1UndG2532 er riefG4341 seineG846 zwölfG1427 JüngerG3101 zu sich und gabG1325 ihnenG846 MachtG1849 über die unsaubernG169 GeisterG4151, daßG5620 sie dieG846 austriebenG1544 undG2532 heiltenG2323 allerleiG3956 SeucheG3554 undG2532 allerleiG3956 KrankheitG3119. 2Die NamenG3686 aberG1161 der zwölfG1427 ApostelG652 sindG2076 dieseG5023: der ersteG4413 SimonG4613, genannt G3588 G3004 PetrusG4074, undG2532 AndreasG406, seinG846 BruderG80; JakobusG2385, des ZebedäusG2199 SohnG3588, undG2532 JohannesG2491, seinG846 BruderG80; 3PhilippusG5376 undG2532 BartholomäusG918; ThomasG2381 undG2532 MatthäusG3156, der ZöllnerG5057; JakobusG2385, des AlphäusG256 SohnG3588, LebbäusG3002, mit dem ZunamenG1941 ThaddäusG2280; 4SimonG4613 von KanaG2581 undG2532 JudasG2455 IschariotG2469, welcher G3588 G2532 ihnG846 verrietG3860. 5DieseG5128 zwölfG1427 sandteG649 JesusG2424, gebotG3853 ihnenG846 und sprachG3004: GehetG565 nichtG3361 aufG1519 der HeidenG1484 StraßeG3598 undG2532 ziehetG1525 nichtG3361 inG1519 der SamariterG4541 StädteG4172, 6sondernG1161 gehetG4198 hinG3123 zuG4314 den verlorenenG622 SchafenG4263 aus dem HauseG3624 IsraelG2474. 7GehtG4198 aber und predigtG2784 und sprechtG3004 :G3754 Das Himmelreich G3772 G932 ist nahe herbeigekommenG1448. 8MachtG2323 die KrankenG770 gesundG2323, reinigtG2511 die AussätzigenG3015, wecktG1453 die TotenG3498 auf, treibtG1544 die TeufelG1140 ausG1544. UmsonstG1432 habt ihr’s empfangenG2983, umsonstG1432 gebtG1325 es auch. 9Ihr solltG2932 nichtG3361 GoldG5557 nochG3366 SilberG696 nochG3366 ErzG5475 inG1519 eurenG5216 GürtelnG2223 habenG2932, 10auchG3361 keine TascheG4082 zurG1519 Weg–FahrtG3598, auch nichtG3366 zweiG1417 RöckeG5509, keineG3366 SchuheG5266, auch keinenG3366 SteckenG4464. DennG1063 ein ArbeiterG2040 istG2076 seinerG846 SpeiseG5160 wertG514. 11WoG1161 ihr aber inG1519 eine G302 G3739 StadtG4172 oderG2228 einen MarktG2968 gehtG1525, da erkundigtG1833 euch, ob jemandG5101 darinG1722 seiG846, der es wertG514 istG2076; und beiG2546 demselben bleibetG3306, bis G302 G2193 ihr von dannen ziehtG1831. 12WoG1161 ihr aber inG1519 ein HausG3614 gehtG1525, so grüßetG782 esG846; 13undG2532 so G1437 G3303 es das HausG3614 wertG514 istG5600, wird euerG5216 FriedeG1515 aufG1909 sieG846 kommenG2064. IstG5600 es aberG1161 nichtG3362 wertG514, so wird sich euerG5216 FriedeG1515 wieder zuG4314 euchG5209 wendenG1994. 14UndG2532 wo euchG5209 jemandG3739 nichtG3362 annehmenG1209 wird nochG3366 eureG5216 RedeG3056 hörenG191, so geht herausG1831 von demselbenG1565 HauseG3614 oderG2228 der StadtG4172 und schütteltG1621 den StaubG2868 von eurenG5216 FüßenG4228. 15WahrlichG281, ich sageG3004 euchG5213: Dem LandeG1093 der SodomerG4670 undG2532 GomorrerG1116 wird es erträglicherG414 gehenG2071 amG1722 JüngstenG2250 GerichtG2920 dennG2228 solcherG1565 StadtG4172. 16SieheG2400, ichG1473 sendeG649 euchG5209 wieG5613 SchafeG4263 mittenG3319 unterG1722 die WölfeG3074; darumG3767 seidG1096 klugG5429 wieG5613 die SchlangenG3789 undG2532 ohne FalschG185 wieG5613 die TaubenG4058. 17HütetG4337 euch aberG1161 vorG575 den MenschenG444; dennG1063 sie werden euchG5209 überantwortenG3860 vorG1519 ihre RathäuserG4892 undG2532 werden euchG5209 geißelnG3146 inG1722 ihrenG846 SchulenG4864. 