"I give thefe Boohs fpr the fowiiing op. a, CoIUgt in this Colony" • YJiLU'WMPfEI&SinrY' FROM THE LIBRARY OF JOHN PUNNETT PETERS YALE 1873 OUTLINES OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST §eDentp*JFttiesCent iSeligi ous ©ecte* Price 75 «»fr mcA, »*£ Postage additional. The Holy Land oi Asia Minor By Prot; FRANCIS E. CLARK, D.D., LL.D. The Prophet and His Problem By Prof J. M. P. SMITH. Ph.D. The Bible of Nature By J. ARTHUR THOMSON, M.A. The Churches and the Wage Earners By c. Bertrand Thompson Roman Catholic and Protestant Bible Compared Edited by Rev. Melancthon William Jacobus Introduction to the Life of Christ By Rev. William Bancroft Hill Old Testament Criticism and the Christian Church By Prof. John Edgar McFadyen, M.A., B.A. The Social Message of the Modern Pulpit By Rev. Charles Reynolds brown The Ideal of Jesus A Study of Christian Missions Sixty Years with the Bible By Prof. William Newton Clarke, D.D. The Bible. Its Origin and Nature By Prof. Marcus Dods, D.D. The Gospel and the Church By ALFRED LOISY The Apostolic Age By Prof. James hardy ropes Outlines of the Life of Christ By Prof. W. SANDAY, D.D., LL.D., Litt.D. Modern Belief in Immortality The Passing Protestantism and Coming Catholicism By Rev. Newman Smyth, D.D. A Model Superintendent By Rev. H. CLAY TRUMBULL Sermons to Young Men The Story of the Psalms By Dr. HENRY VAN DYKE John the Loyal Epochs in the Life of Jesus By Prof. A. T. Robertson. D.D. The Faith of a Modern Protestant By Prof. WILHELM BOUSSET God's Choice of Men By Rev. William R. Richards, D.D. Theology and Human Problems By Prof. Eugene w. Lyman, D.D. Thoughts for Every-Day Living By Dr. maltbie Davenport Babcock, D.D. Faith and Sight By Rev. William P. Merrill The Sources of Religious Insight By Prof. JOSIAH ROYC8 OUTLINES OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST BY W. SANDAY, D.D., LL.D., Litt.D. LADY MARGARET PROFESSOR AND CANON OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFOKO HON. FELLOW OF EXETER COLLEGE FELLOW OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY CHAPLAIN-IN-ORDINARY TO THE KING SECOND EDITION REVISED, WITH ADDITIONS NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1919 Copyright 1859, 1905, 1908 by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION In preparing to issue a second edition of this little book, the writer has been very conscious that it represents, not only the general position but the position in his own mind of the years 1898-1899 rather than of 1905. It was explained in the Preface to the First Edition that he deliberately abstained from attempting to bring the book really up to date. His reasons for this abstention were two: partly because such advances as he is able to make proceed as a rule by steps, and it seemed better that the steps should be allowed to stand out' distinctly than that they should be confused and obliter-1! ated; and partly, it seemed, that the great amount of time that would have been taken up in re-casting and adapting the old work would be better employed upon the larger undertaking which is promised for the future. It seemed better to look forward than to look backward. In the meantime, as some substitute for a more systematic treatment, the writer may be excused for referring to his own books and papers, written since 1899, which are really grouped round the central subject VI PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION and were intended to carry forward the study of it The list is as follows : An Examination of Harnack's ' What is Christianity? ' London: Longmans, 1901. A pamphlet, out of print. Paper read at the Church Congress at Northampton on 'The Miracles and Supernatural Character of the Gospels.' October 1902. This subject is taken up again in The Criticism of the Fourth Gospel, pp. 169-184. Sermon on ' The Virgin Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ,' published in a volume entitled Critical Questions. London: S. C. Brown, Langham & Co., 1903. Sacred Sites of the Gospels. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903. ' The Site of Capernaum,' in The Journal of Theological Studies, v. 42 ff. October 1903. The object of this article was to retract a view pre viously expressed and to give a definite preference to the common identification of Capernaum with Tell Hum. Paper read at the Church Congress at Bristol on 'The Interpretation of the Gospels as affected by the Newer Historical Methods.' October 1903. 'The Injunctions of Silence in the Gospels,' an article in The Journal of Theological Studies, v. 321 ff. April 1904. This article contains a criticism of Wrede, Das Messiasgeheimnis in den Evangelien. Gottingen, 1901. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION vii The Criticism of the Fourth Gospel. Oxford : Clarendon Press; New York: Scribner's, 1905. Eight lec tures on the Morse Foundation, delivered in the Union Seminary, New York. October and November 1904. These lectures may be taken as justifying the use that is made of the Fourth Gospel; they also discuss the principles of criticism, and the way in which criti cism has been applied to the Gospel in recent years. Paper read at the Diocesan Conferences at Chichester and Taunton on 'The Gospels in the Light of Recent Historical Criticism.' October and November 1905. In near proximity to some of the above papers will be found others by well-known writers, dealing with similar topics and in the same general spirit: e.g., in the Reports of the two Church Congresses at North ampton and Bristol, in the volume Critical Questions (sermons by Dr. Swete and Dr. A. Robertson), and in The Journal of Theol. Studies (especially an important article by Dr. Chase on 'The Lord's Command to Baptize,' St. Matt, xxviii. 19, which appeared in July 1905). Mention should be also made of papers on the Incarnation by the Dean of Westminster, and on the Virgin Birth by Dr. R. J. Knowling (both London, 1903), and of three valuable essays on subjects connected with the Gospels by Drs; J. O. F. Murray, F. H. Chase and A. J. Mason, in the recently published Cambridge Theological Essays. Two of the papers iii the list given above were devoted to a survey of the critical situation relating to the Gospels in the years 1903 and 1905; and it has been viii PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION thought that they might with advantage be reprinted as Appendices to the present volume. It is hoped that they may serve to give some account of the course of thought in the last six years. A few slight omissions and alterations have been made in the text, to avoid repetition. It may also be explained that the time allowed for the reading of the first paper was limited, while there was no limit in the case of the second. A generous critic of the book on the Fourth Gospel, in The Oxford Magazine, reminded the writer of the obligation which he has assumed by the promise of a larger work on the Life of Christ, and seemed to think of these Other publications as standing in the way of the fulfilment of that promise. The writer may, how ever, be allowed to say that he does not himself regard them in this light. He is most anxious to fulfil his promise; but he has permitted himself to engage in these apparent digressions, at once as a help -towards digesting- his materials, and also that he may by these means make his larger work more compact and con centrated when the time for it comes. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Introductory i CHAPTER EL Survey of Conditions . . • y CHAPTER IIL The Early Ministry 31 CHAPTER IV. Teaching and Miracles 65 CHAPTER V. The Later Ministry 119 CHAPTER VL The Messianic Crisis 139 CHAPTER VII. Supplemental Matter: The Nativity and Infancy . . 191 CHAPTER VIII. The Verdict of History sii xu CONTENTS APPENDIX I. The Position in 1903 243 APPENDIX II. The Position in 1905 252 OUTLINES OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. § 1. Method. — What method is fittest for a Christian writer to use in approaching the Life of Christ ? There is a tendency at the present moment, on the Continent perhaps rather than in England, to approach it from the side of the consciousness of Jesus as the Messiah. A conspicuous instance of this would be Baldensperger 's Das Selbstbewusstsein Jesu (Strassburg, 1888 ; 2nd ed. 1892), a work which attracted considerable attention when it first appeared. No doubt such a method has its advantages. It places the inquirer at once at the centre of the position, and enables him to look down the various roads by which he will have to travel. The advantage, however, is more apparent than real. It would hold good only if we could be sure of obtain ing a far more adequate grasp of the consciousness 1 1 2 INTRODUCTORY to be investigated than on any hypothesis is likely to be obtained. On the Christian hypothesis, frankly held, any such grasp would seem to be excluded, and the attempt to reach it could hardly be made without irrever ence. It is on all grounds a safer and sounder, as well as a more promising method, to adopt a course which is the opposite of this — not to work from within outwards, but from without inwards ; to begin with that aspect of the Life which is most external, and only when we have realized this as well as we may to seek to penetrate deeper, allowing the facts to suggest their own inner meaning. We may then take in certain sidelights which our documents also afford us, which, because they come, as it were, from the side, are not therefore less valuable. And we may finally strengthen our con clusions by following the history some little way into its sequel. In other words, we shall begin by placing our selves at the standpoint of an observer, one of those who saw the public ministry of Jesus in its early stages, in its development, and to its close. When that has been fully unrolled before us, we can draw upon other data which are not of this public character; and we may further seek to argue backwards from effects to causes. By pursuing this method we shall have the advantage of taking the facts in no imaginary order, but in the order of the history itself. We shall have them dis closed to us in the same sort of sequence in which they were disclosed to the first generations of Christians — a method always advisable where it can be had, and in this instance peculiarly advisable, because both the TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE MATERIALS 3 origins and the immediate sequel to the origins are of extreme interest and importance. We shall also have the incidental advantage of fol lowing, not only the historical order, but the critical order suggested by the documents. It was natural that what was transacted in public should have the fullest and the earliest attestation : it lay in the nature of the case that some of the details which were most significant, just because of their private and intimate character, should become known only by degrees. This state of things is reflected in the Gospels as we have them. The common matter of the Synoptic Gospels is also the most public matter. It by no means follows that what is peculiar to a single Gospel is by that fact stamped as less historical : no one would think (eg.) of affirming this of some of the parables peculiar to St. Luke; but it is fair to suppose that in the first instance it was less widely diffused. To this class would belong the narratives of the Nativity and of the Infancy. It will be in some ways a gain not to begin with these, but to let them enter into the story as they entered into it with the first Christians. More than one point which might otherwise perplex us will in this way suggest its own explanation. § 2. Limits of space do not allow us to go elaborately into the question as to the trustworthiness of our materials. It may suffice to point to one undoubted fact which furnishes at least a considerable presumption in their favour. The apostolic age produced some strongly marked personalities, with well defined types of thought and phraseology. Now, broadly speaking, 4 INTRODUCTORY these "types have left but little trace upon the Gospels. The special type characteristic of the Gospels them selves stands out conspicuously over against them. We need hardly do more than refer to such very sig nificant facts as that the Gospels alone contain specimens of teaching by parables; that the idea of the 'kingdom of heaven ' (or ' of God '), which is quite central in the Gospels, recedes into the background in the writings of the apostles ; that the same holds good of that most significant title ' Son of Man ' ; that, on the other hand, such a term as ' justify ' is rare and hardly technical, while 'justification,' 'sanctification,' 'reconciliation' (or ' atonement '), and a number of others, are wholly absent. It may be said that the Fourth Gospel is an exception, that there we have a suspicious resemblance to the style and diction of the Epp. of St. John. Some resemblance there is, and we would not entirely reject the inference drawn from it. But even here the ex ception is but partial. It has often been noticed that the evangelist scrupulously confines his doctrine of the Logos to the prologue. The writer of this may be allowed once more to express the conviction,* which he believes that con tinued investigation will confirm, that the great mass of the Synoptic Gospels had assumed its permanent shape not later than the decade 60-70 a.d., and that the changes which it underwent after the great catastrophe of the fall of Jerusalem were but small, and can with out difficulty be recognized. But the task on which we are at present engaged must in the main supply its own vindication. The * See the Bampton Lectures for 1893, p. 286 ff. DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT 5 picture which it is here attempted to draw will com mend itself so far as it is consistent and coherent, and no further. No one, indeed, expects in these days the formal and external consistency aimed at in the older Harmonies ; but the writer himself believes that in their inner essence the Gospels are consistent and coherent, and if he fails to convey the impression of this, the failure will be his own. He is conscious of something tentative in the way in which he has sought to work in data derived from the Fourth Gospel with those derived from the other three. But here, again, he is giving expression to the best opinion he can form, and the value of that opinion must be judged by the result. Where he is not satisfied with his own success, he has not hesitated to say so. § 3. To what has been said above it should be added, that if we assume the standpoint of a spectator, a brief preface will be needed to explain what that standpoint is. In other words, we shall have at the outset to take a rapid survey of the conditions under which the Life of Christ was lived, so that we may see to what His teach ing had to attach itself, and what served for it as a foil, by way of contrast and antagonism. The main divisions of our subject will thus be — I. Survey of Conditions. II. The Public Ministry of Jesus, preceded by that of the Baptist. III. Supplemental Matter,' not included in the Public Min istry, and derived from special sources. IV. The Verdict of History. CHAPTER II. SURVEY OF CONDITIONS. § 4. The picture which we form for ourselves of Palestine in the time of our Lord is apt to be want ing in play and variety. A few strong and simple colours are all that are used; we do not allow enough for their blending, or for the finer and subtler tones which mingle with them. We see the worldly ambition of the Sadducees, the self-seeking and for malism of the Pharisees; over both, the rough stern rule of the Roman; and under both, the chafing tide of popular passion, working itseK up to its out burst of fury in the Great War. Perhaps we throw in somewhere in a corner the cloistered communities of the Essenes; but if so, it is rather as standing apart by themselves than as entering into the general life. It is not so much that this picture is wrong as that it needs to be supplemented, and it needs a little toning down of the light and shade. This is the case especially with the internal conditions, the state of thought and of the religious life. 7 8 SURVEY OF CONDITIONS A. External Conditions : Government, Sects, and Parties. § 5. The external conditions are so comparatively simple and so well known that a rapid glance at them will suffice. At the time of our Lord's public ministry, Judsea and Samaria were directly subject to the Romans, and were governed by a procurator (Pontius Pilate, a.d. 26-36), who was to some extent subordinate to the legatus of Syria. Pilate had a character for cruelty (cf. Lk 131). And the Roman rule was no doubt as a whole harsh and unfeeling : we read of wholesale executions, which took the horrible form of crucifixion. But the people whom Rome had to govern were turbulent in the extreme ; and so far as the Roman authorities come before us in NT, we cannot refuse them the credit of a desire to do a sort of rough justice. The odious duty of collecting tolls and taxes for the Romans led to the employment of a class of underlings (ttcXSwu, publicani), who were regarded almost as out casts by their Jewish countrymen. The north and east of Palestine were still in the hands of sons of Herod. Antipas (4 b.c. to 39 a.d.) held Galilee and Peraea ; and his brother Philip (4 B.C. to 34 a.d.), Ituraea and Trachonitis. The name given to the former, 'that fox',(Lk 1 3s2), will sufficiently describe him ; he was living in open sin with Herodias, the wife of another brother, but was not wholly unvisited by re morse, and had at least curiosity in matters of religion (Mk 6M||, Lk 23s). His capital was at Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee, and he also held possession of the strong SECTS AND PARTIES 9 fortress of Machserus * E. of the Dead Sea. Herod Philip governed his dominions quietly, and was the best and most popular of his father's sons. § 6. The Sadducees (Zadokite priests) consisted mainly of certain aristocratic priestly families (Ac 4°) who held almost a monopoly of the high priesthood, and who played an influential and active part in the Sanhedrin, which under the Romans wielded consider able power. They were typical opportunists, and were bent above all things on keeping their own rights and privileges. Hence they were sensitive on the subject of popular disorder, which was likely to serve as an excuse to the Romans for displacing them (Jn n48). It was a coalition of Pharisees and Sadducees which procured the death of our Lord, but in the period of the Acts the Sadducees were the more active persecutors. Religion with them was secondary, but they differed somewhat both in doctrine and in practice from the Pharisees (Ac 23s ; cf. Edersheim, Life and Times, i. 314-321, etc.). They did not encumber themselves with the Pharisaic traditions, but took their stand upon the Pentateuch. They were notorious for strictness in judgment. As contrasted with the Sadducees, the Pharisees (lit. Separatists or Purists) were essentially the religious party. They numbered more than 6000 (Ant. xvii. ii. 4), and were pledged to a high standard of life and scrupu- * In Ant. xviii. v. 2 Machaerus is in the possession of Antipas, in the previous § it belongs to Aretas ; but the reading of this latter passage is questionable (cf. Schiirer, NTZG i. 362 n. 365 n, \HJP 1. ii. 23, 25]). IO SURVEY OF CONDITIONS lous performance of religious duties (Mt 23 s3). Un fortunately, the high standard was outward rather than inward. The elaborate casuistry to which the Pharisees had recourse was used as a means of evading moral obligations (Mk i™\\ h**!!, Mt 23 »*), and resulted in a spirit hard, narrow, and self-righteous. Not exactly coextensive with the Pharisees, though largely to be identified with them (we read of 'scribes of the Pharisees,' Mk 216 RV ; i.e. ' scribes who belonged to the party of the Pharisees'), were the Scribes (ypo/i/«iT£ts, vojj.iK.oi, vofwSiSdo-KaXoL), or professed students of the law, who supplied the Pharisees with their principles. They had to a large extent taken the place of the priests as the preachers and teachers of Judaism. Their chief fields of action were the syna gogues and the Rabbinical schools. The most highly respected of the scribes were the great rehgious authori ties of the day. It was their successors who built up the Talmud. There were differences of opinion within the body (e.g. the rival schools of Hillel and Shammai, contemporaries of Herod the Great), but, without, their dicta were unquestioned. This veneration was, as a rule, only requited with contempt. While the Pharisees at this date for the most part (though not entirely) held aloof from politics, on the ground that religion as they conceived it could be practised indifferently under any domination, and their own experiences under the national line, represented by Alexander Jannseus, had been the reverse of happy, the mass of the people were burning to throw off the yoke of the stranger. The party of action, which was prepared to go all lengths, was known as the Zealots. SECTS AND PARTIES II One member of this party was numbered among the apostles (Mt io4, Mk 313, Lk 615, Ac i13). In the siege of Jerusalem they took the lead, and were distinguished at once by heroic courage and by horrible crimes. The dynasty of the Herods had from the first claimed alliance with Hellenic culture. The founder of the dynasty had mixed with advantage to himself in the haute politique of his day; and he had signalized his reign by buildings in the Greek style, but on a scale of barbaric magnificence. The courts of the Herods must always have had a tincture of Hellenism about them. But the reaction against this was strong, and its influ ence probably did not extend very far, though it inspired the historians Nicolaus of Damascus, Justus of Tiberias, and Josephus. More likely to affect the lower and middle strata of the population would be the 'Greek cities ' founded by the Syrian kings before the Macca baean rising, such as the cluster known as Decapolis, for the most part east of the Jordan, with later founda tions like the flourishing port of Caesarea. But more important still would be the influence of the Jews of the Diaspora, constantly coming and going to the great feasts at Jerusalem, and with synagogues for their special use permanently established there (Ac 6s). The greatest of the centres with which the Jews were thus brought in contact were Alexandria and Antioch. And there is reason to think that the amount of intellectual intercourse and interchange was by no means incon siderable. There must have been other foreign influences at work, but rather by what might be called underground channels. The connexion of Palestine with Babylonia 12 SURVEY OF CONDITIONS and the East, which goes back to immemorial antiquity, had been revived and deepened by the Captivity. It was kept up by intercourse with the Jews who remained in those regions. But whether or not they had come precisely in this way, there can be no doubt that Oriental, and indeed specifically Persian influences were present in the sect of the Essenes. The ceremonial washings, and the reverence paid to the sun, can hardly have had any other origin. The asceticism and community of goods have a Pythagorean cast, and may have come from Greece by way of Egypt, while the rejection of sacrifice and what we know of the specu lative tendencies of the Essenes may well be native to the soil of Palestine. The Essene settlements were congregated near the Dead Sea. B. Internal Conditions: the State of Religious Thought and Life. § 7. General Conditions. — To describe justly the state of Judaism in the time of Christ is a difficult and delicate thing. It is too apt to seem like an indictment of the Judaism of nineteen centuries, which not only on general grounds, but specially in view of the attitude of some Jewish apologists of the present day, a Christian theologian will be loth to bring. He will desire to make all the allowances that can rightly be made, and to state all the evidence (so far as he knows it) for as well as against. But at the same time he must not gloss over real faults and defects, without a statement of which Christianity itself can be but imper fectly understood. RELIGIOUS THOUGHT AND LIFE 1 3 Truth does not, as a rule, lie in compromises. And ts interests will be perhaps best served if we set down without reserve both the darker and the brighter sides, only asking the reader to remember while he has the one before him, that the other is also there. That we attempt this difficult task at all is due to no wanton assumption of a right to judge, but to the unavoidable necessity that what is so intimately bound up with history should be seen in the full light which history throws upon it. (a) The Darker Side of the Contemporary Judaism. — As we look broadly at the religious condition of Pales tine in the time of our Lord, there can be little doubt that it was in need of a drastic reformation. This is the impression inevitably conveyed by the Gospels, and by the searching criticisms of St. Paul. Nor is it belied by the witness of Josephus, and in particular by the outbreak of untamed passion, with the horrors to which it gave rise, in the Jewish War. And although it may be easy to make a selection from the Talmud of sayings of a different character, it can hardly be ques tioned that the same source supplies proof enough that the denunciations of the Gospels were not without foundation. There is too evident a connexion between the inherent principles of Judaism and the defects charged against it to permit us to regard these as devoid of truth. (i.) The idea of God was perhaps the strongest side of Judaism, but it was too exclusively transcendent. It had no adequate means of spanning the gulf between God and man. The faults of Judaism were those of Deism. It had one tender place, the love of Jehovah for 14 SURVEY OF CONDITIONS Israel. But this fell some way short of the Christian idea of the Father in heaven, the God who not only loves a single people, but whose essence is love. Judaism also largely wanted the mystical element which has played such an important part in Christi anity. The Johannean allegory of the Vine and the Branches, which agrees so closely with the teaching of St. Paul, the whole conception of immanent divine forces circulating through the organism, has no true analogy in it.* (ii.) But the most disastrous feature of Rabbinical Judaism was its identification of morality with obedience to written law. 'Duty, goodness, piety, — all these are to the Jew equivalent terms. They are mere synonyms for the same conception — the fulfilment of the law. A man therefore is good who knows the law and obeys it; a man is wicked who is ignorant of it and transgresses it' (Montefiore, Hibbert Lectures, p. 479). This identification of morality with law led to a number of serious evils, (iii.) Law can deal only with overt action. Hence there was an inevitable tendency to restrict the field of morals to overt action. Motive was comparatively disregarded. It is doubtless true that the Rabbis frequently insist on Tightness of motive. A religion which in its Sacred Books included the Prophets as well as the Law could not do otherwise. But the legal conception was too deeply ingrained not to tell its tale. If it had not been so, there would have been no need for the Sermon on the Mount; and the address, 'Scribes and Pharisees, * The comparison of Israel to a vine is not unknown to Judaism, but in a wholly different application (see Wunsche, Erlaut. d. Evang. on Jn 151). RELIGIOUS THOUGHT AND LIFE 15 hypocrites,' would have had no point, (iv.) Another consequence of the stress laid on overt acts was the development of an elaborate doctrine of salvation by works. ' We need not suppose that this doctrine was universally held and always consciously acted upon; but it cannot be denied that there was in Judaism a widespread opinion that might be expressed in the terms, 'so much keeping of the law, so much merit'; and the idea of a ' treasure of merit,' which each man stores up for himself, is constantly met with, (v.) In one sense the keeping of the law was very hard. The labours of the scribes had added to the original and primary laws an immense mass of inferential law, which was placed on the same footing of authority. This portentous accumulation of precepts was a burden 'grievous to be borne.' (vi.) Not only so, but a great part of this additional law was bad law. It was law inferred by a faulty system of exegesis. Even where the exegesis was bond fide, it was in a large proportion of cases unreal and artificial. But there was a great temptation to dishonesty, for which the way was left open by the exaggerated stress laid on acts, and the comparative ignoring of motive. In the dead level of ^written law the relative degrees of obliga tion were disregarded. Hence there were a number of precepts which were positively immoral (e.g. Corban, Mk 7u:i2||). (vii.) A further defect in the flegal con ception of religion was its intellectualism. The Talmud bears witness to what is little less than an idolatry of learning, and that, we must remember, Rabbinical learning. With religion converted into science, and the science in great part no science, we may well say, 1 6 SURVEY OF CONDITIONS ' If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness ! ' The Scholasticism of the Middle Ages had no such unchallenged supremacy; it was not the one all-pervading ideal, (viii.) For the mass of the population the double law, traditional as well as original, could not but be a burden. The accumula tion of precepts not possessed of moral value is always a thing to be deprecated. And however much we may allow for the fact that the observance of all these precepts was not expected of every one, there still remained enough to be a real incubus. And yet, on the other hand, the performance of the full Pharisaic standard was not so very difficult for persons of leisure, who deliberately made up their minds to it. It did not mean, or at least it might be understood as not meaning, more than a life mechanically regulated. But then it is easy to see that the existence of this class, consciously setting itself above its neighbours, and able, without any excessive strain, to make good its pretentions, must have inevitably engendered a feeling of self-righteousness or spiritual pride. The parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Lk i8lws) must needs have been typical, (ix.) What the Pharisee was to the ordinary Jew, that the Jew was to the rest of mankind. However politically inferior, the Jew never lost his pride of race, and with him this pride of race was a pride of religious privilege. The Zealot sought to translate this into political domination, but the Pharisee was content to retire into the fortress of his inner consciousness, from which he could look with equanimity at the rise and fall of secular powers. (x.) This particular form of pride had a tendency to RELIGIOUS THOUGHT AND LIFE IJT aggravate itself as time went on. 