Bible Commentaries

4. For what the Disciple of the Saviour has, and for what he has not, to take care ( Luke 12:1-34)

1In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude [lit, the myriads] of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which Isaiah 2hypocrisy. For [But¹] there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, 3that shall not be known. Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the house-tops 4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do 5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him [this one, τοῦτον]. 6Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? 7But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows 8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me [have confessed] before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: 9But he that denieth10[hath denied] me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be, forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth [hath blasphemed] against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven 11 And when they bring you unto [before] the synagogues, and unto [before] magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer [in your defence], or what ye shall say:² 12For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

13And one of the company said unto him, Master [Teacher], speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me 14 And he said unto him, man, who made [appointed] me a judge or a divider over you? 15And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of [all³] covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth 16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground17[estate; lit, place, χώρα] of a certain rich man [had] brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow [deposit] my fruits [or, crops]? 18And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required [lit, they require] of thee: then whose shall those things be, which 21 thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

22And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought [Be not anxious] for your [the⁴] life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on 23 The life is more than meat [food], and the body is more than raiment [apparel]. 24Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls25[birds]? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature [length of life, ἡλικίαν] one cubit?⁵ 26If ye then be not able to do [even] that thing which is least, why take ye thought [are ye anxious] for the rest? 27Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not [how they neither toil nor spin, V. O.⁶]; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these 28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to-day in the field,⁷ and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? 29And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or [and⁸] what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.⁹ 30For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and [or, but] your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things 31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God [seek ye 32 his kingdom¹⁰]; and all [om, all] these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom 33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags [purses] which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth34[destroyeth]. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

GENERAL REMARKS

1. Although there is no lack of able attempts so to unite the different elements of discourse in Luke 12that therein a logical connection shall become possible (Olshausen, Stier, Lange, a. o.), yet in our eyes the view is more probable that this whole chapter exhibits a chrestomathic character; in other words, that Luke here places together different admonitions and warnings of the Saviour which actually, according to the other Evangelists, were at least in part delivered on very different occasions. Without doubt the Saviour in this period of His life delivered a detailed discourse before the ears of a numerous multitude, in which He expressly warned against the Pharisaical leaven, Luke 12:1. Yet even Luke 12:3-9 remind us, as respects contents and course of thought, too strongly of Matthew 10:26-33 for us to be able to find here anything else than a modified redaction of the sayings given by Matthew in the right place. Luke 12:10 stands here much less congruously than Matthew 12:31-32. The promise, Luke 12:11-12, appears also in Luke, Luke 21:14-15, while we have met with it in a very fitting connection in Matthew 10:19-20. If we, therefore, will not assume that the Saviour uttered it three times, we shall be obliged to suppose that it does not stand here, Luke 12:11-12, in its right place. We come thus almost to the view of De Wette, in reference to the words of Jesus contained in this chapter, when Hebrews, with it is true not wholly fitting expression, declares: “mostly compiled, only Luke 12:13-21 peculiar.” The parable of the Rich Fool belongs exclusively to Luke, and since he does not give an intimation that it was originally delivered in another historical connection, we are at full liberty to connect it with this course of thought. In reference to Luke 12:22-24, on the other hand, we cannot regard it as very probable that the Saviour should have twice adduced the very same example from the realm of nature, in warning His disciples against unprofitable care (comp. Matthew 6:22-34), while besides this it appears that the thoughts in Matthew are rendered much more naturally and correctly than in Luke. Much more simple is the view that of such words of the Saviour more than one redaction has been preserved by the Evangelists, who certainly in the statement and transcription of His utterances were no more destitute of the guidance of the Holy Spirit than in the delineation of His deeds and destiny. Luke 12:32 again is to be found only in Luke, as well as also—to speak here of the contents of the second half of this chapter— Luke 12:35-38; Luke 12:47-48, in this form is only communicated by him. Luke 12:39-46 have again so manifest a coincidence with Matthew 24:42-51 that in all probability it belongs originally to the last eschatological discourse of the Saviour. To a similar result do we come if we compare Luke 12:49-53 with Matthew 10:34-36 (comp. Luke 20, 22), Luke 12:54-56 with Matthew 16:2-3, and Luke 12:58-59 with Matthew 5:25-26. It is certainly conceivable that the Saviour uttered all this twice or oftener before different hearers, and not impossible, if one places this hypothesis in the foreground, to find then the leading thread also which more or less closely joins together all these heterogeneous elements of discourse: but is it not much more simple to assume that the same saying of the Lord has been given by each of the different Evangelists under higher guidance in his own way, in which case it must be left to a discerning criticism in particular cases to investigate which form is most original? In each particular case so to decide the matter that not the least uncertainty shall remain, will perhaps, and probably, always remain impossible. In the lack of trustworthy historical data, subjective opinion always has more or less play, and dogmatics exercises even unconsciously its influence upon harmonistics. Commonly, however, at least as respects this our chief point, a consideration free of prejudice will lead to the conclusion that the most of the here-cited sayings are given by Matthew in a connection which has the greater probability for itself. This, however, does not hinder us from acknowledging that the way in which they are communicated and arranged by Luke, gives us sometimes a deeper view into the unspeakable riches of the words of the Eternal Word. Therefore, without every time inquiring as to the connection in which they have been preserved elsewhere, we take them up simply as Luke communicates them to us.

2. As respects now Luke 12:1-34 in particular, we will, in order to be able better to survey the rich matter contained in this portion of the discourse, divide it into three parts. In the first, Luke 12:1-12, the tone of warning predominates; in the second, Luke 12:13-21, we perceive a tone of instruction, while in the third, Luke 12:22-34, a tone of encouragement and comfort becomes evident.

a. Warning Against The Temper Of The Pharisees, And Commendation Of The Opposite Character ( Luke 12:1-12)

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luke 12:1. In the mean time, ἐν οἷς.—Manifestly we have so to conceive the matter that while the Pharisees were occupying themselves with ensnaring questions and plotting, the throng around the Saviour was increasing with every moment. There is no actual ground to consider even the mention of the myriads as hyperbolical (Meyer), although undoubtedly it was still farther from being a strictly arithmetical computation. Comp. Matthew 4:23-25; Mark 3:20; Mark 4:1. We have here manifestly arrived at a point of the history in which the extremes of love and hatred towards the Saviour extensively and intensively have reached the highest pitch.

