Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition) (continued)
John's OJJice, Life, aid Baptism. MATTHEW III. ffe Reprchendelh the PharisecM.
npnke was a foreign element. See on John 3. 31. We are now prepared for the opening words of Matthew. 1. in those clays—of Christ's secluded life at Nazareth, where Mie last chapter left Him. came Jolin tlie Baptist, preac Siiiig—about six months before his Master. Ji» tlie wllfleriiess of Jmlea—the desert valley of the Jordan, thinly peopled and baie in pasture,a little north of Jerusalem. 3. Ami saying, Repent ye—Though the word expressing the deadly influence of both sects alike upon the community. Mutually and entirely antagonistic as were their religious principles and spirit, the stern prophet charges both alilje witli being the poisoners of the nation's religious principles. In ch. 12. 31, and 2.!. 33, this strong language of the Bapiist is anew applied by the faitliful and true Witness to tlie Pharisees speciflcally— the only party that had zeal enough actively to diffuse this poison, who hath warned yon—'given you the hint,' as the idea is—to flee from tlie wi-ath to cornel 'What can have brought i/oit hither?' John more than suspected it was not so much their own spiritual anxieties as the popularity of his movement that had drawn them thither. What an expression is this, "The wrath to come!" God's " wrath," in Scripture, is His righteous displeasure against sin, and consequently against all in whose skirts sin is found, arising out of the essential and eternal opposition of His nature to all moral evil. This strictly denotes a change of mind, it has respect here, and wherever it is used in connection with salvation, primarily to that sense of sin which leads the sinner to flee from the wrath to come, to look for relief only from above, and eagerly to fall in with the provided remedy, for the kingdom of lieaven is at hand—This sublime phrase, used in none of the other Gospels, occurs in this peculiarly Jewish Gospel nearly thirty times; and being suggested by Daniel's grand vision of the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of days, to receive His investiture in a world-wide kingdom (Daniel is called " the coming wrath," not as heing wIioUjfuture for as a merited sentence it lies on the sinner already, and its eflects, both inward and outward, are to some extent experienced even now—but because the impenitent sinner will not, until "the judgment of the great day," be concluded under it, will not have sentence publicly and irrevocably passed upon him, will not have it discharged upon him and experience its effects without mixture and without hope. In this view of it, it is a wrath wholly to come, as is implied in the noticeably diflerent form of t he expression employed by the apostle in 1 Thessalonians 1. 10. Not that even true penitents came to John's baptism with all these views of "the wrath to coine." But what he says is, that this was the real import
7. 13, 14), it was fitted at once both to meet the national expectations and to turn them into the right channel. A kingdom for which repentance was the proper preparation behooved to be essentially spiritual. Deliverance from sin, the great blessing of Christ's kingdom (ch. 1. 21), can be valued by those only to whom sin is a burden (ch. 9.
12). John's great work, accordingly, was to awaken this feeling, and liold out the hope of a speedy and precious remedy. 3. For tliis is he that was spoken of l>y the prophet Esalas, saying (ch. 11. 3), The voice of one crying in tlie -wilderness (see on Luke 3. 2)—the scene of his ministry corresponding to its rough nature. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight—This prediction is quoted in all the four Gospels, showing that of the step itself. In this view of it, how striking Is the word he employs to express that step—/Jeeing' from it—as of one who, beholding a tide of fiery wrath rolling rai>- idly towards him, sees in instant llight his only escape!
it was regarded as a great outstanding one, and the predicted forerunner as the connecting link between the old and the new economies. IJke the great ones of the earth, the Prince of peace was to have His immediate approach proclaimed and His way prepared; and the call heretaking it generally—is a call to put out of the way whatever would obstruct His progress and hinder His com-
8. Bring forth therefore fruits—the true reading clearly is ' fruit '—meet for repentnnce—that is, such fruit as befUs a true penitent. John now being gifted with a know» ledge of the human heart, like a true minister of righteousnoss and lover of souls here directs them how to evidence and carry out tlieir repentance, supposing it genuine; and in the following verses warns them of their danger in case it were not. 9. And thi~nk not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to otir fathei that pillow on which the nation so fatally reposed, that rock on which at length it split, for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham g. d., 'Flatter not yourselves with the fond delusion that God stands in need of yon, to make good his promise of a seed to Abraham ; for I tell yon that, though you were all to perish, God is as able to raise up a seed to Al)raham out of those stones as He was to take Abraham himself out of the rock whence he was hewn, out of the hole of the pit whence he was digged ' (Isaiah 51, plete triumpli, whether those hindrances were public or personal, outward or inward. In Luke (3. 5, G) the quotation is thus continued : " Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall he made smooth ; and all Hesh shall see the salvation of God." Levelling and smoothing are here the obvious figures wliose sense Is conveyed in the first words of the proclamation—"Prepare ye the way of the Lord." The idea is, that every obstruction shall be so removed as to reveal to the whole world the salvation of God in Him whose name is tlie "Saviour." (Cf. Psalm 98. 3; Isaiah 11.
