Luk 14:15, 1Cor 5:7-8, Rev 19:9 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 15. Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God here means the kingdom which the Messiah was to set up. . The Jews supposed that he would be a temporal prince, and that his reign would be one of great magnificence and splendour. They supposed that the Jews then would be delivered from all their oppressions, and that, from being a degraded people, they would become the most distinguished and happy nation of the earth. To that period they looked forward as one of great happiness. There is some reason to think that they supposed that the ancient just men would then be raised up to enjoy the blessings of the reign of the Messiah. Our Saviour having mentioned the resurrection of the just , this man understood it in the common way of the Jews, and spoke of the peculiar happiness which they expected at that time. The Jews only, he expected, would partake of those blessings. Those notions the Saviour corrects in the parable which follows. (h) "Blessed is he that shall"

Luke 14:15

Verse 15. Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God here means the kingdom which the Messiah was to set up. Mt 3:2. The Jews supposed that he would be a temporal prince, and that his reign would be one of great magnificence and splendour. They supposed that the Jews then would be delivered from all their oppressions, and that, from being a degraded people, they would become the most distinguished and happy nation of the earth. To that period they looked forward as one of great happiness. There is some reason to think that they supposed that the ancient just men would then be raised up to enjoy the blessings of the reign of the Messiah. Our Saviour having mentioned the resurrection of the just, this man understood it in the common way of the Jews, and spoke of the peculiar happiness which they expected at that time. The Jews only, he expected, would partake of those blessings. Those notions the Saviour corrects in the parable which follows.

(h) "Blessed is he that shall" Rev 19:19

1 Corinthians 5:7-8

Verse 7. Purge out therefore, etc. Put away; free yourselves from.

The old leaven. The apostle here takes occasion, from the mention of leaven, to exhort the Corinthians to put away vice and sin. The figure is derived from the custom of the Jews in putting away leaven at the celebration of the passover. By the old leaven he means vice and sin; and also here the person who had committed the sin in their church. As the Jews, at the celebration of the passover, gave all diligence in removing leaven from their houses--searching every part of their dwellings with candles, that they might remove every particle of leavened bread from their habitations--so the apostle exhorts them to use all diligence to search out and remove all sin.

That ye may be a new lump. That you may be like a new mass of flour, or dough, before the leaven is put into it. That you may be pure and free from the corrupting principle.

As ye are unleavened. That is, as ye are bound by your Christian profession to be unleavened, or to be pure. Your very profession implies this, and you ought, therefore, to remove all impurity, and to become holy. Let there be no impurity, and no mixture inconsistent with that holiness which the gospel teaches and requires. The apostle here does not refer merely to the case of the incestuous person, but he takes occasion to exhort them to put away all sin. Not only to remove this occasion of offence, but to remove all impurity, that they might become entirely and only holy. The doctrine is, that Christians are by their profession holy, and that therefore they ought to give all diligence to remove everything that is impure.

For even Christ, etc. As the Jews, when their paschal lamb was slain, gave great diligence to put away all leaven from their dwellings, so we Christians, since our passover is slain, ought to give the like diligence to remove all that is impure and corrupting from our hearts. There can be no doubt here that the paschal lamb was a type of the Messiah; and as little that the leaven was understood to be emblematic of impurity and sin, and that their being required to put it away was intended to be an emblematic action designed to denote that all sin was to be removed and forsaken.

Our passover. Our paschal lamb, for so the word πασχα usually signifies. The sense is, "We Christians have a paschal lamb; and that lamb is the Messiah. And as the Jews, when their paschal lamb was slain, were required to put away all leaven from their dwellings, so we, when our paschal lamb is slain, should put away all sin from our hearts and from our churches." This passage proves that Paul meant to teach that Christ had taken the place of the paschal lamb--that that lamb was designed to adumbrate or typify him--and that consequently when he was offered, the paschal offering was designed to cease. Christ is often in the Scriptures compared to a lamb. See Isa 53:7, Jn 1:29; 1Pet 1:19, Rev 5:6,12.

