opposed to each other, yet they both agreed to tempt Him, by asking Him for what they thought it was not in His power to grant *. They asked for some public sign, not content with those infinite miracles He had done. They would see somewhat from heaven; as when Moses brought them manna, and Elijah brought down fire; or as Joshua stayed the sun in its course; or Isaiah caused its shadow to go backward. It is evident that the Jews, in asking a sign, were actuated by prejudice and perverseness, which had already made them withstand the clearest evidence, and the greatest miracles; and which it was in vain to expect It to conquer by new miracles. It was, therefore, as reasonable to refuse to work more, as it is, not to persist in reasoning with a man, who shows that he reasons only for the sake of contention, without any concern to discover truth"; Jesus "sighed deeply in His Spirit," from a knowledge of their incurable hypocrisy and malice, and said, What a perverse generation is this, that after so many miracles wrought amongst them, they will yet believe nothing, unless they see a sign from heaven of their own choosing! No such sign as they now require shall be given to this wicked race of men: but as Jonah's being preserved three days in the 8 • Dr. Gerard. 8 Archbishop Newcome. fish's belly, was a sign of his being a true prophet sent from God; so the circumstance of My being buried three days in the earth, and then rising up from thence, shall be to you the sign you require, for it shall convince the world that I am the Messiah sent from God to call you to repentance'. "And He left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side." And the disciples of Jesus were distressed to find that they had omitted to renew their stock of bread; for they "had in the ship with them but one loaf." Jesus, taking occasion from the similitude of bread (which was now in their thoughts) to draw some useful instruction for them, bids them "take care to avoid the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees," meaning, their doctrines and hypocrisy, of which they had had a recent instance, and which was spreading like leaven amongst the nation'. But they were so anxious about their bodily sustenance, that they considered Him only as directing them what bread they were to avoid. He reproved them therefore very sharply for their dulness of comprehension, and for their distrusting fears of having any want of food to eat. Do ye not know and remember in what I have so lately worked, how easy it would have been for Me to provide bread, if that were the thing about which I was con 9 Dr. Whitby. 1 Dr. S. Clarke. cerned? The Apostles did not at first penetrate beyond the literal interpretation, and the word "leaven" only reminded them of their want of bread; but at length "they understood how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Sadducees and of the Pharisees." SECT. LXVII.-Christ giveth a Blind Man sight.— JESUS, and His disciples, "crossing over the lake, cometh to Bethsaida," as if, perhaps, to impress still more strongly on the minds of His disciples a proper sense of their dependence on God for their sustenance, this being the place where He had fed the four thousand3. Here they bring unto Him a blind man; but He will not do the cure in Bethsaida, knowing the impenitence and unworthiness of the people'. When He had withdrawn the man to a little distance from the town, He performed the desired miracle; but in a gradual, and, for him, unusual manner. He first put His hand upon him, and some faint gleamings of light were conveyed to his darkened eyes; but, "when He had again put His hand upon his eyes, he saw clearly. It has been supposed, from the details of this miracle, that the man on whom it was performed, was not born blind, but had 99 2 Dr. Robinson. 4 Dr. S. Clarke. 3 • Dr. Lightfoot. 5 Dr. Robinson. ap. become so by accident or disease; for he could not otherwise have had such ideas of the pearance of men or trees, as could render them objects of comparison or recognition to his mind. SECT. LXVIII.-Christ enquireth the People's Opinion of Him. Matt. xvi. 13-20; Mark viii. 27-30; Luke ix. 18—21. JESUS now removed to the northward of the lake, near to the spring-head of Jordan, to the towns or villages round about Cesaræa Philippi. This city, formerly a very flourishing one, must at this time have been called differently; for the name was changed into that of Cesarea by Philip the tetrarch, who repaired and beautified it in honour of Tiberius Cæsar, now reigning; and, in order to distinguish it from another Cesaræa, lying on the Mediterranean sea, it received the adjunct of his own name, so as to form the distinctive appellation of Cesaræa Philippi'. This city is now destroyed, and on its ruins has arisen a little hamlet; but the circuit of the walls of the ancient city is easily distinguishable. Its natural beauty had been improved by the subsequent liberality of Agrippa, and adorned at his expense. The neighbourhood is very beautiful, and richly wooded. The apparent source of the Jordan flows from under a cave at the foot of a precipice, in the perpendicular sides of which are several niches Pictorial Bible. Bishop Pearce. • Mant and D'Oyly. adorned with pilasters, having under them Greek inscriptions. The spring from which the stream takes its origin, is here called Dhan; hence Dhan or Jordan is understood to have its etymology as the river of Dhan: some have supposed this place to be the Dan of the Scriptures, one extremity of the land; and that the hill behind it is the Mount Hermon of the Old Testament, the northern boundary of Israel, Bethsheba, being known to be its southern. It has again lost its appellation of Cesarea Philippi, and has resumed its ancient name of Panias. 66 In this neighbourhood, then, it is related that our Lord put the direct question to His disciples, Whom do men say that I, the Son of God, am?" When informed that He was thought to be, by some, John the Baptist; by some Elias, or one of the prophets, He saith unto them, "But whom say ye that I am ?” Peter, on all occasions the most ready answerer to our Lord's questions, had already, on another occasion, before this time, said for them all, We believe, and are sure, that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." He now replies, We believe that Thou art what Thou sayest thou art, The Christ, the Son of the living God. St. Peter's confession, therefore, amounted at once to a denial that they had any participation in the weakness of those 9 Modern Traveller. R |