P A R T S E C O N D.
BEGINNING OF THE MINISTRY OF JOHN
THE BAPTIST, THE FOREUNNER.
XVII.
JOHN THE BAPTIST'S PERSON AND PREACHING.
(In the wilderness of Judæa, and on the banks of the Jordan,
occupying several months, probably A. D. 25 or 26.)
aMATT. III. 1-12; bMARK
I. 1-8; cLUKE III. 1-18.
b1 The beginning of the
gospel [John begins his Gospel from eternity, where the Word is found
coexistent with God. Matthew begins with Jesus, the humanly generated son
of Abraham and David, born in the days of Herod the king. Luke begins with
the birth of John the Baptist, the Messiah's herald; and Mark begins with
the ministry of John the Baptist. While the three other evangelists take
a brief survey of the preparation of the gospel, Mark looks particularly
to the period when it began to be preached. Gospel means good news,
and news is not news until it is proclaimed. The gospel began to be preached
or proclaimed with the ministry of John the Baptist (Luke xvi. 16). His
ministry was the dawn of that gospel of which Christ's preaching was the
sunrise] of Jesus [Our Lord's name as a human being; it means
"Saviour"] Christ [Though this is also sometimes used as a name,
it is in reality our Lord's title. It means "the Anointed," and
is equivalent to saying that Jesus is our Prophet, Priest and King] the
Son of God. [This indicates our Lord's eternal nature; it was
divine. Mark's gospel was written to establish that fact, which is the
foundation of the church (Matt. xvi. 18). John's Gospel was written for
a like purpose (John xx. 31). John uses the phrase "Son of [62] God"
twenty-nine times, and Mark seven times. As these two evangelists wrote
chiefly for Gentile readers, they emphasized the divinity of Jesus, and
paid less attention to his Jewish ancestry. But Matthew, writing for Hebrews,
prefers the title "Son of David," which he applies to Jesus some nine times,
that he may identify him as the Messiah promised in the seed of David--II.
Sam. vii. 12; Ps. lxxii. 1-17; lxxxix. 3, 4; cxxxii. 11, 12.]
c1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign [Tiberius Cæsar,
stepson of and successor to Augustus, began to reign as joint ruler with
Augustus in August, A. U. C. 765 (A. D. 11). On Aug. 19, 767, Augustus
died and Tiberius became sole ruler. Luke counts from the beginning of
the joint rule, and his fifteen years bring us to 779. In August, 779,
Tiberius began his fifteenth year, and about December of that year Jesus
would have completed his thirtieth year] of Tiberius Cæsar
[He was born B. C. 41, died March 16, A. D. 37. As a citizen he distinguished
himself as orator, soldier and public official. But as emperor he was slothful,
self-indulgent, indescribably licentious, vindictive and cruel. He was
a master of dissimulation and cunning, and was a veritable scourge to his
people. But he still found flatterers even in Palestine, Cæsarea
Philippi, and the town Tiberias being named for him], Pontius
Pilate [see mention of him in account of our Lord's trial] being
governor of Judæa [The province of Judæa was subdued by
Pompey and brought under Roman control in B. C. 63. Its history from that
date till the governorship of Pilate can be found in Josephus],
and Herod [Also called Antipas. The ruler who murdered John the
Baptist and who assisted at the trial of Jesus] being tetrarch [this
word means properly the ruler of a fourth part of a country, but was used
loosely for any petty tributary prince] of Galilee [This province
lay north of Samaria, and measured about twenty-five miles from north to
south, and twenty-seven miles from east to west. It was a rich and fertile
country], and his brother [half-brother] Philip [He
was distinguished by justice and moderation, the one decent man in the
Herodian family. He married Salome, [63] who
obtained John the Baptist's head for a dance. He built Cæsarea Philippi,
and transformed Bethsaida Julius from a village to a city, and died there
A. D. 44. After his death his domains became part of the Roman province
of Syria] tetrarch of the region of Ituræa [A district thirty
miles long by twenty-five broad, lying north of Batanæa, east of
Mt. Hermon, west of Trachonitis. It received its name from Jetur, son of
Ishmael (Gen. xxv. 15). Its Ishmaelite inhabitants were conquered by Aristobulus,
king of Judæa, B. C. 100, and forced by him to accept the Jewish
faith. They were marauders, and famous for the use of the bow] and Trachonitis
[A district about twenty-two miles from north to south by fourteen from
east to west. Its name means "rough" or "stony," and it amply deserves
it. It lies between Ituræa and the desert, and has been infested
with robbers from the earliest ages. It is called the Argob in the Old
Testament, "an ocean of basaltic rock and boulders, tossed about in the
wildest confusion, and intermingled with fissures and crevices in every
direction"], and Lysanias [Profane history gives us no account
of this man. It tells of a Lysanias, king of Chalcis, under Mt. Lebanon,
who was put to death by Mark Antony, B. C. 36, or sixty-odd years before
this, and another who was tetrarch of Abilene in the reigns of Caligula
and Claudius twenty years after this. He probably was son of the first
and father of the second] tetrarch of Abilene [The city of Abila
(which comes from the Hebrew word "abel," meaning "meadow") is eighteen
miles from Damascus and thirty-eight from Baalbec. The province laying
about it is mentioned because it subsequently formed part of the Jewish
territory, being given to Herod Agrippa I. by Emperor Claudius about A.
