THE strange Preacher was none other than John, the son of Zacharias. Recalling in his garb and appearance one of the Prophets of the Old Testament, he now came forth from his retirement, and straightway commenced his task of preparing the way for the Messiah. The wilderness of Judæa (Mtt. iii. 1), that is the dry and unpeopled region extending from the gates of Hebron and Jerusalem to the shores of the Dead Sea, was the first scene of his ministration. Thence he moved northwards towards the Jordan, and at Bethabara, or rather Bethany248, administered the rite of baptism in its rushing waters to all who were willing to receive it.
The news of his appearance quickly spread throughout the length and breadth of the land. From Jerusalem, the towns of Judæa, and the Jordan valley, multitudes flocked forth to hear him (Mtt. iii. 5; Mk. i. 5). The river’s banks became like the streets of a crowded city. Pharisees and Sadducees (Mtt. iii. 7), tax-gatherers (Lk. iii. 12), and soldiers (Lk. iii. 14), rich and poor, gathered around him and listened to his burning words. No temporal Messiah did he proclaim, no king higher than the Cæsars, no rising against the Roman yoke. Personal repentance, personal reformation, this was his message. To all alike his language was bold, severe, uncompromising. The chiefs of the great religious parties approached him, and were bidden to abjure all trust in mere descent from Abraham (Mtt. iii. 9), to bring forth fruits worthy of the repentance they professed, and to flee from the wrath to come. The multitudes groaning under the Roman dominion drew near, and enquired what they should do in view of the great crisis he proclaimed to be at hand, and were bidden to cultivate mutual charity (Lk. iii. 11). The tax-gatherers offered themselves for baptism, and were told that there was room for them, if they would practise justice (Lk. iii. 12). Rough, and too often brutal, soldiers enquired what they should do, and they too were not rejected, but exhorted to abstain from violence and pillage, and to be content with their wages (Lk. iii. 14).
With a boldness hitherto unparalleled, save in the teaching of the sternest of the prophets of the Old Covenant, the son of Zacharias declared the whole nation to be spiritually unclean. The baptism, which the Jewish teachers required of all who would be admitted as proselytes from heathenism249, he demanded of the elect nation itself, of high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, if they would be prepared for the coming of the Messiah. The axe, he cried, lay at the root of the trees, and EVERY tree which brought not forth good fruit would be hewn down and cast into the fire (Mtt. iii. 10).
Great were the searchings of heart caused by the appearance of this strange Preacher, and the utterances of this Voice crying in the wilderness (Lk. iii. 15). Some thought he was the Messiah, the hope of Israel; others Elias; others the Prophet of whom Moses had spoken. John replied he was none of these. He was only preparing the way for Another. He, indeed, baptized with water unto repentance, but One was at hand far mightier than himself, the latchet of whose shoes he was not worthy to bear250, He should baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire. His winnowing fan was in His hand, and He would throughly purge His floor, gathering the wheat into His garner, but burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Lk. iii. 16–18).
The impression thus made upon the people was profound. How long the Baptist continued his work of preparation we are not told251. But at length, even as he declared, the Messiah appeared, and commenced His public ministry. Leaving the home of His childhood in retired Nazareth (Mtt. iii. 13; Mk. i. 9), probably about the close of the year A.D. 27, Jesus advanced southward towards the Jordan Valley. Either at the northern ford of Succoth or the more southern one east of Jericho, He found His great Forerunner, and desired to be baptized by him. The Baptist, who had hitherto rebuked without distinction the sins of all classes and all grades, was deeply moved by the request. With an instinctive conviction of the immaculate purity of Him, whose advent he had announced, he sought to prevent252 Him, saying, I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me? (Mtt. iii. 14). But his objection was overruled. Suffer it to be so now, replied the Holy One; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness (Mtt. iii. 15). Then at length the Baptist consented, and when all the people had been baptized (Lk. iii. 21), descended with Him into the river, and administered the initiatory rite, after which the Redeemer ascended from the water, and was engaged in solemn prayer (Lk. iii. 21), when the heavens were opened, and in an embodied form, like unto a Dove, the Holy Spirit descended, and abode upon Him. But this was not all, for at the same time there came a Voice from heaven, saying, Thou art My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Mtt. iii. 16, 17; Lk. iii. 22; Mk. i. 11).
