《Nisbet’s Church Pulpit Commentary - Luke》(James Nisbet)
Commentator
With nearly 5,000 pages and 20 megabytes of text, this 12 volume set contains concise comments and sermon outlines, perfect for preaching, teaching, or just another perspective on a passage for any lay person.
James Nisbet compiled and edited the Church Pulpit Commentary. Over 100 authors wrote short essays, sermon outlines, and sermon illustrations for selected verses of the Bible. The authors include Handley Carr Glyn (H.C.G) Moule, F.D. Maurice, and many other bishops and pastors.
As with many commentaries of this nature, the New Testament contains substantially more comments than the Old Testament. This is not the famouse Pulpit Commentary. This is a different commentary. Not every verse includes a comment.
00 Introduction
Luke 1:10 The Church’s Power
Luke 1:17 A Prepared People
Luke 1:20 Dumb, Because of Unbelief
Luke 1:26; Luke 1:28 Highly favoured of the Lord
Luke 1:30-31 The Promised Son
Luke 1:30-31 A New Power
Luke 1:32 In Confirmation of Faith
Luke 1:33 And Endless Kingdom
Luke 1:35, r.v. The Virgin Birth
Luke 1:35, r.v. The Incarnation and Brotherhood
Luke 1:38 Woman’s True Avocation
Luke 1:46-55 The Song of the Virgin
Luke 1:70 Modern Prophets
Luke 1:74-75 Deliverance and Service
Luke 1:76 The Prophet of the Highest
Luke 1:79 The Way of Peace
Luke 1:80 The Virtues of Asceticism
Luke 2:7 No Room!
Luke 2:7 Crowded Out
Luke 2:8-9, r.v. The Angelic Vision
Luke 2:11 The Birthday of Christ
Luke 2:10-11 The Unseen from Heaven
Luke 2:13 The Christmas Song
Luke 2:14 Pleas for Peace
Luke 2:14 A Religion of Peace
Luke 2:15 The Turning Point in the World’s History
Luke 2:16 The Holy Family
Luke 2:16 The Shepherds’ Visit
Luke 2:18-20 Christmas Thoughts and Feelings
Luke 2:21 The Name Above every Name
Luke 2:22 The Purification and the Presentation
Luke 2:22 Fulfilling the Law
Luke 2:25 ‘The Consolation of Israel’
Luke 2:32 Walking in the Light
Luke 2:34 Falling or Rising
Luke 2:42-51 The Temple and the Home
Luke 2:46 Christ Lost and Found
Luke 2:46 The Boyhood of Christ
Luke 2:49 A Divine Necessity
Luke 2:49 A Condition of Life
Luke 2:49 The Purpose of Life
Luke 2:51-52 At Nazareth
Luke 2:52 Increasing in Wisdom
Luke 3:1-2 The Word of God
Luke 3:3 The Baptist’s Message
Luke 3:4-6 Earnestness in Religion
Luke 3:10 ‘What shall we do?’
Luke 3:15-16 A Mightier than John
Luke 3:19-20 A Sharp Contrast
Luke 3:21-22 The First Calvary
Luke 4:1-2 Christ in the Wilderness
Luke 4:1-2 The Conflict
Luke 4:2-4 Tempted through the Body
Luke 4:7 Tempted through the World
Luke 4:9-12 Tempted through Presumption
Luke 4:21 Prophecy Fulfilled
Luke 4:21 Divine Enduement
Luke 4:24-27 Faith and Grace
Luke 4:32 The Power Behind
Luke 5:1 On Hearing Sermons
Luke 5:1 The Modern Sermon
Luke 5:1 Concentrative Christianity
Luke 5:3 Christ’s Work in the World
Luke 5:4 Launch Out!
