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CHAPTER III.

Ministry of John the Baptist.

N those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness 2 daming: Repent ye, for kingdom of heaven is at

suffering and despised, as well as a triumphant Messiah. Is. liii. To be a Nazarene was to bear an unhonored name. The guileless Nathaniel could ask, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ?" The reputation of the place was bad. The idea then is, that, according to the tenor of those predictions usually supposed to refer to Christ, he became an inhabitant of a proverbially low place, dwelt in humble life, and was despised and rejected by men.

It was

"It was undoubtedly a part of the plan of Providence to draw the Saviour from humble human circumstances, in order to render his divine authority the more conspicuous and unquestionable. thus made to appear that his words of wisdom could not have been learned from man, and that he must have been from God. He probably received little or no education during his early years; for the Jews asked, 'How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?' Schools and instruction were not then universal as they are now, and Joseph was probably too poor to afford to his children a privilege which could be purchased only by the rich."

CHAP. III.

1-12. For the parallel passages in the other Gospels see Mark i. 1-8. Luke iii. 1-18.

1. After the lapse of twenty-five or thirty years from the events recorded in the last chapter, the curtain is again drawn aside, and we behold a new scene. Jesus grown to manhood, and John, a new character, whose parentage and re

markable birth are related by Luke, now appear upon the stage of action; the Messiah and his Forerunner.- —In those days. A common introduction to Scriptural narration, used with considerable latitude of meaning. "At this period," or "about this time," not immediately after the events of the last chapter, but while Jesus lived at Nazareth.-John the Baptist. Or, the Baptizer. So called, because it was peculiarly his office to baptize; and in order to distinguish him from the Evangelist and Apostle of the same name. John's mission was to prepare men for the ministry of Jesus, to cal public attention to him as the Christ, and to furnish evidence of the justice of his claims by the fulfilment of prophecy. For an account of the origin of John, see Luke, chap. i. Matthew was writing to those who were already acquainted with the events of the age. Hence he leaves much to be explained by a reference to other sources.--Preaching. Or, proclaiming, or crying and announcing as a herald, for so the word implies in the original. It suggests the idea that he delivered his message with great publicity, earnestness, and authority. substance of the proclamation is recorded in the following verses.

The

-The wilderness of Judea. A tract lying on the river Jordan and the Dead Sea, east of Jerusalem. The words "wilderness" and "desert" are not to be taken in the Bible as always meaning regions totally without cultivation or inhabitants, but those thinly peopled, and comparatively barren; generally devoted to grazing. In Josh. xv.

61,

hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, say- 3 ing: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way

62, a wilderness is represented as having "six cities with their villages." Judea was the southern portion of Palestine.

2. The following words are to be understood as containing the burden of his preaching, the general outline of his addresses, which were adapted to different times, places, and persons.

Luke iii. 11-18.

Repent ye. Rather, Reforin your selves. The exhortation involved in itself more than mere sorrow for sin. It implied not only regret for the past, but amendment for the future; not only that the wound was to be probed, but healed. The reason why John seized upon this theme was, that the Jews had unfitted themselves by their worldliness and vices for the reception of the great coming Teacher. The professed believers in religion needed first to be renewed in holiness. Judgment must begin at the house of God. The Jewish people had suffered the fire of heaven to go out upon the altars of their hearts, and were cold, skeptical, and corrupt. Hence the key note of the Baptist's desert cry, the first blast of his trumpet echoing over the moral wilderness of Judea, was, REFORMATION. Jesus prolonged the note which John had struck. It has continued to resound to this day, and must forever, in a sinful world. It is the great theme for men and nations. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Or, better, the reign of God draws near, This is the persuasive for immediate repentance and reformation, that the Messiah was now coming. The kingdom of heaven, of God, of Christ, phrases suggested, perhaps, by Dan. ii. 44. vii. 13, 14, all refer to the same thing, the reign

of the Messiah, or, in more modern phraseology, the Christian Religion, which came to rule over the hearts and lives of men, and bring them to an obedience to the moral Governor of the world, and thus establish a moral kingdom. For this spiritual reign Reformation was requisite; a far different preparation from that which the Jews contemplated; whose hearts, at the approach of the long expected Deliverer, savored more of ambition, revenge, and avarice, than of sentiments of good will to man or piety to God, expecting, as they did, a temporal King, and not the Prince of Peace. So now the Gospel demands penitent hearts, and reformed lives, for its subjects. As an old writer says, "Thus must the way be made for Christ into every heart. Never will he enter that soul where the herald of repentance hath not been before him."

