Why do Thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? Matthew 15:1 Pharisaic evasions V. W. Hutton, M. A. I. The worst form of hypocrisy is that which sets aside plain moral duties on the plea that they binder spiritual worship; for, if done as in God's presence, they are spiritual worship. II. No moral duty is more clearly expressed, either in the Bible or in the heart, than that of obeying, honouring, and ministering to parents. 1. They are the first of our fellow-creatures towards whom we have responsibilities. 2. They are the representatives of God to us. Through them we are to rise to know Him as our Eternal Father, and through them we are to learn how to care for and regard His human family. III. Strange perversion of what constitutes the service of God, to imagine that a man can free himself from so fundamental a duty as ministering to his parents, by professing to dedicate his property to the support of the temple-worship, and that such a freeing of himself will be acceptable to Him who prefers obedience to sacrifice, and who is Himself honoured in the honour shown to parents. Such external worship is, in God's sight, empty and worthless. ( V. W. Hutton, M. A. )

Benson Commentary Matthew 15:1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Matthew 15:1-6 . Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees — See notes on Mark 7:1-23 , where the facts here spoken of are related more at large. Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders — That is, of the principal doctors or teachers among the Jews. They wash not when they eat bread — Food in general is termed bread in the Hebrew: so that to eat bread is the same as to make a meal. But he said, Why do ye also, &c. — As if he had said, Nay; but I may with much greater reason ask you why you transgress what is infinitely more sacred, even the commandment of God, by your tradition — Your vain and superstitious doctrine, delivered by verbal communication, and handed down from age to age. For God commanded, Honour thy father and mother — Which implies the affording them all such relief as they stand in need of: and, He that curseth father or mother — Although it be in a sudden transport of passion; let him die the death — Let him be put to death without mercy, Exodus 21:17 ; Leviticus 20:9 ; where see the note. But ye say — But what you teach is contradictory to this divine command; and an ungrateful child may justify himself in the neglect of it in consequence of your tradition: for your doctrine is, Whosoever shall say to his father, It is a gift, &c. — That is, I have given, or at least I purpose to give, to the treasury of the temple, what you might otherwise have had from me; and honour not his father and his mother — Namely, by relieving them in their poverty, or supplying their wants, he shall be free — From all blame, or from all obligation of giving them relief. Thus have ye made the commandment of God — Even a commandment written with his own finger on the tables of stone; of none effect by your tradition — Have absolutely rendered it useless, and as it were annihilated it. Matthew 15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. Matthew 15:3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. Matthew 15:5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; Matthew 15:6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free . Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Matthew 15:7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, Matthew 15:7-9 . Ye hypocrites — To substitute superstitious observances of man’s invention, in the place of obedience to God’s commands, is downright hypocrisy; it is, however, the prerogative of Him who searches the heart, and knows what is in man, to pronounce who are hypocrites. And as hypocrisy is a sin which only his eye discovers, so it is a sin which above all others he abhors. Well did Esaias prophesy of you — That is, the words which Isaiah addressed to your fathers are exactly applicable to you: his description of them is a prophecy with regard to you. Observe, reader, the reproofs of sin and sinners, which we find in the Scriptures, were designed to be applied to similar persons and practices to the end of the world; for they are not of private interpretation, 2 Peter 1:20 . Threatenings directed against others belong to us, if we be guilty of the same sins. This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouths, &c. — They make a great profession, and pretend to much devotion and piety; but their heart is far from me — They do not sincerely love and obey me. They do not give me their hearts; and, if the heart be not given to God, all outward worship is no better than a mockery of him. In vain they do worship me — That is, idly, unprofitably, and to no purpose. Their worship does not attain the end for which divine worship was appointed. It neither pleases God nor profits themselves. For if it be not in spirit, it is not in truth, and so it is all nothing. Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men — As equal with, nay, superior to, those of God. What can be a more heinous sin? Matthew 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. Matthew 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew 15:10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: Matthew 15:10-11 . And he called the multitude — Having shown the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, and condemned them for the unwarrantable stress which they laid on their vain and precarious traditions, he took this opportunity to undeceive the people, and let them see how insignificant that outward strictness was on which the Pharisees insisted. And said, Hear and understand — From these words, and those recorded Mark 7:16 , He that hath ears to hear, let him hear, all spoken to the multitude, it is evident that, in our Lord’s judgment, the whole multitude was capable of understanding those things which the Pharisees did not understand, and by which their traditions and those of the elders were overthrown. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man — It is not the kind or quality of our food, nor the want of cleanness of hands when we eat it, that affects the soul with any moral pollution. