LOCALITY AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE PUBLIC LIFE OF JESUS.
§ 57.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SYNOPTICAL WRITERS AND JOHN, AS TO THE CUSTOMARY
SCENE OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
According to the synoptical writers, Jesus, born indeed at Bethlehem in
Judea, but brought up at Nazareth in Galilee, only absented himself
from Galilee during the short interval between his baptism and the
imprisonment of the Baptist; immediately after which, he returned
thither and began his ministry, teaching, healing, calling disciples,
so as to traverse all Galilee; using as the centre of his agency, his
previous dwelling-place, Nazareth, alternately with Capernaum, on the
north-west border of the lake of Tiberias (Matt iv. 12–25 parall.).
Mark and Luke have many particulars concerning this ministry in Galilee
which are not found in Matthew, and those which they have in common
with him are arranged in a different order; but as they all agree in
the geographical circuit which they assign to Jesus, the account of the
first Evangelist may serve as the basis of our criticism. According to
him the incidents narrated took place in Galilee, and partly in
Capernaum down to viii. 18, where Jesus crosses the Galilean sea, but
is scarcely landed on the east side when he returns to Capernaum. Here
follows a series of scenes connected by short transitions, such as
παράγων ἐκεῖθεν (ix. 9, 27), passing from thence, τότε (v. 14), then,
ταῦτα αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος (v. 18), while he spake these things; expressions
which can imply no important change of place, that is, of one province
for another, which it is the habit of the writer to mark much more
carefully. The passage, ix. 35, περιῆγεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὰς πόλεις
πάσας—διδάσκων ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς αὐτῶν, is evidently only a repetition
of iv. 23, and is therefore to be understood merely of excursions in
Galilee. The message of the Baptist (chap. xi.) is also received by
Jesus in Galilee, at least such appears to be the opinion of the
narrator, from his placing in immediate connexion the complaints of
Jesus against the Galilean cities. When delivering the parable in chap.
xiii. Jesus is by the sea, doubtless that of Galilee, and, as there is
mention of his house, οἰκία (v. 1), probably in the vicinity of
Capernaum. Next, after having visited his native city Nazareth (xiii.
53) he passes over the sea (xiv. 13), according to Luke (ix. 10), into
the country of Bethsaida (Julias); whence, however, after the miracle
of the loaves, he speedily returns to the western border (xiv. 34).
Jesus then proceeds to the northern extremity of Palestine, on the
frontiers of Phœnicia (xv. 21); soon, however, returned to the sea of
Galilee (v. 29), he takes ship to the eastern side, in the coast of
Magdala (v. 39), but again departs northward into the country of
Cæsarea Philippi (xvi. 13), in the vicinity of Lebanon, among the lower
ridges of which is to be sought the mount of the transfiguration (xvii.
1). After journeying in Galilee for some time longer with his disciples
(xvii. 22), and once more visiting Capernaum (v. 24), he leaves Galilee
(xix. 1) to travel (as it is most probably explained) [700] through
Perea into Judea (a journey which, according to Luke ix. 52, he seems
to have made through Samaria); xx. 17, he is on his way to Jerusalem;
v. 29, he comes through Jericho; and xxi. 1, is in the neighbourhood of
Jerusalem, which, v. 10, he enters.
Thus, according to the synoptical writers, Jesus, from his return after
being baptized by John, to his final journey to Jerusalem, never goes
beyond the limits of North Palestine, but traverses the countries west
and east of the Galilean sea and the upper Jordan, in the dominions of
Herod Antipas and Philip, without touching on Samaria to the south,
still less Judea, or the country under the immediate administration of
the Romans. And within those limits, to be still more precise, it is
the land west of the Jordan, and the sea of Tiberias, and therefore
Galilee, the province of Antipas, in which Jesus is especially active;
only three short excursions on the eastern border of the sea, and two
scarcely longer on the northern frontiers of the country, being
recorded.
Quite otherwise is the theatre of the ministry of Jesus marked out in
the fourth gospel. It is true that here also he goes after his baptism
by John into Galilee, to the wedding at Cana (ii. 1), and from thence
to Capernaum (v. 12); but in a few days the approaching passover calls
him to Jerusalem (v. 13). From Jerusalem he proceeds into the country
of Judea (iii. 22), and after some time exercising his ministry there
(iv. 1) he returns through Samaria into Galilee (v. 43). Nothing is
reported of his agency in this province but a single cure, and
immediately on this a new feast summons him to Jerusalem (v. 1), where
he is represented as performing a cure, being persecuted, and
delivering long discourses, until he betakes himself (vi. 1) to the
eastern shore of the sea of Tiberias, and from thence to Capernaum (v.
17, 59). He then itinerates for some time in Galilee (vii. 1), but
again leaves it, on occasion of the feast of tabernacles, for Jerusalem
(v. 2, 10). To this visit the Evangelist refers many discourses and
vicissitudes of Jesus (vii. 10, x. 21), and moreover connects with it
the commencement of his public ministry at the feast of dedication,
without noticing any intermediate journey out of Jerusalem and Judea
(x. 22). After this Jesus again retires into the country of Perea,
where he had first been with the Baptist (x. 40), and there remains
until the death of Lazarus recalls him to Bethany, near Jerusalem (xi.
1), whence he withdraws to Ephraim, in the vicinity of the wilderness
of Judea, until the approach of the passover, which he visited as his
last (xii. 1 ff.).
Thus, according to John, Jesus was present at four feasts in Jerusalem,
before the final one: was besides once in Bethany, and had been active
for a considerable time in Judea and on his journey through Samaria.
