John Wesley (NT Notes)

“The first Sabbath - So the Jews reckoned their Sabbaths, from the passover to pentecost; the first, second, third, and so on, till the seventh Sabbath (after the second day.) This immediately preceded pentecost, which was the fiftieth day after the second day …”

“It was afterward, probably, they proposed it to his disciples. To save life or to kill - He just then probably saw the design to kill him rising in their hearts. In the prayer of God - The phrase is singular and emphatical, to imply an extraordinary and sublim…”

“It is greatly observable, our Lord has so little regard for one of the highest instances of natural virtue, namely, the returning love for love, that he does not account it even to deserve thanks. For even sinners, saith he, do the same: men who do not regard …”

“To the poor the Gospel is preached - Which is the greatest mercy, and the greatest miracle of all.”

“To avoid all suspicion of this kind, he deferred his commendation of him, till the messengers were gone; and then delivered it to the people, to prevent all imaginations, as if John were wavering in his judgment, and had sent the two disciples for his own, rat…”

“And all the people - Our Lord continues his discourse: justified God - Owned his wisdom and mercy in thus calling them to repentance, and preparing them for Him that was to come.”

“They are like children sitting in the market place - So froward and perverse, that no contrivance can be found to please them. It is plain our Lord means, that they were like the children complained of, not like those that made the complaint.”

“But wisdom is justified by all her children - The children of wisdom are those who are truly wise unto salvation. The wisdom of God in all these dispensations, these various methods of calling sinners to repentance, is owned and heartily approved by all these.”

“Let us neither absolutely refuse all favours, nor resent all neglects, from those whose friendship is at best very doubtful, and their intimacy by no means safe.”

“Which of them will love him most? - Neither of them will love him at all, before he has forgiven them. An insolvent debtor, till he is forgiven, does not love, but fly his creditor.”

“Thou gavest me no water - It was customary with the Jews to show respect and kindness to their welcome guests, by saluting them with a kiss, by washing their feet, and anointing their heads with oil, or some fine ointment.”

“Those many sins of hers are forgiven; therefore she loveth much - The fruit of her having had much forgiven. It should carefully be observed here, that her love is mentioned as the effect and evidence, not the cause of her pardon.”

“For many times it had caught him - Therefore our compassionate Lord made the more haste to cast him out. The abyss - That is, the bottomless pit. To enter into the swine - Not that they were any easier in the swine than out of them.”

“She is not dead but sleepeth - Her soul is not separated finally from the body; and this short separation is rather to be called sleep than death.”

“And he asked them - When he had done praying, during which they probably stayed at a distance. Saying - Ye must prepare for a scene far different from this. Let him deny himself, and take up his cross - The necessity of this duty has been shown in many places:…”

“Let these sayings sink down into your ears - That is, consider them deeply. In joy remember the cross. So wisely does our Lord balance praise with sufferings.”

“The days are fulfilled that he should be received up - That is, the time of his passion was now at hand. St. Luke looks through this, to the glory which was to follow.”

“His face was as though he would go to Jerusalem - It plainly appeared, he was going to worship at the temple, and thereby, in effect, to condemn the Samaritan worship at Mount Gerizim.”

“As Elisha did - At or near this very place, which might put it into the minds of the apostles to make the motion now, rather than at any other time or place, where Christ had received the like affront.”

“Ye know not what manner of spirit - The spirit of Christianity is. It is not a spirit of wrath and vengeance, but of peace, and gentleness, and love.”

“Suffer me first to bid them farewell that are in my house - As Elisha did after Elijah had called him from the plough, 1 Kings xix, 19; to which our Lord's answer seems to allude.”

“Lord of heaven and earth - In both of which thy kingdom stands, and that of Satan is destroyed. That thou hast hid these things - He rejoiced not in the destruction of the wise and prudent, but in the display of the riches of God's grace to others, in such a m…”

“And he said, He that showed mercy on him - He could not for shame say otherwise, though he thereby condemned himself and overthrew his own false notion of the neighbour to whom our love is due.”

“Martha was encumbered - The Greek word properly signifies to be drawn different ways at the same time, and admirably expresses the situation of a mind, surrounded (as Martha's then was) with so many objects of care, that it hardly knows which to attend to firs…”

“And this prayer uttered from the heart, and in its true and full meaning, is indeed the badge of a real Christian: for is not he such whose first and most ardent desire is the glory of God, and the happiness of man by the coming of his kingdom?”