{"commentary":{"id":"jamieson-fausset-brown","name":"Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamieson-Fausset-Brown_Bible_Commentary","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"db3d4c8b3c1f32ef9d1430a57392e02bda3a17aac1f9bbe398461de021a3cb13","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":66,"totalNumberOfChapters":1187,"totalNumberOfVerses":17056,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"LUK","commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","name":"Luke","commonName":"Luke","introduction":"THE writer of this Gospel is universally allowed to have been Lucas (an abbreviated form of Lucanus, as Silas of Silvanus), though he is not expressly named either in the Gospel or in the Acts. From Col 4:14 we learn that he was a \"physician\"; and by comparing that verse with Col 4:10-11 --in which the apostle enumerates all those of the circumcision who were then with him, but does not mention Luke, though he immediately afterwards sends a salutation from him--we gather that Luke was not a born Jew. Some have thought he was a freed-man (libertinus), as the Romans devolved the healing art on persons of this class and on their slaves, as an occupation beneath themselves. His intimate acquaintance with Jewish customs, and his facility in Hebraic Greek, seem to show that he was an early convert to the Jewish faith; and this is curiously confirmed by Act 21:27-29, where we find the Jews enraged at Paul's supposed introduction of Greeks into the temple, because they had seen \"Trophimus the Ephesian\" with him; and as we know that Luke was with Paul on that occasion, it would seem that they had taken him for a Jew, as they made no mention of him. On the other hand, his fluency in classical Greek confirms his Gentile origin. The time when he joined Paul's company is clearly indicated in the Acts by his changing (at Act 16:10) from the third person singular (\"he\") to the first person plural (\"we\"). From that time he hardly ever left the apostle till near the period of his martyrdom (Ti2 4:11). EUSEBIUS makes him a native of Antioch. If so, he would have every advantage for cultivating the literature of Greece and such medical knowledge as was then possessed. That he died a natural death is generally agreed among the ancients; GREGORY NAZIANZEN alone affirming that he died a martyr.\n\nThe time and place of the publication of his Gospel are alike uncertain. But we can approximate to it. It must at any rate have been issued before the Acts, for there the 'Gospel' is expressly referred to as the same author's \"former treatise\" (Act 1:1). Now the Book of the Acts was not published for two whole years after Paul's arrival as a prisoner at Rome, for it concludes with a reference to this period; but probably it was published soon after that, which would appear to have been early in the year 63. Before that time, then, we have reason to believe that the Gospel of Luke was in circulation, though the majority of critics make it later. If we date it somewhere between A.D. 50 and 60, we shall probably be near the truth; but nearer it we cannot with any certainty come. Conjectures as to the place of publication are too uncertain to be mentioned here.\n\nThat it was addressed, in the first instance, to Gentile readers, is beyond doubt. This is no more, as DAVIDSON remarks [Introduction to the New Testament, p. 186], than was to have been expected from the companion of an \"apostle of the Gentiles,\" who had witnessed marvellous changes in the condition of many heathens by the reception of the Gospel. But the explanations in his Gospel of things known to every Jew, and which could only be intended for Gentile readers, make this quite plain--see Luk 1:26; Luk 4:31; Luk 8:26; Luk 21:37; Luk 22:1; Luk 24:13. A number of other minute particulars, both of things inserted and of things omitted, confirm the conclusion that it was Gentiles whom this Evangelist had in the first instance in view.\n\nWe have already adverted to the classical style of Greek which this Evangelist writes--just what might have been expected from an educated Greek and travelled physician. But we have also observed that along with this he shows a wonderful flexibility of style, so much so, that when he comes to relate transactions wholly Jewish, where the speakers and actors and incidents are all Jewish, he writes in such Jewish Greek as one would do who had never been out of Palestine or mixed with any but Jews. In DA COSTA'S'S Four Witnesses will be found some traces of \"the beloved physician\" in this Gospel. But far more striking and important are the traces in it of his intimate connection with the apostle of the Gentiles. That one who was so long and so constantly in the society of that master mind has in such a work as this shown no traces of that connection, no stamp of that mind, is hardly to be believed. Writers of Introductions seem not to see it, and take no notice of it. But those who look into the interior of it will soon discover evidences enough in it of a Pauline cast of mind. Referring for a number of details to DA COSTA, we notice here only two examples: In Co1 11:23, Paul ascribes to an express revelation from Christ Himself the account of the Institution of the Lord's Supper which he there gives. Now, if we find this account differing in small yet striking particulars from the accounts given by Matthew and Mark, but agreeing to the letter with Luke's account, it can hardly admit of a doubt that the one had it from the other; and in that case, of course, it was Luke that had it from Paul. Now Matthew and Mark both say of the Cup, \"This is my blood of the New Testament\"; while Paul and Luke say, in identical terms, \"This cup is the New Testament in My blood\" (Co1 11:25; Luk 22:20). Further, Luke says, \"Likewise also the cup after supper, saying,\" &c.; while Paul says, \"After the same manner He took the cup when He had supped, saying,\" &c.; whereas neither Matthew nor Mark mention that this was after supper. But still more striking is another