The Upper Room Daily Reflections in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "Lenten Invitation" for Thursday, 2 March 2017
Today’s Reflection:
LENT SERVES AS OUR ANNUAL INVITATION to come closer to God. It provides a time to look at our lives and ourselves, not so that we may criticize ourselves more harshly but so we can identify the obstructions that keep us from God.
What keeps us from feeling the presence of the divine in our every day? How do we hide from God, and why?
Lent gives us a chance to look at such obstructions and to move them gently away so that we can come closer to the Love that gives us life, the Love whose triumph we will celebrate on Easter morning.[Sarah Parsons, A Clearing Season: Reflections for Lent]
From page 8 of A Clearing Season: Reflections for Lent by Sarah Parsons. Copyright © 2005 by Sarah Parsons. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
How are you answering the Lenten invitation this season?
Today’s Scripture:
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.[Psalm 32:11, NRSV]
This Week: pray to discern God’s call.
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The Upper Room Daily Reflections in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "Have I Loved Well?" for Wednesday, 1 March 2017
In need of prayer? The Upper Room Living Prayer Center is a 7-day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry staffed by trained volunteers. Call 1-800-251-2468 or visit The Living Prayer Center website.
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This week we remember: David of Wales (March 1).
LENT SERVES AS OUR ANNUAL INVITATION to come closer to God. It provides a time to look at our lives and ourselves, not so that we may criticize ourselves more harshly but so we can identify the obstructions that keep us from God.
What keeps us from feeling the presence of the divine in our every day? How do we hide from God, and why?
Lent gives us a chance to look at such obstructions and to move them gently away so that we can come closer to the Love that gives us life, the Love whose triumph we will celebrate on Easter morning.[Sarah Parsons, A Clearing Season: Reflections for Lent]
From page 8 of A Clearing Season: Reflections for Lent by Sarah Parsons. Copyright © 2005 by Sarah Parsons. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
How are you answering the Lenten invitation this season?
Today’s Scripture:
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.[Psalm 32:11, NRSV]
This Week: pray to discern God’s call.
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The Upper Room Daily Reflections in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "Have I Loved Well?" for Wednesday, 1 March 2017
Today’s Reflection:
JOHN MOGABGAB, a Christian writer, has come to see that success in this world will boil down to a single, simple, and disturbingly profound question: Have I loved well? Truly loving well means different things to different people, but it always involves an element of sacrifice. the Cross reminds us of the sacrifice Jesus made by giving his life for those whom God loved so much.
Take a few moments to ask yourself the following questions. Answer each one as if you see Jesus sitting beside you. Next, ask Jesus to speak to you about your responses.
• How has God’s sacrificial love affected my life?
• Does God see me as one who loves well?
• How may I have failed to love God or others sacrificially?
• How is God calling me to a sacrificial love right now?[Gerrie L. Grimsley and Jane J. Young, Contemplative by Design]
From page 75 of Contemplative by Design: Creating Quiet Spaces for Retreats, Workshops, Churches, and Personal Settings by Gerrie L. Grimsley and Jane J. Young. Copyright © 2008 by Gerrie L. Grimsley and Jane J. Young. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
Spend time with the questions above. What answers come to mind?
Today’s Scripture:
You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah[Psalm 32:7, NRSV]
This Week: pray to discern God’s call.
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Did You Know?JOHN MOGABGAB, a Christian writer, has come to see that success in this world will boil down to a single, simple, and disturbingly profound question: Have I loved well? Truly loving well means different things to different people, but it always involves an element of sacrifice. the Cross reminds us of the sacrifice Jesus made by giving his life for those whom God loved so much.
Take a few moments to ask yourself the following questions. Answer each one as if you see Jesus sitting beside you. Next, ask Jesus to speak to you about your responses.
• How has God’s sacrificial love affected my life?
• Does God see me as one who loves well?
• How may I have failed to love God or others sacrificially?
• How is God calling me to a sacrificial love right now?[Gerrie L. Grimsley and Jane J. Young, Contemplative by Design]
From page 75 of Contemplative by Design: Creating Quiet Spaces for Retreats, Workshops, Churches, and Personal Settings by Gerrie L. Grimsley and Jane J. Young. Copyright © 2008 by Gerrie L. Grimsley and Jane J. Young. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
Spend time with the questions above. What answers come to mind?
Today’s Scripture:
You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah[Psalm 32:7, NRSV]
This Week: pray to discern God’s call.
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In need of prayer? The Upper Room Living Prayer Center is a 7-day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry staffed by trained volunteers. Call 1-800-251-2468 or visit The Living Prayer Center website.
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This week we remember: David of Wales (March 1).
David of WalesMarch 01
As popular as he has been for centuries, there is little proven fact about David of Wales' life. According to legend, David (also called Dafydd, Degui, Dmui and Dewi) was the son of King Sant of South Wales. He founded the monastery of Mynyw (Menevia) in Pembrokeshire and became its abbot and bishop. David is credited for spreading Christianity throughout Wales much as Patrick did in Ireland.
One story says that when David saw a vision, he set out for Jerusalem with two other monks with the goal of converting non-Christians. While he was there on a preaching mission, a dove descended on him to show how God blessed him.
More than fifty pre-Reformation churches in south Wales are dedicated to David, who has been the patron saint of Wales since the twelfth century. In statues and artwork he is often shown with a dove.
If David of Wales had taken the Spiritual Types Test, he probably would have been a Sage. David of Wales is remembered on March 1.
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Lectionary Readings:
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Ash Wednesday, 1 March 2017
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Psalm 51:1-17
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
First Sunday in Lent, Year A, 5 March 2017
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Psalm 119:33-40
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9
Matthew 4:1-11
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Psalm 51:1-17
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
First Sunday in Lent, Year A, 5 March 2017
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Psalm 119:33-40
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9
Matthew 4:1-11
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Scripture Text: Ash Wednesday, 1 March 2017
Joel 2:1 “Blow the shofar in Tziyon!
Sound an alarm on my holy mountain!”
Let all living in the land tremble,
for the Day of Adonai is coming! It’s upon us! —
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick fog;
a great and mighty horde is spreading
like blackness over the mountains.
There has never been anything like it,
nor will there ever be again,
not even after the years
of many generations.
12 “Yet even now,” says Adonai,
“turn to me with all your heart,
with fasting, weeping and lamenting.”
13 Tear your heart, not your garments;
and turn to Adonai your God.
For he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to anger, rich in grace,
and willing to change his mind about disaster.
14 Who knows? He may turn, change his mind
and leave a blessing behind him,
[enough for] grain offerings and drink offerings
to present to Adonai your God.
15 “Blow the shofar in Tziyon!
Proclaim a holy fast,
call for a solemn assembly.”
16 Gather the people; consecrate the congregation;
assemble the leaders; gather the children,
even infants sucking at the breast;
let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride the bridal chamber.
17 Let the cohanim, who serve Adonai,
stand weeping between the vestibule and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, Adonai!
Don’t expose your heritage to mockery,
or make them a byward among the Goyim.
Why should the peoples say, ‘Where is their God?’”
Psalm 51:1 (0) For the leader. A psalm of David, 2 when Natan the prophet came to him after his affair with Bat-Sheva:
3 (1) God, in your grace, have mercy on me;
in your great compassion, blot out my crimes.
4 (2) Wash me completely from my guilt,
and cleanse me from my sin.
5 (3) For I know my crimes,
my sin confronts me all the time.
6 (4) Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil from your perspective;
so that you are right in accusing me
and justified in passing sentence.
7 (5) True, I was born guilty,
was a sinner from the moment my mother conceived me.
8 (6) Still, you want truth in the inner person;
so make me know wisdom in my inmost heart.
9 (7) Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
10 (8) Let me hear the sound of joy and gladness,
so that the bones you crushed can rejoice.
11 (9) Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my crimes.
12 (10) Create in me a clean heart, God;
renew in me a resolute spirit.
13 (11) Don’t thrust me away from your presence,
don’t take your Ruach Kodesh away from me.
14 (12) Restore my joy in your salvation,
and let a willing spirit uphold me.
15 (13) Then I will teach the wicked your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
16 (14) Rescue me from the guilt of shedding blood,
God, God of my salvation!
Then my tongue will sing
about your righteousness —
17 (15) Adonai, open my lips;
then my mouth will praise you.
2 Corinthians 5:20 Therefore we are ambassadors of the Messiah; in effect, God is making his appeal through us. What we do is appeal on behalf of the Messiah, “Be reconciled to God! 21 God made this sinless man be a sin offering on our behalf, so that in union with him we might fully share in God’s righteousness.”
6:1 As God’s fellow-workers we also urge you not to receive his grace and then do nothing with it. 2 For he says,
“At the acceptable time I heard you;
in the day of salvation I helped you.”[2 Corinthians 6:2 Isaiah 49:8]
3 We try not to put obstacles in anyone’s path, so that no one can find fault with the work we do. 4 On the contrary, we try to commend ourselves in every way as workers for God by continually enduring troubles, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, overwork, lack of sleep and food. 6 We commend ourselves by our purity, knowledge, patience and kindness; by the Ruach HaKodesh; by genuineness of love 7 and truthfulness of speech; and by God’s power. We commend ourselves through our use of righteous weapons, whether for pressing our cause or defending it; 8 through being honored and dishonored, praised and blamed, considered deceptive and sincere, 9 unknown and famous. And we commend ourselves as God’s workers headed for death, yet look! we’re alive! as punished, yet not killed; 10 as having reason to be sad, yet always filled with joy; as poor, yet making many people rich; as having nothing, yet having everything!
Matthew 6:1 “Be careful not to parade your acts of tzedakah in front of people in order to be seen by them! If you do, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So, when you do tzedakah, don’t announce it with trumpets to win people’s praise, like the hypocrites in the synagogues and on the streets. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 3 But you, when you do tzedakah, don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Then your tzedakah will be in secret; and your Father, who sees what you do in secret, will reward you.
