phecy of Malachi (31): 'Behold I send my messenger before thy face who shall prepare thy way before thee.' It must be admitted that it is very difficult to suppose that these are the words of Jesus. In the Old Testament it is Israel which is addressed, and God speaks throughout in the first person: 'Behold I send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts.' The Septuagint variations do not affect the character of the passage in this respect. But in the New Testament, both here and in Mark 12, it is not Israel which is addressed, but the Messiah (notice the change of before Me into before thee); and the messenger prepares the way for the Messiah, not, as in Malachi, for God. It may be, as Zahn argues,' that the disciples would never have ventured on this modification of the prophecy unless Jesus had applied to Himself what is said of the earnestly expected Lord, the Mediator of the Covenant, in Malachi, but of this we cannot be sure. What is indubitable is the solemn asseveration of Jesus which follows: 'There hath not arisen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist, but he that is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.' It does not matter whether the greatness of John is conceived as that of official dignity or that of personal character; he had both. He had an incomparably high vocation as the immediate messenger of the Kingdom, and his personality was equal to it. What does matter is that there is a still higher greatness than John's which belongs even to the least in the Kingdom. It is impossible to suppose that Jesus here thinks of the Kingdom as purely transcendent, and means that whoever

1 Commentary on Matthew, ad loc.

finds an inheritance in it when it comes-all its future citizens-will stand on a higher plane than John. The μexpóτepos, of whom he speaks in the passage, is only the most typical example of the expoí, or little ones, to whom he refers so often. Taking them as a body, the citizens of the Kingdom as Jesus knows them are insignificant people-'these little ones,' or 'these little ones who believe'; but the cause with which they are identified makes them partakers in its incomparable greatness. He asserts this in all kinds of indirect ways. The smallest service done to them is registered and repaid: Whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, He shall in no wise lose his reward (Matt. 102). The most terrible indignation flames out against those who lead them astray: Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe (on Me), it were better for him that a great millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea (Matt. 18). The most wonderful privileges are asserted for them: Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven-that is, they have immediate and unimpeded access to plead their cause with the Highest. The greatness of the little ones is a familiar thought with Jesus, illustrated in these and other ways, and it is only put with startling boldness when He declares that the most insignificant of them all is greater than John. But the only difference was that for the little ones Jesus and the Kingdom were realities which interpenetrated; all their hopes of the Kingdom were hopes to be realised through Him; whereas John, when this word was spoken, stood looking toward Jesus indeed, but with a look critical and perplexed. No one

who takes this attitude to Jesus knows or can know the supreme good which God bestows upon man; whatever his eminence in other respects-in ability, in public service, in native capacity for the spiritual life-the most insignificant disciple of Jesus stands on a higher plane. There is no formal 'claim' made here, but there is the revelation, on the part of Jesus, of a consciousness in relation to God and humanity in which He stands absolutely alone.

The same consciousness is implied also in the difficult saying which follows immediately in Matthew (11 12 f.), and which Luke gives in a considerably different form in another connexion (1616). The difficulties hardly concern us here, and, fortunately, the one point which is perfectly clear is that which does concern us, namely, the consciousness of Jesus that with the ministry of John a new religious era had dawned. Up till now it had been the reign of the law and the prophets, an age of preparation and expectation, during which men could live the life of obedient routine, and wait for God to fulfil the hopes He had inspired. But with the appearance of John that more tranquil age had come to an end; men lived and they knew it, at a religious crisis; a situation had emerged which called for instant and decisive action. It is within this situation we have to interpret the difficult words ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν βιάζεται καὶ βιασταὶ ἁρπάζουσιν αὐτήν; but whether they mean that the Kingdom comes in like a whirlwind, and that violent men like the Zealots wish to bring it in so; or that at any cost of violence to themselves genuine disciples make good their share in it; or that it is invaded by aggressive publicans and sinners who (as decent people think) have no right to be there, is irrelevant to our purpose. What it concerns us to note is simply Jesus' consciousness of the new age. It dates from John, but

it is not identified with him. John, if their contemporaries will only believe it, is the promised Elijah, who is to precede the end (Mal. 45, Matt. II). Who can Jesus be, when no one less than Elijah must come to prepare His way?

The passage in which Matthew (II 16 ff.) and Luke (731 ff.) record the verdict of Jesus on His contemporaries—a passage in which Jesus deliberately contrasts Himself and His forerunner-is reserved till we come to consider the title Son of Man, which occurs in both writers at this point: meanwhile we proceed to examine what is in some ways a critically important section in the gospels, Matt. 11 25-27 with the parallel in Luke 10 21-22.

II

THE GREAT THANKSGIVING OF JESUS

(Matt. 11 25-27, Luke 10 21 f.)

This passage is not found in the same connexion in the two evangelists, but there is no doubt that it stood in the source common to both. Luke attaches it to the return of the Seventy, and to their report of their success. 'In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit.' To Luke it is an utterance of pure joy-'uncompounded emotion.' It may be questioned whether this does justice to the words of Jesus. There is something more subtle in the placing of the words by Matthew, who also introduces them by 'at that time.' The time in Matthew is that at which Jesus has been sending His warning beatitude to John, passing a scornful censure on the childishness of his contemporaries in their dealings with God and His messengers, and pronouncing woes on the Galilæan cities which had seen His mighty works and not repented. 'At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and under

standing, and didst reveal them unto babes. Yea, Father, for so it was well pleasing in Thy sight.' The eleventh chapter of Matthew as a whole might be headed axávdalov, Offence: it is engaged throughout with people who found things in Jesus which they could not get over, and therefore with the disappointing side of His experience. It is a question of profound interest, how Jesus Himself regarded such disappointments, and the evangelist finds the answer to it in the first part of the great thanksgiving. When Jesus reflects on His work and its issues, disenchanting in some respects as they are, what is uppermost in His mind is recognition of God's fatherly providence, and unreserved and joyful surrender to it. The words 'revealed' and 'hidden' show that He is thinking mainly of His teaching. It is only the peculiarity of an Eastern language that makes Him seem to give thanks that some have rejected it: in our idiom He would have said, 'That while Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding, Thou hast revealed them unto babes.' Jesus could not have rejoiced in a revelation which was only accessible to the wise and understanding; this would have excluded the babes. But a revelation accessible to the babes is accessible to all; even the wise and understanding may apprehend it if they are willing to lay aside their pretensions and become as little children. Jesus is content, and more than content, to have it so. He acquiesces with joy in the ordering of His life and work upon such lines. It is the gracious will of the Father, the Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth; what should one who calls God Father do but accept it with serene confidence?

If the words of Jesus stopped here, we might not be able to bring them into any precise relation to our subject. They are such words as any child of God might use who encountered untoward experiences in doing the will of