D. 41], 2; in the high priesthood of Annas
and Caiaphas [Annas had been high priest 7-14 A. D., when he was deposed
by the procurator, Gratus. Caiaphas was son-in-law of and successor to
Annas. Luke gives both names, one as the rightful and the other as the
acting high priest. Compare Acts iv. 6. Gentile innovations had made sad
havoc with the Jewish law as to this office. In the last one [64] hundred
and seven years of the temple's existence there were no less than twenty-eight
high priests. Luke is the only one who fixes the time when Jesus began
his ministry. He locates it by emperor and governor, tetrarch and high
priest, as an event of world-wide importance, and of concern to all the
kingdoms of men. He conceives of it as Paul did--Acts xxvi. 26],
the word of God [The divine commission which bade John enter his
career as a prophet (Jer. i. 2; Ezek. vi. 1). Prophets gave temporary and
limited manifestations of God's will (Heb. i. 1, 2). Jesus is the everlasting
and unlimited manifestation of the divine purpose and of the very Godhead--John
xiv. 9; xii. 45; Col. i. 15; Heb. i. 3; II. Cor. iv. 6] came unto John
the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. [The wilderness of Judæa
is that almost uninhabitable mass of barren ridges extending the whole
length of the Dead Sea, and a few miles further north. It is from five
to ten miles wide.] a1 And
in those days [Some take this expression as referring to the years
when Jesus dwelt at Nazareth. But it is better to regard it as a Hebraism
equivalent to "that age" or "that era" (Ex. ii. 11). It contrasts the era
when the Baptist lived with the era when Matthew wrote his Gospel, just
as we say "in these days of enlightenment" when we wish to contrast the
present time with the days of the American Revolution] cometh John
[he was cousin to Jesus] the Baptist [So called because God first
gave through him the ordinance of baptism. It has been erroneously thought
by some that John borrowed this ordinance from the Jewish practice of proselyte
baptism. This could not be, for John baptized his converts, but Jewish
proselytes baptized themselves. The law required such self-baptism of all
persons who were unclean (Lev. xiv. 9; Num. xix. 19; viii. 7; Lev. xv.,
xvi.). More than twenty distinct cases are specified in which the law required
bathing or self-baptism, and it is to these Paul refers when he states
that the law consisted in part "of divers baptisms" (Heb. ix. 10). But
the law did not require this of proselytes, and proselyte baptism was a
human appendage to the divinely given Jewish [65] ritual,
just as infant baptism is to the true Christian ritual. Proselyte baptism
is not mentioned in history till the third century of the Christian era.
Neither Josephus, nor Philo, nor the Apocrypha, nor the Targums say anything
about it, though they all mention proselytes. In fact, the oldest mention
of it in Jewish writings is in the Babylonian Gemara, which was completed
about five hundred years years after Christ. The New Testament implies
the non-existence of proselyte baptism (Matt. xxi. 25; John i. 25, 33).
John could hardly have been called the Baptist, had he used an old-time
rite in the accustomed manner. The Baptist was a link between the Old and
New Testament. Belonging to the Old, he announced the New], preaching
[Not sermonizing, but crying out a message as a king's herald making a
proclamation, or a policeman crying "Fire!" in a slumbering town. His discourse
was brief and unembellished. Its force lay in the importance of the truth
announced. It promised to the Hebrew the fulfillment of two thousand years
of longing. It demanded repentance, but for a new reason. The old call
to repentance had wooed with the promise of earthly blessings, and warned
with the threat of earthly judgments; but John's repentance had to do with
the kingdom of heaven and things eternal. It suggested the Holy Spirit
as a reward, and unquenchable fire as the punishment] in the wilderness
of Judæa [that part of the wilderness which John chose for the
scene of his ministry is a desert plain, lying along the western bank of
the Jordan, between Jericho and the Dead Sea],saying,
2 Repent ye [to repent is to change the will in reference to
sin, resolving to sin no more] for [John sets forth the motive
for repentance. Repentance is the duty, and the approach of the kingdom
is the motive inciting to it. Only by repentance could the people be prepared
for the kingdom. Those who are indifferent to the obligations of an old
revelation would be ill-prepared to receive a new one] the kingdom of
heaven is at hand [Dan. ii. 44. "Kingdom of heaven" is peculiar to
Matthew, who uses it thirty-one times. He also joins with the other evangelists
in calling it the kingdom of God. We know not why [66] he
preferred the expression, "kingdom of heaven."]
