MATT. XX. part of ver. 17, 18, 19. On a tour. 17 took the twelve 18 unto the Chief Priests and unto the Scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, 19 — And shall deliver him to the Gentiles-and the third day he shall rise oJohnxviii.32, again. MARK X. part of ver. 33. and ver. 34. 33 the Son of man shall be- 34 And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again. SECTION XLIII. Ambition of the Sons of Zebedee. MATT. XX. 20-29. MARK X. 35-46. Bethany. Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's chil- On the way to dren with her sons, Matt. xx. 20. Mark x. 35. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Matt. xx. 20. Mark x. 35. Mark x. 36. Mark x. 37. worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do And he said unto them, What would ye that I They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. Matt. xx. 21. She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. Matt. xx. 22. Mark x. 38. Mark x. 39. Mark x. 40. Matt.xx. 23. Mark x. 41. But Jesus answered, But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they say unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared, And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John; On the way to and they were moved with indignation against the Matt. xx. 24. two brethren. Bethany. *Or, think good. But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto Mark x. 42. pLukexxii. 25. them, P Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. q Phil, ii. 7. But so shall it not be among you but whoso- Mark x, 43. ever will be great among you, shall be your mi nister : And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, Mark x. 44. shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be minis- Mark x. 45. tered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. 21 MATT. XX. part of ver. 21, 22, 23, 24, and ver. 25, 26, 27, 28. And he said unto her, What wilt thou ?22 and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. 23 —And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared 25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authrity upon them. 26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant : 28 Even as the 9 Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Jericho, SECTION XLIV. Two Blind Men healed at Jericho. MATT. XX. 29, to the end. MARK X. 46, to the end. And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh Lukexviii. 36unto Jericho, 33 Pilkington remarks on this passage. Three Evangelists make mention of Jesus' giving sight to a blind man near Jericho; but there are such different ex Mark x. 46. as he went out of Jericho with his disciples, pressions, in their several accounts of this matter, as have induced several harmonists to conclude that different cures are related by them. 1. St. Matthew saith, "As they departed from Jericho, two blind men cried out," &c. &c. 2. St. Mark, "As he went out of Jericho, blind Bartimæus began to cry out," 3. St. Luke, "As he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man cried out," &c. The most general conclusion from hence is, that the miracle recorded by St. Luke was different from, and previous to that mentioned by the other two Evangelists (a). Another opinion is, that each Evangelist relates a different fact (b). And a third, that St. Mark and St. Luke relate the former miracle, and St. Matthew the latter (c). The accounts of the several Evangelists relating to this matter, have been connected by the most ancient harmonists, and by some of the moderns (d): but they have not given their reasons for so doing. Perhaps they may have been the same as have induced me to think that they have properly connected them, viz. 1. The series of the several circumstances mentioned by all the Evangelists. (1.) The blind man sat by the way-side, near Jericho. (2.) He called Jesus the Son of David. (3.) The multitude rebuked him. (4.) Jesus stopped and called. (5.) The question which Jesus asked, and the answer he received are the same, in all the accounts. And, (6.) they all agree that the blind man followed Jesus. 2. If Jesus had wrought a cure of this sort just before he entered Jericho, for which all the people gave praise unto God; it is not easy to imagine, that the multitude would, immediately after, rebuke another who called upon him in the very same manner. And though the accounts vary in some particulars, yet no where, I think, so much as to make it necessary to suppose that they are relations of different facts. For, 3. Though there were two blind men who received sight, as St. Matthew expresses it, and though St. Mark and St. Luke mention one only, yet the accounts cannot be said to be contradictory, allowing them to allude to the same fact. For the miracle is the same, in the cure of one as in the cure of many. Bartimæus might be the more remarkable person; and therefore the mention of the other be purposely omitted by the two Evangelists (e). St. Matthew and St. Mark say, that this was done at Jesus' departure from Jericho; and St. Luke, that it was, iv rų kyyileiv avròv eiç ’Iepix", "As he was come nigh unto Jericho," (according to our translation) which seems to imply, that he was not yet arrived there: and this sense hath been affixed to the words, as far as I can learn, by translators in all times, and all languages; (a) Chemnitius, Richardson, Lamy, Toinard, &c. (b) Molinæus, Garthwait, &c. (c) Ludolphus. (d) Tatian, Ammonius, Calvin, Whiston, Le (e) Vide Poli Synop. in loc. Clerc, &c. Jericho. Jericho. And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way Matt. xx. 30. side, a certain blind man, blind Bartimæus, the son of Timæus, sat by the way side, begging: Luke xviii. 