often added to affirmatives, to exclude all Exceptions. Job 5. 17. Pſal. 40. 10, 11, 12, eHe did not tell them once ſo, but again and again, becauſe many were muſing about it, Lube 3. 15. f I am not that great Mefiah which God hath promiſed you, and in the exp:tts-. tion of whom you live, Luk, 2. 25, 38. and 19.11. John 4. 25. The Diligence we ſhall conſtantly obſerve in the Servants of Goc. in Holy Writ, to avoid the arrogating of that Honour to theralelve, which 1s due only to God and Chriſt ; together with Jobn's Steadinels and Plainneſs, doth very well become all Profeſſors, but the Miniſt- ers of the Goſpel eſpecially.
21 And they asked him, What then ? Art thou Elia y ?
he anſwered, No k.
g John was at Bethabara when theſe Meſſengers came to him, v. 28, they asked him if he were Elias. The Jews had not oltiy an Expedation of the Meſſiah, but of Eljas to come as a Mellenget before him, according to the Prophecy, Mal. 4. 5. as appearcin; Matth. 17. 10. Mat. 9, 11. of which they had a groſs Concep!i- on here, That Elias ſhould come out of Heaven perſonally, or # leaſt that his Soul ſhould come into another Body (according t9 the Pythagorean Opinion) now the meaning of the Prophecy was, That one ſhould come like E/ias, and this was fulfilled in Jobn, Luke I 17. as Our Saviour tells us, Matth. 19. 12. Matk 9+ 13: but they asked the Queſtion according to that notion they had of Eli. h To which John anſwereth, that he was not neither that Elias that aſcended in a Fiery Chariot to Heaven z nor any body informed with Elias's Soul, ( and thus the words of our Saviour, Matth. 17- 12: Mark 9, 12. are cafily reconciled to this Text. ) 7? They g9 01 and ask him if he were that Prophet, or a Prophet, Some think that he meant the Prophet promiſed, Dext. 18. 18. but that was no other than Chriſt himſelf, which he had before denied himſelt to <r nor doth it appear from any Textof Scripture, that the Je = any ExpeRation of any other particular Prophet 3 but 1t 15 Pt,
from Luke 9.8. that they had a notion that 1t was poſſible one 9i " fd
the. old Prophets wight rife again from the Dead, for fo they 85,
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ople they ſhould not eat fleſh one, or two, or five, or ten, or twenty
days, becauſe they ſhould eat it a whole Month together,
22 Then ſaid they unto him, Who art thou /? that we may give an anſwer to them that ſent us z, What faiſt chou of thy ſelf ?
/ Hitherto Fobn had given them only a Negative Anſwer, and told them who he was not ; he was neither Chriſt, nor the Elias,
nor that Prophet they expedted ; neither any of the old Prophets riſen from the Dea 3 - nor any Prophet at all in a ſtri& ſenſe (as were the Prophets of the Old Teſtament z ) they preſs him to a dired, plain, poſitive Anſwer. m That they might give an An- ſxer to thofe that ſent them, who did not ſend them to enquire what he was not, but what he was =» And there were various talks and diſcourſes of the Pcople about him, which they were not willing to take up and run away witi; but they deſired to have it
from himſelf. 23 * Hefaid, I a» the voice of onecrying in the wilder-
,1, nels, Make ſtraight the way of the [ord, as {aid the prophet 2 Efaias 0,
0 We have the ſame, Matth. 2. 3. Mar. 1.3. Scethe Notes there, Chenmitius thinks, that John choſe rather to preach, and fulfil his Miniſtry in the Wilderneſs, than in the Temple; to
make an illuſtrious difference betwixt himſelf, who was but the Jord's Meſſenger, and whoſe Office was but to prepare the Lord's
way, and his Lord himſelf, of whom it was Prophecied, Mal.
3.1, The Lord whim yo! feek, ſhall ſuddenly come to his Hbly Temple; upon which account Hagga! prophecied, Haggai 2. 9:
That the Glory of that Jatter houſe ( builded by Exra, and Zerobabzl , and Nehemiah ) ſhould be greater than of the former.
24 And they which were ſent, were of the Phari- ſees p.
(7) Who theſe Phariſees were, h:th been before explained in our Notes on Matth. 3. 7. Thev were of the ſtrited Set of the Jewiſh Religion, As 26. 5» The greateſt part of their Councils was made up of thoſe of this Set, as may be learned from As 23. They were the men moſt Zealous for, and tenacious of the Fewiſh Rites; and would allow nothing to be added to the jewiſh Worſhip to what they had received concerning it, either from the Law of God, or the Tra- tions of the Elders.
25 And they asked him, and faid unto him, Why Bap- tizeſt thou then, if thou be not that Chriſt,nor Eltas, neither that Prophet q ?
qThe Phariſees themſelves would allow the Meſſiah, or Elias or a
Priphet, ro make any additions to, or alterations 1n the Worſhip of God, but none elſe : Hence it is, they ask, by what Authority he-
Baptized, if he were noe of theſe ? From whence we may learn, That although they might have ſome Umbrage of that Biptiſmal Waſhing which was under the Goſpe!, to commence into a Sacrament, or faede- ral ſign in the waſhing of their Proſelytes, or of jewith Children when they were Circumciſed 3 yet John's Aion was looked upon as new, who Baptized adult Jews z now the care of the Sanhedrim was to keep the Worſhip of God ihcorrupt. and the Phariſees amongſt them had a particular Zeal in the caſe, eſpecially ſo far as the Traditzons of the Eiders were concerned.
26 John anſwered them, ſaying, r, * I baptize with
* Water * but there ſtandeth one amongſt you, whom you
know not 5 ;
! This was no ſtrict Anſwer to their Queſtion ; which was not, how but why he Baptized ? But proper Replyes are often cal'ed &nſwers n Scripture, though not appoſite to the Queſtion. * 1 Baptize you with meer Water s, but there hath ſtood one amongſt you, Z5yxgy, Or (by an vſual putting ofone Tenſe for another) there ſtandeth one 3 (Chriſt bad been there with the Croud, Luke 3: 15, 21. and poſſi- bly was amongt them ſtill, when John ſpake theſe werds,) whom you
40 not, not ſo muci1 as ore tenzs, by Face,