PART II.

INTRODUCTION OF JESUS TO HIS PUBLIC

MINISTRY.

FROM A.D. 26 TO A.D. 27-ABOUT ONE YEAR.

CHAPTER I.

JOHN'S PREACHING AND MINISTRY.

JOHN, called "the Baptist," performed a ministry in Judæa which certainly opened the way for the public work of Jesus, and hence he is spoken of as the Harbinger.

i; Luke iii.

Of the wonderful circumstances attending the Matt. iii.; Mark birth of this very extraordinary man we have already spoken. In his case, as in that of his cousin Jesus, a silence covers the years of his youth. His marvellous birth, and the manner in which he obtained his name, must have had a great effect upon the character of the child, making his very boyhood and youth sacred and solemn. He grew up in the study of the law, grieved at the spiritual deadness of his times, and the hard conventionalities which had enervated the heart of the nation. Upon his spirit must have fallen, also, the influence of the general expectation of a Mighty One, a Messiah, a Deliverer. His nation had pondered the strange intimations of the prophets, and the uprising of Elijah in their midst would not have been to them a surprising event.

If Moses be excepted, there was no figure among all the mighty men of their earlier history who filled so large space in the Hebrew mind, and filled it so solemnly, as

Elijah. To their imagination he was colossal. To

Elijah.

the modern mind he is "the grandest and most romantic charac

ter that Israel ever produced." * His history fascinates us. "His rare, sudden, and brief appearances,--his undaunted courage and fiery zeal,-the brilliancy of his triumphs,―the pathos of his despondency, and the glory of his departure,-threw such a halo of brightness around him as is equalled by none of his compeers in the sacred story." He has been well called "Prodigiosus Thes bites" -the prodigious Tishbite. It is noticeable that the very last sentence which fell from the lips of Prophecy, before they were sealed into silence, contained the prediction of the reappearance of Elijah (Malachi iv. 5, 6); and whenever any man of extraordinary power appeared, it seemed to the Jews, in their political troubles and degradation, that Elijah had come.

John's consecration.

Such was their expectation when this holy Nazarite, John, following the example of many good men who were discouraged by the degeneracy of the times, retired to the desert region beyond the Jordan and gave himself to the self-discipline of meditation and prayer. After years of stern training the hour of his manifestation came, and he broke upon the world with preaching that roused the nation. Ilis appearance was not comely. His physique had none of the plumpness, his complexion none of the richness, which comes from generous diet. His food was locusts § and wild honey. His dress was removed as far as possible from the elegance of fashion and the pomp of office; it was a vestment of camel's hair, I bound about his waist by a leathern girdle. His address was blunt and brusque. He held no office and had no official sanction. He was not a priest, nor a rabbi. As De Pressensé well says: “It was not priests or doctors that were wanting; the very spirit of

Stanley, S. and P., 328. + Smith's Dict., Art. Elijah. Acta Sanctor.

The dxpis, permitted to be eaten (Levit. xi. 22), was used as food by the lower orders in Judæa, and mentioned by Strabo and Pliny as eaten by the Ethiopians, and by many other authors as articles of food. Jerome, adv. Jovinian, 2, 6, says: "Apud Orientales et Libyæ populos quia per desertam et calidam eremi vastitatem locustarem nubes reperiuntur, locustis vesci moris est: hoc verum esse Joannes quoque

Baptista probat." Shaw found locusts eaten by the Moors in Barbary. (Travels, p. 164.) See 1 Sam. xiv. 25. Here again there is no need to suppose anything else meant but honey made by wild bees.

The garment of camel's hair was not the camel's skin with the hair on, which would be too heavy to wear, but raiment woven of camel's hair, such as Josephus speaks of (B. J. i. 24, 3). From Zech. xiii. 4, it seems that such a dress was known as the prophetic garb: "Neither shall they (the prophets) wear a rough garment to deceive."

Judaism was stifled under rites and traditions. It was this spirit that had to be reanimated and freed from all that oppressed it." For this work John needed, as he took, a free, broad space.

John's ministry.

His ministry is remarkable for the absence of two things, namely, miracles and an organization. He pretended to no miracle; he formed no school. Of the multitudes who came to him, some remained in his neighborhood and gained what benefit they could from his society and his teaching. But he did not add another sect to the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. He was simply a preacher, a herald. As to his style, two things are to be noticed:

His style.

1. His earnestness. He believed that he had a great message to his generation. He could not forbear. He had no specially favorable position for its delivery, but it was in him and it grew, and it became too large and strong for him to hold, and there was room in the wilderness and he went there "crying." One can fancy that he cried and cried until a stray traveller across the wilderness heard him, listened, went and reported the sound; and another came and heard, and reported the strange voice crying in the wilderness; and they that went alone hung timidly on the outskirts of the desert, and held their hands behind their ears to catch the flying sounds, and trembled as they heard the cry, "Repent! Repent!" then drew groups and beheld the strange wild man who, when he saw them, opened his great eyes wide upon them, and cried, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Frightened, they fled. But there is a fascination in earnestness. The tones of the prophet's voice rang in their ears whether they waked or slept, and they could not stay away. And when they went again he cried, "Bring forth fruits meet for repentance." He was in full earnest. He believed that before he came Isaiah heard him with

near in

his own prophetic ears, and exclaimed, “Hark! a voice is crying in the wilderness!"

2. The message was indiscriminate. The crowds of common people drew the great and learned to this powerful preacher. He had no compliments for the rabbis, no gallant speeches for the ladies, no politic utterances for the powerful. He saw before him men and women, full of sin, concealed from themselves by their conventionalities, and he thundered the truth at them indiscriminately. They had Abraham to their father

and needed no special moral illumination, certainly no spiritual regeneration-so they thought of themselves. But he believed that they did need spiritual regeneration, and believed that that regeneration was the most important thing in all the world. The matter of his preaching we gather from the few notices in the Evangelists.

Matter of his

preaching.

Matthew's re

port.

Matthew reports him as saying, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (iii. 2.) "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, 'O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.'" (iii. 7–13.)

Mark says that he preached, saying, "There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not

Mark's report.

worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." (i. 7, 8.)

Luke reports that he said to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth Luke's report. therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.' And the people asked him, saying, 'What shall we do then?' He answered and said unto them, 'IIe that hath two coats, let him impart tc him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.'

Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, 'Master, what shall we do?' And he said unto them, 'Exact no more than that which is appointed you.' And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, 'And what shall we do?' And he said unto them, 'Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.' And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; John answered, saying unto them all, 'I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable."" (iii. 7-17.)

answer to them that sent us.

John the Evangelist's report.

John the Evangelist, speaking of John the Baptist, says :"And this is the record of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Who art thon?' And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.' And they asked him, 'What then? Art thou Elias?' And he saith, 'I am not. Art thou that Prophet?' And he answered, 'No.' Then said they unto him, 'Who art thou? that we may give an What sayest thou of thyself?' He said, 'I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.'-And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, 'Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that Prophet?' John answered them, saying, 'I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not: he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose." (i. 19-27.)

It will be seen that this startling preacher not only trampled under foot all prejudices as to appearance and style, but also that he spared no prejudice of national pride or ecclesiastical precedent or ancient creed or modern rationalism. Let us analyze these very brief reports of his discourses and see what the substance was.

Substance of his Discourses.

1. His most impressive discourses seemed to be of repentance. This he pressed upon the people of all classes vehemently. It was