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The Gospel of Jesus Christ According to
St. Matthew Pasquier
Quesnel Translated
by the Rev. Daniel Wilson, D.D., Vicar of Islington and now Bishop of Chapter XXIII. Sect. I. The Chair Of Moses. Proud Rabbins. 1. THEN spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2. Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses seat: Let us learn to look always with respect
on Christ and his authority, even in the most imperfect of his ministers. The
doctrine of truth which God has placed in the church,
loses nothing of its value by the ill lives of its ministers. That which
proceeds from their corrupt will belongs indeed to them, and must be
rejected; but the truth and authority which they have from Christ and his
apostles belong to God, and ought to be inviolable. The faith is not built
upon the lives of pastors, but upon the visible authority of the church, which
warrants nothing but what she has received from Jesus Christ by the hand of
the apostles and their successors. 3. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. It is a very great delusion for men to
reject good doctrine, to refuse obedience, and not to improve by instruction,
under pretence of the ill conduct of their pastors. If these are more to be
condemned for exposing the simple to this temptation, they are not, however,
the less to be believed on this account when they teach sound doctrine. See
here the admirable providence of God, who has been pleased to make the authority
which is to be followed more visible, than the bad example which is to be
avoided; to this end, that the faith and salvation of the illiterate might
not depend either on disquisitions whereof they are not capable, or on the
ill example of some pastors, which might possibly draw them away, if they had
not a visible and standing rule by which they may and ought to judge of their
manners. Let us not without necessity search into the lives of our pastors;
nor approve them when they are manifestly disorderly. The first mark of the
irregular life of a pastor is, his not living
according to those evangelical maxims which he teaches. 4. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. The second mark of the corruption of a
pastor is, his being severe to others and indulgent
to himself. That which is grievous only to corrupt
nature, when left to its own weak ness, is not the heavy burden of which
Christ speaks in this place, but that which a pharisaical
severity or indiscreet ignorance imposes on the weak, contrary either to the
letter or to the spirit of the gospel. Repentance seems not impossible to any
but the impenitent; nor the holy rigour of the gospel grievous to be borne,
except only to carnal and sensual minds. The yoke of it is easy and the
burden light, when God in clines a man to bear them, by inspiring the love of
mortification, and the spirit of repentance. They who preach repentance to
others, and do not perform it themselves, render this yoke more
heavy, and the necessity of it less credible. Nothing is a better
proof that it is not impossible, than to see it practised by those who
recommend it. Gentleness, discretion, and a good example, are necessary
qualifications of a pastor. 5. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, The third mark of a pastor’s irregular
life is, when he affects to appear righteous, and a great observer of the
law, as the Pharisees did, in wearing larger phylacteries, or borders of
parchment, in which the words of the law were written, and longer fringes,
which were a mark of distinction from the Gentiles, or a sign of greater
piety. There is a medium between a humility which would hide, and a vanity
which would make a show of every thing; we must endeavour to find it. A
pastor owes an example; but it is an example of humility, as much, and more
than of any thing else. A man must have the love of the law engraven in his heart, to be a true observer of it in the
sight of God. An exactness without ostentation, and
works the sole end of which is God, are the things whereby the people must be
edified. He who labours only to gain the esteem of
men, has nothing to expect from God but the punishment of his vanity. Singularity
in dress is suspicious and blamable; but modesty is
no part of singularity, how singular soever the
torrent of vanity and extravagance may make it appear. 6. And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues. The fourth sign that a pastor’s life is
not regular is, when he loves to have the chief place. For it is one certain
mark of a Pharisee to be always desirous of distinguishing himself from
others, either in the sacred ministry, or in the conversation of civil life. A
man may take the first place when it is due to his dignity or rank; he ought
sometimes to take it, that he may not give up a right with which he is only
in trusted; and he may likewise accept it when offered by civility; but he
must never seek it, or be greatly delighted with it, out of a love of
preference. 7. And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. The fifth mark of a pastor’s irregularity
is, his loving public honours. The sixth and last, his being vainly pleased
with great names and titles. It is a misfortune to weak and imperfect
Christians, to be in a rank and station to which some extraordinary honours
are affixed. They are puffed up when they receive them; provoked when they
are not given; they require them with haughtiness, possess them with
fondness, defend them with heat, lose them with grief and regret, and pursue
the recovery of them with greediness and fierceness. Sect. II. God The Only Father, Christ The
Only Master. 8. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. The church is the only school of truth,
where Jesus Christ alone teaches it. He only is the Master men are but his ministers
or servants. It is their mouth indeed which opens, their tongue which speaks,
their words which are heard; but the doctrine which they teach is his, they
find it in his word, by his authority they preach it, and by his Spirit it is
learned and understood. God’s truth and word are an inheritance common to all
the brethren. He who would seize it to his own advantage or honour, and
deprive his brethren of the use of it, is a usurper of the patrimony of the
church. Pastors ought to preach the word with the charity and meekness, and the
faithful to hear it with the concord and unity, of brethren: for “all ye are
brethren.” 9. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. The church is one family, of which God
alone is the Father; from whom all the children, begotten by his word and