'To make a fence round the law ' was a fundamental principle of Judaism. And in a like spirit the privileged people was tempted to make a fence round itself, and to dwell apart among the nations. Institutions which had had for their object to keep the nation clear of idolatry, were ex tended when the dangers of idolatry were past, until it required a revolution to say with St. Paul, ' There is neither Jew nor Greek.' (xi.) Worst and most dis astrous of all was the tendency to fall back upon national privilege as a substitute for real reformation of life. We can see alike from the Gospels and from St. Paul how constantly the Jews had upon their lips, 'We have Abraham to our father' (Lk 3s, Jn 8s3-39, Ro 217~x). It is admitted that 'the Jews were some what too confident of their assured participation in the blessedness of eternal life; all Israelites, except very exceptional and determined sinners, were believed to have their share in it ' (Montefiore, Hibb. Led. p. 482). (j8) The Brighter Side of the Contemporary Juda ism. — The above is a long and a serious catalogue of charges, partly resting upon the logic of the creed, but also too much borne out by positive testimony. It seems conclusively to prove that not only reformation, but a thoroughgoing reformation, was needed. And yet there is another side which the Christian teacher ought to emphasize more fully than it has been the custom to do. (i.) In the first place, we have to remember that Judaism is professedly the religion of the OT. It is based upon a Book which includes the Prophets and the Psalms (to use the familiar description a poHori 1 8 SURVEY OF CONDITIONS parte) as well as the Law. And however much Judaism proper gave precedence to the Law, it could not forget the other parts of the volume, or run wholly counter to their spirit. It is not too much to say that even in the Talmud we can see at every turn how the spirit of legalism was corrected by an influence which is ultimately derived from what are rightly called the evangelical portions of OT. We shall see to what an extent Christianity itself is a direct development of these. (ii.) The evidence of NT, severe as it is upon the whole, yet is not all of one tenor. Its pages are sprinkled over with Jewish characters, who are men tioned in terms of praise: Zacharias and Elisabeth, Simeon and Anna, Nathanael, Nicodemus, and Joseph of Arimathsea, the young ruler, and the scribe who was pronounced to be 'not far from the kingdom of God' (Mk 1234). We must not forget that there are parts of NT itself which in recent years have been claimed by Christian scholars as thinly veneered products of Judaism (Ep. of James, Apoc). Whatever we may think of these particular instances, there are others (such as Didache and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs) in which it is highly probable that a Jewish original has been adapted to Christian purposes. And our present investigation will bring before us many examples in which, while Christianity corrects Jewish teaching, it nevertheless takes its start from it, and that not only from the purer original, but in its con temporary form. (iii.) The panegyrists of the Talmud have at least right on their side to this extent, that single sayings RELIGIOUS THOUGHT AND LIFE ig can frequently be quoted from it in disproof of the sweeping allegations brought against it by its assailants. There are grains of fine wheat among its chaff. Some of these are referred, on what seems to be good autho rity, to a time anterior to the coming of Christ. The 'golden rule' is attributed to Hillel. The story is that when Shammai drove away an inquirer who desired to be taught the whole Torah while he stood on one foot, the man went to Hillel, who said: 'What is hateful to thyself do not to thy fellow; this is the whole To rah, and the rest is commentary' (Taylor, Pirqe Aboth, p. 37). Another great saying is ascribed to Antigonus of Soko : ' Be not as slaves that minister to the lord with a view to receive recompense ; but be as slaves that minister to the lord without a view to receive recom pense; and let the fear of Heaven be upon you' (ib. p. 27). There is a fair number of such sayings. If we take the treatise from which the last is directly quoted we shall see in it what is probably not an unfair repre sentation of the better Judaism in the time of Christ, with its weaknesses sufficiently indicated, but with something also of its strength. (iv.) It is right also to bear in mind that the Judaism of this date had no lack of enthusiasts and martyrs. Akiba in particular, though a Jew of the Jews, cannot but command our admiration (see Taylor> ut sup. p. 67 ff.). And in a different category his fortitude is matched by the mitis sapientia of Hillel, of whom it was said that his gentleness brought men 'nigh under the wings of the Shekinah' (ib. p. 37). (v.) A favourable impression on the whole is given by the numerous pseudepigraphic works, which belong 20 SURVEY OF CONDITIONS in the main to the two centuries on each side of the Christian era. The oldest parts of the Book of Enoch may possibly be earlier, just as some outlying members of the Baruch literature are probably later. The most typical writings are the Book of Enoch and the Psalms of Solomon (which can be dated with tolerable cer tainty B.C. 70-40), the Book of Jubilees and the As sumption of Moses (which may be taken as roughly contemporary with the founding of Christianity), and the Fourth Book of Ezra (2 Es) and the Apoc. of Baruch, both after the fall of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. These writings show in varying degrees most of the characteristic infirmities of Judaism, but they also show its nobler features in a way which sometimes, and especially in the two latest works, throws the infirmities into the shade.* It is a moot point how far the pseudepigrapha can be taken as representative of the main currents of Judaism. Montefiore, writing in 1892, says, 'It must be remembered that the apocalyptic writmgs lie for the most part outside the line of the purest Jewish development, and often present but the fringe or excrescence, and not the real substance of the dominating religious thought' (Hibb. Led. p. 467). On the other hand, Charles has no difficulty in assigning the different portions to recognized party divisions in Judaism. Schiirer in like manner describes their standpoint as that of 'correct Judaism,' adding, however, that they are 'not products of the school, but of free religious individuality' (HJP in. ii. 49). Similarly, Baldensperger speaks of 4 Ezra and Baruch as free from the spirit of casuistry, and not 'absorbed in the Halachic rules' (p. 35, ed. 1). This verdict would apply in some * For a closer and more exact but still tentative analysis and dating, the reader may be referred to the editions by R. H. Charles of Enoch ('893), Secrets of Enoch and Apoc. of Baruch (1896), Assumption of Moses (1897) ; or for a judicious representation of average opinion, to, Schiirer, HJP 11. iii. 54 ff. RELIGIOUS THOUGHT AND LIFE 21 degree to this class of literature generally. It is perhaps in the main of provincial origin, or at least somewhat outside the beaten tracks of Jewish teaching. The Pss. of Solomon and Bk. of Jubilees would be nearest to these. It is very probable that 4 Ezr and Apoc. Bar were directly affected by the ferment of thought caused by the birth of Christianity. When we endeavour to put together the impressions which we derive from these various sources, we may perhaps say that the outcome of them is that Judaism at the Christian era had all the outer framework of a sound religion if only the filling in had been different. The Jew knew better than any of his contemporaries in Greece or Rome or in the East what religion was. He had a truer conception of God, and of the duty of man towards God ; but on the first head he had much still to learn, and on the second he had many faults to be corrected in the working out of detail. The Jew had at least a profound seriousness on the subject of religion. Where this was wanting, the man was no true Jew. And, even allowing for all the ex ternal influences which told against this, there was among the Jews probably less of professed atheism, indifference, levity, than there has ever been in any other society, ancient or modern. The Jew had also an intense feeling of loyalty to this society. His love of what we should call his Church rose to a passion. It is this which makes the apocalypses which followed the fall of Jerusalem so pathetic. The faith of men has probably seldom received a shock so severe. The au thors of these apocalypses feel the shock to the uttermost. They grope about anxiously to find the meaning of God's mysterious dealings; but their faith in Him is unshaken. They are divided between 22 SURVEY OF CONDITIONS passionate grief and resignation : ' Two things vehe mently constrain me : for I cannot resist thee, and my soul, moreover, cannot behold the evils of my mother' (Apoc. Bar 3s). § 8. The Special Seed-plot of Christianity. — In general terms it may be said that when we seek for affinities to Christianity we find more of them the farther we recede from the centre of official Judaism. The one thing to which Christianity is most opposed is the hard, dry, casuistic legalism of the Pharisee. If we are right in thinking of the apocalyptic literature as in the main provincial, we shall not be surprised to find the points of contact with it become more numerous. Wherever there are traces of a fresher and deeper study of the Psalms and Prophets, there we have a natural kinship for the Christian spirit. Now there is one class among whom this continuity with Psalms and Prophets is specially marked. It has been observed* that there is a group of Psalms (of which perhaps 9. 10. 22. 25. 35. 40. 69. 109 are the most prominent) in which the words translated in EV 'poor,' 'needy,' 'humble,' 'meek' are of specially frequent occurrence. It appears that these words have acquired a moral meaning. From meaning originally those who are ' afflicted ' or ' oppressed ' (by men), they have come to mean those who in their oppression have drawn nearer to God and leave their cause in His hands. They are the pious Israelites who suffer from the tyranny of the heathen or of their worldly countrymen, * See esp. Rahlfs, 'jy und My in den Psalmen, Gottingen, 1892 ; and Driver, Parallel Psalter, Oxf. 1898, Glossary, s.v. ' poor.' THE SPECIAL SEED-PLOT OF CHRISTIANITY 23 and who refuse to assert themselves, but accept in a humble spirit the chastening sent by God. As there were many such in every period of the history of Israel, they might be said to form a class. Now there is other evidence that this class still existed at the Christian era. They are the mansueti et quiescentes of 4 Ezr (2 Es) 1 142. They are just the class indicated in Ps-Sol 5^ 'Who is the hope of the needy and the poor beside thee, O Lord? And thou wilt hearken: for who is gracious and gentle but thou? Thou makest glad the heart of the humble by opening thine hand in mercy.' (Com pare also the reff. in Ryle and James, p. 48, and Index, s.v. wto>xos). The special NT designation is ttrnoyw. t& wvevfMTi (Mt 5s). And a better expression of the spirit in question could not easily be found than the Magnificat (Lk i46"*5). It is clear that the group which appears in Lk 1. 2, not only Joseph and Mary, but Zacharias and Elisabeth, Simeon and Anna, all answer to this description. They are those who look for 'the consolation of Israel,' 'the redemption of Israel' (Lk 2s5- 38), and who looked for it rather by fasting and prayer than by any haste to grasp the sword. There was no organized party, no concerted policy; but we cannot doubt that there were many devout souls scattered throughout the country, and in just the kind of distribution which the chapters "Lk 1. 2 would suggest, some for shorter or longer periods ' making their way to Jerusalem, but the greater number dis persed over such secluded districts as the "highlands' 0? opavfi, Lk 1s8) of Judaea and Galilee. Here was the class which seemed, as it were, specially prepared to receive a new spiritual impulse and to take 24 SURVEY OF CONDITIONS up a great movement of reformation. And other ten dencies were in the air which were ready to contribute to the spread of such a movement when it came. The labours of the scribes had not been all wasted. There is a good example in Mk 1232"34 — the happy combination of Dt 4s9 with Lv 1918 — which shows that even among the Rabbis there were some who were feeling their way towards the more penetrating teaching of Jesus. One great transition had been made since Ezk 18. The value of the individual soul was by this time fully realized. The old merging of the individual in the family and the clan had been fully left behind. Another germ contained in the teaching of the prophets had been developed. We can see from the case of the Essenes that men's minds were being prepared for the abolition of animal sacrifices, and along with the aboli tion of sacrifice for an end to the localized worship of the temple. The great extension of the synagogue services would contribute to the same result. The proselytizing zeal which the latter Judaism had displayed (Mt 2315) operated in several ways. It was a step in the direction of the ultimate evangelizing of the Gentiles. It had created a class in which the liberal influences of Graeco-Roman education prevented the purer principles of OT from lapsing into Judaic narrow ness and formalism, and in which it was therefore natural that Christianity should strike root. We meet with specimens of this class in the Gospels (Lk 72"s||, Mk is89!!) as well as in the Acts. And not only was there created a class of recipients for the gospel, but in the effort to meet the demands of these converts from paganism there was a tendency to tone down and throw THE MESSIANIC EXPECTATION 2$ into the background the more repellent features of Judaism. If it is true, as it probably is, that the so-called JDidache is a Christian enlargement of what was originally a Jewish manual for proselytes, it would be a good illustration of this process. § 9. The Messianic Expectation. — But by far the most important of all the preparations for the gospel, nega tive as well as positive, both as demanding correction and as leading up to fulfilment, was the growth of the Messianic expectation, with the group of doctrines which went along with it. The more the stress of the times was felt, and the more hopeless it seemed that any ordinary development of events could rescue the Jewish people from its oppressors, the more were its hopes thrown into the future and based upon the direct interventiou of God. The starting-point of these hopes was the great pro phecy in Dn 7. The world empires, one succeeding another, and all tyrannizing over the Chosen People, were to be judged, and Israel at last was to enter on the dominion reserved for it. The figure of the Son of Man who appears before the Ancient of days (Dn 7I!f) was not in the first instance a person : it was a collec tive expression, equivalent to the 'saints of the Most High ' in v.M. The form of a ' man ' is taken in con trast to the ' beasts,' which represent in the context the dynasties of the oppressors. In conflict with the last of these Israel is at first to be hard pressed, but God Himself will interpose by an act of divine judgment ; the enemy will be crushed, and there will be given to Israel a kingdom which is universal and eternal. 26 SURVEY OF CONDITIONS This dominion is Israel's by right. It had not only been repeatedly promised from Abraham onwards, but it had been earned as a matter of desert. It was the complement of Israel's possession of the law. By its observance of the law Israel had acquired a right which no other nation could acquire. In the compact or covenant between Israel and Jehovah, Israel was doing its part, and it remained for God to do His. The grand catastrophe by which this was to be brought about, the irepnrireui in the tragedy of the nations, was to culminate in an act of judgment. The day of the Lord, conceived of by the prophets at first as a decisive battle in which God intervenes, gives place to a judicial act in which those who have oppressed His people are called to account, and the parts of oppressor and oppressed are reversed. To complete the justice of the case, those of the saints who have died in the times of distress must not be left out. There must be a resurrection. And the resurrection will usher in for them a state of lasting joy and felicity. Nature would share with man. There would be a ' new heaven and a new earth.' The tendency was to conceive of these somewhat literally and materially. Elaborate but at the same time prosaic pictures are given of the inexhaustible plenty which the saints (i.e. Israel as a people) are to enjoy. Their bliss is also sometimes compared to a great feast (cf. Lk 14^). In the Book of Daniel, and, as it would seem for some time afterwards, the reign of the saints is con ceived impersonally. It is the dominion of Israel, the Chosen People. But gradually there arises a tendency to go back to a more primitive stage of prophecy, and THE MESSIANIC EXPECTATION 27 to see the kingdom as concentrated in the person of its King: there is a personal Messiah. This is conspicu ously the case in the Psalms of Solomon (17. 18), the date of which is fixed between B.C. 70-40. The right eous King who is to rule over the nations is the Davidic King of the elder prophets. A personal King is also implied in Orac. Sibyll. iii. 49 f., 652-656. In the middle section of the Book of Enoch (chs. 37-71), which is also probably pre-Christian, the title 'Son of Man' is taken up from Daniel and distinctly identified with a person. Here, too, as in Orac. Sibyll. iii. 286, and Apoc. Bar 72^, the Messiah is not only King but Judge (cf. Enoch 45s 628"13 6, Jn. 6. D. Close of the Active Period: the Messianic Crisis in View. Scene. — Judaea (Jn 710ff- ii54) and Peraea (Mk io*||, Jn 1040). Time. — Tabernacles A.D. 28 to Passover a.d. 29. Mt I91-208*, Mk 101-52, Lk 96L-192B (for tne most part not ;n chronological order), Jn 71-n67. E. The Messianic Crisis: the Triumphal Entry, the Last Teaching, Passion, Death, Resurrection, Ascension. Scene. — Mainly in Jerusalem. Time. — Six days before Passover to ten days before Pentecost A.D. 29. Mt 2iL-28» Mk ii!-i68 [I69-20], Lk i929-2462, Jn i^ai*. The chronology adopted in this article, not as certain, but as on the whole the best of current systems, is in substantial agreement with that of the art. Chronology of the New Testament. It differs from that in the writer's first work, The Authorship and Historical Character of the Fourth Gospel (London, 1872), by placing the Crucifixion in the year a.d. 29 rather than a.d. 30. A. Preliminary Period : from the Baptism to the Call of the Leading Apostles § 11. Scene. — Mainly Judaea, but in part also Galilee. 3 34 THE EARLY MINISTRY Time. — Winter a.d. 26 to a few weeks after Pass over a.d. 27. Mt 3*-4n, Mk i™ Lk s1-^, Jn i«-4M. The Public Ministry of our Lord begins with His Baptism, (i.) This will therefore be the first point to attract our attention, and some explanation will be needed as to the Baptist and his mission, (ii.) Along with the Baptism we must needs take the Temptation, as a glimpse vouchsafed by Jesus Himself, and early and widely published, of the principles which were to determine the nature of His Ministry, (iii.) After this will come the first preliminary gathering of a few loosely attached followers, and the first miracle at Cana in Galilee, (iv.) Then the visit to Jerusalem for the Passover of the year 27, with a short stay in the South, (v.) Then we have a return to Galilee, followed by a brief period of partial retirement, leading up to the Call of the four chief apostles. Allusions^ more or less explicit, to the Baptism and to the ministry of John, are found in all four Gospels ; the other events of this period are recorded only in the fourth — unless we are to identify the Healing of the Nobleman's Son (Jn 44W4) with that of the Centurion's Servant (Mt 85"13, Lk 7110). § 12. i. The Baptist and the Baptism. — Our survey of contemporary Judaism has shown us that ' the kingdom of God ' was a phrase in almost every man's mouth. It meant, in point of fact, to the majority ' a kingdom PRELIMINARY PERIOD 35 for Israel' far more than a 'kingdom of God.' Bert though in a more or less indefinite sense it was under stood to be near, no time had as yet been actually announced for it. Men were on the watch, but rather for the signs of the coming than for the actual coming itself. We are not surprised, therefore, to find that the news that a prophet had appeared who preached the approaching coming of the Messiah caused a wide spread excitement.* The aspect of this coming, which he put in the forefront, was the aspect of judgment. The axe was laid to the root of the trees, and the fruit less tree would be burned (Mt 310, Lk 3s). The prophet who made this announcement bore the name of John. The scene of his preaching was the wilderness of Judsea, near the lower course of the Jor dan where it fell into the Dead Sea. In this wilder ness he had lived in solitude for some time before he began his prophetic mission. His whole appearance was sternly ascetic. He seems to have adopted de liberately a garb and a manner of life resembling those of Elijah, probably not so much in anticipation of the verdict which was to be afterwards passed upon him (Mt nM) as because he took Elijah for his model. His character and his mission alike were severely simple. His soul was possessed with a strong con viction, wrought in him in precisely the same manner in which such convictions were wrought in the prophets * Stress can hardly be laid on the form of announcement in Mt 33, which would make the Baptist anticipate exactly the announce ment of Jesus. This would seem to be due to the editor. The older version describes the Baptist as 'preaching a baptism of repent ance for remission of sins' (Mk i4). 36 THE EARLY MINISTRY of the OT, that a great crisis was near at hand. What lay beyond was dim, and, so far as the prophet had a definite picture before him, it was probably not very different from that which presented itself to his countrymen. But he saw clearly that the crisis would take the form of a judgment, and that there would be a judge, a personal judge, with a mission vastly greater than his own. At the same time, it is also borne in upon him that the preparation required by this coming judgment is a moral reformation. This he sees in tensely; and again he goes back behind the teaching of his day to that of the ancient prophets. That which is required is not merely a stricter performance of the law, but a deep inward change — a change spontane ously expressing itself in right action. Once more, and indeed very conspicuously, he made good his resemblance to the older prophets by clothing this leading idea of his in an expressive symbolical act. The rumour of him brought the people to him in crowds ; and one by one, as they confessed to him their sins and convinced him of the reality of their repent ance, he took them down into the running waters of the Jordan ; he made them plunge in or let the waters close over their heads, and then he led them out again with the consciousness that they had left their sinful past behind them, and that they were pledged to a new life. The process was called ' Baptism ' ; and John, from the fact that it constituted the main outward expression of his mission, was called 'the Baptist.' The act bore a certain resemblance to those ceremonial washings with which the Jews were familiar enough, and which PRELIMINARY PERIOD 37 held a specially prominent place in the ritual of the Essenes. But it differed from all these in that it was an act performed once for all, and not repeated from day to day. The lesson of it was that of Jn i310: he who was once bathed in this thorough and searching fashion did not need to have the act repeated ; the effect was to last for life. The movement took hold especially of the lower and what were thought to be the more abandoned classes. John was kept fully employed in the work of confessing and baptizing, but he did not allow it to be forgotten that all this pointed forward to another mission greater than his own. The presentiment grew upon him that part of his task as prophet was to name this mightier successor. And again, after the manner of the older prophets, he knew that it would be made manifest to him whom he was to name. Presently the sign was given. Among those who came to be baptized was one who passed for a relative of his own, with whom possibly, though perhaps not probably, he may have had some intercourse in boyhood (cf. Jn im). As with others who before their baptism were called upon to confess, so also with this kinsman, John had some converse, and, if we may accept what is found only in a single narrative,* at first refused to baptize Him. His scruples are set aside, but it is not * Resch (777. x. ii. 57), in his later opinion, regards this narra tive as belonging to the oldest evangelical document ; but the passages which he has collected in support of this view might quite well be explained as paraphrastic allusions to the canonical Matthew. The Gospel according to the Hebrews as used by the Ebionites (Epiph. Hcer. xxx. 13) had a similar scene after the Baptism of Jesus (Resch, Agrapha, p. 345 f.). 38 THE EARLY MINISTRY until the actual baptism that the full truth burst upon him. Still, the analogy of the older prophecy is main tained. A sign is given such as that which Isaiah offered to Ahaz (Is ja). From the Fourth Gospel we should gather that it was seen in prophetic vision by the Baptist (Jn i3M4) ; from the Synoptics we should gather that it was seen in like vision by the baptized (Mk i10, Mt 318 'he saw'). And to prophetic sight was joined also the prophetic hearing of a voice from heaven, proclaiming in words that recalled at once Ps 27 and Is 421 ' Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased.' (a) The Baptists Hesitation. — The incident of Mt 3llf- is open to some suspicion of being a product (such as might well grow up by insensible degrees in the passing of the narrative from hand to hand) of the conviction which later became general among Christians, that their Master was without sin, and of the difficulty which thence arose of associating Him with a baptism ' of repentance.' We cannot exclude this possibility. But, on the other hand, the difficulty is for us, too, a real one, and the solution given, while it has nothing under the circumstances inconsistent or improbable, is attractive by its very reserve. 