18UndG2532 man wird euch vorG1909 FürstenG2232 und G2532 G1161 KönigeG935 führenG71 um meinetwillenG1752 G1700, zumG1519 ZeugnisG3142 über sieG846 undG2532 über die HeidenG1484. 19WennG3752 sie euchG5209 nunG1161 überantwortenG3860 werden, so sorgetG3309 nichtG3361, wieG4459 oderG2228 wasG5101 ihr redenG2980 sollt; dennG1063 es soll euchG5213 zuG1722 derG1565 StundeG5610 gegebenG1325 werden, wasG5101 ihr redenG2980 sollt. 20DennG1063 ihrG5210 seidG2075 es nichtG3756, die da redenG2980, sondernG235 euresG5216 VatersG3962 GeistG4151 ist es, derG3588 durchG1722 euchG5213 redetG2980. 21Es wirdG1161 aber ein BruderG80 den andernG80 zumG1519 TodG2288 überantwortenG3860 undG2532 der VaterG3962 den SohnG5043, undG2532 die KinderG5043 werden sich empörenG1881 widerG1909 ihre ElternG1118 undG2532 ihnenG846 zum TodeG2289 helfen. 22UndG2532 ihr müssetG2071 gehaßtG3404 werden vonG5259 jedermannG3956 umG1223 meinesG3450 Namens willenG3686. WerG3778 aberG1161 bisG1519 an das EndeG5056 beharrtG5278, der wird seligG4982. 23WennG3752 sie euchG5209 aberG1161 inG1722 einerG5026 StadtG4172 verfolgenG1377, so fliehetG5343 inG1519 eine andereG243. WahrlichG281, ich sageG3004 euchG5213: Ihr werdet mit den StädtenG4172 IsraelsG2474 nichtG3364 zu EndeG5055 kommen, bisG2193 des MenschenG444 SohnG5207 kommtG302 G2064. 24Der JüngerG3101 istG2076 nichtG3756 überG5228 seinen MeisterG1320 nochG3761 der KnechtG1401 überG5228 denG846 HerrnG2962. 25Es ist dem JüngerG3101 genugG713, daßG2443 er seiG1096 wieG5613 seinG846 MeisterG1320 undG2532 der KnechtG1401 wieG5613 seinG846 HerrG2962. HabenG1487 sieG2564 den HausvaterG3617 BeelzebubG954 geheißenG2564, wie vielG4214 mehrG3123 werden sie seineG846 HausgenossenG3615 also heißen! 26So fürchtetG5399 euch dennG3767 nichtG3361 vor ihnenG846. EsG1063 istG2076 nichtsG3762 verborgenG2572, dasG3739 nichtG3756 offenbarG601 werde, undG2532 ist nichts heimlichG2927, dasG3739 man nichtG3756 wissenG1097 werde. 27WasG3739 ich euchG5213 sageG3004 inG1722 der FinsternisG4653, das redetG2036 imG1722 LichtG5457; undG2532 wasG3739 ihr hörtG191 inG1519 das OhrG3775, das predigtG2784 aufG1909 den DächernG1430. 28UndG2532 fürchtet G575 G5399 euch nichtG3361 vor denen, dieG3588 den LeibG4983 tötenG615, und die SeeleG5590 nichtG3361 könnenG1410 tötenG615; fürchtetG5399 euch aberG1161 vielmehrG3123 vor demG3588, der LeibG4983 undG2532 SeeleG5590 verderbenG622 kannG1410 inG1722 der HölleG1067. 29KauftG4453 man nichtG3780 zweiG1417 SperlingeG4765 um einen PfennigG787? DennochG2532 fälltG4098 derenG846 keinerG1520 aufG1909 die ErdeG1093 ohneG427 eurenG5216 VaterG3962. 30Nun aberG1161 sindG1526 auchG2532 eureG5216 HaareG2359 auf dem HauptG2776 alleG3956 gezähltG705. 31So fürchtetG5399 euch dennG3767 nichtG3361; ihrG5210 seid besserG1308 als vieleG4183 SperlingeG4765. 32 Wer G3956 G3748 nunG3767 michG1698 bekennet G1722 G3670 vorG1715 den MenschenG444,G1722 denG846 will ich bekennenG3670 vorG1715 meinemG3450 himmlischenG3772 VaterG3962. 33WerG3748 michG3165 aberG1161 verleugnetG720 vorG1715 den MenschenG444, denG846 will ich auchG2504 verleugnenG720 vorG1715 meinemG3450 himmlischenG3772 VaterG3962. 