in Zion for a
FOUNDATION)-will I build my Church, μοντηνεκκλησιαν, my
assembly, or congregation, i.e. of persons who are
made partakers of this precious faith. That
Peter is not designed in our Lord's words must be
evident to all who are not blinded by prejudice. Peter was
only one of the builders in this sacred edifice, Ephesians
2:20who himself tells us, (with the rest of the
believers,) was built on this living foundation stone: 1 Peter
2:4,5, therefore Jesus Christ did not say, on thee,
Peter, will I build my Church, but changes
immediately the expression, and says, upon that very
rock, επιταυτητηπετρα, to show that he neither addressed
Peter, nor any other of the apostles. So, the
supremacy of Peter, and the infallibility of the Church of
Rome, must be sought in some other scripture, for they
certainly are not to be found in this. On the meaning of the
word Church, see at the conclusion of this chapter.
Verse 19. The keys of the
kingdom
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By the kingdom of heaven, we
may consider the true Church, that house of God, to be meant;
and by the keys, the power of admitting into that
house, or of preventing any improper person from coming in. In
other words, the doctrine of salvation, and the full
declaration of the way in which God will save sinners; and who
they are that shall be finally excluded from heaven; and on
what account. When the Jews made a man a doctor of the
law, they put into his hand the key of the closet in
the temple where the sacred books were kept, and also tablets
to write upon; signifying, by this, that they gave him
authority to teach, and to explain the Scriptures to the
people.-Martin. This prophetic declaration of our Lord
was literally fulfilled to Peter, as he was made the
first instrument of opening, i.e. preaching the
doctrines of the kingdom of heaven to the Jews, Acts
2:41; and to the Gentiles, Acts
10:44-47;; 11:1;;
15:7.
This mode of expression was frequent
among the Jews: they considered that every thing that was done
upon earth, according to the order of God, was at the same
time done in heaven: hence they were accustomed to say, that
when the priest, on the day of atonement, offered the two
goats upon earth, the same were offered in heaven. As one goat
therefore is permitted to escape on earth, one is permitted to
escape in heaven; and when the priests cast the lots on earth,
the priest also casts the lots in heaven. See Sohar.
Lev. fol. 26; and see Lightfoot and Schoettgen. These
words will receive considerable light from Leviticus
13:3,23: The priest shall look upon him (the leper)
and pronounce him unclean. Hebrew vetime otho,
he shall pollute him, i.e. shall declare him polluted,
from the evidences mentioned before. And in Leviticus
13:23: The priest shall pronounce him clean, vetiharo
hacohen, the priest shall cleanse him, i.e. declare he
is clean, from the evidences mentioned in the verse. In
the one case the priest declared the person infected
with the leprosy, and unfit for civil society;
and, in the other, that the suspected person was clean,
and might safely associate with his fellows in civil or
religious assemblies. The disciples of our Lord, from having
the keys, i.e. the true knowledge of the doctrine of
the kingdom of heaven, should be able at all times to
distinguish between the clean and the unclean, and pronounce
infallible judgment; and this binding and
loosing, or pronouncing fit or unfit for
fellowship with the members of Christ, being
always according to the doctrine of the Gospel of God, should
be considered as proceeding immediately from heaven, and
consequently as Divinely ratified.
Verse 20. Then charged he his
disciples
• AC Top
SRB
JFB
OU
(οις),
, he
strictly charged them. Some very good MSS. have
επετιμησεν, he severely charged-comminatus est,-he
threatened. These are the readings of the Cod.
Bezae, both in the Greek and Latin.
The
common text has Jesus the Christ; but the word
Jesus is omitted by fifty-four MSS., some of which are
not only of the greatest authority, but also of the
greatest antiquity. It is omitted also by the
Syriac, later Persic, later Arabic,
Slavonic, six copies of the Itala, and several of
the fathers. The most eminent critics approve of this
omission, and Griesbach has left it out of the text in both
his editions. I believe the insertion of it here to be wholly
superfluous and improper; for the question is, Who is this
Jesus? Peter answers, He is, οχριστος, the
Messiah. The word Jesus is obviously improper.
What our Lord says here refers to Peter's testimony in Matthew
16:16: Thou art the Christ-Jesus here says, Tell no
man that I am the Christ, i.e. the MESSIAH; as
the time for his full manifestation was not yet come; and he
was not willing to provoke the Jewish malice, or the Roman
envy, by permitting his disciples to announce him as the
Saviour of a lost world. He chose rather to wait, till his
resurrection and ascension had set this truth in the clearest
light, and beyond the power of successful contradiction.
Verse 21.
From that time forth began Jesus, time our Lord had
only spoken of his death in a vague and obscure
manner, see Matthew
12:40, because he would not afflict his disciples with
this matter sooner than necessity required; but now, as the
time of his crucifixion drew nigh, he spoke of his sufferings
and death in the most express and clear terms. Three
sorts of persons, our Lord intimates, should be the cause of
his death and passion: the elders, the chief
priests, and the scribes. Pious Quesnel
takes occasion to observe from this, that Christ is generally
persecuted by these three descriptions of men: rich
men, who have their portion in this life;
ambitious and covetous ecclesiastics, who
seek their portion in this life; and conceited
scholars, who set up their wisdom against the wisdom of
God, being more intent on criticising words than in
providing for the salvation of their souls. The spirit of
Christianity always enables a man to bear the ills of life
with patience; to receive death with joy; and to expect, by
faith, the resurrection of the body, and the life of the world
to come.
