The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 175

Herod AntipR• giv<'n in eh. iii. 19, 20. In In order thnt tl,ey who anew~red the qne1- the o,,ur•<' of John's imprisonml'nt, it is tion might. hy their own answer, be k<l to prohnhle thHt very many of his disoiplea faith, so Jnhn, now about to be slBin by b<'<'Rnte h,,ar<'l'II of ,losns. During the early Herod, snnds his disciples to Jesus, in order p<'rind, at sll evrn ts, of the Baptist's cap- that, hy this occru,ion, they who were jealous ti,·itv it. ii! clear that his friends and dis- of the fame of Jesus (eh. ix. 14; John <'iples had frC'e &CC'C'SS to his prison. TLere iii. 26) might see his migLty works and is no doubt but that, in reply to the believe in llim, and that, while their master anxious inquiries of John, his disciples told Mked the question by them, they might him of all the mirnclos they had witnessed, boor the truth for themselves" (St. Jerome, ,rnd the words they had heard, especially, quoted by Wordsworth), To the sRme no doubt, rt'COunting to him mnch of the effect wrote SS. Ambrose, Hilary, Chry- rermon ou the mount which Jesus had sostom, Thcophylact. Among the Reformers, Jatdy delivered ll8 the exposition of his Calvin, Ilcza, and llleluncthon contended for doctrine. We can well imagine these faith- this opinion respecting the Baptist's message ful hut impatient disciples, 11fter detailing to Christ, e.nd in our days Stier and Bishop th<'Be marvds which tl,ev had B<'en, and the Wordsworth. Ou the other hand, Tertullian s!Tange new words of winniHg power which among the Fathers, a.ud nearly all the modern tl,ey l,ad heard, ll&ying to t),eir imprisoned expositors, believe that the question of mast.,·r, "We have seen and heard these John we.s prompted by bis own wavering wondrous things, but the great Teaoher gets faith-a. faltering no doubt she.red in by his no further ; we hear nothing of the standard own disciples. This conclusion (which we of King Me&iu.h being raised, nothing of will term A) is adopted, with slightly the lligh hope of the people being en- varying modifications, by Meyer, Ewald, couraged ; he seems to pay no attention to Neander, Godet, Plumptre, Farrar, and the imperious rule of the foreigner, or the Morrison. This way-(A) generally adopted degradmg tyranny of men like Antipas, by the modem school of expositol'II - of the Herod who bas wrongfully shut you up. understanding the Ba.ptist's question to He ratller withdraws himself, and when the Jesus, is evidently the conclusion which people, fired by bis winning words and would suggest itself to all minds who went mighty acts, begin to grow entbusio.atic, to the story without any preconceived then this strange Man hides himself away. desire to purge the che.re.cter of a great Can he be Mes,ia.h, a.s you onoe said? " sa.i11t from what they imagine to be e. blot: Ver. 19.-.6..nd .John calling unto him two e.nd we she.11 presently see that our Lord, io. of his disciples, sent them to .J el118, llBying, his answer to the question, where e. rebuke Art thou he that should oome ! or look we is exquisitely veiled in e. beatitude, evi- for another 1 What, now, was in J o)lp. the dently understood the forerunner's question Baptist's mind, when from his prison be in this sense. It is thus ever the practice sent his disciples to aak Jesus this anxious of Holy Scripture; while it tenderly and question? Disappointed in the career of lovingly bandies the characters of its heroes, Jesus, possibly himself partly forgotten, it never flinches from the truth. We see accustomed to the wild freedom of a desert- God's noblest saints, such as Moses e.nd life, sufftring from the hopeless imprison- Elijah (John's own prototype) in the Old ment,-had hill faith begun to waver? or Testament, Peter and P11,ul in the New wa.s the question put with e. view of re- Testament, depicted in this book of truth assuring his own disciples, with tile inten- with e.11 their fa.ul ts ; nothing is hid. Only tion of giving these faithful followers of hill one flawless chara.cter appears in its storied an opportun.ity of convincing themselves of pages-it is only the Me.ster of Peter e.nd the power e.nd real glory of Jesus? In Pe.ul who never turns aside from the path other words, wa.s it for hu own sake or for of right. hiB discipla' llak& tba.t be sent to u.sk the Ver. 21.-And in the.t same hour he onred question? Generally speaking, the second many of their infirmities and plagues, and of these two conclusions - tba.t which of evil spirits ; and unto me.ny the.t were ascribed the question to e. desire on tile blind he gave eight. "He knew as God part of John to help hill disciples (which whe.t John's design we.s in sending to him, we will cell B)-wa.s adopted by the ex- and be put it into his heart to send at that positors of tile early Church. A good very time when he himself was working exampl~ of tLis school of i.uterpretation is many miracles which were the true answer the following quotation from St. Jerome: to the questioD '' (Cyril, quoted by Words- "John does not put thid question from worth). ignorance, for be himself hnd proclaimed Ver. 22.--Tell lohn what thing• ye have Christ to be 'the Lamb of God.' But a.sour Been and heard ; how that the blind see, the Lord 11.1!.ked conct:ming the body of Lazarus, lame walk, the lepers are ole&n1ed, the deaf 1 WL.ere h8.1'e ye l&id him?' (John xi. 34), hear, the dead are railed. These mir11,olt11 rn. vn. 1-50.] TIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. 173