cause them to make gain, or give of their goods to them. But what the bliss of the sages themselves is, no mortal eye has seen.' [c Sanh. 99 a.]
It was not with such sayings that Christ sent forth His disciples; nor in such spirit, that the world has been subdued to Him. The relinquishing of all that is nearest and dearest, cross-bearing, loss of life itself, such were the terms of His discipleship. Yet acknowledgment there would surely, be first, in the felt and assured sense of His Presence; then, in the reward of a prophet, a righteous man, or, it might be, a disciple. But all was to be in Him, and for Him, even the gift of 'a cup of cold water' to 'a little one.' Nay, neither the 'little ones,' the learners, nor the cup of cold water given them, would be overlooked or forgotten. But over all did the 'Meek and Lowly One' cast the loftiness of His Humility.
THE STORY OF THE BAPTIST, FROM HIS LAST TESTIMONY TO JESUS TO HIS BEHEADING IN PRISON. CHAPTER XXVIII
(1. St. John iii. 25-30. 2 St. Matt. ix. 14-17; St. Mark ii. 18-22; St. Luke v. 33-39. 3. St. Matt. xi. 2-14; St. Lukevii. 18-35. 4. St. Matt. xiv. 1-12; St. Mark vi.14-29; St. Luke ix. 7-9.)
While the Apostles went forth by two and two on their first Mission, [1 This is the only occasion on which they are designated as Apostles in the Gospel by St. Mark.] Jesus Himself taught and preached in the towns around Capernaum, [a St. Matt. xi. 1.] This period of undisturbed activity seems, however, to have been of brief duration. [2 Their mission seems to have been short, probably not more than two weeks or so. But it seems impossible, in consistency with the facts, to confine it to two days, as Bishop Ellicott proposes (Hist. Lect. p. 193).] That it was eminently successful, we infer not only from direct notices, [b St. Mark vi. 12, 13; St. Luke ix. 6.] but also from the circumstance that, for the first time, the attention of Herod Antipas was now called to the Person of Jesus. We suppost that, during the nine or ten months of Christ's Galilean Ministry, the Tetrarch had resided in his Paraean dominions (east of the Jordan), either at Julias or at Machaerus, in which latter fortress the Baptist was beheaded. We infer, that the labours of the Apostles had also extended thus far, since they attacted the notice of Herod. In the popular excitement caused by the execution of the Baptist, the miraculous activity of the messengers of the Christ, Whom John had annonced, would naturally attract wider interest, while Antipas would, under the influence of fear and superstition, give greater heed to them. We can scarcely be mistaken in supposing, that this accounts for the abrupt termination of the labours of the Apostles, and their return to Jesus. At any rate, the arrival of the disciples of John, with tidings of their master's death, and the return of the Apostles, seem to have been contemporaneous, [c St. Matt xiv. 12, 13; St.Mark vi. 30.] Finally, we conjecture, that it was among the motives which influenced the removal of Christ and His Apostles from Capernaum. Temporarily to withdraw Himself and His disciples from Herod, to give them a season of rest and further preparation after the excitement of the last few weeks, and to avoid being involved in the popular movements consequent on the murder of the Baptist, such we may venture to indicated as among the reasons of the departure of Jesus and His disciples, first into the dominions of the Tetrarch Philip, on the eastern side of the Lake, [a St. John vi. 1.] and after that 'into the borders of Tyre and Sidon.' [b St. Mark vii. 24.] Thus the fate of the Baptist was, as might have been expected, decisive in its influence on the History of the Christ and of His Kingdom. But we have yet to trace the incidents in the life of John, so far as recorded in the Gospels, from the time of His last contact with Jesus to his execution.
1. It was [c St. John iii. 22 to iv. 3.] in the late spring, or rather early summer of the year 27 of our era, that John was baptizing in AEnon, near to Salim. In the neighbourhood, Jesus and His disciples were similarly engaged. [1 Comp. chapter vii. of this Book. For the sake of clearness and connection, some points formerly referred to have had to be here repeated.] The Presence and
activity of Jesus in Jerusalem at the Passover [d St. John ii. 13 to iii. 21.] had determined the Pharisaic party to take active measures against Him and His Forerunner. John. As to the first outcome of this plan we notice the discussions on the question of'purification,' and the attempt to separate between Christ and the Baptist by exciting the jealousy of the latter, [e St. John iii. 25 &c] But the result was far different. His disciples might have been influenced, but John himself was too true a man, and too deeply convinced of the reality of Christ's Mission, to yield even for a moment to such temptation. Nothing more noble can be conceived than the self-abnegation of the Baptist in circumstances which would not only have turned aside an impostor or an enthusiast, but must have severely tried the constancy of the truest man. At the end of a most trying career of constant self-denial its scanty fruits seemed, as it were, snatched from Him, and the multitude, which he had hitherto swayed, turned after Another, to Whom himself had first given testimony, but Who ever since had apparently neglected him. And now he had seemingly appropriated the one distinctive badge of his preaching! Not to rebel, nor to murmur, but even to rejoice in this as the right and proper thing, for which he had longed as the end of his own work, this implies a purity, simplicity, and grandeur of purpose, and a strength of conviction unsurpassed among men. The moral height of this testimony of John, and the evidential force of the introduction of this narrative, utterly unaccountable, nay, unintelligible on the hypothesis that it is not true, seem to us among the strongest evidences in favour of the Gospel-history.