10; 49.fi; 52. 10; Luke 2. 31, 32; Acts 13. 47.) 4. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair—tliat is, woven of it—and a leathern girdle about his loins-the prophetic dress of Elijah (2 Kings 1. 8; and see Zechariali
1). Though the stern speaker may have pointed as he spake to the pebbles of the bare clay hills that lay around
13. I), and his meat was locnsts—the great, well-known Eastern locust, a food of the poor (Leviticus 11. 22). and wild honey—made liy wild bees (1 Samuel 14. 25, 2G). This dress and diet, M'ith the shrill cry in the wilderness, would
(so Stani.ey's Sinai and Palestine), it was clearly the calling of the Gentiles—at that time stone-dead in their sins, and quite as unconscious of it—into the room of unbelieving and disinherited Israel that he meant thus to indicate (seech. 21.43; Romans 11. 20,30). 10. And now also—'And even already'—tlic axe is laid nnto—'lieth at'—the root of the trees—as it were read.v to strike : an expressive figure of impending judgment, only to be averted in the way next described, therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is Ixcwn down, and v-nat into the recali the stern days of Elijah. 5. Tlien went out to him .Terusalcni,and all Judea, and all the region round aliout .Jordan—From the metropolitan centre to the extremities of the Judean province the cry of this great preacher of repentance and herald of the approaching Messiah brought trooping penitents and eager expectants. 0. And were baptized of Ikim In Jordan, confcsslng— probably confessing aloud—their sins— This baptism was at once a public seal of their felt need of deliverance from sin, of their expectation of the coming Detire. Ijjinguage so personal and individual as this can scarcely be understood of any national judgment like the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, with the breaking up of the Jewish polity and the extrusion of the chosen people from their peculiar privileges which followed It; though this would serve as the dark shadow, cast before, of a more terrible retribution toconie. The "fire," whlcli In another verse is called "unquenchable," can be no other than that future "torment'' of the impenitent whose "smoke ascendcth up foi ever and ever," and which by the Judge Himself is styled "everlasting pun liverer, and of their readiness to welcome Him when He appeared. The baptism itself startled, and was intended to startle, tliem. They were familiar enough with the baptiim of proselytes from heathenism ; but this baptism of Jews tliemselves was quite new and strange to them. 7. But when he saw many of the Pharigccg and Sadducees come to his baptism, he gnid unto tlitem—astonished at such a spcctaclL—O generation ofvipers—
' Viper-brood •'
John Reprehendelh the Pharisees, MATTHEW III. The Baptism of Clirisl by John, most familiar emblems—ii'aier and ^re—are employed to set forth the same purifying operations of the Holy Gliosl upon the soul. 13. Whose [winnowing] fan Is in lil* hand—ready for use. Tliis is no other tlinn tlie preacliing' of tire Gospel, even now lieginning, the effect of whicii would be to separate tlie solid from the spiritually wortli-
Ishnicnt " (Matthew 25. 48). What a strength, too, of just indignatiou is in that word "cast" or "flung into the lire !" The third Gospel here adds the following important particulars, Luke 3. 10-16: ver. 10. "And the people"— rather, ' the multitudes '—" asked him, saying. What shall we do then ?"—that is, to show the sincerity of our repentance. Ver. 11. He answereth and saith unto them. He that nath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and less, as wheat, by the winnowing fan, from tlie cliatt". (Cf. the ^milar representation in Malachi, 3.1-3.) and he will througlUy purge his fthresliing] floor—that is, the visible Cliurch. and gather hiswheat.—His true-heiirted saints; so called for their solid worth (cf. Amos 9. 9; Luke he that hath meat"—'provisions,' 'victuals '—"let him do likewise." This is directed against the reigning avarice end selfishness. (Cf. the corresponding precepts of tlie Sermon on the Mount, ch. 5. 40-42.) Ver. 12. "Then came also
22. 31.) into the garner—" tlie kingdom of tlielr Father," as this "garner" or "barn" is beautifully explained by our Lord in the parable of the Wheat aiid the Tares (ch.
the 'publicans to be baptized, and said unto him. Master,"' or 'Teacher,' "what shall we do?"—in what special way is the genuineness of our repentance to be manifest«d? Ver. 13. "And he said unto them. Exact no more than
13. 30, 43). but he will burn uji the chaff—empty, wor( liless professors of religion, void of all solid religious principle and character (see Psalm 1. 4). with unquenchable that which is appointed you." This is directed against flre—Singular is the strength of this apparent contradiction of figures :—to be burnt up, but with a flre that is unquenchable; the one expressing the utter destruction of all that constitutes one's true life, the other the continued that extortion which made the publicans a byword. (.See on ch. 5. 46; and on Luke 15. 1.) Ver. 14. "And the soldiers "—rather, ' And soldiers '—the word means ' soldiers on active duty'—"likewise demanded (or asked) of him, saying. And what shall we do? And he said unto them. Do violence to," or 'Intimidate,' "no man." The word co-nscioiisne.ss of existence in that awful condition. Luke adds the following important particulars, 3. 18-20 : Ver. 18. "And many other things fn his exhortation preached lie unto the people," showing that we have here but an abstract of his teaching. Besides what we read in John 1.