Why, it must be asked, have the synoptical writers been silent on this
frequent presence of Jesus in Judea and Jerusalem? Why have they
represented the matter, as if Jesus, before his last fatal journey to
Jerusalem, had not overstepped the limits of Galilee and Perea? This
discrepancy between the synoptical writers and John was long overlooked
in the church, and of late it has been thought feasible to deny its
existence. It has been said, that Matthew, at the commencement, lays
the scene in Galilee and Capernaum, and pursues his narrative without
noticing any journey into Judea until the last; but that we are not
hence to conclude that Matthew was unacquainted with the earlier
ministry of Jesus in Judea, for as with this Evangelist the local
interest is subordinate to the effort at an appropriate arrangement of
his events, many particulars in the former part of his history, which
he narrates without indicating any place, may have been known, though
not stated by him, to have occurred in the earlier journeys and
residences in Judea. [701] But this alleged subordination of the local
interest in Matthew, is nothing more than a fiction of the harmonist,
as Schneckenburger has recently proved. [702] Matthew very carefully
marks (chap. iv.) the beginning and (chap. xix.) the end of the almost
exclusive residence of Jesus in Galilee; all the intervening narration
must therefore be regarded as belonging to that residence, unless the
contrary be expressed; and since the Evangelist is on the alert to
notice the short excursions of Jesus across the lake and into the north
of Galilee, he would hardly pass over in silence the more important,
and sometimes prolonged visits to Judea, had they been known or
credited by him. Thus much only is to be allowed, that Matthew
frequently neglects the more precise statement of localities, as the
designation of the spot or neighbourhood in which Jesus laboured from
time to time: but in his more general biographical statements, such as
the designation of the territories and provinces of Palestine, within
the boundaries of which Jesus exercised his ministry, he is as accurate
as any other Evangelist.
Expositors must therefore accommodate themselves to the admission of a
difference between the synoptical writers and John, [703] and those who
think it incumbent on them to harmonize the Gospels must take care lest
this difference be found a contradiction; which can only be prevented
by deducing the discrepancy, not from a disparity between the ideas of
the Evangelists as to the sphere of the ministry of Jesus, but from the
difference of mental bias under which they severally wrote. Some
suppose that Matthew, being a Galilean, saw the most interest in
Galilean occurrences, and hence confined his narrative to them, though
aware of the agency of Jesus at Jerusalem. [704] But what biographer,
who had himself accompanied his hero into various provinces, and beheld
his labours there, would confine his narration to what he had performed
in his (the biographer’s) native province? Such provincial
exclusiveness would surely be quite unexampled. Hence others have
preferred the supposition that Matthew, writing at Jerusalem, purposely
selected from the mass of discourses and actions of Jesus with which he
was acquainted, those of which Galilee was the theatre, because they
were the least known at Jerusalem, and required narrating more than
what had happened within the hearing, and was fresh in the memories of
its inhabitants. [705] In opposition to this it has been already
remarked, [706] that there is no proof of Matthew’s gospel being
especially intended for the Christians of Judea and Jerusalem: that
even assuming this, a reference to the events which had happened in the
reader’s own country could not be superfluous: and that, lastly, the
like limitation of the ministry of Jesus to Galilee by Mark and Luke
cannot be thus accounted for, since these Evangelists obviously did not
write for Judea (neither were they Galileans, so that this objection is
equally valid against the first explanation); and were not in so
servile a relation to Matthew as to have no access to independent
information that might give them a more extended horizon. It is curious
enough that these two attempts to solve the contradiction between the
synoptical writers and John, are themselves in the same predicament of
mutual contradiction. For if Matthew has been silent on the incidents
in Judea, according to one, on account of his proximity, according to
the other, on account of his remoteness, it follows that, two contrary
hypotheses being made with equal ease to explain the same fact, both
are alike inadequate.
No supposition founded on the local relations of the writers sufficing
to explain the difference in question, higher ground must be taken, in
a consideration of the spirit and tendency of the evangelical writings.
From this point of view the following proposition has been given: The
cause which determined the difference in the contents of the fourth
gospel and that of the synoptical ones, accounts also for their
divergency as to the limits they assign to the ministry of Jesus; in
other words, the discourses delivered by Jesus in Jerusalem, and
recorded by John, required for their comprehension a more mature
development of Christianity than that presented in the first apostolic
period; hence they were not retained in the primitive evangelical
tradition, of which the synoptical writers were the organs, and were
first restored to the church by John, who wrote when Christianity was
in a more advanced stage. [707] But neither is this attempt at an
explanation satisfactory, though it is less superficial than the
preceding. For how could the popular and the esoteric in the teaching
of Jesus be separated with such nicety, that the former should be
confined to Galilee, and the latter to Jerusalem (the harsh discourse
in the synagogue at Capernaum alone excepted)? It may be said: in
Jerusalem he had a more enlightened public around him, and could be
more readily understood than in Galilee. But the Galileans could
scarcely have misunderstood Jesus more lamentably than did the Jews
from first to last, according to John’s representation, and as in
Galilee he had the most undisturbed communion with his disciples, we
should rather have conjectured that here would be the scene of his more
profound instruction. Besides, as the synoptical writers have given a
plentiful gleaning of lucid and popular discourses from the final
residence of Jesus in Jerusalem, there is no ground whatever for
believing that his earlier visits were devoid of such, and that his
converse on these occasions took throughout a higher tone. But even
allowing that all the earlier discourses of Jesus in Judea and
Jerusalem were beyond the range of the first apostolic tradition, deeds
were performed there, such as the cure of the man who had had an
infirmity thirty-eight years, the conferring of sight on the man born
blind, and the raising of Lazarus, which, from their imposing rank
among the evidences of Christianity, must also have necessitated the
mention of those early visits of Jesus to Judea during which they
occurred.
Thus it is impossible to explain why the synoptical writers, if they
knew of the earlier visits of Jesus to Jerusalem, should not have
mentioned them, and it must be concluded that if John be right, the
first three Evangelists knew nothing of an essential part of the
earlier ministry of Jesus; if, on the other hand, the latter be right,
the author of the fourth gospel, or of the tradition by which he was
guided, fabricated a large portion of what he has narrated concerning
the ministry of Jesus, or at least assigned to it a false locality.
