Have ye understood all these things? - Divine truths must not be lightly passed over. - Our Lord's question here shows them to be matters of the utmost weight and importance; and that they should be considered again and again, till they be thoroughly understood. read more
Every scribe - Minister of Christ: who is instructed - taught of God; in the kingdom of heaven - in the mysteries of the Gospel of Christ: out of his treasury - his granary or store-house; things new and old - a Jewish phrase for great plenty. A small degree of knowledge is not sufficient for a preacher of the Gospel. The sacred writings should be his treasure, and he should properly understand them. His knowledge does not consist in being furnished with a great variety of human learning,... read more
And when he was come into his own country - Probably Nazareth, where his parents lived, and where he had continued till his thirtieth year, though it appears he had a lodging in Peter's house at Capernaum. They were astonished - It appears, hence, that our blessed Lord had lived in obscurity all the time above specified; for his countrymen appear not to have heard his doctrines, nor seen his miracles, until now. It is a melancholy truth, that those who should know Christ best are often... read more
Is not this the carpenter's son? - Seven copies of the old Itala have, Is not this the son of Joseph the carpenter? But it is likely our Lord, during the thirty years of his abode at Nazareth, wrought at the same trade with Joseph; and perhaps this is what is intended, Luke 2:51 . He went down with them (his parents) to Nazareth, and was Subject unto them. An honest trade is no discredit to any man. He who spends his time in idleness is fit for any business in which the devil chooses to... read more
And they were offended in him - They took offense at him, εσκανδαλιζοντο εν αυτω , making the meanness of his family the reason why they would not receive him as a prophet, though they were astonished at his wisdom, and at his miracles, Matthew 13:54 . So their pride and their envy were the causes of their destruction. A prophet is not without honor - This seems to have been a proverbial mode of speech, generally true, but not without some exceptions. The apparent meanness of our... read more
And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief - Δυναμεις , miracles. So the word is used, Matthew 7:22 ; Matthew 11:20 ; Acts 19:11 ; 1 Corinthians 12:28 ; Galatians 3:5 ; Hebrews 2:4 . The Septuagint translates אל נפלאות niphleoth el , the miraculous works of God, by δυναμιν κυριε . Unbelief and contempt drive Christ out of the heart, as they did out of his own country. Faith seems to put the almighty power of God into the hands of men; whereas... read more
Verse 51 51.Have you understood all these things? We must keep in recollection what we have formerly seen, that all the parables of Christ were explained in private. And now the Lord, after having taught them in this kind and familiar manner, warns them at the same time, that his object, in taking so much pains to instruct them, was not merely that they might be well informed, (234) but that they might communicate to others what they had received. In this way he whets and excites their minds... read more
Verse 53 Matthew 13:53.When Jesus had concluded. Matthew does not mean, that immediately after delivering these discourses, he came into his own country; for it is evident from Mark, that some interval of time elapsed. But the meaning is, that after having taught for some time in Judea, he returned again to the Galileans, but did not receive from them kind treatment. A narrative which Luke gives (Luke 4:22) is nearly similar, but is not the same. Nor ought we to wonder that Christ’s countrymen,... read more
Verse 54 54.So that they were amazed. They are struck with amazement at the novelty of the occurrence, that Christ, who had not learned letters, but had been employed from youth to manhood in a mechanical occupation, is so eminent a teacher, and is filled with divine wisdom. In this miracle they ought to have perceived the hand of God; but their ingratitude made them cover themselves with darkness. (346) They are compelled to admire him, whether they will or not; and yet they treat him with... read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 13:58
And he did not many mighty works there,.... Some he did, though not many; partly that they might be left inexcusable, and partly that it might not be said, he did not wish well, to his own country: what he did, were not of the first class, and greatest note; he only "laid his hands", as Mark says, Mark 6:5 "upon a few sick folk, and healed them"; and yet these were such as raised their wonder and astonishment, but did not command their faith, and were rather stumbling blocks unto them; such... read more