3. Prophet Esaias, i. e. Isaiah xl. 3. The Evangelist quotes from the Septuagint version of the Old Tes tament; hence there is a slight variation from our translation, which was made from the Hebrew. Isaiah undoubtedly spoke with reference to the return from the Babylonish captivity. Matthew applies the passage to the Forerunner of the Messiah.-The voice, &c. The office of John was to act as a voice for the coming Word, a herald of the great Teacher. The succeeding imagery is drawn from oriental customs, a knowledge of which is often required to understand the Scriptures. When monarchs journeyed, or marched on military expeditions, they despatched pioneers forward to level eminences, fill up valleys, and make a straight road. The Jews were called upon to pre

4 of the Lord, make his paths straight." And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and 5 his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusa

pare for the Messiah's advent, clearing their hearts of those prejudices and sins which would impede his progress and success as a moral conqueror. As the greatest blessings were expected under the Redeemer's reign, John bids the Jews make ready for his coming by repenting of and forsaking those sins, which would prove the worst stumbling-blocks in his way, the most serious impediments to the cordial reception of a pure religion.

4. Raiment of camel's hair, &c. This description is thrown in, perhaps to show the similarity between John and Elijah, or to remind the Jews that the herald of Christ did not come in that rich dress and equipage, which they would suppose appropriate to one who came to announce so splendid a king; but, on the contrary, dressed in the garments, and subsisting on the food, of the poorest class of his countrymen. He was not "a man clothed in soft raiment," but appareled like one of the old proph

ets.

2 Kings i. 8. Zech. xiii. 4.Raiment is an ancient word for clothing. Camels are not only very valuable for carrying burdens over the vast deserts of the east, but their milk and flesh are eaten, and garments are made of the hair, which, though coarse and shaggy, is manufactured into a rough, cheap cloth, for the common people. The hair is shed annually.-A leathern girdle. This was a very important part of the oriental dress, as it confined the flowing cloak or robe, which would otherwise have been inconvenient, if suffered to hang loosely about the body. The girdle was also used as a purse.

The

modern dervises, or Turkish priests, are clothed like the ancient prophets.-His meat, &c. Meat, in old English, stands for food in general, whether animal or vegetaable. The locust was allowed as an article of food by the law of Moses. Lev. xi. 22. They have been in use for this purpose, both in ancient and modern times, in the east. "We saw," says - Niebuhr, in his travels, "an Arab who had gathered a sack full in order to dry them, and keep them for his winter provisions."-Wild honey. The honey which was found in the cavities of trees and the clefts of rocks may have been so denominated. Ps. lxxxi. 16. Palestine was described as "a land flowing with milk and honey." Or it may have been not the honey made by the bee, but honey-dew, a sweet substance exuding from the leaves of palm, date, and olive trees. Sam. xiv. 25, 26. Oriental travellers speak of the abundance of honey in Arabia and Palestine. The dress and diet of the Baptist indicated no uncommon rigor and severity, but rather simplicity and poverty. His mode of life affords no countenance or approbation to the recluse and hermit.

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5. The Jews, galled by the Roman yoke, looked with impatience for the Messiah, from whom they expected deliverance and universal rule over the rest of the world. Curiosity, impatience, and ambition, together with the striking air and bold address of John, probably drew thousands to the Jordan.-Jerusalem. The inhabitants of the city. This was the Jewish metropolis, situated about forty miles

lem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan; and were 6 baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw 7

east of the Mediterranean, in a region of high hills. The wonderful events of which it has been the scene, both in ancient and modern times, render it the most remarkable city on the globe.-All Judea. Not literally every one, but vast crowds; the country went as one man. It is an important rule in the interpretation of Scripture, as well as other writings, that universal propositions should be qualified and limited by the circumstances in which they occur. The Bible is written in the free, figurative, diversified language of common life, and by no means in a literal, technical, philosophical dialect. Judea lay

between the Jordan and the Mediterranean.—All the region round about Jordan. Should be, the country along the Jordan on both sides of the river. This stream rises in the Antilibanus mountains, and flowing south through Lake Merom and the Sea of Galilee, after a course of one hundred and twenty or thirty miles, empties into the Dead Sea. It forms the eastern boundary of Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. Its average width is from sixty to eighty feet, and its depth about ten or twelve, though it varies according to the season of the year. John had two stations, at least, on the Jordan; Bethabara, or Bethany, and Enon, and perhaps more.

