Jerusalem. f Ps. cx. 4. The people therefore that stood by, and heard John xii. 29. it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not John xii. 30. because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall John xii. 31. the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will John xii. 32. draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should John xii. 3. die. The people answered him, 'We have heard out John xii. 31. of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is John xii. 35. suppose that they did not hear a voice coming from heaven, but that one voice seemed to proceed from, or be the echo of another. It sometimes happens that a man heard a voice as from a distance, which appeared as an echo. Maimonides (e) is of opinion, that the Bath Col was merely an imaginary voice, which the individual seemed to hear, in consequence of some notion suddenly and vividly impressed upon, or occurring to his imagination. This opinion is common among many of the Jews at present; at least, if I may be allowed to say so, from having heard it strenuously defended in a conversation on the subject with one of the most learned Jews in this country. It is an opinion, however, which is not only contrary to the whole testimony of Scripture, which relates, as facts, the sudden voice to Adam, Moses, Elijah, Samuel, &c. &c. but it is at variance with all the general interpretations of the talmudical writers; and is vehemently objected to by the learned Abarbanel, who asserts the ancient belief, that the Bath Col was of supernatural origin; and he adduces, among other instances, the voice to Samuel, and the law on Sinai, which must be considered as miracles, worked upon the air itself, so as to produce an audible and distinct sound, as of a voice, which cannot possibly be resolved into a deception of the imagination. Abarbanel likewise challenges the Christians to produce in their favour this proof of the truth of their religion. The μεταβαινῶμεν ἔντευθεν, "let us depart hence," of Josephus, (in Hebrew, in pl,) when he describes so eloquently the prodigies at the siege of Jerusalem, appears to me to be the last sound of the Bath Col in the Jewish dispensation; the last sigh of the spirit of prophecy in the Mosaic Church. prodiit ex terrâ, et auditum in cœlis. Jerusalem Targum, in Num. xxi. 7. Pirke Tosaphot in Sanhedrim, c. i. art. 29. defines it x Down 10 nyi bipwɔ quum egrederetur tonitru e cœlo vox alia ex illo prodiens. (e) Apud Vitringam ut supra, p. 342. John xii. 36. John xii. 37. John xii. 38. John xii. 39. John xii. 40. John xii. 41. John xii. 42. John xii. 43. While ye have light, believe in the light, that Jerusalem. ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: g That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be Therefore they could not believe, because that Rom, x. 16. 14. h He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their h Matt. xiii. heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. Nevertheless, among the chief rulers also many believed on him: but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the i Ch. v. 44. praise of God. John xii. 44. John xii, 45. John xii. 46. John xii. 47. John xii. 48. John xii. 49. SECTION VI. Christ declares the object of his Mission. JOHN xii. 44. to the end. Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. * I am come a light into the world, that whoso-k Ch. iii. 19. ever believeth on me should not abide in dark ness. 1 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge 1 Ch. iii. 17. the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word m Mark xvi. that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 16. Jerusalem. And I know that his commandment is life ever- John xii. 50. lasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. SECTION VII. Christ leaves the City in the Evening, and goes to Bethany. MATT. xxi. 17. MARK Xi. 11. And when he had looked round about upon all Mark xi. 11. things, and now the even-tide was come, he left them, and went out of the city, into Be- Matt. xxi. 17. thany: unto Bethany, with the twelve, and he lodged there. Mark xi. 11. Matt xxi. 17. SECTION VIII. Monday-Fourth Day before the Passover-Christ entering Jerusalem, again curses the barren Fig Tree'. MATT. xxi. 18, 19. MARK Xi. 12—15. Now, Matt. xxi. 18. Mark xi. 12. Matt. xxi. 18. 7 If we regard this fig tree, as a mere emblem, or type, we shall find a beautiful and perfect harmony throughout the whole narrative. The religion of the Jews had now become merely external, it flourished only in appearance: it possessed the leaves, but not the fruits of holiness. The fig tree, therefore, became the most apt representation of the state of the Jews at that time, and of their consequent destruction, or withering away. Had it been the season of figs, and the fruit already gathered, the tree would not have been so appropriately the object of a curse, or so expressively a type of the Jewish nation. In this, as in many other instances, our Saviour predicted the future by a significant action, or sign, before he judged it expedient to declare it publicly. The parable of the fruitless fig tree (Luke xiii. 7.) bears the same signification. Another illustration is given of this parable, in reference to the first establishment of the Levitical Priesthood. When an opposition was made to the divine ordination of Aaron, the Levitical