Thus in the presence of His Forerunner, the Divine nature of the Messiah was attested, and His work of Redemption inaugurated. He had come to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn. iii. 8), His very first work, therefore, was to enter on a conflict with the great Enemy of mankind. Full of the Holy Ghost, He was led up by the motions of that Spirit (Mtt. iv. 1), either into the wilderness of Judæa, or the lonely desert mountains east of the Jordan253, to be tempted by the devil (Mtt. iv. 1; Mk. i. 12). For forty days and forty nights He remained amidst the thickets and caverns of that dreary region, abounding in fierce and savage beasts (Mk. i. 13), and during all this period He had nothing to eat.
At length, when hunger had weakened the energies of the body, the Tempter approached, and suggested that if He was in truth the Son of God, He should command the stones that lay around to become bread. But the Holy One detected at once the subtle insinuation to mistrust His heavenly Father’s power, and in the words of Scripture (Deut. viii. 3) replied, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Mtt. iv. 4; Lk. iv. 4).
Foiled in his attempt to induce the Redeemer by a selfish display of power to satisfy the wants of the body, the Tempter now sought by another avenue to achieve a victory over Him. Taking Him up to an exceeding high mountain, he displayed before His eyes in a moment of time all the kingdoms of the world and the glories of them, promising to place all in His power, if He would only fall down and worship him. But this temptation also the Holy One repelled. Falling back a second time on the revealed Word, and the same portion of it (Deut. vi. 13), He replied, It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.
But yet again the Evil One renewed his attack. Taking the Redeemer into the Holy City, he placed Him on the lofty pinnacle, the topmost ridge of the South side of the Temple, and bade Him, if He were the Son of God, vindicate His eternal nature, cast Himself down, and thus display by one dazzling exhibition of power His relation to the Supreme, and confirm His Messianic claims. But he was no more successful than before. The Redeemer saw through his wiles, and the sophistry wherewith he sought to support his demand by quoting the language of the Psalmist (Ps. xci. 11), He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee, and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone. For the third time He had recourse to the written Word, and for the third time referring to the same portion of it (Deut. vi. 16), made answer, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
With this last assault the Temptation was ended. Where the first Adam had fallen, the second Adam had triumphed, nor swerved for a moment from the path of strictest obedience to the will of His Father in Heaven. The Devil now left Him for a season (Lk. iv. 13), or rather till a more convenient occasion for renewing his attempt, and angels came and ministered unto Him, who had already proved Himself “more than conqueror” over the crafts and assaults of the Wicked One.
SUSTAINED by the ministries of these blessed spirits the Saviour returned towards the Jordan Valley, and drew near the ford of Bethabara or Bethany (Jn. i. 28). Here again He met the Baptist, who was still prosecuting his work, and baptizing the multitudes who flocked around him. Such was the effect produced by his preaching, that the rulers at Jerusalem determined to interpose, and the day before a formal deputation had waited upon him to enquire whether he was the Messiah, or Elias, or the prophet predicted by Moses (Jn. i. 21). Again he declared that he had no pretensions to such a dignity, that he was but the Voice of one crying in the wilderness, and preparing the way of the Messiah, of One infinitely mightier than himself, the very latchet of whose shoe he was unworthy to unloose.
But now, lifting up his eyes, he beheld Him to whom he had borne such faithful testimony (Jn. i. 29), and addressing Him as the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world, repeated his solemn and assured conviction of His Divine nature (Jn. i. 30–34). Again, the day following, as he was standing in the company of two of His disciples, he beheld the Redeemer, and in their hearing pointed Him out under the same impressive title. On this occasion his words were not without their effect. The two disciples, one of whom was Andrew, a native of Bethsaida (Jn. i. 41), and the other, in all probability, the Evangelist St John, were so powerfully affected by them, that, drawn as it were by a powerful magnet, they left the Baptist and followed Jesus (Jn. i. 37).
