Ver. 1. As the people pressed upon him] This was both an argument of the truth of his humanity (that he was thronged and thrust together by the unmannerly multitude) and a part of his passion.
Ver. 2. Were washing their nets] Though they laboured last night, and had taken nothing. Ferendum et sperandum. Hope beguiles calamity, as good company doth the way.
Ver. 3. He prayed him] Gr. He gently asked h im, ηρωτησεν, will you be pleased to thrust out a little? See Philippians 2:8,9. Posse el nolle, nobile est. Taught the people out of the ship] Any place served him for a pulpit. So if men be desirous to hear, they will make a mat a seat, a pair of legs a seat.
Ver. 4. Let down your nets] This is the fare he pays them, for the use of their ship. No man loseth by Christ.
Ver. 5. We have toiled all night, &c.] Omnia feci, et nihil expedit, said Severus the emperor. (Spartian.) See Hebrews 2:13 Hag 2:6. if God stop not that hole in the bottom of the bag, all will run through. And have taken nothing] If ministers be put so to complain, it is to be feared that Satan caught the fish ere they came to their net.
Ver. 6. And their net brake] Yet the fishes got not out, which some note for another miracle.
Ver. 7. Filled both the ships] Here the dumb fishes do clearly preach Christ to be the Son of God.
Ver. 8. For I am a sinful man] Gr. A man a sinner, ανηρ αμαρτωλος, a very mixture and co mpound of dirt and sin. See the like phrase, Numbers 32:14.
Ver. 9. And he was astonished] Gr. Fear seized upon him, and surrounded him, περιεσχεν, as Tacitus saith, Induere pavores.
Ver. 10. Thou shalt catch men] [See Trapp on “Mt 4:19”]
Ver. 11. They forsook all, and followed him] They had given their names to him before, John 1:43; but now they see by this miracle his power to provide for them, they leave all to live with him. We love to see how we shall subsist.
Ver. 12. If thou wilt, thou canst] It is a ready way to speed, to found our prayers upon the power of God.
Ver. 13. I will, be thou clean] So ready is Christ to gratify his suppliants, yea, to be commanded by them, Isaiah 45:11.
Ver. 14. For a testimony unto them] For a Bill of Indictment against them. Reprobates shall give a heavy account to God of all the means and offers of grace.
Ver. 15. But so much the more] Fame follows them that comes from it, and the contrary: as the crocodile doth.
Ver. 16. And he withdrew] Pray, if you mean to prosper.
Ver. 17. And the power of the Lord] So it is, when any ordinance is afoot.
Ver. 18. And, behold, men brought] [See Trapp on “Mt 9:2”] [See Trapp on “Mt 9:3”] [See Trapp on “Mr 2:3”] [See Trapp on “Mr 2:4”] [See Trapp on “Mr 2:5”]
Ver. 19. They went upon the housetop] Which (according to the custom of building in those Eastern countries) was flat laid, and surrounded with battlements, Deuteronomy 22:8.
Ver. 20. Thy sins are forgiven thee] Let our sicknesses mind us of our sins, that we soon seek pardon.
Ver. 23. Whether is easier] q.d. Neither of either: for both are equally hard, and feasible to God alone.
Ver. 24. [See Trapp on “Mt 9:2”] [See Trapp on “Mt 9:3”] [See Trapp on “Mr 2:5”]
Ver. 25. [See Trapp on “Mt 9:8”] [See Trapp on “Mr 2:12”]
Ver. 26. Strange things] Gr. παραδοξα, paradoxes, things that we never thought to have seen; and above belief, had we not seen them.
Ver. 29. And Levi made him a great feast] Epulum splendidum, a sumptuous feast; so St Luke’s word δοχην here signifieth. But when St Matthew himself speaks of it, he saith only that Christ came home and ate bread with him: to teach us, saith one, that another man’s mouth should praise us, and not our own, Proverbs 27:2. [See Trapp on “Pr 27:2”]
Ver. 33. [See Trapp on “Mt 9:14”] [See Trapp on “Mr 2:18”]
Ver. 34. [See Trapp on “Mt 9:15”] [See Trapp on “Mr 2:19”]
Ver. 35. And then shall they fast] This is fulfilled, saith Bellarmine, in our Lent fasts. But this was fulfilled, say we, when Christ was crucified, and the apostles mourned. Papists’ set fasts are mere mock fasts.
Ver. 39. The old is better] That is, milder, and so more pleasant. Vetustate enim vina mitescunt, quia velustas igneum calorem, acerbitatem, et faeces e vino tollit. (Piscator.) Age clarifies wine, and ripens it.