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

<strong>Commentary</strong> on Matthew, Mark, Luke - Volume 2
Master. We see how his discourse was made an occasion of offense by wicked and obstinate men;
and we see at the same time, how that kind of offense which arose from malignity was treated by
him with contempt.
13. Every plant. As the indifferent success of the doctrine had wounded their weak minds, Christ
intended to remedy this evil. Now the remedy which he proposes is, that good men ought not to be
distressed, or entertain less reverence for the doctrine, though to many it be an occasion of death.
It is a mistaken view of this passage which some have adopted, that all the inventions of men, and
every thing that has not proceeded from the mouth of God, must be rooted up and perish; for it was
rather to men that Christ referred, and the meaning is, that there is no reason to wonder if the doctrine
of salvation shall prove deadly to the reprobate, because they are always carried headlong to the
destruction to which they are doomed.
By the persons that have been planted by the hand of God we are to understand those who, by
his free adoption, have been ingrafted into the tree of life, as Isaiah also, when speaking of the
Church renewed by the grace of God, calls it a branch planted by the Lord, (Isaiah 60:21.) Now as
salvation depends solely on the election of God, the reprobate must perish, in whatever way this
may be effected; not that they are innocent, and free from all blame, when God destroys them, but
because, by their own malice, they turn to their destruction all that is offered to them, however
salutary it may be. To those who willingly perish the Gospel thus becomes, as Paul assures us, the
savor of death unto death, (2 Corinthians 2:16;) for, though it is offered to all for salvation, it does
not yield this fruit in any but the elect. It belongs to a faithful and honest teacher to regulate every
thing which he brings forward by a regard to the advantage of all; but whenever the result is different,
let us take comfort from Christ’s reply. It is beautifully expressed by the parable, that the cause of
perdition does not lie in the doctrine, but that the reprobate who have no root in God, when the
doctrine is presented to them, throw out their hidden venom, and thus accelerate that death to which
they were already doomed.
Which my heavenly Father hath not planted. Hypocrites, who appear for a time to have been
planted like good trees, are particularly described by Christ; for Epicureans, who are noted for open
and shameful contempt of God, cannot properly be said to resemble trees, but the description must
be intended to apply to those who have acquired celebrity by some vain appearance of godliness.
Such were the scribes, who towered in the Church of God like the cedars in Lebanon, and whose
revolt might on that account appear the more strange. Christ might have said that it is right that
those should perish who disdainfully reject salvation; but he rises higher, and asserts that no man
will remain steadfast, unless his salvation be secured by the election of God. By these words he
expressly declares, that the first origin of our salvation flows from that grace by which God elected
us to be his children before we were created.
14. Let them alone. He sets them aside as unworthy of notice, and concludes that the offense
which they take ought not to give us much uneasiness. Hence has arisen the distinction, of which
we hear so much, about avoiding offenses, that we ought to beware of offending the weak, but if
any obstinate and malicious person take offense, we ought not to be uneasy; for, if we determined
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John Calvin