Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
1, 2. Here the curtain of the
New Testament is, as it were, drawn up, and the greatest of all
epochs of the Church commences. Even our Lord's own age () is determined by it [BENGEL].
No such elaborate chronological precision is to be found elsewhere in
the New Testament, and it comes fitly from him who claims it as the
peculiar recommendation of his Gospel, that he had "accurately
traced down all things from the first" (). Here, evidently, commences his proper narrative. Also see
on .
the fifteenth year of
Tiberius—reckoning from the period when he was admitted, three
years before Augustus' death, to a share of the empire [WEBSTER
and WILKINSON], about the
end of the year of Rome 779, or about four years before the usual
reckoning.
Pilate . . . governor of
Judea—His proper title was Procurator, but with more
than the usual powers of that office. After holding it about ten
years he was ordered to Rome, to answer to charges brought against
him, but ere he arrived Tiberius died (A.D.
35), and soon after Pilate committed suicide.
Herod—(See on ).
Philip—a different and
very superior Philip to the one whose wife Herodias went to live with
Herod Antipas. (See Mark 6:17).
Iturea—to the northeast
of Palestine; so called from Ishmael's son Itur or Jetur
(1 Chronicles 1:31), and anciently
belonging to the half tribe of Manasseh.
Trachonitis—farther to
the northeast, between Iturea and Damascus; a rocky district,
infested by robbers, and committed by Augustus to Herod the Great to
keep in order.
Abilene—still more to
the northeast, so called from Abila, eighteen miles from
Damascus [ROBINSON].
Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
2. Annas and Caiaphas . . . high
priests—the former, though deposed, retained much of his
influence, and, probably, as sagan or deputy, exercised much
of the power of the high priesthood along with Caiaphas (John 18:13;
Acts 4:6). Both Zadok and Abiathar
acted as high priests in David's time (Acts 4:6), and it seems to have become the fixed practice to have
two (2 Kings 25:18). (Also see on
2 Kings 25:18.)
word of God came unto
John—Such formulas, of course, are never used when
speaking of Jesus, because the divine nature manifested itself in
Him not at certain isolated moments of His life. He was the one
everlasting manifestation of the Godhead—THE
WORD [OLSHAUSEN].
And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
5. Every valley, &c.—levelling
and smoothing, obvious figures, the sense of which is in the
first words of the proclamation, "Prepare ye the way of the
Lord."
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
6. all flesh, c.—(quoted
literally from the Septuagint of ). The idea is that every obstruction shall be so removed as
to reveal to the whole world the Salvation of God in Him whose name
is the "Saviour" (compare Psalms 98:3
Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 49:6;
Isaiah 52:10; Luke 2:31;
Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47).
Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?
10-14. What shall we do then?—to
show the sincerity of our repentance. (Also see on .)
He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.
11. two coats—directed against
the reigning avarice. (Also see on .)
Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?
12. publicans, &c. (Also see
on .)
And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.
And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
14. soldiers . . . Do violence to
none—The word signifies to "shake thoroughly," and so
to "intimidate," probably in order to extort money or other
property. (Also see on .)
accuse . . . falsely—acting
as informers vexatiously, on frivolous or false grounds.
content with your
wages—"rations." We may take this as a warning
against mutiny, which the officers attempted to suppress by largesses
and donations [WEBSTER and
WILKINSON]. And thus the
"fruits" which would evidence their repentance were just
resistance to the reigning sins, particularly of the class to
which the penitent belonged, and the manifestation of an opposite
spirit.
And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;
15-17. whether he were the
Christ—showing both how successful he had been in awakening the
expectation of Messiah's immediate appearing, and the high
estimation, and even reverence, which his own character commanded.
(Also see on .)
John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
16. John answered—either to
the deputation from Jerusalem (see , &c.), or on some other occasion, simply to remove
impressions derogatory to his blessed Master which he knew to be
taking hold of the popular mind. (Also see on .)
saying unto them
all—in solemn protestation. So far from entertaining such a
thought as laying claim to the honors of Messiahship, the meanest
services I can render to that "Mightier than I that is coming
after me," are too high an honor for me. Beautiful spirit,
distinguishing this servant of Christ throughout!
one mightier than I—"the
Mighter than I."
Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
15-17. whether he were the
Christ—showing both how successful he had been in awakening the
expectation of Messiah's immediate appearing, and the high
estimation, and even reverence, which his own character commanded.
(Also see on .)
And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.
18. many other things, c.—such
as we read in John 1:29 John 1:33;
John 1:34; John 3:27-36.
(Also see on John 3:27-43.)
