the circuit; but Mt II-'"- appears to mark thu practical close of the Galilieau ministry.
The greater part of this circuit lay witiiin tlie dominions, not of Herod Antipa-s, where Jesus had hitherto mainly worked, but of his brother Philip. Now we know that the hostility to lliin wiis shand by l\u: Pharisees with the partisans of Herod (Mk 3" and p. 010' above; cf. also Mk 8'^). We have also, but probably at a still later date, threats, which if not actually made by Ilerod Antipas were at least plausibly attributed to him (Lk l:;^'). In any case, it is likely enough that intrigues were on foot between the two allied jianies of the Pliarisees and llerodians; and some writers, of whom Keini may be taken as an exam])le, have attributed to these w hat they describe as a ' flight ' on the part of Jesus. They may have had something to do with His retirement.
This division of our Lord's Life includes several narratives (the P'eedings of the Five and Four Thousand, the Walking on the Water, the Trans- figuration) which sound especially strange to modern ears. We must repeat the warning, that if a nineteenth cent, ob.server had been present he would have given a different aceoinit of the occur- rences from that which hius come down to us. But the mission of Jesus was to the fii'st cent, and not to the nineteenth. His miracles as well as His teaching were adapted to the mental habit.s of those to whom they were addressed. It is wasted in- genuity to try, by rationalizing the narratives, to translate them into a language more like our own. K.ssential features in them are sure to escape in the process. It shfiuld be enough to notice that the narratives in question all rest on the very best historical authority. They belong to the oldest stratum of the evangelical tradition. And more than this : if we suppose, as it is not unreason.able to suppo.se, that the Feedings of the Five and of the Four Thousand are different versions of the same event, this would throw us back some way behind even that oldest stratum ; because we should have to allow an additional period of time for the two versions to arise out of their common original (see p. 026 sup.). This would carry ns back to a time when numbers must have been living by whom the truth of that which is reported might be controlled. In the case of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, we have the confirmatory evidence of the Fourth Gospel, which for those who believe the author to have been an eye-witness must be little less than decisive.
i. The Enthusiasm and FalUuff-axoay of thf Populace. — It was just before the Passover of the year 28 that the impression which Jesus had made on the people of Galilee seemed to reach its climax. This w;is the result of what is commonly known to us as the Feeding of the F'ive Thousand. The fact that the Passover was so near at hand accounts for a special gathering of pilgrims, or those i)re- paring for the journey, from the Galihean towns. In such a mixed multitude there would doubtless be many Zealots and enthusiastic expectants of the 'deliverance of Israel.' The miracle convinces these that they have at last found the leader of whom they are in search. They are aware that hitherto He had shown no signs of encouraging the active measures which they desired: and there- fore they hasten to seize the person of Jesus in orderto compel Him to put Himself at their head, with or against His will. He, however, retires from them ; and their disappointment is complete when on the next day the more determined among them, after following Him at no little trouble into the synagogue at Capernaum, find themselves ])ut off with what they would regard as a mystical and unintelligible discourse. This is a turning-point in what had been for some time a gathering move-
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meat on the part of many who wltl- willinf; to see in Jesus a Messiah such as they expecterl, but who were baffled and drew back when they found tlie ideal lu-eseiited to them so dilfeicnt from tlieirown. And the crisis once past, every possible pri'cautioti was taken to ensure that it should not recur (Mk 7-<»ib3J|| yjy.as above).
Are the two Feedings of Mk G»-«J and Mk Si-»| to be ro- ,;;ir<led as two event:* or one ? IJe.-*i(les tlie general resemblance bflween the two niirrntives, a weJKhty argument In favour of ttie latter hypotlicHls Is. that In the second narrative the dis- cildes' question appears t(» imply that the emergency was some- tliliig new. They could hardlyhuve put this question as ibcy did if a sindlar event had hnjipened only a few weeks before. 'I'hc dltferent numbers are just what u'ould be fi>und in two inilepenilent tnidilions. The decision will, however, depend here (as in the instances noted above) on the degree of slrlct- Uess with which we inlerpiot the narnitlve generally.
The discourse in the synagogut! at Capernaum, .Jn fi**^''. works up to one of those' profound truths which llxed theni- Bolves especially In the memory of the author of the Fourth (fOS[K?l. It Is not a direct reference to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, but it is a preparatory statement of the deep principle of which that Sacrament Is the expression. Wo sliali Lave more to say OD this bead below (see p. tiSt).