THE

FAMILY EXPOSITOR.

THE LATTER PART OF THE HISTORY OF CHRIST AS RECORDED
BY THE EVANGELISTS,

SECT. CXVI.

Christ, on the mention of some calamities which had befallen others, warns his hearers of the danger they were in, if they did not repent, and illustrates it by the parable of the barren fig-tree. Luke XIII. 1-9.

cxvi.

THERE were present NOW, while our Lord was thus discoursing SECT.
that told him of the of the necessity of being at peace with God,
Galileans, whose blood some who were present at that time, told him of
Pilate had mingled with those unhappy Galileans, the followers of Judas XIII. 1.

Luke

Gaulonites, who had rendered themselves ob-
noxious to the Roman power by some acts or
principles of resistance to it; and whose blood
Pilate the governor had in effect mingled with
their sacrifices, having circumvented and slain
them when they were come to worship in the

temple at a public feast.

SECT.

cxvi.

Luke

Except we repent, we shall all perish.

And Jesus, without making any remarks on 2 And Jesus, ansaid unto the cause on which they were engaged, endea- swering, them, Suppose ye that voured, with his usual wisdom and piety, to lead these Galileans were

XIII. 2. the minds of his hearers into some profitable reflections upon the event; and, in reply, said to

them, Do you think that these Galileans were notorious sinners above all the rest of the Galiieans, that they suffered such sad things as these, and 3 were cut off in so miserable a manner? If you do, you are very unfit to judge of the conduct of Providence: for, howsoever you may censure them, as shewn hereby to be the most enormous sinners, I tell you, No; you are not to conclude from hence, this was the case; but, except you repent, you shall all perish thus; vengeance will overtake you in your evil ways, and, in the desolating judgments, that will shortly come on your whole nation, the blood of many of you shall be mingled with your sacrifices.

4

sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things?

3 I tell you, Nay; but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

4 Or those eighteen upon whom the tower

in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all

Or, to instance in another unhappy case that has lately occurred, I mean that of those eighteen men on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, do you think they were greater of • fenders than all the other inhabitants of Jerusalem, that they were thus providentially singled 5 out for destruction? I tell you, No; you would judge very rashly if you were in general but, except ye repent to draw such conclusions; for the best of men may be involved with others in temporal calamities: but remember what I told you before, that,

watched him.

Christ cures a man that had the dropsy,

SECT. схіх.

21

eat bread on the sab- tinction, by whom he was invited to eat bread, bath-day, that they that is, to dine with him on the sabbath-day; and many of the Pharisees were present there; Luke and, as their usual custom was, they were nar- XIV. 1. rowly watching him, to make the most invidious. observations on his conduct.

2 And, behold, there

fore him, which had

And, behold, there was a certain man before 2 was a certain man be- him that had a dropsy, who, having heard that Jesus was to dine there, had conveyed himself thither, in hope of cure .

the dropsy.

3 And Jesus, answering, spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath-day?

4 And they held their peace.

-And he took him,

let him ago:

And Jesus, answering to the secret reasonings 3 which he discerned in their minds on this occasion, said to the doctors of the law and other Pharisees who were then present, What do you think now of this case? Is it lawful to heal a distempered person on the sabbath-day? or can there be any thing in so benevolent an action inconsistent with the sacred rest which is required on that day?

But they were silent; as not being able, with any face, to deny the legality of the action, and yet unwilling to say any thing which might seem to authorize or countenance those cures which Christ performed on the sabbath-day as well as at other times; and which, in the general, they had been known to censure.

When Jesus therefore found that they would and healed him, and make him no reply, he extended his compassion to the poor man; and, taking him [by the hand], he miraculously healed him before them all, and dismissed him perfectly well, restored at once to his full strength, and reduced in a moment to his proper shape and bulk .

5 And answered

4

And, more fully to convince them how justi- 5 them, fiable such an action was, even upon their own principles,

b A magistrate of great distinction.] If (as Dr. Whitby supposes) the person who gave the invitation was indeed one of the grand sanhedrim, he might nevertheless have a country seat in Galilee; as the higher Courts never fail of allowing some recess to the members. So that Grotius's argument for transposing this story till Christ's arrival at Jerusalem seems inconclusive.

c Had conveyed himself thither, &c.] I cannot think (as some suppose) that he was one of the family: because it is said that Christ dismissed, or let him go, when he was cured; ver. 4.

d Taking him by the hand.] I know some have imagined that Christ led him aside to avoid ostentation: but the words do not express this; and, as our Lord speaks of

the cure both immediately before and after
it, there can be no room to imagine he
intended to conceal it. Probably the cir-
cumstance of taking him by the hand is men-
tioned as an instance of his condescension;
and shews that there was nothing in the
manner of the cure which could be object-
ed to as a servile work.

e Reduced to his proper shape and bulk.]
If any ask how this could be, I answer, He
that at once could cure the dropsy with a
touch, could, if he please, annihilate the
excess of water that caused it; and it is
reasonable to believe the cure was wrought
in such a manner as would make the rea-
lity and perfection of it immediately ap-
parent.

