to give glory to God, but this stranger? 19 And he said unto him, Arise go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.

20

And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God would come,* he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh 21 not with observation. Neither shall they say, Lo here; or, Lo there it is: for behold, the 22 kingdom of God is within you. Then he said unto the disciples, The days will come when ye will desire to see one of the days of the 23 Son of man, and ye shall not see it. And they

shall say to you, See here; or, See there: go 24 not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning which lighteneth from one place under heaven, shineth unto another part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his 25 day. But first he must suffer many things, 26 and be rejected of this generation. And as it

was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in 27 the days of the Son of man.‡ They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and the flood came, 28 and destroyed them all. So also as it was in the days of Lot: they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they

* Or when would the reign of the Messiah commence. That is, with external parade or splendor; but is known by its effects on the hearts and lives of men.

The destruction of Jerusalem was as unexpected to the Jews, as the flood to the Antediluvians: or the fire from heaven to the people of Sodom and Gomorrow. Josephus informs us the slaughter was immense.

29 builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from 30 heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus

shall it be in the day when the Son of man is31 revealed. In that day, he who shall be upon the house-top, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away and he who is in the field, let him likewise not return 32 back. Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever will 33 seek to save his life, shall lose it; and whoso34 ever shall lose his life, shall preserve it.* I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken and the other 35 shall be left. Two shall be grinding together;

the one shall be taken, and the other left. 36 Two shall be in the field; the one shall be 37 taken and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. †

1

CHAP. XVIII.

AND he spake a parable unto them, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2-saying, There was in a city a judge, who 3 neither feared God, nor pitied man. And there was a widow in that city; who came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary,

* See note to Matthew, x. 39. xvi. 25.

†That is, wherever the Jewish people are, there will the Roman soldiers (whose standard is an eagle) assemble to attack and slay them.

4 And he would not for a time: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, 5 nor care for man; yet as this widow giveth me trouble, I willjavenge her, lest by perpetual appli6 cation she weary me. And the Lord said, Do .7 ye hear what the unjust judge saith? And will not God much more avenge his own elect, who cry day and night unto him? and will he long 8 delay in their cause? I tell you, that he will soon do them justice. However, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth ?*

9

And he spake another parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, 10 and despised others: Two men went up to

the temple to pray; the one was a Pharisee, 11 and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed thus, God I thank thee, that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers; or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I pay tithes of all I 13 possess. And the publican, standing afar off,

would not lift up even his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merci14 ful to me a sinner. I assure you, this man went down to his house approved; but the other not: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased but he that he that humbleth himself 15 shall be exalted. Then they brought infants to him, that he might touch them: but when his 16 disciples saw it they rebuked them. But Jesus

A question often implies a negative. The idea is, that when Christ should come to destroy the wicked, unbelieving Jews, they would have no belief or expectation of it.

called them unto him, and said, Suffer these little children to come unto me, and forbid them not : 17 for such is the kingdom of God.* Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child,† shall 18 not enter into it. And one of the rulers asked

him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to 19 inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why dost thou call me good? none is perfect20 ly good, but one, even God. Thou knowest the commandments; Do not commit adultry, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother. 21 And he said, All these I have kept from my 22 youth. Now when Jesus heard this, he said, Thou art wanting in one thing: sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor; and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, fol23 low me. And when he heard this, he was

overcome with sorrow, for he was very rich. 24 And when Jesus saw that he was in great

sorrow, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter 26 into the kingdom of God. And they that 26 heard it, said, Who then can be saved? And

:

he said, The things which are impossible with 28 men, are possible with God. Then Peter said, 29 Lo, we have left all and followed thee. And

he said unto them, Verily I say unto you,

* By kingdom of God, is to be understood the Gospel, or the christian church.

† That is, with humility, aud a teachable disposition.

there is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the king30 dom of God's sake, who, shall not receive much more in this present time,* and in the world to come life everlasting.

31

Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accom32 plished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and insulted, 33 and spitted on; And they shall scourge him,

and put him to death; but the third day he 34 shall rise again. But they understood not this declaration; and it was hidden from them, nor did they know the meaning of that which was spoken.

35

And it was so, that, as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a blind man sat by the way beg$6 ging; and hearing the multitude pass by, he 37 asked what it meant. And they told him, that 38 Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried,

saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy 39 on me.t And they who went before rebuked him, that he should be silent: but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have 40 mercy on me. And Jesus stopped; and com

*The sincere christian in this life even has more pleasure than the worldly-minded, derived from the practice of virtue and the supports of divine grace.

The Jews believed the Messiah would be descended from David. And the fame of Jesus had already become great, so that he was believed by many to be the Messiah.