3 For this is he that was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet,
c3 And he came [he made his public appearance, and, like
that of Elijah, it was a sudden one--I. Kings xvii. 1] into all the
region about the Jordan [The Jordan valley is called in the old Testament
the Arabah, and by the modern Arabs the Ghor. It is the deepest valley
in the world, its lowest part being about thirteen hundred feet below the
level of the ocean] preaching the baptism of repentance unto the remission
of sins [as a change leading to remission or forgiveness of sins] beven
c4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet
[Isaiah flourished from about 759 to 699 B. C.], asaying,
bBehold [The clause beginning with "Behold," and ending
with "way," is taken from Mal. iii. 1. The Revised Version makes Mark quote
this passage as if it were from Isaiah, the reading being "written in Isaiah
the prophet," but the King James' version gives the reading "written in
the prophets." Following the reasoning of Canon Cook, we hold that the
latter was the original reading--see Speaker's Commentary, note at the
end of Mark i.] I send my messenger [John the Baptist was that messenger]
before thy face [Malachi says, "my face." "Thy" and "my" are used
interchangeably, because of the unity of the Deity--John x. 30],
who shall prepare thy way [Mark says little about the prophets,
but at the outset of his Gospel he calls attention to the fact that the
entire pathway of Jesus was the subject of prophetical prediction];cThe
voice [Isaiah xl. 3, 4, quoted from the LXX. The words were God's,
the voice was John's. So Paul also spake (I. Thess. ii. 1-13). It was prophesied
before he was born that John should be a preparing messenger for Christ--Luke
i. 17] of one crying in the wilderness [This prophecy of Isaiah's
could relate to none but John, for no other prophet ever made the wilderness
the scene of his preaching. But John always preached there, and instead
of going to the people, he compelled the people to come out to him. John
was the second Elijah. The claims of all who in these days profess to be
reincarnations of Elijah [67] may be tested and
condemned by this prophecy, for none of them frequent the wilderness],
Make ye ready the way [See also Isa. xxxv. 8-10. Isaiah's language
is highly figurative. It represents a band of engineers and workmen preparing
the road for their king through a rough, mountainous district. The figure
was familiar to the people of the East, and nearly every generation there
witnessed such road-making. The haughty Seriramis leveled the mountains
before her. Josephus, describing the march of Vespasian, says that there
went before him such as were to make the road even and straight, and if
it were anywhere rough and hard, to smooth it over, to plane it, and to
cut down woods that hindered the march, that the army might not be tired.
Some have thought that Isaiah's prophecy referred primarily to the return
of the Jewish captives from Babylon. But it refers far more directly to
the ministry of the Baptist; for it is not said that the way was to be
prepared for the people, but for Jehovah himself. It is a beautiful figure,
but the real preparation was the more beautiful transformation of repentance.
