17 and having come down with them, he stood upon a level spot, and a crowd of his disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all Judea, and Jerusalem, and the maritime Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him, and to be healed of their sicknesses,
Fools, by means of their transgression, And by their iniquities, afflict themselves. All food doth their soul abominate, And they come nigh unto the gates of death, And cry unto Jehovah in their adversity, From their distresses He saveth them, He sendeth His word and healeth them, And delivereth from their destructions.
And Jesus was going about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the reign, and healing every disease, and every malady among the people, and his fame went forth to all Syria, and they brought to him all having ailments, pressed with manifold sicknesses and pains, and demoniacs, and lunatics, and paralytics, and he healed them. And there followed him many multitudes from Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
And Jesus withdrew with his disciples unto the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon -- a great multitude -- having heard how great things he was doing, came unto him. And he said to his disciples that a little boat may wait on him, because of the multitude, that they may not press upon him, for he did heal many, so that they threw themselves on him, in order to touch him -- as many as had plagues; and the unclean spirits, when they were seeing him, were falling down before him, and were crying, saying -- `Thou art the Son of God;' and many times he was charging them that they might not make him manifest.
And from thence having risen, he went away to the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and having entered into the house, he wished none to know, and he was not able to be hid, for a woman having heard about him, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having come, fell at his feet, -- and the woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phenician by nation -- and was asking him, that the demon he may cast forth out of her daughter. And Jesus said to her, `Suffer first the children to be filled, for it is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast `it' to the little dogs.' And she answered and saith to him, `Yes, sir; for the little dogs also under the table do eat of the children's crumbs.' And he said to her, `Because of this word go; the demon hath gone forth out of thy daughter;' and having come away to her house, she found the demon gone forth, and the daughter laid upon the couch. And again, having gone forth from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Luke 6
Commentary on Luke 6 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 6
Lu 6:1-5. Plucking Corn-ears on the Sabbath.
(See on Mt 12:1-8 and Mr 2:23-28.)
1. second sabbath after the first—an obscure expression, occurring here only, generally understood to mean, the first sabbath after the second day of unleavened bread. The reasons cannot be stated here, nor is the opinion itself quite free from difficulty.
5. Lord also—rather "even" (as in Mt 12:8).
of the sabbath—as naked a claim to all the authority of Him who gave the law at Mount Sinai as could possibly be made; that is, "I have said enough to vindicate the men ye carp at on My account: but in this place is the Lord of the law, and they have His sanction." (See Mr 2:28.)
Lu 6:6-11. Withered Hand Healed.
(See on Mt 12:9-15 and Mr 3:1-7.)
7. watched whether, &c.—In Matthew (Mt 12:9) this is put as an ensnaring question of theirs to our Lord, who accordingly speaks to the state of their hearts (Lu 6:9), just as if they had spoken it out.
9. good, or … evil, save … or destroy—By this novel way of putting His case, our Lord teaches the great ethical principle, that to neglect any opportunity of doing good is to incur the guilt of doing evil; and by this law He bound His own spirit. (See Mr 3:4.)
11. filled with madness—The word denotes senseless rage at the confusion to which our Lord had put them, both by word and deed.
what … do to Jesus—not so much whether to get rid of Him, but how to compass it. (See on Mt 3:6.)
Lu 6:12-49. The Twelve Apostles Chosen—Gathering Multitudes—Glorious Healing.
12, 13. went out—probably from Capernaum.
all night in prayer … and when … day, he called, &c.—The work with which the next day began shows what had been the burden of this night's devotions. As He directed His disciples to pray for "laborers" just before sending themselves forth (see on Mt 9:37; Mt 10:1), so here we find the Lord Himself in prolonged communion with His Father in preparation for the solemn appointment of those men who were to give birth to His Church, and from whom the world in all time was to take a new mould. How instructive is this!
13-16. (See on Mt 10:2-4.)
17. in the plain—by some rendered "on a level place," that is, a piece of high tableland, by which they understand the same thing, as "on the mountain," where our Lord delivered the sermon recorded by Matthew (Mt 5:1), of which they take this following discourse of Luke to be but an abridged form. But as the sense given in our version is the more accurate, so there are weighty reasons for considering the discourses different. This one contains little more than a fourth of the other; it has woes of its own, as well as the beatitudes common to both; but above all, that of Matthew was plainly delivered a good while before, while this was spoken after the choice of the twelve; and as we know that our Lord delivered some of His weightiest sayings more than once, there is no difficulty in supposing this to be one of His more extended repetitions; nor could anything be more worthy of it.
19. healed—kept healing, denoting successive acts of mercy till it went over "all" that needed. There is something unusually grand and pictorial in this touch of description.
20, 21. In the Sermon on the Mount the benediction is pronounced upon the "poor in spirit" and those who "hunger and thirst after righteousness" (Mt 5:3, 6). Here it is simply on the "poor" and the "hungry now." In this form of the discourse, then, our Lord seems to have had in view "the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love Him," as these very beatitudes are paraphrased by James (Jas 2:5).
21. laugh—How charming is the liveliness of this word, to express what in Matthew is called being "comforted!"
22. separate you—whether from their Church, by excommunication, or from their society; both hard to flesh and blood.
for the Son of man's sake—Compare Mt 5:11, "for My sake"; and immediately before, "for righteousness' sake" (Lu 6:10). Christ thus binds up the cause of righteousness in the world with the reception of Himself.
23. leap for joy—a livelier word than "be exceeding glad" of "exult" (Mt 5:12).
24, 25. rich … full … laugh—who have all their good things and joyous feelings here and now, in perishable objects.
received your consolation—(see on Lu 16:25).
shall hunger—their inward craving strong as ever, but the materials of satisfaction forever gone.
26. all … speak well of you—alluding to the court paid to the false prophets of old (Mic 2:11). For the principle of this woe, and its proper limits, see Joh 15:19.
27-36. (See on Mt 5:44-48; Mt 7:12; and Mt 14:12-14.)
37, 38. See on Mt 7:1, 2; but this is much fuller and more graphic.
39. Can the blind, &c.—not in the Sermon on the Mount, but recorded by Matthew in another and very striking connection (Mt 15:14).
40. The disciple, &c.—that is, "The disciple aims to come up to his master, and he thinks himself complete when he does so: if you then be blind leaders of the blind, the perfection of one's training under you will only land him the more certainly in one common ruin with yourselves."
41-49. (See on Mt 7:3-5, Mt 7:16-27.)