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THE GOSPEL
ACCORDING TO
LUKE
Commentary by DAVID BROWN
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CHAPTER 19
@Lu
19:1-10. ZACCHEUS THE PUBLICAN.
The name is Jewish.
2-4. chief among the publicans--farming a
considerable district, with others under him.
rich--Ill-gotten
riches some of it certainly was. (See on Lu 19:8.)
3. who he was--what sort of person. Curiosity
then was his only motive, though his determination not to
be baulked was overruled for more than he sought.
4. sycamore--the Egyptian fig, with leaves like the
mulberry.
5, 6. looked up,--in the full knowledge of who was
in the tree, and preparatory to addressing him.
Zaccheus--whom he
had never seen in the flesh, nor probably heard of.
"He calleth His own sheep by name and leadeth
them out" (@Joh
10:3).
make haste, and come
down--to which he literally responded--"he made
haste and came down."
for to-day,
&c.--Our Lord invites Himself, and in
"royal" style, which waits not for invitations,
but as the honor is done to the subject, not the
sovereign, announces the purpose of royalty to partake of
the subject's hospitalities. Manifestly our Lord speaks as
knowing how the privilege would be appreciated.
to-day . . .
abide--(Compare @Joh
1:39), probably over night.
6. joyfully--Whence this so sudden "joy"
in the cold bosom of an avaricious publican? The internal
revolution was as perfect as instantaneous. "He spake
and it was done." "Then shall the lame man leap
as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing" (@Isa
35:6).
7. to be guest--or lodge: something more
than "eating with" such (@Lu
15:2).
a sinner--that was
one but a minute ago, but now is not. This mighty change,
however, was all unknown to them. But they shall know it
presently. "Sinner" would refer both to his
office, vile in the eyes of a Jew, and to his character,
which it is evident was not good.
8-10. stood--before all.
said unto the Lord,
Behold, Lord--Mark how frequently Luke uses this
title, and always where lordly authority, dignity,
or power is intended.
if I have--that is,
"so far as I have," for evidently the
"if" is so used (as in @Php
4:8).
taken by false
accusation--defrauded, overcharged (@Lu
3:12,13).
fourfold--The Roman
law required this; the Jewish law, but the principal and a
fifth more (@Nu
5:7). There was no demand made for either; but,
as if to revenge himself on his hitherto reigning sin (see
on Joh 20:28), and to testify the change he had
experienced, besides surrendering the half of his fair
gains to the poor, he voluntarily determines to give up
all that was ill-gotten, quadrupled. He gratefully
addressed this to the "Lord," to whom he owed
the wonderful change.
9. Jesus said unto him--but also before all.
This day,
&c.--memorable saying! Salvation already come, but not
a day old.
to this house--so
expressed probably to meet the taunt, "He is gone to
be guest," &c. The house is no longer polluted;
it is now fit to receive Me. But salvation to a house
is an exceedingly precious idea, expressing the new air
that would henceforth breathe in it, and the new impulses
from its head which would reach its members (@Ps
118:15 Ac 16:15,16,31).
son of Abraham--He
was that by birth, but here it means a partaker of his faith,
being mentioned as the sufficient explanation of salvation
having come to him.
10. lost--and such "lost" ones as this
Zaccheus. (See on Lu 15:32.) What encouragement is there
in this narrative to hope for unexpected conversions?
@Lu
19:11-27. PARABLE OF THE POUNDS.
A different parable from that of the Talents (@Mt
25:14-30). For, (1) This parable was spoken "when
He was nigh to Jerusalem" (@Lu
19:11); that one, some days after entering it, and
from the Mount of Olives. (2) This parable was spoken to
the promiscuous crowd; that, to the Twelve alone.
Accordingly, (3) Besides the "servants" in this
parable, who profess subjection to Him, there is a class
of "citizens" who refuse to own Him, and who are
treated differently, whereas in the parable of the
talents, spoken to the former class alone, this
latter class is omitted. (4) In the Talents, each servant
receives a different number of them (five, two, one); in
the Pounds all receive the same one pound, which is but
about the sixtieth part of a talent; also, in the talents,
each shows the same fidelity by doubling what he received
(the five are made ten; the two, four); in the Pounds,
each receiving the same, render a different return
(one making his pound ten, another five). Plainly,
therefore, the intended lesson is different; the one
illustrating equal fidelity with different degrees of
advantage; the other, different degrees of
improvement of the same opportunities; yet with all
this difference, the parables are remarkably similar.
