next event, the delivery of the parable of the sower, was certainly posterior to the return to Capernaum, and yet produced, according to the same testimony, in part by the resort of the multitude from every city; such as might have been the effect of the circuit itself. The fact of this circuit, it is true, rests upon the single authority of St. Luke. St. Mark, after the ordination of the Twelve, which certainly took place out of Capernaum, adds, xal povraι eis olxov-which would still be true, though, since the ordination, Jesus and the Twelve had both visited, and left, Capernaum, and been any where else; provided that they had returned thither again, before what begins to be next related. There would be, on this principle, an interruption in the continuity, but no impeachment of the entire truth and correctness, of St. Mark's narrative. Indeed, the very particular which it mentions next —καὶ συνέρχεται πάλιν ὄχλος—contains an intimation that, since iii. 7-12. (when our Lord was described as surrounded by immense multitudes, and from every part, as it was) he must have been somewhere else; during which interval he had ceased to be attended by those multitudes, and, being now come back to Capernaum, was beginning to be surrounded by new. The omission, by St. Mark, of the intermediate circuit, is, in reality, (as we have observed elsewhered,) the natural consequence of its omission by St. Matthew also; for which omission likewise some reasons were there alleged: while its omission by both might be the very motive to produce its express mention by St. Luke. A similar omission, as we shall see hereafter, produces a similar supplement on another occasion, of even greater extent than this. Nor will any one pretend to deny that, if the course of events from Mark ii. 23. to iii. 19. be carefully compared with the similar course of events from Mark iii. 19. to vi. 56. which brings the account to the close of our Saviour's second year, there must have been an hiatus of at least four months in duration; which hiatus could not have come any where beb Luke viii. 4-8. c iii. 19. d Vol. i. Diss. i. and iii. fore or after Mark iii. 19. but might have critically fallen out there-if we suppose the intermediate circuit in question-between ὃς καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν, and καὶ ἔρχονται εἰς οίκον. I assume, then, that the close of this circuit is indicated here, by the return of our Lord, with his disciples, to Capernaum there alluded to: and from this point of time, as the sequel demonstrates, must be dated also the course of proceedings at Matt. xii. 22. The reference, however, in the rore, at the beginning of this verse, cannot be understood of what went before; it must be understood solely of what comes after; for he shewed, xii. 15. that our Lord had left Capernaum-and he shews, xii. 46. that he was there again—and, yet, no mention of his return is interposed. The notice of time, then, in question, is to be construed according to the idiom of this Evangelist in other like instances; as an admonition to the reader, to attend to what is about to be related-and to the course of events thenceforward-but nothing more. We possess, therefore, at Luke viii. 1-3. an evident proof of another circuit of Galilee; which set out from Capernaum, before it began at Nain; and, after visiting city and village in order, terminated again at Capernaum: on all which accounts it must be pronounced a general circuit, and, as only one other such has yet been ascertained before it, a general circuit the second of its kind. The time taken up by it, on the same principle as before, would be three or four months at least; and if it began about the feast of Pentecost in our Lord's second year, (which was May 19.) it would be over about the feast of Tabernacles, (which began September 23.): and this conclusion may be further confirmed as follows. I. The parable of the sower, delivered soon after-though probably not before the close of the feast, and, consequently, the first week in our October, at the earliest-may well be supposed to contain a reference to the labours of the field at the time; not only because the season, if it was what we cause the past year, dated from seed-time to seed-time, had actually been a Sabbatic year. When this was over, the labours of agriculture would be renewed, at their accustomed period, even with more activity than ever. If so, it is a natural presumption that the parable was delivered at seedtime, and, therefore, after (but probably not long after) the feast of Tabernacles at least. II. The storm on the lake of Galilee, which happened in the evening of the same day, has been conjectured to intimate that the autumnal equinox was either arrived or past; both which would be the case after the expiration of the feast of Tabernacles, October 1. A similar phenomenon occurs at the time of the ensuing Passover, and, consequently, about as much later than the vernal; and these two instances are sufficient to prove that the weather, on the sea of Tiberias, at other times so settled and regular, could have become disturbed or tempestuous only at the cardinal points of the year. III. The most decisive argument in proof of this fact appears to