'To fulfil all righteousness ' = to leave undone nothing which God had shown to be His will. In a general movement which embraced all the more earnest-minded in the nation, it was right that He too should share. It would not follow that the symbolical act of Baptism should have precisely the same significance for every one who submitted to it. For the main body it denoted a break with a sinful past and a new start upon a reformed life. For the Messiah it denoted a break simply, the entrance upon a new phase in the accomplishment of His mission. It took the place with Him of the 'anointing,' which marked the assumption of the active work to which they were called by the kings and prophets of old. This 'anointing' was the 'descent of the Spirit.' The Baptism of the Messiah was Baptism 'with the Spirit,' wherewith He was to baptize. The significance of Baptism in His case was positive rather than negative. PRELIMINARY PERIOD 39 (/?) The Voice from Heaven. — It has been too readily assumed by some distinguished writers (eg. Usener) that the oldest version of the voice from heaven was in exact agreement with Ps 27 'Thou art my [beloved] Son: this day have I begotten thee.' In two of the three Synoptics the reading is undoubtedly iv aol [£] eiSSxrio-a [yiS-]. It is true, however, that in Lk 3M an important group of authorities has iyi> cr^/uepov yeyivv^Ki ce. This is the reading of the larger branch of the Western text (D a b c al. codd. nonnull. ap. Aug. Juvenc. al.). A similar reading is found in Justin, c. Tryph. bis and in other writers, and both readings are combined in the Ebionite Gospel as quoted by Epiphanius. [The evidence is collected in full by Resch, Agrapha, p. 347 ff.] On the other hand, it is by no means certain that in some of these cases the Ps is not directly quoted, and in all assimilation to the text of the Ps lay very near at hand. Even the Western text of Luke is divided, a smaller but very ancient branch (including e) agreeing with the mass of thti Gr. MSS. There can be little doubt that not only the Canonical Gospels, but the ground document on which they are based, had the common reading. The competing reading was a natural application of Ps 27, and it fell in so readily with views which in different forms circulated rather widely in the 2nd cent. that we cannot be surprised if it met with a certain amount of adop tion. See, further, below. (7) Apocryphal Details. — The story of the Baptism underwent various apocryphal amplifications and adornments. One of the earliest of these is the appearance of a bright light (Codd. Vercell. et San- germ, ad Mt 316; Ev. Ebion. ap. Epiph., Ephraem Syr.) or of a fire upon the Jordan (Just. c. Tryph. 88, Prcedicatio Pauli ap. Ps.-Cypr. de Rebapt. 17 al.). The most elaborate working up of this kind of material is found in the Syriac Baptismal Liturgy of Severus (Resch, Agrapha, p. 361 ff.). (3) The Synoptic and Johannean Versions. — When a prophet began his prophetic career he received clear proof of the reality of his call most often through some powerful inner experience or vision {e.g. Is 6), but also at times through Divine revelation to another (eg. 1 K 1916). We may regard the events of the Baptism as a Divine authentication of this kind of the Mission of Jesus. But if so, there would be nothing incongruous in supposing that this authen tication was vouchsafed, both to the Messiah Himself and to the Forerunner, just as a similar authentication was vouchsafed to St. Paul and to Ananias (Ac g3*- llff). We are therefore not in any way compelled to choose between the Synoptic and Johannean ver- 40 THE EARLY MINISTRY sions as to the incidence of the supernatural signs. The two versions may quite well be thought of as supplementing rather than contradict ing each other. The Baptism of Jesus undoubtedly marks the be ginning of His public ministry. How much more was it than this? The Judaizing Ebionites of the 2nd cen tury, who never rose above the conception of Christ as an inspired prophet, and some Gnostic sects which separated the Man Jesus from the ^Eon Christus, start ing from the Synoptic narrative, and combining it with Ps 27, dated from the Baptism the union of the human" and the Divine in Christ in such a way that they are sometimes described as making the Baptism a substi tute for the supernatural Birth. We can imagine how, to those who had the story of the Baptism before them, but who had not yet been reached by the tidings of those earlier events round which the veil of a sacred privacy had been drawn, and which (as we shall see) only made their way to general knowledge by slow degrees and after some length of time had elapsed, should regard the descent of the Holy Ghost as a first endowment with Divinity. The fact that it was not till then that Jesus began to perform His ' mighty works,' would seem to give some colour to the belief. And it would be likely enough that a passing phase of Chris tian thought, based upon imperfect knowledge, would survive in certain limited circles. But the main body of the Church did not rest in this contracted view, which was really inconsistent with the Christology revealed to us in the earliest group of St. Paul's Epistles. It accepted, and, through such leaders as Ignatius of An tioch, emphasized strongly the earlier chapters of the PRELIMINARY PERIOD 4 1 canonical narrative; and the contents of those chapters gave shape to the oldest form (which can hardly be later than Ignatius) of the Apostles' Creed. Already, before the ist century was out, St. John had presented what was to be the Catholic interpretation of the rela tion of the Baptism to the Godhead of Christ. Far back at the very beginning of all beginnings the Divine Word had already been face to face with God, and was Himself God; so that, when the same Word entered into the conditions of humanity, this did not denote any loss of Godhead which was inherent and essential. Much less could the Godhead of the incarnate Christ be supposed to date from the signs which accompanied the Baptism. The object of these signs was rather to inaugurate the public ministry of the Messiah, that He might be ' manifested to Israel ' ('m 6rj tcj> 'lo-p., Jn i31). Though the Greek is different the idea is the same as that in Lk i80, where it is said of the Baptist himself that he was in the desert 'till the day of his showing unto Israel ' («os ij/tepas dvaSei^tais airou wpos tov lo-p.). Whether or not the signs were in the first instance seen by more than the Messiah Himself and the Baptist (and it is probable that they were not), they were made public by the Baptist's declaration (Jn i2*-84), so that in any case there was a real ' manifestation to Israel.' No doubt there was more than this. Besides the outward manifestation, a new epoch opened for the Son of Man Himself. But the nature of this we can describe only by its effects. The evangelists evidently have before their minds the analogy of the prophetic call and prophetic endowment. After the events of the 42 THE EARLY MINISTRY Baptism Jesus is ' full of the Holy Spirit ' (Lk 41, cf. Mt 41, Mk i"). And He applies to Himself the pro phetic language of Is 611 ' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek,' etc. (cf. Lk 418 ; it is probably this allusion to ' anointing with the Spirit ' which has led to the incident in Lk being placed thus early). In the Gospel according to the Hebrews this is expressed even more emphatically than in the canonical Gospels : 'Factum est autem cum ascendisset Dominus de aqua, descendit fons omnis Spiritus sancti et requievit super eum et dixit illi : Fili mi in omnibus prophetis exspec- tabam te, ut venires et requiescerem in te. Tu es enim requies mea, tu es Alius meus primogenitus qui regnas in sempiternum ' (Hieron. adjes. xi. 1). We have only to add that from this time onwards the role of the Messiah is distinctly assumed. The ' mighty works ' very soon begin ; disciples begin to attach themselves, at first loosely, but with increasing close ness ; and there is a tone of decisive authority both in teaching and in act. Literature. — There is a strange mixture of fine scholarship and learning, with bold, not to say wild, speculation on the subject of this section in Usener's Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen, I Teil, Bonn, 1889. With this may be compared Bornemann, Die Taufe Christi durch Johannes in d. dogmatiscken Beurteilung d. Christi. Theologen d. vier ersten Jahrhunderte, Leipzig, 1896. John the Baptist, by the late Dr. H. R. Reynolds (3rd ed. 1888), represents the Congregational Lecture of 1874, and deals more . with the career of John than with the questions which arise out of the Baptism of Jesus; but it does not leave these untouched so far as they had at that date come into view. § 13. ii. The Temptation. — We decline to speculate PRELIMINARY PERIOD 43 where the data fail us. But one remarkable glimpse is afforded us into the state of the inner consciousness of the Son of Man after His Baptism. Strictly speak ing, this would not as yet have been available to the spectator. It was probably not at this early date that it was disclosed, even to those nearest and dearest to Him. Still, the disclosure must have been made by the Lord Himself during His lifetime; and the extent to which it has found its way into all the Synoptics shows that it must have had a somewhat wide diffusion among the main body of the disciples. For this reason, as well as for the advantage of introducing it at the place which it occupies in the narratives, we shall not hesitate to touch upon the Temptation here, though it might per haps more strictly come under the head of ' Supplemental Matter.' The narratives of the Temptation are upon the face of them symbolical. Only in the form of symbols was it possible to present to the men of that day a struggle so fought out in the deepest recesses of the soul. There are two instances of such struggle in the life of the Redeemer — one at the beginning and the other at the end of His ministry (Lk 413 comp. with 22s3). In both, the assault comes from without, from the personal Power of Evil. It is impossible for us to understand it, in the sense of understanding how what we call temptation could affect the Son of God. It could not have touched Him at all unless He had been also, and no less really, Son of Man. He vouchsafed to be tempted in order that He might be in all points like unto His brethren (He 4"). The Temptation clearly belongs to the beginning of 44 THE EARLY MINISTRY the Ministry. It would have had no point before ; and the issue on which it turned had evidently been decided before the public life of Jesus began, as that life throughout its whole course followed the law which was then laid down. The Temptation implies two things. It implies that He to whom it was addressed both knew Himself to be the Messiah whom the Jews expected, and also knew Himself to be in possession of extraordinary powers. To say that He was now for the first time conscious of these powers is more than we have warrant for. But, in any case, it was the first time that the problem arose how they were to be exer cised. Were they to be exercised at the prompting of the simplest of all instincts — the instinct of self-preser vation? Were they to be exercised in furtherance of what must have seemed to be the first condition on which His mission as the Messiah could be accom plished — to convince the world that He had the mission, that it was for Him to lead and for them to follow? And, lastly, when He came forward as the Messiah, was it to be as the Messiah of Jewish expectation? Was His kingdom to be a kingdom of this world? Was it to embrace all the secular kingdoms and the glory of them, to enfold them in a system more power ful and more magnificent than theirs, brought about by supernatural means, with no local limitations like even the greatest of past empires, but wide as the universe itself and indestructible ? Was it to be a real restoring of the kingdom to Israel? Was Jerusalem to be its centre, in a new sense the 'city of the Great King'? All these questions Jesus answered for Himself absolutely in the negative. There did not enter into PRELIMINARY PERIOD 45 His mind even a passing shadow of the ambition which marked the best of earthly conquerors. He was deter mined not to minister in the least to the national pride of the Jews. Still less would He work out a new pride of His own. He did not desire in any sense volitare per ora. Even the most natural cravings of the nature which He had assumed He refused to satisfy so long as their satisfaction ended with Himself. These principles are involved in the narrative of the Temptation. They are laid down once for all ; and the rest of the history shows no swerving from them. At the same time it must be remembered that although the decision had been reached by Jesus Himself, it was not yet known, except so far as He was pleased to reveal it. Partly, the revelation was made by acts and the self-imposed limits of action. The clearest revelation was the story of the Temptation itself. But neither the one nor the other was wholly understood. § 14. iii. The First Disciples and the Miracle at Cana. — At this point we leave for some time the Sy noptic narrative and follow rather that in the Fourth Gospel, which it must be confessed comes to us with very considerable verisimilitude. If we had only the Synoptic Gospels we should have to suppose that our Lord gathered about Him a band of disciples abruptly and suddenly, capturing them as it were by the tone of authority in His command. In St. John we have the steps given which led up to this, and which make it far more intelligible. From this Gospel it would appear that Jesus remained for some time in the neighbourhood of the Baptist; 46 THE EARLY MINISTRY that the Baptist more than once indicated Him in a marked and indeed mysterious way (Jn i29 ' The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world ' ; cf . v.36) ; * and that one by one several of John's disciples began to attach themselves, as yet more or less loosely, to His person. The Baptist's testimony, strengthened by first impressions, awoke in them the belief that at last the ' mightier than he' predicted by the Baptist had come (Jn i41). Such a belief at this time and under these circumstances would need no elaborate demonstra tion. It would be accepted in a tentative way, awaiting verification from events, and, of course, only with those contents which accorded with current Jewish opinion. The home of Jesus was still, as it had been for some thirty years of His life, at Nazareth ; and at the time when He began to collect followers round Him, He was already on the point of returning thither (Jn i43). He had not as yet separated Himself from the domestic life of His family. It was as an incident in this life that He went to a marriage feast at the village of Cana (prob. = Kdna el-Jelll rather than Kefr Kenna) in the company of His mother and some at least of His newly- found disciples. Here occurred the first of those ' signs ' which were to be one conspicuous outcome of His mission. No wonder that it impressed itself vividly on the memory of one who was present, and that it con- *The words are remarkable, especially as coming thus at the very threshold. It is possible that the evangelist may have been led to define somewhat in view of later events and later doctrines (for the allusion seems to be to Is 53). But the context, including the deputation from Jerusalem, is so ' lifelike and so thoroughly in accordance with probabilities, that the saying has a presumption in its favour. PRELIMINARY PERIOD 47 firmed his incipient faith (Jn 2U). We shall speak of these signs in their general bearing presently. § 15. iv. The First Passover. — There would seem to have been some connexion between the family at Nazareth and Capernaum,* as the whole party now spend some days there (Jn 212). But the Passover was near, and Jesus, with at least some of His disciples, went up to it. In connexion with this Passover, St. John places, what has the appearance of a somewhat high-handed act, the expulsion of buyers and sellers from the outer court of the temple (Jn 218"22). The Synoptics place a similar act in the last week of the Ministry (Mk n15"18!!). It is possible that such an act may have happened twice ; but if we are to choose, and if we believe the Gospel to be really by the son of Zebedee, we [shall give his dating the preference — the more so as in these early chapters the dates are given with great precision, and apparently with the intention of correcting a current impression. This act was the first definite assumption of a public mission to Israel, and its scene was fitly chosen at the centre of Israel's worship. It was the act, not as yet necessarily of one who claimed to be the Messiah, but of a religious reformer hke one of the ancient prophets. It was naturally followed by a challenge as to the right * The site of Capernaum has been much debated. At one time it seemed as if the suffrage would go for Tell H-um, but of late there has been a reaction in favour of Khan Minyeh (see the art. in Hastings' DB, HGHL p. 456 f., and von Soden, Reisebriefe (1898), p. 160 f., who quotes a resident, Pere Biever). Buhl, however, GAP p. 224, supports Tell Hum, which the writer now accepts (see Journ. of Theol. Studies, Oct. 1903). 48 THE EARLY MINISTRY of such an assumption. To this the enigmatic reply was given, ' Destroy this temple, and in three days (i.e. in a short time, cf. Hos 6*) I will raise it up'; which seems to be rightly glossed in Mk 14s8 — the Jewish Church with its visible local centre should give place to the Christian Church with its invisible and spiritual centre (cf. Jn 4m). The saying made an impression at the time, and was brought up at the trial of Jesus to support a charge of blasphemy; the disciples at a later date referred it to the Resurrection (Jn 2m). A striking feature in the Johannean version of His visit to Judsea is the way in which the work of Jesus in connexion with it takes up the work of the Baptist and fills in conspicuous gaps in the narrative of the Synoptics. The cleansing of the temple is an act of reformation which follows up the call to repentance. In John alone of the authorities have we a distinct state ment that Jesus adopted the practice of baptism (3s2 41), though no other account of the origin of the Christian Sacrament is so natural. We find also that the neces sity for baptism and the ' new birth ' which went with it is made the subject of a discourse with the Sanhedrist Nicodemus. The writer of the Gospel had been himself a disciple of John the Baptist, and still kept up his connexion with him, and knew what went on in his circle (Jn sm). At the same time he seems to expand the dis courses which he records with matter of his own (31Gft 31ff). § 16. v. Retirement to Galilee. — Soon after this John the Baptist was arrested by Herod Antipas, and Jesus retired into Galilee. On the way He passed through Samaria, and paused at Jacob's well near the village of PRELIMINARY PERIOD 49 Sychar (now generally identified with ' Askar), where His teaching made a marked impression (Jn 4s*-42). The Samaritans had a Messianic expectation of their owri (Jn 425); and if the narrator has not defined what took place in the light of subsequent events, Jesus claimed to fulfil this expectation. This was contrary to His policy for some time to come in dealing with Israel (Mk i44), but He may possibly have used greater free dom among non-Israelites. The events of Jn 213-445 may have occupied three or four weeks, but hardly more. At the time when our Lord arrives in Galilee the impression of His public acts at the Passover was still fresh (Jn 445). This would lead us to explain the latter half of Jn 4s5 as a description of the state of things actually existing; the cornfields were at the time 'white for the harvest,' and ' Say not ye,' etc., will be a proverb. But that being so, a difficulty would be caused if the incident of the plucking of the ears of corn (Mk 223ff) were in its place chronologically, as the crops would still be in much the same condition as during the journey through Samaria, though the wheat harvest was going on be tween Passover and Pentecost, and all the events im plied in Mk i14^22 would have intervened. The time is really too short for these. It is more probable that they were spread over some months. We must conceive of our Lord as returning to Galilee with the few disciples with Him still in the state of loose attachment character istic of this period, and Himself remaining for a while in comparative privacy. The disciples had returned to their occupations when He takes the new and decisive step involved in the call described for us in the Synoptics. 4 50 THE EARLY MINISTRY The Synoptic Chronology. — If Mk 2s8 1| is to be taken as strictly consecutive with the events that precede, it would follow that the call of the leading apostles took place at least a week or two before the cutting of the ripened wheat, i.e., as we might infer, be fore rather than sometime after the Passover season. In that case the Johannean and Synoptic narratives would not be easy to combine. But the sequence of incidents in Mark (Eating with sinners, 218"17; Fasting, 2U-!S; Two incidents relating to the Sabbath, 23S-36) sug gests that we have here rather a typical group of points in the contro versy with the Pharisees than a chronicle of events as they happened in order of time. In that case the call of the apostles might fall in the autumn, and the plucking of the ears of corn might belong to the end rather than the beginning of the period upon which we are about to enter. The Healing of the Nobleman's Son. — As the narratives have come down to us, there are no doubt real differences between the story of the healing of the Nobleman's Son (Jn 4*6-51) and that of the Centurion's Servant (Mt 85"13 ||). We must, however, reckon with the possibility — it cannot in any case be more — that they are two versions of the same event, arising out of the ambiguity of wais and SoSXos. Years ago (Fourth Gospel, p. 100 f.) the writer had taken this view, which has since been adopted by Weiss (Leben Jesu, i. 423 ff.; Eng. tr., T. & T. Clark). A similar question may be raised in con nexion with the common features of the narratives Lk 51-11, Jn 2l1_u. There, too, there may have been some confusion (Fourth Gospel, p. 267; cf. Loofs, Die Auferstehungsberichte, p. 32). Such instances mark the limits of a laxer or stricter interpretation of the historicity of the docu ments, between which we are not in a position to decide with absolute certainty. B. First Active or Constructive Period: the Founding of the Kingdom. § 17." Scene. — Mainly in Galilee, but also partly in Jerusalem. Time. — From about Pentecost a.d. 27 to shortly before Passover a.d. 28. Mt 4M-i3M» Mk i14^18, Lk 4M-9e, Jn 51*. FIRST ACTIVE PERIOD 5 1 In this period the points to notice are : (i.) The Call, Training, and Mission of the Twelve, fol lowed perhaps by a larger number (the Seventy of St. Luke) ; (ii.) the gradual differentiation of the ministry of Jesus from that of John Baptist and its assumption of a much larger scope ; (iii.) a full course of teaching on the true nature of the Kingdom of God (or of Heaven); (iv.) the per formance of a number of Messianic works, chiefly of healing ; (v.) the effect of these works on the common people as seen in a great amount of superficial enthusiasm, but without as yet much intelligent apprehension of the object really in view ; (vi.) the growing hostility of the scribes and Pharisees caused by a more and more de clared divergence of principle; (vii.) the very gentle indirect and gradual putting forward by Jesus of His claim as the Messiah. Up to the point which we have now reached there had been no definite ' founding ' of a society ; no steps had been taken towards the institution even of a new sect, much less of a new religion. The Baptism of Jesus had been attended by circumstances which marked Him out in a highly significant manner; but the general knowledge of these circumstances was vague, and even in those who were not unacquainted with them they awoke expectations rather than convic tions, and these, too, were vague and left for the future to define. For the rest little as yet had occurred to define them. A certain number of disciples had gathered round Jesus in the most easy and natural manner, just as disciples had gathered round many a Rabbi before 52 THE EARLY MINISTRY Him. These simply came and went as inclination took them ; they were not as yet bound by any closer ties to His person. He had gone about quietly with some of them in His company, but nothing very startling had happened. The expulsion of the buyers and sellers from the temple was a prophetic act, and two ' signs ' had occurred at a considerable interval; but this was little to what the Jews expected in their Messiah. So far Jesus had worked side by side with the Baptist, and on very similar lines. If His disciples took a share in baptizing (Jn 4^, it was in the same kind of baptizing as that of John. It was a baptism ' of repentance,' and in no sense baptism ' into the name of Christ.' The period on which we are now entering marks a great advance. The work which Jesus came to perform now took its distinctive shape. What had gone before was of the nature of foretaste, hints, foreshadowings; now the strokes follow each other in quick succession by which the purpose of Jesus is set clearly before those who have eyes to see. We may take these one by one. § 18. i. The Call, Training, and Mission of the Twelve (and of the Seventy). — The first step is one which evidently struck the imagination of the followers of Jesus, because it is placed in the forefront of the Synoptic narrative. It is, in fact, the real beginning of the Public Ministry. Among those who had been the first to seek a nearer acquaintance with the new Prophet were two pairs of brothers, both from Capernaum, and both fishermen by trade. When Jesus returned to Galilee they all went back to their ordinary FIRST ACTIVE PERIOD 53 occupations, and they were engaged in these when suddenly they saw Him standing by the shore of the lake and received a peremptory command to follow Him (Mk i1SJ"||). This ' following ' meant something more than anything they had done as yet ; they were to ' be with him ' (Mk 314), so that they might receive His teaching continuously and in a manner systemati cally. They were encouraged to ask questions, and their questions were answered. Special and full ex planations were given to them which were not given to others (Mt 13s4). The teaching of Jesus was not esoteric, but there was this inner circle to whom peculiar advantages were given for entering into it. The call which was issued in the first instance to the four, Peter and Andrew, James and John, was gradu ally extended. The one other instance particularized in the Gospels is that of Levi, the son of Alphaeus, to whom was given — possibly by Jesus Himself (Weiss, Leben Jesu, i. 503) — the name of 'Matthew' (=' given by God'). A like call proceeded to others, till the number was made up to twelve (lists in Mk 316-19, Mt io2"4, Lk 614-M, Ac i13). The persons chosen belonged to the middle and lower classes. Some must have been fairly well-to-do. Not only did the fishermen own the boats they used, but the father of James and John had 'hired servants' (Mk i20), and John was acquainted with the high priest* (i.e., perhaps, with members of his household, Jn 1816). Matthew was of the despised class of ' publicans.' The second Simon * Hugo Delff (Gesch. d. Rabbi Jesus v. Nazareth, p. 70 ff.), dis tinguishing between the Apostle John and the author of the Fourth Gospel, makes the latter a Jew of priestly family. 