On a closer examination, however, the relation between John and the
synoptical writers is not simply such, that the latter might not know
what the former records, but such, that they must have proceeded from
positively opposite data. For example, the synoptical writers, Matthew
especially, as often as Jesus leaves Galilee, from the time that he
takes up his abode there after the Baptist’s imprisonment, seldom
neglect to give a particular reason; such as that he wished to escape
from the crowd by a passage across the sea (Matt. viii. 18), or that he
withdrew into the wilderness of Perea to avoid the snares of Herod
(xiv. 13), or that he retired into the region of Tyre and Sidon on
account of the offence taken by the scribes at his preaching (xv. 21):
John, on the contrary, generally alleges a special reason why Jesus
leaves Judea, and retires into Galilee. Not to contend that his very
first journey thither appears to be occasioned solely by the invitation
to Cana, his departure again into Galilee after the first passover
attended by him in his public character, is expressly accounted for by
the ominous attention which the increasing number of his disciples had
excited among the Pharisees (iv. 1 ff.). His retirement after the
second feast, also, into the country east of the Sea of Tiberias (vi.
1), must be viewed in relation to the ἐζήτουν αὐτὸν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι
ἀποκτεῖναι (v. 18), since immediately after, the Evangelist assigns as
a reason for the continuance of Jesus in Galilee, the malignant designs
of his enemies, which rendered his abode in Judea perilous to his life
(vii. 1). The interval between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast
of the Dedication seems to have been spent by Jesus in the capital,
[708] no unpropitious circumstances compelling him to absent himself
(x. 22); on the other hand, his journey into Perea (x. 40) and that
into Ephraim (xi. 54) are presented as effects of his persecution by
the Jews.
Thus precisely the same relation as that which exists between Matthew
and Luke, with respect to the original dwelling-place of the parents of
Jesus is found between the first three Evangelists and the fourth, with
respect to the principal theatre of his ministry. As, in the former
instance, Matthew pre-supposes Bethlehem to be the original place of
abode, and Nazareth the one subsequently adopted through fortuitous
circumstances, while Luke gives the contrary representation; so in the
latter, the entire statement of the synoptical writers turns on the
idea that, until his last journey, Galilee was the chosen field of the
labours of Jesus, and that he only left it occasionally, from
particular motives and for a short time; while that of John, on the
contrary, turns on the supposition, that Jesus would have taught solely
in Judea and Jerusalem had not prudence sometimes counselled him to
retire into the more remote provinces. [709]
Of these two representations one only can be true. Before they were
perceived to be contradictory, the narrative of John was incorporated
with that of the synoptical writers; since they have been allowed to be
irreconcilable, the verdict has always been in favour of the fourth
Evangelist; and so prevalent is this custom, that even the author of
the Probabilia does not use the difference to the disadvantage of the
latter. De Wette numbers it among the objections to the authenticity of
Matthew’s gospel, that it erroneously limits the ministry of Jesus to
Galilee, [710] and Schneckenburger has no more important ground of
doubt to produce against the apostolic origin of the first canonical
gospel, than the unacquaintance of its author with the extra-Galilean
labours of Jesus. [711] If this decision be well founded, it must rest
on a careful consideration of the question, which of the two
incompatible narratives has the greater corroboration from external
sources, and the more internal verisimilitude? We have shown in the
introduction that the external evidence or testimony for the
authenticity of the fourth gospel and of the synoptical ones, that of
Matthew emphatically, is of about equal value: that is, it determines
nothing in either case, but leaves the decision to the internal
evidence. In relation to this, the following question must be
considered: is it more probable that, although Jesus was actually often
in Judea and Jerusalem previous to his last journey, yet at the time
and place whence the synoptical gospels arose, all traces of the fact
had disappeared: or that, on the contrary, although Jesus never entered
Judea for the exercise of his public ministry before his last journey
thither, yet at the time and place of the composition of the fourth
gospel a tradition of several such visits had been formed?
The above critics seek to show that the first might be the case, in the
following manner. The first gospel, they say, [712] and more or less
the two middle ones, contain the tradition concerning the life of Jesus
as it was formed in Galilee, where the memory of what Jesus did and
said in that province would be preserved with a natural
partiality—while, of that part of his life which was spent out of
Galilee, only the most critical incidents, such as his birth,
consecration, and especially his last journey, which issued in his
death, would be retained; the remainder, including his early journeys
to the various feasts, being either unknown or forgotten, so that any
fragments of information concerning one or other of the previous
residences of Jesus at Jerusalem would be referred to the last, no
other being known.
But John himself, in whom our theologians rest all their confidence,
expressly mentions (iv. 45) that at the first passover visited by Jesus
after his baptism (and probably at others also) the Galileans were
present, and apparently in great numbers, since as a consequence of
their having witnessed his works in Jerusalem, Jesus found a favourable
reception in Galilee. If we add to this, that most of the disciples who
accompanied Jesus in his early journeys to the feasts were Galileans
(John iv. 22, ix. 2), it is inconceivable that tidings of the ministry
of Jesus at Jerusalem should not from the first reach Galilee. Once
there, could time extinguish them? We grant that it is in the nature of
tradition to fuse and remodel its materials, and as the last journey of
Jesus to Jerusalem was pre-eminently memorable, it might absorb the
recollections of the previous ones. But tradition has also another
impulse, and it is its strongest; namely to glorify. It may indeed be
said that to circumscribe the early ministry of Jesus by the frontiers
of Galilee would serve the purpose of glorifying that province, in
which the synoptical tradition had its origin. But the aim of the
synoptical legend was not to glorify Galilee, on which it pronounces
severe judgments;—Jesus is the object round which it would cast a halo,
and his greatness is proportionate to the sphere of his influence.
Hence, to show that from the beginning of his ministry he made himself
known beyond the Galilean angulus terræ, and that he often presented
himself on the brilliant theatre of the capital, especially on
occasions when it was crowded with spectators and hearers from all
regions, was entirely according to the bent of the legend. If,
therefore, there had historically been but one journey of Jesus to
Jerusalem, tradition might be tempted to create more by degrees, since
it would argue—how could so great a light as Jesus have remained so
long under a bushel, and not rather have early and often placed himself
on the lofty stand which Jerusalem presented? Opponents, too, might
object, like the unbelieving brethren of Jesus (John vii. 3, 4), that
he who is conscious of the power to perform something truly great, does
not conceal himself, but seeks publicity, in order that his
capabilities may be recognized; and to these opponents it was thought
the best answer to show that Jesus actually did seek such publicity,
and early obtained recognition in an extended sphere. Out of this
representation would easily grow the idea which lies at the foundation
of the fourth gospel, that not Galilee, but Judea, was the proper
residence of Jesus.