• AC Top
SRB
JFB
OU
Verse 22. Then Peter took
him
• AC Top
SRB
JFB
OU
(οις),
-took him
up-suddenly interrupted him, as it were calling him to
order-see Wakefield. Some versions give προσλαβομενος
the sense of calling him aside. The word
signifies also to receive in a friendly manner-to
embrace; but Mr. Wakefield's translation agrees better
with the scope of the place. A man like Peter, who is of an
impetuous spirit, and decides without consideration upon every
subject, must of necessity be often in the wrong.
(οις),
. Be merciful to
thyself Lord: see the margin. Pity thyself So I
think the original should be rendered. Peter knew that Christ
had power sufficient to preserve himself from all the power
and malice of the Jews; and wished him to exert that in his
own behalf which he had often exorted in the behalf of
others. Some critics of great note think the expression
elliptical, and that the word θεος, God, is necessarily
understood, as if Peter had said, God be merciful to
thee! but I think the marginal reading is the sense
of the passage. The French, Italian, and Spanish, render it
the same way. Blind and ignorant man is ever finding fault
with the conduct of God. Human reason cannot comprehend the
incarnation of the Almighty's fellow, 13:7,)
nor reconcile the belief of his divinity with his sufferings
and death. How many Peters are there now in the world,
who are in effect saying, This cannot be done unto
thee-thou didst not give thy life for the sin of the
world-it would be injustice to cause the innocent to suffer
thus for the guilty. But what saith God? His soul shall be
made an offering for sin-he shall taste death
for every man-the iniquities of us all were laid upon
him. Glorious truth! May the God who published it have
eternal praises!
Verse 23. Get thee behind me,
Satan
• AC Top
SRB
JFB
OU
(οις),
. Get behind
me, thou adversary. This is the proper translation of the
Hebrew word Satan, from which the Greek word is taken.
Our blessed Lord certainly never designed that men should
believe he called Peter, DEVIL, because he, through erring
affection, had wished him to avoid that death which he
predicted to himself. This translation, which is literal,
takes away that harshness which before appeared in our
Lord's words.
(οις),
Thou art a
stumbling-block in my way, to impede me in the
accomplishment of the great design.
That is, dost not relish, (οις),
, or, thou dost
not understand or discern the things of God-thou
art wholly taken up with the vain thought that my kingdom is
of this world. He who opposes the doctrine of the
atonement is an adversary and offence to Christ, though
he be as sincere in his profession as Peter himself
was. Let us beware of false friendships. Carnal relatives,
when listened to, may prove the ruin of those whom, through
their mistaken tenderness, they wish to save. When a man is
intent on saving his own soul, his adversaries are
often those of his own household.
Verse 24. Will come after
me
• AC Top
SRB
JFB
OU
i.e. to be my disciple. This discourse
was intended to show Peter and the rest of the disciples the
nature of his kingdom; and that the honour that cometh from
the world was not to be expected by those who followed Christ.
(οις),
may well be
interpreted, Let him deny, or renounce,
himself fully-in all respects- perseveringly. It is
a compounded word, and the preposition απο abundantly
increases the meaning. A follower of Christ will need to
observe it in its utmost latitude of meaning, in order to be
happy here, and glorious hereafter. A man's
self is to him the prime cause of most of his miseries.
See Clarke on Mark
8:34.
Verse 25. For whosoever will save
his life
• AC Top
SRB
JFB
OU
That is, shall wish to
save his life-at the expense of his conscience, and
casting aside the cross, he shall lose it-the very evil
he wishes to avoid shall overtake him; and he shall lose his
soul into the bargain. See then how necessary it is to
renounce one's self! But whatsoever a man loses in this world,
for his steady attachment to Christ and his cause, he shall
have amply made up to him in the eternal world.
Verse 26. Lose his own
soul
• AC Top
SRB
JFB
OU
Or, lose his life, (οις),
. On what authority many have translated the word ψυχη,
in the 25th verse, life, and in this verse,
soul, I know not, but am certain it means life
in both places. If a man should gain the whole world, its
riches, honours, and pleasures, and lose his life, what
would all these profit him, seeing they can only be enjoyed
during life? But if the words be applied to the
soul, they show the difficulty-the
necessity-and importance of salvation. The
world, the devil, and a man's own heart are opposed to his
salvation; therefore it is difficult. The soul was made
for God, and can never be united to him, nor be happy, till
saved from sin: therefore it is necessary. He who is
saved from his sin, and united to God, possesses the utmost
felicity that the human soul can enjoy, either in this or the
coming world: therefore, this salvation is important.
See also Clarke's note on "Lu 9:25".