5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites, who love to pray standing in the synagogues and on street corners, so that people can see them. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
16 “Now when you fast, don’t go around looking miserable, like the hypocrites. They make sour faces so that people will know they are fasting. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 17 But you, when you fast, wash your face and groom yourself, 18 so that no one will know you are fasting — except your Father, who is with you in secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves wealth here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and burglars break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up for yourselves wealth in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and burglars do not break in or steal. 21 For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also.
First Sunday in Lent, Year A, 5 March 2017
Genesis 2:15 Adonai, God, took the person and put him in the garden of ‘Eden to cultivate and care for it. 16 Adonai, God, gave the person this order: “You may freely eat from every tree in the garden 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You are not to eat from it, because on the day that you eat from it, it will become certain that you will die.”
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any wild animal which Adonai, God, had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You are not to eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat from the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3 but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, ‘You are neither to eat from it nor touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “It is not true that you will surely die; 5 because God knows that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it had a pleasing appearance and that the tree was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her; and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together to make themselves loincloths.
Psalm 119:ה (Heh)
33 Teach me, Adonai, the way of your laws;
keeping them will be its own reward for me.
34 Give me understanding; then I will keep your Torah;
I will observe it with all my heart.
35 Guide me on the path of your mitzvot,
for I take pleasure in it.
36 Bend my heart toward your instructions
and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
with your ways, give me life.
38 Fulfill your promise, which you made to your servant,
which you made to those who fear you.
39 Avert the disgrace which I dread,
for your rulings are good.
40 See how I long for your precepts;
in your righteousness, give me life!
Psalm 32:(0) By David. A maskil:
(1) How blessed are those whose offense is forgiven,
those whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed those to whom Adonai imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away
because of my groaning all day long;
4 day and night your hand was heavy on me;
the sap in me dried up as in a summer drought. (Selah)
5 When I acknowledged my sin to you,
when I stopped concealing my guilt,
and said, “I will confess my offenses to Adonai”;
then you, you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Selah)
6 This is what everyone faithful should pray
at a time when you can be found.
Then, when the floodwaters are raging,
they will not reach to him.
7 You are a hiding-place for me,
you will keep me from distress;
you will surround me
with songs of deliverance. (Selah)
8 “I will instruct and teach you
in this way that you are to go;
I will give you counsel;
my eyes will be watching you.”
9 Don’t be like a horse or mule
that has no understanding,
that has to be curbed with bit and bridle,
or else it won’t come near you.
10 Many are the torments of the wicked,
but grace surrounds those who trust in Adonai.
11 Be glad in Adonai; rejoice, you righteous!
Shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Romans 5:12 Here is how it works: it was through one individual that sin entered the world, and through sin, death; and in this way death passed through to the whole human race, inasmuch as everyone sinned. 13 Sin was indeed present in the world before Torah was given, but sin is not counted as such when there is no Torah. 14 Nevertheless death ruled from Adam until Moshe, even over those whose sinning was not exactly like Adam’s violation of a direct command. In this, Adam prefigured the one who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the offence. For if, because of one man’s offence, many died, then how much more has God’s grace, that is, the gracious gift of one man, Yeshua the Messiah, overflowed to many! 16 No, the free gift is not like what resulted from one man’s sinning; for from one sinner came judgment that brought condemnation; but the free gift came after many offences and brought acquittal. 17 For if, because of the offence of one man, death ruled through that one man; how much more will those receiving the overflowing grace, that is, the gift of being considered righteous, rule in life through the one man Yeshua the Messiah!
18 In other words, just as it was through one offence that all people came under condemnation, so also it is through one righteous act that all people come to be considered righteous. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man, many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the other man, many will be made righteous.
2 Peter 1:16 For when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, we did not rely on cunningly contrived myths. On the contrary, we saw his majesty with our own eyes. 17 For we were there when he received honor and glory from God the Father; and the voice came to him from the grandeur of the Sh’khinah, saying, “This is my son, whom I love; I am well pleased with him!” 18 We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.
19 Yes, we have the prophetic Word made very certain. You will do well to pay attention to it as to a light shining in a dark, murky place, until the Day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all, understand this: no prophecy of Scripture is to be interpreted by an individual on his own; 21 for never has a prophecy come as a result of human willing — on the contrary, people moved by the Ruach HaKodesh spoke a message from God.
Matthew 17:1 Six days later, Yeshua took Kefa, Ya‘akov and his brother Yochanan and led them up a high mountain privately. 2 As they watched, he began to change form — his face shone like the sun, and his clothing became as white as light. 3 Then they looked and saw Moshe and Eliyahu speaking with him. 4 Kefa said to Yeshua, “It’s good that we’re here, Lord. I’ll put up three shelters if you want — one for you, one for Moshe and one for Eliyahu.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them; and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!” 6 When the talmidim heard this, they were so frightened that they fell face down on the ground. 7 But Yeshua came and touched them. “Get up!” he said, “Don’t be afraid.” 8 So they opened their eyes, looked up and saw only Yeshua by himself.
9 As they came down the mountain, Yeshua ordered them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Matthew 4:1 Then the Spirit led Yeshua up into the wilderness to be tempted by the Adversary. 2 After Yeshua had fasted forty days and nights, he was hungry. 3 The Tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, order these stones to become bread.” 4 But he answered, “The Tanakh says,
‘Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of Adonai’”[Matthew 4:4 Deuteronomy 8:3]
5 Then the Adversary took him to the holy city and set him on the highest point of the Temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “jump! For the Tanakh says,
‘He will order his angels to be responsible for you. . . .
They will support you with their hands,
so that you will not hurt your feet on the stones.’”[Matthew 4:6 Psalm 91:11–12]
7 Yeshua replied to him, “But it also says, ‘Do not put Adonai your God to the test.’”[Matthew 4:7 Deuteronomy 6:16]
8 Once more, the Adversary took him up to the summit of a very high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their glory, 9 and said to him, “All this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 “Away with you, Satan!” Yeshua told him, “For the Tanakh says,
‘Worship Adonai your God, and serve only him.’” [Matthew 4:10 Deuteronomy 6:13–14]
11 Then the Adversary let him alone, and angels came and took care of him.
John Wesley's Notes-Commentary: Ash Wednesday, 1 March 2017
Joel 2:1 “Blow the shofar in Tziyon!
Sound an alarm on my holy mountain!”
Let all living in the land tremble,
for the Day of Adonai is coming! It’s upon us! —
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick fog;
a great and mighty horde is spreading
like blackness over the mountains.
There has never been anything like it,
nor will there ever be again,
not even after the years
of many generations.
12 “Yet even now,” says Adonai,
“turn to me with all your heart,
with fasting, weeping and lamenting.”
13 Tear your heart, not your garments;
and turn to Adonai your God.
For he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to anger, rich in grace,
and willing to change his mind about disaster.
14 Who knows? He may turn, change his mind
and leave a blessing behind him,
[enough for] grain offerings and drink offerings
to present to Adonai your God.
15 “Blow the shofar in Tziyon!
Proclaim a holy fast,
call for a solemn assembly.”
16 Gather the people; consecrate the congregation;
assemble the leaders; gather the children,
even infants sucking at the breast;
let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride the bridal chamber.
17 Let the cohanim, who serve Adonai,
stand weeping between the vestibule and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, Adonai!
Don’t expose your heritage to mockery,
or make them a byward among the Goyim.
Why should the peoples say, ‘Where is their God?’”
Psalm 51:1 (0) For the leader. A psalm of David, 2 when Natan the prophet came to him after his affair with Bat-Sheva:
3 (1) God, in your grace, have mercy on me;
in your great compassion, blot out my crimes.
4 (2) Wash me completely from my guilt,
and cleanse me from my sin.
5 (3) For I know my crimes,
my sin confronts me all the time.
6 (4) Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil from your perspective;
so that you are right in accusing me
and justified in passing sentence.
7 (5) True, I was born guilty,
was a sinner from the moment my mother conceived me.
8 (6) Still, you want truth in the inner person;
so make me know wisdom in my inmost heart.
9 (7) Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
10 (8) Let me hear the sound of joy and gladness,
so that the bones you crushed can rejoice.
11 (9) Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my crimes.
12 (10) Create in me a clean heart, God;
renew in me a resolute spirit.
13 (11) Don’t thrust me away from your presence,
don’t take your Ruach Kodesh away from me.
14 (12) Restore my joy in your salvation,
and let a willing spirit uphold me.
15 (13) Then I will teach the wicked your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
16 (14) Rescue me from the guilt of shedding blood,
God, God of my salvation!
Then my tongue will sing
about your righteousness —
17 (15) Adonai, open my lips;
then my mouth will praise you.
2 Corinthians 5:20 Therefore we are ambassadors of the Messiah; in effect, God is making his appeal through us. What we do is appeal on behalf of the Messiah, “Be reconciled to God! 21 God made this sinless man be a sin offering on our behalf, so that in union with him we might fully share in God’s righteousness.”
6:1 As God’s fellow-workers we also urge you not to receive his grace and then do nothing with it. 2 For he says,
“At the acceptable time I heard you;
in the day of salvation I helped you.”[2 Corinthians 6:2 Isaiah 49:8]
3 We try not to put obstacles in anyone’s path, so that no one can find fault with the work we do. 4 On the contrary, we try to commend ourselves in every way as workers for God by continually enduring troubles, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, overwork, lack of sleep and food. 6 We commend ourselves by our purity, knowledge, patience and kindness; by the Ruach HaKodesh; by genuineness of love 7 and truthfulness of speech; and by God’s power. We commend ourselves through our use of righteous weapons, whether for pressing our cause or defending it; 8 through being honored and dishonored, praised and blamed, considered deceptive and sincere, 9 unknown and famous. And we commend ourselves as God’s workers headed for death, yet look! we’re alive! as punished, yet not killed; 10 as having reason to be sad, yet always filled with joy; as poor, yet making many people rich; as having nothing, yet having everything!