signifies to 'shake thoroughly,' and refers probably to the extorting of money or other property, "neither accuse any falsely "—by acting as Informers vexatiously on frivolous or false pretexts—"and be content with your wages," or ' rations.' We may take this, say Webster and Wilkinson, as a warning against mutiny, which the officers attempted to suppress by largesses and donations. And thu the "fruits " which would evidence their repentance were just resistance to the reigning sins—particularly of rhec?aj«to which the penitent belonged—and the mani-
29, 33, 34 ; 3.27-30; the incidental allusion to his liaving taught his disciples to pray (Luke 11.1)—of which not a word is said elsewhere—shows how varied his teacliing was. Ver. 19. " But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done." In tliis last clause we have an important fact, here only mentioned, showing how thorouc/h-going was the fldelity of the Baptist to his loj-al hearer, and how strong must have been tlie workings of conscience in that slave of passion wlien, notwithstanding such plainness, he "did many things, and heard Jolin gladly" (Mark 6. 20). Ver. 20. "Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison." This imprisonment of John, however, did not take place for some time after this; and it is here recorded merely because the Evaiigplfestation of an opposite spirit. Ver. 15. "And as the people were in expectation "—In a state of excitement, looking for something new—"and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not" rather, 'whether he himself might be the Christ.' The structure of this clause Implies that they could hardly think it, but yet could not help asking themselves whether it might not be; showing both how successful he had been In awakening the expectation of Messiah's immediate appearing, and the high estimaist did not intend to recur to his history till he had occasion to relate the message which he sent to Clirist from his prison at Macheerus (Luke 7. 18, &c.).
tion, and even reverence, which his own character commanded. Ver. 16. "John answered "—either to that <leputation from Jerusalem, of which we read in John 1. 19, (tc, or on some other occasion, to remove impressions derogatory to his blessed Master, wliich he knew to be taking hold of the popular mind "saying unto them all" — in solemn protestation: (We now return to the first Gospel.) 11. 1 Indeed baptize yon with water unto repentance (see on v. 6) : but l»e tliat cometli after me is mightier than I. In Mark and IjUke this is more emphatic — "But there cometh the Mightier than I," whose shoes, or 'sandals,' I am not worthy to bear—The sandals were tied and untied, and Iwrne aboui by the meanest servants, he shall baptize you—the em/ Viatic "He:" 'He It is,' to the exclusion of all others, ' that shall baptize you.' with the Holy Ghost —'So far from entertaining such a thought as laying claim to the honours of Messiahshlp, the meanest services
13-17. Baptism of Christ, and Descent of the Si'iwit UPON Him immediately thereafter. (=Mark 1.9-11; Luke 3.21, 22; John 1.31-34.) Bapti-mi of Clirist {v. 13-1.1). 13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jo2°dan unto John, to be baptized of him—Moses rashly anticipated the Divine call to deliver his people, and for this was fain to flee the house of bondage, and wait in obscurity for forty years more (Exodus 2. 11, ifcc). Not so this greater than Moses. All but thirty years had He now spent in privacy at Nazareth, gradually ripening for His pal>lic work, and calmly awaiting tlie time appointed of tlie Father. Now it had arrived; and this movement from Galilee to Jordan is tlie step, doubtless, of deepest interest to all heaven since that first one which brouglit Him into the world. Luke (3.21) has this important a<]dition— "Nowu/Tien all the people were baptized, it came to pasSj that Jesus being baptized," Ac. — implying that Jesus waited till all other applicants for baptism that day had been disposed of, ere He stepped forwai'd, that He might not seem to be merely one of the crowd. Thus, .as He rode into Jerusalem upon an ass " whereon yet never man sat" (Luke 19. 30), and lay in a sepulchre "wherein was never man yet laid" (John 19.41), so in His baptism, too. He would be " separate from sinners." 14. Bnt John forbade him—rather, 'was [in the act ofj hindering him,' or ' attempting to hinder him'—saying, I hare need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me!—(How John came to recognize Him, when he says lie knew Him not, see on John 1. 31-34.) The emphasis of this most remarkable speech lies all in the pronouns: 'What! Shall the Master come for baptism to the servant—the sinless Saviour to a sinner ?' That thus much is in the Baptist's words will be clearly seen If it be observed that he evidently regarde<l Jesus as Himself needing no pwiflea Uoru
I can render to that " Mightier than I that Is coming after rae" are too high an honour for me ; I am but tlie servant, but the Master is coming; I administer but the outward Kj'mbol of purification; His it Is, as His sole prerogative, to dispense the inward reality.' Beautiful spirit, distinguishing this servant of Christ throughout! and with Are—To take this as a distinct baptism from that of the Spirlta baptism of the Impenitent with hell-fire-is exceedingly unnatural. Yet this was the view of Origen among the Fathers; and among moderns, of Neandeb, Meyer, De Wette and Lanqe. Nor is it much better to refer it to the fire of the great day, by which the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Clearly, as we think. It is but the yJerj character of the Spirit's operations upon the soul—searching, consuming, refining, sublimating—as nearly all good Interpreters understand the words. And thus, In two successive clauses, the twa