The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 177

dN'~t. truest s0Me or the word. Ah I pionOC'r. The usual cxplnnntlon adopted by hio.:her ,till, WE-nt on thl' Tt'RChPr, ,John WM most if not all modem thoologiaus of tbo Inst nnH'h mc>l'C' thRn II prophet.. \\·h11t th!ln P cl1111ee of the venre ia, that, groat as John ,111,I the by-!!IRndt>n! m11r,·elll.'d; what "'~ WRII, yet he t.hnt Is least among Ohrietinna .-,,nhl he be 7 WM he, peradventure, the who ha.Vil been born of God ond hove ao- lll,•~siah • ceptt>d NI an Rl't.iole of their faith the oruoi- Y,·r. 27.-Thia iB h6, of whom it ia written. fixion nnd ascension of the Bon of God, ia Bebo.id. l 1end my mesaenger before thy faoe, gl'ffiter than that great prophet; or, in which shall prepare thy way before thee. other words, the humblost obild or the new He quietly answel"I! the qu~t.ion surging kini,;dom is suporior to the grea.test prophet up in the list0ners' hearts. No; not !lfre- of I.ho old. But mnny of Ute ,viseet aud host ~iah. but his forerunner. C'entmi{IS ago the of the Fnthers of the Churoh-omongst mission of tliis John was foretold. Rnd others Chrysostom, Augustine, Hilar1, and exadb· describc:-d bv one of the well-known Theophylact-11.nd grave difficulty m ao- and honoured prophet line. They who were O<'pting this too sweeping and fooile ex- listening. many of th,·m, knew the words plnnation of a hard saying. They 81lggest well. e.s the Tea.cher q noted from the gt'88,t what seems to the writer of this Exposition Malachi. The old ring of the famollll a more reverential meaning t.o the Lord'■ pre<li~.tion we.s nnchange<l; perhctps few of wore.ls here. By "the least" we prefer, tlie by-ste.n<lers noticed the slight alteration then, wilh Chrysostom and other ancient wl,icll was made by Jesus as he quoted. Fathers, to understo.nd Jesus himself. The But in after-days the deep signifioance of literal -meaning of the Greek µ.11<pJnpos is the seemingly trilling chauge, we may well " the lesser," not " least" (in the Revised i~<>ine, was the subject of many a deep Version, in the text we find "he that is but snh-mn hoar of meditation among the twelve little," but in the margin "lesser"). By &nd the earlv l, aders of the faith. The "lesser" or "little" Chrysostom supposes that w,,,-ds in l\laL iii. I smnd thus: " Behold, the Saviour refen t.o I.Jimself as leas than I "·:U send my messenger, and he shall John in age and according to the opiniom of prepare the way before me." Our Loro so many. "Thus, then, among the sons of men chaTl{?8l the teJ;:t that, inet.ead of " before no prophet greater than John the Baptist me," it read.. with this slight duference, he.s arisen ; yet there is one among you ~ Behold, I send my messenger before thy le:seer in ege and perhaps in public estima- face, which shall prepare tLy way before tion,-iu the kingdom of God, though, greater thee." The Lard who speaks by the thu.u he." W urdeworth strengthens the above prophets in l\Ialachl announces hiTMelf as int.crprd.ation by his comment on the words, the coming angel of the covenant: " my "among those that are born of women." messenger shall prepare the way before "No one among those born of human parents me ; " bnt thill, the Lord who is come e.e had appeared greater than this John the ti,e Son of man, may not e.e yet openly Baptidt ; but do not suppose that he is d,-clare: it is enough that by the thrice- greater than I. I am not -y,vv11Tos -ywa11</;;v, repeated IJ'oii (" thy face," "tliy way," but 0,oii, und though after him in the " before thee"), he signifies that he is gospel because he is my precursor, yet I marked out and referred to by the Fa.ther, aru greater Lhan he.'' This great expositor, See bow, without directly uttering it, he while on the wllole preferring the usual uevertlleless announces his ,..,.., ,l,,., (" I am interpretation, yet considers that the ex- he") in his sublime humility (so Blier, planution which refers "he that is least" ' Words of the Lord Jesllll '). Godet preeenui t.o Christ, is not lightly to be set aside. If the same thought from another poiut of view: this interpretation be adopted, the usual "ln the prophet's eyes he who was sending, punctlllltion of the passage must be slightly and he before whom the way 'W&8 t.o be altered thus: "He the.t is lesser, in the prepared, were one and the same Person, kingdom of God is greater than he." J eLovah. Hence the ' before me' of Mala- Ver. 29.-And all the people that hee.rd chi. But for Jesus, who is speaking of him, and the publioans, justified God. This himsdf, aud never coufounds Limself with is not, as many expositors have assumed, the Fatlier, a dist.inc1iou Lecawe nec.essary. a statement of St. Luke's own as to the It .is not JeLovah speaki11g of L.iruself, Lut effect of John's preaching on varied classes J cLovah speaking io J t:SUll; hence the form of his hearers, but the words are still the • uefore thee.' " words of Jesus: it is a continuation of his Ver. 28.-For I ■ay unto you, Among eulogy of the Baptist. He says here that the those that are bom of women, there is not people, " the folk," listened gladly to him: & great.er prophet than lohn the :Bapti.t: th,,y were persuaded in grea.t numben of but he that is least ill the kingdom of God ia the necessity of 11, changed life, and were in graater than he. These striking words clOlltl coase.quence baptized by him. The mean- t.bc llu!er'a 1plendid testimony io ihe grea.t i.u& of the tenn, "jUBtified God," ii thai on. vn 1-50.] TlIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. 175