The Redeemer perceived them following Him, and enquired what they sought? Rabbi, where dwellest Thou? was their reply. He mercifully bade them come and see, and they went and abode with Him for the rest of that day (Jn. i. 39), and resolved to follow Him. Others soon followed their example. Andrew went in quest of his own brother Simon, and declaring that the true Messiah had been found brought him to Jesus, who named him Cephas or Peter, the Rock-man. The day following, the Saviour set out in the direction of Galilee, and finding Philip, a native, like Andrew and Peter, of Bethsaida, bade him join their company. Philip obeyed, and falling in with Nathanael254, the son of Tolmai, a native of Cana in Galilee (Jn. xxi. 2), announced that He, of whom Moses and the Prophets had written, had been discovered in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph. Though a native of Galilee, Nathanael could not at first believe that any good could come out of a town which enjoyed so low a reputation as Nazareth. But his friend bade him come and judge for himself. He obeyed, and was drawing near the Holy One, when he heard His declaration that he was an Israelite indeed in whom was no guile (Jn. i. 48). So little was Nathanael prepared for such words of praise, that he could not refrain from enquiring how he had become known to Jesus. Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree255, answered the Holy One. The reply convinced the other that One from whom no secrets were hid could be no ordinary Being. Rabbi, said he, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel, and was enrolled in the number of his new Master’s followers.
On the third day after His departure towards Galilee, the Saviour with His five disciples reached the little village of Cana256, situated no great distance from Nazareth. Here a marriage-feast was about to be celebrated, at which the Virgin was present, and the Holy One with His new found followers was invited as well. Their presence appears to have increased beyond expectation the number of the guests, and to have rendered the provision made for their entertainment insufficient. When, therefore, they wanted wine, the mother of the Saviour directed His attention to the fact. Whatever was the precise meaning she herself attached to her words, they drew down upon her a slight rebuke. Woman, was His reply, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. But as though these words concealed a real granting of her request, she bade the servants execute any command He might give, and the issue justified her expectations (Jn. ii. 2–5).
In the apartment, where the feast was proceeding, were placed, for the sake of the frequent lustrations of the Jews, six large waterpots of water, containing as much as two or three firkins a-piece. These the Saviour commanded the servants to fill with water. And on their filling them up to the brim, bade them draw out and bear to the master of the feast, i.e. either one of the guests set over the banquet by general consent of the guests, or a chief attendant who ordered the course of the feast, and superintended the ministrations of the inferior servants. He tasted the water now converted into wine, and knowing not whence it was, remarked that men usually set forth good wine at the beginning of the feast, and afterwards that which was worse, but He had kept the good wine until then (Jn. ii. 10).
Unobtrusively, however, as it had been wrought, the reality of this first miracle could not escape the notice of the guests. The glory of the Saviour hitherto hidden was now manifested, and the faith of the disciples in their new-found Master was confirmed. The marriage festivities of the Jews usually lasted six or seven days, and at the close of this period with His mother, His brethren, and His five disciples (Jn. ii. 12), the Saviour went down to Capernaum257 on the shore of the lake of Gennesaret. The Passover was now nigh at hand, and Capernaum would afford a convenient point for joining the pilgrim companies going up to Jerusalem258, and there He abode a few days (Jn. ii. 12), engaging, probably, in private intercourse with His disciples, rather than any public ministrations in the city.
AFTER a stay of not many days at Capernaum (Jn. ii. 12) the Redeemer and His five disciples turned their steps southward towards Jerusalem, to celebrate the first Passover of His public ministry (Jn. ii. 13).
Strange and full of deep significance was the scene which the Holy City presented at this season. The streets were filled with multitudes of Jews and proselytes, who had come up from all quarters of the world to celebrate the Feast. The hills around were whitened with countless flocks of lambs259 and kids. The gates, especially the Sheep-gate, were choked with moving masses of helpless victims ready to be examined by the priests, and on being pronounced free from blemish, to be selected by each Paschal company for their Paschal meal.
In the midst of a moving scene like this He, who had been already pointed out as the Lamb of God, entered the city. Repairing to the Temple, He was confronted, probably in the Court of the Gentiles, with a scene of desecration, which called forth the first260 display of holy zeal for the dwelling-place of Him, whom He had already declared to be His Father (Lk. ii. 49). For the convenience of Jews and proselytes residing at a distance from the Holy City, a kind of market had been established in the outer court, and here sacrificial victims, incense, oil, wine, and other things necessary for the service and the sacrifices, were to be obtained. The common money, moreover, circulated in foreign countries not being receivable within the Temple, the money-changers had set up their tables in the same locality, to exchange all common and foreign coins for the sacred shekel, alone current in the Temple precincts. But together with the money-changing other business had gradually crept in, and in place of the order and decorum that ought to have reigned there, the noisy huckstering of merchants and traders disturbed the devotions of the worshippers, and converted the Sanctuary of the most High into the likeness of a wrangling mart.