54 THE EARLY MINISTRY belonged to the party of Zealots. One, the second Judas (like his father, Simon, Jn 6n 1326 RV), was a native of Kerioth in. Judsea. They were chosen evi dently for a certain moral aptitude which they showed for the mission to be entrusted to them. Judas Iscariot possessed this like the rest, but wrecked his fair chances. The choice and call of Jesus did not preclude the use of common free-will. The course of teaching in which the Twelve were initiated covered a considerable part of that of which an outline will presently be sketched, especially its first two heads. It is summarized in the phrase 'the mystery of the Kingdom ' (Mk 4U||). Of course it is not to be thought that the disciples at once understood all that was told them. Very far from it. They had much to unlearn as well as to learn, and they showed themselves slow of apprehension. But the form of teaching adopted by Jesus was exactly fitted for its object, which was to lodge in the mind principles that would gradually become luminous as they were interpreted by events and by prolonged if slow reflection. Jesus Himself knew full well how unripe even the most intimate of His disciples were to carry out His designs. After a time — we may suppose early in the year 28 — He sent out the Twelve on a mission to villages and country districts which He was not able to visit at once Himself (Mt ioIff||). But they were not to attempt to teach. Some of the wonderful works which Jesus did Himself they also were empowered to do ; but the announcement which they were to make by word of mouth was limited to the one formula with FIRST ACTIVE PERIOD 55 which both John and Jesus had begun : ' The kingdom of heaven is at hand ' (Mt io7). In one Gospel mention is made of a mission which seems to be supplemental to this. Luke speaks not only of the Twelve being sent out, but also of Seventy sent out like the Twelve by twos (Lk io1*). When we observe that the instructions given to them are substantially a repetition of those already given to the Twelve, the question lies near at hand whether we have not in this incident a mere doublet of the preceding, the number seventy (var. led. seventy-two) representing in current symbolism the nations of the known world (cf. Gn 10) — being gradually sub stituted in the oral tradition of Gentile Churches for the number twelve, which seemed to point specially to Israel. We note also that Luke omits the restrictions of Mt io5. But, on the other hand, Luke connects with the return of the Seventy a little group of sayings (Lk io18-20) which have every appearance of being genuine, and so increase the credibility of the narrative which leads up to them. And there is reason to think that one at least of the special sources to which Luke had access came from just such a quarter as that indicated by the Seventy — not the inner most, but the second circle of disciples. He may therefore have had historical foundation for his statement. Nor need it perhaps mean more than that Jesus did not draw any hard-and-fast line at the Twelve, but made use of other disciples near His person for the same purpose. § 19. ii. Differentiation of the Ministry of Jesus from that of John the Baptist. — We have just seen that John, Jesus Himself, and the apostles all opened their ministry with the same announcement. They also made use of the same rite — baptism. But there the resemblance ceased. These were only the links which bound the stage of preparation to the stage of fulfilment. Look ing back upon the work of John, Jesus pronounced that the least of His own disciples was greater thaxi he (Mt nu||). It was the difference between one who was within the range of the Kingdom and one who was 56 THE EARLY MINISTRY without it. The work of John was perfectly good and appropriate as far as it went. Its character was indicated by the 'preaching of repentance,' with which it stopped short. In full keeping with this was John's ascetic habit and mode of life. The abandonment of this by Jesus was the first outward sign of divergence which struck the eye of the world (Mk 218"22!!, Mt n18f||). But the inward divergence was far greater. John inherited the old idea as to the nature of the Kingdom and of the Messiah. While impressed with the necessity of a moral reformation as leading up to it, there is nothing to show that in other respects John's conception of King and Kingdom differed from that of his countrymen. But Jesus came to revolutionize not only the conception but the mode of carrying it out. Hence it was that towards the end of his day, with the despondency of one whose own work seemed wrecked, and who was himself confined in a dungeon, and with the disappointment natural to one who saw or heard of but few of the signs which he had expected as in process of fulfilment, John sent to inquire if Jesus were the Messiah indeed, or, in other words, if the great hope and the great faith to which he had himself given expression had proved delusive. As yet Jesus had but in part, and that very covertly, declared Himself; it was impossible all at once to open the eyes of John to the full mysteries of the Kingdom ; and therefore Jesus contented Himself with appealing from the current idea to one of the fundamental passages of ancient prophecy the higher authority of which John would recognize (Mt n5||). At the same time He hinted that patience and insight were necessary for a true FIRST ACTIVE PERIOD 57 faith ; anything less than this might easily stumble (Mt ne||). § 20. iii. Preaching of the Kingdom. — In the mean time the crowds of Galilee, and especially the Twelve, enjoyed the privilege which John did not. They were having expounded to them in full the new doctrine of the Kingdom of God (or of heaven). This doctrine is of such far-reaching importance, and is so intimately bound up with the rest of our Lord's teaching, that it has seemed best to reserve the fuller account of it for separate and connected treatment at the end of this section. In so doing we are following the example of the First Evangelist, who has massed together a body of teaching at an early place in his Gospel (Mt 5-7), not that it was all spoken on the same occasion, but as a specimen of the general tenor of the teaching of which it formed part. We have a similar example of grouped specimens of teaching in Mt 13. It must suffice to add here (a) that the main subject of the teaching at this period would seem to have been the nature of the Kingdom and the character required in its members: such sayings as Mt 7m are more in keeping with the later cycle of teaching, and were probably spoken later. (b) It must be remembered that the vast majority of those who listened to this teaching heard it only by fragments. It was like the seed-corn scattered in various kinds of ground (Mk 41_20||): it was not to be expected that even under the most favourable circumstances it should germinate and bear fruit all at once. Clearly, the Twelve themselves did not take in its full significance. But it is much that they should have remembered so 58 THE EARLY MINISTRY much of it as they did, and that when their eyes were more fully opened they should have been able to set it down so coherently. § 21. iv. The Messianic Works. — Another marked characteristic of this period is the number of miraculous works of healing, etc., which are attributed to it and evidently belong to it. Once more we may follow the example of the First Evangelist by treating these works, which are so much the subject of discussion in modern times, by themselves. We assume here the result which we seem to reach in the section devoted to them. We assume that the miracles are historical ; and we observe only that they bear the general character indicated in the reply of Jesus to John the Baptist. They are predominantly works of mercy; and they are a direct, and as we believe conscious, fulfilment of the most authentic of ancient prophecies, as contrasted with the mere signs and wonders for which the con temporary Jews were looking. Here, as in other things, we note at once (a) that Jesus condescends to put Himself at the level of those to whom He was sent. Miracles were to them the natural credentials of any great prophet, and especially of the Messiah. Jesus therefore did not refuse to work miracles. That He should work them was part of the conditions of the humanity which He assumed. But (b) though He condescended to work miracles, it was only miracles of a certain kind. He steadily refused to perform the mere wonders which the critics of His claims repeatedly challenged Him to perform. In other words, He made His miracles almost as much a vehicle of instruction as His teaching. Those FIRST ACTIVE PERIOD 59 which He did perform fell into their place as the natural accompaniment of one who as in character so novel and unexpected a King was founding so novel a Kingdom. § 22. v. Effect on the Populace. — It is a confirmation of the view taken above and based on the Fourth Gospel, — that the call of the Twelve was preceded by a preliminary and more sporadic ministry — that from the first day on which the regular ministry began it attracted great attention and was attended by great, if superficial, success among the populace of Galilee (Mk i32-34 1|). Nor did the success of this first day stand alone; it was frequently repeated, and indeed gives the character to the whole of this period (Mk 22, 12 1| 37-m || 32 1| 4i || 5ia || ( Lk 7i6i.)# Both thg miracles and the teaching of Jesus made a strong impression. The people were struck toy the difference between the acts and words of Jesus and those of the teachers to whom they were accustomed. Acts and words alike implied a claim to an authority different in kind from that of the most respected of the Rabbis (Mk i27!, Mt 728f). The Rabbis interpreted the law as they found it ; Jesus laid down a new law (Mt 5a- M etc.), and when He spoke, it was with an air of command. It must not, however, be supposed that Jesus was at once recognized as the Messiah. The testimony of the Baptist had reached but few, and was by this time generally forgotten. The construction put upon the commanding attitude of Jesus was that described in Lk yK 'A great prophet is arisen among us; and God hath visited His people.' Still less can it be supposed that there was any adequate 6b THE EARLY MINISTRY recognition of the change which Jesus came to work in the current conceptions of religion. § 23. vi. Effect upon the Pharisees. — The populace came to Jesus with simple and credulous minds, and they did not resist the impression made upon them, though it lacked depth and permanence (Mk 45f- 1|). Our documents are doubtless right in representing the first signs of opposition and hostility as coming from the religious leaders, the scribes and Pharisees. They are also clearly right in representing the growth of this opposition as gradual. At first Pharisees joined freely in social intercourse with Jesus and His disciples, and even invited them to their own tables (Lk ym- probably belongs to this early period). They could not deny the possibility of a prophet arising, and they repeatedly sought to test after their manner whether Jesus were really a prophet sent from God or no (Mt i238ft || i6lffi 1 9s* ||, Jn 747ffi, cf. i19ff). But their suspicions were soon aroused. It was evident that the teaching and manner of the life of Jesus conflicted greatly with their own. There was a freedom and largeness of view about it which was foreign to their whole habits of thought. (a) In such matters as fasting, the practice of Jesus and His disciples was different (Mk 218C, Mt 616ffi etc.). Worse than this, Jesus appealed expressly to those classes which they scrupulously avoided (Mk 2K_I7|| etc.). (b) Not only did Jesus direct His ministry especially to those whom they regarded as outcast and irreclaimable, but He made some direct attacks upon themselves. At first these attacks may have been slightly disguised (as in Mt 6lft, where the Pharisees FIRST ACTIVE PERIOD 6 1 are not mentioned by name), but they constantly increased in directness and severity, (c) One of the first topics on which they came into collision was in regard to the keeping of the Sabbath. Mark has collected a little group of incidents bearing upon this (Mk 223-36), the first of which, from the mention of the ripe corn, appears, as we have seen, to belong to the second year of the ministry, but belongs to an early phase in the conflict. To the same effect is the incident related in Jn 5ia, and Luke contributes another (Lk 1311"17). (d) The Pharisees were also honestly shocked at seeing Jesus adopt a tone and assume prerogatives which seemed to them to encroach upon the honour of God (Mk 2M1||). It is interesting, and throws a favourable light on the documents, to note how carefully the distinction is marked between (a) the local scribes and Pharisees such as were to be found scattered throughout Galilee (Mk 26-|| 16|| 18-24 36||, Lk 7™); (b) the scribes who came down from Jerusalem (Mk 322), apparently emissaries from the hierarchy, like the deputation of Jn I19; and (c) the Herodians (Mk 36), the dynastic party of the Herods, who with quite different motives acted in alliance with the Pharisees. The Herodians are mentioned again in Mk I218||. The name is otherwise almost unknown to history, though the party is known to have existed. Josephus has oi t4 'TlptbSov tppovovvres, but not 'VLpuSiavol. This is a pure reflexion of the facts of the time — facts which soon passed away, and which fiction would never have recovered. See, further, DB, art. Herodians. § 24. The Self- Revelation of Jesus. — Although Jesus assumed these high prerogatives, and although, as we have seen, He both spoke and acted with an authority which permitted no question, He showed a singular reticence in putting forward Messianic or Divine claims. It is remarkable that from the first those possessed 62 THE EARLY MINISTRY with demons publicly confessed Him for what He was ; but it is no less remarkable that He checked these confessions: 'He suffered not the demons to speak, because they knew him' (Mk i34! 312 [Mt i2lff]). He imposed a like injunction of silence on one healed of leprosy (Mk i**\\). The farthest point to which Jesus went in the way of self-revelation at this early period was by taking to Himself the special title ' Son of Man.' There was probably some precedent for the identification of this title with ' Messiah,' but it was at least not in common use, and therefore served well to cover a claim which was made but in no way obtruded. A fuller discussion of the title will be found below (p. 91 ff.). This marked reticence of Jesus in regard to His own Person is clearly part of a deliberate plan. One of its motives was to prevent the rash and reckless violence which one who appealed to the Messianic expectation was sure to excite (Jn 615). But it was in full keeping with the whole of His demeanour and with the special character which He gave to His mission. The first evangelist rightly sees in this a fulfilment (which we believe here as elsewhere to have been conscious and deliberate) of the prophecy Is 421"8 'My servant . . . shall not strive, nor cry aloud ; neither shall any one hear his voice in the streets,' etc. It is impossible for us to think of the Jesus portrayed in the Gospels as forcing His claims upon the attention of the world. He rather let them sink gently into the minds of His disciples until they won an assent which was not only free and spontaneous, but also more intelligent than it could have been if enforced simply by FIRST ACTIVE PERIOD 63 authority. But, apart from this, it was essential to the development of His mission that the teaching of the Kingdom should precede, and precede by a sufficient interval, the public self-manifestation and offer of the King. The first thing to be done was to change the character and revolutionize the moral conceptions of men. This was to be the work of quiet teaching. The hour for the Leader to come forward was the hour when teaching was to give place to action. Hence it was well that at first and for some time to come the King should remain, as it were, in the background, until the preparation for His assuming His kingship was complete. CHAPTER IV. TEACHING AND MIRACLES. THE TEACHING OF JESUS. a. General Characteristics of the Teaching. § 25. (i) Its Relation to the Teaching of the Baptist and to that of the Scribes. — We have seen that Jesus began by taking up not only the announcement of the Baptist that the Kingdom of God was at hand, but also his call to reformation of life and the rite of baptism by which that call was impressed upon the conscience. We are also expressly told that the call to repentance was part of the apostolic commission (Mk 612). And we find it no less insisted upon after the resurrection (Lk 2447, Ac 2s8 319 531 it* \f> 2& 2&). This is clear proof of the continuity which bound to gether the teaching of Jesus with that of the Baptist. The starting-point of both was the same. And yet this starting- point was very soon left behind. The heads of the Baptist's teaching are soon told ; the teaching of Jesus expands and ramifies in a thousand directions. It is like passing from the narrow cleft of the Jordan to a Pisgah- view over the whole Land of Promise. 5 6S 66 TEACHING AND MIRACLES Although it was permitted to the Baptist to prepare the way for the teaching of Jesus, so far as even to enunciate its opening lesson, the place of the Baptist is quietly assigned to him ; and it is a place outside the threshold of the Kingdom: 'He that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he ' (Mt i iu |). If Christ thus drew a line between His own teaching and that of John, still more marked was the difference between it and other contemporary teaching. John was at least a prophet, and spoke with the full authority of a prophet (Mt 1 1'- 13). The scribes had no original authority at all; they did but interpret a law which they had not made. Jesus spoke with an authority not only above that of the scribes (Mk i22 1|), but higher still than that of John. He is the legislator of a new law (Mt s22 etc.), the founder of that Kingdom which John did not enter. § 26. (2) Its Universal Range. — With this command ing character of the teaching of Jesus there goes a corre sponding width of outlook. We began with a rapid survey of the state of parties and opinions in Palestine at the time of Christ. But the object of this survey was not to explain the teaching of Jesus by affiliating it to any existing school. It was remarked of Him that He had had no regular training (Jn 715). He was not a Pharisee, not a Sadducee, not an Essene, not an Apocalyptist. The direct affinities of the teaching of Jesus were with nothing so transitory and local, but rather with that which was most central in OT. We might call it the distilled essence of OT : that essence first clarified and then greatly enlarged, the drop became a crystal sphere. THE TEACHING OF JESUS 67 We are speaking, of course, of the substance, and of the main part of the substance, of the teaching of Jesus. The mere fact that it was conditioned by time and space involved that it should be addressed to a given generation in a language which it understood. Nor was it wholly without definite and particular applications — sidelights, so to speak, upon that space in history within which it falls. But history itself has shown that in the main it transcends all these condi tions, and is as fresh at the end of eighteen centuries as when first it was delivered. § 27. (3) Its Method. — This wonderful adaptability in the teaching of Jesus is accounted for in part by its extreme simplicity. If it had been a doctrine of the schools, something of the fashion of the schools would have adhered to it. But, as it was, it was addressed chiefly to the common people — sometimes to congrega tions in synagogues, sometimes to the chance company collected in private houses, more often still to casual gatherings in the open air. And the language in which the teaching was couched was such as to appeal most directly to audiences like these. As a rule it takes hold of the simplest elements in our common humanity, ' das allgemein Menschliche.' The trivial incidents of everyday life are made to yield their lessons : the sower scattering his seed, the house wife baking her cakes or sweeping the house to find a lost piece of money, the shepherd collecting his sheep, the fishermen drawing in their net. Sometimes the story which forms the vehicle for the teaching takes a higher flight: it deals with landed proprietors, and 68 TEACHING AND MIRACLES banquets, and kings with their subjects. But even then there seems to be a certain deliberate simplifica tion. The kings, for instance, are those of the popular tale rather than as the courtier would paint them. § 28. (4) The Parables. — We have been naturally drawn into describing that which is most characteristic in the outward form of the teaching of Jesus — His parables. The Greek word TrapafioXy is used in the NT in a wider sense than that in which we are in the habit of using it. In Lk 423 it = 'proverb.' In Mt 1515 (comp. with vv.11- 1&-20) it = ' maxim,' a con densed moral truth, whether couched in figurative language or not. It covers as well brief aphoristic sayings (e.g. Mk 3s3 1328 1| , Lk 5s6 6s9) as longer dis courses in which there is a real ' comparison.' But these latter are the 'parables' in our modern accepta tion of the term : they are scenes or short stories taken from nature or from common life, which present in a picturesque and vivid way some leading thought or principle which is capable of being transferred to the higher spiritual life of man. The ' parable ' in a some what similar sense to this had been employed in OT and by the Rabbis, but it had never before been employed with so high a purpose, on so large a scale, or with such varied application and unfailing perfection of form. We may say that the parables of Jesus are of two kinds. In some the element of ' comparison ' is more prominent. In these the parable moves as it were in two planes — one that of the scene or story which is made the vehicle for the lesson, and the other that THE TEACHING OF JESUS 69 of the higher truth which it is sought to convey; the essence of the parable lies in the parallelism. In the other kind there is no parallelism, but the scene or the story is just a typical example of the broader principle which it is intended to illustrate. The parables in Mt 13, Mk 4 all belong to the one class, several of those in the later chapters of St. Luke (the Good Samaritan, the Rich Fool, the Rich Man and Lazarus, the Pharisee and the Publican) belong rather to the other. There is a group of sayings in the Fourth Gospel to which is given the name irapoi/jua rather than vapafioXy (Jn io6, cf. 1 6s5-29), though the latter term would not have been inappropriate, in which Jesus uses the method of comparison to bring out leading features in His own character and person. In this way He speaks of Himself as the Good Shepherd, the Door of the sheep, the Vine, the Light of the World. These sayings form a class by themselves, and from the peculiar way in which they are worked out — the metaphor and the object explained by the metaphor being not kept apart but blended and fused together — are commonly classed under the head of ' allegory ' rather than ' parable.' This is another instance in which we draw distinctions where the Greek of the NT would not have drawn them. § 29. (5) Interpretation of the Parables. — To this day there is some difference of opinion as to the inter pretation of the parables. The Patristic writers as a rule (though with some exceptions) allow them selves great latitude of interpretation. Any point of 70 TEACHING AND MIRACLES resemblance to any detail of the parable, however subordinate, justifies in their eyes a direct application of that detail. A familiar instance is the identification of the 'two pence,' which the Good Samaritan gives to the host, with the two Sacraments. An opposite modern school would restrict the application to the leading idea which the parable expresses. It is, how ever, fair to remember that the parables are meant to illustrate the laws of God's dealings with men; and as the same law is capable of many particular applications, all such applications may be said with equal right to be included in the parable. For instance, the parable of the Two Sons may be as true for individuals or for classes as it is for nations or groups of nations. The parable of the Great Banquet to which the invited guests do not come, and which is then thrown open to others who were not invited, no doubt points directly to the first reception of the gospel, but it is equally appropriate to every case where religious privilege is found to give no advantage, and the absence of religious privilege proves no insuperable hindrance. Any such range of application is legitimate and interesting ; nor does the aptness of the lesson to one set of incidents make it any less apt to others where a like principle is at work. Every parable has its central idea, and whatever can be related to that idea may be fairly brought within its scope. To press mere coincidences with the picturesque accessories of a parable may be permissible as rhetoric, but can have no higher value. § 30. (6) The Purpose of Teaching by Parables. — If THE TEACHING OF JESUS 71 we had before us only the fact of parabolic teaching, with the parables as they have come down to us and the actual psychological effect which they are seen to ^xercise, we should probably not hesitate as to the reason which we assigned for them. The parabolic form is, as it were, a barb to the arrow which carries home truth to the mind. The extreme beauty of this mode of teaching, handled as it is, has been universally acknowledged. If simplicity is an element in beauty, we have it here to perfection. But when simplicity is united to profundity, and to a profundity which comes from the touching of elemental chords of human feeling, — a touching so delicate, so sure, and so self- restrained, which reminds us of the finest Greek art with an added spiritual intensity which in that art was the one thing wanting, — we have indeed a product such as the world had never seen before and will not see again. We seem to be placed for the moment at the very centre of things : on the one hand there is laid bare before us the human heart as it really is or ought to be, with all its perversities and affectations stripped away; and on the other hand we seem to be admitted to the secret council-chamber of the Most High, and to have revealed to us the plan by which He governs the world, the threads in all the tangled skein of being. No wonder that the parables have exercised such an attractive power, not over any one class or race of men, but over humanity wherever it is found. Then the nature of the parable, at once presenting a picture to the mind and provoking to the search for a hidden meaning or application beneath it, would seem to be exactly suited to the paedagogic method of Jesus, 72 TEACHING AND MIRACLES which always calls for some responsive effort on the part of man, and which prefers to produce its effects not all at once, but rather with a certain suspense and delay, so that the good seed may have time to germinate and strike its roots more deeply into the soil. This natural action of the method of teaching by parables seems so obvious that we might well be con tent not to seek any further. But when we turn to the Gospels, we find there stated a motive for the adoption of this method of teaching which is wholly different, and it must be confessed at first sight somewhat para doxical. All three Synoptists agree in applying to teaching by parables the half-denunciatory passage Is 6M0; they would make its immediate object not so much to reveal truth as to conceal it — at least to conceal it for the moment from one class while it is revealed to another, and its ulterior object to aggravate the guilt of those from whom it is concealed. And, what is still more remarkable, all three Synoptists ascribe the use of this quotation to our Lord Himself, as though it really expressed, not merely the result of His chosen method of teaching, but its deliberate purpose. What are we to make of this ? One group of critics would roundly deny that the words were ever used in this manner by our Lord. Jiilicher (e.g.) takes his stand on Mk 4s3 ' with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it,' which would seem to make the method a tender con cession to slowness of apprehension rather than a means of aggravating it. But, on the other hand, we observe that the quotation is attributed to our Lord in what must have been the common original of all three THE TEACHING OF JESUS 73 Gospels, i.e. in one of our best and oldest sources. And while such passages as Jn i2SMl (where the same quotation is applied by the evangelist) and Ac 2825-27 (where it is applied by St. Paul) would show that it was part of the common property of the apostolic age, the fact that it was so would be still more intelligible if the example had been set by our Lord Himself. Nor would it be less but rather more appropriate as coming from Him, if we regard it as summing up in a broad way what He felt was and must be for many of those among whom He moved the final outcome of His mission. The lesson is very similar to tha/t of Jn i24MS. The Son of Man does not need to pass judgment on those who reject Him. His word judges them by an automatic process. That which is meant for their life becomes to them an occasion of falling, when from indolence or self-will it makes no impression upon them. This was the actual course of things ; it was a course rendered inevitable by the laws which God had laid down, and which in that sense might be re garded as designed by Him. And inasmuch as the Son associates Himself with the providential action of the Father, it might be also spoken of as part of His own design. It is so, however, rather in the remoter degree in which, allowing for the contrariant action of human wills, whatever is is also ordained, than as directly purposed before the appeal has been made and rejected. It belongs to that department of providential action which is not primary and due to immediate Divine initiative, but secondary or contingent upon human failure. There is then perhaps sufficient reason to think thai; 74 TEACHING AND MIRACLES the words may after all have been spoken, much as we have them, by our Lord. But granting this, we should still not be forbidden to surmise that, they are some what out of place. Standing where they do they come to us with a shock of strange severity, which would be mitigated if they could be put later in the ministry, where they occur in St. John. The transference may have been due to the position which the original pas sage occupies in Isaiah, where it also serves as a sort of programme of the prophet's mission. There, too, the arrangement may conceivably represent the actual historical order, but it may also represent the result of later experience, which for didactic effect is placed at the beginning of the career rather than at the end. b. Contents of the Teaching.