By inducing repentance, John was to prepare the people to receive Jesus
and his apostles, and to hearken to their preaching] of the Lord, Make
his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall
be filled, And every mountain and hill shall be brought low; And the crooked
shall become straight, And the rough way smooth [The literal meaning
of this passage is expressed at Isa. ii. 12-17. See also Zech. iv. 7. Commentators
give detailed application of this prophecy, and, following their example,
we may regard the Pharisees and Sadducees as mountains of self-righteousness,
needing to be thrown down, and thereby brought to meekness and humility;
the outcasts and harlots as valleys of humiliation, needing to be exalted
and filled with hope; and the publicans and soldiers as crooked and rough
byways, needing to be straightened and smoothed with proper details of
righteousness. But the application is general, and not to be limited to
such details. However, civil tyranny, and ecclesiastical pride must be
leveled, and the rights of the common people must be exalted before for
kingdom of God can [68] enter in];
6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God [This last clause of
the prophecy is added by Luke alone. He loves to dwell upon the universality
of Christ's gospel.] b4 John
came, who baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance
unto the remission of sins. [Pardoning mercy was to be found in Christ,
and all rites then looked forward to the cleansing effected by the shedding
of his blood, as all rites now look back to it. But in popular estimation
John's baptism was no doubt regarded as consummating an immediate forgiveness]
a4 Now John himself [Himself indicates that John's manner
of life differed from that of his disciples. He did not oblige them to
practice the full measure of his abstinence] had his raiment of
[John's dress and food preached in harmony with his voice. His clothing
and fare rendered him independent of the rich and great, so that he could
more freely and plainly rebuke their sins. Calling others to repentance,
he himself set an example of austere self-denial. So much so that the Pharisees
said he had a demon--Matt. xi. 18] b6
And was clothed with acamel's hair [Camels were plentiful
in the East. Their finer hair was woven into elegant cloths; but that which
was coarser and shaggier was made into a fabric like our druggets, and
used for the coats of shepherds and camel-drivers, and for the covering
of tents. Prophets often wore such cloth (Zech. xiii. 4), and no doubt
it was the habitual garb of John's prototype (Mal. iv. 5), the prophet
Elijah (II. Kings i. 8). In Elijah's day there was demand for protest against
the sad havoc which Phoenician luxury and licentiousness were making with
the purer morals of Israel; and in John's day a like protest was needed
against a like contamination wrought by Greek manners and customs. Both
prophets, by their austerity, rebuked such apostasy, and Jezebel answered
the rebuke by attempting Elijah's life, while Herodias actually took the
life of John. As a herald, John was suited to the King whose appearing
he was to announce, for Jesus was meek and lowly (Zech. ix. 9), and had
no form nor comeliness that he should be desired--Isa. liii. 2],
[69] and a leathern girdle about his loins
[The loose skirts worn in the East required a girdle to bind them to the
body. This was usually made of linen or silk, but was frequently more costly,
being wrought with silver and gold. John's girdle was plain, undressed
leather]; And his food was {band did eat} alocusts
[Locusts, like Western grasshoppers, were extremely plentiful (Joel i.
4; Isa. xxxiii. 4, 5). The law declared them clean, and thus permitted
the people to eat them for food (Lev. xi. 22). Arabs still eat them, and
in some Oriental cities they are found for sale in the market. But they
are regarded as fit only for the poor. They are frequently seasoned with
camel's milk and honey] and wild honey. [Canaan was promised as
a land flowing with milk and honey (Ex. ii. 8-17; xiii. 15; I. Sam. xiv.
26). Many of the trees in the plains of Jericho, such as the palm, fig,
manna, ash and tamarisk, exuded sweet gums, which went by the name of tree
honey, but there is no need to suppose, as some do, that this was what
John ate. The country once abounded in wild bees, and their honey was very
plentiful. We have on the record an instance of the speed with which they
could fill the place which they selected for their hives (Judg. xiv. 5-9).
The diet of the Baptist was very light, and Jesus so speaks of it (Matt.
xi. 18). He probably had no set time for his meals, and all days were more
or less fast-days. Thus John gave himself wholly to his ministry, and became
a voice--all voice. John took the wilderness for a church, and filled it.
He courted no honors, but no Jew of his time received more of them, and
by some he was even regarded as Messiah--Luke iii. 15.] b5
And there a5 Then went out unto him ball
[A hyperbole common with Hebrew writers and such as we use when we say,
"the whole town turned out," "everybody was there," etc. Both Matthew and
Luke show that some did not accept John's baptism (Matt. xxi. 23-25; Luke
vii. 30). But from the language of the evangelist we might infer that,
first and last, something like a million people may have attended John's
ministry] the country of Judæa, and all they of Jerusalem; aall
[70] the region round about the Jordan
[The last phrase includes the entire river valley. On both sides of the
river between the lake of Galilee and Jericho, there were many important
cities, any one of which would be more apt to send its citizens to John's
baptism than the proud capital of Jerusalem];
6 and they were baptized of him [Literally, immersed by him. In every
stage of the Greek language this has been the unquestioned meaning of the
verb baptizo, and it still retains this meaning in modern Greek.
In accordance with this meaning, the Greek Church, in all its branches,
has uniformly practiced immersion from the earliest period to the present
time. Greek Christians never speak of other denominations as "baptizing
by sprinkling," but they say, "they baptize instead of baptizing."
John's baptism was instituted of God (John i. 33), just as Christian baptism
was instituted by Christ (Matt. xxviii. 19). The Pharisees recognized John's
rite as so important as to require divine authority, and even then they
underestimated it, regarding it as a mere purification--Josephus Ant. xviii.