Matthew 6:1 “Be careful not to parade your acts of tzedakah in front of people in order to be seen by them! If you do, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So, when you do tzedakah, don’t announce it with trumpets to win people’s praise, like the hypocrites in the synagogues and on the streets. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 3 But you, when you do tzedakah, don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Then your tzedakah will be in secret; and your Father, who sees what you do in secret, will reward you.
5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites, who love to pray standing in the synagogues and on street corners, so that people can see them. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
16 “Now when you fast, don’t go around looking miserable, like the hypocrites. They make sour faces so that people will know they are fasting. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 17 But you, when you fast, wash your face and groom yourself, 18 so that no one will know you are fasting — except your Father, who is with you in secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves wealth here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and burglars break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up for yourselves wealth in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and burglars do not break in or steal. 21 For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also.
First Sunday in Lent, Year A, 5 March 2017
Genesis 2:15 Adonai, God, took the person and put him in the garden of ‘Eden to cultivate and care for it. 16 Adonai, God, gave the person this order: “You may freely eat from every tree in the garden 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You are not to eat from it, because on the day that you eat from it, it will become certain that you will die.”
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any wild animal which Adonai, God, had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You are not to eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat from the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3 but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, ‘You are neither to eat from it nor touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “It is not true that you will surely die; 5 because God knows that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it had a pleasing appearance and that the tree was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her; and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together to make themselves loincloths.
Psalm 119:ה (Heh)
33 Teach me, Adonai, the way of your laws;
keeping them will be its own reward for me.
34 Give me understanding; then I will keep your Torah;
I will observe it with all my heart.
35 Guide me on the path of your mitzvot,
for I take pleasure in it.
36 Bend my heart toward your instructions
and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
with your ways, give me life.
38 Fulfill your promise, which you made to your servant,
which you made to those who fear you.
39 Avert the disgrace which I dread,
for your rulings are good.
40 See how I long for your precepts;
in your righteousness, give me life!
Psalm 32:(0) By David. A maskil:
(1) How blessed are those whose offense is forgiven,
those whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed those to whom Adonai imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away
because of my groaning all day long;
4 day and night your hand was heavy on me;
the sap in me dried up as in a summer drought. (Selah)
5 When I acknowledged my sin to you,
when I stopped concealing my guilt,
and said, “I will confess my offenses to Adonai”;
then you, you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Selah)
6 This is what everyone faithful should pray
at a time when you can be found.
Then, when the floodwaters are raging,
they will not reach to him.
7 You are a hiding-place for me,
you will keep me from distress;
you will surround me
with songs of deliverance. (Selah)
8 “I will instruct and teach you
in this way that you are to go;
I will give you counsel;
my eyes will be watching you.”
9 Don’t be like a horse or mule
that has no understanding,
that has to be curbed with bit and bridle,
or else it won’t come near you.
10 Many are the torments of the wicked,
but grace surrounds those who trust in Adonai.
11 Be glad in Adonai; rejoice, you righteous!
Shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Romans 5:12 Here is how it works: it was through one individual that sin entered the world, and through sin, death; and in this way death passed through to the whole human race, inasmuch as everyone sinned. 13 Sin was indeed present in the world before Torah was given, but sin is not counted as such when there is no Torah. 14 Nevertheless death ruled from Adam until Moshe, even over those whose sinning was not exactly like Adam’s violation of a direct command. In this, Adam prefigured the one who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the offence. For if, because of one man’s offence, many died, then how much more has God’s grace, that is, the gracious gift of one man, Yeshua the Messiah, overflowed to many! 16 No, the free gift is not like what resulted from one man’s sinning; for from one sinner came judgment that brought condemnation; but the free gift came after many offences and brought acquittal. 17 For if, because of the offence of one man, death ruled through that one man; how much more will those receiving the overflowing grace, that is, the gift of being considered righteous, rule in life through the one man Yeshua the Messiah!
18 In other words, just as it was through one offence that all people came under condemnation, so also it is through one righteous act that all people come to be considered righteous. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man, many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the other man, many will be made righteous.
2 Peter 1:16 For when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, we did not rely on cunningly contrived myths. On the contrary, we saw his majesty with our own eyes. 17 For we were there when he received honor and glory from God the Father; and the voice came to him from the grandeur of the Sh’khinah, saying, “This is my son, whom I love; I am well pleased with him!” 18 We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.
19 Yes, we have the prophetic Word made very certain. You will do well to pay attention to it as to a light shining in a dark, murky place, until the Day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all, understand this: no prophecy of Scripture is to be interpreted by an individual on his own; 21 for never has a prophecy come as a result of human willing — on the contrary, people moved by the Ruach HaKodesh spoke a message from God.
Matthew 17:1 Six days later, Yeshua took Kefa, Ya‘akov and his brother Yochanan and led them up a high mountain privately. 2 As they watched, he began to change form — his face shone like the sun, and his clothing became as white as light. 3 Then they looked and saw Moshe and Eliyahu speaking with him. 4 Kefa said to Yeshua, “It’s good that we’re here, Lord. I’ll put up three shelters if you want — one for you, one for Moshe and one for Eliyahu.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them; and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!” 6 When the talmidim heard this, they were so frightened that they fell face down on the ground. 7 But Yeshua came and touched them. “Get up!” he said, “Don’t be afraid.” 8 So they opened their eyes, looked up and saw only Yeshua by himself.
9 As they came down the mountain, Yeshua ordered them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Matthew 4:1 Then the Spirit led Yeshua up into the wilderness to be tempted by the Adversary. 2 After Yeshua had fasted forty days and nights, he was hungry. 3 The Tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, order these stones to become bread.” 4 But he answered, “The Tanakh says,
‘Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of Adonai’”[Matthew 4:4 Deuteronomy 8:3]
5 Then the Adversary took him to the holy city and set him on the highest point of the Temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “jump! For the Tanakh says,
‘He will order his angels to be responsible for you. . . .
They will support you with their hands,
so that you will not hurt your feet on the stones.’”[Matthew 4:6 Psalm 91:11–12]
7 Yeshua replied to him, “But it also says, ‘Do not put Adonai your God to the test.’”[Matthew 4:7 Deuteronomy 6:16]
8 Once more, the Adversary took him up to the summit of a very high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their glory, 9 and said to him, “All this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 “Away with you, Satan!” Yeshua told him, “For the Tanakh says,
‘Worship Adonai your God, and serve only him.’” [Matthew 4:10 Deuteronomy 6:13–14]
11 Then the Adversary let him alone, and angels came and took care of him.
John Wesley's Notes-Commentary: Ash Wednesday, 1 March 2017
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
(Read all of Joel 2)
Verse 1
[1] Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Blow ye — The prophet continues his exhortation to the priests, who were appointed to summon the solemn assemblies.
Verse 2
[2] A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
A day of darkness — A time of exceeding great troubles and calamities. And this passage may well allude to the day of judgment, and the calamities which precede that day.
As the morning — As the morning spreads itself over all the hemisphere and first upon the high mountains, so shall the approaching calamities overspread this people.
A great people — This seems more directly to intend the Babylonians.
Verse 13
[13] And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
And repenteth him — He turneth from executing the fierceness of his wrath.
Verse 14
[14] Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?
He will return — God doth not move from one place to another; but when he withholds his blessings, he is said to withdraw himself. And so when he gives out his blessing, he is said to return.
And leave a blessing behind him — Cause the locusts to depart before they have eaten up all that is in the land.
Verse 16
[16] Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
The children — Though they understand little what is done, yet their cities ascend, and God with pity looks on their tears.
These that suck — Their cries and tears may perhaps move the congregation to more earnest supplication to God for mercy. So the Ninevites, Jonah 3:7,8.
The bridegroom — Let the new married man leave the mirth of the nuptials and afflict himself with the rest.
Verse 17
[17] Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
The porch — That stately porch built by Solomon, 1 Kings 6:3.
The altar — The altar of burnt-offering, which stood at some distance from this porch, and here are the priests commanded to stand, fasting and praying, whence they might be heard and seen by the people in the next court, in which the people were wont to pray.
To reproach — Famine, though by locusts is a reproach to this thine heritage; it will be greater reproach to be slaves to the nations signified by the locusts, therefore in mercy deliver us from both one and the other.
Psalm 51:1-17
(Read all of Psalm 51)
Verse 4
[4] Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Thee only — Which is not to be, understood absolutely, because he had sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, and many others; but comparatively. So the sense is, though I have sinned against my own conscience, and against others; yet nothing is more grievous to me, than that I have sinned against thee.
Thy sight — With gross contempt of thee, whom I knew to be a spectator of my most secret actions.
Justified — This will be the fruit of my sin, that whatsoever severities thou shalt use towards me, it will be no blemish to thy righteousness, but thy justice will be glorified by all men.
Speakest — Heb. in thy words, in all thy threatenings denounced against me.
Judgest — When thou dost execute thy sentence upon me.
Verse 5
[5] Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold — Nor is this the only sin which I have reason to bewail before thee; for this filthy stream leads me to a corrupt fountain: and upon a review of my heart, I find, that this heinous crime, was the proper fruit of my vile nature, which, ever was, and still is ready to commit ten thousand sins, as occasion offers.
Verse 6
[6] Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Truth — Uprightness of heart; and this may be added; as an aggravation of the sinfulness of original corruption, because it is contrary to the holy nature and will of God, which requires rectitude of heart: and, as an aggravation of his actual sin, that it was committed against that knowledge, which God had wrote in his heart.
Verse 7
[7] Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Hyssop — As lepers, are by thy appointment purified by the use of hyssop and other things, so do thou cleanse me a leprous and polluted creature, by thy grace, and by that blood of Christ, which is signified by those ceremonial usages.
