Matthew Henry

Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.

“The malice of the enemies rages so high as to inflict this; it is the blood of the saints that they thirst after: the faith and patience of the saints stand so firm as to expect this; Neither count I my life dear to myself…”

It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.

“They represent them as ringleaders of the interest of the kingdom of darkness, and since every one thinks he hates the devil, thus they endeavour to make them odious to all mankind. See, and be amazed to see, how this world is imposed upon: [1.]”

Meanwhile John heard in prison about the works of Christ, and he sent his disciples to ask Him, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look…

“Art thou the Messiah promised, or not? It is taken for granted that the Messiah should come. It was one of the names by which he was known to the Old-Testament saints, he that cometh or shall come, Ps. cxviii.”

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are…

“Now if the works of Christ agree with the words of the prophet, as it is plain they do, then no doubt but this is our God whom we have waited for, who shall come with a recompence; this is he who is so much…”

Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”

“(2.) They are happy who get over these offences. The expression intimates, that it is a difficult thing to conquer these prejudices, and a dangerous thing not to conquer them; but as to those, who, notwithstanding this opposition, to believe in Christ, their faith will…”

This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’

“His business was to prepare Christ's way, to dispose people to receive the Saviour, by discovering to them their sin and misery, and their need of a Saviour. This he had said of himself ( John i.”

And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.

“Or, "If you will receive him, or if you will receive the ministry of John as that of the promised Elias, he will be an Elias to you, to turn you and prepare you for the Lord," Note, Gospel truths are as they are received…”

Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!

“In the parable, this is called his piping to us, and his mourning to us; he hath piped to us in the precious promises of the gospel, proper to work upon hope, and mourned to us in the dreadful threatenings of the law, proper to…”

Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are innocent?

“This intimates, that those labours are lawful on the sabbath day which are necessary, not only to the support of life, but to the service of the day; as tolling a bell to call the congregation together, travelling to church, and the like.”

If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

“It was used before, ch. ix. 13 , in vindication of mercy to the souls of men; here, of mercy to their bodies. The rest of the sabbath was ordained for man's good, in favour of the body, Deut. v. 14 .”

For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

“And if Christ be the Lord of the sabbath, it is fit the day and all the work of it should be dedicated to him.”

Moving on from there, Jesus entered their synagogue,

“Christ, by healing the man that had the withered hand on the sabbath day, shows that works of mercy are lawful and proper to be done on that day.”

Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored to full use, just like the other.

“This, as other cures Christ wrought, had a spiritual significancy. (1.) By nature our hands are withered, we are utterly unable of ourselves to doing any thing that is good. (2.)”

Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them all,

“Christ did not retire for his own ease, nor seek an excuse to leave off his work; no, his retirements were filled up with business, and he was even then doing good, when he was forced to flee for the same.”

This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“Christ retired into privacy and obscurity, that though he was eclipsed, the word of God might be fulfilled, and so illustrated and glorified, which was the thing his heart was upon. The scripture here said to be fulfilled is Isa. xlii.”

“Here is My Servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations.

“(2.) That Jesus Christ was chosen of God, as the only fit and proper person for the management of the great work of our redemption. He is my Servant whom I have chosen, as par negotio--equal to the undertaking.”

He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear His voice in the streets.

“Christ and his kingdom come not with observation, Luke xvii. When the First-begotten was brought into the world, it was not with state and ceremony; he made no public entry, had no harbingers to proclaim him King.”

A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish, till He leads justice to victory.

“Christ's judgment will be brought forth to victory, for when he judges he will overcome. He shall bring forth judgment unto truth; so it is, Isa. xlii. Truth and victory are much the same, for great is the truth, and will prevail.”

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “Only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons.”

“How scornfully they speak of Christ, this fellow; as if that precious name of his, which is as ointment poured forth, were not worthy to be taken into their lips.”

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

“Note, Jesus Christ knows what we are thinking at any time, knows what is in man; he understands our thoughts afar off.”

If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

“He would himself contribute to the overthrow of it. Note, The devil has a kingdom, a common interest, in opposition to God and Christ, which, to the utmost of his power, he will make to stand, and he will never come into Christ's interests; he…”

And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil.

“The place where Christ's hearers now stood represented the characters of most of them, the sand on the sea-shore, which was to the seed like the highway ground.”

Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow.

“Note, (1.) After a fair gale of opportunity usually follows a storm of persecution, to try who have received the word in sincerity, and who have not. When the word of Christ's kingdom comes to be the word of Christ's patience ( Rev. iii.”

This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’

“Note, [1.] There are many that see the gospel light, and hear the gospel sound, but it never reaches their hearts, nor has it any place in them. [2.]”

In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

“It is quoted from Isa. vi. The evangelical prophet that spoke most plainly of gospel grace, foretold the contempt of it, and the consequences of that contempt.”