12. a far country--said to put down the notion that
He was just on His way to set up His kingdom, and to
inaugurate it by His personal presence.
to receive . . .
a kingdom--be invested with royalty; as when Herod
went to Rome and was there made king; a striking
expression of what our Lord went away for and received,
"sitting down at the right hand of the Majesty on
high."
to return--at His
second coming.
13. Occupy--"negotiate," "do
business," with the resources entrusted.
14. his citizens--His proper subjects; meaning the
Jews, who expressly repudiating our Lord's claims said,
"We have no king but Cæsar" (@Joh
19:15). In Christendom, these correspond to infidel
rejecters of Christianity, as distinguished from professed
Christians.
15-26. (See on Mt 25:19-29.)
ten . . . five
cities--different degrees of future gracious reward,
proportioned to the measure of present fidelity.
27. bring hither, &c.--(Compare @1Sa
15:32,33). Referring to the awful destruction of
Jerusalem, but pointing to the final destruction of all
that are found in open rebellion against Christ.
@Lu
19:28-44. CHRIST'S TRIUMPHANT ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM AND
TEARS OVER IT.
(See on Mt 21:1-11.)
29-38. Bethphage--"house of figs," a
village which with Bethany lay along the further side of
Mount Olivet, east of Jerusalem.
30. whereon, &c.--(See on Joh 19:41).
31. the Lord hath need, &c.--He both knew all
and had the key of the human heart. (See on Lu 19:5.)
Perhaps the owner was a disciple.
35. set Jesus on--He allowing this, as befitting
the state He was for the first and only time
assuming.
37. whole multitude, &c.--The language here is
very grand, intended to express a burst of admiration far
wider and deeper than ever had been witnessed before.
38. Blessed be the King, &c.--Mark (@Mr
11:9,10) more fully, "Hosanna," that is,
"Save now," the words of @Ps
118:25, which were understood to refer to Messiah; and
so they add, "to the Son of David, blessed is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord (@Ps
118:26), Hosanna in the highest." This was the
very loftiest style in which He could be saluted as the
promised Deliverer.
peace, &c.--(See
on Lu 2:13,14).
40. the stones, &c.--Hitherto the Lord had
discouraged all demonstrations in His favor; latterly He
had begun an opposite course; on this one occasion
He seems to yield His whole soul to the wide and deep
acclaim with a mysterious satisfaction, regarding it as so
necessary a part of the regal dignity in which as
Messiah He for this last time entered the city, that if
not offered by the vast multitude, it would have been wrung
out of the stones rather than be withheld (@Hab
2:11).
41-44. when beheld . . . wept--Compare @La
3:51, "Mine eye affecteth mine heart"; the
heart again affecting the eye. Under this sympathetic law
of the relation of mind and body, Jesus, in His beautiful,
tender humanity, was constituted even as we. What a
contrast to the immediately preceding profound joy! He
yielded Himself alike freely to both. (See on Mt
23:37.)
42. at least in this, &c.--even at this moving
moment. (See on Lu
13:9.)
thy peace--thinking
perhaps of the name of the city. (@Heb
7:2) [WEBSTER and WILKINSON]. How much is included in
this word!
now . . . hid--It
was His among His last open efforts to "gather
them," but their eyes were judicially closed.
43. a trench--a rampart; first of wood, and when
this was burnt, a built wall, four miles in circuit, built
in three days--so determined were they. This "cut off
all hope of escape," and consigned the city to
unparalleled horrors. (See JOSEPHUS, Wars of the Jews,
6.2; 12.3,4.) All here predicted was with dreadful
literally fulfilled.
@Lu
19:45-48. SECOND CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE AND
SUBSEQUENT TEACHING.
45, 46. As the first cleansing was on His
first visit to Jerusalem (@Joh
2:13-22), so this second cleansing was on His last.
den of thieves--banded
together for plunder, reckless of principle. The mild term
"house of merchandise," used on the former
occasion, was now unsuitable.
47. sought--continued seeking, that is, daily, as
He taught.
48. were very attentive to hear him--hung upon His
words.
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