11 wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them: All men 12 cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs which were so born from their mother's womb; and there are some eunuchs which were made eunuchs of men; and there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

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Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray; and the disciples re14 buked them. But Jesus said: Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom

tion of the husband with his wife. The disciples talked as Jews, full of the notions of their times. If, said they, marriage has this binding tenure, it is better to remain single. It is a striking proof of the truth of the Gospels, that there is no concealment of the errors, and follies, and sins of the Apostles; but they are depicted just as they were, obtuse and blinded, but honest.

11. All men cannot receive this saying. All cannot practise this saying, and abstain from marriage. Save they to whom it is given. Or, who are disinclined, from their natural constitution, or other causes, to marry. 1 Cor. vii. 7.

12. Were so born. Those who were indisposed to marriage from their birth. Which were made, &c. The word eunuchs is here used in its literal sense; but in the previous and subsequent places figuratively. Which have made themselves, &c. Who have, from choice, from religious motives, for the sake of promoting God's kingdom, by their greater exemption from private cares, abstained from marriage. No personal violence is spoken of here. It is supposed that reference was made, in this clause, to the Essenes, who voluntarily lived in celibacy. - Able to receive it. Referring to the words above, in verse 11.

Let him who can live without marriage, if such be his preference, live without it. No peculiar holiness is here attached to an unmarried life by Jesus.

13-29. Parallel to Mark x. 1330; Luke xviii. 15–30.

13. That he should put his hands on them, and pray. It was customary among the Jews, to lay the hands on a person's head, in whose behalf a prayer was offered. Gen. xlviii. 14; 2 Kings v. 11. This is one of the most beautiful passages in our Saviour's history. Though occupied with healing the sick, preaching to the multitude, disciplining his followers, and, chief of all, with the fearful anticipation of his hastening fate at Jerusalem, he yet had time and affectionate thoughts to bestow on those little innocents, that were the purest images of his divine kingdom. But the disciples, perhaps impatient under the interruption, or deeming it beneath their Master's dignity to notice and caress children, repulsed them. They may have been stimulated the more to this harshness, from the lesson, which had been before deduced from childhood, against their ambition. Matt. xviii. 2. The sight of children had become distasteful.

14. A similar sentiment is taught

of heaven. And he laid his hands on them, and departed 15 thence.

And, behold, one came and said unto him: Good Master, 16 what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And 17 he said unto him: Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. But if thou wilt enter into life,

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18 keep the commandments. He saith unto him: Which? Jesus said: "Thou shalt do no murder; Thou shalt not commit adultery; Thou shalt not steal; Thou shalt not bear false 19 witness; Honor thy father and thy mother; " and "Thou 20 shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." The young man saith unto him All these things have I kept from my youth up; what 21 lack I yet? Jesus said unto him: If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor; and thou shalt 22 have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful; 23 for he had great possessions.

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ferred him to God, as the sum of all excellence, and to his commandments, as the way of life eternal.

18, 19. Which? This question shows that he wished to fix on some particular one, as of saving efficacy. Have we not here an instance of a desire that has appeared in all ages, of doing some one thing to save the soul, rather than of complying with the whole circle of God's laws? Thou shalt do no murder, &c. Ex. xx. 12-16; Lev. xix. 18. The Saviour here gives specimens of the commandments, rather than enumerates all that were essential. Thy neighbor as thyself. As means comparatively, not absolutely like.

20. Kept from my youth up. Rather, from my childhood up; for he was yet a young man. He thought well of himself, but yet felt the want of something more, and, with the spirit of inquiry, rather than of boasting, he asked, What lack I yet? From Mark we learn, that Jesus, when he heard this evidence of his exemplary life, beholding him, loved him," but said, "One thing thou lackest."

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Then said Jesus unto his

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of wealth, distribute your property among the destitute, and thus attain leisure from worldly concerns serve as my disciple in preaching the Gospel, and thou shalt possess a richer treasure in heaven than any earthly fortune. No more was required of him in selling all that he had, than of the other persons whom Jesus had called to be his attendants and Apostles, except that his estate was larger. Matthew left all, Luke v. 28, and Peter says the same of the whole company, verse 27.

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22. Went away sorrowful. graphic stroke of the Evangelist's pencil. The young man had been put to the proof, and found wanting in that spirit of self-sacrifice and renunciation required by Christianity. He might have an amiable and upright character, but the fountains of the great spiritual deep had not been opened in his soul. He did not yet see that the grand, towering, heavenly good of life consisted in supreme love to God and man, however fortunes might come or go. His great possessions were the grave of his spirit. He retires sorrowful, as we may suppose, with hanging head, and sad countenance, and slow and heavy steps, and heavier heart. No high promptings of the better nature can be resisted without sorrow. It is goodness, not

disciples Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, 24 it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his 25 disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying: Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said 26 unto them: With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. Then answered Peter, and said unto 27 him: Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them: Verily 28

selfishness, that is light-hearted and serenely happy. The so called gay life of folly and sin is the saddest of all lives, for the inner heart is cold and leaden.

23. Jesus converts the occasion into a lesson of warning against the moral dangers of riches. A rich man. Explained in Mark by "them that trust in riches." Shall hardly enter. Shall with difficulty enter. The rich are tempted to trust in their riches as the supreme good. They were therefore disinclined, more than the poor, from entering into the service of Christ on earth, and thence into the spiritual life of heaven. We read of only two rich men who became disciples of Jesus, and that, too, secretly; and the declaration of Jesus stands confirmed by the accumulated experience of centuries. Religion has scarcely any mightier foe to contend with than wealth and its natural concomitants. Matt. xiii. 22; 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10.

became disciples of our Lord. The moral dangers of riches are, that they will engross time and the affections to the exclusion of nobler things, and lead to fraud, oppression, and covetousness in their acquisition, and in their possession and use engender pride, luxury, and dissipation, or congeal the whole man with a contracted, icy avarice.

25. Exceedingly amazed. Because they looked for a temporal kingdom, in which wealth would be an important element.

26. Jesus beheld them. A description of the mingled astonishment and earnestness of his manner as he looked on them. Who then, i. e. what rich man. With God all things are possible. Surprised as you are at the strength of my assertion, impossible as it may seem to human apprehension, and as it concerns human power, yet by divine aid, by the motives of the Gospel, even the rich, with all their temptations to worldliness, may be quickened in the spiritual life.

27. We have forsaken all, &c. Peter's question refers to verse 21. Jesus had directed the young man to go and sell all, to relieve the poor; and the inquiry naturally arises, What reward shall we have, who have left our houses, families, and callings, to follow you? It was an inquisitive, not a boastful spirit

I say unto you, that which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes 29 of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred-fold, and 30 shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall

be last; and the last shall be first.