Ver. 1. When he ceased] Or, rested, ως επαυσατο; for he had been tugging hard with God in prayer, and labouring even to lassitude (waeriness).
Ver. 2. See Matthew 6:9-13.
Ver. 3. Our daily bread] Our super-subst antial bread, τον επιουσιον: so Erasmus rendereth it, and interpreteth it of Christ; for he thought that in so heavenly a prayer there should have been no mention of earthly things; wherein he was greatly deceived. For temporals also must be prayed for. Day by day] That we may from day to day depend upon thy providence for provisions, and, as a grave man of God once said, whereas many others have and eat their bread stale, let us receive it and eat it daily new from thine hand.
Ver. 4. For we also forgive] So that our forgiving of others seemeth, for God’s promise’ sake, to be as it were the intervenient cause, or the sine qua non, of God’s forgiving us, saith learned Beza. And lead us not, &c.] One argument that we shall persevere, is, the prayers of the whole church, offering up this daily sacrifice, lead us not, &c.
Ver. 5. Three loaves] He asketh no more, but receiveth as many as he needeth. So do all God’s suitors. His ears are not only open to their prayers; but his eyes also are upon their necessities, to give them more than they ask or think.
Ver. 6. For a friend] See Proverbs 17:17. [See Trapp on “Pr 17:17”]
Ver. 7. Trouble me not] The carnally secure, cast into Jezebel’s bed, unworthily answer Christ on this sort, when he stands at the door and knocks by the hammer of his word and the motions of his Spirit, which they slight and withstand.
Ver. 8. Because of his importunity] Gr. His impudency, αναιδειαν; a metaphor from beggars, that will not be said nay, but are impudently importunate.
Ver. 9. Ask and it shall be given] Ask, seek, knock. It is not a simple repetition of the same thing, but an emphatic gradation, and shows instantissimam necessitatem, saith Augustine. Nec dicitur quid dabitur, saith he, to show that the gift is a thing supra omne nomen, above all name.
Ver. 10. See Matthew 7:7.
Ver. 11. For every one, &c.] Sozomen saith of Apollonius, that he never asked anything of God that he obtained not. Hic homo potuit apud Deum quod voluit, said one concerning Luther; he could have what he would of God.
Ver. 12. See Matthew 7:9-11.
Ver. 13. See Matthew 7:9-11.
Ver. 14. And it was dumb] So it was a double miracle. God’s favours seldom come single; there is a series, a concatenation of them, and every former draws on a future.
Ver. 15. See Matthew 9:34 12:24.
Ver. 16. See Matthew 12:38 16:1 Mr 3:24.
Ver. 17. See Matthew 12:38 16:1 Mr 3:24.
Ver. 18. See Matthew 12:38 16:1 Mr 3:24.
Ver. 19. See Matthew 12:38 16:1 Mr 3:24.
Ver. 21. When a strong man armed] Qui se dedebant, arma tradebant. (Caesar de Bell. Gall. lib. 3.) They that yielded threw down their arms.
Ver. 24. Seeking rest] His only rest is to molest and mischief men.
Ver. 25. Swept and garnished] By a little formal repentance, and a few faint resolutions of reformation.
Ver. 26. Seven other spirits] As the jailor lays a load of iron on him that had escaped. None are worse than those that have been good, and are naught; and might be good, but will be naught.
Ver. 27. Blessed is the womb that bare thee] So the heathen poet, —“ qui te genuere beati, Et mater faelix, et quae dedit ubera nutrix.” (Ovid, Metam. lib. 4.)
Ver. 28. Yea, rather, blessed] His disciples were more blessed in hearing Christ than his mother in bearing him.
Ver. 29. Were gathered thick together] All on a heap, επαθροιζομενων, either to see a sign, or to hear what he would say to the motion.
Ver. 30. So also shall the Son of man be] sc. A sign, not of confirmation, but of condemnation.
Ver. 31. See Matthew 12:41,42.
Ver. 32. See Matthew 12:41,42.
Ver. 33. No man, when he hath lighted, &c.] Our Saviour here warneth those that had given some good hope of their repentance, that they cherish their light, and walk by it.
