thedirtysailor.com

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/mcgarvey/gospels.vii.xi.html

24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

The two masters here are God and mammon. What is mammon? It was a common term to represent wealth. Jesus is personifying “wealth”, or perhaps the pursuit of wealth, as a master. How do you serve this idea, this inanimate object? Really, the pursuit of wealth is the pursuit of self. In the same way that an athlete sets a goal for himself – “to run a marathon”, and then devotes all of his energy to accomplishing the goal, the master isn’t the marathon, it is the athlete. That’s why we call it “self-discipline”. To pursue wealth is to set a goal and then pursue it. So the two masters in this sentence are really “God” and “self”.

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/mcgarvey/gospels.vii.x.html

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces

The fast is designed for an inward change: a time of meditation, reflection, self-examination. It seems quite disingenuous for this practice to be turned around into a public spectacle.

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/mcgarvey/gospels.vii.ix.html

45 that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.

That’s part of the miracle of this whole thing – that the Just and the Unjust are treated the same. Job found that out. Solomon found that out. Jesus is explaining it here. He says, you don’t get rewarded here on earth for the good things that you do, or the way that you live within the confines of the law. Instead, look for your reward in the Kingdom of Heaven to come.

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/mcgarvey/gospels.vii.viii.html

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.

Cities are built on the tops of hills to make them easier to defend: the attackers must climb uphill, exposed, before reaching the walls of the city. Churches / Christians are sometimes like that: we can set ourselves apart and build a little moat around our lives so that any bad influence that comes at us can be seen and defended against. But oh, how pernicious those influences are, and they have a way of tunneling under the moat to reach us.

Cities are also built on the tops of hills to show them off. Everyone in the surrounding countryside can see the city, set upon the hill. And again, if we call attention to ourselves (for good), then everyone around us will be able to see our lives and our character as well.

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/mcgarvey/gospels.vii.vii.html

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

There must be emptiness before there can be fullness, and so poverty of spirit precedes riches and grace in the kingdom of God.

The commentary is extra-textural, of course, but I do like the line here. It’s just one of those “obvious” statements that is obvious after you read it, not always before.

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/mcgarvey/gospels.vii.vi.html

19 And all the multitude sought to touch him; for power came forth from him, and healed them all.

Power and healing authenticate the message. The people followed Jesus because he could heal them – not just one or two, but all. I wonder how many revival-tent preachers would attempt to heal all the people under their canvas roof?

But Jesus’ message is not primarily for the people, it is for his disciples, as we shall see in the next section.

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/mcgarvey/gospels.vii.v.html

14 And he appointed twelve, that they might be with him

Jesus appoints twelve men out of the many followers, that they might be with him. It is this close living which sustains through the rigors of discipleship and creates an apostle. To be “with Jesus” would be the greatest honor.

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/mcgarvey/gospels.vii.iv.html

9 And he spake to his disciples, that a little boat should wait on him because of the crowd, lest they should throng him: 10 for he had healed many; insomuch that as many as plagues pressed upon him that they might touch him. [Literally, they “fell upon him;” such was their eagerness to be healed by touching him.]

Jesus the healer is so pressed upon that the masses “fall upon” him. That’s an image that I hadn’t considered.

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/mcgarvey/gospels.vii.iii.html

Stretch forth thy hand. ^c And he did so: ^a he stretched it forth; and it ^b his hand was restored.

There’s something that boggles my mind here: the pharisees were trying to catch Jesus breaking the sabbath laws, and so they entice him to heal a man so that they can claim he is doing “work” on the sabbath. The fact that they are not just astounded by his miraculous works is surprising.

So Jesus pulls a swerve on them here, because he doesn’t actually do anything to heal the man, just says “stretch out your hand.” The man does so and his hand is healed. Jesus didn’t touch him, or wave his wand, or anything like that, just spoke to him.

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/mcgarvey/gospels.vii.ii.html

Or have ye not read in the law,

But I say unto you…

Jesus explicitly presents his own authority as being on a par with the OT law. His “but I say unto you” is intended to correct the pharisees’ misunderstanding and misapplication of the OT law regarding work. He does not refer to other authorities but to himself.