PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah
Edersheim, Alfred, 1825-1889 · 873,712 words · 1020 reading sections
The Valley Of Humiliation And Death.
If it be asked, why Christ seemed to give His assent to the lawyer's answer, as if it really pointed to the right solution of the great question, we reply: No other answer could have been given him. On the ground of works - if that had been tenable - this was the way to heaven. To understand any other answer, would…
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It was by such a concurrence,' that, first a priest, then a Levite came down that road, when each, successively, when he saw him, passed by over against (him).' It was the principle of questioning, Who is my neighbour?' which led both priest and Levite to such heartless conduct. Who knew what this wounded man was, …
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Some such internal connection between the two Parables seems, indeed, indicated even by the loose manner in which this second Parable is strung to the request of some disciples to be taught what to pray. [4436] Like the Parable of the Good Samaritan,' it is typical, and its application would be the more felt, that …
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Nay, more than this, God will not decieve by the appearance of what is not reality. He will even give the greatest gift. The Parabolic relation is now not that of friends, but of father and son. If the son asks for bread, will the father give what seems such, but is only a stone? If he asks for a fish, will he tend…
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1. The Parable of the foolish rich man. [4439] It appears, that some one among them that listened to Jesus conceived the idea, that the authority of the Great Rabbi of Nazareth might be used for his own selfish purposes. This was all he had profited, that it seemed to open possibilities of gain - stirred thoughts o…
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So had he spoken in his heart - proud, selfish, self-indulgent, God-forgetting - as he looked forth upon what was not yet, even in an inferior sense, his own, but which he already treated as such, and that in the most absolute sense. And now comes the quick, sharp, contrast, which is purposely introduced quite abru…
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These particulars will enable us more fully to understand the details of the Parable. Allegorically, the fig-tree served in the Old Testament as emblem of the Jewish nation [4460] - in the Talmud, rather as that of Israel's lore, and hence of the leaders and the pious of the people. [4461] The vineyard is in the Ne…
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It was this last clause - but separated, in true Pharisaic spirit, from that which had preceded, and indicated the motive - on which one of those present now commented, probably with a covert, perhaps a provocative, reference to what formed the subject of Christ's constant teaching: Blessed whoso shall eat bread in…
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Then let the feast - for it was prepared by the goodness and liberality of the Host - be for those who were in need of it, and to whom it would be a feast: the poor and those afflicted - the maimed, and blind, and lame, on whom those great citizens who had been first bidden would look down. This, with reference to,…
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[4442] So literally. [4443] Shabb. 153 a line 16 &c. from top. [4444] Ecclus. xi. 18, 19. [4445] Jer. Shabb. 14 c, top. [4446] Debar. R. 9, ed. Warsh. p. 19 b, line 6 from top and onwards. [4447] St. Luke xiii. 6-9. [4448] See ch. xiii. of this Book. [4449] Baba K. 91 b. [4450] War. iii. 10. 8. [4451] Phaggim,…
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Besides their subject-matter, these three Parables have some other points in common. Two things are here of chief interest. They all proceed on the view that the work of the Father and of Christ, as regards the Kingdom,' is the same; that Christ was doing the work of the Father, and that they who know Christ know t…
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It needs not, and would only diminish the pathos of this exquisite Parable, were we to attempt interpreting its details. They apply wherever and to whatever they can be applied. Of these three things we think: of the lost sheep; of the Good Shepherd, seeking, finding, bearing, rejoicing; and of the sympathy of all …
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To complete these notes, it may be added that, besides illustrations, to which reference will be made in the sequel, Rabbinic tradition supplies a parallel to at least part of the third Parable, that of the Lost Son. It tells us that, while prayer may sometimes find the gate of access closed, it is never shut again…
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The next scene in the history is misunderstood when the objection is raised, that the young man's misery is there represented as the result of Providential circumstances rather than of his own misdoing. To begin with, he would not have been driven to such straits in the famine, if he had not wasted his substance wi…
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But even so the story of love has not come to an end. They have reached the house. And now the father would not only restore the son, but convey to him the evidence of it, and he would do so before, and by the servants. The three tokens of wealth and position are to be furnished him. Quickly' the servants are to br…