Verse 27. For the Son of man shall
come in the glory of his Father
• AC Top
SRB
JFB
OU
This
seems to refer to Daniel
7:13,14. "Behold, one like the Son of man came-to the
ancient of Days-and there was given him dominion, and glory,
and a kingdom, that all people, and nations, and languages
should serve him." This was the glorious Mediatorial kingdom
which Jesus Christ was now about to set up, by the destruction
of the Jewish nation and polity, and the diffusion of his
Gospel through the whole world. If the words be taken in this
sense, the angels or messengers may signify the
apostles and their successors in the sacred ministry,
preaching the Gospel in the power of the Holy Ghost. It is
very likely that the words do not apply to the final judgment,
to which they are generally referred; but to the wonderful
display of God's grace and power after the day of pentecost.
Verse 28. There be some-which shall
not taste of death
• Key
This verse seems to
confirm the above explanation, as our Lord evidently speaks of
the establishment of the Christian Church after the day of
pentecost, and its final triumph after the destruction of the
Jewish polity; as if he had said, "Some of you, my disciples,
shall continue to live until these things take place." The
destruction of Jerusalem, and the Jewish economy, which our
Lord here predicts, took place about forty-three years after
this: and some of the persons now with him doubtless survived
that period, and witnessed the extension of the Messiah's
kingdom; and our Lord told them these things before, that when
they came to pass they might be confirmed in the faith, and
expect an exact fulfilment of all the other promises and
prophecies which concerned the extension and support of the
kingdom of Christ.
),
, kingdom, four MSS., later Syriac, Coptic,
Ethiopic, Saxon, and one copy of the Itala, with
several of the primitive fathers, read δοξη, glory: and
to this is added, τουπατροςαυτου, of his Father,
by three MSS. and the versions mentioned before. This makes
the passage a little more conformable to the passage already
quoted from Daniel; and it must appear, very clearly, that the
whole passage speaks not of a future judgment, but of the
destruction of the Jewish polity, and the glorious spread of
Christianity in the earth, by the preaching of Christ
crucified by the apostles and their immediate successors
in the Christian Church.
),
, occurs for the
first time in Matthew
16:18. The word simply means an assembly or
congregation, the nature of which is to be
understood from connecting circumstances; for the word
εκκλησια, as well as the terms congregation and
assembly, may be applied to any concourse of people,
good or bad; gathered together for lawful
or unlawful purposes. Hence, it is used, Acts
19:32, for the mob, or confused rabble,
gathered together against Paul, εκκλησιασυγκεχυμενη, which the
town-clerk distinguished, Acts
19:39, from a lawful assembly, εννομωεκκλεσια. The
Greek word εκκλησια seems to be derived from εκκαλεω, to
call out of, or from, i.e. an assembly gathered
out of a multitude; and must have some other word joined to
it, to determine its nature: viz. the Church of
God; the congregation collected by God, and devoted to
his service. The Church of Christ: the whole company of
Christians wheresoever found; because, by the preaching of the
Gospel, they are called out of the spirit and maxims of
the world, to live according to the precepts of the Christian
religion. This is sometimes called the Catholic or
universal Church, because constituted of all the
professors of Christianity in the world, to whatever
sects or parties they may belong: and hence the
absurdity of applying the term Catholic, which
signifies universal, to that very small portion
of it, the Church of Rome. In primitive times, before
Christians had any stated buildings, they worshipped in
private houses; the people that had been converted to
God meeting together in some one dwelling-house of a
fellow-convert, more convenient and capacious than the rest;
hence the Church that was in the house of Aquila and
Priscilla, Romans
16:3,5, and ; 1 Corinthians
16:19, and the Church that was in the house of
Nymphas, Colossians
4:15. Now, as these houses were dedicated to the worship
of God, each was termed (οις),
kuriou oikos, the
house of the Lord; which word, in process of time,
became contracted into κυριοικ kurioik, and κυριακη,
kuriake; and hence the kirk of our northern
neighbours, and {Anglo-Saxon} kirik of our Saxon
ancestors, from which, by corruption, changing the hard Saxon
c into ch, we have made the word church.
This term, though it be generally used to signify the
people worshipping in a particular place, yet by a
metonymy, the container being put for the
contained, we apply it, as it was originally, to the
building which contains the worshipping people.
SRB = Scofield References
SRB = Introduction
JFB = Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Commentary
JFB = Introduction
AC = Adam Clarke Comentary
AC = Chronology by Adam Clarke
OU = OUtline of St. Matthew
• Burton
Coffman
• Barnes'
New Testament
• Darby's
Synopsis
• Gill's
Exposition
• Geneva
Study Bible
• David
Guzik's Commentaries
• Jamieson,
Fausset, Brown
• Matthew
Henry Complete
• Matthew
Henry Concise
• People's
New Testament
• Robertson's
Word Pictures
• The
Fourfold Gospel
• Treasury
of Scripture
• Wesley's
Explanatory Notes
Copyright Statement
The Adam Clarke Commentary is a derivative of an
electronic edition prepared by GodRules.net.
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary
on Matthew 6". "The Adam Clarke Commentary".
<http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=mt&chapter=016>.
1832.
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