Godbey S Commentary on the New Testament - Luke (William B. Godbey)
《Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament - Luke》(William B. Godbey)
Commentator
William B. Godbey was one of the most influential evangelists of the Wesleyan-holiness movement in its formative period (1880-1920). Thousands of people experienced conversion or entire sanctification under his ministry, and Godbey gained a reputation for having revivals everywhere he went.
A prolific author, he dictated over 230 books and pamphlets and wrote numerous articles for holiness periodicals. He produced a new translation of the New Testament in 1901, and published a seven-volume Commentary on the New Testament (1896-1900).
Godbey's publications, along with his preaching and "Bible lessons" at camp meetings, earned for the evangelist a widespread reputation among "holiness people" as the "Greek scholar" and "Bible commentator."
Through his publications and sermons, Godbey joined a limited number of other ministers who introduced premillennialism into the holiness movement.
Godbey was also one of the principal agents responsible for keeping the "tongues movement" out of the rest of the holiness movement.
Godbey encouraged large numbers of people to join the new holiness denominations, and through his preaching and publications shaped popular opinion on holiness and millenarian doctrines.
01 Chapter 1
Verses 1-4
THE INTRODUCTION
Luke 1:1-4. “Since indeed many have undertaken to set forth a narrative concerning the things which have been fulfilled among us, as those being eye-witnesses from the beginning and ministers of the Word, have handed down to us; it seemed good to me also, following all things accurately from the beginning, consecutively to write unto thee, O most noble Theophilus, in order that you may well understand the certainty of the histories concerning which you have been catechetically instructed.” We see from this statement that Luke was not one of the old disciples of our Lord, neither was he an eye-witness of His mighty works; as we never hear of him till the second evangelistic tour of Paul, in which he becomes one of his helpers, about A.D. 42. Doubtless he was a practicing physician in Antioch during the entire period of our Lord’s ministry. We have three reasons for accepting the Gospel of Luke without the slightest discount:
1. He received all of his information from the veritable disciples of our Savior, who were eye-witnesses to His mighty works;
2. Paul was his constant companion, and, as we all believe, the dictator of his writings;
3. The plenary inspiration of the Holy Ghost settles forever all controversy in reference to Biblical authenticity.
2 Timothy 3:16 :
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” Theophilus literally means “God breathed,” involving the clear and unequivocal revealed truth that all Scripture was breathed into the different authors by the Almighty. Hence the verbal and plenary inspiration of the Bible is positively and unequivocally revealed. The rapid spread of infidelity is one of the omens of the last days and the near coming of the Lord. Semi-infidelity, admitting a kind of substantial inspiration, is rapidly filling the pulpits. The true teaching of the Bible is, that “all Scripture” — i.e., every word — is breathed into the writer by the Holy Spirit. Hence the great importance of understanding the original, because there the plenary verbal inspiration alone is to be found, translations only carrying with them this inspiration in a general, substantial sense, as they literalize the original.
Theophilus was a name so common in the gospel ages that we can have no idea who is personally alluded to, but doubtless some noble Christian friend of the writer. Bear in mind that Luke dedicates this Gospel to this noble Christian, Theophilus. As the word means “Lover of God,” it follows, as the legitimate sequence, that this Gospel is dedicated to all the lovers of God. I hope, reader, that includes you.
Verses 5-17
OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
5. John the Baptist was a bonafide Aaronic priest in a pre-eminent sense, both his father and his mother belonging to the family of Aaron.
6. “They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” While the rank and file of the priesthood, as well as the membership, had degenerated into dead formality and hollow hypocrisy, yet there were a few paragon saints, scattered here and there, in the Jewish Church at the time of our Lord’s advent. They enjoyed the glorious honor of receiving the Christ of prophecy, and introducing Him to the world — a peculiar honor, which God conferred upon all Israel; but, through blind unbelief, pride, and disobedience, they all forfeited it except Zacharias and Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary, Simeon and Anna, and a few others, dispersed hither and thither in the kingdom of Israel. The phraseology in reference to Zacharias and Elizabeth is such that we must conclude they enjoyed the sanctified experience. It seems, however, that Elizabeth enjoyed a deeper spirituality and a brighter type of faith than her husband, who certainly was not free from vacillation.
7. Sterility among the Hebrews was deprecated, not only as a calamity, but an opprobrium, as, in that case, there must follow a forfeiture of their inheritance in Israel as well as the hope of the honored progenitorship of Christ.
8. Since the priests had become so numerous, the institution of the sacerdotal divisions and courses by Abia had obtained, pursuant to which every priest must await his time to officiate in the temple.
9,10. Only the priests were admitted into the temple proper, the multitudes remaining out, having access to the great brazen altar, on which they offered their sacrifices, while the priests within the temple burnt incense to the Lord. On the present occasion, Zacharias was burning the holy incense to the Lord in the temple, and all the people were praying without, at the hour of incense; i.e., nine o’clock in the morning.