5, 2] in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. [As John's baptism
was for the remission of sins, it was very proper that it should be preceded
by a confession. The context indicates that the confession was public and
general. There is no hint of such auricular confession as is practiced
by the Catholics. See also Acts xix. 18. John, writing to baptized Christians,
bids them to confess their sins, that Jesus may forgive them (I. John i.
9). Christian baptism is also for the remission of sins (Acts ii. 38),
the ordinance itself a very potent confession that the one baptized has
sins to be remitted, and it seems to be a sufficient pubic expression of
confession as to sins; for while John's baptism called for a confession
sins, Christian baptism calls only for a confession of faith in Christ--Acts
xxii. 16; Rom. x. 9, 10; Mark xvi. 16.]
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees [Josephus tells
us that these two leading sects of the Jews started about the same time
in the days of Jonathan, the high priest, or B. C. 159-144. But the sentiments
which at that time divided the [71] people into
two rival parties entered the minds and hearts of the Jews immediately
after the return from the Babylonian captivity. These returned Jews differed
as to the attitude and policy which Israel should manifest toward the neighboring
heathen. Some contended for a strict separation between the Jews and all
pagan peoples. These eventually formed the Pharisee party, and the name
Pharisee means "the separate." Originally these men were genuine patriots
and reformers, but afterwards the majority of them became mere formalists.
As theologians the Pharisees represented the orthodox party, and were followed
by the vast majority of the people. They believed (1) in the resurrection
of the dead; (2) a future state with rewards and punishments; (3) angels
and spirits; and (4) a special providence of God carried out by angels
and spirits. As a sect they are said to have numbered six thousand at the
time of Herod's death. They were the patriotic party, and the zealots were
their extreme section. They covered an extremely selfish spirit with a
pious formalism, and by parading their virtues they obtained an almost
unbounded influence over the people. By exposing their hypocrisy, Jesus
sought to destroy their power over the multitude, and incurred that bitter
enmity with which they pursued him to his death. But certain other of the
captives who returned from Babylon desired a freer intercourse with the
pagans, and sought to break away from every restraint which debarred therefrom.
These became Sadducees. They consented to no other restraint than the Scriptures
themselves imposed, and they interpreted these as laxly as possible. Some
take their name to means "the party of 'righteousness,'" but more think
it comes from their founder, Zadok, and is a corruption of the word Zadokite.
Zadok flourished 260 B. C. His teacher, Antigonus Sochæus, taught
him to serve God disinterestedly--that is, without hope of reward or punishment.
From his teaching Zadok inferred that there was no future state of rewards
or punishment, and on this belief founded his sect. From this fundamental
doctrine sprang the other tenets of the Sadducees. They denied all the
four points held by the Pharisees, [72] asserting
that there was no resurrection; no rewards and punishments hereafter; no
angels, no spirits. They believed there was a God, but denied that he had
any special supervision of human affairs (Matt. xxii. 23; Acts xxiii. 8).
They were the materialists of that day. Considering all God's promises
as referring to this world, they looked upon poverty and distress as evidence
of God's curse. Hence to relieve the poor was to sin against God in interfering
with his mode of government. Far fewer than the Pharisees, they were their
rivals in power; for they were the aristocratic party, and held the high-priesthood,
with all its glories. Their high political position, their great wealth,
and the Roman favor which they courted by consenting to foreign rule and
pagan customs, made them a body to be respected and feared] coming to
his baptism, he said {ctherefore to the multitudes that went
out to be baptized on him} aunto them [John spoke principally
to the leaders, but his denunciation indirectly included the multitude
who followed their leadership],Ye offspring of vipers
[A metaphor for their likeness to vipers--as like them as if they
had been begotten of them. The viper was a species of serpent from two
to five feet in length, and about one inch thick. Its head is flat, and
its body a yellowish color, speckled with long brown spots. It is extremely
poisonous (Acts xxviii. 6). John here uses the word figuratively, and probably
borrows the figure from Isa. lix. 5. It means that the Jewish rulers were
full of guile and malice, cunning and venom. With these words John gave
them a vigorous shaking, for only thus could he hope to waken their slumbering
consciences. But only one who has had a vision of "the King in his beauty,"
should presume thus to address his fellow-men. The serpent is an emblem
of the devil (Gen. iii. 1; Rev. xii. 9, 14, 15), and Jesus not only repeated
John's words (Matt. xii. 35; xxiii. 23, 33), but he interpreted the words,
and told them plainly that they were "the children of the devil" (John
viii. 44). The Jewish rulers well deserved this name, for they poisoned
the religious principles of the nation, and accomplished the crucifixion
of the Son of God], who warned [73] you
to flee [John's baptism, like that of Moses at the Red Sea (I. Cor.
x. 2), was a way of escape from destruction, of rightly used. Christian
baptism is also such a way, and whosoever will may enter thereby into the
safety of the kingdom of Christ, but baptism can not be used as an easy
bit of ritual to charm away evil. It must be accompanied by all the spiritual
changes which the ordinance implies] from the wrath to come? [Prophecy
foretold that Messiah's times would be accompanied with wrath (Isa. lxiii.
