Commentary on Matthew, Mark, Luke - Volume 2.pdf

<strong>Commentary</strong> on Matthew, Mark, Luke - Volume 2
wedding garment, 12. Said to him, Friend, how you, That none of those men who were invited
camest thou hither, not having the wedding shall taste of my supper.
garment? And he was speechless. 13. Then said
the king to his attendants, Bind him hand and
foot, and cast him into outer darkness: weeping
and gnashing of teeth will be there. 14. For many
are called, but few are chosen.
Matthew 22:1. And Jesus answering. Though Matthew relates this parable among other
discourses which were delivered by Christ about the time of the last Passover, yet as he does not
specify any particular time, and as Luke expressly affirms that Christ delivered this discourse while
he sat at table in the house of a Pharisee, I have thought it better to follow this order. The design
which Matthew had in view was, to point out the reasons why the scribes were excited to the highest
pitch of fury; and therefore he properly placed it in the midst of those discourses which were hateful
to them, and interwove it with those discourses, without attending to the order of time. But we must
attend to Luke’s narrative, who says that, when one of those who sat at table with him said, Blessed
is he that eateth bread in the kingdom of God, Christ took occasion from it to upbraid the Jews with
ingratitude. It is by no means probable, that the guest and friend of a Pharisee broke out into this
exclamation from any sincere feeling of piety. Still, I do not look upon it as having been spoken in
derision; but, as persons who have a moderate knowledge of the faith, and are not openly wicked,
are in the habit of indulging, amidst their cups, in idle talk about eternal life, I think that this man
threw out a remark about future blessedness, in order to draw out some observation in return from
Christ. And his words make it manifest, that he had nothing in view beyond what was gross and
earthly; for he did not employ the phrase, eat bread, as a metaphor for enjoy eternal life, but appears
to have dreamed of I know not what state, filled with prosperity and abundance of all things. The
meaning is, Blessed shall they be who shall eat the bread of God, 291 after that he has collected his
children into his kingdom.
2. The kingdom of heaven is like a human king As it was long ago said by a Spartan, that the
Athenians knew what was right, but did not choose to practice it; so Christ now brings it as a
reproach against the Jews, that they gave utterance to beautiful expressions about the kingdom of
God, but, when God kindly and gently invited them, they rejected his grace with disdain. There is
no room to doubt that the discourse is expressly levelled against the Jews, as will more plainly
appear a little afterwards.
Matthew and Luke differ in this respect, that Matthew details many circumstances, while Luke
states the matter summarily, and in a general manner. Thus, Matthew says that a king made a
291 “Qui seront nourris de Dieu;”— “who shall be fed by God.”
117
John Calvin