stand them, and had no desire to please them, exasperated them quite needlessly in this respect. He began his rule by a false step, which he could never recover; for when the Roman troops were marching to Jerusalem, to go into winter quarters there, he ordered them to take their standards, with the silver busts of the emperor to which divine honors were paid, into the city with them. The order was carried out under cover of the night; but in the morning, when the citizens perceived these images in the citadel right opposite the temple, a great cry of horror rose. The abomination of idolatry in the holy city! No previous governor had ever attempted such a thing. Whole troops of Jews set out for Cæsarea to implore Pilate to remove the offence. He refused. Five whole days they persisted, night and day, and could not be removed from the spot. On the sixth day he summoned them into the circus; and when they raised their impetuous cry once more a band of soldiers suddenly rushed upon them with naked swords, but the Jews flung themselves upon the ground, laid bare their necks to the sword, and declared that they would die rather than violate the Law. Even Pilate shrank from such a massacre, and, in amazement at their obstinacy, ordered the images to be brought back to CæsBut afterwards he suspended on the walls of his palace at Jerusalem, which had formerly belonged to Herod I., some thickly-gilt shields, with a short inscription to Tiberius. This he did, according to Philo, less for the sake of honoring the emperor than to annoy the Jews. The result was renewed resistance, the sons of Herod placing themselves at the head of the people. The governor was obstinate; but a petition to Tiberius secured the removal of the obnoxious shields. Even when Pilate benefited the Jews, he did it so clumsily as to raise bad blood. Thus, when he built a new aqueduct for Jerusalem, he laid hold of the treasures of the temple to defray the cost. A riot and consequent massacre were the results. On another occasion he ordered certain Galilæan pilgrims to be slaughtered in the temple, so that their blood was mingled with that of their sacrifices.1

area.

Now it happened at this as at other periods of Jewish history that the deep depression of the times, when the Lord hid his countenance and gave over his people to the reproaches of the heathen," 2 roused with new strength in the noblest sons of Israel their hope in God and his deliverance. While the high priest and the whole party of the Sadducees

1 Luke xiii. 1.

VOL. III.

5

2 Psalms xliv. 12-14, 24.

usually kept on a good understanding with the governor, while the Scribes and most of the adherents of the Pharisaic party consoled themselves with hair-splitting studies of the Law and the tradition, or with scrupulously observing and enforcing the countless precepts of a frivolous formality; while the people murmured but never thought of seeking the guilt in their own hearts, and humbling themselves before the Lord; while the pious sighed but saw no light, a man stood up in the wilderness of Judah, and, in the strength of his trust in God, promised an end to all this misery. Nay, more, in obedience to the voice of God in his heart he sought to make Israel's deliverance possible; for he knew that those only could be rescued and delivered who bowed beneath the chastening rod of the Lord, and did penance for their sins. In the sufferings of his people he saw an indication that the promises of God to the former generations were on the point of being fulfilled, for these things could not last, and humiliation and misery could go no further; but at the same time he recognized in them a righteous visitation on the people's sins, and the announcement of the great judgment of God, in which all the impious should be destroyed. He felt that the Messianic age, and the fearful day of judgment that would inaugurate it, were now close at hand. Nothing was wanting but one to prepare the way of the Lord and make Israel ready for his coming. This task he therefore took upon himself, that he might hasten the dawn of the glorious future. "Repent, for the Messianic kingdom is at hand,”1— such was the substance of his preaching.

ever.

1

He was certainly not alone in his wishes and his expectations, but gave utterance to what was in the heart of many more whose fervent prayers rose to the God of Israel, and who longed for the Messianic kingdom more eagerly than But, to say nothing of the stern enthusiasm with which he preached repentance, no one before him had had the courage to speak in so decisive a tone, and to put his own hand to the work; though now that he had once made himself the mouth-piece of the high-wrought Messianic expectations of his time, his words found an echo everywhere. The news of his appearance spread through the length and breadth of the land. It penetrated even to the distant Gali lee, that had been spared the Roman supremacy so far; and from the secluded Nazareth there came to the preacher of resentance the man who was to be his successor and far more 1 Matthew iii. 2.

besides. But it was chiefly in Judæa and Samaria, groaning under the tyranny of Pilate, that the fuel was collected into which the spark was thrown. From Jerusalem, from all Judæa, from the whole region round about the Jordan,' the people streamed to hear the new preacher. And though the Samaritans of course could not go to a Jewish man of God, yet we shall hardly be wrong in connecting a similar movement which rose in Samaria not long afterwards with the appearance of John in Israel. For in Samaria, too, a popular leader appeared, and promised to show his fellow-countrymen the spot on Mount Gerizim in which were buried the tables of the Law, the golden basin of manna, and other sacred objects which had long been lost, but which popular tradition and belief declared were to be discovered again in the Messianic age. This man was followed by a large and constantly-increasing crowd of delighted enthusiasts; but Pilate sent his cavalry and heavy infantry to the spot, and the attempt to found the Messianic kingdom was quenched in blood.

