On a mount by the sea of Galilee. SECTION XII. Four thousand Men are fed miraculously. MATT. XV. 32, to the end. MARK viii. 1-11. In those days, the multitude being very great, Mark viii. 1. and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because Mark viii, 2. they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: And if I send them away fasting to their own Mark viii. 3. houses, they will faint by the way for divers of them came from far. And his disciples say unto him, Matt. xv. 33. From whence can a man satisfy these men with Mark viii. 4. bread here in the wilderness? Whence should we have so much bread as to fill Matt. xv. 33. so great a multitude? And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves Matt. xv. 34. have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. And he commanded the multitude to sit down Matt. xv. 35. on the ground. And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, Matt. xv. 36. and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. to set before them; and they did set them before Mark viii. 6. the people. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they Matt. xv. 37. took up of the broken meat that was left, seven baskets full. And they that did eat were four thousand men, Matt. xv. 38. beside women and children. And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, Matt. xv. 39. straightway he entered into a ship, with his disci- Mark viii. 10. ples, and came into the coasts of Magdala, into the parts of Dalmanutha. MATT. XV. 32. Matt. xv. 39. Mark viii. 10. 32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. MARK viii. ver. 5. part of ver. 6. and ver. 7, 8, 9. 5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. 6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples— 7 And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set On a mount by the sea of them also before them. Galilee. 8 So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. 9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away. SECTION XIII. The Pharisees require other Signs-Christ charges them with MATT. xvi. 1-13. 1 Hypocrisy. MARK viii. 11-part of 22. Matt. xvi. J. The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, Magdala. tempting, Mark viii. 11. began to question with him, Matt. xvi. 1. and desired that he would shew them a sign from heaven, Mark viii. 11. tempting him. Matt. xvi. 2. Matt. xvi. 3. Mark viii. 12. Matt. xvi. 4. Mark viii. 12. He answered, and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to- And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, a wicked and adulterous generation, seek after a sign? Verily I say unto you, There Matt. xvi. 4. but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left Mark viii. 13. and entering into the ship again, departed to the Matt. xvi. 5. other side. And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread; Mark viii. 14. neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. Matt. xvi. 6. Mark viii. 15. Matt. xvi. 6. Then Jesus charged them, and said unto them, Take heed, and beware of Mark viii. 15. and of the leaven of Herod. Matt. xvi. 7. Matt. xvi. 8. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto 1 Luke xii. 54. Magdala. m Ch. xiv. 7. n Ch. xv. 34. o Matt. xvi. 1. p Matt. xvi. 5. q Matt. xvi. 7. them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, Mark viii. 18. hear ye not? and do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thou- Mark viii, 19. sand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how Mark viii. 20. many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do Mark viii. 21. not understand? that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that Matt. xvi. 11. ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade Matt. xvi. 12. them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And he cometh to Bethsaida. MATT. xvi. part of ver. 4. and ver. 9, 10. Mark viii. 22 4 -seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it— 9 m Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? MARK viii. part of ver. 11. 13, 14, 15. and ver. 16, 17. 11 And the Pharisees came forth, and-seeking of him a sign from heaven13 And he left them 14 P Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread. 15 And he saying, Take heed, beware of the 16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is 9 because we have no bread. 