Verse 8
[8] Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Joy — By thy spirit, seal the pardon of my sins on my conscience, which will fill me with joy.
Rejoice — That my heart which hath been sorely wounded may be comforted.
Verse 10
[10] Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Create — Work in me an holy frame of heart, whereby my inward filth may be purged away.
Right — Heb. firm or constant, that my resolution may be fixed and unmoveable.
Spirit — Temper or disposition of soul.
Verse 12
[12] Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
The joy — The comfortable sense of thy saving grace, promised and vouchsafed to me, both for my present and everlasting salvation.
Free — Or, ingenuous, or liberal, or princely. Which he seems to oppose to his own base and illiberal and disingenuous and servile spirit, which he had discovered in his wicked practices: a spirit, which may free me from the bondage of sin, and enable me chearfully to run the way of God's precepts.
Verse 14
[14] Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
Thy righteousness — Thy clemency and goodness.
Verse 15
[15] O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
My lips — Which are shut with shame and grief.
Verse 16
[16] For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
Not sacrifice — This is not to be understood absolutely, with respect to David's crimes, which were not to be expiated by any sacrifice.
Verse 17
[17] The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
A broken spirit — This is of more value than many sacrifices.
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Verse 20
[20] Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ-we beseech you in Christ's stead — Herein the apostle might appear to some "transported beyond himself." In general he uses a more calm, sedate kind of exhortation, as in the beginning of the next chapter. What unparalleled condescension and divinely tender mercies are displayed in this verse! Did the judge ever beseech a condemned criminal to accept of pardon? Does the creditor ever beseech a ruined debtor to receive an acquittance in full? Yet our almighty Lord, and our eternal Judge, not only vouchsafes to offer these blessings, but invites us, entreats us, and, with the most tender importunity, solicits us, not to reject them.
Verse 21
[21] For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
He made him a sin offering, who knew no sin — A commendation peculiar to Christ.
For us — Who knew no righteousness, who were inwardly and outwardly nothing but sin; who must have been consumed by the divine justice, had not this atonement been made for our sins.
That we might be made the righteousness of God through him — Might through him be invested with that righteousness, first imputed to us, then implanted in us, which is in every sense the righteousness of God.
(Read all of 2 Corinthians 6)
Verse 1
[1] We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
We then not only beseech, but as fellow-labourers with you, who are working out your own salvation, do also exhort you, not to receive the grace of God - Which we have been now describing.
In vain — We receive it by faith; and not in vain, if we add to this, persevering holiness.
Verse 2
[2] (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
For he saith — The sense is, As of old there was a particular time wherein God was pleased to pour out his peculiar blessing, so there is now. And this is the particular time: this is a time of peculiar blessing. Isaiah 49:8.
Verse 3
[3] Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:
Giving, as far as in us lies, no offence, that the ministry be not blamed on our account.
Verse 4
[4] But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
But approving ourselves as the ministers of God — Such as his ministers ought to be.
In much patience — Shown, 1.
In afflictions, necessities, distresses — All which are general terms. 2.
In stripes, imprisonments, tumults — Which are particular sorts of affliction, necessity, distress 3.
In labours, watchings, fastings — Voluntarily endured. All these are expressed in the plural number, to denote a variety of them. In afflictions, several ways to escape may appear, though none without difficulty in necessities, one only, and that a difficult one; in distresses, none at all appears.
Verse 5
[5] In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;
In tumults — The Greek word implies such attacks as a man cannot stand against, but which bear him hither and thither by violence.
Verse 6
[6] By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
By prudence — Spiritual divine; not what the world terms so. Worldly prudence is the practical use of worldly wisdom: divine prudence is the due exercise of grace, making spiritual understanding go as far as possible.
By love unfeigned — The chief fruit of the Spirit.
Verse 7
[7] By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
By the convincing and converting power of God - Accompanying his word; and also attesting it by divers miracles.
By the armour of righteousness on the right hand and the left — That is, on all sides; the panoply or whole armour of God.
Verse 8
[8] By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;
By honour and dishonour — When we are present.
By evil report and good report — When we are absent. Who could bear honour and good report, were it not balanced by dishonour? As deceivers - Artful, designing men. So the world represents all true ministers of Christ.
Yet true — Upright, sincere, in the sight of God.
Verse 9
[9] As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;
As unknown — For the world knoweth us not, as it knew him not.
Yet well known — To God, and to those who are the seals of our ministry.
As dying, yet behold — Suddenly, unexpectedly, God interposes, and we live.
Verse 10
[10] As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
As sorrowing — For our own manifold imperfections, and for the sins and sufferings of our brethren.
Yet always rejoicing — In present peace, love, power, and a sure hope of future glory.
As having nothing, yet possessing all things — For all things are ours, if we are Christ's. What a magnificence of thought is this!
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
(Read all of Matthew 6)
Verse 2
[2] Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
As the hypocrites do — Many of the scribes and Pharisees did this, under a pretence of calling the poor together.
They have their reward — All they will have; for they shall have none from God.
Verse 3
[3] But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth — A proverbial expression for doing a thing secretly. Do it as secretly as is consistent, 1. With the doing it at all. 2. With the doing it in the most effectual manner.
Verse 5
[5] And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
The synagogues — These were properly the places where the people assembled for public prayer, and hearing the Scriptures read and expounded. They were in every city from the time of the Babylonish captivity, and had service in them thrice a day on three days in the week. In every synagogue was a council of grave and wise persons, over whom was a president, called the ruler of the synagogue. But the word here, as well as in many other texts, signifies any place of public concourse.
Verse 6
[6] But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Enter into thy closet — That is, do it with as much secrecy as thou canst.
Verse 16
[16] Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
When ye fast? — Our Lord does not enjoin either fasting, alms-deeds, or prayer: all these being duties which were before fully established in the Church of God.
Disfigure — By the dust and ashes which they put upon their heads, as was usual at the times of solemn humiliation.
Verse 17
[17] But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
Anoint thy head — So the Jews frequently did. Dress thyself as usual.
Verse 19
[19] Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Lay not up for yourselves — Our Lord here makes a transition from religious to common actions, and warns us of another snare, the love of money, as inconsistent with purity of intention as the love of praise.
Where rust and moth consume — Where all things are perishable and transient. He may likewise have a farther view in these words, even to guard us against making any thing on earth our treasure. For then a thing properly becomes our treasure, when we set our affections upon it. Luke 12:33.
Verse 21
[21] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Luke 11:34.
First Sunday in Lent, Year A, 5 March 2017
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
[15] And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.. 2. The command which God gave to man in innocency, and the covenant he than took him into. Hither we have seen God; man's powerful Creator, and his bountiful benefactor; now he appears as his ruler and lawgiver.
Verses 16-17
[16] And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: [17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Thou shall die — That is, thou shalt lose all the happiness thou hast either in possession or prospect; and thou shalt become liable to death, and all the miseries that preface and attend it. This was threatened as the immediate consequence of sin.
In the day thou eatest, thou shalt die — Not only thou shalt become mortal, but spiritual death and the forerunners of temporal death shall immediately seize thee.Verses 1-5
[1] Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? [2] And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: [3] But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. [4] And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [5] For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
We have here an account of the temptation wherewith Satan assaulted our first parents, and which proved fatal to them. And here observe, (1.) The tempter, the devil in the shape of a serpent. Multitudes of them fell; but this that attacked our first parents, was surely the prince of the devils. Whether it was only the appearance of a serpent, or a real serpent, acted and possessed by the devil, is not certain. The devil chose to act his part in a serpent, because it is a subtle creature. It is not improbable, that reason and speech were then the known properties of the serpent. And therefore Eve was not surprised at his reasoning and speaking, which otherwise she must have been. (2.) That which the devil aimed at, was to persuade Eve to eat forbidden fruit; and to do this, he took the same method that he doth still. 1. He questions whether it were a sin or no, Genesis 3:1,2. He denies that there was any danger in it, Genesis 3:4. 3. He suggests much advantage by it, Genesis 3:5. And these are his common topics. As to the advantage, he suits the temptation to the pure state they were now in, proposing to them not any carnal pleasure, but intellectual delights. 1.
Your eyes shall be opened — You shall have much more of the power and pleasure of contemplation than now you have; you shall fetch a larger compass in your intellectual views, and see farther into things than now you do. 2.
You shall be as gods — As Elohim, mighty gods, not only omniscient but omnipotent too: 3. You shall know good and evil - That is, everything that is desirable to be known. To support this part of the temptation, he abuseth the name given to this tree. 'Twas intended to teach the practical knowledge of good and evil, that is, of duty and disobedience, and it would prove the experimental knowledge of good and evil, that is, of happiness and misery. But he perverts the sense of it, and wrests it to their destruction, as if this tree would give them a speculative notional knowledge of the natures, kinds, and originals of good and evil. And, 4. All this presently, In the day you eat thereof - You will find a sudden and immediate change for the better.
Verses 6-8
[6] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. [7] And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. [8] And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Here we see what Eve's parley with the tempter ended in: Satan at length gains his point. God tried the obedience of our first parents by forbidding them the tree of knowledge, and Satan doth as it were join issue with God, and in that very thing undertakes to seduce them into a transgression; and here we find how he prevailed, God permitting it for wise and holy ends. (1.) We have here the inducements that moved them to transgress. The woman being deceived, was ring-leader in the transgression, 1 Timothy 2:14 1. She saw that the tree was - It was said of all the rest of the fruit trees wherewith the garden of Eden was planted, that they were pleasant to the sight, and good for food. 2. She imagined a greater benefit by this tree than by any of the rest, that it was a tree not only not to be dreaded, but to be desired to make one wise, and therein excelling all the rest of the trees. This she saw, that is, she perceived and understood it by what the devil had said to her.