Spirit, receive a new life. No man partakes of God’s quality of Father, but
only so far as he partakes of his power, authority, and charity, to breed up
children for him, according to the order of nature, of civil life, and of
grace. 10. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even Christ. A true Christian should hearken only to
Christ in his word and ministers; an humble pastor
desires to be heard, only as the disciple of this Teacher, and the servant of
this Master. Jesus Christ is the sole Teacher of righteousness, foretold by the
prophets; because he alone is the internal Master, who, being the word,
light, and eternal truth, illuminates every created mind, and discovers all
truth; and who, as Saviour and Deliverer, speaks to the heart by his Spirit,
and teaches it the truth by causing it to love it. 11. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. Humility preserves the graces we have
received; charity makes them subservient to the good of our neighbour. All conditions
in the world are not equal; and even in the sacred ministry there are
different degrees; but humility either renders all equal in God’s sight, or
places below others those who were above them. When a man possesses greatness
only to enjoy it himself, and to place his felicity therein, he possesses it
as a heathen. When he receives it with confusion, and a sense of his own
unworthiness, and looks on it as a means of serving others, he then possesses
it as a Christian. All advancement is dangerous; because nothing is so
necessary, and yet so rare and uncommon a thing, as humility. 12. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. Humility is the certain way to substantial
greatness; abasement, the unavoidable punishment of pride. According to the
preceding words, a man exalts himself, and deserves to be abased, when, being
in a high station, he neglects to abase himself by a true humility of heart,
and to make his great ness serviceable to his neighbour, according to God’s design;
how much more then does he exalt himself, and deserve to be abased, when he
ambitiously seeks honours, and endeavours to raise himself to the highest preferments! Here is matter sufficient in this place to
comfort those who are humbled, either by their own virtue, or by the pride of
others; but there is likewise enough to make everybody tremble; humility being
so strange and unsupportable a thing to those who are in the highest, and so
difficult even to those who are in the lowest condition. Sect. III. Hypocritical Teachers. 13. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in your selves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. As Jesus Christ has delivered eight
beatitudes, so he pronounces here as many woes against hypocrites. Having now
no manner of reason to treat these men gently, to whom, as persons abandoned
to their own blindness, he designs to speak no more, he here discovers their
envy and hypocrisy, that he may hinder them from being hurtful to others. Strange
corruption! that men, obliged by their state and
profession to promote the knowledge and love of Christ, should do the quite contrary,
by decrying those who are employed in his work, and amusing souls with
unprofitable and superstitious practices. It is a great sin in any Christian
whatever, out of envy, thus to oppose the salvation of souls, and the designs
of God concerning them; but it is one of the greatest causes of malediction
on envious and hypocritical ministers. If it be a great misfortune, not to
enter into the kingdom of heaven; it is the greatest of all, to hinder others
also from entering. They hinder others from entering, who decry good men who might
serve as guides; who dispense with the exercises of repentance, which is the
gate; and weaken the rules of the gospel, which is the way thither. 14. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Avarice and hypocrisy very seldom go apart
in ecclesiastical persons. When their heart is once corrupted by them, the
more wealth they heap together, the greater treasure of wrath they lay up for
themselves. Will widows never learn to mistrust hypocrites? Give to
hospitals, to prisons, to those who are ashamed to ask, and above all to poor
relations: this is the way to avoid the snares of such as are only pretenders
to devotion, but who are really devoted to nothing but their own interest. 15. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Vanity and false zeal often cover
themselves under the pretence of God’s glory. We must carefully endeavour to
discern those who seek their own; but we must not judge of them without
evidence, or without utility. One single soul, redeemed by Christ, well
deserves the utmost pains of the most considerable ministers of the church. Endeavours
of this nature are sometimes the sacrifice of a perfect charity, some times
the effort of a complete hypocrisy. It is a matter of the last importance, to
take care not to put any confidence in a seducer, whose maxims and example
can serve only to corrupt the heart the more. The false maxims, prejudices,
and calumnies of some spiritual directors, do generally pass into their
disciples, and take deeper root in their minds; which renders them more blamable, instead of excusing them. 16. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! The covetous man always gives the
preference to the object of his lust; gold has still the first place in his
heart. That person’s zeal is more than to be suspected, who recommends those
good works most from which he receives most advantage. A man ought to take
great care to purify his intention, and to secure himself from the least
suspicion of acting by motives of interest, when he solicits offerings,
foundations, gifts to the church, etc., which he must not do, but when there
is a necessity for them. 17. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? Jesus Christ gives covetous ecclesiastics
particularly, the names of fools and blind, because it is the most apparent blindness
of mind, and the most deplorable corruption of heart, to make religion
subservient to avarice, to value that most in it which it teaches them most
to despise, and to form all their notions of it according to their own
irregular desires. In all true religion, the temple is the fountain of the
sanctity which is therein: in the Jewish, the temple where God was present;
in the Christian, Jesus Christ the true temple, wherein the fulness of the Godhead dwells, from whence every thing
which is offered to God, and even the heart which offers it, receives its
sanctification; in the religion of heaven, “the Lord God Almighty, and the
Lamb, who are the temple” of glory, and the source of consummate holiness. (Rev.