11. “The angel of the Lord appeared, standing on the right hand of the altar of incense: Zacharias seeing him, was excited, and fear fell on him.” The position occupied by the advocate in court is always on the righthand side of the judge. Gabriel and Michael are the two great archangels prominent throughout the Bible; the latter always appearing in the interest of the Divine government, and the former in behalf of humanity.
12,13. We see here that Zacharias and Elizabeth had prayed much that God might remove the sterility and give them posterity. As they are now quite old, the faith of Zacharias had much waned, while that of Elizabeth was stalwart and vigorous. “Thou shalt call his name John.” John does not occur in the Old Testament, being here given for the first time by the archangel. It means the grace of God, because John the Baptist was the harbinger of that wonderful grace which came to redeem the whole world from endless death.
14. The birth of John the Baptist was the occasion of general rejoicing among all the consanguinity of Zacharias and Elizabeth, as well as the more spiritual people enjoying a degree of insight into the things of God, who entertained hopeful apprehension that a mighty prophet was thus born into Israel.
15. “For he shall be great before the Lord.” John the Baptist, the last of all the Old Testament prophets, was truly the greatest, being more than a prophet; i.e., the forerunner and introducer of Christ. “And he shall not drink wine and strong drink.” John was a Nazarite unto the Lord, living exceedingly abstemious, and a total abstainant from everything calculated to intoxicate. The Nazarite of the Old Dispensation was identical with the sanctified man of the gospel age. Samson was a Nazarite, this being the secret of his wonderful strength. “He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from the womb of his mother.” Here we have an actual case of sanctified infancy, illustrating the gracious possibility of having our infants filled with the Holy Ghost. Doubtless this will become the normal state during the glorious Millennial Theocracy.
16. “And he shall turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.” John the Baptist was a wonderful preacher, his stentorian voice pealing into the popular ear after a prophetical interregnum of four hundred years, thus arousing Israel from her long sleep, emptying the cities and populating the desert, with the spellbound multitudes, listening with burning hearts and penitent spirits to the mighty and irresistible appeals of this wonderful prophet of the wilderness.
17. “He shall go before His face in the spirit and dynamite of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” The great and sweeping revival which broke out under the preaching of John the Baptist, stirring the whole nation from center to circumference, was the very thing to bring the people down into the dust of humiliation, and thus prepare them for the grandest opportunity the world had seen in four thousand years.
Verses 18-25
DOUBT & DUMBNESS ALWAYS CO-EXISTENT
18-20. Here we see that Zacharias evinced his doubt of Gabriel’s communication by asking a sign. O how many people now doubt God and wait for signs, instead of taking Him at His word and rejoicing in His promises! The result in the case of Zacharias was, that he became dumb, and so remained till the birth of John the Baptist. If you ever doubt God, you will forfeit your testimony, and become a poor dummy in the meetings. You can recognize it definitely in all cases. So fast as the people give way to doubt, they forfeit their testimony, becoming dumb. Real faith always tells its own story. How common to find whole Churches dumb, thus evidencing the lamentable fact that, if they ever had faith, they have permitted the enemy to steal it away from them! Without faith there is no salvation. Hence you see that all dumb Churches are proper missionary ground. You must get their tongues loose, or they forfeit the hope of salvation.
21-23. Here we see that the words of Gabriel were signally verified when Zacharias, sure enough, was dumb, because he had disbelieved the word of the Lord spoken by the archangel. Be sure you believe all of God’s Word, and keep your testimony ever ringing clear, as otherwise you forfeit your salvation.
24,25. Here we find that when Elizabeth realized pregnancy, she went into retirement five months. Why was this? Evidently that she might enjoy uninterrupted communion with God, fasting, praying, and meditating, thus sinking away into His will, adoring His majesty, and contemplating His glory; meanwhile seeking that extraordinary enduement of grace requisite to qualify her for the immeasurable responsibilities of motherhood, and especially the maternity, training, and education of such a man as she knew, by the revelation of Gabriel, that her son would be. In that age of the world, and the ensuing fifteen hundred years, monastic seclusion for spiritual blessings was very common. We seriously feel the need of it now, in this age of superficiality. Nothing is really so much needed on the part of God’s people, and especially the ministry of God’s people, at the present day, as uninterrupted communion with God. Certainly the reproach of her sterility was gloriously removed in the birth of such a man as John the Baptist, the prince of prophets, and even more the precursor of the world’s Redeemer. We have in the birth of John the Baptist a repetition of that supernatural intervention of the Holy Ghost which characterized the birth of Isaac. In that case, however, the faith of Abraham was robust and triumphant, that of Sarah somewhat staggering through unbelief; whereas, in the case of John the Baptist, Zacharias’s faith flickered seriously, while that of Elizabeth is unimpeached, and, as we have good reason to believe, was athletic throughout.