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[4479] See Book III. ch. xvii. [4480] St. Matt. ix. 10, 11. [4481] The only other alternative would seem, if one were to narrow the underlying ideas in a strictly Predestinarian sense. But this seems not only incompatible with the third Parable, where all turns on personal resolve, but runs contrary to the whole s…
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[4515] St. Luke xv. 32. [4516] It may be worth mentioning a somewhat similar parable in Bemidb. R. 15 (ed. Warsh. p. 62 b, near beginning). Reference is made to the fact, that, according to Numb. vii., all the twelve tribes brought gifts, except Levi. Upon that follows in Numb. viii. the consecration of the Levite…
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At the outset we must recall, that they were addressed to two different classes in the same audience. In both the subject is Unrighteousness. In the first, which is addressed to the recently converted publicans and sinners, it is the Unrighteous Steward, making unrighteous use of what had been committed to his admi…
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The connection between this Parable and what the Lord had previously said concerning returning sinners, to which our remarks have already pointed, is further evidenced by the use of the term wasting' (diaskorpzon), in the charge against the steward, just as the prodigal son had wasted' (dieskrpise) his substance. […
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The second debtor owed a hundred Cor of wheat' - that is, in dry measure, ten times the amount of the oil of the first debtor, since the Cor was ten Ephah or Bath, the Ephah three Seah, the Seah six Qabh, and the Qabh four Log. This must be borne in mind, since the dry and the fluid measures were precisely the same…
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In all this we have not referred to the practice of writing on leather specially prepared with salt and flour, [4575] nor to the Qelaph, or parchment in the stricter sense. [4576] For we are here chiefly interested in the common mode of writing, that on the Pinaqes, or tablet,' and especially on that covered with w…
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2. From this somewhat lengthened digression, we return to notice the moral of the Parable. [4598] It is put in these words: Make to yourselves friends out of [by means of] the Mamon of unrighteousness, that, when it shall fail, [4599] they may receive you into everlasting tabernacles.' From what has been previously…
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II. The Parable of Dives and Lazarus. [4608] - Although primarily spoken to the Pharisees, and not to the disciples, yet, as will presently appear, it was spoken for the disciples. The words of Christ had touched more than one sore spot in the hearts of the Pharisees. This consecration of all to God as the necessar…
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Thus, when bearing in mind that, as previously stated, we have here only the heads,' or rather the stepping stones,' of Christ's argument - from notes by a hearer at the time, which were afterwards given to St. Luke - we clearly perceive, how closely connected are the seemingly disjointed sentences which preface th…
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So it was before men. But how was it before God? There the relation was reversed. The beggar died - no more of him here. But the Angels carried him away into Abraham's bosom.' Leaving aside for the present [4624] the Jewish teaching concerning the after death,' we are struck with the sublime simplicity of the figur…
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To return to the Parable. When we read that Dives in torments lifted up his eyes,' it was, no doubt, for help, or, at least, alleviation. Then he first perceived and recognised the reversed relationship. The text emphatically repeats here: And he,' - literally, this one (ka atos), as if now, for the first time, he …
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Dismissing, therefore, this idea, we now find Dives pleading that Lazarus might be sent to his five brothers, who, as we infer, were of the same disposition and life as himself had been, to testify unto them' - the word implying more than ordinary, even earnest, testimony. Presumably, what he so earnestly asked to …
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[4537] The reading in Ant. xv. 9. 2: The Attic Medimni,' is evidently a copyist's error for Metrêtai.' [4538] Ant. viii. 2, 9; comp. ix. 4, 5. [4539] Jewish War. ii. 21. 2. [4540] Life, 13. [4541] Terum. x. 8. [4542] Jer. Baba M. iv. 2, p. 9 d. [4543] from Baba M. 105 b, about the middle. [4544] Peah viii. 7; E…
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[4568] Shabb. i. 3. [4569] Similarly, the carpenter carried a small wooden rule behind his ear. [4570] Already mentioned in Jer. xxxvi. 23, and in the Mishnah called Olar, {hebrew}. Kel. xii. 8. [4571] Kel. ii. 7. [4572] Kel. xii. 8. [4573] Meg. 16 b. [4574] Letters, other documents, or bales of merchandise, we…
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[4623] I cannot agree with Dean Plumptre that the name Lazarus had been chosen with special reference, and as a warning, to the brother of Martha and Mary. If Lazarus of Bethany was thus to be warned in regard to the proper use of his riches, his name would have been given to Dives, and not to the beggar. But besid…