First of all.—Thus does the Saviour begin to speak to His disciples, and exhibits hereby His forbearance and self-control, in that He at this moment, when the Pharisees are inflamed with blind rage against Him, does not turn Himself directly to the masses with His warning. ΙΙρῶτον not to be joined with τοῖς μαθητ. (Luther, Bengel, Knapp, a. o.), which would be partly obscure, partly purposeless, partly also without example; but with προσέχετε= Luke 9:61. After that which had just taken place, the Saviour has no warning so much at heart as just this.

Of the leaven.—Comp. Matthew 16:6. As appears from the conversation after the second miracle of the Loaves, the Saviour designated by the leaven of the Pharisees their doctrine, and this not in general, for then it would have contained also pure Mosaic elements, but so far as it had been disfigured by the spirit of their sect. It is thus probable, even a priori, that Hebrews, inasmuch as He was at a former time zealous against this ζύμη, now also has this doctrine in mind. On this ground we must fully subscribe to the penetrating remark of Meyer: “Here also it is not hypocrisy that is meant (as commonly explained), because otherwise afterward ἡ ὑπόκρισις (with an article) would have to stand, but the pernicious doctrines and ordinances of the Pharisees upon which Jesus but just before had been debating at table. Of this He says: ‘Their essence is hypocrisy,’ which gives an element of the warning with the ground on which it rests.”

Luke 12:2. There is nothing covered.—Comp. Matthew 10:26. As hypocrisy in itself is not permitted, Luke 12:1, so is it besides fruitless, since the truth sooner or later comes to light.—Concealed—hidden (with entire generality of meaning), both from God and man. Nothing,—Good as well as Evil; that which is greatest as well as that which is least.

Luke 12:3 : Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness.—A singular statement, if we bring it exclusively into connection with the apostolic κήρυγμα, for we read indeed of the Saviour that He preached to His disciples in the ear ( Matthew 10:27), but their preaching was from the beginning destined to the greatest publicity. Therefore the opinions (De Wette: “an incongruous expression.” Bengel: cum timore aliquo. Meyer: “All that ye—on account of persecutions—shall have taught in secret, will—at the victory of My cause—be proclaimed with the greatest publicity.”). This whole antithesis of persecution and victory is, however, plainly gratuitous. But why, moreover, is it necessary to understand here so decidedly the apostolic κήρυγμα? It is much more simple if we understand in general all which, whether by the apostles or by the people, Luke 12:1, has been spoken in secret and is hereafter to be brought to the light. Luke 12:2, it is said of everything hidden that it shall come to the light; Luke 12:3, more definitely of the hidden words of each one. By this reminder hypocrisy is opposed in its deepest grounds, and even before the apostles could come into the temptation of concealing truth from the fear of man, it is indicated to them in Luke 12:4-5, whom they must not fear, and whom they must beyond question fear.

Luke 12:4. Be not afraid.—Comp. Matthew 10:28. We have here the question, who is meant by the name: τὸν—ἐξουσίαν ἕχοντα ἔμβαλεῖν εἰς τὴν γέενναν, God or Satan? The majority of commentators have, in agreement with the exegetical tradition, decided in favor of the former view; some voices have been raised for the latter (Olshausen, Stier, Lange, L. J. ad loc., Besser, Arndt, Riechel, Van Oosterzee, L. J.). After the retractation of Lange, also, on Matthew ad loc., we cannot but assusme that the truth is on the side of the minority. Grounds: 1. Fear can only be here interpreted in one sense, in that of being afraid of, being on one’s guard; for this certainly the word denotes in the first part of the admonition, and he whom man has to fear, δὲ μᾶλλον, cannot be the Supreme Love, but must necessarily be Satan. It is true, there is a distinction in the construction. We have first: μὴ φοβηθῆτε ἀπὸ τῶν, κ.τ.λ., then: φοβήθητε δὲ τὸν ἔχοντα, κ.τ.λ. Bengel already remarked: Plus Esther, timeo illum, quam timeo ab illo. But the Saviour uses in the connection of the parallel passage, Matthew 10:26, φοβήθητε with the accusative also in the sense of being afraid, and the μᾶλλον (in Matthew) plainly intimates that here an increase of fear (of being afraid) unto yet much greater fear takes place; that the Saviour, therefore, does not give His disciples the admonition in order, instead of the first named feeling, to awaken another within them, but on the other hand to cherish the same fear in yet much higher degree.

2. Besides, Satan is the proper soul-murderer, even as men are murderers of the body: but of God it is never said that He destroys the soul. To the objection that the devil nowhere appears in Scripture as the one who damns to hell (Olshausen), we must answer that he appears here not as Judges, but as executor of the retributive judgment of God, under His special permission. [Where in the New Testament is the mediæval notion of the devil as God’s bailiff, or executioner, countenanced?—C. C. S.] The body he kills through men who are his instruments, John 8:40-41; the soul he destroys through the deadly destruction of sin. From among the many foes who could do them great harm, the Saviour brings one forward who was capable of inflicting the greatest of all upon them, and whom they accordingly must fear much more. Therefore He adds, according to Luke, with visible intensity: “Yea, I say unto you, fear him.” “Whoever can think of the Heavenly Father, we understand not how his ear can hear.” Stier.