- § 31. There are five distinctive and characteristic topics in the teaching of Jesus — (i) The Fatherhood of God. (2) The Kingdom of God. (3) The Subjects or Members of the Kingdom. (4) The Messiah. (5) The Paraclete and the Tri-unity of God. With that simplicity which we have seen to be so marked a feature in His teaching, Jesus selects two of the most familiar of all relations to be the types round which He groups His teaching in regard to God and man — the family and the organized state ; God stands to man in the relation at once of Father and of King. These two types by no means exclude each other, but each helps to complete the idea derived from the other without which it might be one-sided. At the THE TEACHING OF JESUS 75 same time, in different connexions, first one and then the other becomes more prominent. Thus, when stress is laid upon the Divine attributes, God appears chiefly in the character of Father ; when attention is turned to the complex relations of men to Him and to one another, they are more commonly regarded under the figure of a Kingdom. § 32. (1) The Fatherhood of God. — It has just been said that the doctrine that God is Father by no means excludes the doctrine that He is also King. This idea, too, is repeatedly put forward (Mt 5s5 1823 222 etc.). The title 'King' brings out what in modern language we are accustomed to call the ' transcendence ' of God. But the recognition of this was, as we saw (p. 13, sup.), a strong point in the contemporary Judaism, and there fore it needed no special emphasis. It was otherwise with the idea of Fatherhood. Not that this idea was unknown to the pagan religions, and still less to the religion of Israel. From Homer onwards Zeus had borne the name 'Father of gods and men.' But this was a superficial idea: it meant little more than ' originator.' This sense- also appears in the older Jewish literature, but with further connotations added to it. God is more particularly the Father of His people Israel (cf. Dt 141 32s, Jer 319 3i9- 20), in a yet deeper sense of the righteous in Israel (Is 6316), and, though not with the same wealth of meaning, of the individual (Mai 210, Sir 231- 4). It is the tenderest side of the -teaching of OT (Ps 10313) which is now taken up and developed. It becomes indeed the corner-stone of the NT teaching •J6 TEACHING AND MIRACLES about God. The name ' Father ' becomes in NT what the name Jehovah (Jahveh) was in OT, the fullest embodiment of revelation. If it is prominent in the apostolic writings, this is traceable ultimately to the teaching of Jesus (cf. Ro 815 and comms.). The title belongs primarily to Jesus Himself as ' the Son ' (6 TLar-Qp /xov, esp. Mt n27). Through Him it descends to His followers (6 TLarrjp vpJutv, o Harrjp aov, Mt S16. 45. 48 fiI. 4. 6. 8. 9. 14. 15 etc )_ But the loye of God as Father extends beyond these limits even to ' the unthankful and evil ' (Lk 6X, Mt 5**). The presentation of God as Father culminates in the parable of the Prodigal Son. Older conceptions of God find their counterpart in the Elder Brother of this parable (Lk IS258- contrasted with v.20). The application which is thus made of the Fatherhood of God invests the teaching of Jesus with wonderful tenderness and beauty (Mt 6s2 711 io29- » Lk 1232 etc.). § 33. (2) The Kingdom of God. — If the conception of God as Father does not exclude His majesty as King, no more does the conception of His Kingdom exclude that of children gathered together in His family. Still, the leading term to denote those active relations of God with man, with which the mission of Jesus is specially connected, is 7 /Jao-iXcuz rov tieov or rStv ovpavuiv. The use of these terms suggests a number of ques tions which are still much debated, (i.) Were both names originally used? Or if one is to be preferred, which? (ii.) What is the meaning of the phrase? Does j8ao-iAeia = ' kingdom ' or ' reign ' ? (iii.) When THE TEACHING OF JESUS JJ we have determined this, with what order of ideas is the phrase to be associated ? With the later Judaism ? or with the teaching of the prophets ? Or does it belong to the more novel element in the teaching of our Lord ? (iv.) Is the Kingdom merely conceived of from the side of man or from the side of God ? Is it some thing which man works out or which^is bestowed upon him ? (v.) Is it present or future ? Was it in course of realization during the lifetime of Jesus Himself, or is it mainly eschatological ? ' (vi.) Is it inward or out ward? A moral reformation or the founding of a society? (vii.) Was the conception as at first framed national or universal? These questions are put as alternatives. And they are usually so regarded. But it may be well to say at once that in almost every case there seems to be real evidence for both sides of the proposition ; so that the inference is that the conception to which they relate was in fact many-sided, and included within itself a number of different nuances, all more or less valid. And the reason for this appears to be, that our Lord took up a conception which He found already existing, and, although He definitely discarded certain aspects of it, left others as they were, some with and some without a more express sanction, while He added new ones. The centre or focus of the idea is thus gradually shifted ; and while parts of it belong to so much of the older current conception as was not explicitly repealed, other parts of it are a direct expression of the new spirit introduced into it. The one element definitely expelled was that which associated the inauguration of the Kingdom with political violence and revolution. 78 TEACHING AND MIRACLES (i.) The Name. — It is well known that the phrase 7 pacnXxia. rZv ovpavZv for ^ fiao: r. Oeov is a peculi arity of the First Gospel (where it occurs thirty-two times), and that it receives no sanction from the other Synoptics. Neither can Jn 3s, where the reading is distinctly Western, be quoted in support of it. Hence some have thought that it was a coinage of Matthew. It occurs, however, also in Ev. sec. Heb. (Handmann, p. 89) ; and the fact that fiao-. t. 6. is found in Mt 1228 2ia- ** would go to show that the evangelist had no real objection to that form, while the corresponding phrase trdTrjp b iv tois oipavo?9 though it disappears from Lk n2 is verified by Mk n26. Moreover, we know that ' heaven ' was a common metonymy for ' God ' in the language of the time (cf. also Mk io21, Lk io20 1233), and that the particular phrase 'kingdom of heaven ' (though not exactly in the sense usually assigned to it; see below under ii.) occurs repeatedly in the Talmud. It seems, therefore, on the whole probable that both forms were used by our Lord Himself. In any case they may be regarded as equivalents. (ii.) Meaning. — The phrase in both its forms is ambiguous : it may mean either ' kingdom ' or ' reign,' 'sovereignty,' 'rule' of heaven, or of God. It appears that in the Talmud the latter signification is the more common (Schiirer, NT Zeitgesch? ii. 539 n. [Eng. tr. n. ii. 171] ; Edersheim, Life and Times, etc. i. 267 f.). And though the former is that more usually adopted by commentators, there seems to be no reason why re course should not be had to the latter where it is more natural (as, eg., in Lk I720- a). The phrase covers both THE TEACHING OF JESUS 79 senses, and the one will frequently be found to shade off into the other. The best definition known to the writer is one given incidentally by Dr. Hort (Life and Letters, ii. 273), ' the world of invisible laws by which God is ruling and blessing His creatures.' This is the most fundamental meaning ; all others are secondary. The ' laws ' in question are ' a world,' inasmuch as they have a connexion and coherence of their own ; they form a system, a cosmos within the cosmos ; they come direct from ' heaven,' or from God ; and they are ' invisible ' in their origin, though they may work their way to visibility. (iii.) Associations. — The sense just assigned was that which was most fundamental in the thought of Jesus. It was that which He saw ought to be the true sense, however much it might be missed by His contem poraries. It was deeper and subtler than the concep tion of Psalmist and Prophet, even than the bright and exhilarating picture of Ps i4Su"13, because it was compatible with any kind of social condition, and be cause it did not turn mainly on the majestic exercise of power. And if this was true of the later and more developed conception, much more was it true of the earlier notion of the theocracy, which was simply that of the Israelite State with a Prophet or Judge at the head instead of a King (1 S 127"12). The contemporaries of Jesus when they spoke of the ' Kingdom of God ' thought chiefly of an empire contrasted with the great world-empires, more particularly the Roman, which galled them at the moment. And the two features which caught their imagination most were the throwing off of the hated yoke and the transference of supremacy 80 TEACHING AND MIRACLES from the heathen to Israel. This was to be brought about by a catastrophe which was to close the existing order of things, and which therefore took a shape that was eschatological. This eschatological and catastrophic side Jesus did not repudiate, though He gave a different turn to it, but the essence of His conception was independent of all convulsions. The simplest paraphrase for ' the Kingdom of God' is the clause which follows the peti tion for the coming of the Kingdom in the Lord's Prayer : ' Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.' The only difference is that the- Prayer perhaps hints rather more at the co-operation of human wills. This is not excluded in the idea of the Kingdom, which is, how ever, primarily the working out of the Will of God by God Himself. (iv.) The Nature of the Kingdom : how far super natural? — The very name of the Kingdom ' of heaven or of God ' implies that it has its origin in the world above. It ' comes ' (Ipyzo-Qai, Mt 610, Mk 91, Lk n2 1720; iyy%av, Mt 32 417 io7 etc.; 9axrev) upon you ' ; Mk tM ( = Mt 417) ' The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand ' (tfyyiKev) ; Mk 91 1| ' There be some here . . . which shall in nowise taste of death till they see the Kingdom of God come (i\r)\vOv?a.v) with power.' The only one of these passages about which there can be any doubt is the second (see above, p. 35), and even that belongs to the common groundwork of the Synoptic tradition, and it is supported by Mt io7||. If the latest of these dates still falls within the lifetime of the then generation, there is a group of parables (the Mustard Seed, the Wheat and Tares, the Drag-net) which would seem at once to bring the Kingdom into the present, and to postpone its consummation. These apparent inconsistencies are probably to be explained in the same way as others which we meet with. The future coming, the more or less distant coming, of which the Son Himself does not know the day or the hour, is the eschatological coming of the current expectation, which, if we follow our authorities, we must believe that Jesus also shared. There was, however, a certain ambiguity even in this expectation as popularly held : it was not clear exactly in what relation of time the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of His Kingdom stood to the end of all things. And this ambiguity was necessarily heightened by the peculiar nature of the coming of Christ, and the conviction which gradually forced itself upon the minds of the disciples that there must needs be a double Coming, — one in shame, the other in triumph ; one therefore which for them was past, and another still in the future. THE TEACHING OF JESUS 83 But, apart from all this, it will be apparent that the more distinctive conception of the Kingdom as the ' world of invisible laws ' by which God works is not subject to the same limitations of time. In this sense it embraces the whole providential scheme of things from the beginning; though, as we have said, it is really a cosmos within the cosmos, and it has its cul minating periods and moments, such as was above all that which dates from the Incarnation. The most characteristic expression of this aspect of the Kingdom would be the parables of the Leaven and of the Seed growing secretly. (vi.) Inward or Outward? — A like conclusion holds good for the question which we have next to ask ourselves: Are we to think of the Kingdom of God as visible or as invisible? Is it an influence, a force or collection of forces, or is it an institution ? We are familiar with the very common and often quite super ficial identification of the Kingdom with the Church. Is this justified? Many recent writers answer this question emphatically, No (list with reff. in Holtzmann, NT Th. i. 208). And it is true that there are certain passages by which it seems to be excluded. Conspicuous among these are the verses Lk I720- 31 Otic ipxerm ij fi. t. 6. pxrcX wapa.Tiip'/jo-ews. o68£ ipovaiv, '\5ob SSe 1j imt. ISoi yip J) /S. r. 0. ivrhz ifiQp (o-rlv. A majority of leading German scholars, including Schiirer (Die Predigt. J. C. p. 18) and Holtzmann (with a slight modification, 'in your reach'), take the last words as meaning 'in your midst,' the main ground being that they are addressed to the Pharisees. But Field seems to have shown (Ot. Norv. ad. loc.) that this interpretation is lexically untenable ('no sound example'), and that the better rendering is in animis vestris. But, on the other hand, parables like the Wheat and 84 TEACHING AND MIRACLES the Tares and the Drag-net are most naturally explained of a visible community; and there can be no doubt that the popular expectation was of a visible kingdom, such as that in which the sons of Zebedee sought for a chief place. If we keep to the clue which we have hitherto followed, the facts will be sufficiently clear. The King dom in its highest and most Christian sense is the working of ' invisible laws ' which penetrate below the surface and are gradually progressive and expansive in their operation. But in this as in other cases spiritual forces take to themselves an outward form ; they are enshrined in a vessel of clay, finer or coarser as the case may be, not only in men as individuals but in men as a community or communities. The society then becomes at once a vehicle and instrument of the forces by which it is animated, not a perfect vehicle or a perfect instru ment, — a field of wheat mingled with tares, a net containing bad fish as well as good, — but analogous to those other visible institutions by which God accom plishes His gracious purposes amongst men. (vii.) National or Universal? — The same principle holds good throughout the whole of this analysis of the idea of the Kingdom. The aptest figure to express it is that of growth. It is a germ, secretly and silently insinuated, and secretly and silently working until it puts forth first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. It is a mistake to cut a section of that which is thus ceaselessly expanding, and to label it with a name which might be true at one particular moment but would not be true at the next. The Kingdom of God is not the theocracy of the OT, nor the. eschato- THE TEACHING OF JESUS 85 logical Kingdom of the Apocalypses, nor the Christian Church of the present day, or of the Middle Ages, or of the Fathers. These are phases through which it passes ; but it outgrows one after the other. For this reason, because He foresaw this inevitable and continuous growth, the chief Founder and permanent Vicegerent of the Kingdom showed Himself, as we might think, indifferent to the precise degree of extension which it was to receive during His life on earth; He was content to say that He ' was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel' (Mt is24), though within a generation His gospel was about to be carried to the ends of the then known earth. It was enough that the seed was planted — planted in a soil suited to it, and under conditions that ensured its full vitality, ' like a tree by the streams of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also doth not wither.' It is characteristic of God's processes that there is no hurry or impatience about them ; the Master was not so anxious to reap immediate fruit as the disciple (Ro i13), and therefore He calmly left it to His followers to see ' greater things ' than He saw Himself (Jn 1412) ; but these 'greater things' are none the less virtually His own. § 34. (3) The Members of the Kingdom. — As the ' Reign of God,' the fiao-CKdn. rov Oeov denotes certain Divine forces of laws which are at work in the world; as "the Kingdom of God it was at most stages a society, but at all stages a definite sphere or area, into which men might enter, and, by entering, become partakers of the same Divine forces or subject to the same Divine 86 TEACHING AND MIRACLES laws. It was therefore a matter of much moment what were the conditions of entrance into the Kingdom, and what was the character impressed upon its members. The two things run into each other, because it was required of those who entered that they should possess at least the germs of the character to be developed in them. (i.) Conditions of Entrance. — These are clearly laid down : ' Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven ' (Mt 183). There was to be a definite change of mind, a break with the sinful past. This was to be ratified by submission to the rite of baptism, which, in the dis course with Nicodemus, is described as a new birth of ' water and Spirit ' (Jn 3s). The entrance into the Kingdom i§ something more than a deliberate act of the man himself, it is a self-surrender to Divine in fluences. The response on the part of God is forgive ness, which is the permanent concomitant of baptism, not only that of John, but also that in the name of Christ (Mk i4||, comp. with Ac 2s3, Lk 24" etc.). (ii.) The Character of the Members. — The typical character of the members of the Kingdom is that of a 'little child,' in which the prominent features are innocence, simplicity of aim, absence of self-assertion, trustfulness, and openness to influences from above. A sketch of such a character is given in the Beatitudes (Mt 5s-9; the || in Lk 620-26 refers rather to conditions or circumstances suited to the character). The Chris tian ideal here depicted stands out in marked contrast to most other ideals of what is admirable in man. The qualities commended ('poor in spirit' — where the THE TEACHING OF JESUS 87 Matthaean gloss is in any case right in sense, — ' meek,' 'merciful,' 'pure in heart,' 'peacemakers') are all of the gentle, submissive, retiring order. And this is fully borne out by other sayings, the cheek turned to the smiter, the litigant forestalled, the requisition of labour offered freely, and even doubled (Mt s38"41!!), enemies to be loved, prosecutors to be prayed for (ib. w.43- **), the sword to be sheathed (Mt 2662), the duties of charity strongly inculcated (Lk io2"7), the duty of forgiveness of injuries (Mt i823ff), service greater than authority (Lk 2225ff). And it is noticeable that the same type of character is praised by St. Paul (Ro 1221 'Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good'; cf. ch. 13). The whole duty of man is summed up in love to God and love to one's neighbour (again cf. Ro 138"10). We observe, too, that the ethical teaching of Jesus is almost confined to that side of ethics which touches upon religion. Allusions to civic and industrial duties are very few, and those negative rather than positive (Mt 1827 2221 = Ro 137). (iii.) Paradoxes of Christianity. — It is only natural that these features in the teaching of Christ should be taken hold of and made a charge against Christianity, as they have been from Suetonius onwards (Domit. 15, * contemptissimae inertiae,' of Flavius Clemens, probably as a Christian ; cf. Tertull. Apol. 42, ' infructuosi in negotiis dicimur'). And it may be doubted whether even yet the full intention of our Lord has been fathomed, and the exact place of the specifically Chris tian ideal in relation to civic and social duties ascer tained. The following suggestions may be offered. The precepts in question were probably addressed 88 TEACHING AND MIRACLES in the first instance, not to promiscuous multitudes, but to the disciples. If certain passages (as Mt 51) may be quoted to the contrary, it should be remembered that these introductory notes as to the circumstances under which discourses were spoken are among the least trustworthy parts of the Gospel tradition, and are often nothing more than vague conjectures of the evan gelists. The type of character described bears on its face the marks of being intended for the little com munity of Christians (cf. Latham, Pastor Pastorum, P- 253)- As such we can see that it had a very special appro priateness. It was not an accident that Christianity is the religion of the Crucified. The Cross is but the culminating expression of a spirit which was char acteristic of it throughout. Its peculiar note is Victory through Suffering. An idea like that of Islam, making its way by the sword, was abhorrent to it from the first. Jesus came to be the Messiah of the Jews, but the narratives of the Temptation teach us that, from the very beginning of His career, He stripped off from His conception of Messiahship all that was political, all thought of propagating His claims by force. A new mode of propagating religion was deliberately chosen, and carried through with uncompromising thoroughness. The disciple was not above His Mas ter; and the example which Jesus set in founding His faith by dying for it, was an example which His disciples were called upon to follow into all its logical consequences. Christianity, the true Christianity, carries no arms ; it wins its way by lowly service, by patience, by self-sacrifice. THE TEACHING OF JESUS 89 History shows that there are no instruments of re ligious propaganda comparable to these. It also shows that the type of character connected with them is of the very highest attractiveness and beauty. Is it a complete type, a type to which we can apply the Kantian maxim, ' So act as if your action was to be a law for all human beings ' ? This would seem to be more than we ought to say. It is not clear that the Christian type would be what it is if it were not built upon, and if it did not presuppose, a certain structure of society, to' which other motives had contributed. The ethical ideal of Christianity is the ideal of a Church. It does not follow that it is also the ideal of the State. If we are to say the truth, we must admit that parts of it would become impracticable if they were transferred from the individual standing alone to governments or individuals representing society. It could not be in tended that the officers of the law should turn the cheek to the criminal. The apostles were to bear no sword, but the judge 'beareth not the sword in vain.' May we not say that the functions of Christian morals — specifically Christian morals — are these ? (1) At their first institution to form a vehicle, the only possible vehicle, for the Christian religion. So far as Chris tianity has taken a real and genuine hold upon society, it is through these means and no others. Other things may have commended it for a time, but no trust can be placed in them. (2) The Christian motive acting in the midst of other motives gradually leavens and modifies them, imparting to them something which they had not before. If we look round us at the 90 TEACHING AND MIRACLES principles which at this moment regulate the action of States, in their external or international relations as well as those which are internal, we shall see that if these principles are not wholly Christian, they are also not pagan. They have a certain coherence, and they mark a very conspicuous advance as compared with the principles of the ancient world. Christianity has shown a power of modifying what it does not altogether supplant. The world even outside Christianity is still God's world. It is a world of which the essential char acteristic is that it is progressive ; and it may conduce most to this progress that it should be brought under the influence of the Christian precept, not pure but in dilution. And (3) may we not draw from this the augury that in the end, at some time which we cannot see, the social structure may be still more fully recast, under the influence of Christianity : ' Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more ' ? We can conceive a condition of things in which the Church became coextensive with the State, and in which religion penetrated the body politic in a sense in which it has never done so yet. When that time came, conduct which now would be only quixotic might be rational, and required by the public conscience. When the verse Mt s42 ' Give to him that asketh thee,' etc., is criticized from the point of view of modern political economy, the mistake is in applying a standard which is out of place. In those days the natural and, indeed, the only outlet of the kind for benefiting the poor was almsgiving ; and our Lord's main object was to strengthen the motive, which was in itself a thoroughly right one. It would have been in vain to THE TEACHING OF JESUS 9 1 anticipate methods which God has evidently intended to be the result of long experience. The argument from analogy comes in here with great force. God might have removed many forms of human ill with a word ; but as it is, He has been pleased to let improved methods, and the wisdom to use them, grow gradu ally and grow together. The advance which mankind slowly makes is a solid advance, and an advance not here and there, but all along the line. We have seen that our Lord was not careful to guard against misunderstandings. It has been a salutary exercise for His followers to find out what was the true sense of His sayings for themselves. § 35. (4) The Messiah. — We are not concerned here with the very remarkable historical evolution of the claim of our Lord to be the Messiah, which will come before us in connexion with the narrative of His life. At present we have to do only with His teaching on the subject, and that mainly with reference to the deeply significant names by which His claim was conveyed. (i.) The Christ. — We need not delay over the title ' Messiah,' ' Christ,' ' Anointed,' which is simply that of the current Jewish expectation. It is repeatedly applied to our Lord by others, and on three occasions, at least, expressly accepted by Himself (Jn 426, Mt i6ir, Mk i461-62||, cf. Jn n27); but only once does our Lord use the term of Himself (Jn 173 'I^o-ow Xpiordv), and that in a passage where we cannot be sure that the wording is not that of the evangelist. In like manner the title 'Elect' (e/cXeXey/xews, Lk g35; '^\^r6%, Lk 92 TEACHING AND MIRACLES 233S), which is also current (cf. Enoch 401), is applied to our Lord, but not by Himself. (ii.) Son of David. — Much the same may be said of another title which belongs to a prominent side of the expectation. ' Son of David ' occurs several times (on the lips of the crowd at and before the triumphal entry, of the Syrophcenician woman, of Bartimaeus, of the Pharisees), but Jesus Himself does not use it, and rather propounds a difficulty in regard to it (Mk 1 2s5 ||). (iii.) Son of Man. — The really characteristic title which occurs some eighty times in the Gospels, and is without doubt the one which Jesus chose to express His own view of His office, is 'the Son of Man.' Whereas the other titles are used by others of Him, this is used only by Him and of Himself. What He desired to convey by this is a question at once of no little difficulty and of great importance (' Die Frage gehort zu den verwickeltsten ja verfahrensten der ganzen neutest. Theologie,' Holtzmann). The starting-point for this, as well as for the idea of the kingdom, is, we may be sure, Dn 713. The ' Son of Man ' in that passage, as originally written, stood for Israel. The four world-empires are represented by beasts, the dominion that falls to Israel is that of a man. But in this as in other respects the passage was interpreted Messianically. In the Similitudes of the Book of Enoch (chs. 37-70) the Son of Man takes a prominent place. He is a person, and a superhuman person. It is He who holds the great judgment to which the Apocalyptic writings look forward. The attributes ascribed to Him are all more or less directly THE TEACHING OF JESUS 93 connected with this judgment, which is at once to vindicate the righteous, and finally to put down the wicked. The date of this portion of the Book of Enoch has been much debated, but opinion at the present time is still more preponderantly in favour of the view that it is pre-Christian (between B.C. 94-64, Charles, Enoch, p. 29I). The language of the Gospels requires that the title as applied to a person and to the Messiah should be not entirely new. It also requires that it should be not perfectly understood and familiar (Mt 1613, Jn 1234). It is probable that its use did not go beyond a small circle, the particular circle to which the Similitudes of Enoch belonged. This, however, would be enough to give the phrase a certain currency, and to make it at least suggest association with the Messiah. It is associated with Him, especially in His char acter as Judge, and as the chief actor in that series of events which marks the end of the age, and the reversal of the places of good and wicked. This sense Jesus did not discard. It appears unmistakably in a number of passages (Mt 1341 1628 1928 2430ff- 2531* 26" etc.). But at the same time there can be no doubt that He read into it a number of other ideas, new and original, just as He read them in£o the conception of the Kingdom. What is most distinctive in this novel element in the teaching of Jesus? There is an increasing tendency among scholars to lay stress on the Aramaic original of the phrase. The Aramaic equivalent is said to mean and to be the only way which they had of express ing 'Man' (generically, i.e. 