In a word, the whole movement to which the New Testament and other writings of the same period bear witness received its decisive impulse from the preacher in the wilderness of Judah.8

His

Who was this man? Nothing but his bare name, John, is preserved. Neither Josephus nor the historical portions. of the Gospels tell us so much as his father's name. title, "the Baptist," superseded the usual style of "John, the son of so and so." It is not impossible, however, to arrive at certain more or less probable conclusions with regard to his origin and education.

Probably he was a Judæan by birth. All our accounts of his preaching in the wilderness of Judah' authorize the sup position that he was not a stranger there, but felt completely at home on the scene of his activity. The figures of speech he uses, the mode of life he adopted, the extreme privations to which he subjected himself, all confirm us in our opinion. His life was an unbroken fast; that is to say, he ate only what was absolutely necessary to sustain life, nothing but what the sterile country itself could furnish. He quenched his thirst at the spring, and stayed his hunger with locusts

1 Matthew iii. 5 (Mark i. 5).

8 Matthew xi. 12.

5 Matthew xi. 18.

2 2 Maccabees ii. 4-8; Revelation ii. 17, xi. 19. See vol. i. p. 518.

dried in the sun, with wild honey, and other such food. He was a genuine son of the wilderness.

It is interesting to note these particulars; for the region between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, however monotonous and inhospitable, was the scene of high-wrought spiritual life. John was not the only eremite who withdrew from all the pleasures of life into this wilderness, and collected a band of disciples about him by the fame of his sanctity. About twenty years later we hear of a certain Banus who dwelt there, clothed in the bark of trees, eating nothing but the natural products of the soil, and constantly bathing day and night in cold water. We know of him through Flavius Josephus, who joined him in early life and remained with him three years. He was certainly not his first or only

disciple.

Of far greater importance, however; are the colonies or hamlets of the Essenes, which were situated, at the beginning of our era, just in the neighborhood of the Dead Sea. Here lived the Essenes, secluded from the turmoil of society, a close order into which no one could be received except after a novitiate of three years, and after taking a solemn oath. All distinctions between rich and poor, slaves and freemen, were annulled; but unconditional obedience to the laws and regulations of the order, and to the leaders and older members, was exacted, and an iron discipline reigned supreme. The Essenes were unmarried and observed the strictest abstinence, refraining from the use of meat, of wine, and of spirits; offering early morning prayers, pursuing peaceful industries, observing the Sabbath with incredible minuteness, performing numerous ceremonial ablutions, partaking of a common meal, and devoting themselves to pious reflections and speculations as to the future, in which in all probability the Messianic expectation occupied a prominent position.

Of course John must have known of this sect, and must have felt its influence. Indeed, he has frequently been regarded as himself a member of the order of Essenes. But this is a mistake. His style of life, it is true, reminds us of theirs; but he stood alone, and belonged to no close society. He submitted his followers to baptism only once in their lives, and exacted no oath from them. Above all he had none of that dread of ceremonial uncleanness2 which made the Essenes shrink with the utmost horror from all contact with publicans or outcast women. But no one can say how far he Compare p. 6. 2 Matthew xxi. 32.

was carried away by the intensity of the spiritual life that drew hermits and monks to these regions above all others; how far the impressions he there received may have contributed to wake the sense of his vocation, the longing to do something for God and his people, the hope that the Messianic kingdom might be founded! His person was impressive and commanding, his preaching bold and stern, even to the point of harshness; both were threatening and sombre, in perfect harmony with the wilderness which was the scene of his activity.

8

We can see him still in imagination, with the rough mantle of camel's hair thrown upon his naked body, bound round his waist with a leather girdle. Such a garment was worn in sign of penitence; but it seems also to have been the usual costume in ancient times of all who would announce themselves as prophets. In the case of Elijah both the girdle and mantle are especially mentioned. And John came in Elijah's place. No touching lamentation like Jeremiah's, no rapturous strain of consolation like the second Isaiah's, need be looked for from his lips, but preaching terrible as the thunder! Elijah had been called "the prophet of fire, whose word burned like a torch;" and must not John, in taking up the task that had been assigned to Elijah, regard himself as "ordained in the Scripture to preach repentance in those times, to turn away the wrath of God before it broke forth at the Messianic judgment, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children again, and restore the tribes of Jacob? "4 Such was the spirit in which he undertook his task. pent," he cried, "for the kingdom of heaven is near! Malachi had threatened, "Behold the day of judgment comes, burning like a furnace, and all the proud and sinful shall be as stubble, and the day that is drawing near shall consume them with fire till neither root nor branch be left. Who shall abide when Yahweh appears?" 5 And in the same spirit John rose up, lest the Lord when he came in glory should smite the land of Canaan with his curse as though it were a heathen conntry; and he cried, "The axe is laid already to the root of the trees; and every tree that does not bear good fruit will be hewn down and cast into the fire. After me comes the Lord of Hosts, and whomsoever he finds ready he

1 Zechariah xiii. 4; Isaiah xx. 2. 8 See vol. ii. chap. x. p 417.

"Re

2 2 Kings i. 8; compare ii. 13, 14.

4 Jesus Sirach xlviii. 1, 10.

5 Malachi iv. 1, iii. 2; compare Zephaniah i. 14-18. Malachi iv. 6.