34Ihr sollt nichtG3361 wähnenG3543, daßG3754 ich gekommenG2064 sei, FriedenG1515 zu sendenG906 aufG1909 die ErdeG1093. Ich bin nichtG3756 gekommenG2064, FriedenG1515 zu sendenG906, sondernG235 das SchwertG3162. 35DennG1063 ich bin gekommenG2064, den MenschenG444 zu erregenG1369 widerG2596 seinenG846 VaterG3962 undG2532 die TochterG2364 widerG2596 ihreG846 MutterG3384 undG2532 die SchwiegertochterG3565 widerG2596 ihreG846 SchwiegermutterG3994. 36UndG2532 des MenschenG444 FeindeG2190 werden seine eigenenG846 HausgenossenG3615 sein. 37WerG5368 VaterG3962 oderG2228 MutterG3384 mehrG5228 liebtG5368 denn michG1691, der istG2076 meinG3450 nichtG3756 wertG514; undG2532 werG5368 SohnG5207 oderG2228 TochterG2364 mehrG5228 liebtG5368 denn michG1691, der istG2076 meinG3450 nichtG3756 wertG514. 38UndG2532 werG3739 nichtG3756 seinG846 KreuzG4716 auf sich nimmtG2983 undG2532 folgetG190 mirG3450 nachG3694, der istG2076 meinG3450 nichtG3756 wertG514. 39Wer seinG846 LebenG5590 findetG2147, der wird’sG846 verlierenG622; undG2532 wer seinG846 LebenG5590 verliertG622 um meinetwillenG1700 G1752, der wird’sG846 findenG2147. 40Wer euchG5209 aufnimmtG1209, der nimmtG1209 michG1691 aufG1209; undG2532 wer michG1691 aufnimmtG1209, der nimmtG1209 den aufG1209, der michG3165 gesandtG649 hat. 41WerG1209 einen ProphetenG4396 aufnimmtG1209 inG1519 eines ProphetenG4396 NamenG3686, der wird eines ProphetenG4396 LohnG3408 empfangenG2983. Wer einen GerechtenG1342 aufnimmtG2983 inG1519 eines GerechtenG1342 NamenG3686, der wird eines GerechtenG1342 LohnG3408 empfangenG1209. 42UndG2532 wer G3739 G1437 dieserG5130 GeringstenG3398 einenG1520 nur mit einem BecherG4221 kaltenG5593 WassersG3440 tränktG4222 inG1519 eines JüngersG3101 NamenG3686, wahrlichG281, ich sageG3004 euchG5213, es wird ihmG846 nichtG3364 unbelohnt G3408 G622 bleiben.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 MISSION OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. ( =
Mark 6:7-
Mark 6:13;
Luke 9:1-
Luke 9:6). (
Matt 10:1-
Matt 10:5)
And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power--The word signifies both "power," and "authority" or "right." Even if it were not evident that here both ideas are included, we find both words expressly used in the parallel passage of Luke (
Luke 9:1) --"He gave them power and authority"--in other words, He both qualified and authorized them.
against--or "over."
2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these--The other Evangelists enumerate the twelve in immediate connection with their appointment (
Mark 3:13-
Mark 3:19;
Luke 6:13-
Luke 6:16). But our Evangelist, not intending to record the appointment, but only the Mission of the Twelve, gives their names here. And as in the Acts (
Acts 1:13) we have a list of the Eleven who met daily in the upper room with the other disciples after their Master's ascension until the day of Pentecost, we have four catalogues in all for comparison.
The first, Simon, who is called Peter--(See on
John 1:42).
and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother--named after James, as the younger of the two.