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, Romans 14:17 . A man is defiled by that by which guilt is contracted before God, and the man is rendered offensive to him, and unfitted for communion with him. Now what we eat, if we do not eat unseasonably and immoderately, does not produce this effect, for to the pure all things are pure, Titus 1:15 . The Pharisees carried their ideas concerning the ceremonial pollutions which arose from eating certain forbidden meats much further than the law intended, and burdened it with additions of their own, which our Saviour witnesses against, intending hereby to pave the way for a repeal of the ceremonial law in that matter. But that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man — We are polluted, not by the meat we eat with unwashen hands, but by the words we speak from unsanctified hearts. Christ, in a former discourse, had laid a great stress upon our words, Matthew 12:36 , which was intended for reproof and warning to those that cavilled at him. This, here, is intended for reproof and warning to those that cavilled at and censured the disciples. The latter did not defile themselves with what they ate, but the Pharisees defiled themselves with what they spoke spitefully and censoriously of them. Observe, reader, those who charge guilt upon others for transgressing the commandments of men, many times bring greater guilt upon themselves by transgressing the law of God against rash judging. Those most defile themselves who are most forward to censure the defilements of others. Matthew 15:11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Matthew 15:12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? Matthew 15:12-13 . Then came his disciples — Namely, when he was come into the house, apart from the multitude; and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, &c. — The apostles, it seems, would gladly have conciliated the good-will of the Pharisees, thinking it might be of service to their cause; and thought it strange that their Master should say that which he knew would give them so much offence. Surely, they thought, if he had considered how provoking such a saying would be, he would not have uttered it. But he knew what he said, and to whom he said it, and what would be the effect of it; and he hereby teaches us, that though in indifferent things, we must be tender of giving offence, yet we must not, for fear of that, neglect to declare any truth, or enforce any duty. Truth must be owned, and duty must be done; and if any be offended, it is their own fault. Offence is not given, but taken. But he said, Every plant — Or rather, plantation, as ?????? is more properly rendered. As if he had said, Be they as angry as they will, you need not be afraid of them, for they and their doctrine shall perish together, being neither of them from God. Not only the corrupt opinions and superstitious practices of the Pharisees, but their sect, and way, and constitution were plants not of God’s planting: the rules of their profession were not his institutions, but owed their original to pride and formality. And the people of the Jews in general, though planted a noble vine, were now become the degenerate plant of a strange vine. God disowned them as not of his planting. Matthew 15:13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Matthew 15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Matthew 15:14 . Let them alone — Do not trouble or concern yourselves about their censures: neither court their favour nor dread their displeasure, nor much care though they be offended. Seek not to please a generation of men that please not God, 1 Thessalonians 2:15 ; and will be pleased with nothing less than absolute dominion over your consciences. They be blind leaders of the blind — Teachers, who foolishly think to lead their disciples to heaven by the observation of precepts wherein there is not the smallest degree of true piety, and will not be convinced of the contrary, being grossly ignorant of divine things, and strangers to the spiritual nature of God’s law; and yet so proud, that they think they see better than any others, and therefore undertake to be leaders of others. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch — The guides and the guided, the blind leaders and the blind followers, shall perish together. Both will be involved in the general desolation coming upon the Jews, and both will fall into the ditch of eternal destruction. We find, Revelation 22:15 , that hell is the portion of those that make a lie, and of those that love it when made. The sin and rain of the deceivers will be no security to those that are deceived by them. “Though the leaders of the people cause them to err, yet they that are led of them are destroyed,” Isaiah 9:16 ; because they shut their eyes against the light which would have rectified their mistake. Hence “it follows,” says Dr. Whitby, “that sometimes the multitude neither ought, nor can, without their utmost peril, follow the guidance of their ecclesiastical superiors;” or, as he expresses himself afterward, believe, or comply with their rules, “because it is their duty never to follow them into the ditch.” “Learn here,” says Burkit, “1st, that ignorant, erroneous, and unfaithful ministers are the heaviest judgment that can befall a people; 2d, that the following of such teachers and blind guides will be no excuse to people another day, much less free them from the danger of eternal destruction.” Matthew 15:15 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. Matthew 15:15-20 . Peter said, Declare unto us this parable — That is, the sentence, maxim, or proverb, mentioned Matthew 15:11 . Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth the man, &c. — A declaration very intelligible, and evidently true, and yet appearing to the disciples obscure, and needing explanation, or doubtful, and wanting confirmation. The reason is evident: it did not agree with the notions of religion which they had formerly imbibed. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? — Are ye so stupid as not to see that what a man eats or drinks, being of a corporeal nature, cannot defile the mind, or make a man a sinner in the sight of God, unless when used immoderately, or in opposition to the commandment of God, in which case the pollution arises from the man, and not from the meat; whereas, that which proceedeth out of a man’s mouth, coming from his heart, really pollutes his mind. How fair and candid are the sacred historians! Never concealing or excusing their own blemishes. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts — Or rather, evil reasonings, as the words ??????????? ?????? properly signify. The expression includes all sinful devices, contrivances, schemes, designs, and purposes which arise from the thoughts and imaginations of the mind: murders — Including rash anger, hatred, malice, envy, and revenge, sins against the sixth commandment: adulteries, fornications — Sins against the seventh commandment; proceeding from unchaste thoughts, wanton looks, immodest expressions, lascivious actions; thefts — All unjust or dishonest actions, sins against the eighth commandment; frauds, wrongs, rapines, and all injurious contracts: false witness — An offence against the ninth commandment; arising generally from a complication of falsehood and covetousness, or falsehood and malice in the heart. If truth, holiness, and love reigned in the heart, as God requires that they should, there would be no bearing false witness: blasphemies — Or calumnies, as the original word may be rendered, which signifies either speaking evil of God, a violation of the third commandment, or calumniating our neighbor, a breach of the ninth. These are the things which defile a man — And are therefore the things which we should carefully avoid, and