26.4 Sect. 142. Paffover: And as in Purfuance of this Defign they were in the Way going up to Jerufalem, Jefus, to Mark X. 32. fhew his Readiness to meet Sufferings and Death in fuch a Caufe, went before them; and they were exceedingly amazed at the Spirit and Ardor which he discovered in fo dangerous an Expedition; and as they followed him, they were afraid, both for themselves, and him. And while their Hearts were thus impreffed, he took the Twelve Difciples again apart to himself, into a convenient Retirement which they met with by the Way, and began particularly to tell them what Things should befal him in that important Journey; that he might thus prepare them for the Sufferings he should undergo, and that the Accomplishment of his Predictions might be fome Confirmation to their Faith, during a Series of Events which he knew would fo feverely try it. And he faid to them, JESUS fets out on his laft Journey to Jerufalem, 33 fore them; and they were amazed, and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again [LUK. unto him] the Twelve [Difciples apart in the Way,] and began to tell them what Things should happen unto him; [and faid unto them,] [MAT. XX. 17. LUKE XVIII. 31.-] 33 Behold, we go up to Things that are written by Jerufalem, [LUK. and all. the Prophets concerning the Son of Man fhall be accomplifhed: and the Son of delivered unto the Chief Priefts, and unto the Scribes: and they shall condemn him to Death, [MAT. XX, 18. LUKE XVIII.-31.] Behold, and obferve what I fay; We are now going up to Jerufalem, and it is the laft Journey of this Kind we shall ever take; for now all Things which are written by the antient Prophets, concerning the Sufferings of the Son of Man fhall be exactly fulfilled; and the Son of Man fhall be betrayed by one of his own Company, who has profeffed the greatest Duty and Affection to him, [and] fhall be ungratefully delivered to the Chief Priests and the Scribes (a), particularly to those who conftiftute the Sanhedrim, and who have already published fo fevere an Edict against him; (John xi. 57. Sect. 141.) and, when they have him thus in their Power, they hall with great Formality condemn him to Death as a publick Enemy and Disturber : 34 And, as they have not now the Power of Capital Executions in their own Hands, they fhall de- to the Gentiles; and they liver him up to the Gentiles, even to the Roman Governor and his Soldiers; and They, inftigated by the Malice of the Jews, and utterly ignorant of the Dignity and Glory of his Perfon, fhall. mock 34 And fhall deliver him fhall mock him, [LUK. and fpitefully (a) Shall be betrayed and delivered &c.] The Word wagadoonorlar is the fame, both in Matthew, and Mark; but plainly includes, both his being treacheroufy difcovered by Judas, and given up into the Hands of his Enemies. I have therefore retained the different Words, by which our Tranflators render it, in the one Place, and the other. ! (b) They and by the Way foretells his Death and Resurrection. fpitefully entreat him, and fhall fcourge him, and fhall fpit upon him, and shall kill him, [and crucify him:] and the third Day he fhall rife again. [MÁT. XX. 19. LUKE XVIII. 32, 33.] LUKE XVIII. 34. And they understood none of thefe Things: and this Saying was hid from them, nei ther knew they the Things which were spoken. MAT. XX. 20. Then came to him the Mother of Zebedee's Children, with her Sons [James and John,] worthipping him, and defiring a certain Thing of him, [faying, ; and, 265 mock and spitefully entreat him in the most contu- Sect. 142. And, plain as this Declaration was, their Pre- Luk. XVIII. Nevertheless, they apprehended thus much, Mat. XX. that whatever Difficulties lay in the Way, they 20. fhould certainly end in his Triumph and Glory. And upon this Prefumption then, the Mother of Zebedee's Children came at their Inftigation to him,. with her Sons James and John, who were peculiar Favourites of our Lord; and they all Three fell down at his Feet, worshipping [him] in a moft refpectful Manner, and defiring a certain [Favour] of him with great Importunity, weakly Saying, Mafter, (b) They fhall fcourge him, and fpit upon him, and crucify him.] This Prediction is a remarkable Proof of the Prophetic Spirit which dwelt in Chrift; for humanly fpeaking, it was much more probable, that he should have been privately affaffinated, or ftoned (as was before attempted,) by fome zealous Transport of popular Fury, than that he should have been thus folemnly condemned, and delivered up to Crucifixion, a Roman Punishment, with which we do not find he had ever been threatened. Indeed, when the Jews condemned him for Blafphemy, for which the Punishment appointed in the Law was Stoning, and Pilate at laft gave them a general Permiffion to take him and judge him according to their own Law, (Mat. xxvi. 65, 66. John xviii. 