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

<strong>Commentary</strong> on Matthew, Mark, Luke - Volume 2
bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness
is profitable to all things, (1 Timothy 4:8.)
And yet we must not make this a pretense for giving a loose rein to the flesh, by indulging in
luxuries and effeminacy: only we must beware of superstition, lest foolish men, imagining that
perfection lies in matters of a purely elementary nature, neglect the spiritual worship of God.
Besides, while Christ accommodated himself to the usages of ordinary life, he maintained a sobriety
truly divine, and did not encourage the excesses of others by his dissimulation or by his example.
35. And Wisdom is justified This passage is variously explained by commentators. Some maintain
that Wisdom was acquitted by the Jews, because, conscious of guilt, and judges of their own unbelief,
they were compelled to acknowledge, that the doctrine which they rejected was good and holy. By
the children of Wisdom they understand the Jews who boasted of that title. Others think that it was
spoken in irony: “It is in this manner that you approve of the Wisdom of God, of which you boast
that you are the children?” But as the Greek preposition ἀπό 27 does not properly relate to an agent,
some explain it, that Wisdom is acquitted by her children, and is no longer under obligation to them,
in the same manner as when an inheritance is transferred to another. Thus Paul says, that Christ
was justified (δεδικαίωται) from sin, (Romans 6:7,) because the curse of sin had no longer any
power over him.
Some interpret it more harshly, and with greater excess of freedom, to mean that Wisdom is
estranged from her children But granting that this were the import of the Greek preposition, I look
upon the other meaning as more appropriate, that Wisdom, however wickedly she may be slandered
by her own sons, loses nothing of her worth or rank, but remains unimpaired. The Jews, and
particularly the scribes, gave themselves out as children of the Wisdom of God; and yet, when they
trod their mother under their feet, they not only flattered themselves amidst such heinous sacrilege,
but desired that Christ should fall by their decision. Christ maintains, on the contrary, that, however
wicked and depraved her children may be, Wisdom remains entire, and that the malice of those
who wickedly and malignantly slander her takes nothing from her authority.
I have not yet brought forward that meaning which appears to my own mind the most appropriate
and natural. First, the words of Christ contain an implied contrast between true children and bastards,
who hold but an empty title without the reality; and they amount to this: “Let those who haughtily
boast of being the children of Wisdom proceed in their obstinacy: she will, notwithstanding, retain
the praise and support of her own children. Accordingly, Luke adds a term of universality, by all
her children; which means, that the reluctance of the scribes will not prevent all the elect of God
from remaining steadfast in the faith of the Gospel. With respect to the Greek word ἀπό, it
undoubtedly has sometimes the same meaning as ὑπό. Not to mention other instances, there is a
passage in Luke’s Gospel, (17:25,) where Christ says, that he must suffer many things, καὶ
ἀποδοκιμασθὢναι ἀπὸ τὢς γενεᾶς ταύτης, and be rejected By this generation. Everybody will
27 “Le mot Grec que nous avons rendu par De;” — “the Greek word which we have translated by.”
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John Calvin