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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Matthew 19:25 - 19:25
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25. ἐξεπλήσσοντο σφόδρα. The extreme amazement of the disciples, which can find no echo in souls trained to Christianity, is not quite easy to understand. But there was present to the disciples, perhaps, a latent Jewish thought that external prosperity was a sign of the favour of heaven. Then in a town like Capernaum all the leading religious people would be rich (see note Mat 19:16). There is always a tendency when religious life is at a low ebb to make disciples of the wealthy and to exalt their saintliness. One of the distinctive marks of Christ’s mission was ‘preaching to the poor.’ Cp. St Paul’s words: ἡ κατὰ βάθους πτωχεία αὐτῶν ἐπερίσσευσεν εἰς τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς ἁπλότητος αὐτῶν, 2Co 8:2. Read also St Jam 5:1-11.
τίς ἄρα δύναται σωθῆναι; The thought of the disciples still lives: for the guilt of detected wickedness is mainly brought home to the poor, the sins of the rich and educated seldom result in crime, accordingly wealth and intellect make men seem better, ‘sometimes even supplying the absence of real good with what looks extremely like it.’ See a Sermon by Prof. Mozley, on The Reversal of Human Judgment, pp. 85–87.