Luke 10:30 Komentář

In this chapter we have, I. The ample commission which Christ gave to the seventy disciples to preach the gospel, and to confirm it by miracles; and the full instructions he gave them how to manage themselves in the execution of their commissions, and great encouragements therein (v. 1-16). II. The report which the seventy disciples made to their Master of the success of their negotiation, and his discourse thereupon (Luk 10:17-24). III. Christ's discourse with a lawyer concerning the way to heaven, and the instructions Christ gave him by a parable to look upon every one as his neighbour whom he had occasion to show kindness to, or receive kindness from (Luk 10:25-37). IV. Christ's entertainment at Martha's house, the reproof he gave to her for her care about the world, and his commendation of Mary for her care about her soul (Luk 10:38-42).

After these things,.... After the calling and mission of the twelve apostles, and giving them their powers, commissions, and instructions, with other things that followed thereon; Luk 9:1 the Lord appointed other seventy also; not that he had appointed before seventy, and now made an appointment of seventy more; but as the Syriac version renders it, "Jesus separated out of his disciples, seventy others" that is, besides the twelve, whom he chose and called out, from among the multitude of the disciples, and ordained them apostles, he selected and ordained seventy others, in allusion to the seventy elders of Israel, Num 11:16. The Vulgate Latin and Persic versions read, "seventy two", and so does Epiphanius (x). The Jewish sanhedrim is sometimes said to consist of seventy one (y), and sometimes of seventy two (z); though commonly said to be of the round number seventy, as these disciples might be. The above mentioned ancient writer gives the names of some of them, as the seven deacons; Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas; together with Matthias, Mark, Luke, Justus, Barnabas, Apelies, Rufus, and Niger. The names of all these disciples, according to ancient traditions, though not to be depended on, are given in an alphabetical order, with the places where they afterwards presided as bishops, or pastors, by a late learned writer (a), and are as follow, viz. Agabus, the prophet; Amphias, of Odyssus, sometimes called Amphiatus; Ananias, who baptized Paul, bishop of Damascus; Andronicus, of Pannonia, or Spain; Apelies, of Smyrna, or, according to others, of Heraclea; Apollo, of Caesarea; Aristarchus, of Apamea; Aristobulus, of Britain; Artemas, of Lustra; Asyncritus, of Hyrcania; Barnabas, of Milgin; Barnabas, of Heraclea; Caesar, of Dyrrachium; Caius, of Ephesus; Carpus, of Berytus, in Thracia; Cephas, bishop of Konia; Clemens, of Sardinia; Cleophas, of Jerusalem; Crescens, of Chalcedon, in Galatia; Demas, a priest of idols; Epaenetus, of Carthage; Epaphroditus, of Andriace; Erastus, of Paneas, or, according to others, of the Philippians; Evodus, of Antioch; Hermas, of Philippi, or Philippolls; Hermes, of Dalmatia; Hermogenus and Phygellus, who followed Simon Magus; Hermogenus, bishop of the Megarenes; Herodion, of Tarsus; James, the brother of our Lord, of Jerusalem; Jason, of Tarsus; Jesus Justus, bishop of Eleutheropolis: Linus, of Rome; Luke, the evangelist: Lucius, of Laodicea, in Syria; Mark, who is also John, of Biblopohs, or Byblus; Mark the evangelist, bishop of Alexandna; Mark, the sister's son of Barnabas, bishop of Apolloma; Matthias, added to the apostles; Narcissus, of Athens; Nicanor, he died when Stephen suffered martyrdom; Nicolaus, of Samaria; Olympius, a martyr at Rome; Onesiphorus, bishop of Corone; Parmenas, of the Soli, Patrobulus, the same with Patrobas, in Rom 16:14 of Puteoli, or as others, of Naples; Philemon, of Gaza; Philemon (in the Acts he is called Philip), by whom the eunuch of the queen of Ethiopia was baptized, of Trallium, of Asia; Philologus, of Sinope; Phlegon, bishop of Marathon; Phygellus, of Ephesus; Prochorus, of Nicomedia, in Bithynia; Pudens; Quartus, of Berytus; Rhodion, a martyr at Rome; Rufus, of Thebes; Silas, of Corinth; Sylvanus, of Thessalonica; Sosipater, of Iconium; Sosthenes, of Colophon; Stachys, of Byzantium; Stephen, the first martyr; Tertius, of Iconium; Thaddaeus, who carried the epistle of Jesus to Edessa, to Abgarus; Timon, of Bostra, of the Arabians; Trophimus, who suffered martyrdora with the Apostle Paul; Tychicus, bishop of Chalcedon, of Bithynia; Tychicus, of Colophon; Urbanus, of Macedonm; and, Zenas, of Diospolis. According both to this account, and Epiphanius, Luke was one of these seventy, and he is the only evangelist that makes mention of the appointment of them: and sent them two and two before his face: as he did the twelve before, to be his harbingers and forerunners: into every city and place, whither he himself would come: which he intended to visit: he sent them beforehand to acquaint the inhabitants of it; and prepare them by their ministry, for the reception of him; as John the Baptist, who was in a more eminent sense the harbinger and forerunner of Christ, went before him in his ministry, and prepared the way for him. (x) Contr. Haeres. haeres. 20. (y) Maimon. Hilchot Sanhedrim, c. 1. sect. 3. (z) Misn. Yadim, c. 3. sect. 5. Aben Ezra in Num 11. 25. (a) Fabricii lux Evangelii, p. 115, 116, &c.