me to be supplied by Mark iii. 22. in the mention of the Scribes, who are said to have come down from Jerusalem. Theophylact observes, Εἰ δὲ πᾶσαι αἱ χῶραι εἶχον Γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαίους, ἀλλὰ οἱ ἐντιμιώτεροι ἐν Ἱερου σαλὴμ ἦσαν· διὸ καὶ οὗτοι ἐφθόνουν μάλιστα. It is very true, as St. Luke proves, that Scribes, and probably Pharisees, were to be found in every part of the country, as well as in Jerusalem; but the presence of Scribes from Jerusalem, who had come down on purpose upon this occasion, is intended of something more than usual. After a certain time, which I believe was John v. 1. the time of the second Passover, whenever this circumstance is expressly mentioned, there is reason to conclude that it implies a feast to have recently transpired, and a feast which had passed without being attended by our Saviour. After such times, therefore, more especially, these men appear to have been sent down from Jerusalem expressly, to inquire after Jesus-to discover where he was-and to watch and report upon his conduct. The second feast of Tabernacles was one of the solemnities which, as it has been shewn already, he could not personally have attended; accordingly, Scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem are perceived, immediately afterwards, to be in his company. The third Passover is another feast, of which it is still more certain that he did not keep it in person; and, directly after that also, the presence of the same description of persons, and from the same quarter, tempting him with insidious questions, is found to be specified. It strengthens the argument, that they are seen, in each instance, to be attending upon him in Capernaum, our Lord's stated place of residence in general-and, as it would seem, during the intervals of the feasts, which he had not gone up to in person, more particularly. If the same intimations do not recur, at any such periods, after the third Passover, it is because our Lord either attended the feasts himself, or was travelling before and after them, or purposely kept aloof from Capernaum. With the return to Capernaum on this occasion, the three Evangelical accounts coincide, and for a time go on, together. Yet the length of the stay there, as far as it is related in detail, I think it is possible to demonstrate, could not have exceeded two full days; the cause of so short a residence having been, in all probability, the first instance of the blasphemy against the Spirit, on one of those days, and its repetition, or something very like its repetition, by the same persons (those, in each instance, who had previously come down to watch our Lord) on the next. With a view to this demonstration, it will be necessary to harmonize briefly the several accounts in somewhat of a particular detail; by doing which, I shall shew that Jesus visited Gadara, for the first time in the course of his ministry, on the first of these days, but did not return to Capernaum until the next. I. The second general circuit of Galilee being concluded, our Saviour and his disciples return to Capernaum, and there ἔρχονται εἰς οἶκονῦ. 8 Mark iii. 19. II. Besides the multitudes who would naturally accompany him wheresoever he went, this return to Capernaum, and the news of his being resident there, might collect more. But, between the return and the resort of the multitude (συνέρχεται πάλιν ὄχλος h) we have supposed that the feast of Tabernacles possibly intervened. The people who had hitherto attended on our Saviour, and, perhaps, his disciples themselves, (though that is by no means certain,) all, in short, but himself, it may be presumed, would go up to this feast; and the resort next specified would be strictly a new resort. To all these the ministerial attentions of our Lord were indefatigable—so much so, that neither he, nor his disciples, had time even to eat. III. His relations, therefore, who also were living in Capernaum, consisting of his mother, and his brethren-Joseph, in all probability, having been long since dead—apprised of these circumstances, and afraid, as we may suppose, for his health, go forth for the purpose mentioned Mark iii. 21. and at a time, which the preceding verse may very well imply was the time of some repast, probably the morning's. IV. Before their arrival, the demoniac, blind and dumb, is brought to our Lord, and healed; after which the blasphemy, on the part of the Pharisees-the discourse in answer to it—the demand of a sign from heaven-the refusal of that demand-the sequel of the refutation of the blasphemy-as recorded by St. Matthew and St. Mark, either wholly, or in part, are all consecutively delivered'. V. At the end of the whole, our Lord's relations now arrived; and, finding the entrance of the house beset, sent a message to him withinm. By refusing to attend to that message, the object of which was to interrupt the functions of his ministry, our Lord not only reproved his relations for their improper, though, perhaps, well-meant, interference with his duties, but, also, by the pointed contrast between his disciples and them, intimated to the multitude that, in h Mark iii. 20. 1 xii. 24-45. iii. 22-30. i John ii. 12. * Matt. xii. 22. 23. Mark iii. 31-35. |