6. Baptized of him, i. e. by him. Baptism was well known among the Jews before John's day, as is evident from Matthew's familiar way of introducing the mention of it. It was employed to initiate heathen proselytes into the Jewish religion, according to the testimony of the Jewish books called Talmuds, which consisted of the writings and traditions of

the Rabbins. How administered is no where said; whether by immersion or sprinkling is of little consequence, so it was done with water, and the heart was right. It was a new thing, however, to baptize Jews. John by that means intimated to them, that, though they were the covenant people of God, they had so far become like heathen, that, before they could be prepared for the Messiah's kingdom, they must pass through the same ceremony as proselytes.--In Jordan. In the Jordan. The definite article should be uniformly placed before this word.-Confessing their sins. One that truly repents of his sins will be ready to confess them to God, and, so far as is proper, to men. John required of his converts a confession of their sins either in general or particular, as an indication of true contrition and a fitness to be baptized.

7. The Pharisees and Sadducees. These were the two leading philosophical and religious sects among the Jews. The Essenes were a third one, resembling monks in their mode of life, but no mention is made of them in the New Testament. From Josephus and the Talmuds, as well as from scattered notices in the New Testament, we gather information respecting the other two.

The Pharisees. The Separatists. They were so called from a Hebrew word, meaning to separate, or to set apart, because they professed to set themselves apart from the rest of the people, and live purer lives. They plumed themselves upon their scrupulous adherence to all religious ceremonies and observances, washings, fastings, tithes, and long, ostentatious devotions, but

many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them: O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee

in their lives were notorious for their ambition, corruption, hypocrisy, and haughtiness. Such was the prevailing character of the sect, though there were doubtless among them, as in every body of men, some true and noble spirits. Acts v. 34. They received all the Old Testament as of divine authority, and adhered closely to the letter of the Mosaic law. But in addition to these writings, they had the traditions of the elders or early teachers of the nation, to which they gave equal credence as to the Pentateuch itself. Some of their doctrines were: the government of the world by Fate, or a fixed decree of God; the existence of spirits and angels; the resurrection from the dead; the immortality of the soul; and the future state of rewards and punishments.

The Sadducees derived their name from Sadoc, the founder of their sect. They were less numerous and had less influence among the people than the Pharisees, but were more wealthy. They rejected the traditions, and, as is supposed, received only the law of Moses, or the Pentateuch, as of divine authority. They believed not in the existence of spirits, in immortality, or a future retribution. In fact, they were the skeptics of their day and nation. They however joined in the worship of the temple, and assisted at all religious assemblies. Several of them held the office of high priest. Caiaphas, who condemned our Saviour, was a Sadducee. No account is given in the Gospels of a single conversion to Christianity from this sect.

Both Pharisees and Sadducees, in common with the rest of the nation, expected a Messiah. They

came to the baptism of John, incited by this expectation; and supposing John to be either the Messiah or his Forerunner, they were desirous of early securing his favor, and gaining posts of profit and honor in his kingdom. John saw through their motives, and uttered a powerful, though deserved, rebuke.-0 generation of vipers. Offspring of vipers, or broods of vipers. This phrase is descriptive of the two aforementioned classes. He did not spare the rich and lordly, but launched at them his burning remonstrances with the bold tone of one of the ancient prophets. Vipers are a kind of snakes, whose bite is immediately fatal. This reptile has been used from the remotest antiquity as an emblem of what is destructive. Applied to the Pharisees and Sadducees, it signifies that they were subtle, malignant, deadly. The poison of vipers rankled in their hearts, under the fair seeming and smooth disguise of religious professions.— Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Rather a strong exclamation of surprise than an interrogation. John expresses wonder that men so hardened and hypocritical should have been induced to come to a baptism of repentance. "The wrath to come" was the impending destruction soon to fall on the Jewish nation, unless they repented and reformed, and which did descend forty years after, overthrowing the Temple, destroying millions of men, and annihilating the national existence of the Jews. Those who embraced Christianity escaped these judgments of heaven, because they believed in the prophecies foretelling their approach, and fled from the country. The

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