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THE GOSPEL
ACCORDING TO
LUKE
Commentary by DAVID BROWN
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CHAPTER 12
@Lu
12:1-12. WARNING AGAINST HYPOCRISY.
1-3. meantime--in close connection, probably, with
the foregoing scene. Our Lord had been speaking out
more plainly than ever before, as matters were coming to a
head between Him and His enemies, and this seems to have
suggested to His own mind the warning here. He had just
Himself illustriously exemplified His own precepts.
his disciples first of
all--afterwards to "the multitudes" (@Lu
12:54).
covered--from the
view.
2. hid--from knowledge. "Tis no use concealing
anything, for all will one day come out. Give free and
fearless utterance then to all the truth." (Compare @1Co
4:3,5).
4, 5. I say, &c.--You will say, That may cost
us our life. Be it so; but, "My friends, there their
power ends." He calls them "my friends"
here, not in any loose sense, but, as we think, from the
feeling He then had that in this "killing of the
body" He and they were going to be affectingly
one with each other.
5. Fear Him . . . Fear Him--how striking
the repetition here! Only the one fear would
effectually expel the other.
after he hath killed,
&c.--Learn here--(1) To play false with one's
convictions to save one's life, may fail of its end after
all, for God can inflict a violent death in some other and
equally formidable way. (2) There is a hell, it
seems, for the body as well as the soul; consequently,
sufferings adapted to the one as well as the other. (3) Fear
of hell is a divinely authorized and needed motive of
action even to Christ's "friends." (4) As
Christ's meekness and gentleness were not compromised by
such harsh notes as these, so those servants of Christ
lack their Master's spirit who soften down all such
language to please ears "polite." (See on Mr
9:43-48).
6, 7. five . . . for two farthings--In @Mt
10:29 it is "two for one farthing"; so if
one took two farthings' worth, he got one in addition--of
such small value were they.
than many sparrows--not
"than millions of sparrows"; the charm and power
of our Lord's teaching is very much in this simplicity.
8, 9. confess . . . deny--The point lies
in doing it "before men," because one has to do
it "despising the shame." But when done,
the Lord holds Himself bound to repay it in kind by
confessing such "before the angels of God." For
the rest, see on Lu 9:26.
10. Son of man . . . Holy Ghost--(See on
Mt 12:31,32).
@Lu
12:13-53. COVETOUSNESS--WATCHFULNESS--SUPERIORITY TO
EARTHLY TIES.
13. Master, &c.--that is, "Great Preacher
of righteousness, help; there is need of Thee in this
rapacious world; here am I the victim of injustice, and
that from my own brother, who withholds from me my
rightful share of the inheritance that has fallen to
us." In this most inopportune intrusion upon the
solemnities of our Lord's teaching, there is a mixture of
the absurd and the irreverent, the one, however,
occasioning the other. The man had not the least idea that
his case was not of as urgent a nature, and as worthy the
attention of our Lord, as anything else He could deal
with.
14. Man, &c.--Contrast this style of address
with "my friends," (@Lu
12:4).
who, &c.--a
question literally repudiating the office which Moses
assumed (@Ex
2:14). The influence of religious teachers in the
external relations of life has ever been immense, when
only the INDIRECT effect of their teaching; but
whenever they intermeddle DIRECTLY with secular and
political matters, the spell of that influence is broken.
15. unto them--the multitude around Him (@Lu
12:1).
of covetousness--The
best copies have "all," that is, "every
kind of covetousness"; because as this was one of the
more plausible forms of it, so He would strike at once at
the root of the evil.
a man's life,
&c.--a singularly weighty maxim, and not less so
because its meaning and its truth are equally evident.
16-19. a certain rich man, &c.--Why is this man
called a "fool?" (@Lu
12:20) (1) Because he deemed a life of secure and
abundant earthly enjoyment the summit of human felicity.
(2) Because, possessing the means of this, through
prosperity in his calling, he flattered himself that he
had a long lease of such enjoyment, and nothing to do but
give himself up to it. Nothing else is laid to his charge.
20, 21. this night, &c.--This sudden cutting
short of his career is designed to express not only the
folly of building securely upon the future, but of
throwing one's whole soul into what may at any moment be
gone. "Thy soul shall be required of
thee" is put in opposition to his own treatment of
it, "I will say to my soul, Soul,"
&c.
whose shall those things
be, &c.--Compare @Ps
39:6, "He heapeth up riches and knoweth not
who shall gather them."
21. So is he, &c.--Such is a picture of
his folly here, and of its awful issue. and is not rich
toward God--lives to amass and enjoy riches which
terminate on self, but as to the riches of God's
favor, which is life (@Ps
30:5), of "precious" faith (@2Pe
1:1 Jas 2:5), of good works (@1Ti
6:18), of wisdom which is better than rubies (@Pr
8:11)--lives and dies a beggar!
22-31. (See on Mt 6:25-33).
25, 26. which of you, &c.--Corroding solicitude
will not bring you the least of the things ye fret about,
though it may double the evil of wanting them. And if not
the least, why vex yourselves about things of more
consequence?
29. of doubtful, &c.--unsettled mind; put off
your balance.
32. little flock, &c.--How sublime and touching
a contrast between this tender and pitying appellation,
"Little flock" (in the original a double
diminutive, which in German can be expressed, but not in
English)--and the "good pleasure" of the Father
to give them the Kingdom; the one recalling the
insignificance and helplessness of that then literal
handful of disciples, the other holding up to their view
the eternal love that encircled them, the everlasting arms
that were underneath them, and the high inheritance
awaiting them!--"the kingdom"; grand word; then
why not "bread" (@Lu
12:31 [BENGEL]). Well might He say, "Fear
not!"