Thus, viewed from the point of the possible formation of a legend, the
balance inclines in favour of the synoptical writers. But is the result
the same when we ascend to the relations and designs of Jesus, and from
this point of view inquire, if it be more probable that Jesus visited
Jerusalem once only or several times during his public life?
The alleged difficulty, that the various journeys to the feasts offer
the principal means of accounting for the intellectual development of
Jesus is easily removed. For those journeys alone would not suffice to
explain the mental pre-eminence of Jesus and as the main stress must
still be placed on his internal gifts, we cannot pronounce whether to a
mind like his, even Galilee might not present enough aliment for their
maturing; besides, an adherence to the synoptical writers would only
oblige us to renounce those journeys to the feasts which Jesus took
after his public appearance, so that he might still have been present
at many feasts previous to his messianic career, without assuming a
conspicuous character. It has been held inconceivable that Jesus, so
long after his assumption of the messianic character, should confine
himself to Galilee, instead of taking his stand in Judea and Jerusalem,
which, from the higher culture and more extensive foreign intercourse
of their population, were a much more suitable field for his labours;
but it has been long remarked, on the other hand, that Jesus could find
easier access to the simple and energetic minds of Galilee, less
fettered by priestcraft and Pharisaism, and therefore acted judiciously
in obtaining a firm footing there by a protracted ministry, before he
ventured to Jerusalem, where, in the centre of priestly and Pharisaic
domination, he must expect stronger opposition.
There is a graver difficulty in the synoptical statement, considered in
relation to the Mosaic law and Jewish custom. The law rigorously
required that every Israelite should appear before Jehovah yearly at
the three principal feasts (Exod. xxiii. 14 ff.), and the reverence of
Jesus for the Mosaic institutes (Matt. v. 17 ff.) renders it improbable
that, during the whole course of his ministry, he should have
undertaken but one journey of observance. [713] The Gospel of Matthew,
however, be our judgment what it may as to the date and place of its
composition, did certainly arise in a community of Jewish Christians,
who well knew what the law prescribed to the devout Israelite, and must
therefore be aware of the contradiction to the law in which the
practice of Jesus was involved, when, during a public ministry of
several years’ duration, only one attendance at Jerusalem was noticed,
or (in case the synoptical writers supposed but a single year’s
ministry, of which we shall speak below) when he was represented as
neglecting two of the great annual feasts. If then, a circle in close
proximity to Jewish usage found nothing offensive in the opinion that
Jesus attended but one feast, may not this authority remove all
hesitation on the subject from our minds? Besides, on a more careful
weighing of the historical and geographical relations, the question
suggests itself, whether between the distant, half Gentile Galilee, and
Jerusalem, the ecclesiastical bond was so close that the observance of
all the feasts could be expected from a Galilean? Even according to the
fourth gospel, Jesus omitted attending one passover that occurred in
the period of his public career (John vi. 4).
There is, however, one point unfavourable to the synoptical writers.
That Jesus in his last visit to Jerusalem should, within the short
space of the feast day, have brought himself into such decided
hostility to the ruling party in the capital, that they contrived his
arrest and death, is inexplicable, if we reject the statement of John,
that this hostility originated and was gradually aggravated during his
frequent previous visits. [714] If it be rejoined, that even in
Galilean synagogues there were stationary scribes and Pharisees (Matt
ix. 3, xii. 14), that such as were resident in the capital often
visited the provinces (Matt. xv. 1), and that thus there existed a
hierarchical nexus by means of which a deadly enmity against Jesus
might be propagated in Jerusalem before he had ever publicly appeared
there; we then have precisely that ecclesiastical bond between Galilee
and Jerusalem which renders improbable on the part of Jesus the
non-observance of a series of feasts. Moreover the synoptical writers
have recorded an expression of Jesus which tells strongly against their
own view. The words: Jerusalem, Jerusalem—how often would I have
gathered thy children together—and ye would not, have no meaning
whatever in Luke, who puts them into the mouth of Jesus before he had
even seen Jerusalem during his public ministry (xiii. 34); and even
from the better arrangement of Matthew (xxiii. 37) it is not to be
understood how Jesus, after a single residence of a few days in
Jerusalem, could found his reproaches on multiplied efforts to win over
its inhabitants to his cause. This whole apostrophe of Jesus has so
original a character, that it is difficult to believe it incorrectly
assigned to him; hence to explain its existence, we must suppose a
series of earlier residences in Jerusalem, such as those recorded by
the fourth Evangelist. There is only one resource,—to pronounce the
statement of the synoptical writers unhistorical in the particular of
limiting the decisive visit of Jesus to Jerusalem to the few days of
the feast, and to suppose that he made a more protracted stay in the
capital. [715]
It will be seen from the foregoing discussion, whether, when so much is
to be argued pro and contra, the unhesitating decision of the critics
in favour of the fourth Evangelist’s statement is a just one. For our
own part, we are far from being equally hasty in declaring for the
synoptical writers, and are content to have submitted the actual state
of the controversy, as to the comparative merits of John and the
synoptical writers, to further consideration.
§ 58.
THE RESIDENCE OF JESUS AT CAPERNAUM.
During the time spent by Jesus in Judea, the capital and its environs
recommended themselves as the most eligible theatre for his agency; and
we might have conjectured that in like manner, when in Galilee, he
would have chosen his native city, Nazareth, as the centre of his
labours. Instead of this we find him, when not travelling, domesticated
at Capernaum, as already mentioned; the synoptical writers designate
this place the ἰδία πόλις of Jesus (Matt. ix. 1, comp. Mark ii. 1);
here, according to them, was the οἴκος, which Jesus was accustomed to
inhabit (Mark ii. 1, iii. 20; Matt. xiii. 1, 36) probably that of Peter
(Mark i. 29; Matt. viii. 14, xvii. 25; Luke iv. 38). In the fourth
gospel, which only mentions very transient visits of Jesus to Galilee,
Capernaum is not given as his dwelling-place, and Cana is the place
with which he is supposed to have the most connexion. After his baptism
he proceeds first to Cana (ii. 1), on a special occasion, it is true;
after this he makes a short stay at Capernaum (v. 12); and on his
return from his first attendance at the passover, it is again Cana to
which he resorts and in which the fourth Evangelist makes him effect a
cure (iv. 46 ff.), according to the synoptical writers, performed at
Capernaum, and after this we find him once again in the synagogue at
Capernaum (vi. 59). The most eminent disciples, also, are said by the
writer of the fourth gospel, not as by the synoptical writers, to come
from Capernaum, but partly from Cana (xxi. 2) and partly from Bethsaida
(i. 45). The latter place, even in the synoptical gospels, is
mentioned, with Chorazin, as one in which Jesus had been pre-eminently
active (Matt. xi. 21; Luke x. 13).
