Author: JC Ryle

The beginning of this passage is one of those places which strikingly illustrate the truth of Old Testament History. Our Lord speaks of the Queen of the South as a real true person, who had lived and died. He refers to the story of Jonah, and his miraculous preservation in the whale’s belly, as undeniable matters of fact. Let us remember this if we hear men professing to believe the writers of the New Testament, and yet sneering at the things recorded in the Old Testament, as if they were fables: such men forget that in so doing they pour contempt upon Christ Himself. The authority of the Old Testament and the authority of the New stand or fall together; the same Spirit inspired men to write of Solomon and Jonah, who inspired the Evangelists to write of Christ. These are not unimportant points in this day: let them be well fixed in our minds.

The first practical lesson which demands our attention in these verses is the amazing power of unbelief.

This passage of Scripture contains “things hard to be understood.” The sin against the Holy Ghost in particular has never been fully explained by the most learned divines. It is not difficult to show from Scripture what the sin is not: it is difficult to show clearly what it is. We must not be surprised. The Bible would not be the book of God, if it had not deep places here and there, which man have no line to fathom. Let us rather thank God that there are lessons of wisdom to be gathered, even out of these verses, which the unlearned may easily understand.

Let us gather from them in the first place, that there is nothing too blasphemous for hardened and prejudiced men to say against religion. Our Lord casts out a devil; and at once the Pharisees declare that He does it “by the prince of devils.”

The first thing which demands our notice in this passage is the desperate wickedness of the human heart, which it exemplifies. Silenced and defeated by our Lord’s arguments, the Pharisees plunged deeper and deeper into sin. They “went out and held a council against Him how they might destroy Him.”

What evil had our Lord done, that He should be so treated? None, none at all. No charge could be brought against His life. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners; His days were spent in doing good. No charge could be brought against His teaching. He had proved it to be agreeable to Scripture and reason, and no reply had been made to His proofs. But it mattered little how perfectly He lived or taught: He was hated.

The one great subject which stands out prominently in this passage of Scripture is the Sabbath day. It is a subject on which strange opinions prevailed among the Jews in our Lord’s time.

The Pharisees had added to the teaching of Scripture about it, and overlaid the true character of the day with the traditions of men. It is a subject on which diverse opinions have often been held in the churches of Christ, and wide differences exist among men at the present time. Let us see what we may learn about it from our Lord’s teaching in these verses.

There are few passages in the four Gospels more important than this. There are few which contain in so short a compass so many precious truths. May God give us an eye to see, and a heart to feel their value!

Let us learn, in the first place, the excellence of a childlike and teachable frame of mind. Our Lord says to His Father, “Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes.” It is not for us to attempt to explain why some receive and believe the Gospel, while others do not. The sovereignty of God in this matter is a deep mystery: we cannot fathom it. But one thing, at all events, stands out in Scripture as a great practical truth to be had in everlasting remembrance: those from whom the Gospel is hidden are generally “the wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight”; those to whom the Gospel is revealed are generally humble, simple-minded and willing to learn. The words of the Virgin Mary are continually being fulfilled: “He hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich he hath sent empty away.” (Luke 1:53)

These sayings of the Lord Jesus were called forth by the state of the Jewish nation, when He was upon earth. But they speak loudly to us also, as well as to the Jews: they throw great light on some parts of the natural man’s character; they teach us the perilous state of many immortal souls in the present day.

The first part of these verses shows us the unreasonableness of many unconverted men in the things of religion. The Jews, in our Lord’s time, found fault with every teacher whom God sent among them. First came John the Baptist, preaching repentance: an austere man, a man who withdrew himself from society, and lived an ascetic life. Did this satisfy the Jews? No! They found fault and said, “He hath a devil.” Then came Jesus the Son of God, preaching the Gospel: living as other men lived, and practising none of John the Baptist’s peculiar austerities. And did this satisfy the Jews? No! They found fault again, and said, ”Behold a man gluttonous and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.” In short, they were as perverse and hard to please as wayward children.

The first thing that demands our attention in this passage is the message which John the Baptist sends to our Lord Jesus Christ. He “sent two of his disciples, and said unto Him, Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another?“

This question did not arise from doubt or unbelief on the part of John. We do that holy man injustice if we interpret it in such a way. It was asked for the benefit of his disciples: it was meant to give them an opportunity of hearing from Christ’s own lips the evidence of His divine mission. No doubt John the Baptist felt that his own ministry was ended; something within him told him that he would never come forth from Herod’s prisonhouse, but would surely die. He remembered the ignorant jealousies that had already been shown by his disciples towards the disciples of Christ. He took the most likely course to dispel those jealousies forever: he sent his followers to “hear and see” for themselves.

In these verses the great Head of the Church winds up His first charge to those whom He sends forth to make known His Gospel. He declares three great truths, which form a fitting conclusion to the whole discourse.

In the first place, He bids us remember that His Gospel will not cause peace and agreement wherever it comes. “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” The object of His first coming on earth was not to set up a millennial kingdom in which all would be of one mind, but to bring in the Gospel, which would lead to strifes and divisions. We have no right to be surprised if we see this continually fulfilled: we are not to think it strange if the Gospel rends asunder families, and causes estrangement between the nearest relations. It is sure to do so in many cases, because of the deep corruption of man’s heart. So long as one man believes, and another remains unbelieving, so long as one is resolved to keep his sins, and another is desirous to give them up, the result of the preaching of the Gospel must needs be division. For this the Gospel is not to blame, but the heart of man.

To do good to souls in this world is very hard. All who try it find this out by experience: it needs a large stock of courage, faith, patience, and perseverance. Satan will fight vigorously to maintain his kingdom; human nature is desperately wicked: to do harm is easy; to do good is hard.

The Lord Jesus knew this well, when He sent forth His disciples to preach the Gospel for the first time. He knew what was before them, if they did not. He took care to supply them with a list of encouragements, in order to cheer them when they felt cast down. Weary missionaries abroad, or fainting ministers at home, disheartened teachers of schools, and desponding visitors of districts, would do well to study often the nine verses we have just read. Let us mark what they contain.

The truths contained in these verses should be pondered by all who try to do good in the world. To the selfish man who cares for nothing but his own ease or comfort, there may seem to be little in them: to the minister of the Gospel, and to every one who seeks to save souls, these verses ought to be full of interest. No doubt there is much in them which applies especially to the days of the apostles; but there is much also which applies to all times.

We see, for one thing, that those who would do good to souls, must be moderate in their expectations. They must not think that universal success will attend their labours: they must reckon on meeting with much opposition; they must make up their minds to be “hated,” persecuted, and ill-used, and that too by their nearest relations. They will often find themselves like “sheep in the midst of wolves.”