Verses 26-31
THE ANNUNCIATION TO MARY
26-30. When I visited Nazareth, I spent some time in the Church of the Annunciation, quite magnificent and capacious, said to stand on the identical spot where the angel Gabriel delivered the wonderful tidings to Mary. Here we have it stated positively that Joseph, the husband of Mary, was a descendant of David. While the genealogy of our Savior recognizes the necessity of Mary’s personal identity with David’s family, and it is so taken for granted, yet it is not directly revealed, except in her wifehood to Joseph; as you must remember the institution of matrimony actually identifies husband and wife, “They two shall be one flesh.” In the recognition of this absolute unification through the institution of matrimony, we must concede Mary’s identity with the family of David.
31. “And thou shalt call His name Jesus.” This name is eminently significant of His office and mission to save the whole world, as it is a Greek word, and means Savior,
Verses 32-34
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST
32-34. “He shall be called Great and the Son of the Highest; the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” I see no possibility of satisfying these plain and unequivocal affirmations of inspired truth by a simple reference to His spiritual kingdom, which was a glorious verity before David was born, and will be forever. One line of Biblical exegetes spiritualize all the literal Scriptures, while their opponents literalize all, the tendency being to materialistic infidelity, and that of the fornier into a dreamy Utopianism, doing away with the material, universe, and running into the vagaries of idealism. While David’s throne was a temporal reality, visible, tangible, and actual, it was not his own, as he was merely the executive of the theocracy — a man after God’s own heart, because he did God’s will. (Acts 13:22.) Therefore we are bound to conclude that David’s great Son and Successor will restore the theocracy of which David was the executive, extended over, not only this world, but, as it already prevails, over all other worlds, and reign forever. The magnitude of the Divine attributes, administration, grace, and glory is so incomprehensible by human intellect as to superinduce a constant liability on our part to run into the heresy of minification. Good Lord deliver us! Let us take the Word as we find it, if it decapitates all of our idols!
Verses 34-56
MARY’S SUBMISSION
34-38. “And Mary said, Behold the handmaiden of the Lord: may it he unto me according to thy word.” Good Lord, give us the faith of Mary, that we may perfectly submit to Thy Word and will, regardless of consequences! Perfect submission is the indefeasible fulcrum on which rests the Archimedean lever by which we tilt the world all out of the heart. In this case, you see, Mary must take the risk of the deepest disgrace in worldly estimation and really the liability of martyrdom as the law specified the penalty of death for prostitution in Israel. Mary’s faith here leaps above every intimidation, and soars to the very pinnacle of victory.
39-45. It is about a hundred miles, through a rough, mountainous country, from Nazareth to Jutta, the home of Elizabeth, in the tribe of Judah. Upon the annunciation of Gabriel, and the information in reference to Elizabeth, her relative, Mary immediately set out on that long journey, walking, riding a donkey, or perhaps a camel, in order to visit her at her home. It here says that she came into the hill-country with haste, into a city of Judah. On arrival at the house of Elizabeth, wonderful manifestations of the Divine presence transpire. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Ghost — i.e., the spirit of prophecy comes on her, and she speaks fluently with a loud voice: “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord may come unto me? For, behold, when the voice of thy salutation came into my ears, the infant in my womb leaped with joy. And blessed is she that believeth, because there shall be a perfection unto those things having been spoken unto her by the Lord.” These inspired utterances of Elizabeth, enunciated in the fullness of the Spirit, should raise the faith of every Christian to the acme of full assurance; as we see, positively and unequivocally, that our faith is the measuring line of our experience. There is no reason why the Elizabethan blessing pronounced on Mary may not be appropriated by every disciple of our Lord. O how appropriate the prayer, “Lord, increase our faith!”
46-56. And Mary said: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit doth rejoice in God my Savior: because He hath looked upon the humility of His servant; for, behold, from now, all generations shall call me blessed.” While, of course, we are all to diligently steer clear of the Mariolatry so prominent among the Romanists, yet we must admit that the mother of the Lord, in a most extraordinary sense, is blessed among women, honored far above all others. Well did she predict the encomium pronounced upon her by all generations. This had been the grand aspiration, inspiring millions of Jewish maidens; now she very appropriately realizes this pearl of all blessings within the reach of womanhood: “The Mighty One hath wrought great things; His name is holy; His mercy is to generations of generations of them that fear Him. He hath humiliated the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the humble. He hath filled the poor with good things, and sent away the rich empty. He hath looked upon Israel, His son, to remember mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever.” This brilliant and beautiful prophetical thanksgiving of Mary, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, vividly contrasts the temporal aggrandizement of the worldly with the spiritual blessings and achievements of the saints, its culminating fulfillment realizable at the second coming of our Lord, when all temporal thrones will fall (Daniel 7:9); every monarch doff his crown, forfeit his scepter, preparatory to the coronation of Jesus as “King of kings and Lord of lords;” and the promotion of His bridehood to the thrones, dominions, and principalities of all nations.