31. and xix. 7.) it is wonderful they did not chufe to Alone him: But all this was done, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. (Compare Mat. xxvi. 56. and John xix. 36.) VOL. II. LI (c) To 266 Mat. XX. James and John afk for the highest Posts in his Kingdom. Sect. 142. Mafter, we would earnestly beg, that thou shouldft give us a general Promife to do for us what foever we shall request of thee; for it would be a very great Grief to us, if we should not fucceed in the important Petition we have to present. 20. Mark X. 36. 37 Mat. XX. 22. And be faid to ber [and] to them, You cannot expect, that whatsoever Kindness I have for you, I fhould at all Adventures enter myself into fo rafh an Engagement; tell me therefore particularly, What wouldft Thou have? [or] What would You fo earneftly defire, that I should do for you, if I was fully difpofed to grant your Request? She fays unto him, I intreat thee to grant that thefe my Two dear Sons, who have done fo much for the Service of thy Cause and Intereft, may be preferred to Stations of the highest Dignity, Truft, and Profit; [and] they joined with her in the fame Requeft, and faid, Grant us, that when thou art established in thy glorious Kingdom, which, as we apprehend, will fhortly be erected in the World, we may not only have a Place there, but may be fixed near, thy Throne, and fit in diftinguished Honour and Authority, the one at thy Right Hand, and the other at thy Left, as thy Chief Minifters of State. But Jefus faid to them in Reply, Alas, you are under the Force of fuch carnal Prejudices and mistaken Views, that you know not what you afk, or you would be ashamed of fo unfeasonable a Petition. This is not a Time to think of Temporal Grandeur and Authority; but it is much more proper, that I fhould ask you, and that you fhould put the Queftion to yourselves, Are you able to drink of the bitter Cup, of which I am now about to drink fo deep (c), and to be baptized with the Baptifm, and plunged into that Sea of Sufferings, with which I am shortly to be bap tized, [faying, Mafter, we would whatsoever we shall defire.] [MARK X. 35.] that thou fhouldft do for us them, [What wilt thou? MARK X. 36. And he faid [unto her, and] unto or] What would ye that I fhould do for you? [MAt. XX, 21.—] Grant that thefe my Two 37 [She faith unto him, Grant unto us, that we Sons,] and they said, may fit, the one on thy Right Hand, and the other on thy Left Hand, in thy [MAT. XX.-21.1 [ Kingdom and] Glory. MAT. XX. 22. But Je fus answered and faid [unto ye afk: Are ye able to drink them,] Ye know not what of the Cup that I fhall drink of, and to be baptized with. the Baptifm that I am bap tized (c) To drink of the Cup, &c.] It was cuftomary among the Antients, to affign to each Guest at a Feaft a particular Cup, as well as Difh; and by the Kind and Quantity of the Liquor contained in it, the Refpect of the Entertainer was expreffed. Hence Cup came in general to fignify a Portion affigned, (Pfal. xvi. 5. xxiii. 5.) whether of Pleafure, or Sorrow; and many Inftances occur in which it refers to the latter. Compare Pfal. xi. 6. lxxiii. 10. Ifa. li. 17, 22. Jer. xxv. 15, 17. Zech. xii. 2. John xviii. 11. and Mat. xxvi. 39, 42. (d) You They are only for those for whom the Father has prepared them. tized with? [And] they fay unto him, We are able. [MARK X. 38, 39.