guard against all approaches to them; and not lay an undue stress on the washing of the hands, or on any distinction of meats and drinks. It is a matter of much lamentation that our corrupted nature should abound with such poisonous productions as these; let us earnestly pray that they may be rooted out by divine grace, and that the Holy Spirit may create in us clean hearts, and implant therein tempers diametrically opposite to all these enormities! Matthew 15:16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Matthew 15:17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? Matthew 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: Matthew 15:20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. Matthew 15:21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. Matthew 15:21-28 . Jesus departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon — Not to those cities which were to have no share in his mighty works, Matthew 11:21-22 ; but into that part of the land of Israel which bordered on their coast. And behold a woman of Canaan — Or, a Syrophœnician, as she is called, Mark 7:26 ; Canaan being also called Syrophœnicia, as lying between Syria, properly so called, and Phœnicia, by the sea-side. Came, and cried unto him — From afar; Have mercy on me, thou son of David — Consider my distressed case, and extend thy compassion to me, though a stranger. By addressing him as the son of David, she shows she had some knowledge of the promised Messiah, and that she believed Jesus to be that divine person. But he answered her not a word — He did not seem to regard her, intending that the greatness of her faith should be manifested: an end highly worthy of the wisdom of Jesus; because it not only justified his conduct in working a miracle for a heathen, but was a sharp rebuke to the Jews for their infidelity. Our Lord often tries the faith of his followers in a similar way. His disciples besought him, saying, Send her away — The disciples, being ignorant of our Lord’s design, were uneasy at the woman’s importunity, thinking, if she were permitted to follow them, that they would soon be discovered. Desiring, therefore, to get rid of her, they entreat their Master to dismiss her as he was wont to dismiss such petitioners, namely, with the grant of her request. But he answered, I am not sent — Not primarily; not yet; but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel — By the lost sheep of Israel we are to understand the whole nation of the Jews, who, being as sheep dispersed, and having no shepherd, are therefore called lost sheep. To them the Messiah was first promised; to them he came; and to them his personal ministry was to be almost wholly confined: and hence he is styled a minister of the circumcision, Romans 15:8 . Thus at the first Jesus seemed both to refuse this woman’s request, and the intercession of the disciples in her behalf. She, however, far from being discouraged by the repulse, drew near and worshipped him — That is, fell on her knees before him; saying, Lord, help me — Her necessity and distress were great, and she was unwilling to take a denial. But he said — What was still more discouraging, and seemed to cut her off from all hope, and would, doubtless, have driven her to despair, if she had not had very strong faith indeed; It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs — “The Jews gloried greatly in the honourable title of God’s children, because of all nations they alone knew and worshipped the true God. They gave the name of dogs to the heathen for their idolatry and other pollutions, by which they had degraded themselves from the rank of reasonable creatures: this appellation, therefore, marked the impurity of the Gentiles, and their odiousness in the sight of God; at the same time conveying an idea of the contempt in which they were held by the holy nation. But though, in some respects, it was applicable, it must have been very offensive to the heathen. Nevertheless, this woman neither refused it, nor grudged the Jews the honourable title of children. She acknowledged the justness of what Christ said, and by a strong exercise of faith drew an argument from it, which the candour and benevolence of his disposition could not resist.” She said, Truth, Lord — It would not be fit to put the dogs and the children on a level; Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs, &c. — “Let me have such kindness as the dogs of any family enjoy: from the plenty of miraculous cures which thou bestowest on the Jews, drop the offal of this one to me who am a poor distressed heathen; for by it they will suffer no greater loss than do the children of a family by the crumbs which are cast to the dogs.” — Macknight. Then Jesus answered, O woman, great is thy faith — There were several other graces that shone bright in her; wisdom, humility, meekness, patience, perseverance in prayer, but these were the product of her faith, and therefore Christ particularly commends that: because of all graces faith honours Christ most, therefore of all graces Christ honours faith most. This woman’s faith was great indeed, considering that she had no promise to rely on, and had suffered so many repulses, joined with such seeming contempt, and yet still she retained a confidence in the mercy, kindness, and power of Jesus. Be it unto thee even as thou wilt — Thy request is granted in all its extent. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour — Thus the mother’s faith prevailed for the daughter’s cure, and the patient’s being at a distance was no hinderance to the efficacy of Christ’s word, He spake, and it was done. We learn two important lessons from the success which the suit of this Canaanitish woman met with: 1st, that God is no respecter of persons, but always accepts sincere faith and fervent prayer, proceeding from an humble, penitent heart. 2d, That it is our duty to continue in prayer with earnestness, although the answer thereof should be long deferred. Matthew 15:22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. Matthew 15:23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Matthew 15:25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. Matthew 15:26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. Matthew 15:27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Matthew 15:28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. Matthew 15:29 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. Matthew 15:29-31 . Jesus came unto the sea of Galilee — The Jews gave the name of seas to all large lakes. This was one hundred furlongs long, and forty broad. It was called also the sea of Tiberias. It lay on the borders of Galilee, and the city of Tiberias stood on its western shore. It was likewise styled the lake of Gennesaret; perhaps a corruption of Cinnereth, the name by which it was anciently called. See notes on Numbers 34:11 , and Matthew 4:15-16 . And went up into a mountain and sat down — Not only to rest himself, but also, and especially, to teach the people, who resorted to him