It was not the greatness of the Christ, to his own seeming loss, which could cloud the noonday of the Baptist's convictions. In simple Judaean illustration, he was only 'the friend of the Bridegroom' (the 'Shoshebheyna'), with all that popular association or higher Jewish allegory connected with that relationship. [1 Comp. 'Sketches of Jewish Social Life,' pp. 152, 153.] He claimed not the bride. His was another joy, that of hearing the Voice of her rightful Bridegroom, Whose 'groomsman' he was. In the sound of that Voice lay the fulfilment of his office. And St. John, looking back upon the relation between the Baptist and Jesus, on the reception of the testimony of the former and the unique position of'the Bridegroom', points out the lessons of the answer of the Baptist to his disciples (St. John iii. 31 to 36 [2 These verses contain the reflections of the Evangelist, not the words of the Baptist, just as previously vv. 16 to 21 are no longer the words of Christ but those of St. John.]) as formerly those of the conversation with Nicodemus. [a St. John iii. 16 to 21.]
This hour of the seeming abasement of the Baptist was, in truth, that of the highest exaltation, as marking the fulfilment of his office, and, therefore, of his joy. Hours of cloud and darkness were to follow.
2. The scene has changed, and the Baptist has become the prisoner of Herod Antipas. The dominions of the latter embraced, in the north: Galilee, west of the Jordan and of the Lake of Galilee; and in the south: Peraea, east of the Jordan. To realise events we must bear in mind that, crossing the Lake eastwards, we should pass from the possessions of Herod to those of the Tetrarch Philip, or else come upon the territory of the 'Ten Cities,' or Decapolis, a kind of confederation of townships, with constitution and liberties, such as those of the Grecian cities. [3 Comp. Caspari, Chronolog. Georgr. Einl. pp. 83-91.] By a narrow strip northwards, Peraea just slipped in between the Decapolis and Samaria. It is impossible with certainty to localise the AEnon, near Salim, where John baptized. Ancient tradition placed the latter a few miles south of Scythopolis or Bethshean, on the borders of Galilee, or rather, the Decapolis, and Samaria. But as
the eastern part of Samaria towards the Jordan was very narrow, one may well believe that the place was close to, perhaps actually in, the north-eastern angle of the province of Judaea, where it borders on Samaria. We are now on the western bank of Jordan. The other, or eastern, bank of the river would be that narrow northern strip of Peraea which formed part of the territory of Antipas. Thus a few miles, or the mere crossing of the river, would have brought the Baptist into Peraea. There can be no doubt but that the Baptist must either have crossed into, or else that AEnon, near Salim, was actually within the dominions of Herod. [1 AEnon may even have been in Peraea itself, in that case, on the eastern bank of the Jordan.] It was on that occasion that Herod seized on his person, [a St. John iii. 24.] and that Jesus, Who was still within Judaean territory, withdrew from the intrigues of the Pharisees and the proximity of Herod, through Samaria, into Galilee, [b St. John vi. L]
For, although Galilee belonged to Herod Antipas, it was sufficiently far from the present residence of the Tetrarch in Peraea. Tiberias, his Galilean residence, with its splendid royal palace, had only been built a year or two before; [2 Comp. Schurer, Neutest. Zeitgesch. p. 233. As to the name Tiberias, comp. p. 635, note 1.] and it is impossible to suppose, that Herod would not have sooner heard of the fame of Jesus, [c St. Matt. xiv. 1.] if his court had been in Tiberias, in the immediate neighbourhood of Capernaum. We are, therefore, shut up to the conclusion, that during the nine or ten months of Christ's Ministry in Galilee, the Tetrarch resided in Peraea. Here he had two palaces, one at Julias, or Livias, the other at Machaerus. The latter will be immediately described as the place of