35. Mark x. 46. Lukexviii. 35. from whence hath arisen the seeming difficulty of reconciling the several accounts. But if the words may be translated at large, "When he was nigh unto Jericho;" then St. Luke's account is very consistent with the others, because it determines not whether it was before he came to Jericho, or at his departure from that place, that he wrought this miracle. And that the words will bear this construction, we may be easily convinced, by observing another expression of St. Luke, of the very same sort, xix. 29. καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἤγγισεν εἰς Βεθφαγή kai Bɛdavíav, translated again, "when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Be thany:" but it evidently appears that Jesus was gone from Bethany towards Jerusalem, when he sent out the disciples, &c. And all commentators are agreed, that though Jesus was then nigh unto Bethany, yet he was going from it. And understanding the words here in the same sense, St. Luke saith, that Jesus was now nigh unto Jericho, but going from it; agreeably to the account which both St. Matthew and St. Mark give of this matter. Lightfoot observes, "he healeth one blind man as he entereth into Jericho, of which St. Luke speaketh, and another as he goeth out, of which the other two Evangelists speak. Matthew speaks of two healed as he came out of Jericho, comprehending, it may be, the story of him who was healed on the other side of the town. Mark only mentions one, because he rather aimed at shewing the manner, or kind of the miracle, than the number." Vol. i. p. 250. Doddridge very justly observes, that, "this is improbable : for the people would not reprove blind Bartimæus for supplicating our Lord to heal him, if a cure so remarkable had been wrought but a short time before, at the entrance into the town. "I have endeavoured so to harmonize the accounts of the Evangelists, that the scene may be most vividly presented to the reader. I have adopted the opinion that two were healed-at the same time-but one was more known to the people, the more remarkable of the two, and more earnest in the expression of his faith in Jesus, and in the miraculous cure that had been wrought upon him." Doddridge, Fam. Exp. vol. ii. p. 138. Newcome agrees with Doddridge in this opinion, In passing through Jericho, Christ heals the blind men, and when he leaves that city is met by Zacchæus, Luke xix. 1. which evidently places this event before the resurrection of Lazarus. Then follows the resurrection of Lazarus― Christ's retirement at Ephraim-the anointing at Bethany, and the entrance into Jerusalem. This is the order I have observed, in preference to that of Newcome, or Pilkington. The principal argument of Newcome is derived from John x. 40. compared with John vi. 11. 3. but this is answered by the supposition above mentioned, that Matt. xix. 1. and Mark x. 1. represent Christ as being in the same place as he is said to have been in John x. 40. and if the Evangelist's narrative is made our guide, it gives us greater space for the various circumstances recorded in St. Luke. Luke xviii. 36. Lukexviii. 37. And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked Jericho. what it meant. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by: Matt. xx. 30. when they heard that Jesus passed by, Mark x. 47. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, Lukexviii.38. and he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, Matt. xx. 30. Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David. Matt. xx. 31. Luke xviii.39. they which went before rebuked him, Matt xx. 31. rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: Mark x. 48. Lukexviii. 39. that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Matt. xx. 31. but they cried the more, Mark x. 48. a great deal, Matt. xx. 31. saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of Luke xviii. 39. Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Luke xviii.40. And Jesus stood, Matt. xx. 31. Jesus stood still, and called them, Luke xviii.40. and commanded him Mark x. 49. to be called, Luke xviii.40. and to be brought unto him. Mark x. 49. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Mark x. 50. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus : Luke xviii. 40. and when he was come near, he asked him, Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Luke xviii.41. Matt. xx. 33. Lord, that our eyes may be opened. Matt. xx. 34. Luke xviii.42. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight; thy faith hath saved thee. Mark x. 52. Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, Luke xviii.43. Mark x. 58. And immediately he received his sight, and fol- Matt. xx. 34. their eyes received sight, and they followed him, * Or, saved thee. |