3-6; Dan. vii. 10-26); but the Jews were all of the opinion that this wrath
would be meted out upon the Gentiles and were not prepared to hear John
apply the prophecy to themselves. To all his hearers John preached the
coming kingdom; to the impenitent, he preached the coming wrath. Thus he
prepared the way for the first coming of the Messiah, and those who would
prepare the people for his second coming would do well to follow his example.
The Bible has a voice of warning and denunciation, as well as words of
invitation and love. Whosoever omits the warning of the judgment, speaks
but half the message which God would have him deliver. God's wrath is his
resentment against sin--Matt. xviii. 34; xxii. 7; Mark iii. 5.]
8 Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance [John had demanded
repentance, he now demands the fruits of it. By "fruit" or "fruits," as
Luke has it, he means the manner of life which shows a real repentance]:
9 and think not {cbegin not} [John nips their self-excuse
in the bud] ato say within yourselves [speaking to your
conscience to quiet it], We have Abraham to our father [The
Jews thought that Messiah would rule over them as a nation, and that all
Jews would, therefore, be by birthright citizens of his kingdom. They thought
that descent from Abraham was all that would be necessary to bring them
into that kingdom. John's words must have been very surprising to them.
The Talmud is full of expressions showing the extravagant value which Jews
of a later age attached to Abrahamic descent. "Abraham," it says, "sits
next the gates of hell, and doth not permit any wicked Israelite to go
[74] down into it." Again, it represents God
as saying to Abraham, "If thy children were like dead bodies without sinews
or bones, thy merit would avail for them." Again, "A single Israelite is
worth more before God than all the people who have been or shall be." Again,
"The world was made for their [Israel's] sake." This pride was the more
inexcusable because the Jews were clearly warned by their prophets that
their privileges were not exclusive, and that they would by no means escape
just punishment for their sins (Jer. vii. 3, 4; Mic. iii. 11; Isa. xlviii.
2). John repeated this message, and Jesus reiterated it (Matt. viii. 11,
12; Luke xvi. 23). We should note that in this preparation for the gospel
a blow was struck at confidence and trust in carnal descent. Birth gives
no man any privileges in the kingdom of God, for all are born outside of
it, and all must be born again into it (John i. 13; iii. 3); yet many still
claim peculiar rights from Christian parentage, and infant baptism rests
on this false conception. The New Testament teaches us that we are children
of Abraham by faith, and not by blood; by spiritual and not carnal descent
(Rom. iv. 12-16; Gal. iii. 26; vi. 15; John viii. 39). It had been better
for the Jews never to have heard of Abraham, than to have thus falsely
viewed the rights which they inherited from him]: for I say unto
you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham
[John meant that their being children of Abraham by natural descent gave
them no more merit than children of Abraham made out of stone would have.
He pointed to the stones along the bank of Jordan as he spoke.]
10 And even now the axe calso alieth at the root
of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is
hewn down [The threatened cutting down means the end of the probation
of each hearer, when, if found fruitless, he would be cast into the fire
mentioned below], and cast into the fire. [Used as fuel.]
c10 And the multitudes asked him, saying, What then must we
do? [This is the cry of the awakened conscience (Acts ii. 37; xvi.
30; xxii. 10). John answered it by recommending them to do the very reverse
of what they [75] were doing, which, in their
case, was true fruit of repentance.]
11 And he answered and said unto them, He that hath two coats [By coat
is meant the tunic, or inner garment, worn next to the skin. It reached
to the knees, and sometimes to the ankles, and generally had sleeves. Two
tunics were a luxury in a land where thousands were too poor to own even
one. Wrath was coming, and he that would obtain mercy from it must show
mercy--Matt. v. 7], let him impart to him that hath none
[For a like precept given to Christians, see II. Cor. viii. 13-15; Jas.
ii. 15-17; I. John iii. 17]; and he that hath food, let him do
likewise. 12 And there came also publicans
[The Roman Government did not collect its own taxes. Instead of doing so,
it divided the empire into districts, and sold the privilege of collecting
the taxes in these districts to certain capitalists and men of rank. The
capitalists employed agents to do the actual collecting. These agents were
usually natives of the districts in which they lived, and those in Palestine
were called publicans. Their masters urged and encouraged them to make
the most fraudulent and vexatious exactions. They systematically overcharged
the people and often brought false accusation to obtain money by blackmail.