3 Philip and Bartholomew--That this person is the same with "Nathanael of Cana in Galilee" is justly concluded for the three following reasons: First, because Bartholomew is not so properly an individual's name as a family surname; next, because not only in this list, but in Mark's and Luke's (
Mark 3:18;
Luke 6:14), he follows the name of "Philip," who was the instrument of bringing Nathanael first to Jesus (
John 1:45); and again, when our Lord, after His resurrection, appeared at the Sea of Tiberias, "Nathanael of Cana in Galilee" is mentioned along with six others, all of them apostles, as being present (
John 21:2).
Matthew the publican--In none of the four lists of the Twelve is this apostle so branded but in his own, as if he would have all to know how deep a debtor he had been to his Lord. (See on
Matt 1:3;
Matt 9:9).
James the son of Alphaeus--the same person apparently who is called Cleopas or Clopas (
Luke 24:18;
John 19:25); and, as he was the husband of Mary, sister to the Virgin, James the Less must have been our Lord's cousin.
and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus--the same, without doubt, as "Judas the brother of James," mentioned in both the lists of Luke (
Luke 6:16;
Acts 1:13), while no one of the name of Lebbaeus or Thaddaeus is so. It is he who in John (
John 14:22) is sweetly called "Judas, not Iscariot." That he was the author of the Catholic Epistle of "Jude," and not "the Lord's brother" (
Matt 13:55), unless these be the same, is most likely.
4 Simon the Canaanite--rather "Kananite," but better still, "the Zealot," as he is called in
Luke 6:15, where the original term should not have been retained as in our version ("Simon, called Zelotes"), but rendered "Simon, called the Zealot." The word "Kananite" is just the Aramaic, or Syro-Chaldaic, term for "Zealot." Probably before his acquaintance with Jesus, he belonged to the sect of the Zealots, who bound themselves, as a sort of voluntary ecclesiastical police, to see that the law was not broken with impunity.
and Judas Iscariot--that is, Judas of Kerioth, a town of Judah (
Josh 15:25); so called to distinguish him from "Judas the brother of James" (
Luke 6:16).
who also betrayed him--a note of infamy attached to his name in all the catalogues of the Twelve.
5 THE TWELVE RECEIVE THEIR INSTRUCTIONS. (Mat. 10:5-42)
These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not--The Samaritans were Gentiles by blood; but being the descendants of those whom the king of Assyria had transported from the East to supply the place of the ten tribes carried captive, they had adopted the religion of the Jews, though with admixtures of their own: and, as the nearest neighbors of the Jews, they occupied a place intermediate between them and the Gentiles. Accordingly, when this prohibition was to be taken off, on the effusion of the Spirit at Pentecost, the apostles were told that they should be Christ's witnesses first "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea," then "in Samaria," and lastly, "unto the uttermost part of the earth" (
Acts 1:8).
6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel--Until Christ's death, which broke down the middle wall of Partition (
Eph 2:14), the Gospel commission was to the Jews only, who, though the visible people of God, were "lost sheep," not merely in the sense which all sinners are (
Isa 53:6;
1Pet 2:25; compare with
Luke 19:10), but as abandoned and left to wander from the right way by faithless shepherds (
Jer 50:6,
Jer 50:17;
Ezek 34:2-
Ezek 34:6, &c.).
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand--(See on
Matt 3:2).
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils--(The italicizedd clause--"raise the dead"--is wanting in many manuscripts). Here we have the first communication of supernatural power by Christ Himself to His followers--thus anticipating the gifts of Pentecost. And right royally does He dispense it.
freely ye have received, freely give--Divine saying, divinely said! (Compare
Deut 15:10-
Deut 15:11;
Acts 3:6) --an apple of gold in a setting of silver (
Pro 25:11). It reminds us of that other golden saying of our Lord, rescued from oblivion by Paul, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (
Acts 20:35). Who can estimate what the world owes to such sayings, and with what beautiful foliage and rich fruit such seeds have covered, and will yet cover, this earth!
9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses--"for" your purses; literally, "your belts," in which they kept their money.