Why Jesus chose Capernaum as his central residence in Galilee, Mark
does not attempt to show, but conducts him thither without comment
after his return into Galilee, and the calling of the two pairs of
fishermen (i. 21). Matthew (iv. 13 ff.) alleges as a motive, that an
Old Testament prophecy (Isa. viii. 23, ix. 1), was thereby fulfilled; a
dogmatical motive, and therefore of no historical value. Luke thinks he
has found the reason in a fact, which is more worthy of notice.
According to him, Jesus after his return from baptism does not
immediately take up his residence in Capernaum, but makes an essay to
teach in Nazareth, and after its failure first turns to Capernaum. This
Evangelist tells us in the most graphic style how Jesus presented
himself at the synagogue on the sabbath-day, and expounded a prophetic
passage, so as to excite general admiration, but at the same time to
provoke malicious reflections on the narrow circumstances of his
family. Jesus, in reply, is made to refer the discontent of the
Nazarenes, that he performed no miracles before them as at Capernaum,
to the contempt which every prophet meets with in his own country, and
to threaten them in Old Testament allusions, that the divine benefits
would be withdrawn from them and conferred on strangers. Exasperated by
this, they lead him to the brow of the hill, intending to cast him
down; he, however, passes unhurt through the midst of them (iv. 16–30).
Both the other synoptical writers are acquainted with a visit of Jesus
to Nazareth; but they transfer it to a much later period, when Jesus
had been long labouring in Galilee, and resident in Capernaum (Matt.
xiii. 54 ff.; Mark vi. 1 ff.). To reconcile their narrative with that
of Luke, it has been customary to suppose that Jesus, notwithstanding
his first rough reception, as described by Luke, wished to make one
more experiment whether his long absence and subsequent fame might not
have altered the opinion of the Nazarenes—an opinion worthy of a petty
town: but the result was equally unfavourable. [716] The two scenes,
however, are too similar to be prevented from mingling with each other.
In both instances the teaching of Jesus in the synagogue makes the same
impression on the Nazarenes,—that of amazement at the wisdom of the
carpenter’s son (Luke only giving more details): in both instances
there is a lack of miracles on the part of Jesus, the first two
Evangelists presenting more prominently its cause, namely, the unbelief
of the Nazarenes, and the third dwelling more on its unfavourable
effect: lastly in both instances, Jesus delivers the maxim (the result
of his experience), that a prophet is the least esteemed in his own
country: and to this Luke appends a more ample discourse, which
irritates the Nazarenes to attempt an act of violence, unnoticed by the
other Evangelists. But the fact which most decisively shows that the
two narratives cannot exist in each other’s presence, is that they both
claim to relate the first incident of the kind; [717] for in both, the
Nazarenes express their astonishment at the suddenly revealed
intellectual gifts of Jesus, which they could not at once reconcile
with his known condition. [718] The first supposition that presents
itself is, that the scene described by Luke preceded that of Matthew
and Mark; but if so, the Nazarenes could not wonder a second time and
inquire, whence hath this man this wisdom? since they must have had
proof on that point on the first occasion; if, on the contrary, we try
to give the later date to Luke’s incident, it appears unnatural, for
the same reason that they should wonder at the gracious words which
proceeded out of his mouth, neither could Jesus well say, This day is
this scripture fulfilled in your ears, without severely reflecting on
their former insensibility, which had retarded that fulfilment.
These considerations have led the majority of modern commentators to
the opinion, that Luke and the other synoptical Evangelists have here
given the same history, merely differing in the date, and in the
colouring of the facts; [719] and the only question among them is,
which of the two narrations deserves the preference. With respect to
the date, that of Luke seems, at the first glance, to have the
advantage; it gives the desiderated motive for the change of residence,
and the wonder of the Nazarenes appears most natural on the supposition
that then he first assumed the function of a public teacher; hence
Matthew’s divergency from Luke has been recently made a serious
reproach to him, as a chronological error. [720] But there is one
particular in all the three narratives which is an obstacle to our
referring the incident to so early a period. If Jesus presented himself
thus at Nazareth before he had made Capernaum the principal theatre of
his agency, the Nazarenes could not utter the words which Jesus imputes
to them in Luke: Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also
here in thy country; nor could they, according to Matthew and Mark, be
astonished at the mighty works of Jesus, [721] for as he performed few
if any miracles at Nazareth, that expression, notwithstanding its
perplexing connexion with the σοφία, the wisdom, manifested in that
city, must refer to works performed elsewhere. If, then, the Nazarenes
wondered at the deeds of Jesus at Capernaum, or were jealous of the
distinction conferred on that city, Jesus must have previously resided
there, and could not have proceeded thither for the first time in
consequence of the scene at Nazareth. From this, it is plain that the
later chronological position of the narrative is the original one, and
that Luke, in placing it earlier, out of mere conjecture, was honest or
careless enough to retain the mention of the wonders at Capernaum,
though only consistent with the later position. [722] If, with regard
to the date of the incident, the advantage is thus on the side of
Matthew and Mark, we are left in darkness as to the motive which led
Jesus to alter his abode from Nazareth to Capernaum; unless the
circumstance that some of his most confidential disciples had their
home there, and the more extensive traffic of the place, may be
regarded as inducements to the measure.
