Luke 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

(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.)