3. Least of all does such a designation of the Father belong to a discourse in which the Saviour speaks to His friends, for their encouragement, of a special Providence, which has numbered even the hairs of their head. On all these grounds we here understand “the fearful unnamed and yet well-known One, whose kingdom is hell, who here already beguiles the soul and there forever tortures body and soul.” Besser. [Hell is described as the place of Satan’s punishment; where is it described as the place of his dominion?—C. C. S.] The Saviour wishes to fill His disciples with holy fear: “That the evil enemy may not beyond deliverance devour their soul to destruction.” Lange, Bibl. Gedichte. Or, if any one, perchance, finds a difficulty in this that He addresses such a warning to His disciples, then may we remark with Chrysostom: τί γεέννης χαλεπώτερον; ἀλλ̓ οὐδὲν τοῦ ταύτης χρησιμώτερον φόβοι.Ὁ γὰρ τῆς γεέννης φόβος τὸν τῆς βασιλείας ἡμῖνκομίζει στέφανον. Ἔνθα φόβος ἐστίν, οὐκ ἔστι φθόνος. ἔνθα φόβος ἐστί, χρημάτων ἔρως οὐκ ἐνόχλει. έ̓νθα φόβος ἐστίν, ἔσβεσται θυμός, ἐπιθυμία κατέσταλται πονηρά, ἅπαν ἀλόγιστον ἐξώρισται πάθος. Homil. VI. ad popul. Antioch., tom. vi, p560. Yet enough already to justify our doubt that here the friends of Jesus are required to fear God, who in the immediately following verse is, on the other hand, represented as the object of their child-like trust, Ab utraque parte saltem disputari potest.

[The following remarks on the parallel passage in Matthew appear to me to present in a clear light the inadmissibleness of the author’s interpretation.—C. C. S.

“Stier designates it as ‘the only passage of Scripture whose words may equally apply to God and the enemy of souls.’ He himself is strongly in favor of the latter interpretation, and defends it at much length; but I am quite unable to assent to his opinion. It seems to me at variance with the connection of the discourse, and with the universal tone of Scripture regarding Satan. If such a phrase as φοβεῖσθαι τὸν διάβολον could be instanced as=φυλάξασθαι τὸν δ., or if it could be shown that anywhere power is attributed to Satan analogous to that indicated by ὁ δυνάμενος κ. ψ. κ. σ. ἀπολέσαι ἐν γ., I should then be open to the doubt whether he might not here be intended; but seeing that φοβεῖσθαι ἀπό, indicating terror, is changed into φοβεῖσθαι, so usually followed by τὸν θεόν in a higher and holier sense (there is no such contrast in Luke 12:26, and therefore that verse cannot be cited as ruling the meaning of this), and that God Alone is throughout the Scripture the Almighty dispenser of life and death, both temporal and eternal, seeing also that Satan is ever represented as the condemned of God, not ὁ δυν. ἀπολέσαι, I must hold by the general interpretation, and believe that, both here and in Luke 12:3-7, our Heavenly Father is intended as the right object of our fear. As to this being inconsistent with the character in which He is brought before us in the next verse, the very change of construction in φοβεῖσθαι would lead the mind on out of the terror before spoken of, into that better kind of fear always indicated by that expression when applied to God, and so prepare the way for the next verse. Besides, this sense is excellently in keeping with Luke 12:29 in another way… The parallel passage, James 4:12, even in the absence of other considerations, would be decisive. Full as his epistle is of our Lord’s words from this Gospel, it is hardly to be doubted that in εἷς ἐστιν ὁ νομοθέτης ὁδυνάμενος σῶσαι καὶ ἀπολέσαι, he has this very verse before him. This Stier endeavors to escape by saying that ἀπολέσαι, barely, as the opposite to σῶσαι, is far from being = ψυχὴνἀπολέσαι in a context like this. But as connected with νομοθέτης, what meaning can ἀπολέσαι bear except that of eternal destruction?”—Alford.]

Luke 12:6. Five sparrows.—A beautiful version of the same saying, Matthew 10:29. So insignificant is the worth of sparrows in daily life, that whoever buys them for twopence gets one into the bargain, and yet what is regarded among men as almost worthless is with God in heaven not forgotten. To the disciples it is left to calculate how far they excel such sparrows in value.

Luke 12:8. Also I say unto you.—The repetition several times of this announcement is also to the attentive hearer a proof that here different sayings of the Saviour, originally belonging in an entirely different connection, are chrestomathically put together. With this also the anxious inquiry after the connection between this and the immediately preceding admonition falls away. Respecting the matter itself, the courageous confession of Christ, see the remark on Matthew 10:32, and on Luke 9:26. Here it is especially the reward of a confession coram angelis; in the parallel passage in Matthew, on the other hand, that of a confession coram Patre.

Luke 12:10. But unto him that hath blasphemed against the Holy Ghost.—Respecting the sin against the Holy Spirit, comp. Lange on Matthew 12:31-32, and the authors there stated. As entirely inadequate we may consider the view that this sin is nothing else than “the ascribing those miracles to the power of the devil which Christ wrought by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Wesley. It must be placed entirely in one line with the sin which cannot be forgiven, and of which the Scriptures speak also in other places, Hebrews 10:26; 1 John 5:16. Only then, however, can we speak of the sin against the Holy Spirit where a high measure of religious enlightenment and development exists; and in opposition to the not knowing of that which one does, Luke 23:34, we have here to understand fully conscious and stubborn hatred against God and that which is Divine as it exists in its highest development. The highest grace alone makes the deepest apostasy possible, and only he who has reached an important height can plunge into such a depth. Before his conversion Paul blasphemed the Son of Man and it was forgiven him; had he kicked against the pricks, suppressed with all his might the impression received, then would he have committed the sin which cannot be forgiven. Of Judas we might perhaps say that he committed this sin, and refer to the judgment which, Matthew 26:24, is uttered concerning him.—As respects the punishment for this sin, we have to bear in mind the word of Augustine (De Civit. Dei. xxi24): “neque enim de quibusdam veraciter diceretur, quod eis non remittetur, neque in hoc sœculo, neque in futuro, nisi essent, quibus, etsi non in isto, tamen remittatur in futuro.” A brief but good description of the nature of this sin is given by Stier, ii. p44. Respecting the distinction between the Reformed and Lutheran expositors, of whom the former believe that no regenerate person, the latter that such alone, can fall into this sin, we cannot here speak. The grounds for the opinion of the latter are found in Stier and Olshausen; those of the opposite views in J. Muller, Christ. Lehre von der Sünde, ii. p566.