-] 267 tized, and, as it were, overwhelmed for a Time? Sect. 142. Mat.XX.22. And Jefus fays unto them, You shall indeed both 23 And when the Ten other Apoftles heard of [it,] 24 But to prevent the evil Confequences which of (d) You fball indeed drink of my Cup, &c.] Accordingly it is obfervable, that this James was the first of all the Apostles, who fuffered Martyrdom for Chrift: (Acts xii. 2.) And John was fcourged by the Jews; Acts v. 40.) and afterwards banished by Domitian into the Ifle of Patmos, where he speaks of himself as a Companion of Chrift's Tribulation: Rev. i. 9.) Not to mention Tertullian's Tradition, that at Rome he was plunged into boiling Oil, by which, it is faid, instead of being deftroyed, he was fenfibly refreshed; (Tertull, Præfcrip. cap. 36.) nor what the pretended Prochorus fays, of the Attempt made by fome Hereticks to poifon him; which is generally referred to in the Pictures of this Apoftle, where the Venom is ridiculously reprefented, as coming out of the Cup in the Forn of a Serpent, to fignify that the Poifon did not take Effect. LI 2 (e) The 25 268 Mat. XX. 25. ر Servant of all. Princes of the Gentiles exand [their Great ones] exercife Authority upon them. [MARK X. 42.] ercise Dominion over them; 26 But it shall not be fo among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your Minister. [MARK X. 43.] He that would be Chief, fhould be the Sect. 142. of the Heathen Nations (e) lord it over them in a very imperious Manner; and their Great Men, in Stations of fubordinate Government, imitate their tyrannical Masters, and exercise an arbitrary Authority upon them that are more immediately fubject to their Command; and that Ambition, which is fo natural to the depraved Heart of Man, engages them eagerly to purfue fuch distinguished Stations, which may give them an Opportunity 26 to gratify it. But my Kingdom is of another Nature, and it shall not be fo among you; for instead of appointing any one among you as the Chief, who should govern the reft (f), I tell you plainly, that you are to look on each other as Brethren and Equals, or rather, each to esteem others as worthier of Regard than himself: Indulge not therefore an ambitious Temper, but whofoever would indeed be great among you, let bim, instead of aiming at Power and Authority, chufe to be your Minifter, and attend on the rest with all the humblest Offices of Condefcenfion 27 and Love. And whosoever would be Chief among 27 And whofoever will you, or first in my Efteem, and in future Ho-be chief among you, let him be your Servant, [yea, the nour and Happinefs, let him be ready to behave on Servant of all.] [MARK X. all Occafions as your Servant; [yea,] let him be 44.1 the Servant, not only of your little Fraternity, but of all that are about him (g); not defpifing the (e) The Princes of the Heathen Nations.] Mark expreffes it by or doxxrles αexen Tar Efrar, which we render, they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles; but this (with Gataker, Cinn. lib. i. cap. 3.) I take to be a Pleonafm, and think it should be tranflated, they who rule over the Gentiles; and fo it coincides with the Clause inferted from Matthew. (Compare 1 Cor. xi. 16. xii. 23. xiv. 37. and Phil. iii. 4. Gr.) Inftances are produced of the like Ufe of the Phrafe in the beft Greek Authors, by Mr. Blackwall, in his Sacred Claffics, Vol. i. pag. 74. to which may be added, Ts doxxvlas adinew, for adınevlas, Polyb. lib. i. cap. 5. and Tov EV UTEPOXY donelov, Epictet. Enchirid. cap. 30. §. 11. (f) Inftead of appointing any one among you as the Chief, &c.] As the Request of these Two Brethren plainly fhewed, that they did not understand our Lord's Words to Peter, (Mat. xvi. 18, 19. Sect. 88.) as defigned to inveft him with any Authority over the rest of his Brethren; fo the Anfwer which Chrift here gives them, far from intimating any Thing of that Kind, concludes as ftrongly against any fuch Authority, as a Negative Argument can be fuppofed to do, and feems abundantly to juftify the Turn given in the Paraphrafe. (g) The Servant of all.] There is a Gradation here, not commonly obferved. The Word Janovos in the former Verfe, which for want of a better Word we render Minifter, is a Name which might be given to any, who occafionally attended others, or was ftatedly employed to render them any particular Kind of Service; but eos, Servant, fignifies one, whofe whole Bufinefs it is to ferve, and who is indeed the Property of another. The Words of all, do likewise increase the Gradation. |