'Mankind'). Hence the attempt has been made to interpret the phrase im- 94 TEACHING AND MIRACLES personally, and to get rid more or less of its Messianic application (see Holtzmann, NT Th. i. 2565.). It is true that an impersonal sense will suit such a passage as Mk 228 ' The Sabbath was made for man . . . therefore the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.' At the same time this is by no means the necessary sense. And Wellhausen, who is one of those who most emphatically maintain the equation ' Son of Man ' = ' Man,' yet sees that the expression must have been used by our Lord to designate His own person (Israel. u. Jud. Gesch.2 p. 381). Nor can this conclusion really be avoided by such an expedient as Holtzmann's, who calls attention to the comparative rarity of the title in the early chapters and early stages of the history (e.g. in Mark only 210-28), and would explain it during this period impersonally, and only after St. Peter's con fession personally. Against this and against more sweeping attempts (e.g. by Martineau, Seat of Authority, P- 339) to Set r*d °I the Messianic signification alto gether, it may be enough to point out that if reasonable critics like Holtzmann allow, and a narrative such as that of the Temptation seems to prove, that Jesus from the first really assumed the character of the Messiah, and if our oldest authorities with one consent treat the title Son of Man as in the later stages Messianic, it is fair to presume that it is Messianic also in the earlier. If the Similitudes of the Book of Enoch are pre- Christian, this conclusion would amount almost to certainty. It is, however, fair to argue from the natural sense of the phrase in Aramaic, that by His use of it, Jesus did place Himself in some relation to humanity as a THE TEACHING OF JESUS 95 whole. And we are led to form the same inference by the conspicuous use of the corresponding Hebrew in Ps 84 'What is man that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that thou visitest him?' Here the parallelism shows that ' son of man ' = ' man.' We also know from He 26"10 that the psalm was at a very early date applied to Jesus as the Messiah, and at a still earlier date (the Baptism) we have the neigh bouring Ps 27 applied to Him. It seems to follow, or at least to be a very natural presumption, that these two psalms early became an object of close study to Jesus, and helped to give outward shape to His conceptions. Ps 8 seems specially adapted to fall in with these, as it brings out with equal strength the two elements which we know to have entered into the consciousness of Jesus — the combination of lowliness with loftiness, the physical weakness of man as contrasted with his sublime calling and destiny. We can see here the appropriateness of the application of one and the same title to Him who, on the one hand, 'had not where to lay his head,' and who must needs 'go as it was written of him,' and who yet, on the other hand, looked to come again ' with power ' in His Kingdom. We do not like to use such very modern phraseology as the ' ideal of humanity,' ' the representative of the human race'; and yet it would seem that Jesus did deliberately connect with His own person such ideas as these: He fused them as it were into the central idea of Messiahship, and we can see how the Jewish conception of the Messiah was enlarged and enriched by them. If the Messiah comes out in the claim to 96 TEACHING AND MIRACLES forgive sins, it is the Son of Man whose mission it was 'to seek and to save that which was lost' (Lk 1910), ' not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many' (Mk io45!). Here we have another connexion in which the name is frequently used. The prophecies of the Resurrection and of the Second Coming are closely associated with the fatal end of the First : ' The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again ' (Mk 831 etc.). If we ask for the OT original of this ' Saviour through suffering,' no doubt it is the Second Part of Isaiah, and especially Is 53. Still, it would be rather too much to describe this idea as embodied in the title ' Son of Man.' It is embodied in the character of the Son of Man as con ceived by Jesus, but not exactly in the name. The name which expressed it was the ' Servant of Jehovah ' (toIs Kvptov) ; and this name was undoubtedly applied to Christ by the Church as soon as it began to reflect upon His life and mission (cf. Ac 313- * 4s7- **, Mt 1218), but we have no evidence that Jesus used it of Himself. One reason for the choice of the name ' Son of Man ' probably was that it admitted and favoured these associations, even if it did not directly suggest them. This comprehensive and deeply significant title touched at the one end the Messianic and eschato logical expectation through the turn which had been given to it in one section of Judaism (the Book of Enoch). At the other and opposite end it touched the idea of the Suffering Servant. But at the centre it is broadly based upon an infinite sense of brotherhood THE TEACHING OF JESUS 97 with toiling and struggling humanity, which He who most thoroughly accepted its conditions was fittest also to save. As Son of God, Jesus looked upwards to the Father ; as Son of Man, He looked outwards upon His brethren, the sheep who had no shepherd. (iv.) Son of God. — Only once in the Synoptics (Mt 27*) and in a few places in the Fourth Gospel (Jn io36 cf. s25 9s5 var. lee. n4) is it hinted that Jesus directly assumed this title. It is repeatedly given to Him by others — by the Baptist (Jn i34), by Nathanael (Jn i49), by Satan hypothetical ly (Mt 4s), as also by the crowd (Mt 2740), by the possessed (Mk 3U||), by the disciples (Mt 14s3), by the centurion (Mk 1589 = Mt 27s4), and by evangelists (Mk i1 v. I. Jn 318 2031). At the same time it is abundantly clear that the title was really assumed from the indirect mode in which Jesus constantly speaks of God as ' My Father.' This is very frequent in the Synoptics as well as in St. John (Mt 721 io32 1127 is13 1617 etc.). And although, as we have seen, the consciousness which finds expression in this phrase becomes the basis of an extended doctrine of the Divine Fatherhood ('the Father,' 'our Father,' ' thy Father,' ' your Father '), there is nevertheless a distinct interval between the sense in which God can be claimed as Father by men, even the innermost circle of the disciples, and that in which He is Father to the Son. In this respect the passage Mt n27 = Lk io22 is quite explicit (cf. also the graduated scale of being in Mk 1332 = Mt 24s6). Although this passage stands out somewhat conspicuously in the Synoptics, the context in which it occurs is so original and so beyond the reach of invention, while it supplies so marvellously the key 7 98 TEACHING AND MIRACLES to that which distinguishes the history of Jesus from other histories, that doubt cannot reasonably be cast upon it. It is confirmed by the sense in which the title ' Son of God ' is taken by the Jews — not merely by the populace but by the learned (Mt 2741-43, cf. Mk is3L ffl, n 197). And, on the other hand, it confirms sufficiently the substantial accuracy of like passages in the Fourth Gospel (e.g. io30- 38). We are thus prepared for the unanimity with which the Church at the earliest date fixed upon this title to convey its sense of the uniqueness of Christ's nature (Ac 920, Ro i4, Gal 220, Eph 413, He 414 etc., 1 Jn 415 etc., Rev 218). This aspect of the question will come before us more fully later. We content ourselves for the present with observing that the teaching of Jesus, reserved and reticent as it is, presupposes as its background this wholly exceptional relation of ' the Son ' to ' the Father.' From that as centre radiate a number of other relationships to His immediate disciples, to the Church of which they formed the nucleus, and to man kind. The Sonship of Jesus is intimately connected with His work as Messiah (Titius, p. 116). It is in this character that ' all things are delivered ' to Him (Mt 1 127 1|), in this character that He is enabled to give to the world a revelation of the Father (ib.), in this character that He carries out His work of redemption even to the death (Mk i4s6||). § 36. (5) The Paraclete and the Tri-unity of God. — In the earliest Epistles of St. Paul we find that the Son of God is placed side by side with the Father, and is asso ciated with Him as the ground of the Church's being, THE TEACHING OF JESUS 99 the source of spiritual grace, and as co-operating with Him in the providential ordering of events (1 Th i1, 2 Th i1, 1 Th 3llf). It is difficult to describe the effect of the language used in any other terms than as attributing to the Son a coequal Godhead with the Father. And it is remarkable that St. Paul does this, within some twenty-two years of the Ascension, not as though he were laying down anything new, but as something which might be assumed as part of the common body of Christian doctrine. We observe also that throughout the earliest group of Epistles there are frequent references to the work of the Holy Spirit as the one great force which lies behind at once the missionary activity and the common life of the Church of the apostolic age (esp. 1 Co 12-14, but cf. 1 Th i5f- 48 s19 etc.). This, too, it is assumed that all Christians would understand. How are we to account for the prevalence of such teaching at so early a date, and in a region so far removed from the centre of Christianity? It would be natural if the Lord Jesus Christ Himself in His intercourse with His disciples had prepared them to expect a great activity of the Holy Spirit, and if He had hinted at relations in the Godhead which made it threefold rather than a simple monad. Apart from such hints, the common belief of the Church respecting Christ Himself and the Holy Spirit seems very difficult to understand. Certain previous tendencies in Jewish thought might lead up some way towards it, but they would leave a wide gap unspanned. When, therefore, we find that one Gospel ascribes to our Lord rather full and detailed teaching respecting IOO TEACHING AND MIRACLES the Paraclete, which is explained to be another name for the Holy Spirit (Jn i416- M 1526), when there is held out a clear hope and promise of a new Divine influence to take the place of that which is being withdrawn, and when in another Gospel we are also told of the institution* of a rite associated with a new revelation of God under a threefold Name, that of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Mt 2819), these phenomena are just what we are prepared for, and just such as we should have had to assume even if we had had no definite record of them. We may, then, regard them as having received — whatever the antecedent claims of the documents in which they are found — a very con siderable degree of critical verification. The single verse 2 Cor 1314 seems to require something very like what we find in St. Matthew and St. John. Literature. — Much material of value will be found in the works on the Biblical Theology of NT by Weiss, Beyschlag, and esp. H. J. Holtzmann (1897). Reference may also be made to Bovon, Theol. du NT, Lausanne, 1897. The most considerable recent work on the Teaching of Jesus as a whole is Wendt's Lehre Jesu, Gottingen, 1890 (Eng. tr., Charles Scribner's Sons, N.Y. 1892). Bruce, The Kingdom of God (1890 and later) embraces the Synoptic Gospels only. In the last few years a number of mono graphs have appeared on the doctrine of the Kingdom and points connected with it — all, it may be said, bringing out some real aspect in the doctrine, though in the writer's opinion too often at the expense of other aspects. The series began with two prize essays, Die Lehre vom Reiche Gottes, by Issel and SchmoUer (both Leiden, 1891), and includes treatises with similar titles by Schnedermann (Leipzig, 1893, '895» '896), J. Weiss (Gottingen, 1892), tfitgert (Giitersloh, 1895), Titius (Freiburg i. B. u. Leipzig, 1895), Krop (Paris, 1897); also Bousset, Jesu * Not, of course, the first institution, but its confirmation as a rite and its first association with the triple formula. THE MIRACLES OF JESUS IOI Predigt in ihrem Gegensatz zum Judentum (Gottingen, 1892); Paul, Die Vorstellungen vom Messias u. vom Gotlesreich (Bonn, 1895); Lietzmann, Der Menschensohn (Leipzig, 1896); J. Weiss, Die Nachfolge Christi (Gottingen, 1895); Grass, Das Verhalten zu Jesus (Leipzig, 1895); Ehrhardt, Der Grundcharakter d. Ethik Jesu (Freiburg i. B. u. Leipzig, 1895); Wiesen, Die Stellung Jesu zum irdischen Gut (Giitersloh, 1895). The Miracles of Jesus. § 37. There has been a certain tendency of late to recede from the extreme position in the denial of Miracles. Harnack, for instance, writes in reference to the Gospel history as follows : ' Much that was formerly rejected has been re-established on a close investigation, and in the light of comprehensive ex perience. Who in these days, for example, could make such short work of the miraculous cures in the Gospels as was the custom of scholars formerly?' (Christianity and History, p. 63, Eng. tr.). § 38. (i.) Different Classes of Miracles. — Partly this change of attitude is due to the higher estimate which would now be put on the value of the evangelical sources generally, as to which something wil^ be said below. Partly it would be due to a change of view in regard to the supernatural, which is no longer placed in direct antagonism to the natural, but which is more /reasonably explained as resulting from the operation of a higher cause in nature. And partly also it would be due to the recognition of wider possibilities in nature, ' more things in heaven and earth ' than were dreamt of in the narrow philosophy of the Aufkldrung. 102 TEACHING AND MIRACLES (a) In particular, it may be said that medical science would have no difficulty in admitting a large class of miracles of healing. All those which have to do with what would now be called ' nervous disorders,' all those in which there was a direct action of the mind upon the body, would fall into place readily enough. Given a personality like that of Jesus, the effect which it would have upon disorders of this character would be strictly analogous to that which modern medicine would seek to produce. The peculiar combination of commanding authority with extreme gentleness and sympathy would be a healing force of which the value could not easily be exaggerated. A question would indeed still be left as to the treat ment of the cases of what was called ' demoniacal possession.' There can be no doubt that Jesus Himself shared, broadly speaking, the" views of His contem poraries in regard to these cases: His methods of healing went upon the assumption that they were fundamentally what every one, including the patients themselves, supposed them to be. We can well believe that this was a necessary assumption in order to allow the healing influences to operate. We must remember that all the ideas of the patient would be adjusted to the current belief, and it would be only through them that the words and acts of Christ could take effect. In the accounts of such miracles we see that there was a mutual intelligence between Healer and patient from the first (Mk i24' || *| 5«||). It was by means of this mutual intelligence that the word of command struck home. We should be prepared, then, to say that this class THE MIRACLES OF JESUS 103 of miracles implied accommodation to the ideas of the time. But when we speak of ' accommodation ' on the part of our Lord, we do not mean a merely politic assumption of a particular belief for a particular purpose. We mean that the assumption was part of the outfit of His incarnate Manhood. There was a certain circle of ideas which Jesus accepted in becoming Man in the same way in which He accepted a particular language with its grammar and vocabulary. It would have been wholly out of keeping with the general character of His Ministry if Jesus had attacked this form of disease in any other way than through the belief in regard to it which at that time was universal. The scientific description of it has doubtless greatly changed. But it is still a question which is probably by no means so clear, whether, allowing for its temporary and local character, the language then used did not contain an important element of truth. The physical and moral spheres are perhaps more intimately con nected than we suppose. And the unbridled wickedness rife in those days may have had physical effects, which were not unfitly described as the work of 'demons.' The subject is one which it is probable has not yet been fully explored. (j8) There is, as we have seen, one large class of diseases in regard to which the healing force exerted by the presence and the word of Jesus has a certain amount of analogy in the facts recognized by modern medicine. We must not, however, treat that analogy as going farther than it does. It does not hold good equally for all the forms of disease which are described as having been healed. Wherever the body is subject 104 TEACHING AND MIRACLES to the action of the mind, there we can give an account of the miracle which is to some extent — to a large ex tent — rational and intelligible. But in cases in which the miracle involves a purely physical process it will not be possible to explain it in the same way. This other class of miracles will fall rather under the same head as those which were wrought, not upon man, but upon nature. In regard to these miracles, the world is probably not much nearer to a reasoned ac count than it was. It must always be remembered that the narratives which have come down to us are the work of those who expected that Divine action would (as we should say) run counter to natural laws and not be in harmony with them, and that the more Divine it was the more directly it would run counter to them. We may be sure that if the miracles of the first century had been wrought before trained spectators of the nine teenth, the version of them would be quite different. But to suppose this is to suppose what is impossible, because all God's dealings with men are adapted to the age to which they belong, and cannot be transferred to another age. If God intended to manifest Himself specially to the nineteenth century, we should expect Him to do so by other means. We are then compelled to take the accounts as they have come down to us. And we are aware beforehand that any attempt to translate them into our own habits of thought must be one of extreme difficulty, if not doomed to failure. § 39. (ii.) Critical Expedients for eliminating Miracle. — In view of the difficulty of giving a rational (i.e. a twentieth century) version of miracle, it is not surpris- THE MIRACLES OF JESUS 105 ing that recourse should be had to critical expedients for explaining away Miracle altogether; in other words, to account for the narratives of miracles without assum ing that objective facts corresponding to them really occurred. The expedients most in favour are : (a) imitation of similar stories in OT; (j8) exaggeration of natural occurrences; (y) translation of what was origin ally parable into external fact. These are causes which have about them nothing violent or incredible, and we may believe that they were to some extent really at work. The question to what extent, will depend mainly upon the nature of the evidence for miracles and the length of time interposed between the evidence and the events. This will be the next subject to come before us. We may, however, anticipate so far as to say that whatever degree of verisimilitude belongs to the causes suggested in themselves, they do not appear to be adequate, either separately or in combination, to ac count for the whole or any large part of the narratives as we have them. And there is the further considera tion, on which more will also be said presently, that something of the nature of miracle, something which was understood as miracle, and that on no insignificant scale, must be assumed to account for the estimate cer tainly formed by the whole first generation of Christians of the Person of Christ. § 40. (iii.) The Evidence for the Gospel Miracles in general. — Coming to the question as to the evidence for the Miracles recorded in the Gospels, there are three main observations to be made : (o) that the evidence for all these miracles, generally speaking, is strong; 106 TEACHING AND MIRACLES (/3) that the evidence for all the different classes of miracles is equally strong; (y) that although for the best attested miracles in each class the evidence is equal, there is a difference between particular miracles in each class ; some are better attested than others. (o) It is unnecessary to repeat what has been already said (p. 4, sup.) about the general character of the Gospel History. The critical student must constantly have in mind the question to what state of things the different phases of that history as it has come down to us cor respond. Does it reflect conditions as they existed after a.d. 70 or before? And if before, how far does it re flect the later half of that period, and how far the earlier? How far does it coincide with a section of Christian thought and Christian life (e.g.) taken at the height of the activity of St. Paul; and how far does it certainly point to an earlier stage than this ? In other words, how much of the description contained in the Gos pels belongs to the period of consequences, and how much to the period of causes? Every attempt to treat of the hfe of our Lord should contribute its quota to the answer to these questions. And it is becoming more and more possible to do this, not merely in a spirit of superficial apologetics, but with a deep sense of responsibility to the truth of his tory. And the writer of this article strongly believes that the tendency of the researches of recent years has been to enhance and not to diminish the estimate of the historical value of the Gospels. (j8) This applies to the Gospel records as a whole, in which miracles are included. It is natural next to ask, What is the nature of the particular evidence for THE MIRACLES OF JESUS 107 Miracles? How is it distributed? Does the distribution correspond to the distinction which we have drawn between the easier and the more difficult Miracles? If it did, we might suppose that the former class had better claims to credence than the latter. But an examination of the documents shows that this is not the case. Without committing ourselves to all the niceties of the Synoptic problem, there are at any rate broad grounds for distinguishing between the matter that is found in all the three Synoptics, in the First and Third, and in one only of the Three. Whether the ultimate groundwork is written or oral, the three fold matter represents that groundwork, and is there fore, if not necessarily the oldest, at least the most broadly based and authoritative. There is reason to think that the double matter is also very ancient. It consists largely of discourse, but some few narratives seem to belong to it. The peculiar sections of the dif ferent Gospels vary considerably in their character, and it is natural to suppose that they would have the least antecedent presumption in their favour. Some confirma tory evidence would be needed for facts which rested upon their testimony alone. Now, if it had happened that the Nature-Miracles had been confined to sections of this last kind, while the Miracles of Healing — and especially the Healing of nervous diseases — had entered largely into the Double and Triple Synopsis; or — inasmuch as discourse more often bears the stamp of unmistakable originality than narrative — if the miracles of one class had appeared only in the form of narrative, while the allusions in dis course were wholly to miracles of the other, then the 108 TEACHING AND MIRACLES inference would have lain near at hand that there was a graduated scale in the evidence corresponding to a like graduated scale in the antecedent probability of the miracle. But this is not the case. Miracles of all the different kinds occur in all the documents or sources. The Triple Synopsis contains not only the healing of de moniacs and paralytics, but the healing of the issue of blood (Mk S25!), the raising of Jairus' daughter (ib.^W), the stilling of the storm (ib. 437||), the feeding of the five thousand (ib. 635||). This last miracle is found not only in all three Synoptists, but also in Jn 6SB\ And there is this further point about it, that if we regard the miracles generally as a gradual accretion of myth and not based upon fact, we should undoubtedly assume that the feeding of the four thousand (Mk 81, Mt is32) was a mere duplicate of it. But it is probable that this story also belonged to the fundamental source, in spite of its omission by Luke. In that case both the feedings of a multitude would have had a place in the oldest of all our authorities, and the first growth in the tradition would have to be pushed back a step farther still. We should thus have a nature- miracle not only embodied in our oldest source, but at its first appear ance in that source already pointing back some way behind it. (y) It thus appears that the evidence, externally considered, is equally good for all classes of miracles. It is not, as we might expect, that the evidence for the easier miracles is better than that for the more difficult, leaving us free to accept the one and reject the others. We cannot do this, because the best testimony we have THE MIRACLES OF JESUS IOg embraces alike those miracles which imply a greater deviation from the ordinary course of nature and those in which the deviation is less. It does not, however, follow that within the different classes of miracles the evidence for particular miracles is equal. When Prof. Goldwin Smith insists that all the miracles recorded in the Gospels stand or fall to gether, he is going in the teeth, not so much of anything peculiar to the study of the Gospels, but of the historical method generally. And the examples which he gives are unfortunate. 