ancl force! Crom them the expression that he Ver. 35.-And when the men of that place le the promiee,l Representative of God on had knowledge of him, they 1ent out into e1uth (Pa. ii 7 : of. eh. ii. 15, note), Ob- all that ooDll.tJ"Y round about (cf. eh. iii. 5). so"o, however, that not even so is it a pro- Matthew alone states definitely that this zeal fession of fo.ith In hie absolute Divinity. was shown by the inhabitants of the Plain (Ktibel'e note on this subject in oh. viii. 29 of Gennesaret. Mark's words (vi. 55) are is very good.) vaguer. And brought Dllto him. all that Vere. 34-36.-On landing at Gennesaret were diseased ; •ick (Revised Version) ; cf. cb. iv. 24; viii. 16. numberB come to him and are healed. Parallel Ver. 36.-And besought; and they beiiOVAJht passage: Mark vi. 53-56, which ie fuller. (Revised Version); i.e. the sick, for probably Ver. 34.-And when they were gone over the change of person takes place here and -hadcrossed over(Revieed Version); 61a.1r,pd.- not e.t" that they might toucb." Him that O'lll''TU, eh, ix. 1-they oame into the land they might only touch the hem of his of G!inneearet-to the land, unto Gennesai·et garment (eh. ix. 20, 21, notes): e.nd a.a (Revised Version, with the true text). The many as touched were made perfectly whole plain El-Ruu;er, part of the nol'th-west side (6,.ud,O,,,ua.v); were made whok (Revised of the lake, and some three miles long by Version). For Ii,&. here is probably not ono broad, extending, roughly, from Chorazin intensive, but rather gives the thought of (perhaps Khan Minyeh; but comp. eh. xi. being brought out sa.fe through the clanger. 21, note) to Magclala.. (For its fertility, see In the LXX. o,a.ad,(e<r0a., is a. common Jo1ephue, 'Wars,' iii 10. 8.) rendering of i:hc:i, " escape."
HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-12.-The death of John the Baptist. I. HEROD THE TETRABOR. 1. Be heard of the fa~ of Jesus. Herod Antipas was a weak, cruel, voluptuous tyrant; he resembled his father in his vices, not in his capacity and energy of character. He heard of Christ's miracles; it seems strange if, as the words appear to imply, he now heard of Christ for the first time. For Christ had long been preaching in Galilee; about a year, perhaps more. Great multitudes had flocked to hear him; his mighty works had excited a far-spread interest and wonder. Herod may have been absent from Galilee dnring much of the time, possibly at the distant fortress of Macham1s, where John the Baptist was imprisoned. But his life was spent in ostentatious display and sensual excesses. He would 'take no interest in a religious movement unless his fears were aroused by the popular excitement which it caused. His courtiers would not listen themselves to the preaching of Jesus; or if any did, such M the nobleman whose son was healed by the Lord at Capemaum, or Chuza, Herod's steward (possibly identical with that noble- man), whose wife Joanna ministered to our Lord, they wonld not relate to the hard- hearted selfish tyrant teaching so uncongenial to his character. The miracles, it is true, would excite more interest; they would stir up his curiosity. Some account of them reached him at last, Thus the ruler of Galilee was perhaps one of the last men in the province to hear of the Saviour. The great in this world are not always great in the kingdom of heaven. The tumult of political cares and the glitter of earthly pomp often prevent them from hearing the fame of Jesus. His bless~d work ~oes on among the lowly. Soule are healed, the eyes of the blind are opened. The good news does not reach those who dwell in kings' houses. Thank God, it is not always so; there are men high in rank who are also living near to Christ. 2. His superstitfowfear~. Herod is thought to have been II Sadducee. Probably he had no real religious convictions. But inconsistencies are common in human nature ; the unbelieving are not unfreqnently superstitions. Herod was haunted by a guilty conscience. The spectres of those whom he had foully murdered troubled his dreams. Christ's mighty works excited his atten- tion. No ordinary man, he knew, could do such things. It must be some one more than mortal; some one in wholll the powers of the unseen world were active and energetic. And conscience whispered, and an awful shudder thrilled through the despot's soul," It is John-John, whom I beheaded." Better to be the most miserable prisoner perishing in the gloomy dungeons of Machairus than that tyrnnt, whom the world called happy, terror-stricken in his gilded palaoe. 3, B1J desired to see Christ. The Lord would not l'.lome; he departed into a desert pince. " I will come and heal '38 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MAT'rHEW. [on. XIV. 1---.'18.