in great multitudes; having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, &c. — The dumb were probably deaf also, and the maimed, such as had lost one or more limbs, as the word ??????? properly signifies. It is true, it is sometimes applied to those who were only disabled in those parts; we may “reasonably suppose, however, that among the many maimed who were brought on such occasions, there were, at least, some whose limbs had been cut off; and I thinks,” says Dr. Doddridge, “hardly any of the miracles of our Lord were more illustrious and amazing than the recovery of such.” And many others — Who had different complaints; and cast them down at Jesus’s feet — Entreating his compassion, which was so moved at the sight of so many people in distress, that he graciously healed them all. On these miracles, Dr. Macknight remarks as follows: “On the dumb, who are commonly deaf also, he not only conferred the faculty of hearing and pronouncing articulate sounds, but conveyed into their minds at once the whole language of their country, making them perfectly acquainted with all the words in it, their significations, and their uses, so as to comprehend the whole distinctly in their memories, and, at the same time, he gave them the habit of speaking it both fluently and copiously. This was a kind of miracle vastly astonishing. The change that was produced in the bodies of the men was but the least part of it; what passed in their minds was the principal thing, being an effect so extensive that nothing inferior to infinite power could produce it. With respect to the maimed, that is, persons who had lost their legs and arms, Jesus gave them new members in their stead. But when he thus created such parts of their bodies as were wanting, without having any thing at all, as a subject, to work upon, the spectators could not have been more surprised had they seen him make a whole human body out of the dust of the earth.” Accordingly, on the sight of these miracles, it is here said, They wondered and glorified the God of Israel. See also Matthew 9:33 ; and Matthew 12:22-23 ; Mark 7:37 . Matthew 15:30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them: Matthew 15:31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel. Matthew 15:32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him , and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. Matthew 15:32-39 . Jesus called his disciples, and said, I have compassion, &c. — For some observations on the contents of these verses, see the notes on Mark 8:1-9 . Matthew 15:33 And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? Matthew 15:34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. Matthew 15:35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. Matthew 15:36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them , and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. Matthew 15:37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. Matthew 15:38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children. Matthew 15:39 And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Matthew 15:1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Chapter 12 The Crisis in Galilee Matthew 14:1-36 - Matthew 15:1-39 - Matthew 16:1-12 . THE lives of John and of Jesus, lived so far apart, and with so little intercommunication, have yet been interwoven in a remarkable way, the connection only appearing at the most critical times in the life of our Lord. This interweaving, strikingly anticipated in the incidents of the nativity as recorded by St. Luke, appears, not only at the time of our Saviour’s baptism and first introduction to His Messianic work, but again at the beginning of His Galilean ministry, which dates from the time when John was cast into prison, and once again as the stern prophet of the desert finishes his course; for his martyrdom precipitates a crisis, to which events for some time have been tending. The period of crisis, embracing the facts recorded in the two chapters following and in part of the sixteenth, is marked by events of thrilling interest. The shadow of the cross falls so very darkly now upon the Saviour’s path, that we may look for some more striking effects of light and shade, - Rembrandt-like touches, if with reverence we may so put it, - in the Evangelist’s picture. Many impressive contrasts will arrest our attention as we proceed to touch briefly on the story of the time. I-THE BANQUET OF HEROD AND THE FEAST OF CHRIST Matthew 14:1-21 "Among them that are born of woman there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist." Such was the Saviour’s testimony to His forerunner in the hour of his weakness; and the sequel fully justified it. The answer which came to John’s inquiry brought him no outward relief. His prison bolts were as firmly fastened as before, Herod was as inexorable, the prospect before Him as dark as ever; but he had the assurance that Jesus was the Christ, and that His blessed work of healing the sick and preaching the gospel to the poor was going on; and that was enough for him. So he was quite content to languish on, resting in the Lord and waiting patiently for Him. We learn from St. Mark that Herod was in the habit of sending for him at times, evidently interested in the strange man, probably to some extent fascinated by him, and possibly not without some lingering hope that there might be some way of reconciling the preacher of righteousness and securing the blessing of so well-accredited a messenger of Heaven. There is little doubt that at these times the way was open for John to be restored to liberty, if only he had been willing to lower his testimony against Herod’s sin, or consent to say no more about it; but no such thought ever crossed his noble soul. He had said, "It is not lawful for thee to have her"; and not even in the hour of deepest depression and darkest doubt did he for a moment relax the rigour of his requirements as a preacher of righteousness. As he had lived, so he died. We shall not dwell on the details of the revolting story. It is quite realistic enough in the simple recital of the Evangelist. One cannot help recalling in this connection four hideous pictures of Salome with the head of John the Baptist recently displayed, all on the line, in the Salon at Paris. Of what possible use are such representations? To what sort of taste do they minister? There was no picture of John looking with flashing eyes at the guilty monarch as he said, "It is not lawful for thee to have her." That is the scene which is worthy of remembrance: let it abide in the memory and heart; let the tragic end serve only as a dark background to make the central figure luminous, "a burning and a shining light." The time of Herod’s merciful visitation is over. So long as he kept the Baptist safe { Mark 6:19-20 } from the machinations of Herodias, he retained one link with better things. The stern prisoner was to him like a second conscience; and so long as he was there within easy reach, and Herod continued from time to time to see