These publicans were justly regarded by the Jews as apostates and traitors,
and were classed with the lowest and most abandoned characters. The system
was bad, but its practitioners were worse. The Greeks regarded the word
"publican" as synonymous with "plunderer." Suidas pictures the life of
a publican as "unrestrained plunder, unblushing greed, unreasonable pettifogging,
shameless business." The Turks to-day collect by this Roman method. Being
publicly condemned, and therefore continually kept conscious of their sin,
the publicans repented more readily than the self-righteous Pharisees.
Conscience is one of God's greatest gifts, and he that destroys it must
answer for it] to be baptized, and they said unto him, Teacher [The
publicans, though lowest down, gave John the highest title. Self-abnegation
is full of the virtue of reverence, but self-righteousness utterly lacks
it], what must we do? 13 And
he [76] said unto them, Extort no more
than that which is appointed you. [Such was their habitual, universal
sin. No man should make his calling an excuse for evil-doing.]
14 And soldiers [These soldiers were probably Jewish troops in the
employ of Herod. Had they been Romans, John would doubtless have told them
to worship God] also asked him, saying, And we, what must we do? And
he said unto them, Extort from no man by violence [The soldiers, poorly
paid, often found it convenient to extort money by intimidation. Strong
in their organization, they terrified the weak and enforced gratuities
by acts of violence], neither accuse any one wrongfully
[John here condemns the custom of blackmailing the rich by acting as informers
and false accusers against them]; and be content with your wages.
[The term wages included rations and money. The soldiers were not to add
to their receipts by pillage or extortion. Soldiers' wages were about three
cents a day, so they were exposed to strong temptation. Yet John did not
bid them abandon their profession, and become ascetics like himself. His
teachings was practical. He allowed war as an act of government. Whether
Christianity sanctions it or not, is another question.]
15 And as the people were in expectation [Expecting the Christ--see
John i. 19-28], and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning
John, whether haply he were the Christ [Prophecy induced a Messianic
expectation. The scepter had departed from Judah, and Cæsar's deputies
ruled. Tetrarchs and procurators held the whole civil government. In their
hands lay the power of life and death from which only Roman citizens could
appeal (Acts xxv. 11). The power of the Jewish courts was limited to excommunication
or scourging. The seventy weeks of Daniel were now expiring, and other
prophecies indicated the fullness of time. But distress, rather than prophecy,
enhanced their expectation. Tiberius, the most infamous of men, governed
the world. Pontius Pilate, insolent, cruel, was making life irksome and
maddening the people. Herod Antipas, by a course of reckless apostasy and
unbridled lust, [77] grieved even the religious
sense of the hypocrite. Annas and Caiaphas, impersonators of materialism,
sat in the chief seat of spiritual power. Men might well look for a deliverer,
and hasten with joy to hear of a coming King. But, nevertheless, we could
have no more forceful statement of the deep impression made by John's ministry
than that the people were disposed to take him for the Christ];
16 John answered, saying unto them all, b7 And he
preached, saying, a11 I indeed baptize {bbaptized}
ayou in {cwith} water unto repentance [That is,
unto the completion of your repentance. Repentance had to begin before
the baptism was administered. After the sinner repented, baptism consummated
his repentance, being the symbolic washing away of that from which he had
repented and the bringing of the candidate into the blessings granted to
the repentant--Mark i. 4; Luke iii. 3]:cBut
there {ahe that} [John preached repentance because of a
coming King; he now announces who the King is. He pictures this King as,
first, administering a
different baptism from his own; second, as a judge
who would separate the righteous from the wicked, just as a husbandman
sifts the wheat from the chaff] bcometh after me [Subsequent
to me in ministry. But John indicates that the coming of Christ would be
closely coupled with his own appearing. One event was to immediately follow
the other. So Malachi binds together in one time the appearing of both
forerunner and judge--Mal. iii. 1-3] he that is mightier than I
[mightier both to save and to punish], awhose shoes
[The sandal then worn was a piece of wood or leather bound to the sole
of the foot to protect it from the burning sand or the sharp stones. It
was the forerunner of our modern shoe] I am not worthy to bear [To
untie or carry away the shoe of the master or his guest was the work of
the lowest slave of the household. As a figure of speech, the shoe is always
associated with subjugation and slavery (Ps. lx. 8). John means, "I am
not worthy to be his servant." John was simply the forerunner of Jesus;
the higher office and honor of being Jesus' attendants was reserved for
others--Matt. xi. 11]: bthe latchet [the lace
or strap] of whose shoes I am [78] not
worthy to stoop down and unloose. che shall baptize you in the
Holy Spirit [That which is here referred to was foretold by the prophets
(Isa. xliv. 3; Joel ii. 28). In the early church there was an abundant
outpouring of the Spirit of God (Tit. iii. 5, 6; Acts ii. 3, 4, 17; x.