C 2

10 Reflections on the guilt and danger of unfruitfulness.

SECT.

cxvi.

the proposal of the gospel in its full extent and

evidence, they must expect nothing but speedy,

Luke irresistible and irrecoverable ruin.

XIII. 9.

IMPROVEMENT.

Ver. WHICH of us may not learn a lessen for himself from this in6 structive parable of the fig-tree? Have we not long been planted in God's vineyard, and favoured with the cultivation of his ordinances, yea, with the dews of his grace too; and yet how little 7 fruit have we borne in proportion to those advantages? How long has he come seeking it in vain, while we have frustrated the most reasonable expectations, perhaps not only for three, but several of us for more than thirty years? Wonderful is it, that the dreadful sentence has not long since gone forth against us, Cut 8 them down, why cumber they the ground? We owe it to the intercession of our blessed Redeemer, the Great Keeper of the garden of God, that this has not long since been our case. Let us not be high minded, but fear! (Rom. xi. 20.) Let barren sinners reflect, 9 that this may be the last year, perhaps indeed the last month, or last day of their trial; for even now also is the ax laid to the root of the tree! (Mat. iii. 10.) And let them remember, that though there be hope of a tree, when it is cut down, that it may sprout again, (Job xiv. 7), yet, when the doom is executed on them, their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom will go up like dust (Isa. v. 24); and every tree which brings not forth good fruit, will be hewn down, and cast into the fire.

2

Let such therefore meditate terror, when the judgments of God are abroad in the earth; and, when others are overwhelmed in ruin, let them not harshly censure the sufferers, as if they were

3,5 greater sinners than any others; but let them apply that salutary, though awful admonition to their own souls, repeating it again and again, till they are pricked to the heart by it, Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

1

Terrible indeed was the case of those, whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, and of those who were dashed to pieces in a 4 moment by the full of Siloam's tower: but infinitely more dreadful will be the condition of them, that fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. x. 31), especially of those deceivers, who, having surrounded his altars with the hypocritical forms of devotion, shall themselves be made the victims of his justice, and be crushed by the resistless weight of his almighty vengeance.

Christ cures a crooked woman in the synagogue.

SECT. CXVII.

Christ cures a crooked woman in the synagogue, and vindicates his doing it on the sabbath day; and afterwards repeats the parables of the grain of mustard-seed, and of the leaven, Luke XIII. 10-22.

LUKE XIII. 10.

AND he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.

was

LUKE XIII. 10.

11

SECT.

THUS our Lord went on in his journey cxvii. through Galilee for a considerable time;

and as he was teaching in one of the synagogues on Luke 11 And, behold, the sabbath-day, Behold there was present a XIII.11. there had a spiritoman poor disabled woman, who (as the Jews used firmity eighteen years, commonly to express it, and was now actually and was bowed toge the case) had been afflicted by a spirit of weakther, and could in no nessa no less than eighteen years, and was bowed wise lift up herself. together in so sad a manner that, from the time it first seized her, she was utterly unabletoraise herself upright, or to stand straight.

12 And when JcAnd Jesus seeing her, and intimately knowing 12 sus saw her, he called all the sad circumstances of her affliction, and her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou the difficulty with which she was then come to art loosed from thine attend the solemnities of Divine worship there, infirmity. called her to him, and said to her, Woman, thou art loosed from that affliction, which thou hast long been under by reason of thy weakness and 13 And he laid his maladv. And, as he was speaking these words, 13 her: and he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she made straight, and was strengthened, and made straight; so that she glorified God. stood before them all in an erect posture, and moved with as much ease and freedom as if she had never been disabled: and, as was most reasonable, she in a very affectionate manner glorified God before the whole assembly; praising him for so signal and unexpected a favour,

OD

hands immediately she was

a Had been afflicted by a spirit of weakness.] It is very evident the Jews apprehended that all remarkable disorders of body proceeded from the operation of some malignant demon. Perhaps they might draw an argument from what is said of Satan's agency in the affliction of Job (chap. i. and ii.) and from Psal. xci. 6. (conipare Septuag.) and 1 Sam. xvi. 14. They also considered Satan as having the power of Death, Heb. ii. 14. And that, in some maladies, this was indeed the case, is intimated by our Lord's reply here, ver. 16. and by St. Paul's words, 1 Cor. v. 5. where he speaks of delivering an offender to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.VOL. VII.

B

and

The topic is very judiciously handled by
that illustrious writer Mr. Howe (see his
works, Vol. II. p. 360, 361); and there
are some curious and entertaining remarks
in Wolfius on this text.

b Utterly unable to raise herself upright.]
This verson of μη δυναμένη ανακυψαι εις
το πανέλες seems preferable to that other
which the words εις το πανέλες might
bear; "She could not lift herself up, so as
to stand perfectly straight." (Compare
Heb. vii. 25. Gr.) For on the rendering
I have given, which is equally literal, the
miracle appears much more important than
on the other.

4