Bible Commentaries

Matthew 28:1 — XXVIII. (1) It will probably help the student to place before him, in their right order, the recorded appearances of our Lord Jesus after His resurrection:— (1.) To Mary Magdalene, John 20:14; Mark 16:9. (2.) To Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, Matthew

Luke 18:31-34 — (31-34) Then he took unto him the twelve.—See Notes on Matthew 20:17-19; Mark 10:32-34. St. Luke, like St. Mark, passes over the parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard. The insertion of the reference to the prophecies of the Passion is, on the other hand, peculiar to him, and is, perhaps, connected with the prominence given to those prophecies in Luke 24:27; Luke 24:44-45.

Luke 18:34 — (34) They understood none of these things.—The whole verse is peculiar to St. Luke, and reproduces what had been said before in Luke 9:45, where see Note. It is as though his professional habit of analysis led him to dwell on these psychological phenomena

Luke 18:41 — (41) Lord, that I may receive my sight.—As St. Luke uses “Lord” (kyrie) for St. Mark’s “Rabboni,” it may be inferred that he uses it in a somewhat higher sense than either of his two words for Master. (See Notes on Luke 5:5; Luke 8:24.)

Luke 22:14-18 — (14-18) And when the hour was come.—See Notes on Matthew 26:20; Mark 14:17. The other Gospels name “the evening.” St. Luke uses simply “the hour” as referring to the appointed time, “in the evening” (literally, between the two evenings, i.e., the close

Luke 22:59 — (59) About the space of one hour after.—Literally, about one hour having intervened, the verb so rendered being peculiar to St. Luke in the New Testament (Luke 24:51; Acts 27:28). Confidently affirmed.—This word also is peculiar to St. Luke (Acts 12:15).

Luke 9:33 — (33) Master.—The same word as before, in Luke 5:5; Luke 8:24, where see Notes.

Luke 9:49 — (49) And John answered and said.—See Notes on Mark 9:38-41, the narrative being common to these two Gospels only. Master.—The same word as in Luke 5:5; Luke 8:24.

John 19 overview — XIX. For the scourging of Jesus and the delivery to be crucified (John 19:1-16), comp. generally Notes on Matthew 27:24-30; Mark 15:15-19, Luke 23:24-25.

John 20:1 — (1) For the visit of the women to the sepulchre, and their announcement to the disciples (John 20:1-2), comp. generally Notes on Matthew 28:1-4; Matthew 28:8; Mark 16:1-4; Mark 16:8; Luke 24:1-3; Luke 24:9-11. Each of the three narratives separates

John 20:19 — (19) For this appearance to the disciples (John 20:19-25) comp. Mark 16:14 and Luke 24:36-43. Between the last verse and this we must suppose to occur the bribing of the guard (Matthew 28:11-15), and the conversation on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35;

John 20:20 — (20) He shewed unto them his hands and his side.—In St. Luke’s account (Luke 24:39) we have “hands and feet.” The piercing of the side is related by St. John only. (Comp. John 20:25-27.) Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.—Better,

John 20:9 — (9) For as yet they knew not the scripture.—This explains in what sense it was that St. John now believed. Up to this time they knew not the meaning of the Scripture which foretold the Resurrection; but from that moment at least they recognised in the fact of the absent body of Christ the truth that He must rise again. (Comp. Notes on John 2:21-22.) That he must rise again from the dead.—Comp. especially Notes on Luke 24:26; Luke 24:44.

Acts 1:3 — (3) After his passion.—Literally, after He had suffered. The English somewhat anticipates the later special sense of “passion.” By many infallible proofs.—There is no adjective in the Greek answering to “infallible,” but the noun is one which was used

Acts 10:41 — (41) Unto witnesses chosen before.—Better, appointed. The precise word which St. Luke uses occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, but is connected with the word rendered “ordained” in Acts 14:23. Who did eat and drink with him.—The three recorded instances of this are found in Luke 24:30; Luke 24:42; John 21:13. This was, of course, the crucial test which showed that the Form on which the disciples had looked was no phantom of the imagination.

Acts 2:12 — (12) They were all amazed, and were in doubt.—The last word is somewhat stronger in the Greek: “were much perplexed,” as in Luke 24:4. No New Testament writer uses it except St. Luke. What meaneth this?—Better, What may this mean? The same phrase occurs in Acts 17:18.

Acts 7:24 — (24) And avenged him.—The Greek phrase is noticeable as identical with that used by St. Luke (Luke 18:7) in reporting the lesson drawn by our Lord from the parable of the Unjust Judge.

Acts 7:41 — (41) They made a calf.—The fact is stated in a compound word which is not found in the LXX. version, and which St. Stephen apparently coined for the purpose. Rejoiced in the works of their own hands.—The verb expresses specially the joy of a feast, as in Luke 15:23-24; Luke 15:29; Luke 16:19; and is therefore specially appropriate for what is related in Exodus 32:5-6. The tense “were rejoicing” expresses the frequency or continuance of the sin.

Romans 3:21 — (21) But now.—In these latter days. The Apostle conceives of the history of the world as divided into periods; the period of the Gospel succeeds that of the Law, and to it the Apostle and his readers belong. (Comp. for this conception of the gospel,

Colossians 4:14 — (14) Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas.—Comp. Philemon 1:24. The original is even more emphatic, “Luke the physician, the beloved one.” Demas, on the contrary, is barely named. It is impossible not to pass on in thought to the last notice of the