10 Nor scrip for your journey--the bag used by travellers for holding provisions.
neither two coats--or tunics, worn next the skin. The meaning is, Take no change of dress, no additional articles.
neither shoes--that is change of them.
nor yet staves--The received text here has "a staff," but our version follows another reading, "staves," which is found in the received text of Luke (
Luke 9:3). The true reading, however, evidently is "a staff"--meaning, that they were not to procure even that much expressly for this missionary journey, but to go with what they had. No doubt it was the misunderstanding of this that gave rise to the reading "staves" in so many manuscripts Even if this reading were genuine, it could not mean "more than one"; for who, as ALFORD well asks, would think of taking a spare staff?
for the workman is worthy of his meat--his "food" or "maintenance"; a principle which, being universally recognized in secular affairs, is here authoritatively applied to the services of the Lord's workmen, and by Paul repeatedly and touchingly employed in his appeals to the churches (
Rom 15:27;
1Cor 9:11;
Gal 6:6), and once as "scripture" (
1Tim 5:18).
11 And into whatsoever city or town--town or village.
ye shall enter inquire--carefully.
who in it is worthy--or "meet" to entertain such messengers; not in point of rank, of course, but of congenial disposition.
and there abide till ye go thence--not shifting about, as if discontented, but returning the welcome given with a courteous, contented, accommodating disposition.
12 And when ye come into an house--or "the house," but it means not the worthy house, but the house ye first enter, to try if it be worthy.
salute it--show it the usual civilities.
13 And if the house be worthy--showing this by giving you a welcome.
let your peace come upon it--This is best explained by the injunction to the Seventy, "And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house" (
Luke 10:5). This was the ancient salutation of the East, and it prevails to this day. But from the lips of Christ and His messengers, it means something far higher, both in the gift and the giving of it, than in the current salutation. (See on
John 14:27).
but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you--If your peace finds a shut, instead of an open, door in the heart of any household, take it back to yourselves, who know how to value it; and it will taste the sweeter to you for having been offered, even though rejected.
14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city--for possibly a whole town might not furnish one "worthy."
shake off the dust of your feet--"for a testimony against them," as Mark and Luke add (
Mark 6:11;
Luke 10:11). By this symbolical action they vividly shook themselves from all connection with such, and all responsibility for the guilt of rejecting them and their message. Such symbolical actions were common in ancient times, even among others than the Jews, as strikingly appears in Pilate (
Matt 27:24). And even to this day it prevails in the East.
15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable--more bearable.
for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city--Those Cities of the Plain, which were given to the flames for their loathsome impurities, shall be treated as less criminal, we are here taught, than those places which, though morally respectable, reject the Gospel message and affront those that bear it.
Directions for the Future and Permanent Exercise of the Christian Ministry (
Matt 10:16-
Matt 10:23).
16 Behold, I send you forth--The "I" here is emphatic, holding up Himself as the Fountain of the Gospel ministry, as He is also the Great Burden of it.
as sheep--defenseless.
in the midst of wolves--ready to make a prey of you (
John 10:12). To be left exposed, as sheep to wolves, would have been startling enough; but that the sheep should be sent among the wolves would sound strange indeed. No wonder this announcement begins with the exclamation, "Behold."
be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves--Wonderful combination this! Alone, the wisdom of the serpent is mere cunning, and the harmlessness of the dove little better than weakness: but in combination, the wisdom of the serpent would save them from unnecessary exposure to danger; the harmlessness of the dove, from sinful expedients to escape it. In the apostolic age of Christianity, how harmoniously were these qualities displayed! Instead of the fanatical thirst for martyrdom, to which a later age gave birth, there was a manly combination of unflinching zeal and calm discretion, before which nothing was able to stand.
17 But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the councils--the local courts, used here for civil magistrates in general.
and they will scourge you in their synagogues--By this is meant persecution at the hands of the ecclesiastics.
18 And ye shall be brought before governors--provincial rulers.
and kings--the highest tribunals.
for my sake, for a testimony against them--rather, "to them," in order to bear testimony to the truth and its glorious effects.
and the Gentiles--"to the Gentiles"; a hint that their message would not long be confined to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The Acts of the Apostles are the best commentary on these warnings.
19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought--be not solicitous or anxious. (See on
Matt 6:25).
how or what ye shall speak--that is, either in what manner ye shall make your defense, or of what matter it shall consist.
for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak--(See
Exod 4:12;
Jer 1:7).
20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you--How remarkably this has been verified, the whole history of persecution thrillingly proclaims--from the Acts of the Apostles to the latest martyrology.
21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death--for example, by lodging information against them with the authorities. The deep and virulent hostility of the old nature and life to the new--as of Belial to Christ--was to issue in awful wrenches of the dearest ties; and the disciples, in the prospect of their cause and themselves being launched upon society, are here prepared for the worst.
