Mat. XXIII. 22. 362 Sect. 157. bleffed Jehovah: And be that fwears by Heaven, which fome of you are foolish enough to think a little Oath, fwears by the Throne of the moft High GOD, and by him who fits upon it, and fills all the Train of attendant Angels with the humbleft Reverence and Proftration of Mind. Now did you and your Difciples confider this, that every Oath by a Creature is an implicit Appeal to GOD, you could not furely talk of fuch Expreffions in fo light and dangerous a Manner as you commonly do. Reflections on the Woes denounced against the Pharifees. I, & feq. 22 And he that shall swear by Heaven, fweareth by the Throne of GOD, and by him that fitteth thereon. IMPROVEMENT. Mat. xxiii. As an Ear-ring of Gold, and an Ornament of fine Gold, fo is a wife Reprover upon an obedient Ear. (Prov. xxv. 12.) Chrift was indeed a wife and faithful Reprover; but the Ears of thefe Pharifees were disobedient, and uncircumcifed. Let us, however, who are his Difciples, attend to these Inftructions of our Heavenly Mafter, and avoid every Thing which has the remoteft Tendency to what he here condemns with fo just a Severity. Ver. 5. Ver. 4. Ver. 6, 7. Let not our Zeal spend itself, upon the Externals of Religion. Let us not impofe heavy Burthens upon each other; nor lay down Rules for the Conduct of others, by which we do not in like Circumstances think fit to govern ourselves. Let us not impofe our own Decifions in a magisterial Ver. 8,--10. Manner on our Fellow-Chriftians, nor affect to be called Fathers, Masters, and Teachers; remembering, that Chrift alone is our Mafter, and GOD our Father, and that it is a dangerous Prefumption and Folly to fet ourfelves in the Place of either. Let us be upon our Guard against that vain Oftentation, that would lead us to place any Part of our Happiness in Precedence, and to value ourselves upon our Rank, or upon any airy Titles of Honour, by which, perhaps rather by Accident than Merit, we are diftinguished from others; and which to a truly wife Man, and especially to an humble Follower of Jefus, will appear to be a very little Ver. 11, 12. Matter. Let us defire that Honour, which arifes from condescending to others, and ferving them in Love; that Honour, which springs from the Divine Approbation, which it will be impoffible to fecure without unaffected Piety. (John v. 44.) Ver. 7. Ver. 14. Ver. 15. GOD forbid, that our Devotions should ever be intended as a Cloak of Malicioufnefs, or as the Inftrument of serving any mean and vile Purpofe! Such Prayers would return in Curfes on our own Heads, and draw down on them aggravated Damnation. God forbid, that we should spend that Time, and that Ardency of Spirit, in making Profelytes to our own peculiar Notions and Party, which ought to be laid out in The Pharifees are reproved for their Hypocrify. 363 making them the Servants of GOD thro' Chrift! GOD forbid, that we Sect. 157. should delude ourselves, or others, by fuch idle Diftinctions in Matters of Confcience, as thefe which our Bleffed Redeemer has with fo much Reason and Spirit exposed! Ver. 16. Let us retain the greatest Reverence for an Oath, and not accuftom Ver. 17,-22. ourselves to trifle with any Thing which looks like it. Let us confider Heaven as the Throne of GOD, and often think of the Majefty and Glory of that Illuftrious Being that fits thereon; for a Senfe of his continual Prefence will form us to a better Temper, and engage us, with a Righteoufnefs far exceeding that of the Scribes and Pharifees, to walk before him in all his Commandments and Ordinances blameless. SECT. CLVIII. CHRIST continues his Difcourfe with the Pharifees, reproving them for their Hypocrify, and threatening them with approaching Judgments. Mat. XXIII. 23, to the End. W MAT. XXIII. 23. O unto you, Scribes and Pharifees, Hypocrites; for ye pay Tithe of Mint, and Anife, and Cummin, and have omitted the weightier Matters of the Law, Judgment, Mercy, and Faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. MAT. XXIII. 