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The most common and specious, but also the most serious mistake take in reference to the Parable of the Unjust Judge,' is to regard it as implying that, just as the poor widow insisted in her petition and was righted because of her insistence, so the disciples should persist in prayer and would be heard because of …
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The Parable introduces to us a Judge in a city, and a widow. Except where a case was voluntarily submitted for arbitration rather than judgment, or judicial advice was sought of a sage, one man could not have formed a Jewish tribunal. Besides, his mode of speaking and acting is inconsistent with such a hypothesis. …
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Difficult as the rendering of this last clause admittedly is, our interpretation of it seems confirmed by the final application of this Parable. [4672] Taking the previous verse along with it, we would have this double Parallelism: But God, shall He not vindicate [do judgment on behalf of] His Elect?' [4673] I tell…
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But this was not all. From looking down upon others the Pharisee proceeded to look up to himself. Here Talmudic writings offer painful parallelisms. They are full of references to the merits of the just, to the merits and righteousness of the fathers,' or else of Israel in taking upon itself the Law. And for the sa…
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More complete contrast, therefore, could not be imagined. And once more, as between the Pharisee and the Publican, the seeming and the real, that before men and before God, there is sharp contrast, and the lesson which Christ had so often pointed is again set forth, not only in regard to the feelings which the Phar…
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Thus keeping apart the essentials of the Parable from the accidents of its narration, we have three distinct scenes, or parts, in this story. In the first, our new feelings towards our brethren are traced to our new relation towards God, as the proper spring of all our thinking, speaking, and acting. Notably, as re…
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It can scarcely be necessary to show the incongrousness or the guilt of such conduct. But this is the object of the third part, or scene, in the Parable. Here - again for the sake of pictorialness - the other servants are introduced as exceedingly sorry, no doubt about the fate of their fellow-servant, especially i…
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[4648] St. John xi. [4649] St. Luke xvii. 11. [4650] St. Luke xvii. [4651] Even this shows that it is intended to mark an essential difference between this and the preceding Parables. [4652] The word atos should be inserted in the text. [4653] The verbs are, of course, in the infinitive. [4654] Sometimes it is a…
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[4680] Not possess,' as in the A.V. [4681] Taan. 12 a. [4682] See Book III. ch. ii. [4683] Demai ii 2. [4684] Ber. 28 b. [4685] Erub. 21 b, lines 12 and 11 from bottom. [4686] Comp. vol. i. p. 540. [4687] Ber. R. 35 ed. Warsh. p. 64 b, end. [4688] This, and not lift so much as his eyes,' is the proper position …
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Thus viewed, we can mark the characteristic differences between this Discourse and the parallels in the Sermon on the Mount,' and understand their reason. As regarded entrance into the Messianic Kingdom, this Pharisee, and those whom he represented, are told, that this Kingdom was not theirs, as a matter of course …
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2. The next Discourse, noted by St. Luke, [4727] had been spoken in that very day,' [4728] as the last. It was occasioned by a pretended warning of certain of the Pharisees' to depart from Peræa, which, with Galilee, was the territory of Herod Antipas, as else the Tetrarch would kill Him. We have previously [4729] …
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3. The next in order of the Discourses recorded by St. Luke [4739] is that which prefaced the Parable of the Great Supper,' expounded in a previous chapter. [4740] The Rabbinic views on the Sabbath-Law have been so fully explained, that a very brief commentation will here suffice. It appears, that the Lord condesce…
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4. In the fourth Discourse recorded by St. Luke, [4752] we pass from the parenthetic account of that Sabbath-meal in the house of the Ruler of the Pharisees,' back to where the narrative of the Pharisees' threat about Herod and the reply of Jesus had left us. [4753] And, if proof were required of the great influenc…
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5. We have still to consider the last Discourses of Christ before the raising of Lazarus. [4763] As being addressed to the disciples, [4764] we have to connect them with the Discourse just commented upon. In point of fact, part of these admonitions had already been spoken on a previous occasion, and that more fully…
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[4718] So according to the best reading. [4719] St. Matt. xi. 12. [4720] Comp. also St. Matt. xix. 30; xx. 16. [4721] St. Matt. vii. 21, 22. [4722] St. Matt. vii. 23. [4723] St. Luke xiii. 27. [4724] It is characteristic of higher' criticism when Hilgenfeld declares that the lawlessness' in St. Matthew's Gospel …
