ment of a preaching tour in the synagogues of Galilee. Jesus made no stay in Capernaum. He left the town the day after He preached in its synagogue, very early in the morning.’ He left so early in the day because He feared detention by the people. He left in such haste because He knew that He could preach in the synagogues only by the consent of the authorities, which might soon be with- held through sinister influence. This synagogue preaching naturally formed the first phase in Christ’s work. The synagogue presented a ready opportunity of coming into contact with the people. Any man might speak there with the permission of the ruler. But he could speak only so long as he was a persona grata, and Jesus, con- scious of the wide cleavage in thought and feeling between Himself and the scribes, could not but fear that He would not remain such long. It was now or never, at the outset or not at all, so far as the synagogue was concerned.
3. How long this synagogue ministry lasted is not expressly in- dicated. A considerable period is implied in the statement: “ He preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee”.? It is not necessary to take this strictly, especially in view of the populousness of Galilee and the multitude of its towns large and small, as indi- cated by Josephus. But the statement must be taken in earnest so far as to recognise that Jesus had a deliberate plan for a synagogue ministry in Galilee, and that He carried it out to a con- siderable extent. It is not improbable that it was interrupted by the influence of the scribes, whom we find lying in wait for Him on His return from the preaching tour to Capernaum.*
4. With the anecdote in which the scribes figure as captious critics of Jesus a new phase in the story begins. The keynote of the first chapter is popularity ; that of the next is opposition. In this juxtaposition the evangelist is not merely aiming at dramatic effect, but reflecting in his narrative a real historical sequence. The popularity and the opposition were related to each other as cause and effect. It is true that having once entered on this second topic, he groups together a series of incidents illustrating the hostile atti- tude of the scribes, which have a topical rather than a temporal connection, in this probably following the example of his voucher, Peter. These extend from chap. ii. 1 to chap. iii. 6, constituting the
1 Mark i. 35. 2 Mark i. 39.
* Josephus gives the number of towns at 204, the smallest having 15,000 inhabi- tants. Wide his Vita, chap. xlv., and Bell. Fud., iii., 2, 3. * Chap. ii. 1.