44). This prophecy began to be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (Acts
i. 5; ii. 4). In the choice of the word "baptize" God indicated through
his prophet how full this flooding of the Spirit would be] and in
fire [Many learned commentators regard the expression "in fire" as
a mere amplification of the spiritual baptism added to express the purging
and purifying effects of that baptism, but the context forbids this, for,
in verse 10, casting the unfruitful trees into the fire represents the
punishment of the wicked, and, in verse 12, the burning of the chaff with
fire does the same, and consequently the baptizing in fire of the intervening
verse must, according to the force of the context have the same reference.
True, the expression "he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and
with fire," does not separate the persons addressed into two parties, and,
if the context is disregarded, might be understood as meaning that the
same persons were to be baptized in both; yet the context must not be disregarded,
and it clearly separates them]:
17 whose fan [Winnowing shovel. In the days of John the Baptist, and
in that country at the present day, wheat and other grain was not threshed
by machinery. It was beaten out by flails, or trodden out by oxen on some
smooth, hard plot of ground called the threshing-floor. These threshing-floors
were usually on elevations where the wind blew freely. When the grain was
trodden out, it was winnowed or separated from the chaff by being tossed
into the air with a fan or winnowing shovel. When so tossed, the wind blew
the chaff away, and the clean grain fell upon the threshing-floor] is
in his hand [Ready for immediate work. Both John and Malachi, who foretold
John, are disposed to picture Jesus as the judge (Mal. iii. 2-5). Of all
the pictures of God which the Bible gives, that of a judge is the most
common and frequent], thoroughly to {aand he will
thoroughly} ccleanse his threshing-floor [Removing the [79] chaff
is called purging the floor. Humanity is a mixture of good and bad, and
to separate this mixture, save the good and destroy the bad, is the work
of Christ. He partially purges the floor in this present time by gathering
his saints into the church and leaving the unrepentant in the world. But
hereafter on the day of judgment he will make a complete and final separation
between the just and the unjust by sending the evil from his presence and
gathering his own into the garner of heaven (Matt. xxv. 32, 33). He shall
also winnow our individual characters, and remove all evil from us--Luke
xxii. 31, 32; Rom. vii. 21-25], and to {aand he will}
cgather the {ahis} cwheat into his {athe}
cgarner [Eastern garners or granaries were usually subterranean
vaults or caves. Garnered grain rested in safety. It was removed from peril
of birds, storms, blight and mildew. Christians are now on God's threshing-floor;
hereafter they will be gathered into the security of his garner];
but the chaff [when the Bible wishes to show the worthlessness and
the doom of the ungodly, chaff is one of its favorite figures--Job xxi.
18; Ps. i. 4; Isa. xvii. 13; Jer. xv. 7 Hos xiii. 3; Mal. iv. 1] he
will burn up [To prevent chaff from being blown back and mixed again
with the wheat, it was burned up. All the chaff in the church shall be
consumed on the day of judgment (I. Cor. iii. 12, 13), and there shall
be no mixing of good and bad after death--Luke xvi. 26] with unquenchable
fire [In this and in other places (II. Thess. i. 8, 9; Mark ix. 48;
Matt. xxv. 41), the future suffering of the wicked is taught in the Bible.
He shows no kindness to his neighbor, no friendship toward mankind, who
conceals the terrors of the Lord. These terrors are set forth in no uncertain
terms. Many believe that God will restore the wicked and eventually save
all the human race. Others hold that God will annihilate the wicked, and
thus end their torment. This passage and the one cited in Mark would be
hard to reconcile with either of these views; they indicate that there
will be no arrest of judgment nor stay of punishment when once God begins
to execute his condemnation. God purged the world with water [80] at
the time of the flood; he will again purge it with fire on the day of judgment--II.
Pet. iii. 7-10.] 18 With many other
exhortations [The sermon here given is in the nature of a summary.
It embodies the substance of John's preaching. Afterwards John preached
Christ more directly--John i. 29-36] therefore preached he good tidings
unto the people. [but, like the good tidings of the angel at Bethlehem,
it was good only to those who, by repentance, made themselves well pleasing
to God.] [81]
[FFG 62-81]
