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/ Quesnel’s Moral Reflections / Gospel of St. Matthew
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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 IX. Sect. I. The Paralytic Healed. 1. AND he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. Wo
to those whom God hears as he heard the Gergesenes,
abandoning them to their own desires, and to temporal felicity, according to their
wishes! Miserable condition: to imagine we can be happy when Jesus Christ
departs from us, or withdraws his light, and his ministers, because they
disturbed our false repose and our passions. 2. And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. The paralytic is an emblem of the total
inability into which sin has cast us, and of which Jesus Christ alone can
heal us. Faith, charity, and the prayers of the church, obtain from him our
cure. See here the confidence which a sinner should have. Christ goes to the
source of the evil which is sin; and to that we ought also to run back in all
our maladies. It is probable that this pious sick man did, by his desires,
beg the cure of his soul, leaving the care of his body to others, since
Christ heals the soul before the body. Few are there who imitate him. When we
seek, before all things, to please God by our piety, he inspires others with
the care of our temporal necessities. 3. And, behold, certain of the scribe said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. The learned who are proud and conceited,
are also blind, unbelieving, slanderers, envious, and obdurate. They call good
evil, and abuse and pervert every thing. Christ has no manner of regard to
the offence taken by a Pharisee, which he knew would happen. He does the
good, though he fore sees the abuse of it. Let us also not omit works of
charity or justice, on the account of the evil disposition of the pre tenders
to devotion, the openly profane, or of men of corrupt knowledge. Light serves
only to blind and lead men out of the way, when it is not joined with
uprightness of heart. The most sacred truths become often an occasion of
delusion, where men are under the government of their passions. 4. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? The meekness of Jesus Christ shows itself
on all occasions in his conduct and behaviour. He sounds the secrets of every
heart. No sin escapes his knowledge. How senseless is the sinner, to think he
sins securely when unseen by men! Let us fear that Judge who sees the bottom
of the heart better than we do ourselves. If we put this question to ourselves
concerning all our thoughts, how many of them should we find unjust, rash,
foolish, unfit for God to behold, and unserviceable to any good purpose. Let
us watch over our mind; and, by judging and correcting ourselves, let us
prevent the judgment and manifestation thereof which God will one day make. 5. For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? External miracles are proofs of internal,
and of invisible effects. Every thing is equally easy to him who can do every
thing by the sole act of his will; but extraordinary and miraculous effects
are the necessary proof of an extraordinary mission, and of that authority
which a man takes upon him self as coming from God. 6. But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. That man’s sins are forgiven him who is
converted; and the proof of his conversion is to imitate this paralytic
healed of his distemper. He who cannot rise and stand upright, but either
continues grovelling on the earth, or falls back as soon as he gets up, is
not yet cured of his spiritual palsy. The sinner’s bed is every thing which
he loves, and in which he finds his rest and satisfaction upon earth, his
criminal inclinations, and the objects of his passions; a true conversion
takes up and carries away every thing of this nature. When we see a penitent
walk in the way of the commandments, enter into his own heart, there to rest in
the enjoyment of his God, and not go out thence any more to run after the
creatures, we may then conclude that his conversion is perfect. 7. And he arose, and departed to his house. Thou art obeyed, Lord, the very moment in
which thou commandest, because it is thou who workest what thou dost command. Speak after this manner
to my heart, and it will then have motion and strength to raise itself toward
thee, to go unto thee, and to rest in thee, who art the house and bed of its
everlasting rest. 8. But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. That which to the doctors of the law is a
matter of scandal, is to the humble an occasion of glorifying God. Divine
things make a deeper impression upon the heart of the ignorant multitude,
than on that of doctors puffed up with their own learning. How much more
ought we to bless and glorify God, for so many invisible wonders which he
works in the saints and in ourselves? The conversion of one heart, which is
rebellious and paralytical as to all good, is more
to be ad mired than all the miracles which God performs on inanimate
creatures. Sect. II. Matthew Called. 9. And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. The call to conversion seems often a
matter of chance; though it be really an effect of
divine election. The whole happiness of a soul frequently depends on its
being immediately obedient to the voice of God, and following his first call.