The fulness and particularity of Luke’s description of the scene,
contrasted with the summary style in which it is given by the other two
Evangelists, has generally won for the former the praise of superior
accuracy. [723] Let us look more closely, and we shall find that the
greater particularity of Luke shows itself chiefly in this, that he is
not satisfied with a merely general mention of the discourse delivered
by Jesus in the synagogue, but cites the Old Testament passage on which
he enlarged, and the commencement of its application. The passage is
from Isa. lxi. 1, 2, where the prophet announces the return from exile,
with the exception of the words to set at liberty them that are
bruised, ἀποστεῖλαι τεθραυσμένους ἐν ἀφέσει, which are from Isa. lviii.
6. To this passage Jesus gives a messianic interpretation, for he
declares it to be fulfilled by his appearance. Why he selected this
text from among all others has been variously conjectured. It is known
that among the Jews at a later period, certain extracts from the Thorah
and the Prophets were statedly read on particular sabbaths and feast
days, and it has hence been suggested that the above passage was the
selection appointed for the occasion in question. It is true that the
chapter from which the words ἀποστεῖλαι κ.τ.λ. are taken, used to be
read on the great Day of Atonement, and Bengel has made the
supposition, that the scene we are considering occurred on that day, a
main pillar of his evangelical chronology. [724] But if Jesus had
adhered to the regular course of reading, he would not merely have
extracted from the lesson appointed for this feast a few stray words,
to insert them in a totally disconnected passage; and after all, it is
impossible to demonstrate that, so early as the time of Jesus, there
were prescribed readings, even from the prophets. [725] If then Jesus
was not thus circumstantially directed to the passage cited, did he
open upon it designedly or fortuitously? Many imagine him turning over
the leaves until he found the text which was in his mind: [726] but
Olshausen is right in saying that the words ἀναπτύξας τὸ βιβλίον εὗρε
τὸν τόπον do not imply that he found the passage after searching for
it, but that he alighted on it under the guidance of the Divine Spirit.
[727] This, however, is but a poor contrivance, to hide the
improbability, that Jesus should fortuitously open on a passage so well
adapted to serve as a motto for his first messianic enterprize, behind
an appeal to the Spirit, as deus ex machinâ. Jesus might very likely
have quoted this text with reference to himself, and thus it would
remain in the minds of the Evangelists as a prophecy fulfilled in
Jesus; Matthew would probably have introduced it in his own person with
his usual form, ἵνα πληρωθῇ, and would have said that Jesus had now
begun his messianic annunciation, κήρυγμα, that the prophecy Isa. lxi.
1 ff. might be fulfilled; but Luke, who is less partial to this form,
or the tradition whence he drew his materials, puts the words into the
mouth of Jesus on his first messianic appearance, very judiciously, it
is true, but, owing to the chances which it is necessary to suppose,
less probably; so that I am more inclined to be satisfied with the
indefinite statement of Matthew and Mark. The other point in which the
description of Luke merits the praise of particularity, is his dramatic
picture of the tumultuary closing scene; but this scene perplexes even
those who on the whole give the preference to his narrative. It is not
to be concealed that the extremely violent expulsion of Jesus by the
Nazarenes, seems to have had no adequate provocation: [728] and we
cannot with Schleiermacher, [729] expunge the notion that the life of
Jesus was threatened, without imputing to the writer a false addition
of the words εἰς τὸ κατακρημνίσαι αὐτὸν (v. 29), and thus materially
affecting the credibility of his entire narration. But the still more
remarkable clause, διελθὼν διὰ μέσου αὐτῶν ἐπορεύετο (v. 30), is the
main difficulty. It is not to be explained (at least not in accordance
with the Evangelist’s view) as an effect merely of the commanding
glance of Jesus, as Hase supposes; and Olshausen is again right when he
says, that the Evangelist intended to signify that Jesus passed
unharmed through the midst of his furious enemies, because his divine
power fettered their senses and limbs, because his hour was not yet
come (John viii. 20), and because no man could take his life from him
until he himself laid it down (John x. 18). [730] Here again we have a
display of the glorifying tendency of tradition, which loved to
represent Jesus as one defended from his enemies, like Lot (Gen. xix.
11), or Elisha (2 Kings vi. 18), by a heavenly hand, or better still,
by the power of his own superior nature; unless there be supposed in
this case, as in the two examples from the Old Testament, a temporary
infliction of blindness, an illudere per caliginem, the idea of which
Tertullian reprobates. [731] Thus in this instance also, the less
imposing account of the first two Evangelists is to be preferred,
namely that Jesus, impeded from further activity by the unbelief of the
Nazarenes, voluntarily forsook his ungrateful paternal city.
§ 59.
DIVERGENCIES OF THE EVANGELISTS AS TO THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF
JESUS. DURATION OF HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY.
In considering the chronology of the public life of Jesus, we must
distinguish the question of its total duration, from that of the
arrangement of its particular events.
Not one of our Evangelists expressly tells us how long the public
ministry of Jesus lasted; but while the synoptical writers give us no
clue to a decision on the subject, we find in John certain data, which
seem to warrant one. In the synoptical gospels there is no intimation
how long after the baptism of Jesus his imprisonment and death
occurred: nowhere are months and years distinguished; and though it is
once or twice said: μεθ’ ἡμέρας ἓξ or δύο (Matt. xvii. 1, 2), these
isolated fixed points furnish us with no guidance in a sea of general
uncertainty. On the contrary, the many journeys to the feasts by which
the narrative of the fourth Evangelist is distinguished from that of
his predecessors, furnishes us, so to speak, with chronological
abutments, as for each appearance of Jesus at one of these annual
feasts, the Passover especially, we must, deducting the first, reckon a
full year of his ministry. We have, in the fourth gospel, after the
baptism of Jesus, and apparently at a short interval (comp. i. 29, 35,
44, ii. 1, 12), a passover attended by him (ii. 13). But the next feast
visited by Jesus (v. 1) which is indefinitely designated a feast of the
Jews, has been the perpetual crux of New Testament chronologists. It is
only important in determining the duration of the public life of Jesus,
on the supposition that it was a passover; for in this case it would
mark the close of his first year’s ministry. We grant that ἡ ἑορτὴ τῶν
Ἰουδαίων, THE feast of the Jews, might very probably denote the
Passover, which was pre-eminent among their institutions: [732] but it
happens that the best manuscripts have in the present passage no
article, and without it, the above expression can only signify
indefinitely one of the Jewish feasts, which the author thought it
immaterial to specify. [733] Thus intrinsically it might mean either
the feast of Pentecost, [734] Purim, [735] the Passover, [736] or any
other; [737] but in its actual connection it is evidently not intended
by the narrator to imply the Passover, both because he would hardly
have glanced thus slightly at the most important of all the feasts, and
because, vi. 4, there comes another Passover, so that on the
supposition we are contesting, he would have passed in silence over a
whole year between v. 47, and vi. 1. For to give the words, ἦν δὲ ἐγγὺς
τὸ πάσχα (vi. 4), a retrospective meaning, is too artificial an
expedient of Paulus, since, as he himself confesses, [738] this phrase,
elsewhere in John, is invariably used with reference to the immediately
approaching feast (ii. 13, vii. 2, xi. 55), and must from its nature
have a prospective meaning, unless the context indicate the contrary.
