612
FOEESIGHT
FOEESIGHT
Jolin undertakes to depict is what was said and done by the incarnated Word, no less what the Synoptics essay is to present the Gospel (as Mark
Suts it) of Jesus Christ the Son of God. It is istinctly a supernatural life that He is repre- sented by them all as liWng ; and the human aspect of it is treated by each alike as an incident in something more exalted, by which it is permitted, rather than on wliicli it 'iinposes itself. Though passed as far a> w;i-; bclitlinu within the limits of humanity, tbi^ liir ifiuains :a all times the life of God manifest in tlie lle>h, and, as depicted by the Evangelists, never escapes beyond the boundaries set by what was suitable to it as such.
The actual instances of our Lord's foresight which are recorded by the Evangelists are not very numerous outside of those which concern the estab- lishment of the Kingdom of God, with which alone, of course, their narratives are particularly en- gaged. Even the few instances of specific exhibi- tions of foreknowledge of what we may call trivial events owe their record to some connexion with this great work. Examples are afforded by the foresight that the casting of the nets at the 'exact time and place indicated by our Lord would secure a draught of fishes (Lk 5*, cf. Jn 21") ; that the first fish that Peter would take when he tlirew his hook into the sea would be one which had swallowed a stater (Mt 17") ; that on entering a given village the disciples should find an ass tied, and a colt >nth it, whose o^vners would be obedient to our Lord's request {Mt 21- ||) ; and tliat on entering Jeru- .salem to make ready for the final passovcr-feast they should meet a man bearing a pitc!;cr, pre- pared to serve the Master's needs (Mk 14'^). In in- stances like these the interlacing of prevision and provision is very intimate, and doubt arises whether they illustrate most distinctly our Lord's Divine fore- sight or His control of events. In other instances the element of foresight comes, perhaps, more purely forward : such are possibly the predictions of the offence of tlie disciples Olt^G'' ), the denial nf Peter {2^^''). and Oi.- tv-i.-li-vy of Judas (26-i ||).
'riiiTf may bf adili'il i !:.■ " 'i..! ' ^-^ uf utterances
in " hirli .)ur I.i.nl -h-" - - ■' i i -ive foresight
,.ttlii- .arecr ..f th..-,. v, i„„n 1|.- -,, lied to His ser- vice lilt 4'-' lu'"- -' 2u- i;4 •, Ju 16- ■) ; and also tliat other series in which He exhibits a like full fore- knowledge of the entire history of tlie Kingdom of God in the world (cf. esp. the parables of the Kingdom, and such passages as Mt 16^' 24^- -* 21-" 24" 26", Lk 19", Jn 14'8- 1»). It is, however, par- ticularly with reference to His own work in estab- lishing the Kin.i;dom, and in regard to the nature of lb ! I'-il^. iliiii 11--- i- particularly laid upon till''' 11 • Iviiowledge. Hisentire
can < - represented by all the
Evan. :, - ..- lull.' 1-1. inly before Him from the beginning, with evei-y detail clearly marked and provided for. It is especially, however, -with refer- ence to the three great events in which His work in establishing His Kingdom is summed up — His death. His resurrection, His return — that the pre- dictions become numerous, if we may not even say constant. Each of the Evangelists rejfresents Him, for example, as foreseeing His death from the start (Jn2i9 3», Mt 12« 9", Mk 2'', Lk 12«5" ; cf. Meyer on Mt 9'= 16=1 . AVeiss on Mk 8" ; Denney, Death of Christ, p. 18 ; '\\Te<Xe,Messiasgeheimnis, p. 19, etc.), and as so ordering His life as to march steadfastly forward to it as its chosen climax (cf. c.ff. AVrede, p. 84 : ' It is accordingly the meaning of jlark that Jesus journeys to Jerusalem because it is His will to die there '). He is represented, therefore, as avoid- ing all that could lead up to it for a time, and then, «lien He was ready for it, as setting Himself stead- fastly to bring it about as He would ; as speaking of it only guardedly at first, and afterwards, when the
Lk 13« 17'-s, Mt aol"
time was ripe for it, as .setting about assiduously to lirc[iare His disciples for it. Similarly -with respect to His resuiTection, He is reported as having it in mind, indeed, from the earliest days of His ministry (Jn 2'^ .Mt la*" 16-', Mk 8". Lk 9-), but adverting to it with paedagogical care, so as to prepare rather than confuse the minds of His disciples. The same in substance may be said ^rith reference to His return (Mt 10=^ 16-^ Mk 8»* 9\ Lk 9'*- ").
A survey in chronological order of the passages in which He is reported as speaking of these three great events of the future, cannot fail to leave a distinct impression on the mind not only of the large space they occupy in the Evangelical narra- tive, but of the great place they take as foreseen, according to that narrative, in the life and work of our Lord. In the following list the passages in which He adverts to His death stand in the order given them in Robinson's Hnmirynij of the Gospels :