1 3 which we know that there were many. Bethsaida however, though generally impenitent, yet produced three Apostles, standing out like green spots in a barren desert, grand exceptions to the prevailing unbelief. There may be "great saints therefore in the very worst cities. Even filthy Sodom harbours just Lot." Christ here claims an attribute of Godhead, Omniscience. He knows not only what will be, but what would have been. Tyre and Sidon, bad as they were, would not have been so base as Chorazin and Bethsaida. These were towns which had often been reproved, often punished. They had been subjects of prophetic warnings and of Divine chastisements. But had these pagan places been visited by our Lord, as we may judge by the case of that woman who came out of their coasts, they would not, like those rebellious cities of Israel, have been visited in vain. It was not in His commission to visit them. He was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel. Yet had it fallen within His province to have visited them, they, so we learn from His own lips who knows all things, would have rather followed the pattern of pagan Nineveh in a profound repentance. Sackcloth and ashes were prescribed signs of penitence. The ancients mourned, clothed in sackcloth and sitting upon ashes. Those who really sorrow have no heart for luxury. They even forget to eat their bread. So did not those careless cities. So would have done those with whom the Lord contrasted them. And therefore He who is to be the Judge of quick and dead, and who has said "to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more," here partially draws aside the veil which hangs over all; anticipates the award of that coming day when all shall be set upon the square; and tells us that the condition of those who had the fewer opportunities shall be more tolerable than that of those who enjoyed more opportunities in vain. He is a God of equity. He takes into the account not only what men did, but what they would have done. 1 A Plain Commentary. 2 Ezek. xxvi., xxvii., xxviii., passim. 3 St. Matt. xv. 21-28; St. Mark vii. 24-30. 21. Jonah iii. passim; St. Matt. xii. CLXXV. OF CAPERNAUM. St. Matthew xi. 23, 24. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee. 2 Of Capernaum we have heard more than of Chorazin and Bethsaida. We have seen some of the mighty works which were done in that obdurate city. By the presence of the very Son of God in its midst, it had been even exalted unto heaven. By its rejection of Him, it had debased itself to hell.' Leagued with the evil one against the Author and Giver of all good things, it must share his doom. They in that city, visited of God in vain, had become, by unbelief and impenitence, with Satan himself, children of hell. Thus they were of their father the devil. Even Sodom, that city of proverbial sinfulness, would not have done as they. Had the same light been vouchsafed to it, it would not have chosen to go on still in darkness.5 Sinful Sodom was overwhelmed with fire from heaven; and more sinful Capernaum still stood. This shows that there is something more than merely temporal judgments in store for obdurate sinners. Sodom's sin was enough to bring on it a present judgment. Capernaum's doom, though delayed and future, would be even more severe. "That servant, which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." 1 Is. lvii. 9; xiv. 13-15. 2 St. Matt. xxiii. 15. 3 St. John viii. 42, 44. Alford reminds us of the frequent comparison between sinful Israel and Sodom in the O. T. Deut. xxxii. 32; Is. i. 10; Lam. iv. 6; Ezek. xvi. 46-57. 5 St. John iii. 19, 20. CLXXVI. MYSTERIES ARE REVEALED UNTO THE MEEK. St. Matthew xi. 25-27. At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. In answer it may have been to objections made even at that time to the Divine dealings, or in view of what the carnal mind is ever objecting to justify its unbelief, the incarnate Son utters this ascription of praise to the Father and Lord of all.1 Christ as perfect man sets us an example of submission to the will of God. He acquiesces in all His dispensations. He admits that all that He does is good. We cannot while on earth understand all the ways of our Father which is in heaven.2 We are but children. What child can understand all that his father does? What father can explain all that he does to his child? But a dutiful child, convinced of the superior wisdom and goodness of his father, loves and obeys. Such ought to be our attitude towards our Father which is in heaven. Mysteries are revealed unto the meek." Such were the Disciples; babes in Christ; babes in the wisdom of this world as compared with the wise and knowing Pharisees and Sadducees among the Jews, but having also the humble, unquestioning faith and love of a little child. The high and mighty, those who are wise in their own conceit, overlook what holy and humble men of heart will stoop to see. It is below their line of 3 The words rendered "I thank Thee," have rather this force, “I confess to Thee." 2 Job xxvi. 14; 1 Cor. xiii. 9. 4 These expressions have been supposed to refer to different orders of teachers among the Jews. Or the former may apply to acquired knowledge, the latter to native ability. 1 vision. Another glimpse the Lord here gives us of the Divine dispensations. Humble as He seemed on earth, yet was He the supreme Lord of all. To Him all power was committed in heaven and earth. The Father had committed all judgment unto the Son. There is that in the Son which none knoweth but the Father. There is that in the Father which none knoweth but the Son, and those simple souls to whom the Son will reveal him.3 2 CLXXVII. COMFORTABLE WORDS. St. Matthew xi. 28. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 5 Holy Scripture has been likened to a river which contains in its course fords where a lamb may wade, and deeps where an elephant must swim. Side by side with its deeper mysteries we find the plainest passages. The wise of this world fasten upon the former. They fancy that merely natural faculties are enough in the study of spiritual things. The humble and teachable listen to these latter and simpler sayings, and come at the call of Christ. Note here the directness of Christ's call. He did not, like the Pharisees, bind upon men's shoulders heavy burdens and grievous to be borne. He bids those who already labour under such to come directly unto Him. As He says elsewhere, "He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." Believing and coming is all one. That which you have sought elsewhere in vain, you shall find, so He promises, in me. For this rest, it may be, we have sought elsewhere than in Him; in many ways, it may be; in many places; in this sect or in that; and we have been tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine. Such men there are, restless, unsettled men, shifting as the wind shifts from one quarter to another, carried from point to point all round the compass of religion; "everything by turns, and nothing long." But only in One shall we find the rest we long for; only in our Saviour Christ who is here in this Church of our Baptism evidently set forth crucified among us; in Him who lived and died and rose again for us, who hath also ascended up again into Heaven, there to provide places of perfect rest for all who here on earth will hearken to His call and come unto Him. Note too the universality of Christ's call. It is addressed to all that labour and are heavy laden. "The active and passive sides of human misery" seem represented here.2 Note what Christ offers to those who come at His call. It is "Rest; rest not from labour; this is not yet; but rest under labour. Labour we must all our lives, but the labour our Lord appoints is a labour of love. It is exchanging a hard yoke for an easy one, a heavy burden for a light. It is rest not so much to our bodies as to our souls. How often have we taken up the words of the Psalmist, "O that I had wings like a dove! Then would I fly away and be at rest." Here then you may have them in this yoke of Christ, which has been compared to the pinion of a bird, a light burden, which yet enables it to soar to the sky." 3 brooke Castle; her head resting on a Bible open at this place. A monument has been placed, by command of the Queen, in Carisbrooke Church, to the memory of this ill-used Princess; and on it these words are inscribed. |