Luke 12:11. Before the synagogues.—One may not unjustly doubt whether the former warning against the sin against the Holy Spirit was wholly congruous for the faithful, devoted disciples of the Saviour; this promise, on the other hand, is very definitely given with reference to their future calling as preachers of the Gospel. The accumulation of expressions is especially adapted to indicate to them that they would be cited not only before Jewish but also before heathen tribunals, and the here-given promise of the Holy Spirit is of such a kind that it promises to them a direct immediate help from above for all cases in which they could need it. Although, however, this help is here limited to that which they should say in their defence, it is understood without doubt that this defence of the apostles was at the same time a testimony, κήρυγμα, in the most exalted sense of the word, and that the assistance already promised them for the lesser should be far less still withheld for the higher. The Book of Acts is an uninterrupted and continuous exposition of the significance and force of this saying. Comp. especially the apologetic discourses of Peter and Paul. Therefore, with right, Bengel: “aut quid dicatis etiam prœter apologiœ necessitatem.”

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. It is by no means accidental that in one of the discourses of the Lord the warning against the ζύμητῶν φαρισαίων, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὑπόκρισις stands in the foreground. Hypocrisy is only one of the many sins which He rebukes and opposes in those called to His kingdom; but it is the sin which exceeds all others in meanness, and is in the most irreconcilable conflict with the fundamental law of the kingdom of truth. In the Christian sphere also the Old Testament declaration holds good, Deuteronomy 18:13; Psalm 51:10.

2. It is well known how high a rank the mysteries occupy in the heathen religions of antiquity. Those initiated into them believed themselves to have attained a higher degree of piety; from the familiar they mounted up into the region of the unfamiliar, which no uninitiated foot ever dared tread, no indiscreet tongue betray. But in the Christian sphere precisely the opposite is the case. Here the κεκαλυμμένον is not the higher but the lower degree, and not into the chambers but upon the housetops are His followers directed; a proof at the same time of the fact that the restoration of the heathen mysteries in the bosom of the Catholic Church is in principle against the original spirit of Christianity, and that secret orders, that do not venture to come to the light with that which they actually profess or do, have to fear His veto who demanded publicity in the noblest sense of the word, and whose cause more than any other is worthy to face the brightest light.

3. There are words of the Saviour which are best understood and estimated when they are read in the light of a clear starry heaven. To this belongs also the saying of the sparrows and the hairs of the head. “When I consider Thy heavens the work of Thy fingers, the moon and stars which Thou hast ordained: what is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou hast numbered the hairs of his head?” In order, however, rightly to estimate the whole comfort of this doctrine of a providentia specialissima, we must never forget that the Saviour here speaks to His friends, who precisely as such were the objects of the special providence of God.

4. The immortality of the soul in the philosophical sense of the word is as far from being expressly taught and proved by the Saviour as the being and the unity of God; ordinarily He presupposes what indeed cannot be doubted. Not the purely negative conception of immortality, but the positive conception of resurrection and eternal life, stands in the Scriptures of the New Covenant in the foreground. But for this reason we may the less fail to notice that He at least once has in so many words declared that the soul, which is definitely distinguished from the body, can in no case be destroyed. The New Testament Demonology also receives by this saying an important degree of light, and the admonition which He gives to His disciples, that they should be perpetually on their guard against Satan’s craft and might, they in their turn hold up before their fellow-believers, Ephesians 6:10; 1 Peter 5:8; James 4:7, et alibi.

5. The sin against the Holy Spirit may in no wise (as e.g. Colani does) be made equivalent to the sin against one’s own conscience. Conscience speaks even in the breast of the rudest heathen; against the Holy Spirit, however, no one can sin who does not already possess more than usual knowledge and experience of the power of Christian truth.

6. Not unjustly is the Saviour’s promise of the assistance of the Holy Spirit regarded as one of the strongest grounds of the high authority in which the word and writings of the apostles stand. Especially according to the parallel in Matthew 10:19-20, is that which this Spirit speaks in them definitely distinguished from the utterances of their own individual consciousness. The manner of the Spirit’s working may be incomprehensible; but so much we see at once, that we have here to understand an entirely extraordinary immediate influence; for it was to be given them ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ. The promise of this assistance extended as well to the substance as to the form of their language (πῶς ἤ τί), and this help was to support them so mightily (comp. Luke 21:14-15) that it would be morally impossible for their enemies to persevere in offering them resistance. At the same time this help is promised them for everything which they had to say, not alone respecting their own persons, but also concerning the cause of their Lord. Their writings also, in which this apology of their faith is stated according to the varying necessities of the time, are entirely the faithful expression of that which the Spirit gave them in such moments to ponder, to speak, to write; and this whole promise, communicated by all the Synoptics, is only the brief summary of all that which the Saviour in His parting discourse in John has brought into view in greater detail in reference to the Paraclete.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The opposition in principle between Pharisaism and Christianity.—How the hypocrite stands related to the Saviour and the Saviour to the hypocrite.—Mysteries whose distinction it is to remain concealed to eternity, the kingdom of heaven does not contain.—Secret speaking and acting must be an exception; sincerity and publicity must be the rule with the disciples of the Saviour.—No fear before many enemies, but only before an adversary fearful beyond measure.—The might of Satan: 1. Its extent; 2. its ground; 3. its limits.—Watchfulness against the enemy of souls united with child-like confidence in the Father of spirits.—The rule of God in little things.—The arithmetic of the Saviour’s disciple.—The least is great, the greatest is little before God.—The life of the Christian is invaluable.—The comfort which a look at sparrows and at the hair of the head can give to the disciple of Christ. How much higher do we stand as: 1. Rational beings; 2. as immortal beings; 3. as purchased by the blood of the Son of God; 4. as called to likeness with God. Therefore is it impossible that He who numbers the sparrows should forget the man, the Christian.—The holy function of the Christian to confess his Lord. This function has: 1. A broad extent; 2. unquestionable right; 3. incomparable importance.—According to that which we are here before the Lord can we already judge what hereafter to expect from Him.—How far does even the disciple of the Saviour still need a warning like the Pharisees ( Matthew 12:31-32) against the sin against the Holy Spirit?—The sin which cannot be forgiven: 1. There is only one sin which absolutely cannot be forgiven; 2. it is now as ever possible to commit this sin; 3. the judgment upon it is perfectly righteous; 4. the mention of it is now as ever fitting: a. in order to give a salutary disquiet to individuals; b. in order to give a settled composure to troubled souls.—The Holy Spirit the best apologist of the threatened cause of the Saviour: 1. How far this promise regards exclusively the apostles and has been fulfilled in them; 2. how far it holds good of all believers and may be used also for their advantage.

