42 But wo unto you Pharifees: for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pafs over judgment and the love of God: thefe ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 43 Wo unto you, Pharifees: for ye love the uppermoft feats in the fynagogues, and greetings in the markets. 44 Wo unto you, fcribes and Pharifees, hypocrites: for ye are as graves which appear not, vations, which do not really make a Man clean or unclean, holy or unholy in the fight of God. 42. But Wo unto you, Hypocritical Pharifees. For ye, as I faid, are fu perftitiously fcrupulous and precife in matters of smaller Importance, in things of trifling Nicenefs and Difpute, in Tithing a few inconfiderable Herbs: But the things of great and eternal Obligation, Juftice and Equity, Mercy and Charity, Faithfulness and Truth towards God and Man, thefe things ye utterly and fhamefully neglect: Whereas on the contrary, though those other fmaller things ought not in their due place and proportion to be altogether flighted; yet these great and important Duties, which are the principal part of the Law of God, and of unchangeable Obligation, ought certainly to be the first and most efpecial Care of your Lives. 43. Wo unto you, Hypocritical Pharifees. For under pretence of being of a ftricter and precifer Sect than other Men, ye nourish in your Minds those moft hateful Vices of Pride and Ambition; expecting to have a great Deference and Refpect paid you by the People. In the Places of God's publick Worship, ye ambitioufly ftrive to fix your felves in the uppermoft Seats; and in the open Streets ye applaud your felves in receiving the Praife and Complements of Men; and covet to hear the People with great Reverence and Efteem call you Mafters and Fathers, Heads of Sects and Authors of Doctrines. 44. Wo unto you, Hypocritical Scribes and Pharifees. Ye may, for your Hypocrify, be well compared to the Sepulchres of the Dead. For as VOL II. I 2 Graves * Grave, either appear not at all, or per*See Mat. haps are covered with Stones, white, xxiii. 27. clean, and adorned on the outfides; but within they are full of all forts of Corruption: So ye, by your outward appearance, conceal your Hypocrify from Men; and not only fo, but perhaps are esteemed moreover to be extraordinary Holy and Religious Perfons: But really and in your Hearts, ye are full of all manner of Wickedness and Uncleannefs. 45. At thefe Words a certain Scribe or Expounder of the Law, offended at the great freedom and liberty of Speech wherewith Jefus reproved the Hypocrify of the Pharifees, interrupted him, Jaying; Mafter, in talking at this rate, you reproach us alfo, and reflect on us, more than is fit to be allowed, confidering the Gravity and Dignity of our Profeffion. and the men that walk over them, are not aware of them. 45. Then anof the fwered one lawyers: and faid unfaying, thou reproachto him, Master, thus eft us alfo. 46 And he faid, Wo unto you also, ye lawyers for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be born, and ye your felves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Wo unto you: for ye build the fepulchres of the prophets, and your fa thers killed them. 48 Truly Old, by repairing and adorning their Tombs. And ye fay; If you had lived in those Days, when your Ancestors murdered the Prophets; ye, who are their Children, would not have been guilty of fo impious a Fact. 48. Nay verily, But ye are indeed, as ye fay, the Children of those who murdered the Prophets; and ye approve your felves their genuine Off-fpring, by being like them, and imitating their Wickedness. Nay, notwithstanding your Hypocrify in building the Tombs of the Prophets, and pretending to have a great Veneration for their Memory; ye will yet even exceed the Cruelty and Malice of your Ancestours in this very inftance, of Perfecuting and Destroying. the Meffengers of God. 49. For God, in the all-wife Dispenfations of his Providence, has determined to fend amongst you, other Prophets and Holy Men, to persuade you to repent, and to inftruct you in the Doctrine of True Religion: But ye will perfecute and flay them, with unparallelled Cruelty and Impiety. موع 50 & 51. Wherefore, fince your Wickednefs will exceed the Wickedness of all former Ages; I tell you, the Punishment that fhall be inflicted by Divine Vengeance upon the Men of this prefent Generation, fhall be as great and dreadful, as if not only the Fore-fathers of this People in their feveral Ages, but the Men who are now alive, had in their own Perfons been the Murderers of all the Righteous and Good Men, who have been unjuftly Martyr'd from the time of Adam to this very Day. Yea affuredly, fuch a horrible Punishment as this, fhall with out Mercy be inflicted on the Men of this present Generation. 52. Wo unto you, Scribes and Expounders of the Law. For while ye take upon you to be the only Interpreters of the Scripture, ye hinder the People from all useful Knowledge and wife Inftruction. And neither your felves obey the Commandments of God; nor do ye fuffer others (who are elfe well difpos'd) through your falfe Comments and vain Traditions, to obey the Law in Simplicity and Sincerity. 5354 While Jefus was fpeaking thefe things, the Scribes and Pharifees, who could not bear to have their Vices fo openly reproved, frequently interrupted him with enfnaring Queftions, and vehemently provoked and urged him to fay many things; in hopes that they might cause him to utter fomething before the People, out of which they might afterward pick matter of Accufation against him. 52 Wo unto you, lawyers; for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye felves, and them that were entring in, ye hindred. enter not in your 53 And as he faid thefe things unto them, the scribes and the Pharifees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to fpeak of many things: 54 Laying wait for him, and feeking to catch fomething out of his mouth, that they might accufe him. CHAP. CHA P. XII. Jefus warns his Difciples against Hypocrify and Fearfulness in Preaching, ver. 1. Refufes to meddle in determining a Dif pute about an Inheritance, ver. 13. and warns his Hearers against Covetousness and Worldly-mindedness, ver. 15. Of the Oppofition between the Cares of this World and the next, ver. 22. Of the Neceffity of Watchfulness, ver. 35. The Reward of good, and the Punishment of bad Minifters, ver. 42. Knowledge a great Aggravation of Sin, ver. 47. Perfecution must be expected, ver. 49. The Jews inexcufable, in not knowing Jefus to be the Meffiah, ver. 54. Repentance must not be deferred, ver. 58. time, when there were gathered people, infomuch 3 Therefore whatsoever ye have fpoken in darkness, the light and that have fhall be heard in ye ear which 1. TOW when a vaft multitude of N People was gathered together about Jefus, fo that they were not able to come near him, but prefs'd and almost trod one another down; Jefus began again to inftruct his Disciples, faying; Above all things beware of that Pharifaical Hypocrify, which corrupts all good Actions, and renders even the most fpecious pretences to Piety, odious and contemptible before God and Men. 23. For nothing can long be concealed, but will fooner or later be difcovered and made publick. Be not therefore like the Hypocritical Pharifees, Pleafers of Men, ftudying to make an outward Appearance of Piety, and neglecting the great inward Duties of Religion; but let your moft fecret Actions be fuch as will bear the Teft of being made publick before all Men. And when ye teach others; fpeak not for the Applause of Men, but Truth. Conceal none of the Things wherein I have inftructed you, whether they will be acceptable to Men, or not; but with Courage I 4 |