Gregory, quoted by Mayer, says, "Whereas John deni^^th him- self to be Ehas, and Christ after affirmeth it, there is no contra- diction. There is a double coming of Elias. The one is in spirit, before Christ's coming to redeem ; the other in person, before Christ's coming to judgment. According to the first, Christ's s^.ying is true, ' This is Ehas.' According to the second, John's speech is true, ' I am not.' This was the fittest answer to men asking in a curnal sense."
Augustine says, " What John was to the first advent, Ehas will be to the second advent. As there are two advents, s ) there are two heralds."
{Art thou that prophet ?] There are two views of this ques- tion. Some think, as Augustine and Gregory, that the words should be as our marginal reading has them, " Art thou a pro- phet?" Others think, as Cyril and Chrysostom, that the ques- tion referred to '' the prophet," of whom Moses foretold that he would come. (Deut. xviii. 15.) I decidedly prefer the latter view. It seems veiy improbable that John the Baptist would entirely deny that he was a prophet. — Besides this, it seems not unreasonable that the Jews would ask whether he was " the great prophet foretold by Moses." And to this question, John answers most truly, that he was not. — It admits of doubt, whe- ther the Jews who qu^-sLioned him, clearly saw that the "pro- phet hke unto Moses," and the " Messiah," were to be one and the same. It rather looks as if they thought " Christ " and " the prophet" were two different persons.
Lightfoot thinks that the question refers to a common expec- tation among the Jews, that the prophets were to rise again at the coming of Messiah, and that John's questioners meant, "Art thou one of the prophets raised from the dead ?" This supersti- tious notion explains the words of the disciples in Luke, " Others say that one of the old prophets is risen again." (Luke ix. 19.) But the Greek article in the words before us, seems to me too strong to be rendered " a prophet."
22. — [An answer to them that sent us.] This expression c> nfirms the opinion already given, about the character of those who ques- tioned John. They were not idle inquirers, but a formal depu-
• tation sent down from the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, with a c im- mission to find out who John was, and to make a report of what th y discovered.
23, — [He said, I am the voice, <frc.] John the Baptist's account of himself in this verse, consists of a reference to Scripture. He reminds the Priests and Levites who wanted to know who he was, of Isaiah's prophecy concerning the times of the Messiah. (Isaiah xl. 3.) They would there fmd Isaiah saying, with the abruptness of an inspired prophe", and speaking as if he saw
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what lie was describing, "The voice of Him that crielh in the wilderness 1" That means, "I hear in spirit, as I look forward to Messiah's time, a man crying in a wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord," — " That prophecy," says John the Baptist, " is this day fulfilled in me. I am the person whom Isaiah saw and heard in vision. I am come to prepare the way for Mes- siah, like a man going before a King in a desert country, to pre- pare a road for his master. I am come to make ready the barren hearts of the Jewish nation for Christ's first advtnt, and the kingdom of God. I am only a voice. I do not come to work miracles. I do not want disciples to follow me, but my master. The object of my mission is to be a herald, a crier, a warning voice to my fellow-countrymen, so that when my master begins His ministry they may not be found unprepared."
[The wilderness.'] The common view of this expression is, that it refers to John the Baptist's ministry having begun in the wilderness of Judaea. I rather doubt the correctness of this idea. The whole quotation is undeniably figurative. The prophet com- pares Messiah's forerunner to one preparing a road for a King through a desert or uninhabited country. The " way " or road, is unquestionably figurative, and the straightness of the way too. No one supposes that Isaiah meant that John the Baptist was hteraUy to make a road. But if the '' way " is figurative, the country through which it is made must surely be figurative too. I therefore think that the wilderness is a prophetical and figu- rative description of the spiritual barrenness of Israel, when the Messiah's forerunner began his ministry. At the same time, I fully admit that John's retired and 'ascetic habits and hia residence in the wilderness, form a remarkable coincidence with the text.
The expression " voice," has often been remarked as a beauti- ful illustration of the general character of John's ministry. He was eminently a humble man. He was one who desired to be heard, and to awaken attention by the sound of his testimony, but not to be seen or visibly honoured. 2i..—[And they....senf....Pharisees.] The object of this verse is somewhat doubtful. Some think that it refers to the verse pre- ceding, which ontains a quotation from Isaiah. They which wer.' s nt, being Phui-ees, and not Sadduoees or Herodian?, should have seen and admitted the Scriptural charact r of John's mi s;on._Some think, :ti8 Bengel, that it refers to the following verse, in which a question was raised about baptism. They which ^^ere sent, being Pharisees, were specially strict about cerenionies, ordinances, and forms. Therefore they were not satisfied with a reference to Scripture. They asked John's authority for baptizing. Some think that it refers generally to the notorious enmity and disUke with which the Phar.sees