Starke:—Who does not teach aright, he also lives not aright; and who does not live aright, he also does not teach aright.—Quesnel:—The saints avoid not the light, and do nothing of which they must be ashamed before God’s judgment.—Hedinger:—God’s proclamation of grace is no secret of alchemy, but every one is to know and understand it.—The marvellous simplicity which is found in the Gospel, Psalm 19:9.—Brentius:—If servants and children of God have much of the suffering of Christ, they are also richly comforted through Christ.—The soul has its own individual existence; therefore it may fare well or ill with it when it is separated from the body.—Nova Bibl. Tub.:—It is impossible that God should leave those that trust in Him.—Everything, even the least of things, that happens to man is God’s ruling.—It is not enough to believe with the heart on Jesus, but we must also resolutely and joy fully confess Him with the mouth before the world.—There is a sin greater than others, and also worthy of heavier punishment.—Majus:—Every Christian must be ready to give account of his hope, 1 Peter 3:15.—The great ones of the earth have been from the beginning for the most part great enemies to Christ and His Gospel.—The inner ministry of the Holy Ghost is very closely connected with the outer, and must not remain separated from it, 1 Timothy 6:3-5.

Palmer (on the parallel, Matthew 10:26-33):—The Lord’s might and men’s impotency: 1. His work He accomplishes, and man cannot hinder it; 2. His faithful ones He protects, and man cannot hinder it; 3. the unfaithful He overthrows, and man cannot hinder it.—Van Oosterzee:—The government of God takes note of trifles. This is truth: 1. Too sure for doubt; 2. too glorious to be slighted; 3. too instructive to be forgotten.—Beck:—Whence comes true courage?

b. the parable of the rich fool ( Luke 12:13-21)

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luke 12:14. And He said.—Entirely without reason has the historicalness of the occasion for this parable of the Rich Fool been brought in doubt by De Wette; to us, on the other hand, this trait appears to be probable, and to have been taken from life. But certainly the speaker here appearing is no familiar friend of Jesus (Kuinoel), but a stranger, who perhaps among the myriads, Luke 12:1, had heard the Saviour for the first time, and while He was speaking of heavenly things had been brooding over earthly. Struck by the might of the personality of the Nazarene, he had considered within himself whether His influence might not perhaps best bring to a happy conclusion the existing family strife. At the same time, this instance shows in a peculiar manner how parties were continually defining themselves more and more sharply for and against the Saviour, inasmuch as in the very place where they had embittered even His meal ( Luke 11:37), there is given Him a special proof, undoubtedly of strong cleaving to earthly things, but quite as much of personal confidence. From the warning against avarice which the Saviour, Luke 12:15, subjoins, we have not necessarily to draw the conclusion that the petitioner had in mind a thing in and of itself unrighteous.

Man.—The answer exhibits no personal displeasure of the Saviour against the bearer of the unseemly request, but only shows that the Saviour was by no means minded to enter upon a sphere which could not possibly be His own. His answer involuntarily reminds us of the language which once an Egyptian uttered to Moses, Exodus 2:14.

Luke 12:15. Take heed and beware of covetousness.—Not only of covetousness which has just before appeared in the definite form of cleaving to a disputed inheritance, but of all exaggerated love of earthly possession. If the petitioner ( Luke 12:13) still remained in the circle of the hearers, the Saviour here renders him a better service than if He had made him rich; He will heal him of his chief malady. To this end serves the parable of the Rich Fool, which Luke alone has preserved, and of which it is not unjustly affirmed, “It is scarcely to be called a parable, so distinctly does it of itself and without any diversion of thought set forth the relation to God” (Riggenbach).

For a man’s life … which he possesseth.—A difficult sentence, in which however the reading of Tischendorf, αὐτῷ, appears to deserve the preference above that of Lachmann, αὐτοῦ. The best construction, on the whole, appears to be this: “ὅτι ἡζωὴ αὐτῷ οὐκ ἐστίν τινι ἐν τῷ περισσεύειν (infinitive for the substantive) ἐκ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐτοῦ.—Ζωή is not here to be taken in the sense of the happiness of life but = ψυχή, as Schott paraphrases: “siquidem quando quis bonis abundat, tamen vita ejus a bonis minime pendet.” Not from the possession of many goods, but from the will of God, who lengthens or shortens the thread of life, does it depend whether one remains long and quietly here in life or not. One may be preserved in life without possessing goods, and also remain in the possession of goods and unexpectedly lose life. That riches in and of themselves do not give happiness is undoubtedly true, yet not the chief thought of this parable.

Luke 12:17. The estate of a certain rich man.—Probably a quite considerable space of ground, not χωρίον, but χώρα. Not without intention does the Saviour choose as His example a man who gathers his riches in a customary, legitimate, apparently innocent way. “Modus hic ditescendi innocentissimus et tamen periculosus.” Bengel. The first thing which is lacking to this fortunate rich man is complete contentment.

What shall I do?—With discontent is joined anxiety and perplexity, since he does not know how he shall manage with his treasures. A similar perplexity to that which is related, Mark 16:3, in which, however, God does not come into the midst and give help. That his increased prosperity offers him opportunity to do something for his poor brethren, does not even come into his mind; selfishness strikes the key-note, even in the four times recurring μου: τοὺς καρπούς μου, κ.τ.λ.

Luke 12:18. I will pull down my barns.—By a forcible tearing down, therefore, he believes he shall open the way to his happiness. The ἀποθῆκαι were for the most part subterraneous dry vaults. It is possible that the Rich Fool is thinking of enlarging them, but also that he is of a mind to build up greater ἀποθῆκαι from the foundation. Here also there is not the least mention of the poor, but, on the other hand, an emphatic exaltation of his γεννήματα as his highest earthly ἀγαθά.

