IV. CHAP. he stood up in the character of a Teacher. According to the usage, the chazan or minister of the synagogue *, whose office it was to deliver the volume of the law or the prophets appointed to be read to the person to whom that function had fallen, or who might have received permission from the rulers of the synagogue to address the congregation, gave it into the hands of Jesus. Jesus opened on the passage in the beginning of the 16th chapter of Isaiah †, by universal consent applied to the coming of the Messiah, and under its beautiful images describing with the most perfect truth the character of the new religion. It spoke of good tidings to the poor, of consolation in every sorrow, of deliverance from every affliction :— "He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted; to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bound." It went on, as it were, to announce the instant fulfilment of the prediction, in the commencement of the "acceptable year of the Lord;" but before it came to the next clause, which * It is said that on the Sabbath the law was read in succession by seven persons —a priest, a Levite, and five Israelites-and never on any other day by less than three. The prophets were read by any one; in general one of the former readers, whom the minister might summon to the office. + It is of some importance to the chronology of the life of Christ, to ascertain whether this perioche or portion was that appointed in the ordinary course of reading, or one selected by Jesus. But we cannot decide this with any certainty; nor is it clear that the distribution of the lessons, according to the ritual of that period, was the same with the present liturgy of the Jews. According to that, the 16th chapter of Isaiah would have been read about the end of August. Macknight and some other harmonists lay much stress on this point. harmonised ill with the benign character of the new faith, and spoke of "the day of vengeance, he broke off and closed the book. He proceeded, probably at some length, to declare the immediate approach of these times of wisdom and peace. CHAP. The whole assembly was in a state of pleasing astonishment at the ease of his delivery, and the sweet copiousness of his language; they could scarcely believe that it was the youth whom they had so often seen, the son of a humble father, in their streets, and who had enjoyed no advantages of learned education. Some of them, probably either by their countenance, or tone, or gesture, expressed their incredulity, or even their contempt, for Joseph's son; for Jesus at once declared his intention of performing no miracle to satisfy the doubts of his unbelieving countrymen :-" No prophet is received with honour in his own country." This avowed preference of other places before the dwelling of his youth; this refusal to grant to Nazareth any share in the fame of his extraordinary works, embittered perhaps by the suspicion that the general prejudice against their town might be strengthened, at least not discountenanced, as it might have been, by the residence of so distinguished a citizen within their walls - the reproof so obviously concealed in the words and conduct of Jesus, mingled no doubt with other fanatical motives, wrought the whole assembly to such a pitch of frenzy, that they expelled Jesus Violence from the synagogue. Nazareth lies in a valley, Nazarenes. from which a hill immediately rises; they hurried of the CHAP. him up IV. Capernaum the chief residence of Jesus. the slope, and were preparing to cast him down from the abrupt cliff on the other side, when they found that the intended victim of their wrath had disappeared. Jesus retired to Capernaum, which from this time became, as it were, his head-quarters.* This place was admirably situated for his purpose, both from the facility of communication, as well by land as by the lake, with many considerable and flourishing towns, and of escape into a more secure region, in case of any threatened persecution. It lay towards the northern extremity of the lake or sea of Gennesareth.† On the land side it was a centre from which the circuit of both Upper and Lower Galilee might begin. The countless barks of the fishermen employed upon the lake, many of whom became his earliest adherents, could transport him with the utmost ease to any of the cities on the western bank; while, if danger approached from Herod or the ruling powers of Galilee, he had but to cross to the opposite shore, the territory, at least at the commencement of his career, of Philip, the most just and popular of the sons of Herod, and which on his death reverted to the Roman government. Nor was it an unfavourable circumstance, that he had most likely secured the powerful protection of the officer attached to the court of Herod, whose son he had healed, and who probably resided at Capernaum. * Luke, iv. 31, 32. + This is the usual position of Capernaum, but it rests on very uncertain grounds, and some cir cumstances would induce me to adopt Lightfoot's opinion, that it was much nearer to the southern end of the lake. IV. The first act of his public career was the perma- CHAP. nent attachment to his person, and the investing in the delegated authority of teachers of the Apostles new religion, four out of the twelve who after- chosen. wards became the apostles. Andrew and Peter were originally of Bethsaida, at the north eastern extremity of the lake, but the residence of Peter appears to have been at Capernaum. James and John were brothers, the sons of Zebedee.* All these men had united themselves to Jesus, immediately after his baptism; the latter, if not all, had probably attended upon him during the festival in Jerusalem, but had returned to their usual avocations. Jesus saw them on the shore of the lake,— two of them were actually employed in fishing, the others at a little distance were mending their nets. At the well-known voice of their master, confirmed by the sign of the miraculous draught of fishes †, which impressed Peter with so much awe, that he thought himself unworthy of standing in the presence of so wonderful a Being, they left their ships and followed him into the town; and though they appear to have resumed their humble occupations, on which, no doubt, their livelihood depended, it should seem that from this time they might be considered as the regular attendants of Jesus. The reception of Jesus in the synagogue of Jesus in Capernaum was very different from that which he encountered in Nazareth. He was heard on the Capernaum * Matt. iv. 22. ; Mark, i. 17—20.; Luke, v. 1-11. + This supposes, as is most pro bable, that Luke, v. 1—11. refers the synagogue of IV. } CHAP. regular day of teaching, the Sabbath, not only undisturbed, but with increasing reverence and awe.* And, indeed, if the inhabitants of Nazareth were offended, and the Galileans in general astonished at the appearance of the humble Jesus in the character of a public teacher, the tone and language which he assumed was not likely to allay their wonder. The remarkable expression, "he speaks as one having authority and not as the scribes, seems to imply more than the extraordinary power and persuasiveness of his language. His mode different from that of the Rabbins. The ordinary instructors of the people, whether of teaching under the name of scribes, lawyers, or rabbis, rested their whole claim to the public attention on the established sacred writings. They were the conservators, and perhaps personally ordained interpreters of the law, with its equally sacred traditionary comment; but they pretended to no authority, not originally derived from these sources. They did not stand forward as legislators, but as accredited expositors of the law; not as men directly inspired from on high, but as men who, by profound study and intercourse with the older wise men, were best enabled to decide on the dark, or latent, or ambiguous sense of the inspired writings; or who had received, in regular descent, the more ancient Cabala, the accredited tradition. Although, therefore, they had completely enslaved the public mind, which reverenced the sayings of the masters or rabbis equally with the original text of Moses and the * Luke, iv. 31-38.; Mark, i. 21, 22. |