Thus not until John vi. 4, do we meet with the second passover, and to
this it is not mentioned that Jesus resorted. [739] Then follow the
feast of Tabernacles and that of the Dedication, and afterwards, xi.
55, xii. 1, the last passover visited by Jesus. According to our view
of John v. 1, and vi. 4, therefore, we obtain two years for the public
ministry of Jesus, besides the interval between his baptism and the
first Passover. The same result is found by those who, with Paulus,
hold the feast mentioned, v. 1, to be a passover, but vi. 4, only a
retrospective allusion; whereas the ancient Fathers of the Church,
reckoning a separate Passover to each of the passages in question, made
out three years. Meanwhile, by this calculation, we only get the
minimum duration of the public ministry of Jesus possible according to
the fourth gospel, for the writer nowhere intimates that he has been
punctilious in naming every feast that fell within that ministry,
including those not observed by Jesus, neither, unless we regard it as
established that the writer was the apostle John, have we any guarantee
that he knew the entire number.
It may be urged in opposition to the calculations, built on the
representations of John, that the synoptical writers give no reasons
for limiting the term of the public ministry of Jesus to a single year:
[740] but this objection rests on a supposition borrowed from John
himself, namely that Jesus, Galilean though he was, made it a rule to
attend every Passover: a supposition, again, which is overturned by the
same writer’s own representation. According to him, Jesus left
unobserved the passover mentioned, vi. 4, for from vi. 1, where Jesus
is on the east side of the sea of Tiberias, through vi. 17 and 59,
where he goes to Capernaum, and vii. 1, where he frequents Galilee, in
order to avoid the Jews, to vii. 2 and 10, where he proceeds to
Jerusalem on occasion of the feast of Tabernacles, the Evangelist’s
narrative is so closely consecutive that a journey to the Passover can
nowhere be inserted. Out of the synoptical gospels, by themselves, we
gather nothing as to the length of the public ministry of Jesus, for
this representation admits of our assigning him either several years of
activity, or only one; their restriction of his intercourse with
Jerusalem to his final journey being the sole point in which they
control our conclusion. It is true that several Fathers of the Church,
[741] as well as some heretics, [742] speak of the ministry of Jesus as
having lasted but a single year; but that the source of this opinion
was not the absence of early journeys to the feasts in the synoptical
gospels, but an entirely fortuitous association, we learn from those
Fathers themselves, for they derive it from the prophetic passage Isa.
lxi. 1 f. applied by Jesus (Luke iv.) to himself. In this passage there
is mention of the acceptable year of the Lord, ἐνιαυτὸς Κυρίου δεκτὸς,
which the prophet or, according to the Evangelical interpretation, the
Messiah is sent to announce. Understanding this phrase in its strict
chronological sense, they adopted from it the notion of a single
messianic year, which was more easily reconcilable with the synoptical
gospels than with that of John, after whose statement the calculation
of the church soon came to be regulated.
In striking contrast with this lowest computation of time, is the
tradition, also very ancient, that Jesus was baptized in his thirtieth
year, but at the time of his crucifixion was not far from his fiftieth.
[743] But this opinion is equally founded on a misunderstanding. The
elders who had conversations with John the disciple of the Lord, in
Asia, πρεσβύτεροι οἱ κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν Ἰωάννῃ τῷ τοῦ Κυρίου μαθητῇ
συμβεβληκότες,—on whose testimony Irenæus relies when he says, such is
the tradition of John, παραδεδωκέναι ταῦτα τὸν Ἰωάννην,—had given no
information further than that Christ taught, ætatem seniorem habens.
That this ætas senior was the age of from forty to fifty years is
merely the inference of Irenæus, founded on what the Jews allege as an
objection to the discourse of Jesus, John viii. 57: Thou art not yet
fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? language which according
to Irenæus could only be addressed to one, qui jam quadraginta annos
excessit, quinquagesimum autem annum nondum attigit. But the Jews might
very well say to a man a little more than thirty, that he was much too
young to have seen Abraham, since he had not reached his fiftieth year,
which, in the Jewish idea, completed the term of manhood. [744]
Thus we can obtain no precise information from our gospels as to how
long the public labours of Jesus lasted; all we can gather is, that if
we follow the fourth gospel we must not reckon less than two years and
something over. But the repeated journeys to the feasts on which this
calculation is founded are themselves not established beyond doubt.
Opposed to this minimum, we gain a maximum, if we understand, from Luke
iii. 1 ff. and 23, that the baptism of Jesus took place in the
fifteenth year of Tiberius, and add to this that his crucifixion
occurred under the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate. For as Pilate was
recalled from his post in the year of Tiberius’s death, [745] and as
Tiberius reigned rather more than seven years after the fifteenth year
of his reign, [746] it follows that seven years are the maximum of the
possible duration of the ministry of Jesus after his baptism. But while
one of these data, namely, that Jesus was crucified under Pilate, is
well attested, the other is rendered suspicious by its association with
a chronological error, so that in fact we cannot achieve here even a
proximate, still less an accurate solution of our question.
§ 60.