She gave also to her husband with her — 'Tis likely he was not with her when she was tempted; surely if he had, he would have interposed to prevent the sin; but he came to her when she had eaten, and was prevailed with by her to eat likewise. She gave it to him; persuading him with the same arguements that the serpent had used with her; adding this to the rest, that she herself had eaten of it, and found it so far from being deadly that it was extremely pleasant and grateful.
And he did eat — This implied the unbelief of God's word, and confidence in the devil's; discontent with his present state, and an ambition of the honour which comes not from God. He would be both his own carver, and his own master, would have what he pleased, and do what he pleased; his sin was in one word disobedience, Romans 5:19, disobedience to a plain, easy and express command, which he knew to be a command of trial. He sins against light and love, the clearest light and the dearest love that ever sinner sinned against. But the greatest aggravation of his sin was, that he involved all his posterity in sin and ruin by it. He could not but know that he stood as a public person, and that his disobedience would be fatal to all his seed; and if so, it was certainly both the greatest treachery and the greatest cruelty that ever was. Shame and fear seized the criminals, these came into the world along with sin, and still attend it.
The Eyes of them both were opened — The eyes of their consciences; their hearts smote them for what they had done Now, when it was too late, they saw the happiness they were fallen from, and the misery they were fallen into. They saw God provoked, his favour forfeited, his image lost; they felt a disorder in their own spirits, which they had never before been conscious of; they saw a law in their members warring against the law of their minds, and captivating them both to sin and wrath; they saw that they were naked, that is, that they were stripped, deprived of all the honours and joys of their paradise state, and exposed to all the miseries that might justly be expected from an angry God; laid open to the contempt and reproach of heaven and earth, and their own consciences. And they sewed or platted fig leaves together, and, to cover, at least, part of their shame one from another, made themselves aprons. See here what is commonly the folly of those that have sinned: they are more solicitous to save their credit before men, than to obtain their pardon from God. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day - Tis supposed he came in a human shape; in no other similitude than that wherein they had seen him when he put them into paradise; for he came to convince and humble them, not to amaze and terrify them. He came not immediately from heaven in their view as afterwards on mount Sinai, but he came in the garden, as one that was still willing to be familiar with them. He came walking, not riding upon the wings of the wind, but walking deliberately, as one slow to anger. He came in the cool of the day, not in the night, when all fears are doubly fearful; nor did he come suddenly upon them, but they heard his voice at some distance, giving them notice of his coming; and probably it was a still small voice, like that in which he came to enquire after Elijah. And they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God - A sad change! Before they had sinned, if they heard the voice of the Lord God coming towards them, they would have run to meet him, but now God was become a terror to them, and then no marvel they were become a terror to themselves.
Psalm 119:33-40
Verse 36
[36] Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
Covetousness — He mentions this in particular, because it is most opposite to God's testimonies, and does most commonly hinder men from receiving his word, and from profiting by it: and because it is most pernicious, as being the root of all evil.
Verse 37
[37] Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
Vanity — The vain things of this present world, such as riches, honours, pleasures: from beholding them, with desire or affection.
Quicken — Make me lively, vigorous and fervent in thy service.
Verse 38
[38] Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
Stablish — Confirm and perform thy promises.
Verse 39
[39] Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
I fear — For my instability in thy ways; which in respect to my own weakness, I have great cause to fear.
Verse 40
[40] Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.
Longed — After a more solid knowledge and constant performance of them.
In — According to thy faithfulness.
Psalm 32
(Read all of Psalm 32)
Verse 2
[2] Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Imputeth — Whom God doth not charge with the guilt of his sins, but graciously pardons and accepts him in Christ.
No guile — Who freely confesses all his sins, and turns from sin to God with all his heart.
Verse 3
[3] When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
Silence — From a full and open confession of my sins.
Old — My spirit failed, and the strength on my body decayed.
Roaring — Because of the continual horrors of my conscience, and sense of God's wrath.
Verse 4
[4] For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. /*Selah*/.
Hand — Thy afflicting hand.
My moisture — Was dried up.
Verse 5
[5] I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. /*Selah*/.
The iniquity — The guilt of my sin.
Verse 6
[6] For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
For this — Upon the encouragement of my example.
Found — In an acceptable and seasonable time, while God continues to offer grace and mercy.
Waters — In the time of great calamities.
Not come — So as to overwhelm him.
Verse 8
[8] I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
I will — This and the next verse seems to be the words of God, whom David brings in as returning this answer to his prayers.
Mine eye — So Christ did St. Peter, when he turned and looked upon him.
Verse 9
[9] Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
Will not — Unless they be forced to it by a bit or bridle. And so all the ancient translators understand it.
Verse 10
[10] Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
Sorrows — This is an argument to enforce the foregoing admonition.
Romans 5:12-19
Verse 12
[12] Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Therefore — This refers to all the preceding discourse; from which the apostle infers what follows. He does not therefore properly make a digression, but returns to speak again of sin and of righteousness.
As by one man — Adam; who is mentioned, and not Eve, as being the representative of mankind.
Sin entered into the world — Actual sin, and its consequence, a sinful nature.
And death — With all its attendants. It entered into the world when it entered into being; for till then it did not exist.
By sin — Therefore it could not enter before sin.
Even so — Namely, by one man.
In that — So the word is used also, 2 Corinthians 5:4.
All sinned — In Adam. These words assign the reason why death came upon all men; infants themselves not excepted, in that all sinned.
Verse 13
[13] (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
For until the law sin was in the world-All, I say, had sinned, for sin was in the world long before the written law; but, I grant, sin is not so much imputed, nor so severely punished by God, where there is no express law to convince men of it. Yet that all had sinned, even then, appears in that all died.
Verse 14
[14] Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
Death reigned — And how vast is his kingdom! Scarce can we find any king who has as many subjects, as are the kings whom he hath conquered.
Even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression — Even over infants who had never sinned, as Adam did, in their own persons; and over others who had not, like him, sinned against an express law.
Who is the figure of him that was to come — Each of them being a public person, and a federal head of mankind. The one, the fountain of sin and death to mankind by his offence; the other, of righteousness and life by his free gift. Thus far the apostle shows the agreement between the first and second Adam: afterward he shows the differences between them. The agreement may be summed up thus: As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so by one man righteousness entered into the world, and life by righteousness. As death passed upon all men, in that all had sinned; so life passed upon all men, (who are in the second Adam by faith,) in that all are justified. And as death through the sin of the first Adam reigned even over them who had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression; so through the righteousness of Christ, even those who have not obeyed, after the likeness of his obedience, shall reign in life. We may add, As the sin of Adam, without the sins which we afterwards committed, brought us death ; so the righteousness of Christ, without the good works which we afterwards perform, brings us life: although still every good, as well as evil, work, will receive its due reward.
Verse 15
[15] But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
Yet not — St. Paul now describes the difference between Adam and Christ; and that much more directly and expressly than the agreement between them. Now the fall and the free gift differ, 1. In amplitude, Romans 5:15. 2. He from whom sin came, and He from whom the free gift came, termed also "the gift of righteousness," differ in power, Romans 5:16. 3. The reason of both is subjoined, Romans 5:17. 4. This premised, the offence and the free gift are compared, with regard to their effect, Romans 5:18, and with regard to their cause, Romans 5:19.
Verse 16
[16] And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
The sentence was by one offence to Adam's condemnation — Occasioning the sentence of death to pass upon him, which, by consequence, overwhelmed his posterity.
But the free gift is of many offences unto justification — Unto the purchasing it for all men, notwithstanding many offences.
Verse 17
[17] For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
There is a difference between grace and the gift. Grace is opposed to the offence; the gift, to death, being the gift of life.
Verse 18
[18] Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Justification of life — Is that sentence of God, by which a sinner under sentence of death is adjudged to life.
Verse 19
[19] For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
As by the disobedience of one man many (that is, all men) were constituted sinners - Being then in the loins of their first parent, the common head and representative of them all.
So by the obedience of one — By his obedience unto death; by his dying for us.
Many — All that believe.
Shall be constituted righteous — Justified, pardoned.
2 Peter 1:16-21
Verse 16
[16] For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
These things are worthy to be always had in remembrance For they are not cunningly devised fables - Like those common among the heathens.
While we made known to you the power and coming — That is, the powerful coming of Christ in glory. But if what they advanced of Christ was not true, if it was of their own invention, then to impose such a lie on the world as it was, in the very nature of things, above all human power to defend, and to do this at the expense of life and all things only to enrage the whole world, Jews and gentiles, against them, was no cunning, but was the greatest folly that men could have been guilty of.
But were eyewitnesses of his majesty — At his transfiguration, which was a specimen of his glory at the last day.
Verse 17
[17] For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
For he received divine honour and inexpressible glory - Shining from heaven above the brightness of the sun.
When there came such a voice from the excellent glory — That is, from God the Father. Matthew 17:5.
Verse 18
[18] And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
And we — Peter, James, and John. St. John was still alive.
Being with him in the holy mount — Made so by that glorious manifestation, as mount Horeb was of old, Exodus 3:4,5.
Verse 19
[19] We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
And we — St. Peter here speaks in the name of all Christians.
Have the word of prophecy — The words of Moses, Isaiah, and all the prophets, are one and the same word, every way consistent with itself. St. Peter does not cite any particular passage, but speaks of their entire testimony.
More confirmed — By that display of his glorious majesty. To which word ye do well that ye take heed, as to a lamp which shone in a dark place - Wherein there was neither light nor window. Such anciently was the whole world, except that little spot where this lamp shone.
Till the day should dawn — Till the full light of the gospel should break through the darkness. As is the difference between the light of a lamp and that of the day, such is that between the light of the Old Testament and of the New.
And the morning star — Jesus Christ, Revelation 22:16.
Arise in your hearts — Be revealed in you.
Verse 20
[20] Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
Ye do well, as knowing this, that no scripture prophecy is of private interpretation - It is not any man's own word. It is God, not the prophet himself, who thereby interprets things till then unknown.
