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

380 Matthew IX. 10-14.
standing, were often filled with the noblest longings. Yet do these
but rather as inca-
Pharisees not appear as wicked and malicious ;
pable, from their narrow view, of comprehending the freeness of
Christ's love. Our Lord, therefore, opens to them an insight into
a purer life than any which they conceived.
Ver. 12, 13.—Jesus describes, in few words, his holy office as
the Physician of mankind. The man exposed to contagion may do
but the physician hastens to
well in shunning the diseased person ;
him to relieve his suffering. Jesus represents himself as larpog, i. e.,
physician of the soul according to Exod. xv. 26, where Jehovah him-
self says to wretched Israel : 'qss'n njn^ •'jn 's. In the parallel pas-
sage in which Jesus speaks of his vocation (^'px^odac, come, = to the
more usual tpx^odai elg rov Koofiov, come into the luorld, signifies the
appearing on earth of one belonging to a higher order of things),
dkaioi., righteous, stands, as explanatory of loxvpoi, whole, sou7id,
as dimpruXoL, sinners, of tcaicdg ^xovreg, afflicted, sich. Without
denying the universal sinfulness of mankind, we yet see that the
sacred writers frequently draw a line of distinction between men.
(Comp. the remarks on Luke xv. 7.) Sin, as it were, concentrates
itself in some individuals. But these are often the very persons on
whom the Redeemer, in his grace, first has compassion. The righteous
(those who are according to the law less culpable) then fre-
quently act the part of the jealous brother on the calling home of
the prodigal son. (Comp. the remarks on Luke xv.) Calling {mXelv)
expresses the act of the Redeemer in reference to the sinners {dimp-
r(j)loi) ; it signifies the gracious call of our Lord to his feast of joy.
(Comp. on this word and its relation to iic/ieyetv, select, the remarks
on Matth. xxii. 14.) Luke adds elg ixerdvoiav, to repentance, which,
in Matthew and Mark, is an interpolation ; the repentance (comp.
the remarks on Matth. iii. 2) being viewed as the first step towards
the kingdom of God. Matthew, moreover, adds to this idea a re-
ference to Hos. vi. 6. (The word Tropeveodai, go, is redundant, according
to the analogy of tjVn). In the words of the Old Testament
seer, the dazzling brightness of the rising sun already clearly shines
forth ; the life manifested in self-denying love appears as outshining
all sacrifices h?.t nVi Tiirsh ns^h, I luill have mercy, etc. Hence,
in these words the sacrifices do not appear to be abrogated, but on
the contrary, consummated, in the true sacrifice, of which all the
others are but types. The word i&h = '^Xeog, signifies love, as it
manifests itself to the unhappy, and hence is not a matter of per-
sonal enjoyment, but of self-sacrifice. Such an explanation of the
holy Scriptures to the scribes was to them a powerful exhortation
to repentance.
Ver. 14.—Afterwards, the same Pharisees (according to Luke),
or some disciples of John who were present (according to Matthew),
,