him and hear what he had to say, there remained some hope of repentance and reformation. Had he only yielded to the promptings of his better nature, and obeyed the prophet, the way of the Lord would have been prepared, the preacher of righteousness would have been followed by the Prince of Peace; and the gospel of Jesus, with all its unspeakable blessing, would have had free course in his court and throughout his realm. But the sacrifice of the prophet to the cruelty of Herodias and the folly and wickedness of his vow put an end to such prospects; and the fame of Christ’s deeds of mercy, when at last it reached his ears, instead of stirring in him a living hope, aroused the demon of guilty conscience, which could not rid itself of the superstitious fear that it was John the Baptist risen from the dead. Thus passed away for ever the great opportunity of Herod Antipas. The disciples of John withdrew in sorrow, but not in despair. They had evidently caught the spirit of their master; for as soon as they had reverently and lovingly taken up the mortal remains and buried them, they came and told Jesus. It must have been a terrible blow to Him, - perhaps even more than it was to them, for they had Him to go to; while He had none on earth to take counsel with: He must carry the heavy burden of responsibility all alone; for even the most advanced of the Twelve could not enter into any of His thoughts and purposes; and certainly not one of them, we might indeed say not all of them together, had at this time anything like the strength and steadfastness of the great man who had just been taken away. We learn from the other accounts that at the same time the Twelve returned from their first missionary journey; so that the question would immediately come up, What was to be done? It was a critical time. Should they stir up the people to avenge the death of their prophet? This would have been after the manner of men, but not according to the counsel of God. Long ago the Saviour had set aside, as quite apart from His way of working, all appeals to force; His kingdom must be a kingdom of the truth, and on the truth He will rely, with nothing else to trust to than the power of patient love. So He takes His disciples away to the other side of the lake, outside the jurisdiction of Herod, with the thoughtful invitation: "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile." What are the prospects of the kingdom now? Sin and righteousness have long been at strife in the court of Galilee; now sin has conquered and has the field. The great preacher of righteousness is dead; and the Christ, to Whom he bore such faithful witness, has gone to the desert. Again the sad prophecy is fulfilled: "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." That little boat crossing from the populous shores of Gennesaret to the desert land on the other side-what does it mean? Defeat? A lost cause? Is this the end of the mission in Galilee, begun to the music of that majestic prophecy which spoke of it as daybreak on the hills and shores of Naphtali and Zebulun, Gennesaret and Jordan? Is this the outcome of two mighty movements so full of promise and hope? Did not all Jerusalem and Judea go after John, confessing their sins and accepting his baptism? And has not all Galilee thronged after Jesus, bringing their sick to be healed, and listening, at least with outward respect and often expressed astonishment, to His words of truth and hope? Now John is dead, and Jesus is crossing with His own disciples and those of John in a boat-one boat enough to hold them all-to mourn together in a desert place apart. Suppose we had been sitting on the shore that day, and had watched it getting ever smaller as it crossed the sea, what should we have thought of the prospects? Should we have found it easy to believe in Christ that day? Verily "the kingdom of God cometh not with observation." The multitudes will not believe on Him; yet they will not let Him rest. They have rejected the kingdom; but they would fain get as much as they can of those earthly blessings which have been scattered so freely as its signs. So the people, noticing the direction the boat has taken, throng after Him, running on foot round the northern shore. When Jesus sees them, sad and weary as He is, He cannot turn away. He knows too well that it is with no pure and lofty devotion that they follow Him; but He cannot see a multitude of people without having His heart moved with a great longing to bless them. So He "went forth, and healed their sick." He continued His loving work, lavishing His sympathy on those who had no sympathy with Him, tilt evening fell, and the disciples suggested that it was time to send the people away, especially as they were beginning to suffer from want of food. "But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart: give ye them to eat. And they say unto Him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to Me." The miracle which follows is of very special significance. Many things point to this. (1) It is the one miracle which all the four Evangelists record. (2) It occurs at a critical time in our Lord’s history. There has been discouragement after discouragement, repulse after repulse, despite and rejection by the leaders, obstinate unbelief and impenitence on the part of the people, the good seed finding almost everywhere hard or shallow or thorny soil, with little or no promise of the longed-for harvest. And now a crowning disaster has come in the death of John. Can we wonder that Christ received the tidings of it as a premonition of His own? Can we wonder that henceforth He should give less attention to public preaching, and more to the training of the little band of faithful disciples who must be prepared for days of darkness coming on apace-prepared for the cross, manifestly now the only way to the crown? (3) There is the significant remark { John 6:4 } that "the Passover was nigh." This was the last Passover but one of our Saviour’s life. The next was to be marked by the sacrifice of Himself as "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." Another year, and He will have fulfilled His course, as John has fulfilled His. Was it not, then, most natural that His mind should be full, not only of thoughts of the approaching Passover, but also of what the next one must bring. This is no mere conjecture; for it plainly appears in the long and most suggestive discourse St. John reports as following immediately upon the miracle and designed for its application. The feeding of the five thousand is indeed a sign of the kingdom, like those grouped together in the earlier part of the Gospel ( Matthew 8:1-34 , Matthew 1:1-25 ). It showed the compassion of the Lord upon the hungry multitude, and His readiness to supply their wants. It showed the Lordship of Christ over nature, and served as a representation in miniature of what the God of nature is doing every year, when, by agencies as far beyond our ken as those by which His Son multiplied the loaves that day, He transmutes the