Luke 5:4 Christ and Christ’s World
Luke 5:5 ‘At Thy Word’
Luke 5:5 ‘Nevertheless’
Luke 5:8 God and Ourselves
Luke 5:8 Conviction of Sin
Luke 5:10 The Function and Significance of Miracle
Luke 5:10 Fishers of Men
Luke 5:10 The Minister’s Calling
Luke 5:16 Spiritual Solitude
Luke 5:32 Christ’s Call
Luke 5:39 The Excellence of the Liturgy
Luke 6:12 The Praying Christ
Luke 6:26 The Dangers of Popularity
Luke 6:36-42 Divine Precepts
Luke 6:36 Mercy
Luke 6:36 Mercy—Its Scope and Quality
Luke 6:38 Judgment
Luke 6:38 Reciprocity
Luke 6:40 Like unto the Master
Luke 6:40 The Finished Christian
Luke 6:42 The Sin of Hypocrisy
Luke 7:4-9 Three Estimates of Character
Luke 7:11 The Prince of Life
Luke 7:12 Life from the Dead
Luke 7:12 The Weeping Widow
Luke 7:13 ‘Weep Not’
Luke 7:19 The Final Revelation
Luke 7:35 Children of Wisdom
Luke 7:35 Perverseness and Sympathy
Luke 7:37-38 Tears of Penitence
Luke 7:42 Nothing to Pay
Luke 7:47 The Result of Forgiveness
Luke 7:50 Christ and the Penitent
Luke 7:50 Go in Peace
Luke 8:5 The Sower and the Seed
Luke 8:5 Beneath the Surface
Luke 8:5 The Soil of the Heart
Luke 8:5-6 Sowers for the Kingdom
Luke 8:8 An Honest and Good Heart
Luke 8:10 Mysteries made Known
Luke 8:11 The Word as the Seed
Luke 8:12 Satan’s Evil Work
Luke 8:13 Roots of the Christian Life
Luke 8:14 Half-hearted Christians
Luke 8:15 Generous Soil
Luke 8:15 Be Patient
Luke 8:18 Take Heed!
Luke 8:24 Christ and the Elements
Luke 8:25 Faith and its Evidences
Luke 8:39 Testimony at Home
Luke 8:45 The Power of a Touch
Luke 8:45 Christ the Healer
Luke 9:2-6 The Commission of the Twelve
Luke 9:13 No Power in Ourselves
Luke 9:23 The Christian Life
Luke 9:26 Grounds of Judgment
Luke 9:29 The Vision on the Mount
Luke 9:32 The Mount and the Plain
Luke 9:33 A Mistaken View
Luke 9:34 The Overshadowing Cloud
Luke 9:41 The Care of the Child
Luke 9:48-50 The Pride of the Disciples
Luke 9:51 The Fascination of the Cross
Luke 9:54 Sons of Thunder or Sons of Christ?
Luke 9:55-56 Not Destruction but Salvation
Luke 9:62 Lessons from the Plough
Luke 9:62 Spiritual Ploughmen
Luke 10:1 The Mission of the Seventy
Luke 10:5 A Cordial Salutation
Luke 10:9 Characteristics of the Message
Luke 10:18 A True Sense of Proportion
Luke 10:20 Temptations of a Useful Life
Luke 10:21 The Joy of the Lord
Luke 10:21 The Joy of the Lord’s People
Luke 10:23-24 Privileges and Responsibility
Luke 10:27 The First and Great Commandment
Luke 10:27 The Law of Life
Luke 10:28 Knowledge and Practice
Luke 10:29 Self Justification
Luke 10:29 The Development of Character
Luke 10:29 A Moral Revelation
Luke 10:30 A Picture of Brotherly Love
Luke 10:30 The Wounded Traveller
Luke 10:30 The Samaritan’s Deed
Luke 10:35 Take Care of Him
Luke 10:35 God’s Repayments
Luke 10:36-37 The Worker and the Work
Luke 10:37 Practical Christianity
Luke 10:38-42 The Two Sisters
Luke 10:38-42 True Service
Luke 11:1 A Hearty Desire to Pray
Luke 11:2 The Lord’s Prayer
Luke 11:2 What is the Lord’s Prayer?