And by chance there came down a certain priest that way,.... Who had been at Jerusalem, to take his turn in the courses, and was now returning to Jericho, where the stationary men were, to which he belonged: for it is said (t), that "the former prophets appointed twenty and four courses; and for every course there was a station at Jerusalem, of priests, and of Levites, and of Israelites; and when the time of the course came to go up, the priests and Levites went up to Jerusalem. The Rabbins teach, that there were twenty four courses in the land of Israel, and there were twelve at Jericho.'' And which is elsewhere (u) related thus; "the former prophets appointed four and twenty courses, and for every course there was a station at Jerusalem, of priests, of Levites, and of Israelites; the tradition is, that four and twenty thousand were the station from Jerusalem, and half a station from Jericho; though Jericho was able to furnish out a perfect station itself; but for the sake of dividing the glory to Jerusalem, it produced but half a station.'' So that it is no wonder to hear of priests and Levites passing to and fro in this road. Nor was this a chance matter with respect to God, by whose providence all things are ordered, directed, and governed; nor any wonderful thing with respect to men, which fell out in an uncommon way, beyond expectation; the phrase only signifies, that so it came to pass: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side: when he saw him naked, and in such a bloody condition, he might take him for one really dead, and therefore crossed the way on purpose, lest he should any ways touch him, and be defiled by him, and so break the law, and incur the penalty of it, mentioned in Num 19:16 or to shun so horrible a sight; or rather, through hardness of heart, and want of compassion. (t) T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 27. 1. (u) T. Hieros. Pesachim, fol. 30. 3. & Taanith, fol. 67. 4.

One of the elders wanted to interpret the parable as follows. The man who was going down is Adam. Jerusalem is paradise, and Jericho is the world. The robbers are hostile powers. The priest is the law, the Levite is the prophets, and the Samaritan is Christ. The wounds are disobedience. The beast is the Lord’s body. The pandochium (that is, the stable), which accepts all who wish to enter, is the church. The two denarii mean the Father and the Son. The manager of the stable is the head of the church, to whom its care has been entrusted. The fact that the Samaritan promises he will return represents the Savior’s second coming.…The Samaritan, “who took pity on the man who had fallen among thieves,” is truly a “guardian,” and a closer neighbor than the Law and the Prophets. He showed that he was the man’s neighbor more by deed than by word. According to the passage that says, “Be imitators of me, as I too am of Christ,” it is possible for us to imitate Christ and to pity those who “have fallen among thieves.” We can go to them, bind their wounds, pour in oil and wine, put them on our own animals, and bear their burdens. The Son of God encourages us to do things like this. He is speaking not so much to the teacher of the law as to us and to everyone when he says, “Go and do likewise.” If we do, we will receive eternal life in Christ Jesus, to whom is glory and power for ages of ages. Amen.

This interpretation corresponds to the places, if any one will examine them. For Jericho lies in the low parts of Palestine, Jerusalem is seated on an eminence, occupying the crest of a mountain. The man then came from the high parts to the low, to fall into the hands of the robbers who infested the desert. As it follows, And he fell among thieves. Or it may be understood that they stripped us after first inflicting wounds; or wounds precede nakedness, as sin precedes the absence of grace.