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But is it true? We have reached a stage in this history when such a question, always most painful, might seem almost uncalled for. For, gradually and with increasing clearness, we have learned the trustworthiness of the Evangelic records; and, as we have followed Him, the conviction has deepened into joyous assuran…
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We may here dismiss, as what would not be entertained by any one familiar with historical inquiries, the idea that such a narrative could be an absolute invention, ungrounded on any fact. Again, we may put aside as repugnant to, at least English, common sense, the theory that the narrative is consistent with the id…
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We may now, undisturbed by preliminary objections, surrender ourselves to the sublimeness and solemnity of this narrative. Perhaps the more briefly we comment on it the better. It was while in Peræa, that this message suddenly reached the Master from the well-remembered home at Bethany, the village of Mary' - who, …
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It was only after these two days that Christ broke silence as to His purposes and as to Lazarus. Though thoughts of him must have been present with the disciples, none dared ask aught, although not from misgiving, nor yet from fear. This also of faith and of confidence. At last, when His work in that part had been …
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This may be a convenient place for adding to the account already given, [4792] in connection with the burying of the widow's son at Nain, such further particulars of the Jewish observances and rites, [4793] as may illustrate the present history. Referring to the previous description, we resume, in imagination, our …
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When thinking of these tombs in gardens, [4820] we so naturally revert to that which for three days held the Lord of Life, that all details become deeply interesting. And it is, perhaps, better to give them here rather than afterwards to interrupt, by such inquiries, our solemn thoughts in presence of the Crucified…
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These small buildings surmounting the graves may have served as shelter to those who visited the tombs. They also served as monuments,' [4838] of which we read in the Bible, in the Apocrypha, [4839] and in Josephus. [4840] [4841] In Rabbinic writings they are frequently mentioned, chiefly by the name Nephesh, [4842…
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It was in very truth and literality that the Lord meant it, when He told Martha her brother would rise again, although she understood His Words of the Resurrection at the Last Day. In answer, Christ pointed out to her the connection between Himself and the Resurrection; and, what He spoke, that He did when He raise…
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And now every trait is in accord. Where have ye laid him?' So truly human - as if He, Who was about to raise the dead, needed the information where he had been laid; so truly human, also, in the underlying tenderness of the personal address, and in the absorption of the whole Theanthropic energy on the mighty burde…
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We know no more. Holy Writ in this also proves its Divine authorship and the reality of what is here recorded. The momentarily lifted veil has again fallen over the darkness of the Most Holy Place, in which is only the Ark of His Presence and the cloudy incense of our worship. What happened afterwards, how they loo…
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[4781] I do not quite understand, whether or not Dr. Abbott (Encycl. Brit., Art. Gospels,' pp. 837, 838) holds the historical accuracy' of this narrative. In a foot-note he disclaims its complete discussion' as foreign to the purpose of his essay. He refers us, however, to the Parable of Dives and Lazarus, together…
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[4833] M. Clermont-Ganneau. [4834] The supposed ancient (pre-Christian, Israelitish) inscriptions in the Crimea are now generally ascribed to a much later date. Comp. Harkavy, Altjud. Denkm. [4835] See Schürer, Gemeinde Verf. d. Juden in Rom. Schürer has collected forty-five of the most interesting of these inscri…
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The brief time of rest and quiet converse with His disciples in the retirement of Ephraim was past, and the Saviour of men prepared for His last journey to Jerusalem. All the three Synoptic Gospels mark this, although with varying details. [4875] From the mention of Galilee by St. Matthew, and by St. Luke of Samari…
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It is a further confirmation of our suggestion as to the road taken by Jesus, that of the ten lepers whom, at the outset of His journey, He met when entering into a village, one was a Samaritan. It may have been that the district was infested with leprosy; or these lepers may, on tidings of Christ's approach, have …
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2. The Discourse concerning the Coming of the Kingdom, which is reported by St. Luke immediately after the healing of the ten lepers, [4891] will be more conveniently considered in connection with the fuller statement of the same truths at the close of our Lord's Ministry. [4892] It was probably delivered a day or …
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Public Domain; source text supplied by Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.