33, 34. Sell, &c.--This is but a more vivid
expression of @Mt
6:19-21 (see on Mt 6:19-21).
35-40. loins . . . girded--to fasten up
the long outer garment, always done before travel and work
(@2Ki
4:29 Ac 12:8). The meaning is, Be in readiness.
lights,
&c.--(See on Mt 25:1).
36. return from the wedding--not come to it, as in
the parable of the virgins. Both have their spiritual
significance; but preparedness for Christ's coming
is the prominent idea.
37. gird himself, &c.--"a promise the most
august of all: Thus will the Bridegroom entertain his
friends (nay, servants) on the solemn Nuptial Day" [BENGEL].
38. second . . . third watch--To find
them ready to receive Him at any hour of day or night,
when one might least of all expect Him, is peculiarly
blessed. A servant may be truly faithful, even though
taken so far unawares that he has not everything in such
order and readiness for his master's return as he thinks
is due to him, and both could and would have had if he had
had notice of the time of his coming, and so may not be
willing to open to him "immediately," but
fly to preparation, and let his master knock again ere he
admit him, and even then not with full joy. A too
common case this with Christians. But if the servant have
himself and all under his charge in such a state that at
any hour when his master knocks, he can open to him
"immediately," and hail his
"return"--that is the most enviable,
"blessed" servant of all.
41-48. unto us or even to all?--us the Twelve, or
all this vast audience?
42. Who then, &c.--answering the question
indirectly by another question, from which they were left
to gather what it would be:--To you certainly in the first
instance, representing the "stewards" of the
"household" I am about to collect, but generally
to all "servants" in My house.
faithful and wise--Fidelity
is the first requisite in a servant, wisdom
(discretion and judgment in the exercise of his
functions), the next.
steward--house
steward, whose it was to distribute to the servants their
allotted portion of food.
shall make--will
deem fit to be made.
44. make him ruler over all he hath--will advance
him to the highest post, referring to the world to come.
(See @Mt
25:21,23).
45. begin to beat, &c.--In the confidence that
his Lord's return will not be speedy, he throws off the
role of servant and plays the master, maltreating those
faithful servants who refuse to join him, seizing on and
revelling in the fulness of his master's board; intending,
when he has got his fill, to resume the mask of fidelity
ere his master appear.
46. cut him in sunder--a punishment not unknown in
the East; compare @Heb
11:37, "sawn asunder" (@1Sa
15:33 Da 2:5).
the unbelievers--the
unfaithful, those unworthy of trust (@Mt
24:51), "the hypocrites," falsely calling
themselves "servants."
48. knew not--that is knew but partially;
for some knowledge is presupposed both in the name
"servant" of Christ, and his being liable to
punishment at all.
many . . . few
stripes--degrees of future punishment proportioned to
the knowledge sinned against. Even heathens are not
without knowledge enough for future judgment; but the
reference here is not to such. It is a solemn truth, and
though general, like all other revelations of the
future world, discloses a tangible and momentous principle
in its awards.
49-53. to send--cast.
fire--"the
higher spiritual element of life which Jesus came to
introduce into this earth (compare @Mt
3:11), with reference to its mighty effects in
quickening all that is akin to it and destroying all
that is opposed. To cause this element of life to take
up its abode on earth, and wholly to pervade human hearts
with its warmth, was the lofty destiny of the
Redeemer" [OLSHAUSEN: so CALVIN, STIER, ALFORD,
&c.].
what will I,
&c.--an obscure expression, uttered under deep and
half-smothered emotion. In its general import all are
agreed; but the nearest to the precise meaning seems to
be, "And what should I have to desire if it were once
already kindled?" [BENGEL and BLOOMFIELD].
50. But . . . a baptism,
&c.--clearly, His own bloody baptism, first to take
place.
how . . .
straitened--not, "how do I long for its
accomplishment," as many understand it, thus making
it but a repetition of @Lu
12:49; but "what a pressure of spirit is upon
Me."
till it be accomplished--till
it be over. Before a promiscuous audience, such obscure
language was fit on a theme like this; but oh, what surges
of mysterious emotion in the view of what was now so near
at hand does it reveal!
51. peace . . . ? Nay, &c.--the
reverse of peace, in the first instance. (See on Mt
10:34-36.) The connection of all this with the foregoing
warnings about hypocrisy, covetousness, and watchfulness,
is deeply solemn: "My conflict hasten apace; Mine
over, yours begins; and then, let the servants tread in
their Master's steps, uttering their testimony entire and
fearless, neither loving nor dreading the world,
anticipating awful wrenches of the dearest ties in life,
but looking forward, as I do, to the completion of their
testimony, when, reaching the haven after the tempest,
they shall enter into the joy of their Lord."
@Lu
12:54-59. NOT DISCERNING THE SIGNS OF THE TIME.
54. to the people--"the multitude," a
word of special warning to the thoughtless crowd, before
dismissing them. (See on Mt 16:2,3).
56. how . . . not discern,
&c.--unable to perceive what a critical period that
was for the Jewish Church.
57. why even of yourselves, &c.--They might
say, To do this requires more knowledge of Scripture and
providence than we possess; but He sends them to their own
conscience, as enough to show them who He was, and win
them to immediate discipleship.
58. When thou goest, &c.--(See on Mt 5:25,26).
The urgency of the case with them, and the necessity,
for their own safety, of immediate decision, was the
object of these striking words.
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