성경 주석서

And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

And when he had called the twelve — He had set them to pray, Matthew 9:38 , and now he sets them to work. Ora et labora, pary and work, is an old proverb, and Admota manu invocanda est Minerva said the heathens. To pray to pray, is to mock God and lose one’s labour. Solomon saith, we must as well dig as beg for knowledge, Proverbs 2:2 ; Proverbs 2:4 , else to beg is bootless. The talk of the lips only brings want, Proverbs 14:23 . Christ seemed here to say to his praying disciples, as once he did to Moses, "Why criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward," Exodus 14:15 ; or as afterwards he did to Joshua, Joshua 7:10 "Get thee up, wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?"

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Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

Now the names of the twelve, … — Their names are registered and had in honour; when the grandees of the earth, those men of renown in their generation, lie either buried in oblivion or wrapped up in the sheet of shame: their memory, haply, is preserved, but stinks in the keeping, as that rich glutton, Luke 16:19-31 , who is not so much as named, as poor Lazarus is.

Peter, and Andrew his brother, … — They go coupled two and two together. And this first for their own sakes. "Two are better than one," saith Solomon,Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 . For, 1. If they fall, the one will lift up his fellow, as that which is stronger shoreth up that which is weaker. 2. If two lie together, then they have heat. When Silas came, Paul burned in spirit, Acts 18:5 . Whiles Jehoiada lived Joash was free and forward for God; he was the first that complained of the negligence of his best officers in repairing the temple, 2 Chronicles 24:4-6 . While Bradford was alive he kept up Ridley, and so did Latimer, Cranmer, from thinking upon defection. 3. If one prevail, two shall withstand him. The enemy is readiest to assault where none is by to assist; and much of our strength is lost in the loss of a faithful friend; whence Paul so rejoiced that Epaphroditus recovered, Philippians 2:27 . For their own mutual help and comfort was it therefore that they were sent out by pairs: ουν τε δυω ερχινεβω , as the poet speaks of his Ulysses and Diomedes, sent to fetch in the Palladium. Secondly, for the sake of others, that the bad might be the sooner set down and convinced, the better confirmed and settled in the truth, since "in the mouth of two or three witnesses," … For this it was that God sent forth those noble pairs, Moses and Aaron, Zerubbabel and Joshua, Paul and Barnabas, the two faithful witnesses, Revelation 11:3 , Luther and Melancthon, Divisae his operae sed mens fuit unica, pavit Ore Zuinglius and Oecolampadius, …

Lutherus oves, flore Melancthon apes.

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Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;

Bartholomew — This, say some, was that Nathanael, John 1:45-49 He is by Dionysius quoted to have said of divinity, Et magnam esse et minimam ( και πολλην, και ελαχιστην ), that it was large in a little room. Ambrose Chircher the Jesuit tells of a tradition they have in China, that one Olo Puen (or Bartholomew) was brought thither from Judea in the clouds, and preached Christianity among them; whereof he left twenty-seven tomes behind him. Sed fides sit penes authorem. But let faith belong to authority.

Matthew the publican — See here, as in a mirror, Christ’s free grace in such a choice, and Matthew’s true grace in not dissembling his old trade, but shaming himself, that God might be glorified; and thankfully crying out, with Iphicrates, εξ οιων εις οια , from how sinful and shameful to how high and honourable a calling and course of life am I advanced!

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Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

Simeon the Canaanite — Or a man of Cana ÷ëà significat zelum, means jealousy. in Galilee (as Judas Iscariot), that is, a man of Kerioth: see Joshua 15:25 . Simon the zealot, St Luke calls him. Christ, when he called him to the apostleship, either found him or made him zealous. Tardis mentibus virtus non facile committitur. Song of Solomon 5:0 . Tusc.

" Mediocribus esse poetis

Non Dii, non homines, non concessere columnae. "

(Her. de Art. Poet.)

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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:

These twelve Jesus sent forth — Out of deep commiseration of those poor scattered sheep, that lay panting for life, and well nigh gasping their last ( εσκυλμενοι ), Matthew 9:30 . Saul, that ravening wolf of Benjamin, and his fellow Pharisees, not only breathed out threatenings, but worried Christ’s sheep, that bore golden fleeces,Acts 9:1; Acts 9:1 . Now, because he could not go to them all himseff in person, he sends out the twelve. Thereby also to teach them and us that no minister is so "thoroughly furnished to all good works," 2 Timothy 3:17 , but that he may need the advice and help of his fellow labourers. And this, I conceive, was at first the end of erecting colleges and cathedrals.

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But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

To the lost sheep — This is the common condition of us all. "All we like sheep have gone astray," Isaiah 53:6 . The prophet saith not, like dogs; for these, though lost, will find their way home again, Nor like swine; for these also, when lugged, or against a storm, will hie to their home. But like sheep, that silly creature, than the which as none is more apt to wander, so neither any more unable to return.

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And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The kingdom of heaven is at hand — Repent therefore. Men will do much for a kingdom. And nothing less than a kingdom, and that of heaven, can buy men out of their sweet sins. How many hear we daily making answer to the motion of this heavenly kingdom offered them by God, as the olive and vine did in Jotham’s parable! Shall I leave my fat and sweet sins, to reign, though with God? At Paris, ut vivat regnetque beatus, cogi posse negat. And yet every man must be either a king or a captive; reign in heaven, or roar for ever in hell. And this the apostles were bidden, wherever they came, to preach; not to sing mass, which is the chief office of priest among the Papists. And for the people, they are taught to believe that the mass only is a work of duty; but the going to sermons a matter of convenience, and such as is left free to men’s leisures and opportunities, without imputation of sin.

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Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

Heal the sick — God glorifies himself by the fruits of our sin and the effects of his own wrath. This great Alchemist knows how to extract good out of evil. He can make golden afflictions, 1 Peter 1:7 , medicinal sicknesses, fetch his own honour out of the depths of our sufferings, as wine draws a nourishing virtue from the flesh of vipers, and as scarlet pulls out the viper’s teeth.

Freely ye have received — And so have we in some sort, and in some sense; since no pains we take, no cost we are at, can possibly countervail so great a treasure as is concredited unto us.

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