What cannot the word of Christ, joined with grace, work on the heart? God, in
calling all sorts of persons to faith and piety, makes it evident that he is
the master both of the work and of the workmen. A profession which is very painful, excites and nourishes covetousness; and the
management of the public money, increases the affection toward earthly
riches; but what bonds dost thou not break, my God, when thou designest to show mercy? 10. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. It scarcely belongs to any but Christ to
converse familiarly with the greatest sinners in order to convert them. We
ought to decline the impulse of a false zeal, which often induces souls as
yet weak to undertake this work; but we must not refuse to become instruments
of Providence, in saving the most abandoned, when that engages us in it. The
facility and goodness of Christ, in bearing with a company so opposite to his
own holiness, condemns the proud disdain of the great pretenders to devotion.
11. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? The pretenders to devotion are envious and
jealous of the care which any one takes of sinners. A good Christian must
expect to see his best actions interpreted ill and condemned. Such a one
follows the impulse of humility and charity, with out regarding the discourses
of the world. Envy is cowardly and timorous, and not daring to apply itself
directly to the Master who would confound it, it
endeavours to surprise the disciples, and to take advantage of their
weakness. 12. But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Jesus Christ comes to the assistance of
the weak when they are attacked on his account. Here are four necessary
instructions: (1.) That Jesus is the sovereign Physician of souls. (2.) That
all stand in need of him. (3.) That we must acknowledge our own diseases, and
the need we have of Christ, if we desire to be healed by him. (4.) That it is
the greatest of all our maladies to think ourselves whole, this being in
effect to renounce Jesus Christ. It belongs to thee, Lord, both to make us
sensible of our diseases and wants, and to oblige us to have recourse to
thyself. 13. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Nothing is more conducive to the
instruction and humiliation of pretenders to devotion, and true Pharisees,
than to show them that they understand neither Scripture nor religion, when,
relying on external performances, they neglect charity, which is the very
soul and substance of it. If this inward sacrifice
accompany not the outward, the latter provokes God instead of
appeasing him. It is an act of religion and a sacrifice, to assist the poor
with regard to Christ as present in them. True holiness consists not in
external things, but in faith animated and working by love. It is our great
comfort, Jesus, that thou art come to call sinners. Call us, we beseech thee,
to repentance; but do it with that strong and powerful voice which always
makes itself heard. Sect. III. Fasting. New Cloth. Old
Vessels. 14. Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? Self-conceit and contempt of our neighbour
do generally proceed from external mortifications.
The humble man looks not on the life of his neighbour, but only in order to
imitate the good which he observes therein. Good and well-meaning persons do
sometimes unwarily fall in with the passions of Pharisees, and are misled by
their calumnies. A secret jealousy between the disciples of different
(masters) opens the heart to evil-speaking. Charity is the internal way
wherein all ought to walk; but there are several external ways which lead to
God; every one is to follow the path in which he has set him, without blaming
that of others. 15. And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. The life of Jesus Christ on earth was a
time of indulgence. The present life of Christians is a time of mourning and
mortification. Every soul has its time of pleasure and consolation, and its
time of exercise and trial; the one ought to be a preparation for the other.
In the former, a man should fortify himself against the time of combat; in
the latter, he should learn not to misemploy that of peace. Fasting includes
all sorts of privations and pains. When God suffers the church to be
persecuted, he thereby gives her to under stand that she is a widow upon
earth, and that she ought to mourn in expectation of the bridegroom who has
been taken from her. Every Christian soul is really a widow and desolate, if
by faith it becomes thoroughly sensible of the absence of its Lord, and
earnestly desires his return. 16. No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment; for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Christian and pastoral prudence require, that the weak and the newly-converted should be
managed with care and tender ness. He does not flatter, but assist the
sinner, who endeavours to inure and reconcile the old man by degrees to the
yoke of Christ. It is a very great imprudence to neglect this conduct, so
recommended here by the great director of souls. We take great care not to
spoil the least trifle, which may be at all serviceable to us any longer, and
we have often little or no regard to a soul, which is so precious in the
sight of God, and created to serve him eternally. The wounds which we give it
by a wrong and too precipitate a conduct are
sometimes incurable. 17. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. To impose the yoke of such exercises and
mortifications as are not absolutely necessary, before God has changed and
renewed the heart, is no other than to endeavour to prevent his grace. Men
sometimes cause a soul to lose that portion of grace which it had, by urging
it too soon to engage in the ways of perfection, of which it is not as yet
capable. Very auspicious beginnings, and great hopes of conversion, even as to
a whole people, are often ruined by men proceeding too hastily, by their
endeavouring to make their own designs take place, and to have the honour of
that success themselves which is due only to God. It is a great degree of
knowledge, to be able to observe and follow the motions of grace, on which
all depends, and which commonly performs its work by degrees, and step by
step, in the souls of particular persons, and almost always in a great
people. Give, Lord, the Spirit of thy con duct to the ministers of thy work,
that they may know how to manage and improve thy interests in the souls of
men, without the least damage to them. Sect. IV. The Daughter Of Jairus Raised. The Bloody Issue
Healed. 18. While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. There are four conditions of a good
prayer: (1.) A man ought to place himself in the presence of God, and to
approach him by faith. (2.) To humble himself sincerely. (3.) To lay open his
wants with a holy earnestness. (4.) To have confidence in the goodness of
Christ, and in the virtue of his holy humanity, which is
the source of all the holiness of Christians. The mysterious
imposition of hands, used by Christ in bodily cures, represents the sovereign
authority of Jesus Christ, the inward touches of his grace, the communication
of his merits, and the effusion of his Spirit. 19. And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples. Jesus, though able to act as well absent
as present, appears upon the place, to teach his ministers not to spare
either their steps or their pains, when the salvation of a soul is in
question. He rises up, to show them that they must
quit their repose and ease, to go in search of souls which are dead in sin.