handful of seed-corn into the rich harvests of grain which feed the multitudes of men. It taught also, by implication, that the same God Who feeds the bodies of men with the rich abundance of the year is able and willing to satisfy all their spiritual wants. But there is something more than all this, as we might gather from the very way it is told: "And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitude." Can we read these words without thinking of what our Saviour did just a year later, when He took bread and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat, this is My body?" { Matthew 26:26 } He is not, indeed, instituting the Supper now; but it is very plain that the same thoughts are in His mind as when, a year later, He did so. And what might be inferred from the recital of what He did becomes still more evident when we are told what afterwards He said-especially such utterances as these: "I am the bread of life; The bread which I will give you is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world; Verily I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." We have, then, here, not a sign of the kingdom only, but a parable of life eternal, life to be bestowed in no other way than by the death to be accomplished at Jerusalem at the next passover, life for thousands, life ministered through the disciples to the multitudes, and not diminished in the ministering, but growing and multiplying in their hands, so that after all are fed there remain "twelve baskets full,"-far more than at the first: a beautiful hint of the abundance that will remain for the Gentile nations of the earth. That passover parable comes out of the anguish of the great Redeemer’s heart. Already, as He breaks that bread and gives it to the people, He is enduring the cross and despising the shame of it, for the joy set before Him of giving the bread of life to a hungry world. One can scarcely fail at this point to contrast the feast in honour of Herod’s birthday with the feast which symbolised the Saviour’s death. "When a convenient day was come, Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; and "the rest is well known, -the feasting, mirth, and revelry, ending in the dark tragedy, followed by the remorse of a guilty conscience, the gnawing of the worm that dieth not, the burning of the fire that is not quenched. Then think of that other feast on the green grass in the pure air of the fresh and breezy hillside-the hungry multitudes, the homely fare, the few barley loaves and the two small fishes; yet by the blessing of the Lord Jesus there was provided a repast far more enjoyable to these keen appetites than all the delicacies of the banquet to the lords of Galilee-a feast pointing indeed to a death, but a death which was to bring life and peace and joy to thousands, with abundance over for all who will receive it. The one is the feast to which the world invites; the other is the least which Christ provides for all who are willing to "labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto eternal life." II-CALM ON THE MOUNTAIN AND TROUBLE ON THE SEA. We learn from the fourth Gospel that the immediate result of the impression made by our Lord’s miraculous feeding of the five thousand was an attempt on the part of the people to take Him by force and make Him a king. Thus, as always, their minds would run on political change, and the hope of bettering their circumstances thereby; while they refuse to allow themselves to think of that spiritual change which must begin with themselves, and show itself in that repentance and hunger and thirst after righteousness, which He so longed to see in them. Even His disciples, as we know, were not now, nor for a long time subsequent to this, altogether free from the same spirit of earthliness; and it is quite likely that the general enthusiasm would excite them not a little, and perhaps lead them to raise the question, as they were often fain to do, whether the time had not at last come for their Master to declare Himself openly, put Himself at the head of these thousands, take advantage of the widespread feeling of irritation and discontent awakened by the murder of John the Baptist, whom all men counted for a prophet, { Mark 11:32 } hurl Herod Antipas from the high position he disgraced, and, with all Galilee under His control and full of enthusiasm for His cause, march southward on Jerusalem. This was no doubt the course of action they for the most part expected and wished; and, with One at their head Who could do such wonders, what was there to hinder complete success? May we not also with reverence suppose that this was one of the occasions on which Satan renewed those assaults which he began in the wilderness of Judea? A little later, when Peter was trying to turn Him aside from the path of the Cross, Jesus recognised it, not merely as a suggestion of the disciple, but as a renewed temptation of the great adversary. We may well suppose, then, that at this crisis the old temptation to bestow on Him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them-not for their own sake, of course (there could have been no temptation in that direction), but for the sake of the advancement of the interests of the heavenly kingdom by the use of worldly methods of policy and force-was presented to Him with peculiar strength. However. this may have been, the circumstances required prompt action of some kind. It was necessary that the disciples should be got out of reach of temptation as soon as possible; so He constrained them to enter into a boat, and go before Him to the other side, while He dispersed the multitude. And need we wonder that in the circumstances He should wish to be entirely alone? He could not consult with those He trusted most, for they were quite in the dark, and anything they were at all likely to say would only increase the pressure put upon Him by the people. He had only One for His Counsellor and Comforter, His Father in heaven, Whose will He had come to do; so He must be alone with Him. He must have been in a state of great physical exhaustion after all the fatigue of the day, for though He had come for rest He had found none; but the brave, strong spirit conquers the weary flesh, and instead of going to sleep He ascends the neighbouring height to spend the night in prayer. It is interesting to remember that it was after this night spent in prayer that He delivered the remarkable discourse recorded in the sixth chapter of St. John, in which He speaks so plainly about giving His flesh for the life of the world. It is evident, then, that, if any question had arisen in His mind as to the path of duty, when He was suddenly confronted with the enthusiastic desire of the multitudes to crown Him at once, it was speedily set at rest: He now plainly saw that it was not the will of His Father in heaven that He should take advantage of any such stirring of worldly desire, that Be must give no encouragement to any, except those who were hungering and thirsting after righteousness, to range themselves