THE ATTEMPTS AT A CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE PARTICULAR EVENTS IN
THE PUBLIC LIFE OF JESUS.
In attempting a chronological arrangement of the particular events
occurring in the interval between the baptism of Jesus and his
crucifixion, the peculiar relation of the synoptical writers to John,
renders it necessary to give them both a separate and a comparative
examination. As to the latter, if its result be a reconciliation of the
two accounts, the journeys to the feasts in John must form the panels
between which the materials of the synoptical writers must be so
inserted, that between each pair of journeys with the incidents at
Jerusalem to which they gave rise, would fall a portion of the Galilean
history. For this incorporation to be effected with any certainty, two
things would be essential; first, a notice of the departure of Jesus
from Galilee by the first three Evangelists, as often as the fourth
speaks of a residence in Jerusalem; and, secondly, on the part of John,
an intimation, if not a narration, between his accounts of the several
feasts, of the Galilean occurrences represented by the synoptical
writers as an uninterrupted train. But we have seen that the synoptical
writers fail in the required notice; while it is notorious that John,
from the baptism of Jesus to the closing scenes of his life, is only in
two or three instances in coincidence with the other Evangelists. John
says (iii. 24) that when Jesus began his ministry, John was not yet
cast into prison; Matthew makes the return of Jesus into Galilee
subsequent to the imprisonment of the Baptist (iv. 12), hence it has
been inferred that that return was from the first passover, and not
from the baptism; [747] but it is undeniable that Matthew places the
commencement of the public ministry of Jesus in Galilee, and
presupposes no earlier ministry at the feast in Jerusalem, so that the
two statements, instead of dovetailing, as has been imagined, are
altogether incompatible. The next, but very dubious point of contact,
occurs in the healing of the nobleman’s son, according to John iv. 46
ff., or the centurion’s servant, according to Matt. viii. 5 ff., and
Luke vii. 1 ff., which John places (v. 47) immediately after the return
of Jesus from his prolonged residence in Judea and Samaria, during and
after the first passover. It was to be expected, then, that the
corresponding narration of the synoptical writers would be preceded by
some intimation of the first journey made by Jesus to a feast. Not only
is such an intimation wanting—there is not a single aperture to be
found for the insertion of this journey, since, according to the
synoptical writers, the cure in question was an immediate sequel to the
Sermon on the Mount, which Matthew and Luke represent as the
culminating point, of an apparently uninterrupted course of teaching
and miracles in Galilee. Thus neither at this point is the chronology
of the first three Evangelists to be eked out by that of the fourth,
since they nowhere present a joint on to which the statements of the
latter can be articulated. Another more decided coincidence between the
two parties exists in the associated narratives of the miracle of the
loaves, and that of walking on the sea, John vi. 1–21, Matt. xiv. 14–36
parall., which John places in the interval immediately preceding the
second passover, unvisited by Jesus; but he differs so completely from
the synoptical writers in his account of these miracles, both in their
introduction and termination, that either he or they must inevitably be
wrong. For while, according to Matthew, Jesus retires from Nazareth
probably, at all events from some part of Galilee, to the opposite side
of the sea, where he effects the multiplication of the loaves;
according to John he sets out from Jerusalem. Further, in the first two
gospels Jesus proceeds after the miracle of the loaves into a district
where he was less known (both Matt. v. 35 and Mark v. 54 expressly
stating that the people knew him), whereas in John he goes directly to
Capernaum, with which of all places he was the most familiar. We know
not here whether to tax the synoptical writers or John with a mistake:
and as we cannot pronounce whether he or they have placed this incident
too early or too late, we are equally ignorant how much of the
synoptical narratives we are to place before, and how much after, the
second passover, which John makes nearly cotemporary with the feeding
of the five thousand. Here, however, the points of contact between this
Evangelist and his predecessors are at an end, until we come to the
last journey of Jesus; and if they are too uncertain to promise even a
simple division of the synoptical materials by the two Passovers, how
can we hope, by the journeys of Jesus to the feast of the Jews, ἑορτὴ
τῶν Ἰουδαίων, to the feast of Tabernacles, or to the feast of
Dedication, if that be a separate journey, to classify chronologically
the uninterrupted series of Galilean occurrences in the first three
gospels? Nevertheless this has been attempted by a succession of
theologians down to the present time, with an expenditure of acumen and
erudition, worthy of a more fertile subject; [748] but unprejudiced
judges have decided, that as the narrative of the first three
Evangelists has scarcely any elements that can give certitude to such a
classification, not one of the harmonies of the gospels yet written has
any claim to be considered anything more than a tissue of historical
conjectures. [749]
It remains to estimate the chronological value of the synoptical
writers, apart from John. They are so frequently at variance with each
other in the order of events, and it is so seldom that one has all the
probabilities on his side, that each of them may be convicted of
numerous chronological errors, which must undermine our confidence in
his accuracy. It has been maintained that, in the composition of their
books, they meditated no precise chronological order, [750] and this is
partially confirmed by their mode of narration. Throughout the interval
between the baptism of Jesus and the history of the Passion, their
narratives resemble a collection of anecdotes, strung together mostly
on a thread of mere analogy and association of ideas. But there is a
distinction to be made in reference to the above opinion. It is true
that from the purport of their narratives, and the indecisiveness and
uniformity of their connecting phrases, we can detect their want of
insight into the more accurate chronological relations of what they
record; but that the authors flattered themselves they were giving a
chronological narration, is evident from those very connecting phrases,
which, however indecisive, have almost always a chronological
character, such as καταβάντι ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄρους, παράγων ἐκεῖθεν, ταῦτα
αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος, ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ, τότε, καὶ ἰδοὺ, etc. [751]
The incidents and discourses detailed by John are, for the most part,
peculiar to himself; he is therefore not liable to the same control in
his chronology from independent authors, as are the synoptical writers
from each other; neither is his narration wanting in connectedness and
sequence. Hence our decision on the merits of his chronological order
is dependent on the answer to the following question: Is the
development and progress of the cause and plan of Jesus, as given by
the fourth Evangelist, credible in itself and on comparison with
available data, drawn from the other gospels? The solution to this
question is involved in the succeeding inquiry.