Such was the scene that presented itself to the Saviour in the courts of His Father’s House. As soon as His eye had rested upon it, He made a scourge of small cords (Jn. ii. 15), and with this simple weapon, singly and alone, drove forth the sheep and oxen. Then overthrowing the tables of the money-changers, He poured out their unholy gains, and with a voice of conscious authority bade even those who sold doves, to take those things thence, nor make His Father’s house a house of merchandise. Awed by His words and His calm majesty, the desecrators left the scene of their unholy traffic, while others wondering at an act, which legally could only be performed by one of the Sanhedrin or a prophet, approached Him and requested a sign, the performance of some miracle or prodigy, in attestation of His right to do these things261 (Jn. ii. 18).
Thus challenged the Holy One did not withhold a “sign.” With that majestic calmness, which ever distinguished Him, but without a single word of comment or explanation, He said, Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Perplexed and confounded the Jews replied, Forty and six years was this Temple in building, and wilt Thou raise it up in three days? But to their enquiry no answer was vouchsafed. They had asked for a “sign,” and a “sign” had been given, but in the shape of a “parable,” a “dark saying,” which they never forgot262, and which, though not understood by the disciples at the time, was afterwards revealed to them in all its deep meaning (Jn. ii. 21, 22).
But another incident was to render this Passover forever memorable. During His stay at Jerusalem (Jn. ii. 23) the Saviour wrought signs and wonders, which stirred the hearts of those who witnessed them, and caused many to believe on His Name. But their faith sprang from imperfect motives, and He, who knew what was in man, would not entrust Himself to them, or unveil the mysteries of His kingdom. Still even thus early there was one to whom He could more nearly reveal Himself.
One of the members of the Sanhedrin263 at this time was a Pharisee, named Nicodemus, who had probably heard of the marvellous incident, which had so lately occurred in the Temple-courts, and had witnessed one or more of the mighty works, which the Stranger from Nazareth had wrought. Convinced that He could be no ordinary person, that unassisted by Divine Power He could not perform such signs and wonders, he had resolved, in spite of his position, in spite of the risk he ran, in spite of the natural prejudice against so obscure a teacher, to go himself and ascertain who and what He was.
Under cover of night, therefore, he sought out the Saviour, who not only graciously received him, but unfolded to him the mystery of a birth, not of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of water and of the Holy Spirit (Jn. iii. 5–8). And when the wondering ruler enquired how could these things be, He went on to hint at a still deeper mystery, and to intimate the true purport of the coming of the Son of Man, the Messiah, whom he and the nation expected. As Moses, that Moses whose writings he studied and expounded, lifted up the serpent in the wilderness264, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (Jn. iii. 12–16). How far the Jewish ruler entered into the meaning of this mysterious intimation, so entirely opposed to all that was expected by his nation of their Messiah, and how far it served to stimulate him to still deeper enquiries into the Law and the Prophets, we are not told. Certain, however, it is that he was not entirely alienated from the new Teacher, and we shall find at a later period that he, who thus came to Jesus by night, lived to plead for Him in open day before the council of the nation (Jn. vii. 50, 51), and to do honour to His crucified body, when all the Apostles had forsaken Him and fled (Jn. xix. 39).
THE private interview with Nicodemus just related appears to have closed the occurrences at this first eventful Passover. When the pilgrim-companies broke up each for their own homes, the Saviour repaired with His more immediate followers to the north-eastern parts of Judæa near the Jordan. Here He too administered the rite of baptism by the hands of His disciples (Jn. iii. 22; iv. 2), and quickly drew around Him so great a number of followers, that the adherents of the Baptist began to find a sensible decrease in the multitude that flocked around their master.
Repairing, therefore, to him at Ænon265 near Salim266, where he was baptizing, they drew his attention to the fact that He, to whom he had borne witness, was also baptizing, and all men were flocking to Him. But John knew nothing of the mortification of his followers. With a true greatness of soul far exalted above their wounded feelings, he asserted in the most emphatic manner that his position was only secondary with that of the Prophet of Nazareth. He must decrease, but the Other would increase, for He was the Bridegroom and had the Bride. He himself was but the friend of the Bridegroom, and rejoiced to hear His voice, and was satisfied with that measure of joy (Jn. iii. 29–32).
