J. P. 4740. Nazareth. anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor 16; 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 bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. 22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? 23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself 17: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. people of Nazareth had known him from infancy, pure, holy, and undefiled; a man, like other men, sin only excepted. They had heard of his miracles; they knew, from the testimony of others, that he had given undeniable proofs of his power; and he now came among them to announce himself as their Messiah, appealing to them by the purity and holiness of his life, and by applying to himself, and fulfilling in his own person, the predictions of their prophets. He asserted himself to be the Messiah, and required them to believe, on account of their previous knowledge of his motives, life, and conduct, and by the power they acknowledged he possessed of working miracles. Nothing can more strongly demonstrate the unimpeached and unimpeachable holiness of the Son of God, than his thus presenting himself to the attention of his envious and jealous townsmen; and by boldly asserting his Messiahship, challenging them to accuse him of sin, or of any evil, which might derogate from the necessary and entire superiority implied in his holy and lofty claim. 16 That the Jews applied this passage, Isaiah Ixi. 1. and 42. to the Messiah, see the quotations in Whitby in loc., Schoetgen, vol. ii. p. 68 and p. 192, where Kimchi is quoted, as referring the words to the Messiah; also p. 3, &c. where, in the chapter de nominibus Messiæ, the subject is fully discussed (a). The Greek original of this passage hints at the reason for which our Lord was called Christ, and his doctrine the Gospel, ὁ ἕνεκα ΕΧΡΙΣΕ με ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΖΕΣΘΑΙ πτωχοῖς, &c. &c. 17 Dan. Heinsius in loc. in his Exercitationes Sacræ, a book of great learning, now too much neglected, has made an Iambic line of this proverb: Θεράπευσον ὦ ἰατρὲ την σαυτᾶ νόσον. Lightfoot has rendered it in the Jerusalem language * *D* **DR, and quotes the original proverb from Bereschith Rabba, sect. 23, and Tanchuma, fol. 4. 2. DN NDR.-Lightfoot's Works, vol. ii. P. 408. Dr. Gill in loc. quotes another of the same kind from Zohar in Exod. fol. 31. 2. כיל אסר נפשך (a) See on the subject of this note Lightfoot, third part of the Harmony of the Evangelists, vol. i. works, folio. 24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, Nom prophet is J. P. 4740. accepted in his own country. V. Æ. 27. Nazareth. 25 But I tell you of a truth, " many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three m Matt. xiii. years and six months, when great famine was throughout all 1 Kings xvii. the land 18 ; 26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. n 9. 14. 27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus o 2 Kings v. the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. 28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led * him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, * Or, edge. that they might cast him down headlong. 30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way. 18 Our Lord's conduct in selecting this topic is worthy of our particular consideration. In the very first address which he made to his fellow townsmen, and through them to the whole of the Jewish people, he preached the deliverance of the Gentiles from their bondage and darkness. This doctrine was for some time inexplicable, and, when understood, intolerable to his own disciples: but Christ was the Divine Being who was to redeem all his creatures, and we are assured, "Known unto God are all his ways, from the beginning to the end;" and Christ, at the commencement of his ministry, declared at once the whole design of his coming as Elias was sent to the widow of Zarepta, in preference to those of Israel, and as Naaman the Syrian was the only leper healed in the days of Eliseus the prophet, so was Christ, a greater than these, commissioned to heal the diseases of those people and those nations who should believe on him. The transaction here recorded affords us a sufficient explanation of the motives of one part of our Lord's conduct, which has sometimes been considered as inexplicable. He is represented as not informing the people, in various instances, of the full extent of his claims; as not calling himself the Messiah; as charging those who were healed "to tell no man ;" as keeping back from the people, and even from the apostles, many things which they were desirous to learn. The necessity and wisdom of this caution are here made evident. On this occasion, when he declared himself to be the Messiah, we see the service of the synagogue was hastily and indecently terminated by the fury of the people, who became intent upon the destruction of their teacher. His ministry would have been repeatedly disturbed by similar interruptions, if our Lord had not adopted this conduct. In what manner Christ delivered himself from the fury of his enraged persecutors, we know not. Whether they were overawed by some supernatural glory, or whether they were paralyzed by a sudden exertion of almighty power, we are not informed. The brevity of the account given us by the Evangelist, like the teaching of our Lord himself, only reveals to us what is essential to faith and salvation; it never satisfies an useless curiosity. J. P. 4740. V. Æ. 27. Capernaum. SECTION V. Christ sojourns at Capernaum 19. LUKE iv. 31, 32. 