Luke 11:2 The Hallowed Name and the Hallowed Life
Luke 11:2 God’s Empire
Luke 11:2 The Subjection of Man’s Will
Luke 11:3 Man Dependent
Luke 11:4 Sin and its Forgiveness
Luke 11:4 Temptation
Luke 11:8 The Friend at Midnight
Luke 11:8 Importunity in Prayer
Luke 11:9 Commanding Prayer
Luke 11:14 The Effect of Permitted Sin
Luke 11:21-22 The Strong Man Overcome
Luke 11:23 For or Against?
Luke 11:23 No Neutrality
Luke 11:24-25 The Human House
Luke 11:26 The Last State
Luke 11:26 The Return of the Devil
Luke 11:27-28 Hearing and Keeping God’s Word
Luke 11:27-28 The Power of the Book
Luke 11:29 Asking for a Sign
Luke 11:36 Spiritual Light
Luke 11:54 The New Liberty
Luke 12:4-5 The Fear of Hell
Luke 12:8 Confessing Christ
Luke 12:10 The Unpardonable Sin
Luke 12:15 A Man’s Life
Luke 12:15 What will you do with your Life?
Luke 12:18-20 The Rich Fool
Luke 12:18-20 The Rich Man’s Folly
Luke 12:18-20 What the Rich Man Forgot
Luke 12:32 The Ministry and the Kingdom
Luke 12:35-36 Ideals Lost and Recovered
Luke 12:35-36 Burning Lights
Luke 12:43 The Responsibility of Opportunity
Luke 12:50 Christ’s Baptism of Suffering
Luke 13:3; Luke 13:5 The Judgments of God
Luke 13:3; Luke 13:5 The Galilæans’ Warnings
Luke 13:6-9 The Spiritual Growth of Life
Luke 13:6-9 The Barren Fig Tree
Luke 13:8 One more Chance
Luke 13:11-14 The Uplifting Power of the Gospel
Luke 13:18-19 The Gospel in the World
Luke 13:20-21 The Gospel in the Heart
Luke 13:23 A Puzzling Question
Luke 13:23-24 The Puzzling Question Answered
Luke 13:23-24 The Answer of the Life
Luke 13:35 The Desolate House
Luke 14:1 Sabbath Works and Words
Luke 14:3 The Spirit of Sunday Observance
Luke 14:10 In the Lowest Room
Luke 14:10-11 Humility and its Reward
Luke 14:10-11 The Doom of Pride
Luke 14:10-11 Man’s Abasement
Luke 14:14 The General Resurrection
Luke 14:15 Eating Bread in the Kingdom
Luke 14:16 The Great Supper
Luke 14:17 The Great Invitation
Luke 14:17 The Satisfaction of the Gospel
Luke 14:17 Why Men Hesitate
Luke 14:18 Innocent Occupations
Luke 14:18 Excuses
Luke 14:22 Where and For Whom there is Room
Luke 14:22 The Largeness of God’s Love
Luke 14:23 Compelled Guests
Luke 14:28; Luke 14:30 Tower Building
Luke 14:28; Luke 14:30 The True Aim of Discipleship
Luke 14:28; Luke 14:30 Examples of Counting the Cost
Luke 14:33 The Genius of the Christian Religion
Luke 14:33 The Final Condition of Discipleship
Luke 15:2 Exclusiveness and Formality
Luke 15:2 Penitence and Communion
Luke 15:2 Christ receiveth Sinful Men
Luke 15:4 The Sheep that was Lost
Luke 15:6 The Sheep Found
Luke 15:8 The Lost Coin
Luke 15:8 The Preciousness of Each Soul
Luke 15:6-9 Lost and Found
Luke 15:10 The Doctrine of Sin
Luke 15:11 The Two Sons
Luke 15:17 The Prodigal Son
Luke 16:1-8 The Man who Acted Wisely
Luke 16:2 Called to Account
Luke 16:4 A Good Resolution
Luke 16:8 The World and the Church
Luke 16:9 Make Friends
Luke 16:14-15 God’s Ways and Men’s Ways
Luke 16:19-20 Living and Dying
Luke 16:19-20 Dives and Lazarus
Luke 16:30-31 Vain Hopes
Luke 16:30-31 The Testimony of Scripture
