_THE PREACHING AND BAPTISM OF JOHN: HIS TESTIMONY OF CHRIST. HEROD IMPRISONETH JOHN. CHRIST BAPTIZED, RECEIVETH TESTIMONY FROM HEAVEN. THE AGE AND GENEALOGY OF CHRIST FROM JOSEPH UPWARDS._ _Anno Domini 26._... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW IN THE FIFTEENTH YEAR, &C.— Though the evangelist has told us in what year the Baptist made his first public appearance, he has not intimated in what period of his ministry Jesus came to be baptized; (see Luke 3:21.) wherefore, seeing the Baptist's fame had spread itself in every corner, and bro... [ Continue Reading ]
ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS BEING THE HIGH-PRIESTS— According to the institutions of the Jewish religion, there could be only one _high-priest,_ properly so called, at a time; that minister being typical of the one Mediator between God and man. The most probable solution therefore of the difficulty in the te... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE CAME INTO ALL THE COUNTRY ABOUT JORDAN— What St. Luke terms _the country about Jordan,_ St. Matthew calls _the hill-country of Judea:_ their accounts maybe illustrated from Josephus, who tells us, that the mountains above Jericho ran north as far as Scythopolis, and south to the territory of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL FLESH SHALL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD— The evangelist seems to have quoted these words from Isaiah 52:10 though they may very well agree with Isaiah 40:5 where the prophet says, _all flesh shall see it together,_ that is to say, _the glory of the Lord,_ amply _revealed in the salvation of man... [ Continue Reading ]
O GENERATION— _Ye brood._ Some would read the last clause, τις υποδειξει ;_—Who will warn you to flee?_ A mere servile fear of punishment, says Dr. Heylin, was not a sufficient motive to a total reformation, and would soon wear out of their minds; John therefore censures it as defective.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT SHALL WE DO THEN?— Ποιησομεν, the same word as that used in Luke 3:8 and rendered _bring forth;_ and consequently it should be translated in the same manner, to make the propriety of the reply more conspicuous.—_Bring forth therefore fruits,_ Luke 3:8.—Ver. 10. W_hat fruits shall we bring forth... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN CAME ALSO PUBLICANS— The publicans, or tax-gatherers, wishing by all means to keep their places under the Messiah, might be anxious to know what qualifications were necessary for that purpose: or rather, since our Lord hath elsewhere declared, that the tax-gatherers, with the rest of the people... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE SOLDIERS LIKEWISE— It was the custom of the Romans to recruit their armies in the conquered provinces; wherefore, as the Jews did not scruple to engage in a military life, many of them might nowhave been in the emperor's service. Or we may suppose, that after Judea was made a province, the R... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS THE PEOPLE WERE IN EXPECTATION,— John had now acquired an extraordinary reputation by the austerity of his life, the subject of his sermons, the fervencyofhisexhortations,and the freedom, impartiality, and courage with which he rebuked his hearers: yet his fame received no small addition from... [ Continue Reading ]
PURGE HIS FLOOR,— _Cleanse,_ &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
PREACHED HE— Ευηγγελιζετο, _He evangelized,_ or preached as an evangelist. See Luke 2:10. It is observable, that in the parallel place; Matthew 3:1 the word κηρυσσων is used, which implies the notice given by Christ's herald, who is sent before to make preparation for his prince, and to announce his... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW WHEN ALL THE PEOPLE WERE BAPTIZED,— _Now while all the people were receiving baptism._ Heylin. If we reflect on the number of the people who followed John, and were baptized by him, and the regard which they expressed for him before and after his death, and yet that no sect was produced in conse... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU ART MY BELOVED SON;— See on Matthew 3:17. The epithet _beloved_ given to the Son on this occasion, marks the greatness of the Father's affection for him, and distinguishes him from all others to whom the title of _God's Son_ had been given. Accordingly we find our Lord alluding to it with pecul... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JESUS HIMSELF BEGAN TO BE, &C.— Our Lord having received these different testimonies from his Father, from the Spirit, and from John the Baptist, all given in the presence of the multitudes assembled to John's baptism, began his ministry when he was about thirty years old, the age at which the p... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH WAS THE SON OF CAINAN,— This _Cainan_ is found only in the LXX: but all the other names, from Abraham back to Adam, are found also in the Hebrew of the Old Testament, in the like order as St. Luke has placed them; and all the names from David back to Abraham are the very same as are mentioned... [ Continue Reading ]
ADAM, WHO WAS THE SON OF GOD.— Adam being descended from no human parents, but formed by the immediate power of the divine creating hand, might with peculiar propriety be called _the Son of God,_ in his original state, the heir of immortality and glory. The evangelist might likewise intend by this e... [ Continue Reading ]