'We cannot pick and choose. The evidence upon which the miraculous darkness and the apparition of the dead rest is the same as that upon which all the other miracles rest, and must be accepted or rejected in all the cases alike' (Guesses at the Riddle of Existence, p. 160). No critical student needs to be told that the evidence for the apparitions of the dead (Mt 2 752f) belongs just to that stratum which carries with it the least weight. The authority for the darkness is much higher, but its miraculous character need not be magnified. Any unusual darkening of the sky would naturally strike the imagination of the disciples ; and it might be not contrary to nature and yet also not accidental. § 41. (iv.) The Quality of the Evidence. — So far we have spoken of the external character of the evidence. It is speaking within the mark to say that a large part of the evidence for the Gospel miracles, including some of those that are most miraculous, is separated from the facts by an interval of not more than thirty years. We may be pretty sure that before that date, and even IIO TEACHING AND MIRACLES much before it, stories of miracles like those recorded in the Gospels circulated freely among Christians, and were a common subject of teaching by catechists and others. We now proceed to ask, What is the quality of the narratives in which these stories occur ? What features are there in the stories themselves which throw light upon their historical value ? (o) We are met at the outset by the Temptation. If there is anything certain in history, it is that the story of the Temptation has a real foundation in fact, for the simple reason that without such a foundation it would have occurred to no one to invent it. It suits exactly and wonderfully the character of Jesus as we can now see it, but not as it was seen at the time. Men were trying to apprehend that character ; they had a glimpse here and a glimpse there; but they cannot have had more than dim and vague surmises as to what it was as a whole. But whoever first told the story of the Temptation saw it as a whole. We have therefore already drawn the inference that it was first told by none other than Jesus Himself. And by that inference we stand. There is nothing in the Gospels that is more authentic. But the story of the Temptation presupposes the possession of supernatural powers. It all turns on the question how those powers are to be exercised. It not only implies the possession of power to work such miracles as were actually worked, but others even more remarkable from the point of view of crude interference with the order of nature. The story of the Temptation implies that Jesus could have worked such miracles if He had willed to do so; and the reason why THE MIRACLES OF JESUS III He did not work them was only because He did not will. The keynote which is struck by the Temptation is sustained all through the sequel of the history. We can see that the Life of Jesus was what it was by an act of deliberate denunciation. When He says, as the end draws near, ' Thinkest thou that I cannot beseech my Father, and he shall even now send me more than twelve legions of angels ?' (Mt 26s3), the lesson holds good, not for that moment alone, but for all that has preceded it. The Public Ministry of Jesus wears the aspect it does, not because of limitations imposed from without, but of limitations imposed from within. Here lies the paradox of the Miracles of Christ. He seems at once to do them, and so to guard against a possible misuse that it is as if He had not done them. The common idea of miracles was as a manifestation of Divine power. Jesus gave the manifestation, and yet He seemed so to check it from producing its natural effect that it is as though it did not serve its purpose. It really serves His purpose, but not the purpose which the world both then and since has ascribed to Him. (/J) We have seen that the principles laid down at the Temptation governed the whole public life of Jesus. He steadily refused to work miracles for any purely self-regarding end. If the fact that He works miracles at all is a sympathetic adaptation to the beliefs and expectations of the time, those beliefs are schooled and criticized while they are adopted (Mt 12s9 || i6u; Jn 448), the element of mere display, the element of self-asser tion, even of self-preservation, is eliminated from them,, 112 TEACHING AND MIRACLES They are studiously restricted to the purposes of the mission. Now this carefully restricted character in the miracles of Jesus is unique in history. Among all the multitude of wonders with which the faith, sometimes super stitious, but more often simply naive, of the later Church adorned the lives of the saints, there is nothing quite like it. We may say with confidence that if the miracles of Jesus had been no more than an invention, they would not have been what they are. We can see in the evangelists a certain dim half-conscious feeling of the self-imposed limitations in the use of the super natural by Christ. But we may be very sure that they have this feeling, because the limitations were inherent in the facts, not because they formed part from the first of a picture which they were constructing a priori. (y) There are three kinds of restriction in the miracles of our Lord. The limitation in the subject-matter of the miracles is one; the limitation in the conditions under which they are wrought is another (Mt 1358 II I524-26); and the limitation in the manner in which they are set before the world is a third. In a number of cases, after a miracle has been performed, the recipient is strictly cautioned to maintain silence about it (Mk i34 II demoniacs, i44 || leper, 312 demoniacs, cf. Mt 12", Mk 7s6 deaf and dumb, 8™ blind). This hangs together with the manifest intention of Jesus to correct not only the current idea of miracles, but the current idea of the Messiah as one endowed with supernatural power. If He was so endowed, it was not that He might gather about Him crowds and establish a carnal kingdom such as the Jews expected. THE MIRACLES OF JESUS 113 This, too, is a very original feature. It is certainly not one that the popular imagination would create, because the motive to create it was wanting. It is not to be supposed that the popular imagination would first correct itself and then embody the correction in a fictitious narrative. Here again we are driven to the conclusion that the narrative truly reflects the facts. (8) In yet another way do the accounts of the miracles work in with the total picture of the Life of Christ. They have a didactic value, which makes them round off the cycle of the teaching. This fact perhaps leaves some opening for the possibility that here and there what was originally parable may in course of trans mission have hardened into miracle. An example of such a possibility would be the withering of the Fig-tree (Mk ii*u» * || compared with Lk 136-9). But, on the other hand, it is just as possible that parable and miracle may stand side by side as a double enforcement of the same lesson. The story of the Temptation is proof that Jesus would not hesitate to clothe His teaching in a form at once natural and impressive to that generation, though it is less so to ours. In this He only takes up a marked characteristic of the OT Prophets. § 42. (v.) Historical Necessity of Miracles. — The truth is that the historian who tries to construct a reasoned picture of the Life of Christ finds that he cannot dispense with miracles. He is confronted with the fact that no sooner had the Life of Jesus ended in apparent failure and shame than the great body of Christians — not an individual here and there, but the mass of the Church — passed over at once to the fixed belief that He was God. 8 114 TEACHING AND MIRACLES By what conceivable process could the men of that day have arrived at such a conclusion, if there had been really nothing in His life to distinguish it from that of ordinary men ? We have seen that He did not work the kind of miracles which they expected. The miracles in themselves in any case came short of their expecta tions. But this makes it all the more necessary that there must have been something about the Life, a broad and substantial element in it, which they could recognize as supernatural and divine — not that we can recognize, but which they could recognize with the ideas of the time. Eliminate miracles from the career of Jesus, and the behef of Christians, from the first moment that we have undoubted contemporary evidence of it (say a.d. 50), becomes an insoluble enigma. § 43. (vi.) Natural Congruity of Miracles. — And now, if from the belief of the Early Church we turn to the belief of the Church in our day, there a different kind of congruity appears, but a congruity that is no less stringent. If we still believe that Christ was God, not merely on the testimony of the Early Church, but on the proof afforded by nineteen centuries of Christianity, there will be nothing to surprise us in the phenomena of miracles. 'If the Incarnation was a fact, and Jesus Christ was what He claimed to be, His miracles, so far from being improbable, will appear the most natural thing in the world. . . . They are so essentially a part of the character depicted in the Gospels, that without them that character would entirely disappear. They flow naturally from a Person who, despite His obvious humanity, impresses us throughout as being at home in THE MIRACLES OF JESUS 115 two worlds. . . . We cannot separate the wonderful life, or the wonderful teaching, from the wonderful works. They involve and interpenetrate and presuppose each other, and form in their insoluble combination one harmonious picture' (Illingworth, Divine Immanence, pp. 88-90). If we seek to express the rationale or inner congruity of miracles in Biblical language, we shall find this abundantly done for us in the Gospel of St. John. Miracles arise from the intimate association of the Son with the Father in the ordering of the universe, especially in all that relates to the redemption of man. When challenged by the Jews for healing a sick man upon the Sabbath, Jesus replied, 'My Father worketh even until now (i.e. since, and in spite of the institution of the Sabbatical Rest), I am working also ' (Jn 517) ; the same law holds for the actions of the Son as for the conservation of the universe. And He goes on, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of him self, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner. For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth : and greater works than these will he show him, that ye may marvel' (ib. w19-20). Many other passages at once suggest themselves to the same effect (Jn 3s5 8S8f- 1410). The Son is 'sent' by the Father, and He is invested with full powers for the accomplishment of that mission; or rather with reference to it and for the purpose of it, He and the Father are one (Jn 10s0). The sayings of this character are all from the Fourth Gospel. But there is a near approach to them in the well-known passage Mt n27 || ('All things have been II 6 TEACHING AND MIRACLES delivered unto me of my Father'); and this does but form a natural climax to others, which, without it, would seem to leave something wanting and incomplete. § 44. (vii.) The Unexplained Element in Miracles. — When all the above considerations are borne in mind, some may think that there is a residuum which is not wholly explained — not so much as to the fact of miracles, or as to their congruity with the Person of Jesus, but rather as to the method of particular miracles in the form in which they have come down to us. It is quite inevitable that there should be such a residuum, which is only another name for the irreducible interval which must, when all is done, separate the reflective science- trained intellect of the twentieth century from the naive chroniclers of the first. Jesus Himself would seem to have been not without a prescience that this would be the case. At any rate there is a permanent significance, unexhausted by the occasion which gave rise to it, in His reply to the disciples of the Baptist, while appealing to works which, however beneficent, would, He knew, fail to realize all the Baptist's expecta tions : ' Blessed is he that shall find no scandal — or stumbling-block — in me' (Mt n6||). There was doubt less something left in the mind of John which he could not perfectly piece together with the rest of such mental outfit as he had. And so we may be sure that It will be in every age, though age after age has only helped to strengthen the conviction that the modes of thought of the Zeitgeist may and do continually change, but that the worth for man of the Person of Jesus does not change but is eternal. THE MIRACLES OF JESUS 117 Literature. — Probably the best work in English at the present moment on the presuppositions of the Gospel Miracles would be Illingworth's Divine Immanence (1898), a sequel to his Bampton Lectures (1894). It may be worth while to compare Gore, Bamp. Led. (1891). On the other hand, Mozley's lectures on the same foundation for 1865 have reference rather to a phase of the con troversy which is now past. There is, of course, much on the subject in the various treatises on Apologetics ; and articles are constantly appearing in magazines, as well as shorter monographs, both British and Foreign. The present writer cannot say — or at least cannot remember — that he has gained as much from these several sources as in the case of the teaching of Jesus. He would like, however, to mention with gratitude, Grounds of Theistic and Christian Belief, by Dr. G. P. Fisher of Yale (Scribner's, New York, 1883; revised edit. 1903), a very clear and temperate statement of the evidence for the Gospel Miracles on older lines ; the chap, on Miracles in Dr. A. B. Bruce, Chief end of Revelation (3rd ed. 1890) ; and three short lectures, entitled The Supernatural in Christianity (by Drs. Rainy, Orr, and Marcus Dods, in reply to Pfleiderer, Edinb. 1894). The most considerable attempt in English to construct Chris tianity without Miracles is Dr. Edwin A. Abbott's The Kernel and the Husk (1886), and The Spirit on the Waters (1897). With this may be compared Dr. Salmon's Non-miraculous Christianity (and other Sermons). There are well-known systematic works on the Gospel Miracles by the late Archbishop Trench and Dr. A. B. Bruce. CHAPTER V. THE LATER MINISTRY. C. MroDLE or Culminating Period of the Active Ministry. § 45. Scene. — Galilee, with an excursion across the northern border. Time. — Passover to shortly before Tabernacles a.d. 28. Mt i41-i8», Mk 6^-^°, Lk o7-®, Jn 6. This is a period of culminations, in which the prophecy of Simeon begins to be conspicuously fulfilled: 'Behold, this child is set for the falling and rising up of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against' (Lk 2s4). The main culminations are (i.) of the zeal of the populace, followed by their disappointment and falling away; (ii.) the still greater embitterment of the scribes and Pharisees; (iii.) the awakening at last of a more intelligent faith in the disciples, reaching its highest point in St. Peter's confession; (iv.) the Divine testimony to Jesus in the Transfiguration; (v.) the consciousness of victory virtually won in 119 120 THE LATER MINISTRY Jesus Himself (Mt n25-30, Lk 2017-24); (vi.) at the same time He sees clearly, and begins to announce the seeming but transient catastrophe, the final humiliation and exaltation, in which His work is to end. The time of this period is clearly marked by the occurrence of the Passover of the year a.d. 28 at its beginning, and the Feast of Tabernacles (in October of the same year) at the end. It is probable that within these six months all the salient events referred to below may be included. The place is, broadly speaking, Galilee, beginning with the shores of the lake (Jn 6) ; but in the course of the period there falls a wider circuit than any that had been hitherto taken. In this circuit Jesus touched on, and probably crossed, the borders of the heathen districts of Tyre and Sidon (Mk 724||) ; He then returned eastwards through the neighbourhood of Caesarea Philippi (Mk 8"\\) ; and He finally returned to Capernaum, not directly, but after taking a round to the east of the lake and through Decapolis (Mk 731). The motive was probably not so much on this occasion extended preaching as to avoid the ferment excited among the population of Central Galilee. Observe Mk 7s4 and the strict injunctions of secrecy in Mk 7s6 S30!! 99||. If we may follow our authorities (Mk 732ff- 8lff- utt) there was a certain amount of active work at the end of the circuit; but Mt n20* appears to mark the practical close of the Galilaean ministry. The greater part of this circuit lay within the dominions, not of Herod Antipas, where Jesus had hitherto mainly worked, but of his brother Philip. Now we know that the hostility to Him was shared by j MIDDLE PERIOD 121 the Pharisees with the partisans of Herod (Mk 3s and p. 61 above; cf. also Mk 816). We have also, but probably at a still later date, threats, which if not actually made by Herod Antipas were at least plausibly attributed to him (Lk 13s1). In any case, it is likely enough that intrigues were on foot between the two alhed parties of the Pharisees and Herodians; and some writers, of whom Keim may be taken as an example, have attributed to these what they describe as a ' flight ' on the part of Jesus. They may have had something to do with His retirement. This division of our Lord's Life includes several narratives (the Feedings of the Five and Four Thousand, the Walking on the Water, the Transfiguration) which sound especially strange to modern ears. We must repeat the warning, that if a twentieth century observer had been present he would have given a different ac count of the occurrences from that which has come down to us. But the mission of Jesus was to the first century and not to the twentieth. His miracles as well as His teaching were adapted to the""mental habits„ of those to whom they were addressed. It is wasted ingenuity to try, by rationalizing the narratives, to translate them into a language more like our own. Essential features in them are sure to escape in the pro cess. It should be enough to notice that the narratives in question all rest on the very best historical authority. They belong to the oldest stratum of the evangelical tradition. And more than this : if we suppose, as it is not unreasonable to suppose, that the Feedings of the Five and of the Four Thousand are different versions of the same event, this would throw us back some way 122 THE LATER MINISTRY behind even that oldest stratum; because we should have to allow an additional period of time for the two versions to arise out of their common original (see p. 108 sup.). This would carry us back to a time when numbers must have been living by whom the truth of that which is reported might be controlled. In the case of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, we have the con firmatory evidence of the Fourth Gospel, which for those who believe the author to have been an eye witness must be little less than decisive. § 46. i. The Enthusiasm and Falling-away of the Populace. — It was just before the Passover of the year 28 that the impression which Jesus had made on the people of Galilee seemed to reach its climax. This was the result of what is commonly known to us as the Feeding of the Five Thousand. The fact that the Passover was so near at hand accounts for a special gathering of pilgrims, or those preparing for the journey, from the Galilaean towns. In such a mixed multitude there would doubtless be many Zealots and enthusiastic expectants of the * deliverance of Israel.' The miracle convinces these that they have at last found the leader of whom they are in search. They are aware that hitherto He had shown no signs of en couraging the active measures which they desired : and therefore they hasten to seize the person of Jesus in order to compel Him to put Himself at their head, with or against His will. He, however, retires from them; and their disappointment is complete when on the next day the more determined among them, after following Him at no httle trouble into the synagogue at Caper- MIDDLE PERIOD 1 23 naum, find themselves put off with what they would regard as a mystical and unintelligible discourse. This is a turning-point in what had been for some time a gathering movement on the part of many who were willing to see in Jesus a Messiah such as they expected, but who were baffled and drew back when they found the ideal presented to them so different from their own. And the crisis once past, every possible precaution was taken to ensure that it should not recur (Mk 7M- * S30^ 99||, as above). Are the two Feedings of Mk o8"6 1| and Mk 819 1| to be regarded as two events or one ? Besides the general resemblance between the two narratives, a weighty argument in favour of the latter hypothesis is, that in the second narrative the disciples' question appears to imply that the emergency was something new. They could hardly have put this question as they did if a similar event had happened only a few weeks before. The different numbers are just what would be found in two independent traditions. The decision will, however, depend here (as in the instances noted above) on the degree of strictness with which we interpret the narrative generally. The discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum, Jn ri26"51, works up to one of those profound truths which fixed themselves especi ally in the memory of the author of the Fourth Gospel. It is not a direct reference to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, but it is a preparatory statement of the deep principle of which that Sacra ment is the expression. We shall ' have more to say on this head below (see p. 165). § 47. ii. Widening Breach with the Pharisees. — More than one incident occurs in this period which points to the increasing tension of the relations between Jesus and the Pharisees (Mk 81L "). But the decisive passage is Mk 7M8||, the severity of which anticipates the denunciations of the last Passover. In this Jesus cuts 124 THE LATER MINISTRY away root and branch of the Pharisaic traditions and exposes their essential immorality. From this time onwards the antagonism is open and declared. § 48. iii. The Climax of Faith among the Twelve ; St. Peter's Confession. — We have seen how the enthusiasm of the multitudes reached its climax after the Feeding of the Five Thousand, but did not recover from the rebuff which it then received, and from that time more or less collapsed, until it flamed up for a moment at the triumphal entry. The Twelve were in a better position to enter into the mind of their Master, and it was but natural that they should be more steadfastly attached to His person. Hence their faith survived the shocks which it was continually receiving, and St. Peter gave the highest expression which it had yet received, when, in reply to a direct question, he ex claimed, ' Thou art the Christ [the Son of the Living God] ' (Mt 1613"20 1|). Jesus marked His sense of the significance of the confession by words of warm com mendation. He attributes it, indeed, to a direct in spiration from Heaven. The value of the confession stands out all the more clearly when it is compared with the doubts of the Baptist (see above, p. 56). We are not to suppose that St. Peter had by any means as yet a full conception of all that was implied in his own words. He still did not understand what manner of Messiah he was confessing ; but his merit was, that in spite of the rude shocks which his faith had been receiving, and in spite of all that was paradoxical and enigmatical in the teaching and actions of his Master, he saw through his perplexities the gleams of a nature MIDDLE PERIOD 125 which transcended his experience, and he was willing to take upon trust what he could not comprehend. It would be out of place to attempt here to discuss the conflict ing interpretations of the blessing pronounced upon St. Peter. We can only say that although it is not adequate to explain the blessing as pronounced upon the confession and not upon St. Peter himself, it is nevertheless distinctly pronounced upon St. Peter as confessing. It is in the fact that there is at last one who, in the face of all difficulties, recognizes from his heart that Jesus is what He is, that the first stone, as it were, of the Church is laid ; other stones will be built upon and around it, and the edifice will rise day by day, but the beginning occurs but once, and the beginning of the Christian Church occurred then. It is not to detract -'from the merit of St. Peter — which so far as the build ing up of the Church is concerned was as high as human merit could be — if we interpret the blessing upon him in the light of I Co 311. The Church has but one foundation, in the strict sense, Jesus Christ. It was precisely to this that St. Peter's confession pointed. But that confession was the first of all like confessions; and in that respect might well be described as the first block of stone built into the edifice. § 49. iv. The Culminating Point in the Missionary Labours of Jesus. — God seeth not as man seeth. To the average observer, even to one who was acquainted with St. Peter's confession, it would seem to be the solitary point of light in the midst of disappointment and failure. A retrospect of the Galilaean ministry seemed to show little but hard-heartedness, ingratitude, and unbelief (Jn 1237"40). Our Lord Himself can only denounce woe upon the cities which enjoyed most of His presence (Mt n20-24!!). And yet about the same time two sayings are recorded which mark a deep inward consciousness of success. The ministry which might seem to be in vain was not really in vain, but potential and in promise; to the eye which saw into the 126 THE LATER MINISTRY future as well as into the present, and which looked into the inmost counsels of the Father, the crisis might even be regarded as past. One of these sayings is Lk io18. The success of the disciples in casting out demons draws from Jesus the remark that the power of the prince of darkness is broken. And about the same time, as if ingratitude and opposition counted for nothing, He pours out His thanks to the Father : ' 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 ' (Mt n2"- ||). The next verse in both Gospels contains the clearest expression in the Synoptics of that sense of oneness with the Father which is brought out so pointedly in John. And the verses which follow in Matthew are that wonderful invitation : 'Come unto me,' etc. He who understands this group of sayings has found his way to the heart of Christianity. § 50. v. The Transfiguration. — To the confession of the apostle and to the words of thanksgiving, which are' also words of serene contentment and inward assurance, there was not wanting an outward. Divine sanction. This was given in the scene which is known to us as the Transfiguration (Mk a^H). The narrative of the Transfiguration reminds us, in more ways than one, of those of the Baptism and Temptation. Once again the apostles hear words which seem to come from Heaven confirming the mission of their Master. At the same time they see a vision which brings out the significance of that mission in a way for which as MIDDLE PERIOD 127 yet they can hardly have been prepared. The appear ance of Moses and Elijah by the side of, and as it were ministering to, Jesus, symbolized the Law and the Prophets as leading up to and receiving their fulfilment in the Gospel. It is impossible not to see the appropriateness of this Divine testimony to the mission of Jesus occurring just where it does. That unique relationship of the Son to the Father, which forms the constant background of the narrative of the Fourth Gospel, and is not less the background — real, if not so apparent — of the Synoptics, could not but assert itself from time to time. And what time could be fitter for a clear pronouncement of it than this, when outward circumstances were for the most part so discouraging, and when the prospect was becoming every day nearer and more certain of the fatal and terrible end ! If the Son must needs go down into the valley of the shadow of death, the Father's face will shine upon Him for a moment before He enters it with a brightness which will not be obscured. As bearing upon the essentially historical character of the narra tive, however difficult and even impossible it may be for us to recon struct its details in such a way that we could be said to understand them, note (l) the significance of the appearance of Moses and Elijah at a time when that significance can have been but very imper fectly apprehended by the disciples, and when there was absolutely nothing to suggest such an idea to them; and (2) the Transfiguration comes within the cycle of events in regard to which a strict silence was to be observed. This striking and peculiar stamp of genuineness was not wanting to it. We may note also (3) the random speech of St. Peter (Mk 96||) as a little graphic and authentic touch which had not been forgotten. It might be supposed that the enlargements in Lk 98U- were merely editorial, but, like not a few added details in this Gospel, they become more impressive upon reflexion. The other evan gelists throw no light upon the subject of the converse between the glorified figures; Luke alone says that they 'spake of his decease which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.' This was, we may be sure, the subject which deeply occupied the mind of Jesus at this time; and it is hardly less certain that the particular aspect of it which would be most present to Him would be its 128 THE LATER MINISTRY relation to the prophetic Scriptures of OT (and the Law also had its prophetic side). We might expect an appearance of Isaiah rather than Elijah; but Elijah was the typical prophet, and the Jews expected his appearing (cf. Wetstein on Mt 178). The other peculiar detail in Luke, that 'Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep,' may well seem confirmatory of the view (e.g.) of Weiss and Beyschlag, that the scene was presented to the three apostles in divinely caused vision. § 51. vi. The Prophecies of Death and Resurrection. — The period we are describing is a kind of water-shed, which marks not only the summit of the ascent but the beginning of the descent. We have seen how this was the case with the enthusiasm of the multitude : it was also the case with Christ Himself. The confession of St. Peter was immediately followed, and the Trans figuration both preceded and followed, by distinct pro phecies of the fatal end which was to close His ministry — an end fatal in the eyes of men, but soon to be can celled by His resurrection. As these prophecies will meet us again in the next period, to which they give its dominant character, we will reserve the discussion of them till then. D. Close of the Active Period : the Messianic Crisis in View. § 52. Scene. — Judaea Qn 710ff- n54) and Peraea (Mk io1!!, Jn io40). Time. — Tabernacles a.d. 28 to Passover a.d. 29. Mt i91-2o34 Mk 10, Lk g51-^28 (for the most part not in chronological order), Jn 7*-i i57. In this period we may note more particularly (i.) the peculiar section of St. Luke's Gospel which might on a superficial view seem to be CLOSE OF THE ACTIVE PERIOD 129 placed in this period; (ii.) that portion of the Johannean narrative which really belongs to it; (iii.) the general character of our Lord's Teaching at this time ; (iv.) in particular, the prophecies of Death and Resurrection ; and (v.) the hints which are given of a special significance attaching to these events. The time of this period extends from the Feast of Tabernacles in a.d. 28 to the Passover of a.d. 29. There is more difficulty in mapping out the distribution of its parts topographically. We have some clear landmarks if we follow the guidance of the Fourth Gospel. The events of the section Jn 7x-io21 partly belong to the Feast of Tabernacles and in part follow at no great interval after it. We have again in Jn 10s2 a clear indication of time and place, the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. This would be towards the end of December. After that, Jesus withdrew beyond Jordan to the place where ' John was at the first baptiz ing7 (Jn io40). Here He made a lengthened stay, and it was from hence that He paid His visit to Bethany for the raising of Lazarus. Then He again retired to a city called Ephraim on the edge of the wilderness north-east of Jerusalem, where He remained until the Jews began to gather together to attend the Passover Qn n55). We have thus a fairly connected narrative extending from the beginning of the year to the Pass over of a.d. 29, the scene of which is in part Judaea and in part Peraea. We have also a fixed point covering, perhaps, about a fortnight in the latter half of October and localized at Jerusalem. But what of the seven or eight weeks which separate this from the Feast of 9 130 THE LATER MINISTRY Dedication ? Is it probable that Jesus returned to Galilee and continued His ministry there ? It does not seem so. The solemn and deliberate leave-taking from Galilee is not likely to have been so broken. The prin cipal objection to this view would be that the secret and unexpected visit to Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles does not seem consistent with the solemnity of this leave-taking. We may, however, suppose that the Galilaean ministry was practically complete before this date, and that strong expressions like those of Lk 951, if they are to be taken as they stand, refer to one of the later journeys. § 53. i. The so-called Peraan Ministry.