Luke 17:1-2 Offenders of Others
Luke 17:5 The Growth of Faith
Luke 17:10 Self-Righteousness Checked
Luke 17:12-14 The Cleansed Men
Luke 17:15-16 At the Feet of Jesus
Luke 17:17 Ingratitude
Luke 17:17 A Defect in Christian Character
Luke 17:20-21 The Coming of the Kingdom
Luke 17:20-21 Truths of the Kingdom
Luke 17:20-21 ‘Your Reasonable Service’
Luke 17:22 A Day of the Son of Man
Luke 17:26; Luke 17:28; Luke 17:30 Three Critical Days
Luke 18:1 ‘Pray, Always Pray’
Luke 18:8 Religious Unsettlement
Luke 18:8 The Decay of Faith
Luke 18:10 Like Purpose, Different Method
Luke 18:13 The Plea for Mercy
Luke 18:14 Misconceptions Removed
Luke 18:14 A Churchman’s Failure
Luke 18:16 Lessons from Children
Luke 18:19 The Young Ruler
Luke 18:31-34 The Christian Attitude towards Suffering
Luke 18:31-34 The Future
Luke 18:35 Spiritual Blindness
Luke 18:41 Seeking Sight
Luke 19:2 Zacchæus
Luke 19:6 Zacchæus and Christ
Luke 19:10 Christ’s Mission of Mercy
Luke 19:13 A Motto for Life
Luke 19:17 Faithfulness in Little Things
Luke 19:38 The Coming King
Luke 19:41 Why Jesus Wept
Luke 19:41 Christian Responsibility
Luke 19:41 The Tears of Jesus
Luke 19:41 Indifference
Luke 19:41 Woes of a Great City
Luke 19:42 The Commandingness of Christ
Luke 19:44 Times of Visitation
Luke 19:44 Is God Visiting Us?
Luke 19:45-46 Cleansing the Temple
Luke 19:46 A House of Prayer
Luke 20:8 The Sufficiency of Revelation
Luke 20:15 The Wicked Husbandmen
Luke 20:25 No Division of Allegiance
Luke 20:36 The Life of the World to Come
Luke 20:37 Burning and not Consumed
Luke 20:38 Alive unto God
Luke 21:4 Christ’s Standard of Giving
Luke 21:5-6 The Presence of Christ
Luke 21:19 Patience
Luke 21:27 The Coming of the Son of Man
Luke 21:27 Neglect not Prophecy
Luke 21:28 Redemption
Luke 21:33-34 Eternal Words
Luke 21:38 Examples of Early Services
Luke 22:2-5 Planning the Betrayal
Luke 22:15 Christ and the Passover
Luke 22:19 In Remembrance of Me
Luke 22:19 The Communion Feast
Luke 22:24 The True Way to Greatness
Luke 22:31-32 Strengthen thy Brethren
Luke 22:36 Buy a Sword
Luke 22:44 The Agony of Christ
Luke 22:61 The Saviour’s Look
Luke 23:11 Setting Jesus at Nought
Luke 23:21 Spiritual Impulses
Luke 23:21 True and False Enthusiasm
Luke 23:26 Bearing the Cross after Jesus
Luke 23:28 True Patriotism
Luke 23:33 The Green Hill far Away
Luke 23:34 The First of the Seven Words
Luke 23:34 Ignorance and Cruelty
Luke 23:34 The Unknown Sins of our Social System
Luke 23:34 Trustful, Persevering, Selfless
Luke 23:34 The Scope of the Saviour’s Prayer
Luke 23:34 Typical Words of Christ
Luke 23:42 Recognised at Last
Luke 23:43 The Second Word from the Cross
Luke 23:43 First-fruits of the Passion
Luke 23:43 The Royalty of Goodness
Luke 23:43 Divided by the Cross
Luke 23:43 The Word of Grace
Luke 23:43 The Sinner Restored
Luke 23:46 The Last Word from the Cross
Luke 23:46 The Upward Look
Luke 23:46 The Death of Christ
Luke 23:46 The Look Forward
Luke 23:46 Peace and Security
Luke 23:46 Obedient unto Death
Luke 23:46 Father!
