Luk 19:5-6, Joh 3:8 | JFB | e4.org | 5, 6. looked up, —in the full knowledge of who was in the tree, and preparatory to addressing him. Zaccheus —whom he had never seen in the flesh, nor probably heard of. "He calleth His own sheep by name and leadeth them out" ( ). make haste, and come down —to which he literally responded—"he made haste and came down." for to-day, &c.—Our Lord invites Himself, and in "royal" style, which waits not for invitations, but as the honor is done to the subject, not the sovereign, announces the purpose of royalty to partake of the subject's hospitalities. Manifestly our Lord speaks as knowing how the privilege would be appreciated. to-day . . . abide

‏ Luke 19:5-6

5, 6. looked up,—in the full knowledge of who was in the tree, and preparatory to addressing him.

Zaccheus—whom he had never seen in the flesh, nor probably heard of. "He calleth His own sheep by name and leadeth them out" (Joh 10:3).

make haste, and come down—to which he literally responded—"he made haste and came down."

for to-day, &c.—Our Lord invites Himself, and in "royal" style, which waits not for invitations, but as the honor is done to the subject, not the sovereign, announces the purpose of royalty to partake of the subject's hospitalities. Manifestly our Lord speaks as knowing how the privilege would be appreciated.

to-day . . . abide—(Compare Joh 1:39), probably over night.

6. joyfully—Whence this so sudden "joy" in the cold bosom of an avaricious publican? The internal revolution was as perfect as instantaneous. "He spake and it was done." "Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing" (Isa 35:6).

‏ John 3:8

8. The wind, &c.—Breath and spirit (one word both in Hebrew and Greek) are constantly brought together in Scripture as analogous (Job 27:3; 33:4; Eze 37:9-14).

canst not tell, &c.—The laws which govern the motion of the winds are even yet but partially discovered; but the risings, failings, and change in direction many times in a day, of those gentle breezes here referred to, will probably ever be a mystery to us: So of the operation of the Holy Ghost in the new birth.