31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. 32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: P for his word was with power. SECTION VI. Sea of Galilee. q Mark i. 16. The miraculous Draught of Fishes 20; and the calling of Andrew, and Peter, James, and John. MATT. iv. 18. MARK i. 17-21. LUKE v. 1—12. 189 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two 19 The wisdom of our Lord's choice of Capernaum (after he had left Nazareth) as his fixed place of residence, is evident on many accounts. He placed himself by so doing under the protection of the nobleman whose son had been healed, John iv. 46, and whose presence was an undeniable testimony to his almighty power. Capernaum, from its situation, being surrounded with numerous and populous towns and villages, on the border of the sea of Galilee, or the lake of Tiberias, enabled him to remove with the utmost facility either by sea or land; either for the purpose of instruction, or to avoid the persecutions, the importunities, or the efforts of his adherents, to make him their king. It was here also he again met his first disciples, who, for some reason unknown to us, had resumed their former occupation. It is not improbable that they had been directed by our Lord to leave him after the miracle of Cana, in Galilee. He did not require their presence at Nazareth, as he had not purposed to work miracles at that place. By dwelling at Capernaum, he still continued to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah ix. 1, &c. as that city was situated in the tribe of Napthali. That our Lord came to Capernaum after he left Nazareth, is expressly asserted by St. Luke, chap. iv. 30, 31. The order of this section is the same with all the harmonists. 20 This event is inserted here on the united authorities of Lightfoot, Newcome, Doddridge, and Dr. Townson, who refers also to Grotius, Hammond, Spanheim, dub Evang. par. 3, Dub. 72, p. 338, Chemnitius, Cradock, and Le Clerc, to confirm his opinion. Osiander, as he was compelled to do by his plan, which has been already given, has supposed that the transaction recorded in Luke v. 1—12, was different from that related in the parallel passages, (Mark i. 16, Matt. iv. 19, &c.) In reply to this part of his hypothesis, Spanheim remarks: Non temere multiplicandas esse historias, quæ eædem deprehenduntur, quod cum Osiandro sine necessitate faciunt illi, qui nullas ὑστερώσεις, et προλήψεις apud sacros scriptores admittunt. And it is as absurd to suppose that the inspired writers never followed the example of their predecessors in the Old Testament; and sometimes disregarded chronological order, as it would be to proceed to the brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, cast- J. P. 4740. ing a net into the sea: for they were fishers 21. opposite extreme, and to mangle the text with Whiston and Mann. The apparent differences between the Evangelists are well discussed by Townson (a). The narrative in this section is arranged on the plan of Doddridge's division of the same history. Eichhorn has supposed that the passages in this section do not refer to the same event, he has not inserted either the calling of Andrew, Peter, James, and John, or the miraculous draught of fishes, among the events which are related by all the three Evangelists (b). Pilkington separates the account of the miraculous draught of fishes, from the calling of these disciples, for two reasons. One, because it is said in Mark i. 17. they forsook all, and followed him; and in Luke v. 1—11. they are represented as again pursuing their occupation-the other, because St. Peter calls our Lord inιorára. Both these objections, however, are obviated by Newcome, Doddridge, and Townson. The word πorára, which is used chap. viii. 24, 45. and ix. 33. 49. may imply only submission of the apostle to our Lord, as his master, without any actual previous obedience. It certainly is used in the sense of overseer, or superintendent, but it was also applied by St. Luke as expressing more correctly the word, the usual epithet of respect among the Jews. In Mark ix. 5. we read 'Pabbi, kadóv kotiv ýμãç woe ɛival. Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and in St. Luke ix. 33. the very same words are given, excepting that πsára is put in the place of Rabbi (c). Michaelis has strangely placed this miraculous draught of fishes, after the raising of the widow's son at Nain; an arrangement for which there is not the least authority that I have been able to discover, although much time has been devoted to the attempt. It appears merely arbitrary, equally inconsistent with the evangelical account, and the decision of all the harmonizers. Nain was upwards of twenty miles from the sea of Tiberias. Yet Michaelis supposes that our Lord on the same day left Capernaum, travelled to Nain, a distance of more than thirty miles, and, after raising the widow's son to life, proceeded to the sea of Tiberias, the nearest point of which is distant twenty miles from Nain. Bishop Marsh, his learned editor, has been aware of this difficulty, as he remarks, "Our author has not assigned his reasons for each particular transposition, and the propriety of some of them may be justly questioned." Michaelis, in his defence, I suppose, observes, there is no note of time to inform us when this event took place (d). The narratives of the three Evangelists are thus reconciled by Dr. Townson, who observes, this account (Luke v. 1-12.) will be found on a near inspection to tally marvellously with the preceding (Matt. iv. 18-22. and Mark i. 16-20.) and to be one of the evidences that the Evangelists vary only in the number or choice of circumstances, and write from the same idea of the fact which they lay before us. (a) Townson's Works, vol. i. p. 42, 43. (b) Marsh's Michaelis, vol. iii. part ii. p. 193. (c) Pilkington's Evang. History, &c. (d) Marsh's Michaelis, part i. p. 49. and vol. iii. part ii. p. 67. 21 See next page. V. Æ. 27. Sea of Galilee. J. P. 4740. V. Æ. 27. Sea of Galilee. MARK i. 1721. 17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men 22. same. Every one knows that the sea of Galilee and the lake of Gennesareth are the And though St. Matthew and St. Mark do not expressly tell us, that St. Peter was in his vessel when he was called by Christ, they signify as much, in saying that he was casting a net into the sea; for this supposes him to be aboard, and our Lord in the vessel with him, as St. Luke relates. The latter does not mention St. Andrew, either here or elsewhere, except in the catalogue of the Apostles (vi. 14.) St. Luke further tells us, that James and John, the sons of Zebedee, assisted Peter in landing the fish which he had taken; and that when they, that is, the four partners, had brought their ships to land, they forsook all and followed Christ. And here also this Evangelist harmonizes with the two others. St. Mark says, that when Christ had gone a little further thence from the place where Peter and Andrew began to follow him, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in a ship, as Peter had been when he was called, mending their nets, their nets being torn by the weight of fish which they had hauled to shore; and straightway be called them and they went after him, in company with Peter and Andrew. The two accounts, that of St. Matthew and St. Mark on one side, and that of St. Luke on the other, thus concurring in the place and situation in which St. Peter was called, in the promise made to him, and the time when he was called, speak evidently of the same vocation-consequently St. Matthew and St. Mark have abridged the story (e). This manner of considering the narrative seems preferable either to that of Newcome, Whitby, or Hammond (ƒ). 21 The wisdom of our Lord's conduct was eminently displayed in the choice of his Apostles: they were generally chosen from the inferior ranks of life; and most of them were fishermen. If the disciples of Christ had been men of rank and distinction, of wealth or eminence; if they had been esteemed for their knowledge, or literature, or political influence, these means, might more or less have been employed for promoting the kingdom of the Messiah, which nearly all the Jews imagined would be of an earthly nature. The success of the Gospel, too, would have been attributed, by its enemies at least, if not by the disciples, to mere human exertions. Hence Caiaphas enquired with so much solicitude of Christ, respecting his disciples, (John xviii. 19.) from whose unpretending life less opposition was made to the first beginnings of Christianity: for no danger could possibly be apprehended from the efforts of such inferior and illiterate individuals. In addition to these reasons for selecting the Apostles from the lowest occupation, it must be remembered, that men accustomed to a sterner and severer mode of life would be so habituated to dangers and anxieties, that (e) Townson's Discourses, vol. i. p. 43, 44. (f) To prevent trouble in noting the references to the five principal harmonies, from which my authorities are principally selected, I will mention the editions referred to. Lightfoot's Works, folio edition, London, 1684. Archbishop Newcome's Harmony, large folio, Dublin, 1787. Pilkington's Evangelical History, folio, London, 1747. Doddridge's Family Expositor, 5 vols. 8vo. Baynes, London. Michaelis's Works (Marsh's) 8vo. 2nd edit. 1802. 23 See next page. |