Luke 12:19. Soul.—To the continuing discontent and rising care of the rich man is added now the self-deceit of the falsest hope. Unconsciously he confesses that he has hitherto not yet found the long sighed-for rest, but expects it, and that for a long time, when the intended work shall have been entirely completed. Very finely, Meyer: “to my soul, not exactly mihi, but to my soul, the seat of the sensibilities, here of the desire of enjoyment.” Not only idleness, no, revelling, is the ideal that this fool mirrors to himself. The reference to the passage, Sirach 11:17-19, is in this whole representation almost impossible to mistake.

Luke 12:20. Thou fool.—The searching contrast between the soliloquy of the fool and the judgment of God, belongs to the greatest beauties of the parable. This beauty, however, is lost if we think here merely of a decretum Dei (Kuinoel) instead of the invisible King of Heaven appearing in speech and action, and suddenly causing him to feel that not even so many hours are allotted him as he had been dreaming of years—ἀπαιτοῦσιν. Who now is to fulfil this sentence? God Himself (Meyer); the death-angels to whom I have committed the power (Von Gerlach); robbers and murderers (Bornemann, Paulus)? The latter is perhaps the most agreeable to the concrete character of the parable; neither is there any ground whatever for understanding the verb impersonally. If we understand burglars demanding his life of him, the requirement has then double emphasis. There is thereby the image of terror held up before the rich man, to him especially in the highest degree frightful; and the question immediately following thereon, “Whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?” acquires still higher significance if we assume that the murderers, unknown to him and already approaching, shall be at the same time the robbers of his goods. Nor does Luke 12:21 offer any difficulty to this explanation if we only keep the tertium comparationis in mind.

Luke 12:21. So is he that.—He dreams as illusively as this fool, in order sooner or later to awake in a similarly terrible manner. Θησαυρίζων ἑαυτῷ, in suum commodum, so that in his enjoyment consists the chief end which he in the augmentation of his treasures has in mind. To this restless and fruitless θησαυρίζειν is opposed the still and abiding πλουτεῖν εἰς Θεόν which is directed towards God and Divine things, and in another passage is called “laying up treasures in heaven,” Matthew 6:20.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. That the Saviour does not meditate even an instant the composing of the controversy respecting the inheritance in any way whatever, is worthy of note. Had such a strife arisen among His own, He would then without doubt have composed it, so that undoubtedly the later precept of His apostle ( 1 Corinthians 6:1-6) was entirely in the spirit of the Master. But here, where it concerned a matter entirely foreign, standing in no relation to the kingdom of God, His answer could only be one of refusal, and accordingly He decidedly repels the temptation to enter upon a sphere which lay so far from that which the Father had appointed Him. Although he had appeared as Israel’s King, He mingles as little with the controversies of the Jews as with the political affairs of the Romans, but on the other hand remains faithful to His subsequently uttered principle ( John 18:36). And as He gives in this relation also an example to all His disciples, who are to be no ἀλλοτριοεπίσκοποι ( 1 Peter 4:15), so is His conduct also of importance for the regulation of the principle of the relation of the Church to the State. Not without reason, at least, has the Augsburg Confession, in its 28 th article, adduced this declaration of the Saviour ( Luke 12:14) as a proof that the two jurisdictions, the spiritual and the secular, should not be confounded with one another.

2. Not as a judge concerning inheritances, but as a Redeemer from sins, and from avarice among them, not less than from hypocrisy, will the Saviour exhibit Himself on this occasion. Such a consideration is wholly in the spirit of the third, the Pauline Gospel (comp. 1 Timothy 6:6-10), and deserves the more to be laid to heart, inasmuch as avarice is not seldom especially the sin of the saints, who have already died to the lusts of the flesh, and are made free from the natural pride of the heart. As to the rest, the parable of the Rich Fool is also full of allusions to Old Testament utterances. See, e.g., Job 22:25; Psalm 39:7; Psalm 49:12 seq.; Jeremiah 17:11; Psalm 72:10-11.

3. If we consider that the parable of the Rich Fool was uttered in the presence of the disciples of Jesus, and also, therefore, of Judas, we find new occasion to admire the Saviour’s wisdom in teaching which so indirectly but powerfully attacks the darling sin of the future traitor.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Even under the preaching of Jesus there are unreceptive and inattentive listeners.—Care for the earthly inheritance instead of the longing for the heavenly.—The Saviour will not work with force, but renewingly and regeneratingly upon earthly relations.—Avarice the root of all evil.—Let every one abide in that whereunto he is called.—How poor a rich man and how rich a poor man may be.—If riches fall to any one, let him not set his heart thereon.—Even earthly blessing may become a snare.—Cares of earthly riches opposed to the holy unanxiousness of the children of God.—The rich man’s self-enjoyment of life in its full beggarliness.—Augmenting disquiet with augmenting wealth.—Delusive hope of rest in later years.—God’s thoughts other than the thoughts of men.—The unlooked-for death of the child of the world.—The mournful fate of the man who gathers treasures to himself and is not rich toward God: 1. Painful discontent; 2. increasing anxiety; 3. delusive hope; 4. irreparable loss.—Riches in God: 1. The only true; 2. the inalienable; 3. the universally accessible riches.

For homiletical treatment, either the 15 th verse or the 21 st verse offers the point of departure. For a harvest-sermon also this parable is especially adapted.

Starke:—Quesnel:—The goods of this world give often occasion for discord, disquiet, and offence.—Canstein:—It is not great wealth that preserves the temporal life of man, but God’s power and blessing.—God’s blessing reaches even over the fields of the ungodly, Matthew 5:45.—They who receive the richest blessing are wont often to forget their benefactor.—Nova Bibl. Tub.:—Earthly souls have ever earthly thoughts and purposes.—Majus:—Epicurean men soon have their everlasting reward.—The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men that they are vain.—Bibl. Wirt.:—The avaricious are unhappy in this world and that to come.—Majus:—Whoever is rich in God, like Abraham, David, and Song of Solomon, whom earthly riches hurt not, he uses them according to the Lord’s will. [Grave exception may be taken to the last-named of these three examples.—C. C. S.]