Jericho is an image of this world. Adam, cast out from Paradise, that heavenly Jerusalem, descended to it by the mistake of his transgression, that is, departing from the living to hell, for whom change not of place but of conduct made the exile of his nature. He was greatly changed from that Adam who enjoyed eternal blessedness. When he turned aside to worldly sins, Adam fell among thieves, among whom he would not have fallen if he had not strayed from the heavenly command and made himself vulnerable to them. Who are those thieves, if not the angels of night and darkness, who sometimes transform themselves into angels of light but cannot persevere? These first steal the clothes of spiritual grace that we have received and are then accustomed to inflict wounds. If we preserve unstained the garments that we have put on, we cannot feel the robbers' blows. Beware, for fear that you are first stripped as Adam was first stripped of the heavenly command, defrauded of protection, and divested of the garment of faith. He received a mortal wound by which the whole human race would have fallen if that Samaritan, on his journey, had not tended his serious injuries.

But who are those robbers but the Angels of night and darkness, among whom he had not fallen, unless by deviating from the divine command he had placed himself in their way.

Or they stripped us of the garments which we have received of spiritual grace, and so are wont to inflict wounds. For if we keep the unspotted garments we have put on, we can not feel the wounds of robbers.

(Hom. in loc. Ed. Lat.) First, we must needs pity the ill fortune of the man who fell unarmed and helpless among robbers, and who was so rash and unwise as to choose the road in which he could not escape the attack of robbers. For the unarmed can never escape the armed, the heedless the villain, the unwary the malicious. Since malice is ever armed with guile, fenced round with cruelty, fortified with deceit, and ready for fierce attack. (ubi sup.) At the beginning of the world then the devil accomplished his treacherous attack upon man, against whom he practised the poison of deceit, and directed all the deadliness of his malice.

(de Ev. l. ii. q. 19.) For that man is taken for Adam himself, representing the race of man; Jerusalem, the city of peace, that heavenly country, from the bliss of which he fell. Jericho is interpreted to be the moon, and signifies our mortality, because it rises, increases, wanes, and sets. (ubi sup.) He fell then among robbers, that is, the devil and his angels, who through the disobedience of the first man, stripped the race of mankind of the ornaments of virtue, and wounded him, that is, by ruining the gift of the power of free will. Hence it follows, who stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, for to that man sinning he gave a wound, but to us many wounds, since to one sin which we contract we add many. (de q. Ev. l. ii. q. 19.) Or they stripped man of his immortality, and wounding him (by persuading to sin) left him half dead; for wherein he is able to understand and know God, man is alive, but wherein he is corrupted and pressed down by sins, he is dead. And this is what is added, leaving him half dead.

But Jesus, looking up, said: A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. This man is understood to be Adam in the human race. Jerusalem, that heavenly city of peace, from whose happiness he fell into this mortal and miserable life. How well Jericho, which is interpreted as the moon, signifies, variously, indeed, labors of sins and errors, always uncertain.

And he fell among robbers. Understand the robbers to be the devil and his angels, upon whom, because he was descending, he fell. For unless he was first internally swollen, he would not so easily fall by external temptation. For it is a very true saying, which says: Before ruin, the heart is exalted (Proverbs 16).

And they stripped him. Namely, they deprived him of the glory of immortality and the garment of innocence. For this is the first robe with which, according to another parable, the prodigal son, returning through repentance, is adorned, and which the first parents lost, realizing they were naked, and clothed themselves with tunics of mortal nature.

And after inflicting wounds, they went away, leaving him half-dead. The wounds are sins, by which, violating the integrity of human nature, they implanted a kind of seedbed of increasing death (so to speak), into the wearying bowels. But they went away, not ceasing from ambushes at all, but by concealing the frauds of the same snares. They left him half-dead because they could strip away the happiness of immortal life, but could not abolish the sense of reason. For in that part where he can understand and know God, man is alive. But from that part where he decays in sins and fails in misery, he is dead and defiled with a deadly wound.

But sins are called wounds, because the perfectness of human nature is violated by them. And they departed, not by ceasing to lie in wait, but by hiding the craft of their devices.

