Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him. 14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt: 15 and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My Son. Hos. 11. 1. 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, 18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamen 15. "Out of Egypt have I called My Son." Here we have one of the plainest and most striking instances of the double meaning which belongs to much of prophecy. These words, as written by Hosea, no doubt refer, in their first and simplest sense, to the bringing of the children of Israel out of Egypt by Moses. But, whether the prophet who spake them saw this or no, they bore a future meaning as well as a past, and were a prophecy of the calling out of Egypt of Him who was alone in the highest and truest sense God's Son. 16. "Mocked." So it must have seemed to Herod. It was not so in reality. "All the children." From the Greek word in this place we find that it was all the male children only who were slain. 18. "In Rama" &c. These words again are an instance of the double meaning of prophecy, or rather perhaps of the deeper truth that all the Old Testament is full of Christ, and finds it's highest and most perfect meaning in Him. The prophet Jeremiah speaks these words of the children of Israel being carried away into captivity to Babylon. On that sad journey they would pass near Rachel's grave, which was in the way from Bethel to Bethlehem, and so probably near to Ramah, which would be on that route, lying a little north of Jerusalem. Rachel is pictured by the prophet as rising from her grave and weeping, as she sees her children pass to the land of their captivity. She is now again pictured as weeping over the infant martyrs of Bethlehem. Rachel is a type of Jewish mothers. How frightful to the mothers of Bethlehem was 16. "According to the time." Some think that the slaughter of the infants under two years of age, coupled with these words, which seem to imply that the limit of age was fixed in consequence of the time at which the star had appeared to the wise men, shows that these events did The fourth year before the date called Anno Domini 1. tation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. Jer. 31. 15. 19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young Child's life. 21 And he arose, and took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judæa in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside 'into the parts of Galilee: 23 and he came and dwelt in a city called "Nan Judg. 13. 5. zareth: that it might be fulfilled "which was spoken 1 Sam. 1. 11. by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. 1 ch. 3. 13. Luke 2. 39. m John 1. 45. this pitiless murder of their innocent children. Yet Rachel is comforted in the prophecy :-"Refrain_thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes "from tears: for.. they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall "come again to their own border." Surely the same comfort might be for the mothers of Bethlehem; for are not their little ones to come again from the land of the "last enemy," even death? And may not they have hope in their end to meet their lost children in the border of their eternal home? The Church keeps the memory of these murdered infants on the Innocents' Day. Does their fate seem to us sad and cruel? It was sad to the weeping mothers. It was cruel in the merciless king. But to the little babes themselves surely it was very blessed. "These were re"deemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto God, and to the "Lamb" (Rev. xiv. 4.). Martyrs in act, though not in will, they were taken away from the evil to come, and they are "without fault before "the Throne of God" (Rev. xiv. 5.), through Him in whose behalf they died. 19. "When Herod was dead." after his crowning act of malice and nocents. This wicked tyrant died directly cruelty in the murder of the In 22. "Thither." That is, probably, to Bethlehem, which the holy family would naturally desire to make their home after the wonderful events which connected them so closely with it. 23. "He shall be called a Nazarene." These words are not to be found in any of the Prophets. Nazareth was a place much despised among the Jews, so that Nazarene" was a term of reproach; and some have thought that St. Matthew here refers to the general prophecies of our Lord's lowly and despised condition. Others (with perhaps more probability) seek the prophecy in the various passages which speak of Christ as the "Branch," such as that in which He is spoken of as a Branch out of the root of Jesse (Isa. xi. 1.). The name Nazareth' is derived from the Hebrew word which signifies branch', and means 'the city of branches'. 6 CHAPTER III. 1 John preacheth: his office: life, and baptism. 7 He reprehendeth the Pharisees, 13 and baptizeth Christ in Jordan. IN those days came John the Baptist, preaching ain the wilderness of Judæa, A. D. 26. 30th Year of our Lord's life. a Josh. 14. 10. 2 and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of Dan. 2. 44. heaven is at hand. ch. 4. 17. & 10. 7. So that perhaps it is here meant that, when Jesus was popularly called a Nazarene, that is, one belonging to the city of branches,' it was a fitting name for Him whom the prophets call the 'Branch'. It is possible that the words may be taken from some lost prophecy, or some unwritten prophecy which had been handed down by tradition among the Jews. CHAPTER III. 1-12. The Preaching of John the Baptist. St. Mark i. 1-8. St. Luke iii. 1-18. 1. "John the Baptist." The fore-runner of Christ, prophesied of by Malachi, the last of the prophets, under the name of Elias, because in his teaching, as well as in his character, he was to resemble the great prophet Elijah. The Angel prophesied to his father Zacharias, before his birth, that he should go before the Lord "in the spirit and power of Elias." "Wilderness of Judea." This was the wild and thinly peopled district near the river Jordan and the "hill country of Judæa." 2. "Repent ye." The preacher of repentance must first come before Christ is received as the Saviour. Repentance is the first step towards Christ. Mark how this cry, "Repent ye," is ever the first to be uttered. Here it is the preaching of John the Baptist. We learn that Jesus Himself preached, saying, "The kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, "and believe the Gospel" (iv. 17.). Also, in St. Mark's Gospel (vi. 12.) we find that the Apostles, after their solemn call and commission, went out and preached that men "should repent." And when the Holy Ghost was given on the Day of Pentecost, and the people were "pricked in their "heart" at St. Peter's preaching, and asked, "Men and brethren, what "shall we do?" the Apostle's first word in answer is, "Repent" (Acts ii.38.). And what then is this all-important thing, Repentance? It is not mere sorrow, however deep and sincere. This is only the beginning of repentance, for St. Paul says, "Godly sorrow worketh repentance" (2 Cor. vii. 10.). Also the word used in the New Testament for repentance' means a good deal more than godly sorrow.' It means a thorough change of heart; a change from sin to godliness, from evil thoughts and desires to good, from earth to heaven. This is no light change. It is often called 'conversion,' which means a turning round,- -a complete and entire change. But, according to our present use of the words, repentance is a wider word than conversion for conversion generally means the 1. "In those days." This does not mean directly after what was last recorded, but probably has reference to the dwelling at Nazareth, which seems to have been our Lord's home until the time here spoken of. For the ac curate date of "those days," see St. Luke iii. 1. "John the Baptist." St. Luke begins his Gospel with a full account of the birth of John the Baptist, and his connection with our Saviour. A. D. 26. 