Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“Father, I have sinned, &c.--"This confession is uttered after the kiss of reconciliation" (Eze 16:63) [TRENCH].”

“(1) The deeper sunk and the longer estranged any sinner is, the more exuberant is the joy which his recovery occasions. (2) Such joy is not the portion of those whose whole lives have been spent in the service of their Father in heaven.”

“Make . . . friends of--Turn to your advantage; that is, as the steward did, "by showing mercy to the poor" (Da 4:27); compare Lu 12:33; 14:13, 14. mammon of unrighteousness--treacherous, precarious.”

“He, &c.--a maxim of great pregnancy and value; rising from the prudence which the steward had to the fidelity which he had not, the "harmlessness of the dove, to which the serpent" with all his "wisdom" is a total stranger.”

“Hereafter, what the faithful have will be their own property, being no longer on probation, but in secure, undisturbed, rightful, everlasting possession and enjoyment of all that is graciously bestowed on us. Thus money is neither to be idolized nor despised: …”

“The law, &c.--(See Mt 11:13). and every man presseth, &c.--Publicans and sinners, all indiscriminately, are eagerly pressing into it; and ye, interested adherents of the mere forms of an economy which is passing away, "discerning not the signs of this time,"…”

“Then he said--now abandoning all hope for himself. send him to my father's house, &c.--no waking up of good in the heart of the lost, but bitter reproach against God and the old economy, as not warning him sufficiently [TRENCH]. The answer of Abraham is, They…”

“A real Lazarus soon "rose from the dead," but the sight of him by crowds of people, inclined thereby to Christ, only crowned the unbelief and hastened the murderous plots of the Pharisees against the Lord of glory; nor has His own resurrection, far more overpo…”

“Lord--(See on Lu 10:1). increase our faith--moved by the difficulty of avoiding and forgiving "offenses." This is the only instance in which a spiritual operation upon their souls was solicited of Christ by the Twelve; but a kindred and higher prayer had bee…”

“(See on Mt 8:4.) Thus too would the Samaritan be taught that "salvation is of the Jews" (Joh 4:22). as they went, were cleansed--In how many different ways were our Lord's cures wrought, and this different from all the rest. Were there not ten cleansed--ra…”

“Arise--for he had "fallen down on his face at His feet" (Lu 17:16) and there lain prostrate. faith made thee whole--not as the others, merely in body, but in that higher spiritual sense with which His constant language has so familiarized us. COMING OF THE …”

“Lo here! . . . lo there!--shut up within this or that sharply defined and visible geographical or ecclesiastical limit. within you--is of an internal and spiritual character (as contrasted with their outside views of it).”

“"This is said to guard against the mistake of supposing that His visible presence would accompany the manifestation and establishment of His kingdom" [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].”

“When the whole polity of the Jews, civil and ecclesiastical alike, was broken up at once, and its continuance rendered impossible by the destruction of Jerusalem, it became as manifest to all as the lightning of heaven that the kingdom of God had ceased to exi…”

“But first . . . suffer, &c.--This shows that the more immediate reference of Lu 17:23 is to an event soon to follow the death of Christ. It was designed to withdraw the attention of "His disciples" from the glare in which His foregoing words had invested the…”

“Though the antediluvian world and the cities of the plain were awfully wicked, it is not their wickedness, but their worldliness, their unbelief and indifference to the future, their unpreparedness, that is here held up as a warning. Note.--These recorded even…”

“Remember, &c.--a warning against that lingering reluctance to part with present treasures which induces some to remain in a burning house, in hopes of saving this and that precious article till consumed and buried in its ruins. The cases here supposed, though …”

“Lot's wife--her "look back," for that is all that is said of her, and her recorded doom. Her heart was in Sodom still, and the "look" just said, "And must I bid it adieu?"”

“Awful truth! realized before the destruction of Jerusalem, when the Christians found themselves forced by their Lord's directions (Lu 21:21) at once and for ever away from their old associates; but most of all when the second coming of Christ shall burst upo…”

“Wheresoever, &c.--"As birds of prey scent out the carrion, so wherever is found a mass of incurable moral and spiritual corruption, there will be seen alighting the ministers of divine judgment," a proverbial saying terrifically verified at the destruction of …”

“(2) That in these circumstances importunate, persevering prayer for deliverance is the Church's fitting exercise; (3) That notwithstanding every encouragement to this, so long will the answer be delayed, while the need of relief continues the same, and all hop…”

“There may, therefore, be some allusion to this here, though not likely. a sinner--literally, "the sinner"; that is, "If ever there was one, I am he."”

“Here, it is plain from our Lord's reply, that they thought the intrusion a useless one, as infants were not capable of receiving anything from Him. His ministrations were for grown people.”

“What words are these from the lips of Christ! The price of them is above rubies. But the reason assigned, "FOR OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD," or "of heaven," as in Mt 19:14, completes the previous information here conveyed; especially as interpreted by what…”

“Thou knowest, &c.--Matthew (Mt 19:17) is more complete here: "But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which?--as if he had said, 'Point me out one of them which I have not kept?'--Jesus said, Thou shalt," &c.”