But the Savior, since He is the Creator and sees in all one creation, defines the neighbor not by deeds, not by merits, but by nature. Do not think, He says, that since you are righteous, there is no one like you. For all who share one and the same nature are your neighbors. Therefore, you yourself be a neighbor to them not in place, but in disposition toward them and care for them. For this reason I also bring before you the example of the Samaritan, to show you that although he differed in way of life, he nevertheless became a neighbor to the one in need of mercy. So you too show yourself a neighbor through compassion and hasten to help by your own admission. Thus, by this parable we are taught to be ready for mercy and to strive to be neighbors to those who need our help. Let us also recognize the goodness of God toward man. Human nature was going "from Jerusalem," that is, from a serene and peaceful life, for Jerusalem means "vision of peace." Where was it going? "To Jericho," a barren, low place, stifling from heat, that is, into a life full of passions. Notice: He did not say "went down," but "was going." For human nature always inclined toward earthly things, not once, but constantly being drawn into a life of passion. "And fell among robbers," that is, fell among demons. Whoever does not descend from the height of the mind will not fall among demons. They, having stripped the man and removed from him the garments of virtue, inflicted upon him the wounds of sin. For they first strip us of every good thought and the covering of God, and then inflict wounds through sins. They left human nature "half dead," either because the soul is immortal while the body is mortal, and thus half of man is subject to death, or because human nature was not entirely rejected but hoped to receive salvation in Christ, and thus was not completely dead. But just as through Adam's transgression death entered the world, so through justification in Christ death was to be abolished (Rom. 5:16–17).

And in addition to this, he brings forward the Samaritan as an example. As it follows, And Jesus answering him said, A certain man went down, &c. Now he says not "descended," but "was descending." For human nature was ever tending downwards, and not for a time only, but throughout busied about a life liable to suffering. Or man after sin is said to be half dead, because his soul is immortal, but his body mortal, so that the half of man is under death. Or, because his human nature hoped to obtain salvation in Christ, so as not altogether to lie under death. But in that Adam had sinned death entered in the world, (Rom. 5:12.) in the righteousness of Christ death was to be destroyed.

(Severus) He has well used the general term. For He says not, "a certain one went down," but, a certain man, for his discourse was of the whole human race.

(Hypognos. lib. 3.) Or by Jerusalem, which is by interpretation "the sight of peace," we mean Paradise, for before man sinned he was in sight of peace, that is, in paradise; whatever he saw was peace, and going thence he descended (as if brought low and made wretched by sin) into Jericho, that is, the world, in which all things that are born die as the moon. (ubi sup.) For the half dead has his vital function (that is, free will) wounded, in that he is not able to return to the eternal life which he has lost. And therefore he lay, because he had not strength of his own sufficient to rise and seek a physician, that is, God, to heal him.

Christ appoints seventy disciples to go before him, two by two, to preach, heal, etc., Luk 10:1-12. Pronounces woes on Chorazin and Capernaum, Luk 10:13-16. The seventy return, and give account of their mission, Luk 10:17-20. Christ rejoices that the things which were hidden from the wise and prudent had been revealed unto babes, and shows the great privileges of the Gospel, Luk 10:21-24. A lawyer inquires how he shall inherit eternal life, and is answered, Luk 10:25-29. The story of the good Samaritan, Luk 10:30-37. The account of Martha and Mary, Luk 10:38-42.

And Jesus answering - Rather, Then Jesus took him up. This I believe to be the meaning of the word ὑπολαβων; he threw out a challenge, and our Lord took him up on his own ground. See Wakefield's Testament. A certain man went down from Jerusalem - Or, A certain man of Jerusalem going down to Jericho. This was the most public road in all Judea, as it was the grand thoroughfare between these two cities for the courses of priests, twelve thousand of whom are said to have resided at Jericho. See Lightfoot. Fell among thieves - At this time the whole land of Judea was much infested with hordes of banditti; and it is not unlikely that many robberies might have been committed on that very road to which our Lord refers.

MISSION OF THE SEVENTY DISCIPLES, AND THEIR RETURN. (Luke 10:1-24) the Lord--a becoming title here, as this appointment was an act truly lordly [BENGEL]. other seventy also--rather, "others (also in number), seventy"; probably with allusion to the seventy elders of Israel on whom the Spirit descended in the wilderness (Num 11:24-25). The mission, unlike that of the Twelve, was evidently quite temporary. All the instructions are in keeping with a brief and hasty pioneering mission, intended to supply what of general preparation for coming events the Lord's own visit afterwards to the same "cities and places" (Luk 10:1) would not, from want of time, now suffice to accomplish; whereas the instructions to the Twelve, besides embracing all those to the Seventy, contemplate world-wide and permanent effects. Accordingly, after their return from this single missionary tour, we never again read of the Seventy.

A certain man--a Jew. from Jerusalem to Jericho--a distance of nineteen miles northeast, a deep and very fertile hollow--"the Temple of Judea" [TRENCH]. thieves--"robbers." The road, being rocky and desolate, was a notorious haunt of robbers, then and for ages after, and even to this day.