— There is a long section of St. Luke's Gospel, Lk g^-iS3*, which has been often treated as a single whole and as contain ing the record of a special ministry, identified with the last journey towards Jerusalem, and having for its scene the lands beyond the Jordan. This is based upon the fact that the beginning of the section coincides with Mk io*, Mt 19V and that the end of it brings us to the approach to Jericho (Lk 1885). It is true that some part of the time preceding the last Passover was spent in Peraea. We know this on the joint testimony of the other Synoptists and St. John (Mk io1, Mt 191, Jn io40). But to suppose that the whole section must be localized there is to misunderstand the structure and character of St. Luke's Gospel. It is far more probable that he has massed together a quantity of material derived from some special source to which he had access, and which could not be easily fitted into the framework supplied to him by St. Mark. CLOSE OF THE ACTIVE PERIOD 131 When we come to examine these materials in detail, it would seem probable that they belong to very different periods in our Lord's ministry. Some Incidents, for instance, appear to assume those easier relations to the Pharisees which we have seen to be characteristic of the earlier period (Lk n87 [but not w. 42-S4] I4lff). It would be natural also to refer to this or the middle period the three parables of ch. 15 (Weiss, Leben Jesu, i. 507). On the other hand, some of the incidents are practically dated by their co incidence with the other Gospels: while others, like the severer denunciations of the Pharisees and eschatological sections such as Lk 13*** i7*'_i88j are referred to the later period by their subject- matter. It would be wrong to lay too much stress on mere symmetry; but when a natural sequence suggests itself, it may be accepted as having such probability as can be attained. The document which St. Luke is using in this part has preserved for us discourses of the utmost value, and it is largely to them that the Gospel owes its marked individuality. § 54. ii. The Johannean Narrative of this Period. — The historical value of the Fourth Gospel comes out strongly in this period. Rarely has any situation been described with the extraordinary vividness and truth to nature of ch. 7 (see esp. vv.""15-25-27-31-32-40-52). Not less graphic are the details of ch. 9 ; and there is marked precision in the statements of Jn io22f-40t n54-57. We note a special intimacy with what passes in the inner counsels of the Sanhedrin (Jn 74"2 1147-53). This intimate knowledge might have been derived through Nicodemus or through the connexion hinted at in Jn 18".* But, apart from the peculiar verisimilitude of these details, some such activity as that described in these chapters is required to explain the great cata strophe which followed. It is impossible that Jesus * The theory of Delff has already been mentioned (p. 53 sup.) ; but it turns too much upon a single -set of data, and leads to an arbi trary dissection of the Gospel. 132 THE LATER MINISTRY should have been so much a stranger to Judaea and Jerusalem as the Synoptic narrative would at first sight seem to make Him. For the steps which lead up to the end we must go to St. John. § 55. iii. The general Character of the Teaching of this Period. — There are no doubt portions of the teach ing of this period preserved in the Synoptics. But except those contained in Mk io1~45|| they are difficult to identify with certainty. For the greater part of our knowledge of it we are indebted to St. John, and we may observe that the teaching now begins to take a new character. Hitherto it has been mainly concerned with the nature of the Kingdom; henceforward greater stress_js„_laid^on the person of the King. We have already noted the remarkable verse Mt n27|| 'AH things have been delivered unto me of my Father: and no one knoweth the Son save the Father; neither doth any know the Father save the Son, and he to whom soever the Son willeth to reveal him.' This verse may be said to represent the text which the discourses in St. John set in various lights. We have now the self- revelation of the Son as the central life-giving and light-giving force of humanity. As He is the living Bread (Jn 6), so is He the living Water Qn 737f) ; He is the Light of the world (Jn 812 gs) ; He is the Good Shepherd Qn io11), the Resurrection and the Life (Jn ii25). If we suppose that these discourses were really held, we shall understand better than we could do otherwise the state of Christian thought which meets us when we open the first surviving Epistles of St. Paul. CLOSE OF THE ACTIVE PERIOD 1 33 § 56. iv. The Prophecies of Death and Resurrection. — From the time of St. Peter's confession Jesus began in set terms to foretell that His mission would end in His death, soon, however, to be followed by His resurrec tion (Mk 8sll). At the moment of His highest triumph, marked by the Transfiguration, the same solemn pre diction is repeated (Mk 931), and again yet a third time towards the end of the period with which we are now dealing (Mk io32^4 ||). (a) Even an ordinary observer might have seen that the signs of the times were ominous. St. Peter's con fession showed no more than one adherent whose fervid faith might be supposed capable of resisting a pressure of life or death. Herod Antipas and his faction were hostile. The Pharisees were yet more hostile, and their bitterness was growing every day. Within the period before us two deliberate attempts were made on the life of Jesus (Jn 859 10s9). And with the certainty that the course on which He was bent would include nothing to conciliate these antagonisms, it was clear where they would end. (b) But the foresight of Jesus took a wider range than this. He had laid it down as a principle that it was the fate of prophets to be persecuted (Mt $n 23s4- 37). In particular, He had before Him the example of the Baptist, whose fate He associated with His own (Mk 9* ||). (c) But there was a deeper necessity even than this. At the Betrayal, to him who drew sword in His defence Jesus replied calmly, ' How then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be ? ' And this is His consistent language (comp. Lk 242sf- **¦ 46 etc.). The 134 THE LATER MINISTRY mind of Jesus was steeped in the ancient prophecies. He had Himself, as we have seen, deliberately fused the conception of the conquering Messiah with that of the Suffering Servant of Jehovah, and He as deliberately went the way to fulfil these prophecies in His own person. There was nothing accidental about His Death. He 'set His face steadfastly' on the road which led to it. (d) When we look into its lessons we are carried even behind the fulfilment of prophecy. We shall have to speak presently of the extraordinary novelty of the turn which Christ gave to His mission. Others had conquered by the exercise of force; He was the first to set Himself to conquer by weakness, patience, non- resistance. And the natural and inevitable consumma tion of this new method of conquest was Death. (e) In all this He was carrying out, and knew that He was carrying out, the Will of the Father. It was con ceivable that that Will might have yet ulterior objects even beyond those, deep enough as we might think, which we have been considering. That Jesus ascribed to His Death such an ulterior object we are led to believe by the way in which He speaks of it. The two places in which He does so much must next engage our attention. § 57. v. Significance of the Death of Jesus. — The first of the passages to which allusion has just been made is Mk io46 U 'For verily the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his hfe a ransom for many.' We observe here that Jesus brings His Death under the category of service, and regards it CLOSE OF THE ACTIVE PERIOD 1 35 as the climax of a life of service. This is one way of stating the great paradox to which we have just alluded. The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over their subjects ; but such was not to be the ambition of the disciples of Christ; rather the very opposite; and it was Christ Himself who set them the example. At the end of the avenue stood a cross, and the Saviour of _men walked up to it_ as if it had been_a~crown. It is a ques tion of pressing interest how much farther we may go than this: is the \vrpov &vt\ iroWfiv to be interpreted by the diroAvrpoio-is and IXao-rfpiov of Ro 3m; and by the language of other similar passages ? By itself we could not say that it compelled such an interpretation; but there is nothing forced in supposing that the early Church knew and followed the mind of its Founder. In that case we should have reason to think that Jesus Himself had hinted at the sacrificial character of His Death, and that He too regarded it as propitiatory. If this passage suggests a sacrificial aspect of one kind, the other is more explicit in bringing out sacri ficial associations of another. All the extant accounts of the institution of the Eucharist connect the Blood shed upon the Cross with the founding of a '[new] Covenant.' This is certainly an allusion to the in auguration of the first Covenant with sacrifice (cf. Ex 24**, He 918"23), and the death of Christ is clearly regarded as the Sacrifice inaugurating the second (see below, p. 166). In other words, the momentous, question came before the mind of Jesus whether the New Dispensation which He was founding was or was not like the Old in includ ing the idea of Sacrifice. He deliberately answered that 136 THE LATER MINISTRY it was. And He deliberately foresaw, and as deliber ately accepted the consequence, that the Sacrifice of this New Dispensation could be none other than the Sacrifice of Himself. That which gives this particular Death a value which no other death could have had is (a) the fact that it is the Death of the Messiah, of One whose function it is to be the Saviour of His people, and whose Death like His Life must in some way enter into the purpose of the whole scheme of salvation ; and (/3) the further fact that although the Death is a necessity in the sense that it was required for the full development of God's gracious purpose'} it was nevertheless a purely volun tary act on the part of the Son, an expression of that truly filial spirit in which He made the whole of the Father's purpose His own. ' The good Shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep. . . . Therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have -power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This com mandment received I from my Father' Qn io1117f). It follows (y) that however much it may be right to con ceive of the Death of Christ as a Sacrifice, and a sacrifice which has for its object the 'remission of sins' (Mt 2628), we must not in connexion with it set the justice of God against His mercy, or think of Him as really turning away His face from the Son of His love. Literature. — The subject of these last two sections not only comes into the field of New Testament Theology in general and treatises (like Wendt's and others named above) on the Teaching CLOSE OF THE ACTIVE PERIOD 1 37 of Christ, but it necessarily occupies a prominent place in discussions of the Doctrine of the Atonement. Among these may be mentioned especially Ritschl's Rechtfertigung u. Versohnung, vol. ii. of which goes elaborately into the exegesis of the leading passages (ed. 2, 1882), and a recent treatise by Kahler, Zur Lehre von der Versohnung (Leipzig, 1898), which gives prominence to the relation of the doctrine to the Life of Christ. A lengthy monograph by Schwartz- kopff deals directly with our Lord's predictions of His Passion (Die Weissagungen Jesu Christi von seinem Tode, u.s.w., Gottingen, 1895; Eng. tr., T. & T. Clark); and 'Christ's Attitude to His Death' is the title of some striking articles by Dr. A, M. Fairbairn in Expos. 1896, ii., and 1897, i. CHAPTER VI. THE MESSIANIC CRISIS. '. The Messianic Crisis: the Triumphal Entry, the Last Teaching, Passion, Death, Resurrec tion, Ascension. § 58. Scene. — Mainly in Jerusalem. Time. — Six days before Passover to ten days before Pentecost a.d. 29. Mt 2i1-2820, Mk n1-^8 [w.9-20 an early addi tion], Lk i929-2452, Jn i21-2i23. This series of momentous events has naturally furnished much matter for discussion and contro versy, some of it very recent, (i.) Our first duty will be to sketch rapidly the course of the events with special reference to the motives of the human actors in them, (ii.) We must consider the debated points in the chronology of the last week, (iii.) We shall have to discuss the eschatological teach ing which the Synoptists place in this period. (iv.) A number of points, critical and doctrinal, will meet us in connexion with the Last Supper. (v.) We shall have in like manner to consider both the attestation and the significance of the crown- V ' i39 140 THE MESSIANIC CRISIS ing event of all, the Resurrection. This will include some discussion of the Appearances which followed. Lastly (vi.), as our subject is the Life of Christ and not the Gospels, we must, even though in so doing we cross the threshold of St. Luke's ' second treatise,' follow the steps of the Master to His Ascension. § 59. i. The Action and the Actors. — Our four Gospels, taken together, in part convey and in part suggest a view at once clear and probable of the course of events which led to the Crucifixion, and of the motives which impelled the several actors in them. We have seen that the Fourth Gospel is needed to explain the heightened enmity which had so tragic an issue. A residence in Jerusalem and Bethany of four days would not be enough to account for the overtures to Judas. The events of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Dedication, and the Raising of Lazarus, with the knowledge that Jesus had been teaching and making disciples at no great distance from Jerusalem, supply what is wanted. And in the case of the Last Week the touches which the Fourth Gospel adds to its prede cessors supplement them effectively. (a) The Populace. — In the Triumphal Entry we seem to see a gleam once more of the enthusiasm which had followed the Feeding of the Five Thousand. It was probably quite as superficial. We may imagine the crowd made up in part of those who had been impressed by recent teaching beyond the Jordan or in Jerusalem itself, or by the news of the still more striking miracle Wrought upon Lazarus : besides these, there would THE LAST EVENTS 141 doubtless be a contingent of pilgrims from more distant Galilee, the remnant of the crowds who had at one time or another followed Jesus there. But it would be too much to expect that all, or even many of these, had acquired an intelligent insight into the character of Him whom they were cheering. They were still in the twilight of their old Jewish expectations. They sup posed that the moment had at last come when the hopes which they cherished would be realized, and when before the crowds assembled for the Passover Jesus would at last put Himself forward as the Leader for whom they were waiting. Nothing, however, came of this seeming appeal to their enthusiasm. A few discourses in the temple, partly levelled against the religious authorities they were ' most accustomed to reverence, but containing not a word of incitement against the Romans, and that was all. What wonder if their enthusiasm died away, and if in some of the fiercer among them it changed to bitter and angry disappointment ! Doubtless some of these Zealots mingled with those who cried 'Crucify him, crucify him'; it was natural that they should prefer one of their own trade, like Barabbas ; but the crowds in Jerusalem at Passover time were so great that many of these fanatics may have had no personal acquaintance with Jesus at all. The choice between Jesus and Barabbas would seem to them a choice between a mock leader, a dreamer of dreams, who offered them nothing but words, and a true son of the people who had shown himself ready to grip the sword in the good cause. (b) The Traitor. — It is possible that Judas Iscariot may have shared something of these feelings. In the 142 THE MESSIANIC CRISIS lists of the apostles he is usually named next to a Zealot. The long course of training which he had undergone may have failed to purge his mind of the carnal expectations of his countrymen. It may have been a sudden access of disappointment, greater than ever before, because the hopes by which it had been preceded had been greater, which impelled him to seek his interview with the members of the Sanhedrin. It has even been suggested that he did what he did in order to compel his Master to declare Himself, and with the belief that He would at last exert for the deliverance of the nation the supernatural powers with which He was endowed. For this we have no sufficient warrant; and we are told expressly (Jn 126 RV text and most Comms.) that Judas was guilty of petty pilfering from the common fund, and therefore may infer that he was accessible to the temptations of avarice. Still, few men act from motives that they cannot at least make plausible to themselves : so that a mixture of obstinate and misguided patriotism is more probable than pure malignity. If Judas had not been at least capable of better things, it is not likely that he would have been chosen to be one of the Twelve. (c) The Pharisees. — By this time between Jesus and the Pharisees there is open war. Insidious questions are still put to Him, but only in order to ' ensnare him in his talk,' (Mt 2215||). And on His side Jesus replied to their treachery by the sternest denunciations. It need not be supposed that all 'scribes and Pharisees' were equally the object of these. We know that Nico demus and Joseph of Arimathaea were members of the Sanhedrin; we do not know that they belonged to the THE LAST EVENTS 143 party of the Pharisees, but we cannot doubt that there were some Pharisees like-minded with them; just as we learn from the Acts that after the Resurrection a number of the 'priests' (Ac 67) and at least some Pharisees (ib. 155) became Christians. (d) The Sadducees. — With the last week of our Lord's life, or rather, if we may trust St. John, as far back as the Feast of Tabernacles (Jn 745), a new party comes into prominence. The Sanhedrin begins to take official action against Jesus; and, although the Pharisees had some footing in that body, its policy was more deter mined by the Sadducees, to whom belonged most of the 'chief priests,' and in particular Caiaphas, the acting high priest, and his yet more influential father-in-law and predecessor Annas. As against Jesus the two parties of Pharisees and Sadducees acted together, but their motives were different. The, Pharisees were jealous for their authority and traditions, which were openly assailed. The Sadducees themselves rejected these traditions, — they were selfish politicians, who played their own game. Their motto was quiela non movere. They dreaded any kind of disturbance which might give the Romans an excuse to take the power out of their hands (cf. Jn. n48). It is curious to note how from this time onwards the bitterest opposition comes from the Sadducees, while leading Pharisees are neutral or even favourable (Ac 4s4-39 23s). (e) Pilate. — The position of things is this. The Jews (i.e. primarily the Sanhedrin) were bent upon bringing about the death of Jesus. Now they themselves had not the power of life and death (Jn 1831). According to the Talmud, they lost it forty years before the destruction 144 THE MESSIANIC CRISIS of Jerusalem, which would be about this very time. It is probable, however, that they did not long continue to possess it after the annexation of Judaea by the Romans. This being the case, they could only act through the instrumentality of the Roman governor. This necessitated the putting forward of different reasons from those that really weighed with them selves. Rather we should say that there were really three sets of reasons : (i.) The real motive of the Sanhedrin was jealousy of its own authority, — on the part of the Sadducees fear of disturbance, on the part of the Pharisees resentment of the attacks upon them selves and their traditions, and with some of the most patriotic among them perhaps disgust at a Messiah who was not a Messiah in any sense which they could comprehend, (ii.) The ostensible reason, which with some may have been sincere enough, was the charge of blasphemy against God. This charge they tried to bring home, but for a time could not (Mk i459||), until at last they caught at the confession of Jesus Himself. On the strength of this He was condemned (Mk I462"6*). (iii.) This charge, however, was not one which they could bring before the governor, and therefore they changed their ground. St. Luke, who in all these scenes draws upon special and good information, states the accusation with more precision than the other Synoptists. 'We found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king ' (or ' an anointed king,'RVm; Lk 232). With this charge it is that the leaders of the San hedrin come before Pilate. Pilate has the rough THE LAST EVENTS 145 Roman sense of justice, and he feels that the charge is not proved. He sees no evidence that Jesus is really a formidable conspirator, or even a conspirator at all against the State. He therefore desires to release Him; but the Jews insist, the leaders being backed by the clamour of the crowd. The Sanhedrists know the weak point in Pilate's armour, and they fasten upon it: 'If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend : every one that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar' Qn 1912, a most lifelike touch). For themselves they protest their loyalty. 'We have no king but Caesar' (Jn 19"). For many of the Sanhedrin, Pharisees as well as Sadducees, this would be true, and those for whom it was not would discreetly hold their peace. To this pressure Pilate in the end gives way, washing his hands of the responsibility. He might have taken a nobler course, but he felt insecure of his position; he knew that the Jews had matter of just complaint against him; and sooner than face their malice, with the inconveniences which it might cause, he let them have their will. Literature. — With this section may be compared two works of imagination : Dr. Edwin A. Abbott, Philochristus, London, 1878 ; and As Others Saw Him, London, 1895 (written from a Jewish point of view, but sympathetic and instructive). Also Chwolson, Das letzte Passamahl Christi, etc., St. Petersburg, 1892, Anhang: 'Das Verhaltniss d. Pharisaer, Sadducaer u. der Juden iiberhaupt zu Jesus Christus' (minimizing the opposition of the Pharisees, and laying the blame upon the Sadducees. The writer was a distinguished Orientalist, Christian, but of Jewish birth). § 60. ii. The Chronology of the Last Week. — A number of chronological difficulties meet us in the narrative of 146 THE MESSIANIC CRISIS this Last Week. (1) The prima facie view would certainly be that the Anointing at Bethany was placed by Mark two days (Mk 141) and by John six days (Jn 121) before the Passover. (2) The common opinion is that the Crucifixion took place on a Friday, and the Last Supper on the evening of Thursday; but it has also been argued that the two events took place on Thursday and Wednesday. (3) There is a much larger division of opinion as to the date of the Crucifixion in the Jewish calendar, and the relation of the Last Supper to ihe Paschal Meal. The Synoptists seem to identify the two, whereas St. John expressly places the Last Supper before the Passover, and would make the Crucifixion fall on Nisan 14. (4) The authorities also appear to differ as to the time of day occupied by the Crucifixion. According to Mk 1525 the time of the Crucifixion itself was the 'third hour' ( = 9 a.m.); according to Jn 1914 the trial was not quite over by the ' sixth hour ' (= noon), and therefore the Crucifixion was still later. Of these discrepancies No. 2 need not detain us. The view that the Crucifixion took place upon a Thursday is almost peculiar to Dr. Westcott (Introd. to the Study of the Gospels, p. 322, ed. 3). It turns upon a pressing of the phrase 'three days and three nights ' in Mt 12* along with the probability of con fusion between 'preparation for the Passover'1 and the more ordinary use of the word in the sense of ' prepara tion for the Sabbath' (i.e. Friday). The phrasing of Mt 27s2 is somewhat peculiar, but not really less so on this way of reckoning than the other, because the day described as the • morrow after the Preparation ' would THE LAST EVENTS 147 be itself the weekly Trapao-Kev-ij. And Mt 12* is due only to the evangelist, and is not supported by the other authorities. [On the length of the interval between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection see esp. art. Chronology of NT in Hastings' DB i. 4iob (with Field, Ot. Norv. iii. p. 7, there referred to), and Wright, NT Problems, p. 159 ff.] No. 1 is commonly removed by treating the note of time in Mk 141 1| as referring to the events of w.1!10-n and not to the intervening narrative of w.8"9. In support of this, Meyer-Weiss (ed. 8, ad loc.) points to analogous cases of intrusive matter in Mk 322"30 410.25 6h-29 ^ 0n the other handj M yap 6/uv, Sti 06 fir) (pdyio abri, tuis brov irX-qpuBy iv rrj jScuriXefp toO GeoB. 17 Kai Se£dp.eros iroriipiov evxapior-fyraz eTire, Ad/Sere rovro, xal Siafieplo-are els eavrobs' 18 \iyv 8. prov eixapur- tiJo-os iKhaoe, Kai %Su>Kev abrots \iyuv, Tovrb ion rb oSo/id pav rb birip b/iwv diSbpevoV rovro iroteire els ri]v i/ii/v dvdp.vr\o-iv. w xal rb iroriipiov iioabrws pjerk rb heiirvqaai \iyuv, Tovro rb iroriipiov f) Kami) Siad-qK-i) iv rip atparl juov, rb iirip ip.G>v iKXVvo/xevov. Locum integrum habent Codd. Grac. et Verss. omn., Us tantum leslibus exceptis qui infra nominantur ; item Lalt. cfq Vulg.; agnoscunt, Tert. adv. Marc. iv. 40; Eus. Can.; Bas. qua feruntur Ethica ; Cyril. Alex. Comm. in Luc. Om. w.1&17W Cod. Copt. K (Catena Curzoniana, excerpto ut videtur Tito [Bostrensi], Om. w.17- u Lect. 32, Pesh. codd. Om. w.19b' *> rb iirip vp.Qv 8186/1. — ixxvv6fKvov, D a ff2 i 1. Iisdem omissis transp. w.17-18 ita ut partem v.19 priorem sequantur b e. [16 Dico enim vobis, quia ex hoc non mandu- cabo illud, donee ... in regno dei. 19 Et, accepto pane, gratias egit, et fregit, et dedit illis, 17 dicens : Hoc est corpus meum. Et accepto calice, gratias egit ; et dixit : Accipite hoc et dividite inter vos. 18 dico enim vobis, quod non bibam de generatione hac vitis hujus, donee regnum dei veniat. THE LAST SUPPER 1 59 81 Verumtamen ecce manus, etc. b M Dico enim vobis quia jam non manducabo illud doneque adimplear in regno di. I9 et accepit panem et gratias egit et fregit et dedit eis 17dicens hoc est corpus meu. Et accepit calice et gratias egit et dixit accipite vivite inter vos. dico enim vobis amodo non vivam (sic) amodo de potione vitis quoadusque regnum di veniat verum ecce manus, etc. e.] Item transp. w.18-18 omisso (Cur.) vtl partim inter jedo (Sin.) v.20 Syrr. (Sin.-Cur.). [16. . . las trov ir\i)piiid% iv r-g /3o«r. rov Qeov. 19 Kai Xa/Siiiv iprov eixapurri^jas iKkaaev Kai eSaxev abrots \iyav rovrb ion rb o-wpd pov rb bp,wv SiSbpnevov (om. Cur.)- toOto iroieire els ri)v iptifv dvdp.vn\aiv. 17 /cat (aaabras \uerb. rb deiirvijirai ins. ex v.20 Sin.) Se^dpievos iroriipiov (vel rb iror.) ebxapiar-haas elire- \d(3ere rovro Siapjeplaare els iavrobs (rovrb ion rb alpa pjov [^] Kaivi) SiafHiK-ri add. Sin.). \iyu (ins. ydp Sin.) bpZv Sri dirb toO vvv oi pii) irtio dirb toO yevviip.aros toiJtou rr)s &p.iri\ov (vel om. ?) las Srov ij pao. rov deov ?X9j;.] To the textual critic these phenomena are fairly clear. The omission of w. 19b"20 (Daff2il) belongs to the oldest form of the Western text. The next step (be) was to transpose the order of w.17-18 and 19*, so as to make the sequence of the Bread and the Cup correspond to that in the other authorities. The next (Cur.) was to supplement the words relating to the Bread from 1 Co n24. The next (Sin.) was to supplement in like manner the part relating to the Cup by somewhat free interpolations partly suggested by Matthew, Mark, but mainly from 1 Co n8. In this instance Syr. -Sin. represents a later stage than Syr.-Cur., though it is more often earlier. The omissions of w. [Kj ir- w are probably not important. We have then confronting each other the primitive form of the Western text, which is shorter, makes Luke transpose the order of the Bread and the Cup, 160 THE MESSIANIC CRISIS and omits all mention of a second Cup, and the great mass of Greek MSS and other authorities, which in troduce a second Cup, or second mention of the Cup, and fill out the whole mainly from St. Paul. We cannot doubt that both these types of text existed early in the second century. Either may be original. And this is just one of those cases where internal evidence is strongly in favour of the text which we call Western. The temptation to expand was much stronger than to contract; and the double mention of the Cup raises real difficulties of the kind which suggest interpolation. §64. (2) Relation of the Texts to each other. — The adoption of the Western text of Luke greatly dimin ishes the coincidences between St. Luke and St. Paul. Indeed it reduces them to the practically equivalent ev-)(apio-Triaavt£$ re nor' oikov aprov p,e.reXa.p.fiavov rpoepijs, K.T.X., where rpo