Heubner:—Even the strictest bands of consanguinity do not protect selfish hearts against discord.—How great is the self-love of the vain-minded?—Cleaving to earthly good a folly.—The poor Rich Fool comes before God’s judgment with a lost name, with a lost soul, with a lost world, with a lost heaven (Rieger).—The true wealth of man.—Comp. two homilies of Basil, Opp. ii. p43, Edit. Garner.—Arndt:—Fleshly security: 1. Its form; 2. God’s judgment upon it.—Lisco:—Concerning the misleading of many citizens of the kingdom by earthly wealth.—Avarice considered as the destroyer of all the harvest-blessing.—Krummacher:—How faith keeps harvest-home and how unbelief. The two classes of men diverge essentially: 1. In their view of the Divine blessing received; 2. in the use that they make of the same; 3. in the relation of dependence in which they place themselves to the blessing.—Gerok:—The rich man—a poor man; see how one can miscalculate.—Couard:—What is requisite if our earthly care is not to be a sinful one.—Kliefoth:—What shall we take with us through the gates of the grave?

c. The Freedom From Anxiety Of The Disciples Of The Saviour ( Luke 12:22-34)

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luke 12:22. Therefore I say unto you.—If we presuppose that this admonition to tranquil freedom from care was delivered on the same occasion (see however above, and comp. Matthew 6:22-34), then it is not difficult to give the connection of this part of the Saviour’s discourse with the former one. The source of the avarice which He has just been combating is nothing else than the excessive anxiety and fear that we might in some way suffer lack, and this fear certainly becomes no one less than the disciple of the Saviour. Earthly care now is directed first of all to nourishment and clothing. Both forms the Saviour opposes, inasmuch as He points those that are anxious to what they see in the realm of nature, but above all to the truth that He who has already given the higher, will certainly not let them lack the lesser.

Luke 12:23. The life is more than food.—“You turn it exactly round; food is meant to serve life, but life forsooth serves food; clothes are to serve the body, but the body forsooth must serve the clothing, and so blind is the world that it sees not this.” Luther. If God bestows the higher, He by that very fact already gives a pledge that He will not withhold the lesser. Romans 8:32.

Luke 12:24. Consider the ravens.— Psalm 147:9. Perhaps also an indirect reminiscence of the miraculous history of Elijah, 1 Kings 17:6. By κατανοήσατε there is more meant than a superficial view, rather an observing and studying, of the ravens. Matthew, using more general terms, has only πετεινά. Perhaps at this particular moment birds or lilies had in His immediate vicinity drawn the attention of the Saviour to this, and given Him occasion to this figurative mode of speech.

Luke 12:25. To his length of life.—See Lange on Matthew 6:27.

Luke 12:27. Consider the lilies.—The plural designates the κρίνα not necessarily as a mass but also as individuals.—ΙΙῶς οὔτε νήθει, κ.τ.λ., an indirect question, whose more complete form is found in Matthew. See the notes on the text.

In all his glory.—When he showed himself in his full royal magnificence. See 2 Chronicles 9:15.

Luke 12:29. Neither be ye of doubtful mind, or, do not exalt yourselves, ιὴ μετεωρίζεσθε.—The usage of this word is familiar, which echoes also in our “Meteor.” See the rich collection of examples in Kuinoel, ad loc. Μετεωρίζεσθαι can signify nothing else than: To lift one’s self so far on high that one shines like an aerial phenomenon, but must also share the fate of so many wandering lights. Comp. the familiar: “Tolluntur in altum, ut lapsu graviore ruant.” Especially does the high flight of fancy appear here to be meant, when one creates imagined necessities for himself, and for this reason is doubly ill-content with reality, and for this very reason allows himself so much the more to be seduced into unbelieving anxiety. The more modest the wishes, the more easily is the heart contented.

Luke 12:31. Seek ye His kingdom.—There is no sufficient ground for transferring hither from Matthew 6:33, the adverb πρῶτον. According to Luke it is the Saviour’s will that we should seek absolutely after God’s kingdom; in which case the precept is only apparently different from that given in Matthew 6:33. The πρῶτον ζητεῖτε which is there enjoined is also a seeking that excludes every further anxiety. In the sense in which they are to seek the kingdom of God, the Saviour’s disciples have nothing more to strive after. See Lange on the passage in Matthew.

Luke 12:32. Fear not, little flock.—In the first place, here, without doubt, allusion is made to the fear combated in the foregoing verses, but then also further, fear which might hinder them in the seeking of the kingdom of God. This seeking should in no case be fruitless: for it was the Father’s good pleasure to give them what they desired above everything.

Little flock.—Perhaps the intentional contrast of the little circle of disciples with the myriads of the people, Luke 12:1. At the same time a word of the Good Shepherd. Comp. Matthew 26:31; John 10:11.—Your Father’s good pleasure.— Ephesians 1:4-6. Not only a divinum arbitrium, cui stat pro ratione voluntas, but also a beneplacitum amoris divini.

Luke 12:33. Sell that ye have.—A strengthening of the admonition which in Matthew 6:19-21 appears in another form. Undoubtedly this precept may be applied in a very sound sense as addressed to every Christian: comp. Matthew 19:21. Here, however, it is a definite command to the apostles, who, in order to live entirely for the kingdom of God, were to be fettered by no earthly care.

And give alms.—This commandment also must, like several precepts of the Sermon on the Mount, not be interpreted κατὰ ῥητόν but in the spirit of Wisdom of Solomon, which is quite as far from egoistic limitations as from communistic extravagances. In caring in this way for others they would make to themselves (ἑαυτοῖς) purses that wax not old. To take with them this kind of βαλάντια was not forbidden, as it was to take the other sort, Luke 22:35; and in these purses they laid up for themselves a treasure that faileth not. This treasure in heaven, of which the Synoptics speak, is already laid up in this life, as also ζεὴ σὶώνιος, according to John, begins even before death. Even because the treasure in heaven is of spiritual origin, of heavenly kind, it is also of absolutely imperishable duration.