3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the с © Luke 1. 76. Wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. d 2 Kin. 1. 8. Zech. 13. 4. Isai. 40. 3. 4 And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his Lev. 11.22. meat was locusts and wild honey. f1 Sam. 14. 25, 26. 5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judæa, and all the region round about Jordan, turning to God after a long course of sin; while repentance is used for the turning to God after any sin. Thus conversion is that which the more hardened sinner needs. But all need repentance, for the best have daily sins and shortcomings to repent of. "The kingdom of heaven." This expression is used only by St. Matthew, but means the same as the kingdom of God,' as used by the other Evangelists. It is generally used to signify the kingdom of Christ on earth, the kingdom of the gospel, the church of Christ. This is indeed a heavenly kingdom, for though it is now set up on the earth, yet its nature, its purpose, its powers, and its end, are "of heaven." That it is used to signify Christ's kingdom on earth can be seen most plainly by the various parables in which our Saviour likens the kingdom of heaven to such things as of necessity belong to this present time. (See especially the parables in the thirteenth chapter of this Gospel.) The time for the setting up of that heavenly kingdom was at hand. The King Himself was come, and was about to receive and establish His kingdom. Thus preached the forerunner, he who, as Jesus said (xi. 11.), was the greatest of those who went before Him, and yet "the least in the kingdom of "heaven is greater than he." That is, the least in the Church of Christ -the humblest Christian-has higher privileges and blessings than the greatest of those that were under the old covenant. 4. "Camel's hair." This would make coarse rough clothing. We may observe the account of Elijah (2 Kings i. 8.) which describes him as an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins." "Locusts." There is some difference of opinion as to the meaning of this word, some understanding it in the common sense as meaning the insect, and others understanding it of a sort of bean which is said to have been called by the same name. There seems no good reason for not receiving the commoner sense of the word in this place, for locusts were commonly eaten in the East, and they are expressly permitted to be eaten by the Jews in the book of Leviticus. The locust is like a very large grasshopper, of a red brown or yellow colour, and appears frequently in such enormous flights as to darken the sky in passing, and to destroy every green thing for miles in extent where it alights. The prophet Joel gives a most vivid description of the ravages of the locust, as a type of the judgments God would inflict on His rebellious people through the ravages of their enemies. St. John the Baptist's fare was coarse and common as his raiment. He came "neither eating nor drinking" (xi. 18.). 5. "All." This certainly means a great number, but probably is to be understood rather of persons flocking from all parts of Judæa, than of all the inhabitants coming. 6 and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing A. D. 26. their sins. I Acts 19. 4, 18. n & 23, 33. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and m ch. 12. 34. Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, a Rom. 5. 9. "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee,1 Thes. 1. 10. from "the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits 2meet for repentance: 9 and think not to say within yourselves, have Abraham to our father: for I say unto 2 Or, answerable to amend ment of life. We Acts 13. 26. you, 11,16. John8.33,39. Rom. 4. 1, 6. "Baptized.. confessing." Baptism was already known among the Jews, it being their practice to baptize proselytes, cr converts from heathenism (See on xxiii. 15. St. John iii. 5.). It would therefore naturally appear to them a fit emblem of the cleansing of the soul from its former sins, and of the beginning of a new and holy life. Those who came to John's baptism confessed their sins, openly it seems, as a pledge of their sincere repentance, and in their baptism sealed that repentance by an open act and profession. 7. "Pharisees and Sadducees." The Pharisees were the largest and most powerful of the religious sects or parties among the Jews. They formed what to outward eyes was the religious world. They were strict observers of the law, and had added to God's law many human traditions, which they observed no less strictly. They made a great show of religion. They were, however, as a class, exceedingly proud and selfrighteous. Thus they are often denounced as "hypocrites", inasmuch as they pretended to be devout and holy, while suffering the deadly sins of pride and uncharitableness to reign in their hearts. The Sadducees were very unlike the Pharisees. They strongly denied the existence of any Divine truths or commands handed down by tradition, and looked to the Law of Moses as containing all that they were bound to believe. Thus, not finding in that Law any statement of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, they refused to believe this truth, and indeed they denied not only the resurrection, but also the existence of any future life at all, and of the spiritual world. Their religion was mere morality. Their creed was a barren belief in God. They were half unbelievers. As a sect they were not so important as the Pharisees, and they do not seem to have been active in spreading their doctrines. They completely died out after the destruction of Jerusalem. "O generation of vipers." St. John the Baptist would not have thus spoken, if these Pharisees and Sadducees had come with true repentance to be baptized. Many probally came out of more curiosity to hear him. We read that "the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of "God against themselves, being not baptized of him" (St. John vii. 30.). And again, our Lord charges it against the "chief priests and elders," who were partly Pharisees and partly Sadducees, that when John came, they believed him not," and even when they saw others believing, they "repented not afterward, that they might believe him" (xxi. 32.). 8. "Fruits." "The tree is known by its fruits." And the only proof we can give of our repentance is by our lives and actions. If these are not changed, the heart cannot be changed. 9. "We have Abraham to our father." This was the pride and B |