upon His side. Hence, no doubt, the sifting nature of the discourse He delivered the following day. He is eager to gather the multitudes to Himself; but He cannot allow them to come under any false assumption; -He must have spiritually-minded disciples, or none at all: accordingly He makes His discourse so strongly spiritual, directs their attention so far away from earthly issues to the issues of eternity ("I will raise him up at the last day" is the promise He gives over and over again, whereas they wanted to be raised up then and there to high places in the world), that not only did the multitude lose all their enthusiasm, but "from that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him," while even the Twelve themselves were shaken in their allegiance, as seems evident from the sorrowful question with which He turned to them: "Will ye also go away?" We may reverently suppose, then, that our Lord was occupied, during the early part of the night, with thoughts like these-in preparation, as it were, for the faithful words He will speak and the sad duty He will discharge on the morrow. Meantime a storm has arisen on the lake-one of those sudden and often terrible squalls to which inland waters everywhere are subject, but which are greatly aggravated here by the contrast between the tropical climate of the lake, 620 feet below the level of the Mediterranean, and the cool air on the heights which surround it. The storm becomes fiercer as the night advances. The Saviour has been much absorbed, but He cannot fail to notice how angry the lake is becoming, and to what peril His loved disciples are exposed. As the Passover was nigh, the moon would be nearly full, and there would be frequent opportunities, between the passing of the clouds, to watch the little boat. As long as there seems any prospect of their weathering the storm by their own exertions He leaves them to themselves; but when it appears that they are making no progress, though it is evident that they are "toiling in rowing," He sets out at once to their relief. The rescue which follows recalls a former incident on the same lake. { Matthew 8:23-27 } But the points of difference are both important and instructive. Then He was with His disciples in the ship, though asleep; in their extremity they had only to rouse Him with the cry, "Save, Lord, or we perish!" to secure immediate calm and safety. Now He was not with them; He was out of sight, and beyond the reach even of the most piercing cries. It was therefore a much severer trial than the last, and remembering the special significance of the miracle of the loaves, we can scarcely fail to notice a corresponding suggestiveness in this one. That one had dimly foreshadowed His death; did not this, in the same way, foreshadow the relations He would sustain to His disciples after His death? May we not look upon His ascent of this mountain as a picture of His ascension into heaven-His betaking Himself to His Father now as a shadow of His going to the Father then-His prayer on the mount as a shadow of His heavenly intercession? It was to pray that He ascended; and though He, no doubt, needed, at that trying time, to pray for Himself, His heart would be poured out in pleading for His disciples too, especially when the storm came on. And these disciples constrained to go off in a boat by themselves, -are they not a picture of the Church after Christ had gone to His Father, launched on the stormy sea of the world? What will they do without Him? What will they do when the winds rise and the waves roar in the dark night? Oh! if only He were here, Who was sleeping in the boat that day, and only needed to be roused to sympathise and save! Where is He now? There on the hilltop, interceding, looking down with tenderest compassion, watching every effort of the toiling rowers. Nay, He is nearer still! See that Form upon the waves! "It is a spirit," they cry; and are afraid, very much as, a little more than a year afterward, when He came suddenly into the midst of them with His "Peace be unto you," they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. { Luke 24:37 } But presently they hear the familiar voice: "Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid." There can be no doubt that the remembrance of that night on the lake of Galilee would be a wondrous consolation to these disciples during the storms of persecution through which they had to pass after their Master had ascended up to heaven; and their faith in the presence of His Spirit, and His constant readiness to help and save, would be greatly strengthened by the memory of that apparently spectral Form they had seen coming across the troubled sea to their relief. Have we not some reason, then, for saying that here, too, we have not only another of the many signs of the kingdom showing our Lord’s power over nature and constant readiness to help His people in time of need, but a parable of the future, most appropriately following that parable of life through death set forth in the feeding of the thousands on the day before? There seems, in fact, a strange prophetic element running all through the scenes of that wondrous time. We have already referred to the disposition on the part even of the Twelve, as manifested next day at the close of the discourse on the "bread of life," to desert Him-to show the same spirit which afterward, when the crisis reached its height, so demoralised them that "they all forsook Him, and fled"; and have we not, in the closing incident, in which Peter figures so conspicuously, a mild foreshadowing of his terrible fall, when the storm of human passion was raging as fiercely in Jerusalem as did the winds and waves on the lake of Galilee that night? There is the same self-confidence: "Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water"; the same alarm when he was brought face to face with the danger the thought of which he had braved; then the sinking, sinking as if about to perish, yet not hopelessly (for the Master had prayed for him that his faith should not fail); then the humble prayer, "Lord, save me"; and the gracious hand immediately stretched out to save. Had the adventurous disciple learnt his lesson well that day, what it would have saved him! May we not say that there is never a great and terrible fall, however sudden it seems, which has not been preceded by warnings, even long before, which, if heeded, would have certainly averted it? How much need have the disciples of Christ to learn thoroughly the lessons their Lord teaches them in His gentler dealings, so that when darker days and heavier trials come they may be ready, having taken unto themselves the whole armour of God to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. There are many other important lessons which might be learnt from this incident, but we may not dwell on them; a mere enumeration of some of them may, however, he attempted. It was faith, in part at least, which led the apostle to make this venture; and this is, no doubt, the reason why the Lord did not forbid it. Faith is too precious to be repressed; but the faith of Peter on this occasion is anything but simple, clear, and strong: there is a large measure of self-will in it, of impulsiveness, of self-confidence, perhaps of love of display. A confused and encumbered faith of this kind is sure to lead into mischief, -to set on foot rash enterprises, which show great enthusiasm, and perhaps seem to rebuke the caution of the less confident for the time, but which come to grief, and in the end bring no credit to the cause of Christ. The rash disciple’s enterprise is not, however, an entire failure: he does succeed so far; but presently the weakness of his faith betrays itself. As long as the impulse lasted, and his eye was fixed on his Master, all went well; but when the first burst of enthusiasm was spent, and he had time to look round upon the waves, he began to sink. But how encouraging it is to observe that, when put to extremity, that which is genuine in the man carries it over all the rest!