Priesthood was ratified and confirmed by the miracle of a dry rod, which in one night budded, blossomed, and brought forth fruits. Now, when it was about to be removed, because it had ceased to flourish, or to yield its appointed produce, its fate was prefigured by a contrary miracle, by an apparently flourishing tree reduced as it were, in one night, to a dry rod, for ever barren. The choice of this tree, as an emblem, corresponds with other parts of Scripture, Jer. xxiv. 2. Luke xiii. 6. Micah vii. 1. Cant. xi. 11–13, 7 Mark xi. 12. when they were come from Bethany, Matt. xxi. 19. Matt. xxi. 19. he came to it, Mark xi. 13. Matt. xxi. 19. Mark xi. 13. Mark xi. 14. * if haply he might find any thing thereon: and and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat Matt. xxi. 19. and he said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. Mark xi. 14. And his disciples heard it. Matt. xxi. 19. And presently the fig tree withered away. MARK xi. part of ver. 12, 13, 14. 12 And-he was hungry: 13 And seeing a fig tree--he came-he found nothing but leaves14 And-for ever-disciples heard it. Jerusalem. * Gr. one fig tree. SECTION IX. Christ again casts the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple'. Mark xi. 15. n MARK Xi. 15—18. 12. And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went Matt xxi. into the temple, and began to cast out them that • The words kaipòs σúkwv, (“ the time of figs,”) signify the time of gathering, i. e. the fig harvest. Wetstein's observations are worthy of notice: he says, that if Christ, when approaching a fig tree at the season when figs are ripe, had found nothing but leaves, this would not have afforded a decisive proof that the tree was barren, and deserving of a curse: for had it been ever so fruitful, all the figs might have been previously plucked off. But since before the fig harvest it had abundance of leaves, it might be justly expected to have figs also. Lightfoot remarks, that this cursing injured no one, since, as we learn from St. Matthew, the tree grew by the way side. 9 Dr. Hales having taken for granted that the temple was cleansed on the Tuesday, and not on the Monday, has preferred the order of St. Mark, and made some minor alterations in the position of these events. The foundation of his reasoning is removed by the arguments of Pilkington, which are inserted in the note to section 3, p. 389. In Matt. xxi. 13. when our Saviour drove the buyers and sellers out of the temple, he said to them, "It is written, my house shall be called an house (not the house) of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves;" or, if it be read with an interrogation, “And have ye made it a den of thieves?” 'Yμɛïç dè avròv ἐποιήσατε ΣΠΗΛΑΙΟΝ ΛΗΣΤΩΝ, then the indignation will be increased, Jerusalem. * Or, an house of prayer for all nations. sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the And would not suffer that any man should Mark xi. 16. carry any vessel through the temple. And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not Mark xi. 17. written, My house shall be called * of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. SECTION X. The Scribes and Chief Priests seek to destroy Jesus. MARK XI. 18. LUKE XIX. 47, 48. And he taught daily in the temple. Luke xix. 47. Mark xi. 18. from the opposition between "God" and "ye." The same is related by Mark xi. 17. with the same two words, σnýλalov λyswv, and so by Luke xix. 46. It may be asked, why the temple should be said by our Saviour to be made σýλatov λyswv, a cave of robbers; was it because there were some who bought and sold in it? or because the money-changers, or those who sold doves, sat there? None of those persons could be called Aysai, latrones, or public robbers: nor did their business lie in onλaia, speluncæ, dens or caves, so as to cause the temple, in which they were, to be called σýλatov. St. John, however, in his account of this matter, mentions a circumstance, without the knowledge of which, the reason of this expression, σrýλacov λyswv, in the other three evangelists, and in Jer. vii. 11. whence it is taken, could not have been understood, and very probably that is the reason why it is mentioned by him, chap. xi. 14, 15. "and (Jesus) found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep, BOAΣ kai ПIPOBATA, and doves, &c. and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen." Now it is well known to those who are moderately versed in antiquity, that the Ayorai were wont to bring into their oñýλaia, or caves in the rocks, the oxen and sheep which they had stolen. Such an one was Cacus in Virgil, Æneid. viii. 193. who stole Hercules' oxen, Hic spelunca fuit vasto submota recessu, &c. who is called by Propertius, iv. 10. metuendo Raptor ab antro, i. e. Aysǹs áæò σπηλαίο. Hence σýλaιov λysшòv in Heliodorus Ethiopic, v. 2. See Plutarch in Sertor. p. 576. D. Josephus often in Bello Judaico, and in Antiq. xiv. xv. p. 651. ed Huds. where he makes mention of Xysŵv rivõv ¿v orỳXalois KATOIKÉvrov. So that our Saviour had just reason to resent their profanation of his Father's house; as if he had said, God hath declared in the Scriptures, my temple shall be a place of prayer, have ye (supposing it to be read with an interrogation,) the boldness to convert it to the use which robbers make of their caves, and to turn it into a receptacle and stall for oxen and sheep? |