point of coincidence in this case. Matthew and Mark both say of the Bread merely this: \"Take, eat; this is My body\" (Mat 26:26; Mar 14:22); whereas Paul says, \"Take, eat, this is My body, which is broken for you\" (Co1 11:24), and Luke, \"This is My body, which is given for you\" (Luk 22:19). And while Paul adds the precious clause, \"This do in remembrance of Me,\" Luke does the same, in identical terms. How can one who reflects on this resist the conviction of a Pauline stamp in this Gospel? The other proof of this to which we ask the reader's attention is in the fact that Paul, in enumerating the parties by whom Christ was seen after His resurrection, begins, singularly enough, with Peter--\"And that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures and that He was seen of Cephas, then of the Twelve\" (Co1 15:4-5) --coupled with the remarkable fact, that Luke is the only one of the Evangelists who mentions that Christ appeared to Peter at all. When the disciples had returned from Emmaus to tell their brethren how the Lord had appeared to them in the way, and how He had made Himself known to them in the breaking of bread, they were met, as Luke relates, ere they had time to utter a word, with this wonderful piece of news, \"The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon\" (Luk 24:34).\n\nOther points connected with this Gospel will be adverted to in the Commentary. \n\n\n\nNext: Luke Chapter 1\n\n","order":42,"numberOfChapters":24,"sha256":"204b6ad5a3007ae03d59f0a3f250dc1a4fed154e78ef885292075f6de0b65757","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/LUK/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"LUK","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":24,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/LUK/24.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"LUK","chapter":24},"totalNumberOfVerses":596},"chapter":{"number":14,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":3,"content":["(See on Mat 12:11-12).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":7,"content":["a parable--showing that His design was not so much to inculcate mere politeness or good manners, as underneath this to teach something deeper (Luk 14:11). \n\nchief rooms--principal seats, in the middle part of the couch on which they reclined at meals, esteemed the most honorable.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["wedding--and seating thyself at the wedding feast. Our Lord avoids the appearance of personality by this delicate allusion to a different kind of entertainment than this of his host [BENGEL].\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["the lowest--not a lower merely [BENGEL]. \n\nwith shame--\"To be lowest is only ignominious to him who affects the highest\" [BENGEL].\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":10,"content":["Friend--said to the modest guest only, not the proud one (Luk 14:9) [BENGEL]. \n\nworship--honor. The whole of this is but a reproduction of Pro 25:6-7. But it was reserved for the matchless Teacher to utter articulately, and apply to the regulation of the minutest features of social life, such great laws of the Kingdom of God, as that of Luk 14:11.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["whosoever, &c.--couching them in a chaste simplicity and proverbial terseness of style which makes them \"apples of gold in a setting of silver.\" (See on Luk 18:14).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["call not thy friends--Jesus certainly did not mean us to dispense with the duties of ordinary fellowship, but, remitting these to their proper place, inculcates what is better [BENGEL]. \n\nlest . . . a recompense be given thee--a fear the world is not afflicted with [BENGEL]. The meaning, however, is that no exercise of principle is involved in it, as selfishness itself will suffice to prompt to it (Mat 5:46-47).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":13,"content":["call the poor--\"Such God Himself calls\" (Luk 14:21) [BENGEL].\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":14,"content":["blessed--acting from disinterested, god-like compassion for the wretched.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":15,"content":["when one . . . heard . . . he said, Blessed, &c.--As our Lord's words seemed to hold forth the future \"recompense\" under the idea of a great Feast, the thought passes through this man's mind, how blessed they would be who should be honored to sit down to it. Our Lord's reply is in substance this: \"The great Feast is prepared already; the invitations are issued, but declined; the feast, notwithstanding, shall not want abundance of guests; but not one of its present contemners--who shall yet come to sue for admission--shall be allowed to taste of it.\" This shows what was lacking in the seemingly pious exclamation of this man. It was Balaam's, \"Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his\" (Num 23:10), without any anxiety about living his life; fondly wishing that all were right with him at last, while all heedless of the precious present.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":16,"content":["a great supper--(Compare Isa 25:6). \n\nbade many--historically, the Jews (see on Mat 22:3); generally, those within the pale of professed discipleship.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":17,"content":["supper-time . . . all now ready--pointing undoubtedly to the now ripening preparations for the great Gospel call. (See on Mat 22:4.)\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":18,"content":["all began to make excuse--(Compare Mat 22:5). Three excuses, given as specimens of the rest, answer to \"the care of this world\" (Luk 14:18), \"the deceitfulness of riches\" (Luk 14:19), and \"the pleasures of this life\" (Luk 14:20), which \"choke the word\" (Mat 13:22 and Luk 8:14). Each differs from the other, and each has its own plausibility, but all come to the same result: \"We have other things to attend to, more pressing just now.