Verse 21
[21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
For prophecy came not of old by the will of man — Of any mere man whatever.
But the holy men of God — Devoted to him, and set apart by him for that purpose, spake and wrote.
Being moved — Literally, carried. They were purely passive therein.
Matthew 17:1-9
(Read all of Matthew 17)
Verse 2
[2] And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
And was transfigured — Or transformed. The indwelling Deity darted out its rays through the veil of the flesh; and that with such transcendent splendour, that he no longer bore the form of a servant. His face shone with Divine majesty, like the sun in its strength; and all his body was so irradiated by it, that his clothes could not conceal its glory, but became white and glittering as the very light, with which he covered himself as with a garment.
Verse 3
[3] And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
There appeared Moses and Elijah — Here for the full confirmation of their faith in Jesus, Moses, the giver of the law, Elijah, the most zealous of all the prophets, and God speaking from heaven, all bore witness to him.
Verse 4
[4] Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
Let us make three tents — The words of rapturous surprise. He says three, not six: because the apostles desired to be with their Master.
Verse 5
[5] While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Hear ye him — As superior even to Moses and the prophets. See Deuteronomy 18:17.
Verse 7
[7] And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
Be not afraid — And doubtless the same moment he gave them courage and strength.
Verse 9
[9] And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
Tell the vision to no man — Not to the rest of the disciples, lest they should be grieved and discouraged because they were not admitted to the sight: nor to any other persons, lest it should enrage some the more, and his approaching sufferings shall make others disbelieve it; till the Son of man be risen again - Till the resurrection should make it credible, and confirm their testimony about it.
Matthew 4:1-11
(Read all of Matthew 4)
Verse 2
[2] And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
Having fasted — Whereby doubtless he received more abundant spiritual strength from God.
Forty days and forty nights — As did Moses, the giver of the law, and Elijah, the great restorer of it.
He was afterward hungry — And so prepared for the first temptation.
Verse 3
[3] And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Coming to him — In a visible form; probably in a human shape, as one that desired to inquire farther into the evidences of his being the Messiah.
Verse 4
[4] But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
It is written — Thus Christ answered, and thus we may answer all the suggestions of the devil.
By every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God — That is, by whatever God commands to sustain him. Therefore it is not needful I should work a miracle to procure bread, without any intimation of my Father's will. Deuteronomy 8:3.
Verse 5
[5] Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
The holy city — So Jerusalem was commonly called, being the place God had peculiarly chosen for himself.
On the battlement of the temple — Probably over the king's gallery, which was of such a prodigious height, that no one could look down from the top of it without making himself giddy.
Verse 6
[6] And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
In their hands — That is, with great care. Psalms 91:11,12.
Verse 7
[7] Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God — By requiring farther evidence of what he hath already made sufficiently plain. Deuteronomy 6:16.
Verse 8
[8] Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Showeth him all the kingdoms of the world — In a kind of visionary representation.
Verse 9
[9] And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
If thou wilt fall down and worship me — Here Satan clearly shows who he was. Accordingly Christ answering this suggestion, calls him by his own name, which he had not done before.
Verse 10
[10] Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Get thee hence, Satan — Not, get thee behind me, that is, into thy proper place; as he said on a quite different occasion to Peter, speaking what was not expedient. Deuteronomy 6:13.
Verse 11
[11] Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Angels came and waited upon him — Both to supply him with food, and to congratulate his victory.
(Read all of Joel 2)
Verse 1
[1] Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Blow ye — The prophet continues his exhortation to the priests, who were appointed to summon the solemn assemblies.
Verse 2
[2] A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
A day of darkness — A time of exceeding great troubles and calamities. And this passage may well allude to the day of judgment, and the calamities which precede that day.
As the morning — As the morning spreads itself over all the hemisphere and first upon the high mountains, so shall the approaching calamities overspread this people.
A great people — This seems more directly to intend the Babylonians.
Verse 13
[13] And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
And repenteth him — He turneth from executing the fierceness of his wrath.
Verse 14
[14] Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?
He will return — God doth not move from one place to another; but when he withholds his blessings, he is said to withdraw himself. And so when he gives out his blessing, he is said to return.
And leave a blessing behind him — Cause the locusts to depart before they have eaten up all that is in the land.
Verse 16
[16] Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
The children — Though they understand little what is done, yet their cities ascend, and God with pity looks on their tears.
These that suck — Their cries and tears may perhaps move the congregation to more earnest supplication to God for mercy. So the Ninevites, Jonah 3:7,8.
The bridegroom — Let the new married man leave the mirth of the nuptials and afflict himself with the rest.
Verse 17
[17] Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
The porch — That stately porch built by Solomon, 1 Kings 6:3.
The altar — The altar of burnt-offering, which stood at some distance from this porch, and here are the priests commanded to stand, fasting and praying, whence they might be heard and seen by the people in the next court, in which the people were wont to pray.
To reproach — Famine, though by locusts is a reproach to this thine heritage; it will be greater reproach to be slaves to the nations signified by the locusts, therefore in mercy deliver us from both one and the other.
Psalm 51:1-17
(Read all of Psalm 51)
Verse 4
[4] Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Thee only — Which is not to be, understood absolutely, because he had sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, and many others; but comparatively. So the sense is, though I have sinned against my own conscience, and against others; yet nothing is more grievous to me, than that I have sinned against thee.
Thy sight — With gross contempt of thee, whom I knew to be a spectator of my most secret actions.
Justified — This will be the fruit of my sin, that whatsoever severities thou shalt use towards me, it will be no blemish to thy righteousness, but thy justice will be glorified by all men.
Speakest — Heb. in thy words, in all thy threatenings denounced against me.
Judgest — When thou dost execute thy sentence upon me.
Verse 5
[5] Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold — Nor is this the only sin which I have reason to bewail before thee; for this filthy stream leads me to a corrupt fountain: and upon a review of my heart, I find, that this heinous crime, was the proper fruit of my vile nature, which, ever was, and still is ready to commit ten thousand sins, as occasion offers.
Verse 6
[6] Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Truth — Uprightness of heart; and this may be added; as an aggravation of the sinfulness of original corruption, because it is contrary to the holy nature and will of God, which requires rectitude of heart: and, as an aggravation of his actual sin, that it was committed against that knowledge, which God had wrote in his heart.
Verse 7
[7] Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Hyssop — As lepers, are by thy appointment purified by the use of hyssop and other things, so do thou cleanse me a leprous and polluted creature, by thy grace, and by that blood of Christ, which is signified by those ceremonial usages.
Verse 8
[8] Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Joy — By thy spirit, seal the pardon of my sins on my conscience, which will fill me with joy.
Rejoice — That my heart which hath been sorely wounded may be comforted.
Verse 10
[10] Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Create — Work in me an holy frame of heart, whereby my inward filth may be purged away.
Right — Heb. firm or constant, that my resolution may be fixed and unmoveable.
Spirit — Temper or disposition of soul.
Verse 12
[12] Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
The joy — The comfortable sense of thy saving grace, promised and vouchsafed to me, both for my present and everlasting salvation.
Free — Or, ingenuous, or liberal, or princely. Which he seems to oppose to his own base and illiberal and disingenuous and servile spirit, which he had discovered in his wicked practices: a spirit, which may free me from the bondage of sin, and enable me chearfully to run the way of God's precepts.
Verse 14
[14] Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
Thy righteousness — Thy clemency and goodness.
Verse 15
[15] O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
My lips — Which are shut with shame and grief.
Verse 16
[16] For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
Not sacrifice — This is not to be understood absolutely, with respect to David's crimes, which were not to be expiated by any sacrifice.
Verse 17
[17] The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
A broken spirit — This is of more value than many sacrifices.
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Verse 20
[20] Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ-we beseech you in Christ's stead — Herein the apostle might appear to some "transported beyond himself." In general he uses a more calm, sedate kind of exhortation, as in the beginning of the next chapter. What unparalleled condescension and divinely tender mercies are displayed in this verse! Did the judge ever beseech a condemned criminal to accept of pardon? Does the creditor ever beseech a ruined debtor to receive an acquittance in full? Yet our almighty Lord, and our eternal Judge, not only vouchsafes to offer these blessings, but invites us, entreats us, and, with the most tender importunity, solicits us, not to reject them.
Verse 21
[21] For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
He made him a sin offering, who knew no sin — A commendation peculiar to Christ.
For us — Who knew no righteousness, who were inwardly and outwardly nothing but sin; who must have been consumed by the divine justice, had not this atonement been made for our sins.
That we might be made the righteousness of God through him — Might through him be invested with that righteousness, first imputed to us, then implanted in us, which is in every sense the righteousness of God.
(Read all of 2 Corinthians 6)
Verse 1
[1] We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
We then not only beseech, but as fellow-labourers with you, who are working out your own salvation, do also exhort you, not to receive the grace of God - Which we have been now describing.
In vain — We receive it by faith; and not in vain, if we add to this, persevering holiness.
Verse 2
[2] (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
For he saith — The sense is, As of old there was a particular time wherein God was pleased to pour out his peculiar blessing, so there is now. And this is the particular time: this is a time of peculiar blessing. Isaiah 49:8.
Verse 3
[3] Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:
Giving, as far as in us lies, no offence, that the ministry be not blamed on our account.
Verse 4
[4] But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
But approving ourselves as the ministers of God — Such as his ministers ought to be.
In much patience — Shown, 1.
In afflictions, necessities, distresses — All which are general terms. 2.
In stripes, imprisonments, tumults — Which are particular sorts of affliction, necessity, distress 3.
In labours, watchings, fastings — Voluntarily endured. All these are expressed in the plural number, to denote a variety of them. In afflictions, several ways to escape may appear, though none without difficulty in necessities, one only, and that a difficult one; in distresses, none at all appears.