23. UR Lord farther proceeded in his Dif-Sect. 158. course, and said, Woe unto you, ye Scribes Mat.XXIII. O and Pharifees, Hypocrites; you may juftly expect 23. the fevereft Vengeance; for ye are careful to tithe Mint, and Anife, and Cummin, and every other common Herb which grows in your Gardens; and yet have wholly neglected the weightier Matters of the Law, Juftice, and Mercy, and Fidelity (a): Thefe fhould chiefly have been regarded by you, as what ye ought more especially to have prac tifed, and indeed not to have omitted the other, as a reverent Obfervance is due even to the leaft of GOD's Commandments. (Compare Luke xi. 42. pag. 101.) Ye blind Guides of blind and wretchwhich strain at a Gnat, and ed Followers, who do (as it is proverbially faid,) carefully ftrain out a Gnat from the Liquor you are going 24 Ye blind Guides fwallow a Camel, (a) Fidelity.] The Word wisis has undoubtedly this Signification in many Places: (Compare Tit. ii. 10. Gal. v. 22. and Rom. iii. 3.) But there are many more, in which it fignifies the Confidence repofed in another; and it is of great Importance to obferve this. See Col. i. 4. and i Pet. i. 21. 24 364 They are compared to whited Sepulchres, Sect. 158. going to drink, and yet can fwallow down a Camel (b); you affect to fcruple little Things, and difregard thofe of the greatest Moment. Mat. XXIII. 25. Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharifees, Hypocrites; for ye cleanfe the Outfide of the Cup and of the Dish, and are mighty exact in the Obfervance of external Rites and Washings of the Body; but are regardless of the Inner Parts, and unconcerned about your Hearts and Confciences, which are full of Uncleannefs, and of all Kinds of Rapine and Intemperance. (Compare Luke xi. 39. 26 pag. 100.) Thou blind and fenfelefs Pharifee, firft begin with the Heart, and thereby, as it were, cleanfe the Infide of the Cup and of the Dish; that thus the Outfide of them may be clean alfo; for the Life will of Course be reformed, when the Heart is purified. 27 Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharifees, Hypocrites; for ye refemble whited Sepulchres, which indeed appear fair and beautiful without (c), but within are full of the Bones of the Dead, and of all that Uncleanness, which arifes from their pu28 trefying Bodies. Even fo you alfo do indeed outwardly appear righteous unto Men, who view nothing more than the external Part of your Character; but in the Sight of an Heart-fearching GOD, who has a clear and perfect View of all that lies within, you are full of that Hypocrify and Iniquity, which is infinitely more loathfom to Him, (b) Strain out a Gnat, and fwallow down a Camel.] In thofe hot Countries, as Sèrrarius well obferves, (Tribæres. pag. 51.) Gnats were apt to fall into Wine, if it were not carefully covered; and paffing the Liquor thro' a Strainer, that no Gnat, or Part of one, might remain, grew into a Proverb, for Exactnefs about little Matters.Could any Authority be produced, in which xaunov fignifies a large Infect, I fhould with great Pleasure follow the Tranflation of 1727. in rendering the latter Claufe, fwallow a Beetle. (c) Whited Sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful without.] Tho' the firft Intention of whitening Sepulchres might be only to mark them out, that they might be avoided; and fo,, (as fome Jewish Writers, and particularly Maimonides, have obferved,) a Heap of Lime laid upon the Grave might answer the End; it is evident they were fometimes adorned, (ver. 29.) probably not only with Plaistering and Whitewashing, but with Marble, and other Stone Monuments: And notwithstanding all the Applaufe which Vitringa (Obferv. Sacr. lib. i. pag. 201.) gives to the Interpretation, which Dr. Lightfoot (Hor. Hebr. in loc.) and Dr. Pocock (Port. Mof. cap. v. pag. 73.) have advanced, I conclude that fuch Ornaments were here referred to; for I cannot think, Chrift would have called thefe Sepulchres beautiful, if they had been nothing but Heaps of Earth covered with Grafs. Compare Note (e) on Luke xi. 44. pag. 102. (d) You and charged with filling up the Measure of their Fathers Sins. 365 Him, than the most disagreeable Objects can be Sect. 158. to the human Eye. Mat.XXIII. Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharifees, Hypo- 29. Ob painted and deceitful Serpents, ob Brood of 33. There (d) You build the Sepulchres of the Prophets, &t.] I can by no means think with Markius, (Exercit. pag. 229.) many of whofe Criticisms are very low and fanciful, that Christ here. blames the building the Sepulchres of those holy Men; which, as Elfner (vol. i. pag. 160.) and Raphelius (Annot. ex Xen. pag. 48.) fhew, was a Piece of Refpect, which moft Nations have paid to Perfons of diftinguished Merit, especially to thofe that fell in a good Caufe. What Vitringa (de Synag. pag. 221.) tells us of the extraordinary Honours paid to the Sepulchre of Mordecai, is an agreeable Illuftratlon of thefe Words. Jofephus alfo, from. Nicolaus Damafcenus, mentions Herod's repairing in a very fplendid Manner the Sepulchre of David. (Jofeph. Antiq. lib. xvi. cap. 7. (al. 11.) §. 