And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
Ver. 11. Many shall come from the east] They shall "fly as a cloud," saith Isaiah (speaking of the conversion of the Gentiles), and so flock to the Church, as if a whole flight of doves, driven by some hawk or tempest, should scour into the columbary, and rush into the windows, Isaiah 60:8. The Tyrians had a hand in building the temple. The molten sea stood upon twelve oxen, which looked towards east, west, north, and south. The New Jerusalem hath twelve gates, to show that there is every way access for all sorts to Christ, who is also fitly called the second Adam, the Greek letters of which name (as St Cyprian observeth) do severally signify all the quarters of the earth. a He was born in an inn, to show that he receives all comers (πανδοχειον); his garments were divided into four parts, to show that out of what part of the world soever we come, if we be naked, Christ hath robes to clothe us; if we be harbourless, Christ hath room to lodge us. Jethor, an Ishmaelite, may become an Israelite, 1 Chronicles 7:17; cf. 2 Samuel 17:25, and Araunah the Jebusite may be made an exemplary proselyte, 2 Samuel 24:18; cf. Zechariah 9:7. Vide Junium in locum.
a Α. Ανατολη. Δ. Δυσις, Α. Αρκτος Μ. Μεσημβρια .