17 And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? Bethsaida. SECTION XIV. Christ heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida. MARK Viii. 22-27. And they bring a blind man unto him, and be- Mark viii. 22. sought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and Matt. viii. 23. Mark viii. 24. Mark viii. 25. Mark viii. 26. led him out of the town; and when he had spit on And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, And he sent him away to his house, saying, town. Bethsaida. SECTION XV. Peter confesses Christ to be the Messiah". MATT. XVI. 13-21. MARK viii. 27-31. LUKE ix. 18-22. Mark viii. 27. Philippi. And Jesus went out, and his diciples, into the Casarea towns of Cæsarea Philippi : 17 ON THE OPINIONS OF THE JEWS RESPECTING THE CHARACTER OF THE MESSIAH. The various works which were done by our Lord, as related in the preceding sections of this chapter, convinced St. Peter that Jesus was the Messiah. It certainly appears to us very extraordinary that this open confession of the Messiahship of Jesus had not been repeatedly made before. The reasons seem to have been, that the various inconsistent traditions concerning the Messiah which were then prevalent, and the opposite expectations of the people, had so biassed the minds of his disciples, that it prevented them from forming a correct judgment as to the dignity of their Lord and Master. They saw, indeed, and acknowledged, that Jesus was more than human, and they daily anticipated the establishment of the kingdom of the Messiah; but before that event they expected the coming of Elias, various resurrections of the ancient prophets, the reappearance of Moses and Elias, with other different signs and wonders, which have already been enumerated. Dr. Pye Smith observes, "that their notions of the Messiah were sublime, imperfectly understood, and inconsistent; they attributed to him a superior nature, a pre-existent state, and, to say the least, many of the characteristic properties of Deity (a).” When Christ was upon earth, the opinions of the Jews concerning the nature and person of their ardently expected Messiah, were by no means uniform: some affirmed that he would be a mere man, endowed with peculiar powers and assistance from God-others that he would be a man, with whom a special power, emanating from God, would be immediately conjoined-others maintained that he would be superior to their fathers, to all mankind, and to the (a) Scripture Testimony to the Messiah, vol. i. p. 464, and 466. Dr. Pye Smith has compressed into a very short compass the conclusions of Kuinoel (Comment in libros N. T. Hist. p. 84-91.) on the same subject. Cæsarea And it came to pass, Luke ix. 18. when Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Phi- Matt. xvi. 13. lippi, angels; that he existed before the creation of the world, and was employed by God as an instrument in the formation of the world, and peculiarly in the protec tion and religious institutions of the Israelitish nation. Schoetgen, in his second volume, has most amply and most learnedly discussed the subject of the Messiah. His Hora Hebraicæ are an invaluable treasure to the theological student who desires to understand the New Testament. It is to be regretted that the work is so scarce, and that there is neither an abridgment, nor a translation of it, in our own language. The Jews seem to have entertained the same indefinite notions with regard to the Messiah, as the Christians of the present age entertain when they converse on the Millennium, or the second advent of our Lord; on the restoration of the Jews, whether it will be temporal or spiritual; or on the other sublime and elevating subjects of the prophecies of our own Scriptures, on which the primitive Church has come to no conclusion. The language of Scripture is so general, that it may be interpreted both literally and metaphorically; and every Christian, who at all reflects on these subjects, anticipates some magnificent events, which he believes will certainly take place; while no two will be found exactly to agree in their opinions and speculations. Lightfoot remarks on this subject: From Messiah the Jews expected pomp and stateliness, a royal and victorious kingdom-they see Christ appear in a low condition, and contemptible poverty. From the Messiah they expected an advancing and heightening the rites of Moses they saw that he began to remove them. By the Messias they expected to be redeemed and delivered from their subjection to the Roman yoke. He taught them to give Cæsar his due, and to submit to the government God had set over them. By the Messias they expected that the Gentiles should be subdued, trod under their feet, and destroyed. He taught that they should be called, converted, and become the Church (b). Bishop Blomfield, in his admirable dissertation (c), has given us, at still greater length, an abstract of the notions entertained by the Jews of the Messiah's kingdom: 1. They expected him to be of a nature far surpassing that of men and angels. One of the Rabbis says, "The Messiah is higher than the ministering angels." To this notion the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews evidently alludes, i. 4. 2. They considered him to be "the Word of God," an emanation from the Supreme Being; the author of all created things. 3. They believed that all the transactions, in which the Deity was related to have had a communication with mankind, were carried on through the medium of his Word, the Messiah; that He delivered the Israelites from Egypt, led them through the wilderness, supported and protected them. 4. They believed that the Spirit of the Lord was to be upon him, and intimately united with him; and that it would manifest itself in exertion of mira (b) Lightfoot's Sermons, Works, fol. vol. ii. p. 1112. tional knowledge of a promised Redeemer, Camb. 1810, p. (c) On the tradi106. fin. &c. |