But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done,
19, 20. But Herod, c.—See on
, &c. (Also see on .)
and for all the evils which
Herod had done—important fact here only mentioned, showing how
thoroughgoing was the fidelity of the Baptist to his royal
hearer, and how strong must have been the workings of conscience in
that slave of passion when, notwithstanding such plainness, he "did
many things and heard John gladly" (Mark 6:20
Mark 6:26).
Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.
Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
21. when all the people were
baptized—that He might not seem to be merely one of the crowd.
Thus, as He rode into Jerusalem upon an ass, "whereon yet
never man sat" (), and lay in a sepulchre "wherein was never man yet
laid" (John 19:41), so
in His baptism He would be "separate from sinners."
John 19:41. GENEALOGY OF
JESUS.
And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
23. he began to be about thirty—that
is, "was about entering on His thirtieth year." So our
translators have taken the word (and so CALVIN,
BEZA, BLOOMFIELD,
WEBSTER and WILKINSON,
c.): but "was about thirty years of age when He began [His
ministry]," makes better Greek, and is probably the true
sense [BENGEL, OLSHAUSEN,
DE WETTE,
MEYER, ALFORD,
&c.]. At this age the priests entered on their office ().
being, as was supposed, the
son of Joseph, &c.—Have we in this genealogy, as well as in
Matthew's, the line of Joseph? or is this the line of Mary?—a
point on which there has been great difference of opinion and much
acute discussion. Those who take the former opinion contend
that it is the natural sense of this verse, and that no other would
have been thought of but for its supposed improbability and the
uncertainty which it seems to throw over our Lord's real descent. But
it is liable to another difficulty namely, that in this case Matthew
makes Jacob, while Luke makes "Heli," to be
Joseph's father; and though the same man had often more than one
name, we ought not to resort to that supposition, in such a case as
this, without necessity. And then, though the descent of Mary from
David would be liable to no real doubt, even though we had no table
of her line preserved to us (see, for example, , and see on Luke 2:5),
still it does seem unlikely—we say not incredible—that two
genealogies of our Lord should be preserved to us, neither of which
gives his real descent. Those who take the latter
opinion, that we have here the line of Mary, as in Matthew
that of Joseph—here His real, there His reputed
line—explain the statement about Joseph, that he was "the
son of Hell," to mean that he was his son-in-law, as
the husband of his daughter Mary (as in Ruth 1:11;
Ruth 1:12), and believe that
Joseph's name is only introduced instead of Mary's, in conformity
with the Jewish custom in such tables. Perhaps this view is attended
with fewest difficulties, as it certainly is the best supported.
However we decide, it is a satisfaction to know that not a doubt was
thrown out by the bitterest of the early enemies of Christianity as
to our Lord's real descent from David. On comparing the two
genealogies, it will be found that Matthew, writing more immediately
for Jews, deemed it enough to show that the Saviour was sprung
from Abraham and David; whereas Luke, writing more immediately for
Gentiles, traces the descent back to Adam, the parent stock of
the whole human family, thus showing Him to be the promised "Seed
of the woman." "The possibility of constructing such a
table, comprising a period of thousands of years, in an uninterrupted
line from father to son, of a family that dwelt for a long time in
the utmost retirement, would be inexplicable, had not the members of
this line been endowed with a thread by which they could
extricate themselves from the many families into which every tribe
and branch was again subdivided, and thus hold fast and know the
member that was destined to continue the lineage. This thread was the
hope that Messiah would be born of the race of Abraham and David. The
ardent desire to behold Him and be partakers of His mercy and glory
suffered not the attention to be exhausted through a period embracing
thousands of years. Thus the member destined to continue the lineage,
whenever doubtful, became easily distinguishable, awakening the hope
of a final fulfilment, and keeping it alive until it was consummated"
[OLSHAUSEN].
Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph,
24-30. son of Matthat, &c.—(See
on ). In , Salathiel is called the son, while in , he is called the father of Zerubbabel. But they are
probably different persons.
Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Naum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge,
Which was the son of Maath, which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Semei, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Juda,
Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri,
Which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Addi, which was the son of Cosam, which was the son of Elmodam, which was the son of Er,
Which was the son of Jose, which was the son of Eliezer, which was the son of Jorim, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi,
Which was the son of Simeon, which was the son of Juda, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Jonan, which was the son of Eliakim,
Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David,
Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson,
Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda,
Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor,
Which was the son of Saruch, which was the son of Ragau, which was the son of Phalec, which was the son of Heber, which was the son of Sala,
Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech,
Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan,
Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
38. son of God—Compare .