This was the last public testimony of the Baptist to the exalted nature of the Saviour’s person and work. His own career was rapidly drawing to a close. The place where he was baptizing was close to the dominions of Herod-Antipas, the ruler of Galilee and Peræa. This monarch had been married by his father to the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia Petræa, but becoming acquainted at Rome with Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Herod-Philip, he made overtures of marriage to her, which were accepted, on condition that he divorced the daughter of Aretas267. But the facts becoming known to the latter, she fled to her father’s court, who forthwith assembled an army to avenge her wrongs, and punish her guilty husband. The contest waxed hot on the frontier of Herod’s dominions, and it was, not improbably, on his way to confront his father-in-law, when he first encountered the Baptist. If he had hoped to escape the censure of one, whose influence with all classes was unbounded, he was utterly deceived. The Baptist was no reed shaken by the wind (Lk. vii. 24). Boldly, straight-forwardly, he not only rebuked the king for his notorious offences (Lk. iii. 19), but denounced the royal incest, and declared the marriage unlawful (Mtt. xiv. 4; Mk. vi. 18). Such an outspoken reproof from one, whom all reverenced as a prophet, the monarch could not forgive, and therefore flung the bold preacher into prison, probably in the gloomy castle of Machærus, which his father had built on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea to overawe the wild Arab tribes268.
The imprisonment of His great forerunner was announced to the Saviour at a time when He was also aware that the results of His ministry had roused the jealousy of the Pharisees (Jn. iv. 1). Accordingly, He left Judæa, and prepared to return by the shortest route through Samaria to the hills of Galilee (Jn. iv. 3, 4). It was now late in December, four months from the harvest269 (Jn. iv. 35), when He thus set out with His disciples, and reaching the well near Shechem270, which Jacob had built in the parcel of ground he gave to his son Joseph, He sat upon it, weary with travel, for it was the sixth hour, the sultry hour of noon271.
As He sat there alone, for His disciples had gone to the neighbouring town to purchase provisions, a woman of Samaria approached with her pitcher on her head, and the Saviour requested of her water to quench His thirst. Astounded that such a request should be made to her by a Jew, she enquired how He could thus address a Samaritan, with whom it was not lawful to have any dealings272? On this, drawing, as was ever His wont, similitudes from present circumstances, He excited her wonder by telling her of living waters at His command springing up unto everlasting life (Jn. iv. 10, 14), and increased it by revealing His acquaintance with the secret of her life, for she was living in adultery (Jn. iv. 18). Roused by this proof of superhuman knowledge to the fact that she was in the presence of no ordinary Being, she instantly sought to change the subject, and pointing to the slopes of Gerizim273 near at hand, remarked that her fathers worshipped on that mountain, while the Jews affirmed that in Jerusalem was the place where men ought to worship. Thereupon the Saviour assured her that an hour was at hand, when neither on Gerizim nor yet at Jerusalem would men worship the Father; the Samaritans worshipped they knew not what; the Jews worshipped that which they knew, for of them was salvation; but a time was coming when the true worshippers would worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The astonished woman replied that this might be, when Messiah came, for He could teach them all things (Jn. iv. 25), and then heard from the Speaker’s own lips the first clear and distinct announcement that He was the long-expected Messiah (Jn. iv. 26)274.
At this juncture the disciples returned with the provisions they had bought, and marvelled that their Master talked with one of the hateful race, but ventured on no open expostulation. Meanwhile the woman herself had returned to the town, and bade the inhabitants come and see One, who had told her all that ever she did, and could be no other than the Messiah (Jn. iv. 28, 29). Accordingly the townsfolk came forth to see the Saviour, and requested Him to abide with them, which He did, staying amongst them two days, during which period, the number, which had learned to believe on Him on account of the woman’s testimony to His Omniscience, was increased by many others, who, listening to His own gracious words, were convinced that He was indeed the Saviour of the world274 (Jn. iv. 42).
Thus to a woman of Samaria He, whose meat it was to do the will of Him that sent Him and to finish His work (Jn. iv. 34), revealed Himself as the true Messiah, and she became the first herald of the Gospel, the firstfruits of a harvest now sown and to be afterwards reaped by Philip the Deacon (Jn. iv. 38; Acts viii. 5; &c.).