xxi. 22.) 18. And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but who soever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. A blind casuist is guilty of four sins: The
first consists in authorizing irreligious oaths, and dissembling the abuse of
them. The second, in turning both to his own advantage. The third, in
dispensing with an obligation of divine right. And the fourth, in overturning
the order of religion and the duties of it, and confounding the notions
thereof. A casuist ought to be entirely free from worldly interest,
thoroughly instructed in religion, and extremely cautious how he invades the
least of God’s rights; without these qualifications he ruins all. 19. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Every victim is sanctified by the altar. The
person of the Word, to whom the holy humanity of Christ was united, is as it
were a divine altar, which not only sanctifies the victim, but also renders
it divine and adorable. It is the business of faith to discover in this
general maxim the foundation of the church’s religion and worship, which
consists in adoring God by Jesus Christ. Nothing is worthy of God but what is
sanctified by this altar; nothing should be offered to him which has not been
purified, elevated, and consecrated, by its union with Christ. It is by the
faith and charity of the heart which makes the offering, that this union is
made, this is that which we must always endeavour to establish and perfect in
souls. 20. Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. We must be careful, not to swear even by
the creature. They are more or less holy, in proportion to the relation which they have to God; and the oath is so much the more criminal,
as it more profanes the holiness of which they partake. Would to God we could
never look on the creatures, without considering their relation to the
Creator, how much of his perfections he communicates to them, how he is
present in them, the use which he would make of them, and which he would have
us make for his service, and the circumspection and regard with which we
ought to do it. Sect. IV. The Gnat And Camel. Outside Of
The Cup. Whited Sepulchres. 23. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. To be exact in little external things, and
to omit such as are essential to religion and piety, what is this but to
deceive ourselves? The devil has more than one sort of snares. He has some
for the licentious; and some also for the devout. Unhappy is that man who
rests secure in a vain and conceited exactness about the niceties of devotion,
instead of applying himself to his proper duties, to the reformation of his heart,
and to the faithful observation of justice and charity toward his neighbour,
and of whatever faith and religion re quire toward God, this is a kind of
delusion more dangerous to some souls than an open temptation to sin. 24. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. See here the false tenderness of
conscience, which serves only to nourish pride and vanity, and to deceive the
sinner by an appearance of good. One man is extremely concerned at the
omission of a prayer, or of some arbitrary practice, which he has imposed on
himself, who takes no care to correct his vicious habits of anger, evil-speaking,
lying, slandering, luxury, immodesty, and the like. Another would not take from
his neighbour the value of a gnat or fly, who robs the poor of a sum or heap
as big as a camel, by his covetousness, vain expenses, ill use of
ecclesiastical revenues, etc. 25. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. The heart is the seat of virtue and vice;
it is by the heart that we please or displease God. In vain do men hinder their
corruption from appearing outwardly, that they may not lose the esteem of
men, if their heart be corrupt in the sight of God, through the love of sin
and through criminal desires. A true penitent acts
quite contrary; he uses his utmost endeavours to cleanse his heart by the
love of God, and the hatred of sin; and is willing to bear the shame and
confusion of his misery before men. 26. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. External purity proceeds only from the
internal; from within it diffuses itself without. He who seeks the applause of
the world, is but little concerned about his inward part. It is a blindness,
which is very common, for men to think that they have fulfilled the
commandments of God when they have performed the outward part. Obedience to
the law must flow from the fountain-head, which is charity. When the love of God
is its inward principle, and his glory its end, then the outside is clean;
but without this, it is nothing but hypocrisy and false righteousness. 27. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. How many Christians are there in name and
in appearance; how few in spirit and in truth! A great many have not the virtues
which they seem to have; and have even the contrary vices. There is nothing
of greater importance, than to examine and know ourselves thoroughly in this
regard; since it is concerning this that we shall be examined and judged at the
tribunal of God. When this whiteness, with which the wall is at present
covered, shall be taken off, and the naked heart appear as it is, my God! of what use will it then be to have deceived men by
concealing its rottenness, but only to overwhelm it with greater confusion
and a more terrible judgment! 28. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. God leaves the outward appearance to men;
the heart he reserves to himself. This is the temple in which he will be served
and adored, and the seat of Christian piety. Dreadful is the judgment, and