When a pastor, praying earnestly for a soul, of which he is the father, calls
Jesus Christ to his succour, he ought to hope that he will rise and follow
him. 20. And behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: There is nothing in Christ but what is
sanctifying. God sometimes makes little things instrumental to the cure of
the most shameful and inveterate habits, to illustrate his grace, and to give
confidence to sinners. This is a representation of the natural shame which
persons have to discover sins of impurity; of the unworthiness of those who,
before their being cleansed from them, approach holy things; and of the
humility of a true penitent, who aspires only to “touch the hem of his
garment,” in reading his word, in meditating on the most humble part of his
life and mysteries, and in imitating him by the mortifying exercises of
repentance. 21. For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. Faith renders the meanest and weakest
things efficacious, and full of virtue to us. Faith
is so much the greater, as it is fixed on the less things.
Nothing is more simple than that which composes the
outward signs of the sacraments; and yet there is nothing which contains
greater remedies and richer treasures than the sacraments themselves. 22. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. Christ grants every thing to prayer made
with faith and humility. God never fails to turn, and cast the eyes of his
mercy upon a penitent, who, out of humility, dares not lift his eyes toward
him. How much to blame is the sinner, to distrust the goodness of God, who
comes to meet him with so much mildness, and who himself encourages him under
his dejection! Let us firmly believe that we can do, and that we merit
nothing; that God can do every thing for us and in us; and that he delights
to exercise this power upon the most un worthy. Faith is that which a sinner
must bring along with him to repentance and to prayer. 23. And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, How often, on the death of relations, do
men encumber and perplex themselves with vain, worldly, tumultuous, and un
profitable ceremonies, instead of making in silence profitable reflections
upon death! It is customary for the people of the world to seek for comfort
in their grief only from diversions. What is a sinner, deprived of the life
of God, whom the crowd of affairs, the noise of his passions, and the
delusions of the world, hinder from thinking of his condition, but that very
thing which we see here? 24. He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. How happy is a sinner, when God himself
takes care to remove from him all obstacles to the resurrection of his soul!
It is apart, and in retirement, that one labours most profit ably to this
purpose, and that Christ applies himself thereto. Death is but a sleep, in
respect of him who raises a dead per son, more easily than we can awake one
who is asleep. Even the death of the soul is but a sleep, when God has
resolved to awaken the sinner, and to restore to him the life of his grace.
The world laughs at the truths which it neither comprehends nor loves, and at
those who publish them. A faithful minister keeps on his pace, and ceases not
to work the work of God. 25. But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. Christ and the world are incompatible in
the same heart; the world must go out thence, if one would have Christ enter
therein. The world is unworthy to be present at the works of God, and to know
the operations of his grace. He who desires to rise
from sin, ought to distrust the world, and not to discover himself to any but
to Christ, or to his true disciples. If the helpful hand of
Christ do not take hold of the sinner s, he will never rise. The
living hand of our blessed Saviour, and the dead hand of the maid joined
together, are an emblem of grace and of the will, which unite and concur
inseparably to justification and good works, by the consent which grace works
in the will, and which the will gives through grace, which revives it,
sanctifies it, moves it, and makes it act. 26. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land. The fame of the conversion of a soul
diffuses itself in the church like a sweet odour. It is the duty of a
minister to conceal himself; and that of a thankful
soul to publish the mercy of God. Sect. V. Two Blind Men Restored To Sight. 27. And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. One good work draws on another. He who is
raised by grace, is not thereby delivered from all his darkness, God
enlightens him afterward. That man is partly enlightened already, who knows
that he has a Saviour who is full of mercy; that mercy is all which he must
ask; that he must cry and pray with fervour; and that, in praying, he must
follow him as God-man, and the son of David expected from heaven. 28. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. God often delays to hear us, in order to
exercise our patience, to augment our desire, to oblige us to approach Christ
the more, and to put our whole trust in him. In our blind ness we ought, (1.)
