THE GOSPEL
ACCORDING TO
LUKE
Commentary by DAVID BROWN
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CHAPTER 6
@Lu
6:1-5. PLUCKING CORN-EARS ON THE SABBATH.
(See on Mt 12:1-8 and @Mr
2:23-28.)
1. second sabbath after the first--an obscure
expression, occurring here only, generally understood to
mean, the first sabbath after the second day of unleavened
bread. The reasons cannot be stated here, nor is the
opinion itself quite free from difficulty.
5. Lord also--rather "even" (as in @Mt
12:8).
of the sabbath--as
naked a claim to all the authority of Him who gave the
law at Mount Sinai as could possibly be made; that is,
"I have said enough to vindicate the men ye carp at
on My account: but in this place is the Lord of the
law, and they have His sanction." (See @Mr
2:28.)
@Lu
6:6-11. WITHERED HAND HEALED.
(See on Mt 12:9-15 and @Mr
3:1-7.)
7. watched whether, &c.--In Matthew (@Mt
12:9) this is put as an ensnaring question of theirs
to our Lord, who accordingly speaks to the state of
their hearts (@Lu
6:9), just as if they had spoken it out.
9. good, or . . . evil, save . . .
or destroy--By this novel way of putting His case, our
Lord teaches the great ethical principle, that to
neglect any opportunity of doing good is to incur the
guilt of doing evil; and by this law He bound His own
spirit. (See @Mr
3:4.)
11. filled with madness--The word denotes senseless
rage at the confusion to which our Lord had put them, both
by word and deed.
what . . . do
to Jesus--not so much whether to get rid of
Him, but how to compass it. (See on Mt 3:6.)
@Lu
6:12-49. THE TWELVE APOSTLES CHOSEN--GATHERING
MULTITUDES--GLORIOUS HEALING.
12, 13. went out--probably from Capernaum.
all night in prayer . . .
and when . . . day, he called, &c.--The
work with which the next day began shows what had
been the burden of this night's devotions. As He
directed His disciples to pray for "laborers"
just before sending themselves forth (see on Mt 9:37; Mt
10:1), so here we find the Lord Himself in prolonged
communion with His Father in preparation for the solemn
appointment of those men who were to give birth to His
Church, and from whom the world in all time was to take a
new mould. How instructive is this!
13-16. (See on Mt 10:2-4.)
17. in the plain--by some rendered "on a level
place," that is, a piece of high tableland, by which
they understand the same thing, as "on the
mountain," where our Lord delivered the sermon
recorded by Matthew (@Mt
5:1), of which they take this following discourse of
Luke to be but an abridged form. But as the sense given in
our version is the more accurate, so there are weighty
reasons for considering the discourses different. This one
contains little more than a fourth of the other; it has
woes of its own, as well as the beatitudes common to both;
but above all, that of Matthew was plainly delivered a
good while before, while this was spoken after
the choice of the twelve; and as we know that our Lord
delivered some of His weightiest sayings more than once,
there is no difficulty in supposing this to be one of His
more extended repetitions; nor could anything be more
worthy of it.
19. healed--kept healing, denoting successive acts
of mercy till it went over "all" that
needed. There is something unusually grand and pictorial
in this touch of description.
20, 21. In the Sermon on the Mount the benediction
is pronounced upon the "poor in spirit"
and those who "hunger and thirst after
righteousness" (@Mt
5:3,6). Here it is simply on the "poor" and
the "hungry now." In this form of the discourse,
then, our Lord seems to have had in view "the poor
of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom
which God hath promised to them that love Him," as
these very beatitudes are paraphrased by James (@Jas
2:5).
21. laugh--How charming is the liveliness of this
word, to express what in Matthew is called being
"comforted!"
22. separate you--whether from their Church,
by excommunication, or from their society; both hard to
flesh and blood.
for the Son of man's
sake--Compare @Mt
5:11, "for MY SAKE"; and immediately before,
"for righteousness' sake" (@Lu
6:10). Christ thus binds up the cause of
righteousness in the world with the reception of Himself.
23. leap for joy--a livelier word than "be
exceeding glad" of "exult" (@Mt
5:12).
24, 25. rich . . . full . . . laugh--who
have all their good things and joyous feelings here and
now, in perishable objects.
received your
consolation--(see on Lu 16:25).
shall hunger--their
inward craving strong as ever, but the materials of
satisfaction forever gone.
26. all . . . speak well of you--alluding
to the court paid to the false prophets of old (@Mic
2:11). For the principle of this woe, and its proper
limits, see @Joh
15:19.
27-36. (See on Mt 5:44-48; Mt 7:12; and Mt
14:12-14.)
37, 38. See on Mt 7:1,2; but this is much fuller
and more graphic.
39. Can the blind, &c.--not in the Sermon on
the Mount, but recorded by Matthew in another and very
striking connection (@Mt
15:14).
40. The disciple, &c.--that is, "The
disciple aims to come up to his master, and he thinks
himself complete when he does so: if you then be blind
leaders of the blind, the perfection of one's training
under you will only land him the more certainly in one
common ruin with yourselves."
41-49. (See on Mt 7:3-5, Mt 7:16-27.)
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