But who after this will say, that it was Paul who first introduced into the Church either the idea that the Sabbath-Law in its Jewish form was no longer binding, or this, that the narrow forms of Judaism were burst by the new wine of that Kingdom, which is that of the Son of Man?
They had all seen it, this miracle of almost new creation. As He did it, He had been filled with sadness: as they saw it, they were filled with madness.' [3589] So their hearts were hardened. They could not gainsay, but they went forth and took counsel with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. Presumably, then, He was within, or quite close by, the dominions of Herod, east of the Jordan. And the Lord withdrew once more, as it seems to us, into Gentile territory, probably that of the Decapolis. For, as He went about healing all, that needed it, in that great multitude that followed His steps, yet enjoining silence on them, this prophecy of Isaiah blazed into fulfilment: Behold My Servant, Whom I have chosen, My Beloved, in Whom My soul is well-pleased: I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall declare judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry aloud, neither shall any hear His Voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory. And in His Name shall the Gentiles trust.'
And in His Name shall the Gentiles trust. Far out into the silence of those solitary upland hills of the Gentile world did the call, unheard and unheeded in Israel, travel. He had other sheep which were not of that fold. And down those hills, from the far-off lands, does the sound of the bells, as it comes nearer and nearer, tell that those other sheep, which are not of this fold, are gathering at His call to the Good Shepherd; and through these centuries, still louder and more manifold becomes this sound of nearing bells, till they shall all be gathered into one: one flock, one fold, one Shepherd. __________________________________________________________________
[3531] Sanh. vii. 4.
[3532] Peah viii. 7.
[3533] In Prov. x. 22.
[3534] Ex. xx. 8.
[3535] Comp. Ber. R. 11 on Gen. ii. 3.
[3536] See Appendix XVII: The Ordinances and Law of the Sabbath.
[3537] Comp. St. John v. 9, 16.
[3538] Comp. The Temple and its Services,' pp. 222, 226, 230, 231.
[3539] The great majority of critics are agreed as to its authenticity.
[3540] The view which I have adopted is that of Scaliger and Lightfoot; the alternative one mentioned, that of Delitzsch. In regard to the many other explanations proposed, I would lay down this canon: No explanation can be satisfactory which rests not on some ascertained fact in Jewish life, but where the fact is merely supposed' for the sake of the explanation which it would afford. Thus, there is not the slightest support in fact for the idea, that the first Sabbath of the second month was so called (Wetstein, Speaker's Commentary), or the first Sabbath in the second year of a septennial cycle, or the Sabbath of the Nisan (the sacred) year, in contradistinction to the Tishri or secular year, which began in autumn. Of these and similar interpretations it is enough to say, that the underlying fact is supposed' for the sake of a supposed' explanation; in other words, they embody an hypothesis based on an hypothesis.
[3541] There were only three Paschal feasts during the public ministry of Christ. Any other computation rests on the idea that the Unknown Feast was the Passover, or even the Feast of Esther.
[3542] St. John v.
[3543] Comp. Appendix XV.
[3544] St. John ii. 13.
[3545] St. John iii. 22; v. 1-3.
[3546] St. John iv. 35.
[3547] St. Matt. iv. 18-22.