[3818] The Mishnah (Ab. iii. 2), and the Talmud (Ber. 6 a), infer from Mal. iii. 16, that, when two are together and occupy themselves with the Law, the Shekhinah is between them. Similarly, it is argued from Lament. iii. 28, and Exod. xx. 21, that if even one alone is engaged in such pursuits, God is with him and will bless him.
[3819] St. Matt. xviii. 19, 20.
[3820] St. Matt. xviii. 21.
[3821] Babha K. viii. 7.
[3822] Jer. Babha K. 6 c.
[3823] Yoma 86 b.
[3824] Yoma 87.
[3825] It makes no difference in the argument, whether we translate seventy times seven, or else seventy times and seven.
[3826] The Parable, with which the account in St. Matthew closes, will be explained by and by in the Second Series of Parables. __________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER IV. THE JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM - CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE LAST PART OF THE GOSPEL-NARRATIVES - FIRST INCIDENTS BY THE WAY.
(St. John vii. 1-16; St. Luke ix. 1-56; 57-62; St. Matthew viii. 19-22.)
THE part in the Evangelic History which we have now reached has this peculiarity and difficulty, that the events are now recorded by only one of the Evangelists. The section in St. Luke's Gospel from chapter ix. 51 to chapter xviii. 14 stands absolutely alone. From the circumstance that St. Luke omits throughout his narrative all notation of time or place, the difficulty of arranging here the chronological succession of events is so great, that we can only suggest what seems most probable, without feeling certain of the details. Happily, the period embraced is a short one, while at the same time the narrative of St. Luke remarkably fits into that of St. John. St. John mentions three appearances of Christ in Jerusalem at that period: at the Feast of Tabernacles, [3827] at that of the Dedication, [3828] and His final entry, which is referred to by all the other Evangelists. [3829] But, while the narrative of St. John confines itself exclusively to what happened in Jerusalem or its immediate neighborhood. it also either mentions or gives sufficient indication that on two out of these three occasions Jesus left Jerusalem for the country east of the Jordan (St. John x. 19-21; St. John x. 39-43, where the words in ver. 39, they sought again to take Him,' point to a previous similar attempt and flight). Besides these, St. John also records a journey to Bethany - though not to Jerusalem - for the raising of Lazarus, [3830] and after that a council against Christ in Jerusalem, in consequence of which He withdrew out of Judæan territory into a district near the wilderness' [3831] - as we infer, that in the north, where John had been baptizing and Christ been tempted, and whither He had afterwards withdrawn. [3832] We regard this wilderness' as on the western bank of the Jordan, and extending northward towards the eastern shore of the Lake of Galilee. [3833]
If St. John relates three appearances of Jesus at this time in Jerusalem, St. Luke records three journeys to Jerusalem, [3834] the last of which agrees, in regard to its starting point, with the notices of the other Evangelists, [3835] always supposing that we have correctly indicated the locality of the wilderness' whither, according to St. John xi. 54, Christ retired previous to His last journey to Jerusalem. In this respect, although it is impossible with our present information to localise the City of Ephraim,' [3836] the statement that it was near the wilderness,' affords us sufficient general notice of its situation. For, the New Testament speaks of only two wilderness,' that of Judæa in the far South, and that in the far North of Peræa, or perhaps in the Decapolis, to which St. Luke refers as the scene of the Baptist's labours, where Jesus was tempted, and whither He afterwards withdrew. We can, therefore, have little doubt that St. John refers [3837] to this district. And this entirely accords with the notices by the other Evangelists of Christ's last journey to Jerusalem, as through the borders of Galilee and Samaria, and then across the Jordan, and by Bethany to Jerusalem.