at this point, on the peculiar unbelief of the Jerusalem Jews. He remarks on the singular hardness of this section of the na- tion, in the face of the singularly strong evidence which they enjoyed of Christ's M essiahship.
The expression, "So many miracles," seems to point out that the miracles recorded by St. John are by no means all the mira- cles that our Lord performed in and near Jerusalem. Beside the purifying of the temple, John only records three : the healing of the impotent man, the healing of the blind, and the raising of Lazarus. (John v., ix., xi.) Yet John expressly speaks of miracles, (both here, and in John ii. 23,) and the Pharisees say, " This Man doeth many miracles." (John xi. 47.)
The Greek word rendered " before," is very strong. It is the same that is " In the sight of," in 1 Thess. i. 3 ; and " In the pres- ence of," in 1 Thess. ii. 19.
[Yet they believed not on him.'] In estimating the peculiar hardness and unbelief of the Jews at Jerusalem, it is worth remembering that all experience proves that where there is the greatest quantity of the form of religion, there is often the great- est proportion of formality and unbelief. The places where men become most familiar with the outside and ceremonial of Christianity are precisely the places where the heart seems to become most hard. Witness the state of Rome at this clay. Witness too often the state of cathedral cities in our own land. We need not wonder that the city in which was the temple, the daily sacrifice, and the priesthood, was the most unbelieving place in Palestine.
88. — [That. .. saying. ..Esaias... fulfilled.. .spake.] We must not sup- pose this means that the Jews did not believe, in order that the prophecy of Isaiah might be fulfilled. This would be teaching sheer fatalism, and would destroy man's responsibility. The true meaning is, " So that by this unbelief the saying of Isaiah was fulfilled." (See John v. 20; Rom. v. 20; 2 Cor. i. 17.)
Chrysostom observes: "It was not because Isaiah spake that they believed not, but because they were not about to believe, that he spake."
Augustine says : "The Lord, by the prophet, did predict the unbelief of the Jews, — predict, however, not cause. It does not follow that the Lord compels any man to sin, because He knows men's future sins."
Theophylact and Euthymius say much the same.
[Lord, who... believed our report.] This question begins the well-known fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, which describes with such extraordinary accuracy our Lord's sufferings. It is cer- tainly a most singular fact, that the very chapter which the Jews in every age have been most obstinately unwilling to believe, should begin with this question. It is a Hebraism, tantamount to saying, "Nobody believes our report." The unbelief of the