the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judæa into Galilee.

On his way home this nobleman's servants met him with, as they supposed, the news, "thy son liveth." But this we know he was prepared to hear. However, though He believed, from what our Lord had said the day before, that his son would recover, yet, as he only looked for a gradual recovery, he inquired of them at what hour he began to amend; expecting doubtless to hear that it was at the seventh hour (the hour in which our Lord had spoken to him) that his son began to mend. For this, we have seen, he was prepared to hear. But from the reply of the servants we now learn what he was not prepared to hear; learn that our Lord had done for him exceedingly abundantly even above all that he asked or thought. All that he expected to hear was that at the seventh hour his son began to amend, and, lo, the servants say unto him, "At the seventh hour the fever left him;" left him suddenly; the recovery was instant and complete.' And the crowning effect is given in the concluding words. His faith was confirmed and increased. It was raised to a full belief of Christ's power and goodness. Before he had believed that Jesus was a Teacher come from God, at best a Prophet; now he believes that He is the promised Messiah. Before he believed His word; now he believes in Himself, His person, His claims, His attributes. And the man's whole household, his family, his servants, to whom he would relate these wondrous things, came to believe too. He himself believed, and his faith drew after it that of his whole house.2

In v. 53 the author of A Plain Commentary well supplies from the previous verse the words "the fever left him," in place of the "it was " supplied in the E. V.

2 Lampe, whose curious comparison of the Greek Church with the Samaritan woman has been Lefore noticed,

considers the conversion of the Jews to be shadowed forth in this history. According to him, the nobleman represents the elders of the people; the son, the people itself; their soul malady is like this physical fever; the mode of their conversion corresponds to the circumstances of this

This man's faith in the Lord's word is like that which is recorded of St. Peter afterwards, who says, notwithstanding apparent improbabilities, "nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net." Nor may we overlook the contrast between the case of the nobleman here and that of the centurion elsewhere. This man says "Come," and Christ only speaks the word; the Centurion says, "Speak the word only," when Christ had proposed Himself to come. "The nobleman's imperfect faith was perfected by our Lord's refusal to come down: the perfection of the centurion's faith was displayed by our Lord's proposal to come down."" By not going He increases this nobleman's faith; by offering to go, He brings out and honours that Centurion's humility."

LXXXIV.

CHRIST BEGINNETH TO PREACH.

St. Matt. iv. 17. St. Luke iv. 14-16.

From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

St. Luke iv. And there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

The beginning of our Lord's preaching dates from the Baptist's imprisonment. We have not only the date, but also the substance of it, "Repent." It was the Baptist's cry enforced by Christ Himself. We have the King Himself

cure; this was at the seventh hour of the day, that shall be in the seventh age of the church, &c."

St. Luke v. 4-6, 11. 2 A Plain Commentary. 3 Abp. Trench.

St. Mark i. 14. In St. Matt. iv. v. 17 is evidently the sequel of v. 12, the intermediate verses being parenthetical.

5 St. Matt. iii. 1, 2.

repeating what His herald had first proclaimed. And it is enforced by the same argument. We have too the present effect of His preaching, that fame or report which spread through the surrounding country, and which led to or followed upon the visit of the nobleman of Capernaum. We have too the place of His preaching, the synagogues or authorised places of worship among the Jews. At last He comes to Nazareth, the ungrateful city, which at first He had passed by; and here, as was his custom elsewhere, and as had been His custom here also while being here brought up, He went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day; not only to worship with the rest, but also to read the Scriptures aloud with those who offered themselves, and were accepted for that purpose. For the custom was that certain parts of the Law and of the Prophets were read aloud every Sabbath in their Synagogues, as the Lessons are now read in our Churches. Seven readers were appointed for the purpose: the first, a Priest; the second, a Levite; and the rest, five men of Israel. The Ruler of the Synagogue, that is its Chief Minister, called up the Reader, to whom he delivered the roll or volume of the Book, which he opened, and read the part required. Sometimes, if a person of known gravity were present, he was invited to read, and even to expound or preach.* Thus on this occasion our Lord was the reader, and there was delivered to Him that part of the Old Testament Scripture which contained the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. The books of that day, in the ages before printing was invented, consisted of rolls of parchment, written with great care. These rolls had a handle at each end, which the Reader held in either hand, unrolling the volume till he came to the place which was to be read. Thus did our Lord on this occasion, until He found that memorable passage prophetic of the Messiah, fulfilled in Himself.

1 St. John iv. 44.

2 "The Pentateuch was divided into fifty-four sections, one of which was read as a Proper Lesson in the Synagogue every Sabbath day . . .

to which were added Proper Lessons out of the Prophets." Bp. Wordsworth in Gen. i. 1. Acts xiii. 15; xv. 21. Lightfoot in Poole's Synopsis. Grotius, ibid.

4

LXXXV.

HE TEACHETH IN NAZARETH.

St. Luke iv. 17-21.

And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

Whether the passage here read was the appointed Lesson of the day, or one specially selected, in virtue of His authority, by our Lord Himself, we cannot certainly tell; but it is certain that it was in this appointed Book of Isaiah, which was the one that was offered to Him and which He accepted. Nor did He open and read at random in the first place that met His eye, as though there were some magical virtue in the first-found passage;1 but He sought carefully till He found the particular passage required. This reference with which it begins to the Spirit of the Lord, is remarkable when we remember it is said before, that "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee." It is moreover a memorable reference to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. As at our Lord's Baptism, the Trinity was here. The place of the Prophet which our Lord took, as we might say, for His text, describes, in the historic style of prophecy, His being anointed, or consecrated and set apart, to His office of Messiah. To John Baptist, inquiring if He were indeed the

As there were among pagans what were called Sortes Homerica and Sortes Virgilianæ, so among superstitious

Christians have been, and perhaps still are, Sortes Biblica.

2 St. Luke iv. 14.

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Christ, He mentions as one of the marks what is first mentioned, "The poor have the Gospel preached to them." The last fact here mentioned refers to the Year of Jubilee among the Jews of old, when once in every seven times seven years" liberty was proclaimed in the land, debts remitted, possessions restored, slaves set free.1 And though the words are here to be understood chiefly in a spiritual sense, still we may note the gradual effect of Christ's Gospel in literally ameliorating the condition of the prisoner and the captive, and in the abolition of slavery. What follows is quite in St. Luke's style. As we may almost see the Saviour standing up for to read, so we have Him portrayed to us at the end sitting down. How graphic the description of His closing the Book, and giving it back to the minister from whom He received it at the first. The Jewish Teachers used to stand to read, and sit down to preach. It marked their reverence for the Scriptures, and was meant to show the difference between their own words and the word of God, between Divine revelation and human interpretation. And now the Lord, having ceased reading, begins to speak. We see the eyes of all the congregation fastened on Him. He begins by telling them that the prophecy He is come from reading has its fulfilment in Him. He claims to be the promised Messiah. This is the exordium of His discourse. And there were doubtless added to them many like words. He goes direct to the point. And perhaps we covet their opportunity, forgetting how little, notwithstanding this present curiosity, they cared for Him;3 forgetting that we have the self-same words as they. Let us remember the beatitude, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." Let us consider the warning, "If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead."

1 Lev. xxv. 8 ff.

2 The tradition that St. Luke was a Painter as well as a Physician has been already alluded to.

3

vv. 28, 29 below.

1 St. Pet. i. 12; 2 St. Pet. i. 16; 1 St John i. 1-3.