Luke 23:48 Lessons from the Cross
Luke 23:56 Sabbath Rest
Luke 24:5-6 The Appeal of Easter
Luke 24:11 The Apostles at Home
Luke 24:15-16 The Walk to Emmaus
Luke 24:29 Abide with Us
Luke 24:32 Burning Hearts
Luke 24:32 Unrecognised Blessings
Luke 24:34 Risen Indeed
Luke 24:39 The Hands of the Risen Christ
Luke 24:46-47 The Gospel of the Cross
Luke 24:47 At Jerusalem
Luke 24:49 Spiritual Power
Luke 24:49 The Greatness of Power
Luke 24:49 Spiritual Investiture
Luke 24:49 The Mission of the Holy Ghost
Luke 24:50-51 The Ascension
Luke 24:50-51 Gifts and Graces of the Ascended Lord
Luke 24:52 To Jerusalem with Great Joy
01 Chapter 1
Verse 10
THE CHURCH’S POWER
‘And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.’
Luke 1:10
Both the parents of John, Zacharias and Elizabeth, were of the family of the Hebrew priesthood. For a long time the ministrations of this great sacerdotal order in the Temple service at Jerusalem had been distributed among twenty-four courses of priests, each course taking its turn for a week, and each having its own leader. At the time when the Evangelist’s narrative opens, Abia stood at the head of the eighth of these twenty-four courses, and Zacharias, the father of the Baptist, was officiating in his turn in that course.
Near the entrance of the Temple, outside what was properly the sanctuary, was the large altar of the daily sacrifice. Farther in toward the most holy place, very near to the veil of the covenant, stood another altar, with its crown of pure gold and its golden rings, on which one of the priests, chosen by lot, offered twice every day the sweet incense, which with its ascending smoke, in the beautiful language of John, is as ‘the prayers of saints.’ The fire which lighted this altar was always to be taken fresh from the outer altar, of the sacrifice for sin.
At the moment when the effectual work of propitiation and intercession was going forward within the Temple—what is seen without? The whole multitude of the people, bending in silent awe, seconding the priestly office and making it in some sense their own, joining their faith to the sacrifice, and lifting their hearts with the rising incense-cloud, are in supplication before God.
This can represent nothing else than the power of the united prayers of the Christian congregation, aiding and supporting the official work of the threefold ministry and the holy offices of the Church, in declaring Christ to the world.
The question thus brought before us, in its broadest form, is this: Are we using the devotional power of the Church in due proportion to its other powers?
I. The business of religion, therefore, is to bring offerings to Him and, in answer to our prayers, to take blessings from Him.—This is the first business of the Church. It sets open the channel of communion, where there is this incessant spiritual passing and repassing between the Infinite Heart of Love which is open there, and these hearts of ours, weak and struggling, uneasy and hungry, and sinning here. By this spiritual interchange our whole life opens a path into heaven, and the blessed life of heaven opens down upon us. So we stand, in this sacred and redeemed creation, always at a temple door. It is as if the scene at Jerusalem were reproduced in its Christian and everlasting reality. The whole multitude of the Church below is on its knees.
II. Every movement of religious life among us must get its power and direction from the Spirit of God.—Every contrivance of ecclesiastical or parochial wisdom, of energy, even of piety, is nothing but a making ready for this Spirit. The amount of spiritual product is exactly in proportion to the coming into all our organisations of that living Spirit of God. And the degree of that coming and power again, will be exactly in proportion to the fervency and the frequency of prayers that are offered by believers around it.