-the faith which had been encumbered extricates itself, and becomes simple, clear, and strong; the last atom of self-confidence is gone, and with it all thought of display; nothing but simple faith is left in that strong cry of his, "Lord, save me!" Nothing could be imagined better suited than this incident to discriminate between self-confidence and faith. Peter enters on this experience with the two well mixed together, -so well mixed that neither he himself nor his fellow-disciples could distinguish them; but the testing process precipitates one and clarifies the other, -lets the self-confidence all go and brings out the faith pure and strong. Immediately, therefore, his Lord is at his side, and he is safe; -a great lesson this on faith, especially in revealing its simplicity. Peter tried to make a grand thing of it: he had to come back to the simple, humble cry, and the grasping of his Saviour’s outstretched hand. The same lesson is taught on a larger scale in the brief account of the cures the Master wrought when they reached the other side, where all that was asked was the privilege of touching His garment’s hem, "and as many as touched were made perfectly whole"; not the great ones, not the strong ones, but "as many as touched." Only let us keep in touch with Him, and all will assuredly be well with us both in time and in eternity. III-ISRAEL AFTER THE FLESH AND ISRAEL AFTER THE SPIRIT. { Matthew 15:1-39 } Issue is now joined with the ecclesiastical leaders at Jerusalem, who send a deputation to make a formal complaint. When Jerusalem was last mentioned in our Gospel it was in connection with a movement of quite a different character. The fame of the Saviour’s deeds of mercy in Galilee had then just reached the capital, the result being that many set out at once to find out what new thing this might be: "There followed Him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan." { Matthew 4:25 } That wave of interest in the south had now died down; and instead of eager multitudes there is a small sinister band of cold, keen-witted, hard-hearted critics. It was a sad change, and must have brought new distress to the Saviour’s troubled heart; but He is none the less ready to face the trial with His wonted courage and unfailing readiness of resource. Their complaint is trivial enough. It is to be remembered, of course, that it was not a question of cleanliness, but of ritual; not even of ritual appointed by Moses, but only of that prescribed by certain traditions of their fathers which they held in superstitious veneration. These traditions, by a multitude of minute regulations and restrictions, imposed an intolerable burden on those, who thought it their duty to observe them; while the magnifying of trifles had the natural effect of keeping out of sight the weightier matters of the law. Not only so, but the most trivial regulations were sometimes so managed as to furnish an excuse for neglect of the plainest duties. Our Lord could not therefore miss the opportunity of denouncing this evil, and accordingly He exposes it in the plainest and strongest language. The question with which He opens His attack is most incisive. It is as if He said, "I am accused of transgressing your tradition. What is your tradition? It is itself transgression of the law of God." Then follows the striking illustration, showing “how by their rules of tradition they put it within the power of any heartless son to escape entirely the obligation of providing even for his aged father or mother-an illustration, be it remembered, which brought out more than a breach of the fifth” commandment; for by what means was it that the ungrateful son escaped his obligation? By taking the name of the Lord in vain; for surely there could be no greater dishonour to the name of God than meanly to mark as dedicated to Him (" Corban ") what ought to have been devoted to the discharge of an imperative filial duty. Besides, it was not at all necessary that the money or property should be actually dedicated to sacred uses; it was only necessary to say that it was, only necessary to pronounce over it that magic word Corban, and then the mean hypocrite could use it for the most selfish purposes-for any purpose, in fact, he chose, except that purpose for which it was his duty to use it. It is really difficult to conceive such iniquity wrapped up in a cloak of so-called religion. No wonder our Lord was moved to indignation, and applied to His critics the strong language of the prophet: "Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people honoureth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men" (R.V). No wonder that He turned away from men who were so deeply committed to a system so vile, and that He explained, not to His questioners, but to the multitude who had gathered round, the principle on which He acted. There seems, however, to have been more of sorrow than of anger in His tone and manner. How else could the disciples have asked Him such a question as that which follows: "Knowest Thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?" Of course the Pharisees were offended. They had most excellent reason. And the disciples would have known that He had no intention of sparing them in the least, and no concern whether they took offence or not, if His. tone had been such as an ordinary person would naturally have put into such an invective. It is probable that He said it all calmly, earnestly, tenderly, without the slightest trace of passion; from which it would not be at all unnatural for the disciples to infer that He had not fully realised how strong His language had been, and into what serious collision He had brought Himself with the leaders in Jerusalem. Hence their gentle remonstrance, the expression of those feelings of dismay with which they saw their Master break with one party after another, as if determined to wreck His mission altogether. Was it not bad policy to give serious offence to persons of such importance at so critical a time? The Saviour’s answer is just what was to