miserable the condition, when men are abandoned to this passion of desiring
to hide the filthiness of a corrupt heart under the veil of a false
righteousness; there being nothing more apt to increase pride, and to render
it incurable. If the best of men find so much difficulty in weaning
themselves from the vain desire of the esteem of the world, how shall a
hypocrite ever recover from it, whose whole application and only study it is
to attract and secure it! 29. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30. And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31. Where fore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. The Pharisees thought themselves very far
from the injustice and cruelty of those who had killed the prophets; and yet
were themselves at the same time contriving the
death of Christ. Let men condemn the conduct of the wicked ever so much with
their mouth; if they imitate it, they approve it. They who praise the saints,
and yet persecute those who resemble them, arraign themselves. Men are ready
enough to extol the righteous of former ages, and to blame their persecutors,
there being now nothing to fear or hope from those who are dead. But for the
sake of a very small interest, they will, without any scruple, join with the
world against good men of the present age. Grant, Lord, that our opinions and
conduct may be directed by thy word and interests, and not by the corruption
of our own heart, or by the spirit of the world! Sect. V. The Measure Of Iniquity.
Jerusalem A Murdering City. 32. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? God cannot either commend or approve of
sin, because he is infinitely good; but he can abandon and give up the sinner
to his wickedness, because he is infinitely just. Miserable is the state of
him who has filled up the measure of his crimes. To be deaf to the truth, to
oppose it out of interest, envy, and jealousy, and to persecute those who
preach it, are gene rally the last sins. There is a certain measure of grace
and mercy, after which God leaves his justice to take its course: this
measure is known only to him. When a man is about to commit any sin, he ought
to fear that that very sin will be the last to fill up the measure; but after
the commission of it, he should hope that it is not, and repent of it. This
is the only means to escape the damnation of hell; but how rare is the grace
of repentance after a pharisaical life, such as our
blessed Saviour has here represented it! 34. Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and same of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: The gifts of God in his saints serve only
to increase the damnation of those who are left to their own blindness and wickedness.
It is an instance of the favour and blessing of God on an age and country,
when he bestows on it some eminent saints, some pastors full of zeal, wisdom,
and knowledge; but wo to those who, by persecuting
these saints and pastors, change this favour and blessing into judgment and
malediction! All private persons contribute to this misfortune by their sins,
and therefore they ought all to avert it by their repentance. 35. That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. The resemblance which the crimes of
children bear to those of their fathers, draws upon
them the same punishments. There is, in the life of a wicked man, a chain of
sins linked one to another, from the beginning to the end of it, which altogether
cause his reprobation; so in proportion in a nation, in a community, and
particularly in the body of the Jews. Abel, the first righteous man, slain by
his brother out of envy, and Zacharias the priest,
stoned on the account of his zeal in speaking the truth, are two figures of
Jesus Christ, and of the causes of his death. 36. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. So terrible is the justice of God, that
when he punishes a sinner, he seems to punish all sins in him. God in mercy foretells
his judgments, confirms the prediction by a kind of oath, represents the
rigour, and points out the time of them; but the sinner’s obduracy turns this
mercy into a new treasure of wrath. 37. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Unbelieving Jerusalem is an emblem of the
sinner. How great must the tenderness of Christ for his elect be, since he shows
so much for these obdurate hearts! God earnestly desires the sinner’s repentance,
since he causes it to be preached to him by so many
persons, and in so many different manners; but the sinner will not hear. Wretched
will! of which man is so fond and jealous; and which
yet, by reason of its corruption, is good for nothing but to resist and
oppose the will of God! But thou, Lord, canst overcome the resistance
whenever thou pleasest. Thou givest
way to it when thy justice requires it; thou subduest
it when thy mercy inclines thee thereto. 38. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. The Jewish people, left to the justice of
God, even to the end of the world, are a dreadful instance of the punishment of
sin. When men seek to avoid the loss of worldly goods by forsaking God, they
are themselves forsaken by him; and his justice often takes away that which
they endeavoured to secure at the expense of their fidelity. In what a sad
condition is a heart, when God withdraws himself from it, when his hand leaves
it to itself, when the eyes of its faith are closed, and it sees neither
Christ, nor his truth, nor its own duty! Jesus, let not this miserable heart
be mine! Let it never lose sight of thee! Let thy light continually shine upon
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