Ver. 34. When thine eye is single] A single eye is that which looks on God singly, abstracted from all other things.
Ver. 35-36. See Matthew 6:22,23
Ver. 36. Having no part dark] The regenerate man is totus diaphanus, like a crystal glass, with a lamp in the midst.
Ver. 37. Sat down to meat] And yet, at their own tables, he sets the Pharisees forth in their colours, and entertaineth them with as many menaces as they do him with messes of meat.
Ver. 38. That he had not washed] This the Pharisees deemed as great a sin as to commit fornication. (Godw. Antiq. Heb 49)
Ver. 39. See Matthew 23:25.
Ver. 40. Did not he that made, &c.] Ought he not, therefore, to be served with both? It is the hidden man of the heart that he most regardeth; the law of the mind that he would have chiefly observed.
Ver. 41. But rather give alms] So Daniel counsels Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 4:27. Ralph, Bishop of Chichester, A. D. 1070, drawing towards his end, delivered unto the poor with his own hands whatsoever he had in the world (I inquire not with what intention), leaving himself scarcely clothes to cover him. Alexander V, Bishop of Rome, was liberal to the poor (saith the historian), that he left nothing for himself, so that he would merrily say that he was a rich bishop, a poor cardinal, and a beggarly pope. Of such things as ye have] Gr. As are within, τα ενοντα, eith er within the platter (send morsels to the hungry) or within your hearts; for riches get within their owners many times, and do more possess them than are possessed by them; “ difficile est opibus non tradere mentem.”
Ver. 42. But woe unto you] Notwithstanding your tithing of potted herbs, wherein you think you take course that all things may be clean to you, Luke 11:41. Or woe unto you, for that through covetousness you exact the utmost of your tithes, &c. So some sense this text.
Ver. 43. See Matthew 23:6.
Ver. 44. For ye are as graves] As the deep grave keeps the stinking carcase from offending any one’s smell, so doth the dissembling hypocrite so cleanly carry the matter that hardly the sharpest nose, &c.
Ver. 45. Thou reproachest us also] Who meddled with them, but that their own consciences accused them? It is a rule of Jerome, Ubi generalis de vitiis disputatio est, ibi nullius personae est iniuria; neque carbone notatur quisquam, quasi malus sit, sed omnes admonentur ne sint mali. Where the discourse is of all, there is no personal intimation of any.
Ver. 46. See Matthew 23:4.
Ver. 47. See Matthew 23:29.
Ver. 48. And ye build their sepulchres] And so ye set up the trophies of your fathers’ cruelty.
Ver. 49. Therefore also said the wisdom of God] That is, Christ himself, the essential wisdom of his Father, Matthew 23:34.
Ver. 50. See Matthew 23:35.
Ver. 51. See Matthew 23:35.
Ver. 52. Woe unto you, lawyers] I see well, said father Latimer, that whosoever will be busy with Vae vobis, woe to you, he shall shortly after come coram nobis, face to face to us, as Christ did. (Acts and Mon.) For ye have taken away the key of knowledge] By taking away the Scriptures, and all good means of knowledge; as do also the Jesuits to this day. At Dole, a university in Burgundy, they have not only debarred the people of the Protestant books, but especially also forbid them to talk of God, either in good sort or bad. In Italy they not only prohibit the books of the reformed writers, but also hide their own treatises, in which the tenet of the Protestants is recited, only to be confuted; so that you shall seldom there meet with Bellarmine’s works, or any of the like nature, to be sold.
Ver. 53. To urge him vehemently] ενεχειν. Out of deep displeasure to bear an aching tooth towards him (as Herodias did toward the Baptist, Mark 6:19), waiting him a shrewd turn. And to provoke him to speak] αποστοματιζειν. Not to stop his mouth about many things, as the Rhemists falsely render it. They asked him captious questions to make him an offender for a word, Isaiah 29:21.
Ver. 54. Seeking to catch something] But there was no guile or gall found in his mouth, saith St Peter, intimating that they sought it.