Biblical commentary on the New Testament - The Christian ...

Matthew VIT. 23-27. 383
the Christian doctrine of regeneration, the rich import of this con-
trast is evolved. The genuine knowledge of God—not a merely no-
tional knowledge, but that essential knowledge which is eternal life
itself (John xvii. 3)—becomes possible only by a revelation of the hidden
God to the soul (see note on Matth. xi. 27) ; God's thus revealing
himself is a knowing of the soul (yivijoKetv t/}v i/jv^?/!'). The
figure of a bridal relation of the soul to God, which pervades the
entire Scriptures, thus acquires its essential import ; the inward
illumination of the soul is hke a visit from the heavenly bridegroom,
by -whose agency, the knowledge of God results to the soul, according
to the Old Testament expression : " In his light we see light,"
Psalm xxxvi. 9. Those who say, " Lord, Lord," are, therefore, un-
regenerated men, who, with a false liberty, behave themselves as
children of God, without having been begotten of him. The phrase :
"whence ye are"{n66ev eore), in Luke xiii. 25, is therefore, very signifi-
cant. It marks their foreign origin ; they are not from above,(avw0ei',
John iii. 8) ; they are aap^ kk -7)^ oagKog, flesh of the flesh (John iii.
6). In Luke xiii. 25-27, the elements of this passage are found in
a different connexion, in which they will be considered hereafter.
y er. 24-27.—The epilogue teaches the importance of apj^lying a
discourse like this, under the figure of a man who builds on a rocky
foundation, and sets forth as the rock of salvation, the Word of
eternal truth which was embodied in Christ's teaching. (Deut. xxxii.
15 ; Psalm xviii. 2 ; xiii. 9 ; Isa. xvii. 10.) Here the contrast is
not between the bad man and the good, but between the fool and
the wise man (as in Matth. xxv. 1) ; for all that hear are supposed
to be well-intentioned ; but in many, spiritual prudence for their
being spiritually benefitted was wanting. The similitude of build-
ing is carried out in 1 Cor. iii. 9, fi"., and there (ver. 11) Christ is
called the foundation, on which the superstructure of the spiritual
life must rest. In Luke vi. 48, the figure of laying a foundation is
further carried out by digging deep. (Bpo;^?/, " heavy t(?i'rent of
rain," r= c:;:3.. In Luke, TTAruiiivga = -rrXTjuixvpig is used, which means
" the flowing tide," in contrast with dn-ojrig or dvdppoLa^ the ebb.
Here, where it is used in its more general sense, it denotes any over-
flowing, desolating flood, from streams or rain storms. [To under-
stand the comparison, imagine the rough, steep sides of tne valleys,
of that Jura formation prevalent in Palestine. A house built beside a
torrent, on a ?-oc7v, is unharmed by the swollen and sweeping flood. But
if resting, though placed high above the stream, on a foundation of
earth, the flood gradually wears away its base, till at length the undermined
and growing slide of earth reaches the house itself, and plunges
it into the flood.]—Ver. 26. As a contrast to the building on the rocky
foundation of the eternal Word of God, which defies all temptations
and dangers, there follows the figure of a baseless building on the