To have a lively belief of the almighty grace of Christ. (2.) To call upon
him by an humble and ardent prayer, which is the cry
of the heart. (3.) To have confidence in him, upon the account of his
incarnation. 29. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. The internal hand of Christ opens the eyes
of the heart, by touching them with his grace. Faith, which is a gift of God,
is the measure of his other gifts in us. 30. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. The effect follows the will of Christ
without delay. Touch my heart, Jesus, that its eyes may open themselves to
thy truth, and to the holiness of thy law. In eminent and remarkable works we
must conceal ourselves, that we may avoid the reward of men, and not lose
that which God reserves for us. Christ seems to be apprehensive of this
reward of men as to himself, to this end, that we
may really dread it as to ourselves. 31. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country. Honour pursues those who fly it. He who is thoroughly sensible of God’s mercy, cannot
contain his acknowledgments. God permits not his saints to remain so concealed as they desire, because what he gives them
for their own sanctification ought to be subservient also to that of others. Sect. VI. The Dumb Man Possessed. The
Blasphemy Of The Pharisees. 32. If As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. The devil shuts up the mouth of those who
belong to him, when he diverts them from prayer, confessions of their sins,
and the praise of God. One of the most miserable conditions of sinners is,
not to be able to express their misery. 33. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel. Nothing is more wonderful to the eyes of
faith than the change of a soul by grace; but carnal eyes very often see
nothing in it but what is contemptible. When charity is once entered into a
heart, one may know it by its language. God receives the praise of his works
from the mouth of ignorant people sooner than from that of the learned. 34. But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils. This is a consummate piece of malice, to
attribute the works of God to the devil! Envy cannot suffer the approbation
which is given to the virtue of others. It makes those whose hearts are
possessed by this vice, speak the language of the devil. Calumny is but at a
little distance from envy. All persons have not the envy of the Pharisees;
but every one ought to fear having some degree of it, since every one has the
principle. Sect. VII. The Sheep Without A Shepherd.
The Harvest And Labourers. 35. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. A true minister of Jesus Christ, after his
example, is neither detained in one place by the sweetness of the applause of
some, nor discouraged from his ministry by the jealousy and calumny of
others. Wherever Christ exercises his mission, he makes the proofs of it
evidently appear. He works none but salutary and beneficial miracles, because
his ministry is a ministry of salvation. Bodily cures foretell that of the
soul, and are instrumental thereto, because God makes them so. 36. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Here is the pattern of a pastor who is
indefatigable, and full of compassion for sinners. Let us view here the
shadow of what we should be without the divine Shepherd of our souls; and let
us never grow weary of praising God for having bestowed him upon us. Without
him there is nothing but fainting and wandering. 37. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; There is extreme want of labourers in the
church. There are abundance who bear this character,
but few who really work; and a great many who work in the Lord’s name, but
very few whom he will own for his ministers. Christ, by declaring the needs
of the church, invites to labour all ecclesiastical persons who either live
in idleness, or employ them selves about something quite different from that
which they ought to do. If the wants of Europe are great, how much more those
of other countries, where several provinces have only one minister! The place
of the harvest is the whole earth. It signifies but little where a man works,
provided it be by the appointment, in the Spirit, and with the blessing of
God. 38. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. It is for God to send them, and for us to
pray to him to do it. Jesus Christ requires for labourers, not such as confer
upon themselves a mission, but who receive it from God; not such as by
intrigues and human solicitations assume the office, but such as are the
fruit of the church’s prayers; not such as enter into the harvest, to make
themselves the lords of it, but who labour only for the Lord of the harvest;
not such as in the repose of an idle life enjoy the honour and temporal ad
vantages of the ministry, but such as work hard, like daily labourers. We do
not sufficiently comprehend how much it is our duty and interest to pray for
the obtaining good bishops, good curates, holy
preachers, full of zeal, knowledge, and disinterestedness. Let us not read
this, without doing it with all the fervency of our faith. |
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