34 And his lord was wroth,

c Lu.19.22.

mense. And he refers him also to his own feelings, when he desired the release in his destitution and extremity. Infinite grace has come to sinners, in the gospel of Christ, and now the great question is, whether we have so received it, as that it has power with us in our lives, fashioning our conduct. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." | (See James 2. 13.)

33. Shouldest not thou also? The man is judged out of his own mouth. He had besought forgiveness and it was granted, and all this bound him to grant it to the fellow-servant, on his own principles. Besides, that was a debt of 12 dollars, the merest pittance, compared with the infinite sum which he had been forgiven. The golden rule applies here, "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them likewise, for this is THE

LAW.'

34. Tormentors. In early times of Rome, the debtor was condemned to wear a chain of fifteen pounds weight, and to live on the scantiest fare, that he might be brought to terms. In the East, those who appear the poorest will often have secret hoards of wealth. Hence the torture would be applied to elicit information. He was to be treated for crime now, which was worse than indebtedness. He was to be delivered up to the tormentors. These were executioners who applied all kinds of tortures. This iniquity of his incurred a penalty which the selling of himself, and wife, and children could not pay. Till he should pay. Now he was to be treated, not merely as a criminal, but as a criminal and debtor also. All his debts

d Pr.21.13. c.6.12. Ja.2.13.

were to be rigorously exacted of him, because he thus testified that he had never been a true recipient of the pardon.

35. So likewise. A sinner is like the servant in question, because he is utterly unable to satisfy God's infinite claims upon him. Men are in debt to God for every thing they have received, because they have deserved nothing but punishment. And they are in debt to Him in the way of numberless sins, of which they must give account. They owe Him thanks and service beyond account, and the debt they have incurred by constant transgression none can estimate. It is for ten thousand times ten thousand; and "he cannot answer for one of a thousand." Job. They are not only unable to pay, but if called to account, they could give no excuse for this in-ability, which is wilful and wicked. Yet God forgives us for Christ's sake. Therefore we should forgive men their sins, never forgetting how much greater crimes we have had forgiven. We should forgive, not merely in the act, but from the heart, that is, sincerely, meaning to pass by the offence, and to treat the offender as though he had not done us the wrong. There is a forgiveness in name, which retains the ill feeling, and forgets not the injury. This is a mere pretence, and if we should be so forgiven by our heavenly Father, how different were our case!

OBSERVE, (1.) How FREELY Christ forgives, NOT because we have forgiven others, or done any other good thing, but THAT WE MAY. (2.) How FULLY He forgives us the most immense indebtedness, “all that debt”

2 And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there.

unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for

quarter, that he healed the woman who had an infirmity (see Luke 13. 10–21). 10-21). We find that He had passed through Samaria (see ý 81 and 82) to Jerusalem, where He was present at the feast of tabernacles (83), and at the feast of dedication (91), when He retires beyond Jordan (91 and 93). We find now many incidents related of Him in Perea. Perea was a region belonging to Judea, and so called from a word which signifies beyond, as it lay beyond Jordan, and was formerly part of the tribes Reuben, Gad and Manasseh.

Luke. John.

13.22-35

14. 1-24

14.25-35

15. 1-32

16. 1-13

16.14-31

17. 1-10 17.20-37

18. 1-14

mit Him either against the friends or the enemies of the Roman government. But in both cases, He confounded their hypocrisy by His answer.- T For every cause, i. e., for any reason. Christ had laid down the true doctrine on this subject, in His Sermon on the Mount (ch. 5. 32), viz.: that there was but one sufficient cause, and that such as was in its very nature fatal to the marriage relation.

4 And he answered and said | unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning, made them male and female?

5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh.

6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 7 They say unto him, Why e did Moses then command to b Ge.1.27; 5.2. Mal.2.15. c Ge.2.24. Ep.5.31. d 1Cor.7.10. e De.24.1. Is.50.1.

4. Have ye not read? Literally, "Do ye not know ?" that is, by reading. He here refers them to their scriptures, and to the original institution of marriage. Mark has it, "What did Moses command you ?"

5. And said. By the mouth of Adam (Gen. 2. 24). T Shall cleave. Shall adhere firmly. The Greek word is from a noun, signifying glue.

6. Joined together. The term is from a metaphor taken from the yoking of oxen.

7. Why did Moses? They now appeal to Moses' regulations in Deut. 24. 1. Yet it was not a 'command,' but only a permission, the spirit of which was still in the line of our Lord's legislation, making a writing of divorcement requisite, and thus giving a lower testimony to the essential sanctity of marriage. See note on ch. 5. 31, 32. But Moses' permission had been abused, until, as in the text, they called it a command, and without reference to the original institution of marriage, they held among them, that divorce might be for any and every cause. There were two schools or sects among the Jews who took opposite sides on this subject. The school of Shammai interpreted Moses, as allowing divorce "only for

the cause of fornication." The school of Hillel construed it as referring to any cause or pretext. And instead of being entangled, by siding with either, our Lord declares that Moses' permission only showed their hardness which had gone so much beyond this allowance; so that this civil regulation of that day, was meant as a check upon their worse habits, and that from the beginning, as Moses himself had recorded (Gen. 2)," it was not so."- - Hardness of your heartsintractable disposition.-Campbell.

9. This verse is almost in the same language as ch. 5. 32, and states again the Christian law of marriage and divorce. Marriage has special sanctity as the shadow of that great mystery, Christ's union with His church. Mark adds (ch. 10. 12) "And if a woman shall put away her husband," &c. The practice of divorcing the husband unwarranted by the law, had been introduced (says Josephus) by Salome, sister of Herod the Great, who sent a bill of divorce to her husband Coslobarus, which bad example was afterward followed by Herodias and others.-Campbell.

10. An objection is here urged making against the very institution of marriage, if such strictness is to be observed.