\" Nobody is represented as saying, I will not come; nay, all the answers imply that but for certain things they would come, and when these are out of the way they will come. So it certainly is in the case intended, for the last words clearly imply that the refusers will one day become petitioners.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":21,"content":["came, and showed, &c.--saying as in Isa 53:1. \"It is the part of ministers to report to the Lord in their prayers the compliance or refusal of their hearers\" [BENGEL]. \n\nangry--in one sense a gracious word, showing how sincere he was in issuing his invitations (Eze 33:11). But it is the slight put upon him, the sense of which is intended to be marked by this word. \n\nstreets and lanes--historically, those within the same pale of \"the city\" of God as the former class, but the despised and outcasts of the nation, the \"publicans and sinners\" [TRENCH]; generally, all similar classes, usually overlooked in the first provision for supplying the means of grace to a community, half heathen in the midst of revealed light, and in every sense miserable.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":22,"content":["yet there is room--implying that these classes had embraced the invitation (Mat 21:32; Mar 12:37, last clause; Joh 7:48-49); and beautifully expressing the longing that should fill the hearts of ministers to see their Master's table filled.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":23,"content":["highways and hedges--outside the city altogether; historically, the heathen, sunk in the lowest depths of spiritual wretchedness, as being beyond the pale of all that is revealed and saving, \"without Christ, strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world\" (Eph 2:12); generally, all such still. Thus, this parable prophetically contemplates the extension of the kingdom of God to the whole world; and spiritually, directs the Gospel invitations to be carried to the lowest strata, and be brought in contact with the outermost circles, of human society. \n\ncompel them to come in--not as if they would make the \"excuses\" of the first class, but because it would be hard to get them over two difficulties: (1) \"We are not fit company for such a feast.\" (2) \"We have no proper dress, and are ill in order for such a presence.\" How fitly does this represent the difficulties and fears of the sincere! How is this met? \"Take no excuse--make them come as they are--bring them along with you.\" What a directory for ministers of Christ! \n\nthat my house may be filled--\"Grace no more than nature will endure a vacuum\" [BENGEL].\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":24,"content":["I say unto you, That none--Our Lord here appears to throw off the veil of the parable, and proclaim the Supper His own, intimating that when transferred and transformed into its final glorious form, and the refusers themselves would give all for another opportunity, He will not allow one of them to taste it. (Note. This parable must not be confounded with that of Pro 1:24-33; The Marriage Supper, Mat 22:2-14).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":25,"content":["ADDRESS TO GREAT MULTITUDES TRAVELLING WITH HIM. (Luk 14:25-35)\n\ngreat multitudes with him--on His final journey to Jerusalem. The \"great multitudes\" were doubtless people going to the passover, who moved along in clusters (Luk 2:44), and who on this occasion falling in with our Lord had formed themselves into one mass about Him.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":26,"content":["If any man, &c.--(See on Mat 10:34-36, and Mar 8:34-35).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":28,"content":["which of you, &c.--Common sense teaches men not to begin any costly work without first seeing that they have wherewithal to finish. And he who does otherwise exposes himself to general ridicule. Nor will any wise potentate enter on a war with any hostile power without first seeing to it that, despite formidable odds (two to one), he be able to stand his ground; and if he has no hope of this, he will feel that nothing remains for him but to make the best terms he can. Even so, says our Lord, \"in the warfare you will each have to wage as My disciples, despise not your enemy's strength, for the odds are all against you; and you had better see to it that, despite every disadvantage, you still have wherewithal to hold out and win the day, or else not begin at all, and make the best you can in such awful circumstances.\" In this simple sense of the parable (STIER, ALFORD, &c., go wide of the mark here in making the enemy to be God, because of the \"conditions of peace,\" Luk 14:32), two things are taught: (1) Better not begin (Rev 3:15), than begin and not finish. (2) Though the contest for salvation be on our part an awfully unequal one, the human will, in the exercise of that \"faith which overcometh the world\" (Jo1 5:4), and nerved by power from above, which \"out of weakness makes it strong\" (Heb 11:34; Pe1 1:5), becomes heroical and will come off \"more than conqueror.\" But without absolute surrender of self the contest is hopeless (Luk 14:33).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":34,"content":["Salt, &c.--(See on Mat 5:13-16; and Mar 9:50).\n\n\n\n\nNext: Luke Chapter 15\n\n"]}],"introduction":"HEALING OF A DROPSICAL MAN, AND MANIFOLD TEACHINGS AT A SABBATH FEAST. (Luke 14:1-24)\n\nman before him--not one of the company, since this was apparently before the guests sat down, and probably the man came in hope of a cure, though not expressly soliciting it [DE WETTE].\n\n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/LUK/14.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"LUK","chapter":14},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/LUK/15.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"LUK","chapter":15},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/LUK/13.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"LUK","chapter":13},"numberOfVerses":21}