AFTER this stay in Samaria the Saviour returned to Galilee. Thither had gone before Him the fame of the miracles He had wrought at Jerusalem, reported by those Galilæans who had returned from the Passover (Jn. iv. 45), and this was now confirmed by a second miracle wrought at Cana.
While staying in this little village, He was visited by a nobleman, or officer of state275, not improbably in the service of Herod-Antipas, who besought him to go down to Capernaum, and heal his son who was lying at the point of death. Though he was clearly unable to conceive of any cure, save through the Lord’s bodily presence, and was urgent that He should come down to Capernaum, the Holy One sent him away with the assurance that his son was alive. Contented with this word, the father returned, and on the morrow was met by his servants, who announced his son’s recovery, and in answer to his enquiries when the youth had begun to amend, informed him that the day before, at the seventh hour276, the fever not only began to abate, but left or suddenly forsook him. This the other remembered was the very hour when the Lord had assured him of his son’s recovery, and he became a believer with all his family (Jn. iv. 53).
After a brief stay in Galilee, the season approached for the celebration of the Feast of Purim277, and the Redeemer went up to Jerusalem (Jn. v. 1). At this time there was near the Sheep-gate, through which the victims intended for sacrifice were usually brought into the city, a pool called in the Hebrew language Bethesda278, or the House of Mercy, which at certain seasons possessed remarkable healing properties, heralded it would seem by a violent commotion or bubbling of the waters. Around the pool, sheltered by five porticoes (Jn. v. 2), there was wont to assemble a multitude of diseased persons, lame, blind, withered, waiting for the troubling of the waters (Jn. v. 3).
Amongst these was one who for upwards of 38 years had been a helpless paralytic, and had long watched in vain for an opportunity to descend into the healing stream. As often as with slow and painful motion he crawled towards the waters, another was certain to step in before him, and anticipate him in acquiring the welcome cure. Seeing this miserable sufferer, and knowing how long he had been thus afflicted, the Saviour drew near, and enquired whether he wished to be made whole. Deeming, probably, that he was only listening to words of casual sympathy, and little expecting a cure, the man contented himself with relating the sad story of his constant disappointments (Jn. v. 7). Great, then, must have been his astonishment, when the Saviour not only bade him rise and take up the bed or pallet on which he had lain so long, but with the word gave him also the power to obey, so that he was instantly made whole, and taking up his bed bore it away with healthy tread.
It was a Sabbath-day on which this marvellous cure was wrought, and the carrying of any burden was regarded by the Pharisaic interpreters of the Law as a heinous violation of the sanctity of the day. The sight, therefore, of a man whose case must have been well known, thus openly and publicly violating a received rule, could not but excite much attention. Accordingly “the Jews,” a term by which St John generally denotes the adherents of the Sanhedrin, summoned him before them, and questioned him closely concerning his conduct. With artless simplicity, the man replied that he was only acting up to the command of his Healer, but when further questioned who He was, could not say, for Jesus had vanished from the crowd when the cure was wrought (Jn. v. 13).
Shortly afterwards, however, he met his Healer in the Temple, and then returning informed the authorities that Jesus was the author of his cure. On this the Saviour Himself was called to account for His conduct (Jn. v. 16, 17), and proceeded to avow before His astonished and indignant auditors His union in dignity and honour with the eternal Father. This avowal, added to the fact that He had shewn dishonour to the Sabbath, roused the first symptoms of hostility on the part of the authorities at Jerusalem, and they even sought to kill Him (Jn. v. 18). But, undeterred by their opposition, the Holy One went on to claim plainly and unreservedly, the character and functions of the Messiah, to reiterate the fact of His Divine Original, and to declare that He was invested with power as the future Judge of mankind (Jn. v. 22–30). In support of these claims, He appealed to the testimony which the Baptist had publicly borne to His exalted nature (Jn. v. 33–35), to the miracles which He had wrought (Jn. v. 36), to the authority of the sacred writings which testified of Him (Jn. v. 39), and to the great Lawgiver Moses, who, He declared, had written of Him (Jn. v. 46).
This incident forms an important epoch in the Gospel history279. The degree of toleration, and even of acceptance, with which the preaching of the Saviour had been received in Judæa, was exchanged for hostility, which, though as yet it led to no attempt to seize His Person, manifested itself with increasing distinctness. Accordingly, He left Judæa, which had shewn itself unwilling to receive Him, and retired to Galilee, and there taught in the synagogues (Lk. iv. 15).