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First, confidence in human means stands opposed to this truth.
First, constancy of character: the disciples must not appear changeable or fickle, betraying the weakness of those who chase comfort.
Our Lord forgave the sick man's sins for his own sake, yet healed his disease for the sake of those who stood by—a distinction revealing His intimate knowledge of human need and skepticism.
Rather, we are cautioned against over-valuing earthly possessions.
The Psalmist does not merely celebrate the eternal fitness of the Divine statutes in abstract terms; he recommends them by an argument closer to human feeling and interest.
The mirage—from the Latin *mirari* (to wonder at)—deceives the thirsty traveler with an optical illusion: shimmering water that recedes as one approaches.
Exell termed a "strange silence" about matters of the soul.
Joseph Exell's 1887 commentary identifies three essential truths about Christian ministry.
This remarkable scene illustrates a profound truth: the miracles of Christ and His apostles were chiefly miracles of healing.
This vision discloses three critical truths about Adonai's character.
The law permits no negotiation, no partial obedience, no appeals to good intention.
Religious instruction must uphold God's law as supreme, though these three need not contradict one another.
First, the law could not justify or save because human weakness in the flesh rendered perfect obedience impossible (Romans 8:3).
First, the *sources* of our vulnerability: the human heart harbors dormant moral propensities until outward circumstance awakens them.
Clean hands may indicate abstinence from visible transgressions, yet a clean heart—*katharos*—concerns the inward disposition, the bias of the will, and the affections themselves.
Calls to holy living are constantly sown; yet people respond with either sudden rejection or gradual forgetfulness.
The negative evidence alone proves instructive: Scripture provides no conclusive signs of imminent finale, though many have misapplied prophecy throughout history.
That ordinary crowing became extraordinary, ordained by Elohim for specific ends: to remind Peter of his broken promise, to witness to Christ's words Peter refused to believe, to reprove his sin, and to accuse his own conscience.
It is a blessed loss that makes us find our Elohim!
Paul was emphatically a man of one idea.
Once deflected from righteousness, nothing becomes easier than sinking into deepening abysses of iniquity.
John Trapp's commentary drives this home—one portion of wood serves its *proper* purpose, the other becomes an object of futile worship.
This *katanysso*—pierced, stabbed—describes conviction that wounds rather than flatters.
Yet Matthew's notation carries profound weight: this was no ordinary liturgical moment.