22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake--The universality of this hatred would make it evident to them, that since it would not be owing to any temporary excitement, local virulence, or personal prejudice, on the part of their enemies, so no amount of discretion on their part, consistent with entire fidelity to the truth, would avail to stifle that enmity--though it might soften its violence, and in some cases avert the outward manifestations of it.
but he that endureth to the end shall be saved--a great saying, repeated, in connection with similar warnings, in the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem (
Matt 24:13); and often reiterated by the apostle as a warning against "drawing back unto perdition" (
Heb 3:6,
Heb 3:13;
Heb 6:4-
Heb 6:6;
Heb 10:23,
Heb 10:26-
Heb 10:29,
Heb 10:38-
Heb 10:39, &c.). As "drawing back unto perdition" is merely the palpable evidence of the want of "root" from the first in the Christian profession (
Luke 8:13), so "enduring to the end" is just the proper evidence of its reality and solidity.
23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another--"into the other." This, though applicable to all time, and exemplified by our Lord Himself once and again, had special reference to the brief opportunities which Israel was to have of "knowing the time of His visitations."
for verily I say unto you--what will startle you, but at the same time show you the solemnity of your mission, and the need of economizing the time for it.
Ye shall not have gone over--Ye shall in nowise have completed.
the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come--To understand this--as LANGE and others do--in the first instance, of Christ's own peregrinations, as if He had said, "Waste not your time upon hostile places, for I Myself will be after you ere your work be over"--seems almost trifling. "The coming of the Son of man" has a fixed doctrinal sense, here referring immediately to the crisis of Israel's history as the visible kingdom of God, when Christ was to come and judge it; when "the wrath would come upon it to the uttermost"; and when, on the ruins of Jerusalem and the old economy, He would establish His own kingdom. This, in the uniform language of Scripture, is more immediately "the coming of the Son of man," "the day of vengeance of our God" (
Matt 16:28;
Matt 24:27,
Matt 24:34; compare with
Heb 10:25;
Jas 5:7-
Jas 5:9) --but only as being such a lively anticipation of His second coming for vengeance and deliverance. So understood, it is parallel with
Matt 24:14 (on which see).
Directions for the Service of Christ in Its Widest Sense (Mat. 10:24-42).
24 The disciple is not above his master--teacher.
nor the servant above his lord--another maxim which our Lord repeats in various connections (
Luke 6:40;
John 13:16;
John 15:20).
25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub--All the Greek manuscripts, write "Beelzebul," which undoubtedly is the right form of this word. The other reading came in no doubt from the Old Testament "Baalzebub," the god of Ekron (
2Kgs 1:2), which it was designed to express. As all idolatry was regarded as devil worship (
Lev 17:7;
Deut 32:17;
Ps 106:37;
1Cor 10:20), so there seems to have been something peculiarly satanic about the worship of this hateful god, which caused his name to be a synonym of Satan. Though we nowhere read that our Lord was actually called "Beelzebul," He was charged with being in league with Satan under that hateful name (
Matt 12:24,
Matt 12:26), and more than once Himself was charged with "having a devil" or "demon" (
Mark 3:30;
John 7:20;
John 8:48). Here it is used to denote the most opprobrious language which could be applied by one to another.
how much more shall they call them of his household--"the inmates." Three relations in which Christ stands to His people are here mentioned: He is their Teacher--they His disciples; He is their Lord--they His servants; He is the Master of the household--they its inmates. In all these relations, He says here, He and they are so bound up together that they cannot look to fare better than He, and should think it enough if they fare no worse.
26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known--that is, There is no use, and no need, of concealing anything; right and wrong, truth and error, are about to come into open and deadly collision; and the day is coming when all hidden things shall be disclosed, everything seen as it is, and every one have his due (
1Cor 4:5).