Verse 5
[5] In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;
In tumults — The Greek word implies such attacks as a man cannot stand against, but which bear him hither and thither by violence.
Verse 6
[6] By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
By prudence — Spiritual divine; not what the world terms so. Worldly prudence is the practical use of worldly wisdom: divine prudence is the due exercise of grace, making spiritual understanding go as far as possible.
By love unfeigned — The chief fruit of the Spirit.
Verse 7
[7] By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
By the convincing and converting power of God - Accompanying his word; and also attesting it by divers miracles.
By the armour of righteousness on the right hand and the left — That is, on all sides; the panoply or whole armour of God.
Verse 8
[8] By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;
By honour and dishonour — When we are present.
By evil report and good report — When we are absent. Who could bear honour and good report, were it not balanced by dishonour? As deceivers - Artful, designing men. So the world represents all true ministers of Christ.
Yet true — Upright, sincere, in the sight of God.
Verse 9
[9] As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;
As unknown — For the world knoweth us not, as it knew him not.
Yet well known — To God, and to those who are the seals of our ministry.
As dying, yet behold — Suddenly, unexpectedly, God interposes, and we live.
Verse 10
[10] As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
As sorrowing — For our own manifold imperfections, and for the sins and sufferings of our brethren.
Yet always rejoicing — In present peace, love, power, and a sure hope of future glory.
As having nothing, yet possessing all things — For all things are ours, if we are Christ's. What a magnificence of thought is this!
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
(Read all of Matthew 6)
Verse 2
[2] Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
As the hypocrites do — Many of the scribes and Pharisees did this, under a pretence of calling the poor together.
They have their reward — All they will have; for they shall have none from God.
Verse 3
[3] But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth — A proverbial expression for doing a thing secretly. Do it as secretly as is consistent, 1. With the doing it at all. 2. With the doing it in the most effectual manner.
Verse 5
[5] And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
The synagogues — These were properly the places where the people assembled for public prayer, and hearing the Scriptures read and expounded. They were in every city from the time of the Babylonish captivity, and had service in them thrice a day on three days in the week. In every synagogue was a council of grave and wise persons, over whom was a president, called the ruler of the synagogue. But the word here, as well as in many other texts, signifies any place of public concourse.
Verse 6
[6] But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Enter into thy closet — That is, do it with as much secrecy as thou canst.
Verse 16
[16] Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
When ye fast? — Our Lord does not enjoin either fasting, alms-deeds, or prayer: all these being duties which were before fully established in the Church of God.
Disfigure — By the dust and ashes which they put upon their heads, as was usual at the times of solemn humiliation.
Verse 17
[17] But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
Anoint thy head — So the Jews frequently did. Dress thyself as usual.
Verse 19
[19] Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Lay not up for yourselves — Our Lord here makes a transition from religious to common actions, and warns us of another snare, the love of money, as inconsistent with purity of intention as the love of praise.
Where rust and moth consume — Where all things are perishable and transient. He may likewise have a farther view in these words, even to guard us against making any thing on earth our treasure. For then a thing properly becomes our treasure, when we set our affections upon it. Luke 12:33.
Verse 21
[21] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Luke 11:34.
First Sunday in Lent, Year A, 5 March 2017
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
[15] And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.. 2. The command which God gave to man in innocency, and the covenant he than took him into. Hither we have seen God; man's powerful Creator, and his bountiful benefactor; now he appears as his ruler and lawgiver.
Verses 16-17
[16] And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: [17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Thou shall die — That is, thou shalt lose all the happiness thou hast either in possession or prospect; and thou shalt become liable to death, and all the miseries that preface and attend it. This was threatened as the immediate consequence of sin.
In the day thou eatest, thou shalt die — Not only thou shalt become mortal, but spiritual death and the forerunners of temporal death shall immediately seize thee.Verses 1-5
[1] Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? [2] And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: [3] But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. [4] And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [5] For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
We have here an account of the temptation wherewith Satan assaulted our first parents, and which proved fatal to them. And here observe, (1.) The tempter, the devil in the shape of a serpent. Multitudes of them fell; but this that attacked our first parents, was surely the prince of the devils. Whether it was only the appearance of a serpent, or a real serpent, acted and possessed by the devil, is not certain. The devil chose to act his part in a serpent, because it is a subtle creature. It is not improbable, that reason and speech were then the known properties of the serpent. And therefore Eve was not surprised at his reasoning and speaking, which otherwise she must have been. (2.) That which the devil aimed at, was to persuade Eve to eat forbidden fruit; and to do this, he took the same method that he doth still. 1. He questions whether it were a sin or no, Genesis 3:1,2. He denies that there was any danger in it, Genesis 3:4. 3. He suggests much advantage by it, Genesis 3:5. And these are his common topics. As to the advantage, he suits the temptation to the pure state they were now in, proposing to them not any carnal pleasure, but intellectual delights. 1.
Your eyes shall be opened — You shall have much more of the power and pleasure of contemplation than now you have; you shall fetch a larger compass in your intellectual views, and see farther into things than now you do. 2.
You shall be as gods — As Elohim, mighty gods, not only omniscient but omnipotent too: 3. You shall know good and evil - That is, everything that is desirable to be known. To support this part of the temptation, he abuseth the name given to this tree. 'Twas intended to teach the practical knowledge of good and evil, that is, of duty and disobedience, and it would prove the experimental knowledge of good and evil, that is, of happiness and misery. But he perverts the sense of it, and wrests it to their destruction, as if this tree would give them a speculative notional knowledge of the natures, kinds, and originals of good and evil. And, 4. All this presently, In the day you eat thereof - You will find a sudden and immediate change for the better.
Verses 6-8
[6] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. [7] And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. [8] And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Here we see what Eve's parley with the tempter ended in: Satan at length gains his point. God tried the obedience of our first parents by forbidding them the tree of knowledge, and Satan doth as it were join issue with God, and in that very thing undertakes to seduce them into a transgression; and here we find how he prevailed, God permitting it for wise and holy ends. (1.) We have here the inducements that moved them to transgress. The woman being deceived, was ring-leader in the transgression, 1 Timothy 2:14 1. She saw that the tree was - It was said of all the rest of the fruit trees wherewith the garden of Eden was planted, that they were pleasant to the sight, and good for food. 2. She imagined a greater benefit by this tree than by any of the rest, that it was a tree not only not to be dreaded, but to be desired to make one wise, and therein excelling all the rest of the trees. This she saw, that is, she perceived and understood it by what the devil had said to her.
She gave also to her husband with her — 'Tis likely he was not with her when she was tempted; surely if he had, he would have interposed to prevent the sin; but he came to her when she had eaten, and was prevailed with by her to eat likewise. She gave it to him; persuading him with the same arguements that the serpent had used with her; adding this to the rest, that she herself had eaten of it, and found it so far from being deadly that it was extremely pleasant and grateful.
And he did eat — This implied the unbelief of God's word, and confidence in the devil's; discontent with his present state, and an ambition of the honour which comes not from God. He would be both his own carver, and his own master, would have what he pleased, and do what he pleased; his sin was in one word disobedience, Romans 5:19, disobedience to a plain, easy and express command, which he knew to be a command of trial. He sins against light and love, the clearest light and the dearest love that ever sinner sinned against. But the greatest aggravation of his sin was, that he involved all his posterity in sin and ruin by it. He could not but know that he stood as a public person, and that his disobedience would be fatal to all his seed; and if so, it was certainly both the greatest treachery and the greatest cruelty that ever was. Shame and fear seized the criminals, these came into the world along with sin, and still attend it.
The Eyes of them both were opened — The eyes of their consciences; their hearts smote them for what they had done Now, when it was too late, they saw the happiness they were fallen from, and the misery they were fallen into. They saw God provoked, his favour forfeited, his image lost; they felt a disorder in their own spirits, which they had never before been conscious of; they saw a law in their members warring against the law of their minds, and captivating them both to sin and wrath; they saw that they were naked, that is, that they were stripped, deprived of all the honours and joys of their paradise state, and exposed to all the miseries that might justly be expected from an angry God; laid open to the contempt and reproach of heaven and earth, and their own consciences. And they sewed or platted fig leaves together, and, to cover, at least, part of their shame one from another, made themselves aprons. See here what is commonly the folly of those that have sinned: they are more solicitous to save their credit before men, than to obtain their pardon from God. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day - Tis supposed he came in a human shape; in no other similitude than that wherein they had seen him when he put them into paradise; for he came to convince and humble them, not to amaze and terrify them. He came not immediately from heaven in their view as afterwards on mount Sinai, but he came in the garden, as one that was still willing to be familiar with them. He came walking, not riding upon the wings of the wind, but walking deliberately, as one slow to anger. He came in the cool of the day, not in the night, when all fears are doubly fearful; nor did he come suddenly upon them, but they heard his voice at some distance, giving them notice of his coming; and probably it was a still small voice, like that in which he came to enquire after Elijah. And they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God - A sad change! Before they had sinned, if they heard the voice of the Lord God coming towards them, they would have run to meet him, but now God was become a terror to them, and then no marvel they were become a terror to themselves.
Psalm 119:33-40
Verse 36
[36] Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
Covetousness — He mentions this in particular, because it is most opposite to God's testimonies, and does most commonly hinder men from receiving his word, and from profiting by it: and because it is most pernicious, as being the root of all evil.
Verse 37
[37] Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
Vanity — The vain things of this present world, such as riches, honours, pleasures: from beholding them, with desire or affection.
Quicken — Make me lively, vigorous and fervent in thy service.
Verse 38
[38] Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
Stablish — Confirm and perform thy promises.
Verse 39
[39] Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
I fear — For my instability in thy ways; which in respect to my own weakness, I have great cause to fear.
Verse 40
[40] Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.
Longed — After a more solid knowledge and constant performance of them.
In — According to thy faithfulness.