Is sacrificed for us. Margin, Or slain--ετυθη. The word θυω may mean simply to slay or kill; but it is also used often in the sense of making a sacrifice as an expiation for sin, Acts 14:13,18, 1Cor 10:20. Comp. Gen 31:54, 46:1, Ex 3:18, 5:3,8,17; Ex 8:8,25-29, 13:15, 20:24, where it is used as the translation of the word , to sacrifice. It is used as the translation of this word no less than ninety-eight times in the Old Testament, and perhaps always in the sense of a sacrifice, or bloody offering. It is also used as the translation of the Hebrew word , and , to slay, to kill, etc., in Ex 12:21, 1Kgs 11:19, 2Chr 29:22, etc.; in all, in eleven places in the Old Testament. It is used in a similar sense in the New Testament, in Mt 22:4, Lk 15:23,27,30, Jn 10:10, Acts 10:13, 11:7. It occurs nowhere else in the New Testament than in the places which have been specified. The true sense of the word here is, therefore, to be found in the doctrine respecting the passover. That that was intended to be a sacrifice for sin is proved by the nature of the offering, and by the account which is everywhere given of it in the Old Testament. The paschal lamb was slain as a sacrifice. It was slain in the temple; its blood was poured out as an offering; it was sprinkled and offered by the priests in the same way as other sacrifices. See Ex 23:18, 34:25, 2Chr 30:15,16. And if so, then this passage means that Christ was offered as a sacrifice for sin--in accordance with the numerous passages of the New Testament, which speak of his death in this manner, Rom 3:25; and that his offering was designed to take the place of the paschal sacrifice, under the ancient economy.

For us. For us who are Christians. He died in our stead; and as the Jews, when celebrating their paschal feast, put away all leaven, so we, as Christians, should put away all evil from our hearts, since that sacrifice has now been made once for all.

(*) "Purge" "Cleanse" (e) "Christ" Isa 53:7, 1Pet 1:19, Rev 5:6,12 (1) "sacrificed" "slain" Verse 8. Let us keep the feast. Margin, Holy day--εορταζωμεν. This is language drawn from the paschal feast, and is used by Paul frequently to carry out and apply his illustration. It does not mean literally the paschal supper here--for that had ceased to be observed by Christians--nor the Lord's Supper particularly; but the sense is, "As the Jews when they celebrated the paschal supper, on the slaying and sacrifice of the paschal lamb, put away all leaven as emblematic of sin, so let us, in the slaying of our sacrifice, and in all the duties, institutions, and events consequent thereon, put away all wickedness from our hearts as individuals, and from our societies and churches. Let us engage in the service of God by putting away all evil."

Not with old leaven. Not under the influence, or in the indulgence of the feelings of corrupt and unrenewed human nature. The word leaven is very expressive of that former or old condition, and denotes the corrupt and corrupting passions of our nature before it is renewed.

The leaven of malice. Of unkindness and evil--which would diffuse itself, and invade the mass of Christians. The word malice--κακις--denotes evil in general,

And wickedness. Sin; evil. There is a particular reference here to the case of the incestuous person. Paul means that all wickedness should be put away from those who had been saved by the sacrifice of their passover, Christ; and, therefore, this sin in a special manner.

But with the unleavened bread, etc. That is, with sincerity and truth. Let us be sincere, and true, and faithful; as the Jews partook of bread unleavened, which was emblematic of purity, so let us be sincere and true. It is implied here that this could not be done unless they would put away the incestuous person. No Christians can have or give evidence of sincerity, who are not willing to put away all sin.

(1) "feast" "holyday" (a) "feast" Ex 13:6 (b) "leaven of malice" Mt 16:6,12

Revelation of John 19:9

Verse 9. And he saith unto me. The angel who made these representations to him. See Rev 19:10.

Write, blessed are they. Rev 14:13.

Which are called unto the marriage-supper of the Lamb. The idea of a festival, or a marriage-supper, was a familiar one to the Jews to represent the happiness of heaven, and is frequently found in the New Testament. Compare Lk 14:15; Lk 14:16; Lk 16:22; Lk 22:16; Mt 22:2. The image in the passage before us is that of many guests invited to a great festival.

And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. Confirming all by a solemn declaration. The importance of what is here said; the desirableness of having it fixed in the mind amidst the trials of life and the scenes of persecution through which the church was to pass, makes this solemn declaration proper. The idea is, that in all times of persecution; in every dark hour of despondency, the church, as such, and every individual member of the church, should receive it as a solemn truth never to be doubted, that the religion of Christ would finally prevail, and that all persecution and sorrow here would be followed by joy and triumph in heaven.

(f) "Blessed" Lk 14:15 (g) "supper" Rev 3:20 (h) "These" Rev 22:6