27 What I tell you in darkness--in the privacy of a teaching for which men are not yet ripe.
that speak ye in the light--for when ye go forth all will be ready.
and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops--Give free and fearless utterance to all that I have taught you while yet with you. Objection: But this may cost us our life? Answer: It may, but there their power ends:
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul--In
Luke 12:4, "and after that have no more that they can do."
but rather fear him--In Luke (
Luke 12:5) this is peculiarly solemn, "I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear," even Him
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell--A decisive proof this that there is a hell for the body as well as the soul in the eternal world; in other words, that the torment that awaits the lost will have elements of suffering adapted to the material as well as the spiritual part of our nature, both of which, we are assured, will exist for ever. In the corresponding warning contained in Luke (
Luke 12:4), Jesus calls His disciples "My friends," as if He had felt that such sufferings constituted a bond of peculiar tenderness between Him and them.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?--In Luke (
Luke 12:6) it is "five sparrows for two farthings"; so that, if the purchaser took two farthings' worth, he got one in addition--of such small value were they.
and one of them shall not fall on the ground--exhausted or killed
without your Father--"Not one of them is forgotten before God," as it is in Luke (
Luke 12:6).
30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered--See
Luke 21:18 (and compare for the language
1Sam 14:45;
Acts 27:34).
31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows--Was ever language of such simplicity felt to carry such weight as this does? But here lies much of the charm and power of our Lord's teaching.
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men--despising the shame.
him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven--I will not be ashamed of him, but will own him before the most august of all assemblies.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven--before that same assembly: "He shall have from Me his own treatment of Me on the earth." (But see on
Matt 16:27).
34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword--strife, discord, conflict; deadly opposition between eternally hostile principles, penetrating into and rending asunder the dearest ties.
35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law--(See on
Luke 12:51).
36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household--This saying, which is quoted, as is the whole verse, from
Mic 7:6, is but an extension of the Psalmist's complaint (
Ps 41:9;
Ps 55:12-
Ps 55:14), which had its most affecting illustration in the treason of Judas against our Lord Himself (
John 13:18;
Matt 26:48-
Matt 26:50). Hence would arise the necessity of a choice between Christ and the nearest relations, which would put them to the severest test.
37 He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me--(Compare
Deut 33:9). As the preference of the one would, in the case supposed, necessitate the abandonment of the other, our Lord here, with a sublime, yet awful self-respect, asserts His own claims to supreme affection.
38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me--a saying which our Lord once and again emphatically reiterates (
Matt 16:24;
Luke 9:23;
Luke 14:27). We have become so accustomed to this expression--"taking up one's cross"--in the sense of "being prepared for trials in general for Christ's sake," that we are apt to lose sight of its primary and proper sense here--"a preparedness to go forth even to crucifixion," as when our Lord had to bear His own cross on His way to Calvary--a saying the more remarkable as our Lord had not as yet given a hint that He would die this death, nor was crucifixion a Jewish mode of capital punishment.
39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it--another of those pregnant sayings which our Lord so often reiterates (
Matt 16:25;
Luke 17:33;
John 12:25). The pith of such paradoxical maxims depends on the double sense attached to the word "life"--a lower and a higher, the natural and the spiritual, the temporal and eternal. An entire sacrifice of the lower, with all its relationships and interests--or, a willingness to make it which is the same thing--is indispensable to the preservation of the higher life; and he who cannot bring himself to surrender the one for the sake of the other shall eventually lose both.
40 He that receiveth you--entertaineth you,
receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me--As the treatment which an ambassador receives is understood and regarded as expressing the light in which he that sends him is viewed, so, says our Lord here, "Your authority is Mine, as Mine is My Father's."
41 He that receiveth a prophet--one divinely commissioned to deliver a message from heaven. Predicting future events was no necessary part of a prophet's office, especially as the word is used in the New Testament.
in the name of a prophet--for his office's sake and love to his master. (See
2Kgs 4:9 and see on
2Kgs 4:10).
shall receive a prophet's reward--What an encouragement to those who are not prophets! (See
John 3:5-
John 3:8).
and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man--from sympathy with his character and esteem for himself as such
shall receive a righteous man's reward--for he must himself have the seed of righteousness who has any real sympathy with it and complacency in him who possesses it.
42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones--Beautiful epithet! Originally taken from
Zech 13:7. The reference is to their lowliness in spirit, their littleness in the eyes of an undiscerning world, while high in Heaven's esteem.
a cup of cold water only--meaning, the smallest service.
in the name of a disciple--or, as it is in Mark (
Mark 9:41), because ye are Christ's: from love to Me, and to him from his connection with Me.
verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward--There is here a descending climax--"a prophet," "a righteous man," "a little one"; signifying that however low we come down in our services to those that are Christ's, all that is done for His sake, and that bears the stamp of love to His blessed name, shall be divinely appreciated and owned and rewarded.