1.) Compare Acts ii. 29.-Grotius is certainly right in faying, that the four Verfes in this Paragraph are to be confidered as one Sentence; of which perhaps ver. 31. may be a Parenthefis. (e) How can you hope by any of these vain Pretences to escape that Sentence &c.] Raphe-. kus has abundantly proved, that aroque xa properly fignifies, to evade Conviction in a Court. Mat. XXIII. 34. 366 Sect. 158. Therefore (f), behold, I fend unto you Prophets, and Wife Men, and Scribes inftructed to the Kingdom of Heaven, to try you once more, and to give you the laft Call to Repentance and Reformation, which you must ever expect: But I know, that this laft Attempt will, with regard to the Generality of you, be entirely in vain; and that [fome] of them ye will kill, and carry your Malice fo far as to crucify them like common Slaves; and when ye cannot effect that, [fome] of them ye will scourge in your Synagogues, and perfecute 35 [them] from City to City. For thus will GoD in righteous Judgment permit you to act, that ye may become the diftinguished Trophies of his Difpleasure, as if he were reckoning with you for the Guilt of all former Ages; fo that upon you may seem to come the Vengeance due for all the righteous Blood, which has been poured forth on the Earth, from the Beginning of the World; even from the Blood of Abel that eminently righteous Man, whom his Brother Cain then flew, to the Blood of Zechariah, the Son of Barachiah, one of the laft of the Prophets, whom ye murthered while he was ministering between the Temple and the Altar (g), All the righteous Blood that had been shed should come upon them. impiously 34 Wherefore behold, I fend unto you Prophets, and wife Men, and Scribes; and fome of them ye fhall kill and crucify, and fome of them fhall ye fcourge in your Syfrom City to City: nagogues, and perfecute them 35 That upon you may come all the righteous Blood the Blood of righteous Abel, unto the Blood of Zacharias, Son of Barachias, whom ye flew between the Temple fhed upon the Earth, from and the Altar. Court of Judicature, which is often done by the Artifice of the Criminal. Annot. ex Xen. pag. 50, 51. (f) Therefore.] Tho' Olearius here would render a 780, in the mean Time, the Verfion is fo unexampled, that I cannot acquiefce in it; and if the Connection, as it ftands, could not be accounted for, I should think it better to connect this Phrafe with the Clofe of the preceding Verfe: How can ye efcape the Damnation of Hell for this? or avoid the Judgment of GOD for this Mixture of Injuftice, Cruelty, and Hypocrify? (g) To the Blood of Zechariah, the Son of Barachiah, &c.] Tho' very learned Men have interpreted this of four different Perfons, I do not, with the learned and candid Witfius, (Mifc. vol. i. pag. 269.) think it an inexplicable Difficulty which of these is referred to. I fcruple not, with Grotius, Drufius, Cafaubon, Erafmus, and many more, to explain it of that Zechariah, who is exprefsly faid to have been flain in that remarkable Manner, between the Temple and the Altar; (2 Chron. xxiv. 20, 21.) tho' I take not upon me to determine, whether (as Chryfoftom afferts,) Jehoiada his Father was alfo called Barachiah, which fignifies one that bleffes the Lord, as Jehoiada does one that confeffes him; or whether the original Reading was different from ours, as Ferom fays he found in the Gospel of the Nazarenes, or the Hebrew Verfion of Matthew.It is by no means neceflary, with Capellus, to allow that it was a Slip in the Evangelift's Memory; but much more decent to fuppofe it, an officious Addition of fome early Tranfcriber, who might confound this Martyr with Zechariah, one of the Twelve minor Prophets, who was indeed the Son of Barachiah, but who does not by any means appear to have been murthered; nor is there any Reason to imagine, the Jews fo foon after their return from Captivity would have attempted fo flagitious an Act.Tho' Theophylact understands the Text of Zacharias the Father of John the Baptift, on the Credit of an idle Tale of Origen's, confuted by Jerom, in which he tells Use |