Luke 12:34. For where your treasure is.—A word of the deepest knowledge of men, and capable of the most manifold explication. The human heart little by little appropriates to itself the style and nature of the treasure to which its whole thought is directed. Whoever constitutes his god of gold, his heart becomes as cold and hard as metal; whoever takes flesh for his arm or makes it his idol, becomes more and more sensual, and takes on the properties of that which he loves above everything; but whoever has invisible treasures keeps spontaneously eye and heart directed upon the invisible world, and whoever has no higher good than God, accords to Him in his love also the first place. This is the key to the unspeakably rich patristic word: “Domine, quia nos fecisti ad te, cor nostrum inquietum in nobis, donec requiescat in te..”

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. See Exegetical and Critical.

2. In order to feel the high value of this instruction of the Saviour, we have only to place ourselves in the condition of the apostles, who for His sake left all. Not only were the Eleven by the force of this beyond doubt often preserved from discouragement and anxiety, but also in the soul of a Paul, who did not as yet sit here at the feet of the Saviour, echoes the tone of this encouraging word, which he without doubt afterwards heard. See Philippians 4:6-7, and comp. 1 Peter 5:7.

8. The holy freedom from care which the Saviour here commenda to His disciples has nothing in common with the light-minded carelessness of those who do not think of the morrow; for there is also Christian care, which impels to prayer and also at the same time to labor. Only that anxiety docs the Saviour censure which acts as if all in the last resort was dependent on this care alone, instead of thinking on the admirable rule: “Mit Sorgen und mit Grämen, Lasst Gott rich gar nichts nehmen, es will erbeten sein.” [Anxiety procures nothing from God, but Only prayer]. Very justly does Luther distinguish: “The care mat comes from love is bidden, but that which is separate from faith is forbidden.”

4. This part also of the Saviour’s discourse affords the complete proof how Hebrews, the Friend of man, was at the same time the friend of glorious nature. Ravens and lilies does He make for His disciples preachers of the most consolatory truth. But if we will feel the whole power and beauty of this imagery, we must regard Him who used it with the eye of a John, and recognize in Him the Eternal Word without which nothing was made that is made—that has created also the ravens and lilies of the field. The symbols of the fatherly care of God to rhich He points are not only His own discovery, fe t what is more, are also His own creation.

5. The encouraging word to the little lock contains the rich germs of the Evangelical and especially of the Pauline doctrine of Predestinaticii At the same time we obtain here an important in mation in reference to the point of view from whidl this doctrine must, according to the will of the Saviour, be considered and represented, namely, as a consolation to troubled believers and not as an occas: in of idle questions. The comfort here given rem ins moreover the same, although the number of the disciples of Christ has enlarged itself to many millions. Still, as ever, contrasted with the majority of the unbelieving world, this number is a very small one, and of the friends of the Saviour it may still as ever be said, “Behold I send you as sheep in the midst f wolves” ( Matthew 10:16). But these little and defenceless ones have for themselves so much the surer pound of reckoning on the defence and help of the Heavenly Father.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

How far the disciple of the Saviour Iks to care for his temporal support and how far not.—The distinction between the care of the blind heathen, the God-fearing Israelite, and the believing (Christian.—The preaching of the ravens and lilies.—Excessive anxiety for earthly things is: 1. In part needless; 2. in part fruitless; 3. in part injurious to higher interests.—If thou wilt be raised above the care for the lesser good that is yet wanting to thee, look upon the higher that has already been bestowed upon thee.—The impotency of all our caring to alter anything against the will of God in our on ward fate.—God clothes: 1. Solomon with glory; 2. the lilies far more gloriously than Solomon; 3. the believer far more richly than Solomon and the lilies s together.—Seek not for high things, but condescend to the humble, Romans 12:16.—“In quietness and confidence shall be your strength,” Isaiah 30:15.—Your Father knows that ye have need of all these things1. There is One who knows what we need; 2. this One is our Father; 3. to this Father Jesus leads us.—Fear not, little flock, a word of comfort: 1. For the circle of apostles over against the unbelieving world; 2. for the evangelical church in the mids other numerous enemies; 3. for every believing ecclesiola over against a degenerate hierarchical church.—Those that buy, that they be as though tl ij possessed not, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31.—Christian con munism in opposition to its caricature in our century.—The art of so giving that we become not poorer but richer.—The security of the treasure that, is laid up in heaven.—Where the treasure there the heart, either, 1. On earth, or2. in heaven.

Starke:—Between anxious care and over-negligence Christians must keep the middle path .—Arhdt:—Let us by all means study diligently the book of nature together with the Holy Scripture.—Quesnel:—The experience of our impotency even in lesser matters should serve to this, that we surrender ourselves wholly to God in the weightier.—Canstein:—Beautiful attire and boastful glory of other things are wholly vain and come not once near tthe beauty of a field-flower.—Christ forbids not the labor of the body, but the disquiet and mistrustfulness of the soul—Children of princes and kings need not to torment themselves with anxious care, and Christians even much less.—Canstein:—As God means to give us Heaven, why plague we ourselves then anxiously on account of sustenance on earth?—True believers have been at all times few compared with the great mass of the ungodly, Psalm 12:1.

Cramer:—To do good to the poor is every Christian’s duty, Isaiah 58:7.—Whoever will be benevolent, let it be from his own means, not from other people’s.—Nova Bibl. Tub.:—No funds are better and more safely invested than alms.—Examine thyself, O Soul, where is thy treasure and thy heart?

Heubner:—The right precedence among cares.—The miserable folly of earthly cares.—The chief care of the Christian.—Care not how long, but how thou livest.—Couard:—Concerning earthly care, how it, 1. Is unworthy of us; 2. most dangerous; 3. beyond measure foolish; 4. utterly profitless.—Westermeyer:—The care forbidden by God: 1. How far forbidden; 2. why.—Claus Harms:—A Harvest sermon in the Sommerpostille, 6th ed. p349.

Footnotes