Psalm 32
(Read all of Psalm 32)
Verse 2
[2] Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Imputeth — Whom God doth not charge with the guilt of his sins, but graciously pardons and accepts him in Christ.
No guile — Who freely confesses all his sins, and turns from sin to God with all his heart.
Verse 3
[3] When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
Silence — From a full and open confession of my sins.
Old — My spirit failed, and the strength on my body decayed.
Roaring — Because of the continual horrors of my conscience, and sense of God's wrath.
Verse 4
[4] For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. /*Selah*/.
Hand — Thy afflicting hand.
My moisture — Was dried up.
Verse 5
[5] I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. /*Selah*/.
The iniquity — The guilt of my sin.
Verse 6
[6] For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
For this — Upon the encouragement of my example.
Found — In an acceptable and seasonable time, while God continues to offer grace and mercy.
Waters — In the time of great calamities.
Not come — So as to overwhelm him.
Verse 8
[8] I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
I will — This and the next verse seems to be the words of God, whom David brings in as returning this answer to his prayers.
Mine eye — So Christ did St. Peter, when he turned and looked upon him.
Verse 9
[9] Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
Will not — Unless they be forced to it by a bit or bridle. And so all the ancient translators understand it.
Verse 10
[10] Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
Sorrows — This is an argument to enforce the foregoing admonition.
Romans 5:12-19
Verse 12
[12] Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Therefore — This refers to all the preceding discourse; from which the apostle infers what follows. He does not therefore properly make a digression, but returns to speak again of sin and of righteousness.
As by one man — Adam; who is mentioned, and not Eve, as being the representative of mankind.
Sin entered into the world — Actual sin, and its consequence, a sinful nature.
And death — With all its attendants. It entered into the world when it entered into being; for till then it did not exist.
By sin — Therefore it could not enter before sin.
Even so — Namely, by one man.
In that — So the word is used also, 2 Corinthians 5:4.
All sinned — In Adam. These words assign the reason why death came upon all men; infants themselves not excepted, in that all sinned.
Verse 13
[13] (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
For until the law sin was in the world-All, I say, had sinned, for sin was in the world long before the written law; but, I grant, sin is not so much imputed, nor so severely punished by God, where there is no express law to convince men of it. Yet that all had sinned, even then, appears in that all died.
Verse 14
[14] Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
Death reigned — And how vast is his kingdom! Scarce can we find any king who has as many subjects, as are the kings whom he hath conquered.
Even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression — Even over infants who had never sinned, as Adam did, in their own persons; and over others who had not, like him, sinned against an express law.
Who is the figure of him that was to come — Each of them being a public person, and a federal head of mankind. The one, the fountain of sin and death to mankind by his offence; the other, of righteousness and life by his free gift. Thus far the apostle shows the agreement between the first and second Adam: afterward he shows the differences between them. The agreement may be summed up thus: As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so by one man righteousness entered into the world, and life by righteousness. As death passed upon all men, in that all had sinned; so life passed upon all men, (who are in the second Adam by faith,) in that all are justified. And as death through the sin of the first Adam reigned even over them who had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression; so through the righteousness of Christ, even those who have not obeyed, after the likeness of his obedience, shall reign in life. We may add, As the sin of Adam, without the sins which we afterwards committed, brought us death ; so the righteousness of Christ, without the good works which we afterwards perform, brings us life: although still every good, as well as evil, work, will receive its due reward.
Verse 15
[15] But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
Yet not — St. Paul now describes the difference between Adam and Christ; and that much more directly and expressly than the agreement between them. Now the fall and the free gift differ, 1. In amplitude, Romans 5:15. 2. He from whom sin came, and He from whom the free gift came, termed also "the gift of righteousness," differ in power, Romans 5:16. 3. The reason of both is subjoined, Romans 5:17. 4. This premised, the offence and the free gift are compared, with regard to their effect, Romans 5:18, and with regard to their cause, Romans 5:19.
Verse 16
[16] And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
The sentence was by one offence to Adam's condemnation — Occasioning the sentence of death to pass upon him, which, by consequence, overwhelmed his posterity.
But the free gift is of many offences unto justification — Unto the purchasing it for all men, notwithstanding many offences.
Verse 17
[17] For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
There is a difference between grace and the gift. Grace is opposed to the offence; the gift, to death, being the gift of life.
Verse 18
[18] Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Justification of life — Is that sentence of God, by which a sinner under sentence of death is adjudged to life.
Verse 19
[19] For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
As by the disobedience of one man many (that is, all men) were constituted sinners - Being then in the loins of their first parent, the common head and representative of them all.
So by the obedience of one — By his obedience unto death; by his dying for us.
Many — All that believe.
Shall be constituted righteous — Justified, pardoned.
2 Peter 1:16-21
Verse 16
[16] For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
These things are worthy to be always had in remembrance For they are not cunningly devised fables - Like those common among the heathens.
While we made known to you the power and coming — That is, the powerful coming of Christ in glory. But if what they advanced of Christ was not true, if it was of their own invention, then to impose such a lie on the world as it was, in the very nature of things, above all human power to defend, and to do this at the expense of life and all things only to enrage the whole world, Jews and gentiles, against them, was no cunning, but was the greatest folly that men could have been guilty of.
But were eyewitnesses of his majesty — At his transfiguration, which was a specimen of his glory at the last day.
Verse 17
[17] For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
For he received divine honour and inexpressible glory - Shining from heaven above the brightness of the sun.
When there came such a voice from the excellent glory — That is, from God the Father. Matthew 17:5.
Verse 18
[18] And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
And we — Peter, James, and John. St. John was still alive.
Being with him in the holy mount — Made so by that glorious manifestation, as mount Horeb was of old, Exodus 3:4,5.
Verse 19
[19] We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
And we — St. Peter here speaks in the name of all Christians.
Have the word of prophecy — The words of Moses, Isaiah, and all the prophets, are one and the same word, every way consistent with itself. St. Peter does not cite any particular passage, but speaks of their entire testimony.
More confirmed — By that display of his glorious majesty. To which word ye do well that ye take heed, as to a lamp which shone in a dark place - Wherein there was neither light nor window. Such anciently was the whole world, except that little spot where this lamp shone.
Till the day should dawn — Till the full light of the gospel should break through the darkness. As is the difference between the light of a lamp and that of the day, such is that between the light of the Old Testament and of the New.
And the morning star — Jesus Christ, Revelation 22:16.
Arise in your hearts — Be revealed in you.
Verse 20
[20] Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
Ye do well, as knowing this, that no scripture prophecy is of private interpretation - It is not any man's own word. It is God, not the prophet himself, who thereby interprets things till then unknown.
Verse 21
[21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
For prophecy came not of old by the will of man — Of any mere man whatever.
But the holy men of God — Devoted to him, and set apart by him for that purpose, spake and wrote.
Being moved — Literally, carried. They were purely passive therein.
Matthew 17:1-9
(Read all of Matthew 17)
Verse 2
[2] And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
And was transfigured — Or transformed. The indwelling Deity darted out its rays through the veil of the flesh; and that with such transcendent splendour, that he no longer bore the form of a servant. His face shone with Divine majesty, like the sun in its strength; and all his body was so irradiated by it, that his clothes could not conceal its glory, but became white and glittering as the very light, with which he covered himself as with a garment.
Verse 3
[3] And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
There appeared Moses and Elijah — Here for the full confirmation of their faith in Jesus, Moses, the giver of the law, Elijah, the most zealous of all the prophets, and God speaking from heaven, all bore witness to him.
Verse 4
[4] Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
Let us make three tents — The words of rapturous surprise. He says three, not six: because the apostles desired to be with their Master.
Verse 5
[5] While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Hear ye him — As superior even to Moses and the prophets. See Deuteronomy 18:17.
Verse 7
[7] And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
Be not afraid — And doubtless the same moment he gave them courage and strength.
Verse 9
[9] And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
Tell the vision to no man — Not to the rest of the disciples, lest they should be grieved and discouraged because they were not admitted to the sight: nor to any other persons, lest it should enrage some the more, and his approaching sufferings shall make others disbelieve it; till the Son of man be risen again - Till the resurrection should make it credible, and confirm their testimony about it.
Matthew 4:1-11
(Read all of Matthew 4)
Verse 2
[2] And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
Having fasted — Whereby doubtless he received more abundant spiritual strength from God.
Forty days and forty nights — As did Moses, the giver of the law, and Elijah, the great restorer of it.
He was afterward hungry — And so prepared for the first temptation.
Verse 3
[3] And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Coming to him — In a visible form; probably in a human shape, as one that desired to inquire farther into the evidences of his being the Messiah.
Verse 4
[4] But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
It is written — Thus Christ answered, and thus we may answer all the suggestions of the devil.
By every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God — That is, by whatever God commands to sustain him. Therefore it is not needful I should work a miracle to procure bread, without any intimation of my Father's will. Deuteronomy 8:3.
Verse 5
[5] Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
The holy city — So Jerusalem was commonly called, being the place God had peculiarly chosen for himself.
On the battlement of the temple — Probably over the king's gallery, which was of such a prodigious height, that no one could look down from the top of it without making himself giddy.
Verse 6
[6] And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
In their hands — That is, with great care. Psalms 91:11,12.
Verse 7
[7] Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God — By requiring farther evidence of what he hath already made sufficiently plain. Deuteronomy 6:16.
Verse 8
[8] Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Showeth him all the kingdoms of the world — In a kind of visionary representation.
Verse 9
[9] And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
If thou wilt fall down and worship me — Here Satan clearly shows who he was. Accordingly Christ answering this suggestion, calls him by his own name, which he had not done before.
Verse 10
[10] Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Get thee hence, Satan — Not, get thee behind me, that is, into thy proper place; as he said on a quite different occasion to Peter, speaking what was not expedient. Deuteronomy 6:13.
Verse 11
[11] Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Angels came and waited upon him — Both to supply him with food, and to congratulate his victory.
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